Soul winner by C.H. Spurgeon (available from Amazon or free on the internet, here for example)
Firstly we look at the words 'Follow me' and see that they mean:
(i) be separate unto Christ;
(ii) abide with Christ;
(iii) obey Christ;
(iv) go and teach what Christ taught;
(v) imitate Christ's holiness.
Secondly we look at the words 'I will make you'. They mean that Christ is the one that will make us follow him and he does this by:
(i) all our experience;
(ii) distinct monitions in your heart;
(iii) giving us the Holy Spirit.
Thirdly we look at the words 'fishers of men' and see that they mean a fisher is a person who is:
(v) daring;
(vi) successful.
I always cringe a bit when I read of the success that Spurgeon expects from soul-winners. Today's reading was particularly strong that those who are faithful will be successful with lines like: 'He that never saved a sinner after years of work is not a minister of Christ.'
While this may often be the case, there have always been exceptionally faithful Christians who do not have a whole lot of success for many years or even over their entire life. For example, William Carey persevered for seven years in India before he saw a conversion. According to the quote above, Carey was not a faithful minister for those years.
Spurgeon seems to encourage measuring faithfulness by number of converts which is a potentially dangerous concept. Even a minister with many converts, may not be a very faithful minister at all.
I think it is best to understand that soul-winners are called to scatter and water the seed with faithfulness and wait for God to give the growth if he wills. If God does not give conversions, this is not necessarily a reflection on the minister's work.
Next week's reading
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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