C. H. Spurgeon and the Metropolitan Tabernacle: Addresses and Testimonials, 1854-1879

C. H. SPURGEON

and the

METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE

Addresses and Testimonials, 1854–1879

I would propose that the subject of the Ministry in this house, as long as this platform shall stand, and as long as this house shall be frequented by worshippers, shall be the person of Jesus Christ. These were the first words of Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle.

Ernest LeVos

C. H. SPURGEON AND THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE

ADDRESSES AND TESTIMONIALS, 1854–1879

Copyright © 2014 Ernest LeVos.

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ISBN: 978-1-4917-3403-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-3404-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014908179

iUniverse rev. date: 10/14/2014

Contents

Preface

Prologue

Acknowledgements

(with notes)

Part I:

The Proposed Testimonial, Sertmons, and Addresses

1.   The Proposed Testimonial to Pastor C. H. Spurgeon, August 1878 (MB)

2.   Meeting to Present the Testimonial, November 1878, Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington (MB)

3.   Twenty-five Years Ago: A Fragment by C. H. Spurgeon, January 1878 (S&T)

4.   The Middle Passage

5.   Crowning Blessings Ascribed To God

6.   [Monday] Address By C. H. Spurgeon, May 19, 1879 (MV)

Part II

Testimonial Meeting, History, and Presentation of the Testimonial

7.   Testimonial Meeting, May 20, 1879 (MV)

8.   A Grateful Retrospect

9.   The Baptist Churches: Twenty-Five Years Ago and Now

10.   Presentation of the Testimonial by Mr. William Olney, 1879 (MV)

Appendix A:

Our Motto is, ‘Go forward and never step back.’

1.   The Ceremony of Laying the First Stone of the New Tabernacle. Tuesday, August 16, 1859 (MB)

2.   Prayer of Pastor John Spurgeon [father of C. H. Spurgeon] in the Evening Meeting of the Ceremony of Laying the First Stone of the New Tabernacle, 1859 (MB)

3.   C. H. Spurgeon’s Comments at the Meeting of our own Church, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, Monday, April 8, 1861 (MB)

Appendix B:

Thomas Olney (1790–1869), A Father to the Minister, and William Olney, Senior Deacon (and Elder)

1.   Testimonial to Thomas Olney, Opening of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, 1861 (MB)

2.   The Good Deacon by C. H. Spurgeon, June 1868 (S&T)

3.   Letter sent to the family of the late Thomas Olney, 1870 (MB)

4.   Sketch of the Late Mr. Thomas Olney’s Life, [1790-1869], January 1870* (S&T)

5.   Testimonial Presented to William Olney and his reply, 1875 (MB)

6.   Officers of the Church at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, 1879

Epilogue

Endnotes

Preface

I would not have guessed, when I heard the name Charles [Haddon] Spurgeon for the first time in a Bible doctrines class in junior college in 1963, that a seed would be planted in my mind. In 2008, I would move from a devotional to an academic (research) interest in Spurgeon (and the Metropolitan Tabernacle).

It was in the 1980s that I read selections from Spurgeon, such as The Unspeakable Gift, Praise for the Gift of Gifts, and God’s Unspeakable Gift – three sermons from the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Series.¹ Little did I know the value of his sermons for devotional reading, meditation, and research, but his genius of highlighting The Gift came alive when I possessed a copy of his popular devotional Morning by Morning.

Later, I purchased copies of both the morning and evening devotions, and beginning in 1988, I have read Spurgeon on a daily basis, especially his devotionals. I also read several of his sermons and books by him and about him.

My academic research interest in Spurgeon began in 2008 on a visit to London, when I learned of some original letters kept in the Metropolitan Tabernacle (a few more details of my research in London are included in the acknowledgement section with explanatory notes). I returned in 2009 to read these letters (I was informed that a handful of people had read these letters).

As a historian with an interest in cultural and intellectual history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, I am interested in sermon literature: what allusions and references ministers transport into their sermons from their environment and the society in which they live, and the sermons that they preach. This aside, it is my studied purpose to offer a documentary history of the ministry of Spurgeon and the Metropolitan Tabernacle from 1854 to 1879. It is about a working church, and Spurgeon believed wholeheartedly in a healthy balance between doctrine and practice. Selected addresses, sermons, and testimonies that best cover the twenty-five years of Spurgeon’s pastorate and his working church are included in this publication.²

Prologue

Charles Haddon Spurgeon passed away on 31 January, 1892, but his living faith is inspiring. He is not the Forgotten Spurgeon 122 years after his death. He has been called the Prince of Preachers, the Heir of the Puritans, the People’s Preacher, the preacher who had communion with Christ and his people, and one who lived by revealed truth.³

Spurgeon’s first words at the Metropolitan Tabernacle were:

I would propose that the subject of the Ministry in this house, as long as this platform shall stand, and as long as this house shall be frequented by worshippers, shall be the person of Jesus Christ. I am never ashamed to avow myself a Calvinist; I do not hesitate to take the name of Baptist; but if I am asked what is my creed, I reply, It is Jesus Christ.

My venerated predecessor, Dr. Gill, has left a Body of Divinity, admirable and excellent in its way; but the Body of Divinity to which I would pin and bind myself for ever, God helping me, is not his system, or any other human treatise; but Christ Jesus, who is the sum and substance of the Gospel, who is in Himself all theology, the incarnation of every precious truth, the all-glorious personal embodiment of the way, the truth, and the life.

Spurgeon’s last words at the Metropolitan Tabernacle were:

If you wear the livery of Christ, you will find Him so meek and lowly of heart that you will find rest unto your souls. He is the most magnanimous of captains. There never was his like among the choicest of princes. He is always to be found in the thickest part of the battle. When the wind blows cold, He always takes the bleak side of the hill. The heaviest end of the cross lies ever on His shoulders. If He bids us carry a burden, he carries it also. If there is anything that is gracious, generous, kind, and tender, yea lavish and superabundant in love, you always find it in Him. His service is life, peace, and joy. Oh, that you would enter on it at once! God help you to enlist under the banner of Jesus Christ. ⁴

In 1879, C. H. Spurgeon celebrated his twenty-fifth year as pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle and his silver wedding anniversary. A Memorial Volume was published in 1879, and it included the sermons and addresses that commemorated the twenty-fifth year of his pastorate. Spurgeon himself wrote one short historical account of his ministry.⁵

This current publication incorporates primary source material from the Metropolitan Tabernacle Minute Books of Church & Annual Church Meetings (MB) 1854–82 (Volumes 1-6), from The Sword and the Trowel (S&T), and from the Memorial Volume (MV).⁶ These materials and selections are included in Part I, The Proposed Testimonial, Sermons, and Addresses, and in Part II, Testimonial Meeting, History, and Presentation of the Testimonial.

Appendices are included. Appendix A covers Spurgeon’s articles and two selections from the MB. These are the prayers of Charles Spurgeon and Pastor John Spurgeon, his father, on Tuesday, 16 August, 1859, in the ceremony of the laying of the first stone of the New Tabernacle and Spurgeon’s comments at the meeting of the new church, the Metropolitan Tabernacle in Newington.

Appendix B has a testimonial to Thomas Olney at the opening of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in 1861, an account on The Good Deacon and a Sketch of the Late Mr. Thomas Olney’s Life from The Sword and the Trowel by Spurgeon. The letter of condolences sent to the family of Thomas Olney (MB) is part of this appendix; it is followed by a testimonial to William Olney and his reply.

Finally, a list of the officers of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in 1879 is included. Spurgeon viewed and treated his deacons as more than good advisors; they were co-workers in the propagation of the Gospel. For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 3:13). Thomas Olney, a father to the minister, was a treasure to Charles Spurgeon, and so was William Olney, the senior deacon.

Acknowledgements

(with notes)

I would like to thank my university college for the professional and faculty developments funds I received from 2008–13 that enabled me, in 2008, to first attend the Seventeenth World History Association Conference (on Global Cities, the Sea: Highway of Change) held in London. On a visit to the Metropolitan Tabernacle in 2008, Dr. Peter Masters, pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle since 1970, informed me of original letters of Spurgeon that I read on visits to the Metropolitan Tabernacle in 2009 and 2010, respectively.⁷

In the same visit in 2008, Chris Laws, an elder of the Metropolitan Tabernacle (Met Tab) and church organist, informed me of the annual School of Theology. Being interested in the integration of faith and learning (and life), I attended the School of Theology from 2009–13, and I am grateful for the many conversations I had with several of the delegates, laymen, pastors, and university students. Also in 2008, I purchased from the Met Tab bookstore, and read, John Flavel’s The Mystery of Providence, which in turn led to a greater appreciation of Puritan preachers and their works.⁸ As a historian, I acknowledge the role of providence in world history.

Besides, I researched and read several of the letters of William Wilberforce and the Clapham Sect (Hannah More, for one) in 2009 and 2010 in the British Library. In 2011, I pursued research on the Puritan views on the providence and sovereignty of God, Thomas Watson, and the Ejection of 1662 at Dr. William’s Library (Center for Dissenting Studies). I also used the resources at the British Library, the Lambeth Palace Library (thanks to Dr. Masters for suggesting the library, with their collection from Sion College, and to Hugh Cahill, librarian, and his staff), and the Evangelical Library in London (thanks to the capable help of Steve Taylor, the librarian).

Besides, I am grateful for the use of the Heritage Room at Spurgeon’s College in 2009 and 2010. Thanks to Bob Ross of Pilgrim Publications, Pasadena, Texas, for suggesting the heritage collection on Spurgeon and to Mrs. Judy Powles, librarian at Spurgeon’s College, London.

I intended to continue my research on the Puritans, especially Thomas Watson. However, in July 2012, after being informed of the Metropolitan Tabernacle Minute Books of Church & Annual Church Meetings (MB) 1854–1882 (Volumes 1-6) and Surgeon’s strong emphasis on a working church by Dr. Masters, I laid aside my research on Wilberforce and Watson. I spent a week reading the Minute Books, not wanting to pass up the opportunity to do additional primary source research.⁹

I continued my reading and the collection of additional content from the Minute Books, after attending the School of Theology, 2–4 July 2013, and added to and revised sections of this manuscript from July to September 2013.

Thanks to Dr. Peter Modern (Spurgeon’s College) and Dr. David Bebbington (University of Stirling) for their encouragement and conversations at the 2012 Freedom and Power Conference, hosted by the Baptist Historical Society and held at Regent’s Park College, Oxford, UK. Thanks also to Dr. Terrance Crosby (with useful suggestions from his wife) in 2012 and 2013 on how to handle Spurgeon.¹⁰

Special thanks goes to Bob Ross and his son, the late Mike Ross of Pilgrims Publications, with whom I had several conversations. With Mike I arranged to purchase several of Spurgeon’s publications and especially the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Series.

I appreciated every conversation with Pastor Richard Rushing of Bethany Baptist Church in Martinez, California, and with Dr. E. S. Williams in London, UK. You were very encouraging.

Thanks to Dr. Joy Fehr, vice-president, Academic Administration of Canadian University College, for her interest and encouragement in professional and faculty development. Also, thanks goes to Kimhong Ung for word processing the material from the Memorial Volume and to Jillian LeVos Carlson for her valuable help with Internet searches.

Special thanks go to the editors at iUniverse for their valuable help and suggestions.¹¹

To the pastors, elders, deacons, members of the church staff, and several members of the Metropolitan Tabernacle (2008–14): I am especially grateful for your kindness and hospitality. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God our Heavenly Father and the Fellowship and Communion of the Holy Spirit, be with (you) and remain with (you) for evermore. Amen.

I wish to thank all who have encouraged and talked to me about my project, and I apologize to anyone I may have left out.

Part I:

The Proposed Testimonial, Sermons, and Addresses

1.   The Proposed Testimonial to Pastor C. H. Spurgeon, August 1878 (MB)

For a quarter of a century the ministry of our honoured Pastor C. H. Spurgeon has been continued to his loving people with an ever increasing acceptance and power. Our church roll numbered at the commencement 313, and now 5346 person are known to be in our fellowship.

This fact demand a special Memorial and we therefore desire to show our gratitude to Almighty God by some mark of esteem and affection towards his honoured servant. For 25 years of faithful and eloquent teaching of Divine truth, no adequate return can ever be made, but we are constrained to attempt the expression of our feelings, in a way which we know will be in consonance with the wishes and the and judgment of our beloved Pastor, by gathering a Fund for helping him more easily to carry on some departments of that great life’s work, which continues to grow under his hands.

We have resolved, therefore, to raise a sum of not less than £5000, as a thank-offering, for Mr. SPRUGEON at the close of the year; and the whole matter could be easily accomplished if every church member would give or collect £1.

It is our purpose to leave all donors at liberty to select which of Mr. SPURGEON’S many religious enterprises they would wish to aid with their gifts, but unless otherwise directed we think it best to unite in one special effort to raise a sum for the permanent relief and comfort of the many of the poor members of our church; as we know that our dear Pastor shares the spirit of his Master who said, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the lest of these, ye have done it unto me.

In The Metropolitan Tabernacle: its History and Work, Mr. SPURGEON writes of the Almshouses connected with church, and of the heavy annual charge which the maintenance of our 17 aged sisters makes upon our Poor Fund: We wish to leave the Tabernacle in good working order when our work is done; but the present burden might prove far too heavy for our successors, indeed, they ought not to be saddled with it. In future years the church may find itself barely able to support its own expenses, and we do not think that are justified leaving it the legacy of so heavy a charge. Our present anxiety is to get the ship tight and trim, and this is one of the matters which is not in a satisfactory state, our aged sisters are worthy of all we can do for them and their grateful faces often make our hearts glad.

To remove this one care from our beloved Pastor’s mind, and help a worthy object so dear to his heart, is a proposal we are sure will comment itself to all his friends. We therefore confidently expect a hearty response to our appeal too many readers of Mr. SPURGEON’S sermons, and to all the members of his church and congregation to render this fitting tribute to him in celebration of his Pastoral Silver Wedding.

[All] Donations [are] to be sent to the Treasurers, T. H. Olney and Thomas Greenwood. Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. A Bazaar will be held at the close of the year, on behalf of the Almshouse