"Spurgeon: Heir of the Puritans" by Ernest W. Bacon

ISBN not available.


Charles Haddon Spurgeon is one of those men whom I look forward to meeting when I pass on. If the great teachers of the faith will still be permitted to teach (and why would they not?) in heaven, then it is at his feet that I will sit for a few thousand years. He is a titan of the faith that we would do well to emulate. Mr. Ernest W. Bacon, now present with the Lord for over 15 years, has done his fellow Christians a grand favor in providing his wonderful biography...one that will help us to know Spurgeon better and to appreciate the ministry that the Lord gifted him with. Bacon is a sympathetic Spurgeon biographer, one who obviously loved the man of whom he wrote and who did his best to present the Christian warrior in as favorable a light as possible. This is not to say that the biography is diminished because of it...far from it. Spurgeon had and has enough detractors that this biography is a breath of fresh air, one that gives Spurgeon the benefit of the doubt and this helps us to meet the man on the terms which he himself might have wanted.

This wonderful little biography (only 177 pages) focuses not on the day to day details of Spurgeon's life, but on his theological views and the works which he did. Sprinkled liberally throughout the text are passages from Spurgeon's sermons, which help the reader to get into the mind of this wonderful man. Another thing I enjoyed about this biography is how Mr. Bacon focuses on primary sources to show us what the contemporaries of Spurgeon thought about him...both those in the secular world and those from within the body. Bacon also spends a whole chapter discussing the down-grade controversy and how it came about as well as what prompted Spurgeon to take such a strong stance that led him to resign from his denomination and that put him at odds with so many. This controversy in which he bravely fought for the Truth, we now know needed to be opposed. Indeed, John MacArthur has said in "Ashamed of the Gospel" that modern day England today suffers from the failure of so many evengelicals to align themselves with Spurgeon. The spiritual barrenness that is England is a direct result of the embrace of heresy back in the day of Spurgeon. What a lesson this is for us who now face the same type of challenge to biblical truths!

Ultimately, as Bacon tells us, Spurgeon's life was devoted wholly to his Lord. His entire ministry was dedicated to the championing of the name of Jesus and a desire to point the lost to Him and see them come alive through His grace. When the Metropolitan Tabernacle was opened, Spurgeon said during his first sermon that he hoped within its walls only Christ would be preeminent. This sole focus on Christ was his passion and it was for this cause that he gave his life and risked everything. What a man! What a saint! In one sermon, Spurgeon said, "Remember, sinner, it is not your hold of Christ thast saves you- it is Christ; it is not your joy in Christ that saves you- it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, thought that is the instrument- it is Christ's blood and merits; therefore, look not to your hope, but to Christ the source of hope; look not to your faith, but to Christ, the author and finisher of yhour faith; and if you do that, ten thousand devils cannot throw you down."

The life of Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a life dedicated to his Lord and Master. A life that loved Christ so much it was his joy to focus himself entirely upon that object of his love. And those that loved him realized this. A Dr. A.T. Pierson gave the eulogy at Spurgeon's funeral...these were his words:

"Beloved President, Faithful Pastor, Prince of Preachers, Brother Beloved, Dear Spurgeon- we bid thee not "farewell," but only for a little while "Good-night." You shall rise soon at the first dawn of the Resurrection- day of the redeemed. Yet is the good-night not ours to bid but yours; it is we who linger in the darkness; thou art in God's holy light. Our night shall soon be passed and with it all our weeping. Then with yours, our songs shall greet the morning of the day that knows no cloud nor close; for there is not night there.

Hard worker in the field! thy toil is ended. Straight has been the furrow thou has ploughed. No looking back has marred thy course. Harvests have followed thy patient sowing, and heaven is already rich with your ingathered sheaves, and shall still be enriched through the years yet lying in eternity.

Champion of God! your battle, long and nobly fought is over; your sword which clung to your hand, has dropped at last; a palm branch takes its place. No longer does the helmet press your brow, often weary by its surging thoughts of battle; a victor's wreath from the great Commander's hand has already proved your full reward.

Here, for a little while, shall rest thy precious dust. Then shall thy Well-Beloved come; and at His voice thou shalt spring from thy couch of earth, fashioned like unto His body, into glory. Then spirit, sould and body shall magnify the Lord's redemption. Until then, beloved, sleep. We praise God for thee, and by the blood of the everlasting covenant, hope and expect to praise God with thee. Amen."

O that my life would merit even a small portion of such words!

Please, read this book and know the man who is even now lovingly called The Prince of Preachers.

God bless!