ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)
You are of no use in the ministry, my dear brother, if you are not quite willing to be called a fool, to be called a thief, or even to be called a devil! You will never be successful if you are afraid of being pelted. The true minister often finds his pulpit to be a place but little preferable to a pillory, and he is content to stand there, feeling that all the abuse and blasphemy which may come upon him are only the means by which the world recognizes and proves its recognition of a God-sent man. Oh, to rest upon the covenant which is made in grace, and to hold fast the covenant which Christ has compelled us to make with him, resolved that even should he take all away, our joy, our comfort, and our ease, we will still stand to it, and still keep the covenant.
SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)
Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe the urgency of faith in Jesus.
There will be time enough for you to ask all proper and right questions, and to have them answered, when you have sought and found the Savior. But, meanwhile, your immortal soul is in jeopardy, so attend to that first of all. A man who is sinking in the sea is mad if he says, “I won’t lay hold of that rope until I understand all about astronomy.” A man in a burning house does not need to trouble his head about geology; his first business is to get to the fire escape. He can leave his study of geology until tomorrow.
So, you unconverted ones should “seek first his kingdom and righteousness,” and all other things you need shall be added unto you (Matt 6:33).
ONE MORE REMINDER: PREACH JESUS THIS WEEKEND
“We preach the gospel in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. If we preached it in any other name men would have a right to reject it.” — Charles Spurgeon