Charles Spurgeon was born on June 19, 1834, in Kelvedon, in the English county of Essex.
He was the eldest child of Eliza Jarvis and John Spurgeon. His father and grandfather were both independent ministers.
On January 6, 1850, a snow storm made the 15-year-old Charles Spurgeon seek shelter in a Primitive Methodist chapel in Colchester, Essex. He was converted from nominal Anglicanism while listening to a local preacher there. The text that moved young Charles was Isaiah 45:22 – "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else."
Spurgeon was baptized on May 3, 1850 in the River Lark, at Isleham.
Later in 1850, Spurgeon moved with his family to Cambridge and he was appointed the pastor of the small Waterbeach Baptist Chapel in Cambridgeshire.
A story is told of when the then unknown Spurgeon was invited to preach at a church. The young preacher was instructed to finish by 12.00, as some needed to catch transport at that time. Spurgeon said he wouldn't finish at 12.00. "Who is this conceited young preacher?" they thought! At 5 to 12 Spurgeon proclaimed "I have been preaching for 45 minutes to the wicked unrepentant sinner. They can leave now as I am going to preach to the believer." Not many left.
In 1854, three months before his 20th birthday, Spurgeon was appointed Baptist pastor at New Park Street Chapel, in Southwark, London. At the time it was the largest Baptist congregation in the city, but numbers had dwindled for several years.
Spurgeon quickly gained fame for his directness in preaching, which seemed to some to border on irreverence. But the power of his sermons led to many conversions. He drew vast congregations to the Exeter Hall, and (to the scandal of some) to the Surrey Gardens Music Hall, when his own Chapel was being extended.
Charles Spurgeon's sermons were so popular that in 1861 a new hall, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, near the Elephant and Castle, London, was built to accommodate his expanding congregation. It seated 5000 people with standing room for another 1000.
Over the next thirty years Spurgeon became possibly the greatest preacher of his age, 6,000 gathered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle to hear him twice each Sunday. However he remained aware of the responsibility of his calling, claiming he "trembles" lest he should misinterpret the Word of God.
Spurgeon was so popular that Queen Victoria donned a disguise so she could sneak into one of his services and hear what he had to say.
Spurgeon started in 1857 a Pastors' College, Spurgeon's College, which trained nearly 900 men before his death.
Stockwell Orphanage was an orphanage started by Spurgeon, which opened on September 9, 1869 in London, and was originally for fatherless boys only. It began taking girls as well ten years later. At this point there were 500 children living there.
Spurgeon gloried both in being a Calvinist and in being a Baptist. But he left the Baptist Union doing the 'Down-grade Controversy' of 1887. Spurgeon alleged that an incremental creeping of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, and other concepts were "downgrading" the Baptist Union and some Baptist Ministers were relaxing their grasp of vital doctrines.
Spurgeon was an abolitionist. He lost support from the Southern Baptists, and received scores of threatening and insulting letters as a consequence.
His numerous works included an extended commentary on the Psalms, The Treasury of David (1872-85).
His weekly sermons were published in printed form every week selling for a penny each and each sold up to 25,000 copies a week.
Spurgeon was legendary for both his humor and his body language and regarding the latter alongside his lecture notes, he issued accompanying diagrams for arm and body movements.
By the time of his death in 1892, Spurgeon had preached nearly 3,600 sermons and published 49 volumes of commentaries, sayings, anecdotes, illustrations and devotions.
Spurgeon's sermons still remain one of the all-time best selling series of writings published in history.
Spurgeon suffered ill health toward the end of his life, afflicted by a combination of gout, rheumatism and Bright's disease. He often recuperated at Menton, near Nice, France.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, "Prince of Preachers," preached his last sermon at the Tabernacle in London on June 7, 1891.
After 31 years as minister of the Tabernacle, Charles Spurgeon passed away on January 31, 1892.
His remains were buried at West Norwood Cemetery in London, where the tomb is still visited by admirers.
Spurgeon's son Tom became the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle after his father died.
Source The Lion History of Christianity
He was the eldest child of Eliza Jarvis and John Spurgeon. His father and grandfather were both independent ministers.
 |
| Charles Spurgeon by Alexander Melville |
On January 6, 1850, a snow storm made the 15-year-old Charles Spurgeon seek shelter in a Primitive Methodist chapel in Colchester, Essex. He was converted from nominal Anglicanism while listening to a local preacher there. The text that moved young Charles was Isaiah 45:22 – "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else."
Spurgeon was baptized on May 3, 1850 in the River Lark, at Isleham.
Later in 1850, Spurgeon moved with his family to Cambridge and he was appointed the pastor of the small Waterbeach Baptist Chapel in Cambridgeshire.
A story is told of when the then unknown Spurgeon was invited to preach at a church. The young preacher was instructed to finish by 12.00, as some needed to catch transport at that time. Spurgeon said he wouldn't finish at 12.00. "Who is this conceited young preacher?" they thought! At 5 to 12 Spurgeon proclaimed "I have been preaching for 45 minutes to the wicked unrepentant sinner. They can leave now as I am going to preach to the believer." Not many left.
In 1854, three months before his 20th birthday, Spurgeon was appointed Baptist pastor at New Park Street Chapel, in Southwark, London. At the time it was the largest Baptist congregation in the city, but numbers had dwindled for several years.
Spurgeon quickly gained fame for his directness in preaching, which seemed to some to border on irreverence. But the power of his sermons led to many conversions. He drew vast congregations to the Exeter Hall, and (to the scandal of some) to the Surrey Gardens Music Hall, when his own Chapel was being extended.
 |
| Spurgeon preaching at the Surrey Music Hall circa 1858. |
Charles Spurgeon's sermons were so popular that in 1861 a new hall, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, near the Elephant and Castle, London, was built to accommodate his expanding congregation. It seated 5000 people with standing room for another 1000.
Over the next thirty years Spurgeon became possibly the greatest preacher of his age, 6,000 gathered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle to hear him twice each Sunday. However he remained aware of the responsibility of his calling, claiming he "trembles" lest he should misinterpret the Word of God.
Spurgeon was so popular that Queen Victoria donned a disguise so she could sneak into one of his services and hear what he had to say.
 |
| The Metropolitan Tabernacle in 2004. Secretlondon at English Wikipedia |
Spurgeon started in 1857 a Pastors' College, Spurgeon's College, which trained nearly 900 men before his death.
Stockwell Orphanage was an orphanage started by Spurgeon, which opened on September 9, 1869 in London, and was originally for fatherless boys only. It began taking girls as well ten years later. At this point there were 500 children living there.
Spurgeon gloried both in being a Calvinist and in being a Baptist. But he left the Baptist Union doing the 'Down-grade Controversy' of 1887. Spurgeon alleged that an incremental creeping of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, and other concepts were "downgrading" the Baptist Union and some Baptist Ministers were relaxing their grasp of vital doctrines.
Spurgeon was an abolitionist. He lost support from the Southern Baptists, and received scores of threatening and insulting letters as a consequence.
 |
| Charles Spurgeon |
His numerous works included an extended commentary on the Psalms, The Treasury of David (1872-85).
His weekly sermons were published in printed form every week selling for a penny each and each sold up to 25,000 copies a week.
Spurgeon was legendary for both his humor and his body language and regarding the latter alongside his lecture notes, he issued accompanying diagrams for arm and body movements.
By the time of his death in 1892, Spurgeon had preached nearly 3,600 sermons and published 49 volumes of commentaries, sayings, anecdotes, illustrations and devotions.
Spurgeon's sermons still remain one of the all-time best selling series of writings published in history.
Spurgeon suffered ill health toward the end of his life, afflicted by a combination of gout, rheumatism and Bright's disease. He often recuperated at Menton, near Nice, France.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, "Prince of Preachers," preached his last sermon at the Tabernacle in London on June 7, 1891.
After 31 years as minister of the Tabernacle, Charles Spurgeon passed away on January 31, 1892.
His remains were buried at West Norwood Cemetery in London, where the tomb is still visited by admirers.
 |
| Tomb of Charles Spurgeon By Perseus 1984 |
Spurgeon's son Tom became the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle after his father died.
Source The Lion History of Christianity
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