Shepherding with Spurgeon

Weekly Newsletter for Pastors from SpurgeonBooks

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

Prayer will singularly assist you in the delivery of your sermon; in fact, nothing can so gloriously fit you to preach as descending fresh from the mount of communion with God to speak with men. None are so able to plead with men as those who have been wrestling with God on their behalf. It is said Joseph Alleine (an English pastor, 1634–1668), “He poured out his very heart in prayer and preaching. His supplications and his exhortations were so affectionate, so full of holy zeal, life and vigor, that they quite overcame his hearers; he melted over them, so that he thawed and mollified, and sometimes dissolved the hardest hearts.” There could have been none of this sacred dissolving of heart if his mind had not been previously exposed to the tropical rays of the Sun of Righteousness by private fellowship with the risen Lord.

A truly powerful delivery, in which there is no affectation, but much affection, can only be the offspring of prayer. There is no rhetoric like that of the heart, and no school for learning it but the foot of the cross. It were better that you never learned a rule of human oratory, but were full of the power of heavenborn love, than that you should master Quintilian, Cicero, and Aristotle, and remain without the apostolic anointing.

Prayer may not make you eloquent after the human mode, but it will make you truly so, for you will speak out of the heart; and is not that the meaning of the word eloquence? It will bring fire from heaven upon your sacrifice, and thus prove it to be accepted of the Lord.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION FROM SPURGEON

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe the power of prayer.

There is a huge rock upon the Swiss side of the St. Gothard road, about which an old legend is told by the natives of the neighboring village:

The devil was whisking this enormous stone along very merrily at early dawn of day, when he was met by a devout old woman, who being somewhat alarmed, uttered a prayer at the sight of the unexpected traveller. Such was the power of her prayer, that the demon dropped his burden at once, and there it lies, an indisputable proof that the devil is no match for old ladies who know how to invoke the aid of heaven.

This is a legend, but a truthful moral lies upon the surface. Let interceding believers make the fiend tremble always, by praying without ceasing. The weakest saint upon his knees is victorious over all the powers of hell.

RESOURCE FOR PASTORS

Disciple the 18–25-year-olds in your church

Thanks to CROSS CON for sponsoring Shepherding with Spurgeon this year. CROSS is a conference for 18–25 year-olds and their leaders.

Here’s why you should bring students in your church to CROSS this January:

1. They will be exposed to trusted teachers. They will hear from teachers like David Platt, John Piper, Kevin DeYoung, and Rosaria Butterfield. Plus, in the curated bookstore, they will find the best titles.

2. They will hear sound doctrine. CROSS is focused on proclaiming big God theology, with a focus on the gospel, the church, and the mission of God.

3. They will hear a counter-cultural call to make their life count. This year’s theme, FOCUSED, will call students to say no to the countless distractions around them and live for God’s eternal glory.

CROSS has been such a meaningful conference to my life (and countless others). Bringing a group from your church will not only bless the attendees but will go a long way in shaping the culture of your church for the better.

Prices increase on May 23, so register your group today.
(You don’t need to know who is in your group to register — so reserve your seats now and recruit people in your church later!)

ONE MORE REMINDER: PREACH JESUS THIS WEEKEND

“We are not called to proclaim philosophy and metaphysics, but the simple gospel.” — Charles Spurgeon