CHARLES
SPURGEON 
Spurgeon
was perhaps England's
most articulate yet unpredictable preacher.
Certainly,
Martin Lloyd Jones was a similar
tiger in the next era.
Popish Windows
Spurgeon
once took a church that met in an old stale musty stone cathedral which they had
bought from a dying Church of England assembly. The building was useful, and Spurgeon
got used to it, but it had horribly superstitious and Catholic type stained glass
windows. Spurgeon suggested they be replaced with ordinary glass, but the leaders
of the church refused. They said that the windows were valuable and ought to be
preserved for their heritage value. Spurgeon
stewed for a long time over those windows. Finally, he could take them no longer.
He went around to the church house one Saturday night very late. He then threw
rocks through all of the stained glass windows, and he went home. Next morning,
when the parishioners came to Sunday services, they were horrified to find their
antique windows all smashed. Spurgeon got up in the pulpit and said, "We have
been vandalized. What shall we do?" "Replace
them," came the answer from the church leaders. Well,
a committee was arranged which checked into the cost of restoring them. Their
report was that the cost was far too high, and the only solution was to have the
windows replaced with plain colored glass, which they did. Now,
some of you wimps may find fault with Spurgeon's methods. I think he did just
exactly what God wanted him to do... But,
for those of you who feel it is culturally and spiritually proper to spend God's
money on stained glass windows of scummy "saints" of the Whore of Rome, here is
a little Old Anglican hymn, of the high church, just for you...
Hymns
or Rats? During
one of many holidays at Salmbourne, I had a varied experience which I am not likely
to forget. My dear grandfather was very fond of Dr. Watt's hymns, and my grandmother,
wishing to get me to learn them, promised me a penny for each that I should say
to her perfectly. I found it an easy and pleasant method of earning money, and
learned them so fast that grandmother said she must reduce the price to a halfpenny
each, and afterwards to a farthing, if she did not mean to be quite ruined by
her extravagance. There is no telling how low the amount per hymn might have sunk,
but grandfather said that he was getting over-run with rats, and offered me a
shilling a dozen for all I could kill. I
found, at the time, that the occupation of rat-catching paid me better than learning
hymns, but I know which employment has been more permanently profitable to me.
No matter on what topic I am preaching, I can, even now, in the middle of my sermon,
quote some verse of a hymn in harmony with the subject; the hymns have remained
with me, while those old rats for years have passed away, and the shillings I
earned by killing them have been spent long ago. -
Charles Spurgeon Proverbs
22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not
depart from it.
His
Worst Sermon Spurgeon
once preached a sermon that he felt was his absolute worst. He floundered
and stammered through it, and felt that it ended a complete failure. In his great
humiliation he prayed to God that night, "Lord, God, Thou canst do something with
nothing. Bless that poor sermon." He
prayed this prayer repeatedly throughout the week day and night. But, he also
determined in himself that the next Sunday he would preach a great sermon.
He
did exactly that. His next Sunday's sermon went splendidly and the people
praised him highly for it. He was pleased with himself and slept beautifully that
night without a care. But, the thought came to him, "I'll watch the results
of those two sermons." He
was eventually able to trace forty-one souls saved through the effects of the
poor, humiliating sermon while not one was saved through the highly praised one!
1
Corinthians 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words
of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your
faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Don't understand
Once a theology student
came to Spurgeon much disturbed. He could not understand the meanings certain
verses in the Bible. Spurgeon's wise advice to him was, "Young man, allow me to
give you this word of advice. Give the Lord credit for knowing things you don't
understand."
Quotes
"A
child of five, if properly instructed,
can as truly believe and be regenerated
as an adult."
-- "Christian
is the gentlest of men; but then he is a man."
--
"Cultivate forbearance till
your heart yields a fine crop of it.
Pray for a short memory as to unkindness."
-- "Tale-baring
emits a threefold poison; for it injures the teller,
the hearer and the person
concerning whom the tale is told."
-- "We
measure distance by time. We are apt to say that a certain place is so many
hours from us. If it is a hundred miles off, and there is no railroad, we think
it a long way; if there is a railway, we think we can be there in no time. But
how near must we say heaven is? -- for it is just one sigh, and we get there."
-- "A
lie travels around the world while Truth is putting on her boots."
--
On his deathbed Spurgeon
said to a friend, "My theology now is found in four little words: 'JESUS died
for ME.' I don't say this is all I would preach if I were to be raised up again,
but it is more than enough for me to die upon." Romans
5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Links
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