An all-round ministry - Spurgeon - XX - Chapter 11 concluded

Required reading
An all-round ministry by CH Spurgeon (Available from Amazon or free here) - Conclude Chapter 11 (The Preacher's Power, and the Conditions of Obtaining It).

My summary
Now Spurgeon teaches us that the one most real and most sufficient power for the preacher is the Holy Ghost.  And to have the Holy Spirit with us there must be:
(i) a very close adhesion to the truth of God;
(ii) a genuine faith in the Word of God;
(iii) a concentration of heart upon the business in which we are engaged;
(iv) dead earnestness and living zeal;
(v) an entire dependence upon him;
(vi) constant communion with God;
(vii) a great holiness of life;
(viii) an intense longing for the glory of God and the salvation of the sons of men.

Then Spurgeon mentions a few things which are necessary to the full display of the power which regenerates sinners and builds up saints:
(i) much care bestowed upon our surroundings;
(ii) union among our people;
(iii) pleading with God that our people may be all earnest for the spread of the truth and the conversion of sinners;
(iv) friends looking out for souls;
(v) each man thinking of the responsibility that rests upon him.

What grabbed me
I liked the responsibility that Spurgeon placed upon the congregation: 'I have had great success in soul-winning, when preaching in different parts of the country; but I have never taken any credit for it, for I feel that I preach under great advantages; the people come with an intense desire to hear, and with an expectation of getting a blessing; and hence every word has its due weight. When a congregation expects nothing, it generally finds nothing even in the best of preachers; but when they are prepared to make much of what they hear, they usually get what they come for. If a man goes fishing for frogs, he catches them; if he fishes for fish, he will catch them, if he goes to the right stream. Our work is, no doubt, greatly affected, for good or evil, by the condition of the congregation, the condition of the church, and the condition of the deacons.'

If the congregation has no appetite, it is very hard for any preacher to feed them.

Next week's reading
Commence Chapter 12 (The Minister in These Times) by reading up to the paragraph beginning 'Now let us turn our earnest attention to the subject OF OUR POSITION TOWARDS OUR LORD.'

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.