The Challenge of Church Life and the Governance of Worship

is getting on well, or not? Now, speak the truth; do you? Did you ever make any enquiry about it? Then there are various societies for the spread of the gospel, connected with this church; do all of you know that there are such societies; and do you help them all that you can? Come, now put the matter to your own

consciences. ¹ M anagement of such a massive congregation as the church at the Tabernacle became was no easy matter for Spurgeon nor undertaken without a deep sense of inadequacy and desperate need. "I need your prayer for the work and ministry of this huge church," he told his congregation. "What a load rests upon me!" With over ⁵,500 for whom he was responsible, even with all the help given by elders and staff, including highly competent personal staff, "I have enough

upon me," he admitted, "to crush me unless heaven sustains me." ² He likened his brother, J. A. Spurgeon, and the elders to Moses' helpers in the wilderness, "else should I utterly faint." Beyond that, the general leadership required makes up a burden "which none can carry unless the Lord gives strength."

Before Spurgeon went to London, a "good old man" prayed for him that he "might always be delivered from the bleating of the sheep." Though he did not quite grasp its importance then, now that "hour by hour all sorts of petitions, complaints, bemoanings, and hard questions come to me," he fully understood it.

Hearing such sounds is not helpful when he sought to "get the food ready for thousands here, there, and everywhere, who look for it to come to them regularly, week by week." He laid bare the depths to which his unrelenting responsibilities brought him when he confessed, "Sometimes I become so perplexed that I sink in heart, and dream that it were better for me never to have been born than to have been called to bear all this multitude upon my heart."

Particularly difficult were those times he felt that he could not help and he was called on to do the impossible. Complicated matters called for great thought and careful deliberation and he would not proceed in any of these matters "without

using my best judgment at all times." These recurrent issues took time, spiritual energy, mental strength and often brought complete fatigue because such

"burdens are apt to press very hard on a sympathizing ³ heart, and cause a wear

and a tear which tell upon a man." ³ Spurgeon's great usefulness and inimitable gifts brought his early death. He could not have survived as well as he did without a sufficient number of devoted and efficient church officers and personal assistants.

Elders and Deacons

Without a clearly established procedure and a fully sympathetic group of elders and deacons even those recurrent matters, part of the life of any healthy church, could have been fragmenting. During the events surrounding the dedication of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Spurgeon set out his understanding of the operations of a local church. He considered the church within itself a family, whole and entire, needing nothing outside itself to make it complete. They made no appeal to a synod or general assembly or looked to outside authorities such as bishops or archbishops. The church had its own bishop, that is, pastor, and its own presbytery or elders. It appointed its own deaconship and thus had no outside dependencies. "Should every other church become extinct its organization would not be marred." Spurgeon accepted a modified form of Episcopalian Presbyterian Independency as the scriptural method of church government, all of those words referring to functions within the local church family. One man had the oversight, the bishopric, of the church under God and

gathered a presbytery ⁴ around him, "that they may be with him the pastors of the flock." It maintained its congregational principles, and yet, for mutual assistance, not government, stood ready to enter into a kind of Presbyterian alliance with

any other church. ⁴. Spurgeon went on the say that he knew of some churches that had amalgamated the elders and deacons. He did not know by what biblical warrant they did so, and he felt it to be a destructive mistake. It would have been impossible for his church to exist "except as a mere sham and huge pretence, if it

had not been for the Scriptural and most expedient office of the eldership." ⁵ The deacons worked hard at the temporal interests of the church while the elders took the spiritual.

J. A. Spurgeon summarized the procedures concerning church membership and discipline practiced by the Metropolitan Tabernacle and the churches founded under the auspices of the church's societies. This presentation concerned the discipline as distinguished from the creeds and constitution. James Spurgeon made no claims that this procedure was perfect, but it was that which served this church best, the outgrowth of necessity, not of theory. While necessary diversity in churches due to the peculiar circumstances of pastor and people was recognized, the health of any cooperative union of churches depended on sustaining a sense of confidence in each other's discipline, including the method of receiving members and the causes and manner of dismissing them. "We have but small faith in ecclesiastical statistics, and what is worse, a limited confidence in letters of commendation from our churches,"

Spurgeon admitted, and he hoped for improvement as a result of laying out the

practice of the Metropolitan Tabernacle. ⁶ The Tabernacle had no written code of laws except the Bible and asserted that all "such printed rules as some have desired, and others adopted, are only ferrets at the best of times, and snares and traps in periods of dispute and difficulty."

Sanctified common sense, prayer, and knowledge of Scripture are unsurpassed in the stable governing of a congregation. If leaders acted in things temporal after a "truly business principle," and "in things spiritual as God's word and Spirit dictate," no formal statement of discipline and procedure would ever be required. In normal ongoing matters of business an undeviating practice would sustain the work in a healthy state and cooperative spirit, but emergencies called for special action "adopted to suit the exigencies of the case." No pre-established traditions should "forbid the course which wisdom suggests, even though it should be contrary to all the precedents of the previous history of the church."

The presence of general principles, a toleration of an elastic interpretation of them as cases may require, combined with abounding confidence between pastors, officers, and members, will establish efficiency and harmony. Without the latter, in particular, no amount of rules can keep a church from lapsing into confusion and conflict.

First in importance in the orderly and spiritual governance of a church is its pastor. Though he is its servant, he also must "rule, guide, and discipline it as God shall help and direct by his Holy Spirit." The Tabernacle had two such officers laboring, but James Spurgeon recognized with all candor "that if two men ride a horse one must sit behind, and he who is in the front must hold the reins and drive." A co-pastorship will be a dismal failure should this understanding fail. In his particular case, he recognized that "one of the two brothers has been so instrumental in creating the necessity for additional help, from the very fullness of blessing resulting from his labors; and is, moreover, so superior in talent, influence, and power, it is a privilege to follow in the order of nature and birth which God, from the first, had evidently designed." James Spurgeon was fully content to be known as his brother's helper. He had been asked to take the position in October 1867 for a three-month probationary period. After that, at a special church meeting in January 1868, James Archer Spurgeon came to be his brother's assistant pastor, with the clear understanding that he would not necessarily succeed his pastor to the pastorate should Charles die first, nor would he necessarily fill the pulpit in the absence of Charles. He

was fully content with that clearly and cordially stated arrangement. ⁷ The pastor provided, therefore, the common center for all church life to avoid the

unseemliness of having a "hydra-headed band of Christians." ⁸ Charles Spurgeon seemed fully content with that arrangement also. During the inaugural ceremonies of the Tabernacle, with his father and his brother present, also in the presence of men that represented the last four pastorates prior to Spurgeon, even one that aided Dr. Rippon in his last years, Spurgeon indicated that he could envision no cessation of his ministry there prior to his death. "I do not think, that in the course of the next twenty years, you as a Church will have such a choice of pastors as you have had during the last twenty years. If I should die you can do so, I suppose, but I do not think that anything short of that, would

get me to go away from this spot." ⁹ He could not even envision any uprising in the congregation that would make him go. Spurgeon would never agree with a minister that gets in a conflict, shows the white feather, and resigns the charge. He was captain of the vessel, "and if there should be Jonah in the ship I shall as gently, and in as Christian a spirit as possible, pitch him out." A Jonah should not drive out the captain, but he must "stand by the ship in ill weather as well as in sunshine." Spurgeon knew that by God's grace he was called to serve that people in that place, "and if God's grace and providence shall move me, well and good, but nothing else

whatever will." ¹⁰ James Spurgeon envisioned the success of this central focus on the pastor as dependent on his "personal weight of piety and prudence, zeal, godliness, gentleness, and forbearance, as will inevitably place him in the front in course of time." No efforts to take advantage of the weight of the office "when sound judgment and weight of character are wanting, will ever result in anything short of failure and contempt." Pretensions to the office without its qualifications will inevitably devolve into disaster bringing shame to the man and an increasing

burden on the people. ¹¹ Laboring beside the pastor are men qualified respectively for two different offices, deacons and elders. A man of judgment, prudent in counsel, and skilled in money matters gives evidence of such abilities as are required for the serving of tables, the disposing of finances, and the securing of needed funds for the church. These qualities combined with spiritual maturity qualify one for the office of deacon. Another might be gifted with speech so as to be apt to teach and exhort and lead devotional exercises in the church or prayer meeting, or give a word of comfort beside the bed of sickness, or in the house of mourning.

These, again combined with spiritual maturity, constitute the qualifications of an elder.

The Tabernacle deacons, nine in number, were elected by the church, at the

"suggestion of the pastor, after consultation with the previously elected deacons." Though in theory any member might nominate whom he pleased at such an election, there had never been a case of dissent from the recommendation of the pastor and deacons. They were chosen for life. Deacons were given the tasks of "care for the ministry" meaning the temporal well-being of the pastors, helping the poor of the church, regulating the finances, managing the church's property, and assuring for the order and comfort of all worshippers.

To accomplish all this, all nine deacons had specific tasks assigned to them in managing the temporal and service affairs of the church. This prevented any uncertainty as to responsibility. One deacon served as general treasurer for many years, another managed all outdoor work, repairs of the exterior, keeping the gates, appointing doorkeepers, while another cared for all indoor repairs. More than one watched over the interests of the new churches established by Tabernacle evangelists, missionaries, and church planters, and another saw to the

arrangement and provision of the weekly communion. ¹² Spurgeon loved his deacons and did all he could to encourage them and make their value known to the church at large through public commendation. Good relations with deacons meant longevity in ministry. When a former student, W.

Williams, wrote Spurgeon seeking advice concerning a troubling deacon, Spurgeon responded in his patented laconic style, "Bear. Bear. Bear. Forbear.

Forbear. Forbear. In yielding is victory. Fight the devil and love the deacon.

Love him till he is loveable." ¹³ In a more obvious note of positive appreciation, Spurgeon wrote about the passing of "Our highly esteemed deacon, Mr. Thomas Cook." Spurgeon characterized him as a "spiritually minded, solid, and stable Christian" who exhibited a healthy fear of God. Severe illness did not embitter him but had a "ripening influence," making him rise from his bed "weak in body but strong in grace." He was among the rare kind that enjoyed "constant peace," in whose mind any rising doubts "were slain by full assurance." Spurgeon recalled younger days when Cook helped the pastor immensely by the major role he took in building the Tabernacle. He had a warm and gracious heart fully committed to the work. "We know well the spot," Spurgeon revealed, "where this devout Deacon knelt with his Pastor, all alone, amid the materials of the unfinished Tabernacle to implore a blessing upon those who should worship within those walls." The evening was dark, and only the angels and the Lord saw or heard the two brethren. "Who could desire a better consecration for any house of prayer than the secret pleadings of a godly man!" After a commendation of his wife and children, Spurgeon finished, "Farewell, brother beloved, the Lord fill up the gap thy departure has made." ¹⁴

On January ³ and ¹², 1883, Spurgeon lost two highly valued deacons.

William Higgs was "our dear and valued friend and deacon, … a loving helper, … a valued counselor," and the treasurer and trustee of the orphanage. On the day of his burial William Mills also died. The church lost a "kind and careful guardian, and all of us a hearty friend." Other friends in the church also had died in recent days, so "these blows at the first staggered, not only the pastor, but all the circle of workers." Two days after the death of Mills, deacons, pastors, and elders met together for a meal and a time of prayer, self-examination, and communion. Spurgeon called it a "solemn, holy, hopeful gathering of men

chastened in spirit." ¹⁵ Less personal but equally to the point of what Spurgeon admired in a deacon was his parody on an article he read entitled, "The Hornless Deacon." Since a horn is an offensive weapon, Spurgeon surmised, a "hornless deacon is one who cannot give offense, resent an injury, or inflict a wound. What a splendid acquisition to a quarrelsome church!" This hornless wonder would rule well and "reduce chaos to order by the mere force of Christian patience." Though few believed in the power of non-resistance, Spurgeon saw it as unbounded. He who yields will conquer and the one that suffers for love will manifest the greatest power in time. His harmlessness, however, should not extend to allowing people to forget their subscriptions, or indulge the minister "to draw twice the amount of his salary." "The kind gentle, but earnest deacon is invaluable. He is as an angel in the church, and does more than angel's service. Excellent man!"

Suppose, however, that hornless meant failing to blow the ram's horn, but letting the minister do it all. Spurgeon did not commend such silence, but preferred a deacon like Stephen who could "both care for the widows and preach the gospel." Country churches would prosper more if deacons "would exercise their gifts, and keep the village stations supplied with sound doctrine." Spurgeon went on to investigate the possibility of the phrase meaning humility, not blowing his own horn, but at the same time faithful under discouragement and hopeful under difficulty. Or perhaps hornless meant that he is a teetotaller, not lifting his horn to be filled with wine. Good for him as long as he does not make the water-jug the symbol of his life, and "pour cold water over everything and everybody, in

season and out of season." ¹⁶ According to the article by James Spurgeon, the eldership at the Tabernacle was sustained by twenty-six brethren. At this time the church had ³,860 members. "Without the efficient and self-denying labors of the elders," Spurgeon conveyed, "we should never be able to supervise our huge church."

Unlike the deacons, the elders were re-elected annually, but usually continued

for life in their office. If other elders were needed, names were proposed by the pastor to the already elected elders, and after some time has been given for thought, the elders discussed the desirability of their election. If recommended "with general unanimity," the pastor put their names before the church, and, following the opportunity for discussion, the vote of the church was taken. James Spurgeon believed that the heavy influence of the pastor in this process was entirely appropriate and any other plan would only produce weakness. The pastor had more at stake in the choice than any other single person. "No other plan," the loyal brother argued, "will enable him so faithfully to discharge his office of guide and shepherd. …Timidity here is a crime, and the affectation of modesty in not wishing to influence the church is to our mind a dereliction of duty." The importance of this office made it necessary that a church that possessed unlimited liberty in its affairs see that its "junior and less instructed members" be directed in the choice of officers. The failure on the part of both a pastor and officers to do so because of "fear of giving offense seems to us but

the fear of man which bringeth a snare." ¹⁷ He explained why this procedure was taken so seriously, involving so much meditation and such an active part of the pastor. To the elders is committed the spiritual oversight of the church, and such of its concerns as are not assigned to the deacons nor belong to the preacher. Interviewing inquirers, visiting candidates for church membership, seeking out absentees, caring for the sick and troubled, and leading prayer meetings, catechumen and Bible classes for the young men were all ministries discharged by the elders. One elder was supported by the church to visit the sick and destitute and to maintain currency with the church roll. Otherwise it would not receive regular and efficient attention.

Maintaining the distinction in these offices, eldership and deacons, had served the church well and "is in a thousand ways a great assistance to good

government." ¹⁸ Essential for the health of any church is a well-ordered, biblically sound manner of receiving church members. Those seeking membership by profession of conversion made application on Wednesday evening, between six and nine o'clock, to the elders. Two or more elders rotated each week for the purpose of seeing inquirers. When satisfied, the elder entered his observations in one of a set of books, called the Inquirers Books. For convenience in future interviews, a card was given the enquirer bearing a number corresponding to the page where the elder recorded the candidate's experience. Arnold Dallimore's examination of this book showed that the entire interview process centered on the determination of three things. One, is there clear evidence of dependence on

Christ for salvation? This involved a clear and felt knowledge of sin and a deep sense of the necessity of the cross. Two, does the candidate exhibit a noticeable change of character including a desire for pleasing God and a desire for others to believe the gospel? Three, is there some understanding of, with a submission to,

the doctrines of grace? ¹⁹ The only effective antithesis to merit salvation, in Spurgeon's view, was a knowledge of utter dependence on divine mercy.

Once a month, or oftener when required, James Spurgeon would see the persons approved by the elders. When he was satisfied, he nominated an elder or church member as visitor to be sent out by the church, at the next church meeting, to enquire as to the moral character and repute of the candidate. If the church appointee found the visit satisfactory, the candidate would come with him to the next convenient church meeting, and reply to questions put to him

"from the chair." ²⁰ These questions were designed "to elicit expressions of his trust in the Lord Jesus, and hope of salvation through his blood, and any such facts of his spiritual history as may convince the church of the genuineness of the case." This procedure proved to be "a means of grace and a rich blessing."

Realizing that many would view this manner of receiving members as too rigorous and potentially discouraging to genuine but shy souls, James Spurgeon remarked, "None need apprehend that modesty is outraged, or timidity appalled by the test thus applied. We have never yet found it tend to keep members out of our midst, while we have known it of service in detecting a mistake or satisfying

a doubt previously entertained." ²¹ He went on to point out the urgency of

fidelity both in tending to souls and watching over the church:

We deny that it keeps away any worth having. Surely if their Christianity cannot stand before a body

of believers, and speak amongst loving sympathizing hearts, it is as well to ask if it be the cross-

bearing public confessing faith of the Bible? This is no matter of flesh and blood, but of faith and

grace, and we should be sorry to give place to the weakness and shrinking of the flesh, so as to insult

the omnipotence of grace, by deeming it unable to endure so much as the telling in the gates of Zion

what great things God has done for the soul. Of course, the system may be, and has been, abused, but

we decline to recognize any argument drawn from the abuse of what we use lawfully. It need not be an

offense to any, and it will be an immense blessing to that church which watches for souls, and rejoices

over one repenting sinner more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance. 22

After the testimony before the church, the candidate withdrew, and the appointed visitor gave his report. If the church voted to receive, the junior pastor baptized him or her after a week day service. The candidate was then received before the church at the first monthly communion, when the pastor extended the right hand of fellowship in the name of the church, and his name was entered on the roll of members.

At that point the baptized convert received a communion card (for some years

the person was given twelve numbered tokens) divided by perforation into twelve numbered parts, one of which should be turned in each month at a communion service held every Lord's Day. If a member failed to commune for three months without any known cause, the elder responsible for his district would visit him, and send in a report on a printed form. A letter was written to those too distant to visit, a record of such visit or letter being retained. In a case of discipline, an elder, appointed by the body of elders, visited the person in question and reported his findings to the body. Should the matter demand action beyond caution and advice, the matter came to the church with a

recommendation from the elders for censure or excommunication. ²³ This matter of discipline was taken seriously for the sake of the person, the church, and the other churches. By sad experience, the Tabernacle elders found that recommendations of members of other churches were too often unreliable.

Great caution was needed. Again the elders led the way in this matter. An elder visited the person requesting a transfer of membership and entered his observations in the transfer book. Any difficulty resulted in an arranged visit by one of the pastors. "Alas!" Spurgeon discovered, "membership with some

churches is not always a guarantee even of morality." ²⁴ Some churches retain a name upon their books for years after the person had ceased to commune. Even more sadly, they would grant a transfer of membership ignorant of the spiritual

state of the person so retained, "as if all were satisfactory." ²⁵ Because of this experience the Tabernacle kept close knowledge of its members that had moved and granted them upon their moving a certificate for three, six, or twelve months, which had to be renewed at the end of that period with a report of the reason for renewal. Otherwise the membership would lapse. "We much prefer commending our brethren to the fellowship of other churches," Spurgeon informed, "where they may be of service, than to have them linger out

a merely nominal connection with us." ²⁶ Before granting that, however, the request was read to the church, accompanied by a statement of the person's reason for leaving and a history of their attendance while at the Tabernacle. If all proved satisfactory, the church authorized the usual letter of dismission to be sent.

The delicate nature of some of these matters prompted Spurgeon to offer an

explanation of the rationale behind the process:

In all our business the aim is to have everything done openly and above-board, so that no one may

complain of the existence of a clique, or the suppression of the true state of affairs. We occasionally

ask the unquestioning confidence of the church in its officers in cases delicate and undesirable to be

published, but otherwise we consult the church in everything, and report progress as often as possible

in all matters still pending and unsettled. Nothing, we are persuaded, is so sure to create suspicion and

destroy confidence as attempts at secret diplomacy, or mere official action.

When details of cases under discipline are kept from the church, the fact is openly stated, and leave

asked for the maintenance of such public reticence; while any member is informed, that if dissatisfied,

the pastor will give him the reasons why the elders have advised the removal of the offender, and their

motive in not giving details of the sin. When it would be for the injury of good morals, or expose the

pastor to a suit-at-law, the officers ask the confidence of the church, and request it to adopt their

verdict in the case without hearing detailed information; this is cheerfully accorded in every case, and

much evil thus averted. 27

Church contributions of all sorts, particularly those given to the ongoing benevolent ministries of the church, were reported meticulously month by month. In addition, so that all would be set forth with integrity, all money matters underwent an annual audit by "unofficial brethren selected by the church." All accounts were read and record books produced at the annual church meeting, where all the members were urged to be present. Month by month meetings of deacons and elders were recorded and confirmed at the next meeting. Without previous notice no business would arise at the annual meeting except that introduced by the chair, or as sent up from an elders' or deacons' session. Exceptions to this could be considered unless the procedure was challenged as irregular. ²⁸

The Importance of Church Membership

Church membership, though clearly non-sacramental in itself, was seen as an important, perhaps essential, element of spiritual stewardship. In 1876 Spurgeon printed an article by Vernon Charlesworth answering objections to joining the church. Charlesworth recognized that many persons were resting on the completed work of Christ for salvation and cherished "a refreshing sense of God's pardoning love, manifested a genuine hope of having an inheritance in the skies," and yet were not identified with any assembly of God's people.

Charlesworth commended the faith and sincerity of these unattached Christians, but questioned their consistency. Some hesitated in church membership because "it was such a solemn thing to join a church." These fail to recognize that God already has made them members of the one body. "There is a wondrous inter-relation of being between the Lord Jesus Christ as Head, and all true believers who constitute his mystical body." No salvation exists apart from participation in this vital connection. Every visible church is a local expression of this unity. God already has joined every believer in this solemn union and the assembly on earth is a witness to the divine calling, whereas refusal to do so is a

"contravention of Divine order, and is a guilty resistance to the Spirit of God." ²⁹ Others admit the duty but do not feel the necessity of immediate action. While ascertaining the genuineness of faith urges some caution and appropriate hesitation, this might turn into sinful procrastination. Nothing is more natural than an ardent desire in a new Christian to declare their "decision for Christ before the church and the world." Some could see no advantages in church membership that they already did not enjoy by their union with Christ. They still unite with the people of God in "social intercourse and public service" and have the advantage of being free of pew rents and regular contributions "to any enterprise to which the church is committed."

Rather than dwell on the negative implications of such cupidity, Charlesworth focused on advantages of organic membership. He pointed to "an immense satisfaction to one's own mind in the bond of fraternity to which we publicly subscribe," as well as an ever-present caution against the "spirit of worldliness into which all are so prone to fall." Visible connection in a covenanted body establishes a "blessed sympathy" by heightening concern for the welfare of one another. "Growth in grace is assisted" by mutual edification and a person's example of visible membership encourages others that could benefit by such a fraternal union as is found in church membership.

Others object because they see so much inconsistency in those that are church members. Charlesworth reminded the reader, without excusing the sinful frailty

of church members, that none were without sin and all in need of greater sanctification. A mere observation of that reality should deter no one from doing their duty, joining in a body in which they could both admonish and receive admonition for greater purity of life. "I would ask," Charlesworth probed, "do those who demand the strictest consistency between the profession and lives of others detect no inconsistency in themselves? Are they without sin? Do they not judge others by a standard they dare not apply to themselves, demand more than they themselves are able to render, and withhold that charity from an erring

brother which they feel they need?" ³⁰ Salvation is not gained by church membership some object. Charlesworth agreed, and warned against any that believed their church membership was a passport to heaven. But this objection is an idle plea and harmful to the development of piety. Others hesitate for they feel that they might fall away.

Those that "withhold a profession and neglect a duty under the fear of falling and proving castaways, take the likeliest means of securing what they deprecate."

Others stay away from visible membership because they object to the ordinance of believers' baptism. Spirit baptism is enough and water baptism is unimportant. Charlesworth responded by asking if water baptism was a Christian ordinance and implied as an act of obedience in the apostolical commission?

Does the uniform practice of the apostles indicate that they so understood it? To these objectors, and to those that pointed to their infant baptism as a reason to shrink from church membership based on believers' baptism, Charlesworth summarized: "Our present purpose is to show that the baptism of believers by immersion is an ordinance of divine appointment, and is commanded as a

preliminary to the public recognition of believers as disciples of Christ." ³¹ Others object that they have a fear of eating and drinking the Lord's Supper unworthily. If eating and drinking unworthily is a sin, refusal to eat and drink from a motive of fear is a more serious sin. If such a fear justified abstaining from participation, then none would partake, and the command of the Lord to "Do this" would be universally disobeyed. Charlesworth offered an encouragement that the danger implied in such a warning may be avoided

through a right-minded approach to the Table:

But why should we eat and drink unworthily? Can we not come with our hearts rightly affected

towards the Lord Jesus Christ, and discern in the bread and wine fit symbols of His broken body and

shed blood? Can we not come mourning that so much evil lurks within us, and seek for grace to

crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts? Can we not come in the spirit of reverent humility to

worship the Father, and to hold communion with each other? Believe me, if we come thus, we shall not

eat and drink unworthily, and to us the Saviour says, "Eat, O friends! Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O

believer!" 32

He warned against a spirit of self-righteousness in those that continued to profess their own unworthiness, as if they could ever rise to any condition of worthiness before a righteous and holy God. He closed his appeal by pointing to the

conclusion of the matter:

In dealing with the above objections, we have endeavoured to reach the conclusion—that it is the

imperative duty of all who are saved by virtue of their union with the Lord Jesus Christ, who "is the

head of the body, the church," to avow the fact by an honest profession, and by obedience to his

command to enter into sincere and hearty fellowship, that the unity of the Church may be apparent, and

the worship and work of the Lord maintained in the world. 33

Hale and Hardy

From the month by month reports of the church, very few of Spurgeon's hearers maintained serious doubts about the validity of church membership. The Sword and the Trowel contained the statistical information about the church's advance in baptisms each month. Yearly statistics were reported at the annual church meeting. In February 1873, the report showed that 359 had been added to "the church in the Tabernacle" during 1872. Leaving to go "to other churches," presumably for reasons of proximity, were ¹³¹. Thirty-nine "died in the Lord."

Other causes led to the dismissal of other persons leading to a net increase of ³⁰; "but so long as souls are saved," reasoned Spurgeon, "we had sooner send them

to other places that retain them, for our church is large enough already." ³⁴ In 1874, October, Spurgeon surveyed the ministry at the Tabernacle and felt overwhelmed with gratitude for the fullness of "spiritual blessing as well as other mercies." Many made public their confession of Christ, a spirit of prayer abounded, the attendance at prayer meetings and week-night services exceeded any numbers of the past, and, he continued, "the crowds on Lord's days eager to hear the word are greater than ever." He attributed all glory to the Lord, "who prospers his own truth." Spurgeon would not be surprised "if Satan should roar again." As in the past, mounting opposition "will be the decisive token that good

is being done." ³⁵ At the prayer meeting on Monday, September ²¹, 1874, Spurgeon, who usually turned the baptizing duties over to his brother, or on some occasions to Vernon Charlesworth, took opportunity to baptize Charles and Thomas, his twin sons, "in the presence of an immense assembly." The attendance was a moving display of "hearty union with their pastor and his family in ways most touching to our heart." Mrs. Spurgeon was present for a few moments to see "her two boys yield themselves to be buried with Christ in baptism." The statistical report for that month read: "Baptisms at Metropolitan Tabernacle, by Mr. J. A.

Spurgeon:– August 27th, twenty-three; September 3rd, twenty-one. September

21st, by C. H. Spurgeon, two." ³⁶ The strong spiritual condition of the church in 1874 made a report in the Christian World (perhaps this was the roaring lion he anticipated) all the more egregious. The magazine had reported that in Mr. Spurgeon's absence, many seat-holders left the worship service since the one they had come to worship was absent. Supposedly an American visitor upbraided the implicit idolatry soundly.

Spurgeon was both grieved and outraged at the report and claimed that there was not a word of truth in it. All church officers reported that attendance was full and steady and every work carried on with excellence by the responsible parties.

Prayer meetings, in fact, were better attended than usual and weekly offerings were increased over those of the past year. Inquirers continue to increase and many sheaves for harvest await the pastor's return. "The love, unity, zeal, and industry of the brotherhood have borne every strain without a sign of giving way; in fact, in nothing has there been any declension or failure, not any reason

for issuing the unfortunate article to which we have alluded." ³⁷ Spurgeon explained this steadiness and the unflagging character of the work by referring to long-standing policies of receiving and retaining members. The work did not depend on "excitement" or "violent laboring to kindle fanaticism."

The ⁴,880 on roll were persons, "living men and women who are really with us."

Discipline was firm and "names are not allowed to remain year after year to swell a nominal force, and sustain a lie." The people know the gospel, are established in it, give to the causes the church sponsors, and "hence we are able to trust them in our absence." God's manifest grace through the years, Spurgeon pointed out, was not "so superficial and evanescent, that the Pastor's sickness can empty the pews and deaden the services." Because it is the work of God,

"none shall depreciate it without protest." ³⁸ To reinforce this point, Spurgeon carried a report of the yearly evangelistic services held at the Tabernacle every February. His sickness caused his absence, and, at the end of William Olney's report about the "series of Special Services for the revival of religion," Spurgeon stated: "How all this ought to encourage churches to work, and not rest on the Pastor. Here we have a people deprived of their minister, and yet receiving a larger blessing, though no professional revivalist is called in to fill the preacher's place. God be thanked for our beloved co-pastor, deacons, and elders, and for a membership alive unto God by vital principles, and not dependent upon such a poor instrument as their so often

afflicted preacher." ³⁹ When on November ⁷, 1875, sixty-nine persons were received for membership, in the context of praise for divine blessings, Spurgeon observed: "Our care is great, and our examination of candidates very rigid, but they come

none the less, perhaps all the more." ⁴⁰ At the beginning of 1876 Spurgeon reported the basic numbers of 1875. In his absence the work had not flagged, for seventy converts awaited addition to the church when he returned from Mentone. These persons were not included in the report of 510 added to the church in 1875. Out from the Tabernacle went 208 to strengthen or form other churches and ⁶⁶ "went home to glory." The clear increase was ¹³⁶, leaving a membership of ⁴,813. Spurgeon observed, "We must win for our Lord at least one soul each Sabbath or our loss by death cannot be

made up." ⁴¹ There must have been ¹⁰⁰ dismissions for other reasons, or Spurgeon meant an increase of 236 instead of ¹³⁶.

In February 1881 the report for 1880 ran thus: Increase by baptism, 314; by letter, ¹⁰¹; by profession, ³⁸; total, 453. Decrease, by dismission, 147; by dismission to form a new church at Tooting, ⁵; by joining other churches with letters, ⁵⁰; emigrated, ¹²; died, ⁷⁴, excluded for non-attendance, ¹⁰⁶; removed for other causes, ⁵; total, 399—leaving a net increase of ⁵⁴, and making the number of members on the books ⁵,284. The notes said that "A happy meeting was held, and the reports showed that the hardness of the times and the illness of the pastor had not materially damaged the finances." As to spiritual progress, it was hoped that, in earnestness, unity, and prayerfulness, the Church was never in

a healthier state. ⁴² The church report for 1881 was presented on February ³, 1882. Spurgeon was happy to be well enough to attend and commented that "there was a thick fog outside, and some of it penetrated into the interior of the building; but the warmth of Christian affection and enthusiasm which prevailed throughout the whole meeting prevented anyone from feeling much of its influence." The huge, happy family gathered to tell what the Lord had done for them and by them during the year. Baptisms numbered 279, additions by letter ⁶⁸ and by profession ³⁵. Professions was explained as "those who have been previously baptized," making a total of 382 additions. The decrease totaled 315, giving a net increase of ⁶⁷. Several categories again constituted the decrease: 144 dismissed by letter, ³⁴ joining other churches without letter, ⁷ by emigration, ⁵⁶ removed for non-attendance, ³ excluded [presumably for disciplinable offenses], ¹ withdrawal, and ⁷⁰ deaths. Many of those, through the years, that removed by letter, were going to help start other congregations in different parts of the city to be served by students from the College. Those removed for non-attendance or joining churches without letter seemingly show that Spurgeon was unable to satisfy everyone and that a constant undercurrent, as in most churches, of discontent or disinterest continually brewed and produced a very consistent outflow from the Tabernacle. Those numbered as members of the congregation, however, were not misleading but constituted a disciplined, spiritually alert, and active body. The number of members was at ⁵,310.

For 1882, a net increase of ¹¹⁰ brought the total membership to ⁵,427. This included ⁶⁵ deaths for the year, including two deacons and four elders. Spurgeon and the deacons made up a deficit of £150 for support of the poor and the almshouses so that the year could begin with a clean balance sheet. He explained something about the constituency of the church:

The number of the poor of the church is very great, and quite out of proportion to the usual condition

of churches. Hence the poor fund needs strengthening. The work carried on is great, and those who can

afford to give largely are few in comparison with the needy who are in fellowship with us. It is our joy

and honour to be a church in which the working class and poor abound; but this fact tries our finances

sternly. 43

He soon learned that William Higgs, one of the deceased deacons and a magnanimous supporter of all ministries of the church, had left in his will £500 to the orphanage, the same amount to the College, and an equal amount to the poor of the church. "This legacy will help us for some few years to meet the annual deficiency," Spurgeon explained, "and before it is all spent we hope some

donor will more fully endow the Almshouses." ⁴⁴ Numbers for 1885 showed the difficulty of maintaining an increase each year in such a large congregation. The statistics read at the Church Meeting in February 1886 reported: Increase by baptism, 267; profession, ²³; transfer, ⁶²; restoration, ¹: total 353; decrease, by dismission to other churches, 170; joining other churches without letters, ⁴⁷; names removed for non-attendance, ¹²⁹; emigration, ¹⁰; withdrawn from, for other reasons, ³; deaths, ⁷³; total 432. The resultant number on the church-roll was ⁵,314. This represented a net loss of ⁷⁹ members for 1885, and thus showed an increase in membership of four since

1881. ⁴⁵ Maintenance of such massive facilities and the support of so many works of outreach called for a home base that was increasing in number as well as in ability to give. The tension between spiritual blessings and the desire to see such blessing result in material increase was constantly on the mind of Spurgeon. He referred to this phenomenon in 1886. After noting the additions to the Tabernacle through the labors of church planting and other local missionary work, Spurgeon mentioned the attendance at the Tabernacle during the summer months. "The College is not in session for the men are having their vacation; the orphans are nearly all away; the seat-holders are most of them at the seaside." In spite of that, "crowds are even greater than usual, and many feel the power of the Word." Since most of these, however, "return to the country, we shall not have the home church thus increased." This should bring no regret, however, for "the Lord is with us and we magnify his name." ⁴⁶

Holy Living

Spurgeon, long before the Downgrade Controversy, saw society as a degrading influence on the spiritual lives of Christians. The church's witness for the gospel was directly proportioned to the holy lives of its members. Spurgeon, therefore, urged careful attention to circumspect living. Discipline of children was a first order issue. "A husband is king of his household," Spurgeon wrote, "and if he allows everything to be in a state of anarchy he must blame himself in some measure." Connected with proper discipline was the practice of family worship.

This practice had declined sadly in recent years, and along with it pervasive family piety. "If there be no gathering for prayer in the morning," Spurgeon asked, "how can we expect to be prospered in the duties of the day? If there be no gathering for prayer at night how can we expect the Lord to guard the tents of

Jacob through the night watches?" ⁴⁷ Spurgeon's easily accessible devotional books were written with the hope of encouraging family worship. In the preface to Morning by Morning, Spurgeon expressed his hope that "our little volume may also aid the worship of families where God's altar is honoured in the morning." He had no desire to replace Mason, Hawker, Bogatsky, Smith, or Jay, but did aspire to a position among them. "Our happiness will overflow should we be made a blessing to Christian households," he continued. "Family worship is beyond measure important, both for the present and succeeding generations; and to be in part a chaplain in the houses of our friends, we shall esteem to be a

very great honour." ⁴⁸ Christians also had begun to frequent worldly amusements. The theatre should hold no charm for a Christian because it does nothing to promote holiness. "Pass by it with averted gaze, the house of the strange woman is there." It can be no school of virtue that has such an attraction for the debauchee and the harlot. This practice of theatre-going will be the death of piety, Spurgeon believed. He made no compromise on that issue. He saw the approbation of theatre-going on the part of ministers as one of the most obvious signs of a loss of spiritual discernment and genuine piety. Society had become so accustomed to the low standard of morality, much of it prompted by the language and actions of the theatre, that "the very air is tainted with pollution and our streets ring with the newsboys' cries vending filthy papers and abominable prints." Christians must labor for purity, be earnest in prayer, make a covenant with their eyes, guard their lips, and avoid evil wherever it appears. Jesus will never chasten a Christian for not being worldly enough. The Christian's pleasure must reside in the glory of God, the beauty of Christ, for he has "tasted the high delights of fellowship with God." ⁴⁹

Many a promising young person has been lost to the work of the Lord by flirting with danger. A more libertarian view toward strictness in morality fosters looseness and paves a sure road to destruction. "God grant us grace," Spurgeon plead, "to keep in these peaceful paths, even though others should call us

Puritans and ridicule our holy fear of sin." ⁵⁰ To that end he recommended a newly published allegory that gave an engaging presentation of "the necessity and blessedness of Christian separation from the world and its pleasures." He recommended it as a gift to young people because it would soon "make the

boundary between the church and the world more defined than it is today." ⁵¹ Spurgeon insisted that a "revival" began and ended with the church. "Only in the river of gracious life can the pearl of revival be found." A church that needed revival was in a sad state, a sub-normal state, and came to that condition only by inattention, neglect of those unctuous gifts that are the privilege of each body of saints. Revival cannot come to the dead but to the living; to the living, that is, that have lost their light and strength. Revival would affect the world through the renewed holiness and gospel love that put the saints about their business, but revival cannot come to that which is not already alive. A revival brings the church to a condition in which they ought always to have been; "it quickens them, gives them new life, stirs the coals of the expiring fire, and puts heavenly breath into the languid lungs." This should be sought earnestly for all backsliders and at any time of declension in grace. Causes of decline include joining with worldly company and the stifling lack of life-giving atmosphere that accompanies such a life, the spiritual starvation that ensues upon failure to use means of grace such as prayer, feeding on Bible truth, conscious communion with God, earnest participation in the services of the Lord's Day, and cultivating a consciousness of the presence of the Spirit of God during personal and corporate prayer. Lack of these things brings about spiritual consumption— faintness after exertion, ebbing of vital energy, wheezing decaying lungs. "If they mourn for sin it is only with half-broken hearts, and their grief is shallow

and unpractical." ⁵² By what means is the church, or its individual members, in such spiritual coma to be revived? Vital godliness subsists on vital truth. This cannot be done by mere excitement, by crowded meetings, by stamping the foot, slamming the pulpit, and the "delirious bawlings of ignorant zeal." This might simulate revival in dead souls but for living saints other means are needed. Living truth nourishes the living heart by means of the Holy Ghost, but mere carnal excitement provides nothing substantial to sustain and enlarge life. If revival is to come "we must go directly to the Holy Ghost for it, and not resort to the machinery of the

professional revival-maker." Ministers that are careless about the truths that cross their lips, church officers that are dead weight upon the Christian community, and members that do not relish the spiritual exhilaration of divine truth are all like smoke in the eyes and as agreeable to the lively saint as being bound to a dead body. They are sickening and make "the inmost spirit feel the

horrors of mental nausea." ⁵³ Spurgeon did not want to need revival, but for those to whom it was necessary he urged earnest seeking in order that there might be abundant benediction. A

four-verse hymn summarized his views. Verse three epitomizes the idea:

Wake thy slumbering children, wake them,

Bid them to thy harvest go;

Blessings, O our Father, make them;

Round their steps let blessing flow. 54

Prayer Meetings

Vital to the maintenance of vibrant spiritual life in a church, and also to its revival, was the discipline of corporate prayer. Spurgeon made sure that each service of worship in the church was preceded by a prayer meeting. Often prayer continued by some individuals meeting in a special place, usually in a room under the auditorium, during the service. In September 1881 he mentioned that "The special prayer meetings before our week-evening lecture have not only been well sustained all through the past month, but have increased in number and grown in fervency, and we are already reaping the firstfruits of what will, we

trust, prove a good harvest of souls." ⁵⁵ In 1886, an elder reported the blessings of having such a time of prayer before the weekday (Thursday) service, attended by around ²,000 people. "From this prayer meeting," elder G. E. Elvin wrote, "the Pastor ascends to the Tabernacle, evidently greatly refreshed, and as much

in the Spirit as on the Lord's Day." ⁵⁶ Monday evening prayer meetings fueled all the ministries and other services of the church. Spurgeon described the atmosphere of this meeting in 1881 as "seasons of unusual power" and thus a precursor to "a blessing of an unusual

extent." ⁵⁷ From all over the world, requests had come to the Tabernacle for prayer, and were soon followed by statements of praise for answers. "These have tended to keep the meetings real and earnest, for there has been actual business to do with the Lord that heareth us." Each meeting had a distinct flavor, but "all are remarkable seasons of fervent devotion." Frequently over ¹,500 people were in attendance. Spurgeon believed that the "key to the non-success of churches, and the small progress of individuals" was directly attributable to the lack of

prayer. ⁵⁸ On an August Monday in 1881, Spurgeon spoke on the theme that permeated his view of biblical prayer, "Why We Have Not." Based on James' statement, "Ye have not because ye ask not," Spurgeon analyzed the lack of spiritual power, lack of conversion, and lack of additions to many churches, and

concluded that the answer is found here—"Ye have not because ye ask not." ⁵⁹ Churches prosper when many of its members know their way around the rooms and halls in the house of mercy. "If we are not at home in prayer everything is out of order" and one may easily get lost in the halls through lack of familiarity with the place of entrance to the mercy-seat. "Familiarity," therefore, "with the

mercy-seat is a great point in the education of a child of God." ⁶⁰ Prayer is not a second-rate activity, but is a grand cement for unity of purpose, the proper discernment of gifts, and the submissive appeal of the children of God

before the throne of his power for those ends that he judges most conducive to his glory. In prayer the child of God shoves aside self-confidence and absorption in worldly wisdom and finds greater conformity to the sovereign wisdom of his Redeemer. God intends to receive glory to himself through answered prayer and the urge to pray for the health of those that are sick, for the health of the church through the success of its various ministries, and for one's own spiritual advancement will receive answers from God according to his promise. It may seem a self-evident truth, and thus tautologous, but it opens clearly one of the central issues of Christian living to contemplate that prayerlessness finds no source from which to glorify God for answered prayer. Leaving oneself in the position of having little reason to glorify God for present care and present condescension to human need, leads to barrenness of spirit as well as fruitlessness in church life. They must pray, therefore, for the continued support of the ministry extensions of the church; "Commend them all to the Most High," he urged, "for whose glory they exist."

Spurgeon asked particularly for prayer for himself in the abundant opportunity to preach before so many on Sunday and on the weekday service because he

trembled "lest the opportunity should be lost in any measure." ⁶¹ Proclamation without divine blessing would always be fruitless no matter how structurally sound and theologically straight the message appeared. "Do pray that I may preach with power," and for "the Holy Ghost to convert these eager thousands."

Within reach of his voice were "persons of all nations, ranks, ages, and religions," increasing the stewardship of agony in prayer that they may be saved.

For his own strength in his heavy and distressing responsibilities he begged their prayer and for the sake of their own spiritual well-being he again asked

their prayer for him:

If I have been useful to you in any measure, pray for me; it is the greatest kindness you can do me. If

the word as spoken by these lips has been a means of grace to your children, plead for me that others

of the young may be brought to Jesus by my teaching. If you would find my ministry more profitable

to your souls, pray for me still more, and let it not be said of your minister that you do not profit by his

preaching, and that you have not because you ask not. 62

A year later, Spurgeon described two prayer meetings on Monday evenings at the Tabernacle to demonstrate of how much variety they could consist. Hymns, including new hymn tunes, requests by letter for special prayer, verbal requests from the congregation, prayers by appointed individuals, brief hortatory comments from the pastor reflecting some element of a prayer request, involvement by the orphanage children's choir in one of the meetings including a new song from a Sankey song book ("Oh, What a Saviour that He Died for

Me") all made for real interest and genuine spiritual enjoyment. One man prayed that "the Lord would knock all the nonsense out of the pulpits." Spurgeon editorialized that he agreed, and that it seemed strange to him that men could preach entire sermons with no Christ in them. Crafty and clever though they be, they contained not enough gospel to save the soul of a mouse. Spurgeon commented that the woman who was so ignorant that she thought her minister was saying Jesus was our meat and physic when he actually spoke of a Christian metaphysic had far more sense than the minister. The record of these prayer meetings showed, according to Spurgeon, that a healthy variety in such meetings

did not exclude there being an equality of power. ⁶³ The next month he included the record of two more prayer meetings. On October ⁹ Spurgeon set forth the cross as his theme throughout and summarized the evening with the observation, "Eight brothers had spoken with the Lord on our behalf, five hymns had been sung, and several short addresses given, and the hour and a-half was gone, all too quickly." For October ¹⁶ special attention was given to the Sunday School Union and other such organizations to encourage universal prayer for Sabbath-school work. Participating with Spurgeon in one season of prayer was Mr. Wigney, "the conductor of separate services for children on Sunday morning." In schools connected with the Tabernacle over ⁷,000 children were involved. The entire Ragged School movement had taken over 300,000 children off the streets of London. Spurgeon reminded the hundreds of workers gathered that the prevalence of irreligion, poverty, wretchedness, sin, superstition, and evil literature still present in many parts of London make this movement all the more necessary. The results for good should encourage all workers. The end of all their labors should be the salvation of the children. He related the story of the apple in the bottle to illustrate how important early formation was to the well-being and piety of the future adult population of London. The meeting closed with special prayer for all workers. ⁶⁴

Music and Worship

Anything that detracted from the fullest participation in the music by the entire congregation Spurgeon opposed. To the leader he warned, "The people come together not to see you as a songster, but to praise the Lord in the beauty of Holiness." He was not to sing for himself only, "but to be a leader of others, many of whom know nothing of music." Tunes should be easily learned by all so that none will be compelled to be silent when the "Lord is to be extolled in the assembly." None should be defrauded of their part in the worship because of the exclusive taste of the leader. "Simple airs are best," Spurgeon opined, and "very few of the more intricate tunes are really musical." Those whose concern is more for art than for corporate worship should meet at home for that purpose, but "the Sabbath and the church of God must not be desecrated to so poor an end. "Twists and fugues, and repetitions, and rattlings up and down the scale"

amounts to noise-making more fit for Babel than for Bethel. ⁶⁵ He reminded musicians who might be enamored of the natural beauty of music when performed in technical purity, that "true praise is heart work." It is like "smoking incense that rises from the glowing coals of devout affection."

While sound correctly executed brings delight of a sort, praise is not a thing of sound. Though, in the congregation, inextricably connected with sound for most weighty reasons, the essence and life of praise still lies "not in the voice, but in the soul." The leader must tend the congregation to give to spiritual praise a suitable embodiment in harmonious notes. He must not employ means or music that destroys the spirit of corporate praise. "Take care that you do not depress what you should labour to express," he urged.

Carelessness can harm just as severely as fastidiousness. A leader must be discerning and understand both text and the impact of musical phrasing in selecting a tune that expresses the spirit of the psalm or hymn. Heedless repetition in time, tune, tone, and emphasis is an abomination. Selecting tunes at random is little less than criminal. "You mock God and injure the devotions of his people" by a careless offering of worship material that cost no thought or effort, no exercise of judgment. On the other hand, a well-selected harmony can help the pious heart to wing its way to heaven rather than "vex the godly ear by inappropriate or unmelodious airs, adapted rather to distract and dishearten, than

to encourage intelligent praise." ⁶⁶ The "godly ear" Spurgeon referred to was perhaps his own. Spurgeon was indeed vexed at extremes. Slow and dull tempos with monotonous droning in large assemblies serves to swamp, drench, and drown the spirit of worship. On the other hand, he could not endure hearing hymns treated as jigs and dashed

through at a gallop. One must be wise to find the fitting pace. Also one leads best who is noticed the least. A leader must have as his object "to induce all the

congregation to join in the singing." ⁶⁷ The goal of truly corporate worship through singing meant that more in the congregation must not only have spiritual motives but some aptitude for the duty. He believed Psalm 33 called for this. In his exposition, Spurgeon contended that "He deserves the best that we have. Every Christian should endeavour to sing according to the rules of the art. So that he may keep time and tune with the congregation. The sweetest tunes and the sweetest voices, with the sweetest words, are all too little for the Lord our God; Let us not offer him

limping rhymes, set to harsh tunes, and growled out by discordant voices." ⁶⁸ A singing school using the sol-fa method Spurgeon had seen as a successful way to train many that know nothing of music the art of reading simple tunes. A few sessions employing such a method would expand the percentage of participation

in the singing throughout the congregation as well as enhance its quality. ⁶⁹ At the same time, the pressure exerted by some to dominate this portion of worship must be systematically resisted. Professional singers as an element of worship Spurgeon detested. "The institution of singers, as a separate order is an

evil," he bristled, "a growing evil, and ought to be abated and abolished." ⁷⁰ He had in mind the practice when he commented on the phrase, "Praise is comely for the upright." He contended that "Praise is not comely from unpardoned professional singers." Rather, before God it is "a jewel of gold in a swine's snout. Crooked hearts make crooked music, but the upright are the Lord's

delight." ⁷¹ Sometimes self-appointed vocalists destroy the spirit of public worship by deploying themselves in such a way as to dominate the time of singing. "A band of godless men and women," he called them, "will often install themselves in a conspicuous part of the chapel, and monopolise the singing to the grief of the pastor, the injury of the church, and the scandal of public worship." At other times, a person with delusions about his own gifts, "with a miserable voice, will drag a miserable few after him in a successful attempt to make psalms and

hymns hideous, or dolorous." ⁷² Yes, the obstacles to musical purity and simplicity were many.

Professional singers were no worse than organ players. Spurgeon found a book entitled An Account of the Remarkable Musical Talents of Several Members of the Wesley Family based on a great amount of diligent research that was worthy of a more profitable subject. "We are about as musical as we are Wesleyan," he remarked, but still he found some sentiments that he wanted to

commend to "our organ-blowing brethren." The writer's observation that Wesley had a "great aversion to musical instruments being used in places of sacred worship" Spurgeon liked and, therefore reported an anecdote supporting the view. The Wesleyan commentator, Adam Clarke, that Spurgeon called the

"Arminian perverter of Scripture," ⁷³ registered his own dissent from "all such corruption in the worship of the Author of Christianity." Clarke reported that when Wesley was asked if he objected to the presence of instruments in Wesleyan chapels, he responded tersely, "I have no objection to instruments of

music in chapels, provided they are neither heard nor seen." ⁷⁴ At least on that issue, Wesley expressed Spurgeon's sentiments exactly, but with exceptions for special cases as we shall see. Spurgeon felt that the use of instruments in the normal corporate worship of the church increased the natural tendency toward externality, superficiality, and formalism in worship as well as in one's perception of the nature of Christian faith. "When the organ peals out its melodious tones, but the heart is not in the singing, dost thou think that God has ears like a man, that can be tickled with sweet sounds?" He asked. Don't think that God is as impressed with wordless sounds and mechanically produced tones and harmonies as we might be. "He is spiritual; the music that delights him is the love of a true heart, the prayer of an anxious spirit. He has better music than all your organs and drums can ever bring to him. If he wanted music, he would have not asked thee, for winds and wave make melodies transcendently superior to all your chief musicians can compose." Such music he compared to the unwarranted lighting of candles as an element of worship. "Does he want candles when his torch makes the mountains to be great altars, smoking with the incense of praise to the God of creation?"

Spurgeon feared that ritualized, stylized, artificially produced attempts at worship would hide the true matters of heart worship from "many who externally appeared to be devout," about whom it could be said, "When they

knew God, they glorified him not as God!" ⁷⁵ When confronted with the phrase, "Praise the Lord with harp," Spurgeon reduced this admonition to the necessity of external aids for the immaturity necessarily involved in old covenant worship. Israel still was in a state of training and "used childish things to help her to learn." Jesus, however, gives us "spiritual manhood" and we make melody without strings and pipes. Spurgeon did not believe instruments to be expedient but did not see them as "unlawful."

Should those as mature as "George Herbert or Martin Luther... worship God better by the aid of well-tuned instruments, who shall gainsay their right?"

Neither he nor his people needed them and he felt that they would "hinder than

help our praise." Others might choose differently, and they too live under gospel liberty. If they are used, however, it should only be as a help to the human voice,

"for keys and strings do not praise the Lord." ⁷⁶ When he reached Psalm 150, with its advocacy of trumpet, psaltery, harp, stringed instruments, organs, loud cymbals, and high-sounding cymbals, Spurgeon explained, though not too insistently and exclusively: "The gospel meaning is that all powers and faculties should praise the Lord—all sorts of persons, under all circumstances, and with differing constitutions, should do honour unto the Lord of all. If there be any talent, if there be any influence, let all be consecrated to the service of the

universal Benefactor." ⁷⁷ Whatever he may have allowed in theory, Spurgeon had no fluctuation when it came to the regular worship times at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. At its opening in 1861 Spurgeon employed all the weapons in his arsenal in describing worship in that newly constructed building, consecrated fully to the glory of God in preaching and corporate worship. He insisted that a major part of the worship of the congregation would be found in their participation in the singing of hymns. Spurgeon delighted in the sound of voices lifted in praise to God. He wanted all to participate and that right heartily. The sounds of human voices should not be diminished or muted by lack of participation or by the dominance of instruments. The stricture on congregational praise resulting from the use of several designated professionally trained voices simply does not meet the New Testament criteria for the singing part of worship. "What a joyous thing it is to hear the thousands praise God at once; every man contributing to the song."

Variety would make the sound more glorious. "The poor coarse voice belonging to some of us, who never can learn music let us try as much as we well; the flute-like voices of our sisters, the deep resounding mellow bass of the fulldeveloped man; all the different tones, and notes, and voices, perhaps expressive of our different degrees and growths in grace, of our different trials and or different temperaments, all join to swell one common hymn which rolls upward to the throne of God." Everyone that refuses to sing, every mute voice, and every

dumb lip mars the song. ⁷⁸ He pictured the dissenting congregation with a choir composed of five or six to "sing to the praise and glory of themselves" while the congregation sits still not daring to "spoil music so magnificent." Some places designate the work that should be the glory of human tongues and lips and hearts to an instrument that makes sound without articulation of a message and with no heart feeling or rational involvement. "May that never be the case here," Spurgeon exclaimed, but "as often as we meet together here may the song roll up to heaven like the

voice of many waters, and like great thunders." ⁷⁹ In order to minimize non-participation and increase rational involvement, Spurgeon lined out every hymn before it was sung. In 1881 he quoted a passage from the Examiner and Chronicle of New York. The writer urged that great care be given to the selection of hymns and not follow the "lazy and senseless example" of a minister that said, "I never give my self any trouble about the hymns." Singing, the writer claimed, constituted worship as much as praise and prayer and "the preacher who does not select his hymns with special reference to their appropriateness to the subject of his sermon, loses at least half of their effect upon the congregation." Spurgeon concurred and added that the "whole spirit of the service may turn upon the reading of a hymn, and therefore it is a matter to be done in the best style." The preacher may have little if any control over the singers but he certainly can "so read the hymns that the people shall be helped to praise God intelligently, and the sacred worship shall not be careless

and slovenly." ⁸⁰ In a book on Psalmody, J. Spencer Curwen suggested that reading hymns verse by verse was unnecessary, Spurgeon objected and defended strongly his practice of reading before singing. No person should be made to listen to singing in which he cannot join. "It is wretched to go into chapels and tear through a hymn like mad, while you have no idea what the words may be which they are thus hurrying over." Everyone must be able to sing with the heart and join in the sense of the hymn, but if they have no books, or are blind, or cannot read, how can this be without giving it out verse by verse? "Those who believe in praising God by machinery may have no care about the words being known, but we do not believe in their praising bellows any more than in the praying windmills of

the Kalmuck Tartars." ⁸¹ Spurgeon commented on a variety of books used to aid worship, observing their strengths and weaknesses. When reviewing A Complete Compend of Revival Music, Spurgeon called some of the inclusions "execrable," but immediately recognized that some people "sing them with gusto, and get good out of them." Reluctantly he admitted that much about music in worship was a matter of taste, yielding to the old proverb "which bids us neither dispute with winds nor tastes." He nevertheless maintained his preferences while granting reasonable freedom to others. Ira Sankey published Sacred Songs and Solos in 1882. Spurgeon commended it highly within a certain context. "For our part," he reminded his readers, "we shall always adhere to our solid psalms and hymns, and the grave, sweet melodies of our well-worn tunes, when the people meet on the Sabbath." At other services, however, such as a revival service or weekday

services a few of the Sankey type sprinkled in would "give pleasure to good

people whose tastes differ from ours." ⁸² In a strange way of stating very strongly something of his personal taste he wrote, "We confess we prefer our old-fashioned psalms and hymns, and their solemn music, to all the new jigs in the world." And then adding for emphasis he noted, "We cannot yet 'jump Jim

Crow' to the glory of God, nor yet tune the songs of Zion to nigger melodies." ⁸³ Spurgeon wanted the rhymes to be good, the syllables to have their proper length, for God "should always have the best of the best." Beyond all this, however, is the heart conviction of the singer and Spurgeon would rather have "the wild song of the revivalist with the homely street tune, sung from the very soul, than the noblest music that was ever penned, or ever flowed from human lips, if the heart be absent, and if the strain be not in accordance with God's

Word." ⁸⁴ Spurgeon supported attempts to render the Psalms in New Testament content.

Nothing could excel David's Psalms, he believed, and they should be used in an evangelical spirit, filled with "the gospel of Christ, of which they are, indeed, already full in prophecy." In this way the congregation would "sing the very

words of the Spirit, and shall surely edify each other and glorify our God." ⁸⁵ He cautioned, however, that great care and some sound common sense be used when adapting tunes to these renderings. In a review of The Psalmist, published under the supervision of Ebenezer Prout, Spurgeon noted: "In some instances there are two varieties of the same tune to different hymns—an experiment of very doubtful value. Some of the tunes rejected should, we think, have been retained, and if they have been sacrificed to modern taste, so much the worse for modern taste." Dominance of harmony over melody, Spurgeon felt strongly, was not conducive to effective congregational singing. Although harmony seemed to be the guiding principle of modern psalmody, Spurgeon, at the risk of seeming old-fashioned, had observed that "ordinary people must have a taking melody if

they are to enter heartily into the Service of Song." ⁸⁶ A more extensive investigation of The Psalmist revealed "many excellent pieces adapted for organ and choir, but not so many good congregational tunes as we expected." It did not compare favorably with the Tabernacle's Our Own Hymnbook, in the tune selections and meters. Spurgeon employed ³⁵ different meters while The Psalmist had 168. Most of the special tunes, therefore, with odd meters "must therefore be mere wastepaper." The needless alteration of established tunes only created confusion. He could not imagine the discontent and consternation caused by altering such well-known tunes as Spohr, Moscow, York, Stella, Wareham, Montgomery, or Huddersfield. "Part of the people

would run one way and the rest another." Giving new names to old tunes also was useless, confusing, and gives a false impression. "A respectable melody

does not need an alias." ⁸⁷ The resistance to that sort of innovation did not mean he was averse to the introduction of new hymns. He did not want the newness of a setting to befuddle the worshippers by their inability to participate. To alleviate this difficulty, a new tune to be sung in the worship of the Sabbath would be introduced into the Monday evening prayer meeting. Perhaps two hymns of that meter would be sung so that the "people caught the strain, and are now prepared to recognize it

when the tune is used in the great congregation." ⁸⁸ The appearance of The Congregational Psalmist Hymnal gave Spurgeon an opportunity to give a disquisition on how tunes should be selected for a hymnal.

He did not object to the inclusion of new hymns, for many were centered on the glory of Christ's person and work and on Christian experience. People can read words easily enough. The introduction of a new tune, however, called for more discreet and careful direction. People cannot readily adapt to another tune, and unless the entire congregation is able to sing it by the book the result is distressing. "In our judgment," Spurgeon opined, "too many of the tunes in the book require an instrument to render them, and when such is the case, they cease to be congregational." A hymnal compiled from the standpoint of the musical tastes of an organist, and not from that of a precentor, "may contain very good

music, but it will not, therefore, be a people's book." ⁸⁹ Selection of tunes formerly was made when they passed the test of a vocal quartet. Congregational singing requires such a standard. "Nowadays anything which can be played is foisted upon a congregation," Spurgeon complained, "with the result that many must remain silent during the service of praise." When editors are organists and not singers, worship-song declines. He knew he left himself open to the charge of being old-fashioned, but he loved tunes that people could sing and that would remain with them long after the time of worship was past. "Our modern musicians may affect a contempt for what they call the eccentricities of the old fugues and repeat tunes, but they must admit that they were musical, and that they did more to inflame the passion of devotion than those which can only be interpreted by a keyed-instrument." This led him to register his oft-repeated jeremiad against the gradual infusion of instruments in worship. He could hardly bear the loss of "glee singing" and with the piano and organ both deemed as a sine qua non of the sanctuary he felt that he witnessed the decline of congregational singing. The sophistication of tunes has meant that congregational participation has been late and intermittent in the normal worship

service of the church. "Congregational music is music for the congregation to sing, not listen to; and the sooner this simple definition is regarded by our tune writers, the better." Spurgeon wanted worship to remain an expression of the

people, not a special reservation for professionals. ⁹⁰ Though in the normal worship of the church, Spurgeon had no instruments and no choir, he was not averse to either in the service of special meetings.

When his friend, Dr. Hillier, a Doctor of Music who "deserves the title" in that he himself is "a sort of condensed band of music," opened a new tabernacle in July 1871, he commented that the official opening on Sunday was "with sermons." On Monday, however, a public meeting was held. At that, the combination of a noble array of speakers, an earnest company, and "an effective

choir made the public meeting a lively one." ⁹¹ It was Monday, not Sunday.

A choir might also serve well for evangelistic purposes. In commending those that operated so efficiently in the evangelistic services for the month of February 1879, Spurgeon wrote, "We have no wish to compare the style of the two chief speakers, or to contrast the methods of the sweet singers and players upon instruments, but we are delighted to hear that every address delivered by Messrs.

Clarke and Fullerton has been felt to be 'in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,' while the lively strains from the voice and cornet of Mr. Smith, and the tender pathos in all Mr. Chamberlain's solos have had much to do with making the meetings a complete success." He also thanked heartily the members of the choir. Not only were they at all the services in the Tabernacle singing and making melody to the Lord under the leadership of Mr. Frisby, but many of them attended the Saturday night prayer meetings to help in the singing. At the College Conference in 1881, an evangelistic choir under the leadership of Mr. Frisby sang to crowded conditions. Their presentations consisted of "several old-

fashioned tunes." ⁹² Spurgeon's worship services were not only matters of concern for him but for all of London. His congregation contained editors from many periodicals in London and other publications sent reporters regularly to give to London and the world the news of what happened in a Spurgeon service. What did he say, how did he pray, how did he look, what did they sing? What was the effect of it all?

The Christian: A Weekly Record gave a report of the New Year's Eve service for 1870, and included the words to a hymn Spurgeon composed for his

congregation to sing. ⁹³ Many churches held these "watch night" meetings, but one of the largest was that held annually at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. In spite of wretched weather, and the "inconvenience to many of the anniversary coming on a Saturday night,"

between ²,000 and ³,000 people gathered at ¹¹:00. The service began with prayer, a hymn, and reading of the twelfth chapter of Isaiah. Spurgeon observed that "the new year... reminded them of their new birth, of the time when it was with them the beginning of days, and therefore it was fitting that they should come together and praise God for all his mercies." They had found God faithful in the past year and could continue forth with "with resolute purpose and holy calm, saying, 'the Lord Jehovah is my Strength and my Song.'" Another hymn was sung, "O God of Bethel, by whose hand, Thy people still are led," followed by a prayer of "very solemn and earnest thanksgiving" with supplication for "yet a more abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit on individual believers, and upon the Church, and upon the work of the Lord in every place, that it may prosper and increase." Another hymn, "For Thy mercy and Thy grace, Constant through another year," was followed by Spurgeon's exposition of John 1:29, "Behold the Lamb of God." The reporter included a condensed version of Spurgeon's

message:

There was a great evil to be met—the sin of the world; there was a great remedy for this great evil—

the Lamb of God; and there was a great duty enjoined—namely, to BEHOLD this Lamb of God. Sin

was the source of all misery and woe, the true viper that poisons mankind, and puts everything out of

joint, and this sin is only to be met and taken away by the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus

Christ. "He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin." By beholding Him, looking, believing,

trusting Him, this load of guilt and wretchedness would be forever taken away. We can see the sun and

the moon, although millions of miles away, and so the look of faith will reach Christ, and bring Him

close to us. It was not strength or wisdom that was required, there may be no knowledge of theology,

but looking to Him and trusting Him would give life eternal.

Just before midnight the entire assembly knelt and spent the remaining minutes of the year in silent prayer. Then they sang the verses, "composed by Mr. Spurgeon just before coming to the meeting," and said good night with reciprocal wishes for a happy new year. In reporting the song, the writer changed

the word "Nought" in verse three to "Nor."

At midnight praise the Lord

Ye who this temple throng;

Lift up your hearts with one accord,

And close the year with song.

Light up the altar fire,

Forget the chilly night;

Let grateful love all hearts inspire

Praise God with all your might.

Into the coming year

March ye with banners high;

Nought in the future need ye fear,

For Israel's God is nigh.

But march with voice of praise,

Let music lead your way;

To God the Lord your voices raise,

On this the new-year's day.

Spurgeon's intense convictions about music in worship made their way even to his graveside. Ira Sankey, at Spurgeon's funeral meetings, said: "I have held him up as an example to hundreds of congregations, 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 himself standing and singing with the people. I hope this example may be largely followed by the ministers of the gospel. The praise of God is a part of the worship, and should not be slighted." ⁹⁴

Evangelism and Worship

Evangelism and worship could not be separated in Spurgeon's concept of church life. Though we have looked at evangelism separately, as well as the doctrinal controversy Spurgeon maintained against his peers, our subject calls for us to close the gap between these two to see how Spurgeon viewed the impact of worship on evangelism and at the same time how evangelism affected biblical faithfulness in worship. The itch for greater numbers, had, in Spurgeon's estimation of the times, reduced the spirit of holiness and separateness in worship. "The way of God with his church," Spurgeon contended in October 1888, "has been to sever a people from the world to be his elect—a people

formed for himself, who shall show forth his praise." ⁹⁵ Purity in the act of praise and worship was foremost in the predestining plan of God; the church ignores that at its peril. How foolish to think that "we can save men on a more wholesale scale by ignoring the distinction between the dead in sin and the living in Zion." If no separation of the church from the world, and no purity in praise were intended, then why did martyrs shed blood and confessors and polemicists contend to their hurt for a pure doctrine? There are two seeds, and "the difference will be maintained even to the end; neither must we ignore the

distinction to please men." ⁹⁶ The threat of judgment hovered over an impure church that compromised its worship for the approval of the world. "We are of a distinct race: we are born with a new birth, live under different laws, and act from different motives." If the reputed sons of God marry again the daughters of men and embrace the world, thus violating the covenant, we will be swept away with "some

overwhelming judgment, and, it may be, a deluge of devouring flame." ⁹⁷ To gain converts by softening doctrine or holy practice will alter the question from "How can we get them" to "How can we get rid of them?" Eagerness for numbers and the inclusion of respectable people has "adulterated many churches" in doctrine and practice and made them "fond of silly amusements."

These are the people that cannot abide a prayer meeting but rush to sensations, and our labor to get them has only served to "tarnish the spiritual glory of the

church." ⁹⁸ Spurgeon enforced his concern with revealing questions: "Are you afraid that preaching the gospel will not win souls? Are you despondent to success in God's way? Is this why you pine for clever oratory? Is this why you must have music, and architecture, and flowers, and millinery? After all, is it by might and by power, and not by the Spirit of God? It is even so in the opinion of many." ⁹⁹

All of these concerns impinged on the time of corporate worship. "Brethren beloved, there are many things which I might allow to other worshippers which I have denied myself in conducting the worship of this congregation." He was committed to setting forth "the unaided attractiveness of the gospel of Jesus." He gloried in a "severely plain" service, free of the enticements of art and performed music, seeking to show his brethren "that there is no need to try doubtful expedients and questionable methods." His emphasis unceasingly had been Christ crucified, and the purity and simplicity of the gospel. Those thousands in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, a consistent reality for thirty-five years, had come to hear about the "cross without the blue lights of superstition or excitement, the cross without diamonds of ecclesiastical rank, the cross without the buttresses of a boastful science." Human contrivances and human art would only hide and cover the sharp edge of the gospel sword. "How is it that it does so little of its old conquering work?" Spurgeon asked. "Do you see this scabbard of artistic work, so wonderfully elaborated? Full many keep the sword in this scabbard, and therefore its edge never gets to its work. Pull off that scabbard. Fling that fine sheath to Hades, and then see how, in the Lord's hands, that glorious twohanded sword will mow down fields of men as mowers level the grass with their scythes." The church must not travel to Egypt for help or invite the devil to help Christ. ¹⁰⁰

The Lord's Supper

Though Spurgeon refused to take communion after his conversion until he was baptized, he would not make that which was a matter of conscience to him the same for other believers. He wrote mother soon after his baptism: "Grandfather has written to me; he does not blame me for being a Baptist, but hopes I shall not be one of the tight-laced, strict-communion sort. In that, we are agreed. I certainly think we ought to forget such things in others when we come to the

Lord's table." For Spurgeon this was a matter of Christian charity. ¹⁰¹ He maintained this conviction that the Lord's Table peculiarly showed the union of God's people in a way transcending all their other differences. He had little hope that Christians would ever agree on baptism, but, concerning our Lord's death, "all who really are his people are agreed." They did not come to the tables as Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, or Episcopalians, but "simply as those that form one body in Christ" who agree to show to all mankind the

death of the adorable Lord. ¹⁰² In 1861, when noting several peculiarities of the church, he separated himself from both the open membership churches as well as the strict communionists.

He would rather give up his pastorate than give membership to a man that refused to follow his Lord in baptism. He believed that the mixed membership

churches were "eating the very vitals of the denomination." ¹⁰³ At the same time, Spurgeon disclaimed any right to refuse communion to any person professing faith in Christ that was in good standing in any Christian congregation. There was no reason he should not extend to him the fullest Christian fellowship.

Contrary to the anecdotal information relayed by some Baptists in the Southern United States, Spurgeon maintained the position to the end. When reviewing a compend of theology by J. M Pendleton, a strong closedcommunion American Baptist, Spurgeon commented on Pendleton's definition of the church. Pendleton wrote: "A church is a congregation of Christ's baptized disciples, acknowledging him as their Head, relying on his atoning sacrifice for justification before God, depending on the Holy Spirit for sanctification, united in the belief of the gospel, agreeing to maintain its ordinances and obey its precepts, meeting together for worship, and cooperating for the extension of

Christ's kingdom in the world." ¹⁰⁴ Spurgeon saw this definition as containing a hidden agendum: "This appears to be an innocently redundant definition, but when it is used as a means of refusing the ordinance of the Lord's Supper to any but baptized believers, as it is in the chapter on that ordinance, then we see the purpose for which it was inserted. There are other matters with which we do not

agree." ¹⁰⁵ He thought a book on Baptist identity by W. B. Boggs was excellent except for the subject of "closed communion." Spurgeon was amused with the "question begging" approach Boggs took in saying that baptism should be before communion, "as if the question were one of time merely." For Boggs, it seems that point did not beg the question, other than assuming that believers' baptism was the only true baptism. Virtually all denominations agreed that none but the baptized should take communion. This presses the question of who is invited to communion into the realm of who is baptized in a scriptural manner. Spurgeon received criticism, challenges, and urging to a contrary by many American brethren. "Our American Baptist friends are continually challenging us to fight them upon the communion questions," he wrote in June 1874, "but really we feel so sure of our ground, and see so little force in their arguments, that we cannot

feel any inducement to enter the conflict." ¹⁰⁶ After a dozen more years, in 1886, Spurgeon looked at A. H. Strong's defense of strict communion and commented, "We feel so secure in our own view that we can afford to read all that can be said

against it, and smile when we have done." ¹⁰⁷ He did not object to the taking of the Lord's Supper apart from the entire congregation with only a select group participating. At the death of two deacons early in 1883, a very large congregation met in the Monday prayer meeting on January ¹⁵ with "much solemn heartsearching, deep submission to our heavenly Father's will, and an earnest desire that his glory might be increased by the dark experience" of the loss of valuable members. Prior to the meeting of the whole congregation, however, the pastors, deacons, and elders met together for tea, prayer, and communion before the regular weekly prayer meeting. He called it a "solemn, holy, hopeful gathering of men chastened in spirit." At the breaking of

the bread the Lord was "known among us." ¹⁰⁸ Without a thorough belief in the atoning death of Christ, no one can enter into the meaning or the spirit of the ordinance. The spiritual benefit derived from participating in it "does not come from itself, but from the help it gives to the

exercise of faith in the realities brought to remembrance by its symbols." ¹⁰⁹ This is in a review of The Feast of Sacrifice; or, The Origin and Teaching of the Lord's Supper. This book was published by the Church of England Book Society and surprised Spurgeon with its candor, its avoidance of discussions of Anglican ritualistic observance, and its high level of emphasis on the evangelical meaning and the experimental and practical design of the Supper. He clearly agreed with the major points made.

Spurgeon viewed the use of the elements of bread and wine as a purely

symbolic way of pointing the recipient to a hearty remembrance of the historic once-for-all atoning work of Christ. The Supper helps the "exercise of faith" in the "realities," that is, the painful sacrificial, propitiatory, reconciling

substitution accomplished by Christ's death and accepted by the Father. ¹¹⁰ The Supper is exalted, but not above measure, in that there may be an inward feeding on Christ without the external attendance on the Supper and there may be an external attendance on the Supper without an inward feeding on Christ. This should not encourage anyone to minimize the importance of partaking of the Supper, but to get greater advantage by partaking of it with accurate knowledge of the nature of its benefits, and to encourage those that are prevented from

enjoying it by "needless doubts and fears." ¹¹¹ Spurgeon refused to consider using any substitute for fermented wine at communion. He reviewed Yanim; or the Bible Wine Question in which the authors concluded that "they have never met with unfermented wine in the East, nor are there any records, or traditions, that such wine was ever known there."

Spurgeon concurred and said that there never was and never can be any such thing as unfermented wine though "it suits some men to call their messes by that name." There was much in England, however, called wine unworthy of the name, "and it is a shame to remember our Lord's death by drinking such vile concoctions." Spurgeon wanted that which was "as pure and good as can be had." No angry letters from pugilistic temperance people should be forthcoming, for his columns were not open to discussion and his own mind was made up. He was at one with those "temperate temperance friends who forbear to divide

churches, and mar the unity of the saints upon this point." ¹¹² The Supper was initiated with bread and wine and still there must be "nothing more than bread

for food; wine still, nothing less than wine for drink." ¹¹³ He did not specify as to how frequently the Supper should be taken, but he did feel that the words "as oft" indicated that it was to be very present in the minds of his people. "If there be any rule as to the time of the observance of this ordinance, it surely is every Lord's day." At any rate, it must not be infrequent,

and "the oftener we meet for this purpose, the better it is for us." ¹¹⁴ Certainly the practice of once or twice a year was insufficient. Spurgeon practiced it every Sunday. "I thank God that, coming to this table every Sabbath-day, as some of us do, and have done for many years, we have yet for the most part enjoyed the nearest communion with Christ here that we have ever known, and have a

thousand times blessed his name for this ordinance." ¹¹⁵ This frequency of participation did not make the time of memorial any less impressive or beneficial. A communion service was held in the Tabernacle

during the week following the death of Spurgeon. The writer said: "He who has missed seeing one of these services at the Tabernacle, has missed a sight unique in Christendom. The body of the building, and half the first gallery, filled with communicants, and the rest of the space occupied with interested spectators, is almost an overwhelming spectacle at any time." This observer reflected the viewpoint of Spurgeon and the congregation when he noted: "With few words, and quiet movement, the simple emblems of our Lord's death were taken in token of His body broken and His blood shed for His people." They recognized that Christ's death had "become the gate of life to us," and hoped also that in the removal of C. H. Spurgeon, their reflection on his absence from this earthly communion might become, "by the overruling grace of God, a deep and

widespread benediction." ¹¹⁶ Spurgeon did not believe that it was necessary for "an ordained or recognized minister" to preside at the Lord's Supper. He considered this a bit of "unmitigated popery." He saw no warrant for the limitation in Scripture and believed that stricture to be a manifestation of human tradition and superstition. "Stated minister" is little more than "priest writ large." "Even now we know of churches which have dispensed with the Lord's Supper week after week because the pastor was ill, there being, of course, no other brother in the whole community who had grace enough to preside at the table, or administer the sacrament, as some of the brotherhood call it. When matters have gone so far, it

is surely time to speak out against such worship of men." ¹¹⁷ Other aspects of corporate worship Spurgeon saw as having been infected by the priestism of Rome. The announcement of a benediction at the end of a service in itself savored of Rome, particularly when the function seemed reserved for a man of the cloth. Why could not any earnest brother ask for the blessing of God on the congregation? "Fiddle-de, dee is the only word which will enable us to vent our feelings," Spurgeon commented, and so changed the subject to baptism. Spurgeon showed equal animosity to the popish fragments among non-conformists on this ordinance. The desire for the pastor to baptize was normal, Spurgeon conceded, "yet there is no reason he should do so on account of his office." Scripture does not represent it as an act peculiar to preachers and Paul did not seem to consider baptism as his official prerogative.

Perhaps reflecting on his own physical condition, Spurgeon contended that "a vigorous Christian member of the church is far more in his place in the baptismal waters than his ailing, consumptive, or rheumatic pastor." The ordinance does not depend on the baptizer, so Spurgeon noted, but on the earnest and prayerful reception of the baptized. Faith in Christ, not faith in baptism nor the official

standing of the baptizer, constituted the sole ground for the ordinance; its

blessing came from the meditative spirit of the subject. ¹¹⁸ Spurgeon's resistance to any kind of officialism in his position as pastor or in the administration of the ordinances made him feel deep sympathy for the witness of the Quakers. He maintained friendships among that group and sometimes spoke at assemblies of Friends. Their complete spiritualization of the ordinances, in Spurgeon's opinion, was no wonder because spiritual persons naturally revolt against the historic perversion, abuse and misinterpretation that they have undergone. Spurgeon retained the ordinances because he believed that the Lord Jesus himself had ordained them; he would, therefore, celebrate them

"exactly as Christ ordained them." ¹¹⁹ When the Baptist Union met in Birmingham in 1876 a group of Baptist ministers ate with the mayor of Birmingham who happened to be a member of the Society of Friends. During the customary speeches given by the ministers in appreciation for the hospitality of the city and the mayor himself, several mentioned that if they were not Baptist they would be Quaker. Spurgeon concurred with a strong affirmation: "We believe this to be the general feeling; certainly it is ours." Baptists and Quakers held a common "fear of priestcraft, sacramentarianism, and ecclesiastical domination over the conscience." Distinct from the Quakers, Spurgeon noted: "We maintain the two outward ordinances because they appear to us to be plainly taught in Scripture, and because when used only by believers they cannot be perverted into means of salvation." He understood, however, the fear of the Quakers, for "when we see them [the ordinances] regarded as saving ordinances, or as in any way contributing to salvation, we lament the perversion and marvel not that brethren are driven by honest, but erring impulses, to reject the outward

symbol altogether." ¹²⁰ Sympathy for Quakers and practice of open communion did not mean that Spurgeon had weak convictions about being Baptist. When Dr. Landels, newly elected as president of the Baptist Union in 1876, challenged the Christian world in his inaugural address with the Baptist understanding of baptism, Spurgeon anointed him as Greatheart. He believed, in spite of criticism thrown at the good man, that Landels had entered the battle for a "good and great cause." "The Baptists have had enough of being patronized as a small sect, whose peculiarities were not offensively intruded." The spirit of indulgence shown by the "more respectable branch of the Congregational body" Spurgeon believed was "tinctured with contempt." Baptists had a "deposit of sacred truth to defend, and we shall not hesitate to battle for it." That Landels had put them into the necessity of doing so inspired Spurgeon to gratitude for "the bold man who is

more eager to bear the responsibility of his office than to wear its honours." ¹²¹ When Landels chaired the Baptist Union meeting, his presidential address provoked negative press from one paedobaptist press, calling him "the apostle of discord." Spurgeon rose to his defense and in doing so to the defense of Baptist distinctives as Landels defended them. "We have never heard a whisper or a complaint against him from any one of the thousands of Baptists among whom we move." Only cravens covetous of the favour of the wealthy would dissent from Landels' outspoken address. Spurgeon suspected that vilification of his character in calling him "the apostle of discord," constituted the only answer to his arguments. The cause which resorts to such weapons must sense its own weakness. Spurgeon had found that "the gentlemen who most loudly boast of their broadness and liberality of soul, are the first to wince when unpleasant truth is vigorously spoken." An honest opponent should be a delight to a true man, and no person living can doubt Landels' honesty. Landels, Spurgeon contended, was not one of those "who care not a penny for any doctrine whatever," but yielded himself to strongly held convictions. For that reason the word passed around, "Call him the Apostle of Discord, and say that the best of the Baptists are not with him; never mind the falsehood, it may serve for the occasion, and silence discussion, for if men once begin to think and search, much evil will come to our cause." Spurgeon, however, honored Landels as a Baptist champion, "brave as a lion and true as steel." The world must know that he does not stand alone. ¹²²

Nature of Church Life and Important Workers

Spurgeon's commitment to church planting generated a generosity on the part of his church members and encouraged other Christians and congregations to become involved. In 1874, the congregation at the Tabernacle opened a new Baptist chapel at Surbiton, near Kingswood. "The ground was given us by a generous friend," Spurgeon reported, "and the London Baptist Association gave £1000 towards the erection." Indicating high hopes for the new congregation he showed his commitment to continuance in this manner of evangelistic outreach from the church. "We are anxious to found Baptist churches, where there is need for them, and shall be always glad to hear of earnest friends who will co-operate

with us in taking the gospel to destitute neighbourhoods." ¹²³ Spurgeon had a deep appreciation for those that joined him in his zeal for the Lord. He strongly believed that it was of utmost importance that Christians who attend classes should have work to do for their Lord. Without it, they miss the healthy exercise which is as necessary to the soul as spiritual food. The Olney family had been active before Spurgeon arrived and still were vital to the work subsequent to his death. In 1875 Spurgeon referred to William Olney as "our right-hand helper in spiritual things," and asked for ardent prayer from the

church on his behalf as he suffered in a "continued illness." ¹²⁴ Ten years later, Spurgeon presented William Olney as a "man immersed in business, who yet does the work of an evangelist, and fulfils the duties of pastor and leader to a

large community of working people." ¹²⁵ When Olney was restored to health from another serious illness in 1888, Spurgeon commented about the value of that family: "The prayers of the Lord's people at the Tabernacle have been graciously heard in the restoration to us of our beloved brother and deacon, William Olney, after long suffering, borne with a cheerful patience which has been a lesson to us all. Long may he now be spared to the Lord's work!" The next generation picked up the mantle without hesitation. Spurgeon rejoiced that Mr. William Olney, Jr., "continues, his laborious service at Haddon Hall, and week by week we see persons, some from the poorest and most degraded

districts, brought to Jesus." ¹²⁶ Spurgeon wished for many more such of Olney Jr.'s devotion and gifts.

Another worker of great faithfulness and effectiveness through the years saw powerful blessing in the ministry of Sunday School teaching. Mrs. Bartlett's Bible Class provided a reliable source of biblical instruction for young women and a steady stream of converts in the church. According to Edward Leach, Mrs. Bartlett was converted "with her whole heart to God" before her teen years. She

immediately sought the "soul-good" of others and became a Sabbath-school teacher when she was twelve. According to Leach, "she was a spiritual mother

even then; and many souls were brought by her to the Saviour." ¹²⁷ This success made her desire wider usefulness, and she went to villages near her home to exhort "burly farmers and their still more boisterous sons to seek an emancipation from the tyranny of Satan." Her life had its share of affliction as she lost her husband to Asiatic cholera and she contracted a heart disease that made her health tentative.

In February 1856, Mrs. Bartlett moved from Dr. Steane's church to New Park Street, in order that she might be a member of the Christian community which her two sons were about to join. She did not for a time continue the active employment in which she had previously engaged as a worker for Christ; but her temporary retirement was only a preparation for future usefulness, and when, in the summer of 1859, at the invitation of Thomas Olney, she took for one afternoon the senior class in the Sunday School, which then comprised only three young women. ¹²⁸ At the end of a month fourteen came. By 1861 at the

opening of the Tabernacle the class numbered fifty. ¹²⁹ Soon her class moved to the major lecture hall, room enough for 900 persons, where within three months the attendance increased to 300 and within a year 500. By 1866 the average attendance was 700.

This Sunday afternoon consisted of women exclusively, but not exclusively of members of the Tabernacle. Women from other congregations, both nonconformist and Episcopal, came. Now and then an elder would look in on the class and occasionally a man would visit, such as Edward Leach who commented: "On a recent visit to the class, it seemed to me that there was an undefined something in the prayer alone which robbed one of that calmness of mind so requisite in joining in a public supplication, but filled the soul at times with a holy exhilaration and devout expectation which fully compensated for

loss of calm." ¹³⁰ After describing the earnest and powerful way in which she addressed the class members, Leach asked: "If a woman can thus approach the Lord in supplication, how much do we not lose, my male friends, by not

occasionally hearing her voice?" ¹³¹ Mrs. Bartlett made clear that she did not consider her talks and exhortations to be preaching. Leach gave a lengthy

description of the impression it made on him:

It was an exhortation to press onward in the Divine life, in all works of womanly devotion to the

Master's cause, and in the maintenance of a continual communication with Heaven. It was

experimental—a woman's vivid fancy calling up scenes of spiritual conflict and cares, coloured with

life and beauty. It was doctrinal—founded on the eternal verities of the great I AM. It was chiefly

exhortative—recalling God's performances in bygone times of Christian experience, specifying the

many sacred privileges of the present, painting bright pictures of coming joys and communions to be

realized by faith in the far-stretched future. Better still—it was savoury, full of Jesus. Peculiarly tender

and eloquent was her appeal to the unconverted. Convince a sinner of your real anxiety for his eternal

welfare, and you have opened a channel in his heart for further communications. Few could resist

admiring the exuberant and passionate utterances of this Bible-teacher. 132

The activities of the class expanded to include a Tuesday evening time for prayer and exhortation and a Friday evening time for prayer only. Mrs. Bartlett's home was always open to the class, but for inquirers only. Spurgeon called her residence the "House of mercy." Scores of people were converted through this ministry and ¹⁰⁰ were baptized at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in 1865 from her class and many others joined other congregations. Several developed teaching and evangelistic ministries of their own. Just one year before her death Spurgeon reported that "Mrs. Bartlett's class is carried on by her with as much vigour and success as ever." Of course her health was always feeble, but God provided strength as it was required. In spite of her frailty, "her words are so much attended with divine power that large numbers from her class are constantly

added to the church." ¹³³ When she died in August 1875, the class asked her son to become teacher. He did. Spurgeon wrote that "the loss of our excellent Mrs. Bartlett" along with the illness of William Olney were subjects of "much earnest prayer." "We feel both these sorrows very greatly," he noted, but at the same time did not give the impression that the work of God was dependent on any particular gifted person.

There was "sweet alleviation" to these sorrows and others made "zealous endeavours to supply every lack of service." In short, even with the interruption

of the work of such pivotal laborers, "Nothing flags." ¹³⁴ When a special meeting, a "fete," was held in the orphanage in June of 1876, only 400 tickets had been taken by that morning of the event. The hosts planned for ²,000 and when ³,000 came they had to take quick action for provisions.

Spurgeon was delighted with the thousands of handshakes and words of congratulations, overwhelmed with the contributions to the orphanage, and exuberant in his praise of the men in charge of the entire event. "Our best thanks are due and are hereby tendered to our friend Mr. Murrell and his staff for the tremendous exertions which they made on the day just past. They were at its close like men who had fought a great battle. The feeding of three thousand when the loaves and fishes grow by miracle does not involve the toil which has to be borne by those who on a sudden find that bread and butter and cake and hot tea are needed by a thousand more people than they expected, although they looked for two thousand. God bless the men who so cheerfully do the Church's hardest work." Spurgeon also urged the members to purchase tickets to an event

in advance of the event itself so that proper preparations can be made. ¹³⁵ Mr. Murrell was kept quite busy with this kind of event. When the "Butchers' Annual Festival" was held in the Tabernacle in March 1878, an event for which "a ton of meat" was prepared along with carrots, and bread and cake and tea, "the feeding of all this great multitude was accomplished by our marvelous deacon, Mr. Murrell, without a trace of disorder or a moment's delay." Spurgeon pushed the compliments steadily saying that Murrell could be the general of an

army, so well does he organize. ¹³⁶ And all of this is done merrily. Spurgeon was committed to the reality that a merry heart helps both body and soul in their daily travels, and saw these generously bestowed accolades as a part of pastoral oversight. Who would not be merry, and serve willingly, with such an encourager to lead by such sweet affirmation?

Mr. and Mrs. Pasfield served as general managers of the "tea department" of the Tabernacle. Spurgeon commented that they were "humble, laborious, useful and yet almost unseen servants of the church." While in the process of preparing for a large Sunday School tea, Mrs. Pasfield died on the spot. "Who could wish to die in a better case," observed Spurgeon, "in the full service of the church of God." She had to endure no "long illness, no enforced idleness, no sense of uselessness," but remained "active to the last." They did their work for the love

of it and never felt imposed upon. ¹³⁷ When Spurgeon learned that a chapel on Highgate Road was seeking to raise money through a bazaar, he invited them to come to the Tabernacle to complete the effort and asked some of the leaders to aid Mrs. Coxeter and her friends bring the event to a successful end. They came up to the mark and were able to gain around £250. Spurgeon believed that it was healthy for a church even when "loaded with home service, to lend a hand to brethren in whose enterprise we have no selfish interest." At such a time, pure Christian affection is displayed and exercised. He made sure to give public thanks "to the ladies who get up a Tabernacle Stall on the shortest possible notice." They "carried on its operations with so much vigour" that "the whole incident caused the Pastor great pleasure."

This sort of work remarkably illustrated "the willingness of the people to aid in

every good work." ¹³⁸ When Henry Hobson died, Spurgeon printed a personal eulogy displaying the values of personal character, strategic giving, and gospel labor that manifest a mature and comprehensive Christian character. Living in virtual anonymity, Hobson's careful use of his peculiar gifts, his way of making opportunities, his unselfish spirit, his love of souls, and his simple belief in the power of the gospel would be a credit to any local church and an example that could be emulated by

any Christian:

A few weeks ago we suffered a great loss by the death of Mr. Henry Hobson, to whose memory we

raised a verbal memorial at our Monday evening meeting, but we must also pour out a few elegiac

sentences here. He was a quiet, unobtrusive member of the church; we suppose a butler who had saved

enough money to purchase a comfortable annuity. Ever since we first knew him all his time has been

spent in endeavouring to bring individuals to Christ, in his own way. He paid for a whole pew at the

Tabernacle, and then went abroad into Hyde Park and other places, and invited young men to come

and hear Mr. Spurgeon, promising them a seat. After service he entered into conversation, gave

another invitation, and by other means sought to secure the person. Many has he in this way led to the

Saviour, and then to the church. His style of living was parsimonious that he might be able to give to

the orphanage and the college, and especially that he might buy a weekly heap of sermons, which he

distributed with great care in the parks. Although in advanced years, he walked erect, with somewhat

stately tread and aristocratic air, and this no doubt enabled him to introduce his sermons and his seat-

tickets where a less impressive physique might have failed. Scarcely known to anyone but to us, our

comrade has our loving regrets until we meet again. 139

All structure, all officers, all worship, all ordinances, all discipline were not merely perfunctory, but were employed for the purpose of producing such Christians. God gave them that the man of God would have a tested and tried maturity, fully equipped for every good work, and that the people of God would

reach a unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God.