Charles
Spurgeon
A preacher for all
generations
Recognition of the awful evil of sin in his life sent Charles
Hadden Spurgeon on a journey which began with a long for, and ended
with a recognition of, who Jesus Christ truly was: Lord and
Savior. For a boy who
grew up in a Christian home with a father and a grandfather who were
pastors, however, this realization took many years to
materialize. Charles,
who grew up studying theology, was always the head of his class. Yet
even while debating his teachers on infant vs. adult baptism, and
despite the depth of his religious and theological knowledge, there
was a significant ingredient missing: No one had ever presented the
gospel to young Spurgeon.
He was well aware of the verse that spoke of Jesus dying for
the sins of the world, but he had no realization of how this might
apply to him. Finally,
when Charles turned 13 years old, he came to a full understanding of
sin and his own helpless condition. However, when he sought help
from different pastors, he found nothing. He went from church to
church. Each church
spoke on highly theological issues such as divine sovereignty but
all the young boy wanted to know was, “How can I have my sins
forgiven?!?”
After searching unsuccessfully
and living in anguish for a great deal of time, Spurgeon stumbled
upon the Lord while walking home from school in a snowfall. As the snow began to fall
more thickly on his way home, he ducked into a Methodist church in
the midst of a service.
It had snowed so much the pastor could not make the
service. In the
pastor’s stead, a lay shoemaker or tailor took the pulpit and began
preaching on a short statement of Jesus, “Look unto me and be
saved.” It was as if the preacher knew exactly what the young,
searching Charles was looking for. He needed to look unto
Christ, trust in Him, have his sins forgiven, and be saved. Thus began the ministry of
Charles Hadden Spurgeon.
Spurgeon will always be remembered
first as a preacher. He
had the gifts of learning and public speaking. Yet Spurgeon was also a man
who wrestled with God in prayer. When asked how his church
could serve him, he answered there was nothing he wanted more than a
church that would pray fervently and understand what it meant to
commune with God in prayer.
He said, “Oh, for a living groan! One sigh of the soul has
more power in it than half an hour recitation of pretty, pious
words.” In addition, he had a wife—his soul mate—who shared in all
the toils and fruit of his ministry. From the beginning, their
sole purpose as a couple was to serve the Lord. Last, Spurgeon was a man who
was far ahead of his time.
His world was very different than today’s where pastors are
CEOs who build churches through programs and multimedia
gimmicks. Spurgeon
built his church through prayer, meeting with the sick and needy,
and teaching the congregation what it meant to live by the Word and
act upon it. He looked
after the basic needs of the individual first. He was interested in growing
a congregation through sound, Biblical teaching and the
multiplication of saints.
The Boy
Preacher
Even when Charles was a small
child, people knew there was something special about him. He would hang out with his
grandfather, a Congregational minister. As his grandfather would
counsel others, little Charles would stand by his side and
listen. From his
earliest days, Spurgeon always knew he had to preach. He wrote, “And when a man
does speak as the Spirit gives him utterance, he will feel a holy
joy, akin to that of Heaven [sic]; and when it is over; he wishes to
be at his work again, he longs to be once more preaching.” We
currently live in an age where churches discourage young high school
or middle school students from getting in front of the church or
leading prayer; however, Spurgeon at the age of 17 was asked to
become the regular pastor of a Waterbeach, England, church. Through his vibrant
preaching of the Word, and equally vibrant prayer life, Spurgeon
transformed this small church of 40 into a flourishing country
church of 400 in a matter of one year.
Because of his youth, Spurgeon was known as the “Boy
Preacher.” People came not only from Waterbeach, but also from all
across the countryside to hear a preacher like they had never heard
before. Here was a
young man with an extraordinary gift. What separated Spurgeon as a
pastor was both his ability to preach and his ability to understand
and influence people.
He knew everyone in the congregation—from infant daughters to
aging grandfathers—by name. He also was aware of, and was disturbed
by, the amount of sin in the congregation. Lovingly, in public and
private, he presented the gospel to anyone who would listen.
Spurgeon’s devotion to the spiritual disciplines was critical
to his ministry. He
would rise early in the morning and devote his entire day to the
labor of studying, visiting others, praying, and preaching. As long as he was healthy,
this was a habit he continued his entire life.
The Family
Man
When one thinks of a mega church today, they may think of the
pastor fulfilling a CEO-like position. Granted, Spurgeon pastored
more than 6,000 members at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, but
even so, that was not his style of ministry. Moreover, he had a partner
in ministry: his wife Susannah.
Susannah was one
of many parishioners who attended to his church when Spurgeon took
over in the mid-1850s.
Even though most boys are busy looking for a mate while in
their teens, Spurgeon was too busy preaching and serving the
Lord. Thus, he was
already into his second pastorate before he really began searching
for a wife. At a Sunday
evening service the two caught eyes and it was the beginning of a
life-long ministry together.
Charles first gave Susannah a copy of Pilgrim’s
Progress and wrote in the book, “Miss Thompson: with desires for
her progress in the blessed pilgrimage. From C. H. Spurgeon, Ap. 20,
1854.” After an
engagement of 18 months, the two were married and thus began their
ministry.
Charles and Susannah were both devoted to God with all their
hearts but their second love was each other. Charles was bold in his
faith and proclamation of the truth, but he also was a very
sensitive man. As
Charles encountered a great deal of opposition to some of his
cutting-edge theology from criticizers outside the church, Susannah
provided him with a plethora of encouragement, support, and
understanding. She
worked with him in his ministry, prayed with him, believed in him,
and loved him through their many years of work. Their love for each other
seemed never to diminish throughout their lives even though both
endured a great amount of illness. This is evident in one of
the many poems Charles wrote for Susannah which says, “Over the
space that parts us, my wife, I’ll cast me a bridge of song; Our
hearts shall meet, O joy of my life, On its arch, unseen, but
strong.”
Cutting-Edge
Theology
Looking back on Spurgeon’s theology today, one may be
tempted to label it as archaic. However, in his day, he was
one of the most controversial and cutting-edge pastors in all of
London. Spurgeon was a very
opinioned man (to put it mildly). He spent a great deal of
time in study and when he came to his convictions, he felt at
liberty to share them with everyone. Spurgeon believed there were
too many pastors who were simply intellectuals. If a pastor had not
experienced a heartfelt born-again conversion, according to
Spurgeon, he had no place being in the pulpit. In addition, he had a
passion not only for his own education, but also for the education
of other pastors. He
set up his own school of preaching and sent out numerous copies of
sermons throughout England to fellow
pastors. What may have
distinguished Spurgeon the most, however, was his staunch belief in
Calvin’s theology. Even
so, Spurgeon rejected the hyper-Calvinism in vogue among Christians
in his day. He preached
that people were predestined and that it was everyone’s job to
preach the gospel. He knew that humanity is lost in sin, and there
is no way an individual can pull themself out. Unlike many other Calvinists
of his day, Spurgeon had a tremendous heart for the unsaved. He said, “ How have I
striven for them that they might be saved!”
Even though Spurgeon passed on to
heaven more than century ago, he has left many examples to
follow. Foremost, he
loved the Word of God, communing with God in prayer, and winning the
lost to Christ.
Spurgeon is one of the greatest preachers ever to walk the
face of the earth. He
taught many people what it meant to preach both salvation and
theology in the same service.
He modeled what it was like not to compromise but to love
everyone unconditionally.
He cared for the needy and prayed with the dying and still
had time for his family.
Moreover, even though he was man full of spiritual gifts, he
never compromised with his faith, fighting the good fight for Christ
until he passed away in 1892.
Given his lifelong, uncompromising service, he could have
easily said the same words Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have
fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the
faith.”
