The Gospel is Evangelism

If you are like a lamb, bleat to him, and the bleatings of the lamb will attract the shepherd's ear. Cry mightily unto the Lord for salvation, and trust alone in the Lord Jesus. He will save you. If you were between the jaws of hell, yet, if you believed in him, he would surely pluck you out of destruction. God grant you

may find it so, for Christ's sake. ¹ My poor faith is just as common as a bit of hyssop pulled up from the wall, but then I lay it asoak in the atonement; while I muse upon who Jesus was, and what he suffered, and for what purpose, till it is wet, saturated, and all becrimsoned with the vital flood. … Thus you crimson the lintel and the door-posts. Let all men know that whatever you may have been, and whatever you now are, you do now believe in the substitutionary death of Jesus, oppose you who may. Witness, ye men and angels and devils, that Jesus' blood is our sole hope. He who thus believes is saved. Brother, go your way, and leap for joy. No man ever perished

who from his heart rested in the atoning blood. ² S purgeon's evangelistic ministry exhibited two characteristics fundamental to all that he did as a pastor. First, he reflected on his experience of conversion in at least a twofold manner. He unfurled it in length, breadth, and depth as a means of demonstrating the unassailable practicality of the great doctrines of the Bible. Biblical truths answer immediately the most pressing and lasting human needs. Also, he assumed a continuity between his struggles and questions and the manner in which God's Spirit dealt with him and the struggles of those to whom he preached. He recognized personality differences and the sovereign prerogatives of God in dealing with his sheep in ways peculiar to his purpose for them, but he also knew that large areas of analogy existed in the coming of any sinner to Christ.

The second fundamental issue of Spurgeon's evangelism is his theological commitment to the practice of evangelism. He would agree with the confessional

3 commitment of Andrew Fuller who, in the straits of the hyper-Calvinist controversy a century earlier, said: "I believe it is the duty of every minister of

Christ plainly and faithfully to preach the gospel to all who will hear it; and as I believe the inability of men to spiritual things to be wholly of the moral, and therefore of the criminal kind, and that it is their duty to love the Lord Jesus Christ and trust in him for salvation though they do not; I therefore believe free and solemn addresses, invitations, calls, and warnings to them to be not only consistent, but directly adapted, as means, in the hand of the Spirit of God, to bring them to Christ. I consider it as a part of my duty which I could not omit

without being guilty of the blood of souls." ³. Spurgeon fully concurred and did not consider a man "faithful to his own conscience, who can preach simply the ⁴ of sovereignty, and neglect to insist upon the doctrine of doctrine responsibility." ⁴

The End Demands the Means

Spurgeon had no doubts that God alone saves and that he saves in accordance with a wise purpose eternally decreed from before the beginning of this present age. If the decree, however, did not operate on the basis of mere abstractions, but established the necessity of the incarnation, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, intercession, and glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ—if the eternally begotten Son in conformity to the decree of God says, "Behold, I am come to do your will, O God"— then his servant must follow suit. If the atonement is necessary, so is its proclamation; if all who believe will be saved, they must be presented with the One in whom they are to believe; if belief involves the surrender of a sinner to the fullness of truths set forth in the gospel, then those things that fit the sinner for such surrender must be proclaimed and pressed hard into both mind and conscience. "We feel persuaded," Spurgeon told an audience at a meeting of the Baptist Missionary Society, "that all of you are on one mind in this matter; that it is the absolute duty, as well as the eminent privilege, of the church to proclaim the gospel to the world." God did not do his work of evangelism without instruments, but "has always employed means in the work of the regeneration of this world." The church must "do its utmost to

spread the truth wherever it can reach the ear of man." ⁵ The Pastors' College Conference of 1881 embodied Spurgeon's deep-seated earnestness for winning souls. Wednesday afternoon was given to prayer on "behalf of evangelistic effort" in anticipation of several addresses given on the subject, "How to Win Souls, and evangelize England." Graduates of the College spoke to the issue: A. G. Brown, E. B. Sawday, Vernon Chapel, H. E. Stone, and W. Y. Fullerton. Present and speaking also were members of the Baptist Union Evangelistic Committee: William Olney, W. Sampson, J. T. Wigner, and W.

Penfold Cope. From Philadelphia in the United States came the son of Francis Wayland, H. L. Wayland, who spoke on the subject also. Spurgeon considered it a morning well spent and remarked, "No man could fail to be aroused to more

earnest action."

Much agony of heart was felt by some of the speakers as they described the sad condition of the

masses, and expressed their fears that they were not even now reached in their lowest depths by any

known agency. There was much good, practical talk, and we hope that something will come of it to the

glory of God and the benefit of the people. 6

Charles Spurgeon wanted evangelistic success. Whatever else might come as God expanded his ministry, he yearned for perishing souls, brands plucked from the burning. At least early in his ministry, before the debilitating effects of gout,

nephritis, and periodic depression set in, he saw himself as an itinerant evangelist. "I protest," he preached, "if I could not itinerate this country of England, I could not bear to preach." Remaining set in one place would make the people gospel-hardened and the preacher indolent. "My highest ambition," he said, "that I may be found going through the entire land, as well as holding my head-quarters in one position." Itinerancy is God's great plan, for God's elect are

scattered throughout; "God's elect are everywhere." ⁷ Spurgeon wanted those that had "not been previously connected with any body of believers, or indeed, who have not attended any house of prayer." He valued "beyond all price the godless and the careless, who have been brought out from the world into communion with Christ." While he welcomed those from other communions that came for wise and providential reasons, he had no desire to obtain any "stealthily removed from friendly shores" but panted after those that were "captured at the edge of the sword from the enemy's dominions."

Receiving members from other congregations did not strengthen the army, so he preferred, rather than cajoling unstable people from their present place of worship, to look after "perishing souls." He did not complain that he had been accused "of getting all the rabble of London around me. God bless the rabble!

God save the rabble!" Suppose this derogatory term is even true, who needs the gospel more than the rabble? Many preach to refined ladies and gentlemen but "we want someone to preach to the rabble in these degenerate days." The most desperate, the most bloated whose brains have been drunk away, may yet shine like stars in the universe transformed by sovereign grace. "Fetch me out the worst," he yearned, "and still I would preach the gospel to them; fetch me out the vilest, still I would preach to them." This he would do in obedience to his Master who commanded that his audience be gathered from the highways and

hedges. ⁸ Searching for souls was not easy, especially in London, for the native depravity of man had been further degraded in hardness by the vicious life so easily followed and so oppressively dominant. "To seek for pearls at the bottom of the sea is child's play," Spurgeon told his congregation in 1888, "compared with seeking for souls in this wicked London." If God did not go with them and promise that he had a people, then their eyes would go blind and their tongues would wear thin before they would find any to grasp Christ as a Redeemer. Only by divine help would they bring with them the "chosen of the Lord." But as a church they were the Bridegroom's friends and they would "sigh and cry till we

have found the chosen hearts in whom he will delight." ⁹ Charles Spurgeon's first pastorate was at Waterbeach about six miles from

Cambridge. The number of conversions that accompanied his preaching and his personal evangelism amounted to more than just numbers as the entire village was transformed, as noted in another chapter. He himself remarked about the Waterbeach ministry: "He showed the power of Jesu's name, and made me a witness of that gospel which can win souls, draw reluctant hearts, and mould

afresh the life and conduct of sinful men and women." ¹⁰ Large crowds and numerous commendations of his preaching would not satisfy because Spurgeon longed to know that God had set his seal to his ministry through a conversion.

One Sunday a deacon told him of the wife of a "poor laboring man" that had been convicted and found peace. She wanted to speak with Spurgeon. Early on a Monday morning Spurgeon's deacon drove him to the house to "see my first spiritual child." She was baptized, became a member of the church, bore a consistent witness and died within two years.

The thought of this particular seal brought from Spurgeon one of the most earnest and eloquent soliloquies on the grandeur of soul-winning in English literature. His adaptation of the messianic declaration of success to his own case shows the continuity of means, in Spurgeon's view, from the completed work of

Christ through the minister's proclamation of the gospel.

Then could I have sung the song of the Virgin Mary, for my soul did magnify the Lord for

remembering my low estate, and giving me the great honour to do a work for which all generations

should call me blessed, for so I counted and still count the conversion of one soul. I would rather be

the means of saving a soul from death than be the greatest orator on earth. I would rather bring the

poorest woman in the world to the feet of Jesus than I would be made Archbishop of Canterbury. I

would sooner pluck one single brand from the burning than explain all mysteries. To win a soul from

going down into the pit, is a more glorious achievement than to be crowned in the arena of theological

controversy as Dr. Sufficientisimus; to have faithfully unveiled the glory of God in the face of Jesus

Christ will be, in the final judgment, accounted worthier service than to have solved the problems of

the religious Sphinx, or to have cut the Gordian knot of Apocalyptic difficulty. One of my happiest

thoughts is that, when I die, it shall be my privilege to enter into rest in the bosom of Christ, and I

know that I shall not enjoy my heaven alone. Thousands are already there, who have been drawn to

Christ under my ministry. Oh! What bliss it will be to fly to heaven, and to have a multitude of

converts before and behind, and, on entering the glory, to be able to say, "Here am I, Father, and the

children Thou hast given me." 11

That reality was repeated year after year throughout Spurgeon's tenure in London. He himself could note truthfully, "He has given me a long period of happy and successful service, for which, with all my heart, I praise and magnify His holy Name. There has been a greater increase sometimes, of a little diminution now and then; but, for the most part, the unbroken stream of blessing has run on at much the same rate all the while." That the ministry of the Metropolitan Tabernacle was truly powerful and effective in consistent

evangelism is borne out by the numbers. In 1853 the New Park Street membership numbered 313. By the end of 1860 the membership had risen to ¹,494. Though some came from other congregations, the bulk of these was converted and added to the church by baptism. For the next ten years the church added an average of 448 persons per year with a net increase of 267 each year.

By 1870 the membership stood at ⁴,165. By 1882 the membership reached ⁵,472. The last ten years of his ministry continued to see hundreds of additions with an average of 269 baptisms each year. This includes the five years of the Downgrade Controversy. During some of these years there was a net loss in membership because, in addition to the normal attrition by death, discipline, and moving of residence, Spurgeon dismissed significant numbers to establish chapels in other parts of the city.

Did this consistent increase in numbers indicate that Spurgeon played fast and loose with the gospel? Did he manipulate his audiences and wring decisions out of them with no sensitivity to the necessity of the new birth? He certainly most ardently called for decision, and immediate decision. In 1874, he cautioned against lingering too long with enquirers, for they seemed to substitute the attention for their duty to believe. "Immediate trust in the Lord Jesus is the demand of the gospel, and it is dangerous to allow the anxious to look to meetings and conversations as a means of gainng what is even now to be had by

an act of faith." ¹² But did he ignore the nature of repentance and faith? Were these members taken in with little or no concern to ascertain if a genuine work of grace had subdued them to Christ? Spurgeon's success and his exuberant use of all means legitimately at his disposal did not blur his sight of truth or dim the glory of God in his search for souls.

Manner of Accepting Members

In a speech to his students in 1888, Spurgeon reiterated a conviction that had governed his method throughout his ministry. The importance of the practice pressed more soberly on his awareness and conscience at that time because of the theological decline and worldliness he observed all around him. Though he still urged that the minister must labor for the immediate salvation of his hearers, he was equally clear that holiness must accompany profession. Good works are the necessary fruit of grace. For that reason he exhorted the men of his fellowship to "be careful about the admission of members into the church."

Theological decline mixes well with increased worldliness and the churches now have far above their share of both. "Let the door of the church be open to all sincere souls," he urged, "but closed against all whose hearts are in the world. It is not even for the worldling's good that he should hold the form of godliness while he is a stranger to its power. As you love the Lord, and value men's souls,

guard well the entrance of the church." ¹³ Twenty-three years earlier, in 1865, The Sword and Trowel carried an article that described in detail about how inquirers were interviewed and how it was determined that they should be received into membership. After a summary of the growth of the church since 1854, George Rogers remarked, "This work has been not of man, but of God, and therefore it has not been overthrown." At that time, there were ten deacons, chosen for life, and twenty-three elders elected annually who attended to the spiritual affairs of the church. The process for membership began with an interview with one of the elders, present at the

Tabernacle on Wednesday night specifically for that purpose.

A record is made by the Elder of the result of that interview in what is called the Inquirers' Book. If

satisfied with the candidate, he gives a card, which qualifies for direct intercourse with Mr. Spurgeon,

who devotes a fixed portion of his time to that office. If Mr. Spurgeon thinks favorably of the

individual, the name is announced at a Church meeting, and visitors are appointed to make the most

careful inquiries into the whole circumstances connected with the application. If this investigation is

satisfactory, the candidate appears at a Church meeting where he is examined by the pastor, after

which he retires, and the visitor gives his report upon the case. It is then proposed to the Church for its

adoption, and if approved, the Pastor gives the right hand of fellowship. As soon after this as

convenient, the candidate is baptized, and on the next Sabbath in the month ensuing, unites in the

Communion Service, having first been recognized before the whole church by again receiving from the

Pastor the right hand of fellowship.

Spurgeon spoke of the great joy that these lengthy interviews gave him. "Usually, so many came," he wrote, "that I was quite overwhelmed with

gratitude and thanksgiving to God." ¹⁴ He commented on the character of these testimonies concerning their conviction of sin and their alteration of mind from

an affection for the things of the world to a love of the gospel. Often, he would ask the enquirer to sit down while he related his experience of finding the Saviour. "Why sir," they would exclaim, "that is just how I have felt, but I did

not think anyone else had ever gone over the same path that I have trodden." ¹⁵ Spurgeon had reached a conviction early in his Christian life that the work of conversion was all of God. A journal of three months is larded with entries

extolling the power and beauty of sovereign electing love. ¹⁶ He saw clearly his absolute dependence on and the inexhaustible necessity of gratitude for "the sparing mercies of the Lord, but especially for His great grace in electing me, by

the sovereign counsels of His love, to be one of His redeemed ones." ¹⁷ "Truly I have nothing which I have not received; I can boast of no inherent righteousness.

Had the Lord not chosen me, I should not have chosen Him. Grace! Grace!

Grace! 'Tis all of grace." ¹⁸ These are the words of a sixteen-year-old.

When pastor at Waterbeach, Spurgeon was invited to preach at the dissenting chapel at Houghton, run largely by the eccentric but generous miller of Houghton, Potto Brown. Although the story has been related in another chapter, some of the implications are particularly relevant here. Brown had been host for Charles Finney in 1849 and had seen six foster children converted under his witness. His own background was Quaker and he was a devoted Arminian. After Spurgeon preached and returned to Brown's home, he found himself under assault not only for his theology but for what Brown suspected as plagiarism.

One so young could not preach so astutely and passionately and give evidence of such mature experience unless he had stolen someone else's material. Brown soon learned that such was not the case and that his young guest was not a pushover. A battle royal progressed through the afternoon in what Spurgeon later

characterized as a "time of 'felicitous misery'." ¹⁹ This confrontive introduction to a Finneyite did little to endear the American evangelist to the young English Baptist Calvinist whose preaching on the doctrines of grace was as natural and unpostured as the beating of the heart.

Drummond expressed perplexity at Spurgeon's lifelong resistance to Finney:

It seems after this encounter in Houghton that Charles never had a profound appreciation for the

ministry of Charles Finney. Perhaps Spurgeon was a bit too prejudiced toward Arminianism, so he

failed to appreciate Finney's significant ministry. The American preacher made a tremendous impact

not only in Houghton but later in London, preaching at Whitefield's Tabernacle. Whitefield had

become Charles' idol. Still, scant references are made to Finney in the writings of Spurgeon, and when

they do occur, they tend to be rather negative. This is unfortunate, because they shared much in

common. 20

They certainly shared the urgency of salvation as common beliefs and that the

need for decision for Christ was immediate. Opposition to Unitarianism and universalism were also common commitments, but on virtually every evangelical doctrine Spurgeon differed strongly with Finney and found Finney's stance not only inadequate, but hostile to saving truth. Under Spurgeon's editorship, Vernon Charlesworth in 1876 reviewed the recently published autobiography of Finney. Significant differences emerge in the review. Spurgeon believed that intense preparation was needed for preaching and that the taking of a text must be done long before one appeared in the pulpit. Charlesworth highlighted Finney's practice of not choosing a text until he arose to preach and then attributing both text and structure of the sermon to an immediate revelatory operation of the Spirit of God. Charlesworth remarked, "We have yet to learn that the promised aid of the Spirit justifies any minister's appearance before an audience, excepting under very special circumstance, without the most careful preparation." He went on severely to question Finney's claim of inspiration for his "every utterance" and pointed out that anyone who does such "absolves himself from the responsibility of any error into which he may unwittingly fall, and demands a divine sanction for any nonsense he may utter." Charlesworth had the conviction, doubtless shared by Spurgeon, that Finney must "have been

mistaken as to the degree in which he preached under the Spirit's influence." ²¹ Finney reckoned his conversions by the hundreds of thousands, Charlesworth noted, but he failed to discover that there is a corresponding advantage in membership to the evangelical churches. "It seems," so Charlesworth wryly

observed, "that Mr. Finney reckons every trembling Felix as a true convert." ²² More severe, however, was Finney's presentation of the doctrine of evangelism. Spurgeon saw no contradiction between evangelism and the clearest and most forceful presentation of historic confessional Calvinism. The latter, he believed, was intrinsic to the purest evangelistic presentation of the gospel. "Again and again," Charlesworth pointed out, Finney heaps "ridicule upon the doctrine of substitution, as taught by Calvinistic theology." Not only so, he rejected the doctrine of total inability as an aspect of total depravity as "mere nonsense." If total inability were true, so Finney reasoned, then the atonement was not grace but "a debt due to mankind on the part of God for having placed them in a condition so deplorable and so unfortunate." Charlesworth found it disturbing that this supposedly great evangelist denounced the doctrine of imputation as a "wonderful theological fiction." Instead of invoking the necessity of divine intervention by the new birth, Finney boasted that he told his hearers that it was their duty to make themselves a new heart and if they did their duty, they would be Christians. After posing some pertinent questions designed

to uncover the weaknesses of the "Pelagian heresy" of Finney, Charlesworth dared to query if "the supposed benefit of Mr. Finney's labours has not been greatly overestimated." He did not wonder at the "evanescent character" of a large portion of the conversions for he did not believe "that the grievous errors which marred his testimony could have led up to conversions of the right kind, though they were evidently adapted to produce presumptuous confidence, and

transitory excitement." ²³ With all his passion for souls, and his aggressive pursuit of their repentance, Spurgeon would not assume the place of the Holy Spirit or usurp the prerogatives of divine sovereignty. He seemed to have certain aspects of Finney's thought in mind when he lectured to his students that "we depend entirely upon the Spirit of God to produce actual effect from the gospel, and at this effect we must always aim." Notice the words, only the Spirit can produce the effect, but we aim at the effect. These two ideas are not antithetical but one is determinative of the other. The traits of the Spirit's work determine the manner and the content of the preacher's aim. Thus, he should "never aim at effect after the manner of the climax makers, poetry quoters, handkerchief manipulators, and bombast blowers. Far better for a man that he had never been born than that he should degrade a pulpit into a show box to exhibit himself in." Rather they should aim at inspiring saints to nobler things, leading Christians close to their master, comforting doubters "till they rise out of their terrors, the repentance of

sinners, and their exercise of immediate faith in Christ." ²⁴ But with the desire for immediate faith in Christ the preacher recognizes, as opposed precisely to the language of Finney, that "miracles of grace must be the seals of our ministry; who can bestow them but the Spirit of God? Convert a soul without the Spirit of God! Why, you cannot even make a fly, much less create a new heart and a right spirit. Lead the children of God to a higher life without the Holy Ghost! You are inexpressibly more likely to conduct them into carnal

security, if you attempt their elevation by any method of your own." ²⁵ Spurgeon did, however, recognize the usefulness of Finney in certain contexts. When encouraging his students to learn to appeal to the understanding, he said, "I am not an admirer of the peculiar views of Mr. Finney, but I have no doubt that he was useful to many; and his power lay in his use of clear arguments." Spurgeon did insert in The Sword and Trowel a document from

Finney entitled "How to Preach so as to convert Nobody." ²⁶ Spurgeon agreed entirely with Finney's premise underlying the article, "It is generally conceded at the present day that the Holy Spirit converts souls to Christ by means of truth adapted to that end. It follows that a selfish preacher will not skillfully adapt

means to convert souls to Christ; for that is not his end." One of the pieces of advice concerning how not to convert sinners stated, "Do not make the impression that you expect your hearers to commit themselves upon the spot, and give their hearts to God." ²⁷

The Warrant and the Way

The practice of Spurgeon always reflected the theological realities of the warrant to faith, which is immediate, the command to repent and believe, which is immediate, and the way of faith, which often is greatly extended. If one focuses on any one of these to the exclusion of another, or fails to distinguish between them, he will present a contorted view of Spurgeon's evangelism. We will see that his sermons and writings are filled with both the warrant and the command.

At the same time his instruction and method adheres to the reality of the way of faith.

What about the reality that some often arrive at a place of deep conviction and yet find no peace of forgiveness and no sense of Christ's acceptance? "It is one of the strange things in the dealings of Jesus," Spurgeon wrote, "that even when we arrive at this state of entire spiritual destitution, we do not always become at once the objects of his justifying grace. Long seasons frequently intervene between our knowledge of our ruin, our hearing of a deliverer, and the

application of that deliverer's hand." ²⁸ Though frequently conversion comes quickly on the heels of deep conviction it might not, and might not come at all.

Spurgeon suggests that we remember that God is not our debtor. "Oh! Our hearts loathe the pride which bows not to Divine sovereignty, but arrogantly declares God to be under obligations to his creatures. Those who are full of this satanic spirit will not assert this in plain language, but while they cavil at election, talking with impious breath about 'partiality,' 'injustice,' 'respect of person' and such like things, they too plainly show that their old nature is yet unhumbled by divine grace." Spurgeon goes on the say, "We are sure of this, that no convinced sinner, when under a sense of his ill-desert, will ever dispute the justice of God in damning him, or quarrel with the distinguishing grace which Heaven giveth to one and not to another." Jesus will have the sinner know that his gifts are in his own hand, totally within the pale of "sovereign discriminating, electing grace," are given freely, with the intention that the sinner will "know that his bounties

are in his own hand," and none can lay claim to them as a right. ²⁹ Another reason for the delay in the way of faith has to do with the deeply Christocentric nature of conversion. Spurgeon, though modified in his preparationism, nevertheless believed that sinners at times had to be taught to use the means of obtaining peace. Go hear preaching that is being blessed of God for salvation, pray and call upon Christ, think of his promises, and meditate upon Christ. "Many souls mourn because they cannot make themselves believe; and the constant exhortations of ministers persuading them to faith, cause them to sink deeper in the mire, since all their attempts prove ineffectual." Not only

are these exhortations useless, they are cruel. Faith must have an object, and the object must be perceived truthfully, and precisely in accord with the call to faith.

Christ's work as the only acceptable atoner and atonement must capture the mind and heart. "Faith," Spurgeon argues, "is a result of previous states of the mind, and flows from those antecedent conditions, but is not a position to which

we can attain without passing through those other states." ³⁰ Faith consists of "knowledge, belief, and trust." We cannot stride to faith apart from knowing what to believe and why. "Some men endeavour to preach sinners to Christ; we prefer to preach Christ to sinners," he wrote, because he believed that a "faithful exhibition of Jesus crucified will, under the divine blessing, beget faith in hearts where fiery oratory and vehement declamation have failed. … a true view of Calvary will smite unbelief with death, and put faith into its place."

31

Paramount in his instructions to seekers was the words, "Know the gospel."

Know how it "talks of free forgiveness, and of change of heart, of adoption into the family of God." One must know that those are the real needs they have. Then "know especially Christ Jesus the Son of God, the Saviour of men, united to us by his human nature, and yet one with God; and thus able to act as mediator between God and man." One must endeavor to know the doctrine of the sacrifice of Christ for "the point upon which saving faith mainly fixes is this." One must have clear ideas of the biblical presentation of substitutionary atonement, that Jesus was "made a curse for us," that is that God made him to "be sin for us that

we might be made the righteousness of God in him." ³² But with the fullness of Christ's saving work exhibited, with Christ crucified clearly set before the eyes of sinners, these truths must be believed, that is, the assent of credibility must be given to them as another element of the fitness of the human understanding previous to a call for trust. With this in place, however, there yet remains the gracious call of God to venture on Christ for full pardon and acceptance. This call to believe is not a human contrivance but intrinsically connected with the gospel. It is commanded: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31). It is explicitly set forth as a condition on our part and everywhere implied by the very nature of the wholeness of salvation. "If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship;" "If indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard." "We have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end." It is a gift that is a constituent element of God's saving operation: "By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God;" "He who began the good work in you will bring it to completion." "May

your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass." "God has chosen you from the beginning [or, as the first fruits] for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this he called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord

Jesus Christ." ³³ That faith is a gift, and that it arises only from the heart that has been the recipient of that mysterious working of the Holy Spirit should not for a moment hinder belief. "The Lord does, in fact, produce the new birth in all who believe

in Jesus; and their believing is the surest evidence that they are born again." ³⁴ He will not, however, believe for us, just as we cannot do the regenerating work for him. It is enough to "obey the gracious command; it is for the Lord to work the new birth in us." We sow seed with the firm confidence that the Lord causes the seed to grow, and we go about our business from day to day with a sense of obligation before us unhindered by the confidence that all works in accordance with God's providence. Even so, though God alone grants faith, we nevertheless venture and believe without a vision into the secret operations of God by which he grants the new birth. "We repent and believe," Spurgeon affirmed, "though we could do neither if the Lord did not enable us." Affirming the same idea in different terms, Spurgeon attested, "We forsake sin and trust in Jesus, and then we perceive that the Lord has wrought in us to will and to do of his own good pleasure." Should the reality that we can perform our responsibility only when God so wills and only if he empowers give perplexity? Spurgeon thought not. "It

is idle to pretend that there is any real difficulty in the matter." ³⁵ We have taken a circuitous rout to say that the growth under Spurgeon's ministry did not come from manipulative methods. It came from God's blessing on an effort fully founded in a comprehensive grasp of the gospel and its effects.

Spurgeon knew what God had done, and confessed his complete dependence on the work of the Spirit in accord with an eternally decreed sovereign purpose. He knew what God required of him and the manner in which that must be expressed.

Spurgeon as a Personal Evangelist

Spurgeon entered enthusiastically into every opportunity for service to Christ that he could. He distributed tracts joyfully and consistently while still at Newmarket. He had seventy people that he regularly visited, taking his Saturdays for this visitation as well as tract distribution. He explained to his mother, "I do not give a tract, and go away; but I sit down, and endeavour to

draw their attention to spiritual realities." ³⁶ He immediately became earnest about the salvation of his siblings. When Sarah expressed her faith in Christ, Spurgeon wrote, "I am so glad that Sarah, too, is called, that two of us in one household at one time should thus openly profess the Saviour's name." When he thought about the others, he considered what delight would accrue if "God should prove that they are redeemed ones included in the covenant of grace!" He closed his letter with greeting to all of them with the expressed hope, "May they

become members of the church in our house!" ³⁷ Spurgeon's interactions with T. W. Medhurst provide an example of Spurgeon's personal evangelism that combined preaching, personal conversation, and letter. The various aspects of Medhurst's story are told in other places in this volume, but the entire relationship was begun in this episodic encounter. Because of fascination with the theatre and rhetoric, Medhurst, an apprentice rope-maker, had begun to attend the Surrey Chapel in 1854 to hear the hyper-Calvinist pulpiteer, James Wells. He also learned that Spurgeon was a rapidly rising star of the pulpit, recommendation sufficient to draw the young, and apparently vain, Medhurst. Over a course of weeks, Spurgeon learned Medhurst's name and frequently would ask him, "And how are you today Medhurst?" As conviction set in and increased, Medhurst would answer, "Oh, worse and worse." Spurgeon explained the gospel over and over, but Medhurst could not grasp that salvation, of necessity, was freely given. In despair, the

frustrated seeker framed a letter to his persevering evangelist friend.

Dear Sir,—would you be kind enough candidly to inform me whether there is any hope that I belong to

the elect family of God; whether Jesus Christ His Son has ever died for me, while my affections are in

the world. I try to pray, but cannot. I make resolutions only to break them. I listen from time to time

when you speak of the glory set apart for the saints, when you describe their feelings, their joys, but I

have nothing to do with these things. Oh, sir, that Sunday morning you spoke of the hypocrite, I felt

you were describing me. I go to chapel, hear the Word preached; go home, make resolutions, go to

work, out in the world, and forget all, till the time of preaching comes again. I read the Bible, but with

no interest; it seems no more to me than any other work that I have read before; it is to me dry and

insipid. Christ has said that of all who come to Him He will send none away. How am I to come? I

would if I could, but I cannot. At times I think I will give all up, and not go to chapel any more; but

when the time comes I cannot stay away, but feel compelled to go once more. Do, dear sir, tell me how

I am to find Jesus? How can know he died for me? And that I belong to his family? Dear sir, tell me,

am I a hypocrite? 38

He signed the letter, "I remain, yours in anxiety," followed by his full name Thomas William Medhurst. Spurgeon answered him with great clarity, pertinent interaction with the specific concerns of Medhurst, and with deep pastoral

wisdom and affection. On July ¹⁴, 1854, he wrote:

DEAR SIR,—I am glad that you have been able to write to me and state your feelings. Though my

hands are always full, it will ever give me joy to receive such notes as yours. You ask me a very

important question, "Are you one of God's elect?" Now, this is a question neither you nor I can answer

at present, and therefore let it drop. I will ask you an easier one, "Are you a sinner?" Can you say

"YES"? All say, "YES"; but then they do not know what the word "sinner" means. A sinner is a

creature who has broken all his Maker's commands, despised His Name, and run into rebellion against

the Most High. A sinner deserves hell, yea, the hottest place in hell; and if he be saved, it must be

entirely by unmerited mercy. Now, if you are such a sinner, I am glad to be able to tell you the only

way of salvation, "Believe on the Lord Jesus." I think you have not yet really understood what

believing means. You are, I trust, really awakened, but you do not see the door yet. I advise you

seriously to be much alone, I mean as much as you can; let your groans go up if you cannot pray,

attend as many services as possible; and if you go with an earnest desire for a blessing, it will come

very soon. But why not believe now? You have only to believe that Jesus is able and willing to save,

and then trust yourself to Him. Harbour not that dark suggestion to forsake the house of God;

remember you turn your back on Heaven, and your face to hell when you do that. I pray God that He

will keep you from doing so. If the Lord had meant to destroy you, He would not have shown you such

these things. If you are but a smoking flax, there is hope. Touch the hem of His garment; look to the

brazen serpent.

My dear fellow-sinner, slight not this season of awakening. Up, and be in earnest. 'Tis your soul—

your own soul—your eternal welfare—your heaven or your hell—which is at stake. There is the cross,

and a bleeding God-man upon it—look to Him, and be saved. And there is the Holy Spirit, able to give

you every grace. Look in prayer to the Sacred Three-one-God, and then you will be delivered.

I am, Your anxious friend,

C. H. SPURGEON. 39

Medhurst remained unrelieved by the letter and his distressed condition enlarged to press him to the edge of dark despair. After other Sundays of continued darkness of soul, Medhurst resolved that this was to be his last. In looking at Scripture before the service he listlessly opened to John 6:37 and read again, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." G. Holden Pike recorded, "Quicker than lightning, almost before a word had left the preacher's lips the chain of bondage was broken, and the abiding peace of Christ flowed into the

penitent's soul." ⁴⁰ The Autobiography includes a ten-page chapter entitled "Seeking the Souls of Men." Spurgeon begins it by saying, "I often envy those of my brethren who can go up to individuals and talk to them with freedom about their souls. I do not always find myself able to do so, though when I have been Divinely aided in such service, I have had a large reward. When a Christian can get of a man, and

talk thus personally to him, it is like one of the old British men-of-war lying alongside a French ship, and giving her a broadside, making every timber shiver, and at last sending her to the bottom." He calls the practice of personal

evangelism "a holy art." ⁴¹ Spurgeon gave several examples of personal interviews. Crossing a river on a ferry Spurgeon spoke to the ferryman about the gospel. "I cannot say what was the final result of our conversation," Spurgeon remarked, "but I had the satisfaction of knowing that I had at least set before him God's way of salvation in language that he could easily understand." At the close of an interview with a lady steeped in what Spurgeon called "the sentiments of almost undiluted popery," Spurgeon surmised "I have reason to think that the little simple talk we had has not been forgotten, or unprofitable." One great advantage of dealing personally with souls, according to Spurgeon, is "that it is not so easy for them

to turn aside the message as when they are spoken to in the mass." ⁴² In 1872, Spurgeon opened The Sword and the Trowel with a proposal about an evangelistic program to concentrate on those hearers at the Metropolitan Tabernacle that were as yet unconverted. "Some three months ago," he recounted, "having newly arisen from a sick bed, our heart felt heavy for the souls of dying men. Our ministry has never been without large results in conversion, but we were discontented and ill at ease because to such multitudes the Lord Jesus appeared to be without form or comeliness. Especially did it

burden us to see so many of our regular hearers undecided." ⁴³ In laying this issue before his congregation, he discovered that passion for the souls of the unconverted had been multiplying among many of his church members, including his deacons and elders. One brother asked pointedly in a thoughtful letter to Spurgeon, "Has he made our hearts to long and pant for the salvation of souls, without having some precious design?" Weeks of prayer and consideration followed, the idea of having evangelists or a special meeting was considered. These would not do. Finally, with the elders pledging their desire to follow with the prayer that he would not simply follow his own mind but "be led

wholly of the Lord," Spurgeon responded:

Impressed with a feeling of deep responsibility, we turned over plan after plan, and at last determined

upon that which we thought would savour least of trusting in man, and show most that we believed the

Lord had already heard prayer, and had made the preaching of his word effectual. We gave notice that

the pastor would sit two whole days to see enquiring souls, and that each evening there would be a

meeting at which he would speak upon the discouragement and encouragements of seekers, and any of

the elders who felt moved to do so would exhort. 44

When the day came, people were already waiting for personal counsel from

Spurgeon and "streamed in all the day." Spurgeon looked particularly for "anxious" people, but found that most that came testified to their already having been converted in the former weeks of prayer. The number was too great for personal counsel for each one and "we had to appoint another season to see many of them. In the evening he spoke to more than 250 about discouragements; they listened for truth, life and death truth. "The Lord was there and we knew it."

The next evening found still more, again many professing that already they had found salvation in Christ. "They told us that they had believed in Jesus," Spurgeon reported, "and we had but to question them as to their change of heart

and life, and their renunciation of self and the world." ⁴⁵ One inquirer left unconverted, but came back an hour afterwards reporting that he had found Jesus. That evening, between 400 and 500 persons were present in the lecture hall, "and the attention was almost oppressive to the pastor's soul." Spurgeon

felt peculiarly interested in reporting the nature of the decorum at the meeting.

There was not even the shadow of the excitement which reveals itself in noise and indecorum; all was

as quiet as usual, more so indeed, and we were rejoiced to see it, for when intelligent people are on a

life and death business, they are little inclined to bawl and shout. There is an emotion which blusters,

but the deeper kind is too earnest to cause its voice to be heard in the streets. Eternity alone can know

what the Lord wrought those two nights, and the secrets of how many hearts were then revealed. 46

The Evangelistic Emphasis of his Preaching

Joel Beeke outlines the vitals of Puritan evangelistic preaching under five categories: Puritan preaching was thoroughly biblical, unashamedly doctrinal, experimentally practical, holistically evangelistic, and studiously symmetrical.

Puritan preaching in general, Beeke points out, was plain, designed to reach everyone "that all might know the way of salvation." They addressed the mind with clarity, confronted the conscience pointedly, and wooed the heart

passionately. ⁴⁷ That summary gives an accurate reflection of the preaching of C. H.

Spurgeon. From his earliest days of consciousness until the end of his life, the Puritans instructed him. He could draw upon them at will and compare their strengths, note their differences, and recommend them for imitation in a variety of ministerial tasks. They were his tutors in Christ, theology, evangelism, counsel, and preaching. Though his sermons did not follow their form, he went after souls with the arsenal of truth, with the desire for the glory of God, and the same passion for sinners.

One would be hard pressed to find even one sermon in the entirety of the New Park Street Pulpit and the Metropolitan Tabernacle that did not include direct addresses to the unconverted. Doctrinal addresses, sermons for Christian comfort and edification, sermons on congregational issues, sermons on the ordinances— all these included potent appeals to the unconverted to flee to Christ and to do it "at once." No biblical subject could be considered unevangelistic, and that which blessed the saint was good as an appeal to provoke to spiritual jealousy the nonChristian. The message that was straightforward exposition of the gospel in an evangelistic way was seen as of great comfort and thrilling hope to the Christian.

Spurgeon preached specifically with the intent of seeing sinners converted. In the month after the Surrey Music Hall disaster, criticism came to Spurgeon for a number of reasons. All of these built on the premise that he was taking advantage of his popularity to collect more money to finance building a monstrous Tabernacle capable of holding ¹⁵,000 people. Spurgeon denied the accusations and explained, "I cannot bear to see, Sabbath after Sabbath, as many people go away as enter the chapel where we have been accustomed to assemble for worship." Under no provocation other than their desire to do so, people come in "large multitudes to listen to my feeble proclamation of the truths of the Gospel: … if it is a sin in me that they should do so, it is at least an uncommon sin, which many others would like to commit if they could." Though his present chapel was comfortable for his own people, and the move to the Music Hall was terribly inconvenient for them, "It is only with a view of winning souls to God

that we have come to this larger place, and should we be accused of other objects

the judgment-day will lay bare what our motives have truly been." ⁴⁸ A student and friend, William Williams, the author of Personal Reminiscences of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, heard Spurgeon say, "If you preach so as to

convert souls, the Lord will not disappoint you." ⁴⁹ Preaching to convert souls, for Spurgeon, meant laying out the full counsel of God to the sinner. He must know what sin is, what repentance is, what the marks of conversion are, what the atonement is in all its dimensions, that he is dependent on sovereign grace expressed experientially in regeneration, and other truths. All that the Master taught must be seen as efficient for evangelism. Nothing should be omitted, but everything given its proper place. In The Soul Winner Spurgeon insisted on this

in his first chapter.

And, do not believe, dear friends, that when you go into revival meetings, or special evangelistic

services, you are to leave out the doctrines of the gospel; for you ought then to proclaim the doctrines

of grace rather more than less. Teach gospel doctrines clearly, affectionately, simply, and plainly, and

especially those truths which have a present and practical bearing upon man's condition and God's

grace. Some enthusiasts would seem to have imbibed the notion that, as soon as a minister addresses

the unconverted, he should deliberately contradict his usual doctrinal discourse, because it is supposed

that there will be no conversions if he preaches the whole counsel of God. It just comes to this,

brethren, it is supposed that we are to conceal truth, and utter a half-falsehood, in order to save souls.

We are to speak the truth to God's people because they will not hear anything else; but we are to

wheedle sinners into faith by exaggerating one part of truth, and hiding the rest until a more convenient

season. This is a strange theory, and yet many endorse it. According to them, we may preach the

redemption of a chosen number of God's people, but universal redemption must be our doctrine when

we speak with the outside world; we are to tell believers that salvation is all of grace, but sinners are to

be spoken with as if they were to save themselves; we are to inform Christians that God the Holy Spirit

alone can convert, but when we talk with the unsaved, the Holy Ghost is scarcely to be named. We

have not so learned Christ. … He who sent us to win souls neither permits us to invent falsehoods, nor

to suppress truth. His work can be done without such suspicious methods. 50

While no doctrine is to be hidden, Spurgeon recognized that a sermon intended for conversion would naturally gravitate toward a particular cluster of biblical truths. In a lecture to his students entitled "On Conversion as Our Aim," Spurgeon pointed out, in 1881, that "the grand object of the Christian ministry is the glory of God." While the edification of the saints ranks very high as a means by which God is glorified, Spurgeon contended that "our great object of glorifying God is, however, to be mainly achieved by the winning of souls." As a reflection of the practice he unfailingly pursued, he urged his ministerial students to win sinners with the light and heat of doctrine. Any biblical doctrine has such potential but some, Spurgeon reminded them, are more clearly aligned with the purpose of conversion. Spurgeon pointed particularly to the person of Christ, the cross of Christ, sin in all its dimensions, the Law, justification by

faith, the character of God, and substitutionary atonement; "all these truths and others which complete the evangelical system are calculated to lead men to faith." His short exposition of several doctrines includes the particular effect a

doctrine might have on a lost person. ⁵¹ For example, a preacher must "teach the depravity of human nature." A sinner must know his true culpability, his natural corruption and condemnation, and his inability to alter his own condition. If a preacher comes short on the full exposition of this doctrine, "you may expect few conversions." This leads naturally to his insistence on the "necessity of the Holy Ghost's divine operations." "Men must be told that they are dead," Spurgeon continued, "and that only the Holy Spirit can quicken them." The Spirit works according to his own good pleasure and none can "claim his visitations or deserve his aid." To the objection that this is very discouraging teaching he responded that it is good for one to be discouraged if he seeks "salvation in the wrong manner."

Destroying confidence in their own abilities is a great help, Spurgeon contends, in driving them to Christ alone. "The doctrine of election and other great truths which declare salvation to be all of grace, and to be not the right of the creature, but the gift of the Sovereign Lord, are all calculated to hide pride from man, and

so to prepare him to receive the mercy of God." ⁵² What he called a "real bona fide substitutionary sacrifice" with the certainty of pardon is the "great net of gospel fishermen." It shows how God can be just and yet justify the one that believes. Justification by faith as well as the freeness, that is, sovereignty of God's mercy must be preached. God's love should be magnified but always in "connection with his justice." "Do not extol the single attribute of love in the method too generally followed," Spurgeon told his students, "but regard love in the high theological sense, in which, like a golden circle, it holds within itself all the divine attributes." If God were not just, he could not be love, for love as well as justice excludes every unholy thing as destructive of true beauty and selfless fellowship. For conversion, therefore, "Let boundless mercy be seen in calm consistency with stern justice and unlimited sovereignty. The true character of God is fitted to awe, impress, and humble the

sinner: be careful not to misrepresent your Lord." ⁵³ Twenty-three years earlier [1858], and many times in between, Spurgeon had placed his finger on this need for fullness of truth as the best medicine at the minister's disposal. "We should not be selfish," Spurgeon emphasized, but should "always consider whether a thing will be beneficial to others." Truth always serves best in the case of needed conversion. Truth removes the scales from the eyes and brings in the heavenly light of comfort. No matter how

perplexing a case may be, truth will provide the means to speak to it. "He who

holds the truth, is usually the most useful man." ⁵⁴ One must not impute pragmatism to Spurgeon on this issue, as if he is merely seeking to use doctrine for a contrived purpose of his own. From the earliest days of his Christian life he held a mature grasp of the overall moral texture of biblical revelation. Divine immutability and divine sovereignty did not render God an amoral being. His unchangeable and infinitely perfect holiness does not render his moral actions void of true goodness and worthy of unending praise.

God's sovereign decree not to save fallen angels but to leave them both under condemnation and in a state of utter averseness to holiness does not render their continued evil and increasingly hostile attacks on God's people and God's purpose less reprehensible. Human depravity and natural culpability as well as intrinsic susceptibility to wrath ["by nature children of wrath"] have no tendency to diminish the moral rightness of one's obligation to love and worship God and pursue all means by which his broken relation with his Creator might be healed.

That a means of restoration for fallen humanity has been established makes that restoration a matter of ultimate moral concern for all the sons of Adam. "I have not kept back the glorious doctrines of grace, although by preaching them the enemies of the cross have called me an antinomian," Spurgeon noted, but with equal clarity he was sure he had not been afraid "to preach man's solemn

responsibility, although another tribe have slandered me as an Arminian." ⁵⁵ That the gospel's provisions are designed exactly to coincide with the natural requirements of divine law means that a general proclamation of these provisions, even without an explicit accompanying command for repentance, should evoke moral desire for benefit from this revelation of a morally sustainable redemption. The hyper-Calvinist, by means of highly articulated theology of pre-and post-fall powers in humanity, does not assent to the seamlessness between human responsibility and the specific historical elements of the gospel. Spurgeon both intuitively and exegetically knew the difference between himself and them.

On the other hand, Arminianism could lay claim to no greater evangelical insight. Their resistance to the sovereignty of grace demanded that greater moral powers and prerogatives be either retained by fallen humanity or universally restored. Their gospel dilutes human sin and thus does not render one unreservedly dependent on the mercy of God for every part of his restoration to fellowship. Spurgeon believed that both the hyper-Calvinist and Arminian systems were unbiblical and did not consent to the ultimate consistency of revealed biblical truth.

Much less did he think that the truth resided within a bit of Calvinism and a bit of Arminianism, as if one dwelt on divine sovereignty and the other on human responsibility. Arminianism rightly affirmed human responsibility but drew wrong conclusions from it, so Spurgeon believed, and its faulty foundation created an error of the assertion. True Calvinism has within it a full accounting of human responsibility in the most robust way and does not cut the moral nerve between character and action in the way that Arminianism does. Arminianism assumes that each man must have some confidence in himself before he can have hope for salvation; such an error many suppose to be a necessary compromise for usefulness to the lost. Spurgeon thought nothing was more

ridiculous.

Do not you think you need have errors in your doctrine to make you useful. We have some who preach

Calvinism all the first part of the sermon, and finish up with Arminianism, because they think that will

make them useful. Useful nonsense!—that is all it is. A man if he cannot be useful with the truth,

cannot be useful with an error. There is enough in the pure doctrine of God, without introducing

heresies to preach to sinners. As far as I know I never felt hampered or cramped in addressing the

ungodly in my life. I can speak with as much fervency, and yet not in the same style as those who hold

the contrary views of God's truth. Those who hold God's word, never need add something untrue in

speaking to men. The sturdy truth of God touches every chord in every man's heart. If we can, by

God's grace, put our hand inside man's heart, we want nothing but that whole truth to move him

thoroughly, and to stir him up. There is nothing like the real truth and the whole truth, to make a man

useful. 56

Spurgeon's Calvinism, his systematic rejection of Arminianism, and his fervency in address to the ungodly constituted essential aspects of his view of evangelism and arose from his understanding of wholistic biblical truth. Both Arminians and hyper-Calvinists demanded that theology conform to a narrowly defined system more restricted than the biblical revelation allowed. Scripture conforms to a higher logic than human intellect and can penetrate and unveils mysteries beyond the scope of construction by mere human ratiocination. "The system of Truth is not one straight line, but two. No man will ever get a right view of the gospel until he knows how to look at the two lines at once, Spurgeon reasoned. "That God predestines and that man is responsible are two things that few can see. They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory. But they are not!" Instead the apparent contradiction is upheld only by our weak judgment, and probably never will yield to present human contrivances to relieve the tension. "These two Truths, I do not believe, can ever be welded into one upon any human anvil," he insisted, "but one they shall be in eternity! They are two lines that are so nearly parallel that the mind that shall pursue them farthest will never discover that they converge—but they do converge and they will meet

somewhere in eternity, close to the Throne of God from where all Truth

springs!" ⁵⁷ The truth, however, yet has a consistency and fullness of systematic expression more rich and satisfying than the logical circumference observable in either antinomianism, a virtual synonym for hyper-Calvinism in Spurgeon's parlance, or Arminianism. In his introduction to a sermon entitled "Election and Holiness," Spurgeon, once again, embraced a fuller truth than either of his

opponents.

He who preaches the whole truth as it is in Jesus will labour under continual disadvantages; albeit, that

the grand advantage of having the presence and blessing of God will more than compensate the

greatest loss. It has been my earnest endeavor ever since I have preached the Word, never to keep back

a single doctrine which I believed to be taught of God. It is time that we had done with the old and

rusty systems that have so long curbed the freeness of religious speech. The Arminian trembles to go

an inch beyond Arminius or Wesley, and many a Calvinist refers to John Gill or John Calvin as an

ultimate authority. It is time that the systems were broken up, and that there was sufficient grace in all

our hearts to believe everything taught in God's Word, whether it was taught by either of these men or

not. I have frequently found when I have preached what is called high doctrine, because I found it in

my text, that some people have been offended; they could not enjoy it, could not endure it, and went

away. They were generally people who were best gone; I have never regretted their absence. On the

other hand, when I have taken for my text some sweet invitation, and have preached the freeness of

Christ's love to man; when I have warned sinners that they are responsible while they hear the gospel,

and that if they reject Christ their blood will be upon their own heads, I find another class of doubtless

excellent individuals who cannot see how these two things agree. And therefore, they also turn aside,

and wade into the deceptive miry bogs of antinomianism. I can only say with regard to them, that I had

rather also that they should go to their own sort, than that they should remain with my congregation.

We seek to hold the truth. We know no difference between high doctrine and low doctrine. If God

teaches it, it is enough. If it is not in the Word, away with it! Away with it! But if it be in the Word,

agreeable or disagreeable, systematic or disorderly, I believe it. It may seem to us as if one truth stood

in opposition to another, but we are fully convinced that it cannot be so, that it is a mistake in our

judgment. That the two things do agree we are quite clear, though where they meet we do not know as

yet, but hope to know hereafter. That God has a people whom he has chosen for himself, and who shall

shew forth his praise, we do believe to be a doctrine legible in the Word of God to every man who

cares to read that Book with an honest and candid judgment. That, at the same time, Christ is freely

presented to every creature under heaven, and that the invitations and exhortations of the gospel are

honest and true invitations—not fictions or myths, not tantalisations and mockeries, but realities and

facts—we do also unfeignedly believe. We ascribe to both truths with our hearty assent and consent.

58

Spurgeon's evangelism, therefore, comes not from a haphazard and uninformed zeal, but from the depths of theological conviction and conscientious obedience to Scripture. Sometimes Spurgeon might let loose with an infelicitous phrase, or raise a serious theological question with a manner of application, an appeal, or an interpretation, but his deeply inwrought system of thought and his constant practice at spoken communication makes him less prone to such inconsistencies than most of us. Both his zeal for souls and his conviction that only truth will

convert may be seen in a sermon he preached at twenty-four years of age.

At the Royal Surrey Gardens Music Hall in December 1858, Spurgeon

preached a sermon entitled "Compel Them to Come In." ⁵⁹ In the introduction to the New Park Street volume in which the sermon is contained he remarked, "The sermon 'Compel Them to Come In' has been so signally owned of God, that scarcely a week occurs without some case of its usefulness coming to light. The violent, rigid school of Calvinists will, of course, abhor the sermon; but this is a very small matter when the Holy Ghost works by it in the salvation of men." In the sermon, given at a time when the opposition of London hyper-Calvinists was at a fever pitch, Spurgeon went hard after the sinner to seek his immediate repentance and remarked that "Some Hyper-Calvinist would tell me I am wrong in so doing." His insistence on the plainness and clarity of the doctrines of grace as an evangelistic tool presented no hindrance to Spurgeon in his insistent call to

all sinners to repent of sin and turn even now to Christ. ⁶⁰ Spurgeon's extended and passionate appeal to the sinner matches the best in Baxter, Whitefield, and Edwards. His two purposes he stated as, "First, I must find you out; secondly, I will go to work to compel you to come in. " Layer upon layer of increasing earnestness and intensity of appeal bolstered with a stirring and gripping biblical foundation reveal the evangelistic convictions of Spurgeon.

Depravity disables every man; every sinner is nevertheless responsible for his disbelief and must be called on to repent and believe; the means that fits the sinner to do this is the manifestation of the truth to his conscience; the preacher is responsible for genuine heart-wrenching passion for the soul of the lost person; the immediate power that effects the sinner's closing with Christ is the Holy Spirit.

In finding them out Spurgeon concludes that they are poor, maimed, halt, and blind. "You, blind souls that cannot see your lost estate, that do not believe that sin is so exceedingly sinful as it is, and who will not be persuaded that God is a just and righteous God, to you I am sent." The errand, according to Spurgeon, is more than any man can accomplish. "As well might a little child seek to compel a Samson, as I seek to lead a sinner to the cross of Christ." Though his commission is clear, and his work and words are fervent, he insists to the sinner that not only is he blind and lame and completely unfitted to do that which he is commanded to do, but the messenger also is unfit and powerless to do what he is called on to do. But for the sake of both sinner and the one seeking him, Spurgeon inserts the truth very early: "If God saith do it, if I attempt it in faith it shall be done; and if with a groaning, struggling and weeping heart, I so seek this day to compel sinners to come to Christ, the sweet compulsions of the Holy

Spirit shall go with every word, and some indeed shall be compelled to come in."

Spurgeon then announces the gospel in its simple historical reality and the promises of eternal life endemic to it: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." But given the resistance of the sinner, Spurgeon tells him he will not be dismissed so easily for he has other commands from his Master.

Spurgeon, with the unparalleled simplicity of his eloquence, leads the sinner to see his resistance through assuming the styles of command, then exhortation, appeal to self-interest, entreaty, and threatenings. "I must threaten you," he says. "You shall not always have such warnings as these. A day is coming, when hushed shall be the voice of every gospel minister, at least for you; for your ear shall be cold in death. It shall not be any more threatening; it shall be the fulfillment of the threatening. There shall be no promise, no proclamations of pardon and of mercy; no peace-speaking blood, but you shall be in the land where the Sabbath is all swallowed up in everlasting nights of misery, and where the preachings of the gospel are forbidden because they would be unavailing. I charge you then, listen to this voice that now addresses your conscience; for if not, God shall speak to you in his wrath, and say unto you in his hot displeasure, 'I called and ye refused'." Spurgeon works to disenchant the sinner of the formidable fortress of a number of excuses and asks, "And now again, is it all in vain? Will you not now come to Christ? Then what more can I do?" All that is left is prayer and tears.

After all this, Spurgeon says that though the minister does not have the power of regeneration, he may still travail in labor until Christ is formed in them. God's promises are attached to these means and he says his Word will not return void. "What can we do then?" Spurgeon asks in closing. "We can now appeal to the

Spirit."

I challenge my master to keep his own promise. …It is in his hand, not mine. I cannot compel you, but

thou O Spirit of God who hast the key of the heart, thou canst compel. Did you ever notice in that

chapter of the Revelation, where it says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock," a few verses before,

the same person is described, as he who hath the key of David. So that if knocking will not avail, he

has the key and can and will come in. Now if the knocking of an earnest minister prevail not with you

this morning, there remains still that secret opening of the heart by the Spirit, so that you shall be

compelled. … It is with him; he is master of the heart, and the day shall declare it, that some of you

constrained by sovereign grace have become the willing captives of the all-conquering Jesus, and have

bowed your hearts to him through the sermon of this morning. 61

With the greatest of ease Spurgeon made his appeal to sinners in the context of his complete dependence on sovereign grace. The words uttered by Christ in the prophecy of Psalms, "Lo, I come," were words of hope and of sovereign grace.

Spurgeon described persons at the end of themselves because of the full conviction of total depravity operating in their consciousness, to the "naked sinner, shivering in your own shame, blushing scarlet with conviction" but with "nothing left of your own," forbidden of conscience to "offer any plea by way of self-justification," to this one he comes "to be your robe of righteousness;" for this one the Lord will "put away his sin, through his own great sacrifice." In fact, Christ is the one "who draws your attention to himself." He comes unsought. "Herein is the glorious sovereignty of his love fully exercised, and grace reigns supreme. 'Lo, I come,' is the announcement of majestic grace which waiteth not

for man, neither tarrieth for the sons of men." ⁶² Every point of the sermon, in fact, pulsates with the marrow of sovereign grace reaching out in compelling love for sinners, sinners "for whom the eternal

decree of God had designed the message." ⁶³ Christ said, "Lo I come," according to "covenant purposes." He came because the "eternal counsel ran, Almighty grace, arrest that man." He comes because his heart is set on the ones that he loves; "Because he loved his redeemed from before the foundation of the world, therefore in due time he says, 'Lo I come.'" The sinner has need and nothing else, so Christ does come. If we had hope of our own, or a penny of our own, or rags of our own, or breath of our own, he would not come, but "now that you are naked, and poor, and miserable, and lost, and dead, Jesus reveals himself." His reason for doing so resides not in the sinner but in His grace. The sinner has no good in himself as to why the Lord should save him, but "because of his free, spontaneous, rich, sovereign, almighty grace, he leaps out of heaven, he descends to earth, he plunges into the grave to pluck his beloved from

destruction." ⁶⁴ His words "Lo, I come," mean that "without asking you, and without your asking him, he puts in an appearance in the sovereignty of his

grace." ⁶⁵ Spurgeon's closing moves naturally and with delicate grace to the free

offer in light of absolute dependence.

Receive him: receive him at once. Dear children of God, and sinners that have begun to feel after him,

say with one accord, "Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus." If he says, "Lo, I come," and the Spirit and

the bride say, Come; and he that heareth says, Come, and he that is athirst comes, and whosoever will

is bidden to come and take the water of life freely; then let us join the chorus of comes, and come to

Christ ourselves. "Behold the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him!" Ye who most of all need

him, be among the first and gladdest, as you hear him say, "Lo, I come."

All that I have said will be good for nothing as to saving results unless the Holy Ghost shall apply it

with power to your hearts. Join with me in prayer that many may see Jesus just now, and may at once

behold and accept the present salvation which is in him. 66

We find the same evangelistic urgency expressed in the absolute confidence in God's sovereign and particular pleasure in saving certain sinners in "An Urgent

Request for an Immediate Answer." Taking his idea from Genesis 24, he likened Eliezer's urgency in seeking a wife for Isaac to the minister of Christ seeking souls for Jesus. Ministers of the gospel "are commissioned to search for those who shall be brought into the church, and at length as the bride of Christ, sit down at the marriage-feast in the glory-land above." As Eliezer prayed all along the way and put his success entirely in the hands of God, he knew that "it was the guidance of God, and not his own acuteness or wisdom, which led to such a favourable issue." So without earnest supplication for souls, preaching will be just so much hypocrisy. Again with earnest appeal and reasoning throughout, showing the greatness and loveliness of Christ, the infinite riches to be gained in trusting him, and the patent irrationality of refusing such advantages Christ embodies in himself, Spurgeon stated frankly "I believe that I am sent to find out some appointed for Christ in the divine purpose and covenant, and I pray my

Master that there may be many such." ⁶⁷ If Rebekah must leave her home and its familiar comforts to have Isaac, so Spurgeon called, "He wants those who will be willing to leave all, and be united to his Only-begotten Son, the Lord Jesus, who for our salvation came down from heaven, and took our nature, and lived in it; who took our sin, and died for us, that we might be pardoned and for ever saved." But for Spurgeon this open plea did not proceed on the grounds of a universal atonement, but on the certainty of an atonement impossible to fail of its end. "There must be souls that shall be eternally saved through believing on him," Spurgeon assured; "He cannot die in vain. He must have a people who shall be to him a bride, with whom he shall delight himself for ever and ever. And the question is, are there any such here?"

68 Such a vast crowd surely had many under divine appointment to salvation. "If he gives the hearing ear, will he not give the broken heart; and if he has led you to be anxious to listen to my message, are you not, many of you, the very

persons whom he has appointed to be for ever united to his beloved Son?" ⁶⁹ Spurgeon had full realization that in the mystery of the divine–human interaction, that sinners, given over to themselves, resisted and refused certain spiritual operations, and as lost souls were, as it were, lost again. "I wonder," he said, "whether there are any marks in these pews where souls were lost, where some have parleyed with God, refused his grace, resisted his Spirit, and gone thenceforth the downward road." Even with that reality working itself out in many hearts, Spurgeon still was assured that there would be "some mark where the grace of God has wrought effectual salvation." His hope was not in himself, in his pleading, or in their compliant spirit, but in the certainty that "some of you are now sitting in the very spot where you are predestinated to be born again

unto everlasting life." ⁷⁰ While many would be lost, Spurgeon could not be satisfied if there were none who would be saved. If not, he felt he must give up preaching. "I cannot stand here beating the air. If my hearers are not converted, I have lost my time; I have lost the exercise of brain and heart. I feel as if I had lost my hope, and lost my

life, unless I find for my Lord some of his blood-bought ones." ⁷¹ As Spurgeon continued to call for the well-considered but immediate decision of his hearers, and while he reminded them of the benefits to be gained in receiving him and the dangers of having him as judge instead of Savior, he did not fear that Christ would lose any for whom he had died. "Do not suppose," said Spurgeon, "that if you refuse Christ, he will lose the effect of his death." Isaiah 53 promised that the Messiah's travail of soul would surely bears its due fruit. "If you will not come to him," Spurgeon urged, "others will. If you reject him, he has a people who will accept him, by his almighty grace." God will send his messengers into the most unlikely places and gather together the most unlikely people, while others who now are invited will endure the eternal pains of outer darkness. "Oh," Spurgeon groaned, as if warning his audience that they had all to gain but that God would lose nothing by their negative response, "I charge you, think not that your refusal of the gospel invitation will leave any gaps in the ranks of the

redeemed!" ⁷² At the end of further earnest and unrelenting remonstrance with resistant sinners Spurgeon entreated, "God the Holy Ghost speaks by me now to souls whom God hath chosen from before the foundation of the world, and he

says, 'Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.'" ⁷³ He closed the message by posing a question: "How is it to be done?" The plan is very simple, Spurgeon said. Its simplicity, however, is stated very carefully. "Jesus Christ took upon himself the sins of all who ever will trust him." This is substitution, and neither Calvinist nor Arminian could say the statement is untrue, but it is crafted in light of a conscience-driven commitment to particular redemption. "Come and rest upon his atoning sacrifice." This is a requirement from both the divine and the human standpoint, but establishes an open statement of the command and the promise for all willing to receive it. "Give yourself up to him wholly and unreservedly, and he will save you." Embedded within this statement the auditor hears the nature of true repentance and evangelical faith. The fact that such a response is possible only for those effectually called (as Spurgeon asserts in more ways than one in the message) does not render it less true or make its open-ended invitation built on the conditions morally consistent with the character of salvation less sincere. "Take him to be your Saviour by the simple act of faith. The pith of the matter is that I,

being lost, give myself over to Christ to save me." ⁷⁴ In a sermon in February 1885 on Peter's blunder, his highly incongruous answer in Acts 10:14, "Not so, Lord," moved Spurgeon to discuss the power and deceitfulness of indwelling sin to produce a formalism, ceremonialism, and exclusivistic legalism that looks down on the "unclean" in worship. Suppose an evangelist "brings into the congregation all the poor people of the district and the very worst characters gather to hear him." The formalist does not rejoice, while true gospel fervor would shun partiality and "desire with equal earnestness the salvation of peer and pauper, of matron and harlot, of gentleman and vagabond."

The condescending carriage of some toward their fellow man, "as if they were

mere offal and rubbish, not worthy of the genteel notice," sickened Spurgeon. ⁷⁵ He noted a "minister in a certain neighborhood" that warned his church "against all such wicked persons as Moody and Sankey, and the like, because

they were the means of saving the lower orders." ⁷⁶ A battle governed by the same arrogance advances "when our old man fights against the gospel in its great principle of free, and sovereign grace." How can a saved sinner ever object to the grace of God to real sinners! Only a diseased man is a fit subject of healing, only a poor man is a fit subject for alms, only a drowning man is a fit subject of rescue, and only a sinful man is fit to be forgiven. None can come to Christ but those that come "all empty, and feeble, and sinful, and erring," suppliant for God's "free favor in Christ Jesus, spontaneously given on his part, without anything in us that can merit his esteem." To those that objected to his use of the term "Free Grace," as a redundancy, he replied, "We do not mind using a redundancy of expression when we are talking about it, … for, as some people will not believe that grace is free, it is still necessary to make it very clear

that it is so, and to say not only 'grace,' but ' free grace'." ⁷⁷ For Spurgeon, evangelism was built on the premise that "Christ did not die for saints, but for sinners. He came not into the world because of our righteousness, but he died for our sins. The work of God is not to save men deserving salvation, but men who are altogether undeserving of it." A great flood of divine mercy rises fifty cubits above the tops of all our iniquities till they all are downed and covered "never to be seen again." He exclaimed, "What a grand

article of the creed is that—'I believe in the forgiveness of sins!'" ⁷⁸ He pursued the same theme in "A Great Gospel for Great Sinners," a treatment of 1 Timothy 1:15-17. His assault upon sinners of all sorts allowed none to escape his probing language. None could rank themselves either outside the category of sinner or of eligibility for salvation. Even the theological infidel is a candidate. In Spurgeon's estimation, these were the worst kind of sinners,

for they sinned against the greatest light.

Especially must I rank him among the chief of sinners who has preached falsehood,—who has denied

the deity of Christ—who has undermined the inspiration of Scripture—who has struggled against the

faith, fought against the atonement, and done evil even as he could in the scattering of skepticism. He

must take his place among the ringleaders in diabolical mischief; he is a master destroyer, a chosen

apostle of the prince of darkness. Oh, that he might be brought by sovereign grace to be among the

foremost teachers of that faith which hitherto he has destroyed! I think that we should do well as

Christian people if we prayed more for any who make themselves notorious by their infidelity. If we

talked less bitterly against them, and prayed more sweetly for them, good would come of it.

After an impressive display of the great sinners saved by Christ and from whom Christ according to the flesh descended, Spurgeon remonstrated, "Oh, dear friends, the Lord, who is rich in mercy, seeks a treasury in which to put his riches; he wants a casket for the sacred jewelry of his love; and these atrocious criminals, these great offenders, these who think themselves black as hell, these are the very men in whom there is space for his rare jewels of goodness."

Abundant sin gives elbow-room for the infinite mercy of the living God. God's delight in saving sinners, in dealing patiently with sinners, should encourage great sinners to apply to him for mercy, to prostrate themselves "like the paper laid under the type to take the impression of almighty grace." His continual pleading with the great sinners before him led him to unfold repeatedly the theme of the text that Christ Jesus "came into the world to save sinners."

Spurgeon had no desire to amuse them but to see them saved. His closing

peroration reflected on Paul's exuberant benediction in verse ¹⁷ of the text:

The saints shall never have done singing, for they remember they were sinners. Come, poor sinner, out

of the depths extol him who descended into the depths for you! Chief of sinners, adore him who is to

you the Chief among ten thousand, and the Altogether lovely! You black sinners, who have gone to the

very brink of damnation by your abominable sins, rise to the utmost heights of enthusiastic joy in Jesus

Christ, and all manner of sin and of blasphemy shall be forgiven you; and at the receipt of such a

pardon you shall burst out into new-made doxologies to God your Saviour. … O ye guiltiest of the

guilty, the apostle Paul speaks to you, and stands before you as the bearer of God's white flag of

mercy. Surrender to the King eternal, and there is a pardon for you, and deliverance from the wrath to

come. 79

Evangelism Follows Theology

Spurgeon's evangelistic consistency and his passion for winning souls was so marked that some feared that his zeal for doctrine manifest in the Downgrade Controversy meant that he had forsaken the best for the good. Some devout persons, as well as some opponents, contended that his zeal would be better spent in the spread of the gospel than in doctrinal dispute. He consented that evangelistic work must continue, with full reliance on the Spirit of God. But one cannot go into such a battle unless he knows what weapons he must use for the "pulling down of strongholds." Going into gospel battle may be fruitless, or destructive, when enemies are in the camp. "How can those evangelize who have no evangel?" he asked, and "What fruit but evil can come of 'the new

theology?'" ⁸⁰ This concern for theology as a necessary foundation to evangelism did not originate in the Downgrade but infused genuine zeal into his quest for souls from the first days of his ministry. At twenty-one, he warned against any attempt to make evangelism successful through the palatability of the doctrine. His concern at that time was the tendency of some to slide into something a bit more comfortable than their professed Calvinism when they felt it necessary to be a bit more human, and warm, and understanding and sympathetic. "How many there are who preach a gospel which they are afraid will not save souls," Spurgeon marveled; "and, therefore, they add little bits of their own to it in order, as they think to win men to Christ!" The bits of their own, whether of another confessional system or of the assured results of human criticism, created a fatal compromise in Spurgeon's view. "We have known men who believed Calvinistic doctrines, but who preached Calvinism in the morning and Arminianism in the evening." Why would any earnest man do such a thing? "Because," again Spurgeon pointed to the destructive element, "they were afraid God's gospel would not convert sinners, so they would manufacture one of their

own." ⁸¹ The compromise with Arminianism, so destructive to genuine gospel preaching in Spurgeon's perception, and among the greatest of offenses he could imagine early in his ministry, became no less dangerous in its tendency as years rolled on, but could not at all match the havoc wrought in the Christian ministry and in nominally Christian churches by the inventions of the Neologians. In the middle of his ministry the same conviction dominated his approach to evangelism when he stated, "It is ours to speak the truth boldly, and in every case we shall be a sweet savour unto God; but to temporize in the hope of making converts is to do evil that good may come, and this is never to be

thought of for an instant." ⁸² What he said about the compromise with Arminianism early, about focus on truth in the middle, applied to modern thought with infinitely more dangerous implications. "I hold that a man who does not believe his gospel to be able to save men's souls, does not believe it at

all. If God's truth will not save men's souls, man's lies cannot." ⁸³ At least an Arminian believed that a soul needed saving. Men's lies had now permeated the entire body of doctrine.

Evangelistic Emphasis of His Writing

Spurgeon's many books had world-wide distribution. Many of the smaller ones were sold by colporteurs in the poorer and slum sections of London. Not only did he write tracts for mass distribution, but he wrote short but easily read books of theology with an evangelistic emphasis. Some were intended to edify the saints but always carried the message home to those yet without gospel faith. An advertisement for Around the Wicket Gate in 1889 stated, "We issue this book for one shilling, with no idea of remuneration, but simply that it may speak to

lingering souls a word which shall lead them to decide for Jesus." ⁸⁴ Christ's Glorious Achievements consists of seven chapters of theological importance: "Christ the End of the Law;" "Christ the Conqueror of Satan;" "Christ the Overcomer of the World;" Christ the Maker of all Things new;" "Christ the Spoiler of Principalities and Powers;" Christ the Destroyer of Death;" "Christ the Seeker and Saviour of the Lost." Every chapter encourages the Christian in his love for Christ, his knowledge of Christ and thus his conformity to Christ. Each chapter also sets forth Christ as sovereign in his display of mercy and at the same time calls the sinner to go to him for mercy.

Chapter one ends with the promise of a new heart contained in the new covenant as the only means by which the sinner will flee from sin to find in Christ the righteousness he needs. "This is one of the greatest covenant promises, and the Holy Ghost performs it in the chosen. Oh that the Lord would sweetly persuade you to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that covenant promise shall be fulfilled to you. O Holy Spirit of God, send thy blessing on these poor words, for

Jesus' sake." ⁸⁵ The final chapter about "Jesus as Seeker and Saviour" ends with

this:

I have been praying that he would bring this message under the notice of those whom he means to

bless. I have asked him to let me sow in good soil. I hope that among those who read these pages there

will be many whom the Lord Jesus has specially redeemed with his most precious blood, and I trust

that he will appear at once to them, and say, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with

loving-kindness have I drawn thee." By grace omnipotent may you be made to yield to the Lord with

the cheerful consent of your conquered wills, and accept that glorious grace which will bring you to

praise the seeking and saving Saviour in heaven. 86

All of Grace contains short expositions of the doctrine of grace. It begins with the words "The object of this book is the salvation of the reader. He who spoke and wrote it will be greatly disappointed if it does not lead many to the Lord Jesus. It is sent forth in childlike dependence upon the power of God the Holy Ghost, to use it in the conversion of millions, if so he pleases." The final chapter is a closing appeal of four deeply personal and winsome pages. The last

paragraph catches the urgency.

Reader, meet me in heaven! Do not go down to hell. There is no coming back again from that abode of

misery. Why do you wish to enter the way of death when heaven's gate is open before you? Do not

refuse the free pardon, the full salvation which Jesus grants to all who trust him. Do not hesitate and

delay. You have had enough of resolving, come to action. Believe in Jesus now, with full and

immediate decision. Take with you words and come unto your Lord this day, even this day.

Remember, O soul, it may be NOW OR NEVER with you. Let it be now: it would be horrible that it

should be never. Farewell. Again I charge you, Meet me in heaven.

In The Kings' Highway, written in his early twenties from sermons preached at New Park Street, Spurgeon wrote in the preface: "There is scarce a sermon here which has not been stamped by the hand of the Almighty, by the conversion of a soul. Some single sermons here have been, under God, the means of the salvation of not less than twenty souls." He tells those who will be distributing the books which sermons were "most signally owned in the salvation of the sinners." The sermon "None but Jesus" had been translated into the language of the aborigines of New Zealand and had been reported as leading to many conversions. The book begins with the simple but provocative sermon entitled "God's first words to the Sinner," based on Genesis 3:9. The first paragraph sets

the tone, not only for the sermon but for the entire book.

Adam ought to have sought out his Maker. He should have gone through the garden crying for his

God, "My God, my God, I have sinned against Thee. Where art Thou? Low at thy feet Thy creature

falls and asks mercy at Thy hands. I confess Thy justice and beseech Thy mercy, if mercy can be

shown to such as one as I am."

Instead thereof, Adam flies from God. The sinner comes not to God; God comes to him. It is not,

My God, where art Thou? But the first cry is the voice of grace, "Sinner, where art thou? " God comes

to man; man seeks not his God. There has never been found from Adam's day until now a single

instance in which the sinner first sought his God. God must first seek him. The sheep strays of itself,

but it never returns to its fold unless sought by the Great Shepherd. It is human to err, it is Divine to

repent. Man can commit iniquity, but even to know that it is iniquity so as to feel the guilt of it, is the

gift of the grace of God." 87

Spurgeon discussed the question as intended to arouse Adam to see his state, to convince Adam of sin, to bemoan his loss, to show that God himself seeks his fallen creature to summon him to justice. The last section is a plain and chaste description, powerful in its impact, of the journey of the unrepentant sinner from health, to sickness, to unconsciousness, to death, to separation of soul and body, to resurrection with the rejoining of the "Ghastly spirit" with the resurrection body and "they twain, comrades in sin, are now companions in judgment." Then comes the display of the life worthy of damnation and the sentence to "everlasting punishment." Each part of the journey is punctuated with the recurrent theme, "Where art thou?" It closes with the pleading of the preacher, "I

do beseech you by the blood of Him that died for sinners—and what stronger argument can I use?—think of the question, "Where art thou?" And then in phrases reminiscent of Jonathan Edwards' "Sinner in the Hands of an Angry

God," he closed.

Oh, that I could plead with you as a man pleadeth for his life! Would that these lips of clay were lips of

fire, and this tongue no more of flesh, but a live coal taken with the tongs off the altar. Oh! For words

that would burn their way into your souls! O sinner, sinner why wilt thou die? Why wilt thou perish?

Man, eternity is an awful thing, and to meet an angry God is dreadful, and to be judged and

condemned, what tongue can tell the horror. Escape for thy life; look not behind thee; stay not in all

the plain; escape to Mount Calvary, lest thou be consumed. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ;" trust

Him with thy soul; trust Him with it now, "and thou shalt be saved." 88

Spurgeon Provided His Congregation with Encouragement and Tools

Spurgeon trained his congregation to think and order their lives with an evangelistic purpose. He aimed at simplicity, the kind of simplicity that is in the gospel, but avoided superficial, minimalistic, misleading gospel-presentation programs that run rough-shod over the holy truths of the gospel. Nor did he promote "the raw, undigested harangues of revivalistic speakers whose heads are loosely put together." This should not prejudice a preacher from encouragement and instruction in how to participate in evangelism. In spite of many poor examples, Spurgeon made it his aim, and encouraged his students, to have "an army of enthusiasts" and "a church of soul-winners." If many are to be brought in, the whole church must be "aroused to sacred energy." A preacher should strive to have "every member energetic to the full, and the whole in incessant

activity for the salvation of men." ⁸⁹ In October 1872, Spurgeon devoted a lengthy article to the instruction of ministers in how they were to energize the church for a harvest of souls during the autumn months. "We take it for granted," Spurgeon wrote, "that all are resolved that the season should be improved to the utmost, and all done that can be done to secure the blessing." The pastor is responsible to call the people to prayer and that he is so serious about the necessity of divine blessing on their efforts that none will doubt, but that all will join the effort in prayer. After such strenuous efforts in prayer, the church should each week "make some distinct inroad upon the territory of the arch-enemy." Something beyond the normal ongoing operation of gospel means is what Spurgeon had in mind—he suggested, as an example, the coverage of an entire area with a well-designed tract, by selected people. Other means he also mentioned. In addition, the entire congregation should be plied hard with the gospel and "within her own suburbs the church should make it hard for sinners to be at ease. Appeals should not only come from the pastor, but from members." Everywhere a lost person turned he should be met with "expostulations, entreaties, invitations, and warnings."

Frequent seasons should be made for preaching to and meeting with inquirers.

The pastor and elders should lay themselves out to converse with all that indicate they are under concern of soul. "If the undecided will not come to us," Spurgeon urged, "we just go to them; the members of the church must individually see to them one by one." The bulk of seekers, however, will come to an interview if properly invited and will be willing to return if the first should prove profitable.

Spurgeon was intense in his efforts to show ministers their duty in preparing their congregations for such evangelistic work and then in procuring the final effect themselves.

What sweeter work is there than to speak to an audience gathered on purpose to learn the way of

salvation? Sweet as it is, few find it easy to discharge the work aright. One goes away from such

gatherings sighing and crying because one's heart is not more tender and one's mind more wise in

soul-winning. No one can calculate the personal influence of a beloved minister when he comes side

by side with a seeker and pleads with him alone. Under God it is like one of our old three-deckers

lying side by side with an enemy's man-of-war and pouring in broadsides of red-hot shot; you may see

the vessel under fire quiver from stem to stern, and its attempts at reply grow fainter and fainter at

every round. Ministers who hold no such meetings, and give souls no opportunity for private

discourse, are surely unaware of their duty or ignorant of their power. 90

That this was the case with Spurgeon resonated from many testimonies given at memorial services after his death. William Olney gave a sweeping example of the powerful impact Spurgeon had in encouraging his members to find a place of

usefulness for evangelistic work.

Our dear Pastor... had a remarkable power of infusing his own love for souls into the hearts of others.

In response to his Trumpet Calls to Christian Energy, from this platform, men went out of this

congregation in hundreds, to fling themselves into the slums of the South of London, and bring in

members to this church out of some of the lowest parts of the neighborhood. As a consequence of this,

there are, today, twenty-three missions stations, and twenty-six branch schools, and at these places

there are every Sunday evening about one thousand of the members of this church working for the

Lord Jesus Christ amongst the poor. 91

The Sword and the Trowel regularly included suggestions as to how the members of the congregation, or ministers and laity among the readership anywhere, could redeem time and opportunities to introduce a word about the gospel. For years two tracts were published each month in the magazine to be used wisely in the introduction of conversation about the gospel. The tracts were produced with colorful fronts with an illustration depicting the subject from which Spurgeon would draw his evangelistic message. The point, though succinct, always included the reality of the danger of wrath and the freeness and abundant kindness of the gospel. "Cling to the Rock" pictured a river cascading though rough terrain with rocky cliffs on either side and begins with the words, "The craggy rocks frown upon the traveler, threatening to fall upon him as he journey sin [ sic ] their shade; and as he looks down from above upon their precipitous steps, his head whirls, and he shuns the brink, lest he be dashed to pieces by a fall; but the little trees and shrubs upon the sides of the precipice are safe from all fear of falling, because they cling with all their might to the rock."

After several lines reinforcing the idea involved in the image, he closed with this

application:

The justice, greatness, truth, and perfection of God, which seem to frown upon others, are all our

friends if we know how to cling to them, as they are set forth in the great atonement of our Lord Jesus

Christ. If you can only cling to Jesus, poor sinner, you are safe. Neither your own weakness, not the

storms of temptation, nor the hand of justice, can cast you to destruction while you cling to him. Learn

from you heart to say, "Other trust away I fling, only to the rock I cling."

Spurgeon closed with two verses from "Rock of Ages." "The Tempest" showed a fierce thunderstorm, black skies, lightning, and trees bending and broken alongside a river-bank with rocky crags highlighted by the flashes in the background. "How terribly Jehovah Thundereth!" the tract began. "He is not the soft, soulless, being that certain perverters of his Word would make him out to be. 'God is love,' yet is there also a terrible aspect to his nature." He wrote of the fierceness of his anger, and his fury as poured out like fire, and warned how vain and presumptuous was any attempt "to stand against such a Mighty One" because his eyes, like balls of fire, would see through you and find you out in any attempt at refuge from his wrath. Only one place was

safe, so Spurgeon advised in his closing:

He makes the storm but he is himself our hiding place. The voice which breaks the cedars also speaks

the promises, and so in the day of tempest we cower down beneath the wings of God, even as the little

chickens hide under the hen. "The eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms."

Dear Reader, is he your God? Have you believed in his Son Jesus? If not, flee from the wrath to come!

Flee at once!! Jesus will receive you, for he hath said, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast

out."

"The Hospice: Christ's Refuge" begins with the explanation, "Our engraving represents the Hospice of St. Bernard and the wild scenery surrounding it. The place is so cold that fish will not live in the lake, and we have seen the snow lying knee-deep at midsummer." This hospice is a refuge from the storm of certain death and receives pilgrims freely. Applying this to the reader of the

tract, Spurgeon urged the following.

Reader, whoever you may be, your soul is in danger unless you find rest for it in the atonement of

Jesus Christ; we pray you trust in him, and enter into peace. He asks neither money, merit, nor

preparation from you. Whosoever casts himself unreservedly upon the Mediator's merits is saved, even

though he may not be able to see in himself so much as a single grain of merit. Jesus gives himself

gratis to every willing soul. He will not refuse himself to you, dear reader. Try him at once! Let not

your pride refuse his salvation because it is free, but the rather let your heart adore the generous grace

of the Redeemer.

Just like St. Bernard's Hospice, no one coming to him has Jesus ever refused.

Spurgeon encouraged his people that in their evangelistic work they participated in Christ's victory over the devil in the crushing of his head. "I ought to add that every time any one of us is made useful in saving souls we do, as it were, repeat the bruising of the serpent's had." Women picking children from the gutters where they are Satan's prey to make them thieves and criminals do in their measure bruise the serpent's head. "I pray you do not spare him.

When we by preaching the gospel turn sinners from the error of their ways, so that they escape from the power of darkness, again we bruise the serpent's head." ⁹²

Meetings at the Tabernacle

Special yearly meetings also trained the congregation to be always vigilant in their concerns for the souls of men. Spurgeon considered these special services, normally conducted in February, as a refreshing break from the normal routine by adding a certain intensity of effort that could not be maintained throughout the year. The sun is not always at noon, nor is the sea always at flood. Spurgeon placed no value on "spasms of effort and fits of excitement" but when the "Holy Ghost points thereto, they must rise to an intensity and vehemence which it would not be possible always to maintain." Spurgeon's description of this particular series of meetings provides intriguing insight into his approach to church evangelism. One sees how carefully Spurgeon sought to coordinate the vital elements of prayer, speaking, exhortation, counseling of inquirers, and

preparation of helpers for evangelism. ⁹³ Preparation for the meeting began, as Spurgeon sought to follow a biblical principle, with a fellowship of the church leadership—"The bread with which the multitude was fed was first received from the Master's hands by the disciples, and then handed by them to the assembled crowd." Singing, fellowship, and prayer dominated the meeting, with the earnest desire for God's blessing on the special emphasis. All believed that it was needed, and none criticized the effort to obtain it. "Our brethren are not of the order of men that delight in inventing novel methods, criticising plans, and raising objections, but they have learned to prefer acting to caviling and practice to theory; hence the

meeting was not marred by discussions or fault findings." ⁹⁴ The prayer time was fervent as "the holy light burned and glowed gloriously."

On the Lord's Day, Spurgeon preached. Another prayer meeting was held in the afternoon and another in the evening service. Again on Monday, a threefold prayer meeting was held; at seven in the morning many gathered, at noon another group, and in the evening the entire Tabernacle was filled for prayer. In this evening gathering for prayer, "no excitement was manifest, but solemn earnestness revealed itself." On Wednesday, the church met so that "as a body, it might cry mightily unto God." Though the meeting was open both for prayer and speaking, "no unqualified brother wasted the time, as is so generally the case in

such meetings." Only the fittest men spoke, and all were glad to hear them. ⁹⁵ Friday was spent in prayer by the College students, joined by the ministers in London who were alumni. Spurgeon witnessed a "hearty agonizing petitioning, a general personal renewal of consecration to God, and a holy warmth of soul."

Again, Monday was a day of prayer, all day long. It started before the sun had risen and continued without intermission for fourteen hours. Spurgeon himself

was there at ¹⁰, at ¹², at ³:30, and remained until ⁸:30. He called it a "season of importunate prayer, which can no more fail to be answered than the Lord himself can change." At the children's meeting on Tuesday, while Spurgeon spoke to the children, "their mothers were upstairs holding a prayer-meeting that the Lord would help us." So through March ⁹ the meetings continued with prayer and preaching and counseling of enquirers. Spurgeon summarized, "Thus prayer and effort went hand-in-hand."

The pervasive emphasis on prayer arose from the firm conviction of Spurgeon that such evangelism really was the Lord's work. Prayer served with preaching as an ordained means of calling the elect. For Spurgeon, "Prayer is, under God, the great lever with which to uplift a church." He knew of no problem to be solved as to whether prayer is heard, for "we know it and have seen it." He believed that the "power of prayer is as much a fact, and as clearly to be seen as

the influence of electricity, or the force of gravitation." ⁹⁶ When prayer succeeded, it was because "the spirit of prayer was richly given." Spurgeon declared that the pastors "esteem the prayer-meetings to be the life of the church; they are never absent unless by the force of necessity." The people also, therefore, value the prayer meetings "and meet in such numbers as we fear are to

be seldom found anywhere else engaged in intercession." ⁹⁷ The fruit of such labor in believing prayer could be seen in the earnest public seeking after salvation. On the first Lord's Day of the meeting, "After each service persons came forward who were pricked in the heart." On Monday evening Spurgeon reported that "enquirers were forthcoming, and some who had got beyond that stage pressed forward to avow themselves on the Lord's side."

98 On Thursday, at four in the afternoon, Spurgeon spoke at a meeting of young ladies "of an educated class just rising into womanhood." As a result, "anxious souls waited to have conversation with the elders and other friends." On the second Lord's Day, February ¹⁹, elders visited the afternoon Bible classes, "to stir them up to seek the immediate conversion of the unsaved ones among them."

The following day, while prayer was being held in other parts of the Tabernacle, "a church meeting was being held in another room, so that some of those who had come forward might confess Christ before his people." At the close of the day "many more seekers came forward, and male and female helpers were busy in conversation and prayer with person convicted and enquiring." On Tuesday evening, at a meeting of about ¹,000 children, where there was "no tea, no music, no magic lantern to attract the boys and girls," gospel truth in all its fullness, both doctrinal and experiential, was presented and "an evident feeling of interest and awe rested on the assembly." For a young people's meeting

scheduled for Thursday, a note was included, "Arrangements made that enquirers may meet with friends for direction and encouragement after the Lecture." Other meetings had similar arrangements and time announced for special appeals to the unconverted. In summary, Spurgeon observed that "a very general breaking down is taking place among the sinners of the congregation,

and a great tenderness of heart is notably observable." ⁹⁹ The handling of these inquirers is a particularly interesting part of the task. On Tuesday, the pastors waited from eleven till one to see seekers. Many came.

Spurgeon described the care essential for effective evangelism including both

protection of the church and honest dealing with souls.

The invitation to the wedding-feast of mercy brought in, as of old, both bad and good. Objectors came

with their hard questions, the lovers of the loaves and fishes with their hypocrisies, the ignorant with

their superstitious fears, the talkative with their presumptuous confidence; but there also drew near to

the servants of God the broken-hearted, the desponding, the despairing, the believing, the rejoicing, the

restored. It was a good day, and when the fishermen counted up the treasures of the net, after laying

many aside, and assigning others to a course of further instruction, they found a residue of twenty-six

whom they felt free to propose to the church for membership.

Spurgeon went on the give more details of the care involved in evangelistic counseling. No less that a quarter of an hour must be spent with each enquirer, but often twice to three times that much is required. This is necessary to form any estimate of the spiritual condition of the person and render efficient aid. In the evening more inquirers came and were faithfully dealt with by some of the elders and "other friends." These "other friends" were specially selected by the pastor for this purpose. He held prayer meetings with them and gave training for the most effective help throughout the time of meetings.

Counselors of inquirers looked for three pivotal evidences of true conversion.

One focused on the nature of the individual's perception of his sin and dependence on the work of Christ. Did the inquirer seem to have a clear and distinct and abiding sense of the seriousness of his offense toward God, a healthy remorse for that sin, a desire to turn from it and cease such offensive behavior toward God; did he also recognize that God was willing to receive him through the atonement made by Christ and through that alone? Second, did the present determination of the person's soul indicate a clear intention to live for Christ and overcome the opposing forces of the world; did he feel the urgency of seeing others escape from the wrath to come? Three, with a full knowledge of his own unworthiness and his full dependence on God, did the person have some knowledge of the doctrines of grace and that mercy was the fountain from which

his salvation flowed? ¹⁰⁰ Spurgeon saw this as that natural result of the Spirit's work of regeneration and uplifting Christ. "I believe the man who is not willing

to submit to the electing love and sovereign grace of God, has great reason to question whether he is a Christian at all," Spurgeon reasoned; "for the spirit that kicks against that is the spirit of the devil, and the spirit of the unhumbled,

unrenewed heart." ¹⁰¹ As a result of the conviction during the young ladies meeting, Spurgeon recounted that "that same night, in more than one house, friends were compelled to rise and administer comfort to young hearts in which the arrows of conviction had fixed." At the meeting, following the pastor's address, "beloved matrons in the church mingled with the youthful company and conversed with individuals concerning their souls." The evening service yielded more opportunity as "anxious souls waited to have conversation with the elders and other friends."

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Spurgeon's physical struggles kept him from participation in the special services of February 1875. William Olney sent him a summary of the events of the month. Among the highlights, Olney mentioned that "A very solemn feeling prevailed over all the meetings, and in the inquiry meetings, which were held afterwards on every occasion, very many persons were led to the Saviour and found joy and peace in him." At a final meeting, young converts were invited to meet with J. A. Spurgeon and the elders for a meeting of prayer and thanksgiving. Eighty-two persons stood in the meeting as "having sought and found the Saviour during the last three weeks." Between thirty and forty, according to Olney's reckoning, came to the platform and made a public profession of their trust in the Lord Jesus. "Conversion work has been very clear and genuine," Olney stated, and in recognition of the process established in this matter, continued, "and in many instance which will come before our beloved senior pastor's notice on his return among us again, the change was very striking and remarkable." Olney also noted that a weekly class for the new converts was arranged for under the instruction of "Elder Nesbitt" with Spurgeon's version of the Westminster catechism "being the class-book from which instruction is given." Evangelistic concern expanded throughout the congregation and into a variety of ministries. Members worked earnestly with the relatives and servants to attend the meetings and prayed "for their immediate decision for Christ."

Classes taught by the elders, Mrs. Bartlett's class, the Sunday School at the Almshouses, and other classes reported increased interest and the continuation of conversion work. "It is the desire of the elders of the church that this good work should continue and increase," Olney stated, "and every means will be taken to foster it by special prayer and effort until far greater results are attained." His earnestness in this was intensified by the prospect that when Spurgeon returned "his heart may be greatly gladdened and a fresh impetus be given to the good

work by his ministry. May he come among us in the power of the Holy Spirit, and enjoy a larger and richer blessing in the conversion of souls than has ever

yet been given him." ¹⁰³ Spurgeon's intensity for the souls of sinners had been embraced by his leadership and spilled over into the entire congregation.

In order to encourage zeal for souls and energetic methods of reaching the lost, Spurgeon put ideas before his people with which he did not entirely agree, but that had earnestness and some possible good in them. "How to lead the

Young to decision for Christ" was such an article. ¹⁰⁴ The article began by referring to the work of the energetic and well-known child evangelist Payson Hammond who by his successful evangelism of children had worked to dispel the idea that the cultivation of children proceeds on the basis of hopes of their conversion in later years. That was an egregious error according to Hammond.

Pastor Malins of Newcastle agreed and stated, "We have never witnessed the union of these qualifications [traits for successful child evangelism] in the same degree in any man as in Payson Hammond, of America, and we have never

heard of or seen more marked or abiding results than those of his works." ¹⁰⁵ Malins recounted an occasion when he heard Hammond speak on sin and salvation in its relations to Jesus the Savior, particularly applied to a child's understanding "with the view of leading them to immediate decision for Christ."

Not even Sabbath Schools had made much evangelistic impression on children "when compared with the labours of such men as Payson Hammond and Josiah Spiers," no, not even Moody and Sankey. Later the writer remarked, "When impression has been produced, it should be immediately followed up with the

view of consummating it in decision for Christ." ¹⁰⁶ Malins pointed to the qualities requisite in one that would win children, what special truths should be made prominent, and what agencies should be used to give effect to the truth. Workers should genuinely love children, be convinced that they can be led to conversion, and feel the urgency of "their decision for Christ in youth." The content must be precisely related to sin and salvation as both of these relate to Jesus Christ. Though they might be unsophisticated theologically and unable to embrace abstractions of doctrine, children can easily grasp the meaning of personal relations. Malins, following Hammond, believed that love and gratitude to parents serve as a perfect model for understanding both sin against and love for Christ. Parents are infinitely less worthy than Jesus and gratitude to them should be infinitely less than gratitude to Christ. The conclusion must be put forcefully, "What a wicked heart yours must be if it cannot and will not love and trust Jesus Christ!" Malins believed that this was the principal truth to which the Spirit bears witness, and "he will honour, as he

has done, the longing, earnest believing efforts, to bring home to the hearts of

the young." ¹⁰⁷ Malins' minimizing of theological content surely would cause hesitation in Spurgeon's desire to give full approval to Malins' argument. Malins wrote, "For just in proportion as the intellect is untrained, and the imagination and the affections are active, they are unfitted to grasp doctrinal statements, and so it is the more necessary, as far as human putting can do it, to present to them Jesus the loving one waiting to receive them in their sinfulness, and welcome and save

them when they come." ¹⁰⁸ As for effectual agency, the author commended special services designed to meet the peculiar propensities of the young, "directed to produce conviction of sin, and immediate trust in Jesus." Inquiry meetings so that each child could be dealt with at a personal level were encouraged. Anecdotes of personal experience in this type of evangelism with children, personal testimony, and heavy criticisms of older nay-sayers filled out the article. Much that Malins wrote would ring true to Spurgeon. In his final commendation of work for the

conversion of children, Malins showed the options.

Their conversion will obviate the necessity of seeking to save them from the firm grasp of the devil in

older years; it will impart growing strength and earnestness to the church for the fulfillment of her

mission to a lost world, and lessen the number of those who come into our church—able indeed to

rejoice in the grace which snatched them as brands from the burning, but only able to lay the wrecks of

wasted lives upon the altar of service. 109

Agreements aside, much controversial material remained. Spurgeon footnoted the first page with a caveat and a statement of neutrality pregnant with caution. "The Editor is not to be supposed to agree with every opinion and statement contained in papers bearing their author's name. This excellent paper is printed by the desire of the Conference of the College, and it is hoped that it will draw forth other articles upon the same subject. The point on which all Christians are not agreed is the value of the labours of Mr. Hammond: we neither endorse nor

criticize them." ¹¹⁰ While he did not feel obliged to endorse the digest of Hammond, Spurgeon was none the less evangelistic. In February 1879, Spurgeon set aside the entire month, "as usual," for "special efforts to reach the unsaved." Again prayer was at the beginning and scattered throughout the special efforts. On February ³ a special prayer meeting was held in the Tabernacle followed two days later by smaller meetings for prayer simultaneously in forty-eight different districts. Each Saturday evening a prayer meeting was held in several locations under the leadership of the elders. Accompanying Spurgeon with the preaching duties

were several pastors, graduates of the College, as well as evangelists from the College Society of Evangelists (Clarke and Smith) and the Tabernacle

Evangelists Association (Fullerton and Chamberlain). ¹¹¹ Spurgeon taught his church to see itself as an evangelistic organism with many members, each part doing that which it is gifted to do. No one does everything, no one does nothing, and everyone has a particular assignment from the Lord in the business of calling out his people. Each should consider his involvement as a privilege of infinite importance. "Those who are privileged to take part in holy efforts ought to think themselves highly favoured, for the day may come when, laid aside from actual service, they will envy those who keep the doors of the Lord's house. To wash the feet of the meanest servant of the great King is a high honour. And he may well congratulate himself who is permitted such an indulgence. To be present at the festival which greets returning prodigals is a still more joyous privilege, and those who are denied it have to be thankful when even the distant sounds of the music and dancing

charm their ears." ¹¹² He wrote those lines from France in the aftermath of the February evangelistic services and reflected his own feeling of sorrow at being so distant from the services in which the fruit of the month of evangelism became ripened for harvest.

In April, in narrating a more complete description of the events of the month, Spurgeon gave special attention to the number of workers from the congregation scattered throughout the building during preaching services. "At least 150 presented themselves as anxious to converse with enquirers, and night after night they were found scattered all over the building, watching for souls as those that must give account. They were all furnished with tickets on which were printed 'hints' as to the best methods of working, and twenty-three texts that were likely to be useful to them in their work, but they were all expected to be familiar with the Word of God, so as to give divine authority for their warnings, entreaties,

instructions, or invitations." ¹¹³ The meetings were closed on March ¹ with a meeting for prayer and testimony conducted by the elders. The following afternoon, Sunday, they visited the various Bible classes assembled for their regular study for the purpose of confirming those that had professed faith in Christ and "seeking to lead to the Saviour those who still remained undecided."

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According to the information given him, Spurgeon reported that prior to each service, prayer meetings were held, and after each service meetings for enquirers were necessary. "After the first few evenings the numbers remaining were so large that the young men's meeting had to be removed from the class room to the lecture-hall, and the meeting for females from the ladies' room to the one

vacated by the young men." In his exile, Spurgeon was encouraged when the news arrived that some were saved in every service. As normal, Spurgeon

carefully ascribed all glory to God. ¹¹⁵ Another regular feature in which Spurgeon involved his congregation in personal evangelism was the surrender of their seats on a Sunday evening in order to allow "strangers" to occupy them. On August ¹⁰, 1879, he preached "The Plague of the Heart" to a capacity crowd. Prior to the meeting at least three different prayer meetings for God's blessing on the effort occurred, one by a "meeting of chosen soul-winners" held in the afternoon and another by the pastor and deacons in their private vestry. "It was delightful," Spurgeon remarked, "to observe the discipline voluntarily kept up by the Tabernacle friends; for none of them were present, nor thought of being so." No crooked people or irregulars objected to the proceeding but all cheerfully complied and gave outsiders an opportunity to hear their pastor. The crowd that gathered had workmen in their "usual garb" and West End gentlemen at the height of fashion, higher and lower ranks equally represented. Men were in the majority, several clergy were present, and soldiers gave a dash of red throughout the crowd.

Spurgeon described the atmosphere as "dense and drowsy" but the attention as "unbroken and the feeling deep." Scattered throughout, were the selected ones of his own people, the chosen soul-winners, that Spurgeon called "sharp shooters" who "gathered up each one his share of those wounded by the word." The aggressive and individualistic approach does not diminish the necessity of

caution. Spurgeon explained:

Results, however, are better seen after an interval than immediately after the service. So it has ever

been with our ministry. The converts do not rush excitedly into an enquiry room, but they think over

what they have heard, and where the arrows have entered the soul the convinced ones come forward in

due time. 116

When the "free service" met on June ¹², 1881, Spurgeon felt it was "the most successful of our efforts in this direction to get those who are not in the habit of attending any place of worship." He suspected that on former occasions, the crowd consisted mainly of those that had left their own places of worship to attend the Tabernacle. This time, however, "a large portion evidently belonged to the class that we have been most anxious to reach." How did he know? "The number who did not know the tunes was joyfully great; and the general aspect of the attendants was not of the usual religious order." His exclamation was that God would "capture these outsiders, and hold them fast by his grace!" The importance of prayer for Spurgeon's evangelism came before the public in his report as he wrote, "Importunate prayer was offered about this, and we expect

answers from our God." Spurgeon felt unusual heaviness before he entered the pulpit, so "the deacons pleaded with God for him before he left the vestry." God granted utterance and after the service, "the same brethren lovingly gathered around their pastor and prayed a second time for the blessing. Surrounded by a

body-guard of praying men the Lord's servant cannot fail." ¹¹⁷ Spurgeon looked for places in London where he could plant churches and involve his people in the project. In 1881 he asked his friends around London to inform him of districts needing the gospel. "The thing to be desired," he wrote, "is a large hall or large room which we could hire, and a few true-hearted friends to form a nucleus." The city was growing faster than the churches and without strenuous efforts "London will become more and more heathen." He was more than willing to help provide preachers for such places and any other way in his power. He could not personally "tramp over this vast metropolis" making a personal survey, but he encouraged the brethren to "try to raise churches near their own abodes if there are none, or if those which exist are not really gospel-loving churches." ¹¹⁸

The Needs of an Ever Present Harvest

Possibilities for evangelism in the city were endless; vast numbers of lost sinners, ever increasing, needed gospel witness. New churches were needed and present churches should strategize for the task. Beyond that, Spurgeon believed that evangelists with biblical qualifications and a clear call could increase the church's success in wielding the harvest sickle. One must be bold, but not careless; great blessing or great delusion would follow the wake of the

evangelist.