C. H. Spurgeon · 48 of 63
Sermon 268. The Ceremony of Laying the First Stone of the New Tabernacle · Part 5
To the great Tabernacle that is to be be built.
Poor widow, neglected, distress’d, and forlorn,
The prop of thy age from thy dwelling withdrawn,
To cast in two mites will not fix thee with guilt,
T’wards the great Tabernacle that is to be built.
Friend Spurgeon, the clearest of preachers I know,
Look on to the time when thy language shall flow
Like a beautiful stream, without thickness or silt,
In the great Tabernacle that is to built.
And thousands deliver’d from sin and from hell,
In mansions of glory for ever shall dwell,
Who heard of the blood which for sinners was spilt,
In the great Tabernacle that is to be built.
The Rev. C. H. SPURGEON: If our friends are not tired I should like another brother to speak, and I have a few words to say before I call upon my brother Bloomfield. I have been treated somewhat severely by that class of brethren who are exceedingly strong in their . Many suspect me of being a great heretic. Now, a great heretic I certainly am, if it be heresy to judge of the Scriptures as God the gives me ability, and not to bend myself to the dictates of man. I am, I ever must be, from my deep and terrible experience of the of the human heart, a high Calvinist, in the best sense of that term. I am not bitter towards others; but I do love to preach the fullness of the decree of God. I do love, however, so to preach it that I may combine it with practical exhortation and fullness of precept. There are many brethren who believe the same. The stone has to be rolled away from the spulchre of Calvinism yet. The Calvinism of some men is the Calvinism of John Calvin, nor the Calvinism of the , much less the Christianity of God. My dear brother Bloomfield is one of those who hold the truth very strongly. I hope he may hold it never less sternly. He has an affectionate loving heart, and he is not prepared to condemn one who, in some points, differs from the brethren. I do differ from some in certain matters, those are but small matters compared with the grand fundamentals of that holy faith delivered to us by Christ, translated by Paul, handed down by Augustine, clarified by Calvin, vindicated yet again by Whitfield, and held by us as the very truth of God, as it is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Rev. J. BLOOMFIELD: I rejoice to be with you to-day, just to showmy firm attachment to that honored servant of God who has been the means, under the influence and power of the Spirit, of bringing you together. I believe that the preaching of Mr. Spurgeon is in harmony with our good old puritan divines. I cannot understand that Christianity which dries up the sympathies of the human heart. I feel a strong sympathy with one expression dropped by Mr. Spurgeon’s father. He said he thought his son did wrong when he first came to London. I thought so too, but what made me think so was loosing a great many persons from my own congregation. However, I am very glad that so good a man has them, and I wish them well from my very heart, and him too, and all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth. Any man that preaches the in its perfection is a brother that I am glad to shake hands with and bid God speed. Whether or not he preaches the high and distinguishing doctrine of divine in the phraseology that I employ; whether or not he chooses to preach those doctrines in the plain language in which I am bound to preach them, because I can preach them in no other, I say I bid him God speed, and trust the blessing of God will go with him wherever he goes to preach the everlasting gospel of the blessed God. Christ said, when on earth, “If any man serve me, him will my Father honor.” I ask any man to look at the vast numbers that have testified before delighted audiences to the way in which the ministry of Mr. Spurgeon has been blessed to them; and I ask if God has not honored him; I ask if the Holy Ghost has not honored his testimony, and if the Father in heaven, if the Holy Ghost has sealed his ministry, where is the man that dares to speak against the success which he has realized so largely in his work. I love some of the friends that have spoken harshly of him, but I have always hated their harshness; I have told them so to their faces, as I would tell them again. I hate their bigotry, while I love the truth they preach. May God continue to bless the ministrations, of our excellent friend, and honor him with increasing and abundant success, for his own sake. Amen.
The Rev. C.H. SPURGEON proposed a vote of thanks to Sir Morton Peto, for his kindness in laying the stone, to the Lord Mayor for presiding, and the Lady Mayoress for coming to the meeting.
The motion having been seconded by James Low, Esq., was carried by acclamation.
The LORD MAYOR: The best thanks you could give me would be this, that you fill every box, and put your names to the piece of paper until you have got two thousand pounds. I believe you will have it tomorrow, if you do not get it to-night.
Mr. SPURGEON: The Lord Mayor has kindly said he shall contribute fifty pounds himself. I am sure, with his very great claims, it is far too much for us to expect from any Lord Mayor. He has out-done himself in liberality and I heartily thank him.
The Doxology was then sung, and the proceedings terminated.
The Committee think it needful to add, that notwithstanding the very great assistance afforded upon this occasion, their enterprise is very far from accomplishment. The freehold ground has been purchased and paid for, the excavation and throwing in of concrete for foundations have also been completed; and when this expense shall also have been fully defrayed, the Committee will find themselves with about ten thousand pounds in hand. The present contract for the erection of the building is twenty thousand pounds, which does not include lighting, boundary walls, and necessary furniture. The Committee therefore earnestly appeal to the Church of Christ for help in their arduous undertaking.
Subscriptions will be joyfully received by the Rev. C. H. SPURGEON; or by Mr. T. COOK, Hon. Sec., New Park Street Chapel, Southwark, S.E.
