March 21. Thomas Spurgeon. Thomas, whose name means twin, was indeed a twin, born to Charles Haddon and Susannah Spurgeon in 1856. His name also means leader, but young Thomas was plagued with ill health that derailed his dreams of attending Pastors’ College in England. Instead, his parents sent him to Australia.
Eventually, after building his health and preaching in Australia, Thomas returned to England and filled the pulpit of his father’s church—the largest Baptist church in the British Empire. As pastor of that church, he also led many of its outreach ministries. In addition to these duties, he wrote books and articles.
On this date in 1894, he was elected as pastor of his father’s church—the Metropolitan Tabernacle. This is today’s story.
God’s work in us builds unshakable confidence.
The bleating of thousands of sheep filled the air. The shearers were paid according to the number of sheep shorn, but when Thomas Spurgeon, son of Charles Spurgeon, England’s “prince of preachers,” stepped into the woolshed, the shearers left their work to hear Thomas preach.
Raised in the shadow of the man whose London church was the largest in the world, Thomas wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps.
He had been only eight when he had said he hoped to grow up to be a good man and preacher like his papa. It was still his dream at twenty, a dream interrupted by poor health.
Who would have thought that instead of attending his father’s preaching college, he would be leading shearers in Quambatook, Australia? He was leading shearers out of a woolshed, away from wrestling their sheep, to hear the gospel.
When Thomas’s family shipped him “down under” for a better climate, he thought he would support himself working as an engraver, but the Aussies wanted him to preach.
Newspapers both lauded and criticized his speaking ability, comparing him to his famous father. Thomas wrote home, “Confidence in God is the great thing, but I think a certain amount of self-confidence is also necessary.” He felt “very incompetent,” but over time he was convinced that “the Potter will shape the vessel for the particular service in which He chooses to employ it.”
It’s true: When God finishes His good work in us, we gain unshakable confidence.
“I pray with great faith for you, because I’m fully convinced that the One who began this glorious work in you will faithfully continue the process of maturing you and will put his finishing touches to it until the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ!” (Philippians 1:6 TPT).
After preaching to the shearers, Thomas traveled the outback and preached in small churches as well as under gum trees beneath a clear Australian sky. As he prepared to preach in a church in Lyndoch, the farmer-pastor opened the back door of the building and called for his horses.
Soon four equestrian faces peered through the space, looking longingly toward the baptistery. Buckets of water were drawn and offered, and Thomas hoped there would be enough rain to keep the baptistery ready for its intended purpose. The whole episode made him smile.
During his adventures, Thomas wrote home, “I wanted bringing out and wondered what would do it. Who would have thought twelve months ago that fifteen thousand miles of ocean had to be traversed first? What a grand thing it is to have a God and a guide—a Father to direct.”
As Thomas grew in confidence that God’s own hand led and shaped him, Thomas’s self-confidence increased. The Adviser in Moonta summed up the results, “He has found himself welcomed for his father’s sake and liked for his own.”
Thomas worked as an evangelist throughout Australia and New Zealand and eventually accepted a pastorate in Auckland, New Zealand, where the church grew to be the largest congregation in the South Pacific.
The day did come when he was asked to pastor his father’s famous church in England. Having developed a solid understanding of God and himself during his time on foreign soil, he had the confidence to lead at home with wisdom and humility.
In areas you may have felt you’ve lived in the shadow of someone else, how has confidence changed you? God’s work in us builds unshakable confidence.
Kutilek, Doug. “Thomas Spurgeon: His Father’s Worthy Successor.” September 3, 2018. Baptist Bible Tribune. http://www.tribune.org/thomas-spurgeon-his-fathers-worthy-successor.
Fullerton, WY. Thomas Spurgeon: A Biography. London, New York, Toronto: Hodder and Stoughton, 1919.
Skinner, Craig. “Tom Tom the Pipers Son, The Forgotten Story of Thomas: Preacher Son Of the Famous Charles Haddon Spurgeon.” Accessed October 16, 2020. Preaching. https://www.preaching.com/articles/past-masters/tom-tom-the-pipers-sonbrthe-forgotten-story-of-thomas-preacher-son-of-the-famous-charles-haddon-spurgeon/.
Ray, Thomas. “Thomas Spurgeon: The Forgotten Spurgeon.” March 24, 2011. Bible Baptist Tribune. http://www.tribune.org/thomas-spurgeon/.
Story read by Chuck Stecker