Shepherding with Spurgeon

Weekly Newsletter for Pastors from SpurgeonBooks

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

Many of our friends who have to be up early in the morning ask the policeman to call them at the appointed hour. I may not compare the Christian minister with a policeman in some respects; but yet he is one of God’s officers, and it is part of his business to stir up drowsy believers. It is well to attend an earnest gospel ministry where the minister’s voice, under God’s blessing, will be likely to wake you up. Faithful preachers are among God’s best gifts. Cherish them, and be obedient to their admonitions. I have known persons become offended when a minister is “too personal;” but wise men always prize a ministry in proportion as it is personal to themselves. He who never tells me of my faults, nor makes me feel uneasy, is not likely to be the means of good to my soul. What is the use of a dog that never barks? Why have a doctor if you will grow angry with him when he points out the source of your disease? Did God send us, as his messengers, to pander to your taste or flatter your vanity? We seek not your approval if it does not come from the right place.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION FROM SPURGEON

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe our hope in the midst of suffering.

Whatever happens to me, I trust in you. Down goes the anchor; that ship will never drift far out to sea. “O my God, I trust in you.” Can you say that, dear friends? Then, if you are in the dark, you are as safe as if you were in the light, for still this anchor holds: “O my God, I trust in you.”

ONE MORE REMINDER: PREACH JESUS THIS WEEKEND

“People have often asked me, ‘What is the secret of your success?’ I always answer that I have no other secret but this, that I have preached the gospel.” — Charles Spurgeon