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[music]

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(Spurgeon) I had never felt so wretched and miserable.

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Guilt and despair wrapped me around like a cloak,

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a heavy black stifling cloak.

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Aye, even though I was yet a lad of fifteen I knew well

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the sin and evil that lurked in my young heart.

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I sought relief, oh, how I sought it.

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I prayed, I read my bible, I went to church,

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twice every Sunday.

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But instead of relief I got the whip.

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Others could talk, tearful eyed of their Lord's forgiveness,

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I could not.

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He was to me a harsh taskmaster.

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I was desperate to find shelter.

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I'd been to most of the churches in Colchester,

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but not Artillery Street Chapel.

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It was Methodist but I was too cold to care.

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♪...the trump of God shall sound, rejoice ♪

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(Preacher) The text for the week is from the Old Testament,

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and the mighty prophet Isaiah

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and what a wonderful text it is,

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for it is the very gospel in a nutshell.

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Isaiah chapter 45 and verse 22.

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A dozen words dear friends,

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a dozen words that can save our souls if we pay heed to them:

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"Look unto me and be saved, all the ends of the earth."

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My dear friends, this is indeed a simple text.

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For it says "look."

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Now looking don't take a lot of work.

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It's not like lifting your foot or your finger.

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It is just, "look."

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You don't have go to college to learn how to look.

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(Spurgeon) Strange how God takes the most unlikely people

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and uses them for His purposes.

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He was doing it with this preacher, bless his heart.

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And little did I know then

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that he was planning to do it with me

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in ways that my young imagination

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could never have dreamed.

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Many of you are looking to yourselves,

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there's no use looking there.

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You'll never find comfort in yourselves.

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You will only find darkness and despair.

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You need the light

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and there is only one who is that light.

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That is why Jesus Christ says "Look to Me.

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Look to me, I am all that you need."

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This is Artillery Street in Colchester,

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and down here is the chapel where our 15 year old teenager

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sheltered from the cold.

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What happened here would have an impact

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felt, not just across Britain, but across the whole world.

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An impact, whose ripples are still reaching us today

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over a century after his death.

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Yet his story is bang up to date.

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It's one we're all familiar with:

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an unknown country boy who arrives in the city

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to find fame and romance,

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who struggles to overcome his weaknesses,

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and then is driven by his convictions to make a stand

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which leaves him isolated and ridiculed by the media.

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Charles Haddon Spurgeon was to become no ordinary preacher.

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Our teenager was destined to become the "people's preacher",

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and one of the most influential figures

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in Queen Victoria's reign.

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On June 19, 1834, in this cottage here in Kelvedon,

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nineteen year old Eliza Spurgeon

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gave birth to her first born son, Charles.

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Eliza had 16 children but 9 of them died in infancy.

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Eliza was a source of great inspiration to Charles.

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Indeed his younger brother James once said that

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"she was the starting point of any goodness, or any greatness

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which any of us, by the grace of God enjoyed."

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But his father John and grandfather James

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were also sources of great inspiration.

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They were both preachers.

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In fact the Spurgeons came from a long line of preachers.

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So right from the start young Charles had preachers,

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Bibles and pulpits very much in his blood.

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But the family had financial problems.

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By the time Charles was eighteen months old

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they just couldn't cope so they arranged for his grandfather

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to look after him at his home in Stambourne 20 miles away.

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James Spurgeon was the minister of Stambourne Meeting House

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which was just next door.

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His 17 year old daughter Ann became like a mother to Charles

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and her influence was as great as a natural mother.

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And it was here, that he discovered something

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that was to become a major part of his life.

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(Spurgeon) Books!

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I loved books - the smell of them, the feel of them.

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My grandfather had hundreds written by Puritan writers

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of an earlier age and full of the theology

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that became my meat and drink.

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I could not yet read -

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it was the pictures that captured

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my childish imagination.

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One book in particular drew me again and again.

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It was written by an unlearned tinker while in prison

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for preaching the Gospel.

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Next to my Bible,

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John Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress is my most read book.

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Its plain language and earthy characters

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left their mark upon me.

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(Presenter) After five idyllic years at Stambourne

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the young Spurgeon moved to Colcester.

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He was six.

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Charles' father was well known as a local preacher,

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and when they moved to a larger house here in Hythe Hill,

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Charles was able to rejoin them.

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The original house has long gone,

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but some of the buildings still remain.

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Charles really missed his Aunty Ann and his Grandfather,

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they'd become very close.

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But his new home, which was situated just here,

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was just as warm and welcoming, full of the warmth and security

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that all young boys need but rarely admit to.

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Charles was a hero to his younger brother and his sisters

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who were his adoring congregation

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whenever he played at church.

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Did he ever dream that one day he'd be doing it for real?

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(Spurgeon) I was truly blessed.

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I was surrounded by love.

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My family all had a lively faith in the Lord.

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They knew Him, and I wished with all my heart

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that I could know Him too.

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But I was a sinner, and I loved my sin.

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No one knew of my despair, of the turmoil, the emptiness,

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the blackness that possessed me.

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I kept it all to myself for five long years.

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I yearned, I so yearned for his loving embrace.

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But I feared his piercing eye that saw the sin in me.

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That Sabbath morn,

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a battle was raging in my broken heart.

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Young man, you, yes you, you look very miserable -

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you always will be miserable -

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miserable in life, miserable in death if you don't obey my text;

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but obey now, and you will find what you are seeking.

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All you need do is look.

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There is nothing else for you to do.

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He has carried away your sin.

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Look and live.

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I heard His voice.

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(Spurgeon) Aye, they may have been the halting words

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of a simple country preacher but I heard His voice.

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He was speaking to me - to me.

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I felt His arms wrap me around.

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I was enclosed in His love.

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Gone, gone was my despair, gone was my guilt, gone was my fear.

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I was His, and He was mine, my blessed Jesus.

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(Presenter) Six months later Spurgeon came here - the River Lark.

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It was used as a ferry crossing for the people of Isleham.

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As he'd studied his Bible,

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he'd become convinced of the need to be baptized.

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So, spurning his Independent Church upbringing,

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which didn't believe in adult baptism,

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he joined with local Baptists

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and publicly and nervously declared his faith

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and was baptized right here on May the 3rd, 1850.

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(Spurgeon) The wind blew down the river with a cutting blast

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as my turn came to wade into the water.

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But after I had walked a few steps,

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and saw the people on the ferry boat

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and on the river banks,

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I felt as if heaven and earth and hell might all watch me,

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for I was not ashamed,

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then and there to declare myself a follower of the Lamb.

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My timidity was washed away.

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It floated down the river into the sea.

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Baptism loosed my tongue,

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and from that day it has never been quiet.

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(Presenter) Spurgeon was now living in Cambridge

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where he continued his studies.

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He was also doing some tutoring to earn some much needed cash.

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St. Andrew's Street Baptist church was his spiritual home.

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He quickly gained a reputation as an excellent

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Sunday school teacher,

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so much so that his classes were full not just with children,

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but also with adults.

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He had a rare ability for being able to explain

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the deep truths of God

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in a way the man in the street could understand.

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Spurgeon was still to preach his first sermon on a Sunday

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but someone was very keen that he should.

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James Vinter, affectionately known as Bishop Vinter

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was president of the local Preacher's Association.

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He was always on the lookout for new recruits.

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He had Spurgeon in his sights and he had a plan.

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Well my friend,

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I trust we shall have a good congregation this evening

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and I pray you will know the Lord's enabling as you preach.

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As I preach?

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You are mistaken my fiend, you are tonight's preacher!

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No no, not me.

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I am here to encourage you brother.

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Bishop Vinter told me - said you were nervous of speaking

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and would enjoy some company.

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He told me you were to preach - your first time.

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He requested I come to support you and steady your nerves.

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The thought of speaking fills me with dread

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and anyway, I have nothing prepared.

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And I also am not prepared.

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If you do not speak, these good folks shall have nothing.

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Why not give them one of your Sunday school talks?

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Oh now I am in dread!

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Brother, allow me some quiet while I think of what to say

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and what I shall say to Bishop Vinter when I next see him.

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(Presenter) The service was to be held in a farmer's cottage

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at the village of Teversham near Cambridge.

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The people waiting had no idea they were about to hear someone

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who was to become the most famous preacher in the land.

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My good friends, thank you for your very kind hospitality.

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We have enjoyed food for our bodies,

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now young master Spurgeon here is going to give us

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food for our souls.

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(Spurgeon) The folk gathered were kind and generous.

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They did not notice my shaking knees,

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or hear my pounding heart.

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But as I stood up to speak it was as though God himself

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stood by me and gave me a boldness and an assurance

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such as I had not known before.

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The apostle Peter in his second letter declares,

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"To you who believe, He, meaning Jesus Christ,

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is precious."

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He is precious!

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I wonder what are those things that we hold as being precious?

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It is surely not those things that are merely valuable,

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or those things that are special

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but those things which are unique;

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those things of which there is not another

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and not a better.

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Does that not describe our savior?

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There is none more valuable, none more special, none better.

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But most important of all, there is none other.

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In the book of Acts we read that there is no other name

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given under heaven whereby man can be saved.

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Are these not wonderfully liberating words,

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words which free us from the shackles of religion?

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Think upon this my friends; if Jesus Christ alone saves us

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then it follows that no amount of charitable works can do it.

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No giving of all we have to the poor can do it,

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no church attending, Bible reading,

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not even our prayers can do it.

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Only Jesus.

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You may be the kindest, most righteous person

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in all of Teversham.

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But your good living cannot do it.

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You may be the greatest sinner, and repent of your sins

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every day, every hour, yet that cannot do it.

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Only Jesus.

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Only Jesus, the precious one.

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But, you might ask, how, how does He do it?

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How does He save us.

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The great prophet Isaiah tells us: "Look to Him, and be saved."

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Look, look, just look.

256
00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:16,033
So simple.

257
00:17:16,032 --> 00:17:17,932
Anyone can look.

258
00:17:17,932 --> 00:17:20,267
The prince and the pauper can look,

259
00:17:20,267 --> 00:17:22,400
the sinner and the saint can look,

260
00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:25,900
the grandfather and the grandson can look.

261
00:17:25,900 --> 00:17:29,800
A year ago I was such a one, who looked.

262
00:17:29,799 --> 00:17:36,299
I simply looked, and trusted Him Who is precious, to save me.

263
00:17:36,299 --> 00:17:43,067
Tonight in this cottage, you can look, and you can be saved.

264
00:17:43,067 --> 00:17:49,967
And as you look and trust, He will become to you precious,

265
00:17:49,967 --> 00:17:51,432
precious beyond measure.

266
00:17:54,333 --> 00:17:56,300
Bless your dear heart.

267
00:17:56,299 --> 00:17:57,767
And, how old are you?

268
00:17:57,767 --> 00:18:01,866
I am under sixty!

269
00:18:01,866 --> 00:18:04,966
Yes, and under 16 more like.

270
00:18:04,967 --> 00:18:06,733
Never you mind my age,

271
00:18:06,732 --> 00:18:09,932
just you think of the Lord Jesus and His preciousness.

272
00:18:09,932 --> 00:18:12,967
Now let us bring our service to a close as we sing that hymn,

273
00:18:12,967 --> 00:18:15,200
"Blessed be the tie that binds."

274
00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:27,767
♪ Blessed be the tie that binds...♪

275
00:18:27,767 --> 00:18:30,366
All over Cambridgeshire, the teenage Spurgeon

276
00:18:30,366 --> 00:18:32,599
won people's hearts as he preached in chapels,

277
00:18:32,599 --> 00:18:34,299
villages, cottages,

278
00:18:34,299 --> 00:18:36,166
wherever people could get to hear him.

279
00:18:36,166 --> 00:18:39,599
Here at Waterbeach, the church has been rebuilt since then,

280
00:18:39,599 --> 00:18:42,000
he preached on two consecutive Sundays.

281
00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:43,166
He was such a hit,

282
00:18:43,166 --> 00:18:45,399
the people asked him to become their pastor.

283
00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:47,133
He was just 17 years of age.

284
00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:53,200
The village was notorious for profanity and drunkenness.

285
00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:57,000
But, as Spurgeon himself was later to write...

286
00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,666
(Spurgeon) In a short time the little thatched chapel was crammed,

287
00:19:00,666 --> 00:19:02,399
the biggest vagabonds of the village

288
00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:04,400
were weeping floods of tears,

289
00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:06,233
and those who had been the curse of the parish

290
00:19:06,232 --> 00:19:07,732
became its blessing.

291
00:19:07,732 --> 00:19:09,767
I can say with joy and happiness

292
00:19:09,767 --> 00:19:12,133
that from one end of the village to the other,

293
00:19:12,133 --> 00:19:14,333
at the hour of eventide, one might have heard

294
00:19:14,333 --> 00:19:16,867
the voice of song coming from every roof,

295
00:19:16,866 --> 00:19:19,532
and echoing from every heart.

296
00:19:19,532 --> 00:19:22,199
And it was here that Spurgeon won his first convert.

297
00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:23,799
She was a laborer's wife,

298
00:19:23,799 --> 00:19:27,567
and he saw it as God's seal upon his ministry.

299
00:19:27,567 --> 00:19:31,099
The final thing I want to say to you is Psalm 37.

300
00:19:31,099 --> 00:19:33,500
Delight yourself in the Lord.

301
00:19:33,500 --> 00:19:35,299
If anybody had said to me,

302
00:19:35,299 --> 00:19:37,567
someone has left you 20,000 pounds

303
00:19:37,567 --> 00:19:39,767
I should not have given tuppence for it

304
00:19:39,767 --> 00:19:41,900
compared with the joy I felt

305
00:19:41,900 --> 00:19:45,932
when I was told God had saved a soul though my ministry.

306
00:19:45,932 --> 00:19:49,932
Lord Jesus thank you for this blessed woman.

307
00:19:49,932 --> 00:19:52,567
Thank you for what she has prayed today in her heart.

308
00:19:52,567 --> 00:19:55,400
I felt like a boy who had earned his first guinea,

309
00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:58,233
or like a diver who had been down to the depths of the sea,

310
00:19:58,232 --> 00:19:59,500
and brought up a great pearl.

311
00:20:02,799 --> 00:20:05,366
Spurgeon was now preaching 3 times on Sundays,

312
00:20:05,366 --> 00:20:08,633
and 5 times during the week.

313
00:20:08,633 --> 00:20:11,467
For someone still a teenager, the respect and adulation

314
00:20:11,467 --> 00:20:14,833
could have gone to his head and he was aware of it.

315
00:20:14,833 --> 00:20:17,333
He well remembered the day that God spoke to him

316
00:20:17,333 --> 00:20:20,267
about the dangers of a proud heart.

317
00:20:20,267 --> 00:20:24,799
It's from Jeremiah where he asks Baruch, his ambitious secretary,

318
00:20:24,799 --> 00:20:28,399
"Do you seek great things for yourself?"

319
00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:32,100
And then he says, "Seek them not."

320
00:20:32,099 --> 00:20:35,966
The words struck right into his soul and he remembered them

321
00:20:35,967 --> 00:20:38,367
for the rest of his life.

322
00:20:38,366 --> 00:20:40,633
But for now, with his increasing success,

323
00:20:40,633 --> 00:20:42,866
some were jealous of him.

324
00:20:42,866 --> 00:20:44,399
If only they knew what lay ahead!

325
00:20:59,067 --> 00:21:02,732
(Spurgeon) God in His goodness blessed my time at Waterbeach.

326
00:21:02,732 --> 00:21:05,832
Oh yes, I blundered, I often blundered,

327
00:21:05,833 --> 00:21:06,900
but I was well loved

328
00:21:06,900 --> 00:21:09,833
by the people who readily forgave their youthful pastor.

329
00:21:16,532 --> 00:21:19,599
My young brother James became a Barnabas to me,

330
00:21:19,599 --> 00:21:22,399
full of godly wisdom and encouragement.

331
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:23,400
I had much to learn.

332
00:21:26,599 --> 00:21:29,766
(James) When I drove my brother about the country to preach,

333
00:21:29,767 --> 00:21:32,700
I thought then as I thought ever since,

334
00:21:32,700 --> 00:21:36,067
what an extraordinary preacher he was.

335
00:21:36,067 --> 00:21:38,067
What feeling and power

336
00:21:38,067 --> 00:21:40,666
I remember in some of those early speeches!

337
00:21:40,666 --> 00:21:44,032
The effect upon the people I have never known exceeded

338
00:21:44,032 --> 00:21:46,132
in after years.

339
00:21:46,133 --> 00:21:49,500
He seemed to have leaped full grown into the pulpit.

340
00:21:49,500 --> 00:21:53,000
The breadth and brilliance of those early sermons,

341
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:56,866
and the power that God's Holy Spirit evidently gave to him,

342
00:21:56,866 --> 00:21:59,166
made him perfectly marvelous.

343
00:22:09,432 --> 00:22:12,200
(Presenter) On the last Sunday of November 1853

344
00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:14,833
a letter arrived which was to change Spurgeon's life.

345
00:22:18,866 --> 00:22:21,200
It was an invitation from New Park Street Chapel

346
00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:24,067
in south London to preach with a view to becoming

347
00:22:24,067 --> 00:22:24,833
their new pastor.

348
00:22:28,467 --> 00:22:30,767
Surely it was a mistake.

349
00:22:30,767 --> 00:22:33,732
Did they realize how young he was?

350
00:22:33,732 --> 00:22:35,866
A second letter confirmed the invitation.

351
00:22:38,567 --> 00:22:41,067
Spurgeon had mixed feelings about going.

352
00:22:41,067 --> 00:22:42,467
He loved the country.

353
00:22:42,467 --> 00:22:46,432
But God was calling, it was a matter of obedience.

354
00:22:56,299 --> 00:22:58,466
London was the center of the world

355
00:22:58,467 --> 00:23:01,733
and home for its most powerful monarch.

356
00:23:01,732 --> 00:23:03,099
The young Queen Victoria

357
00:23:03,099 --> 00:23:06,666
reigned over a rapidly expanding empire.

358
00:23:06,666 --> 00:23:09,866
International travel was the latest thing.

359
00:23:09,866 --> 00:23:13,267
It was an exhilarating time.

360
00:23:13,267 --> 00:23:15,900
New inventions and discoveries were being made,

361
00:23:15,900 --> 00:23:18,567
almost weekly it seemed.

362
00:23:18,567 --> 00:23:21,932
The medical world was being transformed by the discovery

363
00:23:21,932 --> 00:23:25,532
of antiseptics and anesthesia.

364
00:23:25,532 --> 00:23:28,000
The Industrial Revolution was in full swing,

365
00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:30,967
changing the lives of millions.

366
00:23:30,967 --> 00:23:33,932
But not always for the better especially in London.

367
00:23:38,532 --> 00:23:41,067
(Spurgeon) I hated London.

368
00:23:41,067 --> 00:23:48,133
I hated the noise, the rush, the crowds, and the stink.

369
00:23:48,133 --> 00:23:51,667
They told me 3 million people lived here

370
00:23:51,666 --> 00:23:57,399
and I saw some of them; the rich with their fine clothes.

371
00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:00,767
You could smell them coming with their fancy perfumes.

372
00:24:00,767 --> 00:24:04,232
And you could smell the poor beggars they passed by.

373
00:24:04,232 --> 00:24:07,099
But the sight that choked me most was the orphans,

374
00:24:07,099 --> 00:24:08,966
thousands of them they said.

375
00:24:08,967 --> 00:24:11,267
No where to go except the streets,

376
00:24:11,267 --> 00:24:12,732
no one to care for them.

377
00:24:12,732 --> 00:24:16,899
Scrawny chickens they were, starving, filthy, wretched,

378
00:24:16,900 --> 00:24:19,800
begging and thieving to stay alive.

379
00:24:19,799 --> 00:24:22,332
Where was the conscience of the people?

380
00:24:22,333 --> 00:24:24,932
How could they permit such evil to flourish.

381
00:24:28,967 --> 00:24:32,000
Oh how I hated London.

382
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,299
Had God called me to this?

383
00:24:39,366 --> 00:24:41,133
It was nearly Christmas.

384
00:24:41,133 --> 00:24:42,900
Spurgeon was lonely.

385
00:24:42,900 --> 00:24:45,267
He desperately missed home and family.

386
00:24:45,267 --> 00:24:47,967
The church didn't offer him any hospitality.

387
00:24:47,967 --> 00:24:50,367
They put him up in a boarding house here in Queens Square

388
00:24:50,366 --> 00:24:51,799
in Bloomsbury.

389
00:24:51,799 --> 00:24:54,932
It wasn't nearly so posh then.

390
00:24:54,932 --> 00:24:56,467
He was miserable.

391
00:24:56,467 --> 00:24:59,533
His room was the size of a broom cupboard.

392
00:24:59,532 --> 00:25:02,666
His fellow boarders taunted him cruelly about his appearance

393
00:25:02,666 --> 00:25:04,666
and his strange accent.

394
00:25:04,666 --> 00:25:06,799
Their boasting about London's wonderful preachers

395
00:25:06,799 --> 00:25:10,000
made him feel even more depressed and inadequate.

396
00:25:14,267 --> 00:25:18,333
(Spurgeon) I had no friend in all that city full of human beings,

397
00:25:18,333 --> 00:25:21,267
and to escape safely to the serene abodes of Cambridge

398
00:25:21,267 --> 00:25:23,667
and Waterbeach seemed like Eden itself.

399
00:25:29,732 --> 00:25:32,067
I'm at the site of New Park Street Chapel,

400
00:25:32,067 --> 00:25:33,767
just south of the River Thames.

401
00:25:33,767 --> 00:25:35,432
It was one of the Baptist Union's

402
00:25:35,432 --> 00:25:37,833
most influential churches.

403
00:25:37,833 --> 00:25:40,500
For nearly 200 years it drew a good sized congregation

404
00:25:40,500 --> 00:25:42,866
to its large sanctuary.

405
00:25:42,866 --> 00:25:46,200
But with the building of new roads and factories

406
00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:48,133
its location worked against it.

407
00:25:48,133 --> 00:25:49,900
It was often flooded.

408
00:25:49,900 --> 00:25:53,400
As one of the pastors once said "A more depressing, uninviting

409
00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,333
"and repelling region than where the chapel is situated

410
00:25:56,333 --> 00:25:58,867
I have seldom explored."

411
00:25:58,866 --> 00:26:02,200
The people moved out and the church lost its congregation.

412
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:05,799
It dwindled from about 1200 to just a handful.

413
00:26:05,799 --> 00:26:08,832
Its decline had become an embarrassment to the Baptists.

414
00:26:08,833 --> 00:26:11,833
It was hoped that Charles Spurgeon would stop the rot.

415
00:26:15,432 --> 00:26:19,067
And so on Sunday the 18th of December, 1853,

416
00:26:19,067 --> 00:26:21,000
a very nervous Spurgeon made his way

417
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:24,467
to New Park Street Chapel.

418
00:26:24,467 --> 00:26:25,932
It was far bigger and grander

419
00:26:25,932 --> 00:26:28,567
than anywhere he had preached before.

420
00:26:28,567 --> 00:26:31,532
Some of the great Baptists, heroes to Spurgeon,

421
00:26:31,532 --> 00:26:33,866
had preached here.

422
00:26:33,866 --> 00:26:36,099
He wondered how he could have had the temerity

423
00:26:36,099 --> 00:26:37,666
to accept the invitation.

424
00:26:41,232 --> 00:26:44,299
But the glory days had passed and on that morning,

425
00:26:44,299 --> 00:26:46,532
he spoke to an almost empty church.

426
00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:50,432
Good morning dear friends.

427
00:26:50,432 --> 00:26:54,267
My text this morning is from James.

428
00:26:54,267 --> 00:27:01,833
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,

429
00:27:01,833 --> 00:27:06,067
and cometh down from the father of lights."

430
00:27:06,067 --> 00:27:07,866
(Presenter) No one imagined that the preacher would become

431
00:27:07,866 --> 00:27:10,932
the perfect illustration of the text,

432
00:27:10,932 --> 00:27:14,666
least of all Spurgeon who just wanted to go home.

433
00:27:14,666 --> 00:27:17,666
And this verse speaks very clearly to us

434
00:27:17,666 --> 00:27:20,899
about Who we are to aim our thanks towards.

435
00:27:20,900 --> 00:27:26,500
Not to ourselves, not to our brothers, but to our Father.

436
00:27:26,500 --> 00:27:28,166
(Presenter) But something happened.

437
00:27:28,166 --> 00:27:31,000
The congregation was riveted.

438
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:32,833
This was preaching the like of which

439
00:27:32,833 --> 00:27:36,467
they had never heard before and they loved it.

440
00:27:36,467 --> 00:27:39,700
Word went out, and that evening the church was full of people

441
00:27:39,700 --> 00:27:43,000
hungry for God, and here was someone who could feed them

442
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:45,799
and he a mere teenager.

443
00:27:45,799 --> 00:27:51,799
Psalm 37: "Delight thyself also in the Lord,

444
00:27:51,799 --> 00:27:56,732
and He shall give thee the desires of thy heart."

445
00:27:56,732 --> 00:27:58,666
(Presenter) Urged on by the congregation,

446
00:27:58,666 --> 00:28:01,866
the deacons asked Spurgeon to come again.

447
00:28:01,866 --> 00:28:07,166
The key is not in chasing the desires of our heart.

448
00:28:07,166 --> 00:28:10,332
The key is in chasing the Lord.

449
00:28:14,333 --> 00:28:17,333
(Spurgeon) When I trudged back to the Queen's Square lodging,

450
00:28:17,333 --> 00:28:20,533
I was not alone, and I no longer looked on Londoners

451
00:28:20,532 --> 00:28:22,532
as hard-hearted heathen.

452
00:28:22,532 --> 00:28:24,266
My attitude changed.

453
00:28:24,267 --> 00:28:27,000
I wanted no pity of anyone; I did not care a penny

454
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:30,732
for the young gentlemen lodgers and their miraculous ministers,

455
00:28:30,732 --> 00:28:32,432
nor for the grind of cabs,

456
00:28:32,432 --> 00:28:34,000
nor for anything else under the sun.

457
00:28:39,333 --> 00:28:41,500
(Presenter) Within 4 months the church had decided

458
00:28:41,500 --> 00:28:43,866
Spurgeon was their man.

459
00:28:43,866 --> 00:28:45,000
He was 19.

460
00:28:47,599 --> 00:28:51,399
In a letter to his grandfather at Stambourne he wrote:

461
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,932
(Spurgeon) You have heard that I am now a Londoner,

462
00:28:53,932 --> 00:28:57,232
and a little bit of a celebrity.

463
00:28:57,232 --> 00:29:00,299
No college could have put me in a higher position.

464
00:29:00,299 --> 00:29:03,767
Our place is one of the pinnacles of the denomination.

465
00:29:03,767 --> 00:29:05,600
But I have a great work to do,

466
00:29:05,599 --> 00:29:06,799
and have need of all the prayers

467
00:29:06,799 --> 00:29:08,666
the sons of God can offer for me.

468
00:29:15,799 --> 00:29:18,200
In just a couple of months the congregation increased

469
00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:21,267
from 200 to nearly 2,000.

470
00:29:21,267 --> 00:29:24,432
They mostly from the middle class north side of the Thames.

471
00:29:24,432 --> 00:29:26,567
But neither the long distance nor the bridge toll

472
00:29:26,567 --> 00:29:27,732
put them off.

473
00:29:27,732 --> 00:29:30,200
At last, they had found someone who spoke about God

474
00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:32,432
in a way that they could understand.

475
00:29:32,432 --> 00:29:34,732
Most preachers of the day used the language

476
00:29:34,732 --> 00:29:38,067
of the intelligentsia - it was all a bit academic and dry.

477
00:29:38,067 --> 00:29:41,366
Spurgeon broke the mold with his down to earth style,

478
00:29:41,366 --> 00:29:43,200
using words that everybody could understand.

479
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:44,967
He made God real and relevant

480
00:29:44,967 --> 00:29:47,367
in a way few preachers of the day did.

481
00:29:51,866 --> 00:29:55,767
And what is the church but the bride of Christ;

482
00:29:55,767 --> 00:29:57,667
you and me dear friends.

483
00:29:57,666 --> 00:30:00,132
We are His beloved.

484
00:30:00,133 --> 00:30:02,600
(Presenter) But not everyone thought he was so wonderful,

485
00:30:02,599 --> 00:30:05,532
at least to begin with.

486
00:30:05,532 --> 00:30:10,032
Susannah Thompson was 22, 2 years older than Spurgeon,

487
00:30:10,032 --> 00:30:12,166
and was most unimpressed,

488
00:30:12,166 --> 00:30:16,399
but still came to hear the young man with the odd accent.

489
00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:19,167
Her presence didn't go unnoticed!

490
00:30:19,166 --> 00:30:24,399
And that is why marriage is such a sacred -

491
00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:28,867
such a sacred and honored thing.

492
00:30:28,866 --> 00:30:30,567
(Presenter) But she also had a problem.

493
00:30:30,567 --> 00:30:32,467
She had doubts about her faith

494
00:30:32,467 --> 00:30:35,867
and was uncertain if she was even a Christian.

495
00:30:35,866 --> 00:30:37,332
Spurgeon found out,

496
00:30:37,333 --> 00:30:40,500
and sent her a copy of Pilgim's Progress.

497
00:30:40,500 --> 00:30:42,200
But he felt that they should get together

498
00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:44,567
to "discuss" her problem.

499
00:30:47,532 --> 00:30:49,366
The occasion was the grand re-opening

500
00:30:49,366 --> 00:30:53,267
of the Crystal Palace on the 10th of June, 1854.

501
00:30:53,267 --> 00:30:58,567
And Spurgeon's interest wasn't only in her spiritual progress.

502
00:30:58,567 --> 00:31:02,732
My dear, I have been reading Tupper's

503
00:31:02,732 --> 00:31:07,032
"Proverbial Philosophy," very good I must say.

504
00:31:07,032 --> 00:31:10,366
I wanted to show you something.

505
00:31:10,366 --> 00:31:15,000
What do you think of the poet's suggestion in these verses?

506
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:17,599
Let me see.

507
00:31:17,599 --> 00:31:22,132
Ah "Seek a good wife from your God,

508
00:31:22,133 --> 00:31:28,000
"for she is the best gift of His providence;

509
00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:31,833
"Yet do not demand that which He has not promised;

510
00:31:31,833 --> 00:31:33,267
"You know not what His will is,

511
00:31:33,267 --> 00:31:34,732
"so be submissive in your prayers,

512
00:31:34,732 --> 00:31:38,133
"and trust Him to answer your request as He sees fit,

513
00:31:38,133 --> 00:31:42,767
"assured that He will deal well with you.

514
00:31:42,767 --> 00:31:44,533
"If you are to have a wife of your youth,

515
00:31:44,532 --> 00:31:46,832
"she is now living on the earth.

516
00:31:46,833 --> 00:31:48,667
Therefore think of her, and pray for her."

517
00:31:53,732 --> 00:32:02,299
Do you pray for him who is to be your husband?

518
00:32:02,299 --> 00:32:05,067
I certainly pray for her who is to be my wife!

519
00:32:36,333 --> 00:32:39,733
(Susannah) The Lord surely has a sense of humor.

520
00:32:39,732 --> 00:32:42,133
That I should fall in love with this man,

521
00:32:42,133 --> 00:32:46,067
and with an accent that seemed more like an affliction.

522
00:32:46,067 --> 00:32:48,799
But that summer, as we went a courting,

523
00:32:48,799 --> 00:32:52,200
I knew in my heart I'd never find another.

524
00:33:00,032 --> 00:33:02,166
God knit our hearts together.

525
00:33:02,166 --> 00:33:07,799
He became to me my beloved and my pastor, for he delivered me

526
00:33:07,799 --> 00:33:10,200
from my doubting by his wise counsel.

527
00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:36,467
We married the following winter,

528
00:33:36,467 --> 00:33:40,133
and ere long God blessed us with our darling twins

529
00:33:40,133 --> 00:33:44,133
Thomas and Charles.

530
00:33:44,133 --> 00:33:47,267
(Presenter) The twins were a great joy to Susannah and Charles

531
00:33:47,267 --> 00:33:50,467
who had the joy of seeing them enter the ministry,

532
00:33:50,467 --> 00:33:52,333
Thomas eventually becoming pastor

533
00:33:52,333 --> 00:33:53,900
of the Metropolitan Tabernacle.

534
00:33:56,900 --> 00:33:58,267
Spurgeon's preaching was attracting

535
00:33:58,267 --> 00:34:00,833
more and more people.

536
00:34:00,833 --> 00:34:01,932
NewPark Street Chapel

537
00:34:01,932 --> 00:34:04,467
was becoming dangerously overcrowded.

538
00:34:04,467 --> 00:34:06,867
Without proper ventilation it was also becoming

539
00:34:06,866 --> 00:34:08,233
increasingly unpleasant.

540
00:34:11,733 --> 00:34:13,833
The cramped and airless conditions were by now

541
00:34:13,833 --> 00:34:15,099
getting on his nerves

542
00:34:15,099 --> 00:34:18,132
but the deacons refused to do anything about it.

543
00:34:18,132 --> 00:34:21,166
Until that is, one particular Sunday.

544
00:34:21,166 --> 00:34:22,199
He'd had enough.

545
00:34:22,199 --> 00:34:24,500
He turned round and faced the wall behind his pulpit

546
00:34:24,500 --> 00:34:27,800
and shouted, "By faith the walls of Jericho came down,

547
00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:31,533
and by faith this wall will come down too."

548
00:34:31,532 --> 00:34:33,266
The shocked deacons gave in,

549
00:34:33,266 --> 00:34:36,132
and readily agreed to extend the building.

550
00:34:36,132 --> 00:34:38,332
But now they had to find another building to worship in

551
00:34:38,333 --> 00:34:41,000
while the renovations were carried out.

552
00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:44,166
Their choice of location caused quite a stir.

553
00:34:46,632 --> 00:34:51,399
It was Exeter Hall in the heart of London's West End.

554
00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:53,200
Every Sunday, throughout the renovation,

555
00:34:53,199 --> 00:34:55,532
the streets around the hall were grid-locked

556
00:34:55,532 --> 00:34:59,299
with cabs and carriages taking people to hear Mr. Spurgeon.

557
00:35:04,266 --> 00:35:05,966
The place was packed.

558
00:35:05,967 --> 00:35:09,367
The people loved his populist style which many church leaders

559
00:35:09,367 --> 00:35:12,333
and the media regarded as vulgar.

560
00:35:12,333 --> 00:35:13,800
But he didn't care.

561
00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:16,733
If anything the by now, 21 year old preacher

562
00:35:16,733 --> 00:35:20,567
reveled in his new found notoriety.

563
00:35:20,567 --> 00:35:24,532
(Spurgeon) For myself I will rejoice, the devil is roused,

564
00:35:24,532 --> 00:35:26,532
the Church is awakening,

565
00:35:26,532 --> 00:35:29,932
and I am counted worthy to suffer for Christ's sake.

566
00:35:29,932 --> 00:35:32,333
Good ballast father, good ballast.

567
00:35:36,266 --> 00:35:40,132
I became that which I disdained - famous.

568
00:35:40,132 --> 00:35:42,199
I was in the limelight.

569
00:35:42,199 --> 00:35:45,832
It was a place of danger to my immortal soul.

570
00:35:45,833 --> 00:35:49,500
But God had his way of squashing my youthful pride.

571
00:35:49,500 --> 00:35:54,067
Whatever gifts I possessed, He had given me to serve Him.

572
00:35:54,067 --> 00:35:56,067
They were not mine.

573
00:35:56,067 --> 00:35:58,067
Oh there were some who saw my confidence

574
00:35:58,067 --> 00:36:00,000
as pride and arrogance.

575
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:02,400
They did not see my trembling heart,

576
00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:04,767
so readily bruised by a harsh word.

577
00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:10,599
I shall never forget when a slanderous report

578
00:36:10,599 --> 00:36:13,699
against my character came to me,

579
00:36:13,699 --> 00:36:16,132
and my heart was broken in agony.

580
00:36:16,132 --> 00:36:18,799
I knew that in preaching the gospel I had to be willing

581
00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:21,432
to become of no reputation.

582
00:36:21,432 --> 00:36:26,532
I said, "Master, I will not keep back even that from You.

583
00:36:26,532 --> 00:36:29,333
"If I must lose it, then I let it go;

584
00:36:29,333 --> 00:36:31,633
"it is the dearest thing I have,

585
00:36:31,632 --> 00:36:33,899
"but it shall go if, like my Master,

586
00:36:33,900 --> 00:36:36,599
"they shall say I have a devil and am mad;

587
00:36:36,599 --> 00:36:38,400
"or they accuse me like Him,

588
00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:42,666
of being a drunken man and a wine-bibber."

589
00:36:42,666 --> 00:36:45,532
Five months later, New Park Street Chapel re-opened

590
00:36:45,532 --> 00:36:47,500
now much brighter and roomier.

591
00:36:47,500 --> 00:36:50,266
The cabs and carriages did a roaring trade.

592
00:36:50,266 --> 00:36:52,266
On a Sunday morning they'd cruise around the city

593
00:36:52,266 --> 00:36:55,332
calling out, "Over the water to Charlie,"

594
00:36:55,333 --> 00:36:57,400
and they very quickly filled up

595
00:36:57,400 --> 00:36:59,967
as did the 200 extra seats.

596
00:36:59,967 --> 00:37:04,599
By now they were back to square one with as Spurgeon said,

597
00:37:04,599 --> 00:37:07,666
a harvest much too rich for the barn.

598
00:37:07,666 --> 00:37:10,666
They put up with it for another year and then decided to do

599
00:37:10,666 --> 00:37:12,467
what they should have done in the first place,

600
00:37:12,467 --> 00:37:14,932
namely, build a bigger barn.

601
00:37:14,932 --> 00:37:17,666
So while the money was raised for the new building

602
00:37:17,666 --> 00:37:19,567
they moved back to Exeter Hall

603
00:37:19,567 --> 00:37:24,067
but even that couldn't cope with the increased crowds.

604
00:37:24,067 --> 00:37:27,367
So they then moved to the biggest indoor venue in London,

605
00:37:27,367 --> 00:37:28,900
the Surrey Gardens Music Hall.

606
00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:36,867
And it was here, that tragedy struck.

607
00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:42,367
This is near the site

608
00:37:42,367 --> 00:37:44,733
where the Surrey Gardens Music Hall once stood.

609
00:37:44,733 --> 00:37:45,567
It was enormous.

610
00:37:45,567 --> 00:37:47,733
It could seat 10,000 people.

611
00:37:47,733 --> 00:37:49,533
The news that Spurgeon was going to preach here

612
00:37:49,532 --> 00:37:51,866
spread through London like wildfire.

613
00:37:51,867 --> 00:37:54,432
It was October 19, 1856.

614
00:37:56,400 --> 00:37:58,467
All day long, people were gathering in the park

615
00:37:58,467 --> 00:38:00,200
waiting for the doors to open.

616
00:38:00,199 --> 00:38:02,799
The hall itself was actually packed to capacity,

617
00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:05,033
with thousands waiting outside.

618
00:38:05,032 --> 00:38:08,900
London hadn't seen anything like this in a hundred years.

619
00:38:08,900 --> 00:38:11,067
Spurgeon himself almost lost his nerve

620
00:38:11,067 --> 00:38:14,333
at the sheer size of the crowd.

621
00:38:14,333 --> 00:38:16,733
Spurgeon was just about to preach his sermon,

622
00:38:16,733 --> 00:38:20,133
when there was a disturbance at the back of the hall.

623
00:38:20,132 --> 00:38:23,000
Fire, fire, the place is falling, everybody out,

624
00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:24,532
the galleries are giving way.

625
00:38:24,532 --> 00:38:32,333
[yelling]

626
00:38:32,333 --> 00:38:37,800
So often we lose the meaning of this wonderful psalm,

627
00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:41,067
this wonderful poem written by a man in trouble.

628
00:38:41,067 --> 00:38:49,099
[yelling]

629
00:38:49,099 --> 00:38:53,799
(Presenter) The hall was so vast he had no idea what was happening.

630
00:38:53,800 --> 00:39:02,432
[yelling]

631
00:39:02,432 --> 00:39:04,199
(Presenter) Word eventually reached Spurgeon

632
00:39:04,199 --> 00:39:06,666
and he tried to stop the panic.

633
00:39:06,666 --> 00:39:08,732
Please would those nearest the exits leave first.

634
00:39:12,867 --> 00:39:16,667
(Presenter) In the stampede 7 people were killed

635
00:39:16,666 --> 00:39:20,166
and 28 seriously injured.

636
00:39:20,166 --> 00:39:23,266
Spurgeon collapsed when he discovered what had happened.

637
00:39:23,266 --> 00:39:26,332
It was even rumored that he had died.

638
00:39:26,333 --> 00:39:27,767
But there had been no fire,

639
00:39:27,766 --> 00:39:30,399
the galleries had not given way.

640
00:39:30,400 --> 00:39:31,767
It was the work of hooligans

641
00:39:31,766 --> 00:39:34,000
intent on disrupting the service.

642
00:39:37,067 --> 00:39:40,166
An already hostile press tore Spurgeon to shreds

643
00:39:40,166 --> 00:39:42,932
blaming him for the tragedy.

644
00:39:42,932 --> 00:39:45,000
It haunted him for the rest of his life.

645
00:39:48,632 --> 00:39:53,466
(Spurgeon) Only God Himself knew the anguish of my sad spirit?

646
00:39:55,266 --> 00:39:59,199
Tears were my meat by day and dreams of terror by night.

647
00:40:01,766 --> 00:40:05,132
My thoughts were as jagged piercing knives,

648
00:40:05,132 --> 00:40:06,632
cutting my heart to pieces.

649
00:40:09,867 --> 00:40:11,767
I could not be comforted.

650
00:40:11,766 --> 00:40:14,732
My beloved Bible brought me no light.

651
00:40:14,733 --> 00:40:16,267
I could not pray.

652
00:40:16,266 --> 00:40:19,266
I felt my faith had died and God had abandoned me.

653
00:40:25,132 --> 00:40:28,232
But then, like a flash of lightning,

654
00:40:28,233 --> 00:40:30,733
my soul returned to me.

655
00:40:30,733 --> 00:40:31,932
I was free.

656
00:40:36,132 --> 00:40:39,032
The iron fetter was broken in pieces,

657
00:40:39,032 --> 00:40:41,099
my prison door was open.

658
00:40:41,099 --> 00:40:43,599
I leaped for joy of heart.

659
00:40:43,599 --> 00:40:47,799
I was a man again and what is more, a believer.

660
00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:00,532
Within two weeks he was back preaching at Surrey Gardens

661
00:41:00,532 --> 00:41:02,699
only this time only in the mornings.

662
00:41:02,699 --> 00:41:06,567
The publicity had turned him into even more of a celebrity.

663
00:41:06,567 --> 00:41:09,400
Now people were coming from far and wide to hear him preach,

664
00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:14,000
many out of sheer curiosity.

665
00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:16,266
A year later many thousands of people

666
00:41:16,266 --> 00:41:20,532
were massacred in India, Britain's "jewel in the crown".

667
00:41:20,532 --> 00:41:23,732
The "Indian Mutiny was seen as a humiliation

668
00:41:23,733 --> 00:41:26,333
for the proud British.

669
00:41:26,333 --> 00:41:30,400
The nation was called to a day of prayer and fasting.

670
00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:34,432
Spurgeon was invited to preach to 24,000 people

671
00:41:34,432 --> 00:41:36,400
at Crystal Palace.

672
00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:38,900
He may not have agreed with the politics of empire,

673
00:41:38,900 --> 00:41:41,267
but he made sure is biggest ever congregation

674
00:41:41,266 --> 00:41:44,532
heard the gospel.

675
00:41:44,532 --> 00:41:47,467
Meanwhile funds had been raised for the new building

676
00:41:47,467 --> 00:41:50,633
and in the summer of 1859 the foundation stone

677
00:41:50,632 --> 00:41:56,399
was laid on land just upriver from New Park street Chapel.

678
00:41:56,400 --> 00:41:59,300
Eighteen months later, in March 1861,

679
00:41:59,300 --> 00:42:02,800
here at the Elephant and Castle the new church was opened.

680
00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:06,200
And here it is: the Metropolitan Tabernacle.

681
00:42:10,067 --> 00:42:11,599
It's still a thriving church today.

682
00:42:14,333 --> 00:42:15,733
It was enormous!

683
00:42:15,733 --> 00:42:18,900
It cost just over 32,000 pounds,

684
00:42:18,900 --> 00:42:22,666
about 2 million pounds at today's prices.

685
00:42:22,666 --> 00:42:26,400
It had three galleries and had seating for 6,000 people

686
00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:31,967
with room for another 500 standing.

687
00:42:31,967 --> 00:42:34,532
Admission was by ticket freely available

688
00:42:34,532 --> 00:42:37,000
and guaranteeing a seat.

689
00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:40,500
Those without had to stand in the aisles.

690
00:42:40,500 --> 00:42:42,632
They'd all come to hear Mr. Spurgeon

691
00:42:42,632 --> 00:42:45,799
and would continue to do so for some thirty years.

692
00:42:56,400 --> 00:43:00,267
(Spurgeon) The Sabbath was exhilarating and terrifying.

693
00:43:00,266 --> 00:43:03,399
Yes, terrifying.

694
00:43:03,400 --> 00:43:07,200
They said 6,000 people came to hear me preach,

695
00:43:07,199 --> 00:43:09,399
this country yokel from the fens.

696
00:43:11,599 --> 00:43:16,666
The weight of it and the honor of it often brought me low.

697
00:43:16,666 --> 00:43:19,666
Many a Sabbath morn my breakfast was vomited

698
00:43:19,666 --> 00:43:24,833
as Jonah from the whale with sweats and palpitations.

699
00:43:24,833 --> 00:43:28,300
But my good Lord never failed to strengthen me.

700
00:43:32,632 --> 00:43:37,166
The preaching of the word - His precious word,

701
00:43:37,166 --> 00:43:39,666
is what the people came to hear.

702
00:43:39,666 --> 00:43:43,532
And early they came, to be sure of finding a seat.

703
00:43:43,532 --> 00:43:46,266
And happily they waited until the hour:

704
00:43:46,266 --> 00:43:48,500
11 o'clock on the Sabbath morn,

705
00:43:48,500 --> 00:43:51,067
and half past six in the evening.

706
00:43:51,067 --> 00:43:53,733
The service was simple - an opening hymn

707
00:43:53,733 --> 00:43:57,033
sung without the assistance of any musical instrument.

708
00:43:57,032 --> 00:44:00,000
The reading of the scriptures, a second hymn,

709
00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:03,532
and then the preaching of the word.

710
00:44:03,532 --> 00:44:06,799
I could not have wished for a more attentive congregation

711
00:44:06,800 --> 00:44:10,533
as they listened in reverent silence.

712
00:44:10,532 --> 00:44:14,766
It only made me stronger in my determination to be faithful

713
00:44:14,766 --> 00:44:16,899
in my preaching of the word.

714
00:44:21,266 --> 00:44:25,199
The natural heart rebels against

715
00:44:25,199 --> 00:44:30,399
the simplicity of the way of salvation.

716
00:44:30,400 --> 00:44:32,532
What?

717
00:44:32,532 --> 00:44:35,067
Am I to do nothing but simply accept

718
00:44:35,067 --> 00:44:38,766
what Christ has already done?

719
00:44:38,766 --> 00:44:42,599
Am I to do nothing but merely look to Him who was nailed

720
00:44:42,599 --> 00:44:48,967
to the tree, and find all my salvation in Him?

721
00:44:48,967 --> 00:44:55,467
"Well, then," says the proud heart, "I cannot understand it."

722
00:44:55,467 --> 00:45:01,599
No. It cannot understand it because it does not like it.

723
00:45:01,599 --> 00:45:06,666
Now, if this be your difficulty, and I believe,

724
00:45:06,666 --> 00:45:08,532
in nine cases out of ten,

725
00:45:08,532 --> 00:45:12,000
a proud heart is at the root of all difficulty

726
00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:15,000
about the sinner's coming to Christ -

727
00:45:15,000 --> 00:45:18,266
if this be it which hinders you,

728
00:45:18,266 --> 00:45:24,599
then go to God about it, and seek wisdom from Him.

729
00:45:24,599 --> 00:45:29,866
He will show you the foolishness of this pride of yours,

730
00:45:29,867 --> 00:45:34,200
and He will teach you that simply to trust in Jesus

731
00:45:34,199 --> 00:45:40,399
is at once the safest and most suitable way of salvation.

732
00:45:40,400 --> 00:45:44,166
(Susannah) I oft pondered the reason Charlie is so well liked.

733
00:45:44,166 --> 00:45:46,500
Especially so as he never plays to the galleries

734
00:45:46,500 --> 00:45:49,032
for popular appeal.

735
00:45:49,032 --> 00:45:51,432
On occasion his message is hard,

736
00:45:51,432 --> 00:45:55,067
though delivered with a soft heart.

737
00:45:55,067 --> 00:45:56,367
I heard him once say,

738
00:45:56,367 --> 00:46:00,000
"We shall not adjust our Bible to the age;

739
00:46:00,000 --> 00:46:03,032
"but before we have done with it, by God's grace,

740
00:46:03,032 --> 00:46:06,266
we shall adjust the age to the Bible."

741
00:46:06,266 --> 00:46:10,466
He seeks always to please his God rather than entertain man.

742
00:46:10,467 --> 00:46:13,133
His honesty and integrity,

743
00:46:13,132 --> 00:46:16,466
his infectious confidence in the holy scriptures,

744
00:46:16,467 --> 00:46:20,133
these, I concluded, are what draw men to him.

745
00:46:20,132 --> 00:46:26,632
Ah! Poor heart, when you see the blackness of your sin,

746
00:46:26,632 --> 00:46:30,500
it is no wonder that you are driven to despair.

747
00:46:30,500 --> 00:46:34,867
When your sins come howling behind you,

748
00:46:34,867 --> 00:46:38,533
like so many ravenous wolves seeking to devour you,

749
00:46:38,532 --> 00:46:42,032
I can well understand why you should wish to lay violent hands

750
00:46:42,032 --> 00:46:44,799
upon yourself.

751
00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:49,267
It is no strange thing for men to lose all hope

752
00:46:49,266 --> 00:46:52,466
when under a sense of sin.

753
00:46:52,467 --> 00:46:55,400
You know not what to do.

754
00:46:55,400 --> 00:46:58,400
If only you could be calm and quiet,

755
00:46:58,400 --> 00:47:01,233
we could tell you the way of peace.

756
00:47:01,233 --> 00:47:06,400
But you are too much troubled to hear what we have to say.

757
00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:10,400
Y to everybody but you,

758
00:47:10,400 --> 00:47:14,333
because you are in such a worry and a turmoil.

759
00:47:14,333 --> 00:47:17,000
As John Bunyan used to say,

760
00:47:17,000 --> 00:47:21,599
you are much troubled up and down in your thoughts.

761
00:47:21,599 --> 00:47:26,000
And so I ask you then, pray -

762
00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:30,233
pray even out of the depths of your despair

763
00:47:30,233 --> 00:47:34,967
that God will open the eyes of your understanding.

764
00:47:34,967 --> 00:47:40,367
And I assure you, he will be pleased to instruct you

765
00:47:40,367 --> 00:47:51,467
and bring you out into a safe way, a way of peace and joy.

766
00:47:51,467 --> 00:47:52,599
Amen.

767
00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:03,166
God called me to feed His people with the choicest fare.

768
00:48:03,166 --> 00:48:06,732
But preparing it is no mere boiling of an egg

769
00:48:06,733 --> 00:48:08,067
for a few minutes.

770
00:48:13,400 --> 00:48:16,300
I confess that I frequently sit hour after hour

771
00:48:16,300 --> 00:48:18,900
praying and waiting for a subject,

772
00:48:18,900 --> 00:48:24,333
and that this is the main part of my study.

773
00:48:24,333 --> 00:48:28,467
Much hard labor have I spent in the working out of topics,

774
00:48:28,467 --> 00:48:30,932
thinking through points of doctrine,

775
00:48:30,932 --> 00:48:33,632
making skeletons out of verses

776
00:48:33,632 --> 00:48:35,266
and then burying every bone of them

777
00:48:35,266 --> 00:48:39,332
in the catacombs of oblivion.

778
00:48:39,333 --> 00:48:42,833
Every Saturday night I prepare enough outlines of sermons

779
00:48:42,833 --> 00:48:44,867
to last me a month.

780
00:48:44,867 --> 00:48:48,000
But I no more dare use them than an honest sailor

781
00:48:48,000 --> 00:48:51,067
would smuggle ashore a cargo of contraband goods.

782
00:48:57,532 --> 00:49:03,932
But when a text grips me, I have found the sermon.

783
00:49:03,932 --> 00:49:08,032
And when I have found the sermon, I preach it,

784
00:49:08,032 --> 00:49:10,032
assured it will speak to the people

785
00:49:10,032 --> 00:49:14,067
with power and authority.

786
00:49:14,067 --> 00:49:16,800
I never cease to marvel how it touches the people

787
00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:19,333
and meets their needs.

788
00:49:19,333 --> 00:49:23,467
And blessed be His name, it has nothing to do with me,

789
00:49:23,467 --> 00:49:26,767
I am only one who listens to his master,

790
00:49:26,766 --> 00:49:28,599
and speaks out what he hears.

791
00:49:38,932 --> 00:49:43,199
For tourists, going to hear Mr Spurgeon was a must.

792
00:49:43,199 --> 00:49:44,332
The Metropolitan Tabernacle

793
00:49:44,333 --> 00:49:47,432
became London's most famous preaching point.

794
00:49:47,432 --> 00:49:49,500
But it was also pioneering something the people hadn't

795
00:49:49,500 --> 00:49:53,266
heard before - preaching the gospel not just with words,

796
00:49:53,266 --> 00:49:55,699
but also with social action.

797
00:49:59,233 --> 00:50:03,233
It was revolutionary stuff, much criticized by church leaders who

798
00:50:03,233 --> 00:50:07,467
accused them of betraying God's command to "preach the gospel."

799
00:50:07,467 --> 00:50:11,000
Social action, they said, was not part of this.

800
00:50:11,000 --> 00:50:12,733
But Spurgeon, who was way ahead of his time

801
00:50:12,733 --> 00:50:14,200
and believed the gospel was for the body

802
00:50:14,199 --> 00:50:16,866
and not just for the soul.

803
00:50:16,867 --> 00:50:18,767
So the building was open from early morning

804
00:50:18,766 --> 00:50:21,399
until almost midnight six days a week,

805
00:50:21,400 --> 00:50:22,932
serving a very needy community.

806
00:50:26,333 --> 00:50:29,467
In fact over 60 ministries and charitable works

807
00:50:29,467 --> 00:50:31,400
were begun during Spurgeon's time

808
00:50:31,400 --> 00:50:34,133
at the Metropolitan Tabernacle.

809
00:50:34,132 --> 00:50:38,332
Many of them were maintained by the royalties from his books.

810
00:50:38,333 --> 00:50:43,166
Some of those works have continued to the present day.

811
00:50:43,166 --> 00:50:44,400
This is Surrey Square Mission,

812
00:50:44,400 --> 00:50:46,599
just a mile or so from the tabernacle.

813
00:50:46,599 --> 00:50:49,432
It's one of twenty mission stations founded by Spurgeon.

814
00:50:49,432 --> 00:50:51,067
He visited them regularly.

815
00:50:51,067 --> 00:50:51,932
In these little chapels,

816
00:50:51,932 --> 00:50:54,733
the gospel was preached and practiced.

817
00:50:54,733 --> 00:50:57,000
Many of the chapels like these still exist today,

818
00:50:57,000 --> 00:50:59,000
as do quite a few of the works that he began.

819
00:51:04,000 --> 00:51:05,666
The plight of London's street kids

820
00:51:05,666 --> 00:51:09,000
weighed heavily on Spurgeon.

821
00:51:09,000 --> 00:51:10,333
They were mostly orphans,

822
00:51:10,333 --> 00:51:14,932
or from families too poor to look after them.

823
00:51:14,932 --> 00:51:18,000
They had to beg and steal just to stay alive.

824
00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:20,333
To many people they were no more than vermin.

825
00:51:23,500 --> 00:51:25,967
Spurgeon was a big fan of George Muller,

826
00:51:25,967 --> 00:51:27,267
who had already opened

827
00:51:27,266 --> 00:51:32,132
several dormitory style orphan houses in Bristol.

828
00:51:32,132 --> 00:51:36,000
Spurgeon's vision was for smaller family based homes,

829
00:51:36,000 --> 00:51:40,266
housing about a dozen children with their own matron.

830
00:51:40,266 --> 00:51:43,032
Thanks to a large donation from a clergyman's widow,

831
00:51:43,032 --> 00:51:45,266
these homes at Stockwell in south London

832
00:51:45,266 --> 00:51:47,466
were built for boys.

833
00:51:47,467 --> 00:51:52,200
Ten years later accommodation was added for girls.

834
00:51:52,199 --> 00:51:55,399
As in the Muller homes, children got a good education

835
00:51:55,400 --> 00:52:00,367
and were well prepared for the challenges of adulthood.

836
00:52:00,367 --> 00:52:02,533
Today it's known simply as "Spurgeons"

837
00:52:02,532 --> 00:52:05,232
helping vulnerable children and young people find hope

838
00:52:05,233 --> 00:52:08,033
and fulfillment in the 21st century.

839
00:52:08,032 --> 00:52:10,000
Spurgeons runs many projects,

840
00:52:10,000 --> 00:52:12,733
specially designed to meet the needs of each community,

841
00:52:12,733 --> 00:52:15,800
not only in the United Kingdom, but internationally.

842
00:52:20,867 --> 00:52:22,833
Spurgeon himself never had any formal training

843
00:52:22,833 --> 00:52:24,800
for the ministry.

844
00:52:24,800 --> 00:52:27,867
In those days you had to be an Anglican to go to university.

845
00:52:27,867 --> 00:52:30,600
But he certainly wasn't against training.

846
00:52:30,599 --> 00:52:33,666
And when some young men who were passionate about preaching,

847
00:52:33,666 --> 00:52:36,467
asked him for some, he started the Pastor's College.

848
00:52:36,467 --> 00:52:39,932
Once again he financed it from his own book royalties.

849
00:52:39,932 --> 00:52:42,233
Today it's known as Spurgeon's College

850
00:52:42,233 --> 00:52:45,833
and is held in high esteem by the evangelical community.

851
00:52:51,500 --> 00:52:54,400
Every Friday, the Guv'nor' as they called him,

852
00:52:54,400 --> 00:52:57,467
gave his lectures, many of them still published today

853
00:52:57,467 --> 00:52:59,200
including his series on preaching:

854
00:52:59,199 --> 00:53:01,966
"Lectures to My Students."

855
00:53:01,967 --> 00:53:03,800
During his lifetime he rejoiced to see

856
00:53:03,800 --> 00:53:06,467
900 of his students graduate.

857
00:53:06,467 --> 00:53:08,467
And today that tradition continues

858
00:53:08,467 --> 00:53:11,333
with men and women, of every Christian denomination

859
00:53:11,333 --> 00:53:15,666
receiving training to graduate level for service in the church.

860
00:53:15,666 --> 00:53:16,932
Today's college has been here

861
00:53:16,932 --> 00:53:20,699
in Upper Norwood in South London since 1923

862
00:53:20,699 --> 00:53:22,599
and it's only a stone's throw from where

863
00:53:22,599 --> 00:53:26,266
Spurgeon and his wife Susannah came to live in 1880.

864
00:53:28,467 --> 00:53:31,000
Westwood was well away from the pollution

865
00:53:31,000 --> 00:53:34,467
that had affected both Charles' and Susannah's health.

866
00:53:34,467 --> 00:53:38,000
It was in Upper Norwood, near Crystal palace.

867
00:53:38,000 --> 00:53:40,067
Spurgeon felt it was a bit grand,

868
00:53:40,067 --> 00:53:41,532
but discovered that he could buy it

869
00:53:41,532 --> 00:53:43,932
for the price of his London home.

870
00:53:43,932 --> 00:53:46,666
It was perfect and easily accommodated his

871
00:53:46,666 --> 00:53:52,666
12,000 book library, and the many guests that came to stay.

872
00:53:52,666 --> 00:53:55,866
(Susannah) Coming here has been such a blessing.

873
00:53:55,867 --> 00:53:58,432
The fresh air and sunlight has benefited our health

874
00:53:58,432 --> 00:54:02,132
considerably, and Charlie now has space to fulfill

875
00:54:02,132 --> 00:54:05,799
his expanding ministry much more efficiently.

876
00:54:05,800 --> 00:54:07,600
We have two secretaries to assist

877
00:54:07,599 --> 00:54:10,666
with the hundreds of letters that arrive every week,

878
00:54:10,666 --> 00:54:12,500
and researchers to help with the four books

879
00:54:12,500 --> 00:54:14,867
he writes each year.

880
00:54:14,867 --> 00:54:18,267
The royalties from his writings are considerable -

881
00:54:18,266 --> 00:54:19,932
they have enabled us to live without being

882
00:54:19,932 --> 00:54:23,132
a financial burden upon the church.

883
00:54:23,132 --> 00:54:26,932
And Charlie gives all he can to the Lord's work.

884
00:54:26,932 --> 00:54:30,067
These are certainly golden years.

885
00:54:30,067 --> 00:54:35,333
But my, he does work so and rarely takes any rest

886
00:54:35,333 --> 00:54:38,067
except when he visits his beloved Mentone.

887
00:54:46,599 --> 00:54:48,232
(Presenter) Mentone, on the French Riviera

888
00:54:48,233 --> 00:54:50,233
became a regular retreat for Spurgeon.

889
00:54:54,000 --> 00:54:56,400
The warm balmy breezes of the Mediterranean

890
00:54:56,400 --> 00:54:57,633
were the perfect cure

891
00:54:57,632 --> 00:54:59,332
for the stresses and pressures of ministry.

892
00:55:08,599 --> 00:55:11,199
He loved nothing more than to stay at his favorite hotel

893
00:55:11,199 --> 00:55:15,399
right on the sea front: the Beau Rivage.

894
00:55:15,400 --> 00:55:18,532
The hotel has long gone, but a block of apartments,

895
00:55:18,532 --> 00:55:23,232
built on its site, still bears it's name.

896
00:55:23,233 --> 00:55:26,600
But even here, he never really switched off.

897
00:55:26,599 --> 00:55:29,932
His secretary and trusted confidant Joseph Harrald

898
00:55:29,932 --> 00:55:32,199
often went with him to assist with his writing

899
00:55:32,199 --> 00:55:33,666
which he was able to do

900
00:55:33,666 --> 00:55:36,266
free from the demands of a thriving congregation.

901
00:55:42,532 --> 00:55:45,366
Susannah always remained at home.

902
00:55:45,367 --> 00:55:47,932
She began to suffer ill health

903
00:55:47,932 --> 00:55:49,932
and eventually required surgery,

904
00:55:49,932 --> 00:55:53,833
what for, no-one knows for sure, but it was serious enough

905
00:55:53,833 --> 00:55:55,733
that for a time she became bed-ridden.

906
00:56:03,932 --> 00:56:06,099
While Charles Spurgeon was preaching God's word

907
00:56:06,099 --> 00:56:09,067
at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, another Charles,

908
00:56:09,067 --> 00:56:13,067
Charles Darwin, was preaching his theory of evolution

909
00:56:13,067 --> 00:56:17,599
through his book "The Origin of Species."

910
00:56:17,599 --> 00:56:20,000
The year the Metropolitan Tabernacle opened,

911
00:56:20,000 --> 00:56:23,833
Spurgeon then 27, responded by giving a humorous lecture

912
00:56:23,833 --> 00:56:28,367
called "The Gorilla and the Land he inhabits".

913
00:56:28,367 --> 00:56:30,133
The cartoonists went to town.

914
00:56:33,800 --> 00:56:37,000
Darwin's new theory, and the German Higher Criticism

915
00:56:37,000 --> 00:56:39,733
were having a profound impact on the church.

916
00:56:39,733 --> 00:56:42,367
Many of her leaders were losing confidence

917
00:56:42,367 --> 00:56:45,667
in the authority of the Bible - it was more and more

918
00:56:45,666 --> 00:56:48,866
being regarded as just a book of myths.

919
00:56:48,867 --> 00:56:51,267
The divinity of Christ was being challenged,

920
00:56:51,266 --> 00:56:53,199
and the gospel message of salvation

921
00:56:53,199 --> 00:56:56,632
through faith in Christ alone was being downgraded.

922
00:57:02,199 --> 00:57:04,666
Spurgeon urged his own Baptist denomination

923
00:57:04,666 --> 00:57:06,732
to make a clear statement of belief.

924
00:57:06,733 --> 00:57:08,467
But they refused.

925
00:57:08,467 --> 00:57:11,166
Many of their leaders had become liberal in their theology

926
00:57:11,166 --> 00:57:13,000
and had joined what would become known as

927
00:57:13,000 --> 00:57:16,400
the Downgrade Controversy.

928
00:57:16,400 --> 00:57:19,000
For Spurgeon it was a nightmare.

929
00:57:19,000 --> 00:57:22,099
He hated conflict, but he felt compelled to make a stand

930
00:57:22,099 --> 00:57:25,000
against the undermining of the authority of Scripture,

931
00:57:25,000 --> 00:57:28,132
which was fundamental to his evangelical faith.

932
00:57:28,132 --> 00:57:30,666
He wrote many articles in the magazine he founded,

933
00:57:30,666 --> 00:57:34,866
"The Sword and Trowel" pleading for an end to the downgrade.

934
00:57:34,867 --> 00:57:36,333
But to no avail.

935
00:57:36,333 --> 00:57:39,932
It all got very unpleasant with accusations and recriminations

936
00:57:39,932 --> 00:57:42,266
flying around all over the place.

937
00:57:42,266 --> 00:57:45,399
He felt he had to resign from the Baptist Union

938
00:57:45,400 --> 00:57:47,733
which he did in 1888.

939
00:57:55,266 --> 00:57:58,599
(Spurgeon) My heart is broken.

940
00:57:58,599 --> 00:58:02,467
I am in the depths of despair.

941
00:58:02,467 --> 00:58:07,532
Is there anyone who will stand for my Jesus?

942
00:58:07,532 --> 00:58:16,432
I am sick, sick at heart, and I am weary.

943
00:58:16,432 --> 00:58:20,432
Oh Lord, let me go.

944
00:58:20,432 --> 00:58:23,699
Give me rest from my labors.

945
00:58:23,699 --> 00:58:26,000
I cannot go on.

946
00:58:26,000 --> 00:58:28,699
And yet, I must.

947
00:58:28,699 --> 00:58:31,799
As long as there is breath in me I must.

948
00:58:39,867 --> 00:58:44,600
Oh, I have been lifted up, yet in your mercy

949
00:58:44,599 --> 00:58:50,666
your thorn keeps me low so that I am not a proud man.

950
00:58:50,666 --> 00:58:53,099
You chasten me in secret.

951
00:58:56,266 --> 00:58:58,299
The blackness.

952
00:58:58,300 --> 00:59:01,932
No one knows the awful blackness

953
00:59:01,932 --> 00:59:05,166
I can bare endure it when it comes.

954
00:59:14,467 --> 00:59:17,532
(Presenter) The press only added to his woes.

955
00:59:17,532 --> 00:59:22,866
His short rotund figure gave the cartoonists a field day.

956
00:59:22,867 --> 00:59:24,800
Sometimes they were humorous.

957
00:59:24,800 --> 00:59:28,100
Sometimes they were viciously cruel.

958
00:59:28,099 --> 00:59:30,299
They looked for any excuse to ridicule the world's

959
00:59:30,300 --> 00:59:36,000
most famous preacher.

960
00:59:36,000 --> 00:59:38,532
He used to smoke a cigar on his way to preach,

961
00:59:38,532 --> 00:59:42,333
a doctor of all people told him it was good for his health.

962
00:59:42,333 --> 00:59:46,133
The press lambasted him for it, and he gave it up.

963
00:59:46,132 --> 00:59:49,332
He never smoked a pipe, that was an invention of the media.

964
00:59:57,699 --> 01:00:00,567
(Susannah) On the 7th of June 1891,

965
01:00:00,567 --> 01:00:03,800
Charlie preached as usual at the Tabernacle.

966
01:00:03,800 --> 01:00:06,467
But I could not but notice how aged he had become

967
01:00:06,467 --> 01:00:09,099
in a few short years.

968
01:00:09,099 --> 01:00:13,400
The troubles had taken their cruel revenge on his body.

969
01:00:13,400 --> 01:00:17,467
What I would say lastly is this:

970
01:00:17,467 --> 01:00:21,133
How I long that you who have not yet enlisted

971
01:00:21,132 --> 01:00:24,866
in my Lord's band would come to Him

972
01:00:24,867 --> 01:00:30,033
because you see what a kind and gracious Lord He is.

973
01:00:30,032 --> 01:00:34,232
Young men, if you could see our Captain,

974
01:00:34,233 --> 01:00:35,767
you would get down on your knees

975
01:00:35,766 --> 01:00:41,332
and beg Him to let you enter the ranks of those who follow Him.

976
01:00:41,333 --> 01:00:45,567
It is heaven to serve Jesus.

977
01:00:45,567 --> 01:00:48,467
I am His recruiting sergeant

978
01:00:48,467 --> 01:00:53,500
and how I long to find a few recruits at this moment.

979
01:00:53,500 --> 01:00:56,766
(Susannah) How my heart went out to him.

980
01:00:56,766 --> 01:00:59,067
It would have broken if I but knew this was to be

981
01:00:59,067 --> 01:01:06,500
his last sermon after 40 years - 40 glorious years.

982
01:01:06,500 --> 01:01:09,099
These forty years and more have I served Him,

983
01:01:09,099 --> 01:01:11,400
blessed be His name!

984
01:01:11,400 --> 01:01:15,567
and I have had nothing but love from Him.

985
01:01:15,567 --> 01:01:20,367
I would be glad to serve him another forty years.

986
01:01:20,367 --> 01:01:27,400
His service is life, peace, joy.

987
01:01:27,400 --> 01:01:32,500
Oh, that you would enlist under the banner of Christ

988
01:01:32,500 --> 01:01:35,900
this very day.

989
01:01:35,900 --> 01:01:36,700
Amen.

990
01:01:44,367 --> 01:01:48,467
(Susannah) In less than a month my dear Charlie was barely conscious.

991
01:01:48,467 --> 01:01:51,500
His kidneys were painfully inflamed,

992
01:01:51,500 --> 01:01:54,699
a condition called Bright's disease.

993
01:01:54,699 --> 01:01:59,366
All this to add to the excruciating pain of his gout.

994
01:01:59,367 --> 01:02:04,233
Yet I never heard him utter one word of complaint or self pity.

995
01:02:04,233 --> 01:02:08,633
Oh wifie, will you read to me the shepherd psalm.

996
01:02:15,666 --> 01:02:20,666
(Susannah) I felt he had but a few months of life in him.

997
01:02:20,666 --> 01:02:24,866
All across the land people were praying for him.

998
01:02:24,867 --> 01:02:26,600
The newspapers were now generous

999
01:02:26,599 --> 01:02:29,866
with their daily reports of his progress.

1000
01:02:29,867 --> 01:02:31,000
It was not good.

1001
01:02:36,733 --> 01:02:39,167
Among the many letters of support

1002
01:02:39,166 --> 01:02:41,266
one addressed to me showed the high esteem

1003
01:02:41,266 --> 01:02:42,799
in which Charlie was held:

1004
01:02:44,967 --> 01:02:47,767
(Gladstone) Dear Madam, In my own house,

1005
01:02:47,766 --> 01:02:49,799
darkened at the present time,

1006
01:02:49,800 --> 01:02:52,833
I have read with sad interest the daily accounts

1007
01:02:52,833 --> 01:02:55,267
of Mr. Spurgeon's illness

1008
01:02:55,266 --> 01:02:57,132
and I cannot help conveying to you

1009
01:02:57,132 --> 01:02:59,932
the earnest assurance of my sympathy

1010
01:02:59,932 --> 01:03:02,032
and of my cordial admiration,

1011
01:03:02,032 --> 01:03:04,132
not only of his splendid powers,

1012
01:03:04,132 --> 01:03:08,866
but still more of his devoted and unfailing character.

1013
01:03:08,867 --> 01:03:12,333
May I humbly commend you and him to the infinite stores

1014
01:03:12,333 --> 01:03:16,599
of the divine love and mercy, and subscribe myself,

1015
01:03:16,599 --> 01:03:20,900
Faithfully yours, W. E. Gladstone.

1016
01:03:20,900 --> 01:03:22,367
(Susannah) It was from the Prime Minister.

1017
01:03:29,532 --> 01:03:32,333
(Presenter) Two months later and having regained some strength,

1018
01:03:32,333 --> 01:03:35,767
Spurgeon returned to his beloved Mentone,

1019
01:03:35,766 --> 01:03:38,067
this time under his doctor's orders

1020
01:03:38,067 --> 01:03:41,333
who had prescribed an extended period of convalescence.

1021
01:03:44,300 --> 01:03:47,333
His friend and secretary Joseph Harrald went with him

1022
01:03:47,333 --> 01:03:50,367
and for the first time, Susannah.

1023
01:03:50,367 --> 01:03:53,367
It was to be their last few months together -

1024
01:03:53,367 --> 01:03:54,567
and they made the most of it.

1025
01:03:58,166 --> 01:04:02,166
By the end of January 1892, his health had worsened.

1026
01:04:05,067 --> 01:04:11,467
Oh wifie, we have had such a blessed time.

1027
01:04:11,467 --> 01:04:16,900
God is faithful, so faithful.

1028
01:04:16,900 --> 01:04:23,267
He took me, a short fat man from my beloved fenlands

1029
01:04:23,266 --> 01:04:27,132
and made me a preacher of His word -

1030
01:04:27,132 --> 01:04:33,666
His glorious, precious, wonderful word.

1031
01:04:33,666 --> 01:04:43,967
What a Savior we have; and He gave me you, my precious wifie,

1032
01:04:43,967 --> 01:04:47,599
my dear precious wifie.

1033
01:04:47,599 --> 01:04:56,467
And He gave me you, Charlie, you dear adorable man.

1034
01:04:56,467 --> 01:05:04,500
Yes, God has been good to us.

1035
01:05:04,500 --> 01:05:10,733
Now you must rest my love, rest, and be at peace.

1036
01:05:49,632 --> 01:05:54,032
(Presenter) Shortly after his death Joseph Harrald saw what he insisted

1037
01:05:54,032 --> 01:05:57,400
had been angels above the hills of Mentone,

1038
01:05:57,400 --> 01:05:59,467
waiting to take Spurgeon home.

1039
01:06:03,432 --> 01:06:05,432
Spurgeon's death was headline news

1040
01:06:05,432 --> 01:06:08,599
in all the national papers.

1041
01:06:08,599 --> 01:06:11,266
Among the many tributes and messages of sympathy

1042
01:06:11,266 --> 01:06:13,466
was one from the future king and queen,

1043
01:06:13,467 --> 01:06:17,032
Edward and Alexandra.

1044
01:06:17,032 --> 01:06:20,067
The funeral was almost a state occasion.

1045
01:06:20,067 --> 01:06:22,400
Along the route from the Metropolitan Tabernacle

1046
01:06:22,400 --> 01:06:24,400
to the cemetery at West Norwood,

1047
01:06:24,400 --> 01:06:26,166
shops and public houses closed.

1048
01:06:30,400 --> 01:06:33,200
At the untimely age of 57

1049
01:06:33,199 --> 01:06:36,399
the People's Preacher was being laid to rest.

1050
01:06:43,099 --> 01:06:46,467
In his lifetime he had preached to over 10 million people.

1051
01:06:46,467 --> 01:06:49,000
But in his death, through his published writings

1052
01:06:49,000 --> 01:06:51,967
and his sermons, he has spoken and he still speaks

1053
01:06:51,967 --> 01:06:54,800
to countless millions across the world.

1054
01:06:54,800 --> 01:06:57,300
But more than that, it can be said

1055
01:06:57,300 --> 01:07:01,133
that his stand against the downgrade that cost him so much,

1056
01:07:01,132 --> 01:07:02,567
stopped the churches in Britain

1057
01:07:02,567 --> 01:07:05,132
from falling into liberalism and unbelief

1058
01:07:05,132 --> 01:07:07,500
as happened elsewhere in Europe.

1059
01:07:07,500 --> 01:07:10,032
Perhaps today's evangelical Christians owe more

1060
01:07:10,032 --> 01:07:12,900
than they realize to this boy preacher,

1061
01:07:12,900 --> 01:07:15,700
this people's preacher from the fens.

1062
01:07:20,666 --> 01:07:24,799
(Spurgeon) My life seems to me like a fairy dream.

1063
01:07:24,800 --> 01:07:27,733
I am often both amazed and dazed

1064
01:07:27,733 --> 01:07:30,767
with its mercies and its love.

1065
01:07:30,766 --> 01:07:34,567
How good God has been to me!

1066
01:07:34,567 --> 01:07:37,833
I used to think that I should sing among the saints above

1067
01:07:37,833 --> 01:07:39,800
as loudly as any,

1068
01:07:39,800 --> 01:07:43,367
for I owe so much to the grace of God

1069
01:07:43,367 --> 01:07:49,000
and I said so once in a sermon, long ago:

1070
01:07:49,000 --> 01:07:52,867
"Then loudest of the crowd I'll sing,

1071
01:07:52,867 --> 01:07:56,033
"While Heaven's resounding mansions ring,

1072
01:07:56,032 --> 01:07:59,432
With shouts of sovereign grace."