But whatever the text -- Old Testament or New Testament -- Spurgeon would find his way to the gospal of the Savior on the cross. And that gospel was put forth with the full force of substitutionary atonemen and with warnings of eternal punishment but for the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

That uncompromising message was offensive to some even in Victorian England. Some chose to admire Spurgeon's preaching ministry while ignoring or minimalizing his theology. This Spurgeon will not allow. As Iain Murray states: "The only way to deal with Spurgeon's theology is to accept it for forget it: the latter is what I believe has largely happened in the twentieth century. And Spurgeon without his theology is about as distorted as the cheap china figures of Spurgeon which were offered for sale by charlatans more than a century ago."13

The famous preacher found himself engaged in several heated theological disputes, ranging from debates over baptismal regeneration to the infamous "Downgrade Controversy" of his final years. In each of these, Spurgeon attempted to maintain clear evangelical conviction, while keeping the focus on the gospel.

He resisted any compromise on substitutionary atonement, the authority and inspiration of Scripture, eternal punishment for unbelievers, original sin, and the absoluteness of Christianity. The lack of emphasis on substitutionary atonement which marked many of his contemporaries concerned Spurgeon, for he saw no genuine gospel in any preaching which was embarrassed by the Scriptural witness to what God in Christ did on behalf of the redeemed.

As he stated: "I have always considered, with Luther and Calvin, that the sum and substance of the gospel lies in that word Substitution -- Christ standing in the stead of man. If I understand the gospel, it is this: I deserve to be lost forever; the only reason why I should not be damned is this, that Christ was punished in my stead, and there is no need to execute a sentence twice for sin."14

Spurgeon was concerned with the function and effectiveness of the sermon. A student at his famous pastor's college once asked Spurgeon how he could focus more clearly on bringing unbelievers into the faith. "Do you expect converts every time you preach?", Spurgeon asked. The student quickly retorted, "Of course not." "That is why you have none," chided Spurgeon.

But Spurgeon made content his concern, trusting that God would use the substance of his message to penetrate the hearts of his hearers. "Sermons should have real teaching in them, and their doctrine should be solid, substantial, and abundant. We do not enter the pulpit to talk for talk's sake; we have instructions to convey, important to the last degree, and we cannot afford to utter pretty nothings."15

He warned his students to evaluate their sermons by content -- and not by structure or design. "To divide a sermon well may be a very useful art, but how if there is nothing to divide? ... The grandest discourse ever delivered is an ostentatious failure if the doctrine of the grace of God be absent from it; it sweeps over men's heads like a cloud, but it distributes no rain upon the thirsty earth; and therefore the remembrance of it to souls taught wisdom by an experience of pressing need is one of disappointment, or worse."