Spurgeon Saturday: His Death
His "Final" Words
Yesterday marks the day Charles Spurgeon died: January 31, 1982.
While attempting to recover in Mentone, France, he was too ill to offer any “final words.” But a few days before his death, he did tell his close friend, personal secretary, a kind of armor-bearer, “My work is done.”
Ray Rhodes, a wonderful historian on Spurgeon, summarized three reasons why Spurgeon died at only 57 years old.
The Surrey Gardens Music Hall Disaster. This event—10,000 were gathered to hear him, someone yelled fire, and a stampede injured many and killed seven people—hobbled Spurgeon’s mind and body for the rest of his life. Today, he would be seen as a sufferer of PTSD. Spurgeon nearly resigned. I’ve held the letter he wrote to his mother about this event; the ink is blotted with his tears.
Poor Health. Gout, kidney problems, overworked, overweight, and severe depression all contributed to the decline of his health.
The Down-Grade Controversy. This doctrinal battle exhausted and injured Spurgeon in incalculable ways. The betrayal and abandonment he suffered contributed to his decline. His wife said this battle cost him his life.
I leave you with Spurgeon's final words from his last sermon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. On June 7, 1891, Spurgeon rejoiced in serving Christ:
“These forty years and more have I served him, blessed be his name! and I have had nothing but love from him. I would be glad to continue yet another forty years in the same dear service here below if so it pleased him. His service is life, peace, joy. Oh, that you would enter on it at once! God help you to enlist under the banner of Jesus even this day! Amen.”
My new Easter devotional from Spurgeon, The Risen King: 40 Devotions for Easter from C. H. Spurgeon, is now available. The readings take you through the Gospels, surveying Jesus’s ministry and concluding at the cross and resurrection. Each day includes Scripture, Spurgeon’s comments, reflection questions and a short prayer (from me). If you love Spurgeon, this will feel like a brand-new book from him. This would be a great way to get Spurgeon into the hands of your church, too.
Learn more about the book at the link below:
