Modern Heroes of the Christian Faith
The Bible is filled with biography – one character after another parade across the pages. God loves to teach lasting lessons through the lives of individuals. With that in mind, Stephen Davey has undertaken a special biographical series illustrating biblical truths through the lives of contemporary believers. These ordinary men and women provide a wonderful legacy. They are influenced and influential because of their faith in God. They are Modern Heroes of the Christian Faith.
Modern Heroes of the Christian Faith
Charles Spurgeon: Portrait of an Influential Pastor
Prepare to delve into the remarkable life and legacy of Charles Spurgeon. We'll take a fascinating journey that unwraps the early life experiences, family background and personal struggles of one of history's most influential pastors. From the scripture-drenched upbringing by his family to the transformative sermon in a humble Methodist chapel, we uncover how Spurgeon found his faith and dedicated his life to ministry.
Throughout our discussion, it becomes clear just how passionate Spurgeon was about his ministry, and how, with his photographic memory, he used his vast knowledge to craft powerful sermons and mentor future pastors. We'll share stories of Spurgeon's unique, often humorous approach to ministry and how he handled the daunting task of fulfilling requests for a pastor. His nickname "Parsonslayer" certainly wasn't given lightly! Stephen also shines a light on Spurgeon's personal life, including his loving marriage to Susanna and the trials they faced together.
As we round off our exploration of Spurgeon's life, Stephen imparts a potent message about focusing solely on Christ, serving as a reminder that we are already accepted by the one who has overcome evil. You'll learn about the strength in looking to Christ alone for acceptance, highlighting the key message that Spurgeon dedicated his life to preaching. If you're seeking inspiration or wish to deepen your understanding of Charles Spurgeon's life and impact, this episode offers a compelling journey.
This series is available as a book. Learn more: https://www.wisdomonline.org/heroes
music playing, playing in bright rhythm. Welcome to Modern Heroes of the Christian Faith. With Stephen Davie, i'm your host, scott Wiley. In this series, stephen explores the lives and legacies of ordinary people whose faith had a profound impact. Stephen is the president of Wisdom International. You can learn more at wisdominternational. In today's episode, you'll meet Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon is often heralded for his eloquence and his rich commentary on the Bible, but it wasn't his ability to speak that made him a great pastor. It was his ability to listen. While other preachers turned to cultural and scientific experts for direction, spurgeon held fast to the Spirit of God music playing.
Speaker 2:Born into a legacy of pastors, charles Spurgeon entered the world on June 19, 1834. He, many of you would know, would become the most profoundly influential, internationally known pastor for the next nearly 200 years now. Because of economic difficulties, i think his mother had 17 children. Charles was sent for a time to live with his grandparents when he was two years of age. When he returned back to his parents' home, he was six years old and ready to begin formal schooling, but his grandparents had already taught him how to read. He'd been taught to read the Bible.
Speaker 2:When Spurgeon returned back to his home, his father, a pastor, had a godly influence in his life, but Spurgeon actually referred more to his mother's influence than his father's. Evidently, while the father was away, she would often gather the children, especially on Sunday evening or at a table for scripture reading and prayer. Spurgeon said that she would pray. Remember a dozen or so kids around this table and she would pray with this kind of precision and courage. And I quote Now, lord, if my children go on in their sins, it will not be from ignorance that they perish. My soul will bear witness against them at the day of judgment if they lay not hold of Christ, amen. Wow, even though Spurgeon had such a bold godly heritage, he resisted the work of God's Spirit. In fact, he wrote this and I quote him. I must confess that I never would have been saved if I could have helped it. As long as I could, i rebelled and revolted and struggled against God. When he would have me pray, i would not pray. When I heard him and the tear would roll down my cheek, i would wipe it away and defy him to melt my soul. Oh, he writes. But long before I began with Christ, he had begun with me. Spurgeon once said that at the age of sixteen, the Holy Spirit had been plowing his soul with ten horses, referring to the Ten Commandments, and then cross-plowing with the gospel.
Speaker 2:Well, there are many accounts of this event and I read several of them and I'm summarizing for you. But one Sunday morning the snow was falling so hard that Charles couldn't make it to his own church, and so he wandered into a primitive Methodist chapel, much different than the doctrinal creed that he followed as a congregationalist. He arrived a bit late, and when he arrived he discovered that the pastor wasn't even there and they had a guest speaker. Must have been their summer series only in the winter. Well, at any rate, nobody knew where the pastor was actually. He was probably stuck in a snowdrift, and so, after some rather awkward delays, another man volunteered to preach. He was a lay preacher, but he was uneducated and to this day, by the way, still unknown, unnamed.
Speaker 2:Spurgeon later recounted the event in detail, and let me read from his journal. He writes This man could barely read, yet he preached on the text Look unto me and be saved. He stuck to his text, for he had little else to say. My dear friends, he said, this is a very simple text indeed. It says Look Now. Looking don't take a good deal of pain, it ain't lifting your foot or your finger, it's just looking. Well, a man needn't go to college to learn to look. You may be the biggest fool, and yet you can look. Any man needn't be worth a thousand pounds a year to be able to look. Anyone can look. Even a child can look. But then the text says Look unto me. Many of you are looking to yourselves and it's no use looking there. You'll never find any comfort in yourselves. Look to Christ. The text says Look unto me.
Speaker 2:After about 10 minutes, spurgeon writes he had quite exhausted all he had to say. But then he noticed young Spurgeon sitting in the back of the chapel under the balcony. Not recognizing him, but noticing his downcast expression, he suddenly cried out. Looking back at Spurgeon, young man, you look miserable and you will always be miserable, miserable in life and miserable in death. If you don't obey this text. If you obey now, this moment, you will be saved. Young man, look to Jesus Christ, look, look, look. That was the end of the sermon. God's invitation from His Word, delivered in that simple message, was enough. And Spurgeon that evening looked to Christ and was saved. His life would be changed forever.
Speaker 2:By the way, the passage that that man read from is a great passage. It's Isaiah, chapter 45, and it really will come to summarize the theme of Spurgeon's life. In Isaiah, chapter 45, the prophet is quoting God, and it's a wonderful invitation. In verse 22, he is quoting God who says Turn to me and be saved all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. I have sworn by myself. The word has gone forth from my mouth in righteousness and will not be reversed. To me, every knee will bow and every tongue will swear. Allegiance Sounds familiar, right. Paul picks up on that in Philippians, chapter 2. They will say of me. Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength. Men will come to Him, and all who are angry at Him will be put to shame. In the Lord, all the offspring of Israel will be justified and will glory. Now, in the King James translation, the invitation of verse 22 is Look to me and be saved, and that would be the verse that would change Spurgeon's heart and life. In fact, spurgeon would really go on throughout his ministry and life to point everybody in his world to Jesus Christ, instantly Calvinistic and yet highly evangelistic, which is a perfect blend of doctrine and passion for the lost.
Speaker 2:Within a year, charles was invited to preach. He was 17 years of age and a handful of villagers, meeting in a barn, asked him to preach for them on the Lord's Day, and so he agreed. And then they invited him back and he continued to preach in that makeshift barn to a handful of people. But within two years, that group of villagers had grown to just over 400 people, without any formal education, any formal training, although Spurgeon did apply and he showed up at the office of the president, who mistakenly, didn't realize Spurgeon was in the lobby and literally walked past him. The appointment was never kept and Spurgeon decided it was from God and never went to school to prepare as a pastor. But he did have a photographic mind. That kind of makes up for everything, doesn't it? And he was a voracious reader. He'd read about six books a week. His library would include more than 12,000 volumes, and he loved to study and he loved to preach.
Speaker 2:At the age of 19, folks in London had heard about those villagers in the barn and the passion of this young man, and so they invited him to preach at this well-known but dying church called New Park Street Chapel. It had an auditorium that sat right around 1,200 people, a long history of pastors like Dr Gill, who had been published in several volumes, brilliant men and biblically oriented. But the church had, over time, been enveloped by the developing city of London and had become what we would call today an inner city church. But it had no inner city outreach And, at this point in time, no pastor or teacher delivering the truth of God's word.
Speaker 2:A spurgeon it's interesting actually thought their invitation to him was a mistake And so he didn't act upon it. They invited him again and when he realized they were serious, he declined. I mean, why would a city church want an uneducated country boy to be their pastor? But this once vibrant church had heard about this uneducated boy who spoke with passion and color and truth. And they persisted. And so he finally accepted an invitation to come and preach. When he arrived to preach he spoke that Sunday. Less than 200 people were there.
Speaker 2:History records that his clothing didn't fit him. His hair didn't lay down obediently, he had a cowlick and he simply didn't fit the London city scene. His father had already told him he was making a mistake in going. Maybe he was right. A teenage girl in the congregation that Sunday happened to recall how Spurgeon's appearance was odd and distracting, if not comical. She actually wrote in her diary, and I quote, about his long, badly trimmed hair, oversized black satin coat and his mismatched blue handkerchief with large white spots, which he graphically described as an illustration in a sermon, calling all the more attention to it. She writes he awakened in me feelings of amusement. He awakened more than that because within two years she'd marry him and pick out his handkerchiefs for the rest of his life. Susanna was her name By the time he turned 20, he was married and he and Susanna began their ministry and he accepted the call to become the pastor of this church.
Speaker 2:It's remarkable to read the unique blessing of God's hand upon his ministry, because as soon as he became their pastor, the church began literally to explode with growth. In fact, within one year the congregation had outgrown their auditorium and the people decided to build a new one. So while that church building was under construction, the congregation rented a public hall to meet in, which was, in that day and age, scandalous, because the church should never use a public building to meet in. It was unheard of. Spurgeon didn't care. He'd been preaching in a barn for three years. This was probably an improvement. Right A year later they moved into that new church building, which was immediately filled to capacity. They had to leave it again and rent space while they built another new church building.
Speaker 2:By now the name of Charles Spurgeon was a household name. He had a dramatic style of preaching. Let me describe what dramatic was. Dramatic was doing this. You didn't use hand gestures back then. He was dramatic in that he used tonal variety. You didn't do that. You did that as you preached in monotone, and so he was almost a scandal. He would walk back and forth. He would dramatically act out stories from the Bible. He used humor, especially his humor, which was uncalled for and out of line in these days. In fact, on one occasion a wealthy woman came up to him and informed him that he was using far too much humor in the pulpit, to which he responded Madam, you have no idea how much I'm holding back.
Speaker 2:Spurgeon would later write there's nothing spiritual about gloom and despair. Jesus did not say blessed are the gloomy. And it seems to me that some preachers appear to have their neckties twisted around their souls. You can imagine pastors all around London are quickly becoming divided on how they feel about this young 21-year-old pastor with no education. Some called him a glory hound, others called him the boy actor, no matter. Just about everybody wanted to hear him preach And everybody from the Queen down would.
Speaker 2:His theology was entirely biblically driven. He was courageous. In fact he had already upset his father and his grandfather by becoming a Baptist. He refused to sprinkle infants as he grew in his understanding of the word, as his father and grandfather had done in their ministries for decades. And he wasn't about to mince words either. If you read his writings, he didn't hold back from what we called earlier today, those difficult doctrines. He preached and held high the sovereignty of God, the election of the saints and the final judgment. Once he was asked what do you call yourself? And he said that he preferred to think of himself as a mere Christian. We picked up later by CS Lewis. He went on and I quote him I am never ashamed to avow myself a Calvinist. I do not hesitate to take the name of Baptist, but if I am asked what my creed is, i reply it is simply Jesus Christ. You can't improve on that.
Speaker 2:On March 1861, they moved into their newly built metropolitan tabernacle in London, still in ministry, still Orthodox, still being pastor, and I've had the privilege of visiting there In his day, although it's smaller now, but in his day it's seated 5,600 people. Now, the interesting thing about this is, unlike the other pastors of large churches and there were several in London It didn't have any pipe, organ or any other instrument, because Charles believed. Anything but the voice was a distraction. Now, if people complained, all they needed to do was go and visit, and the sound of 5,000 people singing was enough to convince them. That was sufficient.
Speaker 2:Early on in their courtships, susanna knew that Spurgeon belonged to God first and foremost. In fact, their early premarital days found Spurgeon correcting sermon manuscripts while Susanna sat. She would later write learning how to be quiet. Once, when they were newly married, spurgeon completely forgot she was with him and left her behind at a church function. You've done that with your kids, don't do that with your wife, okay? She rushed home to her mother in tears. All in all, they had a wonderful marriage, though incredibly busy and constantly interrupted. Early in their marriage, susanna bore twin sons, and they would grow up to love Christ and his church. Eventually, in fact, after Spurgeon's death, his son, thomas, became the pastor of the church and Charles Jr took over the orphanage that their father had founded Back to earlier days.
Speaker 2:By the age of 33, susanna suffered physical difficulties. From a variety of reports that I read, it seems that she had a rare cervical operation performed by James Simpson, the father of modern gynecology, but evidently it didn't help. She would become a virtual invalid and for the next 27 years seldom heard her husband preach to the thousands of people who pack the sanctuary every week. In fact, the church grew so much that Spurgeon on one occasion asked all the congregation to not come to church the following Sunday so that newcomers who might not be Christians would have a seat, and they complied. On another occasion he simply decided and he asked the congregation to dismiss so that those outside could get a seat. And they complied, and immediately the tabernacle filled again the capacity. By the end of his ministry he would see 14,500 people baptized and his church would have a standing active membership of 5,300. Remarkable in these days.
Speaker 2:In the midst of all of this, spurgeon suffered with his own physical issues. He suffered with severe gout swelling in his joints, rheumatism and inflammation of the kidneys that brought him intense pain. In fact, from the age of 35 until he died at the age of 57, he literally would spend one third of his time out of the pulpit recovering from his ailments. Still, he worked 18 hours a day. He produced more than 140 books.
Speaker 2:In fact, when his missionary friend by the name of David Livingston asked him on one occasion, charles, how do you manage to do two men's work in a single day, spurgeon replied Well, you've forgotten that there are two of us. That's a good answer. And then he loved the verse from Paul to the Colossians I labor, striving according to his power which mightily works within me, colossians 129. He once wrote If by excessive labor we die before reaching the average age of man worn out in the master service, then, glory be to God. We shall have so much less of earth and so much more of heaven. It is our duty and our privilege to exhaust our lives for Jesus Now. By the way, this runs so counterculture then and now, listen to this statement We are not to be living specimens of men in fine preservation, but living sacrifices whose lot is to be consumed Not exactly the most popular way of thinking, certainly not in the ministry today.
Speaker 2:Early on, he founded a school for pastors. He wanted men to get training he never received. Hundreds of men would graduate from this school. In this enterprise. He just had this straightforward approach to ministry, to education. He taught the students, as well as other faculty. He had a blunt sense of humor that became rather legendary. I brought a few illustrations along.
Speaker 2:For example, on one occasion a search committee wrote to Spurgeon asking for a minister from among his student body. They presented the job description and then told him the salary they would pay the student. Spurgeon wrote back to them that the salary was so small, and I quote from his letter the only individual I know who could live on such a salary as you are offering is the angel Gabriel. He wouldn't need cash or clothing, he could just come down from heaven on Sunday and go back up that same night. So I advise you to invite Gabriel to be your pastor.
Speaker 2:On another occasion a letter arrived from the pastoral search committee, again looking for a student. They wrote to Spurgeon asking if Spurgeon would send them a student who could come and fill their auditorium. Spurgeon replied they didn't have any students that large, but then he added that he would send a student who would capably fill the pulpit. Good huh, spurgeon personally interviewed every prospective student. He was looking for what he called the clear evidence of the call of God on their lives. He didn't believe. The college called them in the ministry. They must be called. And then they came and were trained, which is exactly the right way to go about it. And so he would interview every student who applied. He would turn down so many applicants that he earned the nickname Parsonslayer. He simply felt concern for protecting the church from unqualified, ungifted, even ungodly men. If you can imagine it back in his day, their great concern was getting men to fill the pulpits who were actually converted to Christ, like the time a young man came to apply for entrance.
Speaker 2:Spurgeon writes, and I quote his face could have served as the title page to a volume on pride and conceit. He said word to me that he must see me at once, without any appointment. His audacity gained him entrance And when he stood before me he said Sir, i want to enter your college and I wish to enter it at once. He informed me that, as to his preaching, he could produce the highest testimonials, but hardly thought they would be needed, as a personal interview with me would convince me of his ability at once. His surprise was great when I said Sir, i'm obliged to tell you I cannot accept your application. Why not? Well, i'll tell you plainly you are so dreadfully clever that I could not insult you by receiving you into our student body, where we have nothing but rather ordinary students. You would have to condescend too much in joining us. Well then, he said, you ought to at least allow me to show my preaching abilities. Select any text you like, suggest any subject you please, and here in this very room, i will preach upon it. Spurgeon responded oh, i cannot, for I feel myself unworthy of the privilege, and the interview was over.
Speaker 2:You can imagine how Spurgeon was constantly being demanded upon. He would start more than 60 different ministries under his supervision. Thankfully, he had a photographic memory and remembered everything he read in books and commentaries and scriptures. He studied. His practice which I do not recommend unless someone has a photographic memory is on Saturday night. He would begin working on his Sunday morning sermon Again, not a good idea unless you got a photographic memory. There are a few of us that do. That was a joke. Okay, stay with me, stay with me here. He would work on Saturday night and he would remember what he had voraciously read that week.
Speaker 2:Spurgeon was actually a textual preacher, that is, he would expound on one verse or two and then kind of ring everything possible from that text. The next Sunday it might be an entirely different book, a different text Old Testament, new Testament. His congregation never had the privilege of spending years and years in one book of the Bible. I'm supposed to say Amen, they're not laugh alright. Anyhow, sometimes on Saturday night I read he couldn't find the verse, he just couldn't locate the text, and so he'd call out in desperation to Susanna, whom he affectionately called wifey, which doesn't sound all that affectionate, does it? But he would say Wifey, come here, come help me. Susanna would come in and she would write how with great joy she'd bring her Bible into his study and she would read to him several texts that had marked her Wife over the course of the last few days or weeks. And then suddenly she said Spurgeon would seize on a text and say that's it, that's it. She would leave his study and within a few hours he would have a sermon prepared. The following Monday he would edit his notes by the way, his sermon transcript, and it would be sent to newspapers in different parts of the world. It would be read by millions of people. Let me add this I found this interesting On one particular Saturday night Spurgeon was in bed and he was asleep, but Susanna said he began to preach in his sleep.
Speaker 2:He began to talk in his sleep Even though he was asleep. He was plainly speaking. And so Susanna got up, got a pen and paper and began to write down the notes. And when Spurgeon awakened the next morning, she handed him what he had unconsciously preached that night and he took one look at those notes, immediately discarded the sermon he had prepared for that Sunday morning, went into his pulpit with her notes and preached that sermon. Can you imagine I've told my wife not to write down what I say when I'm asleep. Don't take notes on me.
Speaker 2:One particular Saturday night Spurgeon had to deal with yet another interruption. He had a way of handling people with humor. He hoped to teach them a lesson with his dry humor, although we're not sure everyone learned their lesson. At any rate, the knock came on the door and Housekeeper answered and it was a distinguished religious leader from the community. Again, without an appointment, spurgeon will see me. I told the Housekeeper that he wanted some time with Mr Spurgeon. She came and found Charles in his study, told him about the visitor, to which Spurgeon responded that he was busy studying for his sermon and couldn't be interrupted. The Housekeeper went back and told the dignified visitor, the answer to which he became angry and defended. He demanded that she return to Spurgeon's study and announce that he must have been misunderstood. So he commanded tell Mr Spurgeon that the master's servant is here to see him, to which Spurgeon sent back his reply through his housemaid. Tell him I am presently occupied with the master and have no time for his servant.
Speaker 2:You can well imagine that Spurgeon's ministry was often clouded with controversy. He was a lightning rod. More often it was related to doctrine which he defended. Charles Spurgeon preached a message condemning infant sprinkling and it caused this incredible uproar throughout Great Britain. Just one sermon, eventually. American newspaper editors in New York Times was running his sermons. They began editing his sermons to take out any of his comments against slavery because he condemned it publicly. He wasn't interested in the majority opinion of the day. Some of the controversies were of his own making.
Speaker 2:In fact, two of the most famous pastors in Victorian England were Charles Spurgeon and Joseph Parker. Spurgeon, of course, preached on a Sunday to close to 10,000 people in two Sunday services. Spurgeon's congregation was second in its size only to Spurgeon. They were both very influential and orthodox. Early in their ministries they fellowshiped together and often exchanged pulpits. But unfortunately they had a disagreement. Spurgeon started it. He accused Joseph Parker of being an unspiritual pastor because he often attended the theater where plays and operas were performed which Spurgeon thought was inappropriate. So Parker fired back, criticizing the fact that Spurgeon was a poor example because he smoked cigars both in private and in public. Both considered one another to be misled and misleading And their words became sharp. In fact their disagreement was such news that reports of it were carried in the London newspapers. These two great men of the faith broke fellowship over that And their friendship would never be the same. On another occasion an innocent conversation made it into the newspapers when Spurgeon's friend Dio Moody, came to visit and Spurgeon had him preach for him one Sunday. They evidently sparred a little later on, probably just in good humor, but it was widely reported that Moody asked Spurgeon when was he going to give up these awful cigars? And Spurgeon pointed a finger in the Moody's considerable midsection and said when you get rid of this? You know, i use these examples to remind us that even the greatest men of faith can bicker and argue and even divide over issues far less significant than the gospel.
Speaker 2:If you read Spurgeon's works and I recommend that you at least read his devotional entitled Morning and Evening You'll be caught up with, above everything else, the simple fact that he loved the Lord, he loved people, he loved Christ, he loved the church, he loved shepherding, and his writings have this uncanny ability, even now, nearly 200 years later, to especially bring encouragement when your heart is discouraged. For example, spurgeon once wrote oh dear friend, when thy grief presses thee to the dust, worship there If that spot has come to be thy Gethsemane, then present there thy strong crying and tears unto thy God. Remember David's words ye people, pour out your hearts, but don't stop there. Finish the quotation. Ye people pour out your hearts before him. Turn the vessel upside down. It is a good thing to empty it, for this grief may ferment into something more sour. Turn the vessel upside down and let every drop run out. Let it run out before the Lord. Spurgeon wrote of his own sufferings, and I quote the good that I have received from my sorrows and pains and griefs is altogether incalculable. Affliction is the best piece of furniture in my house. It is the best book in my library.
Speaker 2:His final years were filled with controversy over what came to be called the downgrade. Spurgeon charged the pastors in the Baptist Union of which he was a member a fellowship of pastors he belonged to with neglecting the gospel, dumbing down doctrine. He attacked their growing accommodation of Charles Darwin's book, which had been recently published, which he believed was a compromise that must be decried on God's literal, miraculous six days of creation. Hundreds of pastors were incensed with his accusation that they were abandoning their post And he was eventually voted out of the union. He would learn later that when they voted him out in that vast assembly of men, there were cheers that he had been censored. A few years after being censored by his fellow pastors, he died. All I can say is history has vindicated his warning, hasn't it? The warnings he delivered are still freshly needed today.
Speaker 2:Throughout his ministry and his life, spurgeon never got very far from that burst which arrested his attention as a young teenager. That brought salvation to his soul. He had looked to Christ, and the fact that he was accepted by Christ became this theme. Let me close with words from one of his own sermons How marvelous that we mortals, sinners, worms, should be the objects of divine love that we are in the accepted by Christ.
Speaker 2:Some Christians feel accepted by their own experience. That is when their spirit is lively and their hope's bright. They think God accepts them and they feel so happy, so heavenly-minded, so drawn above the earth. But when their souls collapse in the dust, they are the victims of the fear that they are no longer accepted. Rejoice then, believer in this You are even then accepted in the beloved. Your sins trouble you, but God has cast your sins behind his back and you are accepted in the righteous one. You have to fight with corruption and to wrestle with temptation, but you are already accepted in him, who has overcome the powers of the evil one. The devil tempts you, but be of good cheer, he cannot destroy you, for you are already accepted in him. You look within and you say there is nothing acceptable here in me. Look at Christ. Look at Christ instead And you will see that everything acceptable is in him. Look to Christ alone.
Speaker 1:That was Stephen Davy, the President of Wisdom International. You're listening to his series Modern Heroes of the Christian Faith. If you enjoyed hearing the story of Charles Spurgeon, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcast or wherever you're listening. Stephen has a website filled with resources to help you know what the Bible says, understand what it means and apply it to your life. Learn more at Wisdom International. I'm Scott Wiley. Thanks for listening to Modern Heroes of the Christian Faith.
