WHY MULTIPLICATION THOUGHT?

• “It is a demonstrated principle of church growth that Christianity gains in a society only to the extent that the number of existing churches is multiplied. Multiplication of new congregations of believers, then, is the normal and expected output of a healthy body.” Engel & Norton What’s Gone Wrong with the Harvest? pp143-44

• “The third course would teach how to multiply congregations in North American Anglos and minority populations.”

Donald Effective Evangelism, p.6

McGavran Effective Evangelism

– In our preaching let us make sure that this aspect of the Christian faith is repeatedly held before our congregations, Sunday school meetings, and other assemblies of the saints. To be a true church we must become a reproductive church. Let us remember that full biblical soundness and spiritual renewal cannot limit themselves to existing congregations. They must multiply congregations. P. 45

Church or Surrogate Parenting

Spurgeon made the following comment in 1865:• Such a church, with its many agencies in incessant

operation, becomes a power, not in this country merely, but in the world. Such were the first Churches in Corinth, in Philippi, in Ephesus, and in Rome. Most of these arose, as in the case before us, almost entirely from the labours of one man. Is not this then, we ask, as we appeal to its efficiency, as we appeal to its spirituality, as we appeal to its internal harmony, as we appeal to its development of all Christian gifts and graces, and as we appeal to its freedom from all the evils of secular ecclesiasticism,--Is not this the fashion after which the Gospel was originally designed to spread, and in which

Church or surrogate (cont.) it can best be extended in any country and in any age?

The combination of many Churches in one system of organization for the support of missions, both at home and abroad, may be the best thing when Churches are small and feeble in themselves; but it is second best only to the primitive plan. It is more costly, and it creates a power unknown to the apostles, and detrimental to the liberty of individual churches. We admit its great utility in a transition state from false to genuine Christianity, and are thankful for its results, but, at the same time, we are persuaded it has its limits, and is chiefly valuable, as it restores to the Church, and multiplies its own centres of illumination. CHS, “MT Statistics,” S & T 1 (April 1865)

Spurgeon’s Conversion, pt.1

Spurgeon’s describing his own salvation experience:• Precious is that wine which is pressed in the wine vat of

conviction: pure is that gold which is dug from the mines of repentance: and bright are those pearls which are found in the caverns of deep distress….He who has stood before God, convicted and condemned with the rope about his neck is the man to weep with joy when he is pardoned, and to live to the honor of the Redeemer by whose blood he is cleansed. Day, Spurgeon, p. 58

Spurgeon’s Conversion, pt. 2 Spurgeon’s soteriology came out of his own experience:“Son of my love,” he [God] said, “you must stand in the

sinner’s place; you must suffer what he ought to have suffered; you must be accounted guilty,…I will look upon the sinner in another light. I will look at him as if he were Christ; I will accept him as if he were my only-begotten Son, full of grace and truth. I will give him a crown in heaven, and I will take him to My heart for ever and ever.” This is the way we are saved; “Being justified freely by his grace,….the moment he believes in Christ his guilt is all taken away…; so that, when God looks upon the sinner…He looks upon with as much love

and affection as He ever looked upon His Son. Spurgeon, “Loves Logic,” p. 305

Spurgeon’s Conversion, pt. 3• There was, I thought, a glimpse of hope for me in that text. The

preacher began thus: “My dear friends, this is a very simple text indeed. It says, ‘Look.’ Now lookin’ don’t take a great deal of pain….You may be the biggest fool, and yet you can look. A man needn’t be worth a thousand a year to be able to look. Anyone can look; even a child can look. But then the text says, ‘Look unto Me.’ Ay! Said he, in broad Essex, “many on ye are lookin’ to yourselves, but it’s no use lookin’ there. You’ll never find any comfort in yourselves. Some look to God the Father. No, look to Him by-an-by. Jesus Christ says, ‘Look unto Me.’ Some on ye say, ‘We must wait for the Spirit’s workin.’ You have no business with that just now. Look to Christ. The text says, ‘Look unto Me.

Spurgeon, Autobiography, The Early Years, p. 88

Spurgeon’s Conversion, pt. 4• It does not ask your consent; but it gets it. It does not say, will

you have it? But it makes you willing in the day of God’s power. Not against your will, but it makes you willing. It shows you its value, and then you fall in love with it; and straightway you run after it and have it….The gospel wants not your consent, it gets it. It knocks the enmity out of your heart….He makes your will turn round, and then you cry, “Lord, save, or I perish.” (1)

• “It pleases God by the foolishness of preaching to accomplish his divine purposes, not because of the power of preaching, nor the power of the preacher, nor any power in those preached to, but because ‘all power’ is given unto Christ ‘in heaven and in earth,’ and he chooses to work by the teaching of the Word.” (2)

1 Spurgeon “Heaven & Hell”; 2 “Power of the Risen Savior”

Spurgeon’s Conversion, pt. 5– I vow to glory alone in Jesus and His cross, and to spend my

life in the extension of his cause, in whatsoever way He pleases. I desire to be sincere in this solemn profession, having but one object in view, and that to glorify God. Help me to honor Thee, and live the life of Christ on earth. Day, Spurgeon, p. 68

– From that first day until now, I have acted on no other principle but that of perfect consecration to the work whereunto I am called. I surrendered myself to my Saviour, I gave him my body, my soul, my spirit…I gave him my talents, my powers,…my whole manhood!....If Christ commands me to hold up my little finger, and I do not obey him, it looks like coolness in my love to him. Day, Spurgeon, pp. 80-81

Spurgeon’s Beliefs

• The doctrines of grace, substitution, and Christ crucified created in him and confident gospel to preach

• Spurgeon stressed electing love, covenant security, justification by faith, effectual calling, and immutable faithfulness

• Grace was rich in Spurgeon’s mind: it forgives all sin and fixes the affections upon Jesus and His service

• For Spurgeon, there was no dissonance between sovereign grace (election) and human responsibility

Spurgeon, Autobiography, 3:158

Spurgeon’s Beliefs (con’t)• In the days of Paul it was not difficult at once, in one

word, to give the sum and substance of the current theology. It was Christ Jesus…but if I am asked to say what is my creed, I think I must reply—”It is Christ Jesus.” My venerable predecessor, Dr. Gill, has left a body of divinity, admirable and excellent in its way; but the body of divinity to which I would pin and bind myself for ever, God helping me, is not his system of divinity or any other human treatise, but Christ Jesus, who is the sum and substance of the gospel; who is himself all theology, the incarnation of every precious truth, the all glorious personal embodiment of the way, the truth, and the life. Spurgeon, “The First Sermon in the Tabernacle”

Spurgeon’s Beliefs--election

– But there are some who say, “It is hard for God to choose some and leave others.” Now, I will ask you one question. Is there any one of you here this morning who wishes to be holy, who wishes to be regenerate, to leave off sin and walk in holiness? “Yes, there is ,” says some one, “I do.” Then God has elected you. But another says, “No: I don’t want to be holy; I don’t want to give up my lusts and vices.” Why should you grumble, then, that God has not elected you to it? For if you were elected you would not like it, according to your own confession.

Spurgeon, “Election,” p. 75.

Spurgeon (more on election) • I know of nothing, nothing, again, that is more humbling for us than

this doctrine of election….Why me? Why me?....moreover, election makes us holy….Shall I sin….after God hath chosen me? Spurgeon, “Election”

• Grace & election causes one to thoroughly and consciously rest on Jesus: “Don’t fancy election excuses sin—don’t dream of it—don’t rock yourself in sweet complacency in the thought of your irresponsibility. You are responsible” Spurgeon, “Election”

• “Election or no election, if you are resting upon the rock of ages you are saved.” Spurgeon “Election No

Discouragement to Seeking Souls”• Regarding a person’s confidence in his own faith: “What we want to

do is to kill it once and for all.” “High Doctrine”

Spurgeon on SalvationSpurgeon “The Comer’s Conflict with Satan”

Remember, sinner, it is not ‘thy hold’ of Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not ‘thy joy’ in Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that is the instrument—it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not to thy hope, but to Christ, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Christ, the author and finisher of thy faith; and if thou doest that, ten thousand devils cannot throw thee down, but as long as thou lookest at thyself, the weakest of those evil spirits may tread thee beneath his feet. There is one thing which we all of us too much becloud in our preaching, though I believe we do it very unintentionally—namely, the great truth that it is not prayer, it is not faith, it is not our doings, it is not our feelings upon which we must rest, but upon Christ, and on Christ alone.

Spurgeon on repentance

We would not judge modern converts, but we certainly prefer that form of spiritual exercise which leads the soul by the way of the Weeping-cross, and makes it see its blackness before assuring it that it is “clean every whit.” Too many think lightly of sin, and therefore think lightly of the Savior. He who has stood before his God, convicted and condemned, with the rope about his neck, is the man to weep for joy when he is pardoned, to hate the evil which has been forgiven him, and to live to the honour of the Redeemer by whose blood he has been cleansed.

Spurgeon, Autobiography, 1:76

Spurgeon on the Priesthood of the Believer

• “As our church recognises no distinction of clergy and laity.”

Spurgeon, MT: Its History & Work, p.55

Spurgeon and books

• Spurgeon was characterized as an “omnivorous reader.” His practice was to read five to six difficult books each

week. He said “He wished to rub his mind against the strongest.” He would also read magazines and journals treating the fields of medicine and science. This was in addition to Puritan and other biblical studies. And once he read it, the contents became permanently his.

CHS, Autobiography, 4:265• “The old Puritans have more sense in one line than there

is in a page of our new books, and more in one page than there is in a whole volume of our modern divinity.”

Spurgeon, “Faith”

Spurgeon’s advice on reading• The next rule I shall lay down is, master those books you

have. Read them thoroughly. Bathe in them until they saturate you. Read and re-read them, masticate them, and digest them…Let them go into your very self. Peruse a good book several times, and make notes and analy-ses of it. A student will find that his mental constitution is more affected by one book thoroughly mastered than by twenty books which he has merely skimmed, lapping at them…little learning and much pride come of hasty read-ing. Books may be piled on the brain till it cannot work. Some men are disabled from their thinking by their put-ting meditation away for the sake of much reading. They gouge themselves with book-matter, and become men-tally dyspeptic. CHS, Lectures, p. 177

Some of Spurgeon’s favorites• Apples of Gold and Precious Remedies Against Satan’s

Devices by Thomas Brooks• The Objects And Acts of Justifying Faith by T Goodwin• The Glories of Christ, The Death of Death in the Death of

Christ, The Holy Spirit, and Hebrews by John Owen• The Attributes of God by Stephen Charnock• The Christian in Complete Armour by William Gurnall• John 17 by Thomas Manton; • Mystery of Providence by John Flavel• The Body of Divinity by Thomas Watson• Reformed Pastor and Saint’s Everlasting Rest by Baxter• Pilgrim’s Progress and The Holy War by John Bunyan

Spurgeon’s abilities

• He kills Thomas Road: goes to tavern at age five to rebuke grandfather’s wayward member

• Meets with missionary James Knill at 6am for three mornings for prayer at age ten and Knill predicts Spurgeon will be a great preacher

• Does a paper against papacy at age ten• Writes 295pp “Popery Unmasked” at 14 • Can argue vs. himself in debate forums• Most popular English speaker after coming to New Park

Street, London• Sermons translated & sent around world—some say 40

different languages: 100K in England alone; 500K were sold weekly after his death

Spurgeon’s monomania• “To preach the Gospel…and to train others to do it, is my life’s

object and aim.” Pike, 3:61• Lives with many aims are like water trickling through

innumerable streams, none of which are wide enough or deep enough to float the merest cockleshell of a boat; but a life with one object is like a mighty river flowing be-tween its banks, bearing to the ocean a multitude of ships, and spreading fertility on either side.

Spurgeon, Soul Winner, pg. 249• God sparing my life, I will not rest till the dark country of Surrey

be filled with places of worship. It is only within the last six months we have started two churches…and we will do so to the hundredth time, God being our helper. Pike, 2:313, 316

Spurgeon on evangelism• Spurgeon said of Matthew 9:36-37, “This text is laid on my

heart; it lies more on my heart than any other in the Bible; it is one that haunts me perpetually, and has…for many years.”

Spurgeon “Harvest Men Wanted”• Speaking to his Pastor’s College students on evangelism:

“Let this be your choice work while studying, and let it be the one object of your lives when you go forth from us.”

Spurgeon, The Soul-Winner, p. 225• “Devotional habits are cultivated to the utmost...students

are urged to do as much evangelistic work as they can.” Spurgeon, The MT: History and Work, p. 100

The Lay Preacher’s AssociationEndeavour to maintain…the Lay Preacher’s Association. I

might have preached without it, but that Association in

Cambridge offered me opportunities of preaching every

night in the week,…I am sure that the Lay Preacher’s

Associations assist young men very materially, and help

greatly to supply the pulpits with those men who will after-

wards carry on the work. We ought not to have a single

church without a strong back of preaching men. We must

have very many, and indeed we must encourage more to

preach. I believe there are a great many men who do very

much service by preaching whom you and I would not like

to hear, but whom God will bless Pike, 5:39

MT’s Farm SystemThe Evangelists’ Association (MT’s LPA) and Tabernacle

County Mission provided ministry involvement and experi-

ence for the MT members. Many young men first began to

preach the gospel through these organizations. These

ministries were under the leadership of dedicated lay lead-

ers. Spurgeon, “Others of the elders have also exercised a

most gracious ministry in various parts of the metropolis,

and in the home counties, through the agency of the Taber-

nacle Country Mission and Evangelists’ Association. Many

churches, that are now self-supporting and flourishing,

were started in a very humble fashion by the brethren con-

nected with one or other of these two useful societies.”

CHS, Auto, 3:25

MT Farm System (continued)

• In 1881 the Evangelists’ Assoc owned and operated 603 preaching stations each Sun

• Another 728 preaching stations were either borrowed or rented, but still manned by MT lay preachers

• There were also 131 open-air meetings• Preachers in both organizations gave their time w/o

rumuneration & helped pay rent• 49 Bible schools served by MT members on Sundays• Spurgeon said these organizations helped provide “godly

men…discover fields of usefulness, and prepare themselves for them.”

Spurgeon, “Notes” Sword and Trowel 17 (September 1881): 486

Elders & Deacons

• CHS taught on the elders’ role along with dea-cons for five yrs, then MT accepted 1.12.1859

• “Our elders, now sustained by twenty-six brethren, is a source of much blessing to our church. Without the efficient and self-denying labours of the Elders we should never be able to supervise our huge church, containing at the close of the year 1868, 3,860 members, and from which, under the present, about an equal number have gone to the church triumphant, or to other parts of the church militant.”

Spurgeon, The MT: it’s History and Work, p. 89

Evening ClassesThe church at the Tabernacle continues to furnish a

large quota of men, and as these have usually been educa-

ted for two or more years in our Evening Classes, they are

more advanced and better able to profit by our two years of

study. We have no difficulty in finding spheres for men who

are ready and fitted for them. There is no reason to believe

that the supply of trained ministers is in advance of the

demand….These evening classes afford an opportunity to

Christian men engaged during the day to obtain an educa-

tion for nothing during their leisure time, and very many

avail themselves of the privilege. MT: History, pp.100-01

“150 young business men who were receiving instruction in the Evening classes.” Pike, 3:16, 1862 (200 in ’76)

Planting Philosophy

• Spurgeon guided his Pastor’s College men to plant churches by using means effective to that situation. He taught flexibility and to look for responsive fields.

• He said the policy in planting churches was like a florist: “Plant a lot of slips hoping that some of them will strike.”

CHS, “Report of the College Work: In and Around London, Sword and Trowel, May 1878• “Our plan in London has been to do very little where we

could not do much; to open many rooms, and to start many small communities in hope that some of them would like to become self-supporting churches.”

Pike, 3:157; Auto, 3:253-54

Spurgeon on the Pastor’s College

“Our one aim has been to train preachers and pastors. Letthe men be scholars by all means, to their fullest bent, butfirst and foremost let them study their Bibles, hold the faithclearly, and know how to defend it valiantly. If they becomeso bookish that they cannot speak except in a pedanticlatinised language, their education has failed; if they growso refined and affected that they cannot condescend tomen of low estate, their learning has made them fools; andIf they are so fascinated by literary pursuits that they thinklightly of the preaching of the gospel, they have missed themark:

Spurgeon on PC (con’t)but should they be rendered humble by the knowledgewhich they gain, should their minds be well stored, shouldtheir tongues become more fluent, and their thoughts moredeep, and above all should their piety be strengthened andtheir graces be cultivated, it will prove an essential benefitto the men, and an immense gain to the churches, that theyhave passed through a college course.”Spurgeon, “The Pastor’s College, Sword and Trowel, 9:146

“If learning necessarily took men off from dependence uponGod we should loathe it, but so far as we can see,ignorance and self-confidence have considerably affinity,while grace makes men humble, however much theyknow.” CHS “Notes,” S & T, 16: 421

Spurgeon’s Philosophy on Churches having Colleges

“It is nothing but sanctified common sense that leads theChurch [local churches] to the formation of a college.” Pike, 4:356

Spurgeon said in 1870 “It appears to us that the mainte-nance of a truly spiritual College is probably the readiestway in which to bless the churches.We are not singular in this opinion, for to be successful workers in all times the same method had occurred. With-out citing the abundant incidents of early times, let us re-member the importance which John Calvin attached to theCollege at Geneva. Not by any one of the Reformers

Churches and Colleges (cont)

personally could the Reformation have been achieved, butThey multiplied themselves in their students, and so freshcentres of light were created.….Wherever a great principle is to be advanced, prudence suggests the necessity of training men who are to becomethe advancers of it. Our Lord and Saviour did just thesame thing when he elected twelve to be always with him,in order that, by superior instruction, they might becomeleaders of the church.” G. W. Harte, Historical Tablets of the College Founded by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, p. 14

Spurgeon’s Values for the College• “The College was the first important institution commenced by the

Pastor, and it still remains his first-born and best beloved.” Spurgeon, MT: Its History, p.96

• “Our College work is pushed on with vigour: we…are diligently seeking to break up fresh ground…to found new churches.” CHS, “Memoranda,” S & T ’68, p. 43

• “…there is yet very much land to be possessed; and when men break up fresh soil, as ours are encouraged to do, the field is the world, and the prayer for more labourers is daily more urgent.” CHS, MT-History, p. 101

• “To every land we hope yet to send forth the gospel in its fullness and purity. We pray the Lord to raise up mis-sionaries among our students and make every one a winner of souls.” CHS, MT-History, p. 102

The Pastor’s College room & board Practice

• Spurgeon arranged for free tuition and provided room & board, but note: “The young brethren are boarded generally in twos and threes, in the houses of our friends [members] around the Tabernacle, for which the College pays a moderate weekly amount. The plan of separate lodging we believe to be far preferable to having all under one roof; for, by the latter mode, men are isolated from general family habits, and are too apt to fall into superabundant levity. The circumstances of the families who entertain our young friends are generally such that they are not elevated above the social position which in all probability they will have to occupy in future years, but are kept in connection with the struggles and conditions of every-day life. CHS, MT-History, p. 100

Spurgeonic Principles for Today, #1

THE PULPIT MINISTRY• Spurgeon wanted his students to understand the pulpit

was their number one responsibility because this is where the climate and atmosphere of the church would be created.

• This is accomplished by clearly communicating what a Christ-follower is to be & do, and what a Christ-honoring church is to be & do

• “…the visitation of the sick, private visitation among his people, organization of useful & benevolent institutions, platform speaking, occasional contributions to magazines and reviews—these are all good and important; but the work of the pulpit is more important than any of them.” Pike, 3:184

Spurgeonic Principle #2 PRAYER“Our reliance upon prayer has been very conspicuous…Wehave not begun, we have not continued, we have not end-ed anything without prayer…We wish to be on record thatwe owe our success, as a church, to the work of the HolySpirit, principally through its leading us to pray.” Auto 4:243

Spurgeon taught PC men “do train the people to continuallymeet together for prayer.” CHS, Greatest Fight, p.43

Prayer meetings are the “throbbing machinery of thechurch.” Willams, Spurgeon, p. 72; Auto, 4:81

Spurgeonic Principle #3

PNEUMATOLOGYSpurgeon valued the Holy Spirit’s ministry:• “Dear brethren, I feel sure that you have all stuck to your

studies diligently; and my prayer is that the Holy Spirit may sanctify your human acquirements by a double measure of His anointing. Your power lies in His grace rather than in natural gifts or scholastic acquisitions. Without the Spirit, you will be failures, and worse; therefore, pray much, and see to it that your whole selves are in such a condition that the Spirit of God can dwell in you; for in some men He cannot reside, and with some men He cannot work. Let the channel through which the living water is to flow be both clear and clean.” Auto, 3:159

Spurgeonic Principle #4

Processing New Members

• Spurgeon wanted his PC men to understand how people were received into membership would shape its strength.

• “All hurry to get members into the church is most mischievous, both to the church and to the supposed converts.” CHS, The Soul Winner, pp. 18-19

• “I believe that one reason why our church has been…so signally blessed of God…those who have been added to our ranks have been well established in the old-fashioned faith of the Puritans…and therefore have not turned aside or drawn away from us.” CHS, Auto, 2:225

Spurgeonic Principal #5

Pastoral Leadership• Spurgeon was referred to as the “governor” by his

members and church leaders. He knew he had to lead, but he respected his people. It was said about his leadership at the 25th anniversary of his pastorate:

• “With habitual modesty he constantly attributes to Sunday-school teachers, tract distributors, and in fact to the entire rank and file of Christian workers, the real praise for results of which he gests all the credit. This is true in a degree, although it is even more true that his accomplished generalship made the soldiers.”

Spurgeon, Twenty-Fifth Year, p. 54

Spurgeonic Principles #6

Priesthood of the Believer• It was in large part the influence and help of a

lay person named Mary King who led Spurgeon to know Christ’s salvation and Lordship. He never forgot her role in his life. Spurgeon said of her, “I do believe that I learnt more from her than I should have learned from my six doctors of divinity.” CHS, Auto, 1:53

• Spurgeon knew the potential and power of lay persons firsthand and he never got over this in how to accomplish multiplying disciples and churches.

Spurgeonic Principle #7: Preparing Preachers

Spurgeon stated early in his pastorate at London:“In past generations our baptized churches used to send out pastorswhen they judged them to have sacred gifts and a divine call to theministry. Pious youths were sometimes boarded with ministers of re-pute, by whom they were educated and trained. The old plan was superseded by colleges founded with devout convictions, and support-ed with pious intentions. This modern proceeding, however, did not ap-pear to be free from…objections. More than one principal had lament-ed…’the young men who come in with their hearts on fire and emptyheads went out with heads full of learning, but with frozen hearts.’ Wehad better hie back to some of our old habits…and forthwith hearranged to pay out of his purse for the education of one youth at thehouse of a Baptist minister.” Spurgeon, Twenty-Fifth, p. 49

Spurgeon speaking at a Home Missions engagement in 1872 saidthat every church should have young men in training for the ministry.