Charles Spurgeon

==Biography==

===Early life===
{{Baptist| expanded=Figures}}
Born in [[Kelvedon]], Essex, he moved to Colchester at 10 months old.<ref>Fullerton, W. Y. Charles Haddon Spurgeon: A Biography. The Tyndale Series of Great Biographies. P. 5. Chicago: Moody Press, 1966.</ref> 

The missionary [[Richard Knill]] spent several days with Spurgeon while visiting his grandfather in 1844; he announced to him and his family that the child would one day preach the gospel to great multitudes.<ref>[https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/spurgeon-did-you-know  Christian History Institute website, ‘’Charles H. Spurgeon: Did you know?’’]</ref>  

Spurgeon's conversion from nominal [[Congregational church|Congregationalism]] came on 6 January 1850, at age 15. On his way to a scheduled appointment, a snowstorm forced him to cut short his intended journey and to turn into a [[Primitive Methodist Church|Primitive Methodist]] chapel in Artillery Street, Newtown, [[Colchester]], where he believed God opened his heart to the salvation message.<ref>''[https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/charles-spurgeons-conversion-in-a-primitive-methodist-chapel/ The Gospel Coalition]''</ref> 
The text that moved him was Isaiah 45:22 ("Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else"). Later that year, on 4 April, he was admitted to the church at Newmarket. His baptism followed on 3 May in the [[river Lark]], at [[Isleham]]. Later that same year he moved to Cambridge, where he later became a Sunday school teacher. Spurgeon preached his first sermon in the winter of 1850–51 in a cottage at [[Teversham]] while filling in for a friend. From the beginning of Spurgeon's ministry, his style and ability were considered to be far above average. In the same year, he was installed as pastor of the small [[Baptist]] church at [[Waterbeach]], Cambridgeshire, where he published his first literary work, a [[Gospel tract]] written in 1853.

===New Park Street Chapel===
[[File:CHSat23.jpg|left|thumb|Spurgeon at age 23.]]
In April 1854, after preaching three months on probation and just four years after his conversion, Spurgeon, then only 19 years old, was called to the pastorate of London's famed [[New Park Street Chapel]] in [[Southwark]] (formerly pastored by the [[Strict Baptist|Particular Baptist]]s [[Benjamin Keach]], and theologian [[John Gill (theologian)|John Gill]]).  This was the largest Baptist congregation in London at the time, although it had dwindled in numbers for several years. Spurgeon found friends in London among his fellow pastors, such as [[William Garrett Lewis]] of Westballs Grove Church, an older man who along with Spurgeon went on to found the London Baptist Association. 
[[File:Wiki staffs spurgeon.jpg|thumb|[[Staffordshire figurine]], c. 1860]]

Within a few months of Spurgeon's arrival at Park Street, his ability as a preacher made him famous. The following year the first of his sermons in the "New Park Street Pulpit" was published. Spurgeon's sermons were published in printed form every week and had a high circulation. By the time of his death in 1892, he had preached nearly 3,600 sermons and published 49 volumes of commentaries, sayings, anecdotes, illustrations and devotions.

Immediately following his fame was criticism. The first attack in the press appeared in the ''[[Earthen Vessel]]'' in January 1855. His preaching, although not revolutionary in substance, was a plain-spoken and direct appeal to the people, using the Bible to provoke them to consider the teachings of [[Jesus Christ]]. Critical attacks from the media persisted throughout his life. The congregation quickly outgrew their building, and moved to [[Exeter Hall]], then to [[Surrey Music Hall]].  At 22, Spurgeon was the most popular preacher of the day.<ref>{{DNB Cite | wstitle=Spurgeon, Charles Haddon}}</ref>
 
On 8 January 1856, Spurgeon married [[Susannah Spurgeon|Susannah]], daughter of Robert Thompson of Falcon Square, London, by whom he had twin sons, Charles and [[Thomas Spurgeon|Thomas]] born on September 20, 1856. At the end of that year, tragedy struck on 19 October 1856, as Spurgeon was preaching at the Surrey Gardens Music Hall for the first time. Someone in the crowd yelled, "FIRE"  The ensuing panic and stampede left several dead. Spurgeon was emotionally impacted by the event and it had a sobering influence on his life. For many years he spoke of being moved to tears for no reason known to himself.
[[File:Spurgeon.png|right|thumb|Spurgeon later in life.]]

[[Walter Thornbury]] later wrote in "Old and New London" (1898) describing a subsequent meeting at Surrey:
{{Blockquote | a congregation consisting of 10,000 souls, streaming into the hall, mounting the galleries, humming, buzzing, and swarming&nbsp;– a mighty hive of bees&nbsp;– eager to secure at first the best places, and, at last, any place at all. After waiting for more than half an hour&nbsp;– for if you wish to have a seat you must be there at least that space of time in advance…  Mr. Spurgeon ascended his tribune. To the hum, rush, and trampling of men, succeeded a low, concentrated thrill and murmur of devotion, which seemed to run at once, like an electric current, through the breast of everyone present, and by this magnetic chain the preacher held us fast bound for about two hours. It is not my purpose to give a summary of his discourse. It is enough to say of his voice, that its power and volume are sufficient to reach everyone in that vast assembly; of his language that it is neither high-flown nor homely; of his style, that it is at times familiar, at times declamatory, but always happy, and often eloquent; of his doctrine, that neither the 'Calvinist' nor the 'Baptist' appears in the forefront of the battle which is waged by Mr. Spurgeon with relentless animosity, and with Gospel weapons, against irreligion, cant, hypocrisy, pride, and those secret bosom-sins which so easily beset a man in daily life; and to sum up all in a word, it is enough to say, of the man himself, that he impresses you with a perfect conviction of his sincerity.}}

[[File:Pastors College.png|thumb|Pastors College 1888]]Spurgeon's work went on. A Pastors' College was founded in 1856 by Spurgeon and was renamed [[Spurgeon's College]] in 1923, when it moved to its present building in South Norwood Hill, London.<ref>George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, ''Encyclopedia of Christian Education, Volume 3'', Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2015, p. 1205</ref> At the [[Fast Day]], 7 October 1857, he preached to his largest crowd ever&nbsp;– 23,654 people&nbsp;– at [[The Crystal Palace]] in London. Spurgeon noted:
{{Blockquote | In 1857, a day or two before preaching at the Crystal Palace, I went to decide where the platform should be fixed; and, in order to test the acoustic properties of the building, cried in a loud voice, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." In one of the galleries, a workman, who knew nothing of what was being done, heard the words, and they came like a message from heaven to his soul. He was smitten with conviction on account of sin, put down his tools, went home, and there, after a season of spiritual struggling, found peace and life by beholding the Lamb of God. Years after, he told this story to one who visited him on his death-bed.}}

===Metropolitan Tabernacle===
{{see also|Religious views on smoking#Christianity}}
[[File:SpurgeonSurrey.jpg|thumb|Spurgeon preaching at the [[Surrey Music Hall]] circa 1858.]]
On 18 March 1861, the congregation moved permanently to the newly constructed purpose-built [[Metropolitan Tabernacle]] at [[Elephant and Castle]], Southwark, seating 5,000 people with standing room for another 1,000. The Metropolitan Tabernacle was the largest church edifice of its day. Spurgeon continued to preach there several times per week until his death 31 years later. He never gave [[altar call]]s at the conclusion of his sermons, but he always extended the invitation that if anyone was moved to seek an interest in Christ by his preaching on a Sunday, they could meet with him at his vestry on Monday morning. Without fail, there was always someone at his door the next day.

He wrote his sermons out fully before he preached, but what he carried up to the pulpit was a note card with an outline sketch. [[Stenographers]] would take down the sermon as it was delivered and Spurgeon would then have opportunity to make revisions to the transcripts the following day for immediate publication. His weekly sermons, which sold for a penny each, were widely circulated and still remain one of the all-time best selling series of writings published in history.<ref>''Spurgeon: Prince of Preachers'', by Lewis A. Drummond, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, 1992, p.215</ref>
[[File:Open Air Preaching WB.jpg|thumb|right|Missionary preaching in China using [[The Wordless Book]]]]

{{Blockquote | I would propose that the subject of the ministry of 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, although I claim to be rather a Calvinist according to Calvin, than after the modern debased fashion.  I do not hesitate to take the name of Baptist. You have there (pointing to the baptistry) substantial evidence that I am not ashamed of that ordinance of our Lord Jesus Christ; but if I am asked to say what is my creed, I think I must reply: "It is Jesus Christ."  My venerable 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 of divinity 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.

— The kernel of Spurgeon's first sermon at the Tabernacle<ref name="philj">{{cite web | url = http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0369.htm | title = The First Sermon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle | work = Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Preached Monday, March 25, 1861 | number = 369 | access-date = 2014-12-19 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150130064855/http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0369.htm | archive-date = 30 January 2015 | df = dmy-all }}</ref>}}

Besides sermons, Spurgeon also wrote several [[hymn]]s and published a new collection of worship songs in 1866 called "Our Own Hymn Book". It was mostly a compilation of [[Isaac Watts]]'s Psalms and Hymns that had been originally selected by [[John Rippon]], a Baptist predecessor to Spurgeon. Singing in the congregation was exclusively [[a cappella]] under his pastorate. Thousands heard the preaching and were led in the singing without any amplification of sound that exists today. Hymns were a subject that he took seriously. While Spurgeon was still preaching at New Park Street, he entered the [[Rivulet controversy|''Rivulet'' controversy]] over a hymn book. He found its theology largely [[deist]]ic. At the end of his review, he warned:

<blockquote>We shall soon have to handle truth, not with kid gloves, but with gauntlets, – the gauntlets of holy courage and integrity. Go on, ye warriors of the cross, for the King is at the head of you.</blockquote>

On 5 June 1862, Spurgeon challenged the [[Church of England]] when he preached against [[baptismal regeneration]].<ref>{{Citation | last = Spurgeon | first = Charles Haddon | url = http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0573.htm | title = Baptismal Regeneration | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070104145525/http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0573.htm | archive-date = 4 January 2007 | df = dmy-all}}</ref> However, Spurgeon taught across denominational lines as well: for example, in 1877 he was the preacher at the opening of a new [[Free Church of Scotland (1843-1900)|Free Church of Scotland]] church building in [[Dingwall]]. It was during this period at the new Tabernacle that Spurgeon found a friend in [[James Hudson Taylor]], the founder of the inter-denominational [[China Inland Mission]]. Spurgeon supported the work of the mission financially and directed many missionary candidates to apply for service with Taylor. He also aided in the work of cross-cultural evangelism by promoting "[[The Wordless Book]]", a teaching tool that he described in a message given on 11 January 1866, regarding Psalm 51:7: "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." The book has been and is still used to teach people without reading skills and people of other cultures and languages&nbsp;–  young and old&nbsp;– around the globe about the Gospel message.<ref>{{Citation | publisher = Spurgeon.org | url = http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/3278.htm | title = The Wordless Book | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070504130848/http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/3278.htm | archive-date = 4 May 2007 | df = dmy-all }}</ref>{{Sfn | Austin | 2007 | pp = 1–10}}

On the death of [[missionary]] [[David Livingstone]] in 1873, a discolored and much-used copy of one of Spurgeon's printed sermons, "Accidents, Not Punishments,"<ref>{{Citation | last = Spurgeon | first = Charles Haddon | url = http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0408.htm | title = Accidents, Not Punishments | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060918171908/http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0408.htm | archive-date = 18 September 2006 | df = dmy-all}}</ref> was found among his few possessions much later, along with the handwritten comment at the top of the first page: "Very good, D.L." He had carried it with him throughout his travels in Africa. It was sent to Spurgeon and treasured by him.<ref>[[William Young Fullerton|W. Y. Fullerton]], [http://www.spurgeon.org/misc/bio10.htm ''Charles Haddon Spurgeon: A Biography''] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060927021747/http://www.spurgeon.org/misc/bio10.htm |date=27 September 2006}}, ch. 10</ref>

===Metropolitan Tabernacle Societies and Institutions===
In 1876, 22 years after becoming pastor, Spurgeon published "The Metropolitan Tabernacle: Its History and Work".<ref>The Metropolitan Tabernacle: Its History and Work. Available in Google Books</ref> His intention stated in the preface is to give a 'printed history of the Tabernacle'. The book has 15 chapters and of these 5 are given over to what he called 'Societies and Institutions'.[[File:Metropolitan Tabernacle Almshouse.png|thumb|upright|Metropolitan Tabernacle Almshouse]]

The Five Chapters are:

xi. The Almshouses. Explaining how the New Park Street Chapel site was sold to allow the Tabernacle to build an Almshouse and school.
 [[File:Stockwell Orphanage 1876.png|thumb|upright|Stockwell_Orphanage_1876]]

xiii. The Stockwell Orphanage. This opened for 240 boys in 1867 (and later for girls in 1879). These orphanages continued in London until they were bombed in the [[Second World War]]. The inspiration for starting an orphanage came from a visit with [[George Müller]].<ref>{{Citation | title = Brief history | publisher = Spurgeon's child care | url = http://www.spurgeonschildcare.org/briefhistory.php | access-date = 10 September 2005 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20031031060713/http://spurgeonschildcare.org/briefhistory.php | archive-date = 31 October 2003 | url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | title = Birchington history | publisher = The Birchington roundabout | url = http://www.thebirchingtonroundabout.co.uk/BirchingtonHistory.htm | access-date = 10 September 2005 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051103174208/http://www.thebirchingtonroundabout.co.uk/BirchingtonHistory.htm | archive-date = 3 November 2005 | url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | title = Orphanage | publisher = Vauxhall Society | url = http://www.vauxhallsociety.org.uk/Orphanage.html | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://archive.today/20060924232415/http://www.vauxhallsociety.org.uk/Orphanage.html | archive-date = 24 September 2006 | df = dmy-all}}</ref> The orphanage changed its name to [[Spurgeon's Child Care]] in 1937,<ref name="ReferenceA">Charity Commission for England and Wales. Charity Number 1081182-1</ref> and again in 2005 to [[Spurgeons]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://spurgeons.org/ |title=Home |website=spurgeons.org}}</ref> Spurgeon was linked more with the Stockwell orphanage than any other Metropolitan Tabernacle endeavour. There are probably four reasons for this:

{{Blockquote | 1. It was a large set of buildings in London occupying four acres.  2. There was an annual fundraiser at which Spurgeon chose to celebrate his birthday,<ref>The Standard 15/6/1883</ref> and often the laying of a foundation stone.<ref>The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post. 21/6/1883</ref> The event was called ‘one of the largest bazaars and fancy fairs ever held in South London’<ref>The Pall Mall Gazette. 4/1/1882</ref> – in one day 1,000 was raised<ref>Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper 25/6/1882</ref> – a lot considering entry was sixpence.<ref>The Standard 14/6/90</ref> Spurgeon accepted money gifts for his birthday, which all went to the orphanage.<ref>Liverpool Mercury 23/6/1881</ref> 3. The Orphanage choir and bell ringers performed concerts to fundraise<ref>The Royal Cornwall Gazette.  6/6/84</ref> 4. It had such a large operating budget compared with other Tabernacle activities.}}

xiv. The Colportage Association. Colporters were employed to take Bibles, good books and periodicals for sale, from  house to house. They also were involved in visiting the sick and holding meetings.

xv. Other Institutions Connected with the Tabernacle. Here Spurgeon describes 21 other 'Institutions'. Two examples are: The Ordinance Poor Fund which distributed money amongst poor members of the church of about £800 annually, and the Ladies' Benevolent Society. This group made clothing for the poor and 'relieved' them, with an income of £105.

Eight years later at Spurgeon's fiftieth birthday celebration an updated list of 'Societies and Institutions' was read out.<ref>Mr Spurgeon's Jubilee. Charles Spurgeon</ref> With Spurgeon's strong encouragement and support the 24 groups listed in 'The Metropolitan Tabernacle: Its History and Work', had become 69. Before they are read out Spurgeon says:  "I think everybody should know what the church has been moved to do, and I beg to say that there are other societies besides those which will be mentioned, but you will be tired before you get to the end of them." and finishes after the list by saying: "We have need to praise God that he enables the church to carry on all these institutions."

Spurgeon's encouragement for members of the Tabernacle to be involved in these ministries was very strong. Spurgeon's own regular contributions to them meant that he left his wife only 2,000 pounds, when he died, despite having earned millions from his published sermons and books.<ref>Nottingham Evening Post 31/3/1892</ref>

He encouraged others to give with comments like these:

On the Green Walk Mission: "Here a good hall must be built. If some generous friend would build a place for this mission, the money would be well laid out",

On colporters: "Mr Charlesworth’s two Bible classes have generously agreed to support a brother with a Bible Carriage in the streets of London. Would not some other communities of young people do well to have their own man at work in the regions where they dwell? THINK OF IT",

On the almshouses: "WE GREATLY NEED AT LEAST £5000 TO ENDOW THE ALMHOUSES, AND PLACE THE INSTITUTION UPON A PROPER FOOTING. Already C. H. Spurgeon, Thomas Olney, and Thomas Greenwood have contributed £200 each towards the fund, and we earnestly trust that either by donations or legacies the rest of the £5000 will be forthcoming."<ref>Metropolitan Tabernacle: Its History and Work. Available in Google Books</ref>

Spurgeon had one infirmary built, at the Stockwell Orphanage. However, he also recognised that the poor had limited access to health care and so was also an enthusiastic supporter of the [[Metropolitan Hospital Sunday Fund]]. He left us this quote:<ref>The Hospital. 25/6/87. p. 215</ref> [[File:The Stockwell Orphanage Infirmary.png|thumb|The Stockwell Orphanage Infirmary]]
{{Blockquote | We must have more hospitals. I do not know whether we shall not be obliged to make the Government spend something in this direction. I don’t believe in the Government doing anything well. I generally feel sorry when anything has to be left to the Government. I don’t mean this Government in particular, but any Government which may be in office for the time being. It is six of one and half-a-dozen of the other.  I have a very small opinion of the whole lot. There are some things which we should try ourselves to do as long as ever we can; but if we are driven up a corner, it may come to what I fear. Bones must be set, and the sick must be cared for; the poor must not be left to die, in order not to have to go to the Government for help.  So let us all try to give what we can. It is your duty to give, not merely as Christians, but as men. I like the Hospital Sunday movement, for all Christian people can meet, as we are met here to-night, on one platform.}}

===Downgrade controversy===
[[File:Sword and Trowel cover.gif|right|thumb|300px|Sword and Trowel original cover page]]
A controversy among the Baptists flared in 1887 with Spurgeon's first "Down-grade" article, published in ''The Sword & the Trowel''.<ref name= "downgrade">{{Cite book | last = Spurgeon | first = Charles | title = The "Down Grade" Controversy | publisher = Pilgrim Publications | location = Pasadena, [[Texas|TX]] | page = 264 | date = 2009 | url = http://www.spurgeon.org/misc/dwngrd.htm | isbn = 978-1-56186211-5 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140623204825/http://www.spurgeon.org/misc/dwngrd.htm | archive-date = 23 June 2014 | df = dmy-all}}</ref> In the ensuing "Downgrade Controversy," the Metropolitan Tabernacle disaffiliated from the [[Baptist Union]], effectuating Spurgeon's congregation as the world's largest self-standing church. Spurgeon framed the controversy in this way:
{{Blockquote | Believers in Christ's atonement are now in declared union with those who make light of it; believers in Holy Scripture are in confederacy with those who deny [[plenary inspiration]]; those who hold evangelical doctrine are in open alliance with those who call the fall a fable, who deny the personality of the Holy Ghost, who call justification by faith immoral, and hold that there is another probation after death…  It is our solemn conviction that there should be no pretence of fellowship. Fellowship with known and vital error is participation in sin.<ref name= CHS1>{{Citation | first = Charles Haddon | last = Spurgeon | url = http://www.spurgeon.org/s_and_t/dg00.htm | newspaper = The Sword and the Trowel | title = Preface | date = August 1887 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141104134851/http://www.spurgeon.org/s_and_t/dg00.htm | archive-date = 4 November 2014 | df = dmy-all}}</ref>}}

The Controversy took its name from Spurgeon's use of the term "Downgrade" to describe certain other Baptists' outlook toward the Bible (''i.e.'', they had "downgraded" the Bible and the principle of ''[[sola scriptura]]'').<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.reformedreader.org/spurgeon/dgcindex.htm | title =The Down Grade Controversy |work= The Reformed Reader |access-date= 21 August 2010}}</ref> Spurgeon alleged that an incremental creeping of the [[Documentary hypothesis#The Wellhausen (or Graf–Wellhausen) hypothesis|Graf-Wellhausen]] hypothesis, [[Charles Darwin's theory of evolution]], and other concepts were weakening the Baptist Union.<ref name=dall>{{Cite book | last = Dallimore | first =Arnold | title = Spurgeon: A New Biography | place = Edinburgh | publisher = The Banner of Truth Trust |date = September 1985 | isbn = 978-0-85151451-2}}</ref><ref name = sheehan>{{Cite book | last = Sheehan | first = Robert | title = Spurgeon and the Modern Church| place = Phillipsburg, NJ | publisher = Presbyterian & Reformed | date = June 1985  | isbn = 978-0-94646205-6}}</ref><ref name = "Nettles">{{Cite book | last = Nettles | first = Tom | title = Living By Revealed Truth The Life and Pastoral Theology of Charles Haddon Spurgeon | publisher = Christian Focus | location = Ross-shire | date = 21 July 2013 | isbn = 978-1-78191122-8}}</ref> Spurgeon emphatically decried the doctrine that resulted: 
{{Blockquote | Assuredly the New Theology can do no good towards God or man; it, has no adaptation for it. If it were preached for a thousand years by all the most earnest men of the school, it would never renew a soul, nor overcome pride in a single human heart.<ref name= CHS2>{{Cite book | last = Spurgeon | first = Charles | title = The "Down Grade" Controversy | publisher = Pilgrim Publications | location = Pasadena, [[Texas|TX]] | page = 2 | year = 2009 | url = http://www.spurgeon.org/s_and_t/dg00.htm | isbn = 978-1-56186211-5 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141104134851/http://www.spurgeon.org/s_and_t/dg00.htm | archive-date = 4 November 2014 | df = dmy-all}}</ref>}}

The standoff caused division amongst the Baptists and other non-conformists, and is regarded by many as an important paradigm.{{Efn | An accessible analysis, sympathetic to Spurgeon but no less useful, of the Downgrade Controversy appears at {{Citation | title = Tec Malta | url = http://www.tecmalta.org/tft351.htm}}.}}<ref name=dall /><ref>{{Citation | first = Dennis M | last = Swanson | title = The Down Grade Controversy and Evangelical Boundaries | publisher = Narnia 3 | url = http://www.narnia3.com/articles/ETS%202001.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080625040733/http://www.narnia3.com/articles/ETS%202001.pdf | archive-date = 25 June 2008 | df = dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | first = Jack | last = Sin | title = The Judgement Seat of Christ
| pages = 302–23, esp. 310 | url= http://www.febc.edu.sg/assets/pdfs/bbush/The%20Burning%20Bush%20Vol%206%20No%202.pdf | newspaper = The Burning Bush| volume= 6 | issue = 2 | date= July 2000|publisher= Far Eastern Bible College | place = [[Singapore|SG]]}}</ref>

===Opposition to slavery===
[[File:Portrait of Rev C. H. Spurgeon (4671162) (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Photograph of Spurgeon c.1870]]
Spurgeon strongly opposed the owning of slaves.<ref name="slavery">{{cite web| last =Spurgeon |first= Charles | url= http://www.newsforchristians.com/spurgeon/chs1709.html| title= The Best War Cry | date= 4 March 1883 | access-date= 26 December 2014}}</ref> He lost support from the [[Southern Baptists]], sales of his sermons dropped, and he received scores of threatening and insulting letters as a consequence.<ref name= ray>{{Cite book| last= Ray |first= Charles | title= A Marvelous Ministry: The Story of C.H. Spurgeon's Sermons: 1855–1905 | publisher= Pilgrim publications | url= http://grace-ebooks.com/library/Charles%20Spurgeon/CHS_A%20Marvelous%20Ministry-C%20Ray.PDF | asin= B0006YWO4K}}</ref>
{{Blockquote | Not so very long ago our nation tolerated slavery in our colonies. Philanthropists endeavored to destroy slavery; but when was it utterly abolished? It was when [[William Wilberforce|(William) Wilberforce]] roused the church of God, and when the church of God addressed herself to the conflict, then she tore the evil thing to pieces.  I have been amused with what Wilberforce said the day after they passed the [[Slavery Abolition Act 1833|Act of Emancipation]]. He merrily said to a friend when it was all done, "Is there not something else we can abolish?" That was said playfully, but it shows the spirit of the church of God. She lives in conflict and victory; her mission is to destroy everything that is bad in the land.
''The Best Warcry'', March 4, 1883.<ref name="slavery" />}}

In a letter<ref>{{cite news |editor-last= Garrison |editor-first= William Lloyd |editor-link= William Lloyd Garrison |title= Spurgeon on Slavery |date= 17 February 1860 |access-date= 19 April 2018 |newspaper= [[The Liberator (newspaper)|The Liberator]] |page= 1 |volume= 30 |number= 7 |url= http://fair-use.org/the-liberator/1860/02/17/the-liberator-30-07.pdf |quote= Finally, let me add, John Brown is immortal in the memories of the good in England, and in my heart he lives. C. H. SPURGEON, [letter written from] Clapham, London, Jan., 1860.}} In column 5.</ref> to the ''[[Christian Watchman and Reflector]]''<ref>{{cite journal |title= Christian Watchman and Reflector |publisher= Ford, Olmstead |location= [[Boston]] |oclc= 8383897}}</ref> ([[Boston]]), Spurgeon declared:
{{Blockquote | I do from my inmost soul detest slavery… and although I commune at the Lord's table with men of all creeds, yet with a slave-holder I have no fellowship of any sort or kind. Whenever [a slave-holder] has called upon me, I have considered it my duty to express my detestation of his wickedness, and I would as soon think of receiving a murderer into my church… as a [[kidnapping|man stealer]].<ref>{{cite web |last= George |first= Christian |title= The Reason Why America Burned Spurgeon's Sermons and Sought to Kill Him |date= 2016-09-21 |access-date= 2018-04-19 |website= The Spurgeon Center |location= [[Kansas City, Missouri]] |url= https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/blog-entries/the-reason-why-america-burned-spurgeons-sermons-and-sought-to-kill-him}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Pike |first= Godfrey Holden |title= The Life and Work of Charles Haddon Spurgeon |year= 1894 |page= 331 |location= [[Edinburgh]] |isbn= 9780851516226}}</ref>}}

===Restorationism===
Like other Baptists of his time, despite opposing [[Dispensationalism]],<ref name= dispen>Sermon on '[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons15.i.html  Jesus Christ Immutable]', ''Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit'', 1869, vol. 15, no. 848.</ref><ref name= Lewis>{{cite book | last = Lewis | first = Donald | title = The Origins of Christian Zionism: Lord Shaftesbury And Evangelical Support For A Jewish Homeland | publisher = Cambridge University Press | date = 2 January 2014 | location = Cambridge | page = 380 | isbn = 978-1-10763196-0}}</ref> Spurgeon anticipated the [[Christian Zionism#Dispensationalism and pro-Restoration detractors|restoration of the Jews to inhabit the Promised Land]].<ref name= restor>{{Citation | last= Spurgeon | first= Charles | title= Sermon preached in June 1864 for the British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Jews | work= Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit | volume= 10 | date= 1864 |url= http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons10.xxxvi.html}}</ref>
{{Blockquote | We look forward, then, for these two things. I am not going to theorize upon which of them will come first – whether they shall be restored first, and converted afterwards – or converted first and then restored. They are to be restored and they are to be converted, too. 
''The Restoration And Conversion of the Jews.'' Ezekiel 37.1–10, June 16th, 1864<ref name= restor />}}

===Final years and death===
[[File:Spurgeon's funeral cortege.png|thumb|Spurgeon's funeral cortege]]
[[File:Grab Spurgeon.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Charles Spurgeon, West Norwood Cemetery, London]]

Spurgeon's wife was often too ill to leave home to hear him preach.

Spurgeon had a long history of poor health. He was already being reported as having [[gout]] when he was 33.<ref>Sheffield and Rotherham Independent. 15/6/1867</ref>
{{Blockquote | It was true, he said, that he had had the gout, and a very horrible pain it was; but he had had the gout in his left leg, and he had preached standing on the other. He had not had the gout in his tongue, and he was not aware that people preached with their legs.}}

By 1871, when he was 37 he was already being advised by his doctors to leave town for his health.<ref>The Bury and Norwich Post. 9/5/1871</ref>

His favourite place to go to rest was [[Menton]] in the South of France. He was often there in the winter months.<ref>Bristol Mercury and Daily Post. 22/2/1879</ref> He was there often enough to have visitors, with George Müller visiting in 1879<ref>Bristol Mercury and Daily Post. 3/4/1879</ref> and members of the Baptist Union in 1887, attempting to get him to rejoin the Union.<ref>Daily News. 14/12/1887</ref>

When he was on the improve in Menton he would preach in the local church,<ref>Glasgow Herald. 6/2/1880</ref> or write, such as in 1890 when he wrote a commentary on Matthew while ‘resting’.<ref>The Pall Mall Gazette. 1/2/1890</ref>

He became increasingly unwell and in May 1891 he was forced 'to rest'. In 1891 he went to rest in London, and remained there three months. During this period he wrote 180 pages of commentary.<ref name="The Times 11/2/1892">The Times 11/2/1892</ref> However, he did not recover and died aged 57, while still in London, from gout and congestion of the kidneys.<ref>Aberdeen Journal, and General Advertiser for the North. 12/2/1892</ref> From May 1891 until his death in January 1892 he received 10,000 letters of 'condolence, resolutions of sympathy, telegrams of enquiry'.<ref name="The Times 11/2/1892"/>

After returning the body to England it lay in state in the Metropolitan Tabernacle.<ref name="Western Mail 12/2/1892">Western Mail 12/2/1892</ref>

Two days prior to the funeral, four memorial services were held at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. The first service at 11am was for those with current communion cards, the second at 3pm was for ministers and student pastors, the third at 7pm was for Christians who hadn't gotten in yet and the final service at 11pm included the Stockwell Orphans. Police controlled the crowds waiting to get in during the day, and to help with order, at the end of services people left through a back door.<ref name="The Times 11/2/1892"/>

On the day of the funeral eight hundred extra police were on duty along the route the cortège took,<ref>Western Mail 12/2/92</ref> from the Metropolitan Tabernacle, past the Stockwell Orphanage and to the Norwood Cemetery. Accounts vary about the number of carriages in the cortege. One account puts it as:<ref>Daily News. 12/2/92</ref> 
{{Blockquote | Sixty-five pair-horse broughams were provided by the undertakers for conveying the invited mourners and delegates to the cemetery, but there were altogether from two to three hundred private carriages and other vehicles joining in the procession, which it is estimated must have been nearly two miles in length}}

Extra trains were put on to cater for the crowd, along with extra omnibuses and cabs.<ref>Glasgow Herald 12/2/1892</ref> Except for a few tobacco shops and taverns, the businesses along the funeral route were shut, with some houses displaying black and white material.<ref>The Guardian 12/2/1892</ref> An estimated total of 100,000 people either passed by Spurgeon as he lay in state or attended the funeral services.<ref name="Western Mail 12/2/1892"/> An unknown number lined the streets for the cortége. As the cortége passed the Stockwell Orphanage it stopped briefly while the children sang a verse of one of his favourite hymns “For ever with the Lord,” with the refrain “Nearer home.<ref>Daily Mail 12/2/1892</ref>”. Along the route some flags were at half staff.<ref>Daily Mail 12/9/1892</ref>

Spurgeon was survived by his wife and sons. His remains were buried at [[West Norwood Cemetery]] in London, where the tomb is still visited by admirers. His son Tom became the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle after his father died<!-- [Is this necessary?] (after much discussion) -->.
<!--this should be incorporated into the text if important; deleted if unnecessary as an encyclopaedic entry...
==Chronology of Spurgeon's life and legacy==
* Born at [[Kelvedon]], Essex, England, 19 June 1834
* Converted to Christianity at [[Colchester]], 6 January 1850
* Becomes a [[Baptist]], 3 May 1850 (Baptized in the [[River Lark]], at [[Isleham]])
* Preaches [http://www.spurgeon.org/s_and_t/1serm.htm  first sermon], at a cottage in [[Teversham]], 1850
* Preached first sermon at [[Waterbeach]] Baptist Chapel, 12 October 1851
* Preached first sermon at [[New Park Street Chapel]], London, 18 December 1853
* Accepts pastorate at New Park Street Chapel, 28 April 1854, (then 232 members)
* First sermon in the "New Park Street Pulpit" series published, 10 January 1855
* Marriage to Miss Susannah Thompson (born 15 January 1832), 8 January 1856
* 10-Day wedding trip in Paris, France by the newly married Spurgeons, Spring 1856
* Twin sons (not identical) Thomas and Charles born, 20 September 1856
* [[Metropolitan Tabernacle]] Building Committee begins, June 1856
* Establishes the Pastors' College, 1856, expanded in 1857
* Metropolitan Tabernacle opens with a great prayer meeting, 18 March 1861
* [http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:ETtwxDMPfZQJ:www.spurgeongems.org/vols7-9/chs375.pdf+%22Let+God+send+the+fire+of+His+Spirit+here%22+march+31+1861&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us  First sermon in the Metropolitan Tabernacle], 31 March 1861.
* Metropolitan Tabernacle Colportage Association founded, 1866
* [[Stockwell Orphanage]] (Boy's side) founded, 1867, foundation stone laid 9 September 1869
* Foundation stone laid by senior [[deacon]] Thomas Olney for the Pastors' College building, 6 May 1867; construction completed in March 1868
* Begins annual vacations to southern France for rest and recuperation, December 1871
* 571 new church members added by February 1873, now 4,417 total membership
* Foundation stone laid for a newer Pastors' College building, 14 October 1873
* Mrs. Spurgeon's Book Fund inaugurated, 1875
* Presentation of the pastoral silver wedding gift (offering) 20 May 1879
* Stockwell Orphanage (Girl's side) founded, 1879; stone laid 22 June 1880
* Jubilee celebrations and testimonials, 18 & 19 June 1884
* The seven volumes of "The Treasury of David", an exposition of the [[Psalms]], were published weekly over a 20-year time period in ''The Sword and the Trowel'', with the final volume being released in 1885.<ref name="Christianity.com">{{cite web |url=http://bible.christianity.com/Commentaries/TreasuryofDavid/ |title= Treasury of David|access-date=25 October 2007}}</ref>
* [http://www.spurgeon.org/s_and_t/dg01.htm "Downgrade" paper No. 1] published in ''The Sword & the Trowel'', March 1887
* Spurgeon's mother Eliza dies, aged 75 Years, 1888
* Last sermon delivered at Metropolitan Tabernacle, 7 June 1891
* During his pastorate, 14,692 were baptised and joined the Tabernacle
* As year 1891 ends, membership given as 5,311. The Tabernacle capacity was 6,000 people, with 5,500 seated, 500 standing room; the Tabernacle dimensions were 146' long, 81' wide, 68' high
* Suffers much pain and sickness during the months of June and July 1891
* Travels to [[Menton]], France again (for the last time), 26 October 1891. While there, becomes severely ill from his long-suffering combination of [[Rheumatism]], [[Gout]] and [[Bright's disease]] (Kidney)
* Still resting in Menton, he finally takes to bed, 20 January 1892
* Spurgeon dies, 31 January 1892
* Remains interred and buried at [[West Norwood Cemetery]], 11 February 1892
* His brother (& Asst. Tabernacle Pastor) James dies, aged 61 years, 22 March 1899
* His brother (& friend) Zach dies, of head trama by pear
* His father (& pastor) John dies, aged almost 92 years, 14 June 1902
* His wife Susannah dies, aged 71 years, 22 October 1903
* His son (& Pastor) Thomas dies, aged 61 years, 17 October 1917
* His son (& Pastor) Charles dies, aged 70 years, 13 December 1926
-->