When Alexander Maclaren entered the study in his home at 9 every morning to take up his sermon preparation, he would kick off his slippers and put on heavy outdoor work boots as a reminder to himself of the hard work he was about to do. It was this work ethic — coupled with his deep devotion to Christ and His Word — that brought Maclaren the reputation as “the prince of expositors.”
Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910) labored in England at the same time as several other prominent preachers, such as C. H. Spurgeon, Joseph Parker, and F. B. Meyer. Meyer himself, in comparing Maclaren to his many notable contemporaries, said, “As an expository preacher none of them equaled Maclaren of Manchester, and no other sermons were so widely read the world around. . . . Dr. Maclaren is said with truth to have changed the whole style of the British pulpit, and to have influenced it more (than) any of his predecessors.”
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Maclaren came to prominence during a 45-year-tenure in the mill city of Manchester, England. Unlike his friend Spurgeon, Maclaren had only one ministry — preaching. He rarely traveled and started no schools or publications. The only responsibility he took beyond his own church was two terms as president of the Baptist Union late in his career.
Since he was from a Baptist nonconformist family, he could not gain admission to Oxford or Cambridge University so in 1842 he entered the Baptist College in Stepney where he met one of the most significant influences of his life, Principle Benjamin Davies. Davies instilled in the young Maclaren a life-long habit of meticulous study in the Scripture’s original languages. It became Maclaren’s habit to spend a half hour each in the Hebrew and Greek texts every morning as part of his devotions. His sermons, while never flaunting his skills, often show a keen understanding of the language and grammar of the original tongues.
Maclaren knew from his youth that he was called to preach and never considered any other vocation. When he preached his first sermon at the age of 17 he began his written log, recording the sermon number, location, text and date.
His first charge was a small, dying Baptist congregation in Southhampton. Only 20 people were coming to a sanctuary that seated 800, but as Maclaren labored there for twelve years the church steadied and grew. He later said, “I thank God for the early days of struggle and obscurity.”
Maclaren’s move to Manchester in 1858 brought an end to his obscurity. After eleven years there, a new 1500-seat auditorium was built and every seat was filled morning and evening.
Dr. W. Robertson Nicoll, a prominent publisher of the day, said Maclaren was without question “the most brilliant man, all round,” that he ever knew. His scholarship was impeccable. He read widely — from Augustine to the Quakers, as well as the great British poetry and novels.