Speaking with two of the elders after the evening service, they told me that the Metropolitan Tabernacle made a conscious determination that the way to advance the gospel forward was to go back to the old, straightforward paths. Christ’s kingdom does not advance through gimmicks or man-centered worship but by proclaiming the pure word of God and His gospel of salvation concerning Jesus Christ His Son. The Metropolitan Tabernacle embraces pure worship of the pure God. Nothing brings greater joy to the Christian than the Spirit-led worship of the triune God.

Earlier this month, business meetings took me to London for the first time. The schedule required me to be away over a Lord’s Day. I wondered if there were any faithful churches left in a city of over 8,000,000 souls [1]. Though familiar with some history of Christ’s church in London, news from stateside focuses on atheism, humanism, and the mythical pluralistic utopia that the United Kingdom relentlessly pursues. The Lord reminded me of Dr. Peter Masters, the minister at Charles Spurgeon’s former church, the Metropolitan Tabernacle. I discovered that not only was the church still open, but Dr. Masters was still the pastor. An elder invited me to lunch during the afternoon fellowship meal, so I booked a hotel just over a mile (1.61km) from the Tabernacle. What would I find at the Metropolitan Tabernacle 132 years after Spurgeon’s death?

A Recent History of Christianity in the United Kingdom

A census in 1851 found that 10.1 million people among England’s population of 18 million attended Church of England or other Christian churches.[2] The fact that 56% of the population was outwardly seeking the Lord surely had something to do with the great advancements of the British empire during the Victorian Age.[3] During Queen Victoria’s reign, great revival took place around the world. The Second Great Awakening with all its faults nevertheless helped to develop great zeal for the gospel of Jesus Christ and its spread around the world. The London Baptist Missionary Society was sending missionaries to the far reaches of the earth. David Livingston served during this golden era for missions. John Griffith and Fred Roberts went to China. On the Presbyterian front from Scotland, John Paton went to the New Hebrides with decisive effect.

It was not only foreign missions that were advancing in the Victorian age, but remarkable work was happening on the home front. Three years after the 1851 census, a young minister named Charles Spurgeon moved to London to become pastor of New Park Street Chapel. In 1861, the church moved to Elephant & Castle and received a new name: The Metropolitan Tabernacle. Spurgeon spoke of a constant revival during his pastorate.[4] The Spirit was also working elsewhere in the City through ministers like Archibald Brown. Across the pond in Chicago, the Lord used evangelists like D.L. Moody to advance Christ’s Kingdom in the United States.

As great as the Kingdom advancement was, problems also arose during this era. Charles Darwin began promoting his pseudoscience of evolution. The downgrade controversy was affecting independent Baptist churches in the UK and would eventually crush the Gospel witness of the Baptist Union.[5] The sister heresy of modernism was sweeping through German academia and would jump the ocean to the United States before the end of the 19^th century. While many men held their ground, standing firm on the Word of God and His great gospel of salvation, many more fell into the clutches of liberalism and its powerless message. The Bible, once held up in all areas of society as the very Word of God and worthy of all allegiance, was no longer viewed as infallible. Higher criticism crushed the trustworthiness of the Scripture in the minds of many. Myriads rejected miracles and the supernatural work of God. It was not only atheists and humanists rejecting God’s Word, but pastors did the same.[6] Independent churches and denominations alike fell away from the truth throughout the 20^th century.

Certainly, there were bursts of light in the growing darkness of the 20^th century. The Lord converted many thousands through the preaching of men like Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Donald Barnhouse, and J. Gresham Machen. Nevertheless, the decline continued in the United States and to a more rapid degree, in the United Kingdom. Estimates suggest that just 2.5 million people in the U.K (4.3% of the population) will attend church in 2025.[7] Just 28% of the population claims belief in God or any higher power.[8] Most faithful churches are few and small. Humanistic pluralism has taken firm root in the U.K. and few places more deeply than London itself.

By way of example, the bastion of expository preaching that was Westminster Chapel in London is now a charismatic church with little reference to salvation by grace alone through faith alone. Their website says little of their noteworthy history grounded on the powerful and inerrant word of God or their beloved 20^th century pastors, Martyn Lloyd-Jones and G. Campbell Morgan, who so clearly proclaimed that Word.

The denomination of J.C. Ryle is now a denomination of Christ in name only as it promotes sin and wickedness at the highest levels of its woke and LGBTQ-promoting hierarchy. News reports reach the States of the government forbidding silent prayer outside abortion clinics, let alone speaking to a woman on the brink of murdering her child. In 2024, large buffer zones were formed by law to keep lovers of life away from the lovers of death.[9] What would the Metropolitan Tabernacle look like surrounded by a culture in disarray?

Pure Worship

I entered the Tabernacle early on Sunday morning, eager to be with the people of God. I looked forward to seeing the church whose famous minister from the 19th century had tremendous impact on my life and whose current minister has been laboring faithfully and with great outpouring of the Spirit for many decades. As I took my seat in the gallery, the simplicity of this church and her worship was palpable.

The sanctuary was wonderfully plain. All I saw on the platform was a pulpit, several chairs, and some flowers. There were no drums, guitars, flags, crosses, stained glass, or the maze of wires and microphones that we are told we need to reach modern people in the 21st century. The only thing on the wall was that pointed verse God used to convert Spurgeon and so many before and after him: “Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the Earth” (Isaiah 45:22). Throughout the worship service, this visible call of the gospel was before the eyes of everyone. Distractions from God’s call dwindled to a bare minimum.

The simplicity of the service made it simple to follow. The hymn numbers from the Psalter Hymnal (Psalms & Hymns of Reformed Worship) were listed to the right and left of the pulpit. When Dr. Masters announced the hymn, the organ played, and the whole congregation stood as one and sang with joy. By the end of the second hymn, the galleries were full. As the service progressed the simplicity remained. Dr. Masters read Scripture, prayed, led in singing, and preached the Word.

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