Shepherding with Spurgeon

Weekly Newsletter for Pastors from SpurgeonBooks

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

The true messenger is one who sees the Lord Jesus for himself: “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him” (John 1:29). To be his herald and witness, John must see Jesus, and he must see Jesus coming to him. Those prophets, who lived a long while before the coming of Christ, were only dim seers compared with John the Baptist. He was like the morning star, which is so near the sun that it is the brightest of the stars. We see it shining almost like a little sun, and then, when the sun himself rises in all his brightness, the star disappears. John was “a burning and a shining light;” and all who came before him were, in Christ’s judgment, inferior to him. He said to the multitudes concerning John, “What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you. “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared” (Matthew 11:9–11). This was the difference between John and the prophets; his sight of Christ was clearer than theirs because he was nearer to Christ, and his view of Christ was brighter, fuller, and clearer, than that of all who had gone before.

Yet they also were true witnesses to Christ, according to the light they had. Our Savior said to the Jews, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56), and if he had not seen Christ by faith, he could not have been one of the witnesses who testified beforehand concerning him. All the prophets looked through the haze of the ages, and by faith perceived their Lord, and then they wrote of him, and spoke of him to the people. The ancient name for a prophet was a very instructive one; he was called a seer; and you and I, beloved, must see Christ, or else we cannot bear witness to him. As the prophets saw Christ by faith, and as John actually looked upon him, and then bore witness to him, so must you and I see him—not with these eyes, that sight is reserved until the resurrection—but with the eyes of our spirit, with the eyes of our mind and heart, we must see Jesus before we can rightly speak of him.

Are you anxious, my brother, to go and preach? Have you seen Jesus? If not, what can you say when people ask thee, “What is he like? Who is he that we should believe in him?” You must look to him before you can speak of him; and, the more steadfastly you gaze upon his person, his work, his offices, his humiliation, his glorification, the better you will be able to bear witness concerning him. You will speak then more surely and confidently for your God if you can testify concerning that which your heart knows to be true, because you have perceived and enjoyed it yourself.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION FROM SPURGEON

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe the peace that comes from forgiveness.

You bring me a large file full of bills, and you say to me, “Are these bills not against you?”

I answer, “No doubt they are all correct in every item, and they might take me many a month to examine.”

You ask me, “Can you pay them?”

“No, and I do not need to try.”

“But do they not trouble you?”

“No; I can make a pillow of them if that is all, and sleep despite their number and greatness.”

You are wonderstruck to think that I should have such a mass of bills and take the matter so coolly. I ask you to take off these bills from the file one by one, and as you do so you see that they are all receipted. There is a red mark at the bottom of every one. Who troubles himself about a bill when it is paid? “But did you pay those debts?”

“No, not I; I have not paid a penny.”

“Did you not pay part of them?”

“Not I. I never contributed a rusty farthing toward them.”

“Did you not offer a composition?”

“No, not a farthing in the pound.”

“Yet you are perfectly easy.”

“Yes, because he who bore my sins in his own body on the tree took all my debts and paid them for me, and now I am dead to those debts. They have no power over me. I am dead to my sins; Christ suffered instead of me. I have nothing to do with them. They are gone as much as if they had never been committed.”

RESOURCE FOR PASTORS

Don’t neglect your family this Christmas.

I understand the pressure of planning and executing a seemingly endless stream of activities, outreaches, and services in December. But I also understand that if I don’t teach my kids the true meaning of Christmas, I don’t have any business preaching about it to others (1 Timothy 3:5).

That’s why I created The King is Coming, an Advent devotional (beginning December 1) to help busy families center their Christmas celebrations on the real reason for the season… the coming of Christ.

It walks through the big story of the Bible, following God’s people longing for a king to set them free.

Whether family devotions are already a daily habit or just a dream in your household, I’m confident God will use this devotional to help your family enjoy Christmas together.

Buy The King is Coming today

ONE MORE REMINDER: PREACH JESUS THIS WEEKEND

“Preach Christ, always and evermore. He is the whole gospel.” — Charles Spurgeon