ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)
The prophet Ezekiel said, “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones” (Ezekiel 37:1) and such carryings, so often as they occur, are matters for praise. Not so much for our own good or edification, as for the benefit of our fellow-men, are we borne into valleys of dry bones and chambers of imagery. We must watch these phases of soul, and be true to Divine impulses. I would not myself preach upon the joy of the Lord when I felt broken-hearted, neither would I enlarge upon a deep sense of indwelling sin while rejoicing in a full sense of cleansing by the Word.
We must pray the Holy Spirit to elevate and keep up our individual life in its connection with our ministry. We must always remember that we are not preaching doctrine which is good for others merely, but precious truth which has been proved to be good for ourselves. We may not be butchers at the block chopping off for hungry ones the meat of which we do not partake; but we must ourselves feed upon it, and must show in our very faces what fattening food it is which we present to the starving sons of men.
SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)
Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe the certain victory of truth. We don’t need to be on the “right side of history” — we need to be right with God.
Copernicus declared the truth that the earth and the planets revolve around the sun. His opponents replied that this could not be true, for if the planet Venus revolved around the sun, she must present the same phases as the moon. This was very true. Copernicus looked up to Venus, but he could not see those phases, nor could anyone else. Nevertheless he stuck to his statement and said, “I have no reply to give, but in due time God will be so good that an answer will be found.” Copernicus died, and his teaching had not yet been justified. But soon after Galileo came forward with his telescope, and on looking at Venus he saw that she did pass through exactly the same changes as the moon.
Thus wisdom is justified by her children. Truth may not prevail today or tomorrow, but her ultimate victory is sure. Today they say that the doctrines of grace are antiquated, obsolete, and even injurious. We are at no trouble to answer the charge. We can wait, and we do not doubt that public thought will alter its tone.
THANKS FOR READING
Brothers,
We pastors know the power of God’s Word to help others, but many of us are quick to neglect using the Word of God to help ourselves. We need to come to his table every day and feast on the Word of God.
The Bible is not just material for sermons — it is daily bread. And we cannot do without it.
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