Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

ight."on.'"Having Done All to Stand"A Series of Five Devotional Addresses Given Before the SynodIII. How to Encourage the Flock(Saturday's Devotional Address at Synod, 1955)by Rev. D. Howard ElliottIn the language of the street, you would say theywere in a tough spot. What could they do? Theywere bottled up and about to be over-run by hoardsof the heathen. The situation was desperate exceptthat king Hezekiah still had a strong faith that Godcould deliver them from this threat of extinction. Sohe set the people to doing what they could to protectthemselves, and "he set captains of war over thepeople, and gathered them together to him in thestreet of the city and spake comfortably to them saying, Be strong and courageous and be not afraid nordismayed for the king of Assyria . . . for there bemore with us than with him, and the people restedthemselves upon the words of Hezekiah King ofJudah"(II Chron. 32:6-8).It is a wonderful trait to be able to encourageand comfort people in times of great crisis and intimes of general depression. We all recognize thatthere is an art in it, and that there has to be muchmore to it than a pat on the back and the mouthingof a few hackneyed expressions such as "Buck up, oldboy,"or "Everything will be allOur subject today is "How to encourage theencourage theflock."We might ask first, "Whyflock ?" This should be obvious to any church leader,but let this be said. An encouraged spirit is a sign offaith. You have heard about Martin Luther's wifewho once appeared dressed in mourning. When Luther asked who was dead, she said that God was. Luther had been acting so down-cast and discouraged thatshe took this means of jolting him out of it. To goaround acting as if nothing were right is certainlyevidence of a lack of faith. God is not dead. He isalive today and working just as much as He was inHezekiah's day, when faith was so immediately rewarded.Is not God able to bring about good out of anyevil circumstance, to make even the wrath of manto praise Him ? We are all inclined at times to be discouraged. We are like Peter as he walked on thewater to meet Jesus. When he looked down at theraging waters about his feet, he began to sink. Butas long as he had his eye on the Master, he wasbouyed up. Perhaps we dwell too much on the unhappy circumstances about us and not enough on theMaster Himself. The more we dwell upon the personof Christ, the more our spirits will soar and be liftedfrom their depressions. We must constantly remindourselves of the sovereignty of our God in controllingall things.An encouraged spirit is a useful spirit. Elijah satunder the juniper tree and wished to die. He was116completely discouraged in spite of his close personalexperience with the Lord, and in spite of his greattriumph on Mt. Carmel against the Baalites. But nowhe was running away from things, and not interestedin trying to do much more about the advancement ofrighteousness in Israel. The next thing that the Lordtold him to do was to go and to annoint his successor.We might say that the Lord could not use a discouraged man.Let me ask, How many empires have been builtby discouraged men ? How many converts have beenwon by discouraged Christians? How much effectiveteaching is done by discouraged Christian workers?Therefore, to look for and find encouragement fromthe Lord for the Kingdom business is vitally important to the progress of the Kingdom. It is a duty todevelop and seek to cultivate an encouraged spirit.Why we should encourage the flock should beobvious. Now, how to encourage the flock? First itis necessary to set an example of encouragement. Afarmer's small son, having in his possession a coupleof bantam hens, which laid very small eggs, suddenlyhit on a plan. Going the next morning to the fowlrun,his father was surprised to find an ostrich egg suspended from one of the beams, and above it a cardwith the words, "Keep your eye on this and do yourbest."The church leader is setting the example beforethe flock of what he might expect of them. We willnever succeed in encouraging others as long as weshow a discouraged countenance or talk with disheartened expressions. Discouragement as well asenthusiasm is very contagious.Of course it is not easy for any of us always toshow an encouraged spirit. We may want to, butthings do get us down. In all this it is important toremember that we cannot count on appearances togive us that encouragement. "The story is told of awoman Who had a rare rosebush. She worked over itfor weeks, but saw no result of her labor. One dayshe observed a crevice in the wall near the bush andnoticed a small shoot of the bush running throughthe crevice. She went to the other side of the walland there she found her rose blooming in splendidbeautyand her labor rewarded. Some of us have towork year after year, seeing little if any result, andthe message comes not only from this rosebush butfrom God, 'Work Do not be discouraged. Yourwork is blooming on the other side. There is no suchthing as wasted time or labor in the service of God."In order to keep up the courage of others, wemust keep up our own. Here is the way one personCOVENANTER WITNESS