“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.

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Producer: Todd Adkins
Voice Artist: Ian Cullen