This work is a clear and vigorous challenge to the true ministers of Christ to remain persistent in preaching the gospel to the unconverted. Boston forcefully outlines the scriptural guidelines for bringing in souls to God; that a minister is to follow the example of Jesus in His dealings with individual sinners. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that drives a person into the gospel net. That doctrine that teaches that moral suasion is all that is requisite to the fishing of men is of the flesh, not of God. A minister is to labor faithfully while leaving the results with God.

Author   Thomas Boston (March 17, 1676 – May 20, 1732) was a Scottish church leader.He was born at Duns. His father, John Boston, and his mother, Alison Trotter, were both Covenanters. He was educated at Edinburgh, and licensed in 1697 by the presbytery of Chirnside. In 1699 he became minister of the small parish of Simprin, where there were only 90 examinable persons. His autobiography is a record of Scottish life, with humorous touches, intentional and otherwise. His books, The Fourfold State, The Crook in the Lot, and his Body of Divinity and Miscellanies, had a powerful influence over the Scottish peasantry. His Memoirs were published in 1776 (ed. GD Low, 1908). An edition of his works in 12 volumes appeared in 1849.