Standing on Biblical Convictions

                                                                                                                                                                           Vol. VIII, No. 4, April 1995

Our Heritage selection this time is from Lewis A. Drummond's book, Spurgeon, Prince of Preachers (Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI, 1992) p. 613. Drummond writes: "The fact that Spurgeon was a controversialist also must be grasped to understand this nineteenth century pilgrim. The Rivulet controversy, The Baptismal Regeneration controversy, and above all, The Down Grade Controversy, not to mention his encounters with the press and even the segment of the Evangelical Church that opposed him, make it clear that he stood firm on his convictional grounds and did not mind going to battle to defend them. His commitment to what became known as "old-fashioned theology" cost him dearly. But it was because of the nature of his basic convictions that he fought as he did. He was convinced the Gospel itself was at stake; and, if the Gospel is lost, souls will be lost. His utter commitment to evangelization stood at the root of his defense of the faith. He said of himself, ‘He was a man with a mission.' ...

"...In speaking to the students at New College, London, he said: ‘You and I believe in the doctrines of the Gospel. We have received the certainties of revealed truth. There are things which are verily believed among us. We do not bow down before men's theories of truth nor do we admit that theology consists of "views" and "opinions." We declare that there are certain verities, essential, abiding, eternal, from which it is ruinous to swerve. I am deeply grieved to hear so many ministers talk as if the truth of God were a variable quantity, a matter of daily formation, a nose of wax to be consistently reshaped, a cloud driven by the wind. ... I have been charged with being a mere echo of the Puritans, but I had rather be the echo of truth than the voice of falsehood ... rest assured that there is nothing new in theology except that which is false; and that the facts of theology are today what they were eighteen hundred years ago."'