How To Be A Soul Winner By Charles Spurgeon
How To Be A Soul Winner?
Charles Spurgeon delved into the meaning of being a soul winner:
- 5 Characteristics Of A Soul Winner
- 3 Ways Our Lord Can Use Us
- 9 Traits Of A Soul-Winning Individual
5 Characteristics Of A Soul Winner
#1 Learn Of Him And To Follow Him
How to become a good preacher? “Young man, go to college.” “Follow Me, young man, and I will make you a fisher of men.” How can one be useful? “Attend a training class,” one advises. True, but there is a more certain answer: follow Jesus, and He will make you fishermen. The great training school for Christian workers has Christ at its head and He is at its head, not only as a Tutor but as a Leader: we are not only to learn of Him in the study but to follow Him in action. “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” The direction is very distinct and plain, and I believe it is exclusive so that no man can become a fisherman by any other process. This process may appear to be very simple, but assuredly it is most efficient. The Lord Jesus Christ, who knew all about fishing for men, was Himself the Dictator of the rule, “Follow Me if you want to be fishers of men. If you would be useful, keep in My track.”
#2 Separates Unto Christ.
These men were to forsake their pursuits, their friends, and the world to be fishers of men in their Master’s name. We are not all called to leave our jobs or families. That may be more like fleeing the fisheries than working at it in the name of God. But we are commanded to leave the ungodly, to remain separate, and not to touch the unclean thing.
We can’t be men’s fishermen as long as we’re in the same element as them. Fish will not be fishermen. The sinner will not be converted. Godless men will not convert ungodly men, and worldly Christians will not convert the world. If you are of the world, you will be loved by the world, but you cannot save it. You can’t eliminate the darkness if you’re dark. You cannot defeat the forces of the evil one. That the world has so much influence over the church may be one reason for its current lack of impact over the world.
Nowadays we hear Nonconformists pleading that they may do this and they may do that—things which their Puritan forefathers would rather have died at the stake than have tolerated. They plead they may live like worldlings, and my sad answer to them, when they crave for this liberty, is, “Do it if you dare. It’s unlikely to injure you much because you’re already in such horrible shape. Your desires reveal your rotting hearts. If you crave such dog flesh, go eat the rubbish. Worldly amusements are for hypocrites.
If you were God’s kid, you would despise the world’s evil joys, and your only cry would be, “How far can we get away from the world?” How much can we come out from it?’” In such a period as this, your temptation would be to become rigid and ultra-Puritanical in your detachment from sin, rather than to inquire, “How can I make myself like other men, and act as they do?”
Brethren, the church’s purpose in the world is to be like salt amid putrefaction; what good is salt if it has lost its savor? If salt could putrefy, it would only add to the prevailing putridity. The darkest day in history was when God’s sons married men’s daughters. This world’s only defense against a vengeful flood is the separation between saint and sinner. As a Christian, your responsibility is to stand firm in your own place and stand out for God, loathing even the soiled garment of the body, resolving like one of old that, while others may do as they like, you and your household will serve the Lord.
Come, ye children of God, stand outside the camp with your Lord. “Follow me,” Jesus says today. Is Jesus at the theater? Did he like the racetrack’s sports? Was Jesus seen in any of the Herodian court’s amusements? Not him. He was “pure, spotless, and separate from sinners.” However, there was a gulf between the world and the Saviour that he never attempted to cross, and that they could not cross to pollute him. The first lesson the church must learn is to follow Jesus into the separated state. You can’t be a fisher of men until you take up your cross and protest against an ungodly world.
#3 Abide With Christ
The second meaning of our text is obviously this: abide with Christ, and then you will be made fishers of men. These disciples whom Christ called were to come and live with him. They were every day to be associated with him. They were to hear him preach the everlasting gospel in public, as well as get careful clarifications of the words he had uttered in private. They were to be his body-servants and his familiar friends. They were to see his miracles and hear his prayers; and, better still, they were to be with himself, and become one with him in his holy labor. It was given to them to sit at the table with him, and even to have their feet washed by him. Many of them fulfilled that word, “Where thou dwell, I will dwell” they were with him in his afflictions and persecutions. They witnessed his secret agonies; they saw his many tears; they marked the passion and the compassion of his soul, and thus, after their measure, they caught his spirit, and so they learned to be fishers of men.
At Jesus’ feet, we must learn the art and mystery of soul-winning: to live with Christ is the best education for usefulness. Being acquainted with a Christian pastor whose heart is on fire is a huge blessing for any man. This is the best training for a young man, as each old man had a young man accompany him up the mountainside to preach, and who lived with him, and who marked his prayers and saw his daily piety. This was an excellent lesson. Isn’t it? But it will never match the apostles’ daily companionship with Jesus. The twelve’s training was unmatched. It’s no surprise they turned out the way they did with such a divine tutor instilling them with his own spirit!
And while the Lord’s physical presence is no longer with us, his spiritual force is maybe more fully understood by us than it was by the apostles during the Lord’s corporeal presence of two or three years ago. Some of us are close to him. We know more about him than our closest human friend. We can’t quite read our friend’s heart, but we know the heart of the Well-Beloved. In his presence, we have enjoyed the fellowship that we could not have had with any of our own friends and family. This is the surest method of learning how to do good.
Live with Jesus, follow Jesus, and he will make you fishers of men. See how he does the work, and so learn how to do it yourself. A Christian man should be bound apprentice to Jesus to learn the trade of a Saviour. We can never save men by offering redemption because we have none to offer; we can learn how to save men by warning them of impending wrath and presenting them with the one big effective solution.
See how Jesus saves, and you will learn how it is done: no other way. If you live in close association with Christ, you will exude the air and demeanor of someone who has been gifted with the ability to teach and the wisdom to win souls.
#4 Obey Christ
A third meaning, however, must be given to this “Follow me,” and it is this: “Obey me, and then you shall know what to do to save men.” There is no way we can talk about fellowship with Christ or being separated from the world unless we make him our Master and Lord.
How can some public teachers look for a blessing when they are not true to their convictions? A Christian man desiring to serve his Master should be meticulous in his obedience. God favors our churches, even when they are extremely flawed, for his mercy endured forever. Even if the teaching and practice are flawed, he will still use the ministry because he is gracious.
But all teaching that is knowingly or blatantly wrong must be withheld from blessing. God can seal the truth in it, but not the error. Mistakes about Christian ordinances and other things, especially heart and spirit errors, may lead to unintended evils. These ills may already affect our generation and may worsen in future generations.
If we want to be used by God as men’s fishers, we must imitate and obey our Lord Jesus. Failure to obey may cause failure to succeed. If he wants to see his child saved, his Sunday school class blessed, or his congregation converted, each of us must make sure that we are clean while we carry the Lord’s vessels.
Anything we do that grieves the Spirit of God must take away from us some part of our power for good. The Lord is merciful and pitiful, but also jealous. He can be harshly jealous of his people, who ignore known duties or associate with those who are unclean in his eyes. He will wither their work, weaken their strength, and humble them until they finally say, “My Lord, I’ll take thy way after all.” “I will do as you say or else you will not accept me.”
The Lord said to his disciples, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature: he who believe and is baptized shall be saved,” the Lord declared to his disciples, and he promised them that signs would follow, which they did and would continue to do.
But we must return to apostolic practice and teaching: we must set aside men’s rules and our own whimseys, and we must do what Christ teaches us, as Christ tells us, and because Christ tells us.
We must clearly and explicitly assume the role of servants; if we do not, we cannot expect our Lord to work with us and for us. Let us resolve that, just as the needle is true to the pole, we will be true to the command of our Lord and Master as far as our light reaches.
Jesus says—“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,” By this teaching he seems to say—“Go beyond me, or fall back behind me, and you may cast the net, but it shall be a night with you, and that night you shall take nothing. When you shall do as I bid you, you shall cast your net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find”
#5 Preach Christ Thought, Not Your Thoughts
Not Your Thoughts
Again, I think that there is a great lesson in my text to those who preach their own thoughts instead of preaching the thoughts of Christ. These disciples were to follow Christ so they could listen to him, learn from him, and then teach what he had taught them. According to their Lord, “What I tell you in the dark, preach in the light.” He will make them “fishers of men” if they faithfully convey Christ’s message.
“I will not preach this old, old gospel, this musty Puritan doctrine,” they say nowadays. “I will stay up late in my research and come up with a fresh theory; then I will go out and blaze away with it.” The Lord may well respond to them: “Thou shalt see whose word shall stand, mine or theirs.”
Others are overly cautious, deciding that certain facts from God’s word should be kept hidden. You must not be harsh, but smooth. To speak of sin’s retribution, to speak of eternal punishment, these are out-of-fashion ideas. They may be taught in God’s Word, yet they are incompatible with the genius of the day. We must pare them down.
Brothers in Christ, I will not take part. Do you? Come not into their secret, my spirit! Our educated age has found some things not taught in the Bible. It doesn’t matter if evolution is true, even if it contradicts Genesis’ teachings. We will not be Bible believers, but original thinkers. This is the vain-glorious ambition of the period.
Preach Right Doctrines
Remember, the more modern religion is preached, the more this generation’s wickedness grows. I attribute the looseness of the age to the laxity of the theology proclaimed by its professors to a large extent.
They have taught the masses that sin is a minor offense from the pulpit.
These betrayers of God and his Christ have taught the masses that there is no such thing as hell. A little, little hell, perhaps, there may be; but just punishment for sin is made nothing of.
Those who were entrusted with preaching Christ’s precious atoning sacrifice have ridiculed and misrepresented it.
They have given the people the name of the gospel, but not the gospel itself. The gospel has vanished from hundreds of pulpits, although preachers still bear the title and position of Christ’s ministers.
So, what happens?
Their congregations are dwindling, as they should. If you go your own way, with your own net, you will make nothing of it, and the Lord guarantees you no help.
Follow His Footsteps
Because of the Lord’s instructions, Christ becomes our leader and example. “Follow me, follow me.” Preach my gospel. Preach what I preached. Teach what I taught, and keep to that”
Copy Christ even in tittles and jots with the blessed servility of a copyist, never an original. Do this, and he will make you fishers of men; but if you do not do this, you shall fish in vain.
I conclude this section by stating that we cannot be fishermen of men unless we mirror Christ’s holiness. Holiness is the most actual power a man or woman can have. We can preach orthodoxy, but we also need to practice it. God forbid we preach anything else, but it will be in vain unless the witness is backed up by life. Unholy preachers may even despise truth. In proportion as any of us draw back from a living and zealous sanctification, we shall draw back from the place of power.
“Follow me” is our power. Be Jesus-like. Try to think, speak, and behave like Jesus, and he will make you men fishers.
Self Denial
Self-denial is required. Take up the cross daily. This may require a willingness to give up our reputation—readiness to be thought fools, idiots, and the like, as men are apt to call those who are keeping close to their Master.
To be fully Christ’s and to glorify His name, we must cheerfully renounce all our own honor and glory. We must live his life and, if necessary, die his death. If we do this and follow Jesus, putting our feet in the footsteps of his pierced feet, he will make us fishers of men, brothers and sisters.
If it should so please him, we should even die without having gathered many souls to the cross. We shall speak from our graves. In some way or another, the Lord will make a holy life to be an influential life.
A life lived as a disciple of Christ cannot be unsuccessful in the eyes of the Most High. “Follow me,” and there is an “I will” such as God can never draw back from: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
So far, so good on the first point. There is something for us to do: we are graciously called to follow Jesus. Holy Spirit, lead us to do it.
3 Ways Our Lord Can Use Us
But secondly, and briefly, there is Something For The Lord To Do. So if following him is the first step to becoming a fisher of men, then he gives us this step. It’s the entirety of his Spirit. I’ve talked about catching his spirit, abiding in him, obeying him, listening to him, and emulating him; yet none of that is possible until he works it all in us. “From me is thy fruit found,” is a text which we must not for a moment forget. So, if we follow him, it is he who makes us fishers of men.
#1 Use Us Through Our Experience
But if we follow Christ, he will also make us men fishermen by all our experience. I am sure that the man who is really consecrated to bless others will be helped in this by all that he feels, especially by his afflictions. I often feel very grateful to God that T has undergone fearful depression of spirits. I know what it’s like to be on the verge of despair, on the verge of falling into that abyss of darkness into which my feet have almost fallen; but hundreds of times I’ve been able to provide a helpful grip to brethren and sisters who have found themselves in that same situation, a grip I could never have provided if I hadn’t been aware of their deep despair.
A child of God’s experience can help him become a fisher of men if they follow Christ. Keep close to your Lord and he will bless your every move. If God makes you wealthy, he will fit you to speak to the stupid and evil wealthy who abound in this city and often cause its worst sins. And if the Lord allows it, you can go down and talk to the wicked and ignorant poor people who are so often the source of wickedness in this city and so desperately need the gospel.
The winds of providence will waft you where you can fish for men. The wheels of providence are full of eyes that will help us win souls. You’ll be shocked to find God in a house you visit: his hand has been at work in its rooms before you arrived. When you want to talk to someone, God’s providence has been working on that person to prepare him for that word only you can say. Oh, follow Christ, and he will make you fishers of men via every encounter you have.
#2 Use The Distinct Monitions In Our Heart
More than that, if you follow him, he will make you fishers of men by distinct monitions in your own heart. When the heart is straight with God and living in contact with God, we feel a sacred sensitiveness, so that we do not need the Lord to yell, but his faintest whisper is heard. He need only whisper.
“Thou shalt guide me.” Oh, how many mulish Christians need a bit and a bridle, and the occasional whipping! But the Christian who follows his Lord shall be tenderly guided.
The Lord’s will be heard in your soul as clearly as the Spirit said to Philip, “Go and join yourself to this chariot.” “Go and speak to that person” should be your first thought upon seeing someone. Every useful chance will be a call to you. If you are ready, the door will open and a voice will say, “This is the way; walk in it.” For those who have the grace to run in the correct manner, they will never be left in the dark. A river or a sea will guide you to where you can cast your net and catch men.
#3 Use Us Through His Holy Spirit
Also, I believe the Lord meant to give his disciples the Holy Spirit. He would climb into the Most High’s sacred sanctuary, and they would be clothed with a secret power. And you know how it was fulfilled for Peter. What a catch he made the first time he cast the net in the Holy Ghost! Then I will make you men fishers.
We do not know what God will do with this group of believers gathering in the Tabernacle tonight. We could evangelize London if we were all filled with the Holy Spirit. There is enough here to save the world.
God saves not by many nor by few. “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” You men and women that sit before me, you are by the shore of a great sea of human life swarming with the souls of men. You are among millions, but if you follow Jesus, obey Him, and be faithful to him, he will make you fishers of men. “Who will save this city?” The weakest must be strong.
Gideon’s barley cake will smite and lay down the tent. Samson will smite the Philistines with the jawbone he dug up from the earth. Fear not, neither be dismayed. Let your duties draw you closer to your Master. Let horror of prevailing sin make you look into his dear face, who long ago wept over Jerusalem, and now weeps over London. Clasp him and don’t let go. Learn this lesson from your Lord’s own mouth: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
You’re not ready, but he will make you. You can’t do it, but he will. Not knowing how to distribute nets and bring shoals of fish to shore is no problem. Follow him and he will make you men fishers.
I wish I could say this with a thunderous voice for the whole church of God to hear. “Jesus saith, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,” I wish I could write in the stars. The promise is lost if you forget the precept. If you follow some other track or imitate some other leader, you shall fish in vain. May God grant us faith that Jesus may achieve great things in and through us for the good of others!
9 Traits Of A Soul-Winning Individual
The last point you might work out in full for yourselves in your private meditations with much profit. We have here A Figure Full Of Instruction. I will give you but two or three thoughts which you can use. “I will make you fishers of men” You have been fishers of fish: if you follow me, I will make you fishers of men.
#1&2 Dependent And Trusting
A fisher is a person who is very dependent and needs to be trusting. He cannot see the fish. A person who fishes in the sea must, occasionally, cast in the neb. Fishing requires trust. But when they drew their nets to shore, they didn’t get as much as I could fit in my hand. The entire take has comprised a few pitiful silvery nothings. But they keep casting the enormous neb, hoping for a result. The minister of God is totally reliant on God. Oh, this pulpit fishing! What a faith-work! I have no way of knowing if it will bring a soul to God. The only thing I can say is that I think God will direct me in the net casting. I expect and depend on him to accomplish salvation. Was I given unlimited preaching power, by which I might save sinners, I would beg the Lord not to give it to me. It is far more pleasant, completely depending on him. Having Christ as your wisdom is beneficial. The more Christ strengthens you, the better. Go to work, you would-be men’s fishermen, and feel your inadequacy. If you lack strength, take on this noble task. When your own strength is gone, you will see your Master’s. A fisherman is a reliant individual who must look up for success every time he sets the net down; he is a trustworthy individual, and thus he throws the net joyously.
#3&4 Diligent And Persevering
A fisherman who gets his living by it is a diligent and persevering man. Fishing starts early. Morning and afternoon fishing is done off Dogger bank. Men will fish as long as hands work. May Jesus make us diligent, patient, and unwearied fishermen! We don’t know if this or that will prosper, so we sow our seed in the morning and harvest in the evening.
#5&6 Intelligent And Watchful
The fisherman in his own craft is intelligent and watchful. Fishermanship may appear simple, but it is not. From repairing the net to dragging it to shore, there is an art to it all. He is so careful not to let the fish out of the net! An enormous racket was heard in the sea one night, and I peered out to see the fishermen of Mentone banging the water to push fish into the net, or to keep them from springing out once encircled. Aha! And you and I will have to monitor the edges of the gospel net to make sure that sinners who are about to be caught don’t get away. It takes a clever fish to dodge salvation, and these fish are incredibly shrewd. A good human fisherman will require us to be constantly on the job, using all of our wits, and more.
#7 Laborious
The fisherman is a very laborious person. It’s not a simple job. He doesn’t fish from a sofa. He goes out in poor weather. If he doesn’t seed, he won’t fish, I’m sure. We won’t accomplish anything if we just work for Christ when we feel worthy. We won’t pray if we don’t feel like praying, and we won’t preach if we don’t feel like preaching. For Christ’s sake, we must work until we are exhausted, putting our whole soul into it.
#8 Daring
The fisherman is a daring man. He tempts the raging ocean. To him, a little brine in the face is nothing. It was not in his plans to sleep in luxury as a deep-sea fisherman. That’s why a good Christian soul-fisherman will take any danger. He will undoubtedly do or say many things that are unpopular, and some Christians may even consider his statements to be excessively harsh. He must act and speak in the interests of souls. “If the sea roars and all its fulness, still at my Master’s command I will let down the net,” he must feel in the name of Almighty God.
#9 Christ Makes A Successful Fisherman
Finally, Christ makes a successful fisherman. The ministers of Christ must be faithful, but they cannot be certain of success, argues one. Yes, I have heard that saying, and one way I know it is true, but another way I have my doubts about it. Faithful people are successful in God’s way and judgment. For example, a brother who claims to be faithful. But I have never heard of a sinner being saved under his ministry. A person who does not desire to be saved would be safest under this gentleman’s ministry because he preaches nothing that will stir, impress, or convince anyone. So says his brother. “I am a fisherman, but I have caught nothing,” someone could say. Is a farmer who has never planted wheat or any other crop a farmer? He who never caught a fish is not a fisherman. A minister of Christ who has never saved a sinner in his life is not one. If his life’s work yielded no result, he committed a mistake. Carry God’s fire and hurl it amid the chaff. Make no mistake. Disperse the good seed; it may not all bear fruit, but some will. Make no mistake. Let your light shine, and an eye will be opened. You’ll succeed if you try. But remember this is the Lord’s word—“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” To become a fisherman, keep close to Jesus and do like He did.
Speaking To An Unbeliever
Maybe I’m speaking to a non-believer. Same to you, friend. If you follow Christ, he can use you. I do not know but that he has brought you to this place that you may be saved, and that in after years he may make you speak for his name and glory. Remember how he called Saul of Tarsus and made him the apostle of the Gentiles.
Saved sinners make the best gamekeepers, while rehabilitated poachers make the best preachers. Oh, that you would run away from your old master tonight, without giving him a minute’s notice; for if you give him any notice, he will hold you.
Hasten to Jesus, and say, “Here is a poor runaway slave! Wilt thou set me free and make me thine own?” I ask my Lord, still wearing the fetters around my wrists.
He who comes to me I will never cast out, says the Bible. Never run away slave came to Christ in the middle of the night without his taking him in, and he never gave one up to his old master. If
Jesus makes you free, you shall be free indeed. Flee away to Jesus, then, on a sudden. May his good Spirit support you and make you a winner to his glory! Thank you. Amen.
This article is an edited version of the article “Instruction in Soul Winning” 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.