He
was converted to Christianity in January 1850. In 1854, at the age of 20, he
became pastor of the New Park Street Church in Southwark (London). As his fame grew
among the Christian community of England, the number of people who
came to listen to him speak in different venues exceeded 10,000 at
times. From 1861 to 1891, he preached in the specially-erected
Metropolitan Tabernacle, which seated 6000. Associated with
the Tabernacle were a Pastors' College which trained nearly 900
men before Spurgeon's death. Many of the great theologians and preachers of the last
century such as D. L. Moody, J. Hudson Taylor, J. C. Ryle, F. B.
Meyer, the Bonar brothers, George Muller, and William Robertson
Nicoll have said that Spurgeon greatly influenced their spiritual
lives. In 1887, he left the Baptist Union during the
"Down-grade Controversy." He claimed that some
Baptist ministers were relaxing their grasp of vital doctrines. He
injected his playful humor, common sense and gift for epigram, or
witty sayings, into all his numerous works, which included
an extended commentary on the Psalms, The Treasury of David.
His sermons were published weekly until 1917. He was the
most popular and the greatest preacher of his age. Charles
Spurgeon died in 1892.
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