Customer Reviews

Lectures to My Students

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

...And believe me I would probably know. I've been reading as many books on preaching as I possibly can. I've discovered that most books on preaching today focus on structure and form. Their like my friend Gus says, "Car manuals for preaching." Structure and form have their place, but I think that it is over emphasized today. In this book Spurgeon remains extremely practical, yet raises the plane for the standared of both a good sermon and a good preacher. In this book he is in exceptionally rare form, he differs from most of his sermons. He is still just as Christ-centered and elequent but is more casual than in his sermons. After I read this book I felt as if I had aqired a new friend. I also felt as if I was part the Pastor's colledge. I could almost raise my hand and ask a question. I highly recomend this book to pastors and laymen alike with no regret.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon was born in 1834 and was converted at the age of 16. By the age of 17, he was already adept enough in the Word of God that he was called to shepherd one of the local churches. During his lifetime, he published over 1900 different sermons. Each was original and thought-provoking. Those who have read his sermons know that each message was filled with the Word of God and sought to bring honor and glory to Christ alone. The teaching done by Spurgeon in these 28 lectures is a skill that has almost completely vanished from among pastor-teachers today. This 443 page book reflects just one reason why he was called, "The Prince Of Preachers" and "A Master Pulpiteer." Spurgeon's teachings and messages will go on in Christendom as being revelant to any age in any decade. The ministerial student will do well to study these lectures and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in applying them to their ministry. The experienced minister should also take the time out of often hectic schedules to study what made this "Prince of Preachers" a prince among preachers. No minister should ever be able to find fault with this classic. This contents of this book and the author should never be considered to be "out-of-date" and "not up-to-par in this modern world." It is a timely piece which I thoroughly enjoyed. I would highly recommend it be read over and over again.

This book is a classic, and should be a part of every Christian's library. What an encouragement and inspiration. This book has not lost any of its touch, even though the messages C.H. Spurgeon gave in it are over a hundred years old. Rather, he reveals why today's modern spiritualism is no match to the true power of God, encouraging us to WALK YE IN THE OLD WAYS and to GO BY THE OLD. PATHS.

"Affectation of intellectual superiority and love of rhetorical splendour have prevented many from setting forth gospel truth in the easiest imaginable manner, namely, by analogies drawn from common events. Because they could not condescened to men of low estate hey have refrained from repeating incidents which would have accurately explained their meaning. Fearing to be thought vulgar, they have lost goldne opportunities. As well might David have refused to sling one of the smooth stones at Goliath's brow because he found it in a common brook."

Thus, we catch a glimpse of the practical wisdom, which so easily dripped from the pen of Charles Spurgeon, in the preceding quote. It is but a small portion of the witty, yet solid, insights he gives in his work Lectures to My Students. Although this book is intended for those would be pastors and elders who are picking up the mantle of God's preachers, there are great principles of biblical and practical truth which can be applied to any Christian's life. On that basis alone I approvingly recommend this read to all.

Spurgeon's mastery and command of the English language did not keep him from "setting forth gospel turth in the easiest imaginable manner". In fact, with such an ability, he was one of the most avid communicators of his day, and even to this time. I've heard it said before that had Spurgeon's voluminous writings been "unrelgious" in nature, they would've been indeed used to exemplify the best of English language. Spurgeon has been affectionately called the Prince of Preachers, and rightly so, for his eloquence of speech was music to the ears of both the common man and well-to-do.

In Lectures to My Students, Spurgeon's subject matter ranges anywhere from Vocal demonstration and care to "The Minister's Self-Watch". It would behoove anyone who "desires the office of an Elder" to get a copy of Spurgeon's Lectures and make use of the matter found therein. Spurgeon was indeed a uniquely used individual of God. When it comes to preaching, he was definitely exceptional, not typical. Would it be that God would grant us more Preachers such as he!

I really enjoyed this book and recommend it for anyone in the ministry or entering the ministry. There are countless gems of insight and anecdotes by Spurgeon of his own experience, fellow ministers, and great men of God in days gone by. Each section is a precise snapshot of how old school, revival, God-entranced, Word-centered, Spirit-empowered ministry should be. There is great inspiration to be found here that challenges you to go deeper in your personal devotion in order to be more fruitful publicly. But what really amazed me was the practical advice that was given in every area of ministry from private to public prayer to sermon writing and delivery. Very insightful; and I am thankful to have gleaned these truths from the prince of preachers. The first 6 chapters are particularly captivating as they describe the essence of the minister and what his character and he in himself should be. Also worthy of special note is the chapter near the end on spiritual depression of the pastor/preacher; it is quite valuable.

This is one of my top 5 books. All of Spurgeon's works are worth the effort and resources to secure (such as his autobiography, commentary on Psalms called Treasury of David, salvific work titled All of Grace, and monumental 63 volume sermon set :), but that is not always feasible. If you were to have only one book by Spurgeon, I would say this should be it.

As has been said in the other more negative reviews: the presentation is not that great (this is the bibliobazar edition). The book itself looks very clean and sharp; it's a good size too, which I appreciate (just has a good hold and feel in your hands as you read). BUT, the type size is extremely small and the font is just okay. There are little spot marks and smudges in some places (though the text remains legible), due to the book being a photocopy of an earlier print. Also, this is only the first volume of what is a 4 volume set (comprised of Lecture Series 1,2, and 3 and "Commenting and Commentaries"), the whole of which can be found here on Amazon in one convenient edition. Just search for the ISBN 978-0851519661 and you'll find it (notice the page count compared to all the others; the complete version clocks in at a whopping 911 pages). The full edition is produced by Baker and is very high quality.

This is an abriged edition (although it says unabriged in the product description) and the print is VERY small.

These are great lectures by Spurgeon, but the format of the book is very poor. It is a photo reproduction of one of the original editions and the type is VERY small and hard to read. There are other editions, Eerdmans for example, that are much better for a similar price.

Three things that I really appreciate about this book, are its candor, practicality, and humor. One very rarely finds a 19th century man who could communicate truths like these in such a way. In Lectures to My Students, Spurgeon gives indespensible advice to those going into the ministry about how to be an effective preacher. This book is a must have for those called to preach the Gospel and it is a fun read as well. God bless you.

Seller did a great job getting this to me in a timely fashion, no complaints there; however, the text within the book is terribly small, looks like someone zoomed out and then printed all the pages, they don't even fill the page normally (2 inch margins on the left and right and 3-5 inch margins on the top and bottom). Was excited to get the book, but not very excited about the print size

At least the first chapter anyway. The first thing he tells his students in this book is to watch out for your own soul- i.e. see to it that you are a partaker in Whom you are preaching. An exellent book, a little much on the interjection of Latin phrases for this day and age, but still worthy of five stars.