You may know of Spurgeon’s affection for the great allegory of Christian experience by John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress. Here we see something of the debt Spurgeon owed to Bunyan in his imagination. While he hangs it all on the Word of God, Spurgeon uses an illustration or image from Bunyan as the central theme of his sermon, calling God’s people to avoid spiritual sleepiness, and be wakeful and watchful, vital and vigorous, in our Christian labour. It is no toothless homily, no soft and sleep-inducing sermon, but one calculated to probe and prod the dull soul.

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