It is the duty of any Christian, Mr. Spurgeon maintains, to propagate the gospel. To all disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ is this responsibility given. However, he says, “All are not called to labour in the word and doctrine, or to be elders, or to exercise the office of a bishop.” He warns against anyone rushing into this sacred office; and in doing so quotes Jeremiah 23:32 “I sent them not, nor commanded them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord.”
In this second lecture to his students at the Pastor’s College he clearly lays out, not only warnings, but also helpful guidance on what he believes are things to look for when contemplating whether or not a man has received a “Call to the Ministry.” He asks, “How may a young man know whether he is called or not”, and then he proceeds to elaborate with a number of signs that he believes are evident in a man whom God has set apart for the work of ministry and the pastoral office.
The first of these signs is as he describes “an intense, all-absorbing desire for the work.” The “word of God”, he says, must be as “fire in our bones, otherwise, if we undertake this ministry, we shall be unhappy in it…”
Secondly, combined with the earnest desire to become a pastor, there must be “aptness to teach and some measure of the other qualities needful for the office of a public instructor.” Mr. Spurgeon suggests that he does not claim “that the first time a man rises to speak he must preach as well as Robert Hall did in his later years.” After all, Mr. Spurgeon told his students, Robert Hall “broke down altogether three times, and cried “if this does not humble me nothing will.” “Mere ability to teach is not enough, there must be other talents to complete the pastoral character. Sound judgement and solid experience must instruct you; gentle manners and loving affections must sway you, firmness and courage must be manifest; and tenderness and sympathy must not be lacking.”
The third point Mr. Spurgeon set before his students in order to prove a man’s call was that “after a little exercise of his gifts…….he must see a measure of conversion-work going on under his efforts, or he may conclude that he has made a mistake…..” He gives a heart-felt illustration regarding the first convert under his ministry, “one poor labourer’s wife who confessed that she felt the guilt of sin and had found the Saviour under his discourse on Sunday afternoon.” “No mother was ever more full of happiness at the sight of her first-born son.” “Brethren, if the Lord gives you no zeal for souls, keep to the lapstone or the trowel, but avoid the pulpit as you value your heart’s peace and your future salvation.”
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This lecture was evidently a lengthy one, as at this point we were approximately half-way through, therefore, for the benefit of all who choose to listen, we stopped the recording at this point and will bring the concluding portion of the lecture in a separate episode shortly. |
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