The Bible is God’s Bible; and when I see it, I seem to hear a voice springing up from it, saying, “I am the book of God; man, read me. I am God’s writing; open my leaf, for I was penned by God; read it, for he is my author, and you will see him visible and manifest everywhere. -Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon was born on June 19th in 1834, and was made by God to be a gift to the body of Christ. His preaching impacted tens of thousands of people in his own day and millions since that time.

He was a pastor who was unwaveringly committed to Jesus Christ, and therefore unwaveringly committed to the Bible. He preached in a manner worthy of the message he proclaimed, fervently and with great conviction, to audiences of more than 10,000 with no modern amplification.

This past April I was in Louisville for Together For The Gospel, and in my free time I took a tour of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Perhaps the highlight of the tour was the viewing of Charles Spurgeon’s personal Bible in the James P. Boyce Centennial Library.

To see Spurgeon’s personal Bible, stained with the oil of his fingers and weathered by his times of private worship, moved me deeply. I was not moved because the man who turned the pages of this Bible was great. Rather, I was moved because a man caught such a glimpse of the almighty God in turning its pages.

And may God, in his infinite mercy, when you read your Bibles, pour into your souls the illuminating rays of the Sun of Righteousness, by the agency of the ever-adorable Spirit; then you will read to your profit and to your soul’s salvation.

This article first appeared in John Piper’s blog, http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/ and is used with permission