1
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The students called him the Governor, and some

2
00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:05,280
of the people used this term in its

3
00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:08,120
Old Testament form, the Tirshatha.

4
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The nickname well indicated his place.

5
00:00:13,660 --> 00:00:16,980
With the exception of the almshouses, each institution

6
00:00:16,980 --> 00:00:19,520
had originated under his influence.

7
00:00:20,140 --> 00:00:23,080
He had planned its form of organization, and

8
00:00:23,080 --> 00:00:26,420
had overseen its growth, and his word was

9
00:00:26,420 --> 00:00:29,000
supreme in all its affairs.

10
00:00:31,540 --> 00:00:34,880
Nevertheless, throughout the whole movement, the matter of

11
00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:37,300
authority was not even considered.

12
00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:42,100
There was a spontaneous recognition of Spurgeon, and

13
00:00:42,100 --> 00:00:44,620
the relationship was one of his love for

14
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the people, and the people's love for him.

15
00:00:48,820 --> 00:00:51,500
Under his example, they prosecuted the work with

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00:00:51,500 --> 00:00:53,740
affection and fervor.

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He never exerted his authority, he never needed

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00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:01,260
to, but the entire organization moved steadily forward

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00:01:01,260 --> 00:01:05,460
in harmony, under his strong generalship.

20
00:01:07,310 --> 00:01:10,590
The tabernacle was a place of almost constant

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00:01:10,590 --> 00:01:11,250
activity.

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On each of the seven days of the

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00:01:13,630 --> 00:01:15,910
week, the doors were opened at seven o

24
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'clock in the morning, and did not close

25
00:01:17,850 --> 00:01:20,670
till eleven o'clock at night, and there

26
00:01:20,670 --> 00:01:23,070
were persons coming and going all of the

27
00:01:23,070 --> 00:01:23,550
time.

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For twelve years, the college had held its

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classes in the lecture hall and the adjoining

30
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basement rooms, and even after the new building

31
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was constructed, the students were still in and

32
00:01:36,210 --> 00:01:38,310
out of the tabernacle with much frequency.

33
00:01:39,250 --> 00:01:42,450
The college also held evening classes twice a

34
00:01:42,450 --> 00:01:46,250
week, with some two hundred in attendance, and

35
00:01:46,250 --> 00:01:48,950
after shorthand was added to the curriculum, the

36
00:01:48,950 --> 00:01:51,650
figure increased to three hundred.

37
00:01:53,330 --> 00:01:55,570
The tabernacle was a center for the various

38
00:01:55,570 --> 00:01:59,710
institutions' annual meetings, so many of them that

39
00:01:59,710 --> 00:02:01,710
one was held almost every week.

40
00:02:02,750 --> 00:02:05,730
The Ladies' Benevolent Society met there in a

41
00:02:05,730 --> 00:02:08,229
sewing circle to make clothes for the children

42
00:02:08,229 --> 00:02:10,550
of the orphanage, for poor people of the

43
00:02:10,550 --> 00:02:13,130
congregation, and for other needy ones of the

44
00:02:13,130 --> 00:02:13,490
area.

45
00:02:14,510 --> 00:02:18,810
The Maternal Society Ladies gathered to prepare gifts

46
00:02:18,810 --> 00:02:22,050
for expectant women, and from the tabernacle they

47
00:02:22,050 --> 00:02:24,590
went forth to assist them when they became

48
00:02:24,590 --> 00:02:25,090
mothers.

49
00:02:26,170 --> 00:02:28,730
Flowers were gathered at the tabernacle by the

50
00:02:28,730 --> 00:02:32,090
Flower Society, and after being made into attractive

51
00:02:32,090 --> 00:02:35,110
baskets and bouquets, they were taken to the

52
00:02:35,110 --> 00:02:37,430
homes of the sick and to hospitals.

53
00:02:38,410 --> 00:02:42,110
Mrs. Spurgeon maintained a Bible nurse at her

54
00:02:42,110 --> 00:02:46,670
own expense, and other such nurses also functioned

55
00:02:46,670 --> 00:02:47,870
from the tabernacle.

56
00:02:50,940 --> 00:02:54,720
Outside organizations likewise made use of the tabernacle

57
00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:55,820
from time to time.

58
00:02:56,440 --> 00:02:59,560
The Bible Society, the Baptist Union, several missionary

59
00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:02,640
societies, and other such groups often were allowed

60
00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:05,800
the Great Building for some special occasion.

61
00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,340
A large number of meals were served at

62
00:03:09,340 --> 00:03:10,160
the tabernacle.

63
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Until the opening of its own building, the

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00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:15,460
college had dinner for its men there, and

65
00:03:15,460 --> 00:03:18,320
during the pastors' conferences and the annual meetings

66
00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:23,120
of various organizations, meals were served, sometimes three

67
00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:23,640
a day.

68
00:03:24,700 --> 00:03:27,380
Thus there was the frequent arrival of carts

69
00:03:27,380 --> 00:03:30,160
carrying food, and a large amount of work

70
00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:32,660
was done in preparing and serving it, and

71
00:03:32,660 --> 00:03:35,140
in setting and waiting on tables and washing

72
00:03:35,140 --> 00:03:35,800
dishes.

73
00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:39,840
Once a year, the 1600 members of the

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00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:43,880
Christian Butchers Association held their annual meeting at

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00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:44,660
the tabernacle.

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00:03:45,340 --> 00:03:47,300
When we read of them eating a supper

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00:03:47,300 --> 00:03:49,740
of roast beef, we wonder whether they brought

78
00:03:49,740 --> 00:03:52,280
this immense supply of meat with them already

79
00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:54,520
cooked, or whether it had to be cooked

80
00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:55,160
on the premises.

81
00:03:56,140 --> 00:03:58,780
At any rate, they held a rousing meeting

82
00:03:58,780 --> 00:04:01,860
of testimonies and preaching after they had eaten

83
00:04:01,860 --> 00:04:02,700
their meal.

84
00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:08,020
When in 1898 the building was destroyed by

85
00:04:08,020 --> 00:04:11,540
fire, the blaze began in a kitchen chimney

86
00:04:11,540 --> 00:04:14,640
that had become overheated during the cooking of

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00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:16,380
a meal for a conference.

88
00:04:17,740 --> 00:04:20,940
Although the tabernacle records make no mention of

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00:04:20,940 --> 00:04:23,680
it, the task of keeping the building clean

90
00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,700
and tidy must also have demanded much labor.

91
00:04:27,700 --> 00:04:31,400
Spurgeon required that everything in the Lord's work

92
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be done well, and he allowed nothing to

93
00:04:34,180 --> 00:04:36,080
be let go in a careless manner.

94
00:04:37,180 --> 00:04:39,800
Since he found part-time employment for students

95
00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:43,220
whenever possible, it is possible that a group

96
00:04:43,220 --> 00:04:46,320
of them was given this large janitorial duty.

97
00:04:47,420 --> 00:04:49,980
But the chief labor in connection with the

98
00:04:49,980 --> 00:04:52,280
tabernacle was spiritual.

99
00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:55,940
A number of members, after attending the morning

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00:04:55,940 --> 00:04:58,560
service, filled the rest of the day with

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00:04:58,560 --> 00:04:59,720
work for the Lord.

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00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:03,380
The Sunday school met in the afternoon.

103
00:05:04,220 --> 00:05:06,660
It was a fervent institution with well over

104
00:05:06,660 --> 00:05:09,580
a thousand boys and girls in attendance and

105
00:05:09,580 --> 00:05:11,460
something like a hundred teachers.

106
00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:14,260
Many of those who taught must have been

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truly devoted to their task, but we notice

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especially the work of one of them.

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Back in the days when Spurgeon first came

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to London, Mrs. Lavinia Bartlett took over a

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00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:31,160
class of three girls at New Park Street.

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Under her leadership it made steady growth till

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00:05:34,820 --> 00:05:39,000
inside of ten years it regularly numbered five

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hundred, and at times the attendance rose to

115
00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:44,120
seven hundred and more.

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When the deacons or elders, or the messengers,

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00:05:49,220 --> 00:05:51,420
interviewed a woman who was not clear as

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to the way of salvation, they advised her

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00:05:53,540 --> 00:05:57,020
to attend Mrs. Bartlett's class, and by the

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00:05:57,020 --> 00:06:01,020
time she was called home in 1875, between

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00:06:01,020 --> 00:06:03,720
nine hundred and a thousand members of her

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00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:05,820
class had come to know the Lord.

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00:06:07,420 --> 00:06:11,980
Spurgeon said of her, She aimed at soul

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winning every time she met the class.

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In pursuing this object she was very downright

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and treated things in a matter-of-fact

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style.

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The follies, weaknesses, and temptations of her sex

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were dealt with very pointedly, and the griefs,

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trials, and sins of her class were on

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her heart.

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Her talk never degenerated into storytelling or quotations

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of poetry, but she went right at her

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hearers in the name of the Lord and

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00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:43,280
claimed their submission to Him.

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00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:49,800
Other classes at the Sunday School did not

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become as large as that of Mrs. Bartlett,

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but the same purpose largely characterized them all.

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00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:01,540
On Sunday afternoons and evenings, large numbers of

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the tabernacle people were busy for the Lord

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at other places.

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Several assisted the college students, some of whom

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were in well-to-do areas, while others

144
00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:14,160
labored in more ordinary districts.

145
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Still others were working in the slums, and

146
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in those locations conditions were usually deplorable.

147
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For instance, the student, together with his helpers

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from the tabernacle, regularly visited the inhabitants of

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lodging houses, sites of terrible poverty, iniquity, and

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00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:37,180
sorrow, or held a meeting in a room

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00:07:37,180 --> 00:07:40,540
where the air was foul and vermin abounded.

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From such scenes they came away with their

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clothes carrying the noxious odor, but their hearts

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rejoicing in the privilege of witnessing for Christ

155
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to such needy souls.

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Spurgeon encouraged his people to be out carrying

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00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:00,540
the gospel on Sundays.

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During his career, he frequently arranged to have

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00:08:04,380 --> 00:08:06,940
a group of members leave the tabernacle to

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00:08:06,940 --> 00:08:09,580
start a new church, and often one of

161
00:08:09,580 --> 00:08:12,140
the prominent men of the tabernacle went with

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them to provide leadership.

163
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One man who led in the founding of

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such a mission work was J.

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00:08:19,540 --> 00:08:19,820
T.

166
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Dunn.

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00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:24,260
For a time, Mr. Dunn had served as

168
00:08:24,260 --> 00:08:29,080
Spurgeon's assistant, doing pastoral visitation and secretarial duties.

169
00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:33,919
But in 1869, with Spurgeon's blessing, he launched

170
00:08:33,919 --> 00:08:36,260
out upon an effort in a poor district.

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The building was an old shed, and he

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00:08:41,380 --> 00:08:44,080
began with four boys whom he invited in

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off the street, sitting them on two scrubbed

174
00:08:47,220 --> 00:08:48,420
wooden benches.

175
00:08:49,140 --> 00:08:52,460
A candle stuck into a teapot spout served

176
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as a source of illumination.

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The neighborhood was populated with a great many

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fish curers, the children helping in the business.

179
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The building was of such a low pitch

180
00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:06,780
that the room used was frequently named the

181
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Black Hole of Calcutta by Spurgeon.

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Many of the children were far from clean,

183
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and the atmosphere often resulted in women teachers

184
00:09:15,740 --> 00:09:18,440
being taken out into the street to revive

185
00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:20,260
them from a fainting fit.

186
00:09:22,220 --> 00:09:27,360
But Mr. Dunn continued his effort.

187
00:09:27,820 --> 00:09:30,280
He moved the mission to another building, but

188
00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:33,280
here rain came through the roof and rats

189
00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:34,560
ran across the floor.

190
00:09:35,940 --> 00:09:39,140
Nevertheless, he saw some of the scholars converted

191
00:09:39,140 --> 00:09:43,440
and baptized at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, and then

192
00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:45,960
became Sunday school teachers themselves.

193
00:09:47,500 --> 00:09:49,760
Others learned to preach in the open air,

194
00:09:50,060 --> 00:09:52,800
and some were trained in Spurgeon's College for

195
00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:53,800
the regular ministry.

196
00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:59,180
In 1874, there were 500 children and young

197
00:09:59,180 --> 00:10:03,600
people in regular attendance on Sundays with 50

198
00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:04,340
teachers.

199
00:10:07,420 --> 00:10:10,440
J.T. Dunn remained an elder of the

200
00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:13,340
Tabernacle during all the years he led this

201
00:10:13,340 --> 00:10:14,180
mission work.

202
00:10:15,060 --> 00:10:17,680
He undoubtedly was present at the Tabernacle for

203
00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:21,060
its Tuesday and Thursday evening meetings, and also

204
00:10:21,060 --> 00:10:22,360
on Sunday morning.

205
00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:25,540
But on at least one or two weeknights,

206
00:10:25,820 --> 00:10:29,020
and on Sunday afternoon and evening, he was

207
00:10:29,020 --> 00:10:31,040
engaged in the activities of the mission.

208
00:10:31,780 --> 00:10:34,440
Those duties, besides his work at making a

209
00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:37,840
living, must surely have given him a very

210
00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:39,000
busy life.

211
00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:44,180
This pattern was that in general of the

212
00:10:44,180 --> 00:10:46,300
elders and deacons of the Tabernacle.

213
00:10:47,100 --> 00:10:49,520
Several of them were engaged in activities of

214
00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:50,200
this nature.

215
00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:55,220
William Olney, whom Spurgeon termed Father Olney, had

216
00:10:55,220 --> 00:10:58,060
been Spurgeon's chief assistant until his death in

217
00:10:58,060 --> 00:11:01,700
1870, but his four sons carried on his

218
00:11:01,700 --> 00:11:02,200
labors.

219
00:11:03,140 --> 00:11:05,560
William Jr. began a meeting in a men's

220
00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:08,820
club room in Bermondsey, an area much better

221
00:11:08,820 --> 00:11:10,860
than that of Mr. Dunn, and he used

222
00:11:10,860 --> 00:11:13,360
the men of his Tabernacle Bible class as

223
00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:14,380
his helpers.

224
00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:18,420
He preached each Sunday evening, did open-air

225
00:11:18,420 --> 00:11:22,560
work, engaged in tract distribution, and conducted a

226
00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:23,620
weekly prayer meeting.

227
00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:26,920
After ten years, the work had grown to

228
00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:29,220
such an extent that a fine new building

229
00:11:29,220 --> 00:11:32,540
was erected, and in reference to Spurgeon's middle

230
00:11:32,540 --> 00:11:35,380
name, it was called Haddon Hall.

231
00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:40,260
Like Dunn, while doing this excellent work, Olney

232
00:11:40,260 --> 00:11:43,600
remained a deacon of the Tabernacle and well

233
00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:45,560
fulfilled his office there.

234
00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:50,520
It seems that nearly every officer of the

235
00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:53,020
Tabernacle had also a second labor.

236
00:11:54,060 --> 00:11:56,700
Each instructor at the college was also the

237
00:11:56,700 --> 00:11:59,060
pastor of a church and found time to

238
00:11:59,060 --> 00:12:00,680
perform both duties.

239
00:12:01,860 --> 00:12:05,000
James Spurgeon carried a constant load as co

240
00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:07,820
-pastor of the Tabernacle, yet he also started

241
00:12:07,820 --> 00:12:10,120
a work in the London suburb of Croydon,

242
00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:12,800
and under his ministry it became a church

243
00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:13,620
of hundreds.

244
00:12:15,380 --> 00:12:17,760
Much more might be said about the duties

245
00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:20,480
and double duties performed by members of the

246
00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:21,060
Tabernacle.

247
00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:25,140
As Spurgeon remarked, the Tabernacle was like a

248
00:12:25,140 --> 00:12:28,040
hive of bees, and for the vast majority

249
00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:30,340
of its people to be a member meant

250
00:12:30,340 --> 00:12:32,680
to live a very busy life.

251
00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:38,620
In all this endeavor, Spurgeon was the motivating

252
00:12:38,620 --> 00:12:39,260
figure.

253
00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:42,720
His own days were so full that it

254
00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:44,820
is difficult to credit the amount of work

255
00:12:44,820 --> 00:12:45,480
he accomplished.

256
00:12:46,900 --> 00:12:50,060
Something of the orderliness and abundant activity that

257
00:12:50,060 --> 00:12:53,140
characterized his organization is manifest in the following

258
00:12:53,140 --> 00:12:55,840
report made by an American journalist.

259
00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,200
Speaking of his visit to the pastor's college,

260
00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:31,940
he wrote, as

261
00:13:31,940 --> 00:13:34,440
the annual church meeting was to be held

262
00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:35,180
in the evening.

263
00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:39,160
A secretary, with two clerks under him, formed

264
00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:41,980
the staff required for conducting the correspondence.

265
00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:45,560
In another room was a man up to

266
00:13:45,560 --> 00:13:48,520
his eyes in books, whose business it was

267
00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:51,460
to manage the coal portage, while in yet

268
00:13:51,460 --> 00:13:54,920
another was a sort of local moody's where

269
00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:57,560
boxes of books were packed and sent to

270
00:13:57,560 --> 00:14:01,660
former students now pastors in outlying chapels.

271
00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:05,680
Over this labyrinth I was conducted in the

272
00:14:05,680 --> 00:14:08,840
most cheery way by the atlas, who bears

273
00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:11,180
on his single pair of shoulders the whole

274
00:14:11,180 --> 00:14:11,800
mass.

275
00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:14,840
And this is the man whom we are

276
00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:17,380
too apt to regard as merely the preacher

277
00:14:17,380 --> 00:14:18,180
on Sundays.

278
00:14:19,140 --> 00:14:22,500
Mr. Spurgeon, I could not help saying, you

279
00:14:22,500 --> 00:14:23,780
are a regular pope.

280
00:14:24,540 --> 00:14:28,700
Yes, he replied, though without claiming infallibility.

281
00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:31,580
This is indeed a democracy with a very

282
00:14:31,580 --> 00:14:35,300
large infusion of constitutional monarchy in it.

283
00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:37,440
End quote.

284
00:14:40,700 --> 00:14:44,120
Deacon Olney, in speaking at Spurgeon's Jubilee in

285
00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:48,140
1884, made the statement that on Sunday evenings

286
00:14:48,140 --> 00:14:50,380
the number of tabernacle people who were out

287
00:14:50,380 --> 00:14:53,720
conducting meetings amounted to at least a thousand.

288
00:14:54,660 --> 00:14:58,400
This is an amazing fact, but even more

289
00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:03,080
amazing is that, commencing with 1870, Spurgeon began

290
00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:05,940
every three months to ask all members to

291
00:15:05,940 --> 00:15:08,280
remain away from the evening service on the

292
00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:11,640
following Sunday, since by filling the tabernacle they

293
00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:14,540
were preventing the unconverted from getting in and

294
00:15:14,540 --> 00:15:15,760
from hearing the gospel.

295
00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:20,180
His people cooperated, and on the Sundays they

296
00:15:20,180 --> 00:15:20,840
were absent.

297
00:15:21,180 --> 00:15:23,940
The building was more crowded than ever, as

298
00:15:23,940 --> 00:15:26,320
thousands who did not know the Lord feeling

299
00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:28,800
that this time they would probably get in

300
00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:31,120
came with much enthusiasm.

301
00:15:32,540 --> 00:15:35,620
Nothing delighted Spurgeon more than to have a

302
00:15:35,620 --> 00:15:39,000
great host of the spiritually needy to preach

303
00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:42,420
to, and those occasions, rare indeed in Christian

304
00:15:42,420 --> 00:15:46,360
history, were times when many believed on Christ

305
00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:48,620
and were later baptized.

306
00:15:51,100 --> 00:15:53,920
Many of the tabernacle people seldom went out

307
00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:56,080
of the section of London south of the

308
00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:56,460
Thames.

309
00:15:57,320 --> 00:15:59,700
The homes of a vast majority of them

310
00:15:59,700 --> 00:16:02,140
lay in that general district, and so did

311
00:16:02,140 --> 00:16:03,680
their places of employment.

312
00:16:04,580 --> 00:16:08,080
For instance, several worked for Sir Henry Doulton,

313
00:16:08,580 --> 00:16:12,420
whose factory, manufacturing the famous Royal Doulton chinaware

314
00:16:12,420 --> 00:16:14,760
and figurines, was in that area.

315
00:16:16,020 --> 00:16:19,340
Sir Henry was an earnest Christian who regularly

316
00:16:19,340 --> 00:16:22,880
attended Spurgeon's ministry, and he employed a large

317
00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:25,080
number of tabernacle people.

318
00:16:27,690 --> 00:16:30,390
The affections of the members were entwined around

319
00:16:30,390 --> 00:16:32,750
the tabernacle and its activities.

320
00:16:33,550 --> 00:16:36,010
The services of many a church may prove

321
00:16:36,010 --> 00:16:39,170
boring, but not so those of this great

322
00:16:39,170 --> 00:16:39,690
church.

323
00:16:40,510 --> 00:16:43,810
With grand delight, people went up, from what

324
00:16:43,810 --> 00:16:46,630
was often the drudgery of daily life, to

325
00:16:46,630 --> 00:16:48,950
the House of the Lord on Sunday mornings

326
00:16:48,950 --> 00:16:52,570
and Sunday evenings, and at least two evenings

327
00:16:52,570 --> 00:16:55,610
of the week, and there their hearts were

328
00:16:55,610 --> 00:17:00,290
lifted, their minds informed, and their souls inspired.

329
00:17:01,950 --> 00:17:04,130
Many of the women were there again at

330
00:17:04,130 --> 00:17:06,849
various hours of the day, preparing meals or

331
00:17:06,849 --> 00:17:09,609
sewing garments for the orphans, and many of

332
00:17:09,609 --> 00:17:11,869
the young men were at the tabernacle in

333
00:17:11,869 --> 00:17:15,849
the evenings, gaining an education or learning something

334
00:17:15,849 --> 00:17:18,349
more about doing the Lord's work.

335
00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:23,500
For hundreds of persons, the tabernacle was the

336
00:17:23,500 --> 00:17:24,780
center of their existence.

337
00:17:25,980 --> 00:17:28,300
The message they heard there had been the

338
00:17:28,300 --> 00:17:32,360
means of transforming their lives, remaking their homes,

339
00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:36,180
saving them from sin, and giving them new

340
00:17:36,180 --> 00:17:39,320
affections and new joys, and they loved the

341
00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:42,100
place, and especially loved the man whom God

342
00:17:42,100 --> 00:17:44,800
had used in bringing it all about.

343
00:17:48,610 --> 00:17:54,750
Chapter 16 Ten Years of Mighty Ministry And

344
00:17:56,640 --> 00:18:00,020
it begins with saying, In Spurgeon's time, London's

345
00:18:00,020 --> 00:18:02,880
streetlights burned gas, but still had to be

346
00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:03,680
lit individually.

347
00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:06,720
It is to this practice that Spurgeon is

348
00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:08,440
referring in the following note.

349
00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:11,560
And we have a quote here from Spurgeon

350
00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:13,300
in the early years.

351
00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:14,220
That's the name of the work.

352
00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:18,000
The quote reads, Coming one Thursday in the

353
00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:21,680
late autumn from an engagement beyond Dulwich, my

354
00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:23,480
way led up to the top of the

355
00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:24,800
Hearn Hill Ridge.

356
00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:27,540
I came along the level out of which

357
00:18:27,540 --> 00:18:30,300
rises the steep hill I had to ascend.

358
00:18:31,180 --> 00:18:33,560
While I was on the lower ground riding

359
00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:36,520
in a handsome cab, I saw a light

360
00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:38,320
before me, and when I came near the

361
00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:41,260
hill, I marked that light gradually go up

362
00:18:41,260 --> 00:18:44,160
the hill leaving a train of stars behind

363
00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:44,620
it.

364
00:18:45,140 --> 00:18:49,500
This line of new-born stars remained in

365
00:18:49,500 --> 00:18:52,260
the form of one lamp, and then another,

366
00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:53,260
and another.

367
00:18:53,700 --> 00:18:55,760
It reached from the foot of the hill

368
00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:57,600
to its summit.

369
00:18:59,260 --> 00:19:02,060
I did not see the lamplighter, I do

370
00:19:02,060 --> 00:19:04,340
not know his name, nor his age, nor

371
00:19:04,340 --> 00:19:07,580
his residence, but I saw the lights which

372
00:19:07,580 --> 00:19:11,260
he had kindled, and these remained when he

373
00:19:11,260 --> 00:19:13,540
himself had gone his way.

374
00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:17,440
As I rode along, I thought to myself,

375
00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,580
how earnestly do I wish that my life

376
00:19:20,580 --> 00:19:23,260
may be spent enlightening one soul after another

377
00:19:23,260 --> 00:19:25,640
with the sacred flame of eternal life.

378
00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:29,080
I would myself be as much as possible

379
00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:32,380
unseen while at my work, and would vanish

380
00:19:32,380 --> 00:19:36,460
into eternal brilliance above when my work is

381
00:19:36,460 --> 00:19:36,880
done.

382
00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:42,800
Again, that's from Spurgeon in the Early Years.

383
00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:47,320
And now begins chapter 16, again, Ten Years

384
00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:49,080
of Mighty Ministry.

385
00:19:52,260 --> 00:19:59,340
Between 1875 and 1885, Spurgeon's ministry reached heights

386
00:19:59,340 --> 00:20:01,460
it had never attained before.

387
00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:05,380
Although the seed sown in London had already

388
00:20:05,380 --> 00:20:09,240
brought forth a great harvest, during these years

389
00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:12,660
the fruit proved still more abundant, and it

390
00:20:12,660 --> 00:20:15,500
came with a richness and a steadiness that

391
00:20:15,500 --> 00:20:17,820
was new even to a work so blessed

392
00:20:17,820 --> 00:20:20,760
of God as his had been.

393
00:20:23,100 --> 00:20:26,760
By this time, Spurgeon's preaching had changed to

394
00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:27,520
some extent.

395
00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:30,640
During his first few years in London, he

396
00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:32,960
had been full of physical as well as

397
00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:36,680
spiritual vitality, and that had been reflected in

398
00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:37,360
his speaking.

399
00:20:38,060 --> 00:20:40,400
He had moved about on the platform with

400
00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:44,220
unbounded vigor, had frequently dramatized what he was

401
00:20:44,220 --> 00:20:48,000
saying, and had given an oratorical flourish to

402
00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:49,620
many an element in his discourse.

403
00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:53,560
His manner was very natural, and the whole

404
00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:57,620
was characterized by his tremendous earnestness.

405
00:21:00,150 --> 00:21:02,830
With the passing of the years, his style

406
00:21:02,830 --> 00:21:04,010
had altered.

407
00:21:04,910 --> 00:21:07,370
As he had matured personally, there had come

408
00:21:07,370 --> 00:21:10,230
upon him a still greater determination to be

409
00:21:10,230 --> 00:21:13,190
able to say with Paul, We preach not

410
00:21:13,190 --> 00:21:15,810
ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord.

411
00:21:17,430 --> 00:21:20,810
He had become still more concerned, lest by

412
00:21:20,810 --> 00:21:24,710
some oratorical gesture or some particularly striking statement,

413
00:21:25,110 --> 00:21:28,210
he should draw attention to himself, and should

414
00:21:28,210 --> 00:21:31,890
thereby cause his hearers to fail to see

415
00:21:31,890 --> 00:21:32,410
Christ.

416
00:21:34,330 --> 00:21:38,030
By 1875, in an effort to subdue the

417
00:21:38,030 --> 00:21:40,270
people's tendency to be conscious of him as

418
00:21:40,270 --> 00:21:42,610
he preached, he had taken on a more

419
00:21:42,610 --> 00:21:46,950
conversational style of utterance, moved around very little

420
00:21:46,950 --> 00:21:49,990
during the sermon, and attempted to avoid anything

421
00:21:49,990 --> 00:21:52,970
that could look like mere human oratory.

422
00:21:54,270 --> 00:21:57,230
He prayed that as he preached, he might

423
00:21:57,230 --> 00:22:00,610
be hidden behind the cross, and longed that

424
00:22:00,610 --> 00:22:02,970
sinners should not be concerned with him, but

425
00:22:02,970 --> 00:22:04,910
should look upon the Savior.

426
00:22:07,460 --> 00:22:10,440
Nevertheless, his message was still the same, and

427
00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,480
his earnestness was perhaps greater than ever.

428
00:22:14,580 --> 00:22:16,940
No matter what text he chose, he always

429
00:22:16,940 --> 00:22:19,920
declared the great fundamental principles of the faith.

430
00:22:20,740 --> 00:22:22,940
With a burning heart, he pleaded with men

431
00:22:22,940 --> 00:22:25,580
and women to be reconciled to God.

432
00:22:28,150 --> 00:22:30,650
In turn, a stronger sense of the reality

433
00:22:30,650 --> 00:22:33,950
of divine truth gripped men's hearts.

434
00:22:34,810 --> 00:22:37,110
A still larger number came to him on

435
00:22:37,110 --> 00:22:39,570
the Tuesday to inquire the way to Christ,

436
00:22:39,570 --> 00:22:42,550
or to say they had recently found him.

437
00:22:44,330 --> 00:22:45,970
Most of these people also told of their

438
00:22:45,970 --> 00:22:48,670
experience before the church on Tuesday or Thursday

439
00:22:48,670 --> 00:22:51,250
evening, and were baptized on the Sunday.

440
00:22:52,290 --> 00:22:55,910
These constant additions gave the tabernacle a membership

441
00:22:55,910 --> 00:22:59,170
of more than 5,000, and made it

442
00:22:59,170 --> 00:23:03,130
by far the largest Baptist church in the

443
00:23:03,130 --> 00:23:03,610
world.

444
00:23:05,970 --> 00:23:10,030
Throughout this period, however, both Spurgeon and his

445
00:23:10,030 --> 00:23:12,550
wife were unwell much of the time.

446
00:23:13,310 --> 00:23:16,610
Mrs. Spurgeon's spirit was uplifted and her health

447
00:23:16,610 --> 00:23:19,830
somewhat improved by her undertaking the work of

448
00:23:19,830 --> 00:23:21,030
the book fund.

449
00:23:21,870 --> 00:23:24,150
But there were times when for days or

450
00:23:24,150 --> 00:23:26,670
weeks she was too sick to perform her

451
00:23:26,670 --> 00:23:28,890
task and was reduced again to the condition

452
00:23:28,890 --> 00:23:29,990
of a semi-invalid.

453
00:23:32,140 --> 00:23:35,100
Spurgeon also was often laid low by illness.

454
00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:38,680
Throughout the years that are now before us,

455
00:23:39,220 --> 00:23:42,640
he frequently suffered attacks of gout with their

456
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,280
terrible pain and their attendant depression.

457
00:23:46,340 --> 00:23:50,440
In 1879, he experienced a physical breakdown, the

458
00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:53,040
result of his excessive labor and responsibility.

459
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:57,600
For five months, he was absent from the

460
00:23:57,600 --> 00:23:58,240
tabernacle.

461
00:23:59,890 --> 00:24:02,180
He was more careful of his health now

462
00:24:02,180 --> 00:24:03,780
than he had been formerly.

463
00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:06,880
Each summer, he tried to get away to

464
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,240
Scotland for two weeks where he was the

465
00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:10,960
guest of a well-to-do and very

466
00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:15,080
earnest Christian, James Duncan of Benmore Castle.

467
00:24:16,060 --> 00:24:18,380
And almost every winter, he was able to

468
00:24:18,380 --> 00:24:20,980
spend a month or six weeks at Menton

469
00:24:20,980 --> 00:24:22,520
in southern France.

470
00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:25,700
And those periods of release from the damp

471
00:24:25,700 --> 00:24:29,200
and chill of England did much toward providing

472
00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:31,580
the health he needed to carry on with

473
00:24:31,580 --> 00:24:34,320
some measure of vigor during the rest of

474
00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:34,820
the year.

475
00:24:37,510 --> 00:24:40,010
Accordingly, as we think of Spurgeon throughout this

476
00:24:40,010 --> 00:24:42,730
period, in fact, throughout the remaining years of

477
00:24:42,730 --> 00:24:46,510
his life, we must recognize that only infrequently

478
00:24:46,510 --> 00:24:49,570
was he in normal health, that his work

479
00:24:49,570 --> 00:24:52,870
was often hindered by sickness, and he knew

480
00:24:52,870 --> 00:24:55,410
many hours of pain.

481
00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:01,880
During those ten years, Spurgeon witnessed several special

482
00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:02,560
events.

483
00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:05,820
The first was the visit to London of

484
00:25:05,820 --> 00:25:07,620
American evangelist D.

485
00:25:07,820 --> 00:25:08,180
L.

486
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:08,800
Moody.

487
00:25:09,860 --> 00:25:12,300
In the early days of his Christian activity,

488
00:25:13,020 --> 00:25:16,600
Moody had been greatly inspired by Spurgeon's success

489
00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:19,140
and had come to England to hear him.

490
00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:25,420
At a later date, 1873, accompanied by his

491
00:25:25,420 --> 00:25:27,500
song leader, Ira D.

492
00:25:27,780 --> 00:25:31,200
Sankey, Moody had returned to Britain and had

493
00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:34,180
launched a series of evangelistic campaigns in Scotland

494
00:25:34,180 --> 00:25:35,440
and England.

495
00:25:36,260 --> 00:25:39,720
While he was at Glasgow, Spurgeon wrote asking

496
00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:41,520
that when he came to London he would

497
00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,720
preach for him, and Moody's letter of reply

498
00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:50,070
closed with the statement, In regard to coming

499
00:25:50,070 --> 00:25:53,190
to your tabernacle, I consider it a great

500
00:25:53,190 --> 00:25:56,490
honor to be invited, and, in fact, I

501
00:25:56,490 --> 00:25:58,730
should consider it an honor to black your

502
00:25:58,730 --> 00:26:01,510
boots, but to preach to your people would

503
00:26:01,510 --> 00:26:02,570
be out of the question.

504
00:26:03,150 --> 00:26:04,790
If they will not turn to God under

505
00:26:04,790 --> 00:26:08,290
your preaching, neither will they be persuaded the

506
00:26:08,290 --> 00:26:10,250
one rose from the dead.

507
00:26:11,610 --> 00:26:14,370
Yours with much love, D.

508
00:26:14,510 --> 00:26:14,950
L.

509
00:26:15,410 --> 00:26:15,670
Moody.

510
00:26:19,190 --> 00:26:25,190
In 1875, Moody held an extended campaign in

511
00:26:25,190 --> 00:26:25,590
London.

512
00:26:26,910 --> 00:26:31,030
He and Sankey faced strong criticism, especially the

513
00:26:31,030 --> 00:26:34,730
charge of fanaticism, and Spurgeon came to their

514
00:26:34,730 --> 00:26:35,250
defense.

515
00:26:36,270 --> 00:26:38,490
In addressing a meeting of the Bible Society

516
00:26:38,490 --> 00:26:41,190
at which the Archbishop of Canterbury was present,

517
00:26:41,610 --> 00:26:44,750
he strongly denied there was anything fanatical about

518
00:26:44,750 --> 00:26:46,590
the ministry of the two evangelists.

519
00:26:47,190 --> 00:26:50,210
And in speaking to another meeting, he stated,

520
00:26:51,330 --> 00:26:54,110
We are happy to have our friends here

521
00:26:54,110 --> 00:26:56,990
in London because somehow or other they managed

522
00:26:56,990 --> 00:26:58,550
to get the popular ear.

523
00:26:59,270 --> 00:27:02,070
Our brethren have got a grip on the

524
00:27:02,070 --> 00:27:04,990
masses, and they preach the gospel.

525
00:27:05,870 --> 00:27:08,010
We do not have it very distinct from

526
00:27:08,010 --> 00:27:11,010
a great many voices, but I know what

527
00:27:11,010 --> 00:27:13,570
Mr. Moody means when he speaks and what

528
00:27:13,570 --> 00:27:15,950
Mr. Sankey means when he sings.

529
00:27:17,010 --> 00:27:20,070
I have never seen men carry their meaning

530
00:27:20,070 --> 00:27:22,250
more fully upon their lips.

531
00:27:25,630 --> 00:27:29,190
Moody was burdened with labor in London, and

532
00:27:29,190 --> 00:27:31,210
after Spurgeon had preached at one of his

533
00:27:31,210 --> 00:27:37,690
meetings, Moody wrote, Dear Spurgeon, Ten thousand thanks

534
00:27:37,690 --> 00:27:39,170
for your help last night.

535
00:27:39,590 --> 00:27:41,270
You gave us a great lift.

536
00:27:42,390 --> 00:27:44,090
I wish you would give us every night

537
00:27:44,090 --> 00:27:46,290
you can for the next sixty days.

538
00:27:47,190 --> 00:27:49,530
There are so few men who can draw

539
00:27:49,530 --> 00:27:51,930
on a weeknight, and I want to keep

540
00:27:51,930 --> 00:27:53,710
up the meetings in the East End and

541
00:27:53,710 --> 00:27:55,090
the West at the same time.

542
00:27:55,870 --> 00:27:57,710
It is hard for me to have to

543
00:27:57,710 --> 00:27:59,250
speak twice the same evening.

544
00:27:59,990 --> 00:28:02,050
Do all you can for the work, and

545
00:28:02,050 --> 00:28:04,010
we shall see blessed results.

546
00:28:04,970 --> 00:28:06,630
Yours in haste, D.

547
00:28:06,790 --> 00:28:07,110
L.

548
00:28:08,890 --> 00:28:09,490
Moody."

549
00:28:11,670 --> 00:28:16,450
In 1881, Moody returned to England, and Spurgeon,

550
00:28:16,590 --> 00:28:19,050
who was in Montauban at the time, wrote

551
00:28:19,050 --> 00:28:21,990
asking him to take Sunday at the tabernacle.

552
00:28:21,990 --> 00:28:30,150
Moody replied, Dear Mr. Spurgeon, Yours of the

553
00:28:30,150 --> 00:28:33,150
ninth is to hand, and in reply let

554
00:28:33,150 --> 00:28:34,890
me say that I am thankful for your

555
00:28:34,890 --> 00:28:36,030
very kind note.

556
00:28:36,490 --> 00:28:38,290
It quite touched my heart.

557
00:28:38,990 --> 00:28:41,530
I have for years thought more of you

558
00:28:41,530 --> 00:28:44,310
than of any other man preaching the gospel

559
00:28:44,310 --> 00:28:46,770
on this earth, and to tell you the

560
00:28:46,770 --> 00:28:49,870
truth, I shrink from standing in your place.

561
00:28:50,690 --> 00:28:52,870
I do not know of a church in

562
00:28:52,870 --> 00:28:54,790
all the land that I shrink from as

563
00:28:54,790 --> 00:28:57,710
I do from yours, not but what your

564
00:28:57,710 --> 00:28:59,810
people are in sympathy with the gospel that

565
00:28:59,810 --> 00:29:01,750
I try to preach, but you can do

566
00:29:01,750 --> 00:29:04,430
it so much better than I can.

567
00:29:05,510 --> 00:29:08,670
Thank you for inviting me, and D.

568
00:29:08,830 --> 00:29:11,170
V., I will be with your good people

569
00:29:11,170 --> 00:29:12,290
November 20th.

570
00:29:13,070 --> 00:29:15,910
Will you want Mr. Sankey, or will your

571
00:29:15,910 --> 00:29:17,730
own precenter have charge?

572
00:29:17,730 --> 00:29:19,750
Either will suit me.

573
00:29:20,790 --> 00:29:23,190
Remember me to your good wife, and accept

574
00:29:23,190 --> 00:29:25,270
my thanks for your letter of cheer.

575
00:29:26,470 --> 00:29:28,370
Yours truly, D.

576
00:29:28,410 --> 00:29:28,750
L.

577
00:29:29,150 --> 00:29:29,430
Moody.

578
00:29:32,700 --> 00:29:36,160
These were certain points of belief on which

579
00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:39,700
Moody and Spurgeon were not in full agreement,

580
00:29:40,620 --> 00:29:43,440
but they were united on the great principles

581
00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:44,540
of the Christian faith.

582
00:29:44,980 --> 00:29:48,900
They admired one another, and each encouraged and

583
00:29:48,900 --> 00:29:52,860
assisted the other in every possible way.

584
00:29:55,500 --> 00:29:59,500
In 1878, Spurgeon received an invitation to visit

585
00:29:59,500 --> 00:30:00,340
Canada.

586
00:30:01,580 --> 00:30:03,640
But as in the case of his invitations

587
00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:06,860
to America, he had received at least five

588
00:30:06,860 --> 00:30:09,800
of them, he had neither the time or

589
00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:12,920
the health to do so, and thus wrote

590
00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:14,100
a gracious refusal.

591
00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:17,000
It is to be wished that he might

592
00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:18,600
have been able to go to the American

593
00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:22,780
continent, and one can imagine him spending some

594
00:30:22,780 --> 00:30:25,900
days with Mr. Moody in Chicago, ministering to

595
00:30:25,900 --> 00:30:29,540
his congregation, and probably repeating some of his

596
00:30:29,540 --> 00:30:32,980
lectures to my students at the Bible Institute.

597
00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:39,740
But although Spurgeon did not visit America, during

598
00:30:39,740 --> 00:30:44,740
the following year, 1879, his brother James spent

599
00:30:44,740 --> 00:30:47,300
nearly two months in the United States and

600
00:30:47,300 --> 00:30:47,840
Canada.

601
00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:52,940
He and his wife visited New York and

602
00:30:52,940 --> 00:30:55,820
Buffalo, and were deeply impressed with the great

603
00:30:55,820 --> 00:30:58,760
industrial enterprise of the people.

604
00:31:01,380 --> 00:31:04,100
Crossing into Canada, they paused to view Niagara

605
00:31:04,100 --> 00:31:07,140
Falls, and then went on to Toronto and

606
00:31:07,140 --> 00:31:09,460
Montreal and several smaller cities.

607
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,820
James preached frequently in each country, and his

608
00:31:14,820 --> 00:31:17,760
ministry was somewhat highly regarded.

609
00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:23,520
The second special event of these years took

610
00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:30,360
place in 1879, the 25th anniversary of Spurgeon's

611
00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:32,280
ministry in London.

612
00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:36,360
He would have let the event pass unnoticed,

613
00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:38,940
but his people saw it as an opportunity

614
00:31:38,940 --> 00:31:43,120
to recognize his accomplishments and to express their

615
00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:43,780
gratitude.

616
00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:47,940
Under the arrangement of the deacons, Spurgeon's two

617
00:31:47,940 --> 00:31:51,300
evenings were devoted to a commemoration of his

618
00:31:51,300 --> 00:31:55,200
labors and to praising God for his ministry.

619
00:31:56,140 --> 00:31:59,260
The congregation manifested their rejoicing by giving him

620
00:31:59,260 --> 00:32:05,000
a large sum of money, £6,476, stressing

621
00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:07,240
they intended he should use it for himself.

622
00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:10,680
But he immediately put it into the support

623
00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:13,840
of his institutions, and in thanking the people,

624
00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:19,740
he said, Some churches have one crown, some

625
00:32:19,740 --> 00:32:20,300
another.

626
00:32:21,060 --> 00:32:24,000
Our crown under God has been this.

627
00:32:24,500 --> 00:32:27,380
The poor have the gospel preached unto them,

628
00:32:27,660 --> 00:32:31,920
souls are saved, and Christ is glorified.

629
00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:35,920
O my beloved church, hold fast that which

630
00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:36,640
thou hast.

631
00:32:37,260 --> 00:32:39,960
As for me, by God's help, the first

632
00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:42,000
and last thing I long for is to

633
00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:43,080
bring men to Christ.

634
00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:46,500
I care nothing about fine language or about

635
00:32:46,500 --> 00:32:49,620
the pretty speculations of prophecy or a hundred

636
00:32:49,620 --> 00:32:53,020
dainty things, but to break the heart and

637
00:32:53,020 --> 00:32:55,340
bind it up, to lay hold on a

638
00:32:55,340 --> 00:32:57,400
sheep of Christ and bring it back to

639
00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:00,140
the fold is the one thing I would

640
00:33:00,140 --> 00:33:01,000
live for.

641
00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:04,560
Well, we have had this crowning blessing.

642
00:33:04,740 --> 00:33:06,720
That is nearly as I can estimate since

643
00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:07,760
I came amongst you.

644
00:33:08,260 --> 00:33:11,520
More than 9,000 persons have joined this

645
00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:12,000
church.

646
00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:14,540
If they were all alive now or all

647
00:33:14,540 --> 00:33:16,600
with us now, what a company that would

648
00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:16,960
be!

649
00:33:18,340 --> 00:33:20,900
What I have done I shall do still,

650
00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:24,140
namely, love you with all my heart and

651
00:33:24,140 --> 00:33:26,640
love my Lord as his grace enables me.

652
00:33:27,500 --> 00:33:30,200
I mean to go on preaching Jesus and

653
00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:32,740
his gospel, and you may be sure I

654
00:33:32,740 --> 00:33:35,780
shall not preach anything else, for with me

655
00:33:35,780 --> 00:33:37,440
it is Christ or nothing.

656
00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:41,060
I am sold up, and my stock in

657
00:33:41,060 --> 00:33:44,480
trade is gone if Jesus Christ is gone.

658
00:33:45,300 --> 00:33:48,060
He is the sum of my ministry, my

659
00:33:48,060 --> 00:33:50,440
all in all."

660
00:33:53,180 --> 00:33:55,860
The words about having nothing if he had

661
00:33:55,860 --> 00:34:00,220
not Christ were undoubtedly prompted by the unbelief

662
00:34:00,220 --> 00:34:02,660
that was then finding its way into numerous

663
00:34:02,660 --> 00:34:03,360
pulpits.

664
00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:07,560
Before many years had passed, Spurgeon was to

665
00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:10,460
find it necessary to take a stand, defending

666
00:34:10,460 --> 00:34:12,560
the great truths of the Scripture.

667
00:34:13,620 --> 00:34:16,440
His attitude in contending was that those who

668
00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:18,620
did not believe in the deity of Christ

669
00:34:18,620 --> 00:34:23,219
had abandoned Christianity and had nothing whatsoever of

670
00:34:23,219 --> 00:34:24,080
it left.

671
00:34:26,190 --> 00:34:29,969
The following year, 1880, saw a major change

672
00:34:29,969 --> 00:34:31,489
in the daily life of the Spurgeons.

673
00:34:32,070 --> 00:34:33,710
They moved to another house.

674
00:34:34,690 --> 00:34:37,630
People had long told Spurgeon that because of

675
00:34:37,630 --> 00:34:40,969
his rheumatic condition and his wife's ill health,

676
00:34:41,429 --> 00:34:43,550
he ought to live outside the city and

677
00:34:43,550 --> 00:34:46,370
on higher ground to escape the damp and

678
00:34:46,370 --> 00:34:47,710
fogs of London.

679
00:34:48,550 --> 00:34:51,810
Moreover, the Nightingale Lane area in which they

680
00:34:51,810 --> 00:34:54,310
had lived for twenty-three years had become

681
00:34:54,310 --> 00:34:56,830
largely commercial in nature.

682
00:34:57,410 --> 00:35:00,290
Although that lessened the pleasure of living there,

683
00:35:00,630 --> 00:35:02,930
it also increased the value of the property.

684
00:35:05,060 --> 00:35:08,900
As he considered the advisability of relocating, Spurgeon

685
00:35:08,900 --> 00:35:12,360
found himself attracted by a for-sale sign

686
00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:15,960
on a suburban estate south of London and

687
00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:19,080
situated on a height of land called Beulah

688
00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:19,500
Hill.

689
00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:22,460
When a friend suggested it would be an

690
00:35:22,460 --> 00:35:25,320
ideal home for him and Mrs. Spurgeon, he

691
00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:27,860
immediately replied it was too grand a place

692
00:35:27,860 --> 00:35:29,180
for him to even think of.

693
00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:32,340
But at that very time, a developer expressed

694
00:35:32,340 --> 00:35:35,940
a desire to buy the Nightingale Lane property

695
00:35:35,940 --> 00:35:38,240
and offered an excellent price.

696
00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:42,080
The amount was almost sufficient to cover the

697
00:35:42,080 --> 00:35:45,480
entire cost of the Beulah Hill estate, and

698
00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:48,360
believing the Lord had opened the way, Spurgeon

699
00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:49,600
purchased it.

700
00:35:50,700 --> 00:35:53,760
The new property, which was nine acres in

701
00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:56,760
extent, bore the name Westwood.

702
00:35:57,580 --> 00:36:00,600
It had several mature trees and an abundance

703
00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:03,160
of flowers and shrubs, together with a garden,

704
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:05,820
stables, and pasture.

705
00:36:06,740 --> 00:36:10,320
The house was a typical Victorian gentleman's home.

706
00:36:11,140 --> 00:36:14,440
Spurgeon immediately used the drawing room as his

707
00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:17,100
library and the billiard room with its large

708
00:36:17,100 --> 00:36:19,100
window as his study.

709
00:36:20,100 --> 00:36:23,500
The surrounding area was quiet and peaceful, with

710
00:36:23,500 --> 00:36:25,640
a fine view to the south over the

711
00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:28,940
fields of Thornton Heath, and the place afforded

712
00:36:28,940 --> 00:36:31,300
the weary man during whatever hours he was

713
00:36:31,300 --> 00:36:34,280
able to spend there a sense of pleasant

714
00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:35,100
relaxation.

715
00:36:36,500 --> 00:36:39,920
Of course, some people made loud complaint.

716
00:36:40,940 --> 00:36:43,360
Exaggerated descriptions of the house and the grounds

717
00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:46,720
were circulated, and it was said Spurgeon lived

718
00:36:46,720 --> 00:36:48,400
in a home fit for a prince.

719
00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:51,380
There was a small scenic pond on the

720
00:36:51,380 --> 00:36:53,120
property, but it was spoken of as a

721
00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:56,660
fine lake, and an American minister, after visiting

722
00:36:56,660 --> 00:37:00,200
London, likened the estate to that of Buckingham

723
00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:00,800
Palace.

724
00:37:03,330 --> 00:37:06,510
Under the Spurgeon's ownership, however, Westwood was not

725
00:37:06,510 --> 00:37:09,110
only a home, it also became a place

726
00:37:09,110 --> 00:37:10,490
of much business.

727
00:37:11,150 --> 00:37:14,290
Each morning two secretaries arrived, and the one,

728
00:37:14,470 --> 00:37:14,690
J.

729
00:37:14,830 --> 00:37:15,090
L.

730
00:37:15,250 --> 00:37:18,750
Keyes, began opening the mail, a great pile

731
00:37:18,750 --> 00:37:20,830
of which awaited him every day.

732
00:37:21,650 --> 00:37:24,670
Some letters he answered himself, but many he

733
00:37:24,670 --> 00:37:27,390
set aside for Spurgeon's personal attention.

734
00:37:28,730 --> 00:37:29,930
The other secretary, J.

735
00:37:30,030 --> 00:37:30,430
W.

736
00:37:30,590 --> 00:37:34,370
Harold, performed numerous duties in connection with Spurgeon's

737
00:37:34,370 --> 00:37:38,930
literary endeavors, made arrangements regarding his travels, and

738
00:37:38,930 --> 00:37:41,810
decided whether persons who called, wanting to see

739
00:37:41,810 --> 00:37:44,390
Spurgeon, should be allowed to take up his

740
00:37:44,390 --> 00:37:44,810
time.

741
00:37:46,430 --> 00:37:49,790
Here, every Monday, the work of preparing the

742
00:37:49,790 --> 00:37:52,870
sermon for the printer was done, always an

743
00:37:52,870 --> 00:37:54,150
exacting task.

744
00:37:54,970 --> 00:37:57,010
And here, too, the sword and the trowel

745
00:37:57,010 --> 00:37:59,990
was edited each month, a duty which meant

746
00:37:59,990 --> 00:38:01,590
that the assistant editor, G.

747
00:38:01,750 --> 00:38:04,670
Holden Pike, spent many a day in the

748
00:38:04,670 --> 00:38:06,230
study at Westwood.

749
00:38:07,550 --> 00:38:11,290
The book fund also operated from Westwood, and

750
00:38:11,290 --> 00:38:13,910
Mrs. Spurgeon had a room that overflowed with

751
00:38:13,910 --> 00:38:16,510
books, and there was much activity on her

752
00:38:16,510 --> 00:38:19,810
part in answering letters, while her helpers worked

753
00:38:19,810 --> 00:38:23,470
at parceling and mailing bundles to needy pastors.

754
00:38:25,070 --> 00:38:28,230
And above all, this was the scene of

755
00:38:28,230 --> 00:38:30,550
Spurgeon's manifold labors.

756
00:38:31,130 --> 00:38:35,430
His library contained twelve thousand volumes, and every

757
00:38:35,430 --> 00:38:38,010
month he reviewed ten or twelve new ones

758
00:38:38,010 --> 00:38:38,830
for his paper.

759
00:38:40,170 --> 00:38:42,530
Besides the numerous books that he wrote, he

760
00:38:42,530 --> 00:38:45,630
penned around five hundred letters every week.

761
00:38:46,130 --> 00:38:48,590
When we remember those were written by hand

762
00:38:48,590 --> 00:38:49,810
and with a pen that had to be

763
00:38:49,810 --> 00:38:52,710
constantly dipped into an ink bottle, we can

764
00:38:52,710 --> 00:38:54,950
understand something of the labor involved.

765
00:38:56,270 --> 00:38:59,070
Undoubtedly, had the telephone been available in that

766
00:38:59,070 --> 00:39:01,130
day, he would have made abundant use of

767
00:39:01,130 --> 00:39:01,310
it.

768
00:39:01,890 --> 00:39:03,750
It would have spared him the labor of

769
00:39:03,750 --> 00:39:05,810
many of the little notes he wrote in

770
00:39:05,810 --> 00:39:08,450
making arrangements for his visits to other churches,

771
00:39:08,990 --> 00:39:11,070
for the work of his institutions, and the

772
00:39:11,070 --> 00:39:12,150
printing of his writings.

773
00:39:13,050 --> 00:39:15,210
But it would have necessitated a full-time

774
00:39:15,210 --> 00:39:17,870
switchboard operator who would have had the responsibility

775
00:39:17,870 --> 00:39:21,570
of dealing with the innumerable callers and deciding

776
00:39:21,570 --> 00:39:23,210
whether or not to put them through to

777
00:39:23,210 --> 00:39:23,490
him.

778
00:39:25,210 --> 00:39:28,830
Westwood was truly a fine place, but it

779
00:39:28,830 --> 00:39:30,690
also served a grand use.

780
00:39:31,190 --> 00:39:34,090
It was Spurgeon's home throughout the rest of

781
00:39:34,090 --> 00:39:35,090
his earthly journey.

782
00:39:35,450 --> 00:39:37,450
It made his burdens a little less heavy

783
00:39:37,450 --> 00:39:40,070
to bear, and it allowed him to perform

784
00:39:40,070 --> 00:39:42,830
many tasks that otherwise would not have been

785
00:39:42,830 --> 00:39:43,430
possible.

786
00:39:45,680 --> 00:39:48,180
The fourth special event that marked the lives

787
00:39:48,180 --> 00:39:50,540
of Spurgeon and his wife during these years

788
00:39:50,540 --> 00:39:54,060
was a celebration of their silver wedding anniversary.

789
00:39:54,740 --> 00:39:58,400
It actually fell on January 8, 1881.

790
00:39:59,580 --> 00:40:01,880
Spurgeon was too ill at the time to

791
00:40:01,880 --> 00:40:04,040
go to the tabernacle, as the deacons hoped,

792
00:40:04,460 --> 00:40:06,660
and therefore the planning for this event, which

793
00:40:06,660 --> 00:40:08,220
was to have been held there on a

794
00:40:08,220 --> 00:40:10,240
Monday evening, was dropped.

795
00:40:11,020 --> 00:40:13,840
But the deacons and a few close friends

796
00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:16,660
spent the evening in happy fellowship with the

797
00:40:16,660 --> 00:40:18,500
Spurgeons at Westwood.

798
00:40:19,660 --> 00:40:22,780
The other event we must take notice took

799
00:40:22,780 --> 00:40:24,900
place three years later.

800
00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:29,480
This was Spurgeon's 50th birthday, which fell on

801
00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:34,120
June 19, 1884, and which the people called

802
00:40:34,120 --> 00:40:35,300
his jubilee.

803
00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:39,480
At the time the year opened, Spurgeon was

804
00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:40,420
in Menton.

805
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:43,420
He was too ill to return to England

806
00:40:43,420 --> 00:40:45,600
at the date he had intended, and on

807
00:40:45,600 --> 00:40:48,480
January 10 he wrote to his people, saying,

808
00:40:49,100 --> 00:40:53,100
quote, Dear friends, I am altogether stranded.

809
00:40:53,700 --> 00:40:55,480
I am not able to leave my bed

810
00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:57,380
or to find much rest upon it.

811
00:40:57,740 --> 00:41:01,820
The pains of rheumatism, lumbago, and sciatica mingled

812
00:41:01,820 --> 00:41:03,800
together are exceedingly sharp.

813
00:41:04,580 --> 00:41:06,160
If I happen to turn a little to

814
00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:07,920
the right hand or to the left, I

815
00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:09,680
am soon aware that I am dwelling in

816
00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:12,720
a body capable of the most acute suffering.

817
00:41:15,620 --> 00:41:18,500
In another two weeks he came home, took

818
00:41:18,500 --> 00:41:21,580
a Sunday's services at the tabernacle, and then

819
00:41:21,580 --> 00:41:23,300
was prostrated once more.

820
00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:27,160
This time he wrote, Literally, my trouble is

821
00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:28,400
to get on my feet again.

822
00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:30,280
I am a poor creature.

823
00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:33,120
Evidently I am in the extreme of physical

824
00:41:33,120 --> 00:41:33,680
weakness.

825
00:41:34,580 --> 00:41:37,760
Nevertheless, the Lord can cause His spiritual power

826
00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:39,500
to be shown in me, and I believe

827
00:41:39,500 --> 00:41:40,120
He will.

828
00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:43,260
Your great love will bear with me, and

829
00:41:43,260 --> 00:41:45,540
I shall be on the front again, bearing

830
00:41:45,540 --> 00:41:47,960
witness to the faithfulness of the Lord.

831
00:41:50,760 --> 00:41:53,880
He gradually recuperated and was able to return

832
00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:55,020
to his ministry.

833
00:41:56,240 --> 00:41:58,220
By June he was ready to take part

834
00:41:58,220 --> 00:41:59,760
in the Jubilee celebration.

835
00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:04,120
Throughout the afternoon of the 19th, he sat

836
00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:07,420
in his vestry and greeted the numerous people

837
00:42:07,420 --> 00:42:08,220
who called.

838
00:42:09,140 --> 00:42:11,700
In the evening the tabernacle was filled for

839
00:42:11,700 --> 00:42:13,560
a meeting at which, on behalf of the

840
00:42:13,560 --> 00:42:16,800
church, the deacons expressed their thanks to God

841
00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:18,980
for Spurgeon and his ministry.

842
00:42:20,220 --> 00:42:22,500
Brief greetings were brought by a number of

843
00:42:22,500 --> 00:42:26,880
ministers, among them Spurgeon's father, his brother James,

844
00:42:27,240 --> 00:42:29,040
and his son Charles.

845
00:42:30,300 --> 00:42:33,040
A particular joy arose from the fact that

846
00:42:33,040 --> 00:42:34,700
Mrs. Spurgeon was present.

847
00:42:35,100 --> 00:42:37,880
After being absent for some years, she was

848
00:42:37,880 --> 00:42:41,160
now sufficiently improved in health to attend this

849
00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:44,240
historic gathering, to the great delight of her

850
00:42:44,240 --> 00:42:46,360
husband and of the people.

851
00:42:48,240 --> 00:42:51,960
Mr. Moody also spoke that evening, and we

852
00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:53,700
notice his address in part.

853
00:42:54,460 --> 00:42:59,140
Quote, Mr. Spurgeon has said tonight that he

854
00:42:59,140 --> 00:43:00,680
had felt like weeping.

855
00:43:01,300 --> 00:43:03,260
I have tried to keep back the tears,

856
00:43:03,440 --> 00:43:05,340
but I have not succeeded very well.

857
00:43:06,420 --> 00:43:09,060
Twenty-five years ago, after I was converted,

858
00:43:09,220 --> 00:43:10,740
I began to read of a young man

859
00:43:10,740 --> 00:43:13,800
preaching in London with great power, and a

860
00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:17,080
desire seized me to hear him, never expecting

861
00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:20,260
that someday I should myself be a preacher.

862
00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:23,220
Everything I could get a hold of in

863
00:43:23,220 --> 00:43:25,800
print that he ever said, I read.

864
00:43:27,780 --> 00:43:30,680
In 1867 I made my way across the

865
00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:33,240
sea, and if there ever was a seasick

866
00:43:33,240 --> 00:43:36,280
man for fourteen days, I was that one.

867
00:43:36,740 --> 00:43:39,120
The first place to which I came was

868
00:43:39,120 --> 00:43:39,880
this building.

869
00:43:40,420 --> 00:43:42,280
I was told I could not get in

870
00:43:42,280 --> 00:43:44,000
without a ticket, but I made up my

871
00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:46,540
mind to get in somehow, and I succeeded.

872
00:43:47,140 --> 00:43:50,080
I well remember seating myself in this gallery.

873
00:43:50,520 --> 00:43:53,160
I recollect the very seat, and I should

874
00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:55,280
take it back to America with me.

875
00:43:56,140 --> 00:43:58,620
As your dear pastor walked down to the

876
00:43:58,620 --> 00:44:01,840
platform, my eyes just feasted upon him.

877
00:44:02,980 --> 00:44:05,580
It happened to be the year he preached

878
00:44:05,580 --> 00:44:07,280
in the Agricultural Hall.

879
00:44:07,820 --> 00:44:09,620
I followed him up there, and he sent

880
00:44:09,620 --> 00:44:12,460
me back to America a better man.

881
00:44:13,700 --> 00:44:16,300
While I was here, I followed Mr. Spurgeon

882
00:44:16,300 --> 00:44:20,040
everywhere, and when at home people asked me

883
00:44:20,040 --> 00:44:21,960
if I had gone to this and that

884
00:44:21,960 --> 00:44:25,100
cathedral, I had to say, No, and confess

885
00:44:25,100 --> 00:44:27,660
I was ignorant of them, but I could

886
00:44:27,660 --> 00:44:30,300
tell them something about the meetings addressed by

887
00:44:30,300 --> 00:44:31,340
Mr. Spurgeon.

888
00:44:33,540 --> 00:44:36,120
In 1872 I thought I would come over

889
00:44:36,120 --> 00:44:38,280
again to learn a little more, and I

890
00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:40,660
found my way back to this gallery.

891
00:44:41,220 --> 00:44:43,520
I have been here a great many times

892
00:44:43,520 --> 00:44:46,700
since, and never come into this building without

893
00:44:46,700 --> 00:44:48,720
getting a blessing to my soul.

894
00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:52,060
I think I have had as great a

895
00:44:52,060 --> 00:44:55,520
one here tonight as at any other time.

896
00:44:56,420 --> 00:44:58,940
When I look down on these orphan boys,

897
00:44:59,300 --> 00:45:01,800
when I think of the 600 servants of

898
00:45:01,800 --> 00:45:04,040
God who have gone out from the college,

899
00:45:04,420 --> 00:45:07,940
of the 1,500 or 2,000 sermons

900
00:45:07,940 --> 00:45:10,680
from this pulpit which are in print, and

901
00:45:10,680 --> 00:45:12,820
of the multitude of books that have come

902
00:45:12,820 --> 00:45:16,600
from the pastor's pen, I would fain enlarge

903
00:45:16,600 --> 00:45:18,340
upon these good works.

904
00:45:19,620 --> 00:45:21,000
But let me just say this.

905
00:45:21,700 --> 00:45:24,800
If God can use Mr. Spurgeon, why should

906
00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:26,620
he not use the rest of us?

907
00:45:26,960 --> 00:45:29,640
And why should we not all just lay

908
00:45:29,640 --> 00:45:32,100
ourselves at the master's feet and say to

909
00:45:32,100 --> 00:45:34,560
him, Send me, use me.

910
00:45:36,220 --> 00:45:39,260
Mr. Spurgeon, God bless you.

911
00:45:39,760 --> 00:45:41,460
I know that you love me, but I

912
00:45:41,460 --> 00:45:43,420
assure you that I love you a thousand

913
00:45:43,420 --> 00:45:45,900
times more than you can ever love me,

914
00:45:46,380 --> 00:45:49,160
because you have been such a blessing to

915
00:45:49,160 --> 00:45:49,400
me.

916
00:45:50,020 --> 00:45:52,260
We may never meet again in the flesh,

917
00:45:52,640 --> 00:45:54,860
but by the blessing of God, I will

918
00:45:54,860 --> 00:45:56,700
meet you up yonder.

919
00:46:00,270 --> 00:46:03,590
Spurgeon's regular work went on with steady pace,

920
00:46:03,870 --> 00:46:08,550
and everywhere met with still greater success.

921
00:46:11,070 --> 00:46:14,490
Everything grows and demands more and more attention,

922
00:46:14,930 --> 00:46:17,310
he declared in reference to the tabernacle and

923
00:46:17,310 --> 00:46:18,470
its institutions.

924
00:46:19,110 --> 00:46:22,890
One biographer tells us, The spiritual work of

925
00:46:22,890 --> 00:46:25,030
the church was never more prosperous.

926
00:46:25,730 --> 00:46:29,150
In the last month of 1880, over a

927
00:46:29,150 --> 00:46:31,870
hundred persons were received into church fellowship.

928
00:46:33,150 --> 00:46:35,670
And of one occasion during this time, Spurgeon

929
00:46:35,670 --> 00:46:40,390
reported, I sat from two till seven seeing

930
00:46:40,390 --> 00:46:44,390
inquiries desirous of entering the church, and I

931
00:46:44,390 --> 00:46:46,670
saw thirty-three of them without resting.

932
00:46:47,410 --> 00:46:49,890
I never had a more joyous time.

933
00:46:52,270 --> 00:46:55,590
At his suggestion, two hundred and fifty members

934
00:46:55,590 --> 00:46:58,190
left the tabernacle to begin a new church

935
00:46:58,190 --> 00:46:59,330
at Peckham.

936
00:47:00,270 --> 00:47:02,890
Several other instances of this starting of new

937
00:47:02,890 --> 00:47:06,070
causes by tabernacle people took place.

938
00:47:07,110 --> 00:47:09,570
The pastor was always pleased when such a

939
00:47:09,570 --> 00:47:12,430
battalion left the main army to carry on

940
00:47:12,430 --> 00:47:14,090
operations elsewhere.

941
00:47:15,400 --> 00:47:20,460
Despite his rheumatic condition, Spurgeon did a great

942
00:47:20,460 --> 00:47:23,820
deal of preaching besides at the tabernacle.

943
00:47:24,620 --> 00:47:27,000
One time in Leeds, well to the north

944
00:47:27,000 --> 00:47:30,240
in England, it was reported that hundreds were

945
00:47:30,240 --> 00:47:32,120
unable to obtain admission.

946
00:47:33,180 --> 00:47:36,320
The announcement of Mr. Spurgeon's intention to preach

947
00:47:36,320 --> 00:47:41,160
evinced his continued popularity by attracting hundreds from

948
00:47:41,160 --> 00:47:42,660
many miles distant.

949
00:47:43,660 --> 00:47:46,760
Of a meeting he addressed at Bristol, we

950
00:47:46,760 --> 00:47:50,400
read, The admission was of course by ticket,

951
00:47:50,740 --> 00:47:53,140
but the crowd at one time rushed past

952
00:47:53,140 --> 00:47:56,640
the police at the entrance and gained admittance.

953
00:47:57,320 --> 00:48:00,940
The desire to procure tickets was scarcely comprehensible

954
00:48:00,940 --> 00:48:03,340
to those who did not understand the preacher's

955
00:48:03,340 --> 00:48:04,560
unique popularity.

956
00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:09,040
It was even said that ten pounds had

957
00:48:09,040 --> 00:48:10,500
been offered for a seat.

958
00:48:12,580 --> 00:48:17,200
Those are but two of numerous reports of

959
00:48:17,200 --> 00:48:20,520
Spurgeon's itinerant ministry during these years.

960
00:48:21,000 --> 00:48:24,760
Judged by today's standards, travel by either train

961
00:48:24,760 --> 00:48:28,380
or horse and carriage was slow and uncomfortable,

962
00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:30,460
and as one reads G.

963
00:48:30,620 --> 00:48:34,220
Holden Pike's reports of Spurgeon's very frequent visits

964
00:48:34,220 --> 00:48:37,280
to other cities, it is impossible not to

965
00:48:37,280 --> 00:48:40,160
wonder at so widespread a ministry on the

966
00:48:40,160 --> 00:48:42,220
part of a rheumatic man.

967
00:48:43,560 --> 00:48:45,520
Even when he went on his summer vacation

968
00:48:45,520 --> 00:48:48,560
to Scotland, he could not refrain from preaching,

969
00:48:48,800 --> 00:48:50,660
and it was not unusual for him to

970
00:48:50,660 --> 00:48:54,160
preach to 10,000 and 15,000 in

971
00:48:54,160 --> 00:48:57,600
the open air on a Scottish hillside.

972
00:48:59,700 --> 00:49:03,360
As we have seen, Spurgeon had received five

973
00:49:03,360 --> 00:49:07,060
invitations to visit America and one to visit

974
00:49:07,060 --> 00:49:07,740
Canada.

975
00:49:08,460 --> 00:49:12,120
Another reached him from Australia, and as in

976
00:49:12,120 --> 00:49:15,140
the former instances, he had to refuse.

977
00:49:16,380 --> 00:49:19,120
"'How I wish I could glide over and

978
00:49:19,120 --> 00:49:22,120
return in a month,' he wrote, and his

979
00:49:22,120 --> 00:49:25,880
words seemed to anticipate the liberty men have

980
00:49:25,880 --> 00:49:28,520
achieved today in the privilege of flight.

981
00:49:30,670 --> 00:49:33,950
By November of each year, Spurgeon was worn

982
00:49:33,950 --> 00:49:36,190
out and had no choice but to get

983
00:49:36,190 --> 00:49:37,910
away to Montaigne.

984
00:49:38,830 --> 00:49:42,150
One year before leaving, he became so weak

985
00:49:42,150 --> 00:49:43,890
in the midst of his sermon that he

986
00:49:43,890 --> 00:49:46,310
had to pause and ask the congregation to

987
00:49:46,310 --> 00:49:48,470
sing a hymn while he recovered.

988
00:49:49,230 --> 00:49:51,750
He then continued the preaching, but he did

989
00:49:51,750 --> 00:49:54,990
so with difficulty, and on the morrow, the

990
00:49:54,990 --> 00:49:58,710
rumor spread around London that he was dying.

991
00:49:59,550 --> 00:50:02,390
It was false, but he was terribly unwell,

992
00:50:02,790 --> 00:50:04,970
and in another day's time he set out

993
00:50:04,970 --> 00:50:06,750
on his trip to the South.

994
00:50:07,830 --> 00:50:09,910
The work of the men from the college

995
00:50:09,910 --> 00:50:14,250
also experienced unusual blessing during these years.

996
00:50:15,070 --> 00:50:18,350
The men very largely followed Spurgeon's method of

997
00:50:18,350 --> 00:50:21,030
making sure, as far as was humanly possible,

998
00:50:21,570 --> 00:50:25,450
that anyone they baptized had truly been born

999
00:50:25,450 --> 00:50:26,030
again.

1000
00:50:26,950 --> 00:50:30,950
Yet, in the twelve years preceding 1880, the

1001
00:50:30,950 --> 00:50:33,830
number of persons they had baptized amounted to

1002
00:50:33,830 --> 00:50:36,550
some 39,000.

1003
00:50:37,790 --> 00:50:42,210
Thus, churches were built and increased everywhere throughout

1004
00:50:42,210 --> 00:50:42,830
the land.

1005
00:50:43,750 --> 00:50:46,110
Two of the college men, Clark and Smith,

1006
00:50:46,430 --> 00:50:49,950
were evangelists, and Spurgeon reported that in one

1007
00:50:49,950 --> 00:50:53,910
year they conducted 1,100 services.

1008
00:50:55,210 --> 00:50:57,910
Another year, this team undertook the work of

1009
00:50:57,910 --> 00:51:01,830
the tabernacle during Spurgeon's six weeks at Montaigne,

1010
00:51:01,830 --> 00:51:05,450
and when he returned, there were nearly 400

1011
00:51:05,450 --> 00:51:09,510
persons who had professed conversion during his absence,

1012
00:51:10,030 --> 00:51:11,750
waiting to be baptized.

1013
00:51:13,770 --> 00:51:16,330
Lord Shaftesbury was the chairman of the meeting

1014
00:51:16,330 --> 00:51:20,750
that commemorated Spurgeon's fiftieth birthday, and after listening

1015
00:51:20,750 --> 00:51:23,150
to the list of the sixty-six organizations

1016
00:51:23,150 --> 00:51:29,350
that Spurgeon conducted, he remarked, He has not

1017
00:51:29,350 --> 00:51:33,490
been puffed up by success, but humbled, and

1018
00:51:33,490 --> 00:51:35,830
animated the more to go on in his

1019
00:51:35,830 --> 00:51:39,110
noble career of good for the benefit of

1020
00:51:39,110 --> 00:51:39,590
mankind.

1021
00:51:40,650 --> 00:51:43,390
I want to tell you what we outsiders

1022
00:51:43,390 --> 00:51:44,170
think.

1023
00:51:44,850 --> 00:51:47,870
What a tale of his agencies was read

1024
00:51:47,870 --> 00:51:51,610
to you just now, how it showed what

1025
00:51:51,610 --> 00:51:54,830
a powerful administrative mind our friend has.

1026
00:51:54,830 --> 00:51:59,070
That list of associations instituted by his genius

1027
00:51:59,070 --> 00:52:03,570
and superintended by his care were more than

1028
00:52:03,570 --> 00:52:05,870
enough to occupy the minds and hearts of

1029
00:52:05,870 --> 00:52:07,370
fifty ordinary men.

1030
00:52:08,210 --> 00:52:10,970
It seems to me to be the whole

1031
00:52:10,970 --> 00:52:11,950
world in a nutshell.

1032
00:52:13,150 --> 00:52:15,870
He carries on his orphanage and various other

1033
00:52:15,870 --> 00:52:19,270
institutions, and I would impress upon you that

1034
00:52:19,270 --> 00:52:21,790
in which I think he shines the brightest,

1035
00:52:22,330 --> 00:52:24,990
in the foundation and government of the pastor's

1036
00:52:24,990 --> 00:52:25,490
college.

1037
00:52:26,470 --> 00:52:28,870
My worthy friend has produced a large number

1038
00:52:28,870 --> 00:52:31,910
of men, useful in their generation, to preach

1039
00:52:31,910 --> 00:52:34,670
the word of God in all its simplicity

1040
00:52:34,670 --> 00:52:35,550
and force.

1041
00:52:36,550 --> 00:52:39,850
No man has produced such a body capable

1042
00:52:39,850 --> 00:52:42,230
and willing to carry on the noble work

1043
00:52:42,230 --> 00:52:46,050
as our friend, whose jubilee was celebrated today.

1044
00:52:48,530 --> 00:52:52,830
And a London newspaper, conscious of the constantly

1045
00:52:52,830 --> 00:52:58,530
increasing nature of Spurgeon's work, remarked, Other men

1046
00:52:58,530 --> 00:53:01,450
have had vicissitudes reverses disasters.

1047
00:53:02,510 --> 00:53:05,970
Mr. Spurgeon's only vicissitudes have arisen from his

1048
00:53:05,970 --> 00:53:07,970
continually increasing influence.

1049
00:53:08,550 --> 00:53:11,290
He has had anxiety, no doubt, as other

1050
00:53:11,290 --> 00:53:14,450
men, but it has only been the anxiety

1051
00:53:14,450 --> 00:53:17,730
of growth, never of decline.

1052
00:53:20,140 --> 00:53:22,800
Despite the health of the tabernacle and its

1053
00:53:22,800 --> 00:53:27,000
institutions, Spurgeon's illness was keeping him out of

1054
00:53:27,000 --> 00:53:29,460
the pulpit many Sundays of the year.

1055
00:53:30,460 --> 00:53:33,060
When he expressed his regret to the deacons

1056
00:53:33,060 --> 00:53:36,360
and spoke disparagingly of his long absence in

1057
00:53:36,360 --> 00:53:40,460
Montaigne each winter, they declared their deep gratitude

1058
00:53:40,460 --> 00:53:42,540
for whatever portion of the year he was

1059
00:53:42,540 --> 00:53:43,560
able to give them.

1060
00:53:44,540 --> 00:53:47,120
We would rather have you for merely six

1061
00:53:47,120 --> 00:53:49,760
months than anyone else for the entire twelve.

1062
00:53:51,020 --> 00:53:54,020
It was a good testimony to his ability,

1063
00:53:54,360 --> 00:54:00,440
their appreciation, and the prosperity of the work.

1064
00:54:01,440 --> 00:54:04,020
We'll just jump into chapter 17 today.

1065
00:54:04,180 --> 00:54:05,760
It's entitled Personal Characteristics.

1066
00:54:06,440 --> 00:54:08,800
We're going to learn about some of the

1067
00:54:08,800 --> 00:54:11,560
deeply personal traits of the man in the

1068
00:54:11,560 --> 00:54:12,440
reading of this chapter.

1069
00:54:12,780 --> 00:54:15,340
It begins with a quote from The Prince

1070
00:54:15,340 --> 00:54:19,540
of Preachers, written in 1894 by James Douglas.

1071
00:54:20,740 --> 00:54:24,300
Charles Haddon Spurgeon was in no respect ordinary.

1072
00:54:24,900 --> 00:54:27,840
He was great as a man, great as

1073
00:54:27,840 --> 00:54:31,700
a theologian, great as a preacher, great in

1074
00:54:31,700 --> 00:54:35,640
private with God, and great in public with

1075
00:54:35,640 --> 00:54:36,720
his fellow men.

1076
00:54:37,320 --> 00:54:39,700
He was well versed in the three things

1077
00:54:39,700 --> 00:54:43,540
which, according to Luther, make a minister, temptation,

1078
00:54:43,860 --> 00:54:45,700
meditation, and prayer.

1079
00:54:46,300 --> 00:54:49,200
The school of suffering was one in which

1080
00:54:49,200 --> 00:54:50,880
he was deeply taught.

1081
00:54:53,210 --> 00:54:54,050
And that's the quote.

1082
00:54:54,270 --> 00:54:55,770
Let's begin the chapter now.

1083
00:54:55,910 --> 00:54:59,610
Chapter 17, again entitled Personal Characteristics.

1084
00:55:01,860 --> 00:55:04,680
So pronounced a personality as C.

1085
00:55:04,700 --> 00:55:05,120
H.

1086
00:55:05,300 --> 00:55:08,300
Spurgeon could not but be marked by several

1087
00:55:08,300 --> 00:55:11,500
features of thought and action that distinguished him

1088
00:55:11,500 --> 00:55:12,460
from other men.

1089
00:55:12,460 --> 00:55:15,920
We must look at those features for by

1090
00:55:15,920 --> 00:55:18,920
knowing them we shall have a better understanding

1091
00:55:18,920 --> 00:55:21,260
of our great subject.

1092
00:55:22,480 --> 00:55:25,780
The chief element of Spurgeon's entire career was

1093
00:55:25,780 --> 00:55:27,760
his walk with God.

1094
00:55:29,000 --> 00:55:33,460
Among evangelicals, such Christians as David Brainerd, Henry

1095
00:55:33,460 --> 00:55:37,740
Martin, John Fletcher, and Robert Murray McShane are

1096
00:55:37,740 --> 00:55:40,360
remembered for the holiness of their lives.

1097
00:55:40,360 --> 00:55:44,740
Spurgeon fully merits a place among such holy

1098
00:55:44,740 --> 00:55:45,280
men.

1099
00:55:46,640 --> 00:55:49,280
We recall, for instance, the declaration of his

1100
00:55:49,280 --> 00:55:51,720
dedication to the Lord which he wrote shortly

1101
00:55:51,720 --> 00:55:53,300
after his conversion.

1102
00:55:54,160 --> 00:55:57,260
It asserted his glad yielding of himself to

1103
00:55:57,260 --> 00:55:57,740
God.

1104
00:55:58,300 --> 00:56:00,960
And in a diary that followed, he recorded

1105
00:56:00,960 --> 00:56:03,340
the manner in which he carried out that

1106
00:56:03,340 --> 00:56:03,880
purpose.

1107
00:56:04,660 --> 00:56:07,880
It is impossible to read his words without

1108
00:56:07,880 --> 00:56:10,600
seeing the beauty of that young life in

1109
00:56:10,600 --> 00:56:13,940
its purity and its selfless devotion.

1110
00:56:15,520 --> 00:56:18,640
The same principles motivated him when he came

1111
00:56:18,640 --> 00:56:19,580
to London.

1112
00:56:20,720 --> 00:56:22,800
Amidst a success so great that it would

1113
00:56:22,800 --> 00:56:25,760
have driven many a man to unbounded pride,

1114
00:56:26,320 --> 00:56:30,080
he remained humble and was often utterly broken

1115
00:56:30,080 --> 00:56:31,060
before the Lord.

1116
00:56:31,840 --> 00:56:35,400
He taught his people to pray, doing so

1117
00:56:35,400 --> 00:56:38,220
far more by his own example than by

1118
00:56:38,220 --> 00:56:40,220
any preaching he did on the subject.

1119
00:56:41,300 --> 00:56:44,720
People heard him pray with such reality that

1120
00:56:44,720 --> 00:56:47,180
they became ashamed of their own mere repetition

1121
00:56:47,180 --> 00:56:50,680
of words, and gradually, overcoming the practice, they

1122
00:56:50,680 --> 00:56:54,000
began to wrestle with God in fervent fellowship,

1123
00:56:54,360 --> 00:56:55,900
as he did.

1124
00:56:57,340 --> 00:57:00,540
Spurgeon was ever a man of prayer.

1125
00:57:00,840 --> 00:57:03,180
Not that he spent any long periods of

1126
00:57:03,180 --> 00:57:05,380
time in prayer, but he lived in the

1127
00:57:05,380 --> 00:57:07,240
spirit of communion with God.

1128
00:57:08,800 --> 00:57:12,620
An American, Dr. Wayland Hoyt, provides an example

1129
00:57:12,620 --> 00:57:13,440
of his practice.

1130
00:57:14,440 --> 00:57:17,240
Quote, I was walking with him in the

1131
00:57:17,240 --> 00:57:20,340
woods one day just outside London, and as

1132
00:57:20,340 --> 00:57:22,200
we strolled under the shadow of the summer

1133
00:57:22,200 --> 00:57:26,000
foliage, we came upon a log lying athwart

1134
00:57:26,000 --> 00:57:26,780
the path.

1135
00:57:27,880 --> 00:57:30,720
Come, he said, as naturally as one would

1136
00:57:30,720 --> 00:57:33,640
say if he were hungry and bread was

1137
00:57:33,640 --> 00:57:35,980
put before him, come, let us pray.

1138
00:57:37,360 --> 00:57:40,240
Kneeling beside the log, he lifted his soul

1139
00:57:40,240 --> 00:57:42,820
to God in the most loving and yet

1140
00:57:42,820 --> 00:57:44,020
reverent prayer.

1141
00:57:45,740 --> 00:57:48,760
Then, rising from his knees, he went strolling

1142
00:57:48,760 --> 00:57:51,280
on, talking about this and that.

1143
00:57:51,960 --> 00:57:54,660
The prayer was no parenthesis interjected.

1144
00:57:55,060 --> 00:57:57,540
It was something that belonged as much to

1145
00:57:57,540 --> 00:58:00,380
the habit of his mind as breathing did

1146
00:58:00,380 --> 00:58:02,420
to the habit of his body.

1147
00:58:05,790 --> 00:58:09,010
Another American, Dr. Theodore Kyler, tells of a

1148
00:58:09,010 --> 00:58:09,850
similar incident.

1149
00:58:10,490 --> 00:58:12,570
As he and Spurgeon walked one day in

1150
00:58:12,570 --> 00:58:16,590
the woods, conversing in high spirits, suddenly Spurgeon

1151
00:58:16,590 --> 00:58:20,190
stopped and said, Come, Theodore, let us thank

1152
00:58:20,190 --> 00:58:21,370
God for laughter.

1153
00:58:23,250 --> 00:58:24,930
That was how he lived.

1154
00:58:25,770 --> 00:58:28,650
From a jest to a prayer meant with

1155
00:58:28,650 --> 00:58:30,490
him the breadth of a straw.

1156
00:58:33,020 --> 00:58:36,380
William Williams, who after his course at the

1157
00:58:36,380 --> 00:58:40,300
pastor's college became a successful minister, was often

1158
00:58:40,300 --> 00:58:41,720
in Spurgeon's company.

1159
00:58:42,500 --> 00:58:46,800
He says, One of the most helpful hours

1160
00:58:46,800 --> 00:58:49,040
of my visits to Westwood was the hour

1161
00:58:49,040 --> 00:58:50,240
of family prayer.

1162
00:58:51,180 --> 00:58:53,480
At six o'clock, all the household gathered

1163
00:58:53,480 --> 00:58:55,180
into the study for worship.

1164
00:58:55,920 --> 00:58:59,120
Usually, Mr. Spurgeon would himself lead the devotions.

1165
00:58:59,800 --> 00:59:03,760
The portion read was invariably accompanied with exposition.

1166
00:59:04,380 --> 00:59:08,820
How amazingly helpful those homely and gracious comments

1167
00:59:08,820 --> 00:59:09,540
were.

1168
00:59:10,380 --> 00:59:13,260
I remember especially his reading of the 24th

1169
00:59:13,260 --> 00:59:13,780
of Luke.

1170
00:59:14,760 --> 00:59:17,800
Jesus himself drew near and went with them.

1171
00:59:19,000 --> 00:59:22,420
How sweetly he talked upon having Jesus with

1172
00:59:22,420 --> 00:59:23,860
us wherever we go.

1173
00:59:24,260 --> 00:59:26,540
Not only to have him drawn near at

1174
00:59:26,540 --> 00:59:29,580
special seasons, but to go with us whatever

1175
00:59:29,580 --> 00:59:30,940
labor we undertake.

1176
00:59:32,040 --> 00:59:36,000
Then, how full of tender pleading, of serene

1177
00:59:36,000 --> 00:59:40,580
confidence in God, of world-embracing sympathy were

1178
00:59:40,580 --> 00:59:41,940
his prayers.

1179
00:59:42,920 --> 00:59:46,260
With what gracious familiarity he could talk with

1180
00:59:46,260 --> 00:59:47,700
his Divine Master.

1181
00:59:48,660 --> 00:59:51,760
Yet, what reverence ever marked his address to

1182
00:59:51,760 --> 00:59:52,520
his Lord.

1183
00:59:53,160 --> 00:59:56,820
His public prayers were an inspiration and benediction,

1184
00:59:56,820 --> 01:00:00,400
but his prayers with the family were to

1185
01:00:00,400 --> 01:00:02,860
me more wonderful still.

1186
01:00:03,980 --> 01:00:06,100
The beauty of them was ever striking.

1187
01:00:06,660 --> 01:00:11,640
Figures, symbols, citations of choice, scriptural emblems, all

1188
01:00:11,640 --> 01:00:15,640
given with a spontaneity and naturalness that charmed

1189
01:00:15,640 --> 01:00:18,860
the mind and moved the heart.

1190
01:00:21,160 --> 01:00:24,180
Mr. Spurgeon, when bowed before God in family

1191
01:00:24,180 --> 01:00:28,280
prayer, appeared a grander man even then when

1192
01:00:28,280 --> 01:00:31,700
holding thousands spellbound by his oratory.

1193
01:00:32,980 --> 01:00:40,220
Such words make us realize what a magnificent

1194
01:00:40,220 --> 01:00:43,700
experience it must have been to hear Spurgeon

1195
01:00:43,700 --> 01:00:44,220
pray.

1196
01:00:45,500 --> 01:00:48,420
The man who lived in this constant fellowship

1197
01:00:48,420 --> 01:00:51,480
with God manifested in his daily life all

1198
01:00:51,480 --> 01:00:52,860
the fruits of the Spirit.

1199
01:00:53,600 --> 01:00:59,580
Here, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

1200
01:00:59,700 --> 01:01:04,580
gentleness, and self-control were ever present, and

1201
01:01:04,580 --> 01:01:06,260
with them there was a hatred of their

1202
01:01:06,260 --> 01:01:10,000
opposites, a loathing of every form of sin.

1203
01:01:11,620 --> 01:01:14,520
This picture of Spurgeon as a man of

1204
01:01:14,520 --> 01:01:18,120
unusual holiness is entirely true.

1205
01:01:19,320 --> 01:01:22,420
Accordingly, the statement we must now make will

1206
01:01:22,420 --> 01:01:24,320
to many seem inconsistent.

1207
01:01:25,100 --> 01:01:27,560
Nevertheless, it also is true, and we must

1208
01:01:27,560 --> 01:01:28,060
make it.

1209
01:01:28,680 --> 01:01:32,440
It is that Spurgeon both smoked cigars and

1210
01:01:32,440 --> 01:01:34,060
drank alcoholic beverages.

1211
01:01:35,240 --> 01:01:38,740
When his smoking began is not known, but

1212
01:01:38,740 --> 01:01:41,240
in Spurgeon's time the practice was believed to

1213
01:01:41,240 --> 01:01:43,400
be beneficial to one's health.

1214
01:01:44,420 --> 01:01:46,840
Robert Hall, the famous preacher of the St.

1215
01:01:46,940 --> 01:01:50,820
Andrews Street Baptist Church, Cambridge, had been ordered

1216
01:01:50,820 --> 01:01:53,980
by his physician to become a smoker, and

1217
01:01:53,980 --> 01:01:56,900
since Spurgeon lived at Cambridge and attended that

1218
01:01:56,900 --> 01:02:00,080
church in his teens, he was undoubtedly familiar

1219
01:02:00,080 --> 01:02:01,100
with this event.

1220
01:02:02,260 --> 01:02:05,280
Moreover, there were no qualms whatsoever about the

1221
01:02:05,280 --> 01:02:07,720
practice in the minds of many ministers in

1222
01:02:07,720 --> 01:02:09,560
the Church of England and the Church of

1223
01:02:09,560 --> 01:02:12,640
Scotland, and in the churches of France and

1224
01:02:12,640 --> 01:02:13,040
Holland.

1225
01:02:13,920 --> 01:02:16,820
Of course, Spurgeon made not the slightest attempt

1226
01:02:16,820 --> 01:02:17,980
to hide his practice.

1227
01:02:18,760 --> 01:02:21,220
One press reporter described him as he drove

1228
01:02:21,220 --> 01:02:23,900
to the tabernacle each morning, and his account

1229
01:02:23,900 --> 01:02:27,600
closed with the words, Enjoying his morning cigar.

1230
01:02:29,040 --> 01:02:31,160
While out on a jaunt with the students

1231
01:02:31,160 --> 01:02:33,300
one morning, when several of them had lighted

1232
01:02:33,300 --> 01:02:37,280
pipes or cigars, Spurgeon said, Aren't you ashamed

1233
01:02:37,280 --> 01:02:38,540
to be smoking so early?

1234
01:02:39,240 --> 01:02:41,380
And they immediately put out their fire.

1235
01:02:42,160 --> 01:02:45,380
Then he produced a cigar and lit it,

1236
01:02:45,660 --> 01:02:48,120
and both he and they laughed at his

1237
01:02:48,120 --> 01:02:50,980
little joke, but his point was that he

1238
01:02:50,980 --> 01:02:53,560
was in no way ashamed of the practice.

1239
01:02:54,640 --> 01:02:57,480
It must be emphasized, he saw nothing wrong

1240
01:02:57,480 --> 01:02:59,200
in his smoking in that he did it

1241
01:02:59,200 --> 01:02:59,620
openly.

1242
01:03:00,940 --> 01:03:04,000
But, he received a sudden shock.

1243
01:03:05,600 --> 01:03:08,720
In 1874, Dr. George F.

1244
01:03:08,880 --> 01:03:13,300
Pentecost, a Baptist pastor from America, visited the

1245
01:03:13,300 --> 01:03:15,860
tabernacle, and Spurgeon had him sit on the

1246
01:03:15,860 --> 01:03:17,940
platform for the evening service.

1247
01:03:19,020 --> 01:03:22,500
Spurgeon preached strongly and plainly upon the necessity

1248
01:03:22,500 --> 01:03:25,240
of giving up sin in order to success

1249
01:03:25,240 --> 01:03:28,500
in prayer, and he spoke against the seemingly

1250
01:03:28,500 --> 01:03:32,260
unimportant little habits many Christians practice that keep

1251
01:03:32,260 --> 01:03:34,600
them from true fellowship with God.

1252
01:03:35,920 --> 01:03:39,600
After concluding his sermon, he asked Dr. Pentecost

1253
01:03:39,600 --> 01:03:43,380
to speak, suggesting especially that he apply the

1254
01:03:43,380 --> 01:03:45,000
principle he himself had declared.

1255
01:03:47,270 --> 01:03:51,150
It is probable Dr. Pentecost did not know

1256
01:03:51,150 --> 01:03:52,710
that Spurgeon smoked.

1257
01:03:53,570 --> 01:03:56,810
At any rate, he applied Spurgeon's principle by

1258
01:03:56,810 --> 01:03:59,470
telling of his own experience in giving up

1259
01:03:59,470 --> 01:03:59,790
cigars.

1260
01:04:01,090 --> 01:04:04,570
He said, One thing I liked exceedingly, the

1261
01:04:04,570 --> 01:04:07,350
best cigar that could be bought, yet he

1262
01:04:07,350 --> 01:04:09,550
felt the habit was wrong in the life

1263
01:04:09,550 --> 01:04:11,790
of a Christian, and he strove to overcome

1264
01:04:11,790 --> 01:04:12,110
it.

1265
01:04:12,890 --> 01:04:15,790
The habit, however, proved so strong that he

1266
01:04:15,790 --> 01:04:19,790
found himself enslaved till after much struggling, he

1267
01:04:19,790 --> 01:04:22,870
took his cigar box before the Lord, cried

1268
01:04:22,870 --> 01:04:26,450
desperately for help, and was given a complete

1269
01:04:26,450 --> 01:04:26,990
victory.

1270
01:04:27,650 --> 01:04:30,090
He told, with much praise to God, how

1271
01:04:30,090 --> 01:04:33,030
he had been enabled to defeat the habit.

1272
01:04:34,550 --> 01:04:37,770
Throughout his words ran the idea that smoking

1273
01:04:37,770 --> 01:04:41,710
was not only an enslaving habit, but that

1274
01:04:41,710 --> 01:04:43,710
the Christian must look on it as a

1275
01:04:43,710 --> 01:04:44,170
sin.

1276
01:04:46,780 --> 01:04:49,480
We must assume that if ever in his

1277
01:04:49,480 --> 01:04:54,040
lifetime Spurgeon was embarrassed, it was now.

1278
01:04:54,560 --> 01:05:00,880
He arose and stated, Well, dear friends, you

1279
01:05:00,880 --> 01:05:02,860
know that some men can do to the

1280
01:05:02,860 --> 01:05:05,320
glory of God what to other men would

1281
01:05:05,320 --> 01:05:08,980
be a sin, and not withstanding what Brother

1282
01:05:08,980 --> 01:05:11,520
Pentecost has said, I intend to smoke a

1283
01:05:11,520 --> 01:05:13,680
good cigar to the glory of God before

1284
01:05:13,680 --> 01:05:14,860
I go to bed tonight.

1285
01:05:16,380 --> 01:05:18,100
If anybody can show me in the Bible

1286
01:05:18,100 --> 01:05:21,080
the command, Thou shalt not smoke, I am

1287
01:05:21,080 --> 01:05:23,140
ready to keep it, but I haven't found

1288
01:05:23,140 --> 01:05:23,620
it yet.

1289
01:05:24,180 --> 01:05:27,080
I find ten commandments, and it is as

1290
01:05:27,080 --> 01:05:28,720
much as I can do to keep them,

1291
01:05:29,200 --> 01:05:30,980
and I have no desire to make them

1292
01:05:30,980 --> 01:05:31,840
eleven or twelve.

1293
01:05:32,760 --> 01:05:35,080
The fact is I have been speaking to

1294
01:05:35,080 --> 01:05:37,820
you about real sin, and not about listening

1295
01:05:37,820 --> 01:05:39,580
to mere quibbles and scruples.

1296
01:05:40,720 --> 01:05:43,440
Whatsoever is not of faith is sin, and

1297
01:05:43,440 --> 01:05:45,340
that is the real point of what my

1298
01:05:45,340 --> 01:05:47,160
Brother Pentecost has been saying.

1299
01:05:47,440 --> 01:05:49,340
Why, a man may think it a sin

1300
01:05:49,340 --> 01:05:50,780
to have his boots blacked.

1301
01:05:51,320 --> 01:05:52,920
Well, then let him give it up and

1302
01:05:52,920 --> 01:05:53,900
have them whitewashed.

1303
01:05:54,460 --> 01:05:56,740
I wish to say I am not ashamed

1304
01:05:56,740 --> 01:05:58,800
of anything, whatever that I do, and I

1305
01:05:58,800 --> 01:06:01,300
don't feel that smoking makes me ashamed, and

1306
01:06:01,300 --> 01:06:03,800
therefore I mean to smoke to the glory

1307
01:06:03,800 --> 01:06:04,440
of God.

1308
01:06:08,680 --> 01:06:12,660
In no time the statement a cigar to

1309
01:06:12,660 --> 01:06:16,760
the glory of God spread across England.

1310
01:06:18,000 --> 01:06:20,440
The press carried the news and received a

1311
01:06:20,440 --> 01:06:25,020
host of letters, some condoning Spurgeon's practice, but

1312
01:06:25,020 --> 01:06:26,800
most condemning it.

1313
01:06:27,360 --> 01:06:29,820
He had no choice but to attempt to

1314
01:06:29,820 --> 01:06:32,060
defend himself, and in a letter to the

1315
01:06:32,060 --> 01:06:37,080
Daily Telegraph he declared, Together with hundreds of

1316
01:06:37,080 --> 01:06:39,960
thousands of my fellow Christians I have smoked,

1317
01:06:40,480 --> 01:06:42,660
and with them I am under the condemnation

1318
01:06:42,660 --> 01:06:46,120
of living in habitual sin, if certain accusers

1319
01:06:46,120 --> 01:06:47,260
are to be believed.

1320
01:06:48,060 --> 01:06:50,880
As I would not knowingly live even in

1321
01:06:50,880 --> 01:06:53,320
the smallest violation of the law of God,

1322
01:06:53,720 --> 01:06:55,760
and sin is the transgression of the law,

1323
01:06:56,220 --> 01:06:58,060
I will not own to sin when I

1324
01:06:58,060 --> 01:06:59,260
am not conscious of it.

1325
01:06:59,940 --> 01:07:02,980
When I have found intense pain relieved, a

1326
01:07:02,980 --> 01:07:06,860
weary brain soothed, and calm, refreshing sleep obtained

1327
01:07:06,860 --> 01:07:09,780
by a cigar, I have felt grateful to

1328
01:07:09,780 --> 01:07:11,760
God, and have blessed his name.

1329
01:07:12,380 --> 01:07:15,780
That is what I meant."

1330
01:07:15,780 --> 01:07:22,980
Among the several pronouncements on the subject the

1331
01:07:22,980 --> 01:07:26,580
most important was a lengthy open letter addressed

1332
01:07:26,580 --> 01:07:30,800
to Mr. Spurgeon and published in pamphlet form.

1333
01:07:31,720 --> 01:07:35,100
Its manner was calm and its reasoning strong.

1334
01:07:36,160 --> 01:07:39,160
It told him he was doing himself not

1335
01:07:39,160 --> 01:07:43,520
physical good, but physical harm by smoking.

1336
01:07:43,900 --> 01:07:46,420
It reminded him of the example he was

1337
01:07:46,420 --> 01:07:49,400
setting and mentioned the effort of Christian parents

1338
01:07:49,400 --> 01:07:52,440
to keep their youths from the practice, only

1339
01:07:52,440 --> 01:07:54,720
to be told Spurgeon smokes!

1340
01:07:58,740 --> 01:08:02,240
William Williams tells us that in later years

1341
01:08:02,240 --> 01:08:07,020
Spurgeon partially desisted from his smoking, sometimes going

1342
01:08:07,020 --> 01:08:08,700
for months without a cigar.

1343
01:08:09,800 --> 01:08:11,900
It is possible that this was an effort

1344
01:08:11,900 --> 01:08:13,960
to prove to himself and others that he

1345
01:08:13,960 --> 01:08:16,060
was not enslaved by the habit.

1346
01:08:17,520 --> 01:08:19,840
About two years before his death he appears

1347
01:08:19,840 --> 01:08:23,240
to have given up smoking completely, perhaps having

1348
01:08:23,240 --> 01:08:26,100
by then realized it was not the help

1349
01:08:26,100 --> 01:08:28,260
to his health that he had expected.

1350
01:08:29,580 --> 01:08:32,520
Nevertheless, many of us today cannot but wish

1351
01:08:32,520 --> 01:08:34,660
he had never undertaken the practice.

1352
01:08:36,540 --> 01:08:40,260
During a considerable portion of his life Spurgeon

1353
01:08:40,260 --> 01:08:43,520
also used alcoholic drinks as a beverage.

1354
01:08:44,380 --> 01:08:47,399
In his day, pure drinking water was difficult

1355
01:08:47,399 --> 01:08:50,580
to obtain and in order to avoid contamination

1356
01:08:50,580 --> 01:08:53,660
most people used beer and ale at their

1357
01:08:53,660 --> 01:08:54,080
meals.

1358
01:08:54,899 --> 01:08:57,439
This had been a human custom since time

1359
01:08:57,439 --> 01:09:00,420
immemorial and there can be little doubt that

1360
01:09:00,420 --> 01:09:02,540
Spurgeon had been introduced to it as a

1361
01:09:02,540 --> 01:09:04,899
boy in the homes of his grandfather and

1362
01:09:04,899 --> 01:09:07,200
his father, and that he had grown up

1363
01:09:07,200 --> 01:09:08,899
accustomed to the practice.

1364
01:09:10,279 --> 01:09:12,359
In turn, he had not long been in

1365
01:09:12,359 --> 01:09:14,680
London when we find him using such drinks

1366
01:09:14,680 --> 01:09:18,260
as beer, wine, and brandy, though in very

1367
01:09:18,260 --> 01:09:19,220
moderate amounts.

1368
01:09:19,560 --> 01:09:22,420
And this practice, like that of smoking, he

1369
01:09:22,420 --> 01:09:25,540
did not in any way attempt to deny

1370
01:09:25,540 --> 01:09:27,260
or to hide.

1371
01:09:29,220 --> 01:09:34,319
In 1863 the American temperance orator John B.

1372
01:09:34,580 --> 01:09:37,859
Goff was in England and he published some

1373
01:09:37,859 --> 01:09:41,899
strong statements against Spurgeon's use of alcohol.

1374
01:09:42,800 --> 01:09:46,140
It appears that he exaggerated the extent of

1375
01:09:46,140 --> 01:09:49,520
Spurgeon's practice, and Spurgeon asserted in an article

1376
01:09:49,520 --> 01:09:53,680
in American Magazine quote, I had always honored

1377
01:09:53,680 --> 01:09:56,460
Mr. Goff as a great and good man.

1378
01:09:57,080 --> 01:09:59,300
I had supposed also that he was a

1379
01:09:59,300 --> 01:10:02,480
gentleman and better still a Christian who esteemed

1380
01:10:02,480 --> 01:10:05,060
the cause of religion even more highly than

1381
01:10:05,060 --> 01:10:06,540
that of teetotalism.

1382
01:10:08,420 --> 01:10:08,820
End quote.

1383
01:10:10,870 --> 01:10:15,370
In 1871 Goff was in England again and

1384
01:10:15,370 --> 01:10:18,290
now he learned much better things about Spurgeon.

1385
01:10:18,850 --> 01:10:21,730
He learned he no longer used alcohol.

1386
01:10:22,410 --> 01:10:24,470
And after calling on him in his home

1387
01:10:24,470 --> 01:10:27,950
Goff wrote, I am glad to be able

1388
01:10:27,950 --> 01:10:29,610
to say that I know he is at

1389
01:10:29,610 --> 01:10:32,030
present and has been for some time a

1390
01:10:32,030 --> 01:10:35,350
total abstainer and that when he took stimulants

1391
01:10:35,350 --> 01:10:37,410
it was by his physician's prescription.

1392
01:10:38,250 --> 01:10:40,510
When he took it he made no secret

1393
01:10:40,510 --> 01:10:42,690
of his course but freely spoke of it

1394
01:10:42,690 --> 01:10:43,950
wherever he might be.

1395
01:10:47,040 --> 01:10:49,940
It is possible that Goff was somewhat mistaken

1396
01:10:49,940 --> 01:10:52,080
as to the date of Spurgeon's change of

1397
01:10:52,080 --> 01:10:54,620
habit but several of the students of the

1398
01:10:54,620 --> 01:10:57,560
college were strong opponents of all use of

1399
01:10:57,560 --> 01:10:58,120
alcohol.

1400
01:10:59,460 --> 01:11:03,220
Spurgeon's two sons were also abstainers and it

1401
01:11:03,220 --> 01:11:06,480
is probable their stand was influential upon their

1402
01:11:06,480 --> 01:11:06,980
father.

1403
01:11:07,940 --> 01:11:12,060
During the 1870's Spurgeon dropped the practice and

1404
01:11:12,060 --> 01:11:14,480
in later years he had Mr. Goff lecture

1405
01:11:14,480 --> 01:11:18,420
at the tabernacle against alcohol and in favor

1406
01:11:18,420 --> 01:11:19,900
of abstinence.

1407
01:11:21,810 --> 01:11:24,570
In these two practices we see that Mr.

1408
01:11:24,690 --> 01:11:27,490
Spurgeon was very human a man of his

1409
01:11:27,490 --> 01:11:28,030
times.

1410
01:11:29,210 --> 01:11:31,810
Moreover he was not alone in the indulgence.

1411
01:11:32,390 --> 01:11:35,910
For instance though John Wesley totally opposed the

1412
01:11:35,910 --> 01:11:39,650
drinking of tea hence the term tea totaler

1413
01:11:39,650 --> 01:11:42,490
he was something of an authority on the

1414
01:11:42,490 --> 01:11:43,530
taste of ale.

1415
01:11:44,330 --> 01:11:48,250
Charles Wesley also indulged and the picture seems

1416
01:11:48,250 --> 01:11:51,270
rather incongruous when we see the grand old

1417
01:11:51,270 --> 01:11:53,850
Methodist warrior during the last years of his

1418
01:11:53,850 --> 01:11:57,450
life listing his expenditures for drinks for the

1419
01:11:57,450 --> 01:12:00,450
guests attending his son's musical concerts.

1420
01:12:01,830 --> 01:12:03,950
Whitfield's practice was similar.

1421
01:12:04,450 --> 01:12:07,370
We find him writing Give my thanks to

1422
01:12:07,370 --> 01:12:09,570
that friendly brewer for the keg of rum

1423
01:12:09,570 --> 01:12:10,450
he sent us.

1424
01:12:13,080 --> 01:12:16,600
I reported these matters regarding Spurgeon with much

1425
01:12:16,600 --> 01:12:17,380
reluctance.

1426
01:12:18,160 --> 01:12:21,120
They seem sadly regrettable in the life of

1427
01:12:21,120 --> 01:12:22,960
so righteous a man.

1428
01:12:23,700 --> 01:12:26,360
Yet in the name of either Christian honesty

1429
01:12:26,360 --> 01:12:31,560
or scholarly accuracy they could not be omitted.

1430
01:12:32,840 --> 01:12:35,700
There are however many further items of a

1431
01:12:35,700 --> 01:12:38,720
very different and very worthy nature to be

1432
01:12:38,720 --> 01:12:42,800
reported about Spurgeon and we continue to consider

1433
01:12:42,800 --> 01:12:43,220
them.

1434
01:12:45,150 --> 01:12:48,370
We first notice his physical person.

1435
01:12:49,030 --> 01:12:51,690
He had nothing of the tall stately elegance

1436
01:12:51,690 --> 01:12:54,710
of Edward Irving which many Londoners then remembered

1437
01:12:54,710 --> 01:12:57,310
but was of medium height and not of

1438
01:12:57,310 --> 01:12:58,790
an attractive build.

1439
01:12:59,570 --> 01:13:01,750
His body was short in the upper leg

1440
01:13:01,750 --> 01:13:04,930
but he possessed an orator's powerful chest.

1441
01:13:05,530 --> 01:13:07,310
His head was large and it was said

1442
01:13:07,310 --> 01:13:09,390
there were no angles about him.

1443
01:13:10,430 --> 01:13:12,710
In his early thirties he began to grow

1444
01:13:12,710 --> 01:13:15,430
a beard which basically improved his appearance.

1445
01:13:16,070 --> 01:13:18,890
It also protected him from the dampness and

1446
01:13:18,890 --> 01:13:22,470
chill of England's winters and above all it

1447
01:13:22,470 --> 01:13:25,810
saved him the time formerly spent in shaving.

1448
01:13:27,490 --> 01:13:29,630
His face was highly expressive.

1449
01:13:30,730 --> 01:13:33,550
The features were of themselves somewhat heavy but

1450
01:13:33,550 --> 01:13:36,330
were ever lightened by the eyes around which

1451
01:13:36,330 --> 01:13:39,050
even in his times of pain a smile

1452
01:13:39,050 --> 01:13:41,690
seemed unfailingly to glow.

1453
01:13:42,810 --> 01:13:45,790
An artist once undertook to paint his portrait

1454
01:13:46,500 --> 01:13:48,710
but after four sittings he gave it up

1455
01:13:48,710 --> 01:13:51,110
saying, I can't paint you.

1456
01:13:51,370 --> 01:13:52,770
Your face is different every day.

1457
01:13:52,770 --> 01:13:54,030
You are never the same.

1458
01:13:56,400 --> 01:13:58,700
A description of Spurgeon was made by one

1459
01:13:58,700 --> 01:14:01,240
who knew him well, James Douglas.

1460
01:14:03,180 --> 01:14:08,200
Could any face more fully express geniality, friendliness,

1461
01:14:08,460 --> 01:14:11,680
warmth of affection and overflowing hospitality?

1462
01:14:12,380 --> 01:14:15,280
We know of none in whom these traits

1463
01:14:15,280 --> 01:14:17,060
so shine forth.

1464
01:14:17,600 --> 01:14:19,600
His greeting was warm as sunshine.

1465
01:14:20,240 --> 01:14:22,700
It mattered not what might be the shadow

1466
01:14:22,700 --> 01:14:24,560
on the spirit or the trouble of the

1467
01:14:24,560 --> 01:14:24,860
heart.

1468
01:14:25,460 --> 01:14:27,940
It all vanished away at the voice of

1469
01:14:27,940 --> 01:14:28,680
his welcome.

1470
01:14:29,480 --> 01:14:32,420
There was light on his countenance that instantly

1471
01:14:32,420 --> 01:14:33,860
dispersed all gloom.

1472
01:14:34,360 --> 01:14:37,420
I have never known one whose presence had

1473
01:14:37,420 --> 01:14:41,180
such charm or whose conversation was such a

1474
01:14:41,180 --> 01:14:42,820
rich and varied feast.

1475
01:14:43,560 --> 01:14:47,580
His voice stamped him as preeminent, being an

1476
01:14:47,580 --> 01:14:50,940
organ in itself of amazing compass and sweetness

1477
01:14:50,940 --> 01:14:51,840
of modulation.

1478
01:14:52,640 --> 01:14:55,100
His speech was music.

1479
01:14:55,580 --> 01:14:58,360
He was a born speaker, both as to

1480
01:14:58,360 --> 01:15:01,640
the quality of note and the ease of

1481
01:15:01,640 --> 01:15:02,180
utterance.

1482
01:15:02,620 --> 01:15:05,680
He needed no training in elocution, for he

1483
01:15:05,680 --> 01:15:06,620
had it in him.

1484
01:15:08,160 --> 01:15:12,300
Nor was his discourse ever verbiage, or a

1485
01:15:12,300 --> 01:15:14,500
mere melodious sound in the air.

1486
01:15:15,240 --> 01:15:18,060
The born orator, as in Edward Irving's case,

1487
01:15:18,060 --> 01:15:21,260
often lays himself open to this charge.

1488
01:15:22,320 --> 01:15:25,920
Mr. Spurgeon's diction was never high-sounding or

1489
01:15:25,920 --> 01:15:26,840
bombastic.

1490
01:15:27,300 --> 01:15:29,880
With the grandeur of his theme, he soared.

1491
01:15:30,340 --> 01:15:34,300
The transcendent never became small in his hands.

1492
01:15:34,980 --> 01:15:37,640
If the thought was sublime, he would give

1493
01:15:37,640 --> 01:15:38,840
it sublime expression.

1494
01:15:39,480 --> 01:15:42,940
If homely, he bedecked it accordingly.

1495
01:15:44,280 --> 01:15:47,440
His intellect was an equal associate of his

1496
01:15:47,440 --> 01:15:48,400
great heart.

1497
01:15:49,020 --> 01:15:51,340
The brain of his truly great man was

1498
01:15:51,340 --> 01:15:52,700
of a giant order.

1499
01:15:53,400 --> 01:15:57,680
He did with ease and spontaneously mental feats

1500
01:15:57,680 --> 01:16:01,320
which men of name and inordinate vanity struggle

1501
01:16:01,320 --> 01:16:04,360
in vain, even by elaboration, to accomplish.

1502
01:16:05,520 --> 01:16:07,960
He could grasp the bearings of a subject,

1503
01:16:08,500 --> 01:16:12,100
hold his theme well in hand, and deploy

1504
01:16:12,100 --> 01:16:15,240
his thoughts like troops in tactical movements.

1505
01:16:16,100 --> 01:16:17,880
He was never at sea.

1506
01:16:18,640 --> 01:16:23,300
All was orderly arrangement."

1507
01:16:25,950 --> 01:16:29,390
Spurgeon always had a love for animals.

1508
01:16:30,110 --> 01:16:32,330
Though during his first years in London he

1509
01:16:32,330 --> 01:16:35,210
used a one-horse carriage, after he moved

1510
01:16:35,210 --> 01:16:37,590
to Westwood, having further to drive to the

1511
01:16:37,590 --> 01:16:41,410
tabernacle, he changed to a two-horse conveyance.

1512
01:16:42,130 --> 01:16:45,390
The horses were kept in excellent condition, and

1513
01:16:45,390 --> 01:16:47,510
he jokingly spoke of them as under the

1514
01:16:47,510 --> 01:16:50,330
law they rested each Saturday.

1515
01:16:51,450 --> 01:16:54,270
Some of the strongest statements one will find

1516
01:16:54,270 --> 01:16:56,670
anywhere in all his works are in an

1517
01:16:56,670 --> 01:17:00,410
article he wrote against cruelty to animals, as

1518
01:17:00,410 --> 01:17:03,570
with fierce vehemence he cited one instance after

1519
01:17:03,570 --> 01:17:07,170
another of terrible treatment of horses and dogs

1520
01:17:07,170 --> 01:17:09,210
that had come to his attention.

1521
01:17:11,860 --> 01:17:14,880
He kept a hive of bees at Westwood,

1522
01:17:15,340 --> 01:17:17,780
and took delight in caring for them himself

1523
01:17:17,780 --> 01:17:18,940
when he had the time.

1524
01:17:20,440 --> 01:17:23,020
He was fascinated with the system of life

1525
01:17:23,020 --> 01:17:25,040
the bees used in the hive.

1526
01:17:25,960 --> 01:17:29,520
On one occasion a great number lighted on

1527
01:17:29,520 --> 01:17:31,840
him, but he ran into the house and

1528
01:17:31,840 --> 01:17:36,180
removed the outer clothes without receiving a single

1529
01:17:36,180 --> 01:17:36,980
sting.

1530
01:17:39,350 --> 01:17:41,830
After a thief broke into his house and

1531
01:17:41,830 --> 01:17:45,330
stole a gold-headed walking cane that John

1532
01:17:45,330 --> 01:17:45,690
B.

1533
01:17:45,890 --> 01:17:49,490
Goff had given him, Spurgeon obtained a dog.

1534
01:17:50,070 --> 01:17:52,710
But it was not a watchdog, merely a

1535
01:17:52,710 --> 01:17:55,190
little one of the pug variety, and it

1536
01:17:55,190 --> 01:17:58,850
had the affection of Mrs. Spurgeon and himself.

1537
01:17:59,630 --> 01:18:01,950
There were goldfish in the pond at Westwood,

1538
01:18:01,990 --> 01:18:03,810
and it was said they would swim to

1539
01:18:03,810 --> 01:18:05,630
him and wait to be stroked when he

1540
01:18:05,630 --> 01:18:07,110
came to the edge of the water.

1541
01:18:08,150 --> 01:18:10,550
Nevertheless, we may be sure he brought something

1542
01:18:10,550 --> 01:18:13,790
they liked to eat, and that that was

1543
01:18:13,790 --> 01:18:15,150
their special attraction.

1544
01:18:17,490 --> 01:18:19,830
During the last twenty years or so of

1545
01:18:19,830 --> 01:18:23,510
his life, Spurgeon tried to use Wednesday as

1546
01:18:23,510 --> 01:18:26,290
his day of freedom from work, and there

1547
01:18:26,290 --> 01:18:28,190
were times he took a holiday that lasted

1548
01:18:28,190 --> 01:18:29,050
half the week.

1549
01:18:29,950 --> 01:18:33,350
On those occasions, whether the day one or

1550
01:18:33,350 --> 01:18:36,670
four, he would take as his companion one

1551
01:18:36,670 --> 01:18:38,510
of the young pastors who had been a

1552
01:18:38,510 --> 01:18:41,190
student of his college, or perhaps a fellow

1553
01:18:41,190 --> 01:18:44,610
minister, sometimes one of the American pastors who

1554
01:18:44,610 --> 01:18:45,970
was visiting London.

1555
01:18:47,110 --> 01:18:50,450
Dressed in some carefree togs, he would drive

1556
01:18:50,450 --> 01:18:52,530
his horse and carriage and set out on

1557
01:18:52,530 --> 01:18:55,190
quiet country roads to the south of London,

1558
01:18:55,790 --> 01:18:59,350
stopping at some picturesque inn for lunch, or

1559
01:18:59,350 --> 01:19:00,830
for overnight accommodation.

1560
01:19:01,950 --> 01:19:04,230
At times they left the horse in the

1561
01:19:04,230 --> 01:19:06,730
stable at the inn, and walked in the

1562
01:19:06,730 --> 01:19:09,990
woods, or found some secluded spot in which

1563
01:19:09,990 --> 01:19:13,790
to sit, and behold the divine handiwork in

1564
01:19:13,790 --> 01:19:16,110
nature all around them.

1565
01:19:16,890 --> 01:19:20,090
On these jaunts, Spurgeon put away the thoughts

1566
01:19:20,090 --> 01:19:23,230
of his burden of responsibility, and was the

1567
01:19:23,230 --> 01:19:24,550
soul of merriment.

1568
01:19:25,530 --> 01:19:28,350
He talked about the history of villages or

1569
01:19:28,350 --> 01:19:29,610
buildings in the area.

1570
01:19:30,090 --> 01:19:32,710
He knew plants and flowers by their names

1571
01:19:32,710 --> 01:19:35,950
in both English and Latin, and indeed could

1572
01:19:35,950 --> 01:19:39,210
converse on all manner of subjects with accuracy

1573
01:19:39,210 --> 01:19:41,310
and enjoyment.

1574
01:19:42,910 --> 01:19:45,970
The Archbishop of Canterbury had a large estate

1575
01:19:45,970 --> 01:19:48,370
in this part of England, and he asked

1576
01:19:48,370 --> 01:19:50,730
Spurgeon to make use of it just as

1577
01:19:50,730 --> 01:19:52,370
if it were his own.

1578
01:19:53,510 --> 01:19:56,410
And when the outing was over, his companions

1579
01:19:56,410 --> 01:19:58,830
usually regarded the event as one of the

1580
01:19:58,830 --> 01:20:02,190
grand occasions of their lives, and spoke of

1581
01:20:02,190 --> 01:20:06,050
him as the most charming and fascinating host.

1582
01:20:08,160 --> 01:20:11,700
We cannot adequately know Spurgeon unless we recognize

1583
01:20:11,700 --> 01:20:14,100
also his strong sensitivity.

1584
01:20:15,080 --> 01:20:18,520
Although he was a rugged and distinctively masculine

1585
01:20:18,520 --> 01:20:22,320
individual, he was also very tender, and was

1586
01:20:22,320 --> 01:20:24,020
easily moved to tears.

1587
01:20:24,900 --> 01:20:27,440
His whole person was alive to the various

1588
01:20:27,440 --> 01:20:30,700
experiences of life, and he felt things deeply.

1589
01:20:31,580 --> 01:20:33,760
For instance, we are told that there were

1590
01:20:33,760 --> 01:20:36,040
two occasions on which he was so disturbed

1591
01:20:36,040 --> 01:20:38,960
in his spirit that he prayed all night.

1592
01:20:39,840 --> 01:20:42,800
One of those was so sacred that it

1593
01:20:42,800 --> 01:20:44,200
was not further mentioned.

1594
01:20:44,600 --> 01:20:46,260
But the other was the time when his

1595
01:20:46,260 --> 01:20:49,040
son Tom was about to sail to Australia

1596
01:20:49,040 --> 01:20:51,600
and take up a new life in that

1597
01:20:51,600 --> 01:20:52,480
warmer climate.

1598
01:20:53,860 --> 01:20:56,680
Spurgeon had hoped that as he aged he

1599
01:20:56,680 --> 01:20:58,820
would increasingly have the help of his two

1600
01:20:58,820 --> 01:21:02,420
sons, but now Tom was leaving, and was

1601
01:21:02,420 --> 01:21:05,160
going so far away, and he felt he

1602
01:21:05,160 --> 01:21:06,940
would never see him again.

1603
01:21:08,320 --> 01:21:11,740
He preached that Sunday evening on Hannah, a

1604
01:21:11,740 --> 01:21:15,260
woman of sorrowful spirit, and during the hours

1605
01:21:15,260 --> 01:21:18,540
that followed, he wrestled with God, and before

1606
01:21:18,540 --> 01:21:22,320
the morning dawned, he had calmly submitted to

1607
01:21:22,320 --> 01:21:23,560
his son's departure.

1608
01:21:26,620 --> 01:21:29,020
Another element of his sensitivity lay in his

1609
01:21:29,020 --> 01:21:31,220
fear of crossing a road when the traffic

1610
01:21:31,220 --> 01:21:31,960
was heavy.

1611
01:21:32,620 --> 01:21:35,180
In that day, the streets of London were

1612
01:21:35,180 --> 01:21:38,540
full of horses and carts and carriages, some

1613
01:21:38,540 --> 01:21:41,820
drivers urging their steeds onward as speedily as

1614
01:21:41,820 --> 01:21:43,860
possible and with no rules of the road

1615
01:21:43,860 --> 01:21:44,820
to control them.

1616
01:21:45,840 --> 01:21:49,260
On one occasion, amidst this hustle and bustle,

1617
01:21:49,980 --> 01:21:52,020
Spurgeon stood on a corner near the Bank

1618
01:21:52,020 --> 01:21:54,420
of England and could not summon enough courage

1619
01:21:54,420 --> 01:21:55,500
to cross the road.

1620
01:21:56,300 --> 01:21:59,720
But a blind man approached and asked that

1621
01:21:59,720 --> 01:22:01,700
he help him make his way through the

1622
01:22:01,700 --> 01:22:04,180
stream of moving traffic, and in view of

1623
01:22:04,180 --> 01:22:07,640
the blind man's need, Spurgeon responded, and the

1624
01:22:07,640 --> 01:22:09,640
two of them crossed in safety.

1625
01:22:12,410 --> 01:22:16,590
Spurgeon experienced severe depressions, and although those were

1626
01:22:16,590 --> 01:22:18,530
to some extent the result of the gout,

1627
01:22:18,990 --> 01:22:21,110
there probably was also another reason.

1628
01:22:22,190 --> 01:22:24,910
All manner of persons came to him to

1629
01:22:24,910 --> 01:22:27,490
pour into his ear the tale of their

1630
01:22:27,490 --> 01:22:30,070
trials and to seek his advice.

1631
01:22:30,070 --> 01:22:33,470
This was true of hundreds of the Tabernacle

1632
01:22:33,470 --> 01:22:36,370
people, but was especially true of the men

1633
01:22:36,370 --> 01:22:38,510
of the college who had gone out into

1634
01:22:38,510 --> 01:22:39,070
the ministry.

1635
01:22:40,190 --> 01:22:42,150
There were problems in their churches to be

1636
01:22:42,150 --> 01:22:44,770
met and decisions to be made, and they

1637
01:22:44,770 --> 01:22:48,250
came first to unburden themselves to him, and

1638
01:22:48,250 --> 01:22:50,430
then to have him pray for them and

1639
01:22:50,430 --> 01:22:52,690
assist them with his wise counsel.

1640
01:22:53,770 --> 01:22:55,610
One of the best of the college men,

1641
01:22:55,770 --> 01:22:58,890
James Douglas, said that he saw Mr. Spurgeon

1642
01:22:58,890 --> 01:23:01,810
so often bearing other men's burdens in this

1643
01:23:01,810 --> 01:23:05,510
way that he determined never to bring him

1644
01:23:05,510 --> 01:23:08,050
any trial of his own, but that when

1645
01:23:08,050 --> 01:23:09,490
he came to him it would be with

1646
01:23:09,490 --> 01:23:12,370
some account of blessing that would raise his

1647
01:23:12,370 --> 01:23:13,010
spirits.

1648
01:23:14,650 --> 01:23:17,010
But although he thus heard the troubles of

1649
01:23:17,010 --> 01:23:21,590
numerous others, Spurgeon had no one to whom

1650
01:23:21,590 --> 01:23:23,110
he could tell his own.

1651
01:23:24,070 --> 01:23:28,150
In view of Mrs. Spurgeon's frequent sickness, he

1652
01:23:28,150 --> 01:23:30,730
undoubtedly did not tell her the full tale

1653
01:23:30,730 --> 01:23:31,910
of the load he bore.

1654
01:23:32,690 --> 01:23:35,510
There was the great machine he had created,

1655
01:23:36,050 --> 01:23:39,910
the Tabernacle, and its associated organizations to be

1656
01:23:39,910 --> 01:23:43,510
maintained, all at tremendous cost.

1657
01:23:44,670 --> 01:23:47,550
The deacons and elders shouldered their measure of

1658
01:23:47,550 --> 01:23:51,870
responsibility, yet so much depended on him that

1659
01:23:51,870 --> 01:23:54,730
in many senses he bore the great load

1660
01:23:54,730 --> 01:23:55,510
alone.

1661
01:23:56,830 --> 01:24:00,250
Truly he trusted the Lord, yet he also

1662
01:24:00,250 --> 01:24:02,550
felt the strain of his burdens, and having

1663
01:24:02,550 --> 01:24:04,630
no one to whom he could fully unburden

1664
01:24:04,630 --> 01:24:07,550
himself, he built up a sense of trial

1665
01:24:07,550 --> 01:24:11,530
within his breast, and gradually bore him down

1666
01:24:11,530 --> 01:24:13,010
into severe depression.

1667
01:24:15,730 --> 01:24:17,730
What he suffered in these times of darkness

1668
01:24:17,730 --> 01:24:19,130
we may not know.

1669
01:24:19,970 --> 01:24:22,830
They usually accompanied his days and nights of

1670
01:24:22,830 --> 01:24:25,190
physical agony under the strength of a gout

1671
01:24:25,190 --> 01:24:28,730
attack, and even his desperate calling upon God

1672
01:24:28,730 --> 01:24:30,650
often brought him no relief.

1673
01:24:31,910 --> 01:24:35,410
There are dungeons, he said, beneath the Castle

1674
01:24:35,410 --> 01:24:38,030
of Despair, and he had often been in

1675
01:24:38,030 --> 01:24:38,310
them.

1676
01:24:41,370 --> 01:24:44,670
Those terrible experiences had their good effect upon

1677
01:24:44,670 --> 01:24:45,910
his ministry, however.

1678
01:24:46,550 --> 01:24:50,690
In his audiences each Sunday sat hundreds of

1679
01:24:50,690 --> 01:24:52,550
persons who had come from a week of

1680
01:24:52,550 --> 01:24:56,350
trial and who needed kindness and encouragement, and

1681
01:24:56,350 --> 01:24:58,610
here was the man who could give it.

1682
01:24:59,290 --> 01:25:01,870
His voice was often broken with his feeling

1683
01:25:01,870 --> 01:25:02,890
for the sorrowing.

1684
01:25:03,670 --> 01:25:06,530
Many a time he was in excruciating pain

1685
01:25:06,530 --> 01:25:07,510
as he preached.

1686
01:25:08,190 --> 01:25:11,410
He knew what suffering was, and his words

1687
01:25:11,410 --> 01:25:14,630
were full of sympathy that lifted spirits, and

1688
01:25:14,630 --> 01:25:18,090
sent tried men and women forth to face

1689
01:25:18,090 --> 01:25:20,990
their circumstances with new strength.

1690
01:25:24,030 --> 01:25:26,790
In spite of the depression, Spurgeon was basically

1691
01:25:26,790 --> 01:25:28,170
a very happy man.

1692
01:25:29,130 --> 01:25:32,110
William Williams was often in his company, and

1693
01:25:32,110 --> 01:25:36,130
he wrote, quote, What a bubbling fountain of

1694
01:25:36,130 --> 01:25:37,870
humor Mr. Spurgeon had.

1695
01:25:38,350 --> 01:25:41,130
I have laughed more, I verily believe, when

1696
01:25:41,130 --> 01:25:43,710
in his company than during all the rest

1697
01:25:43,710 --> 01:25:44,650
of my life besides.

1698
01:25:45,450 --> 01:25:48,250
He had the most fascinating gift of laughter,

1699
01:25:48,830 --> 01:25:51,370
and he had also the greatest ability for

1700
01:25:51,370 --> 01:25:53,970
making all who heard him laugh with him.

1701
01:25:55,010 --> 01:25:57,910
When someone blamed him for saying humorous things

1702
01:25:57,910 --> 01:26:00,790
in his sermons, he said, He would not

1703
01:26:00,790 --> 01:26:02,970
blame me if he knew only how many

1704
01:26:02,970 --> 01:26:04,450
of them I had to keep track.

1705
01:26:06,370 --> 01:26:06,930
End quote.

1706
01:26:09,380 --> 01:26:12,160
The following passage from his lectures gives us

1707
01:26:12,160 --> 01:26:15,960
insight into Spurgeon's behavior when under depression.

1708
01:26:17,580 --> 01:26:21,060
Quote, Gentlemen, there are many passages of Scripture

1709
01:26:21,060 --> 01:26:24,280
which you will never understand thoroughly until some

1710
01:26:24,280 --> 01:26:28,520
trying or singular experience shall interpret them to

1711
01:26:28,520 --> 01:26:28,840
you.

1712
01:26:29,480 --> 01:26:32,440
The other evening, I was riding home after

1713
01:26:32,440 --> 01:26:33,760
a heavy day's work.

1714
01:26:34,120 --> 01:26:37,940
I felt wearied and sore depressed when swiftly

1715
01:26:37,940 --> 01:26:40,880
and suddenly that text came to me, My

1716
01:26:40,880 --> 01:26:42,760
grace is sufficient for thee.

1717
01:26:43,380 --> 01:26:45,960
I reached home and looked it up in

1718
01:26:45,960 --> 01:26:48,240
the original, and at last it came to

1719
01:26:48,240 --> 01:26:51,360
me in this way, My grace is sufficient

1720
01:26:51,360 --> 01:26:52,380
for thee.

1721
01:26:53,180 --> 01:26:55,860
And I said, I should think it is,

1722
01:26:56,040 --> 01:26:56,160
Lord.

1723
01:26:56,680 --> 01:26:58,500
And I burst out laughing.

1724
01:26:59,100 --> 01:27:01,740
I never understood what the holy laughter of

1725
01:27:01,740 --> 01:27:03,660
Abraham was till then.

1726
01:27:04,180 --> 01:27:06,760
It seemed to make unbelief so absurd.

1727
01:27:07,880 --> 01:27:10,320
O brethren, be great believers.

1728
01:27:11,120 --> 01:27:13,520
Little faith will bring your souls to heaven,

1729
01:27:13,920 --> 01:27:17,360
but great faith will bring heaven to your

1730
01:27:17,360 --> 01:27:17,960
souls.

1731
01:27:18,980 --> 01:27:20,040
End quote.

1732
01:27:24,030 --> 01:27:28,470
And now chapter 18, Spurgeon as an author.

1733
01:27:30,290 --> 01:27:32,630
And it begins with a quote from Spurgeon

1734
01:27:32,630 --> 01:27:33,030
himself.

1735
01:27:33,350 --> 01:27:35,730
This was written in 1855.

1736
01:27:37,170 --> 01:27:40,450
How many souls may be converted by what

1737
01:27:40,450 --> 01:27:43,510
some men are privileged to write and print?

1738
01:27:44,410 --> 01:27:48,170
There is, for instance, Dr. Doddridge's Rise and

1739
01:27:48,170 --> 01:27:50,190
Progress of Religion in the Soul.

1740
01:27:51,430 --> 01:27:53,710
I could wish that everybody had read that

1741
01:27:53,710 --> 01:27:54,010
book.

1742
01:27:54,490 --> 01:27:56,930
So many have been the conversions it has

1743
01:27:56,930 --> 01:27:57,470
produced.

1744
01:27:58,170 --> 01:28:00,570
I think it's more honor to have composed

1745
01:28:00,570 --> 01:28:05,070
Watt's Psalms and Hymns than Milton's Paradise Lost.

1746
01:28:05,450 --> 01:28:08,190
And more glory to have written old Thomas

1747
01:28:08,190 --> 01:28:11,350
Wilcox's book A Choice Drop of Honey from

1748
01:28:11,350 --> 01:28:12,490
the Rock, Christ.

1749
01:28:13,170 --> 01:28:15,990
Or the booklet God has used so much,

1750
01:28:16,510 --> 01:28:17,770
The Sinner's Friend.

1751
01:28:18,250 --> 01:28:20,630
Then all the works of Homer.

1752
01:28:22,840 --> 01:28:25,040
I value books for the good they may

1753
01:28:25,040 --> 01:28:27,780
do, much as I respect the genius of

1754
01:28:27,780 --> 01:28:30,180
Pope, or Dryden, or Burns.

1755
01:28:30,680 --> 01:28:33,320
Give me the simple lines of Cowper that

1756
01:28:33,320 --> 01:28:36,220
God has owned in bringing souls to him.

1757
01:28:37,320 --> 01:28:39,340
Oh, to think that I may write and

1758
01:28:39,340 --> 01:28:42,660
print books which shall reach poor sinners' hearts.

1759
01:28:44,900 --> 01:28:47,280
And again, that was written in 1855.

1760
01:28:48,260 --> 01:28:52,180
Now chapter 18, Spurgeon as an author.

1761
01:28:55,320 --> 01:28:58,200
From the time of his boyhood, Spurgeon manifested

1762
01:28:58,200 --> 01:29:01,020
a desire to put his thoughts on paper

1763
01:29:01,020 --> 01:29:02,880
and have others read them.

1764
01:29:03,380 --> 01:29:06,120
When he was only twelve, he produced what

1765
01:29:06,120 --> 01:29:10,460
he called the Juvenile Magazine, a few small

1766
01:29:10,460 --> 01:29:13,400
handwritten sheets that he circulated among his sisters

1767
01:29:13,400 --> 01:29:14,180
and his brother.

1768
01:29:15,000 --> 01:29:17,820
It contained news of a weekly prayer meeting

1769
01:29:17,820 --> 01:29:21,360
that he conducted, and it offered advertising space

1770
01:29:21,360 --> 01:29:23,680
at the rate of three lines for half

1771
01:29:23,680 --> 01:29:24,060
a penny.

1772
01:29:24,820 --> 01:29:28,280
Though it was but a childish endeavor, it

1773
01:29:28,280 --> 01:29:31,100
showed the attraction he felt toward the work

1774
01:29:31,100 --> 01:29:32,180
of publishing.

1775
01:29:33,840 --> 01:29:36,420
At the age of fifteen, he wrote an

1776
01:29:36,420 --> 01:29:43,340
essay, 295 pages in length, entitled, Popery Unmasked.

1777
01:29:44,280 --> 01:29:46,460
He submitted it in a contest, and although

1778
01:29:46,460 --> 01:29:49,160
it did not win the prize, in recognition

1779
01:29:49,160 --> 01:29:52,040
of its high quality, one of the sponsors

1780
01:29:52,040 --> 01:29:54,400
awarded him a gift of one pound.

1781
01:29:56,680 --> 01:29:58,960
When he reached the age of seventeen and

1782
01:29:58,960 --> 01:30:02,360
had become a pastor, his writing broke into

1783
01:30:02,360 --> 01:30:04,860
print for the very first time.

1784
01:30:05,280 --> 01:30:07,620
He produced a few brief articles to present

1785
01:30:07,620 --> 01:30:10,860
the way of salvation, and those were published

1786
01:30:10,860 --> 01:30:13,320
as The Water Beach Tracts.

1787
01:30:14,420 --> 01:30:17,380
Then some further short items from his pen

1788
01:30:17,380 --> 01:30:20,200
were accepted by The Baptist Reporter.

1789
01:30:21,860 --> 01:30:25,880
Those early endeavors, however, were but a foretaste

1790
01:30:25,880 --> 01:30:28,280
of the great work of publishing that lay

1791
01:30:28,280 --> 01:30:29,100
before him.

1792
01:30:29,920 --> 01:30:32,700
Spurgeon had been in London only six months

1793
01:30:32,700 --> 01:30:35,220
when one of his sermons was published in

1794
01:30:35,220 --> 01:30:36,340
The Penny Pulpit.

1795
01:30:37,000 --> 01:30:40,260
This was so well received that The Baptist

1796
01:30:40,260 --> 01:30:43,880
Messenger published one also, and The Penny Pulpit

1797
01:30:43,880 --> 01:30:45,580
published three or four more.

1798
01:30:46,720 --> 01:30:49,540
The response made it evident that there was

1799
01:30:49,540 --> 01:30:52,980
a large possible readership for the discourses of

1800
01:30:52,980 --> 01:30:54,520
the rising young preacher.

1801
01:30:57,320 --> 01:30:59,140
One of the deacons of the New Park

1802
01:30:59,140 --> 01:31:03,040
Street Chapel was especially interested in this development.

1803
01:31:04,040 --> 01:31:07,120
This was Joseph Passmore, who with a partner,

1804
01:31:07,480 --> 01:31:11,480
James Alabaster, had recently opened a printing business.

1805
01:31:12,280 --> 01:31:15,920
Mr. Passmore was an earnest Christian and an

1806
01:31:15,920 --> 01:31:19,780
enterprising businessman, and he suggested that Spurgeon allow

1807
01:31:19,780 --> 01:31:21,760
him to publish one of his sermons every

1808
01:31:21,760 --> 01:31:22,140
week.

1809
01:31:23,300 --> 01:31:25,400
Spurgeon was then in the midst of his

1810
01:31:25,400 --> 01:31:28,280
great burst of fame, and he dreaded the

1811
01:31:28,280 --> 01:31:32,380
thought of being projected still further into prominence.

1812
01:31:33,500 --> 01:31:37,320
Nevertheless, he recognized the published sermon might well

1813
01:31:37,320 --> 01:31:39,300
be used of God in the salvation of

1814
01:31:39,300 --> 01:31:42,620
souls, and therefore he consented.

1815
01:31:45,060 --> 01:31:49,660
Moreover, besides this weekly production, each January the

1816
01:31:49,660 --> 01:31:53,700
52 sermons published during the preceding year were

1817
01:31:53,700 --> 01:31:54,700
reprinted.

1818
01:31:55,060 --> 01:31:57,660
They were bound together as a single volume,

1819
01:31:58,160 --> 01:31:59,980
The New Park Street Pulpit.

1820
01:32:01,620 --> 01:32:04,740
By the time this first volume appeared, January

1821
01:32:04,740 --> 01:32:10,100
1855, Spurgeon had already published his first two

1822
01:32:10,100 --> 01:32:15,060
books, The Saint and His Savior, and Smooth

1823
01:32:15,060 --> 01:32:17,300
Stones Taken from Ancient Brooks.

1824
01:32:18,760 --> 01:32:21,340
And he intended to continue the weekly and

1825
01:32:21,340 --> 01:32:23,940
yearly publication of the sermons and also to

1826
01:32:23,940 --> 01:32:25,380
produce further books.

1827
01:32:27,580 --> 01:32:30,240
He was warned against doing so by a

1828
01:32:30,240 --> 01:32:33,360
very worthy friend, Dr. John Campbell.

1829
01:32:34,400 --> 01:32:37,640
Dr. Campbell had retired from the pastorate of

1830
01:32:37,640 --> 01:32:40,680
the Whitfield Tabernacle and had become the editor

1831
01:32:40,680 --> 01:32:43,700
of a religious paper, The British Banner.

1832
01:32:44,680 --> 01:32:45,880
He was a well-