Encourage One Another

Pastor Jeff

ONE ANOTHER • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

Encouragement

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INTRODUCTION

Image – Family/Sibling Encouragement

Need

I think we’ve all be there, discouraged and despairing, and longing for encouragement from our family. Life is hard. Pain is real. Discouragement will come. Everyone needs encouragement through the peaks and valleys of life. A family should be a place where encouragement flows! I trust many of you grew up in a home where you were loved and encouraged by your family, and yet that’s not always a reality, for many people grow up in a home that not only lacked encouragement but was filled with emotional, physical, and verbal abuse. Encouragement is needed in our biological family and in our church family as well.

Today we return to “The ONE ANOTHER Series” that is teaching us how God has called us to live as a church family. When we open the NT we discover that the church is a family! The church is not a building but a body of believers, the new covenant community of the Spirit, people who have been reconciled to God and to one another. Our faith in Jesus Christ unites us with other believers and we are brought together to be God’s family. Are you a member of God’s family by faith or merely a church attender? Everyone who has trusted in Jesus as their Lord and Savior are members of this family—it’s a really large family in that we are brothers and sisters in Christ with every believer around the world—and yet we are a local family of believers who assemble as Monument Bible Church in order to worship God, encourage one another, and fulfill our divine mission of developing dedicated followers of Jesus Christ who worship, grow, love, and share all for the glory of God.

Since we’re a family, it’s vital for us treat one another as family and it’s essential for us to live out our responsibilities to one another as members of a family. Each week we’ve looked at a specific “one another” passage in the NT. different “one another” passages in the NT that reveals how to live as a church family. Let’s review (Quiz time)

· Love One Another

· Forgive One Another

· Serve One Another

· Comfort One Another

· Be devoted to One Another

· Pray for One Another (“Family Prayer Guide” with names – how are you doing?!)

· Encourage One Another

Everyone needs encouragement in their life. The Scriptures contain countless examples of people who encouraged someone or were encouraged by someone—in the OT we read about King Hezekiah encouraged the nation of Israel to be “strong and courageous in the threat of war” (), King Josiah encouraged the priests (), and Nehemiah encouraged the people of Israel to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem—and in the NT reveals that Judas & Silas “said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers” (), Tychicus was sent to the Christians in Ephesus to encourage them ( & ), Timothy was sent to “strengthen and encourage” the believers in their faith (), and we can’t forget about Barnabas who was called “The Son of Encouragement”(). The Bible is loaded with examples of personal encouragement in the life of God’s people. We should follow in their footsteps and be a church family that is committed to encouraging one another.

Preview

Today we’re going to conclude our summer ONE ANOTHER series with the call to Encourage ONE ANOTHER. We’re going to review the Biblical definitions of “encouragement” and then turn our focus to three truths about “Living a Life of Mutual Encouragement” from .

I) REVIEWING THE MEANING OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Let’s begin by reviewing how the Bible defines encouragement in the NT. A few weeks ago we considered several Greek words that are translated “encourage” and “comfort” in our English bibles when we addressed the call to “Comfort ONE ANOTHER.” We have a lot of different ideas about what it means to encourage one another as a family—“cheer someone up,” “build someone up,” “make someone smile,” “cheer someone on” (Cross country race), or “lift someone’s spirits.” Let’s review three of the Greek words for encouragement found in the NT in order to have a clear definition of encouragement.

1) Encourage (parakaleo) – “Parakaleo” is the most commonly used word for encouragement in the NT. Encouragement means “to come alongside someone to urge, exhort, comfort, or help someone verbally or non-verbally. The Holy Spirit is called “Parakaletos”—the “Counselor,” Helper,” or “Comforter” who would reside within us and be with us forever

2) Comfort (paramutheomai) – Encouragement also speaks of coming alongside to console. Therefore “comforting” and “consoling” the discouraged, weak, hurt, & fainthearted ( & 5:14) is a form of encouragement.

3) Build up (oikodomeo) – The Greek word “oikodomeo” means “to erect or construct.” Therefore “to come alongside to “build” one another up ( & ) is another form of encouragement. We can encourage one another by building each other up verbally (). I can use my words to encourage you (build you up) or discourage you (tear you down).

With that as a backdrop, if you have your Bible (and I hope you do) please turn to the book of Hebrews. If you don’t have a Bible, there is one in the pew, feel free to use that to follow along as we listen to God speak to us through His word. Today we turn to to consider life-changing truth about “Encouraging One Another” as a church family. (Read )

II) LIVING A LIFE OF MUTUAL ENCOURAGEMENT ()

highlights two incredible privileges Christians have because of Jesus’ sacrifice—Unhindered Access to God and the ministry of a Great High Priest (10:19-21)—and the response to those incredible privileges (10:22-25).

~ Live a life of unhindered communion with God - “Let us Draw Near” (10:22)

~ Live a life of unwavering perseverance – “Let us Hold Fast to your confession” (10:23)

~ Live a life of mutual encouragement - “Let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds and let us not stop meeting together but encourage one another” (10:24-25)

Our focus this morning is on the call to live a life of mutual encouragement in the family of God in ). We find the call for “Mutual Encouragement in the Family of God” in two ONE ANOTHER statements. We learn three vital truths about living a life of mutual encouragement in the family of God in .

1) We must think about how to mutually encourage one another (10:24)

First, We must intentionally think about how to mutually encourage ONE ANOTHER. Mutual encouragement in the family of God requires careful consideration. We find this truth highlighted in —“Let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds” (10:24)—the exhortation invites us to carefully “consider” how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. We’re invited to literally “take thought,” “take notice,” to pay attention to,” and “consider closely” the various ways we can spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

We must carefully consider all the ways (“how”) we can “spur” one another on to a life of love and good deeds. When I hear the word “spur” I think of cowboy on horseback with “spurs” on his boots used to “goad” the horse to get moving. This word in the Greek text is typically used for intense emotion (mostly anger) but in this context it’s used positively and means to provoke (positively), and to stir up one another to live a life of love and doing good deeds—it’s the act of positively stimulating one another to exhibiting love and doing good deeds as followers of Jesus. The spurring on of one another to love and good deeds is an expression of mutual encouragement. Like the rider of the horse that uses “spurs” to provoke the horse to move we’re called to spur one another on to expressing love and doing good deeds.

This expression of mutual encouragement (spurring one another on to love and good deeds) doesn’t happen by accident or automatically. Remember the opening invitation—“Let us consider how to spur one another to love and good deeds”—mutual encouragement requires careful consideration from every member of the family.

Application

Have you carefully considered “how” you can spur one another to love and good deeds? Really?! Are you giving intentional thought to the variety of ways you can motivate a brother or sister in Christ to love and good deeds? Will you invest time pondering how you will provoke your fellow believers to a life of love and good deeds?

1) Set aside time to think about how to spur on your brothers and sisters! – I know this sounds crazy for some of you. Life is busy. Life is hectic. You’re going 80 mph in your household. I get it. I know there are some seasons that are busier than others. Nonetheless, you control your own calendar and can make time if it’s important to you. I hope it’s important to you to set aside time to “carefully consider” how to spur on your brothers and sisters because it’s important to God. His word calls us to do it. Are we goin to actually do it? Set aside some time (15 minutes) this week to “carefully consider” how you will spur on others in this family. It won’t happen if you don’t invest the time and aren’t intentional with you thinking. Ask the HS to guide your thinking. I know this

2) Put your thoughts on paper! – Make a list of the different ways you can spur (provoke) on your fellow believers to live a life of love and good deeds.

· Hug

· Card

· Text

· FB message

· Invite them to join you in doing a good work

· Gift

· Prayer

· Joke

· Meal

· Other ______________

The only limit to this list is how much time we invest giving careful consideration to the ways we can mutually encourage ONE ANOTHER. If you spend time giving thought to the ways you can encourage someone your list will grow.

3) Do it! – Live out the Nike slogan – “Just do it.” Think about the ways to spur someone on, look at the list of the ways you can spur on someone in the family, and then go put it into action!

Mutual encouragement in the family of God requires thoughtful consideration. The thoughtful consideration of how to spur one another toward love and good deeds is a vital aspect of mutual encouragement.

2) We must meet together to mutually encourage one another (10:25)

Secondly, We must meet together to encourage one another. We find this truth in the second “ONE ANOTHER in —“Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing but encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching”—notice the connection between “meeting together” and “encouraging one another.”

We find a two-fold invitation that highlights the importance of meeting together so that we can encourage one another. The first invitation addresses the temptation to stop meeting together as believers—“Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing (10:25a)—this exhortation reveals that there were many Jewish Christians in the first century that had got into the habit (custom or constant behavior) of not meeting together. There were some Jewish Christians that withdrew from Christian gatherings. The motivation to stop meeting with their fellow believers was driven by fear of persecution (disowned, property taken, beaten, imprisoned, and death), the delay of Jesus’ return had caused discouragement and despair, maintaining their connections and attendance at the synagogue, and possibly apathy.

In the second invitation the invitation to not give up meeting together is followed by the invitation to “encourage one another.” Instead of giving up on meeting together, the Hebrew Christians were exhorted to “encourage one another.” The Jewish Christians must keep meeting together so they could come alongside one another to offer “verbal and non-verbal encouragement and comfort. The connection of both invitations highlights the importance of meeting together for mutual encouragement. The Jewish Christians were afraid, discouraged, and in despair as they waited for Jesus’ return—all the more reason to meet together for mutual encouragement of one another in the faith—giving up on meeting together would only put them at risk for greater discouragement, despair, and defeat.

We must meet together to encourage one another. It’s vital for us to meet together for mutual encouragement. Certainly, encouragement can happen from a distance. You can encourage someone across the world with a letter or Skype call—but how much better would it be to get on a plane and go encourage them in person and be encouraged by them as well. Mutual encouragement is most effective when we are face to face. There is something special about “face-to-face” encouragement. We see two examples in the NT that highlight/stress the impact and importance of the mutual encouragement that only happens when we’re together. Why should we be committed to meeting together to encourage one another?

First, we’re mutually encouraged by simply being together. Take your Bible and turn to . Look at the mutual encouragement that comes from being reunited with someone highlighted in . Read Paul proclaimed God’s encouragement of the downhearted through the arrival of Titus (7:6-7)—Titus’ personal visit brought Paul and his companions great encouragement—they were comforted by Titus’ presence and the news that he brought about the Corinthian’s longing, sorrow, and concern for Paul. Titus was able to encourage Paul simply through his “face-to-face” presence—he was able to hug him and hear about the Corinthians concern for him—and Titus also received encouragement from the Corinthians who refreshed his spirit (7:13). Thus the importance of meeting together for encouragement—sometimes it’s just the presence of being together that gives us great encouragement (that’s why I’ve heard many of you look forward to being together on Sunday morning)—for when we’re together we can refresh one another’s spirit. Thus we need to keep meeting together because we are mutually encouraged simply by our presence/being together. Being together brings mutual encouragement in the family of God.

Secondly, being together gives us the opportunity to be mutually encouraged by our faith. . . Take you Bible and turn to . . (Read ). Paul informed the Romans that he was praying for the opportunity to come and visit them in person. Paul revealed his desire to see them face to face—“I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong, that is that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith”—for he had been hindered in previous attempts to visit them but was earnestly praying that he would be able to see them face-to-face.

Paul revealed “why” he wanted to be with them in person. First, he longed to come visit them in order to “impart” some spiritual gift to the Christians that would strengthen them. Paul wanted to come so that he could “share” a gift with them—the gift would be a spiritual blessing or insight that would serve to strengthen their faith—Paul longed to visit them so they could receive blessing that would strengthen them as believers. Paul went on to clarify his intent, he didn’t want to leave the impression that face to face meeting would be one-sided, as if he’s the Apostle who would come to give them a blessing and that had nothing to offer him. Paul clarified that he longed to visit them in person to be a blessing to them, but in the end the ultimate goal was a mutual encouragement of one another by their faith.” Paul wasn’t a prideful apostle that blessed others but did not need encouragement from others. Paul declared “I will encourage you by my faith and you will encourage me by your faith.” Paul proclaimed the hope of being together face-to-face in order to be mutually encouraged (comforted) by their mutual faith. Paul was declaring the importance of meeting together so they could be mutually encouraged by one another’s faith. “My faith will comfort you and your faith will comfort me.” Paul wasn’t too proud as a great missionary and apostle to think that he couldn’t be or didn’t need to be encouraged by the faith of the Roman believers as well.

· Calvin - “Note how modestly he expresses what he feels by not refusing to seek strengthening from inexperienced beginners. He means what he says, too, for there is none so void of gifts in the Church of Christ who cannot in some measure contribute to our spiritual progress. Ill will and pride, however, prevent our deriving a benefit from one another.”

Paul longed to see the Christians in Rome face-to-face in order to enjoy the mutual encouragement of their faith. We must meet together in order to be mutually encouraged by one another’s faith.

Application

We must meet together to encourage one another. Like the Jewish Christians in the first century, we must remain committed to meeting together for mutual encouragement. The Christian life is a life lived in community.

· John Wesley -

There are several reasons we meet together as believers—to worship God together, to serve God together, for fellowship (sharing our lives), and to encourage one another. It’s difficult to encourage others and be encouraged by others in isolation. The opportunity to spur one another on to love and good deeds” and “encourage one another” is vastly limited when we aren’t together. “Face-to-face” encouragement is so important.

We are mutually encouraged by simply being together. There is so much mutual encouragement that simply comes from being in one another’s presence. Our hearts are refreshed by simply being in one another’s presence—the hugs of encouragement, the words of encouragement, and the prayers of encouragement that take place when we’re “face-to-face”—which is why we invest 5 minutes of our worship service each week to “greeting time.”

We must meet together to encourage one another by our faith. We are all at various maturity levels in our faith. A new believer needs to be encouraged by the faith of a seasoned believer and the seasoned believer can be encouraged by the faith of a new believer. The immature Christian needs to be encouraged by the faith of a mature Christian and vice versa. The mature Christian needs to be encouraged by the faith of an immature Christian. We are called to mutually encourage one another by our faith. I’ve got a gift to give you that would be a blessing in your faith and you’ve got a gift to give me that would be a blessing in my faith. We must be committed to ‘face-to-face” meeting in order to be mutually encouraged by one another’s faith. When we’re together our “faith” can sharpen and build each other up.

Nothing can replace face-to-face encouragement in our family. Being Christ’s Church is about “interdependence”—we are a community and family of believers who need each other—and we are called to a life of encouraging one another when we meet together. We must meet together to encourage one another. Stay committed to meeting together to encourage one another. The “face-to-face” mutual encouragement happens in various gatherings.

· Weekly worship – Our primary purpose is to gather to worship Him; morning of encouragement

· Bible studies – Join a bible study on Sunday morning or during the week where you will grow in the Word and in your relationships with others. In those gatherings there is the opportunity and need for mutual encouragement by our presence and faith.

· Special events – All church events like the recent Fire Pit/movie night at the Kaufman’s and the guys back-packing in the mountains this weekend create opportunities for mutual encouragement by being together and sharpening one another.

Let’s keep meeting together – connecting in different gatherings – to enjoy the blessing of mutual encouragement in this family. Look around, there are many here in need of encouragement, who will you encourage today?!

3) Our mutual encouragement of one another must increase as we await Jesus’ return (10:25)

Finally, “Our mutual encouragement of one another must increase as we await Jesus’ return.” We find this truth in the second half of —“let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (10:25b)—our encouragement must increase more and more leading up to the day of Jesus’ return.

The Jewish Christians were exhorted to “spuring one another on to love and good deeds” (10:24) and to “encourage one another” (10:25)—and this mutual encouragement must continue to a “greater degree” (all the more) as they saw the Day drawing near” (10:25b). Notice the “Day” is capitalized in our English text, highlighting that the believers were seeing a significant day drawing near. The “Day” refers to the final phase of God’s future purpose and plans—specifically the “Day” of Jesus’ return (second coming or day of reckoning)—and the Jewish Christians were reminded of the need for ongoing and additional encouragement of ONE ANOTHER as they saw the day of Jesus’ return coming near. The persecution they were enduring was visible sign that Jesus’ arrival was drawing nearer. All the more reason for the Jewish Christians to increase their encouragement of ONE ANOTHER more and more as the day of Jesus return drew closer with each day.

Application

Our mutual encouragement of ONE ANOTHER must increase as we await Jesus’ return. Like the Jewish Christians we live our lives in anticipation of Jesus’ return. Every day we’re one day closer to His return. In these last days leading up to Jesus’ return, the need for mutual encouragement of ONE ANOTHER must increase not decrease. We’re going to need more encouragement as the day of Jesus draws near.

Life is going to be filled with much sickness and suffering until Jesus returns. Life is going to be filled with persecution and pain until Jesus returns. Life is going to be filled with much trouble, trial, and trouble until Jesus returns. Life is going to be filled with much disappointment, discouragement, despair, and death until Jesus returns. All of this will burden our souls and test our perseverance.

Let’s encourage ONE ANOTHER more and more as we wait for Jesus’ return. Let’s encourage ONE ANOTHER to remain faithful until Jesus returns. Let’s encourage ONE ANOTHER with the hope (promise) of His return—He is faithful—He is coming again to restore all things! Our mutual encouragement of ONE ANOTHER must increase more and more as we await Jesus’ return!

CONCLUSION

Refresh – Encouragement of a family

We have been called to encourage one another as a family. Let’s fulfill our calling as a church family. We can encourage ONE ANOTHER in so many different & creative ways in the days ahead.

1) We must seriously think/consider about how to mutually encourage ONE ANOTHER

2) We must meet together to mutually encourage ONE ANOTHER

3) Our mutual encouragement of ONE ANOTHER must increase as we await Jesus’ return