There are many professors of Christian religion in the world today who think much of themselves as great witnesses to God’s gospel. But how many of them would truly say with all confidence that they truly preached the same message Jesus preached? How many of them would say that they tread the same path that Jesus went before us? In this regard, it would seem that the more immediate concern that we should consider is “how many of us” can truly say that we labored to have our faith and practice, even in the area of gospel preaching, regulated to the smallest degree to the Word of God in Jesus Christ?
Dear reader, take heed to Spurgeon’s words well said: “We must keep to our preaching as our Master did, for by this means, souls are saved.”
“And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.”—Mark 1:17
ONLY by coming after Jesus can we obtain our heart’s desire, and be really useful to our fellow men.
Oh, how we long to be successful fishers for Jesus! We would sacrifice our lives to win souls. But we are tempted to try methods which Jesus would never have tried. Shall we yield to this suggestion of the enemy? If so, we may splash the water, but we shall never take the fish.
We must follow after Jesus if we would succeed.
Sensational methods, entertainments, and so forth—are these coming after Jesus?
Can we imagine the Lord Jesus drawing a congregation by such means as are now commonly used?
What is the result of such expedients?
The result is nothing which Jesus will count up at the last great day.
We must keep to our preaching as our Master did, for by this means, souls are saved.
We must preach our Lord’s doctrine and proclaim a full and free gospel, for this is the net in which souls are taken.
We must preach with His gentleness, boldness, and love; for this is the secret of success with human hearts.
We must work under divine anointing, depending upon the sacred Spirit.
Thus, coming after Jesus, and not running before Him, nor aside from Him, we shall be fishers of men.
—C. H. Spurgeon, Faith’s Checkbook: May 29; Fishers, Follow Me
So much of this rings true for me, I have become increasingly disillusioned with the modern means of ‘sharing the gospel’ through entertainment and sensational methods.
I think this topic needs more exploration. One question: is there a place for Christians to gather together for the sole purpose of worship without the explicit intention of preaching the gospel. I’m thinking particularly of ‘sensational’ events like Louie Giglio’s Passion conferences.