The Ohio Independent Baptist, April 1973

} c ,,,. edit< r is a 11<> C \ ' i11tlivid11a/l R ece11t/} 1 lVl1ile /1 0 /d- i,z THE UNION BAPTIST - October '51 Jssi~e . • • i11 111 t ri11(!s at t/1e First Raptist /1 11 rc· /1 itr Boivling re 11, c)J,i,, l t'C J:ot to . 11<>op111g arc,1111(/ Pastor Jo l,n re 11i11~f!· • lihrar)'. A 111011,r: 111011)' otl, er i11ter esti11g tl1i11gs. ,, e a111e acr<Jss t/1 i . a, tic le ,, 1 ritte11 I>)' Dr. Josep/1 Parker 11 rl,e ,1, ,11/1 of D, . C l,arlcs /1addv11 pltrgeon . It appeared Pastor G reeni11g's /atl,er also was a preac/1er, ancl lta<l tl1 e privilege of st11clying Linc/er 1/1e teacl1i,1g of Dr . Sp11,.. geon. We Io i, tl cl t I, e art i c I e o I sLIc I I in I ere st t I 1 at l-Ve f e It I e <I to sl1are it wit/1 oi,r 0 .1.B. readers. Editor's note. We possess a little volume written by the great Dr. Jo eph Parker, which is practically unknown. It contains a collection of Parker's personal reminiscences - many of them as quaint and humorous a his famous "Ad Clerum". How– ever the chief value in the book lies in the fact that Dr. Parker therein recorded a number of his relation- hips with his greater contemporary - C . H. Spurgeon. When news of Spurgeon·s death reached England, Parker wrote his estimate of the life and work of the Prince of Preachers, and because anything by Parker is valuable, and because anything on Spurgeon is of undying interest, we herewith republish, "Parker on Spur– geon". The death of Mr. Spurgeon removes the greatest religious enthusiast of this country and this age. The English pul– pit has lost its most conspicuous figure. The only pulpit name of the nine– teenth century that will be remem– bered is no longer the name of a 1 iv– ing man. For forty years Mr. Spur– geon worked splendidly in every sense; his simplicity, his constancy, his stand– stillness, won for him, through many difficulties, a unique and invincible position in Christian England. The only colours which he recog– nized were black and white. With him ' you were either in or out, up or down , alive or dead. As for the middle zones, graded lines, light compounding with shadow in graceful exercise of give and take, he simply looked upon them as heterodox, and implacable enemies of the Metropolitan Tabernacle. On the other hand, whilst there was no intellectual benevolence, who could compare with him in moral sympathy? Who so large of heart? Who so re– sponsive to pain and need and help– lessness? In this view Mr. Spurgeon was in very deed two men. Mr. Spurgeon's heart was im1nense, and full of love. His orphanage was the best commentary on his Taber- 8 APRIL, 1973 by Dr. Joseph Parker nacle. In the orphanage Mr. Spurgeon was the prince of Arminians; in the Tabernacle he was the sturdiest of Calvinists. And all this was true to the form and expression of the re– markable head and face. The head was the very image of stubborness · mas– sive, broad, low, hard· the face was large, rugged, social, brightened by eyes overflowing with humor, and softenecJ by a most gracious and sym– pathetic smile. SPIRITUAL PREACHING The ministry of Mr. Spurgeon has shown that an intensely religious meth– od as distinguished from a literary and academic style, can achieve very notable success. Mr. Spurgeon's was emphatically religious or spiritual preaching. It was not literary; it was not argumentative; it was not coldly intellectual ; it was simply and thoroughly religious, sometimes al– most ruthlessly so, for it forced every text to the same uses. Mr. Spurgeon had but one sermon, yet it was always new. To Mr. Spurgeon Christianity was not an argument but a message· not something to be discussed, but :som~thing to be delivered by the preacher and instantaneously accepted by the hearer. Other ministers account for the universe; Mr. Spurgeon simply took it for granted and made the best he could of it. Other ministers take the Bible to pieces, and put it together again in some other shape· Mr. Spurgeon took it from his mother's hands, in plain English, and accepted every word of it as the very speech of God. This Bible letter came straight from Heaven, and the very post-mark on the face of it was a vital part of the contents. The envelope a]– so was fashioned in Heaven. This was his faith, and it made him strong. TOOK GREAT TEXTS The intense religiousness of hi preaching was seen in the texts which he took, even in the ministry of his boyhood. Other young preachers are naturally great in the treatment oJ Bible narratives and anecodotes. The) fasten eagerly on Daniel in the lions' den and revel in the story of Jonah. Mr. Spurgeon boldly went at once to the deepest and greatest themes. At nineteen he preached to countless thousands from such texts as "Ac– cepted in the Beloved"; "No man cometh unto Me except the Father draw him"; "And of His fullness have we all received, and grace for grace''. So1ne men have never ventured to take those texts, even after a lifetime of service. Mr. Spurgeon took them at once as the seven notes that made all God's music, and he did so as by Divine right and impulse. As he be-· gan, so he continued. He never went in quest of the fourth dimension or the eighth note: his first and his last were one. REVILED AND HONOURED The changes in pub]ic opi nion re– specting Mr. Spurgeon were astound– ing, so much so, that we wonder in some cases if they were sincere. Mr. Spurgeon was described as the mountebank of the pulpit as coarse, vulgar, blasphemous, mingling jests and prayers with profane looseness and wildness . A distinguished editor spoke thirty-five years ago of Mr. Spurgeon's Hy u l gar slang". Mr. Binney once said he would not enter a pulpit until Mr. Spurgeon had been out of it for six months. In one of her letters, George Eliot says, "My im– pression fell below the lowest judg– ment I had ever passed upon him; utterly common, and empty of guiding intelligence and emotion·'. Mr. Spurgeon gathered a volume of caricatures, censures, insult~, and jibes of every kind, and sometimes looked into it to remind himself of his early reception . He literally ap– palled the old-pattern church goer! He made 1nen laugh in church. He pressed (Concluded on page 13) THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST