CHARLES SPURGEON

1834-1892

Susie Thompson was both shocked and amused.

While William Jay was in his last few weeks of life in December,

1853, Susie went to New Park Street Chapel in London one Sunday

evening to hear a young preacher. She could not believe he waved

a blue handkerchief with white dots! And he badly needed a haircut;

his suit shouted "country." This city girl was not the least

impressed!1

Susannah was born in South London in 1832 and

often attended New Park Street Chapel, Southwark. Because of her

connection with the Olney family, long-time members of the church,

she came back to hear Spurgeon again, started to listen to him, was

convicted of her backsliding, and was given a copy of Pilgrim's

Progress by him. They were around each other socially for six

months and then Charles made his move, by asking her quietly if

she ever prayed for her future husband. He proposed after a dating

period of less than eight weeks. Later, Susie recorded her feelings

on that August day:

To me it was a time as solemn as it was sweet; and with a great awe in my heart, I left my beloved and, hastening to the house and to an upper room, I knelt before God and praised and thanked Him with happy tears for His great mercy in giving me the love of so good a man. If I had known then how good he was and how great he would become, I should have been overwhelmed, not so much with the happiness of being his, as with the responsibility which such a position would entail.

2

They married in January, 1856. One of the lessons

learned during those months was that Susie must never assert her

"right to his time and attention when any service for God demanded

them."3 She also saw his need for her comfort and support when the

press attacked him and the demands of his popularity strained him.

So by her wedding day, Susie knew something of the immense

responsibilities this marriage would entail. Tickets and police were

needed for entrance into the wedding to guarantee a seat to those

invited because of the thousands pressing in to get a glimpse of the

couple!4 Imagine the complexities of organizing it all! They did not

have a reception or party after the ceremony so that simplified it.

After ten days in Paris, they came back to piles of work and very

little money. He had set London on fire, and now he had a helper

and friend.

A WIDOW'S LABOR

Charles Spurgeon certainly needs no introduction. He is

hailed as the "prince of preachers," "the great soul winner," and

many know of the throngs who came to hear him even on Sunday

nights when a reservation was needed. He is remembered as a

great evangelist. Fewer know his view of theology. Most do not

realize he labored for the gospel of grace and he preached Calvinism

all of his life. Fifty years after his death, his own congregation had

turned from the Calvinism and grace of God preached by Spurgeon

to Moody-style evangelistic crusades, fundamentalism's literal

interpretation of scripture, "higher life" and Carnal Christian

teachings, and Dispensationalism.5 Two horrible wars mauled two

generations, diverting their energies and lives from the preservation

and extension of Spurgeon's ministries. No London congregation, not

even his own Metropolitan Tabernacle continued in the historic

Reformed heritage. Iain Murray, in his historical research, puts the

blame squarely on the shoulders of the post-Spurgeon leadership of

Metropolitan Tabernacle.6 Indeed, no college, no strong group of

pastors, not even his own family members, remained true to the

precepts he espoused. However, he did leave huge volumes of his

sermons, letters, biography--all largely edited by his wife, Susie, and

his secretary and lone surviving cohort, Joseph Harrald.7 Indeed,

Susie and Harrald compiled an intimate window into Spurgeon's

thinking, as well as his activities, in four volumes of Autobiography.

Susie's work is a testimony for usefulness to God during widowhood.

Even a Victorian lady need not sit with her hands folded and do

nothing for God and His cause. Susie had never done that. As I

read her biography and her inserts in the Autobiography over the

years, I was struck that this was not the stereotype Victorian lady.

She was not afraid of hard work, of being involved with a project.

She never tried to lead the church, but she diligently pursued her

own contribution. She could have sipped tea in her parlor, but she

did not. Like Mary Henry, she preserved her husband's personal

papers after his death and so, as a result of her labors, Spurgeon is

out there waiting to be rediscovered instead of used for other's

purposes. Many are still using him for their own purposes, ignoring

his theology and experiential preaching.

Charles Spurgeon knew how to take his Calvinist doctrine

and state it in the language of his hearers, plainly and simply so

they could understand it. His theological views, the Five Points of

Calvinism, ended up in evangelism and application. He approached

the scriptures like a Puritan (doctrine: applied and personal), and his

warm-hearted Calvinistic preaching attempted to provide meat for

the Holy Spirit to bring about devotion and love to Christ--resulting

in lives and spiritual experiences that showed that. He was ever the

evangelist; strengthened his teaching with the printed page made

readily available; and dressed up his doctrine by good deeds and

kind ministries. I first met him through his Morning and Evening

devotions; one page of applied doctrine. They helped ground me in

the Reformed interpretation of scripture.

WHAT WAS HE REALLY LIKE?

Just what was he like? One biographer, lamenting the void

of a definitive biography as late as the 1980's, notes the effect of his

being used for other's purposes.

Accordingly, many today think of him as merely a highly gifted orator who made his hearers laugh and cry and to whom the hour in the pulpit was a very pleasant activity. Because his burning earnestness and unyielding theological convictions are so little known it is assumed that he was much like the average evangelical of today.

If William Jay was the first "boy preacher" to cause a stir in

London, Charles Spurgeon was the second. In the same month that

Jay died, Spurgeon came to London as a single young man of

twenty. Charles Spurgeon showed himself to have a heart "to

stand in the gap and work" like Nehemiah. New Park Street

Chapel was a Non-conformist Baptist work with a fine history of

being the pastorate of the well-known John Gill (1720-1771), but

had dwindled down to a handful of people. William Passamore, the

printer, and the Olney family were there and they wanted this young

man as their pastor. From the beginning, he looked at himself as a

Reformer in the Puritan traditon. "My position as Pastor of one of the

most influential churches, enables me to make myself heard and my

daily labour is to revive the old doctrines of Gill, Owen, Calvin,

Augustine and Christ."9

PREACHING IN PURITAN STYLE

Yet, Spurgeon was not the sophisticated Oxford cleric. In

fact, he looked down on clerical "rules" and did not dress "right" or

use the clerical jargon of other London pastors and even refused to

be ordained.10 He grew up in the parsonage of his grandfather, a

Congregational Independent who baptized infants in the

Stambourne, Essex meeting house (instead of the cathedral of the

state-supported Anglican Church) and let the young Spurgeon read

his old folios of the Puritans and John Bunyan. Spurgeon later

claimed he had learned his Calvinist theology from a cook or

housekeeper, Mary King, at a small school in Newmarket where he

assisted in his early teens. His disregard for convention shows,

"..and I do believe that I learnt more from her than I should have

learned from any six doctors of divinity of the sort we have

nowadays."11 What if Mary had felt knowing doctrine was

unimportant or not part of a woman's job description? Spurgeon

never forgot her influence. He never attended a seminary and was

never happy being addressed as Pastor or Reverend. He was raised

on strong devotional Puritan literature like Baxter's Call to the

Unconverted, yet he did not know how to be saved until God showed

him his sin and a village deacon urged him to "Look unto Jesus."

So now the young pastor avoided any ambiguity, speaking

personally and pointedly. He preached the old doctrines in the old

style in the tradition of English Puritanism.12 The crowds came

running away from dreary formalism in both Non-Conformist and

Anglican congregations, and from the unchurched streets of London.

A stir was created by this young reformer who had a heart for the

work.

This clear, pointed way of preaching was filled with

practical wisdom and application. He could warm the heart toward

God and help his people see Jesus and all His benefits. This clarity

and warmth is what drew me to his writings. I came back again

and again, and in the process, began to grasp something of his

Calvinism as well. But, what drew me was the way he approached

those doctrines and his obvious love for all people regardless of

status. He knew people and wanted them to understand him so he

used language the way they did. He was not vulgar, but this reader

of Puritans, did not try to sound as if he lived in 1650 to impress

someone! So he could take the doctrines of the grace of a

sovereign Lord and pierce hearts to the quick in their own language

showing them their need of a Savior and His sustaining grace--that

unmerited favor that lifted their hearts toward God and gave them

such hope. My mind was stimulated to understand the Doctrines of

Grace while my heart was moved and humbled before a personal

God who never lied. I left my Arminian roots and way of thinking in

the dust.

EXPERIENCE CLARIFIES BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES

As we have seen, John Newton and William Jay both

believed that a man's experience was important to how he

communicated the great biblical truths of the Doctrines of Grace.

Their spiritual experiences and their experiences dealing with others

both helped them relate to human nature with its diversity of

problems, emotions, and triumphs. One author, speaking of the

non-conformist pastors in the 1850's said,

Most of them have never lived, some of them have not even tried to live. They know little or nothing of the world--excellent men, but profoundly ignorant of any human nature save what they find in themselves and in their wives. How can they preach?

13

Spurgeon agreed with John Newton and William Jay, that a man's

experience with people affected his application of biblical principles.

He also advised his students in his Pastor's College to

keep their eyes open for illustrations from everyday life to

communicate complex doctrinal themes to simple people. He

gathered metaphors from life and told his students,

When you go home to-night, and sit by your fireside, you ought not to be able to take up your domestic cat without finding that which will furnish you with an illustration. How like to temptation, soft and gentle when it first cometh to us, but how deadly, how damnable the wounds it causeth ere long!

14

Life illustrations served as visual images for help in remembering the

doctrine. These illustrations served the same purpose as the songs

John Newton wrote to help villagers remember his sermons; they

stayed in the head so much longer. They also made the speaker

more human and more accessible, just like John Newton's stories of

slave trading and William Jay's care of his invalid wife and his

beginnings as a stonemason. His open life and the details Susie

included in the Autobiography (even pictures of their homes) lured

me into reading enough of him to begin to understand the Doctrines

of Grace. I read at least one of his sermons every Sunday

afternoon for years. You can too. They are readily available on the

web. He who knew what life was like for Everyman could better get

a hearing. And get a hearing Spurgeon did.

A CALVINIST FROM THE BEGINNING

Spurgeon preached the same Doctrines of Grace all his life

and preached them clearly, simply, and with practical application to

everyday life. He was always evangelistic, calling for repentance

and faith in Christ alone--a looking unto Jesus as the author and

finisher of one's salvation. Early in 1855, the crowds necessitated a

larger facility so Spurgeon and his deacons rented a public hall, the

Exeter Hall. These were not evangelistic services like Billy

Graham's; they were worship services of New Park Street Baptist

Church filled with prayer, congregational singing without musical

accompaniment, and preaching that explained the meaning of, and

then, applied the text, frequently only one verse. People came from

all levels of society and from all religious backgrounds. Yet,

Spurgeon did not waiver; he plainly said he was a Calvinist and a

Baptist, and went on to take explicit controversial stands. He quoted

William Jay against baptismal regeneration and Catholic doctrine,

"Popery is a lie, Puseyism is a lie, baptismal regeneration is a lie."15

(Pusey wrote tracts encouraging the return of Anglican Church to

Catholic practices.) He never lost sleep over whether someone was

offended: "I tell you all I know and speak right on. I am no orator

but just tell you what springs up from my heart."16

What sprang up were the five points of Calvinism put in language

and illustrations to which every person could relate. In August,

1855, he contrasted "Law and Grace" where his main theme was the

abounding power of God's grace over the total depravity of our own

hearts and our inability to even repent and pray.

Sin shows us its parent, and tells us our heart is the father of it, but grace surpasseth sin there, and shows the Author of grace--the King of kings.

17

It is a thoroughly Calvinistic evangelistic message acknowledging

one of the "Five Points" while pointing to the grace found only

through Christ. This was the kind of sermon I read on Sunday

afternoons, teaching me that without God's favor I could never have

"chosen to follow Jesus." Why not read "Law and Grace", August 26,

1855, this Sunday afternoon? It is on the internet at

www.spurgeon.org. Seeing how God's grace overpowers our total

sinfulness and the inability stemming from it can lead you to real

spiritual experiences like joy and praise.

EVANGELISTIC TO THE END

This evangelistic zeal did not waiver as he matured and met

with gout pain, his wife's illness, and theological controversy. In

1886, after his health failed and during his biggest controversy with

fellow Baptists, he encouraged the Men's Bible Class at his church to

pursue evangelism:

The more I suffer the more I cling to the gospel. It is true, and the fires only burn it into clearer certainty to my soul. I have lived on the gospel, and I can die on it. Never question it. Go on to win other souls. It is the only thing worth living for. God is

much glorified by conversions, and therefore this

should be the great object of life.18

His Calvinism was no deterrent to calling all to repentance

and faith and this continued until his death in 1892 at fifty-eight.

Even in 1890, in urging them to continue being useful to their

generation, he stood firm on that usefulness being to work for

conversions in teaching youth, helping elderly, assisting those in

their prime to work for God:

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not only for one generation, it is for

all generations. It is the faith which needed to be only "once for

all delivered to the saints"; it was given stereotyped as it always

is to be. It cannot change because it has been given of God, and

is therefore perfect; to change it would be to make it imperfect.

It cannot change because it has been given to answer for ever the

same purpose, namely, to save sinners from going down to the pit,

and to fit them for going to heaven. That man serves his generation

best who is not caught by every new current of opinion but stands

firmly by the truth of God, which is a solid, immovable rock.19

Those who accuse all Calvinists of not loving others or of not being

evangelistic do not know Spurgeon. Perhaps they have never met a

warm-hearted Calvinist who sought to be kind. relational, and

humble.

THREE GREAT BATTLES

He was totally committed to the word of God and was willing

to endure hardship and rejection for it. While Jay's battles were

chiefly against Antinomian denial of the necessity of continuing

obedience and "high" or "hyper" Calvinist refusal to offer salvation

to the multitudes, Spurgeon had three great battles to wage. His

total commitment to the scripture caused him to stand up and be

counted in all three controversies. The fights were between his

Calvinism and Arminianism's view of the atonement and other chief

doctrines; the growing influence of Catholicism in the Anglo-Catholic

debate; and against a liberalism within Baptist circles denying the

authority of scripture. In all of these, Spurgeon saw the real issue to

be the repercussions to biblical truth in the long haul. Spurgeon

held tightly to the London Baptist Confession of 1689 which clung to

scripture as the "only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all

saving knowledge, faith, and obedience."20 This last and chief battle

with creeping liberalism in his own denomination resulted in his

censure by his peers for even bringing up the issue. Liberalism in

this context meant approaching the Bible as part of God's revelation,

but not complete or without error or with authority to determine

what we believe and how we live.

In 1864, Spurgeon created a stir by exposing the Anglican

belief in baptismal regeneration and its evils against true

evangelism. He was concerned for the future of England and the

growing influence of Catholicism on its culture--even affecting the

non-conformists. He called baptismal regeneration the "stepping

stones" to Rome--accepting that doctrine would made it easier to

return to the influence of the Pope and Catholic distinctives. That

was his major worry. He was not dealing with infant baptism or the

mode of baptism. He called for the clerics in the Anglican Church to

pull out if they did not believe in the church's statements of faith.

Some 350,000 copies of this sermon were printed and passed

around. Spurgeon was simply bringing up the same issues the

Puritans like Matthew Henry's father, Philip, did in the 1660's about

the Established Prayer Book that led to their loss of pulpits and

position and even life. John Newton, while remaining a minister in

the Anglican Church in the late 1700's, saw these same issues.

Perhaps because of the growth of Catholic influence, Spurgeon saw

them as even more of a threat. Spurgeon, like the Puritans two

centuries before, was condemned on every side, his motives

suspect. By taking the heat, he shows us his willingness, not to stir

up controversy for its own sake, but to endure hardship for the

purity of the Word. Resigning from the Evangelical Alliance resulted.

Spurgeon reentered it in 1870 but only after much personal attack

and attaining assurances of member discipline.21 If you read this

sermon ("Baptismal Regeneration," June 5, 1864), think of the

stress preaching this caused him, but the clarity of this issue today.

What about your influence? I learned from Charles and Susie

that my influence was worth something even if it was not publicaly

acclaimed. So I needed to keep on trying to understand biblical

doctrines. My love of history and ability to read was all I had to offer

but to lay it entirely aside in favor of enjoying more leisure would

have been wrong. Have you been afraid to speak out about issues

compromising salvation by faith alone or other circumstances

involving doctrine? Recently, Carol Roten, a southern lady raised

in Alabama with all those deep-south good manners, told of privately

telling a Sunday School teacher his lesson had burdened her with

lots of works, but had omitted any mention of grace. "I can't do

any of these things you've detailed without God's grace," she said.

"But, I meant it to be in there," he defended. "But, it wasn't," she

ended. Without being arrogant or stepping into a leadership role in

the local church, even gentle Southern ladies can use their influence

for good. I believe Susie would have done the same.

TAKING THE HEAT

This Puritan belief in the inerrancy and authority of the Bible,

coupled with Spurgeon's ability to defy custom, sustained him

through the other hard crisis of his maturity when he pulled his

church out of the Baptist Union in protest over the liberalism

creeping into English Baptist pulpits. He not only did not dress

according to clerical custom or use language in accordance with the

pulpit fashion of the day, he looked at defying custom as necessary

for the Christian to overcome the world.

He overcomes the world when it sets itself up as a legislator, wishing to teach him customs. You know the world has its old massive law book of customs and he who does not choose to go according to the fashion of the world, is under the ban of society. Most of you do just as everybody else does, and that is enough for you...It is only the Christian who despises customs, who does not care for conventionalism, who only asks himself the question, "Is it right or wrong?"

22

So the many criticisms and rejections voiced in the press and pulpit,

did not sway him though they hurt him; he was sensitive; he felt

barbs deeply, but his question was not whether an action was

popular but was it right? As an illustration and application of the

principle of the Christian overcoming the world, his "every Christian"

says:

...I care not what others do; I shall not be weighed by other men; to my own Master I stand or fall. Thus I conquer and overcome the customs of the world."

23

These were spoken in 1855, at the age of 21. But, the same

principles strengthened him as he shouted against the worldliness

and downgrading of the Bible's exalted position he saw sliding into

Baptist pulpits.

Whereas, the Evangelical Alliance controversy was with other

churches of differing beliefs, the downgrade controversy was among

the English Baptists and led to his leaving the Baptist Union and

some of his closest compatriots. The pain of this severing of

relationships led him to say, "This fight is killing me!" and, indeed,

lasted until his death of kidney disease in 1892 at 58. Why did he

put himself through this, not to mention his wife? For him it was all

about the Bible and the long-range implications of looking at

scripture other than the God-breathed authority stated so clearly in

the London Baptist Confession of 1689. (There were those Puritans

again.) The liberals in the Union rejected all this and refused to

discipline their members who taught a new, more intellectual

approach to the Bible--one more "fitting" for the scientific age of the

industrial revolution. Spurgeon called for that discipline, did not get

it, and fearing for the future of Baptist pulpits and Baptist

congregations, pulled out of association with people who tolerated

this kind of downgrading of the scripture.24 He saw truth and Christ

as more important than denominational unity and could not be

swayed by other men apart from the word of God. His

warm-hearted approach did not cause him to give in on this

over-riding principle.

LIFE-LONG TIES WITH HENRY, NEWTON, AND JAY

Do not get the impression that Spurgeon ever abandoned his

soul winning or his heart warming applications of biblical principles.

He did not. He was nobody's copycat; he was unique, he was

influenced by the Puritans, and he always retained this (perhaps

unconscious) connection with Henry, Newton, and Jay in the wisdom

of remaining applicational. He asked a friend, in 1855, to purchase

Matthew Henry's commentary for him to use and for the use of the

young men he planned to mentor. That same year an observer

saw him "expounding a portion of scripture as is his custom, ...in the

style of Henry...Such was the method of one of the richest and ripest

sermons, as regards Christian experience, I ever heard."25 As late

as 1881, he wrote to his son to read Matthew Henry "right through if

you can before you are married."26 He quoted Newton's songs, used

his illustrations and recommended reading his letters to understand

him.27 Another observer noted his style had something of Jay's plan

and method and used the language of the average person like Jay

did. Spurgeon heard Jay preach in Bath and noted the dignified,

but simple, style made more important because of his long

ministry.28 Jay's Morning Exercises were quoted in Spurgeon's

Treasury of David, giving pastors an outline for a sermon.29 He

wrote his Morning and Evening Daily Readings with the same intent

as Jay-- of stimulating family devotions. "He adds to the pith of

Jay," said one writer. What he added to Jay's central core was

familiarity and spontaneous expression.30 In fact, Spurgeon took it

up a notch when he published, John Ploughman's Talks and John

Ploughman's Pictures, both everyday advice based on biblical truth.

These inexpensive little books sold like hotcakes because they were

filled with practical advice quaintly put: "..good friend, if you find a

hoe on these premises, weed your own garden with it" and "Wives

should feel that home is their place and their kingdom, the

happiness of which depends mostly upon them" or "If a little

gambling is thrown in with the fast living, money melts like a

snowball in an oven" or "Carve your name on hearts and not on

marble. So live towards others that they will keep your memory

green when the grass grows on your grave."31 No wonder the

unchurched came to hear him preach and were converted.

Reaching out with the gospel was what it was all about. With

the help of a generous donor to get it started, the Colportage

Association was formed to distribute Bibles, sermons, books, and

tracts and to preach and make personal contacts for the gospel all

over England. Each man was paid, and also expected to earn part

of his salary through the sales. Spurgeon contributed generously

himself to this work. As an example of its impact, in 1878, there

were 94 "peddlers" who made 926,290 contacts!32 By 1892, they

recorded a total of 11,822,637 visits to families!33 Spurgeon was

not getting rich off of this or his other publications. He generously

supported his Pastor's College, boys and girls orphanages,

almshouses for widows, and other attempts to help and reach the

poor for Christ. "When I have a spare 5 pounds, the College, or

Orphanage, or Colportage, or something else, requires it, and away

it goes."34

The custom of attending church, so prevalent during William

Jay's ministry, steadily declined during Spurgeon's time. And so he

urged the formation of Sunday schools because people would send

the children to them on Sunday afternoons. Don't worry about their

motives, Spurgeon said, even if they just want to get rid of the

kids!35 By 1891, The Metropolitan Tabernacle had twenty-two

mission stations, twenty-seven Sunday Schools with 612 teachers

and 8,034 students!36 Does this inspire you to reach out in some

way to evangelize others? It puts in the dust any accusation that a

warm-hearted Calvinist does not believe in evangelism.

Even in the midst of controversy, he still relied on an appeal to

real stories from the Bible and church history, to his own and

Everyman's feelings and experiences, and to visual images and vivid

life illustrations to bring to life an abstract principle. As he matured,

he never lost sight of his goal to evangelize and build up the

common man. As he turned more and more to writing, he wanted

to use that, as well, for as wide an audience as possible.

A LEMON TREE AND SINGING IN THE FIRE

Susie concentrated on managing her household, training her

twin boys, Charles and Thomas, in Christian doctrine, entreating

them to turn to Christ, and counseling women and helping at

baptismal services at church from 1856-68.37 But, by 1868, her

health confined her. Charles praised her for her companionship and

making him happy, but her own usefulness for God seemed stymied.

Then, she planted a lemon tree and founded a Book Fund and set to

work in spite of her pain and weakness. The tree represented the

fund in her mind, and she saw to it they both prospered. The fund

accepted donations and mailed free quality books to pastors all over

the world. For instance, a donor paid for every Calvinistic

Methodist minister and student in Wales to receive Spurgeon's

Lectures To My Students. (It is interesting to note that the lone

Calvinist with an evangelistic spirit preaching in London fifty years

after Spurgeon was a Welch pastor, Martyn Lloyd-Jones.) But, to

Susie, she was watching the lemons grow and singing out of her fire

of affliction of pain and weakness. In the next twenty-seven years,

199, 315 theological works were mailed to pastors and missionaries

too poor to purchase them.38 Charles watched and confirmed truth

by her experience,

Let every believer accept this as the inference of experience: that for most human maladies the best relief and antidote will be found in self-sacrificing work for the Lord Jesus.

39

Susie went on to edit and write much of the four volume

Autobiography after Spurgeon's death. She lived until 1903. She

continued to watch her lemons grow and to sing amidst the fire of

widowhood.

THE REAL SPURGEON SPEAKS

With the help of his publishers, Passmore and Alabaster, and his

faithful secretary, J. W. Harrald, Spurgeon was able to leave a

lasting mark on the Christian world. His goal was to reach the

multitudes and to equip struggling pastors. So, every Monday

morning that week's sermon was readied for the press, magazine

articles were revised, letters written. Tuesdays were spent revising

the final proofs and attending to the most pressing literary work.40

Besides his sermons,

many books were published: Morning By Morning, Evening By

Evening, The Interpreter, John Ploughman's Talks, Lectures To My

Students, Treasury of David. 41 Susie and Harrald continued the

publishing work after his death with The Soul-winner, The Art of

Illustration, eight sets of sermons, Gospel Extracts and Glorious

Themes for Saints and Sinners which was put in large print for old

people and little children.42 Harrald worked hard until 1903, getting

out sermons as yet unpublished. Many of these are now out of

copyright and available on the web to everyone. Wouldn't the

Spurgeons and Mr. Harrald be glad?

It may, therefore, be concluded that, great as was his influence in the pulpit, his power through the press is not a whit less; and there seems to be no valid reason why his testimony to the truth should not be continued, by means of the printed page, until the Lord Himself returns.

43

The diligence and hard work of these three people have

shamed me, caught in my resort Florida lifestyle. What might

have happened to those doctrines they loved best if they had

taken it easier or thrown in the towel when opposition hit?

A LOST LEGACY

Charles died in January, 1892, of kidney failure after suffering

for years the pains and disability of gout and its related depressions.

He was only 58. The last song he sang was "The Sands of Time Are

Sinking" based on the letters of one of his beloved Puritans. Susie

continued spreading his works until she died at 7l. Charles and

Thomas both preached in London. Iain Murray blames the

Metropolitan Tabernacle for the movement away from Puritan belief

and practice so loved by Spurgeon.44 The real issue lay with the

failure of the London congregation to wrestle with the differences

between Spurgeon's beliefs and those men who replaced him, as

well as, to expose and rebuke the impatience with doctrine that

arose. The church got bogged down over lesser issues instead of

focusing on the larger issue of continuing to hold true to their own

Constitution. Spurgeon stood for historic simplicity in worship,

Puritan application and methods, and the Doctrines of Grace

expressed in the London Confession of 1689, which he put in the

foundation stone of the Metropolitan Tabernacle. He was an

experiential preacher in this Reformed tradition of warm-hearted

Calvinism. Spurgeon's own son, Thomas, opened the door to this

loss of legacy by his association with D. L. Moody and his American

fundamentalism. Soon evangelistic methods were added to the

worship services: music, choirs, solos, an inquiry room, counting of

"converts," as well as Arminian speakers. By 1905, "revival"

meetings were being held.45 The Puritan Reformed tradition of

applying Calvinism was drowned out by methods and

sentimentalism. This was not Spurgeon's way:

Under C. H. Spurgeon's ministry the Tabernacle had consciously stood for the old Evangelicalism; by the ordinary services of the Sabbath and the mid-week, by worship conducted in the scriptural simplicity of the Puritan tradition, by the definite Pauline theology of the Reformed tradition, and by the evangelism of holy-living--by these means, and without any other--the Tabernacle congregation had remained a witness to the power of a Christianity which was everywhere disappearing in the late nineteenth century.

46

How could this happen? How could Thomas be sucked into

such methods? Where was Susie's influence? (She died in 1903;

J. R. Harrard was no longer revered by the church leadership,

Thomas died in 1917.) Iain Murray believes that Spurgeon felt so

isolated during the fight with the Baptist liberals, he turned to the

support of D. L. Moody and other American fundamentalists because

of their belief in the authority of the Bible. But he had longed

warned against their methods. He died before any of those

methods were used in his church's worship services. But, the

association opened the door, the music stirred the people, numbers

of conversions contributed to an atmosphere of success, and the real

issue of turning from Calvinistic doctrine, Puritan application to the

heart and life, and simplicity of worship was covered up by

excitement and enthusiasm. A new evangelicalism sprang up on

both sides of the Atlantic and in 1918, an appeal by member Charles

Noble to those remaining at Metropolitan Tabernacle was ignored:

If what I have to say moves you to return to the good old paths, I shall rejoice, and no doubt the Lord will go before us in the pillar of fire and cloud as of old.

47

In summation, Iain Murray notes the wide-spread impact of

Moody's methods. Methods ran over doctrine, and apparently,

doomed Spurgeon's foundational principles:

Twentieth-century evangelicalism on both sides of the Atlantic was to be a movement in which all that was distinctive of Reformed Christianity dwindled out of sight--it was to be the evangelicalism of 'The fundamentals", of Keswick, of the Scofield Bible, and of the evangelistic campaign with its apparatus for 'decisions'. To the credit of this movement it must be said that it opposed Modernism and believed in taking the gospel to the masses, but on the debit side its condemnation is that it ignored so much of the historic Christian heritage; it went after new fads--for instance, dispensational premillenialism, the teaching that the believer is by faith, to receive the fulness of the Holy Spirit and to pass from 'carnal Christianity to "victorious living". In general it bred a generation in the evangelical churches who loved anecdotes, humour and music, but knew next to nothing of theology and Confessions of Faith. All this happened because the doctrine of God had been supplanted from its central position in the Biblical revelation and consequently the true Christian vision of the glorification of God--that God may be all in all'--passed from view.

48

This quiet voice from Charles Spurgeon's church might have a

few questions to ask our generation. Has your own isolation caused

you to turn for Christian fellowship to those who would deny historic

Protestant definitions of the Doctrines of Grace? Have you

contributed to muddying the waters about what Charles Spurgeon

really believed or just kept your mouth shut about his Calvinism? Is

your church quick to adopt the methods and worship style of those

who would deny or redefine these doctrines? Do you quietly sit by

while Christian leaders misrepresent Matthew Henry, the Puritans, or

even Martyn Lloyd-Jones? Many read and quote from historic

Calvinists while rejecting their doctrines outright or interpret the

Bible from a different prospective. Mr. Noble wrote his letter to the

church; no one seem to listen; have we spoken up to our church

leadership about issues like this?

In 1939, as World War II bombs started falling, Martyn

Lloyd-Jones came to London after twelve years in Wales, reading

Puritans, preaching all over Wales, working with Welch college

students. His coming to London was providential, only after his

attempts to stay in his beloved Wales ended in closed doors. He

began to preach the Doctrines of Grace, with a Puritan approach to

application, and an evangelistic fervor explaining the gist of the

passage amidst the simple singing of hymns and reading of

scriptures. It was warm-hearted Calvinistic preaching with a new

accent! A new generation listened. His fight of faith would be

against this new evangelicalism and a call to return to the old paths

trod by Susie and Charles.

QUOTES FROM CHARLES SPURGEON

• "Jesus said, 'Preach the gospel to every creature.' But men are

getting tired of the divine plan; they are going to be saved by the

priest, going to be saved by the music, going to be saved by

theatricals, and nobody knows what! Well, they may try these things

as long as ever they like; but nothing can ever come of the whole

thing but utter disappointment and confusion, God dishonoured, the

gospel travestied, hypocrites manufactured by thousands, and the

church dragged down to the level of the world."1

• "Those who have introduced all sorts of attractions into their

services have themselves to blame if people forsake their more

sober teachings, and demand more and more of the noisy and the

singular. Like dram-drinking, the thirst for excitement grows"2

• "Just fixing his eyes on me, as if he knew all my heart, he said,

'Young man, you look very miserable.' Well, I did; but I had not

been accustomed to have remarks made from the pulpit on my

personal appearance before. However, it was a good blow, struck

right home. He continued,'and you always will be

miserable--miserable in life, and miserable in death,--if you don't

obey my text; but if you obey now, this moment, you will be saved.'

Then, lifting up his hands, he shouted, as only a Primitive Methodist

could do, 'Young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look!Look! Look! You

have nothing' to do but to look and live.' I saw at once the way of

salvation...I had been waiting to do fifty things, but when I heard

that word, 'Look!' what a charming word it seemed to me! Oh! I

looked until I could almost have looked my eyes away. There and

then the cloud was gone, the darkness had rolled away, and that

moment I saw the sun; and I could have risen that instant, and sung

with the most enthusiastic of them, of the precious blood of Christ,

and the simple faith which looks alone to Him. Oh, that somebody

had told me this before, 'Trust Christ, and you shall be saved.'"3

•

• "When I was living in Cambridge, I once heard Mr. Jay, of Bath,

preach. His text was, 'Let your conversation be as it becometh the

gospel of Christ.' I remember with what dignity he preached, and yet

how simply...I recollect also that, in the course of his sermon, Mr.

Jay said that ladies were sometimes charged with dressing in too

costly a fashion. He told us that he did not himself know much

about that matter; but, if they would let him hear what their income

was, he would tell how many yards of silk, satin, lace, or ribbon,

they could afford. My recollections of Mr. Jay were such as I would

not like to lose."4

•

• On Dr. John Gill, a Calvinistic Baptist who was pastor of Spurgeon's

London church from 1720-1771: "The system of theology with which

many identify his name has chilled many churches to their very soul,

for it has led them to omit the free invitations of the gospel, and to

deny that it is the duty of sinners to believe in Jesus; but for this,

Dr. Gill must not be altogether held responsible, for a candid reader

of his Commentary will soon perceive in it expressions altogether out

of accord with such a narrow system; and it is well known that,

when he was dealing with practical godliness, he was so bold in his

utterances that the devotees of Hyper-Calvinism could not endure

him. 'Well, sir,' said one of these, 'if I had not been told that it was

the great Dr. Gill who preached, I should have said I had heard an

Arminian.'"5

•

• "We believe in the five great points commonly known as Calvinistic;

but we do not regard those five points as being barbed shafts which

we are to thrust between the ribs of our fellow-Christians. We look

upon them as being five great lamps which help to irradiate the

cross; or, rather five bright emanations springs from the glorious

covenant of our Triune God, and illustrating the great doctrine of

Jesus crucified. Against all comers, especially against all lovers of

Arminianism, we defend and maintain pure gospel truth. ..I belong

not to the sect of those who are afraid to invite the sinner to Christ.

I warn him, I invite him, I exhort him."6

•

• "Remember Thy people in their families and convert their children;

give us help and strength; spare precious lives that are in danger;

be gracious to any that are dying; may the life of God swallow up

the death of the body. Prepare us all for Thy glorious advent; keep

us waiting and watching, and do Thou come quickly to our heart's

desire, for we pray 'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth,

as it is in heaven, for Thine is the kingdom, and the power and the

glory, for ever and ever.' Amen."7

•

• "Oh! help us. Spirit of the living God, continue still to travail in us.

Let the groanings that cannot be uttered be still within our Spirit, for

these are growing pains, and we shall grow while we can sigh and

cry, while we can confess and mourn; yet this is not without a

blessed hopefulness that He that hath begun a good work in us will

perfect it in the day of Christ."8

•

• "Still, Lord, though healed of a former lameness so that now we

have strength, we need a further touch from Thee; we are so apt to

get dull and stupid; come and help us, Lord Jesus. A vision of Thy

face will brighten us; but to feel Thy Spirit touching us will make us

vigorous. Oh! for the leaping and the walking of the man born

lame. May we to-day dance with holy joy like David before the Ark

of God. May a holy exhilaration take possession of every part of us;

may we be glad in the Lord; may our mouth be filled with laughter,

and our tongue with singing, 'for the Lord hath done great things for

us whereof we are glad.'" 9

•

• "Wives should feel that home is their place and their kingdom, the

happiness of which depends mostly upon them. She is a wicked

wife who drives her husband away by her sharp tongue. A man

said to his wife the other day, 'Double up your whip.' He meant

keep your tongue quiet; it is wretched living with such a whip always

lashing you...It is doleful living where the wife, instead of

reverencing her husband, is always wrangling and railing at him.

...God save us all from wives who are angels in the street, saints in

the church, and devils at home."10

• "If I know anything of spiritual symptoms, I think I know a cure for

you. Your position is not the sphere for earnest labour for Christ.

You have done all you could in more ways than one; but you are not

brought into actual contact either with the saints or with the sinful,

sick or miserable, whom you could serve. Active service brings with

it warmth and this tends to remove doubting, for our works thus

become evidences of our calling and election."11

EXAMPLES FROM HIS WRITINGS

(C.H. Spurgeon's Prayers, (Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Mi.,

reprinted 1978), p.123-129.

The Presence of God

Our Father, which art in heaven, our hearts are full of gratitude to

Thee for Thy Word. We bless Thee that we have it in our

houses, that Thou hast given to many of us to understand it and to

enjoy it. Although as yet we know not what we shall know, yet have we

learned from it what we never can forget, that which has changed our lives,

has removed our burdens, has comforted our hearts, has set our faces like

flints against sin and made us eager after perfect holiness.

We thank Thee, Lord, for every leaf of the Book, not only for its

promises which are inexpressibly sweet, but for its precepts in which our

soul delights, and especially for the revelation of Thy Son, our Lord and

Saviour Jesus Christ. O God, we thank Thee for the manifestation of Him

even in the types and shadows of the Old Testament. These are

inexpressibly glorious to us, full of wondrous value, inexpressibly dear

because in them and through them we see the Lord. But we bless Thee

much more for the clear light of the New Testament, for giving us the key

to all the secrets of the Old Testament, for now, reading the scriptures of

the new covenant, we understand the language of the old covenant and are

made to joy and to rejoice therein.,

Father, we thank Thee for the Book, we thank Thee for the glorious

Man, the God whom the Book reveals as our Saviour; and now we thank

Thee for the Blessed Spirit, for without His light upon the understanding we

should have learned nothing. The letter killeth, it is the Spirit that giveth

life. Blessed are our eyes that have been touched with heavenly eye-salve.

Blessed are the hearts that have been softened, that have been made

ready to receive the truth in the love of it! Blessed be the sovereign grace

of God that hath chosen unto Him a people who delight in His Word and

who meditate in it both day and night!

Our hearts are full of praises to God for this Man of Truth, for this

unmeasured wealth of holy knowledge. Lord make us to enjoy it more and

more. May we feed upon this manna; may we drink from this well of life;

may we be satisfied with it, and by it be made like to the God from whom it

came.

And now, Lord, our prayer is to Thee at the mention of Thy sacred

Book, that Thou wouldst write it upon the fleshy tablets of our heart more

fully. We want to know the truth that the truth may make us free. We want

to know the truth that the truth may make us free. We want to feel the

truth that we may be sanctified by it. Oh! let it be in us a living seed which

shall produce in us a life acceptable before God, a life which shall be seen

in everything that we do unto the living God, for we remember that Thou

art not the God of the dead but of the living. Lord, we ask that Thy Word

may chasten us whenever we go astray, may it enlighten us whenever for a

moment we get into darkness. May Thy Word be the supreme ruler of our

being. May we give ourselves up to its sacred law to be obedient to its

every hint, wishing in all things, even in the least things, to do the will of

God from the heart and having every thought brought into captivity to the

mind of the Spirit of God.

Bless Thy people; bless them in this way by saturating them with

the Word of Thy truth. O Lord, they are out in the world so much. Oh! grant

that the world may not take them off from their God. May they get the

world under their feet; let them not be buried in it, but may they live upon

it, treading it beneath their feet, the spiritual getting the mastery always

over the material. Oh! that the Word of God might be with us when we are

in the midst of an ungodly generation. May the Proverbs often furnish us

with wisdom, the Psalms furnish us with comfort, the Gospels teach us the

way of holiness, and the Epistles instruct us in the deep things of the

kingdom of God.

Lord educate us for a higher life, and let that life be begun here. May

we be always in the school, always disciples, and when we are out in the

world may we be trying to put in practice what we have learned at Jesu's

feet. What He tells us in darkness may we proclaim in the light, and what

He whispers in our ear in the closets may we sound forth upon the

housetops.

Oh! dear, dear Saviour, what could we do without Thee. We are yet

in banishment, we have not come into the land of light and glory;it is on

the other side of the river, in the land where Thou dwellest, Thy land of

Immanuel, and till we come thither be Thou with us. We have said unto

ourselves, How shall we live without our Lord; and then we have said unto

Thee, "If Thy Spirit go not with us, carry us not up hence." Oh! be to us

this day as the fiery cloudy pillar that covered all the camp of Israel. May

we dwell in God; may we live and move in God; may we be conscious of

the presence of God to a greater extent than we are conscious of anything

else.

Bless the churches. Look on them, Lord; cast an eye of love upon

the little companies of the faithful wherever they may be and help them

and their pastors, and may the churches be in every place a light in the

midst of this crooked and perverse generation. O God, we are waiting and

watching for a display of Thy great power among the people. It is an age of

great luxury and great sin and gross departures from the truth; we beseech

Thee defend Thine own. When Thine ark was carried captive among the

Philistines and set up in the temple of Dagon, Dagon fell before it, then

didst Thou smite Thine adversaries in the hinder parts and put them to a

perpetual reproach, and Thou canst do the like again, and we pray it may

be so. Oh! for the stretched out hand of God. We are longing to see it in

the conversion of great multitudes by the gospel, that those who have said,

"Aha, aha, the gospel has lost its power," may be made foolish by the

wisdom of the Most High, even as Jannes and Jambres were made foolish

when they could not do so with their enchantments, but God was with His

servant.

O, Jehovah, Thou art the true God, God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of

Jacob, this God is our God for ever and ever; He shall be our guide even

unto death. Thou who spakest by the apostles speak still by Thy servants,

and let Thy Word be with as much power as when Thou saidst, "Let there

be light, and there was light." Oh! for the lifting up of Thy voice! Let

confusion and darkness once again hear the voice of Him that makes order

and that giveth life. Oh! how we would stir Thee up, Thou gracious God.

Our prayers would take the form of that ancient one, "Awake, awake, put

on Thy strength." Art Thou not He that cut Egypt and wounded the

crocodile? Hast Thou not still the same power to smite and to vindicate

Thine own truth and deliver Thine own redeemed?

O Lamb, slain from before the foundation of the world, Thou art still

to sit upon the throne, for He that is on the throne looks like a Lamb that

has been newly slain. O Jesus, we beseech Thee take to Thyself Thy great

power; divide the spoil with the strong; take the purchase of Thy precious

blood and rule from the river even unto the ends of the earth. Here we are

before Thee; look on us in great pity. Lord, bless Thine own people. With

favour do Thou compass them as with a shield. Lord, save the unsaved. In

great compassion draw them by the attractive magnet of the cross, draw

them to Thyself, compel them to come in that the wedding may be

furnished with guests.

With one heart we put up our prayer on the behalf of the teachers of

the young. We thank Thee, Lord, that so many men and women are ready

to give their Sabbath's rest to this important service. Oh! grant that zeal for

teaching the young may never burn low in the church. May any that are

taking no part in it and who ought to be, be aroused once to commence the

holy effort. Bless the teachers of the senior classes; may their young men

and women pass into the church; may there be no gap between the school

and the church. Bridge that distance by Thy sovereign grace. But equally

bless the teachers of the infants and of the younger children. May

conversion go on among the young. May there be multitudes of such

conversions. In effect, we would pray that no child may leave the schools

unsaved. Oh! save the children, great Lover of the little ones. Thou who

wouldst have them suffered to come to Thee, Thou wilt not forget them,

but Thou wilt draw them and accept them. Lord! save the children. Let all

the schools participate in the blessing which we seek, and by this

blessed agency may this nation be kept from heathenism; this city

especially be preserved from its dogged disregard of the Sabbath, and its

carelessness about the things of God. Oh! bless the Sabbath-school to

London, to every part of it, and let Jesus Christ be glorified among the little

ones, and again may there be heard loud hosannas in the streets of

Jerusalem from the babes and sucklings out of whose mouths Thou hast

ordained strength. The Lord be with these dear workers throughout to-day

and make it a high day, a festival of prayer and faith, a time when Jesus

the Lord shall especially meet with them and bless them.

God bless our country! God save our Sovereign! Grant guidance at

this time to all with regard to the political affairs of this nation. Grant Thy

blessing to all ranks and conditions of men, and let every nation call Thee

"blessed." Let all tongues speak the name of Jesus and all men own Him as

Lord and King. We ask it in His name. Amen.

Notice here how his doctrine of the inerrancy of scripture and his

view of the unity and usefulness of the whole Bible have practical

implications for their daily life in Victorian England. How different

this is from Dispensationalists who nail a wedge between the Old

and New Testament. He prayed to an unchanging, all powerful

Father.

WHAT YOU COULD DO

1. You could pray like this.

2. Can you identify a warm-hearted Calvinist in the Reformed tradition

when you hear one? You could read them if you are not hearing

any.

3.

3. You could use your influence over a young reformer to point him to

Spurgeon's example, to speak his Calvinistic truths clearly and

simply in language we use today, not falsely adopting a demeanor or

words from another era. Or to encourage him to approach the

scriptures seeking to apply the Doctrines of Grace like a Puritan

would.

4. Tell your daughters (or younger women) about Susie. Her romantic

courtship and marriage stories, connected as they are to Christ

Jesus and His service, pierce our hearts. Charles Ray's little book

on her life, Mrs. C. H. Spurgeon, would make a great shower gift for

a young bride. Her ability to write, preserve, and publish her

husband's legacy extended his usefulness. Her book ministry is a

testimony to doing what we can.

5. Read CHS on the web; Buy his prayers, books of sermons,

biographies. Tell others.

6. Are you bickering in your church over lesser things, while the big

issues of doctrine and simplicity of worship slide under the rug?

How could a woman with a meek and quiet spirit impact a return to

the Doctrines of Grace and the application to the heart of an

experiential preacher like Charles Spurgeon? What would Susie do?

Mail out books? Support pastors or their wives in another way?

Ground her own children?

7. Has it been implied that since a woman is told to manage her home,

she can't do anything else? Susie's twins were 15 when she began

the Book Fund. She worked on it until 1903, and then included it in

her will. What work are you going to include in yours?

8. Do trends grab you and long associations bore you? Do you think of

consequences before you jump into the pot with some new orator or

friendly leader? What are their doctrinal and methodical roots?

9. Are you a Vacation Bible School or a Sunday School teacher?

Spurgeon believed children could be taught doctrine and have it

applied to their lives clearly and simply.

10. Do you lead the youth? They love the useful and respond to direct

and simple warm-hearted lessons communicated in their way of

speaking. Follow Spurgeon's example.

11. Charles and Susie Spurgeon impacted future generations through

their distribution of the printed page. How can you do that with

experiential lessons?

12. Lessons for Bible teachers from CHS:

• Communicate in their own everyday language. (See his John

Ploughman's Talks.)

• Use visual images.

• Place a high value on presenting Christ.

• Multiply your lessons (CHS printed penny sermons sold on the

street).

• Work hard!

• Know what Calvinism is and be able to explain it.

13. Contact the following for CHS sermons in booklet form:

Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Else

www.spurgeon-publications.org.u.k.