Susie: The Life and Legacy of Susannah Spurgeon, wife of Charles H. Spurgeon by Rhodes Jr. Ray

Author:Rhodes Jr., Ray
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Moody Publishers
Published: 2018-09-04T00:00:00+00:00

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

Surprisingly, Charles’s books were sought after by some Church of England clerics. Numerous clergymen in the Established Church applied for books, and they especially wanted Sermons, Treasury of David, or some other offering from Charles’s hands. Susie was happy to receive such requests, and she recognized in them a sincere desire for sound doctrine by the clergymen. She pondered the applications of the “young divines” who solicited “the gift of the works of the once despised Baptist Pastor from the willing hands of his wife.” Susie joyfully declared, “It pleases me most to place ‘The Treasury,’ the ‘Lectures,’ or the ‘Sermons’ within the reach of their hands and hearts.”38 She received positive reports about her gifts from the young ministers, and sometimes they preached, in abbreviated format, Charles’s sermons from their pulpits.

Ironically, a number of Established Church curates, whose ire had earlier been raised against Spurgeon, especially after his sermon “Baptismal Regeneration,”39 later welcomed him in their studies and to their pulpits through his books. Susie’s tender touch through her letters and gifts no doubt helped to warm many ministers to the possibilities raised from employing Spurgeon’s sermons in their church services.

Susie writes of a “young curate” who “asked me for ‘The Treasury of David.’” It was his desire to use the work “both devotionally and as a help in the preparation of my sermons.”40 He thanked Susie: “After opening your parcel I could not help kneeling down and thanking Him who is the Giver of every good and perfect gift, and asking Him to bless the books to my soul and future ministry.”41

By distributing Charles’s books, Susie believed that she was providing essential works for pastors. Such a lofty assessment was not developed in isolation, nor was it merely because she so dearly loved Charles, but testimonies from pastors near and far away confirmed her estimation.

Susie provides a humorous story of a pastor who wished to purchase “extra” [beyond her gifts] books from her. This particular pastor was poor, and yet he very much enjoyed smoking a pipe. However, his library was quite bare and he determined to sacrifice his tobacco budget so that he could add precious volumes to occupy his lonely bookshelves. He put away his much-enjoyed tobacco and sent Susie the money instead. His letter to her became one of her favorites, and she declared, “I do not know when I have had a letter which so much pleased me: not that I should ever grudge a good man his comfortable smoke, but that I so heartily admire the self-denial and determination, which after a hard battle, conquered the daily, and as some might put it, the dirty habit of a lifetime.”42

Obviously, Susie was not opposed to smoking; her beloved husband enjoyed cigars “to the glory of God.” Charles declared, “When I have found intense pain relieved, a weary brain soothed, and calm refreshing sleep obtained by a cigar, I have felt grateful to God and have blessed his name.”43 Though smoking was

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