Charles H Spurgeon was born on June 19th, 1834 in Kelvedon, Essex. His mother could not cope and at fourteen months, sent her son to stay with her parents at Stambourne, for the next five years. His ancestors for four generations were believers, with one, Job Spurgeon, imprisoned for attending a non-conformist meeting in the seventeenth century. His grandfather had been pastor of the Congregational church there for the last 25 years.
At the age of three Spurgeon showed he had an interest in books and at five or six he was able to read perectly, unlike his friends of a similar age, and he would read out passages at family worship. Spurgeon's father wanted to ensure that his son got a good education, he began school around five years of age. His mother was a very strong Chrisitan and imparted her beliefs into her son Charles. and she would often be in prayer, pleading for the salvation of her children. Very early he took to reading books by grest Puritan scolars and he would listen to theological discussions between his father and his friends. By the age of nine or ten Spurgeon had a good grasp on theoological matters, which was an extraordinary thing. A former missionary was present during the Spurgeon family worship and he commented, "I have heard old ministers and young ones read well, but never did I hear a little boy read so correctly before." One day he had Charles on his knee and he prophesied, "This child will one day preach the Gospel and will preach it to great multitudes, and I am persuaded he will preach it in the chapel of Rowland Hill." Thye chapel was one of the largest of its day and Spurgeon later did preach there.
These words really impacted the young boy and he determined to be a preacher, but to do that he first had to be saved. From the age of ten he was at a school in Colchester and then he was put in his uncle's school in Maidstone for a year. Spurgeon had such a talent for mathematics that his uncle asked him to prepare a set of life tables for a London insurance company that were still in use in 1903. His father said that Charles did not take part in the normal things boys did - he just wanted to study all the time.
While he was at his next school in Newmarket, Charles experienced a time of conviction of sin that was very painful. He later wrote, "I would rather pass through seven years of languishing sickness, than I would ever again pass through the terrible discovery of the evil of sin." Since he was ten years old he could not grasp salvation; year after year he sought Christ and the knowledge that he had sinned agoainst God was a huge trial for him. While at Newmarket he visited church after church, trying to find out how to lift the dreadful burden he was carrying. During the Christmas season, he found himself in a Primitive Methodist church back home. The minister was snowed in at home, so somebody else preached from the text, "Look unto me and be ye saved , all the ends of the earth." The speaker did not have much going for him; evidently he could not even pronounce the words properly. After spinning out his talk for ten minutes, the speaker pointed to Spurgeon and said, "Young man, you look very miserable, and you always will be miserable - miserable in, life and miserable in death - if you don't obey my test; but if you obey now, this minute, you will be saved." Then he lifted his hands and shouted, "Young man, look to Jesus Christ, Look! Look! Look! You have nothing to do but look and live!" Spurgeon immediately understood; he had been trying to attain salvation through good works, but now he realised, all he had to do was look! He saw at once the way to salvation. He was full of joy when he returned home and his family immediatley saw the change in him.
On returning to Newmarket, everything was different. He decided to make a covenant with God; giving himself completely over to Him. He started by handing out tracts; he would not be happy unless he was doing something for God. He joined a Congregationalist church, and he was made a Sunday School teacher. He was so popular that adults started to join the children to hear him. Sometimes he would go and help the children in their homes and he would take advantage of this by preaching the Gospel to the parents. But soon found disagreement there, because he believed in Baptism by immersion and not infant Baptism. He asked for permission from his parents to be baptised, permission which was only reluctantly given. Shortly before his sixteenth birthday he was baptised in the river Lark in front of many people who lined both banks of the river. Spurgeon felt his timidity washed away, together with his fear of man.
Shortly after his father, wanting to give Charles the very best education, sent him to Cambridge to atend a new school there. Whilst the he joined St Andrew's Street Baptist Church. In the following weeks he grew rapidly in Chrisitan knowledge and Spiritual maturity. In actions and words he really seemed to be an adult, rather than a sixteen year old. There was a preachers association there, led by James Vintner, which sent out preachers to surrounding villages. Vintner immediately recognised Spurgeon's extraordinary gift of public speaking and wanted him to preach for him, Fearful that Spurgeon would reject the suggestion, he asked him to go to Teversham the following Sunday, "as a young man was to preach there who was not much used to services and very likely would be glad of company" He set out with the young man the following Sunday and on their journey commented that he hoped he would feel the presence of God while preaching. The young man said, "he had never preached in his life and could not attempt such a thing." He said, "there would be no sermon unless I delivered one." Spurgeon was surprised, but attracted to the idea. As they walked along, he thought, "surely I could tell a few cottagers of the sweetness and love of Jesus, for I felt them in my own soul." The people were so blessed by what he said that they insisted he return the following Sunday. From this experience Spurgeon realised that preaching would be his life's work.
Spurgeon pursued his studies to such an effect that his brother thought that there would be few young men his equal. His teacher strongly believed that, had he not been a non-conformist he would have got a degree at Cambridge University. His preaching became so sought after that he soon was preaching almost every evening; it was a kind of training school for the future. In October 1851 he preached in the Baptist church, Waterbeach and they liked him so much that the asked him to be their pastor, which he accepted. He became known as "the Boy Preacher." He had 40 in the church, but soon people came from around the area to hear him and in no time the church had grown to 400. There were so many that many stood outside listening to him. During his time there he developed an extraordinry gift of understanding and influencing people. A number of people felt convicted of sin and received the Saviour under his ministry there. Waterbeach was quite a debauched town and it became virtually transformed as the biggest vagabonds and villains in the town gave their lives to Jesus.
When preparing his talks at Wisbeach, Spurgeon, unlike other young preachers, was able to apply the depth of knowledge he had gleaned from reading all those books as a child. During this time he learned how to deal with people and his character developed. He was audacious and fearless. He did not just wait to preach in church, he went into the highways and byways to speak to people and to encourage them to come to the church. All he wanted when he preached was for someone to be saved. His secret was his absolute dependence on God, his sincerity and his passion.
It was suggested to the young preacher that he enter a Baptist College to get ministerial training and he was decided to do so, when one day he heard an audible voice saying, "Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not!" He therefore decided against going to the College.
After being at Wisbeach around three years, a deacon of Loughton Baptist church heard Spurgeon speak at the Guildhall, Cambridge. This man was very impressed by what he heard and later, when talking to his friend, a deacon of New Park Street chapel in London. he recommended Spurgeon to fill the empty pastorate there. New Park Street chapel had a brilliant past, having been led by several very gifted pastors, but by this time, the building that could contain 1,200 people, could only scrape together two hundred. The chapel had moved from Carter Lane due to development at London Bridge, but the site chosen in Southwark was very poor. It was so low lying that it would often flood, also it was close to Southwark Bridge and people had to pay a toll if coming from the City, and whathad been a residential area was fast becoming an industrial one.
Spurgeon received an invitation to speak at New Park Street in November 1853; he went nervously to preach his 673rd sermon to a smallish congregtion. The people enjoyed it and told their friends about iut, so the congregation in the evening was much larger than normal. After the sermon the people were too excited to go home. The got into groups to discuss the merits of asking Spurgeon to be their pastor. The deacons assured them tht they would do their best to get the young preacher to say yes. He was asked immediately if he would come for six months, but Spurgeon thought that everything was moving too fast, so he agreed to preach there a couple more times over the coming month. In a letter to his father he said that the deacons were only impressed because they had had such poor preachers for a long time to compare him with. He recognised that he was in the hands of God. In another letter to his father he said that the people were more extreme in their Calvanism than he was, but he could change that. On receiving the offical invitation to pastor there for six months, he agreed to three because he felt that they were being too hurried in inviting such a young man with little experience.
As soon as he started to minister in Southwark, the building was packed to the rafters. The prayer meetings were full of power and there were many conversions. The people wanted his probation to end and on April 19th, 1854 he was asked to be the pastor of the church and he accepted. Spurgeon mentioned to the deacons his lack of College training, but they considered that an advantage as he would not be the power he was had he gone to college.
A contempory observer wrote, "His voice is clear and musical; his language plain; his style flowing, but terse; his method lucid and orderly; his matter sound and suitable; his tone and spirit cordial his remarks always pithy and pungent, sometimes familiar and colloquial, yet never light or coarse, much less profane. Judging from a single sermon, we supposed that he would become a plain, faithful, forcible and affectionate preacher of the Gospel in the form called Calvinistic; and our judgment was the more favourable, because while there was a solidity beyond his years we detected little of the wild luxuriance naturally characteristic of very young preachers."
More eulogistic was the opinion of Sheridan Knowles, the actor and playwright. "Go and hear the Cambridgeshire lad at once, he is only a boy, but he is the most wonderful preacher in the world. He is absolutely perfect in his oratory; and beside that, a master in the art of acting. He has nothing to learn from me or anyone else. He is simply perfect. He knows everything. He can do anything. I was once lessee of Drury Lane Theatre; and were I still in that position I would offer him a fortune to play for one season on the boards of that house. Why, boys, he can do anything he pleases with his audience! He can make them laugh and cry and laugh again in five minutes. His power was never equalled. Now mark my words, boys, that young man will live to be the greatest preacher of this or any other age. He will bring more souls to Christ than any man who ever proclaimed the Gospel, not excepting the Apostle Paul. His name will be known everywhere, and his sermons will be translated into many of the languages of the world."
There appeared to be no pride in Spurgeon; he attributed all his success to God. He wrote that his success appalled him! It was not all praise and success - within a year there was a cholera outbreak. He had invitations to speak from all over the country, but he felt he had to stay close to minister to his people who were afraid or who were dying. He had calls to help the dying almost every day from all over the district.
The crowds were so great that hundreds could not get into the building on Sundays, so they decided to expand the building which took a little over three months; opening in May 1855. A year later the chapel was again not big enough, so they moved Sunday services to the Exeter Hall in the Strand. An hour before the opening of the doors, crowds would line up down the Strand and traffic would have to be diverted. Ninety percent of the congregtion was men. The strain of giving out so much took its toll on Spurgeon; he gave everything of himself in his preaching. By the end of 1856 the church had 860 members.
Notable figures came to the church to hear Spurgeon, but he did not care about that. Whenever and wherever he preached the building could not contain the crowds. They said that there had not been crowds like this since Wesley and Whitfield. In June 1855 he spoke to 10,000 in a field in Hackney, but he could not find his way back out of the crowds, amidst cheers, prayers and shouts. Finally, he found an open carriage that took him away. He stood up, waving his hat, crying, "the blessing of God be with you!" The people waved their hats in the air and cheered and cheered.
Spurgeon could have been wealthy, but he did not covet money. He told the deacons tht he would pay for the expenses of the building out of his salary and he did not wnt any collections made. People in those days paid rent for their seats in the church. In 1853 income was less than £300, but in 1855 it was £2,374.
On his arrival at the church there was a member of the congregation called Susannah Thompson. She was not overly impressed with the young preacher, but their paths crossed occasionally. In June 1854, they were in a party together for the opening of the Crystal Palace and the young man gave her a book, and asked her what she thought of what was written under the heading, 'Of Marriage'. Then whispering, he asked her, "Do you pray for him who is to be your husband?" She immediatley understood and her heart beat faster. Two months later Spurgeon proposed and she accepted. However, they did not see much of each other, because her fiance was doing twelve or thirteen preaches a week and travelling hundreds of miles to fulfil engagements. However, their love for one another grew and Susannah soon learnt that she came second to God in her fiance's heart. It could not have been easy, always coming second. They were married onJanuary 8th, 1856.
They set up home in the New Kent Road, but they were financially stretched in those early years. In September Mrs Spurgeon had twin boys.
Because of his youth and his incredible talent, Spurgeon received a lot of abuse. London preaching had degenerated until it had practically ceased to be a power. The bourgeoisie were happy with the preaching becasue it left their consciences easy, but the masses were hungry for something more. As the young man was rattling the cages of the upper class and wealthy, he had to be taken down. Articles started to appear in the religious and secular press, that were strongly against him, even saying he was not properly converted. Untrue stories were published about him; some of them were repeated for a long time, like the story of him sliding down the banister (which did not exist) of his pulpit to show a backslider. One of the preacher's responses to the libel that regularly befel him was, "Never mind; when Satan opens his mouth he gives me the opportunity of ramming my sword down his throat." One after another the newspapers printed bitter and censorious articles about Spurgeon. Month after month the attacks continued; scores, if not hundreds of vile articles were published. Spurgeon's response was characteristic of the man; he told God that if he had to take away his chracter, then take it away! He considered that these attacks helped balance the flattery he received; keeping him on the right path, but eventually the attacks ceased to bother him.
However, just like in modern times, with Donald Trump, the more negative articles published, the more popular Spurgeon became. The masses did not like the elite, standing on their high perch, abusing a young minister. After the abuse died down a bit, he announced in a sermon that he was expecting less conversions. becasue the attacks on him had reduced. Deapite the plethera of attacks from the newspapers over 1855 ans 1856, there were some newspapers that were favourable to him.
In the summer of 1855 Spurgeon went for a rest to Scotland,but found thst his fme had spread there and he ended up preaching and travelling a lot. While there he received a great deal of abuse from the "Christian News." His final meeting in a large church in Glasgow resulted in a reported 20,000 people being turned away from the church. The next day the secular press reported the preacher as possessing genius in an unusual degree and contradicted the various slanderous statements that had been circulated as to his irreverance and presumption. Similar crowds attended all his meetings, wherever they were.
at this time he started to write. This was something he hated. He had so little time available, so it was stolen moments here and there. However, he began to be grateful for the medittion time that was required to create his books, that he considered that time made it all worth while.
At the end of 1856, the Exeter Hall said that they could no longer rent the building to one church as they would get a denominational reputation, which was not what they wanted. A fund had been started for the building of a new chapel, but the end of the project was a long way off. The answer was a daring one; they decided to rent the newly built Music Hall in the Royal Surrey Gardens. The building catered for 10,000 people, but no church had ever taken a place of entertinment as a venue and some of Spurgeon's congregation were horrified. The first service was to be on October 19th, 1856. As the day approached Spurgeon, "felt overweighted with a sense of responsibility and filled with a mysterious premonition of some great trial shortly to befall me."
The doors were opened early and the vast hall was filled quickly. There were ten or twelve thousand in the hall and the same number outside, trying to get in. The road from the entrance to the grounds up to the hall was a solid mass of humanity. A prayer was said, a hymn sung, a scripture read and then, during general prayer cries were heard among the throng sitting and standing around the entrance to the hall; Fire! Fire! some people cried. The, close by, a number of voices shouted, "The galleries are giving way!" and then in another place, "The building is falling!" As can be imagined this caused panic and people started to stream out of the main doors, terified. People climed over each other in a desperate attempt to get out. The scene was worse on the staircases, where people died from the crush and through people falling over the bannisters and a balustrade gave way. Once outside in the gardens the panic did not end; people rushed down the road to the entrance, but the gates were locked to stop the crowds outside getting in and because of the crush on both sides the gates could not now be opened.
Spurgeon was relatively oblivious to it all as the screams did not reach that end of the hall. He could see a commotion and he heard the word 'fire' so he tried to calm the congregation, saying there was no fire. Quiet was restored and people called on him to preach, so he began addressing the people. However, word came that some people had been injured, although they had no idea of the scale. Then commotion broke out again and Spurgeon closed the meeting. On leaving he heard that some people had died and this threw him into a severe spin; impacting his mind and he went home in a daze.
It turned out that seven people had died and a large number injured, with 28 having to go to hospital. There was an investigation and it was generally decided that this was organised by Spurgeon detractors. Too many people were shouting the same lies in three different parts of the building for it to have been anything else other than a premeditated crime. Sadly, the instigtors were never caught. Several newspapers took advantage of what happened to write scurrilous lies about wht happened, blaming Spurgeon for the injuries and death. Evidently, the Daily Telegraph was the most aggregious. Other newsapers and journals put their full support behind Spurgeon.
Spurgeon himself was in a dreadful state. He and his wife and newly born sons went to stay with friends in Croydon to rest. Some said that the light had gone out of his eyes and they wondered if he would ever preach again. He said that it was as if his heart was being cut to peices. He could not be comforted, his days were full of tears and his nights full of nightmares. However, one day he was walking in the garden with his wife when the old light returned to his eyes and he exclaimed, "Dearest, how foolish I have been! Why! what does it matter what becomes of me if the Lord shall be but glorified?" He sid it was like a flash of lightening from the sky his soul returned to him. Two weeks later he was able to resume his duties.
Spurgeon was not one to believe thst what happened was a sign of displeasure from God, so he arranged for the services at the Music Hall to be resumed, but this time in the morning daylight. A month later the meetings resumed and they went on until December 1859, during which time thousands were converted.