EEC Blog

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works (Heb 10:24)

Spurgeon’s challenge …

Spurgeon was never a man to hold back when he felt Christians needed to be stirred into action. He once delivered the following rebuke and challenge:

‘Behold, how many professing Christians there are that are asleep in this sense! They are inactive. Sinners are dying in the street by hundreds; men are sinking into the flames of eternal wrath, but they fold their arms, they pity the poor perishing sinner, but they do nothing to show that their pity is real. They go to their places of worship; they occupy their well-cushioned easy pew; they wish the minister to feed them every Sabbath; but there is never a child taught in the Sunday school by them; there is never a tract distributed at the poor man’s house; there is never a deed done which might be the means of saving souls.

Oh, what a vast amount of sleeping we have in all our churches and chapels; for truly if our churches were once awake, so far as ‘materials’ are concerned, there are enough converted men and women, and there is enough talent with them, and enough time with them, God granting the abundance of His Holy Spirit, which He would be sure to do if they were all zealous – there is enough to preach the gospel in every corner of the earth.

The church does not need to stop for lack of instruments, or for lack of agencies; we have everything now except the will; we have all that we may expect to give for the conversion of the world, except just a heart for the work, and the Spirit of God poured out into our midst. Oh! Brethren, “let us not sleep as do others.” ’ 

… Our response

There are two modes in which we can respond to Spurgeon’s challenge - corporately, as a church of God, and individually, as members of the body of Christ.

We could each have a stab at framing some sort of corporate response - our church (EEC) goes street witnessing, open-air preaching, going door-to-door with 4-You magazines, distributing Gideons Bibles, Friday Club and more recently promoting the gospel via the internet, through the newsletter, etc - and there’s a danger that this might even sound impressive!  (Never mind we don’t have any formal ministry for the aged, the sick, the homeless or those in care & you could think of many more …)

But Spurgeon was challenging individual hearts, he was cautioning against becoming complacent in the reflected glow of our meagre corporate efforts.

If we’re honest, all of us would find it difficult to make a case for ourselves as individuals - even if we do much, we will always stop short of doing everything we could.  But this is not cause for shame or guilt, but rather for earnest prayer.

Each week we are being exhorted to pray more and to pray much for the lost, for our country’s leaders, for each other, for God to bless our land and this, of course, is a vital part of our corporate response.  But it is also exactly the right response to Spurgeon’s challenge to us as individuals.

Pray that God will stir your heart to action, pray that He will help you be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (Jas 1:22). (See this for an easy way to become involved.)