And now chapter 21 With Christ, which is
far better.
That's the title of chapter 21.
The quote is written by Ian Murray.
It begins the chapter.
It's from his The Full Harvest.
And here's how it reads.
At the close of his sermon on Lord's
Day evening, December 27, 1874, Spurgeon said, In
a little while there will be a concourse
of persons in the streets.
Methinks I hear someone inquiring.
What are all these people waiting for?
Do you know?
He is to be buried today.
And who is that?
It is Spurgeon.
What?
The man that preached at the tabernacle?
Yes, he is to be buried today.
That will happen very soon, and when you
see my coffin carried to the silent grave,
I should like every one of you, whether
converted or not, to be constrained to say,
He did earnestly urge us, in plain and
simple language, not to put off the consideration
of eternal things.
He did entreat us to look to Christ.
Now he is gone.
Our blood is not at his door if
we perish.
And now chapter 21 With Christ, which is
far better.
Secretary Harold immediately sent a telegraphed message to
the tabernacle in London.
It read, Our beloved pastor entered heaven 11
-5, Sunday night.
Previous telegrams had reported Spurgeon's increasingly serious condition,
but this one proved a sudden and terrible
shock for the tabernacle people.
The news became the chief subject of the
Monday papers in London, and so heavy was
the demand for copies that it was soon
difficult to find one left for sale anywhere.
Papers in other lands throughout much of the
world likewise carried the report, and messages of
condolence came to Mrs. Spurgeon with such abundance
that the telegraph wires at Montaigne could carry
but a small portion of them.
The body, placed in an olive wood casket,
was taken to the Presbyterian church in Montaigne.
A year earlier, Spurgeon had preached at the
opening of this church's new building, and he
had long enjoyed rich fellowship with its minister,
a warm evangelical.
Many persons from various parts of southern France
gathered there for a service on the morning
of Thursday, February 4, and then the casket
was placed aboard a train for its four
-day journey to London.
Meanwhile at the tabernacle there were days of
tear-filled prayer and solemn remembrance.
The Monday had been previously planned as a
day of intercession regarding the influenza epidemic that
was then raging in the city, but to
those petitions there were now added those on
behalf of Mrs. Spurgeon and the bereaved church.
The deacons, with congregational approval, asked James Spurgeon
to continue as pastor in charge, and Dr.
Pearson to accept the office of officiating minister,
and on the following Sunday these men ministered
to crowds that packed the building itself and
also overflowed with a host of saddened men
and women flooding a large area outside the
doors.
The next morning, Monday, February 8, the casket
reached London.
It was placed first in the common room
of the pastor's college, and throughout the day
a steady stream of people, estimated to number
as many as 50,000, passed by.
On the Tuesday it was carried into the
tabernacle, where two or three front seats had
been removed to provide an open area in
which it could be placed.
Flowers surrounded it, and over it there waved
several palm branches, which Mrs. Spurgeon had chosen,
en montant, as emblematic of the palms spoken
of in the book of Revelation.
Around the railing of the upper platform there
ran the sentence, Remember the words that I
said unto you, being yet present with you.
And around the lower, I have fought a
good fight, I have finished my course, I
have kept the faith.
It was not recognized that the tabernacle, despite
its great size, would not contain all the
people who would want to attend the funeral
service, and therefore five services were planned.
The first was held on the Wednesday morning,
and it was for members of the church.
The second, for ministers and students, was at
three in the afternoon.
The third, for Christian workers, at seven o
'clock in the evening.
And the fourth, for the general public, was
at the late hour of ten p.m.
And by way of footnote, we refer again
to the quotes that appeared around the upper
and lower platform.
By way of footnote, we read, In several
biographies that appeared after Spurgeon's death, it was
said that he had used these words as
descriptive of his life, and that he uttered
them just before he died.
Mr. Harold emphatically denied this, stating that Spurgeon's
attitude was one of utter humility, and that
he never would have applied these statements to
himself.
A number of men took part in these
services.
All spoke of Spurgeon's great devotion and extraordinary
abilities, and all expressed profound sorrow at his
passing.
Their full remarks are worthy of being repeated,
but we can notice merely a few.
J.
W.
Harold, reporting many details of Spurgeon's last few
months on earth, made mention of the Christian
fortitude manifested by Mrs. Spurgeon.
He told how the five persons who were
with Spurgeon during his final moments, upon realizing
that death had come, knelt at the bedside.
Mrs. Spurgeon broke forth in prayer, and Harold
says, We were touched beyond all expression to
hear the voice of the loved one, so
sorely bereaved, thanking God for the many years
that she had had the unspeakable joy of
having such a precious husband lent to her.
Seven months ago she gave her husband up
to the Lord, during his extreme sickness in
London, but the Lord lent him to her
a little longer.
Deacon T.
H.
Olney also spoke, and after enlarging on Spurgeon's
many qualities, told of the leadership he exercised
among the deacons and elders, and in turn
throughout all the church.
Quote, I must also bear testimony that he
inspired very great confidence in us all.
Whatever he recommended, we accepted at once.
I can remember the building of this great
tabernacle, the opening of the Stockwell orphanage, and
other things that we have not time to
refer to.
Many of the great undertakings might at first
have seemed imprudent, but his plans were always
well matured.
They were always thought over beforehand and prayed
upon before they were introduced to us.
We as deacons had very little to do
but back him up.
End quote.
Elder J.
T.
Dunn, who had been a chief helper to
Spurgeon since his early days in London, spoke
especially of his ability and delight in leading
souls to Christ.
Quote, When persons came to inquire concerning salvation
or to confess their faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, how his eyes would brighten, and
how heartily he would welcome them.
It mattered not to him what the character
of the clothing or what the age of
the candidate, he could always meet their condition
and tenderly sympathize with them.
Many a one I have seen go into
that vestry with a tearful eye, who has
returned with joy on the countenance.
The Lord has struck the fetters from many
a sin-bound soul while upon his knees
in that hallowed room.
End quote.
Another member of the Olney family, Deacon William
Olney, stated, quote, I have been asked to
speak on behalf of the many missionary workers.
Our dear pastor, whom God has taken to
himself, had a remarkable power of infusing his
own love for souls into the hearts of
others.
In response to his trumpet calls to Christian
energy, from this platform men went out of
this congregation in hundreds to fling themselves into
the slums of the south of London and
bring in members to this church out of
some of the lowest parts of the neighborhood.
As a consequence of this, there are today
twenty-three mission stations and twenty-six branch
schools, and at these places there are, every
Sunday evening, about one thousand members of this
church working for the Lord Jesus Christ amongst
the poor.
End quote.
Several of the leading figures of the Baptist
Union, though they had failed to agree with
Spurgeon's withdrawal from that body, had continued to
express the love and admiration in which they
held him.
The major figure among these men was Dr.
Alexander McLaren, and as one of the speakers
at the funeral services, he said, quote, and
say that, to myself, it proclaims that if
a man desires to reach and to hold
and to bless the largest number of his
fellow men, he must keep fast to the
great verities of the Christian faith, salvation through
Jesus Christ, the incarnate Lamb of God, life
through the Divine Spirit, faith in Christ, the
uniting bond.
End quote.
Representatives of all the Protestant denominations took part
in these services, the moderator of the Presbyterian
Synod, the president of the Congregational Union, and
certain members of the Church of England clergy.
We notice, however, an especially perceptive paragraph from
Dr. Stevenson, president of the Wesleyan Conference.
Quote, I venture to suggest to you in
reference to our dear friend who has gone,
he rendered a great service to his age,
and to the coming age also, in that
he upheld during so long a time the
majesty of preaching.
Men say that preaching is played out, and
that the pulpit is superfluous.
The editor is to be the great minister
of God in the future, and people are
to get the gospel from the newspapers.
But with that coffin before us, none of
us can doubt that the pulpit is the
power in the world still, that still by
the foolishness of preaching, God is pleased to
save men.
I am quite sure that in the fact
that from this place there rolled forth over
the world a voice, which it was willing
to hear, and which it listened for, yes,
listened for even with the strife and din
of politics, of commerce and pleasure, there has
been maintained a testimony to the power of
the simple preaching of the gospel, the value
of which it is impossible for us to
estimate now."
At the time of Spurgeon's last illness, Moody
and Sankey had been conducting an evangelistic campaign
in Scotland.
Upon learning of Spurgeon's death, Moody wanted to
hasten to London to stand, he said, by
the grave of him who has done so
much for me.
But it was impossible for him to be
absent from his meetings, and therefore he asked
Sankey to go and to represent them both.
Sankey spoke at the service for Christian workers,
saying, quote, I feel it a great privilege
to meet here with the thousands who gather
around this bier, to pay some little note
of homage to one who has done so
much for me.
That voice is silenced forever on earth, but
who of us cannot recall its clarion tones
as it has moved us from time to
time in this great temple?
It has always been my custom when coming
from my own land to this country to
visit this tabernacle to have my torch lighted
anew.
When darkness seemed to be spreading over the
religious world, we would often cast longing eyes
to London and watch what this great captain
was saying and doing.
We always found inspiration from this pulpit and
always felt that in him we had a
friend who would stand against all foes, a
friend we could safely follow.
Many a prayer has come across the sea
for him from those who never had the
joy of hearing his magnificent voice.
Our land loves Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
I learned from the pastor of this church
how to use the voice that God had
given me, that I might preach to the
thousands who have assembled in our great congregations.
I might almost say how he taught me
how to sing the praises of God.
I have held him up as an example,
as a man who could inspire his people
to worship in hymns of praise by devoting
time to the reading of the hymn and
then standing and singing with the people.
The praise of God is a part of
the worship and should not be slighted.
I will sing a little hymn that I
think is appropriate for this occasion.
Mr. Sankey then sang, with exquisite feeling, the
hymn beginning, Sleep on, beloved, sleep and take
thy rest.
Lay down thy head upon thy Savior's breast.
We love thee well, but Jesus loves thee
best.
Good night, good night, good night.
The final funeral service and the interment were
held the following day, Thursday, February 11.
Two of the men who had attended the
pastor's college and whose subsequent ministries had won
the warm approval of Spurgeon, William Williams and
Archibald Brown, took part first, the former leading
in prayer and the latter leading the scriptures.
The sermon was preached by Dr. Pearson and
he spoke of Spurgeon as a genius in
the intellectual sphere, a genius in the moral
sphere, and a genius in the spiritual sphere.
He closed with the words, Quote, Never
again take our hands within its holy embrace.
We bless God for thee, my brother.
We are glad that heaven is made richer,
though we be made poorer.
And by this bier we solemnly pledge that
we will undertake, by God's grace, to follow
thy blessed footsteps, even as thou didst follow
thy blessed Lord.
End quote.
The service closed with the singing of a
hymn which had been a favorite with Spurgeon.
Forever with the Lord, Amen, so let it
be, Life from the dead is in that
word, Tis immortality.
Here in the body pent, Absent from him
I roam, Yet nightly pitch my moving tent
A day's march nearer home.
My father's house on high, Home of my
soul, How near at times to faith's foreseeing
eye Thy golden gates appear.
Ah, then my spirit faints to reach the
land I love, The bright inheritance of saints,
Jerusalem above.
So when my latest breath shall rend the
veil in twain, By death I shall escape
from death, And life eternal gain.
Knowing as I am known, How shall I
love that word, And oft repeat before the
throne, Forever with the Lord.
Following the benediction, Thousands of handkerchiefs were raised
to tearful eyes, As they took a last
loving look at the casket That contained all
that was mortal of him, To whom all
owed so much.
The hearse bearing the casket with several funeral
carriages Set out on its five-mile journey
to the Norwood Cemetery.
People lined the streets in great numbers all
the way, The bells of churches were sounded
as the procession passed, And even the pubs
along the route were closed.
At the orphan house a covered platform had
been erected, And in deep mourning the children
sat there, Supposed to be singing, but most
of them weeping, For Mr. Spurgeon had taken
them all to his heart.
At the cemetery the near relatives of the
departed pastor Gathered first around the tomb, Then
over a thousand mourners assembled within the barriers,
And many thousands crowded beyond.
The service at the graveside was taken largely
by Archibald Brown.
Looking down upon the casket and thinking of
the dear form it carried, he said, Beloved
President, Faithful Pastor, Prince of Preachers, Brother Beloved,
Dear Spurgeon, We bid thee not farewell, but
only for a little while good night.
Thou shalt rise soon at the first dawn
of the resurrection day of the redeemed.
Yet it is not the good night ours
to bid, But thine, it is we who
linger in the darkness, Thou art in God's
holy light.
Our night shall soon be past, and with
it all our weeping, Then with thine our
songs shall greet the morning of a day
That knows no cloud nor close, For there
shall be no night there.
Hard worker in the field, thy toil is
ended.
Straight has been the furrow thou hast plowed,
No looking back has marred thy course.
Harvests have followed thy patient sowing, And heaven
is already rich with thine ingathered sheaves, And
shall be still enriched through years yet lying
in eternity.
Champion of God, thy battle, long and nobly
fought, is over.
The sword which claved to thy hand has
dropped at last.
A palm branch takes its place.
No longer does the helmet press thy brow,
Oft weary with its surging thoughts of battle.
A victor's wreath from the great commander's hand
Has already proved thy full reward.
Here for a little while shall rest thy
precious dust.
Then shall thy well-beloved come, And at
his voice thou shalt spring from thy couch
of earth, Fashioned like unto his body, into
glory.
And then spirit, soul, and body Shall magnify
thy Lord's redemption.
Until then, beloved, sleep.
We praise God for thee, And by the
blood of the everlasting covenant Hope and expect
to praise God with thee.
Amen.
Thus, while the soul of Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Was in the presence of the Lord, His
body was placed within its tomb, There to
await, as Archibald Brown had so beautifully stated,
The dawn of the resurrection morning.
And the people returned to London To take
up their duties in the tabernacle, The college,
the almshouses, the orphanage, And the numerous missions
and schools, To labor with fervor and patience,
As they had done for years, But yet
to feel a sad difference, For the leader,
the pastor they had loved, Was no longer
there.
How rich his life had been!
He had walked with God and lived in
prayer.
Nothing in his actions was merely put on,
But all was wonderfully real.
His one purpose had been to preach Jesus
Christ And Him crucified.
And in this determination He had devoted all
his talents, The extraordinary memory, The great powers
of public speech, And his joy had been
found In bringing glory to the Savior And
in leading souls to know Him.
Early in life he had lost all consideration
of his own self, And his prayer that
he might be hidden behind the cross, That
Christ alone might be seen, Had expressed his
heart's chief purpose.
Spurgeon used to declare that when he reached
heaven He would stand at the corner of
one of the streets And proclaim to the
angels The old, old story of Jesus and
His love.
Whether or not such a privilege will be
granted any saint We do not know.
But we may be sure that as the
redeemed multitude Before the throne sings Worthy is
the Lamb that was slain, Lifted among them
with eternal enthusiasm Will be a voice that,
delighted to praise the Lamb Here upon the
earth, The voice of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
And now we read the appendix of the
book.
Subsequent History of the Metropolitan Tabernacle At the
time Spurgeon died, The tabernacle and its institutions
Were all in strong operation.
The church was as well attended as ever,
The financial support came in regularly, And the
prosperity of all seemed assured For several years
to come.
But needed was a pastor Who would maintain
the work in Spurgeon's manner.
A few years earlier, Dr. Pearson Had described
the services of the tabernacle, Saying, Here is
nothing to divert the mind From the simplicity
of worship and the gospel.
A presenter leads congregational song Without even the
help of a coronet.
Prayer and praise, The reading of the word
of God, With the plain putting of gospel
truth, These have been Mr. Spurgeon's Lifelong means
of grace.
For the time being, Dr. Pearson Continued to
serve as officiating minister, And James Spurgeon as
pastor in charge.
This arrangement could only be temporary, As Dr.
Pearson, being a Presbyterian, Did not accept the
doctrine of believer's baptism.
He was also a dispensationalist, A position Spurgeon
had vigorously rejected.
In four months, it was necessary for Dr.
Pearson To fulfill an engagement in America, And
Thomas Spurgeon, Who had recently returned from New
Zealand, Was asked to supply the pulpit.
After another four months, Dr. Pearson was able
to return, But the congregation was divided About
having him resume the duties Of officiating pastor.
By that time, Thomas Spurgeon Had returned to
New Zealand, And more than 2,000 members
of the church Voted to have him come
back to England, And accept the pastorate of
the tabernacle.
Thomas accepted the call.
He possessed something of the voice And pulpit
manner of his father, But he was a
much weaker preacher.
Throughout the 1890s, As though several of the
older officials And members of the tabernacle passed
away, The congregation continued to be numbered In
the thousands, And several institutions were generally maintained.
Nevertheless, there was a noticeable lack Of the
fervor that had formerly characterized the work.
In 1898, The tabernacle was destroyed by fire.
The services were held in temporary quarters, And
many people began to attend other churches.
After three years, The building was reconstructed, But
with a reduced seating capacity.
During this period, Spurgeon's invaluable library of 12
,000 volumes, Many of them rare items from
Puritan times, Was put up for sale, And
was purchased by the William Jewell College Of
Liberty, Missouri.
In 1907, Thomas Spurgeon's health Caused him to
resign the pastorate.
He was followed by Archibald Brown, An able
preacher and a man much like Spurgeon In
doctrine and methods.
But Brown also was not in good health,
And he remained only three years.
At the suggestion of Dr. Pearson, The tabernacle
then called another American, Dr. A.C. Dixon.
Dr. Dixon's methods were quite different From those
of Spurgeon.
He installed a piano and formed a choir,
And under his rather sensational type of ministry,
There were numerous professions of faith, But the
church showed a decline In attendance and zeal.
Moreover, it was while he was at the
tabernacle That the First World War took place,
Taking many men into the services And disturbing
the work of the church.
In 1919, Dixon left the tabernacle, And it
was then a very different church From what
it had been under C.H. Spurgeon.
Dixon was followed by H.
Tidman Chilvers.
Mr. Chilvers was a more Spurgeonic type of
man, And although under his ministry An organ
was installed in the church, He endeavored to
bring the work back To the simplicity and
the Calvinistic doctrine Of former days.
He also took a strong stand Against liberalism
and worldliness, And under his ministry, Which lasted
until 1935, The attendance was increased, And the
church became generally strengthened.
After two years without a pastor, In 1938,
a call was extended To Dr. Graham Scroggie.
Dr. Scroggie was a Scotsman, And was widely
known as a preacher and an author.
His ministry, however, Was hindered by the Second
World War, For not only was the congregation
scattered By the removal of numerous persons out
of London, But the tabernacle received a direct
hit In a bombing attack in 1941, And
was again destroyed.
Services were held in the basement, With the
ruined remains overhead, And although Dr. Scroggie labored
faithfully, By 1943, his age and poor health
Caused him to resign.
By this time, changes had come about also
In Spurgeon's institutions.
In 1923, a fine estate at the edge
of London Was made available to the pastor's
college, And the college, Disassociated from any management
by the tabernacle, Was removed there.
In later years, a new library and other
buildings Were added to the original large stone
mansion.
During the Second World War, The children in
the orphanage were taken to safety In a
town to the south of London, And at
the end of the war, The trustees, who
no longer needed to be members Of the
tabernacle, Had a new building constructed In the
town of Birchington in Kent.
After Dr. Scroggie's resignation, Two ministries carried on
the work Under the difficult circumstances Of the
much-reduced congregation And the bombed-out building.
A period without a pastor followed, And the
church rejoined the Baptist Union.
In 1954, Eric W.
Hayden Accepted the pastorate And led the people
in the work of reconstruction.
A considerable sum of money, 224,500 pounds,
Was provided by government agencies, And a new
tabernacle that incorporated The front entrance from the
original building Was erected.
It ceded about 1800, But by this time,
The area had changed.
The days of Spurgeon were long forgotten, And
an auditorium that would have accommodated Three or
four hundred With suitable Sunday school accommodations Would
have sufficed.
Mr. Hayden remained for five years, But a
time of depressed conditions followed.
The area proved difficult to reach.
The sword and the trowel seized publication, And
the congregation became so small That in 1965,
The new pastor, Dennis Pascoe, Stated, Our membership
can now be accommodated In a few pews.
Then, in 1970, Dr. Peter Masters Accepted a
call to the tabernacle.
Dr. Masters was spurgeonic In doctrine and methods,
And under his ministry, Despite the difficulty, The
work began to grow.
He led the work out of the Baptist
Union, Began to republish The sword and the
trowel, And used buses to pick up children
For the Sunday school.
He established a school of theology, Which guides
men's studies throughout the year And conducts a
week of lectures During the summer, With an
attendance of some 350.
In recent years, The size of the auditorium
Has been reduced by the construction of a
wall That cuts off a third or so
of the building And renders it more suited
To the present congregation Of some 300 hearers.
Thus, the theology that Spurgeon held Is still
preached at the tabernacle, And although the institutions
are gone, In an England that is very
largely Given over to agnosticism, The work Spurgeon
began Is still being conducted After the pattern
he set for it.
And that concludes our book.
The following is an annotated bibliography And a
general index.
And my, what a book this has been.
I've been privileged to have read it.
Spurgeon is the name of the book, Spurgeon,
A New Biography By Arnold Dalimor Published by
the Banner of Truth Trust And copyrighted in
1985.
Originally the book was published By the Moody
Press.
It was copyrighted in 1984, But the publication
rights were transferred To the Banner of Truth
Trust The following year.
And the book was reprinted Most recently in
1988.
So I'm sure it is still in print.
It has been quite inspiring work as well.
Extremely well researched, And yet written in a
way that Leaves much of the tedium Sometimes
of biographies aside And gives us the broad
general outlines Of an individual so inspired By
the Lord to faithfully preach his word.