Trials and Deliverances

There is a trying word and a delivering word, and we must bear the one till the other comes to us. How meekly Joseph endured his afflictions, and with what fortitude he looked forward to the clearingf of his slandered character! It will be well if, under similar trials, we are able to imitate him and come forth from the furnace as thoroughly purified as he was, and as well prepared to bear the yet sterner ordeal of honor and power. — C. H. Spurgeon.

THE year 1874 presented but few varieties in the life and work of the pastor at the Tabernacle. Of blessings he had many, and of trials not a few; but the work prospered. In May the funds of the Orphanage ran dry, and, as there was urgent need of five hundred dollars for each week, earnest efforts were required. On May the 8th all the debts were paid; but the bank was empty. There was urgent pleading with God, and on that very day two thousand dollars was sent in, so that the orphans were thereby provided for during another month. In October the funds were exhausted again; and again, in answer to prayer and effort, the needed relief came, though the faith of all was tried. At that time the pastor was suffering greatly, both in his person and family; his body was weary with rheumatic pains, his dear wife a suffering invalid, the care of a church of four thousand eight hundred members rested upon him, and the cry of the orphans was heard for bread; in the midst of all, his faith failed not; he wrote his assurance that the Lord will provide. Amongst other kind of help which came, Messrs. Cory, of Cardiff, sent for the good of the Orphanage five thousand dollars.

The annual meetings for prayer in February, the yearly church meeting for reporting the progress of the several agencies at work, and the annual supper in March for the benefit of the College, were each times of refreshing and blessing, in both spiritual and material things. In May the congregation at the Tabernacle had the delightful satisfaction of hearing the Rev. George Müller, of Bristol, preach to them. After carrying on his wonderful Orphan Houses near that city for forty years, he felt constrained to go forth on a preaching pilgrimage, to declare the goodness of God, and to try and stimulate the faith of the Lord’s people, and Mr. Spurgeon’s church shared in his ministrations. It was a fitting cordial welcome to a man who was the very embodiment of that faith by which Mr. Spurgeon’s Orphanage had been erected and maintained hitherto; and Mr. Müller’s discourse embodied much of his own personal experience of what God had done by and through him, in* erecting Orphan Houses on Ashley Downs, free from debt, in which two thousand children are dly fed, clothed, and educated. To the long record of God’s faithful ones, written by the Apostle Paul, tnust be added what was done by the faith of George Müller and his helpers at Bristol, and by Pastor C. H. Spurgeon and his helpers at Stockwell.

Having had repeated invitations to preach in Bedford, in what is known as the New Bunyan Meeting, Mr. Spurgeon visited that place in the summer of 1874, but the crowds which assembled to hear him made it impossible for any building for public worship to hold them. Mr. Howard kindly met the people’s wants, and had one of his large implement sheds fitted up for worship, and there the voice of praise and prayer ascended to heaven from thousands of voices. It was a memorable day for Bedford, which the people will not let pass from their recollection.

In the summer of 1874 a great cry was raised against Mr. Spurgeon for a public utterance in favor of smoking tobacco, which was made use of by the press and jealous rivals to lessen his influence. In his own defence he wrote as follows: —

“I demur altogether and most positively to the statement that to smoke tobacco is in itself a sin. It may become so, as any other indifferent action may, but as an action it is no sin. Together with hundreds of thousands of my fellow-Christians, I have smoked; and with them I am under the condemnation of living in habitual sin, if certain accusers are to be believed. As I would not knowingly live even in the smallest violation of the law of God, and sin is the transgression of the law, I will not own to sin when I am not conscious of it. There is growing up in society a Pharisaic system which adds to the commands of God the precepts of men; to that system I will not yield for an hour. The preservation of my liberty may bring upon me the upbraidings of many of the good, and the sneers of the self-righteous: but I shall endure both with serenity, so long as I feel clear in my conscience before God.

The expression * smoking to the glory of God ’ standing alone has an ill sound, and I do not justify it; but in the sense in which I employed it I still stand to it. No Christian should do anything in which he cannot glorify God — and this may be done, according to Scripture, in eating and drinking and the common actions of life. When I have found intense pain relieved, a weary brain soothed, and calm, refreshing sleep obtained by a cigar, I have felt grateful to God, and have blessed His name; this is what I meant, and by no means did I use sacred words triflingly. If through smoking I had wasted an hour of my time; if I had stinted my gifts to the poor; if I had rendered my mind less vigorous, I trust I should see my fault and turn from it: but he who charges mc with these things shall have no answer but my forgiveness.

“I am told that my open avowal will lessen my influence, and my reply is that if I have gained any influence through being thought different from what I am, I have no wish to retain it. I will do nothing upon the sly, and nothing about which I have a doubt.

‘* I am most sorry that prominence has been given to what seems to me so small a matter — and the last thing in my thoughts would have been the mention of it from the pulpit; but I was placed in such a position that I must either by my silence plead guilty to living in sin, or else bring down upon my unfortunate self the fierce rebukes of the anti-tobacco advocates by speaking out honestly. I chose the latter; and although I am now the target for these worthy brethren, I would sooner endure their severest censures than sneakingly do what I could not justify, and earn immunity from their criticism by tamely submitting to be charged with sin in an action which my conscience allows.”

This is a noble reply, but let no one for a moment suppose that Pastor Spurgeon advocates the general use of tobacco. By no means. And let his accusers remember that indulgence in expensive dress, or eating and drinking, is not allowable to themselves because they refrain from the use of tobacco. Those who would wash the disciples’ feet should do so with clean hands.

One of the most gratifying services at the Tabernacle, during the year 1874, was that held on Monday, September 21, when the pastor’s heart was delighted by admitting both of his sons into church fellowship by public baptism. One of Mr. Spurgeon’s sisters has long been a member there, and now his two boys, Charles and Thomas, have both a name and a place in the church. Before they had been in communion with the church a year they began to address a small congregation at Bolingbroke Road, Clapham, on the Sabbath day. One of the brothers took the service in the morning, and the other in the evening: thus they were both, in their eighteenth year, following in the footsteps of their father and their ancestors for several generations. May the blessing of their fathers’ God rest upon and ever abide with them.

More numerous than ever before were the applications for pastors from the Tabernacle College. During the year 1874 the new buildings had been opened, and they had been found all that could be desired for the convenience, comfort, and health of the men. The educational staff had been increased, and additional facilities for extending the knowledge of the students afforded. Thirty-seven students were located during the year, three of whom were sent to the United States, and one to Scotland. Up to the end of 1874 the total number of students who had gone out as pastors was three hundred and twenty.

Probably no preacher of the present day has received more tokens of affectionate regard, both private and public, personal and collective, than Pastor Spurgeon. These might be mentioned by the score, but it will suffice to allude to one special instance.

When Mr. Spurgeon had completed his pastorate of twenty-one years, some of his friends resolved to mark their sense of the value of his services by a present of ten thousand dollars and a written memorial. On hearing of what was contemplated, the pastor

TRIALS AND DELIVER.NCES. IO5

declined the financial part of the proposal, suggesting that their gifts find their way to the collection at the College supper.

At the annual meeting of church-members held on Jan. 5, 1875, a very elegantly written testimonial, expressive of their devout gratitude to God for having sustained C. H. Spurgeon through twenty-one years of faithful, loving, and eminently successful ministry, beyond all precedent in the history of the Lord’s people, was presented. It was a superb and elaborate piece of penmanship, and in the border were inserted correct photographic portraits both of Mr. Spurgeon and his brother James, the co-pastor. The portraits will remain as permanent representations of the two brothers in the prime of life.

The voice of praise and thanksgiving was the foremost theme in “The Sword and the Trowel” for January-, 1S75. The subject was ‘’Twenty Years of Published Sermons.” In an article extending to several pages the Editor gives a brief history of the way his sermons first began to appear in print, followed by a glance at their continuance during a period of twent’ )’ears. He informs us that as a youth he took great delight in reading the sermons of Joseph Irons as they appeared; and he even then conceived in his heart that one day he might have a penny pulpit of his own. The dream of his boyhood has been realized, and he gratefully acknowledges the hand of God in permitting him to issue one sermon at the least every week, without a single omission, for the last twenty years. This is a privilege and an honor no other man in England has attained to; and the plain, homely, earnest manner in which the gospel has been set forth in those sermons is set down by the author as the chief cause of their continuance. Commencing with a sale of from one to two thousand weekly, they rapidly increased till the sale was ten thousand each issue. For many years past the sermons have maintained a steady and permanent sale of twenty-five thousand copies. There is a twofold marvel connected with these sermons: the first is that the work should have been continued so many years without interruption; the second, that the sale should have steadily progressed till they had reached so large a weekly demand, and that it has been so many years maintained at that large number. The sermons are to be found in every country in the world, and at a moderate computation they have been read during the past twenty years by milHons of people. Many hundreds of persons have been converted by their perusal, and thousands of preachers have at various times either used them in their published form, or adapted them to the congregations to which they have been preached by others than their author. One Scotch minister translates the sermons into Gaelic, and from his Gaelic translates them back into English, by which process he preserves the thoughts, but totally loses the phraseology used by Mr. Spurgeon; and in that form preaches or reads them to his people.

One gentleman had copies handsomely bound and presented to every crowned head in Europe. A smaller volume was sent, post free, to every student in all the English universities, and to all the members of both houses of Parliament. That gentleman alone gave away two hundred and fifty thousand copies of the sermons, and superintended their distribution himself.

With such a history, well may the preacher close his own account of his sermon-publishing labors with the words of the Psalmist: ‘’ Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name!”

But however jubilant the tone of the first article in the January magazine, it was not long before the pastor realized how uncertain were earthly joys, and how soon they are mixed with sorrows. Naturally buoyant in spirit, he was preparing to escape from the severe cold of January by a visit to Mentone, where a genial sun shines all the year round. Gout and rheumatic pains came on with such rapidity and severity that removal from home was impossible. His condition will be best described in his own words: —

“Just preparing for a journey to Mentone when gout and rheumatism came on with such rapidity and severity that removal was impossible. Feet and legs became useless except for suffering. We had much to do, but were not permitted even to think of the many plans of usefulness open. Dr. Palfrey attended, and intimated that the disease springs from mental causes, and can be as fairly reckoned upon when an extra pressure of care or labor occurs as the tides may be calculated by the moon.

TRIALS AND DELIVERANXES. 10/

‘• We have received many prescriptions for the gout, and should have been dead long ago if we had tried half of them. We are grateful, but cannot utilize them. The best remedy is to prevent our having any anxiety about the College, Orphanage, or the Colportage. If the funds keep up, and the works are carried on, and the Lord’s blessing rests upon the enterprises, they will be better to us than all the lotions, liniments, specifics, and elixirs put together, with twenty sorts of magnetisms thrown in.”

After many weeks of intense suffering relief came; and a brief holiday for change was followed by a renewed application to the numerous daih duties of his active life. Resuming his Sunday morning preaching, he found Mr. Ira D. Sankey one of his auditors, and at the close of the service the American evangelist led the congregation by singing one of his favorite hymns, “Ring the Bells of I leaven.” Mr. Spurgeon shortly afterwards manifested his sympathy with the work carried on by Messrs. Moody and Sankey by inviting them to take part in the College anniversary, and by his delivering addresses for them at the noonday pra’cr-meetings, and by preaching. ]Ir. Moody visited Mr. Spurgeon at his residence at Clapham, and after dinner learned from his host some lessons of practical encouragement in his great evangelistic work. Looking over the portraits of Mr. Spurgeon’s twin boys, — for which they both sat annually from infancy till they were seventeen years old, to show their gradual growth, — Mr. Moody has since used the fact as a new illustration for his sermons.

At the annual meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society, held in Exeter Hall, Mr. Spurgeon moved the adoption of the resolution of thanks to the committee and officers; and in doing so stated very plainly that the distribution of the Bible was the best remedy against infidelity, ritualism, and all other evils; and the study of its pages tended to bring all Christians nearer to each other. He prefaced his address by relating an incident which occurred to him three years previously, which is as follows. Sitting in the Colosseum at Rome with two or three friends, he said:” Is it not glorious to look at this old ruin and see how Christ has conquered here; how all these ruins tell what desolations He hath made in the earth; how He breaketh the bow and scattereth the spear in sunder? So I said, ‘Let us have a tune,’ and we sang

the verse, —

‘Jesus’ tremendous name

Has put our foes to flight;

Jesus, the meek, the humble lamb,

A lion is in fight.’

Up came two strangers, and said, ‘What is that you are singing? Let us join you.’ One was an American and the other an Enghsh clergyman, and we sang together the next verse, —

‘By all hell’s host withstood,

We all hell’s host o’erthrow;
And conquering them through Jesus’ blood.
We still to conquer go.’

And so we shall mark our track by the ruin of our adversaries; they shall only be remembered by the place which they once inhabited, which shall be a desolation and the habitation of the bittern for ever and ever.”

Before closing his address, he related the following anecdote: “I have very seldom found it to be a lost thing to give a present of a Testament. I was greatly astonished about a month ago. A cabman drove me home, and when I paid him his fare, he said: ‘A long time since I drove you last, sir!” But,’ said I, ‘I do not recollect you! ’ * Well,’ he said, ‘I think it is fourteen years ago; but,’ he said, ‘perhaps you will know this Testament!’ pulling one out of his pocket. ‘What,’ I said, ‘did I give you that?* ‘Oh, yes,’ he said, ’ and you spoke to me about my soul, and nobody had done that before, and I have never forgotten it.’ ‘What,’ said I, ‘haven’t you worn it out?’ ‘No,’ he said, ‘I would not wear it out; I have had it bound! ’ — and he had kept it very carefully indeed.”

Just at that period Messrs. Moody and Sankey were in the midst of their evangelistic labors in London, and Mr. Spurgeon cheerfully and heartily encouraged those earnest men of God. Early in May he preached for Mr. Moody one Friday evening to ten thousand people in Bow-road Hall, on the healing of the deaf and dumb man, as recorded in Mark vii. 24-27. The sermon occupied nearly an hour in delivery, and was simple, natural, and practical, and was listened to with the attention of persons who seemed to be listening for life. Few of those who were present, and who admired the power of his voice and the vigor of his thoughts, knew that he had spoken for two hours that afternoon to the students of his College.

A great grief overshadowed the church at -the Tabernacle near the end of the month of July, when it was announced that Mrs. Bartlctt was seriously ill; and after only a week’s illness the labors of her most loving and useful life were terminated on August 2. On Friday, August 6, a funeral service was held in the Tabernacle, and the Interment took place the same afternoon in Xunhead Cemetery. The suffering pastor bowed submissively to that divine dispensation, knowing that the hand of God was in it.

no LIFE AMD LABORS OF C. H. SPURGEON.

PSALM XLI.

Jesus, poorest of the poor!

Man of sorrows! Child of grief!
Happy they whose bounteous store

Ministered to Thy relief.

Jesus, though Thy head is crowned,
Crowned with loftiest majesty,

Jn Thy members Thou art found
Plunged in deepest poverty.

Happy they who wash Thy feet,
Visit Thee in Thy distress!

Honor great, and labor sweet,

For Thy sake the saints to bless!

They who feed Thy sick and faint,
For Thyself a banquet find;

They who clothe the naked saint,
Round Thy loins the raiment bind.

Thou wilt keep their soul alive.

From their foes protect their head;

Languishing, their strength revive,
And in sickness make their bed.

Thou wilt deeds of love repay;

Grace shall generous hearts reward
Here on earth, and in the day

When they meet their reigning Lord.

C. H. Spurgeon