This is a treasure trove of words that Spurgeon has made into a desperate call for unbelievers to come to Christ. He tells illustrative stories that have a wonderful resonance with our everyday lives in order to help us understand faith and belief. While the language is of his era, it still holds the passion and fire that makes the reader feel as if they are sitting right under his pulpit. No wonder so many people came to Christ under his ministry and that people encouraged him to write down his sermons. His phrases such as ‘the darling of heaven’ have come down to us in 21st century hymns and rightly so for they hold a sermon in the phraseology.

While I am not convinced that I could give this book to a non-Christian because of the language, I would certainly recommend any Christian absorb the stories that Spurgeon tells in order to enable their ministry to have the same flavour of passion. It takes us back to the biblical imperative of holding Christ up high and him only, in order that he might be glorified above all men.

Ruth Aird, Edinburgh Theological Seminary