Category: Shepherding with Spurgeon

Get wisdom encouragement for Spurgeon in your inbox every week. Subscribe to the The Pastor’s Note newsletter for free.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

Is there a servant of God here who feels unequal to his work, and therefore wishes he could escape from it? My dear brother, you are unequal to your work, for you have no sufficiency of your own. I know also that I am, in and of myself, unequal to my own calling; shall we, therefore, run away? No, no; that is not the true line of argument; this is the reason why we should stick to our work all the more closely. Every hard thing can be cut by something harder, and the most difficult work can be done by stern resolution.

But if the work cannot be well done by us, how will it be done without us? If our diligence seems too little, what will our negligence be? If there is too much for us to do, should we therefore leave undone what we can do? God forbid! Pluck up courage, my brother, and in your own personal weakness find a strong reason for getting to your work; for, “When I am weak, then am I strong;” and the strength of God is made perfect in our weakness.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe our weakness and the foolishness of pride.

We often imagine our confidence in Christ is much stronger than it really is. I think I have told you of my old friend, Will Richardson. He said, when he was seventy-five years of age, that it was a very curious thing that all the winter through, he thought he would like to be harvesting, or out in the hayfield, because he felt so strong. He imagined that he could do as much as any of the youngsters. “But,” he said, “do you know, Mr. Spurgeon, when the summer comes, I do not get through the haymaking, and when the autumn comes, I find I have not sufficient strength for reaping?”

So it often is in spiritual things. When we are not called on to bear the trouble, we feel wonderfully strong. But when the trial comes, very much of our boasted faith is gone in smoke. Take heed that you examine well your faith; let it be true and real, for you will need it all.

RESOURCE FOR PASTORS

Parents in your church could be discipling their kids (so why aren’t they?)

It’s not because they aren’t able to (they definitely are!), but because they don’t feel confident.

So we need to give them a simple, Bible-focused tool that will tell them exactly what to read from the Bible and how to talk about it with their kids.

And that’s why I created GodCenteredFamily.org — family devotionals that give parents EVERYTHING they need to teach their kids the Bible in just ten minutes a day.

Can you imagine the impact it would have on your church if every family was reading and discussing the Bible every night? God’s Word never returns void, so let’s give our members the tools they need to open it in their home.

Bulk subscription plans are available for churches so that you can equip parents in your church to disciple their kids (without adding anything on to your to-do list).

I hope you’ll check it out today.

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

Oh, hallelujah! Christ is the Savior and Shepherd of our churches! We cannot preach the Word, grow the saints, convert sinners, or protect the church in our own strength. But God is working through our weakness, so that he will get all the glory.

Press into his strength today, brothers. Trust him. And labor on.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get another one every week. Click here to subscribe.

Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks

Get wisdom encouragement for Spurgeon in your inbox every week. Subscribe to the The Pastor’s Note newsletter for free.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

Brother, if you preach God’s Word as he gives it to you, you have nothing to do with the consequences that come of it. God will justify his own truth; and even if it should seem that the worst rather than the best consequences ensue, it is for you still to go on in the name of him who sent you. Whenever you and I begin to try to manage God’s kingdom for him, we find the divine scepter too heavy for our little hands to hold; our case would be like that of Phaeton trying to drive the horses in the chariot of the sun. We cannot hold the reins of the universe.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

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

A lady is the wife of the most eminent physician of the day. She is seized with a dangerous illness and is smitten down by its power. Yet she is wonderfully calm and quiet, for her husband has made this disease his special study and has healed thousands similarly afflicted. She is not in the least troubled, for she feels perfectly safe in the hands of one so dear to her, in whom skill and love are blended in their highest forms. Her faith is reasonable and natural; her husband from every point of view deserves it of her.

This is the kind of faith that the happiest of believers exercise toward Christ. There is no physician like him; none can save as he can. We love him, and he loves us, and therefore we put ourselves into his hands, accept whatever he prescribes, and do whatever he bids. We feel that nothing can be wrongly ordered while he is the director of our affairs, for he loves us too well to let us perish or suffer a single needless pang.

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

Christ really is able to save his people, root out our sin, and prove his Word. He is the mighty savior, the husband-physician who will do the work of ministry.

We labor with the great assurance that God will certainly accomplish his purposes.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get another one every week. Click here to subscribe.

Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks

Get wisdom encouragement for Spurgeon in your inbox every week. Subscribe to the The Pastor’s Note newsletter for free.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

Do I address any servant of God here who is afraid of losing his reputation? This is not a reason which will stand examination. My brother, that is a fear which does not trouble me. I have lost my reputation several times, and I would not go across the street to pick it up. It has often seemed to me to be a thing that I should like to lose, that I might no longer be pressed with this huge throng, but might preach to two or three hundred people in a country village, and look after their souls, and stand clear at last to God about each one of them; whereas, here am I tied to a work I cannot accomplish—pastor to more than five thousand people! A sheer impossibility! How can I watch over all your souls? I should have an easy conscience if I had a church of moderate size, which I could efficiently look after. If a reputation gets one into the position I now occupy, it certainly is not a blessing to be coveted.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

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

Certain plants are so full of vitality that if you only take a fragment of a leaf and place it on the soil, the leaf will take root and grow. It is utterly impossible that such vegetation should become extinct.

And so it is with the truth of God. It is living and incorruptible, and therefore there is no destroying it. As long as one Bible remains, the religion of free grace will live. More than that, if they could burn all printed Scriptures, as long as there remained a child who remembered a single text of the word, the truth would rise again. Even in the ashes of truth the fire is still living, and when the breath of the Lord blows on it, the flame will burst forth gloriously.

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

It’s really, REALLY hard to look out at the congregation on Sunday morning and not compare our ministry to others. Sometimes, we pridefully believe we deserve a bigger church; sometimes, we pridefully believe our church is small because we’re the only one preaching the truth.

But God has called us to love the flock among us, not only to long to have a different, larger, better, healthier flock. These sheep are yours to care for.

And of course, we want to see our churches grow as the Kingdom grows, but we must never do so at the expense of shepherding the sheep that we currently have, for we will certainly give an account for their souls.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get another one every week. Click here to subscribe.

Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks

Get wisdom encouragement for Spurgeon in your inbox every week. Subscribe to the The Pastor’s Note newsletter for free.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

“Therefore, every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom treasures new and old.” (Matthew 13:52)

If the Lord has instructed us in his kingdom, it is for the sake of others. Toward these we must act as one who keeps house, and brings out provisions for the family. Some things have been laid up to ripen, and these the steward fetches out in due season; others are the better for being fresh from the garden; and these he serves up at once. He keeps back nothing; but he does not confine his provision to one single thing. He is not weary of the old; he is not afraid of the new. Old truth is made new by a living experience: new views of truth, if indeed it be truth, are only the old in a fresh light.

We must in our instruction of others cultivate variety, but we must not aim at it by poisoning the children with deadly drugs for the sake of giving them novel dishes. Only things worth putting into a treasury are worth bringing forth to the household. That scribe had need be well instructed who has to keep on handing out a variety of precious truth throughout a long life.

Lord, make us sufficient for these things. Instruct as, that we may instruct our household. May we make no reserve for self, but bring out for your people all that which you have put in our charge. Oh, to be accepted by you on the day of your return, because we are found faithful to our trust!

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe the foolishness of salvation by works.

An old preacher says, “A silly servant who is bidden to open a door, sets his shoulder to it and pushes with all his might; but the door stirs not, and he cannot enter, use what strength he may. Another comes with a key, and easily unlocks the door, and enters right readily. Those who would be saved by works are pushing at heaven’s gate without result; but faith is the key which opens the gate at once.”

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

I’ve been particularly challenged this year to “deepen the well,” to always be learning, so that I can always teach with conviction, freshness, and vigor. Do not eat on manna that you have stored up since seminary — dive afresh into God’s Word every day. And, once you have been refreshed in the depths, surface to teach your people the wonderful works of God.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get another one every week. Click here to subscribe.

Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks

Get wisdom encouragement for Spurgeon in your inbox every week. Subscribe to the The Pastor’s Note newsletter for free.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

Let the minister take care that his personal character agrees in all respects with his ministry.

We have all heard the story of the man who preached so well and lived so badly, that when he was in the pulpit everybody said he ought never to come out again, and when he was out of it they all declared he never ought to enter it again. From the imitation of such a Janus may the Lord deliver us.

May we never be priests of God at the altar, and sons of Belial outside the tabernacle door; but on the contrary, may we, as Nazianzen says of Basil, “thunder in our doctrine, and lighten in our conversation.” We do not trust those persons who have two faces, nor will men believe in those whose verbal and practical testimonies are contradictory. As actions, according to the proverb, speak louder than words, so an ill life will effectually drown the voice of the most eloquent ministry. After all, our truest building must be performed with our hands; our characters must be more persuasive than our speech.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe God’s grace in helping us resist temptation.

I have known what it is to escape from a strong temptation without falling into it, and I think that I have felt as grateful to God as a man would be who had seen a shark after him, and had been almost between its jaws, and had just slipped away as he heard the monster close his mouth with a snap.

I remember standing under a building that was being built and seeing a mass of stone fall from a great height just in front of me. What a thud it made! How narrow was my escape! How I started! But what joy filled my heart!

So it is when one is delivered from temptation—from temptation that began to overpower the heart.

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

We must remain diligent to watch our life and doctrine closely. Not just so that we can continue to meet the qualifications for our office, but also so that we don’t heap shame upon Christ or doubt upon our message.

“Let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.” (1 John 3:18)

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get another one every week. Click here to subscribe.

Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks

Get wisdom encouragement for Spurgeon in your inbox every week. Subscribe to the The Pastor’s Note newsletter for free.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

Our Lord’s anointing was with a special view to his preaching of the gospel. Such honor does the Lord of heaven and earth put on the ministry of the Word that, as one of the old Puritans said, “God had only one Son, and he made a preacher of him.” It should greatly encourage the weakest among us, who are preachers of the gospel also, to think that the Son of God, the blessed and eternal Word, came into this world so that he might preach the same good news that we are called to proclaim.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe the cost of following Christ.

Before we buckle on the Christian armor we ought to know what that service is which is expected of us. A recruiting sergeant often slips a shilling into the hand of some ignorant youth, and tells him that Her Majesty’s Service is a fine thing, that he has nothing to do but walk about in his flaming colors, that he will have no hard service—in fact, that he has nothing to do but to be a soldier, and go straight on to glory.

But the Christian sergeant, when he enlists a soldier of the cross, never deceives him like that. Jesus Christ himself said, “Count the cost.” He wished to have no disciple who was not prepared to go all the way—“to bear hardness as a good soldier.”

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

No matter what other people think of us or our office, we can be confident that our work has dignity. We are shepherds and preachers, just like Christ himself. Let us strive to be faithful.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get another one every week. Click here to subscribe.

Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks

Get wisdom encouragement for Spurgeon in your inbox every week. Subscribe to the The Pastor’s Note newsletter for free.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

The solemn work with which the Christian ministry concerns itself demands a man’s all, and that all at its best. To engage in it half-heartedly is an insult to God and man. Slumber must forsake our eyelids sooner than men shall be allowed to perish. Yet we are all prone to sleep as do others, and students, among the rest, are apt to act the part of the foolish virgins; therefore have I sought to speak out my whole soul, in the hope that I might not create or foster dulness in others. May he in whose hand are the churches and their pastors bless these words to younger brethren in the ministry, and if so I shall count it more than a full reward, and shall gratefully praise the Lord.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe using the Bible to interpret the Bible.

The only way to cut a diamond is by a diamond: diamond dust must be used if the gem is to be cut. In like manner, the best way to understand Scripture is by Scripture itself. One of the best commentaries in the world is that which is “wholly biblical.” Students of the Word, I pray you, study the Bible by the Bible; cut the diamond with the diamond; use the light of God in God’s light: “In Thy light shall we see light.”

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

Whether you are comfortable with “success,” or complacent with the current state of your church, it’s extremely tempting to coast in ministry. We have to discipline ourselves to think creatively, biblically, and robustly about how to advance the mission, build up our people, train leaders, and reach the lost.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get another one every week. Click here to subscribe.

Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks

Get wisdom encouragement for Spurgeon in your inbox every week. Subscribe to the The Pastor’s Note newsletter for free.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

The solemn work with which the Christian ministry concerns itself demands a man’s all, and that all at its best. To engage in it half-heartedly is an insult to God and man. Slumber must forsake our eyelids sooner than men shall be allowed to perish. Yet we are all prone to sleep as do others, and students, among the rest, are apt to act the part of the foolish virgins; therefore have I sought to speak out my whole soul, in the hope that I might not create or foster dulness in others. May he in whose hand are the churches and their pastors bless these words to younger brethren in the ministry, and if so I shall count it more than a full reward, and shall gratefully praise the Lord.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe using the Bible to interpret the Bible.

The only way to cut a diamond is by a diamond: diamond dust must be used if the gem is to be cut. In like manner, the best way to understand Scripture is by Scripture itself. One of the best commentaries in the world is that which is “wholly biblical.” Students of the Word, I pray you, study the Bible by the Bible; cut the diamond with the diamond; use the light of God in God’s light: “In Thy light shall we see light.”

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

Whether you are comfortable with “success,” or complacent with the current state of your church, it’s extremely tempting to coast in ministry. We have to discipline ourselves to think creatively, biblically, and robustly about how to advance the mission, build up our people, train leaders, and reach the lost.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get another one every week. Click here to subscribe.

Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks

Get wisdom encouragement for Spurgeon in your inbox every week. Subscribe to the The Pastor’s Note newsletter for free.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon said this while introducing a sermon…

Having preached another text of a very similar character a short time ago, I have felt somewhat embarrassed in preparation; but I will take courage, and say with the apostle, “To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe” (Philippians 3:1).

If I should bring forth old things on this occasion, do not be unmindful that even the wise householder does this at times. For oft-recurring sickness the same wine may be prescribed by the most skillful physician without blame; no one scolds the contractor for mending rough roads again and again with stones from the same quarry; the wind which has borne us once into the haven, is not despised for blowing often from the same quarter, for it may do us good service yet again; and therefore, I am assured that you will endure my repetitions of the same truths, since they may assist you to suffer with patience the same trials.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe God’s use of our trials to increase our faith.

Great hearts can only be made by great troubles. The spade of trouble digs the reservoir of comfort deeper, and makes more room for consolation. God comes into our heart—he finds it full—he begins to break our comforts and to make it empty; than there is more room for grace.

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

Many of us struggle with the desire to be “original” in our preaching. We must not shrink back from declaring the biggest themes of Scripture over-and-over again. Our people still need to hear the old, old story — so let’s stand and share it with them this week.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get another one every week. Click here to subscribe.

Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks

Get wisdom encouragement for Spurgeon in your inbox every week. Subscribe to the The Pastor’s Note newsletter for free.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

We must remember that we are very much looked at. Men hardly have the impudence to break the law in the open sight of their fellows, yet in such publicity we live and move. We are watched by a thousand eagle eyes; let us so act that we shall never need to care if all heaven, and earth, and hell, swelled the list of spectators. Our public position is a great gain if we are enabled to exhibit the fruits of the Spirit in our lives; take heed, brethren, that you throw not away the advantage.

When we say to you, my dear brethren, take care of your life, we mean be careful of even the minutiæ of your character. Avoid little debts, unpunctuality, gossipping, nicknaming, petty quarrels, and all other of those little vices which fill the ointment with flies. The self-indulgences which have lowered the repute of many must not be tolerated by us. The familiarities which have laid others under suspicion, we must chastely avoid. The roughnesses which have rendered some obnoxious, and the fopperies which have made others contemptible, we must put away. We cannot afford to run great risks through little things. Our care must be to act on the rule, “giving no offence in anything, that the ministry be not blamed.”

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe God’s preservation of his people.

Some talk of our being in grace and out of it, as if we were like rabbits that run in and out of their burrows: but, indeed, it is not so. The Lord’s love is a far more serious and abiding matter than this. He chose us from eternity, and he will love us throughout eternity. He loved us so as to die for us, and we may therefore be sure that his love will never die.

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

Our congregation (and even people outside of it!) are watching our lives. Let us strive to never give them any excuse to reject our message because of our mannerisms.

Let people in close, so that they can see that your godliness is not a show for Sunday, but permeates every inch of your life. In so doing, you can confidently say to people, by grace, “follow me as I follow Christ.”

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get another one every week. Click here to subscribe.

Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks