C. H. Spurgeon's Morning & Evening Devotional: 09/17/PM
Bible software
For a complete Bible study software package with over one million cross-references
combined, try SwordSearcher.
SwordSearcher has tens of thousands of topical and encyclopedic entries
all linked to scripture, fully searchable and indexed by both topic and
verse reference, and includes Spurgeon's Morning and Evening devotional.
Also, try Daily Bible and Prayer to keep track of your prayer list, do a daily devotional from C. H. Spurgeon's Faith Checkbook, and make Bible reading plans.
Back to Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotional index
"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.
Entry taken from Morning and Evening, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892). Morning and Evening is available in print and is part of SwordSearcher Bible Software.
Next reading: 09/18/AM
