The Bomb in the Hands of Spurgeon

Who hasn't heard the name of Charles Haddon Spurgeon? I believe most Evangelicals today know this name very well. I would venture that everyone, if not all, reading this blog is familiar with this preacher. Even those who disagreed with him, at some point, would have to surrender that this man was exceptional. A phenomenal. No wonder he was called "The Prince of Preachers." 

Spurgeon was one of the most quotable human being not just in Christianity, but in all of history. He was easily considered the greatest Baptist preacher who ever lived. I would like to add that Spurgeon was, I think, possibly the greatest preacher since the time of the apostle Paul. 

What was so surprising about this man that he was highly regarded as such?

Many Christian leaders, for instance, like to point out Spurgeon as one who also had no formal college training. They ignore the fact that he had a personal library containing more that 10,000 books. It is further argued that the success of his ministry in the mid-to-late 19th century was due to his anti-intellectual piety, “his yieldedness to the Spirit." 

The fact is, Spurgeon was not anti-intellectual, nor did he entertain delusions of being so holy that he could allow God to work only if he was “yielded.” Most importantly, he was a staunch Calvinist. Even toward the end of his life he could write, “From this doctrine I have not departed to this day.” He was grateful that he never wavered from his Calvinism. “There is no soul living who holds more firmly to the Doctrine of Grace than do I.." Spurgeon said.

He was Calvinist, a fire-breathing Calvinist. ​Spurgeon, I am convinced, was a once in a lifetime preacher. A once in a blue moon caliber. Or I would say a once generation Calvinist. 

It was said that Spurgeon held the doctrine of Calvinism in one hand, and held the necessity of Evangelism on the other hand, and he married the two together. These two were a bomb in the hands of Spurgeon. He took Calvinism and Evangelism and brought them together, like gas and fire, when brought together, it creates an explosion. He had a two edged-sword. He has everything at his disposal. A Calvinistic Evangelist, he played with a full deck. ​

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the Doctor, has said of Spurgeon: ​"One of the greatest preachers of the last century, if not the greatest of all." This comes from one of the most eminent preachers of the last few centuries.

Albert Mohler has written, "Spurgeon was a legend in his own day. He stands along as the mostly widely appreciated and influential preacher of his century.... Spurgeon preached a full-bodied gospel with Calvinist convictions and an evangelistic appeal." 

James Montgomery Boice said, "Spurgeon was one of the greatest evangelists England has ever seen... one of the country's staunchest defenders of the Doctrines of Grace."

With the quotes from some of these theologians, we can attest to how remarkable Spurgeon was. 

For those of you who keep quoting him, do you know that he's a five-card carrying Calvinist? Here are some of his quotes on the five points of Calvinism, the TULIP. 

T-otal Depravity

Spurgeon wrote: “As the salt flavors every drop in the Atlantic, so does sin affect every atom of our nature. It is so sadly there, so abundantly there, that if you cannot detect it, you are deceived.” He added: “The venom of sin is in the very fountain of our being; it has poisoned our heart. It is in the very marrow of our bones and is as natural to us as anything that belongs to us.”

“A very hell of corruption lies within the best saint.” Spurgeon recognized that sin lies deep within the souls of even the best of men. This inward corruption makes every man a savage beast: “There is no beast in wolf or lion or serpent that is so brutish as the beast in man.” All people are spiritually dead, unable to see, desire, or respond to the gospel message.

U-nconditional Election

Like all the doctrines that Spurgeon held, he believed this truth because he was convinced it is rooted and grounded in the Bible: “Whatever may be said about the doctrine of election, it is written in the Word of God as with an iron pen, and there is no getting rid of it.”

Spurgeon further asserted, “God from the beginning chose His people; when the unnavigated ether was yet unfanned by the wing of a single angel, when space was shoreless, or else unborn, when universal silence reigned, and not a voice or whisper shocked the solemnity of silence, when there was no being, and no motion, no time, and naught but God Himself, alone in His eternity.” 

In eternity past, God sovereignly set His affections on a particular people and predestined their salvation. Moreover, sovereign election, Spurgeon affirmed, was based not on divine foresight but on divine foreordination: “‘But,’ say others, ‘God elected them on the foresight of their faith.’ Now, God gives faith, therefore He could not have elected them on account of faith which He foresaw.”

L-imited Atonement

Spurgeon said, “Christ came into this world with the intention of saving ‘a multitude which no man can number;’ and we believe that as the result of this, every person for whom He died must, beyond a shadow of a doubt, be cleansed from sin, and stand, washed in the blood, before the Father’s throne.” He added: “What! Did Christ at one tremendous draft of love drink my damnation dry, and shall I be damned after that? God forbid! What! Shall God be unrighteous to forget the Redeemer’s work for us and let the Savior’s blood be shed in vain?” Jesus did not die in vain, for none for whom Christ died will ever perish in hell.

Summing up his reasons for holding to limited atonement, Spurgeon said, “I would rather believe a limited atonement that is efficacious for all men for whom it was intended, than a universal atonement that is not efficacious for anybody, except the will of men be joined with it.” Simply put, he held “that Christ came into the world not to put men into a salvable state, but into a saved state.” Spurgeon believed that the atonement was accomplished by an utterly triumphant death.

I-rresistible Grace

God’s sovereign call, Spurgeon affirmed, is far more powerful than any man’s resistance: “A man is not saved against his will, but he is made willing by the operation of the Holy Ghost. A mighty grace which he does not wish to resist enters into the man, disarms him, makes a new creature of him, and he is saved.” This means no one is beyond the saving power of God: “Difficulty is not a word to be found in the dictionary of heaven. Nothing can be impossible with God. The swearing reprobate, whose mouth is blackened with profanity, whose heart is a very hell, and his life like the reeking flames of the bottomless pit—such a man, if the Lord but looks on him and makes bare His arm of irresistible grace, shall yet praise God and bless His name and live to His honor.” In short, no human heart is so obstinate that the Spirit cannot conquer and convert it.

Spurgeon described how the Spirit had conquered his own stubborn heart: “When He first came to me, did I not spurn Him? When He knocked at the door, and asked for entrance, did I not drive Him away, and do despite to His grace? Ah! I can remember that I full often did so until, at last, by the power of His effectual grace, He said, ‘I must, I will come in;’ and then He turned my heart, and made me love Him.” Just as the Holy Spirit turned Spurgeon’s heart, so He does in all those chosen by the Father, causing them to believe in the Son.

P-erseverance of the Saints 

Once Spurgeon heard the marvelous truth that all who truly start the Christian life surely complete it. At that point, he could not resist entrusting his life to Christ: “When I heard and read with wondering eyes that whosoever believed in Christ Jesus should be saved, the truth came to my heart with a welcome I cannot describe to you. The doctrine that He would keep the feet of His saints had a charm indeed for me.” 

He testified elsewhere: "I must confess that the doctrine of the final preservation of the saints was a bait that my soul could not resist. I thought it was a sort of life insurance—an insurance of my character, an insurance of my soul, an insurance of my eternal destiny. I knew that I could not keep myself, but if Christ promised to keep me, then I should be safe for ever; and I longed and prayed to find Christ, because I knew that, if I found Him, He would not give me a temporary and trumpery salvation, such as some preach, but eternal life which could never be lost."

The Calvinism & Evangelism of Spurgeon

Spurgeon was a staunch Calvinist. He became the single most popular preacher of Calvinism, I believe, in any century. And the reason was that he was so biblical. He was committed to the authority of God's Word and there was no place for him but that the Scriptures clearly taught the doctrines of Grace. 

Spurgeon said, "I believe nothing merely because Calvin taught it but because I have found his teaching in the Word of God."

He then wrote: "Calvinism did not spring from Calvin we believe that it's sprang from the great Founder of all truth. Calvin derived it mainly from the writings of Augustine. Augustine obtained his views without a doubt through the Spirit of God, from the diligent study of the writings of Paul, and Paul received them of the Holy Ghost, from Jesus Christ."

We say "amen" to that! We believe in Calvinism because it is clearly stated in Scriptures. And that every faithful Christian who reads the Word of God will never be able to escape it.

Spurgeon stated, "The old truth that Calvin preached, that Augustine preached, that Paul preached is the truth that I must preach today, or else be false to my conscience and to my God. I cannot shape the truth. I know of no such thing as paring off the rough edges of a doctrine. John Knox’s gospel is my gospel. And that which thundered through Scotland must thunder through England again today."

I must add, it must thunder throughout the Philippines and wherever you are in the world today, because it's the truth of the Word of God!

Spurgeon said, “It is no new novelty then that I am preaching, no new doctrine. I love to proclaim these strong, old doctrines. They are called by nickname Calvinism, but which are surely and verily the revealed truth of God as it is in Christ Jesus. By this truth I make my pilgrimage into the past, and as I go, I see church father after church father, confessor and confessor, martyr after martyr standing up to shake hands with me.”

It is a long line of godly men down through the centuries who have blown this trumpet in their time and who have declared these truths from the housetops.

In one of Spurgeon's sermons titled, “Now,” from 2 Corinthians 6, verse 2, “Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, today is the day of salvation.” He said, 

“If the gospel command were think and be saved, I would cheerfully allow you a month’s thinking. But the command is, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And now is the accepted time.” “Well,” says one, “I do not feel convinced enough.” “Dear friend, you do not… you do not think that now is the accepted time. Here is a quarrel that you have with God. God says, now. You say, no.”

He went on to say, “You say, yes, but I would like to get home and pray. My text does not say it will be the accepted time when you get home and pray. It says, now. And as I find you are now in this pew, now is the accepted time.' If you trust Christ now, you will be accepted: if now you are enabled to throw yourself simply into the hands of Christ, now is the accepted time between you and God.”

Verily, today is the day of salvation! Today is the accepted time!

“If sinners will be damned,” Spurgeon said, “at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms around their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”

May I become like this. May you become like this. This is what true Calvinism communicates.

And it is hyper-Calvinism, a deadly poison that doesn't plead with the lost sinners to come to Christ. It's that filthy and corrupt upon a Church that does not pray for the lost to come to faith in Christ.

May God deliver us from this terrible disease of hyper-Calvinism. May God give us true Calvinism. A Gospel-preaching Calvinism. A cross-centered, Christ-glorifying Calvinism, offering the gospel and imploring lost sinners to come to faith in Jesus Christ, and leaving the results to a Sovereign God in heaven who will save His own people from their sins.

“Preach the gospel, the gates of hell shake,” Spurgeon proclaimed, “Preach the gospel, prodigals return. Preach the gospel to every creature, it is the Master’s mandate.”

Spurgeon's Evangelism should be our Evangelism. Spurgeon's Calvinism should be our Calvinism.

This is what we all want in our ministries, in our lives. We want the depth of the Doctrines of Grace. But we want the breadth of a fiery evangelism, proclaiming the Gospel of Christ to a lost and dying world.​

Some References:

Steven Lawson's sermon: The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon.

"The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon" Book by Steven Lawson.

"Are You Sure You Like Spurgeon?" article by Banner of Truth.