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How Did Paul Preach The Gospel By Charles Spurgeon

How Did Paul Preach The Gospel?

“I have become all things to all people, that by all means, I might save some.” 1 Cor 9:22

We will examine how did Paul preach the Gospel in order for the hearers to be saved:

  1. Paul’s Heart When Preaching The Gospel
  2. Some Approaches The Apostle Used

Paul’s Heart When Preaching The Gospel 

Apostle Paul Goal: To Save Some

It is at this time that I boldly ask each of the ministers of Christ present—Is this your goal in all your Christian services? Do you prioritize soul-saving? Sadly, some have forgotten this wonderful goal, yet anything less is unworthy of being a Christian’s goal.  

Don’t Preach To Amuse

I fear some preach to amuse mankind; for as long as crowds gather, ears are tickled, and people return satisfied with what they heard, the orator is content, folds his hands, and returns self-satisfied. But Paul didn’t do it to please the crowd. He thought he had no choice but to save them. And he would have gone home, crying, “Who has believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?”

Don’t Preach To Educate

Many people nowadays appear to believe that the goal of the Christian effort should be to educate men. That education is valuable and that we finally have a national system of education is a source of tremendous joy for the Christian Church. We are promoters of knowledge, and the more it can be spread, the better. But if the Church of God thinks it is sent into the world merely to train the mental faculties, it has made a very serious mistake, for the object of Christianity is not to educate men for their secular callings, or even to train them in the politer arts, or the more elegant professions, or to enable them to enjoy the beauties of nature or the charms of poetry. Jesus Christ came not into the world for any of these things, but He came to seek and to save that which was lost, and on the same errand has He sent His Church, and she is a traitor to the Master who sent her if she is beguiled by the beauties of taste and art to forget that to preach Christ and Him crucified is the only object for which she exists among the sons of men. The business of the Church is salvation. The minister is to use all means to save some; he is no minister of Christ if this is not the one desire of his heart. Missionaries sink far below their level when they are content to civilize; their first objective is to save. The same is true of the Sunday-school teacher, and of all other workers among children; if they have merely taught the child to read, to repeat hymns, and so forth, they have not yet touched their true vocation. We must have the children saved. At this nail, we must drive, and the hammer must come down upon this head always,—that we might, by all means, save some, for we have done nothing unless some are saved.

Don’t Preach To Moralize

Paul does not even say that he tried to moralize men. The best promoter of morality is the gospel. When a man is saved, he becomes moral; he becomes more; he becomes holy. But to aim first at morality is altogether to miss the mark; and if we attained it,—as we shall not,—yet we should not have attained that for which we were sent into the world. Dr. Chalmers’ experience is highly important to people who believe that the Christian ministry should preach only morality because he claims he preached morality in his first parish and saw no good come from his exhortations. However, as soon as he began preaching Christ crucified, there was a commotion, a stir, and a lot of opposition, but grace triumphed. He who wishes for perfumes must grow the flowers; he who desires to promote morality must have men saved. He who wants motion in a corpse should first seek life for it, and he who desires to see a rightly ordered life should first desire an inward renewal by the Holy Spirit. We cannot teach mankind their duty towards their neighbors or even towards God; this was sufficient for Moses, but not for Christ. Moses gave the law, but Jesus gave grace and truth. We teach men what they should be, but we make them what they should be through the power of the gospel applied by the Holy Spirit. Instead, we open their eyes in the name of Jesus. We don’t tell the captive how free he should be; instead, we open the door and liberate him. We don’t just tell men what they must be; we teach them how to become that character, and how Jesus Christ freely gives all that is necessary for eternal life to all who come to Him and trust in Him.

Need To Account To Our Lord

If I or you or any of us or all of us have spent our lives only amusing men, educating men or moralizing men, then we shall be in very poor condition and shall have but a very sorry record to render to our Lord; for what good is education when one is damned? What good will it do him to be amused when the trumpet blows, heaven and earth tremble, and the abyss opens its fiery jaws and eats the unsaved? What good is moralizing a man if he is still on the Judge’s left hand and his portion is “Depart, ye cursed,”? Unless the drift, purpose, and goal of all their activity have been to “save some.” the skirts of professed Christians will be blood-red with the murder of men’s souls. Oh! Especially, my friends who labor in Sunday and Ragged Schools, do not consider you have done anything unless the children’s souls are saved. In the name of Christ, and by the power of the Eternal Spirit, throw your total strength into this object—if you can save some and bring some to Jesus to be saved from the wrath to come.

What Is Being Saved? Is To Be Born Again!

What did Paul mean by wanting to save some? What is saved? Paul intended that some be born again, for no one is saved until they are made a new creation in Christ Jesus. The old nature cannot be saved; it is dead and corrupt; it is best crucified and buried in Christ’s sepulcher. We must have a new nature implanted in us by the Holy Ghost to be saved. We must be as fresh from the hand of the Eternal God as though we had been moulded by divine wisdom today as Adam was in Paradise. “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” “Except a man be born again (from above), he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Paul meant men must be made new in Christ, and that we must never rest until we see this change. This must be the goal of our teaching, our prayers, and our life, that “some” may be saved.

Save By Atoning Sacrifice Of God’s Son

He also meant that people might be forgiven of previous sins via the atoning sacrifice of God’s Son. Only the atonement can save a sinner. “Cursed is everyone that continues not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them.” according to Jewish law. “Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree,” it says in the Bible. Now, he who believes in Jesus, who puts his hand upon the head of Jesus of Nazareth, the Scapegoat of His people, has lost his sins. His faith proves that his sins were once laid on the great Substitute. The Lord Jesus Christ was punished in our room, and we are no longer obnoxious to the wrath of God. The sin-atoning sacrifice has been killed and placed on the altar, and the Lord has accepted it, declaring that all who believe in Jesus are entirely and eternally forgiven. We now yearn to see men pardoned in this way. We long to return the prodigal son to the Father’s bosom, the wandering sheep to the Good Shepherd’s shoulder, the lost coin to the Owner’s hands; and until this happens, nothing happens, brethren, spiritually, eternally, nothing that is worth a Christian’s agony, nothing that is worth an immortal spirit’s time. O Lord, our soul yearns to see Jesus rewarded by the salvation of the blood-bought! Help us bring souls to Him.

Save By Being Purified And Made Holy

When the apostle desired to save some, he meant that, after being regenerated and forgiven, they might also be purified and made holy, for a man cannot be saved while living in sin. Whatever a man may think, he cannot be saved from sin while a slave to it. How can a drinker be saved from himself while still rioting? How can you say a profane person is spared from blasphemy? Words must be used correctly. If this is not the case, then we have labored in vain and wasted our strength.

Accepted In The Beloved

“Accepted in the Beloved.” I proclaim before you all, that I have sought nothing other than soul conversion in this house of prayer, and I call heaven and earth, as well as your consciences, to testify that I have never labored for anything other than this in this house of prayer. I have not sought to gratify depraved appetites either by the novelty of doctrine or ceremonial, but I have kept to the simplicity of the gospel. I have kept back no part of the price of God’s Word from you, but I have endeavored to give you the whole counsel of God. If you are not saved, I mourn and lament before God that I have preached to you hundreds of times in vain. You are a waste piece of soil if you haven’t closed in on Christ and been washed in the bloody fountain.

Not Only To Learn Truth And Be Kept From Sin

You tell me, perhaps, that you have been kept from a great many sins, that you have learned a great many truths by coming here. So far, so good; but could I afford to live just to teach you certain truths or preventing you from committing open sins? How could this please me if I knew you were still unsaved and would be hurled into the flaming pit after death? Nothing, beloved, is worth your pastor’s life, soul, and energy more than winning you to Christ. Nothing but your salvation can ever make me feel that my heart’s desire is granted. I ask every worker here to keep firing at this aim, and at the center of this target, to win souls for Christ, to see them born to God, and cleansed in the blood fountain. Let the workers’ hearts ache, their voices scream, but let them judge that they have done nothing until at least some men are truly saved. We long for the salvation of souls, just as a fisherman longs for his catch, a hunter longs for his kill, and a mother longs to hold her lost child. Save them for Christ’s sake, O Lord.

Some Approaches The Apostle Used

When preaching the Gospel, the apostle took the following excellent approaches:

Simply Preaching The Gospel Of Christ

How did he, who yearned to “save some,” go about doing so? 

First of all, by simply preaching the gospel of Christ. He didn’t make a stir with shocking words, and he didn’t preach false doctrine in order to get the masses’ approval. 

I’m afraid some evangelists preach what they know to be untrue. 

They exclude certain beliefs not because they are false, but because they do not allow enough room for their ravings. 

They make ambiguous remarks, hoping to reach a wider audience. 

I don’t believe a man can make any remark that his sober judgment will not justify, no matter how earnest he is for the salvation of sinners. 

I’m sure I’ve heard things said and done at revival gatherings that were contrary to sound teaching, but always rationalized by “the occasion’s excitement.” 

I believe I have no right to preach incorrect teaching, even if it saves a soul. 

Of course, the premise is ludicrous, but it illustrates my point. 

My mission is to offer truth to men, not deceit, and I will not be excused if I mislead them. Rest certain that withholding any aspect of the gospel is neither moral nor true. Tell the sinner everything. 

If you believe in Calvinism, as I hope you do, don’t stutter or stammer about it. Many revivals have faded away because of a lack of a full-orbed gospel. Every knowledge immersed in holy fire will have its own beneficial influence on the intellect.

Preach Christ And Him Crucified

But the great truth is the cross, the truth that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” 

Brother, keep to that. 

That is the bell for you to ring. Ring it, man! Ring it! Keep on ringing it. 

Sound forth that note upon your silver trumpet, or if you are only a ram’s horn, sound it forth, and the walls of Jericho will come down. 

What a pity for our “cultured” modern divines’ finery. I hear them crying out and denouncing my old-fashioned advice. 

This crucifixion language is thought to be outdated, conventional, and old, and unsuitable for this wonderful age. 

It’s amazing how much we’ve all learned. We are becoming so wise that I fear we may soon become fools if we haven’t already. 

People nowadays demand “thinking,” it is said, and working men will flock to places where science is revered and profound “thought” is cherished. I’ve found that where modern “thinking” drives out the old gospel, there are more spiders than people, but where Jesus Christ is simply preached, the building is packed to the doors. 

After all, only the teaching of Christ crucified will keep a meetinghouse crowded for long. But, whether it’s popular, we’ve made up our minds and set our foot down. We have no doubts about our own path. 

The foolishness of preaching atonement by blood is a divine ordinance, and the cross is a divine ordinance. 

Yes, we shall keep to the old-fashioned truth—if you believe, you are saved—and may God bless it according to his eternal purpose. We don’t anticipate this sermon to be popular, but we believe God will soon justify it. We are not daunted because

“The truths we love, a sightless world blasphemes

As childish dotage and delirious dreams;

The danger they discern not, they deny;

Laugh at their only remedy, and die.”

Pray Over His Preaching 

Paul also prayed a lot. We must pray over our preaching to bless it. When asked what he combined his colors with, a talented painter responded, “brains.” It was fine for a painter, but if someone asked a preacher what he mixed truth with, he should be able to say—prayer, a lot of prayers. 

“Ah, my friend, here you are at your hard work; your work is just like mine; Break stones, and so do I,” a minister passing by said to a poor man breaking granite by the roadside. “Yes,” the man replied, “and if you break stony hearts, you must do as I do, go down on your knees.” The man was right. 

No one can use the gospel hammer successfully unless they spend a lot of time praying. Prevail with God, and you will prevail with men. Let us come to the pulpit with the anointing oil of God’s Spirit fresh on us. We gladly disseminate anything we receive in private. Never speak for God to man before speaking for men to God. You need to balance your Sunday school teaching, or any other Christian work, with fervent intercession if you want a blessing.

Intense Sympathy For Those He Dealt With

Then notice something else. Paul went to his work always with intense sympathy for those he dealt with, compassion that drove him to adapt to each situation. 

When he spoke to a Jew, he did not immediately declare that he was the apostle of the Gentiles; instead, he stated he was a Jew, as a Jew he was. He raised no questions about nationalities or ceremonies. He wanted the Jew to trust in Jesus and therefore be saved, as Isaiah said of him, “He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” 

When he encountered a Gentile, the apostle of the Gentiles displayed none of the apprehension that could have been expected given his Jewish upbringing. He ate and drank as the Gentile did, sat and talked with him, as though a Gentile, never raising circumcision or non-circumcision, but only wanting to tell him about Christ, who came into the world to save both Jew and Gentile, and to make them one in Him. 

If Paul met a Scythian, he spoke to him in Barbarian, not Greek. He spoke to Greeks as he did at the Areopagus, in polished Athenian language. He was all things to all men to save some. 

So it is with you, Christians: your entire purpose in life is to lead men to faith in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit; if you can only save one person, everything else will fall into place. 

To support Mr. Hudson Taylor, a dear man of God who has labored in inland China, he dresses up and wears pigtails. He always mixes with the people and lives as they do. This seems like a wise policy to me. I understand we will win a Chinese congregation by becoming as Chinese as possible, and if this is true, we must become Chinese to save the Chinese. It wouldn’t hurt to become a Zulu to save the Zulus, however, not in the same way Colenso did. 

We are more likely to achieve our goals if we place ourselves on the same level as the people we aim to help. The apostle’s idea is to die for others. If we want to expand our Master’s kingdom, we must cast away all characteristics and yield a thousand distinct points in order to lead men to Jesus. We must never allow our whims or conventions to block a soul from the gospel. It is preferable to be inconvenienced by compliance with indifferent things than to delay a sinner’s arrival by quarreling about minor matters. 

If Jesus were here today, I am confident he would not wear the colorful rags that the Puseyite enjoys. I can’t imagine Jesus Christ dressed like that. Why the apostle instructs our women to dress modestly, and I don’t suppose Christ would want his ministers to set a poor example, but even in attire, something can be done according to our text’s principles. What did Jesus Christ wear when he came? He wore a smock dress. It is my belief that he would have his ministers wear costumes that most closely resembled the common dress of their hearers, so associating with their hearers and becoming one with them. 

If you want to save your students, he says, talk to them like children, and act like children. To win over a young person’s heart, you must be young. You must sympathize with the sick if you intend to visit them. Get to speak as if you were unwell. Come down to those who can’t ascend. You can’t take somebody out of the water without stooping down. To get a hold of bad characters, you must drop down to their level, not in immorality but in roughness and language. 

Please teach us the divine skill of soul-winning via adaptation. They called Mr. Whitefield’s chapel at Moorfields “The Soul Trap.” A happy Whitefield believed it would always be a soul trap. Oh, wish all our churches were soul traps, and that every Christian was a fisher of men, doing his best to catch those he seeks. May we use all measures to win such a great reward as an eternal spirit. A diver dives deep to find pearls, and we may risk everything to win a soul. Rise up, my brethren, and may the Lord bless you in this God-like work.

I call your attention to these wandering thoughts. I beseech the ungodly to consider their destiny if they do not repent and trust in Jesus, and I beseech believers to double their efforts to save men’s souls from now on.

This article is an edited version of the article “Soul-Saving Our One Business” from Charles Spurgeon’s book “The Soul Winner”. Check out our related posts for more information on this topic, or get a copy of the book from Amazon.

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