In an age of limited travel and isolated nations, C.H. Spurgeon preached to over 10,000,000 people in person—sometimes up to 10 times per week. It is in this classic work that Spurgeon most clearly present the message of salvation—man’s ultimate need and God’s unique provision—both simply and sincerely, for honest seekers and zealous witnesses alike.

When Charles Haddon (C. H.) Spurgeon accepted the pastorate at New Park Street Chapel in London, he was just 19 years old. The young man from Kelvedon, Essex, England, had become a Christian only a few years before. But when he preached his first sermon in 1850 at the tender age of 16, his listeners already recognized that his style and delivery were extraordinary.

New Park Street Chapel was the largest Baptist church in London when Spurgeon started preaching there. Nevertheless, the congregation’s attendance had been in decline for the several years before he arrived. Spurgeon’s leadership soon reversed that trend. Within just a few months of his arrival, Spurgeon had become famous. It wouldn’t be long before New Park Street Chapel had become one of the city’s largest churches.

George Mueller (1805-1898), evangelist and philanthropist in England, was a man of prayer and strong faith who depended wholly on God for his temporal and spiritual needs. As founder of several orphanages, he handled more than $8 millian, although his own worldly possessions were valued at about $800 at his death.

“There are two ways, one of life and one of death,” begins the Didache, “and between the two ways there is a great difference.” Followers of the way of life will continue to draw much encouragement from those who embarked on the path two millennia ago.

By relating the cross as essential to the life of the believer, Professor L.E. Maxwell simply and practically shows how an understanding of our identification with Christ in his death and resurrection can lead to life as it was meant to be lived. It is by living with a cross-centered perspective that we can have both victory over sin and power to serve God well.

Maxwell’s heart and vision for training up young poeple with the truth of God’s Word and the necessity of evangelism shines forth in this little book.  Readers know authenticity when they read it – and Maxwell exudes it.

L.E. Maxwell became a Christian in a Presbyterian church after high school. Shortly thereafter, he left for France to serve with the U. S. Army during World War 1. When he returned, his aunt, whose prayers and spiritual support sustained him through his service, helped him find a clerical job in Kansas City. Working in the city gave him opportunity to attend Midland Bible Institute.

About the time Maxwell graduated from MBI in 1922, a farmer from Three Hills, Alberta, Canada, contacted the school’s principal, William C. Stevens with a request. The farmer had just completed a correspondence Bible course taught by a visiting teacher, and he wanted to know if Stevens was graduating a student from MBI who would be willing to come teach the class for a couple of years. Stevens recommended Maxwell, and Maxwell was happy to go. He couldn’t have known then that his two-year commitment would turn into a lifelong calling that would have international impact.

“Our part is the trusting,” she writes. “It is His to accomplish the results.”

Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots

J.C. Ryle’s Holiness has imparted a standing challenge to Christians for 130 years. In this new, slimmed-down series of excerpts from Ryle’s masterwork, we aim to present his original message to a whole new generation. Holiness, Ryle argued, was not simply a matter of believing and feeling, but of doing.

In 1841, J. C. Ryle was ordained as a minister in the Church of England. In his first position in a rural parish he developed the plain and direct style of communication that would mark his future ministry. He served at several churches for the next forty years, during which time he wrote hundreds of evangelistic tracts. He was a wildly popular writer. His tracts sold more than 12 million copies in his lifetime, and were eventually translated into about a dozen European and Asian languages.

R. A. Torrey, educated at Yale University and Divinity School, was an evangelist, teacher, and pastor. He pastored Moody Memorial Church in Chicago, was the superintendent of Moody Bible Institute for nineteen years, and served as the dean of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles from 1911 to 1924, when he retired to embark upon full time evangelistic campaigns. Torrey was the author of forty books.

“There are not two Christs, an easygoing one for easygoing Christians, and a suffering, toiling one for exceptional believers,” Taylor said. “There is only one Christ. Are you willing to abide in Him, and thus to bear much fruit?”

Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor, son and daughter-in-law of J. Hudson Taylor, also served as missionaries to China.