Charles H. Spurgeon: Preacher Uptown Church Sunday School August 23, 2009 People come to me for one thing I preach to them a Calvinist creed and a Puritan morality If they want anything else, they must go elsewhere. At twenty-two Spurgeon was the most popular preacher of the day. Introduction From 1850 when he preached his first sermon at age 16 to 1892 when he died at age 57, Charles Spurgeon was, to most historians, the most influential pulpit preacher in England, and likely the whole world. o He was rightfully called by his son: the prince of preachers. On the whole, his life was very simple. He was converted by the gospel presentation of a simple country preacher during a winter storm, and he committed the rest of his life to one thing: winning souls. He preached over 3,500 sermons from his two main churches alone, all of which were circulated in print (that s 1.77 new sermons per week, every week, for 38 straight years). Before he was 20, he had preached 600 times. His collected sermons comprise a 63- volume set. Add to that his commentaries, reflections on the Psalms, magazines, articles, books, and other written works, and he authored between 140 and 200 books (depending on how you count). o He would say in his memoirs without pride or exaggeration that he remembers few instances when his oral sermons or their written transcripts were not used by God for at least one true conversion and confession of faith. His legacy, perhaps most importantly, is his ardent, indefatigable, relentless defense of Christian doctrine against the impending wave of modernism and liberalism. B.H. Carroll, founder of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, said, With whom among men can you compare him? He combined the preaching power of Jonathan Edwards and Whitefield with the organizing power of Wesley, and the energy, fire, and courage of Luther. In many respects he was most like Luther; in many most like Paul. Often called the last of the Puritans, Spurgeon left a massive, indelible stamp on the world of what it means truly to be a preacher. Prayer Historical context Victorian Era in England: Whigs & Tories, Dickens, industrial revolution, imperialism Prominent peers o US: D.L. Moody, Henry Ward Beecher o UK: H. P. Cannon Liddon (Anglican), George Muller (orphanages), Alexander MacLaren, Joseph Parker (Baptist), F.B. Meyer (Baptist), Hudson Taylor Seeds of change in English Non-Conformist churches (non-church of England) towards a lower view of Scripture and Christ, largely due to the onset of Modernism and the influence of Darwin Uptown SS Charles Haddon Spurgeon 1
Sketch of Spurgeon s life Beginnings Parents (John and Eliza Spurgeon) and grandfather (James Spurgeon) o Born on June 19, 1834, in Kelvedon, Essex. Parents were 19 and 24 and poor. First son of 17 children (9 died in infancy). o Sent at age 1 to live with his grandfather, James, in Stambourne. James was a lifelong minister. Years with his grandfather were good for Charles, as he was exposed to prayer and scripture. Read The Pilgrims Progress and was enamored with Bunyan for the rest of his life (read it at least 100 times). o Grandmother introduced him to Isaac Watts his lifelong favorite hymnist. Conversion at age 15 o Spiritual turmoil began very early deep conviction of sin. Figure 1: Timeline of C.H. Spurgeon s life 1834 Born in Essex to John and Eliza Spurgeon 1835 Moves to live with grandfather James in Stambourne 1850 January: Conversion at Primitive Methodist Chapel during a snowstorm May: Baptism August: Joins St. Andrews Street Baptist, Cambridge Winter: Preaches first sermon 1852 Call to the pulpit in Waterbreach 1854 Call to serve at New Park Street (London) 1856 January: Church moves to Exeter Hall January: Marries Susannah Thompson September: Birth of twin sons (Charles and Thomas) October: Surrey Music Hall Fire! tragedy 1857 Founds Pastors College 1861 Church moves to Metropolitan Tabernacle 1864 Beginning of Baptismal Regeneration controversy 1869 Construction of Stockwell Orphanage 1887 March: Beginning of the Downgrade Controversy October: Spurgeon pulls out of Baptist Union 1891 June: Preaches last sermon at Metropolitan 1892 Spurgeon dies in Menton, France 1903 Wife Susannah dies Oh, the many times I have wished that the preacher would tell me something to do to be saved! o January 6, 1850 snowstorm prevented him from going to his normal church, so he went to the Primitive Methodist Chapel in Colchester (12-15 people attending). The uneducated preacher taught him to Look to Christ, and he was converted. Rapid spiritual maturity, beginnings of preaching ministry o He was convinced by the Particular Baptist views and was baptized in May 1850. Immediately became a Sunday school teacher (to people older than himself). o Substitute preacher at a cottage in Newmarket. Fame spread quickly. I might have been a young man at 12, but at 16 I was a sober, respectable Baptist parson, sitting in the chair and ruling and governing the church. At that period in my life, when I ought perhaps to have been in the playground, developing my legs and sinews, which no doubt would have kept me from the gout now, I spent my time at my books. o Called by a church in Waterbreach to be its pastor in Dec 1851 / Jan 1852 o Word of his oratorical powers spread rapidly. His brother James remarked, He seemed to have leaped full-grown into the pulpit. o Considered going to seminary, but a foiled meeting with a college dean combined with his perception of his calling to press on kept him from doing so. Arrival in London New Park Street Church o Issued him a call to serve as pastor, much to Waterbreach s disappointment. New Park at the time was on the decline. Church built for 1,200 but had 200 members. No pastor for 3-4 months until they discovered Spurgeon. Uptown SS Charles Haddon Spurgeon 2
o Immediately the crowds outgrew the building. Critical reception was both highly positive and highly negative (he took the negative hard at first): College professor: He is only a boy, but he is the most wonderful preacher in the world. Spurgeon: If to be made as the mire of the street again, if to be the laughingstock of fools and the song of the drunkard once more, will make me serviceable to my Master I will prefer it to all this multitude. o Moved to Exeter Hall because street congestion and crowds were a problem. Marriage to Susannah Thompson in 1856 o Church member at New Park. Courtship took a while because he was so busy. Immediately after their wedding, they got pregnant and had twins, Charles and Thomas. She was never able to bear more children. o She attended to his household affairs and ensured he had a good workspace and library (which she also enjoyed). o She raised a book fund and spent most of her adult life sending books to pastors with personal notes of encouragement over 200,000 books. Fire! at Surrey Music Hall Q: Anyone know what happened? o October 19, 1856 Spurgeon preparing to speak to over 10,000 people for the first time at the Hall (needed bigger space). Someone yelled Fire! as he was preaching. Panic 7 killed, 28 injured. Spurgeon did not know this and kept preaching. o Afterward, he was completely shocked to the core and left the city to be alone. o Impact: Instant fame everyone in London knew who he was. Depression Perhaps never a soul went so near the burning furnace of insanity, and yet came away unharmed. However, his close friends attributed this event to be the initiating cause of his depression. Metropolitan Tabernacle Years World s largest chapel o Age 25 church completely outgrew Exeter Hall and planned a building that could seat 5,000 people (able to contain 8,000 with standing room). o Tabernacle became the nucleus of numerous ministries. Hard labor in the pulpit o Preaching was his chief calling: This is my life s work, to which I believe God has called me and therefore I must do it. To preach the gospel myself, and to train others to do it, is my life s object and aim. o Numbers: regularly preached to crowds of 5,000-10,000 with no microphone. Preached to 23,600 people at Crystal Palace (largest ever). o Frequency: in his younger years, he would preach 10-12 times per week all over London and surrounding area. o Studying: Spurgeon would regularly read six substantial books per week. His favorites were the Puritans, but he read across all topics. He had a particular genius for reading and understanding he asserted that he was generally able to recall the majority of what he ever read and be able to locate where he found it. Library contained 12,000 books. He could take in paragraphs what most readers take in sentences Uptown SS Charles Haddon Spurgeon 3
o Sermon preparation: Typically would sit down to compose his sermon on Saturday night after 7pm. He wrote that he would often prepare numerous separate sermons outlines and then only keep one (and trash the rest). His friends would often comment on the rapidity and clarity of his thinking it was unmatched. After he wrote the sermon, he would distill it down to a single halfsheet of paper (see photos) which he took to the pulpit. He prepared his Sunday evening sermons after lunch on Sunday. o Worship leadership: He typically organized and delivered the whole worship service, including picking the hymns (sung a capella in his church), reading the scripture, briefly espousing the text, delivering public prayer, delivering the sermon, and closing with a hymn. Was known to be a poor singer. o Sermon delivery: In his memoirs he would write that typically he was speaking extemporaneously. He had 6-7 thoughts concurrently in his mind, and he would select the correct one and the right phrasing as he went. At the same time, he would pray for congregation members by name while he preached. o Sermon distribution: Stenographers recorded his sermons, which he then edited on Monday for publishing. Sold by the hundreds of thousands (sometimes millions) for a penny each for most of his ministry. 63 volumes today. o Sermon style: Straightforward, using common language (which brought him some criticism). Used vivid illustrations and wit when necessary (but never crass), but otherwise stuck to sound exposition. Strong voice, rapid speech. Wife: Sometimes his voice would almost break and fail as he pleaded with sinners to come to Christ, or magnified the Lord in his sovereignty and righteousness. A glass of chili vinegar always stood on a shelf under the desk before him, and I knew what to expect when he had recourse to that remedy. Hard labor outside the pulpit: Spurgeon s College, Orphanage, Sword and the Trowel o Founded a pastoral preparation college, Pastors College on the grounds of the tabernacle. Had a Paedobaptist on the board but would only accept Baptists. Chief goal was to train pastors, not to make them applicants had to show fruit. o At the encouragement of a wealthy widow (Anne Hillyard) in the church, they set up an orphanage near the church. Still in operation today. o Published a weekly magazine of commentary articles. o Claimed to work 18 hours a day. Only took Wednesday off when he could. o No one living knows the toil and care I have to bear... I have to look after the Orphanage, have charge of a church with four thousand members, sometimes there are marriages and burials to be undertaken, there is the weekly sermon to be revised, The Sword and the Trowel to be edited, and besides all that, a weekly average of five hundred letters to be answered. This, however, is only half my duty, for there are innumerable churches established by friends, with the affairs of which I am closely connected, to say nothing of the cases of difficulty which are constantly being referred to me. o 66 organizations were founded by the Tabernacle and overseen by Spurgeon. Controversies with the Evangelical Alliance and Baptist Union o Will discuss below: Baptismal Regeneration and the Downgrade Controversy Major published works o Morning by Morning and Evening by Evening (devotionals) o Treasury of David o John Ploughman s Talk o The Soul Winner Uptown SS Charles Haddon Spurgeon 4
o Autobiography o The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit and The New Park Street Pulpit Death of a giant Physical health issues ultimately take their toll Preached his last sermon in June 1891 and shortly left for France to convalesce. He died in Menton early the next year. His wife and children survived him. Legacy (1) Persevering through adversity Circumstances in his life: Q: Anyone know some of the physical/health issues he had? o Personal health problems Starting at age 35, Spurgeon suffered from gout (acute arthritis characterized by sudden, unexpected, excruciating pain in the joints), arthritic rheumatism, and Bright s Disease (acute nephritis kidney inflammation resulting in back pain, vomiting, and fever). In the latter half of his ministry, these maladies kept him out of the pulpit 1/3 of the time when he was recuperating or unable to stand and preach. Put your foot in a vice and turn the screw as tight as you can that is rheumatism; give it an extra turn, and that is rheumatic gout. o Wife s health problems At age 33, Susannah suffered a serious illness that resulted in her becoming an invalid for the rest of her life generally unable to leave the home. Could not attend his worship services very frequently. o Clinical depression Following the Surrey Music Hall Fire! event at age 22, Spurgeon spent the remainder of his adult life battling severe depression. Friend: His comparatively early death might be in some measure due to the furnace of mental suffering he endured on and after that fearful night. My spirits were sunken so low that I could weep by the hour like a child, and yet I knew not what I wept for. Despondency is not a virtue; I believe it to be a vice. I am heartily ashamed of myself for falling into it, but I am sure there is no remedy for it like holy faith in God. Causeless depression cannot be reasoned with As well fight with the mist as with this shapeless, indefinable, yet all-beclouding hopelessness. Spurgeon s response: o Focusing on the sovereignty of God in his adversity It would be a very sharp and trying experience to me to think that I have an affliction which God never sent me, that the bitter cup was never filled by his hand. o Emphasizing the restraining and faith-vindicating power of trials I dare say the greatest earthly blessing that God can give any of us is health with the exception of sickness. Spurgeon saw his afflictions chiefly as God s means of chastening his prideful heart (his chief struggle) and empowering his ministry. o Looking to the fruit of suffering for comfort Uptown SS Charles Haddon Spurgeon 5
If by excessive labour, we die before reaching the average age of men, worn out in the Master s service, then glory be to God, we shall have much less of earth and so much more of heaven. Implications: o Q: What is the biblical basis for his response? 1 Peter 1:6-7 Faith proved genuine 2 Corin 12:7 Paul s thorn kept him from conceit o Q: What can we learn from Spurgeon s battles with physical trial? Encouragement to endure adversity in our own lives Gratitude that God uses broken people to advance his kingdom Praise that He has given us examples to follow (2) Preaching through criticism Circumstances in his life: Q: Beyond the physical trials, what was probably the toughest thing for Spurgeon to endure in his ministry? o Criticism from without From the time he was 16 until his death, Spurgeon faced both widespread adulation and widespread criticism at the same time. Newspapers ( In our estimation he is just a spoilt boy ) and magazines like Vanity Fair (caricatured him in a Dec 10, 1870 article) often sought him as an easy target. He was generally rough-and-ready: A true Christian is one who fears God, and is hated by the Saturday Review. However, the criticism often took its toll, even in his later years. o Criticism from within More acutely, Spurgeon suffered the constant criticism of fellow pastors within the evangelical church and his own church members. He viewed his labor as battling for souls: Ours is more than mental work it is heart work, the labour of our inmost soul. Constant attacks from within struck him deeply. One crushing stroke has sometimes laid [me] very low. The brother most relied upon becomes a traitor. Ten years of toil do not take so much life out of us as we lose in a few hours by the traitor or the apostate. Other pastors doubted his conversion (publicly), questioned his doctrine, attacked him personally, and more. E.g., the public letter published by Joseph Parker (other dominant pastor) after a series of private conversations and promising Spurgeon they would remain private. He was attacked equally by liberal theologians and ultra-calvinists. You know what one coldhearted man can do, if he gets at you on Sunday morning with a lump of ice, and freezes you with the information that Mrs. Smith and all her family are offended, and their pew is vacant. What terrible blankets some professors are! Their remarks after a sermon are enough to stagger you You have been pleading as for life or death, and they have been calculating how many seconds the sermon occupied, and grudging you the odd five minutes beyond the usual hour. Spurgeon s response: o Remaining resolute but charitable. He patiently responded to critics and defended his preaching, time and time again. Uptown SS Charles Haddon Spurgeon 6
o Resting in the truth that God s word would be vindicated, either in his life or afterwards. Men cannot say anything worse of me than they have said. I have been belied from head to foot, and misrepresented to the last degree. My good looks are gone, and none can damage me much now. For my part, I am quite willing to be eaten by dogs for the next fifty years; but the more distant future shall vindicate me. So it has. Implications: o Q: What is the biblical basis for his response? Col 1:24-25 Filling up what was lacking in Christ s sufferings by continuing his word ministry 1 Cor 4:9-13 Suffering of the apostles (slander, cursing, etc.) Jude 17-22 Persevere in evangelizing even if scoffers divide you o Q: What can we learn from Spurgeon s suffering through criticism? Pray for our pastors who are urgently battling for souls Mortify our critical spirits when it comes to the preaching of the word life up and encourage our pastors to persevere. (3) Defending right doctrine Circumstances in his life: o Calvinist from re-birth. In April after his January 1850 conversion, he wrote: The thought struck me, How did you come to be a Christian? I sought the Lord. But how did you come to seek the Lord? I prayed, thought I; but then I asked myself, How came I to pray? I was induced to pray by reading the Scriptures. How came I to read the Scriptures? Then in a moment, I saw that God was at the bottom of it all, and that he was the author of my faith; and so the whole doctrine of grace opened up to me, and from that doctrine I have not departed. o He clung ardently to Scripture and the interpretation offered by reformed doctrine and Calvinism. The sovereignty of God in all things, including salvation, was the center of his entire teaching. He was also very Baptist. If anyone should ask me what I mean by a Calvinist, I should reply, He is one who says, Salvation is of the Lord. I cannot find in Scripture any other doctrine than this. It is the essence of the Bible. o He was charitable in his view towards the church. But far be it from me even to imagine that Zion contains none but Calvinistic Christians within her walls, or that there are none saved who do not hold our views. I believe there are multitudes of men who cannot see these truths, or, at least, cannot see them in the way in which we put them, who nevertheless have received Christ as their Saviour, and are as dear to the heart of the God of grace as the soundest Calvinist in or out of Heaven. Spurgeon s response: o Q: What two main controversies dominated the latter part of his career? o Baptismal Regeneration controversy Q: What is baptismal regeneration? Preached a sermon on June 5, 1864, that set off a national uproar. In his sermon, he attacked the [false] doctrine that men are regenerated and save through the act of baptism. He leveled his attack specifically at the Church of England, whose Book of Common Prayer taught it in three places (including the children s catechism). Uptown SS Charles Haddon Spurgeon 7
His ultimate objective was not to rebuke the teaching, per se (though he totally disagreed with it), but to chastise the pastors who did not hold to the doctrine yet stayed within the denomination. I know of nothing more calculated to debauch the public mind than a want of straightforwardness in ministers; and when worldly men hear ministers denouncing the very things which their own Prayer Book teaches, they imagine that words have no meaning among ecclesiastics, and that vital differences in religion are merely a matter of tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum, and that it does not much matter what a man does believe so long as he is charitable towards other people. If baptism does regenerate people, let the fact be preached with a trumpet tongue, and let no man be ashamed of his belief in it. If this be really their creed, by all means let them have full liberty for its propagation.i hate their doctrine, but I love their honesty That crafty kindness which inveigles me to sacrifice principle is the serpent in the grass deadly to the incautious wayfarer. It is time that there should be an end put to the flirtations of honest men with those who believe one way and swear another. The uprising against him from the Anglican Church was severe. Five volumes of letters, pamphlets, and sermons were produced by him and others on the topic in the ensuing months. He pulled Metropolitan Tabernacle out of the Evangelical Alliance. o The Downgrade Controversy Spurgeon (and others, but he was the voice) were troubled by an increasing decay in doctrinal integrity within the evangelical church, not the worst of which was the Baptist Union (Presbyterians, apparently, were the first to go downhill in England). In 1887, he and a friend Robert Shindler published a series of five articles in the Sword and the Trowel indicting the modern church for getting on the downward slope, or down-grade, of perverting biblical truth. The starting point, which should strike a chord with us in the present day, was a rejection of the doctrine of scripture: The first step astray is a want of adequate faith in the divine inspiration of the sacred Scriptures. Having taken this step, pastors of churches were starting to question all things: As usual with people on an incline, some who got on the down grade went further than they intended Those who turned away from Calvinism may not have dreamed of denying the deity of the Son of God, renouncing faith in his atoning death and justifying righteousness, and denouncing the doctrine of human depravity, the need for Divine renewal but, dreaming or not dreaming, this result became a reality. Based on the massive outcry against their letters, they were convinced that perhaps they were too late for reform: Our solemn conviction is that things are much worse in many churches than they seem to be.how much farther could they go? What doctrine remains to be abandoned? A new religion has been initiated, which is no more Christianity. The critical response from within the English evangelical community, especially the Union, was massive and severe. For Spurgeon, the crux of the argument, as with the Baptismal Regeneration controversy, was, How far those who abide by the faith once delivered to the saints should fraternize with those who have turned aside from the gospel. In October 1887, Spurgeon wrote the Baptist Union and announced his decision to withdraw. He was later censured by the Union in the same meeting in which they adopted a watered-down confession (their first) that Uptown SS Charles Haddon Spurgeon 8
included the footnote that the member churches did not need to abide by the confession. The aftermath weighed on him tremendously, as he did not originally want schism. Even some of his own students at the College turned against him. He wrote a friend in 1891, Good-bye; you will never see me again. This fight is killing me. Implications: o Q: What is the biblical basis for his response? Titus 1:10-16 false teachers must be silenced to protect the church 1 Cor 1:12 Apollos / Paul / Cephas there is room for disagreement Gal 2:11-21 Paul s disagreement with Peter Gal 2:4-5 Do not give in to deceivers who enter the ranks o Q: What can we learn from Spurgeon s fight for clear, biblical doctrine? Develop your minds. Saturate your minds with Scripture and sound teaching. Is it right to separate? At times, yes! But, like Spurgeon, work first for unity that is in accord with the Scriptures. Protecting the truth is worth it in the long run. Closing thoughts Avowed atheists are not a tenth as dangerous as those preachers who scatter doubt and stab at faith. These facts furnish a lesson for the present times, when, as in some cases, it is all too plainly apparent men are willing to forego the old for the sake of the new. But commonly it is found in theology that that which is true is not new, and that which is new is not true. Abbreviated List of Sources Spurgeon, C.H. Autobiography Spurgeon, C.H. Sermon 573 Spurgeon, C.H. A Defense of Calvinism Fullerton, W.Y. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a Biography MacArthur Jr., John. Spurgeon and the Downgrade Controversy Piper, John. Preaching Through Adversity. Uptown SS Charles Haddon Spurgeon 9
Miscellaneous Pictures Figure 2a: C.H. Spurgeon Figure 3a: Cottage where he preached his first sermon Figure 4: Sermon notecard (Mark 16:14) Figure 3b: Metropolitan Tabernacle Figure 2b: Susannah Spurgeon Figure 5: Spurgeon s weekly magazine