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William Graham Scroggie
William Graham Scroggie (1877 – December 21, 1958) was a Scottish preacher, Baptist pastor, and Bible expositor whose extensive ministry across three continents and leadership at Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle in London solidified his reputation as a leading evangelical voice of the 20th century. Born in Great Malvern, Worcestershire, England, to James Johnston Scroggie and Jane Mitchell, he was one of nine children in a modest home with limited educational opportunities. His mother, converted under Plymouth Brethren revivalists in Scotland, instilled a deep faith, though Scroggie’s early years saw him working in business before entering Spurgeon’s College in London at age 19 in 1896 to train for the Baptist ministry. Scroggie’s preaching career began tumultuously; his first two pastorates in Leytonstone, Essex (1900–1902), and Halifax, Yorkshire (1902–1907), ended abruptly due to his staunch opposition to modernism and worldly church practices, leaving him spiritually broken but resolute. During two lean years of self-directed Bible study, he laid the foundation for his later work. His ministry flourished at Bethesda Free Church in Sunderland (1907–1916), followed by a transformative 17-year pastorate at Charlotte Chapel in Edinburgh (1916–1933), where his expository preaching drew over 1,000 weekly attendees and earned him an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Edinburgh University in 1927. After resigning due to ill health, he embarked on a global itinerant ministry, preaching in New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania, Canada, and the U.S., before taking the helm at Spurgeon’s Tabernacle (1938–1944). There, amidst World War II, his home was bombed thrice, and the church destroyed in a 1941 air raid, yet he persisted.
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William Graham Scroggie preaches on the enduring qualities of faith, hope, and love, emphasizing that while spiritual gifts may pass away, these three virtues will remain. He explains that faith, hope, and love are interconnected and essential components of the Christian life, with each playing a unique role. Scroggie highlights the eternal nature of faith and hope, pointing out that they will continue indefinitely, leading to ongoing progress and growth in our relationship with God.
Abiding Faith, Hope and Love
"And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor. 13:13). The Corinthians had thought that the Gifts were the abiding things, but Paul says these must pass away "Now," therefore, does not mean now in time, for then these three would not differ from the Gifts in any wise....Here we have the anomaly of three nouns governed by a singular verb, "and now abideth Faith, Hope, Love." The great truth preserved in this piece of apparent grammatical irregularity is that Faith, Hope, and Love are one in essence, that they are a trinity in unity and they are therefore coextensive with one another.… We shall never be able to dispense with Faith and Hope, both shall go on for ever.…We must all carefully distinguish between Eternal and Final; Eternity does not mean Finality, but to reach finality would be to fall short of Eternity. And we must distinguish also between Perfection and Finality. In Heaven there will be perfection, but there will be differences of attainment even as one star differs from another star in glory.…There will be progress from stage to stage. "In My Father's house are many mansions" means "many resting-places," a figure which refers to those stations on the great roads where travellers can get rest and refreshment before proceeding on their journey. The notions both of repose and progress are in the words....Every further acquisition of God will make fuller acquisition possible; every new height of glory scaled will reveal yet more glorious heights beyond: Eternal progress..
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William Graham Scroggie (1877 – December 21, 1958) was a Scottish preacher, Baptist pastor, and Bible expositor whose extensive ministry across three continents and leadership at Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle in London solidified his reputation as a leading evangelical voice of the 20th century. Born in Great Malvern, Worcestershire, England, to James Johnston Scroggie and Jane Mitchell, he was one of nine children in a modest home with limited educational opportunities. His mother, converted under Plymouth Brethren revivalists in Scotland, instilled a deep faith, though Scroggie’s early years saw him working in business before entering Spurgeon’s College in London at age 19 in 1896 to train for the Baptist ministry. Scroggie’s preaching career began tumultuously; his first two pastorates in Leytonstone, Essex (1900–1902), and Halifax, Yorkshire (1902–1907), ended abruptly due to his staunch opposition to modernism and worldly church practices, leaving him spiritually broken but resolute. During two lean years of self-directed Bible study, he laid the foundation for his later work. His ministry flourished at Bethesda Free Church in Sunderland (1907–1916), followed by a transformative 17-year pastorate at Charlotte Chapel in Edinburgh (1916–1933), where his expository preaching drew over 1,000 weekly attendees and earned him an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Edinburgh University in 1927. After resigning due to ill health, he embarked on a global itinerant ministry, preaching in New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania, Canada, and the U.S., before taking the helm at Spurgeon’s Tabernacle (1938–1944). There, amidst World War II, his home was bombed thrice, and the church destroyed in a 1941 air raid, yet he persisted.