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Because of his youth he was known as

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the boy preacher, but it must be pointed

3
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out he had in no way referred to

4
00:00:07,370 --> 00:00:09,410
himself under this term or used it as

5
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a kind of gimmick to draw a crowd.

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Nevertheless he soon preached to a crowd and

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00:00:15,890 --> 00:00:17,550
did so each Sunday.

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When he went to Water Beach the congregation

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numbered about 40, but it grew with great

10
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rapidity.

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People came not only from the village itself

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but also from the surrounding countryside till the

13
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attendance mounted regularly to 400 and more.

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Of course they could not all get into

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the little building, but doors and windows were

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left open and people stood outside listening to

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a preacher such as they had never heard

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before.

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During his days at Water Beach Spurgeon manifested

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a gift for which he was to be

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preeminent throughout his later ministry, the gift of

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understanding and influencing people.

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He talked to men and women on the

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street and he visited them in their homes.

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He knew them and their teenagers and their

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children by name.

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He recognized sin and it was everywhere.

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He witnessed the people's manner of life.

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He prayed by the sick, comforted the suffering

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and watched the dying.

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In public and in private he ever presented

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the gospel and great was his joy when

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he heard the news of the first convert.

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This was a woman who came to tell

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him that under his preaching she had been

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brought into a deep conviction of sin but

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that she had received the Savior and was

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now rejoicing.

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A great many others followed till Water Beach

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was virtually transformed.

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Did you ever walk through a village notorious

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for its drunkenness and profanity?

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Did you ever see poor wretched beings that

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once were men standing or rather leaning against

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the posts of the ale house or staggering

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along the street?

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Have you ever looked into the houses of

48
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the people and beheld them as dens of

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iniquity at which your soul stood aghast?

50
00:02:18,380 --> 00:02:21,280
Have you ever seen the poverty and degradation

51
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and misery of the inhabitants and sighed over

52
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it?

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Yes, you say, we have.

54
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But was it ever your privilege to walk

55
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through that village again in after years when

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the gospel had been preached there?

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It has been mine.

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I once knew such a village as I

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have pictured, perhaps in some respects one of

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the worst in England, where many an illicit

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still was yielding its noxious liquor and where

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in connection with that evil all manner of

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riot and iniquity was rife.

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There went into that village a lad who

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had no great scholarship but who was earnest

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in seeking the souls of men.

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He began to preach there and it pleased

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God to turn the whole place upside down.

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In a short time that little thatched chapel

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was crammed.

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The biggest vagabonds in the village were weeping

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floods of tears and those who had been

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the curse of the parish became its blessing.

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Where there had been robberies and villainies of

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every kind all around the neighborhood there were

76
00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:35,040
none because the men who used to do

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the mischief were themselves in the house of

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God rejoicing to hear of Jesus crucified.

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I am not telling an exaggerated story nor

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a thing I do not know, for it

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00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:52,840
was my delight to labor for the Lord

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in that village.

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It was a pleasant thing to walk through

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that place when drunkenness had almost ceased, where

85
00:04:00,500 --> 00:04:03,020
debauchery in the case of many was dead,

86
00:04:03,340 --> 00:04:05,880
when men and women went forth to labor

87
00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,620
with joyful hearts singing the praises of the

88
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ever-living God, and when at sunset the

89
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humble cottager called his children together, read them

90
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some portion of the book of truth, and

91
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then together they bent their knees in prayer

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to God.

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00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:24,180
I can say with joy and happiness that

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00:04:24,180 --> 00:04:26,080
almost from one end of the village to

95
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the other at the hour of eventide one

96
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might have heard the voice of song coming

97
00:04:31,780 --> 00:04:34,600
from nearly every roof tree.

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I do testify to the praise of God's

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grace that it pleased the Lord to work

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wonders in our midst.

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He showed the power of Jesus' name and

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00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:51,160
made me a witness of that gospel which

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can win souls, draw reluctant hearts, and mold

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afresh the life and conduct of sinful men

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and women."

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Spurgeon's pastorate at Waterbeach continued until he was

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19.

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During that period, although he manifested a rare

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maturity, he had also much to learn about

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the day-by-day conducting of the ministry.

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That experience was evident, for instance, in his

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sermon preparation.

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He sought to be led by God to

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some passage of Scripture, endeavoring in prayer and

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study to understand it thoroughly.

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After filling his soul with its message, he

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marshaled its truths into organized form in readiness

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for delivery.

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He found the main points and then the

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secondary points that the Scripture contained, wrote them

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out in two or three pages of notes,

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and carried those into the pulpit with him.

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Some 200 or so Waterbeach sermon outlines are

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still extant, and they manifest the nature of

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00:06:02,610 --> 00:06:03,390
his early preaching.

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He did not, like most men during their

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00:06:06,710 --> 00:06:09,350
first few years in the ministry, merely touch

128
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the surface of gospel truths.

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On the contrary, the great system of doctrine

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that he had been weighing in his mind

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since childhood, and that had largely constituted the

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body of his study, underlay virtually all he

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said, and provided the strength of his ministry.

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Spurgeon's experience also grew in his handling of

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people during those days.

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When the town scourge unloosed her tongue upon

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him one day, he replied as though he

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had barely heard her and incorrectly understood her

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words.

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After two or three outbursts, she hurried away,

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saying, The man is as deaf as a

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post.

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A certain minister who invited him to come

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and preach, upon seeing how boyish he looked,

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treated him with contempt.

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But Spurgeon, in his sermon, replied by quoting

147
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a verse from Proverbs that rebuked the man's

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uncivil behavior, and then he went on to

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preach so powerfully that when the service was

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over, the man patted him on the back

151
00:07:17,820 --> 00:07:20,940
and said, You're the sauciest dog that ever

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barked in the pulpit.

153
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The occasion marked the beginning of a warm

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friendship between them.

155
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There was a woman who, though a true

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saint, constantly lacked Christian confidence.

157
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She told Spurgeon she was such a hypocrite

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that she ought not to attend church, and

159
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that she had no Christian hope whatsoever.

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Knowing her true earnestness and desiring to help

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her, he offered to buy her hope for

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five pounds, to which she exclaimed, Oh, I

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would not sell my hope in Christ for

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a thousand worlds.

165
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During those teenage days in Water Beach, Spurgeon

166
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revealed much of the character that later shone

167
00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:10,200
in him so prominently.

168
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Admittedly, he was audacious and fearless, and any

169
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who saw this feature alone could well assume

170
00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:18,980
that he was impudent.

171
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But he was also very real.

172
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He had not the slightest element of pretense,

173
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and in both his public ministry and his

174
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pastoral relationships, his unrelenting earnestness was manifest to

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all.

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His extraordinary preaching powers were also evident, a

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voice of tremendous strength together with the sweetest

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moving tones, and all under constant control.

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Spurgeon exercised an unyielding self-discipline.

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To him, the Christian life must be fully

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governed, and he put that ideal into stern

182
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practice.

183
00:09:02,290 --> 00:09:04,670
Rising early, he filled the day with labor,

184
00:09:04,950 --> 00:09:08,390
studying and visiting, praying and preaching.

185
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He gave no attention to sports, and had

186
00:09:11,490 --> 00:09:13,950
no personal friendships with members of the opposite

187
00:09:13,950 --> 00:09:17,210
sex, but all his time and thought were

188
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given to the Lord.

189
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In many senses, though yet so young, he

190
00:09:23,070 --> 00:09:26,090
was far ahead of many older ministers in

191
00:09:26,090 --> 00:09:28,410
knowing and doing the work of that office.

192
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As his brother James expressed it, he has

193
00:09:32,730 --> 00:09:35,370
a marvelous example of a preacher leaping out

194
00:09:35,370 --> 00:09:37,770
of bound, full-grown into the pulpit.

195
00:09:39,910 --> 00:09:42,550
Charles's extraordinary advancement in the work of the

196
00:09:42,550 --> 00:09:45,710
ministry was not understood, however, by his father.

197
00:09:46,870 --> 00:09:49,610
John Spurgeon, wanting the best for his son,

198
00:09:49,710 --> 00:09:52,170
made plans to put him into Stepney College,

199
00:09:52,610 --> 00:09:54,630
the Baptist ministerial training school.

200
00:09:55,590 --> 00:09:58,550
The universities had long been closed to all

201
00:09:58,550 --> 00:10:00,170
who were not members of the Church of

202
00:10:00,170 --> 00:10:00,430
England.

203
00:10:01,610 --> 00:10:04,490
Charles was not happy about his father's idea,

204
00:10:04,610 --> 00:10:06,110
but he was willing to go along with

205
00:10:06,110 --> 00:10:09,210
it if necessary, and he agreed to meet

206
00:10:09,210 --> 00:10:12,150
the college principal, Dr. Joseph Angus.

207
00:10:13,210 --> 00:10:15,370
The interview was to take place at a

208
00:10:15,370 --> 00:10:18,910
home in Cambridge, that of Daniel Macmillan, the

209
00:10:18,910 --> 00:10:20,010
prominent publisher.

210
00:10:21,230 --> 00:10:23,710
Charles arrived at the appointed hour, and was

211
00:10:23,710 --> 00:10:25,550
shown by a maid into a sitting room,

212
00:10:25,630 --> 00:10:27,790
and there he waited for Dr. Angus to

213
00:10:27,790 --> 00:10:28,390
arrive.

214
00:10:29,730 --> 00:10:32,410
But at the end of two hours, he

215
00:10:32,410 --> 00:10:34,650
called for the maid, only to discover she

216
00:10:34,650 --> 00:10:36,650
had shown the gentleman into a room at

217
00:10:36,650 --> 00:10:38,050
the other side of the house.

218
00:10:39,170 --> 00:10:41,610
He too had waited all that time, but

219
00:10:41,610 --> 00:10:43,310
having to catch a train, he had left

220
00:10:43,310 --> 00:10:45,310
the house some moments earlier.

221
00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:50,260
Later that day, Spurgeon was walking through the

222
00:10:50,260 --> 00:10:52,440
fields on his way to a village service.

223
00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:55,960
As he thought of the strange event of

224
00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:59,440
the afternoon, there came an overwhelming impression in

225
00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:02,460
his mind, almost as though he actually heard

226
00:11:02,460 --> 00:11:05,740
a voice that said very distinctly, Seekest thou

227
00:11:05,740 --> 00:11:07,240
great things for thyself?

228
00:11:07,580 --> 00:11:08,700
Seek them not.

229
00:11:09,940 --> 00:11:13,620
He immediately rejoiced in his counsel, and then

230
00:11:13,620 --> 00:11:16,560
and there he determined not to enter the

231
00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:16,980
college.

232
00:11:17,580 --> 00:11:19,980
He already knew God had already made him

233
00:11:19,980 --> 00:11:22,760
a minister, and he purposed to continue the

234
00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:25,000
manner of life that had been his for

235
00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:26,160
the past two years.

236
00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:30,260
The decision allowed no room for earthly ambition.

237
00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:34,200
It marked another step forward in the mortification

238
00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:36,680
of self, and in the growth of his

239
00:11:36,680 --> 00:11:39,000
soul's devotion to the Lord.

240
00:11:41,780 --> 00:11:44,880
In later years, Spurgeon referred to the event

241
00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:48,100
of his missing Dr. Angus as the Lord's

242
00:11:48,100 --> 00:11:50,160
hand behind the maid's mistake.

243
00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:54,740
The college gave its students valuable knowledge of

244
00:11:54,740 --> 00:11:57,340
the Bible and of general theological subjects.

245
00:11:57,700 --> 00:12:00,800
It provided classroom instruction in how to prepare

246
00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:03,460
sermons and how to deliver them, and it

247
00:12:03,460 --> 00:12:06,060
endeavored to lead the young men into a

248
00:12:06,060 --> 00:12:08,700
well-ordered and disciplined manner of life.

249
00:12:09,420 --> 00:12:13,080
But those things were hardly necessary to Spurgeon.

250
00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:18,020
He was already far beyond the college's students,

251
00:12:18,260 --> 00:12:21,280
and undoubtedly beyond most of its faculty in

252
00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:24,700
theological knowledge and preaching ability, and he already

253
00:12:24,700 --> 00:12:27,180
possessed a wide pastoral experience.

254
00:12:28,620 --> 00:12:32,580
Moreover, though strictly subject to all that was

255
00:12:32,580 --> 00:12:35,840
righteous and true, he was in some senses

256
00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:39,200
a free spirit, without fear of man and

257
00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:41,820
entirely unfettered by human conventions.

258
00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:46,240
He had received in birth a unique genius

259
00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:49,200
of spirit, and that would surely have suffered

260
00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:51,320
had he entered an environment where efforts would

261
00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:53,260
have been made to force it into the

262
00:12:53,260 --> 00:12:54,860
mold of ordinary individuals.

263
00:12:55,860 --> 00:12:58,400
He had been prepared for a divinely ordered

264
00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:01,920
ministry, and did not need the usual shaping

265
00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:03,380
by the hands of man.

266
00:13:06,710 --> 00:13:09,170
After Spurgeon had been in Water Beach two

267
00:13:09,170 --> 00:13:11,770
years, an event took place which, in the

268
00:13:11,770 --> 00:13:14,570
plan of God, drew his ministry there to

269
00:13:14,570 --> 00:13:15,350
its close.

270
00:13:16,410 --> 00:13:20,590
In November of 1853, he spoke at a

271
00:13:20,590 --> 00:13:23,450
meeting of the Cambridge Sunday School Union.

272
00:13:24,630 --> 00:13:27,830
He was followed by two other ministers, each

273
00:13:27,830 --> 00:13:31,490
of whom referred belittlingly to his youthfulness.

274
00:13:32,170 --> 00:13:35,670
One, in fact, was particularly nasty, and stated,

275
00:13:36,230 --> 00:13:37,030
It is a pity.

276
00:13:37,270 --> 00:13:39,910
Boys do not adopt the scriptural practice of

277
00:13:39,910 --> 00:13:42,670
tarrying at Jericho till their beards are grown,

278
00:13:42,950 --> 00:13:44,950
before they try to instruct their seniors.

279
00:13:46,590 --> 00:13:50,450
When the speaker had concluded, Spurgeon secured the

280
00:13:50,450 --> 00:13:52,870
chairman's permission, and made a reply.

281
00:13:53,730 --> 00:13:57,730
I reminded the audience, he says, that those

282
00:13:57,730 --> 00:14:00,270
who were bidden to remain at Jericho were

283
00:14:00,270 --> 00:14:03,530
not boys, but full-grown men whose beards

284
00:14:03,530 --> 00:14:06,350
had been shaved off by their enemies, as

285
00:14:06,350 --> 00:14:08,690
the greatest indignity they could be made to

286
00:14:08,690 --> 00:14:11,750
suffer, and who were, therefore, ashamed to return

287
00:14:11,750 --> 00:14:14,170
home until their beards had grown again.

288
00:14:14,870 --> 00:14:17,650
I added that the true parallel to their

289
00:14:17,650 --> 00:14:19,730
case could be found in a minister who,

290
00:14:20,250 --> 00:14:23,750
through falling into open sin, had disgraced his

291
00:14:23,750 --> 00:14:26,730
calling and needed to go into seclusion, till

292
00:14:26,730 --> 00:14:29,690
his character had, to some extent, been restored.

293
00:14:32,710 --> 00:14:35,110
Spurgeon knew nothing of the man who had

294
00:14:35,110 --> 00:14:38,850
attacked him, but he had unwittingly described his

295
00:14:38,850 --> 00:14:39,350
condition.

296
00:14:40,010 --> 00:14:42,970
The poor man had fallen into sin, and

297
00:14:42,970 --> 00:14:45,030
since his behavior was known to the people,

298
00:14:45,670 --> 00:14:48,690
one can but imagine his embarrassment.

299
00:14:50,810 --> 00:14:54,630
This meeting, however, though of no special importance

300
00:14:54,630 --> 00:14:59,270
in itself, proved of pivotal significance in Spurgeon's

301
00:14:59,270 --> 00:14:59,650
life.

302
00:15:00,150 --> 00:15:02,450
It led in an indirect way to the

303
00:15:02,450 --> 00:15:05,590
placing before him of the supreme opportunity of

304
00:15:05,590 --> 00:15:09,050
his career, the opening of a great door

305
00:15:09,050 --> 00:15:12,470
and effectual, a call to the pastorate of

306
00:15:12,470 --> 00:15:16,410
the New Park Street Baptist Church in London.

307
00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:22,540
Now we begin another subsection of the book,

308
00:15:22,740 --> 00:15:29,240
The First Years in London, 1855 to 1864.

309
00:15:30,740 --> 00:15:33,540
And this section begins with chapter 5, a

310
00:15:33,540 --> 00:15:37,200
great door and effectual is opened.

311
00:15:37,860 --> 00:15:40,700
And it begins with a quote from the

312
00:15:40,700 --> 00:15:45,120
Prince of Preachers, written in 1894 by James

313
00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:45,620
Douglas.

314
00:15:46,620 --> 00:15:47,520
Here's the quote.

315
00:15:48,980 --> 00:15:51,940
To what then was Spurgeon's swift and decisive

316
00:15:51,940 --> 00:15:53,080
promotion due?

317
00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:56,200
We infer it was due to this fact,

318
00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:59,160
that there was nothing in him necessitating delay.

319
00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:01,520
He could be placed in the seat of

320
00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:04,640
honor, for he had the spiritual grounding requisite.

321
00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:07,540
He could serve the relative end, for the

322
00:16:07,540 --> 00:16:09,300
basis of it had been laid in his

323
00:16:09,300 --> 00:16:10,000
own heart.

324
00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:11,980
The light was there.

325
00:16:12,340 --> 00:16:15,040
It needed but a stand adequate to its

326
00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:16,360
power of illumination.

327
00:16:17,500 --> 00:16:20,980
And specially should be instanced this point, that

328
00:16:20,980 --> 00:16:24,100
he had the true Christian foil in respect

329
00:16:24,100 --> 00:16:26,760
of honor, namely, humility.

330
00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:30,900
He had, as we have just seen, forsworn

331
00:16:30,900 --> 00:16:33,040
the search of great things for himself.

332
00:16:33,620 --> 00:16:34,740
And what is this?

333
00:16:34,820 --> 00:16:37,160
In the economy of grace, but the forerunner

334
00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:37,740
of promotion.

335
00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:40,980
He had no great stalking ambition.

336
00:16:41,700 --> 00:16:44,280
The role of a country village pastor was

337
00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:46,100
as ample as his heart's desire.

338
00:16:46,860 --> 00:16:48,420
London might make him greater.

339
00:16:48,860 --> 00:16:51,380
It could hardly make him happier.

340
00:16:54,630 --> 00:16:57,210
And now chapter 5, a great door and

341
00:16:57,210 --> 00:16:59,190
effectual is opened.

342
00:17:01,110 --> 00:17:04,750
A man named George Gould was present at

343
00:17:04,750 --> 00:17:06,030
that meeting in Cambridge.

344
00:17:06,530 --> 00:17:10,109
He was deeply impressed by Spurgeon's ministry and

345
00:17:10,109 --> 00:17:13,970
gave a London friend, William Olney, a glowing

346
00:17:13,970 --> 00:17:16,550
report of the young Water Beach preacher.

347
00:17:17,589 --> 00:17:19,750
Olney was a deacon of the New Park

348
00:17:19,750 --> 00:17:22,270
Street Baptist Church, and since it was without

349
00:17:22,270 --> 00:17:25,250
a pastor at the time, Gould urged that

350
00:17:25,250 --> 00:17:28,210
it seriously consider this remarkable youth.

351
00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:33,400
The New Park Street Church invited Spurgeon to

352
00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:35,660
supply its pulpit for a Sunday.

353
00:17:36,580 --> 00:17:39,680
He was amazed at the request and replied

354
00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:42,560
to their letter saying they must have the

355
00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:45,320
wrong Spurgeon, for he was merely a lad

356
00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:46,140
of nineteen.

357
00:17:47,380 --> 00:17:49,920
They replied that he was the one they

358
00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:53,040
had intended, so he agreed to spend Sunday,

359
00:17:53,300 --> 00:17:57,260
December 18, 1853, with them.

360
00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:01,960
Reaching London on Saturday, he went, as they

361
00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:04,080
had arranged, to a boarding-house in the

362
00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:05,240
Bloomsbury district.

363
00:18:06,260 --> 00:18:09,000
Several young gentlemen lived at this house, and

364
00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:11,480
as they looked upon the visitor, his clothes

365
00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:14,540
anything but stylish, his hair unkempt, and his

366
00:18:14,540 --> 00:18:18,360
whole appearance countrified, they were much amused.

367
00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:21,700
At the supper-table they told him of

368
00:18:21,700 --> 00:18:24,640
the extraordinary abilities of many of the London

369
00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:28,700
preachers, men, they said, of thorough scholarship and

370
00:18:28,700 --> 00:18:33,740
rare oratorical powers, and the suggestion was that

371
00:18:33,740 --> 00:18:36,800
Spurgeon was entirely out of place in one

372
00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,780
of the city's most prominent nonconformist churches.

373
00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:46,580
Spurgeon felt that much would be expected of

374
00:18:46,580 --> 00:18:49,060
him in this pulpit, especially because of the

375
00:18:49,060 --> 00:18:52,360
personal greatness and lengthy ministries of three of

376
00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:53,560
the men who had filled it.

377
00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:58,080
The first of those was Benjamin Keech, an

378
00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:01,000
outstanding preacher and author who had suffered in

379
00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:03,720
the pillory for his faith during the 17th

380
00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:04,260
century.

381
00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:08,800
The second was John Gill, a man of

382
00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:12,320
tremendous learning, the author of ponderous volumes of

383
00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:16,120
theology and biblical commentary, who had exercised his

384
00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:19,160
ministry there for 51 years.

385
00:19:20,380 --> 00:19:24,440
The third, John Rippon, had proved himself an

386
00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:27,380
able preacher and had edited a widely used

387
00:19:27,380 --> 00:19:30,060
hymn book, and his ministry in this pulpit

388
00:19:30,060 --> 00:19:33,920
had lasted for the amazing length of 63

389
00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:35,340
years.

390
00:19:38,580 --> 00:19:42,200
These men were yet highly revered, especially by

391
00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:46,100
Baptists throughout England, and their greatness served all

392
00:19:46,100 --> 00:19:48,460
the more to discourage Spurgeon as he came

393
00:19:48,460 --> 00:19:51,460
now to spend the Sunday in their pulpit.

394
00:19:54,260 --> 00:19:56,860
After having supper with the young gentleman, Spurgeon

395
00:19:56,860 --> 00:19:57,940
went to his room.

396
00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:00,900
It was not actually a room, merely a

397
00:20:00,900 --> 00:20:03,200
kind of cupboard over the stairs, and so

398
00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,620
small he could barely kneel beside the bed.

399
00:20:07,060 --> 00:20:10,340
Throughout the night there was almost constant noise

400
00:20:10,340 --> 00:20:12,860
from horses and carriages on the street below,

401
00:20:13,260 --> 00:20:15,760
and he found it difficult to sleep.

402
00:20:16,780 --> 00:20:18,760
As he awoke in the morning he felt

403
00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:20,540
lonely and friendless.

404
00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:24,620
The great city seemed forbidding, and he longed

405
00:20:24,620 --> 00:20:27,800
for his flock in Waterbeach, who would be

406
00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:30,960
that day meeting without him.

407
00:20:33,340 --> 00:20:35,660
Nor were matters improved when he made his

408
00:20:35,660 --> 00:20:36,520
way to the church.

409
00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:40,820
The building had been a rather grand place.

410
00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:44,500
It was of stone and brick construction, now

411
00:20:44,500 --> 00:20:47,380
much blackened by the city's grime.

412
00:20:48,340 --> 00:20:51,300
Nevertheless, it remained one of the largest Baptist

413
00:20:51,300 --> 00:20:54,220
chapels in Britain, and he says that upon

414
00:20:54,220 --> 00:20:57,080
first viewing it, I felt for a moment

415
00:20:57,080 --> 00:20:59,920
amazed at my own temerity, for it seemed

416
00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:02,200
to my eyes to be a large, ornate,

417
00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:06,480
and imposing structure, suggesting an audience wealthy and

418
00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:09,800
critical, and far removed from the humble folk

419
00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:13,000
to whom my ministry had been sweetness and

420
00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:13,400
light.

421
00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:20,680
But although the building was imposing, the location

422
00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:21,880
was deplorable.

423
00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:25,300
It lay south of the Thames, and the

424
00:21:25,300 --> 00:21:27,540
only immediate access from the other side of

425
00:21:27,540 --> 00:21:29,400
the river was by a toll bridge.

426
00:21:29,980 --> 00:21:33,800
The area was low and flooded easily, and

427
00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:36,440
smoke and soot were everywhere.

428
00:21:37,580 --> 00:21:41,100
Around the chapel stood a brewery, warehouses, and

429
00:21:41,100 --> 00:21:41,600
factories.

430
00:21:42,460 --> 00:21:48,380
The only homes close by were impoverished hovels.

431
00:21:48,940 --> 00:21:50,820
Among the members of the church, however, were

432
00:21:50,820 --> 00:21:53,080
several very earnest Christians.

433
00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:56,760
Some were men of professional status, and others

434
00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,860
operated their own businesses, and in general the

435
00:21:59,860 --> 00:22:04,060
congregation was composed of very respectable middle-class

436
00:22:04,060 --> 00:22:04,540
people.

437
00:22:06,850 --> 00:22:09,830
During the months without a pastor, the church

438
00:22:09,830 --> 00:22:14,110
had heard several supposedly capable men, but they

439
00:22:14,110 --> 00:22:16,490
had never asked one of them twice, for

440
00:22:16,490 --> 00:22:19,930
they gave them such philosophical or dry-learned

441
00:22:19,930 --> 00:22:21,890
sermons that once was enough.

442
00:22:22,810 --> 00:22:26,690
As a result, attendances had decreased, the work

443
00:22:26,690 --> 00:22:28,690
was at a low ebb, and the people

444
00:22:28,690 --> 00:22:30,030
were discouraged.

445
00:22:32,970 --> 00:22:35,790
As Spurgeon entered the pulpit that morning, though

446
00:22:35,790 --> 00:22:39,370
the church had seats for twelve hundred, he

447
00:22:39,370 --> 00:22:42,630
saw a congregation estimated by some as high

448
00:22:42,630 --> 00:22:46,110
as two hundred, and by others as low

449
00:22:46,110 --> 00:22:47,150
as eighty.

450
00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:52,620
All feelings of depression vanished from his mind

451
00:22:52,620 --> 00:22:55,880
before the responsibility that was now his, that

452
00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:57,120
of preaching the word.

453
00:22:57,740 --> 00:23:00,880
The people saw a man strong in confidence

454
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,140
in God, and they listened to a voice

455
00:23:03,140 --> 00:23:05,200
like that of which they had never heard

456
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:05,720
before.

457
00:23:06,500 --> 00:23:09,860
Taking as his text, every good and perfect

458
00:23:09,860 --> 00:23:13,520
gift is from above, and cometh down from

459
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:15,720
the Father of Lights, with whom is no

460
00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,360
variableness, neither shadow of turning.

461
00:23:18,940 --> 00:23:21,360
He spoke of God as described in the

462
00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:24,100
term, the Father of Lights.

463
00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:29,120
He enlarged upon the divine attributes, especially God's

464
00:23:29,120 --> 00:23:33,660
unchangeableness, and closed by declaring his giving of

465
00:23:33,660 --> 00:23:35,980
gifts, even the gift of his Son, the

466
00:23:35,980 --> 00:23:36,900
Lord Jesus.

467
00:23:38,810 --> 00:23:41,470
The sermon was not in any way an

468
00:23:41,470 --> 00:23:44,230
effort to produce something profound to win the

469
00:23:44,230 --> 00:23:45,570
favor of the London audience.

470
00:23:46,090 --> 00:23:48,110
It was simply the kind of sermon he

471
00:23:48,110 --> 00:23:51,170
would have delivered to his rustic congregation in

472
00:23:51,170 --> 00:23:51,910
Waterbeach.

473
00:23:52,970 --> 00:23:56,070
But the result was extraordinary.

474
00:23:57,370 --> 00:23:59,730
A few hearers knew not what to think

475
00:23:59,730 --> 00:24:01,590
of him, for he was so young, yet

476
00:24:01,590 --> 00:24:05,310
seemed so mature, and he was entirely different

477
00:24:05,310 --> 00:24:07,530
from any preacher they had ever heard.

478
00:24:08,130 --> 00:24:11,190
But most were excited, and could hardly find

479
00:24:11,190 --> 00:24:13,090
words to express their delight.

480
00:24:16,310 --> 00:24:18,750
During the afternoon, several of them called on

481
00:24:18,750 --> 00:24:20,690
members who had been absent in the morning,

482
00:24:20,970 --> 00:24:24,230
and on various neighbors and friends, telling them

483
00:24:24,230 --> 00:24:27,090
of the marvelous youth from the country, and

484
00:24:27,090 --> 00:24:29,230
declaring they must come and hear him in

485
00:24:29,230 --> 00:24:29,650
the evening.

486
00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:35,900
Accordingly, the evening congregation was much larger than

487
00:24:35,900 --> 00:24:36,640
that of the morning.

488
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,920
Spurgeon was more at home in his surroundings

489
00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:43,080
as well, and as he preached on, they

490
00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:45,660
are without fault before the throne of God,

491
00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:48,980
the people were lifted to new heights of

492
00:24:48,980 --> 00:24:52,980
understanding, and to new raptures of feeling.

493
00:24:55,940 --> 00:24:59,160
When the service closed, most were unwilling to

494
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:00,020
leave the church.

495
00:25:00,620 --> 00:25:04,580
They stood around in clusters, greatly moved, overwhelmed

496
00:25:04,580 --> 00:25:06,540
by the glory of what they had heard,

497
00:25:06,820 --> 00:25:09,080
and urged the deacons to make sure this

498
00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:11,360
amazing preacher returned.

499
00:25:12,360 --> 00:25:14,780
The deacons were equally enthusiastic.

500
00:25:15,540 --> 00:25:17,940
They asked Spurgeon to set dates to minister

501
00:25:17,940 --> 00:25:20,380
to them again, and they declared that if

502
00:25:20,380 --> 00:25:22,220
he were in the pulpit for three Sundays,

503
00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:24,200
the building would be filled.

504
00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,840
They were spiritually so starved that a morsel

505
00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:30,700
of gospel was a treat for them.

506
00:25:32,900 --> 00:25:35,720
Deeply affected by the need, and assured that

507
00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:39,160
this door was being divinely opened, he agreed

508
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,140
to return on three Sundays the following month,

509
00:25:42,540 --> 00:25:45,580
January of 1854.

510
00:25:48,820 --> 00:25:52,160
During the conversation, he informed the deacons that

511
00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:55,280
he was not a college man, but they

512
00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:57,820
had heard so many college graduates and had

513
00:25:57,820 --> 00:26:00,180
been wearied with their preaching that they replied,

514
00:26:00,940 --> 00:26:03,820
that is to us a special recommendation, for

515
00:26:03,820 --> 00:26:06,600
you would not have much savor or unction

516
00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:08,060
if you came from college.

517
00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:13,060
Spurgeon walked back to the boarding house a

518
00:26:13,060 --> 00:26:14,400
different man.

519
00:26:15,780 --> 00:26:18,500
I wanted no pity from anyone, he says.

520
00:26:18,820 --> 00:26:20,880
I did not care a penny for the

521
00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:24,380
young gentlemen lodgers and their miraculous ministers, nor

522
00:26:24,380 --> 00:26:26,300
for the grind of the cabs, nor for

523
00:26:26,300 --> 00:26:27,640
anything else under the sun.

524
00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:31,560
God had anointed his ministry.

525
00:26:31,980 --> 00:26:35,060
The people had been delighted, and he was

526
00:26:35,060 --> 00:26:36,320
to come again.

527
00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:41,160
After two weeks he again spent a Sunday

528
00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:43,280
at New Park Street.

529
00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:47,380
He returned immediately to Waterbeach, but the London

530
00:26:47,380 --> 00:26:49,320
church would not wait for him to fulfill

531
00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:51,220
the arrangement he had made with them.

532
00:26:52,060 --> 00:26:56,180
The deacons wrote immediately, expressing the people's unbounded

533
00:26:56,180 --> 00:26:59,700
satisfaction with his ministry and extending him a

534
00:26:59,700 --> 00:27:02,580
call to become their pastor right away.

535
00:27:03,820 --> 00:27:07,140
The Sunday school superintendent wrote separately and told

536
00:27:07,140 --> 00:27:09,900
of him, I never saw such a desire

537
00:27:09,900 --> 00:27:11,960
toward a minister as there is at the

538
00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:13,320
present time toward you.

539
00:27:13,980 --> 00:27:16,740
You will find a great many faithful friends,

540
00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:19,220
and should the Holy Spirit lead you to

541
00:27:19,220 --> 00:27:22,080
decide for New Park Street, I hope and

542
00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:25,320
pray you will prove a blessing to thousands.

543
00:27:29,340 --> 00:27:32,320
Spurgeon had apparently mentioned his sense of the

544
00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:35,720
awesome spiritual responsibility of this task.

545
00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:38,920
The letter from the deacons suggested that he

546
00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:41,080
might want to accept the pastorate on a

547
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:41,980
trial basis.

548
00:27:43,100 --> 00:27:44,740
They added that at the end of six

549
00:27:44,740 --> 00:27:48,760
months he might reconsider the matter, and if

550
00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:52,540
he then felt it necessary, but he replied

551
00:27:52,540 --> 00:27:55,260
that he would come on three months trial,

552
00:27:55,700 --> 00:27:58,500
and concluded by stating his urgent request that

553
00:27:58,500 --> 00:28:00,140
all the people pray for him.

554
00:28:00,660 --> 00:28:04,720
One thing is due, he declared, namely that

555
00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:07,100
in private as well as public they must

556
00:28:07,100 --> 00:28:10,540
all wrestle in prayer that I might be

557
00:28:10,540 --> 00:28:12,060
sustained in the great work.

558
00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:18,140
His parting from his people in Water Beach

559
00:28:18,140 --> 00:28:21,080
was sad for him and sad for them.

560
00:28:21,940 --> 00:28:25,900
Some had realized they could not long hope

561
00:28:25,900 --> 00:28:28,180
to keep such a man in so small

562
00:28:28,180 --> 00:28:30,520
a place, but now that the removal was

563
00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:33,300
imminent, though they rejoiced in the prospect for

564
00:28:33,300 --> 00:28:36,100
him, they shed many tears at the thought

565
00:28:36,100 --> 00:28:37,460
of seeing him go.

566
00:28:38,500 --> 00:28:40,820
He had loved them, and they had loved

567
00:28:40,820 --> 00:28:43,760
him, and the bonds of affection could not

568
00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:44,780
easily be broken.

569
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:49,020
Throughout the rest of his life, some of

570
00:28:49,020 --> 00:28:51,940
the warmest friends he had anywhere were to

571
00:28:51,940 --> 00:28:55,100
be found in the Baptist Chapel at Water

572
00:28:55,100 --> 00:28:55,520
Beach.

573
00:28:58,010 --> 00:29:02,670
In February 1854, at the age of 19,

574
00:29:03,490 --> 00:29:06,710
Spurgeon entered his ministry in London.

575
00:29:07,150 --> 00:29:10,050
He came on three months trial, but his

576
00:29:10,050 --> 00:29:12,830
labor there was to last till his death

577
00:29:12,830 --> 00:29:15,370
nearly 40 years later.

578
00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:20,240
As the people had expected, the new Park

579
00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:23,060
Street attendants jumped immediately.

580
00:29:24,140 --> 00:29:27,120
Within a month the chapel was crowded, with

581
00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:29,760
the seats filled, the aisles packed, and the

582
00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,140
people sitting in the windows and standing shoulder

583
00:29:32,140 --> 00:29:34,100
to shoulder in the Sunday school area.

584
00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:38,160
All manner of reports about this ministry spread

585
00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:39,160
across London.

586
00:29:40,540 --> 00:29:42,840
In the midst of this happy situation, the

587
00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:45,360
deacons brought up the matter of ordination.

588
00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:49,740
During his days at Water Beach, Spurgeon had

589
00:29:49,740 --> 00:29:53,060
been unordained, but he was assured he was

590
00:29:53,060 --> 00:29:55,340
ordained of God, and as far as he

591
00:29:55,340 --> 00:29:57,420
was concerned, that was all that mattered.

592
00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:03,020
But human ordination was everywhere practiced by Baptists,

593
00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:06,900
and among the new Park Street people, there

594
00:30:06,900 --> 00:30:09,220
were several who felt the church should now

595
00:30:09,220 --> 00:30:11,520
call an ordination service.

596
00:30:12,820 --> 00:30:15,800
Spurgeon told them he did not believe this

597
00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:18,380
was a scriptural practice, and that he did

598
00:30:18,380 --> 00:30:20,920
not need it to validate his ministry.

599
00:30:21,740 --> 00:30:24,160
The blessing of God, he declared, was the

600
00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:27,060
divine seal upon his holding of the office.

601
00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:29,840
Man could add nothing to it.

602
00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:33,580
Nevertheless, he was willing to go through with

603
00:30:33,580 --> 00:30:36,220
the ceremony if the church thought it necessary,

604
00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:38,640
and although it would do him no harm,

605
00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:41,180
neither would it do him any good, and

606
00:30:41,180 --> 00:30:43,000
there the matter rested.

607
00:30:44,820 --> 00:30:48,360
Similarly, Spurgeon rejected the title Reverend.

608
00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:51,520
He said it was a remnant of Romanism

609
00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:54,900
that the Reformers ought to have dropped, but

610
00:30:54,900 --> 00:30:57,380
his publishers inserted it before his name at

611
00:30:57,380 --> 00:30:59,300
the head of his printed sermons, and the

612
00:30:59,300 --> 00:31:01,360
fact that for some years he did not

613
00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:04,380
forbid it was probably a concession to those

614
00:31:04,380 --> 00:31:06,900
who felt they were honoring him by using

615
00:31:06,900 --> 00:31:07,180
it.

616
00:31:08,100 --> 00:31:12,760
Finally, in 1865, he had the practice stopped.

617
00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:16,020
He urged his students to use instead the

618
00:31:16,020 --> 00:31:17,720
scriptural term, Pastor.

619
00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:21,460
The lack of the title, however, did not

620
00:31:21,460 --> 00:31:21,840
hinder.

621
00:31:22,180 --> 00:31:26,200
It probably helped Spurgeon's acceptance by the common

622
00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:26,700
man.

623
00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:30,400
The crowd came every time he preached, and

624
00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:33,220
for this reason he was constantly spoken of

625
00:31:33,220 --> 00:31:34,920
as a second Whitefield.

626
00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:39,620
But, like Whitefield, Spurgeon did not make the

627
00:31:39,620 --> 00:31:41,940
gathering of a crowd his first interest.

628
00:31:42,700 --> 00:31:45,100
In view of the spiritual warfare in which

629
00:31:45,100 --> 00:31:47,920
the Christian is placed, he was concerned, first

630
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:50,860
of all, that his people learn truly to

631
00:31:50,860 --> 00:31:51,380
pray.

632
00:31:53,620 --> 00:31:56,900
Of course, during previous months, the New Park

633
00:31:56,900 --> 00:32:00,900
Street people had prayed, but their prayers were

634
00:32:00,900 --> 00:32:04,680
a little more than nicely worded phrases, unctionless

635
00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:07,780
petitions uttered in a rather formal manner.

636
00:32:09,260 --> 00:32:13,120
To Spurgeon, prayer was something far superior to

637
00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:14,460
mere service activity.

638
00:32:15,420 --> 00:32:17,900
He talked with God in reverence, but with

639
00:32:17,900 --> 00:32:19,500
freedom and familiarity.

640
00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:22,400
In his prayers, there were none of the

641
00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:26,200
tired expressions many ministers use, but he spoke

642
00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:28,600
as a child coming to a loving parent.

643
00:32:29,860 --> 00:32:34,080
A fellow minister declared, prayer was the instinct

644
00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:37,260
of his soul and the atmosphere of his

645
00:32:37,260 --> 00:32:37,760
life.

646
00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:42,160
It was his vital breath and native air.

647
00:32:42,820 --> 00:32:45,220
He sped on eagle wings into the heaven

648
00:32:45,220 --> 00:32:47,000
of God as he prayed.

649
00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:52,440
So real was Spurgeon's praying that the formal

650
00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:55,700
effort showed in glaring contrast beside it.

651
00:32:56,540 --> 00:32:59,700
I can readily tell, he stated, when a

652
00:32:59,700 --> 00:33:01,980
brother is praying or when he is only

653
00:33:01,980 --> 00:33:04,920
performing or playing at prayer.

654
00:33:05,660 --> 00:33:09,040
Oh, for a living groan, one sigh of

655
00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:11,160
the soul has more power in it than

656
00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:14,660
half an hour's recitation of pretty, pious words.

657
00:33:15,660 --> 00:33:18,180
Oh, for a sob from the soul or

658
00:33:18,180 --> 00:33:19,540
a tear from the heart.

659
00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:23,240
And he was equally opposed to the hallelujah

660
00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:25,880
or praise the Lord that was only a

661
00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:29,780
formality and arose not from the inner man.

662
00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:36,300
Spurgeon truly expected to see God answer prayer,

663
00:33:36,580 --> 00:33:39,180
both in the individual life and in the

664
00:33:39,180 --> 00:33:40,140
life of the church.

665
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:45,700
He recognized unanswered prayer beyond human understanding, but

666
00:33:45,700 --> 00:33:49,140
he also experienced numerous instances in which God

667
00:33:49,140 --> 00:33:51,360
moved in response to his cry.

668
00:33:52,420 --> 00:33:55,420
He knew that God's power was manifested in

669
00:33:55,420 --> 00:33:58,380
the services in proportion as God's people truly

670
00:33:58,380 --> 00:34:03,040
prayed and that in such proportion also souls

671
00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:07,040
were brought under conviction and drawn to Christ.

672
00:34:09,810 --> 00:34:13,370
Spurgeon's own praying proved of great influence upon

673
00:34:13,370 --> 00:34:14,110
his people.

674
00:34:15,130 --> 00:34:17,710
Deeply moved by the reality of his intercession,

675
00:34:17,909 --> 00:34:20,370
many of them became ashamed of their own

676
00:34:20,370 --> 00:34:22,469
pretty, pious words.

677
00:34:23,949 --> 00:34:26,889
Some of them undoubtedly had a difficult struggle

678
00:34:26,889 --> 00:34:30,110
to overcome the formal practices of previous years,

679
00:34:30,489 --> 00:34:34,150
but they persisted and little by little they

680
00:34:34,150 --> 00:34:37,750
began to wrestle with God in true prayer.

681
00:34:39,630 --> 00:34:43,590
I can never forget how earnestly they prayed.

682
00:34:44,130 --> 00:34:46,310
Sometimes they seemed to plead as though they

683
00:34:46,310 --> 00:34:48,270
could really see the angel of the covenant

684
00:34:48,270 --> 00:34:49,449
present with them.

685
00:34:50,469 --> 00:34:53,730
More than once we were all so awestruck

686
00:34:53,730 --> 00:34:56,390
with the solemnity of the meeting that we

687
00:34:56,390 --> 00:34:59,490
sat silent for some moments while the Lord's

688
00:34:59,490 --> 00:35:02,070
power appeared to overshadow us.

689
00:35:02,930 --> 00:35:05,670
We had prayer meetings in New Park Street

690
00:35:05,670 --> 00:35:07,790
that moved our very souls.

691
00:35:08,450 --> 00:35:11,670
Each man seemed like a crusader besieging the

692
00:35:11,670 --> 00:35:12,610
new Jerusalem.

693
00:35:13,190 --> 00:35:16,450
Each one appeared determined to storm the celestial

694
00:35:16,450 --> 00:35:19,810
city by the might of intercession, and soon

695
00:35:19,810 --> 00:35:22,510
the blessing came down upon us in such

696
00:35:22,510 --> 00:35:25,290
abundance that we had not room to receive

697
00:35:25,290 --> 00:35:25,610
it.

698
00:35:30,750 --> 00:35:33,090
As we go on to consider the rest

699
00:35:33,090 --> 00:35:35,410
of Spurgeon's life, we must bear in mind

700
00:35:35,410 --> 00:35:37,870
the manner in which his people prayed.

701
00:35:38,850 --> 00:35:42,450
Numerous men and women were converted, several institutions

702
00:35:42,450 --> 00:35:46,790
developed, various buildings were erected, and their work

703
00:35:46,790 --> 00:35:48,750
had its effect to the ends of the

704
00:35:48,750 --> 00:35:49,130
earth.

705
00:35:50,150 --> 00:35:54,290
All the time true prayer rose to God.

706
00:35:55,330 --> 00:35:57,970
When someone once asked Spurgeon the secret of

707
00:35:57,970 --> 00:36:01,470
his success, he replied, My people pray for

708
00:36:01,470 --> 00:36:01,770
me.

709
00:36:02,510 --> 00:36:05,390
He meant not prayer in the usual formal

710
00:36:05,390 --> 00:36:09,870
and unexpected manner, but wrestling with God in

711
00:36:09,870 --> 00:36:12,450
living faith that he would answer.

712
00:36:14,890 --> 00:36:17,410
The arrangement under which Spurgeon had come to

713
00:36:17,410 --> 00:36:20,190
London was soon overruled by the members of

714
00:36:20,190 --> 00:36:20,730
the church.

715
00:36:21,890 --> 00:36:24,970
Well before that period had elapsed, a business

716
00:36:24,970 --> 00:36:27,350
meeting was held, and the people urged him

717
00:36:27,350 --> 00:36:31,070
to receive the pastorate on a permanent basis.

718
00:36:31,930 --> 00:36:35,450
He replied, There is but one answer to

719
00:36:35,450 --> 00:36:37,490
so loving and cordial an invitation.

720
00:36:37,990 --> 00:36:39,370
I accept it.

721
00:36:40,030 --> 00:36:42,890
But he continued, I entreat of you to

722
00:36:42,890 --> 00:36:45,310
remember me in prayer that I may realize

723
00:36:45,310 --> 00:36:49,130
the solemn responsibility of my trust, remember my

724
00:36:49,130 --> 00:36:52,590
youth and inexperience, and pray that these may

725
00:36:52,590 --> 00:36:54,470
not hinder my usefulness.

726
00:36:55,050 --> 00:36:57,590
I trust also that the remembrance of these

727
00:36:57,590 --> 00:36:59,670
will lead you to forgive mistakes I may

728
00:36:59,670 --> 00:37:03,530
make, or unguarded words I may utter, O

729
00:37:03,530 --> 00:37:06,090
that I may make no injury to you,

730
00:37:06,230 --> 00:37:07,990
but be a lasting benefit.

731
00:37:11,270 --> 00:37:15,030
In April 1854, at the age of nineteen,

732
00:37:15,870 --> 00:37:20,030
Spurgeon fully undertook the pastorate in London.

733
00:37:21,490 --> 00:37:24,210
The crowds soon created a problem.

734
00:37:25,050 --> 00:37:28,290
Sunday by Sunday, morning and evening, every foot

735
00:37:28,290 --> 00:37:30,530
of space in the chapel was filled.

736
00:37:31,590 --> 00:37:34,970
In turn, the place became unbearably hot, and

737
00:37:34,970 --> 00:37:37,890
the oxygen was used up, yet there was

738
00:37:37,890 --> 00:37:40,170
no possibility of fresh air for the windows

739
00:37:40,170 --> 00:37:42,690
had not been constructed to open.

740
00:37:43,910 --> 00:37:47,330
Spurgeon repeatedly suggested to the deacons that the

741
00:37:47,330 --> 00:37:50,670
small upper panes of glass be removed, but

742
00:37:50,670 --> 00:37:52,090
they did nothing about it.

743
00:37:54,330 --> 00:37:57,350
One morning it was discovered that the panes

744
00:37:57,350 --> 00:37:59,310
had been smashed out.

745
00:38:00,150 --> 00:38:03,690
Spurgeon was delighted, and proposed that a reward

746
00:38:03,690 --> 00:38:06,030
of five pounds should be offered for the

747
00:38:06,030 --> 00:38:08,790
discovery of the offender, who when found should

748
00:38:08,790 --> 00:38:10,470
receive the amount as a present.

749
00:38:11,670 --> 00:38:15,350
Of course, he had removed the glass himself.

750
00:38:16,350 --> 00:38:18,810
I have walked with the stick which let

751
00:38:18,810 --> 00:38:21,230
the oxygen into that stifling structure.

752
00:38:22,690 --> 00:38:24,190
Thus he made it a bit of a

753
00:38:24,190 --> 00:38:26,110
game in doing what the deacons ought to

754
00:38:26,110 --> 00:38:28,230
have engaged a workman to do.

755
00:38:30,570 --> 00:38:33,290
The additional air was a help, but it

756
00:38:33,290 --> 00:38:36,630
was evident a much larger seating capacity was

757
00:38:36,630 --> 00:38:37,010
needed.

758
00:38:37,950 --> 00:38:39,630
After the church had put up with the

759
00:38:39,630 --> 00:38:42,010
difficulty of the overcrowding for a few more

760
00:38:42,010 --> 00:38:46,530
months, construction operations were begun to enlarge the

761
00:38:46,530 --> 00:38:46,890
building.

762
00:38:48,390 --> 00:38:50,630
While this work was in progress, the services

763
00:38:50,630 --> 00:38:52,610
were held at Exeter Hall.

764
00:38:53,030 --> 00:38:55,310
This was a large auditorium in the heart

765
00:38:55,310 --> 00:38:57,890
of the city, but despite its 4,000

766
00:38:57,890 --> 00:39:01,810
seats and standing room for another 1,000,

767
00:39:02,190 --> 00:39:06,250
it proved much too small, and hundreds were

768
00:39:06,250 --> 00:39:07,010
turned away.

769
00:39:09,820 --> 00:39:12,640
Upon completion of the enlargement at New Park

770
00:39:12,640 --> 00:39:15,960
Street, the services were again held there.

771
00:39:16,460 --> 00:39:20,280
It now seated 1,500, and with the

772
00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:22,400
filling of the Sunday School Hall and other

773
00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:25,620
rooms, a total of 2,000 could be

774
00:39:25,620 --> 00:39:26,440
squeezed in.

775
00:39:27,600 --> 00:39:30,880
But numerous persons who had heard Spurgeon at

776
00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:33,520
Exeter Hall now came to hear him at

777
00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:36,060
the chapel, and the crowding was worse than

778
00:39:36,060 --> 00:39:36,320
ever.

779
00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:39,560
The only recourse was to move the evening

780
00:39:39,560 --> 00:39:41,900
service to the hall again and try to

781
00:39:41,900 --> 00:39:43,600
make do with the chapel in the morning.

782
00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:49,720
Thereafter, evening by evening, the hall was crowded

783
00:39:49,720 --> 00:39:51,460
to its utmost capacity.

784
00:39:52,500 --> 00:39:56,000
Thousands who arrived, hoping to get in, failed

785
00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:59,940
to do so and remained outside, a noisy,

786
00:40:00,260 --> 00:40:03,680
milling multitude that blocked the movement of traffic

787
00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:04,580
on the street.

788
00:40:08,500 --> 00:40:11,440
News of this activity spread throughout London and

789
00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:13,360
even to much of the British Isles.

790
00:40:14,380 --> 00:40:17,580
Exeter Hall was normally used for musical concerts

791
00:40:17,580 --> 00:40:21,020
and educational lectures, but it was almost unheard

792
00:40:21,020 --> 00:40:22,700
of for such a place to be used

793
00:40:22,700 --> 00:40:23,980
for religious services.

794
00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:27,980
Many persons looked on the whole procedure with

795
00:40:27,980 --> 00:40:31,520
strong disapproval, and knowing that Spurgeon was not

796
00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:34,540
a college graduate and that he was unordained,

797
00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:37,500
they quickly assumed he must be a charlatan,

798
00:40:37,820 --> 00:40:39,840
a man who knew how to attract and

799
00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:42,600
sway an audience and get them to give

800
00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:43,340
their money.

801
00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:48,880
But circumstances arose in which Spurgeon gave evidence

802
00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:51,020
of his love of mankind and of his

803
00:40:51,020 --> 00:40:54,400
willingness to devote himself to comforting those in

804
00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:54,880
need.

805
00:40:56,580 --> 00:41:00,180
An epidemic of Asiatic cholera at that time

806
00:41:00,180 --> 00:41:03,760
began to rage in London, particularly in the

807
00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:05,500
area south of the Thames.

808
00:41:06,580 --> 00:41:09,580
Spurgeon cancelled all out-of-town engagements and

809
00:41:09,580 --> 00:41:11,340
gave his time to visiting the sick.

810
00:41:12,400 --> 00:41:15,420
The disease entered numerous homes.

811
00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:19,140
Almost everywhere there was suffering and often there

812
00:41:19,140 --> 00:41:20,180
was death.

813
00:41:21,460 --> 00:41:25,140
Family after family, he says, summoned me to

814
00:41:25,140 --> 00:41:27,880
the bedside of the smitten, and almost every

815
00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:30,380
day I was called to visit the grave.

816
00:41:32,390 --> 00:41:35,190
With loving kindness to the sick and in

817
00:41:35,190 --> 00:41:39,590
heartfelt sympathy with the bereaved, he conducted this

818
00:41:39,590 --> 00:41:42,050
labor, and at any hour of the night

819
00:41:42,050 --> 00:41:44,370
he might be awakened with an urgent request

820
00:41:44,370 --> 00:41:46,330
to come and pray with someone who seemed

821
00:41:46,330 --> 00:41:48,450
about to pass into eternity.

822
00:41:50,290 --> 00:41:54,530
Under this unremitting labor, he soon became utterly

823
00:41:54,530 --> 00:41:55,170
exhausted.

824
00:41:56,110 --> 00:41:58,190
He was not only tired but was becoming

825
00:41:58,190 --> 00:41:59,230
sick himself.

826
00:42:00,750 --> 00:42:03,310
In this condition, as he returned one day

827
00:42:03,310 --> 00:42:05,770
from a funeral, he noticed a piece of

828
00:42:05,770 --> 00:42:08,350
paper pasted up in a shoemaker's window.

829
00:42:09,410 --> 00:42:11,890
To his delight he found it carried a

830
00:42:11,890 --> 00:42:12,730
verse of Scripture.

831
00:42:13,770 --> 00:42:16,810
Because thou hast made the Lord, which is

832
00:42:16,810 --> 00:42:20,110
my refuge, even the most high, thy habitation.

833
00:42:20,730 --> 00:42:24,290
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall

834
00:42:24,290 --> 00:42:26,890
any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

835
00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:33,460
As Spurgeon read this verse, his outlook was

836
00:42:33,460 --> 00:42:35,120
suddenly lifted.

837
00:42:36,640 --> 00:42:39,960
Faith appropriated the passage as her own, he

838
00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:40,400
says.

839
00:42:40,660 --> 00:42:45,040
I felt secure, refreshed, girt with immortality.

840
00:42:46,040 --> 00:42:48,140
I went on with my visitation of the

841
00:42:48,140 --> 00:42:51,960
dying in a calm and peaceful spirit, and

842
00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:53,920
I suffered no harm.

843
00:42:57,070 --> 00:43:01,830
Thus passed Spurgeon's first year in London, and

844
00:43:01,830 --> 00:43:05,470
as months succeeded months, his fame increased.

845
00:43:06,390 --> 00:43:08,810
Although he was cruelly attacked in much of

846
00:43:08,810 --> 00:43:11,330
the press, he was greatly loved by his

847
00:43:11,330 --> 00:43:13,890
own people, and had a host of admirers

848
00:43:13,890 --> 00:43:15,830
among the population at large.

849
00:43:17,130 --> 00:43:21,450
A former actor, Sheridan Knowles, had been converted

850
00:43:21,450 --> 00:43:25,270
at Bloomsbury Baptist Church, and his life had

851
00:43:25,270 --> 00:43:26,310
been changed.

852
00:43:26,970 --> 00:43:29,110
He was asked to speak at the Stepney

853
00:43:29,110 --> 00:43:34,590
College, and a student wrote, quote, Immediately upon

854
00:43:34,590 --> 00:43:38,530
entering, Mr. Knowles exclaimed, Boys, have you heard

855
00:43:38,530 --> 00:43:40,090
the Cambridge sure lad?

856
00:43:40,930 --> 00:43:42,570
Go and hear him at once, if you

857
00:43:42,570 --> 00:43:43,810
want to know how to preach.

858
00:43:44,270 --> 00:43:46,590
His name is Charles Spurgeon.

859
00:43:47,150 --> 00:43:48,650
He is only a boy, but he is

860
00:43:48,650 --> 00:43:50,690
the most wonderful preacher in the world.

861
00:43:51,050 --> 00:43:54,890
He is absolutely perfect in his oratory, and

862
00:43:54,890 --> 00:43:57,150
beside that a master in the art of

863
00:43:57,150 --> 00:43:57,490
acting.

864
00:43:57,850 --> 00:43:59,770
He has nothing to learn from me or

865
00:43:59,770 --> 00:44:00,490
anyone else.

866
00:44:01,290 --> 00:44:04,930
I was once lessee of Drury Lane Theatre,

867
00:44:05,650 --> 00:44:07,690
and were I still in that position I

868
00:44:07,690 --> 00:44:09,590
would offer him a fortune to play for

869
00:44:09,590 --> 00:44:11,730
one season on the boards of that house.

870
00:44:12,370 --> 00:44:14,730
Why, boys, he can do anything he pleases

871
00:44:14,730 --> 00:44:15,530
with his audience.

872
00:44:15,770 --> 00:44:18,030
He can make them laugh and cry and

873
00:44:18,030 --> 00:44:19,450
laugh again in five minutes.

874
00:44:20,010 --> 00:44:22,170
His power was never equaled.

875
00:44:22,790 --> 00:44:26,190
Now mark my words, boys, that young man

876
00:44:26,190 --> 00:44:28,250
will live to be the greatest preacher of

877
00:44:28,250 --> 00:44:30,090
this or any other age.

878
00:44:31,570 --> 00:44:31,910
End quote.

879
00:44:34,370 --> 00:44:38,410
Statements equally praiseful from many other persons raised

880
00:44:38,410 --> 00:44:41,270
the question as to what effect such admiration

881
00:44:41,270 --> 00:44:42,270
had upon him.

882
00:44:43,070 --> 00:44:45,990
Many a man has been ruined by a

883
00:44:45,990 --> 00:44:50,070
mere fraction of the adulation Spurgeon received, and

884
00:44:50,070 --> 00:44:52,310
he was conscious of the temptation to self

885
00:44:52,310 --> 00:44:53,710
-esteem it provoked.

886
00:44:54,710 --> 00:44:56,970
He paid a visit to Scotland, and although

887
00:44:56,970 --> 00:44:59,670
he won the favor of numerous ministers there,

888
00:45:00,290 --> 00:45:03,350
some of the Scottish divines thought his strong

889
00:45:03,350 --> 00:45:06,310
confidence manifested a somewhat proud spirit.

890
00:45:07,470 --> 00:45:10,550
In England he was more than once spoken

891
00:45:10,550 --> 00:45:13,970
of as impudent, and there were occasions when

892
00:45:13,970 --> 00:45:16,410
he conducted himself with a boldness and an

893
00:45:16,410 --> 00:45:19,330
authority that seemed to support that view.

894
00:45:20,870 --> 00:45:23,710
Nevertheless, we must remember that he was merely

895
00:45:23,710 --> 00:45:25,970
twenty and twenty-one.

896
00:45:26,710 --> 00:45:31,130
During such immaturity some measure of overconfidence was

897
00:45:31,130 --> 00:45:32,010
to be expected.

898
00:45:33,310 --> 00:45:35,790
Yet the very reason for the praise lay

899
00:45:35,790 --> 00:45:37,990
to some extent in his humility.

900
00:45:38,850 --> 00:45:41,670
More than most men he knew a deadness

901
00:45:41,670 --> 00:45:44,530
to self and was concerned above all things

902
00:45:44,530 --> 00:45:46,690
with bringing glory to God.

903
00:45:47,750 --> 00:45:50,370
What he was at heart is manifest in

904
00:45:50,370 --> 00:45:51,850
a statement that he wrote later.

905
00:45:54,110 --> 00:45:56,990
When I first became a pastor in London,

906
00:45:57,170 --> 00:45:59,990
my success appalled me, and the thought of

907
00:45:59,990 --> 00:46:02,030
the career which it seemed to open up,

908
00:46:02,270 --> 00:46:05,110
so far from elating me, cast me into

909
00:46:05,110 --> 00:46:06,210
the lowest depths.

910
00:46:07,350 --> 00:46:09,370
Who was I that I should continue to

911
00:46:09,370 --> 00:46:10,730
lead so great a multitude?

912
00:46:11,510 --> 00:46:14,210
I would betake myself to my village obscurity,

913
00:46:14,510 --> 00:46:17,550
or emigrate to America, and find a solitary

914
00:46:17,550 --> 00:46:20,350
nest in the backwoods where I might be

915
00:46:20,350 --> 00:46:22,530
sufficient for the things which would be demanded

916
00:46:22,530 --> 00:46:23,050
of me.

917
00:46:23,830 --> 00:46:26,150
It was just then that the curtain was

918
00:46:26,150 --> 00:46:29,810
rising upon my life work, and I dreaded

919
00:46:29,810 --> 00:46:31,350
what it might reveal.

920
00:46:34,990 --> 00:46:38,530
Spurgeon needed someone in whom he could confide,

921
00:46:38,850 --> 00:46:42,110
someone who could comfort and encourage him, who

922
00:46:42,110 --> 00:46:45,050
could share his innermost desires and feelings.

923
00:46:46,090 --> 00:46:49,410
In the divine workings such a one now

924
00:46:49,410 --> 00:46:53,410
entered his life, and became his magnificent help

925
00:46:53,410 --> 00:46:55,950
till death did them part.

926
00:46:57,410 --> 00:47:03,670
Chapter 6 begins with a quote from H.

927
00:47:03,730 --> 00:47:04,030
L.

928
00:47:04,190 --> 00:47:07,010
Weyland, from his work entitled Charles H.

929
00:47:07,230 --> 00:47:10,370
Spurgeon, His Faith and Works, 1892.

930
00:47:10,750 --> 00:47:11,950
It begins with this quote.

931
00:47:13,170 --> 00:47:17,070
The fact is that Mrs. Spurgeon's aid and

932
00:47:17,070 --> 00:47:20,610
sympathy were invaluable in the molding of her

933
00:47:20,610 --> 00:47:23,750
husband's character and life, so that he never

934
00:47:23,750 --> 00:47:26,530
could have been what he was without her.

935
00:47:26,970 --> 00:47:29,990
His mind was finely balanced, so was hers.

936
00:47:30,430 --> 00:47:34,190
His common sense was large, hers was equally

937
00:47:34,190 --> 00:47:34,630
so.

938
00:47:35,270 --> 00:47:38,070
His heart throbbed with love to God and

939
00:47:38,070 --> 00:47:42,150
mankind, and hers glowed in fully as warm

940
00:47:42,150 --> 00:47:42,910
a flame.

941
00:47:43,890 --> 00:47:46,970
He was equal to the perfecting and execution

942
00:47:46,970 --> 00:47:50,310
of every form of benevolence, and in this

943
00:47:50,310 --> 00:47:53,230
she was a true yoke-fellow at every

944
00:47:53,230 --> 00:47:53,690
step.

945
00:47:55,010 --> 00:47:57,110
While at every turn in his public life

946
00:47:57,110 --> 00:47:59,350
he was the next target for many a

947
00:47:59,350 --> 00:48:03,230
rude attack, she, next to God, was his

948
00:48:03,230 --> 00:48:04,910
shield and helper.

949
00:48:06,470 --> 00:48:09,450
No two souls on earth from the first

950
00:48:09,450 --> 00:48:13,070
fair dawn were more perfectly adapted to each

951
00:48:13,070 --> 00:48:16,630
other than Charles and Susanna Spurgeon.

952
00:48:18,960 --> 00:48:21,480
Thus the quote now begins Chapter 6 entitled

953
00:48:21,480 --> 00:48:25,940
Spurgeon's Marriage, This One Truly Made in Heaven.

954
00:48:28,120 --> 00:48:30,960
Although most boys during their late teen years

955
00:48:30,960 --> 00:48:34,300
are busy seeking the company of girls, Spurgeon

956
00:48:34,300 --> 00:48:36,840
had thus far given no attention to the

957
00:48:36,840 --> 00:48:37,720
opposite sex.

958
00:48:38,560 --> 00:48:41,240
Till the age of nineteen he had devoted

959
00:48:41,240 --> 00:48:44,860
himself totally to studying and preaching.

960
00:48:45,300 --> 00:48:49,220
But now all became changed.

961
00:48:49,920 --> 00:48:53,440
A young lady, Susanna Thompson, was present at

962
00:48:53,440 --> 00:48:56,860
the evening service of his first Sunday at

963
00:48:56,860 --> 00:48:58,120
New Park Street.

964
00:48:58,960 --> 00:49:02,200
On this occasion she viewed him as something

965
00:49:02,200 --> 00:49:03,300
of an oddity.

966
00:49:04,260 --> 00:49:07,800
I was not at all fascinated by the

967
00:49:07,800 --> 00:49:11,200
young orator's eloquence, while his countrified manner and

968
00:49:11,200 --> 00:49:14,240
speech excited more regret than reverence.

969
00:49:15,140 --> 00:49:17,880
I was not spiritually minded enough to understand

970
00:49:17,880 --> 00:49:21,000
his earnest presentation of the gospel and his

971
00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:24,420
powerful pleading with sinners, but the huge black

972
00:49:24,420 --> 00:49:28,360
satin stock, the long badly trimmed hair, and

973
00:49:28,360 --> 00:49:31,320
the blue pocket handkerchief with the white spots,

974
00:49:31,940 --> 00:49:34,620
these attracted most of my attention and I

975
00:49:34,620 --> 00:49:37,500
fear awakened some feelings of amusement.

976
00:49:41,370 --> 00:49:45,050
Those first impressions did not last long.

977
00:49:45,930 --> 00:49:48,110
Susie was a close friend of the Olney

978
00:49:48,110 --> 00:49:51,310
family, and Spurgeon was often in the Olney

979
00:49:51,310 --> 00:49:51,790
home.

980
00:49:52,910 --> 00:49:55,530
In this frequent crossing of their paths she

981
00:49:55,530 --> 00:49:58,590
began to see something of his qualities, and

982
00:49:58,590 --> 00:50:00,690
he began to be attracted to her.

983
00:50:01,870 --> 00:50:03,930
By the time he had been in London

984
00:50:03,930 --> 00:50:06,490
merely two and a half months he sent

985
00:50:06,490 --> 00:50:07,410
her a gift.

986
00:50:08,110 --> 00:50:11,970
It was a copy of Pilgrim's Progress, and

987
00:50:11,970 --> 00:50:16,130
in it he had written, Miss Thompson, with

988
00:50:16,130 --> 00:50:19,430
desires for her progress in the Blessed Pilgrimage,

989
00:50:19,870 --> 00:50:20,590
from C.

990
00:50:20,630 --> 00:50:20,970
H.

991
00:50:21,190 --> 00:50:24,470
Spurgeon, April 20, 1854.

992
00:50:27,160 --> 00:50:30,920
From that point he became her spiritual guide.

993
00:50:31,980 --> 00:50:35,340
Susanna had earlier believed in Christ for salvation,

994
00:50:35,600 --> 00:50:37,900
but had not grown during the period the

995
00:50:37,900 --> 00:50:39,440
church was without a pastor.

996
00:50:40,420 --> 00:50:43,520
Now as the days passed he gently led

997
00:50:43,520 --> 00:50:46,640
me, she says, by his preaching and by

998
00:50:46,640 --> 00:50:50,240
his conversations, to the cross of Christ for

999
00:50:50,240 --> 00:50:53,520
the peace and pardon my weary soul was

1000
00:50:53,520 --> 00:50:54,340
longing for.

1001
00:50:57,710 --> 00:51:00,470
Their friendship soon became more personal.

1002
00:51:01,350 --> 00:51:03,090
On June 10 of that year there was

1003
00:51:03,090 --> 00:51:05,970
a gala event in London, the opening of

1004
00:51:05,970 --> 00:51:07,330
the Crystal Palace.

1005
00:51:08,310 --> 00:51:10,750
This was a great exhibition hall that housed

1006
00:51:10,750 --> 00:51:12,970
displays of goods from the ends of the

1007
00:51:12,970 --> 00:51:16,130
earth, and it had its own walks and

1008
00:51:16,130 --> 00:51:17,110
planted areas.

1009
00:51:18,410 --> 00:51:21,290
Charles and Susanna attended with a party of

1010
00:51:21,290 --> 00:51:23,150
friends, and he saw to it that he

1011
00:51:23,150 --> 00:51:24,190
sat next to her.

1012
00:51:25,530 --> 00:51:27,570
During a lull in the proceedings he pointed

1013
00:51:27,570 --> 00:51:29,670
out some lines in a book he had

1014
00:51:29,670 --> 00:51:33,630
brought with him, lines that admonished any young

1015
00:51:33,630 --> 00:51:36,530
man seeking a wife to pray for her

1016
00:51:36,530 --> 00:51:36,970
will.

1017
00:51:37,810 --> 00:51:41,130
As she read them he asked, Do you

1018
00:51:41,130 --> 00:51:42,490
pray for him who is to be your

1019
00:51:42,490 --> 00:51:42,810
husband?

1020
00:51:43,730 --> 00:51:46,690
She was strangely excited, even by the mere

1021
00:51:46,690 --> 00:51:50,890
reference to marriage, although she made no reply.

1022
00:51:53,600 --> 00:51:56,280
When the ceremonies were ended, the same low

1023
00:51:56,280 --> 00:51:59,920
voice whispered again, Will you come and walk

1024
00:51:59,920 --> 00:52:01,140
around the palace with me?

1025
00:52:02,580 --> 00:52:04,720
Thereupon, leaving the rest of the party, they

1026
00:52:04,720 --> 00:52:07,520
walked away by themselves, and she later wrote,

1027
00:52:08,080 --> 00:52:11,020
We wandered together for a long time, not

1028
00:52:11,020 --> 00:52:13,620
only in the wonderful building itself, but in

1029
00:52:13,620 --> 00:52:15,700
the garden and even down to the lake.

1030
00:52:16,660 --> 00:52:19,660
During that walk on that memorable day in

1031
00:52:19,660 --> 00:52:23,520
June, I believe God himself united our hearts

1032
00:52:23,520 --> 00:52:26,840
in indissoluble bonds of true affection.

1033
00:52:26,840 --> 00:52:30,940
From that time our friendship grew apace and

1034
00:52:30,940 --> 00:52:33,380
quickly ripened into deepest love.

1035
00:52:36,220 --> 00:52:38,780
Within a few more weeks, on August 2,

1036
00:52:39,040 --> 00:52:41,860
they were at her grandfather's home and walked

1037
00:52:41,860 --> 00:52:43,100
together into the garden.

1038
00:52:43,940 --> 00:52:47,500
There, in solemn joy, he pledged his love

1039
00:52:47,500 --> 00:52:50,300
and asked her to marry him.

1040
00:52:52,680 --> 00:52:55,180
I think of that old garden as a

1041
00:52:55,180 --> 00:52:58,720
sacred place, a paradise of happiness, since there

1042
00:52:58,720 --> 00:53:01,520
my beloved sought me for his very own,

1043
00:53:01,780 --> 00:53:03,960
and told me how much he loved me.

1044
00:53:04,860 --> 00:53:06,960
Though I thought I knew this already, it

1045
00:53:06,960 --> 00:53:08,940
was a very different matter to hear him

1046
00:53:08,940 --> 00:53:11,720
say it, and I trembled and was silent

1047
00:53:11,720 --> 00:53:13,920
for very joy and gladness.

1048
00:53:14,640 --> 00:53:18,100
The sweet ceremony of betrothal needs no description.

1049
00:53:18,980 --> 00:53:21,500
To me it was a time as solemn

1050
00:53:21,500 --> 00:53:24,220
as it was sweet, and with a great

1051
00:53:24,220 --> 00:53:26,800
awe in my heart, I left my beloved

1052
00:53:26,800 --> 00:53:28,680
and hastening to the house and to an

1053
00:53:28,680 --> 00:53:31,920
upper room, I knelt before God and praised

1054
00:53:31,920 --> 00:53:35,120
him with happy tears for his great mercy

1055
00:53:35,120 --> 00:53:37,340
in giving me the love of so good

1056
00:53:37,340 --> 00:53:37,860
a man.

1057
00:53:42,130 --> 00:53:45,750
During the months that followed, Susanna became spiritually

1058
00:53:45,750 --> 00:53:46,430
stronger.

1059
00:53:47,450 --> 00:53:51,290
Early in the new year, 1855, she applied

1060
00:53:51,290 --> 00:53:52,190
to be baptized.

1061
00:53:53,510 --> 00:53:56,070
Spurgeon had tried to keep their relationship a

1062
00:53:56,070 --> 00:53:59,270
private matter, but the news had apparently leaked

1063
00:53:59,270 --> 00:53:59,690
out.

1064
00:54:00,290 --> 00:54:02,790
As the list of candidates for baptism was

1065
00:54:02,790 --> 00:54:05,550
being read to the church, the name immediately

1066
00:54:05,550 --> 00:54:08,710
preceding hers was that of an elderly man,

1067
00:54:08,990 --> 00:54:10,130
Johnny Deer.

1068
00:54:11,190 --> 00:54:13,650
Two maiden ladies, sitting at the back of

1069
00:54:13,650 --> 00:54:16,470
the room, were overheard to say, What was

1070
00:54:16,470 --> 00:54:17,390
that man's name?

1071
00:54:18,210 --> 00:54:19,170
Johnny Deer.

1072
00:54:19,410 --> 00:54:21,650
Oh, I suppose the next will be Susie

1073
00:54:21,650 --> 00:54:22,470
Deer, then.

1074
00:54:24,330 --> 00:54:28,810
Throughout this period, Spurgeon was enduring bitter attacks

1075
00:54:28,810 --> 00:54:32,370
in much of both the secular and religious

1076
00:54:32,370 --> 00:54:32,910
press.

1077
00:54:33,490 --> 00:54:37,070
They were distorted, false and cruel, and although

1078
00:54:37,070 --> 00:54:39,710
he bore up well, he was often sorely

1079
00:54:39,710 --> 00:54:40,050
wounded.

1080
00:54:40,870 --> 00:54:44,050
He needed help and encouragement, and these, with

1081
00:54:44,050 --> 00:54:47,790
marvelous understanding and sympathy, Susanna provided.

1082
00:54:50,140 --> 00:54:52,160
The time they were able to spend together

1083
00:54:52,160 --> 00:54:53,060
was very limited.

1084
00:54:53,640 --> 00:54:55,800
He usually came to her home each Monday

1085
00:54:55,800 --> 00:54:58,040
morning, yet he had no choice but to

1086
00:54:58,040 --> 00:55:00,700
bring with him the secretary's transcript of one

1087
00:55:00,700 --> 00:55:03,000
of the Sunday's sermons, which he edited.

1088
00:55:03,760 --> 00:55:06,860
The sermon, when printed, had to fill eight

1089
00:55:06,860 --> 00:55:07,420
pages.

1090
00:55:07,940 --> 00:55:10,340
He might need to remove or add a

1091
00:55:10,340 --> 00:55:13,040
portion, and there was also paragraphing to be

1092
00:55:13,040 --> 00:55:15,680
introduced, and various changes to be made.

1093
00:55:16,400 --> 00:55:18,220
He hastened to have it ready for a

1094
00:55:18,220 --> 00:55:20,300
messenger boy, who would arrive on a bicycle

1095
00:55:20,300 --> 00:55:22,740
at a given time in the afternoon, and

1096
00:55:22,740 --> 00:55:25,020
would hasten with it to the printer, who

1097
00:55:25,020 --> 00:55:27,500
would immediately set about putting it into print,

1098
00:55:27,800 --> 00:55:29,320
that it might be in the hands of

1099
00:55:29,320 --> 00:55:31,580
the readers by Thursday morning.

1100
00:55:32,500 --> 00:55:37,360
This labor marked, or marred, his Monday visits

1101
00:55:37,360 --> 00:55:38,360
to Susie.

1102
00:55:40,720 --> 00:55:42,480
They also sought to have an hour or

1103
00:55:42,480 --> 00:55:44,960
two together on Friday afternoons.

1104
00:55:45,900 --> 00:55:48,380
The Crystal Palace, which always had displays of

1105
00:55:48,380 --> 00:55:51,180
an interesting and instructive nature, with its walks

1106
00:55:51,180 --> 00:55:55,580
and botanical life, was usually their trysting place.

1107
00:55:56,160 --> 00:55:58,720
This afforded him a temporary rest from his

1108
00:55:58,720 --> 00:56:02,100
tremendous round of activity, and gave him relaxation

1109
00:56:02,100 --> 00:56:05,560
in a quiet atmosphere, and in company he

1110
00:56:05,560 --> 00:56:06,800
loved the best.

1111
00:56:08,120 --> 00:56:11,360
But all was not ideal in their relationship.

1112
00:56:12,340 --> 00:56:15,400
There were times when he wounded Susie by

1113
00:56:15,400 --> 00:56:16,720
forgetting all about her.

1114
00:56:17,860 --> 00:56:20,120
This happened once when he took her as

1115
00:56:20,120 --> 00:56:22,180
he went to preach on a certain afternoon

1116
00:56:22,180 --> 00:56:24,800
in a large London auditorium.

1117
00:56:25,340 --> 00:56:29,460
She says, quote, We went together in a

1118
00:56:29,460 --> 00:56:31,520
cab and I well remember trying to keep

1119
00:56:31,520 --> 00:56:33,740
close by his side as we mingled with

1120
00:56:33,740 --> 00:56:35,800
a mass of people thronging up to the

1121
00:56:35,800 --> 00:56:36,400
staircase.

1122
00:56:36,940 --> 00:56:39,320
But by the time we had reached the

1123
00:56:39,320 --> 00:56:41,480
landing he had forgotten my existence.

1124
00:56:42,240 --> 00:56:43,780
The burden of the message he had to

1125
00:56:43,780 --> 00:56:46,320
proclaim to that crowd of immortal souls was

1126
00:56:46,320 --> 00:56:48,740
upon him, and he turned into the small

1127
00:56:48,740 --> 00:56:51,420
side door where the officials were awaiting him,

1128
00:56:52,000 --> 00:56:54,360
without for a moment realizing that I was

1129
00:56:54,360 --> 00:56:56,380
left to struggle as best I could with

1130
00:56:56,380 --> 00:56:58,540
a rough and eager throng around me.

1131
00:56:59,520 --> 00:57:03,720
At first I was utterly bewildered, and then

1132
00:57:03,720 --> 00:57:05,640
I was in anger.

1133
00:57:06,260 --> 00:57:09,080
I at once returned home and told my

1134
00:57:09,080 --> 00:57:10,500
grief to my gentle mother.

1135
00:57:11,460 --> 00:57:14,240
She wisely reasoned that my chosen husband was

1136
00:57:14,240 --> 00:57:18,100
no ordinary man, that his whole life was

1137
00:57:18,100 --> 00:57:22,000
absolutely dedicated to God and his service, and

1138
00:57:22,000 --> 00:57:24,520
that I must never, never hinder him by

1139
00:57:24,520 --> 00:57:27,380
trying to put myself first in his heart.

1140
00:57:29,040 --> 00:57:33,340
Presently, after much good and loving counsel, my

1141
00:57:33,340 --> 00:57:35,260
heart grew soft and I saw I had

1142
00:57:35,260 --> 00:57:37,000
been very foolish and willful.

1143
00:57:37,760 --> 00:57:39,420
And then a cab drew up at the

1144
00:57:39,420 --> 00:57:43,420
door, and dear Mr. Spurgeon came running into

1145
00:57:43,420 --> 00:57:46,740
the house, in great excitement, calling, Where's Susy?

1146
00:57:46,920 --> 00:57:49,000
I have been searching for her everywhere and

1147
00:57:49,000 --> 00:57:49,800
cannot find her.

1148
00:57:50,100 --> 00:57:51,520
Has she come back by herself?

1149
00:57:52,900 --> 00:57:55,020
My dear mother went to him and told

1150
00:57:55,020 --> 00:57:57,660
him all the truth, and I think when

1151
00:57:57,660 --> 00:57:59,800
he realized the state of things she had

1152
00:57:59,800 --> 00:58:02,140
to soothe him also, for he was so

1153
00:58:02,140 --> 00:58:04,540
innocent at heart of having offended me in

1154
00:58:04,540 --> 00:58:06,660
any way that he must have felt I

1155
00:58:06,660 --> 00:58:09,280
had done him an injustice in thus doubting

1156
00:58:09,280 --> 00:58:09,640
him.

1157
00:58:11,340 --> 00:58:14,020
Quietly he let me tell how indignant I

1158
00:58:14,020 --> 00:58:16,920
had felt, and then he repeated mother's little

1159
00:58:16,920 --> 00:58:20,000
lesson, assuring me of his deep affection for

1160
00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:22,920
me, but pointing out that before all things

1161
00:58:22,920 --> 00:58:26,100
he was God's servant, and I must be

1162
00:58:26,100 --> 00:58:28,800
prepared to yield my claims to his.

1163
00:58:29,840 --> 00:58:32,960
I never forgot the teaching of that day.

1164
00:58:33,660 --> 00:58:36,720
I had learned my hard lesson by heart,

1165
00:58:36,840 --> 00:58:39,540
for I do not recollect ever again seeking

1166
00:58:39,540 --> 00:58:41,680
to assert my right to his time and

1167
00:58:41,680 --> 00:58:45,020
attention when any service for God demanded them.

1168
00:58:46,720 --> 00:58:53,210
There were occasions when Susy walked into his

1169
00:58:53,210 --> 00:58:55,470
vestry at the chapel just before he was

1170
00:58:55,470 --> 00:58:57,970
to go out to preach, and so intent

1171
00:58:57,970 --> 00:58:59,590
was he on the task ahead of him

1172
00:58:59,590 --> 00:59:01,890
that he stood and shook hands with her

1173
00:59:01,890 --> 00:59:03,350
as though she was a stranger.

1174
00:59:04,910 --> 00:59:08,590
Upon noticing his error he immediately apologized, but

1175
00:59:08,590 --> 00:59:11,850
the mistake manifests the concentration of his mind

1176
00:59:11,850 --> 00:59:16,030
in anticipation of the tremendous responsibility he felt

1177
00:59:16,030 --> 00:59:16,850
in preaching.

1178
00:59:19,030 --> 00:59:22,550
Charles and Susanna had been engaged for eighteen

1179
00:59:22,550 --> 00:59:27,330
months when she wrote, The year 1855 was

1180
00:59:27,330 --> 00:59:29,390
now drawing to a close, and we were

1181
00:59:29,390 --> 00:59:33,090
looking forward with unutterable joy to having a

1182
00:59:33,090 --> 00:59:35,550
home of our own and being united by

1183
00:59:35,550 --> 00:59:38,010
the holy ties of a marriage made in

1184
00:59:38,010 --> 00:59:38,450
heaven.

1185
00:59:41,200 --> 00:59:46,540
On January 8, 1856, the two lives were

1186
00:59:46,540 --> 00:59:46,880
joined.

1187
00:59:48,080 --> 00:59:50,620
Their ceremony was held at New Park Street,

1188
00:59:51,100 --> 00:59:54,240
and was conducted by a neighboring pastor, Dr.

1189
00:59:54,580 --> 00:59:55,960
Alexander Fletcher.

1190
00:59:57,560 --> 01:00:00,600
For some hours before the event, people were

1191
01:00:00,600 --> 01:00:02,860
waiting at the church, and although by this

1192
01:00:02,860 --> 01:00:05,380
date it had been much enlarged, it was

1193
01:00:05,380 --> 01:00:06,900
filled to overflowing.

1194
01:00:07,540 --> 01:00:11,020
A whole detachment of police arranged themselves outside

1195
01:00:11,020 --> 01:00:13,740
to control the great number who remained there.

1196
01:00:15,360 --> 01:00:18,040
The wedding was followed by a ten-day

1197
01:00:18,040 --> 01:00:19,600
trip to Paris.

1198
01:00:20,740 --> 01:00:22,940
Susanna had been to France earlier, and could

1199
01:00:22,940 --> 01:00:25,920
now point out to Charles various important sites.

1200
01:00:26,520 --> 01:00:30,340
They visited art galleries, palaces, and museums, and

1201
01:00:30,340 --> 01:00:31,800
even went to see the working of the

1202
01:00:31,800 --> 01:00:32,460
stock market.

1203
01:00:34,840 --> 01:00:37,380
Upon returning to London, they settled into married

1204
01:00:37,380 --> 01:00:40,380
life in a very modest home on New

1205
01:00:40,380 --> 01:00:41,340
Kent Road.

1206
01:00:42,460 --> 01:00:45,120
Of course, Charles was very busy.

1207
01:00:46,200 --> 01:00:49,280
Besides the multiple labors associated with New Park

1208
01:00:49,280 --> 01:00:51,460
Street, he was now preparing for the publication

1209
01:00:51,460 --> 01:00:54,500
of his first book, The Saint and His

1210
01:00:54,500 --> 01:00:54,980
Savior.

1211
01:00:56,410 --> 01:00:59,100
There were also numerous calls to preach at

1212
01:00:59,100 --> 01:01:02,020
other churches, some in London and some in

1213
01:01:02,020 --> 01:01:02,820
distant cities.

1214
01:01:03,540 --> 01:01:06,260
Most evenings he was away ministering somewhere, and

1215
01:01:06,260 --> 01:01:08,080
on occasion he was absent for a day

1216
01:01:08,080 --> 01:01:09,120
or more at a time.

1217
01:01:09,900 --> 01:01:14,840
He frequently returned home utterly exhausted, but invariably

1218
01:01:14,840 --> 01:01:18,840
found loving arms awaiting him amid every possible

1219
01:01:18,840 --> 01:01:21,060
kindness and comfort.

1220
01:01:23,380 --> 01:01:25,960
Susanna and Charles were very well suited.

1221
01:01:27,200 --> 01:01:30,400
Though Spurgeon was militant and fearless in his

1222
01:01:30,400 --> 01:01:32,900
stand for the truth of God, he was

1223
01:01:32,900 --> 01:01:36,740
also a very tender and sensitive man, and

1224
01:01:36,740 --> 01:01:39,700
he needed kindness and understanding in a wife.

1225
01:01:40,900 --> 01:01:43,500
This he found in Susanna.

1226
01:01:44,620 --> 01:01:45,660
Russell H.

1227
01:01:45,960 --> 01:01:48,640
Conwell, the founder of Temple University in Philadelphia,

1228
01:01:48,920 --> 01:01:51,560
who later visited the Spurgeons and became close

1229
01:01:51,560 --> 01:01:54,680
friends with them, commented on the loveliness of

1230
01:01:54,680 --> 01:01:55,680
their married life.

1231
01:01:57,300 --> 01:02:01,440
Had he married a silly wife, who would

1232
01:02:01,440 --> 01:02:03,780
have regarded him as the perfection of sainthood,

1233
01:02:04,080 --> 01:02:06,920
or a devotee of fashion, who would have

1234
01:02:06,920 --> 01:02:10,100
discouraged him with her corrections, he could never

1235
01:02:10,100 --> 01:02:11,940
have attained the eminence he reached.

1236
01:02:12,680 --> 01:02:14,800
Had he allied himself with a wife who

1237
01:02:14,800 --> 01:02:18,200
was less pious and sincere, or who would

1238
01:02:18,200 --> 01:02:20,860
have maintained her hold upon the affections and

1239
01:02:20,860 --> 01:02:23,840
esteem of his congregation, she would have served

1240
01:02:23,840 --> 01:02:25,400
to injure his reputation.

1241
01:02:26,300 --> 01:02:29,560
But she worked with him, prayed with him,

1242
01:02:30,080 --> 01:02:33,980
believed in him, and affectionately loved him through

1243
01:02:33,980 --> 01:02:36,100
his many years of work.

1244
01:02:36,980 --> 01:02:38,800
The thought of her, even when he was

1245
01:02:38,800 --> 01:02:41,420
absent from home, was to him a subtle

1246
01:02:41,420 --> 01:02:42,660
rest of spirit.

1247
01:02:43,320 --> 01:02:46,300
He could travel many days, and preach several

1248
01:02:46,300 --> 01:02:49,000
times a day, finding a rest in the

1249
01:02:49,000 --> 01:02:51,920
thought that at home she was hourly praying

1250
01:02:51,920 --> 01:02:54,100
for him, and was awaiting him with a

1251
01:02:54,100 --> 01:02:57,020
welcome he could anticipate with a sense of

1252
01:02:57,020 --> 01:02:58,300
divine peace.

1253
01:03:04,140 --> 01:03:07,780
Spurgeon's affection for Susanna, and hers for him,

1254
01:03:08,240 --> 01:03:09,580
never waned.

1255
01:03:10,160 --> 01:03:13,020
Both endured much sickness as their days wore

1256
01:03:13,020 --> 01:03:16,220
on, but they exercised toward each other a

1257
01:03:16,220 --> 01:03:17,460
beautiful patience.

1258
01:03:18,360 --> 01:03:21,800
Their unchanging affection is manifest in some poetic

1259
01:03:21,800 --> 01:03:24,120
lines that he wrote while away from home,

1260
01:03:24,460 --> 01:03:25,960
at a time when he had been married

1261
01:03:25,960 --> 01:03:27,060
for several years.

1262
01:03:27,640 --> 01:03:32,200
They read, in part, Over the space that

1263
01:03:32,200 --> 01:03:35,660
parts us, my wife, I'll cast me a

1264
01:03:35,660 --> 01:03:38,660
bridge of song, Our hearts shall meet, O

1265
01:03:38,660 --> 01:03:42,320
joy of my life, On its arch, unseen,

1266
01:03:42,660 --> 01:03:43,720
but strong.

1267
01:03:45,080 --> 01:03:48,500
The wooer his new love's name may wear,

1268
01:03:48,800 --> 01:03:52,440
Engraved on a precious stone, But thine image

1269
01:03:52,440 --> 01:03:55,500
within my heart I bear, The heart that

1270
01:03:55,500 --> 01:03:57,580
has long been thine own.

1271
01:03:57,580 --> 01:04:02,180
The glowing colors on surface laid, Wash out

1272
01:04:02,180 --> 01:04:05,100
in a shower of rain, Thou need'st not

1273
01:04:05,100 --> 01:04:08,740
be of rivers afraid, For my love is

1274
01:04:08,740 --> 01:04:10,220
dyed in grain.

1275
01:04:11,480 --> 01:04:15,580
The glittering dew drops of dawning love Exhale

1276
01:04:15,580 --> 01:04:19,220
as the day grows old, And fondness, taking

1277
01:04:19,220 --> 01:04:22,300
the wings of a dove, Is gone like

1278
01:04:22,300 --> 01:04:23,360
a tale of old.

1279
01:04:24,360 --> 01:04:27,160
But mine for thee from the chambers of

1280
01:04:27,160 --> 01:04:30,120
joy, With strength come forth as the sun,

1281
01:04:30,520 --> 01:04:33,840
Nor life nor death shall its force destroy,

1282
01:04:34,960 --> 01:04:37,660
Forever its course shall run.

1283
01:04:38,880 --> 01:04:41,760
Though he who chose us all worlds before

1284
01:04:41,760 --> 01:04:45,280
Must reign in our hearts alone, We fondly

1285
01:04:45,280 --> 01:04:49,760
believe that we shall adore Together before his

1286
01:04:49,760 --> 01:04:50,180
throne.

1287
01:04:52,640 --> 01:04:55,980
It is impossible to imagine anyone who would

1288
01:04:55,980 --> 01:04:58,480
have been so suitable a wife for Charles

1289
01:04:58,480 --> 01:05:03,420
Spurgeon as was this extraordinary woman, Susanna Thompson.

1290
01:05:04,560 --> 01:05:06,820
They were molded for each other by the

1291
01:05:06,820 --> 01:05:09,740
divine hand, and their union can only be

1292
01:05:09,740 --> 01:05:12,680
considered as a fulfillment of Susanna's anticipation.

1293
01:05:13,560 --> 01:05:17,360
It was, indeed, a marriage made in heaven.

1294
01:05:21,530 --> 01:05:26,870
Chapter 7 Entitled Conflict And it begins with

1295
01:05:26,870 --> 01:05:30,850
a quote from Passmore and Alabaster, Spurgeon's publishers,

1296
01:05:32,150 --> 01:05:34,810
printed in August of 1856.

1297
01:05:35,190 --> 01:05:35,950
Here's the quote.

1298
01:05:36,770 --> 01:05:39,590
The tongue of the wicked has assailed Mr.

1299
01:05:39,750 --> 01:05:42,830
Spurgeon with the most virulent abuse and lying

1300
01:05:42,830 --> 01:05:43,510
detraction.

1301
01:05:44,510 --> 01:05:47,950
His sentiments have been misrepresented, and his words

1302
01:05:47,950 --> 01:05:48,590
perverted.

1303
01:05:49,310 --> 01:05:53,790
His doctrines have been impugned as blasphemous, profane,

1304
01:05:53,990 --> 01:05:55,210
and diabolical.

1305
01:05:56,330 --> 01:05:58,910
Nevertheless the good hand of the Lord has

1306
01:05:58,910 --> 01:06:01,010
been upon him, and he has not heeded

1307
01:06:01,010 --> 01:06:03,550
the falsehood of the ungodly.

1308
01:06:06,360 --> 01:06:07,380
Here's chapter 7.

1309
01:06:07,480 --> 01:06:08,940
Again the title is Conflict.

1310
01:06:11,490 --> 01:06:14,330
When Spurgeon flashed upon the scene in London,

1311
01:06:14,810 --> 01:06:17,630
he disturbed the complacency of the religious life

1312
01:06:17,630 --> 01:06:18,250
of the day.

1313
01:06:19,330 --> 01:06:23,310
Most Baptist and congregational churches were quiet and

1314
01:06:23,310 --> 01:06:26,750
subdued, and even the Methodists had largely lost

1315
01:06:26,750 --> 01:06:28,210
of their original fire.

1316
01:06:29,930 --> 01:06:32,910
Those bodies in general still held to the

1317
01:06:32,910 --> 01:06:37,510
evangelical faith, but the preaching lacked fervor, the

1318
01:06:37,510 --> 01:06:41,210
churches possessed little vitality, and most were happy

1319
01:06:41,210 --> 01:06:43,390
merrily to keep the even tenor of their

1320
01:06:43,390 --> 01:06:43,730
way.

1321
01:06:45,070 --> 01:06:48,910
But this situation was challenged by the vitality

1322
01:06:48,910 --> 01:06:53,310
and power that radiated from Spurgeon's ministry and

1323
01:06:53,310 --> 01:06:54,170
personality.

1324
01:06:55,270 --> 01:06:59,110
Spurgeon had intellectual abilities of a very rare

1325
01:06:59,110 --> 01:06:59,690
order.

1326
01:07:00,690 --> 01:07:02,790
The constant reading he began as a boy

1327
01:07:02,790 --> 01:07:05,130
continued, and by the time he came to

1328
01:07:05,130 --> 01:07:07,670
London the knowledge he had amassed could virtually

1329
01:07:07,670 --> 01:07:09,590
be termed encyclopedic.

1330
01:07:11,250 --> 01:07:13,710
When he stood to preach, he had a

1331
01:07:13,710 --> 01:07:15,990
great deal of vast learning at his disposal.

1332
01:07:16,850 --> 01:07:18,850
He could quote at will from any book

1333
01:07:18,850 --> 01:07:21,590
of the Bible, using a most apt selection,

1334
01:07:22,030 --> 01:07:23,810
and repeating it exactly.

1335
01:07:24,810 --> 01:07:27,530
He had memorized an immense number of hymns,

1336
01:07:27,610 --> 01:07:29,610
and from those too he could, in an

1337
01:07:29,610 --> 01:07:32,410
instant, repeat a verse or several verses.

1338
01:07:33,450 --> 01:07:35,850
He could refer by way of illustration to

1339
01:07:35,850 --> 01:07:38,370
incidents from the history of the ancients, the

1340
01:07:38,370 --> 01:07:41,430
reformers, and the Puritans, and he made much

1341
01:07:41,430 --> 01:07:43,530
use of events in the lives of Whitefield

1342
01:07:43,530 --> 01:07:46,370
and Wesley and others of their times.

1343
01:07:47,970 --> 01:07:51,930
He was ever reading literature about the Bible,

1344
01:07:52,330 --> 01:07:54,870
a breadth of study that enabled him, less

1345
01:07:54,870 --> 01:07:57,450
than twenty years later, to write his volume

1346
01:07:57,450 --> 01:07:59,970
Commenting and Commentaries.

1347
01:08:01,820 --> 01:08:04,120
In the preparation of this book he passed

1348
01:08:04,120 --> 01:08:08,280
under review, he said, some three or four

1349
01:08:08,280 --> 01:08:09,900
thousand volumes.

1350
01:08:11,020 --> 01:08:12,980
His one hobby, if it can be so

1351
01:08:12,980 --> 01:08:15,979
termed, was that of scouting out and buying

1352
01:08:15,979 --> 01:08:19,580
second-hand books, and his personal library grew

1353
01:08:19,580 --> 01:08:23,240
till its volumes numbered more than ten thousand.

1354
01:08:24,899 --> 01:08:28,540
We must recognize that Spurgeon was, above everything,

1355
01:08:29,040 --> 01:08:30,100
a theologian.

1356
01:08:30,720 --> 01:08:33,160
He had given thought to the great doctrines

1357
01:08:33,160 --> 01:08:34,740
of the Bible from the time he had

1358
01:08:34,740 --> 01:08:37,660
begun to read, and from that point he

1359
01:08:37,660 --> 01:08:39,920
had been steadily building in his mind and

1360
01:08:39,920 --> 01:08:42,640
heart a knowledge of the vast system of

1361
01:08:42,640 --> 01:08:45,180
theology that is revealed in the Scriptures.

1362
01:08:46,740 --> 01:08:49,600
Londoners were startled as much by what he

1363
01:08:49,600 --> 01:08:53,000
said as by how he said it, and

1364
01:08:53,000 --> 01:08:56,540
this system of doctrine was the pervading quality

1365
01:08:56,540 --> 01:08:58,520
of all his ministry.

1366
01:09:00,040 --> 01:09:03,140
Nevertheless, his voice possessed not only a carrying

1367
01:09:03,140 --> 01:09:06,960
quality, but also an indefinable character that made

1368
01:09:06,960 --> 01:09:10,000
many a hearer feel the preacher had singled

1369
01:09:10,000 --> 01:09:13,439
him out and was speaking only to him.

1370
01:09:14,580 --> 01:09:17,439
The voice was in perfect control, and though

1371
01:09:17,439 --> 01:09:19,939
it could thunder with startling force, it could

1372
01:09:19,939 --> 01:09:23,359
also speak in the most moving, gentle tones.

1373
01:09:25,090 --> 01:09:27,979
The phrase often used of it was, like

1374
01:09:27,979 --> 01:09:30,300
a chime of silver bells.

1375
01:09:33,399 --> 01:09:36,500
Above all, in his delivery, Spurgeon was entirely

1376
01:09:36,500 --> 01:09:37,140
natural.

1377
01:09:38,040 --> 01:09:40,380
There was nothing put on about him, and

1378
01:09:40,380 --> 01:09:42,620
although a note of humor often crept into

1379
01:09:42,620 --> 01:09:44,500
what he was saying, the whole of his

1380
01:09:44,500 --> 01:09:48,720
preaching was overshadowed by his tremendous earnestness.

1381
01:09:50,550 --> 01:09:53,510
Although a vast host of Londoners became Spurgeon's

1382
01:09:53,510 --> 01:09:57,130
hearers and admirers, there were numerous others of

1383
01:09:57,130 --> 01:09:58,830
a different mind.

1384
01:09:59,770 --> 01:10:02,810
Many, knowing only that he was very young,

1385
01:10:02,810 --> 01:10:07,350
was not college-trained, and not ordained, jumped

1386
01:10:07,350 --> 01:10:09,730
to the conclusion that he could not be

1387
01:10:09,730 --> 01:10:12,470
a qualified minister, and therefore must be a

1388
01:10:12,470 --> 01:10:13,770
ministerial quack.

1389
01:10:14,870 --> 01:10:17,630
This was true of several newspaper editors.

1390
01:10:18,530 --> 01:10:20,830
Spurgeon was so much in the public eye

1391
01:10:20,830 --> 01:10:23,570
that they could not avoid mentioning him, and

1392
01:10:23,570 --> 01:10:26,390
since they regarded him as a charlatan, they

1393
01:10:26,390 --> 01:10:29,530
set out upon a campaign of bitter denunciation.

1394
01:10:30,650 --> 01:10:33,870
Some of their statements were too crude or

1395
01:10:33,870 --> 01:10:37,030
blasphemous to be repeated, but there were others.

1396
01:10:38,210 --> 01:10:42,490
An Ipswich Express correspondent reported under the title,

1397
01:10:42,930 --> 01:10:48,410
A Clerical Poltroon, As his own chapel is

1398
01:10:48,410 --> 01:10:51,050
under repair, he preaches in the Exeter Hall,

1399
01:10:51,390 --> 01:10:53,710
and the place is crammed to suffocation.

1400
01:10:54,370 --> 01:10:57,590
All his discourses are redolent of bad taste,

1401
01:10:57,910 --> 01:11:00,530
are vulgar and theatrical, and yet he is

1402
01:11:00,530 --> 01:11:02,950
so run after that, unless you go half

1403
01:11:02,950 --> 01:11:04,970
an hour before the time, you will not

1404
01:11:04,970 --> 01:11:06,370
be able to get in at all.

1405
01:11:07,270 --> 01:11:10,670
One leading minister of the independent denomination, after

1406
01:11:10,670 --> 01:11:13,690
hearing this precocious youth, said that the exhibition

1407
01:11:13,690 --> 01:11:16,270
was an insult to God and man.

1408
01:11:17,330 --> 01:11:21,210
The gifted divine had the impudence, before preaching,

1409
01:11:21,490 --> 01:11:23,870
to say, as there were many young ladies

1410
01:11:23,870 --> 01:11:27,210
present, that he was engaged, that his heart

1411
01:11:27,210 --> 01:11:27,990
was another's.

1412
01:11:28,210 --> 01:11:31,110
He wished them clearly to understand that, that

1413
01:11:31,110 --> 01:11:33,150
he might have no presents sent to him,

1414
01:11:33,430 --> 01:11:37,390
no attentions paid him, no worsted slippers worked

1415
01:11:37,390 --> 01:11:39,710
for him by the young ladies present.

1416
01:11:40,650 --> 01:11:43,410
I suppose the dear divine has been rendered

1417
01:11:43,410 --> 01:11:46,630
uncomfortable by the fondness of his female auditors.

1418
01:11:50,560 --> 01:11:54,820
These remarks bring protests from numerous readers.

1419
01:11:55,920 --> 01:11:59,360
In response, the Express rather flippantly admitted it

1420
01:11:59,360 --> 01:12:01,560
now believed the report about the slippers to

1421
01:12:01,560 --> 01:12:02,340
be untrue.

1422
01:12:03,220 --> 01:12:05,740
But in the meantime, the statement had been

1423
01:12:05,740 --> 01:12:09,100
copied by several other papers, and those allowed

1424
01:12:09,100 --> 01:12:11,240
it to stand without correction.

1425
01:12:12,280 --> 01:12:17,000
In fact, the Lambeth Gazette declared, The young

1426
01:12:17,000 --> 01:12:19,380
sisters are dancing mad after him.

1427
01:12:19,780 --> 01:12:22,500
He has received slippers enough from these lowly

1428
01:12:22,500 --> 01:12:24,780
-minded damsels to open a shoe-shop.

1429
01:12:27,300 --> 01:12:29,600
Another paper that had much to say about

1430
01:12:29,600 --> 01:12:32,360
Spurgeon was the Essex Standard.

1431
01:12:33,400 --> 01:12:35,200
The following passage is typical.

1432
01:12:36,340 --> 01:12:39,300
His style is that of the vulgar colloquial,

1433
01:12:39,600 --> 01:12:40,700
varied by rant.

1434
01:12:41,100 --> 01:12:43,600
All the most solemn mysteries of our holy

1435
01:12:43,600 --> 01:12:47,360
religion are by him rudely, roughly, and impiously

1436
01:12:47,360 --> 01:12:48,120
handled.

1437
01:12:49,060 --> 01:12:54,600
Mystery is vulgarized, sanctity profaned, common sense outraged,

1438
01:12:54,920 --> 01:12:57,000
and decency disgusted.

1439
01:12:57,840 --> 01:13:01,500
His rantings are interspersed with coarse anecdotes that

1440
01:13:01,500 --> 01:13:04,740
split the ears of groundlings, and this is

1441
01:13:04,740 --> 01:13:05,320
popularity.

1442
01:13:06,000 --> 01:13:09,140
This is the religious Führer of London.

1443
01:13:12,740 --> 01:13:16,280
The Patriot pointed out various elements in Spurgeon's

1444
01:13:16,280 --> 01:13:19,400
ability, but then went on to criticize him.

1445
01:13:20,520 --> 01:13:24,420
All in turn come under the lash of

1446
01:13:24,420 --> 01:13:25,880
the precocious Tyro.

1447
01:13:26,280 --> 01:13:29,060
He alone is a consistent Calvinist.

1448
01:13:29,580 --> 01:13:34,280
All besides are either rank Arminians, licentious antinomians,

1449
01:13:34,680 --> 01:13:37,820
or unfaithful professors of the doctrines of grace.

1450
01:13:38,520 --> 01:13:41,040
The doctrine of election is, in our age,

1451
01:13:41,320 --> 01:13:42,760
scorned and hated.

1452
01:13:43,700 --> 01:13:45,960
The time-serving religion of the present day

1453
01:13:45,960 --> 01:13:49,220
is only exhibited in evangelical drawing rooms.

1454
01:13:49,860 --> 01:13:52,960
He never hears his brother ministers assert the

1455
01:13:52,960 --> 01:13:56,720
positive satisfaction and substitution of our Lord Jesus

1456
01:13:56,720 --> 01:13:57,260
Christ.

1457
01:13:57,860 --> 01:14:01,840
Still rougher, if possible, is Mr. Spurgeon's treatment

1458
01:14:01,840 --> 01:14:05,000
of theologians not of his own especial school.

1459
01:14:06,000 --> 01:14:09,440
Arminian perversions, in particular, are to sink back

1460
01:14:09,440 --> 01:14:11,100
to their birthplace in the pit.

1461
01:14:12,360 --> 01:14:14,800
Their notion of the possibility of a final

1462
01:14:14,800 --> 01:14:18,200
fall from grace is the wickedest falsehood on

1463
01:14:18,200 --> 01:14:20,500
earth."

1464
01:14:20,500 --> 01:14:27,500
Another publication linked together the names Tom Thumb,

1465
01:14:28,020 --> 01:14:30,620
The Living Skeleton, and C.

1466
01:14:30,740 --> 01:14:31,300
H.

1467
01:14:31,540 --> 01:14:35,780
Spurgeon, thus suggesting that the right place was

1468
01:14:35,780 --> 01:14:36,540
in a circus.

1469
01:14:37,560 --> 01:14:40,580
Still another said that his ministry was a

1470
01:14:40,580 --> 01:14:43,640
reviving of the ancient Feast of the Ass.

1471
01:14:44,140 --> 01:14:48,100
And the third asserted, "...we had thought that

1472
01:14:48,100 --> 01:14:51,780
the day for dogmatic theological dramatizing was past,

1473
01:14:51,940 --> 01:14:54,240
that we should never more see the massive

1474
01:14:54,240 --> 01:14:59,160
congregation listening to outrageous manifestations of insanity, no

1475
01:14:59,160 --> 01:15:02,420
more hear the fanatical effervescence of ginger pop

1476
01:15:02,420 --> 01:15:05,420
sermonizing, or be called upon to wipe away

1477
01:15:05,420 --> 01:15:07,700
the froth that the people might see the

1478
01:15:07,700 --> 01:15:09,320
color of the stuff."

1479
01:15:09,320 --> 01:15:12,180
It is not Christian-like to say, God

1480
01:15:12,180 --> 01:15:15,420
must wash brains in the hyper-Calvinism a

1481
01:15:15,420 --> 01:15:18,240
Spurgeon teaches before man can enter heaven.

1482
01:15:18,800 --> 01:15:22,240
When the Exeter Hall stripling talks of deity,

1483
01:15:22,840 --> 01:15:24,940
let him remember that he is superior to

1484
01:15:24,940 --> 01:15:28,680
profanity and that blasphemy from a parson is

1485
01:15:28,680 --> 01:15:30,840
as great a crime as when the lowest

1486
01:15:30,840 --> 01:15:33,500
grade of humanity utters the brutal oath at

1487
01:15:33,500 --> 01:15:36,320
which the virtuous stand aghast.

1488
01:15:40,750 --> 01:15:45,310
Several newspaper cartoonists made Spurgeon their subject.

1489
01:15:46,070 --> 01:15:48,450
Most derided him, but two or three could

1490
01:15:48,450 --> 01:15:51,610
not refrain from recognizing that he proclaimed a

1491
01:15:51,610 --> 01:15:54,910
clear and positive message, and they made him

1492
01:15:54,910 --> 01:15:57,570
look superior to various others of the nation's

1493
01:15:57,570 --> 01:15:58,830
religious leaders.

1494
01:16:00,090 --> 01:16:03,890
To all the attacks, Spurgeon made no reply.

1495
01:16:04,650 --> 01:16:07,210
In his preaching, however, he sometimes made reference

1496
01:16:07,210 --> 01:16:10,270
by way of illustration to something the papers

1497
01:16:10,270 --> 01:16:11,430
had said about him.

1498
01:16:12,250 --> 01:16:14,370
When writing to his parents, he more than

1499
01:16:14,370 --> 01:16:17,410
once assured them that several statements, for instance

1500
01:16:17,410 --> 01:16:20,890
the one about the slippers, were untrue, and

1501
01:16:20,890 --> 01:16:23,090
urged them not to be alarmed about the

1502
01:16:23,090 --> 01:16:24,390
opposition he was receiving.

1503
01:16:25,430 --> 01:16:29,330
Nevertheless, he was wounded in seeing himself thus

1504
01:16:29,330 --> 01:16:32,150
accused and held up to ridicule.

1505
01:16:33,310 --> 01:16:36,910
Mrs. Spurgeon gathered all the defamatory statements and

1506
01:16:36,910 --> 01:16:39,390
pasted them in a scrapbook till it finally

1507
01:16:39,390 --> 01:16:40,970
became a huge volume.

1508
01:16:42,050 --> 01:16:44,690
She also framed a text and hung it

1509
01:16:44,690 --> 01:16:45,270
on the wall.

1510
01:16:45,930 --> 01:16:48,910
It read, Blessed are ye when men shall

1511
01:16:48,910 --> 01:16:51,890
revile you and persecute you and shall say

1512
01:16:51,890 --> 01:16:54,670
all manner of evil against you falsely for

1513
01:16:54,670 --> 01:16:55,590
my sake.

1514
01:16:56,250 --> 01:16:59,710
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is

1515
01:16:59,710 --> 01:17:03,110
your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they

1516
01:17:03,110 --> 01:17:05,290
the prophets which were before you.

1517
01:17:08,260 --> 01:17:11,360
Spurgeon met opposition not only from the secular

1518
01:17:11,360 --> 01:17:15,760
press, but also from certain religious papers because

1519
01:17:15,760 --> 01:17:17,040
of his Calvinism.

1520
01:17:18,300 --> 01:17:22,700
Spurgeon wrote A Defense of Calvinism, which constitutes

1521
01:17:22,700 --> 01:17:25,040
an entire chapter in his autobiography.

1522
01:17:25,780 --> 01:17:28,660
He says, We only use the term Calvinism

1523
01:17:28,660 --> 01:17:29,560
for shortness.

1524
01:17:30,160 --> 01:17:33,360
That doctrine which we call Calvinism did not

1525
01:17:33,360 --> 01:17:34,740
spring from Calvin.

1526
01:17:35,100 --> 01:17:37,300
We believe that it sprang from the great

1527
01:17:37,300 --> 01:17:38,540
founder of all truth.

1528
01:17:40,200 --> 01:17:43,900
He termed this theological system the doctrines of

1529
01:17:43,900 --> 01:17:47,980
grace and he used the two terms interchangeably.

1530
01:17:50,460 --> 01:17:53,000
He had long been familiar with these verses

1531
01:17:53,000 --> 01:17:55,520
for they had composed the discussion he had

1532
01:17:55,520 --> 01:17:57,400
heard in the homes of his grandfather and

1533
01:17:57,400 --> 01:17:57,840
father.

1534
01:17:58,580 --> 01:18:01,900
These were the doctrines presented by Bunyan and

1535
01:18:01,900 --> 01:18:03,460
other Puritan writers.

1536
01:18:04,260 --> 01:18:06,640
It was these in which he was vigorously

1537
01:18:06,640 --> 01:18:10,000
instructed by Mary King, the housekeeper of the

1538
01:18:10,000 --> 01:18:12,660
school he attended at Newmarket.

1539
01:18:13,820 --> 01:18:18,740
She liked something very sweet indeed, good strong

1540
01:18:18,740 --> 01:18:22,420
Calvinistic doctrine, but she lived strongly as well

1541
01:18:22,420 --> 01:18:23,540
as fed strongly.

1542
01:18:24,540 --> 01:18:26,300
Many a time we have gone over the

1543
01:18:26,300 --> 01:18:28,900
covenant of grace together and talked of the

1544
01:18:28,900 --> 01:18:31,460
personal election of the saints, their union to

1545
01:18:31,460 --> 01:18:35,960
Christ, their final perseverance, and what vital godliness

1546
01:18:35,960 --> 01:18:36,500
meant.

1547
01:18:37,200 --> 01:18:39,720
And I do believe that I learned more

1548
01:18:39,720 --> 01:18:42,040
from her than I should have learned from

1549
01:18:42,040 --> 01:18:44,740
any six doctors of divinity of the sort

1550
01:18:44,740 --> 01:18:47,260
we have nowadays."

1551
01:18:47,260 --> 01:18:52,960
When he came to London, Spurgeon looked upon

1552
01:18:52,960 --> 01:18:55,480
his ministry as that of a reformer.

1553
01:18:55,940 --> 01:18:58,640
He was laboring to bring men back to

1554
01:18:58,640 --> 01:19:00,620
the truths they had left.

1555
01:19:01,980 --> 01:19:05,900
The generality of the Protestant ministers were basically

1556
01:19:05,900 --> 01:19:09,880
evangelical, but their preaching was very short on

1557
01:19:09,880 --> 01:19:13,360
doctrine and he felt himself largely alone in

1558
01:19:13,360 --> 01:19:16,480
the theological system he held and declared.

1559
01:19:18,040 --> 01:19:20,620
In sermon after sermon during his first years

1560
01:19:20,620 --> 01:19:23,360
in London, he asserted the doctrines of human

1561
01:19:23,360 --> 01:19:27,080
depravity and divine election, and he did so

1562
01:19:27,080 --> 01:19:30,140
with strong emphasis and much instruction.

1563
01:19:31,460 --> 01:19:34,380
My daily labor, he stated, is to revive

1564
01:19:34,380 --> 01:19:38,800
the old doctrines of Gil, Owen, Calvin, Augustine,

1565
01:19:39,160 --> 01:19:40,260
and Christ.

1566
01:19:44,020 --> 01:19:47,480
Spurgeon spoke out against the unthinking manner in

1567
01:19:47,480 --> 01:19:51,160
which some Calvinists talk about a limited atonement.

1568
01:19:52,320 --> 01:19:55,600
He much preferred the term particular redemption, the

1569
01:19:55,600 --> 01:19:59,320
belief that Christ did not merely make salvation

1570
01:19:59,320 --> 01:20:01,180
possible and leave it to man to do

1571
01:20:01,180 --> 01:20:04,280
the rest, but that he accomplished the redemption

1572
01:20:04,280 --> 01:20:07,060
of each of his elect ones and thus

1573
01:20:07,060 --> 01:20:09,080
assured their salvation.

1574
01:20:11,490 --> 01:20:14,190
But although he declared salvation is of the

1575
01:20:14,190 --> 01:20:18,890
Lord, Spurgeon also preached whosoever will may come.

1576
01:20:21,140 --> 01:20:23,800
Into the New Park Street Chapel and into

1577
01:20:23,800 --> 01:20:27,100
Exeter Hall came hundreds of men and women

1578
01:20:27,100 --> 01:20:29,920
who did not know the Lord.

1579
01:20:31,260 --> 01:20:34,340
In virtually every sermon he pleaded with them

1580
01:20:34,340 --> 01:20:37,820
to recognize their lost condition, to know that

1581
01:20:37,820 --> 01:20:40,400
Christ could save them, and to believe on

1582
01:20:40,400 --> 01:20:42,080
him then and there.

1583
01:20:43,020 --> 01:20:46,020
His preaching abounded with the free offer of

1584
01:20:46,020 --> 01:20:48,980
the gospel to all mankind and was fruitful

1585
01:20:48,980 --> 01:20:51,320
in the conversion of a great number.

1586
01:20:54,250 --> 01:20:58,030
Spurgeon recognized that the two concepts seemed contradictory,

1587
01:20:58,750 --> 01:21:02,050
but he declared the scripture taught both that

1588
01:21:02,050 --> 01:21:04,830
God would save his elect ones, but also

1589
01:21:04,830 --> 01:21:08,090
that man was responsible concerning his soul.

1590
01:21:09,130 --> 01:21:12,970
Therefore he constantly urged, Believe on the Lord

1591
01:21:12,970 --> 01:21:15,910
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.

1592
01:21:18,380 --> 01:21:20,640
This free offer of the gospel to all

1593
01:21:20,640 --> 01:21:23,940
who would believe brought upon Spurgeon the attack

1594
01:21:23,940 --> 01:21:25,520
of the Hyper-Calvinists.

1595
01:21:26,980 --> 01:21:30,740
The Hyper-Calvinists believed everything held by other

1596
01:21:30,740 --> 01:21:34,140
Calvinists except that they also believed the gospel

1597
01:21:34,140 --> 01:21:36,640
offer ought not to be extended before an

1598
01:21:36,640 --> 01:21:39,600
audience composed of saved and unsaved.

1599
01:21:39,940 --> 01:21:42,660
They declared the gospel was only to be

1600
01:21:42,660 --> 01:21:46,320
presented to sensible sinners, persons conscious of their

1601
01:21:46,320 --> 01:21:47,240
need of Christ.

1602
01:21:49,610 --> 01:21:52,230
Spurgeon frequently spoke against this form of Calvinism

1603
01:21:52,230 --> 01:21:54,350
because it did nothing to awaken sinners to

1604
01:21:54,350 --> 01:21:55,490
their need of Christ.

1605
01:21:56,290 --> 01:21:58,830
The Hypers were not evangelistic.

1606
01:21:59,290 --> 01:22:01,270
They did not go out to seek the

1607
01:22:01,270 --> 01:22:05,110
lost, and they virtually rejected Christ's command, Go

1608
01:22:05,110 --> 01:22:07,710
ye into all the world, and preach the

1609
01:22:07,710 --> 01:22:09,650
gospel to every creature.

1610
01:22:10,950 --> 01:22:13,810
But although these people did not go after

1611
01:22:13,810 --> 01:22:16,810
the lost themselves, they were not lax in

1612
01:22:16,810 --> 01:22:18,330
going after the man who did.

1613
01:22:19,170 --> 01:22:23,170
Their chief spokesman was James Wells, the minister

1614
01:22:23,170 --> 01:22:26,190
of a fairly large congregation, and in the

1615
01:22:26,190 --> 01:22:30,250
Hyper-Calvinists' paper, The Earthen Vessel, he severely

1616
01:22:30,250 --> 01:22:31,950
attacked Spurgeon.

1617
01:22:32,970 --> 01:22:35,950
To him and his people, Spurgeon's soul-winning

1618
01:22:35,950 --> 01:22:37,690
activity was anathema.

1619
01:22:38,670 --> 01:22:41,830
God would save his elect without the interference

1620
01:22:41,830 --> 01:22:43,550
of this young upstart.

1621
01:22:45,230 --> 01:22:47,250
Wells took the stand of a very righteous

1622
01:22:47,250 --> 01:22:49,490
man, one who was contending for the faith,

1623
01:22:50,010 --> 01:22:52,230
and in a lengthy assessment of Spurgeon and

1624
01:22:52,230 --> 01:22:55,030
his ministry, he stated he could find not

1625
01:22:55,030 --> 01:22:57,370
the least evidence of saving grace in him,

1626
01:22:57,650 --> 01:23:00,370
and concluded that he probably had never been

1627
01:23:00,370 --> 01:23:00,870
converted.

1628
01:23:03,200 --> 01:23:06,660
In his preaching, Spurgeon frequently struck out at

1629
01:23:06,660 --> 01:23:09,880
the Hyper-Calvinists, but his strongest reply to

1630
01:23:09,880 --> 01:23:12,360
them was the glory of the gospel that

1631
01:23:12,360 --> 01:23:14,480
he preached, and the fact that he saw

1632
01:23:14,480 --> 01:23:17,100
it used of God in the transformation of

1633
01:23:17,100 --> 01:23:18,420
a multitude of lives.

1634
01:23:19,980 --> 01:23:23,520
Other religious journals also found fault with Spurgeon

1635
01:23:23,520 --> 01:23:25,520
during his first years in London.

1636
01:23:26,340 --> 01:23:30,320
The Baptist Reporter, the United Presbyterian Magazine, The

1637
01:23:30,320 --> 01:23:34,080
Critic, and the Christian News are examples of

1638
01:23:34,080 --> 01:23:35,440
those that attacked him.

1639
01:23:37,840 --> 01:23:40,720
The opposition from the world brought on a

1640
01:23:40,720 --> 01:23:41,940
terrible tragedy.

1641
01:23:42,980 --> 01:23:45,900
He was denied the continued use of Exeter

1642
01:23:45,900 --> 01:23:48,860
Hall, and therefore he considered obtaining the Surrey

1643
01:23:48,860 --> 01:23:50,220
Gardens Music Hall.

1644
01:23:51,180 --> 01:23:54,560
This was a very large auditorium that, besides

1645
01:23:54,560 --> 01:23:57,720
its main floor area, had three galleries, and

1646
01:23:57,720 --> 01:24:00,160
the total seating capacity was spoken of as

1647
01:24:00,160 --> 01:24:01,200
ten thousand.

1648
01:24:02,040 --> 01:24:04,900
It seemed an impossible scheme for him to

1649
01:24:04,900 --> 01:24:06,660
try to use such a place, for although

1650
01:24:06,660 --> 01:24:09,640
Whitefield had preached to twenty thousand and more,

1651
01:24:10,260 --> 01:24:12,620
that was in the open air, and probably

1652
01:24:12,620 --> 01:24:15,180
no one in all history had ever reached

1653
01:24:15,180 --> 01:24:17,520
so immense a crowd indoors.

1654
01:24:20,550 --> 01:24:25,810
Nevertheless, Spurgeon determined to attempt the gigantic task.

1655
01:24:27,170 --> 01:24:29,170
Knowing that as long as he was limited

1656
01:24:29,170 --> 01:24:32,190
to his chapel, hundreds of people who wanted

1657
01:24:32,190 --> 01:24:35,010
to hear the gospel were turned away each

1658
01:24:35,010 --> 01:24:37,630
Sunday, he felt he had no choice but

1659
01:24:37,630 --> 01:24:39,090
to try to use this hall.

1660
01:24:40,090 --> 01:24:42,970
The news that Spurgeon would preach in the

1661
01:24:42,970 --> 01:24:46,450
Surrey Gardens Music Hall spread quickly throughout much

1662
01:24:46,450 --> 01:24:46,990
of London.

1663
01:24:47,590 --> 01:24:50,730
It excited his own people with joyful anticipation,

1664
01:24:51,310 --> 01:24:53,750
it aroused many outsiders with a desire to

1665
01:24:53,750 --> 01:24:58,310
attend, but it also moved some whose motives

1666
01:24:58,310 --> 01:25:02,010
were evil to plan to disturb so significant

1667
01:25:02,010 --> 01:25:03,170
an event.

1668
01:25:06,070 --> 01:25:08,450
The opening service at the hall was planned

1669
01:25:08,450 --> 01:25:13,490
for the evening of Sunday, October 19, 1856.

1670
01:25:14,830 --> 01:25:17,530
The preceding days were a time of much

1671
01:25:17,530 --> 01:25:20,950
activity in the Spurgeon household, for on September

1672
01:25:20,950 --> 01:25:24,410
10 they moved to a new home, Helensburg

1673
01:25:24,410 --> 01:25:28,370
House, and just ten days later Susanna gave

1674
01:25:28,370 --> 01:25:31,870
birth to two babies, twin sons, whom they

1675
01:25:31,870 --> 01:25:34,530
named Charles and Thomas.

1676
01:25:35,710 --> 01:25:39,750
The crowd that gathered exceeded all expectations.

1677
01:25:40,850 --> 01:25:42,430
The hall was set in a kind of

1678
01:25:42,430 --> 01:25:45,230
park that was surrounded by a large ornamental

1679
01:25:45,230 --> 01:25:48,550
iron railing, and people began to assemble within

1680
01:25:48,550 --> 01:25:50,410
it not long after the noon hour.

1681
01:25:52,010 --> 01:25:55,670
Their numbers steadily increased, and when early in

1682
01:25:55,670 --> 01:25:59,370
the evening the building was opened, they flooded

1683
01:25:59,370 --> 01:26:00,010
in.

1684
01:26:01,010 --> 01:26:04,250
They filled every seat, packed the aisles, and

1685
01:26:04,250 --> 01:26:07,550
crowded the stairways, while thousands of others stood

1686
01:26:07,550 --> 01:26:10,650
outside, refusing to go away, and hoping to

1687
01:26:10,650 --> 01:26:12,650
hear something of the sermon through the windows.

1688
01:26:13,830 --> 01:26:18,610
When Spurgeon arrived, upon witnessing this vast concourse

1689
01:26:18,610 --> 01:26:22,230
of humanity, he was almost overwhelmed.

1690
01:26:23,050 --> 01:26:26,730
He was yet but twenty-two, and to

1691
01:26:26,730 --> 01:26:30,410
stand before this audience, conduct the service, and

1692
01:26:30,410 --> 01:26:34,030
preach, making himself heard and understood by such

1693
01:26:34,030 --> 01:26:38,370
a multitude, seemed truly an impossible task.

1694
01:26:39,710 --> 01:26:42,150
But in the assurance of divine strength, he

1695
01:26:42,150 --> 01:26:45,590
went before the multitude and began the service.

1696
01:26:48,090 --> 01:26:51,110
For the first moments everything proceeded with the

1697
01:26:51,110 --> 01:26:54,610
decorum of any ordinary Sunday service, and the

1698
01:26:54,610 --> 01:26:58,390
singing seemed particularly reverent and joyous.

1699
01:26:59,350 --> 01:27:02,970
But just after Spurgeon began to pray, the

1700
01:27:02,970 --> 01:27:05,790
place was suddenly thrown into consternation.

1701
01:27:06,410 --> 01:27:09,810
Someone in a gallery shouted, ìFire!î And

1702
01:27:09,810 --> 01:27:11,450
that was followed by a cry from the

1703
01:27:11,450 --> 01:27:14,790
ground floor, ìThe galleries are falling!î And

1704
01:27:14,790 --> 01:27:17,170
then a third voice was heard, ìThe whole

1705
01:27:17,170 --> 01:27:22,130
place is collapsing!î Immediately much of the

1706
01:27:22,130 --> 01:27:24,730
hall was in a panic, and people began

1707
01:27:24,730 --> 01:27:26,830
rushing for the stairs and pressing to get

1708
01:27:26,830 --> 01:27:27,570
out of the doors.

1709
01:27:29,050 --> 01:27:32,530
Under the extreme pressure, a stair railing gave

1710
01:27:32,530 --> 01:27:35,730
way, and several fell with it onto the

1711
01:27:35,730 --> 01:27:36,890
crowded floor beneath.

1712
01:27:37,590 --> 01:27:40,330
Some jumped from the gallery, and others lost

1713
01:27:40,330 --> 01:27:41,610
their footing on the stairs.

1714
01:27:42,390 --> 01:27:44,490
Falling to the floor, they were trodden down

1715
01:27:44,490 --> 01:27:46,690
by the many who attempted to pass over

1716
01:27:46,690 --> 01:27:47,010
them.

1717
01:27:47,650 --> 01:27:50,010
A stream of people pushed their way out

1718
01:27:50,010 --> 01:27:52,050
of the doors, but as they did so,

1719
01:27:52,170 --> 01:27:55,170
others thrust themselves in, intent on securing the

1720
01:27:55,170 --> 01:27:56,350
seats they had left.

1721
01:27:58,680 --> 01:28:01,120
From his place on the platform, Spurgeon could

1722
01:28:01,120 --> 01:28:03,600
not see all that was going on at

1723
01:28:03,600 --> 01:28:05,020
the far end of the hall where the

1724
01:28:05,020 --> 01:28:06,540
stairs and doors were located.

1725
01:28:07,680 --> 01:28:09,640
He tried to calm the audience and attempted

1726
01:28:09,640 --> 01:28:12,180
to preach, but it soon became evident the

1727
01:28:12,180 --> 01:28:14,480
service could not be continued, and he requested

1728
01:28:14,480 --> 01:28:17,480
the congregation to leave in an orderly manner.

1729
01:28:20,120 --> 01:28:22,920
He went into a side room, so overcome

1730
01:28:22,920 --> 01:28:26,340
that he fell to the floor, almost unconscious.

1731
01:28:28,000 --> 01:28:31,800
Before he left, he learned that seven persons

1732
01:28:31,800 --> 01:28:35,000
had died, and twenty-eight others had been

1733
01:28:35,000 --> 01:28:38,900
removed to the hospital, many of them severely

1734
01:28:38,900 --> 01:28:39,380
wounded.

1735
01:28:41,900 --> 01:28:44,260
He was taken to his home, and had

1736
01:28:44,260 --> 01:28:47,140
the comfort and consolation of his wife.

1737
01:28:48,420 --> 01:28:50,240
But the trouble had come at a time

1738
01:28:50,240 --> 01:28:52,080
when she was not as able to help

1739
01:28:52,080 --> 01:28:54,680
as she normally would have been, for less

1740
01:28:54,680 --> 01:28:56,800
than a month had passed since she had

1741
01:28:56,800 --> 01:28:58,920
given birth and she was still weak and

1742
01:28:58,920 --> 01:28:59,460
unwell.

1743
01:29:02,430 --> 01:29:05,310
The deacons realized that his home would not

1744
01:29:05,310 --> 01:29:07,070
be the best place for him under the

1745
01:29:07,070 --> 01:29:08,050
present circumstances.

1746
01:29:08,810 --> 01:29:11,970
There would be numerous visitors, friends who wished

1747
01:29:11,970 --> 01:29:15,470
to help, and foes who wanted to blame,

1748
01:29:15,690 --> 01:29:17,610
and there would assuredly be reporters.

1749
01:29:19,450 --> 01:29:22,570
Knowing the extreme sensitivity of his nature, and

1750
01:29:22,570 --> 01:29:25,070
the extent of his compassion for the sufferers,

1751
01:29:25,450 --> 01:29:27,930
the deacons whisked him away to a home

1752
01:29:27,930 --> 01:29:28,650
in the suburbs.

1753
01:29:29,650 --> 01:29:33,110
Here he would largely escape from visitors, and

1754
01:29:33,110 --> 01:29:35,810
they hoped that in the quietness he would

1755
01:29:35,810 --> 01:29:36,670
recuperate.

1756
01:29:38,810 --> 01:29:42,350
Providentially hidden away in the peaceful retreat, Spurgeon

1757
01:29:42,350 --> 01:29:44,750
did not see the reports carried in the

1758
01:29:44,750 --> 01:29:45,090
papers.

1759
01:29:46,170 --> 01:29:50,110
Some were sympathetic, but others were cruel.

1760
01:29:51,150 --> 01:29:53,430
The following is an example of what his

1761
01:29:53,430 --> 01:29:54,710
opposers wrote.

1762
01:29:56,630 --> 01:30:00,570
We are neither straight-laced nor Sabbatarian in

1763
01:30:00,570 --> 01:30:03,810
our sentiments, but we would keep apart, widely

1764
01:30:03,810 --> 01:30:06,250
apart, the theatre and the church.

1765
01:30:06,950 --> 01:30:08,750
Above all, we would place in the hand

1766
01:30:08,750 --> 01:30:11,450
of every right-thinking man a whip to

1767
01:30:11,450 --> 01:30:14,930
scourge from society the authors of such vile

1768
01:30:14,930 --> 01:30:18,430
blasphemies as on Sunday night, above the cries

1769
01:30:18,430 --> 01:30:20,790
of the dead and the dying, and louder

1770
01:30:20,790 --> 01:30:23,070
than the wails of misery from the maimed

1771
01:30:23,070 --> 01:30:26,610
and suffering resounded from the mouth of Spurgeon.

1772
01:30:27,370 --> 01:30:30,470
And lastly, when the mangled corpses had been

1773
01:30:30,470 --> 01:30:33,850
carried away from the unhallowed and disgraceful scene,

1774
01:30:34,250 --> 01:30:36,730
when husbands were seeking their wives and children,

1775
01:30:36,890 --> 01:30:40,330
their mothers, in extreme agony and despair, the

1776
01:30:40,330 --> 01:30:42,570
clink of money as it fell into the

1777
01:30:42,570 --> 01:30:46,470
collection-boxes grated harshly, miserably, on the ears

1778
01:30:46,470 --> 01:30:49,210
of those who, we sincerely hope, have by

1779
01:30:49,210 --> 01:30:52,350
this time conceived for Mr. Spurgeon and his

1780
01:30:52,350 --> 01:30:55,230
rantings the profoundest contempt.

1781
01:30:57,490 --> 01:31:02,730
It is well this report and the others

1782
01:31:02,730 --> 01:31:05,310
like it were kept from Spurgeon.

1783
01:31:06,290 --> 01:31:08,210
Of course the statement about the use of

1784
01:31:08,210 --> 01:31:11,910
the money-boxes was an entire fabrication, and

1785
01:31:11,910 --> 01:31:14,770
to portray him as heartless amidst the tragedy

1786
01:31:14,770 --> 01:31:17,830
was as cruel as it was false.

1787
01:31:18,930 --> 01:31:22,230
We must assume, however, that Susanna saw the

1788
01:31:22,230 --> 01:31:22,670
papers.

1789
01:31:25,490 --> 01:31:28,990
Spurgeon continued in his broken condition for seven

1790
01:31:28,990 --> 01:31:30,210
or eight days.

1791
01:31:30,890 --> 01:31:33,290
Then, as he walked in his friend's garden,

1792
01:31:33,430 --> 01:31:35,950
a verse of Scripture about Christ flashed into

1793
01:31:35,950 --> 01:31:36,530
his mind.

1794
01:31:37,430 --> 01:31:38,990
He saw it afresh.

1795
01:31:39,870 --> 01:31:43,870
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and

1796
01:31:43,870 --> 01:31:46,030
given him a name which is above every

1797
01:31:46,030 --> 01:31:46,450
name.

1798
01:31:47,150 --> 01:31:49,650
And as he fed his soul upon its

1799
01:31:49,650 --> 01:31:51,910
truth, he began to improve.

1800
01:31:52,510 --> 01:31:55,170
His burden was gradually lifted so he could

1801
01:31:55,170 --> 01:31:56,230
return to his home.

1802
01:31:57,670 --> 01:32:01,550
On the following Sunday he ministered again at

1803
01:32:01,550 --> 01:32:02,850
New Park Street.

1804
01:32:03,750 --> 01:32:06,410
He had been out of his pulpit for

1805
01:32:06,410 --> 01:32:07,890
but one Sunday.

1806
01:32:10,520 --> 01:32:14,020
Spurgeon immediately set about helping the sufferers.

1807
01:32:14,640 --> 01:32:17,020
A fund was raised toward meeting their needs,

1808
01:32:17,260 --> 01:32:20,660
and Spurgeon, the deacons, and others visited hospitals

1809
01:32:20,660 --> 01:32:22,860
and homes of the relatives of those who

1810
01:32:22,860 --> 01:32:23,780
had died.

1811
01:32:25,000 --> 01:32:28,500
Yet, although he resumed his general labors, the

1812
01:32:28,500 --> 01:32:32,180
terrible event had severely affected his nervous system.

1813
01:32:33,560 --> 01:32:36,080
Throughout the rest of his days, the sight

1814
01:32:36,080 --> 01:32:39,140
of an overcrowded building placed him under an

1815
01:32:39,140 --> 01:32:43,100
immediate strain, and even years later, upon being

1816
01:32:43,100 --> 01:32:45,060
reminded of the event at the Surrey Gardens,

1817
01:32:45,260 --> 01:32:48,460
he easily became weak and sometimes seemed about

1818
01:32:48,460 --> 01:32:49,160
to faint.

1819
01:32:52,010 --> 01:32:55,130
Whatever the motive behind the tragedy, it joined

1820
01:32:55,130 --> 01:32:59,630
with the printed opposition in furthering Spurgeon's ministry.

1821
01:33:00,370 --> 01:33:02,570
The news of what had happened became known

1822
01:33:02,570 --> 01:33:06,590
throughout Britain, and despite the evil reports, many

1823
01:33:06,590 --> 01:33:10,150
persons could not help but feel sympathetic toward

1824
01:33:10,150 --> 01:33:10,450
him.

1825
01:33:11,450 --> 01:33:14,110
Moreover, the New Park Street people had already

1826
01:33:14,110 --> 01:33:15,910
appointed a committee to make plans for the

1827
01:33:15,910 --> 01:33:19,150
construction of a new and very large church.