Three Ways to Celebrate Christmas

By / Dec 11

To most modern Western Christians, it might be a surprise to discover that Spurgeon did not celebrate Christmas with the lights, bells, wreaths, and festivities that many of us enjoy today. Newspapers in the late 1800s show that the Metropolitan Tabernacle had no Christmas decorations and showed no signs of the holiday. In contrast to the lack of merriment, a popular quote from Spurgeon says that he wished there were “ten or twelve Christmases,” which dispels the “Bah humbug” spirit that one might read into the lack of seasonal participation.

Was Spurgeon inconsistent then? Absolutely not. He saw the Christmas season as a time to reflect on the incarnation of Christ, spend time with family, and thank God for the wonderful gift of his Son. He did not care if you celebrated Christmas, but he did care why and what you focused on during the season. A curious reader of Spurgeon’s views on Christmas might ask: How would Spurgeon advise someone to spend Christmas day? Does he think Christmas is good, or rather, popish? What if someone struggles with or chooses not to celebrate Christmas, how should they spend the holiday? Here are three ways Spurgeon encouraged his congregants to celebrate Christmas Day.

Christmas can be used as a day for family and rest

First, Spurgeon assured his congregation that it is fine not to observe Christmas as a holiday because an argument can be made for its popish origin or superstition.

“I hold it to be one of the greatest absurdities under heaven to think that there is any religion in keeping Christmas-day. There are no probabilities whatever that our Savior Jesus Christ was born on that day and the observance of it is purely of Popish origin.”[1]

While this quote is quite opinionated and can be jarring to some, in the same sermon Spurgeon affirms that it is good to spend this day off with family and enjoy rest.  He says:

“However, I wish there were ten or a dozen Christmas-days in the year; for there is work enough in the world, and a little more rest would not hurt laboring people. Christmas-day is really a boon to us, particularly as it enables us to assemble round the family hearth and meet our friends once more.”[2]

Spurgeon would rather there be ten or twelve (in a later sermon he increases this number to twenty) Christmas days if it meant that men were allowed more time to spend with their families.

But what if you do not celebrate Christmas? Can you feel right about setting this day aside as so many others around do? Is that not still effectually observing Christmas? Spurgeon has an answer for this.

“The old Puritans made a parade of work on Christmas-day, just to show that they protested against the observance of it. But we believe they entered that protest so completely, that we are willing, as their descendants, to take the good accidentally conferred by the day, and leave its superstitions to the superstitious.”[3]

Spurgeon urged his congregants that no matter their conviction on the holiday, they should use the time given to them as an opportunity to rest and enjoy being with family. Whether you partake in the festivities or not, God has gifted you a precious day to love and invest in your family and loved ones. This is always a gift from God, no matter what day it comes on. The following quote sums up Spurgeon’s views on Christmas Day quite well:

“For my part, I wish there were twenty Christmas days in the year. It is seldom that young men can meet with their friends; it is rarely they can all be united as happy families; and though I have no respect to the religious observance of the day, yet I love it as a family institution, as one of England’s brightest days, the great Sabbath of the year, when the plough rests in its furrow, when the din of business is hushed, when the mechanic and the working man go out to refresh themselves upon the green sward of the glad earth.”[4]

Christmas is a time to share the Gospel with others

Second, Spurgeon urged his congregation to share their gospel story with their loved ones.

“Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.” You are not to repair to your houses and forthwith begin to preach that you are not commanded to do. You are not to begin to take up doctrinal subjects and expatiate on them, and endeavor to bring persons to your peculiar views and sentiments. You are not to go home with sundry doctrines you have lately learned, and try to teach these. At least you are not commanded so to do; you may, if you please and none shall hinder you; but you are to go home and tell not what you have believed, but what you have felt — what you really know to be your own; not what great things you have read, but what great things the Lord hath done for you; not alone what you have seen done in the great congregation, and how great sinners have turned to God, but what the Lord has done for you.”[5]

Whether we have believing families or not, we should spend the holiday with our loved ones by talking about the goodness of God and the freedom we have through the death and resurrection of Christ. For those of us with unbelieving families, this will be an evangelistic effort. Others who find themselves surrounded by believers will be sharpened by the stories of God’s work of salvation in our lives. For all that we see, we want to show something of the grace we have received through our acts of love and generosity. After all, when it comes to the salvation story, Spurgeon reminds us:

“…it must be a story of free grace. It is not, “Tell thy friends how great things thou hast done thyself,” but “how great things the Lord hath done for thee.”[6]

Christmas should be spent with Christ first

Lastly, Spurgeon directed his congregation to spend Christmas by making Christ the first one who “saw” them that day.

“Do not try to tell your tale to man till you have told it first to God. When you are at home on Christmas-day, let no one see your face till God has seen it. Be up in the morning, wrestle with God; and if your friends are not converted, wrestle with God for them, and then you will find it easy work to wrestle with them for God.”[7]

Spurgeon made the point that we should wrestle over the salvation of our family and friends. As pointed out earlier, Christmas is an opportune time to share the gospel with our families and friends, but the battle for their souls starts in prayer. Ask God to rescue their souls because he is the only one who has the power and authority to do so.

Most importantly, Spurgeon urges us to start Christmas day by reflecting on who Christ is and why he came to us. On any other day of the year, we should reflect on the coming and incarnation of Christ, but Spurgeon saw no issue with a day that allows us to reflect specifically on the incarnation. Spurgeon once said regarding Christmas, “I see no harm in thinking of the incarnation and birth of the Lord Jesus.”[8] One can never dwell too much on the incarnation of Christ because it is a pillar of Christian doctrine. Spurgeon reminds us of the essential truth of the incarnation of the Son saying,

“But as Jesus Christ is God’s Son, he is not born; but given, begotten of his Father from before all worlds, begotten — not made, being of the same substance with the Father. The doctrine of the eternal affiliation of Christ is to be received as an undoubted truth of our holy religion.”[9]

Conclusion

Spurgeon helps us navigate the Christmas holiday, whether we choose to participate in the festivities or not, by encouraging us that there are various reasons to gather on this day outside of tradition or superstition. He urges us that while this day is set aside already, we should spend the free time by first thanking the Lord for sending His Son to be born as a baby, live a sinless life, take the punishment for our sins upon Himself, and rise again in victory for our salvation through faith. He also encourages us to spend this time in rest with those we love, sharing with them the good news about the Christ who came to offer us salvation so long ago.

[1] The Incarnation And Birth Of Christ No. 57

[2] The Incarnation And Birth Of Christ No. 57

[3] The Incarnation And Birth Of Christ No. 57

[4] Going Home – A Christmas Sermon. No. 109

[5] Going Home – A Christmas Sermon. No. 109

[6] Going Home – A Christmas Sermon. No. 109

[7] Going Home – A Christmas Sermon. No. 109

[8] The Incarnation And Birth Of Christ No. 57

[9] A Christmas Question. No. 291



“For Such There Is Great Need”: The Ministry of Mrs. Bartlett

By / Dec 3

Just as Paul found allies and serious ministry partners in a few key women, Spurgeon found a special ministry partner in one woman whom he and others lovingly referred to as “his favorite deacon,” Mrs. Lavinia Strickland Bartlett.[1] Mrs. Bartlett is one of the Church’s and Charles Spurgeon’s lesser-known heroes of the faith who warrants further study even though she, like Spurgeon, would have protested any personal attention. She dedicated her life to prayer and to seeing others profess Christ as Lord and Savior.

A Fruitful Sunday School

As the oldest of three children, Lavinia taught her younger siblings to pray while kneeling at an old trunk before she put them to bed “in a very staid and motherly way.”[2] Mothering, prayer, and even the trunk followed her throughout her life.[3] Spurgeon referred to her often as “a mother in Israel,” having “an intense force of character.” In the preface for her biography, her son Edward describes his mother as someone who “believed with all her heart, and therefore acted with decision and power.”[4] Upon hearing about all of the fruits of her labor, one would never imagine that she was considered an invalid, often weak and ill.

Of all of her fruits, Mrs. Bartlett became known best for the classes she held at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. She originally agreed to be a substitute teacher for one month at a New Park Street Chapel Sunday school, but when she showed up to teach on that first Sunday, she was asked to teach a different class. What started out with only three ladies grew to include thousands. Estimates are that between nine hundred and one thousand members were added to the Metropolitan Tabernacle’s membership from Mrs. Bartlett’s class, and Spurgeon was a frequent visitor. On several occasions, he found it difficult to enter the room where Mrs. Bartlett was teaching, leading him to find her more comfortable spaces. The class that started in a regular Sunday school room at the New Park Street Chapel was relocated a number of times, but eventually settled in at the lecture hall of the Metropolitan Tabernacle. With a motto of “My class for Jesus,” she regularly had between six and seven hundred students.[5] Spiritual fruit abounded.

A Fruitful Evangelist and Discipler

Her son, Edward Bartlett, writes, “Among her papers there is an abundance of material, sufficient to occupy a volume, showing how greatly her labors among the young were blessed in the bringing of hundreds to a knowledge of the Savior.”[6] From her very first trip to London and on each trip thereafter, she used the travel time for witnessing. During that first trip, she made a convert and a connection to the business world that would provide for herself and her two sons after her husband died from cholera. Eventually, she would focus all of her time on her ministry. While her teaching goal was to bring many souls to Christ, she also discipled the members of her class, praying with them, walking alongside them in their struggles, and encouraging their own fruitfulness.

In the letters she wrote to her class Mrs. Bartlett provided encouragement in their personal walks as well as their ministry endeavors. In one letter she wrote: “Oh, my beloved class, how it cheers my heart to know that so many of you love and serve the bleeding, dying Lord. My heart’s desire and prayer to God for you is that you may be able to comprehend with all saints the height and breadth of the love of God in Christ Jesus. Drink deep into His love and live near to His blessed side.”[7] Her letters also promised prayer, further updates, and her love to them all.

A Generous Fundraiser

Mrs. Bartlett took a special interest in the Pastor’s College, encouraging and pleading with her class to give to that work, even becoming physically ill when donations decreased. The ladies in Lavinia’s class donated £1,346 over twelve years, equivalent to more than $200,000 today.[8] Mrs. Bartlett and her class helped each of the Metropolitan Tabernacle ministries in some manner, including the Stockwell Orphanage, but the Pastor’s College was the main project addressed during the class’s bi-annual meeting. During these meetings, Lavinia would whole-heartedly encourage her students to give sacrificially, begging and pleading with them to the point of tears, all the while reminding them of the reason why the college was important: “My own beloved children–you whom God has given me in spiritual birth–to you I speak with all the love of a mother’s heart. ‘Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.’”[9]

Mr. Spurgeon and Mrs. Bartlett

Spurgeon often wrote to this sister in the faith to let her know when he could use her help and to offer his thanks for the work and support that Lavinia and her class provided. “With constant thanksgiving I remember your work of faith and labor of love, and I pray the Lord to sustain you and make you still a joyful mother in Israel.”[10] Without the help of Mrs. Bartlett and others who were willing to serve alongside him, Spurgeon would not have been able to accomplish the mighty works that God set before him. Both Spurgeon and Mrs. Bartlett were quick to give credit to those who labored in the Lord with them, not wanting any credit for themselves.

Visitors to the class came from around the globe, and notes about what was happening there often appeared in newspapers and lectures. Lavinia’s son Edward says that she was quick to destroy the papers when she found them. Many wrote letters, inquiring as to the methods she used to gain success. Her son responded to one such letter: “Unfortunately, many workers for the Lord now-a-days- trust too much to the outward auxiliaries, and not sufficiently to the teaching of God’s Holy Spirit; and consequently many fail because they do not speak from the fullness of heart, but more from head knowledge.”[11] His mother’s lessons could be considered Scripture-filled pleadings to turn away from sin and toward Christ. In many instances, she was granted her wish by both men and women. Even during the last six days of her life, as she lay partially conscious, she continued to pray for particular souls among her class to find salvation in the Lord.

Her Heavenly Reward

Lavinia Bartlett received her heavenly reward on a Monday morning in 1875. Her son says, “As she lived, so she died, in the very atmosphere of praise and prayer, for I believe in her lifetime she literally prayed without ceasing.”[12] Charles Spurgeon delivered the funeral service at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, and his brother led a time of prayer. The funeral process was five miles long and lined with thousands who wished to pay their respects. Spurgeon writes, “Her departure was the death of a mother to many, and her grave is a hallowed spot. The loss to us is gain to her; the battle is fought and the victory is won forever…May the Lord inspire many Christian women with the high ambition to be useful, direct them in the right way, and give them success therein. For such there is great need.”[13]

[1] Edward Bartlett, Mrs. Bartlett and Her Class at the Metropolitan Tabernacle (Cannon Beach: Move to Assurance, 2018), 143.

[2] Ibid., 9.

[3] Her son mentions that it was kneeling at the trunk where a number of souls placed their faith in the Lord. Ibid., 42.

[4] Ibid., 8.

[5] Ibid., 55.

[6] Ibid., 59.

[7] Ibid., 82.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid., 69.

[10] Ibid., 121.

[11] Ibid., 116.

[12] Ibid., 132.

[13] Ibid., 14.



Thanksgiving: Always and for All Things

By / Nov 22

As we enter the Thanksgiving season, many of us would recount the countless blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us. We recall how the good Lord has provided for us a roof above our heads, food on our tables, family that supports us, and friends that care for us. Yet, beyond these foundational blessings, how often do we forget to thank God in our day-to-day lives? Spurgeon’s encouragement for Christians is not only to occasionally give thanks but to make it our motto. It should be a part of the Christian life. We should say of our Lord, “Let him do what seemeth him good; if he will give us health we will thank him, if he will send us sickness we will thank him. If he indulges us with prosperity or if he tries us with affliction, if the Holy Spirit will but enable us, we will never cease to praise the Lord as long as we live.”[1]

Duty of a Christian

In his sermon on Ephesians 5:20, “Always, and For All Things,” Spurgeon makes it clear that it is the duty and privilege of believers to give thanks. One cannot give thanks to God, who is not yet a follower of God because he does not know God. They might try their best, but they will never know the true object of thanksgiving. To give thanks to God one must first believe there to be a God, and that God is the Author of all good things we receive. We are called to give thanks in all circumstances because all things come from God the Father (Eph 5:20).

Our duty to give thanks makes sense in light of the saving grace we have received. We ought to look back to the day when we were called out from the world into the arms of the Father. To believe in Christ is to be reconciled with God, and we must give thanks for our salvation above all things. A Christian understands that God has not simply forgotten his sin, but He has brought about a full reconciliation. His sins are blotted out. He has experienced the joy of full forgiveness, and he comes to God with a joyful heart for the graces and mercies that he received. Only a true Christian understands this.

Beloved, after all it is but a light thing to render to our heavenly Father our poor thanks, after he has given us our lives, maintained us in being, saved us our souls through the precious redemption of Jesus Christ, given us to be his children, and made us heirs of eternal glory. What are our thanks in the presence of all these priceless favors? Why, if we gave our God a thousand lives, and could spend each one of these in a perpetual martyrdom, it were a small return for what he has bestowed upon us; but to give him thanks is the least we can do, and shall we be slack in that? He gives us breath, shall we not breathe out his praise? He fills our mouth with good things, shall we not speak well of his name?

Mercies That We Do Not See

It is easy for Christians to give thanks for mercies that are plain in sight: a new job, a loving spouse, a happy home. But how often do we sit back and ponder upon the mercies of God that we do not see? To illustrate this point, Spurgeon told the story of a father and his son.

You have heard, perhaps, of a Puritan who met his son, each one of them travelling some ten or twelve miles to meet the other; and the son said to his father, “Father, I am thankful to God for a very remarkable providence which I have had on my journey here. My horse has stumbled three times with me, and yet I am unhurt.” The Puritan replied, “My dear son, I have to thank God for an equally remarkable providence on my way to you, for my horse did not once stumble all the way.” … Bless God for his unknown benefits; extol him for favors which you do not see, always giving thanks to God for all things.  

We see and recognize the blessings which God has bestowed upon us, but we forget the blessings that we already have. Living in an abundant society, our tendency is to overlook the goodness of God in supplying all our physical needs. And yet, everyday, God mercifully provides and preserves our lives.

Bitter Things That We Are Given

When God took everything from Job, he cried out, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Many of us are personally familiar with the story of Job. And yet, there is the need for thanksgiving even in the worst of our circumstances. When we are faced with the bitter providence of God, we find it hard to give thanks. Spurgeon himself confessed that this was hard for him.

We must bless him in success, and also in disaster… It is easy to stand here and tell you this, but I have not always found it easy to practice the duty, this I confess to my shame. When suffering extreme pain some time ago, a brother in Christ said to me, “Have you thanked God for this?” I replied that I desired to be patient, and would be thankful to recover. “Ah, but,” said he, “‘in everything give thanks,’ not after it is over, but while you are still in it, and, perhaps, when you are enabled to give thanks for the severe pain, it will cease.” I believe that there was much force in that good advice.

Spurgeon would reorientate us and help us to see that bitter providence could be a “disguised blessing.” The problem of a bitter providence is never in the issue itself, but in the heart of the believer who is blinded by his circumstances to see the goodness of God in his acts. Just as the servant of Elijah could not recognize the providential hand of God when he first looked towards the sea (1 Kings 18:41-46), we also often fail to see God at work in our pain. But in faith, Christians ought to bring themselves to look beyond their current circumstance to the sovereign goodness of God and give thanks to Him in all circumstances.

So, we can say with Spurgeon, “Let him do what seemeth him good; if he will give us health we will thank him, if he will send us sickness we will thank him. If he indulges us with prosperity or if he tries us with affliction, if the Holy Spirit will buy enable us, we will never cease to praise the Lord as long as we live.” We are to give thanks for all that God has given to us; the good and the bad. Just as how we promise our spouses to love each other “in plenty and in want”, we should vow to give thanks to God in a similar fashion.

Give thanks to God for he is good, and doeth good. Give thanks to God; let not your gratitude stop short of the source from which the streams of mercy come.

Closing

Thanksgiving should not correspond with the feast that we have once a year. It should be our daily sustenance. Thanksgiving is not an optional activity, but it flows from a heart of gratitude towards God for saving us. It should not be circumstantial, where we only give thanks when we receive good from the Lord. Rather, the fire of thanksgiving should warm us through the coldest and darkest winters. And thanksgiving will be our joy for all eternity.

The day will come, when we shall fulfill our text in the widest sense, for then we shall give thanks to God, at the winding up of the drama of human history, for everything that has happened, from the fall even to the destruction of the wicked… We shall trace the line of perfection along the course of the divine decrees and workings, and though the way of the Lord may have seemed to us to be inscrutable, we shall then adore him for that wondrous display of all his attributes—his justice, his love, his truth, his faithfulness, his omnipotence—which shall blaze forth with tenfold splendor. In heaven we shall give thanks unto God always for all things, without exception, and throughout eternity we shall magnify his holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let us do it as best we can today, God’s Spirit helping us.

[1] All quotes are from the sermon “Always, and For All Things,” from MTP Vol. 19.



A Wondrous Mystery: An Interview

By / Nov 5

Charles H. Spurgeon was considered by many to be the greatest preacher of his generation and lived during the nineteenth-century revival of the celebration of Christmas in the US and England. He loved Christmas and welcomed the holiday season as an opportunity for reflection, rest, and being reunited with friends and family.

In A Wondrous Mystery: Daily Advent Devotionals, Geoffrey Chang, curator of the Spurgeon Library at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, has complied thirty daily devotions from the sermons of Spurgeon to help readers keep their hearts focused on Christ during the busy holiday season. Readers will be filled with the wonder of Christmas as the words of Spurgeon remind them of the incarnation to be marveled at all year round.

Q: Introduce us to the daily advent devotional, A Wondrous Mystery.

This work exists to help Christians meditate on the wonder of the incarnation by taking excerpts from Spurgeon’s Christmas sermons that were preached during his 38-year ministry in London. In these sermons, Spurgeon meditates on the Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Messiah and on the New Testament accounts of the birth of Christ and the significance of the incarnation. This was at the heart of Spurgeon’s celebration of Christmas: the promised Savior has come! This was the joy that he wanted to pass on to his hearers, and this joy is what we hope to convey in A Wondrous Mystery.

Q: Can you tell us about the revival of the celebration of Christmas that was going at the time that Spurgeon was preaching? Why do you believe that Spurgeon loved Christmas?

The celebration was revived in Victorian England in part due to the marriage of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria. Albert brought from Germany the Christmas customs of gifts and Christmas trees, and those traditions captured the public imagination. This was also the time when Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol was written, and it was an instant success.

In all this, Christmas became not so much a religious holiday but a cultural celebration. Spurgeon was a Victorian, so he naturally loved Christmas. He appreciated the opportunity for rest (especially for the working class) and for family reunions. He loved giving gifts to his children and the orphans under his care. But most of all, he loved the opportunity to reflect on the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is where the wonder of Christmas was to be found.

Q: You share in the introduction that while Spurgeon loved Christmas, he taught his people not to treat Christmas in any way as “sacred.” What would Spurgeon say is the best way to celebrate Christmas?

Spurgeon, like the Puritans before him, understood that the Christian calendar was an invention that arose out of tradition. We have to be careful not to treat holidays as if they carry the weight of biblical command. At the same time, there certainly is nothing wrong with celebrating the birth of Christ! So, when it came to the gatherings of the church, Spurgeon celebrated Christmas not through any outward adornments or innovative rituals but simply by focusing on the theological significance of the incarnation. Beyond the gathering of the church, Spurgeon would encourage a celebration of Christmas to be marked, yes by food and gifts and ornaments, but even more importantly, by love, generosity, and service to your fellow man.

Q: Are there any devotions from A Wondrous Mystery that you would consider favorites? Why do those stand out to you?

Yes, there are several. I’ll mention two. One is titled “Laid in the Manger,” which is a meditation on Luke 2:7 and Jesus being placed in a manger. This is a reminder of the humility of the Savior. Spurgeon writes,

“In thus being laid in a manger, he did, as it were, give an invitation to the most humble to come to him. We might tremble to approach a throne, but we cannot fear to approach a manger…. Never could there be a being more approachable than Christ. No rough guards pushed poor petitioners away; no array of officious friends were allowed to keep off the importunate widow or the man who clamored that his son might be made whole; the hem of his garment was always trailing where sick folk could reach it, and he himself had a hand always ready to touch the disease, an ear to catch the faintest accents of misery, a soul going forth everywhere in rays of mercy, even as the light of the sun streams on every side beyond that orb itself.”

What an encouraging reminder!

The other is “The Empty Place.” For many, Christmas can be a sad and lonely time, as we remember loved ones who are no longer with us. For these people, Spurgeon says,

“When you get to your family gathering, perhaps you will have to remember that your mother has died this year, or it may be that your father has gone home, or perhaps it was the eldest son, or that sweet curly-headed child. Perhaps, tomorrow, you will be merry; and I do not say to you, ‘Be not so,’ but let these memories come over you, let them direct your thoughts upward, let them remind you that family gatherings are only for a time, and that the great gathering is above. There the immortals meet, there the feast never ends.”

These reflections are good to have not only when we’re grieving but also during years when we’re rejoicing.

Q: Why is it important for us to be familiar with church history and the teachings and writings of preachers from the past?

Hebrews 13:7-8 says, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” This was true in the 1st century, how much more so here in the 21st century! In all these many centuries of church history, we have many more leaders and teachers “who spoke to us the word of God.” We have not only the teaching of their words but also the example of their life and faith as they held on to the unchanging gospel and passed it on to the next generation. Church history, then, is a gift to the church today. Just as we are thankful for pastors and teachers who bring us God’s Word today, we can also benefit from pastors and teachers of the past and learn from them through their works.

Q: When did you first become interested in the work of Spurgeon?

I first became interested in his work as a pastor. As one who was preaching through Scripture, particularly the Psalms, I found his sermons and his commentary on the Psalms (The Treasury of David) so helpful in both understanding the text and explaining it. This was many years ago! I’ve been walking with Spurgeon for at least two decades, and he has become a friend and companion to me in the ministry.

Q: Please tell us more about the Spurgeon Library and your position as curator there.

The Spurgeon Library has the privilege of housing 6,000 volumes of Spurgeon’s own pastoral library, along with many, many other interesting artifacts, manuscripts, letters, and more. In addition to being a research center for Spurgeon scholarship, we are also a kind of museum and seek to tell the story of his life and ministry to encourage the church today. As a curator, I have the privilege of overseeing our collection, our research efforts, and thinking of new ways to tell Spurgeon’s story.

Q: What other devotionals are planned for the Old Made New series in the future?

Lord willing, we will have three more devotionals from Spurgeon in the future: one on the topic of suffering, one for Easter on the resurrection, and one on prayer. All should be really encouraging!

Learn more about A Wondrous Mystery here. It is available for purchase wherever good books are sold.



Why Spurgeon Refused to Name Names in the Downgrade Controversy

By / Oct 31

In early 1887, C. H. Spurgeon published a paper in The Sword and the Trowel that, unbeknownst to him, would kindle a flame in the Baptist Union. This flame grew into the fiery debate, known as the Downgrade Controversy, that engulfed Baptists for the coming years. The altercation sent Spurgeon and the Baptist Union careening towards a dramatic outcome: separation. Spurgeon refused to continue to exist in association with ministers and churches that had left biblical truth for the “New Theology” of theological liberalism.

In response to these charges, the leaders of the Baptist Union insisted that Spurgeon should produce evidence of this theological drift by naming names. Who were these unorthodox ministers with whom Spurgeon refused to associate? Until he produced evidence of his claims, the Union refused to acknowledge his claims that theological liberalism had begun to infect the Baptists. All this put Spurgeon in a difficult position. He refused to name names. At the same time, he stood by his claims and his decision to secede from the Union. Many pastors and churches joined him and also left the Union, even as many more denounced Spurgeon’s condemnation.

The Downgrade Controversy inflicted deep wounds among Spurgeon, his contemporaries, and the Baptist Union. Anyone studying this controversy might ask the same question that many asked in Spurgeon’s day: Why didn’t he name names, thereby vindicating himself and possibly purifying the Baptist Union? If there were false teachers among the ranks of the Baptist Union, it would be logical that Spurgeon should produce evidence so that they could be removed. But it was not so simple. He never provided the names of these teachers for at least three reasons.

The main problem of theological downgrade

The first was that Spurgeon was mainly concerned with the issue of theological downgrade and the dangers that it posed. The original articles never sought to implicate the Baptist Union specifically. From the outset, Spurgeon’s intent was never to attack any one person or denomination but to warn all evangelicals of the growing danger of heterodoxy. After the publication of the articles, people asked if he was issuing his warning for any particular denomination. Spurgeon responded, “It is not intended to be an attack on any one, but to be a warning to all.”

Some wondered if this was an attack on Arminian denominations, like the Methodists. Spurgeon responded, “[Our] warfare is with men who are giving up the atoning sacrifice, denying the inspiration of Holy Scripture, and casting slurs upon justification by faith. The present struggle is not a debate upon the question of Calvinism or Arminianism, but of the truth of God versus the inventions of men.” This was a trend that Spurgeon was beginning to see even in the Baptist Union. Some called for unity even with those who were departing from these core evangelical truths. To this notion of unity, Spurgeon responded, “That union which is not based upon the truth of God is rather a conspiracy than a communion.”

It is clear from the inaugural article that Spurgeon’s intent was not to single out individuals or any one denomination but to warn all believers against the looming specter of unbelief. Therefore, he refused to name names because this was not just a problem facing a few individuals but a growing spirit of theological decline affecting all evangelicals.

There was no doctrinal accountability

The second reason Spurgeon would not name names was practical: there was no doctrinal standard that members of the Baptist Union had to adhere to other than believer’s baptism. If Spurgeon had given the Council names of ministers who departed from the orthodox faith, by what standard could the Council have held them accountable? A hallmark of theological liberalism is the loose definition of terms. Spurgeon knew this. Those who embraced the New Theology would use the language of Christianity, but they would import different meanings to those terms. Some people accused Spurgeon of trying to promote his own unique theology, but Spurgeon understood that his understanding of inspiration, sin, atonement, resurrection, and eternal punishment was in line with historic Christianity. Writing to The Baptist, Spurgeon claimed,

I believe these doctrines, so far as I know, in the common and usual sense attached to them by the general usage of Christendom. Theological terms ought to be understood and used only in their general and usual meaning. If I have any crotchets, or attach exaggerated meanings to these terms, I do not desire any living soul to be bound by my eccentricities. It is not Spurgeon’s sense, or John Smith’s sense, but the common and accepted meaning, which should be understood by doctrinal expressions.

Whatever the Council does, let it above all things avoid the use of language which could legitimately have two meanings contrary to each other. Let us be plain and outspoken. There are grave differences—let them be avowed honestly. Why should any man be ashamed to do so?

Without a clear Statement of Faith to counter this new modern theology, Spurgeon knew that these ministers would be able to double-speak their way into an agreement with the Council’s questioning. And even if the Council was successful in removing some who departed from the truth, there was nothing to keep it from happening again. This would result in conservative evangelicals needing to become a sort of Baptist Inquisition, spending their time separating the wheat from tares rather than promoting true unity in Christ and tending to their churches. Spurgeon had no desire to do this. Rather, he believed these issues could be alleviated by simply adopting an evangelical Statement of Faith that would hold the Union’s members accountable. This, the Union would not do. In the spring of 1888, they passed a statement of their historical beliefs. But these were merely historical beliefs. It did not hold its members accountable to it.

He did not want to make it about himself

The third and likely most important reason Spurgeon would not name names was because he did not want to make this fight about himself. The encroaching downgrade and modernist theologies were not an offense against Spurgeon personally. Rather, they were an offense against God. Spurgeon was “extremely anxious to avoid personalities,” because he had no desire to make the controversy about himself, as if he had taken personal offense against anyone in particular. In February of 1888, Spurgeon said in his article on the censure imposed on him by the Baptist Union,

Let no man imagine that I shall cease from my protests against false doctrine, or lay down the sword of which I have thrown away the scabbard. However much invited to do so, I shall not commence personalities, nor disclose the wretched facts in all their details; but with confirmatory evidence perpetually pouring in upon me, and a solemn conviction that the dark conspiracy to overthrow the truth must be dragged to light, I shall not cease to expose doctrinal declension wherever I see it.

To Spurgeon, this was not an issue of personal offense over differing tertiary doctrinal opinions. Rather, he was calling out the degradation of core Christian doctrines. What was passing as acceptable faith among the Baptist Union had no communion with the Word of God. To name names would have been an easy way to vindicate himself. But Spurgeon continued in the fight for the sake of the truth, not his own reputation.

Susannah Spurgeon wrote at the end of her husband’s autobiography, “The ultimate results of the whole matter must be left in the hands of Him who never makes a mistake, and who will, in His own right way, vindicate His obedient and faithful servant from the ‘censure’ so unjustly passed upon him.” Throughout the turmoil of controversy, Spurgeon did not name names because he understood that he did not need to vindicate himself. He was attacked because of his stand for God’s Word. Therefore, the Lord would vindicate Him in the end.

Conclusion

Charles Spurgeon was a great warrior for the truth of God. He planted his flag on the hill of truth, drew his sword, threw away the scabbard, and through the power of God, he valiantly defended orthodoxy. He refused to name individuals because his primary concern was to combat the unbelief that constantly seeks to ravage the Christian church. Most importantly, Spurgeon understood that the battle he was engaged in was not his. He was fighting for the all-powerful King who will vindicate Himself in the end, thereby vindicating all his faithful soldiers who can do no other than stand for the truth of God’s Word.



His Wondrous Sacrifice: Spurgeon’s Explanation of the Atonement

By / Oct 18

Every Christian should have a thorough grasp of the doctrine of Christ’s atonement. This doctrine presents Christians with the bedrock of assurance which can enable us to persevere through the often-unrelenting trials of life. Oftentimes, however, this doctrine is more assumed than understood. For his congregation, Spurgeon wanted to present a clear explanation of this reality in order to establish their faith and understanding in the truth of Christ’s work.

The Necessity

To understand Christ’s atonement, we must first begin with the absolute inability on the part of sinners to cleanse themselves before God. Hear Spurgeon, as he thoughtfully explains:

The gospel comes to deal with sin; and if a man has but one sin, he cannot get rid of that one sin apart from the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ. But all men have not merely one sin, but many sins; they may not all be equally clear and manifest, some of them may be secret sins, but the secrecy of sin does not render it less sinful in the sight of God… it needs the atoning sacrifice of Christ to remove it…All men have evil hearts… and, to get this out of the heart, requires a divine operation in every case. No man can make his own heart clean. If it were possible for a man to change his arm or his foot, yet it would be clearly impossible for him to change his heart.[1]

Even the existence of one sin in a person makes them entirely unfit for the glory and presence of God. But notice, mankind not only has sin (or sins), but “all men have evil hearts.” Our sins flow from corrupt hearts which only love what is selfish and evil. Our hearts are evil, and thus so too are our very natures. And we are helpless in this sinful condition. Spurgeon highlights here that “No man can make his own heart clean.” Only a complete atonement and the “divine operation” of God can bring one into God’s kingdom. Spurgeon helps us see that if we are to understand Christ’s atonement, this is our dark condition that we must first realize.

Substitution

If this is the condition of man, then what does the atonement accomplish? Having established the sinfulness of man and the need for salvation, Spurgeon provides this explanation of Christ’s atoning work:

I will not say that the sins of God’s people were imputed to Christ, though I believe they were; but it seems to me that in a way more mysterious than that which imputation would express, the sins of God’s people were actually laid upon Jesus Christ ; that in the view of God, not only was Christ treated as if he had been guilty, but the very sin itself was, I know not how, but according to the text it was somehow laid upon the head of Christ Jesus… Is it not written, “He shall bear,” not merely the punishment of their sin, nor the imputation of their sin, but “He shall bear their iniquities”? Our sin is laid on Jesus in even a deeper and truer sense than is expressed by the term imputation… yet the sin of his people was literally and truly laid upon him.[2]

Spurgeon conveys here that the sins of God’s elect were laid upon Christ in a very tangible and literal sense. Reflecting on Isaiah 53:6, he emphasizes the remarkable idea that our sins were “laid” on Jesus. He points out that the sins of God’s people, not merely their punishment, were laid upon Christ. While sins are not physical objects that can be measured by weight, mass, or size, Spurgeon focuses on the Lord’s use of the word “laid” to convey the truth that the sins of His people were transferred onto Christ in a very real manner. This is a profound point. So many are wrestling with the reality of their sins, and Spurgeon wants his audience to meditate upon the fact that those sins are actually removed from us and placed upon Christ in a real way. Christ did not merely die for the principle of sinfulness; He truly took the sins of His people upon Himself.

Atonement

Going further, Spurgeon explains how this atoning work was accomplished. He links this work to Christ’s incarnation and sacrifice, where Christ becomes a curse to ransom His people.

He himself came hither in the person of his dear Son; he himself became man, and dwelt among us; he himself took the load of his people’s sin; he bare the sin of many, and was made a curse for us. He put away both sin and the curse by his wondrous sacrifice. The marvel of heaven and earth, of time and eternity, is the atoning death of Jesus Christ. This is the mystery that brings more glory to God than all creation, and all providence. How could it be that he should be slain for sinners, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God? To finish transgression, and make an end of sin, was a labour worthy of his Godhead, and Christ has perfectly achieved it by his sufferings and death.[3]

Here, Spurgeon delineates Christ’s substitutionary death in place of sinners, reminding Christians of their salvation through Christ. In taking our sins upon himself, Jesus Christ was “slain for sinners, the just for the unjust;” “was made a curse for us,” meaning he bore not only our sin but also the judgment and curse that those sins deserved. Why? “To bring us to God,” to “finish transgression, and make an end of sin,” that is, by his sacrifice, sinners can have all their sins paid for, enabling God to uphold His perfect justice and to forgive and be reconciled to sinners. This is the Good News of Christianity which, as Spurgeon states, “is the mystery that brings more glory to God than all creation and all providence.” This is the glory of the cross, by which Jesus Christ has made perfect, complete atonement.

Faith

If this is what Christ provides on the cross, then what is to be our response? How can one be saved and receive the work of Christ’s atonement? In this excerpt, Spurgeon explains the way of salvation in a helpful way which highlights the truth of Christ’s substitution.

…the Lord has put his dear Son into our place, has laid on him our sin, and smitten him with the strokes that ought to have fallen upon us; he, on his part, willingly becoming our Surety and Substitute. We must believe this if we would be saved. That being done, we must accept what Christ has endured as being borne for us, and trust in it with our whole hearts. We must, in fact, change places with Christ; — perfectly righteous and without sin. He clothes himself in our rags, and he puts on us his royal robes.[4]

“We must believe this if we would be saved.” What is “this”? That Christ’s substitution, the very literal reality of His sin-bearing life and death, took place for us. Through the atonement, Christ became “our Surety and Substitute.” Spurgeon describes it as so accepting and trusting what Christ has done for us that we “change places with Christ”: He stands in our place as a sinner, we stand in His place as righteous before God.

Here is the source of our hope and peace as a result of Christ’s cleansing work. Here is the security of our salvation. Spurgeon sheds clarifying light on this glorious truth, which ought to lead believers into thankful praise and a blessed sense of rest, knowing that Christ has accomplished what they never could: He has fully atoned for their sin and purchased their salvation. Spurgeon helps us see the marvelous effect this doctrine can have on our minds and hearts as we rejoice in the fact that Christ has born our sin and judgment in our place and clothed us in His righteousness.

[1] Charles Spurgeon, “There is No Difference”, 63-64.

[2] Charles Spurgeon, “Sin Laid on Jesus”, 315-316.

[3] Charles Spurgeon, “Life and Pardon”, 467.

[4] Charles Spurgeon, “There is No Difference”, 64.



Effectual Atonement and Eternal Assurance

By / Oct 4

Many Christians are happy to affirm Scripture’s teaching of eternal assurance, sometimes summarized as “once saved, always saved.” However, many are more hesitant when it comes to affirming the Reformed doctrine of effectual atonement or definite atonement, namely that by his death on the cross, Jesus not only made salvation possible, but He accomplished salvation for His elect, he actually saved them and purchased them by His blood. And yet, as Spurgeon points out in the sermon “The Death of Christ for His People,” on 1 John 3:16 (“He laid down his life for us.”), the logic of eternal security rests on a belief in the finished work of Christ. It is only because of our hope in an effectual atonement that we can have confidence in our eternal assurance. Listen, as Spurgeon explains the source of our security:

We, who know the gospel, see, in the fact of the death of Christ, a reason that no strength of logic can ever shake, and no power of unbelief can remove, why we should be saved.

There may be men, with minds so distorted that they can conceive it possible that Christ should die for a man who afterwards is lost; I say, there may be such. I am sorry to say that there are still to be found some such persons, whose brains have been so addled, in their childhood, that they cannot see that what they hold is both a preposterous falsehood and a blasphemous libel. Christ dies for a man, and then God punishes that man again; Christ suffers in a sinner’s stead, and then God condemns that sinner after all! Why, my friends, I feel quite shocked in only mentioning such an awful error; and were it not so current as it is, I should certainly pass it over with the contempt that it deserves. The doctrine of Holy Scripture is this, that God is just, that Christ died in the stead of his people, and that, as God is just, he will never punish one solitary soul of Adam’s race for whom the Savior did thus shed his blood. The Savior did, indeed, in a certain sense, die for all, all men receive many a mercy through his blood, but that he was the Substitute and Surety for all men, is so inconsistent, both with reason and Scripture, that we are obliged to reject the doctrine with abhorrence. No, my soul, how shalt thou be punished if thy Lord endured thy punishment for thee? Did he die for thee? O my soul, if Jesus was not thy Substitute, and did not die in thy very stead, then he is no Savior to thee! But, if he was thy Substitute, if he suffered as thy Surety, in thy stead, then, my soul, “Who is he that condemneth?” Christ hath died, yea, rather, hath risen again, and sitteth at the right hand of God, and maketh intercession for us. There stands the master-argument: Christ “laid down his life for us,” and “if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life? If the agonies of the Savior put our sins away, the everlasting life of the Savior, with the merits of his death added thereunto, must preserve his people, even unto the end.

This much I know—ye may hear men stammer when they say it—but what, I preach is the old Lutheran, Calvinistic, Augustinian, Pauline, Christian truth—there is not one sin in the Book of God against anyone that believeth. Our sins were numbered on the Scapegoat’s head, and there is not one sin that ever a believer did commit, that hath any power to damn him, for Christ hath taken the damning power out of sin, by allowing it, to speak by a bold metaphor, to damn himself, for sin did condemn him; and, inasmuch as sin condemned him, sin cannot, condemn us. O believer, this is thy security, that all thy sin and guilt, all thy transgressions and thine iniquities have been atoned for, and were atoned for before they were committed; so that thou mayest come with boldness, though red with all crimes, and black with every lust, and lay thine hand on that Scapegoat’s head, and when thou hast put thine hand there, and seen that Scapegoat driven into the wilderness, thou mayest clap thine, hands for joy, and say,

“It is finished, sin is pardoned.”

“Here’s pardon for transgressions past,
It matters not how black their cast;
And oh, my soul, with wonder view,
For sifts to come, here’s pardon too!”

This is all I want to know; did the Savior die for me? Then I will not continue in sin that grace may abound; but nothing shall stop me of thus glorying, in all the churches of the Lord Jesus, that my sins are entirely removed from me; and, in God’s sight, I may sing, as Hart did sing,—

“With Christ’s spotless vesture on,
Holy as the Holy One.”

O marvellous death of Christ, how securely dost thou set the feet of God’s people on the rocks of eternal love; and how securely dost thou keep them there! Come, dear brethren, let us suck a little honey out of this honeycomb. Was there ever anything so luscious and so sweet to the believer’s taste as this all-glorious truth that we are complete in him; that in and through his death and merits we, are accepted in the Beloved? Oh, was there ever anything more sublime than this the fact that he hath already raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, far above all principalities and powers; just where he sits? Surely there is nothing more sublime than that, except it be that a master-thought stamps all these things with more than their own value—that: masterthought that, though the mountains may depart and the hills; be removed, the covenant of his love shall never depart from us. “For,” saith Jehovah, “I will never forget thee, O Zion;” “I have graven thee, upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” O Christian, that is a firm foundation, cemented with blood, on which thou mayest build for eternity!



“Who Shall Keep the Keepers?”: Churches and Pastoral Accountability

By / Sep 26

Writing in 1889, after the Downgrade Controversy, Spurgeon wrestled with the question of unfaithful ministers and congregational accountability. Under the new modern theology, these ministers were using the language of historic Christianity, but redefining that language in rationalist and anti-supernatural ways. But how are churches to hold them accountable? As a congregationalist, Spurgeon believed that the congregation was the final authority in its discipline and doctrine. But again and again, Spurgeon watched unsuspecting congregations call modernist ministers, believing them to be orthodox, only to be corrupted by their teaching over time. So as important as congregational authority was, Spurgeon also understood that pastors play a crucial role in shaping the theology of a church through their preaching. All this created a dilemma:

QUIS custodiet ipsos custodes? So say the Latins. Shepherds may keep the sheep; but who shall pastorize the shepherds? A question of the weightiest import, both for the flocks and the pastors.

What is to become of anybody of Christians whose ministers are not loyal to their Lord and to his gospel? When a church has over it a man of whom it can be justly said that he shows no sign of ever having been converted, what spirituality can be expected to survive? When another preacher has one creed for the pulpit, and another for the private fraternal meeting, how can truth and honesty flourish in the community? When a third changes with the moon, and is not quite sure of anything, how can his hearers be established in the faith? We are not imagining cases; there are too many who answer the description. Evil in the pulpit is poison in the fountain. In this case we find death in the great pot out of which all the guests are to be fed.

What is to be done? Spurgeon offered three reflections:

We must look to the Great Shepherd

But who shall keep the keepers? There is the great difficulty. This is a task beyond the power of the church and its most valiant champions. We might do well to watch the schools of the prophets, that more of deep devotion and fervent piety should be nurtured there. We might do no more than our duty if we were more jealously watchful over every election of ministers in which we take part, so that none were ordained but those sound in the faith, and filled with the Spirit. Even for these things, who is sufficient? But if these were done to perfection, the plague might still break out among the teachers: their heads might be dazed with error, or their hearts grow chill with worldliness. We are thrown back upon him that keepeth Israel. It is well that it should be so. That which develops dependence upon God works for good.

All plans, however wise in themselves, and however effective they would be if we had to deal with honesty and truth, are baffled by the moral obliquity which is part of the evil. The men are not to be bound by creeds: they confess that such things are useless to them. Their moral sense is deadened by the error they have imbibed. They have become shepherds that they might poison the flock, and keepers of the vineyard that they might spoil the vines: if this was not their first motive, their course of action distinctly suggests it. There is no reaching them: they are bewitched and benumbed. Neither from within nor from without are healthy influences likely to operate upon them; we must carry the case to the great Head of the church, and leave it in his hands. When he ascended on high he received gifts for men; and these gifts were men of differing offices, for the perfecting of his people. We have need that he should anew send us such men. Maybe we have forgotten to look to the ascended Lord. Maybe we have been gazing about us to find the men without looking first to HIM from whom they must come. Our Lord can speedily raise us up a new race of apostolic preachers from amid our youth, or he can convert those who are now the devourers of the churches. In the Reformation, many of the ablest leaders were called from among the priests and the monks; and to-day the Lord may breathe the life of faith into those who lie buried in skeptical philosophies. With him all things are possible. When we are at the end of our power and knowledge, we are on the confines of his omnipotence and omniscience. Let us bow our heads as we pass the frontier, and leave behind our own barren impotence to rejoice in his fruitful strength. Our confidence in the church of God lies not in her natural power, but in the fact that “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved.”

Despite our best attempts to organize our churches as best and as faithfully as we can, we must never think that our structures will somehow ensure theological faithfulness. To be sure, a biblically organized church polity is important. And extra-ecclesial structures, like seminaries and ordination councils, can be helpful. But we remain always dependent upon the Great Shepherd for His faithful care of his flock. We cannot hope to have faithful churches apart from prayerful dependence on Him. Having gone through the Downgrade Controversy in his beloved denomination and having seen so many churches depart from the gospel, Spurgeon came to understand that underneath all our best plans must be a humble dependence upon the risen Christ.

We should hold unfaithful shepherds accountable

Those who lament the declension of many among the present professed ministry should cry day and night unto the Lord to bless his people with pastors after his own heart. Let them also see to it that they walk wisely towards those they have. It behoves established believers to bear their testimony faithfully, but kindly, to young divines who are beginning to step aside; for it may be that a gentle word may save them. In grosser cases, firmness may be needful as to the matter of quitting an unfaithful, Christless ministry; or as to the removal of the false teacher.

This reliance on God does not mean that congregations can afford to remain passive. Even while churches might benefit from outside resources, ultimately they have to take responsibility for their own ministry. In reliance upon God, churches are to hold their pastors accountable. They are to regularly pray for their pastors to remain faithful to the gospel. They must be willing to confront ministers who are beginning to go astray. And they must even do the hard and painful work of removing unfaithful ministers. In all this, Spurgeon knew that there was no way to by-pass the role of the congregation if a church is to remain faithful.

We should praise God for faithful shepherds

In the happy instances in which the gospel is held and fully preached, the faithful should encourage, sustain, and help with all their hearts. Those who are faithful to the truth of God, should find us faithful to them. God will have his gifts valued, and his servants well treated. He has among his chosen ministers those who feel tears of gratitude welling up in their eyes when they think of the kindness of their churches; but there are other worthy men who are buffeted and bat­tered, left without a decent maintenance, and never appreciated as they ought to be. For these the Lord himself will plead with his people, if there be not speedy improvement. Let not true shepherds before gotten by the flocks to which they minister, nor by any of the faithful, lest their Master should be provoked to recall the gift which is not valued. Now, if never before, our eyes should be upon all the faithful of the land, to hold up their hands. No one must hold himself aloof lest that bitter curse should fall upon him which was of old pronounced on Meroz and the inhabitants thereof, because they came not to the help of the Lord against the mighty.

Spurgeon always believed that pastors were Christ’s gift to the church (Eph. 4:11). But now having seen so many waver on gospel orthodoxy and embrace theological liberalism, Spurgeon came to treasure this truth even more: a faithful minister was a truly a gift from God. Therefore, churches who had faithful ministers should praise and thank God, and receive their pastors as such. Though they might not be as gifted or charismatic or eloquent as they might hope, at the end of the day, churches should not take faithful pastors for granted. And the best way for churches to support their pastors is to “hold up their hands,” laboring alongside them and standing with them, even as they seek to remain steadfast in the truth.



What is the Church Militant?

By / Sep 19

The following excerpt is taken from my new book, The Army of God: Spurgeon’s Vision for the Church (Christian Focus, 2024).

Amid these many conflicts, two controversies stand out: the Baptismal Regeneration Controversy in 1864 and the Downgrade Controversy in 1887–1888.[1] In the former conflict, Spurgeon battled the growing ritualism which arose from the Oxford Movement in the Church of England. In the latter conflict, Spurgeon confronted the increasing rationalism led by theological liberals within the Baptist Union. Speaking in 1857 in the “The War of Truth,” Spurgeon foreshadowed these two conflicts:

We have more to fear than some of us suppose from Rome; not from Rome openly… but I mean the Romanism that has crept into the Church of England under the name of Puseyism. Everywhere that has increased; they are beginning to light candles on the altar, which is only a prelude to those greater lights with which they would consume our Protestantism. Oh! that there were men who would unmask them! We have much to fear from them; but I would not care one whit for that if it were not for something which is even worse. We have to deal with a spirit, I know not how to denominate it, unless I call it a spirit of moderatism in the pulpits of Protestant churches. Men have begun to rub off the rough edges of truth, to give up the doctrines of Luther and Zwingli, and Calvin, and to endeavor to accommodate them to polished tastes…. There is creeping into the pulpits of Baptists and every other denomination, a lethargy and coldness, and with that a sort of nullification of all truth.[2]

Though the battle against ritualism and rationalism would come to a head in those two controversies, Spurgeon’s willingness to confront these errors characterized his ministry from beginning to end. For his willingness to engage in these conflicts, Spurgeon would sacrifice many relationships, endure much heartache, and in the end, it would “cost him his life.”[3]

Driving Spurgeon’s choice to engage in these controversies was his understanding of the warfare of the Christian life. In this age before the return of Christ, the Christian lives in enemy territory. Therefore, it is no surprise that one of the primary images of the Christian found in Scripture was that of a soldier.

The Christian is engaged throughout his whole life as a soldier—he is so called in Scripture—“A good soldier of Jesus Christ”; and if any of you take the trouble to write out the passages of Scripture in which the Christian is described as a soldier, and provision is made for his being armed, and directions given for his warfare, you will be surprised to find there are more of this character than concerning any other metaphor by which the Christian is described in the Word of God.[4]

The militant church, then, was a company of soldiers, banded together for the truth of the gospel. As evil and error abounded in both the Church of England and Dissenting churches, Spurgeon believed it was his duty as a preacher to be “a voice crying in the wilderness,” even if he was the only voice.[5] He did not face these controversies alone, however. He had the support of the church, the army of God. When Spurgeon encountered slander and opposition, his congregation bore them with him. To be a member of the Metropolitan Tabernacle brought with it notoriety among the many who opposed their outspoken pastor, but this only strengthened the bond between the pastor and his people, uniting them in the fight.

The love that exists between a Pastor and his converts is of a very special character, and I am sure that mine was so from the very beginning of my ministry. The bond that united me to the members at New Park Street was probably all the stronger because of the opposition and calumny that, for a time at least, they had to share with me. The attacks of our adversaries only united us more closely to one another; and, with whole-hearted devotion, the people willingly followed wherever I led them. I have never brought any project before them, or asked them to aid me in any holy enterprise, but they have been ready to respond to the call, no matter what amount of self-sacrifice might be required.[6]

Far from weakening the church, Spurgeon believed these controversies bound the church together and strengthened their devotion to the Lord’s work. Spurgeon led his army forward as they battled the evils of his day together.

What is the Church Militant?

Spurgeon drew his doctrine of the church militant from the overarching story of Scripture. Ever since the arrival of the serpent in the Garden,[7] there has been “a deadly hereditary feud between the Christian and the powers of darkness.”[8] This conflict has marked not only Christians, but all the people of God at every point of redemptive history. From Cain and Abel to Abraham’s battles, to the Exodus, to Israel’s march in the wilderness, the Canaanite conquest, and David’s battles, and on through the rest of Israel’s story, the theme of the war between the seed of the woman and the serpent runs through all of Scripture.[9] This war would culminate with the coming of Christ. Through his death, Christ “gave the death-blow to all his enemies. That hour when they thought they were treading on him, he was crushing them, and bruising the serpent’s head.”[10] By his resurrection, Christ triumphed over sin, Satan, and death, and now reigns as the King of God’s armies.

I see the champion awake, he unbinds the napkin from his head, he sees again the light—he rolls off the cerements of the tomb, rolls them up and places them by themselves. He has risen up; the stone has been rolled away; he comes forth into mid air and fires. O Hell, how didst thou shake! O Death, how wast thou plagued!… He rises, and in that moment sin dies…. Nor was sin alone that day scattered. Did not all the hosts of hell fall before him?… Their hopes were gone, they were scattered indeed. As the wax melteth before the fire, so did their hopes melt away.[11]

Now, as the triumphant King, Christ has redeemed for himself a people, and he sends them out among the nations to rescue captives from their bondage through the proclamation of the gospel. What the Old Testament reveals is that Israel’s deepest problem was not their slavery to other nations, but their spiritual bondage to sin. And just as God rescued Israel from slavery, God now saves sinners from their sin through Christ’s finished work.[12] Now, as the redeemed people of God, Christians, like Israel, are called to engage in warfare, not over lands or possessions, but for the truth of the gospel. Though its nature has changed, the warfare remains. Every true Israelite is to follow the Son of David into battle, not against the nations, but for the sake of the nations, against the spiritual forces of darkness.

Like the Spartans, every Christian is born a warrior. It is his destiny to be assaulted; it is his duty to attack…. He must be able to say with David, ‘I come against thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom thou hast defied.’ He must wrestle not with flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. He must have weapons for his warfare—not carnal—but “mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.” [13]

Spurgeon’s understanding of spiritual warfare was also connected with his doctrine of sanctification. Soon after his conversion, Spurgeon encountered the Methodist teaching of Christian perfectionism, which taught “that no child of God [felt] any conflict within.”[14] Though he heard this in the Primitive Methodist chapel in which he was converted, Spurgeon immediately walked out, rejecting any such teaching. His own experience taught him that, for the Christian, there would be “a daily struggle with the evil within.”[15] Moreover, to accept perfectionism would be to deny Scripture’s teaching on the reality of indwelling sin in the believer.

Related to this was Spurgeon’s rejection of antinomianism, “that is, people who held that, because they believed themselves to be elect, they might live as they liked.”[16] This was a view that was popular among High Calvinists and was particularly influential in the region where he first pastored. Antinomianism recognized the reality of indwelling sin but denied the need to battle that sin. Spurgeon certainly believed that salvation was a gift, based entirely on the finished work of Christ. But he also believed that true Christians who are filled with the Holy Spirit bear the necessary fruit of warring against sin.

We cannot be saved by or for our good works, neither can we be saved without good works. Christ never will save any of His people in their sins; He saves His people from their sins. If a man is not desiring to live a holy life in the sight of God, with the help of the Holy Spirit, he is still “in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.”[17]

Therefore, for Spurgeon, a proper doctrine of sanctification in the Christian meant life-long warfare against sin. “The moment of conversion is rather the commencement than the closing of spiritual warfare, and until the believer’s head shall recline upon the pillow of death he will never have finished his conflicts.”[18] At conversion, the Christian has received a new nature, but this does not change the old nature. Rather, the sign of the arrival of the new nature is that conflict now rages in every believer.[19] For Spurgeon, the mark of spiritual life was not perfection, but persistent struggle against sin. In this life, the Christian was, fundamentally, a soldier. “To be a Christian is to be a warrior. The good soldier of Jesus Christ must not expect to find ease in this world: it is a battle-field. Neither must he reckon upon the friendship of the world for that would be enmity against God. His occupation is war.”[20]

This was true not only for the individual Christian but for the church also. Spurgeon saw his church as an army of soldiers, gathered for war against sin and for the spread of the gospel.[21] Even as engaging in spiritual warfare defined the individual Christian, so it was for the church. “In any one church there will be, there must be, if it be a church of God, earnest contention for the truth and against error.”[22] This theme of conflict could be traced throughout church history, from the days of the apostles to the present day.[23] For Spurgeon, church history confirmed what Scripture taught, namely, that “the church on earth has, and until the second advent must be, the church militant, the church armed, the church warring, the church conquering.”[24]

[1] For a brief account of these two conflicts, see Autobiography 2:82-87; 4:253-64. Much more work has been done on the latter controversy. One of the fullest accounts and analysis of it is an unpublished manuscript by Ernest A. Payne entitled “The Down Grade Controversy,” Spurgeon Collection, Regent’s Park College, Oxford. Also, see Mark Hopkins, Nonconformity’s Romantic Generation: Evangelical and Liberal Theologies in Victorian England (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2006).

[2] NPSP 3:44.

[3] This was his Susannah’s belief, having walked with her husband through the Downgrade Controversy. Autobiography 4:255.

[4] MTP 10:511.

[5] NPSP 2:117.

[6] Autobiography 2:122.

[7] Unlike the historical criticism of his day, Spurgeon held to a literal understanding of the events of Genesis 3, while also understanding those events to have a theological meaning. See Sermon 2165, “The Serpent’s Sentence,” MTP 36:517.

[8] MTP 12:532.

[9] Spurgeon traced this theme of conflict and warfare not only through Israel’s history, but to the New Testament church, and into church history. NPSP 5:42-44.

[10] MTP 7:164-65.

[11] Ibid., 165.

[12] “Observe, the children of Israel were emancipated from bondage, and had left Egypt behind, even as you and I have been rescued from our natural estate and are no longer the servants of sin. They had been redeemed by blood sprinkled upon the door posts and upon the lintel, and we too have had redemption applied to our souls, and have seen that God has looked upon the blood and has passed over us. They had feasted upon the paschal lamb as we have done, for Jesus has become to us our meat and our drink, and our soul is satisfied with him. They had been pursued by their enemies, even as we were pursued by our old sins, but they had seen these furious foes all drowned in the Red Sea, which they had passed through dry-shod; and we, too, have seen our past sins for ever buried in the Red Sea of atoning blood. Our iniquities, which threatened to drive us back into the Egypt of despair, are gone for ever; they sank like lead in the mighty waters, the depths have covered them—there is not one of them left.” MTP 12:530.

[13] MTP 7:545.

[14] MTP 8:167.

[15] Autobiography 1:263.

[16] Autobiography 1:258.

[17] Ibid.

[18] MTP 12:602.

[19] “Conversion and regeneration do not change the old nature; that remaineth still the same; but we have at our new birth infused into us a new nature, a new principle, and this new principle at once begins a contest with the old principle; hence the apostle tells us of the old man and of the new man; he speaks of the flesh lusting against the spirit, and the spirit striving against the flesh. I do not care what the doctrinal statement of any man may be upon the subject; I am sure that the experience of the most of us will prove to a demonstration that there are two natures within us, that only a complex description can describe us at all; we find a company of two armies within us, and the fight goes on, and, if anything, waxes hotter every day. We do trust that the right principle grows stronger, and we hope that through grace the evil principle is weakened and mortified; but, at present, it is with most of us a very sharp contest, and were it not for divine strength, we might throw down our weapons in hopelessness.” MTP 12:531.

[20] MTP 37:229. One of the more unique sermons that Spurgeon preached on this theme was Sermon No. 3188, “Discipline in Christ’s Army,” where he re-interprets Parliament’s “Army Discipline and Regulation Bill” and applies it to the Christian life. MTP 56:121.

[21] “I shall speak especially to the members of this Christian church. I exhort you, dear brethren, who are soldiers of Christ, to be good soldiers, because many of you have been so.” MTP 16:368.

[22] MTP 12:537.

[23] MTP 12:608-12.

[24] NPSP 5:41.



God’s Pruning and the Branches

By / Sep 9

By the summer of 1856, C. H. Spurgeon’s ministry was bearing so much fruit. Church membership was growing. People were being converted under his preaching. Young men were being trained for the ministry. Sermons were being sold by the thousands. And yet all would seemingly come to an end in the Surrey Gardens Music Hall Disaster. On the night of October 19, 1856, with the hall filled to capacity with 10,000 people, shouts of “Fire!” resulted in a stampede, and in the end, seven people died and many more were injured. As a result, Spurgeon fell into a deep depression and no one knew if he would ever preach again.

“His ministry was going so well! He was being so fruitful! Why would God let something like this happen?” We don’t know all the answers. But we have Jesus’ words,

John 15:2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

We typically expect that God rewards those who are fruitful and afflicts those who are unfaithful. But as it turns out, that’s not always how God operates. Affliction is sometimes a result of faithfulness, not for our harm, but for our greater fruitfulness. This is what we see in the lives of Job, David, Daniel, and all the other saints. How much more should we expect this in our lives today?

On October 6, 1867, Spurgeon preached on this passage at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. In that sermon, he gives four reasons, why God the Vinedresser, prunes his branches.

Because we are not yet perfect

Spurgeon says this,

If they were perfect, they would not need pruning; but the fact is there is much of original inbred sin remaining in the best of God’s people, so that whenever the sap within them is strong for the production of fruit, there is a tendency for that strength to turn into evil, and instead of good fruit evil is produced… The fact is, it is very difficult to keep ourselves, when we are in a flourishing state, from producing wood instead of grapes. God grant us grace to keep us from this evil; and I do not know how the grace can come except by his judicious pruning. I say the fruit-bearing branches are not perfect because they bear a great deal that is not fruit, and, moreover, not one of them bears as much fruit as it ought to do.

Yes, you may have some fruitfulness. God has blessed you, He has gifted you, He has given you resources, and insofar as you are sanctified, you will take those talents and use them for good. But, there is also still indwelling sin in you. So often, you can also take those talents and resources and produce what is not fruit. And it’s those wooden shoots, those fruitless stems that need to be pruned.

We have to be careful here. We can’t always read God’s providence, and we should not always try to connect a particular affliction with a particular sin. And yet, there can be a place for self-examination. Spurgeon gives this advice,

It can never be superfluous to humble ourselves and institute self-examination, for even if we walk in our integrity and can lift up our face without shame in this matter, as to actual sin, yet our shortcomings and omissions must cause us to blush. How much holier we ought to have been, and might have been! How much more prevalently we might have prayed! With how much more of unction we might have preached! Here is endless room for tender confession before the Lord.

The idea here is not so much that we are connecting specific sins to specific suffering, but if you encounter hardship, use that time for reflection, for self-examination. This could very well be God’s pruning. We are not yet perfect, so there is always room for us to humble ourselves and consider how we can grow before God.

God is a skillful Vinedresser. We are so easily impressed by our own fruitfulness. But He does not measure our fruitfulness according to our abilities but according to the power of the True Vine. He is conforming us to the image of Christ. And so, there is still much to prune.

Because God loves us

How easy it is to see our suffering as the result of God’s wrath! But Spurgeon writes,

You have no right to say, when a man is afflicted, that it is because he has done wrong; on the contrary, “every branch that bears fruit he prunes.” Only the branch that is good for something gets the pruning knife. Do not say of yourselves, or of other people, “That man must have been a great offender, or he would not have met with such a judgment.” Nonsense, who was a holier man than Job; but who was brought lower than he? Why, the fact is, it is because the Lord loves his people that he chastens them, not because of any anger that he hath towards them. But learn, beloved, especially you under trial, not to see an angry God in your pains or your losses, or your crosses; but instead thereof, see a husbandman, who thinks you a branch whom he estimates at so great a rate, that he will take the trouble to prune you, which he would not do if he had not a kind consideration towards you.

This is so important. If we are going to bear up under afflictions, we have to believe that 1) God is in control and 2) that God loves us. This trial we’re going through, it’s not an accident, it’s not without meaning, but even as painful as it is, God has good purposes for us in this suffering, he is pruning us in love. This must be the case for those of us who are in Christ. Spurgeon says,

The object in this pruning is never condemnatory. God does not purge his children with a view to visit them penally for sin; he chastises, but he cannot punish those for whom Jesus Christ has been already punished.

It’s so easy to forget this when we’re suffering. Pain has this way of condemning us, reminding us of all that we’ve done wrong. Even as we examine ourselves, we can’t forget also to preach the gospel to ourselves. This pruning is not punitive, because “God cannot punish those for whom Jesus Christ has already been punished.” It’s not condemnatory, because there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Spurgeon says this,

Just now, when anguish fills the heart, and the spirits are bruised with sore pain and travail, it is not the best season for forming a candid judgment of our own condition, or of anything else; let the judging faculty lie by, and let us with tears of loving confession throw ourselves upon our Father’s bosom, and looking up into his face believe that he loves us with all his infinite heart. “Though he slay me yet will I trust in him,”

So yes, pruning can be a good time for self-examination. But not always. There may be some seasons of pain, when you will be so confused that it will be quite okay for you just to say, “I have no idea why this happened; I don’t understand what God is doing; But the bottom line is that I know Jesus loves me. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.” And in those moments, what you need most of all is just rest in the gospel assurance of God’s love. And this perhaps is the best thing of all for us.

To prepare the way for the Word

How does God prune? This is an important question. Spurgeon says this,

It is generally said [that God prunes] by affliction…  that our trials and troubles purge us; I am not sure of that, they certainly are lost upon some. Our Lord tells us what it is that prunes us. “Now,” saith he, in the third verse of the chapter, “you are clean (or pruned) through the word which I have spoken unto you.” It is the Word that prunes the Christian, it is the truth that purges him, the Scripture, made living and powerful by the Holy Spirit, effectually cleanses the Christian.

“What then does affliction do?” say you. Well, if I may say so, affliction is the handle of the knife; affliction is the grindstone that sharpens up the word; affliction is the dresser which removes our soft garments, and lays bare the diseased flesh, so that the surgeon’s lancet may get at it; affliction makes us ready to feel the word, but the true pruner is the word in the hand of the Great Husbandman.

So let’s be clear. Suffering and afflictions by themselves do not sanctify. For so many people, suffering only embitters them and leaves them in despair. But the way God uses suffering in the life of a Christian is that suffering humbles us. And it makes us much more ready to hear and receive God’s promises. Suffering makes way for the Word of God to do its work in us, by the Spirit.

Sometimes when you lay stretched upon the bed of sickness, you think more upon the word than you did before, that is one great thing. In the next place, you see more the applicability of that word to yourself. In the third place, the Holy Spirit makes you feel more… the force of the word than you did before. Ask that affliction may be sanctified, beloved, but always remember there is no more tendency in affliction in itself to sanctify us… It is the word coming to us while in affliction that purges us; it is God the Holy Ghost laying home divine truth, and applying the blood of Jesus, and working in all his divine energy in the soul; it is this that prunes us.

It’s when we are stripped of our earthly pride and our earthly comforts … it’s when we finally see how flimsy and fleeting these earthly securities are, that we then turn to the One who never changes, the One Who speaks to us a better Word, in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So friend, don’t waste your suffering! Amid your difficulties, make sure you are abiding in Christ by having his word abide in you. You may very well find these times of pruning to be filled with new insights and understanding of God’s Word.

So don’t let the purpose of the pruning pass you by. When suffering comes, don’t just buckle down, and soldier on in your own strength. No, reflect on it through the lens of God’s Word. Meditate on God’s Word. Pray. Abide in Christ.

So many pastors, being the spiritual, resourceful leaders that they are, often find themselves very alone as they encounter suffering. I’m grateful for pastoral networks and fellowships like this. Because sometimes, in suffering, we need others to speak the truth to us. God can use our own private study, but sometimes He will use His Word spoken by a friend to help us. Do you have relationships with other leaders in your church and with other pastors nearby, so that when you encounter suffering, there are others who can speak the Word of God to you? Sometimes in the midst of suffering it’s hard to think on God’s Word. That’s when we need brothers and sisters around us to walk with us, to bear our pain with us, and to gently point us to the truth. That’s true for church leaders too.

But in the end, it is God’s Word that brings hope, that brings fruit from the painful pruning that we experience.

As I said earlier, Spurgeon fell into a deep depression after the Music Hall disaster. For weeks, he was unable to preach. And as he heard the criticisms, as he replayed the events of that night, as he pondered the deaths that had happened, all kinds doubts and questions tormented him. “Was this all my fault?” “Have I been self-deceived about my ministry? Has all this been for my vanity? Could we have done something different?” The questions rolled on and on, and he had no answers. He could only weep. He tried thinking on God’s Word, on the attributes of God, on the love and sovereignty of God, but none of those thoughts brought any relief.

What was it that finally lifted him out of his despair? On Nov. 2, 1856, Spurgeon returned to the pulpit. And this is what he said,

The text I have selected is one that has comforted me, and in a great measure, enabled me to come here today—the single reflection upon it had such a power of comfort on my depressed spirit. It is this—“Therefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”—Philippians 2:9–11.

in the midst of calamities, whether they be the wreck of nations, the crash of empires, the heaving of revolutions, or the scourge of war, the great question which the Christian asks himself, and asks of others too, is this—Is Christ’s kingdom safe? In his own personal afflictions, his chief anxiety is—Will God be glorified, and will his honor be increased by it? If it be so, says he, although I be but as smoking flax, yet if the sun is not dimmed I will rejoice…It matters not what shall become of us: God has highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.

Well, it was the vision of the rise and exalted Christ that gave him hope and enabled Spurgeon to return to the pulpit. And he would go on to preach for another 35 years. The scars of that night would never leave him. He would always struggle with a kind of PTSD whenever memories of that night would come back. God’s pruning can leave deep scars.

But even more, this vision of the risen, exalted Christ would strengthen him for the rest of his life. No matter what happens to us, Christ’s kingdom is safe. God has given him a name which is above every name. And so, we also are safe and can endure.

So we can bear more fruit

This is what we see in the text. The purpose of the Vinedresser is that we would bear more fruit for His glory. Spurgeon puts it this way,

The real reason is that more fruit may be produced; which I understand to mean more in quantity. A good man, who feels the power of the word pruning him of this and that superfluity, sets to work, in the power of the Holy Ghost, to do more for Jesus. Before he was afflicted he did not know how to be patient. He learns it at last—a hard lesson. Before he was poor he did not know how to be humble, but he learns that. Before the word came with power he did not know how to pray with his fellows, or to speak to sinners, or lay himself out for usefulness; but the more he is pruned, the more he serves his Lord.

More fruit in variety too, may be intended. One tree can only produce one kind of fruit usually, but the Lord’s people can produce many, as we have already seen; and the more they are pruned the more they will produce. There will be all kinds of fruits, both new and old, which they will lay up for their beloved.

There will be more in quality, too. The man may not pray more, but he will pray more earnestly; he may not preach more sermons, but he will preach them more thoroughly from his heart, with a greater unction. It may be that he will not be more in communion with God as to time, but it will be a closer communion; he will throw himself more thoroughly into the divine element of communion, and will become more hearty in all that he does.

What was the secret to Spurgeon’s preaching and ministry? Certainly, the gospel. Spurgeon would emphasize this. The gospel is the power of salvation for everyone who believes.

And certainly, prayer is the engine of the church.

But if I may suggest another “secret” to Spurgeon’s ministry: I think it was his suffering. Suffering opened the way for God’s Word to land in his heart in a powerful way, and equipped him to speak God’s Word to others.

If you ever have a chance to visit the Spurgeon Library in Kansas City, one of the things you’ll notice are the nine large paintings that line the walls of the Library. They tell to story of Spurgeon’s conversion, his baptism, his amazing preaching ministry, his marriage, his orphanage and church and pastors’ college. In all this Spurgeon, may appear to be some kind of pastoral superman. But such an impression would be wrong.

Spurgeon did not soar through his 40+ years of ministry. Rather, he mostly limped. The final painting in the room attempts to tell that story. There, Spurgeon is only in his 50s, but the pressures of ministry and illness have so aged him that he looks like he is in his 60s. He’s supporting himself with a cane due to his gout. Rather than being in London, he is convalescing in Mentone, France, where he would regularly need to escape during winter months to try to recover his health. This painting is a reminder that suffering wasn’t just a component of Spurgeon’s life. Rather, it was the cloud that hung over all his labors and accomplishments.

The pressure and overwork of all that was going on would quickly catch up with him. In the fall of 1858, Spurgeon once again found himself seriously ill and unable to preach for three consecutive Sundays. On his first Sunday back, he had to be carried up to the pulpit to preach. Clearly, he was not fully recovered.

For the rest of his life, the combination of overwork and illness would become a pattern in his ministry. His doctors attributed his illness to kidney disease, which led to other painful ailments like gout and rheumatism. A friend once asked him what gout was like. Spurgeon responded, “If you put your hand into a vice and let a man press as hard as he can, that is rheumatism; and if he can be got to press a little harder, that is gout.”  Gout would often lay him out, bringing sharp pain to his hands, feet, joints, lower back, muscles, and legs. At other times, he dealt with nerve pain, seizures, smallpox, sciatica, and other afflictions. As a preacher, Spurgeon carried all these ailments into the pulpit with him. For many weeks, his congregation received a visual sermon on suffering and perseverance as they watched their pastor struggle up the steps to the pulpit and preach through pain.

But Spurgeon’s suffering was not limited to physical pain. Rather, the physical suffering often brought with it deep emotional pain. Doctors today might very well diagnose him with depression. But Spurgeon’s experience of depression had a spiritual component to it. Amid his many illnesses, he often wrestled with doubts and fears. He once shared,

I find that when I am in good physical health, I am not often tempted of Satan to despondency or doubt; but whenever I get depressed in spirit, or the liver is out of order, or the head aches, then comes the hissing serpent, “God has forsaken you, you are no child of God, you are unfaithful to your Master, yea have no part in the blood of sprinkling,” and such-like things. You old rascal! If you say as much as that to me in my days of health, when my blood is leaping in my veins, I shall be more than a match for you; but to meet me just then, when you understand that I am weak, ay! This is like you, Satan.

Often, when battling illness, he wondered if he would ever be able to preach again. He feared becoming useless, a burden rather than a help. He could imagine his congregation suffering, the orphanage collapsing, and the college dissolving. All these anxieties only compounded his physical suffering with emotional dread and discouragement, leading to more physical weakness.  In his illness, he sometimes found himself in a dangerous spiral.

This was the backdrop to Spurgeon’s pastoral ministry. And this is what equipped him to be such an effective minister of God’s Word. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians.

2Cor. 1:3   Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Today, when you read Spurgeon’s sermons, this is what you encounter. You encounter the teaching of a brother in Christ who has walked through dark valleys, and who experienced God’s faithfulness in those valleys. And now, he is ready to share that comfort with others.

Brothers and sisters, and especially pastors, don’t be surprised by suffering. If you want to be fruitful, God may very well bring affliction to help you learn those lessons that we are so slow to learn. We certainly have to be careful in trying to read God’s hand. We can’t always connect this particular suffering with this particular outcome. But in God’s design, this is how He loves his ministers, and this is how He loves his church: by pruning them and making them fruitful.

Spurgeon once said to his students,

Sickness has frequently been of more use to the saints of God than health has. If some men, that I know of, could only be favored with a month of rheumatism, it would, by God’s grace, mellow them marvellously. Assuredly, they need something better to preach than what they now give their people; and, possibly, they would learn it in the chamber of suffering.

Well, I think Spurgeon spoke from experience. I don’t mean by any of this that we need to go looking for suffering. The idea here is not that we would prune ourselves. Certainly, there is suffering enough all around us, and there is plenty all around us to keep us humble and keep our hearts soft to the truth of God’s Word.

Conclusion

Jesus concludes all this with this amazing promise:

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

Friends, how amazing, that we who once were wild branches, producing only poison and death, have been grafted into Christ, the True Vine, so that now, we can bear fruit that glorifies the Father, that shows to the watching world the glory and majesty and goodness and love of our heavenly Father. This is what we are to be about in this life, and this is what we will be about for all of eternity.

This is the result of the pruning which our heavenly Father gives; and if such be the result, [May] the Lord keep on pruning. For what greater blessing can a man have than to produce much fruit for God? Better to serve God much than to become a prince. He that does much for Christ, shall shine as the stars for ever and ever. He is good in God; he is blessing his fellow men; he is bringing joy into his own spirit. Oh, if on bended knee we might seek but one favor, methinks we would not ask the wisdom which Solomon craved; we would petition for this, that we might bring forth much fruit, that so we might be Christ’s disciples.

This article is adapted from a talk given at the Southeast Kansas Baptist Association Pastors’ Conference in August 2024.