Imagine you are a member of a church that rents a theater for worship. Every Sunday morning you meet without incident. In fact, God has providentially used this location to reach the rich and the poor for the gospel. Thousands, who otherwise would have not heard an evangelical sermon, now sit under the preaching of your eloquent, doctrinally sound pastor. The owners of the theater, however, want to change the lease. They desire to rent out the facility on Sunday evenings for entertainment to make more money. This new arrangement will not affect your church services in the morning. What would you do? Would you advise your church to stay or go? Would you consider opening a theater for entertainment to be a violation of God’s law?

Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) faced this scenario in 1859. His church in London had exceeded capacity even after expanding the building. To provide room for the crowds, the church decided to build a new church building which would become the Metropolitan Tabernacle. In the meantime, while the new building was under construction, the church rented the Surrey Music Hall for services on Sunday morning. Spurgeon’s preaching filled this venue for entertainment which had a capacity of 10,000. God was saving souls through Spurgeon. Yet the proprietors of the venue wanted to make more money and decided to rent it out for shows on Sunday evening. How did Spurgeon respond?

As a convictional Sabbatarian, Spurgeon broke the lease. Even though the new arrangement would not interfere with his congregation’s worship on Sunday morning, Spurgeon could not give money to an enterprise who broke God’s fourth commandment. In a letter to The Christian Watchman and Reflector, Spurgeon explained his decision:

The proprietors of the last named place had twice attempted to open it on Sunday evenings for music and amusements. I was, however, able to prevent this by threatening to cease my occupation, and as we paid a rent of more than £700 a year, ($3500,) [sic] they were not willing to lose so large a sum, and therefore gave up their unhallowed design. Now, however, they have conceived the idea that my preaching injures them; for the people will not come to dance and drink on week days in a place where the Word is thundered out on Sunday mornings. This, I think, is very likely to be a near guess at the truth; for two companies have been broken up since I have preached there, and a blind man can see the end of the present one. I left the place on the very day upon which it was opened for Sunday desecration.[1]

For Spurgeon, doctrinal convictions trumped pragmatism. To make this decision to leave the Surrey Music Hall required great sacrifice. The church went back to Exeter Hall to hold their services, but its capacity was one-third of the Surrey Music Hall. Instead of preaching to 10,000 people, Spurgeon would preach to 3,000. Many of those present at the previous venue would not be able to hear Spurgeon preach the precious truths of the gospel. Surely these considerations should allow Spurgeon to remain at the Surrey Music Hall for the sake of these souls. Would not God want Spurgeon to evangelize as big a crowd as possible? Would not this be God’s will?

To understand God’s will, Spurgeon turned to the Bible and his family’s understanding of the Christian Sabbath. At the end of his last service at the Surrey Music Hall on December 11, 1859, Spurgeon justified his leaving this venue:

On two occasions before, as our friends are aware, it was proposed to open this place in the evening, and I was then able to prevent it by the simple declaration, that if so I should withdraw. That declaration suffices not at this time; and you can therefore perceive that I should be a craven to the truth, that I should be inconsistent with my own declarations, that in fact, my name would cease to be Spurgeon, if I yielded. I neither can nor will give way in anything in which I know I am right; and in the defence of God’s holy Sabbath, the cry of this day is, ‘Arise, let us go hence!’[2]

To be a Spurgeon meant being a Sabbatarian. To be obedient to God’s Word, for Spurgeon, meant keeping the Sabbath command even if it was inconvenient. Throughout his life, he practiced, preached, and advocated for Sabbath observance. These convictions came from the Bible and not from the ideals of Victorian culture in the 19th century.

[1] Spurgeon, Charles Spurgeon’s Letters to the Christian Watchman and Reflector, 1859–1863, 19.

[2] Spurgeon, NPSP, 6:32.

Tom Ascol has served as a Pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, FL since 1986. Prior to moving to Florida he served as pastor and associate pastor of churches in Texas. He has a BS degree in sociology from Texas A&M University (1979) and has also earned the MDiv and PhD degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas. He has served as an adjunct professor of theology for various colleges and seminaries, including Reformed Theological Seminary, the Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary, African Christian University, Copperbelt Ministerial College, and Reformed Baptist Seminary. He has also served as Visiting Professor at the Nicole Institute for Baptist Studies at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida.
Tom serves as the President of Founders Ministries and The Institute of Public Theology. He has edited the Founders Journal, a quarterly theological publication of Founders Ministries, and has written hundreds of articles for various journals and magazines. He has been a regular contributor to TableTalk, the monthly magazine of Ligonier Ministries. He has also edited and contributed to several books, including Dear Timothy: Letters on Pastoral Ministry, The Truth and Grace Memory Books for children and  Recovering the Gospel and Reformation of Churches. He is also the author of From the Protestant Reformation to the Southern Baptist Convention, Traditional Theology and the SBC and Strong and Courageous.
Tom regularly preaches and lectures at various conferences throughout the United States and other countries. In addition he regularly contributes articles to the Founders website and hosts a weekly podcast called The Sword & The Trowel. He and his wife Donna have six children along with four sons-in-law and a daughter-in-law. They have sixteen grandchildren.

Our Father in heaven, we bow to you today on this momentous occasion because You alone are God. You are the Creator and Sustainer of all things visible and invisible. You are Sovereign and through your Son, Jesus Christ, You rule and overrule in all the affairs of life. 

We thank You for your great love for people whom You have made in Your own image. And we confess that we have not lived as we ought and have sinned against You. But we also confess that with You there is mercy, that you may be feared. Thank you for delivering up Your Son to be the Savior of the world. 

We also thank you for the provisions that You have made for us to pursue liberty, joy, and justice in Your world, and for instituting government and all governing authorities for our well-being. In Your wisdom, goodness, and power, you have once again established Governor DeSantis to serve the people of Florida by carrying out his responsibilities in ways that will be good for us. We thank You for all the wonderful things that have been accomplished in his first term, including his leadership and resolve to keep Florida free through the recent pandemic and societal upheaval that plagued so much of our nation; and his compassionate, energetic and effective recovery work in the wake of Hurricane Ian. 

Today, as he takes his oath of office to fulfill his duties by Your help, we know that he will need grace from You to meet the challenges that will be thrust upon him as the civil leader of Florida. Grant Governor DeSantis wisdom beyond his years, strength beyond his abilities, and courage to help him to stand firm in every righteous conviction. Enable him to serve with joy, zeal, and in the fear of God. 

Father, grant our governor good counsel and the humility to heed it when it will help him to serve the citizens of this state well. Enable him to utilize his office to lead this state in ways that will benefit all Floridians. 

Lord, we also ask You to have mercy on our governor’s precious family. We pray for his wife Casey and children Madison, Mason, and Mamie. With all the demands that go with his office grant him the strength and discipline to love and care for them. Watch over and bless this family as he gives himself to serve this state.

So, holy Father, hear our prayers for Governor DeSantis. Receive our praise and answer our requests, because we bring them to you in the Name of Your Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.