Spurgeon: September PM
* 09/17/PM
"Encourage him."
--Deuteronomy 1:38
God employs His people to encourage one another. He did not
say to an angel, "Gabriel, my servant Joshua is about to lead my
people into Canaan--go, encourage him." God never works needless
miracles; if His purposes can be accomplished by ordinary means,
He will not use miraculous agency. Gabriel would not have been
half so well fitted for the work as Moses. A brother's sympathy
is more precious than an angel's embassy. The angel, swift of
wing, had better known the Master's bidding than the people's
temper. An angel had never experienced the hardness of the road,
nor seen the fiery serpents, nor had he led the stiff-necked
multitude in the wilderness as Moses had done. We should be glad
that God usually works for man by man. It forms a bond of
brotherhood, and being mutually dependent on one another, we are
fused more completely into one family. Brethren, take the text
as God's message to you. Labour to help others, and especially
strive to encourage them. Talk cheerily to the young and
anxious enquirer, lovingly try to remove stumblingblocks out of
his way. When you find a spark of grace in the heart, kneel down
and blow it into a flame. Leave the young believer to discover
the roughness of the road by degrees, but tell him of the
strength which dwells in God, of the sureness of the promise,
and of the charms of communion with Christ. Aim to comfort the
sorrowful, and to animate the desponding. Speak a word in season
to him that is weary, and encourage those who are fearful to go
on their way with gladness. God encourages you by His promises;
Christ encourages you as He points to the heaven He has won for
you, and the spirit encourages you as He works in you to will
and to do of His own will and pleasure. Imitate divine wisdom,
and encourage others, according to the word of this evening.