ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON) MEN of God must be taught to stand quite alone

To be of greater usefulness, many a man of God must be taught to stand quite alone. “I looked on my right hand, and behold, but there was no man that would know me.” If you want men to help you, you may make a very decent follower; but if you want no man, and can stand alone, God being your helper, you shall be helped to be a leader. Oh, it was a grand thing when Luther stepped out from the ranks of Rome. There were many good men around him, who said, “Be quiet, Martin.

You will get burnt if you do not hold your tongue. Let us keep where we are, in the Church of Rome, even if we have to swallow down great lumps of dirt. We can believe the gospel, and remain where we are.” But Luther knew that he must defy the antichrist, and declare the pure gospel of the blessed God; and he must stand alone for the truth, even if there were as many devils against him as there were tiles on the housetops at Worms. That is the kind of man whom God blesses.

I ask God that many a young man here might have the courage to feel, in his particular position, “I can stand alone, if need be. I am glad to have my master and my fellow workmen with me; but if nobody will go to heaven with me, I will say farewell to them, and go to heaven alone through the grace of God’s dear Son.”