Why does this teaching matter?
Spurgeon's most famous conviction was that every sermon must contain Christ crucified. This was not a preference — it was a theological necessity. If the sermon does not preach Christ, it does not preach the gospel. If it does not preach the gospel, it has no power. 'Leave Christ out? Better leave the pulpit out altogether.' This standard exposes the emptiness of modern sermons built on self-help, entertainment, or motivational speaking. The power of God for salvation is the gospel — and the gospel is Christ crucified and risen. Everything else is bread without flour.
What did Charles Spurgeon teach?
"A sermon without Christ in it is like a loaf of bread without any flour in it. No Christ in your sermon, sir? Then go home, and never preach again until you have something worth preaching."
Speaker: Charles Spurgeon
Source: Sermon #2899, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit
What does Scripture confirm?
1 Corinthians 2:1-2
"And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."
— NKJV
Paul determined to preach NOTHING except 'Jesus Christ and Him crucified.' Not leadership principles. Not financial strategies. Not self-improvement techniques. Christ crucified. This was Spurgeon's standard because it was Paul's standard. Any sermon that fails this test has failed the only test that matters.
Colossians 1:28
"Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."
— NKJV
'HIM we preach' — not ourselves, not our programs, not our vision. The goal of all preaching is to present people 'perfect in Christ Jesus.' If Christ is not preached, this goal is impossible. Spurgeon understood that the preacher's job is not to be interesting, relevant, or entertaining — it is to preach Christ.
Romans 1:16
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek."
— NKJV
The gospel is 'the POWER of God to salvation.' Not motivational speaking. Not therapeutic counseling. Not entertainment. The gospel — the message of Christ crucified and risen — is where the power lies. A sermon without Christ has no power because the power is in the gospel, not in the preacher's eloquence.