Encourage And Build Up One Another

Introduction

Our main text this evening is going to be from the book of 1 Thessalonians, but we’re going to start in the book of Acts. So if you want to turn in your Bibles to the book of Acts, we’ll begin there, and then we’ll make our way over to 1 Thessalonians again. Good to see so many out this evening, and so many who have been able to come out for the majority of the services. You certainly encourage me, particularly for those who listened to me for ten years and the fact you came this week anyway. That’s awfully kind of you. I’m not going to say the lessons are any better, but at least I can tell you I’ve never preached these particular lessons here before, so you’re not getting repeats.

At least I’m pretty confident of that.

And of course, Acts chapter 16 begins Paul’s second missionary journey. And you may remember reading there that shortly after Timothy has joined Paul, that Paul tries to make his way into the province of Asia, and the Lord reveals to him that no, this is not where Paul is to go. And so he travels around a little bit more and tries to make his way into the region of Bithynia, and again, the Lord says, No, this is not where I want you to go. So while at the city of Troaz in a dream, he sees this man from Macedonia saying to Paul to come over. That they need help. And so Paul knows this is the Lord calling him to go into new territory with the gospel.

So of course, he crosses the sea, makes his way to the city of Philippi. We’re aware of the encounters that he has there in the city of Philippi in chapter 16, first with Lydia and her household, and then, of course, having been thrown into prison, then converting the jailer and his family. Well, the text continues as you go into chapter 17. And now Paul has made his way to the city of Thessalonica. And this is no small city. The city of Thessalonica was situated on major trade routes. It was a coastal city, and so it was this large, thriving metropolis, but it also has an interesting history. Some of you are aware of some of the Roman civil wars that happened after the assassination of Julius Caesar.

And it just so happened that the city of Thessalonica had properly aligned itself with the forces of Octavius Caesar, or who would be known as Octavius Caesar. And so, because of that, Thessalonica had bestowed upon them the status of free city. Quite an honor in the Roman Empire for a city which was made up of Greeks and yet is referred to as a free city. Well, Paul makes his way to this city of Thessalonica. And he begins reading there in chapter 17 how he spends three weeks reasoning with the Jews in the synagogues and trying to convince them from the scriptures, as it says in verse 3, that this Jesus whom I proclaimed to you is the Christ, in fact, even giving evidence of his suffering and his resurrection from the dead.

And you continue to read in that passage how many began to listen to Paul. But then in a pattern which over which plays itself out time and again in the ministry of Paul, there is opposition. Verse 5, the Jews becoming jealous. And taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar and attacking the house of Jason. They were seeking to bring them out to the people. And when they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, These men who have upset the world have come here also. And Jason has welcomed them. And they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus. And they stirred up the crowd in the city authorities who heard these things.

And again, you understand a little bit about the city of Thessalonica and how important it was to the identity and to the prosperity of the city that they were aligned with Rome. Now here is this man who is proclaiming a king who is not Caesar. And so the Jews used this against Paul and against the saints there in Thessalonica. And so it’s for that reason that after a relatively short period of time, we don’t know exactly how long Paul was in Thessalonica. It would seem, though, that given that the three weeks are really the only time period mentioned, he was in the city for a very short period of time, and he has to leave that place.

And it is likely from the city of Corinth that Paul pins his first letter to the Thessalonians. When you read 1 Thessalonians, you see that the conflict that the Thessalonian Christians were undergoing is heavy on the mind of Paul. Chapter 1 and verse 6. He says to these saints in Thessalonica, you also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Again, in the second chapter in verse 14, you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hand of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews. Again, the third chapter, now in beginning in verse 2, Paul speaking of how after he had left and he’d made his way to Athens, he said, We sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith, so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions.

For you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. For indeed, when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction, and so it came to pass as you know.

So that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. And it would seem, anyway, the best knowledge that we have, given the relatively short existence of the church in Thessalonica, that those who were asleep, those who had died, and maybe even died because of their faith. They had been martyred in the cause of Christ. And it’s against that backdrop. Paul having seen firsthand the persecution that these Thessalonian saints would endure. Paul being forced to leave the city because of that persecution, and Paul very much having on his mind the conflict that these saints continue to undergo, encourages them in the fifth chapter in verse 11 to encourage one another and build up one another. And so, in the context of 1 Thessalonians this evening, we want to look a little bit more about that statement and to see what it means for us as we are seeking to be devoted to one another, to encourage and to build up each other in our faith as well.

Well, a few points.

1. Paul Encouraged Even in His Own Struggles

Paul had always had on his heart and his mind to encourage these saints. Going back once more to the second chapter, he reminds these saints of his previous work with them while he was there. And so he says in verse 9 of the second chapter, you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaim to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behave towards you believers, just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children. Paul’s reminding us, you remember what we were like when we were there with you.

You remember the toil which we took upon ourselves to make sure that we were no burden to you. And you recall how, like our own children, we were seeking to exhort and encourage you all along. Paul’s no longer there. But he’s still trying to encourage them. He writes this letter for that purpose. You read again in verse, I’m sorry, in chapter 3, beginning in verse 2, that Timothy had been sent. And Paul’s whole purpose in sending Timothy was to again encourage these saints, to exhort them to continue in the ways of God. But here’s the interesting thing. What’s going on in the life of Paul at this time? Go back once more to the book of Acts. And again, it would seem that most likely Paul is writing this letter from the city of Corinth relatively soon having, after having departed from the city of Thessalonica.

And you may remember some of Paul’s work there in Corinth, that is there that he meets Aquila and Priscilla, and he engages in commerce with them and building tents, but he’s also preaching the gospel. And you read in verse 5 that when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, that Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. You have much the same pattern going on in Paul’s work here in Carnath that’s happened in other places. He’s preaching, he’s teaching, and people are beginning to listen. But what else happens? Almost every place Paul goes, when people begin to listen, then there’s opposition, then there’s persecution, then there are stonings, there’s jailings, there’s all kinds of horrors that follow.

Verse 6. When they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, Your blood be on your own heads. I am clean. From now on, I’ll go to the Gentiles. And he left there and went to the house of a man named Tideus Justice, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, when they heard, were believing and being baptized. And then in verse 9, you read this. And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, do not be afraid any longer. But go on speaking and do not be silent. For I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.

What does that imply if the Lord has to tell Paul in a vision, don’t be afraid? Implies to me that he’s been afraid. That’s actually the message when you read Joshua chapter 1, and I have no interest whatsoever in besmirching the character of Joshua. I happen to like the guy’s name. What does the Lord say to Joshua over and over again in Joshua chapter 1? Be strong and courageous. Well, that tells me that Joshua wasn’t feeling very strong. Nor was he feeling very courageous in the moment. What it says to us when the Lord has to appear to Paul in the vision and say, Do not be afraid. Well, he’s very much afraid. And what is he afraid of? The Lord has to say, don’t fear any man.

No man is going to harm you because I have many people in this city. Well, Paul’s experienced everywhere he has been that when people begin to listen, some man or some men are going to come and they’re going to harm me. But the Lord says, no, don’t you worry about that. I want you to go on preaching and teaching because I have many people in this city. You continue to reading, and there certainly are going to be some attempts, even in the city of Corinth, and yet Paul is kept safe. Here’s the point. Paul is not in the best frame of mind. It’s not as if everything in the life of Paul is just roses. And there’s no problems whatsoever. No, Paul’s having some struggles. Paul’s even struggling within about how am I going to continue to do this work, knowing the Jews are going to be after me and they’re going to be after me soon.

And yet, what does Paul do at the same time?

I sure am worried about my brethren up in Thessalonica. I sure hope they’re doing okay. I better make sure that they get some encouragement. I’ll send Timothy. And I’m going to take some time and I’m going to write to them. And to make sure they’re okay, see if I can encourage them and exhort them. Not only that, when Paul gives this statement to them in chapter 5 and verse 11 to encourage one another and to build up one another.

I am aware. I understand. I know the trials and the tribulations that you’re undergoing right now. So here’s what I want you to do. I want you to spend the time encouraging and building up one another. What are we prone to do in times of trial and temptation?

We kind of hunker down, internalize everything, get very inward focused. We get consumed with our own problems. We get consumed with everything that’s going on to us. And I understand it. Paul is saying to these saints in Thessalonica, you don’t have any problems. He recognizes the problems are real. The problems are severe. But he’s encouraged them as well. You take this time and encourage one another. And it may even be sometimes that when we recognize that here’s a brother or sister that’s trying to encourage me, and I know the things that are going on in their life, it may very well be the fact that I understand that they have their own trials, their own tribulations, and yet they are still trying to encourage me, that that may encourage me more than anything else to begin with.

2. Encouragement Is Exhorting to Excel Still More

You and I have a role. Regardless of what’s going on in our lives. We have a role, an opportunity, and a responsibility to try to encourage and to build up one another, even though we ourselves might be in need of a little bit of encouragement. But what are we trying to encourage each other to do? You look up in your Greek grammars, which I don’t do very often because I don’t understand the language anyway, but I am aware that the word here can have a couple of different connotations. And I believe Paul uses it in both senses in the book of 1 Thessalonians. When you talk about encouraging someone that you are in fact exhorting and trying to build up their courage to prompt them forward in action.

Well, that’s part of the reason why Paul is trying to encourage them. Well, what’s he encouraging them to do? Go back once more to 1 Thessalonians. Now let’s go back to the fourth chapter. I’m going to read a few verses here. We’re going to read the first 12 verses here. But as I read them, I want you to keep in your mind, what kind of people is Paul talking to? And what is going on in the lives of these people? First off, remember, these are relatively new Christians. Secondly, these are Christians that are being persecuted. They are suffering for their faith. Okay? So you think about that. And Paul, he’s only writing five chapters, so that’s not one of the Paul’s longest books. But Paul is trying to write to encourage them.

So what kind of things would you write if you’re writing to Christians who are relatively new and are going through trials and tribulations? What would you write? Most of us, and I understand it because Paul does some of it here. Most of us would spend 99% of the letter saying, it’s going to be okay. It’s going to be okay. You just hang on. It’s going to be okay. Chapter 4. Finally, then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that as you receive from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God, just as you actually do walk, that you excel still more. For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification.

That is that you abstain from sexual immorality. That each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor. Not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God. And that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. So he who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who gives his Holy Spirit to you. Now it’s the love of the brethren. You have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. For indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia.

But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need. Did you notice that phrase repeated there twice? That you excel still more. Excel still more in what, Paul? Sexual morality. That you abstain from sexual sin, that you keep yourself pure, and that you excel in loving each other. And again, this is being written to Christians who are suffering. But what’s the purpose of encouragement? That we excel in the things that God wants us to be. So we go back to what we mentioned last night. It can hurt pretty bad to be loved so much by God.

That God who loves me wants me to excel in these things, even when we might say conditions are not optimal. But yet Paul has these things on his mind as he’s writing to saints who are suffering and are suffering simply for the reason they call themselves followers of Christ. Perhaps Paul has in his mind what the Lord, of course, has said in his famous parable of the sower in Matthew the 13th chapter. You remember when he’s describing those soils in verses 20 and 21, and he refers to that rocky ground. What happens? Here is seed that’s sown on rocky ground and it immediately springs up with joy having heard the word of God, and yet when trials and tribulations come, it withers away. What do trials and tribulations tempt us to do?

Don’t be too serious about your faith right now. Things are hard right now. So let’s not be too serious about that. Let’s back off a little bit. And when things ease up, when things get a little bit better, then we can begin to pursue the things God wants to pursue again. Then we can excel in those things like sexual purity and loving others and conducting ourselves in the right manner toward outside. When this trial ends, when the hard time ends, then we’re really going to get serious about our faith and we’re going to be on fire for God, but we just got to get through this spot. It doesn’t work that way. Satan uses that spot, and that spot just kind of continues. One trial may end, but then there’s going to be another one.

There’s going to be a tribulation, and before you know it, we’re not serious about our faith anymore at all. Paul says, I want you to excel. And I want you to excel more than you even have up to this point. What’s our purpose in encouraging one another? Now, there’s always a place to encourage each other to be reminded that it is going to be okay. We’re going to come to that here in just a minute. But that’s not all that encouragement is. It’s not just a matter of reassuring each other that, you know, everything’s going to be okay. No, encouragement is exhorting each other. Exhorting each other to follow God closer. To turn this trial and this tribulation into a reminder that I need to be more serious about my relationship with God.

3. Encouragement Is Giving Comfort: It’s Going to Be Okay

That whatever it may be within our society that is causing us to be a little bit less serious about our faith that we know, we go the opposite way. We become more serious about this. We become more serious about purity in a sin-sick society. We become more serious about being devoted to one another in a very cynical world in which most people are just looking out for themselves. No, we go the other way. We encourage each other to excel still the more. What is it that really encourages? The other idea behind encouragement, there’s the idea of exhorting. But the other idea behind encouragement is giving comfort. In fact, even in your in your New Testament here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. In the last verse, it says in verse 18, therefore comfort one another with these words.

That’s the same word is translated as encourage in chapter 5 and verse 11. So again, encourage can mean exhorting each other to a closer walk with God, to being more serious about his word and his commands. And it can also have this idea of giving comfort to one another. Well, what is it that actually comforts? The response that most of us want to give is that it’s going to be okay. And that’s going to be true in one way. We’ll look at that here in just a minute. But oftentimes how that comes across is, oh, you’re sick, it’s going to be okay. Oh, you had a hard time at work or you lost your job. It’s going to be okay. And the vibe that oftentimes we give off is, oh, you’re sick?

Well, we’re going to pray about that a lot, and that cancer, gone. Don’t you worry. It’s going to be okay. And I hate that you lost your job, but you know what? A lot of us have a little bit of Joel Osteen in us, and we’re just going to pray about that, and we’re just sure God’s going to give you a better job. It’s going to be okay. I understand why we say that. I understand why I’ve said those things. I want the person to not be cast down. I want the person to have some hope. I want them to think that, yes, there are better things out there, and there are possibilities out there. So we say it’s going to be okay. That’s not how Paul encourages these brethren.

He does not tell them, you guys, just hang on. Government’s going to change. All the persecution that’s going on against you now, it’ll go away. Don’t you worry about it. Just hang on, and everything’s going to be okay. It’s not what he says. What does he say? Verse 13 of chapter 4. We do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep. So you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you, by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. That is, in essence, Paul saying, it’s going to be okay. But here’s the reason why it’s going to be okay. For even those who are now asleep, the dead in Christ. One day they’re going to rise. And one day when that happens, we’re going to rise with them.

Now that may also mean that there’s a whole lot of days that are just not okay until we get there. There may be a whole lot more of us that are killed for our faith. We may in fact be asleep in Christ. But one day it’s going to be okay. Because he’s going to return. And then those who are asleep, they’re going to rise. And we who are still alive, we’re going to rise too. Then it’s okay.

Now, as to the times and the epics, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, peace and safety, then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness. The day would overtake you like a thief, for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness. So then let us not sleep as others do. But let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.

But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with him.

The Saints and Thessalonians in Thessalonica may have been wondering, may have asked, okay, Paul, we recognize one day those who are asleep, they’re going to rise. We too are going to rise. Well, what about this world that’s been persecuting us? What’s God going to do about that? God’s going to set it right. Destruction is going to come upon them swift and sure. Lord’s going to come like a thief in the night. The world will not be expecting it, and those who have aligned themselves against God and His people, God will take care of them. We, on the other hand, because we’re not of the night, we’re of the day. We’re not out getting drunk at night. We’re awaiting our Lord. We are going to be with Him.

That’s again, Paul’s saying it’s going to be okay. But how? It may not be okay tomorrow. It may not be okay next week or next month or next year. But ultimately it’s going to be okay because God is going to set things right. When you consider the reasons why we suffer, I have lived, I acknowledge somewhat of a charmed existence. I have had supportive people around me my entire life. I have had people around me who have encouraged me in faithfulness my entire life. I am fully aware that my existence and my life is not what everybody else has had. That whereas I have family who have long been faithful in Christ, and I have had brethren throughout my life who have encouraged me, I am well aware there are even those in this audience tonight.

That has not been the case for you. And you have suffered, and you may continue to suffer. Because of people in this world who have no love for God and do not understand or do not care, or in fact, outright antagonistic to the fact that you believe in him. How are we going to encourage them? We tell them one day it’s going to be worth it. It may not feel like it’s worth it today, tomorrow, next week, but one day. Because the Lord will return, and those who are asleep will rise first, and we who are awake are going to go and be with him as well. Then it’s all going to be worth it.

Whether it be illness, whether it be some particular onslaught of Satan, as we have been battling against temptation and battling against the devices of Satan, and yet we find ourselves continually being surrounded by temptation and struggle and trial. Or maybe it is just that we look out in this world and we see a sick, sick place. Why is it going to be okay? Well, it’s not because I’m just going to wake up tomorrow, and whatever illness I have is just going to magically disappear. And it’s not because that just one day Satan just left me alone, never to return again. And it’s certainly not going to be because men have finally gotten their act together, finally put the right people in Washington or Tallahassee or wherever it is, and finally we’ve got men who now they see the problems in our society and they’re going to fix it all.

And when he returns, everything that is amiss is set right.

No longer present where God is. And all the things that have happened in this world. And by the way, we who magnify the love of God and rejoice in the love of God, we are also those who ought to rejoice and magnify the justice of God. Because for all the things we look out in our world, and for every shooting in Parkland, there are infinitely more awful, terrible things that are happening in our very communities that go unreported and unknown to the world. Who’s going to set those things right? Who here in this audience is going to go and cure the ills in your community? It’s too big for me. It’s too big for you. But one day, God sets everything right. A just God sets all things right.

And that’s when it’s going to be all okay.

Not false hope. Hope in the Lord. And assurance that He will return.

Conclusion

That encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. And I very much believe that would be the apostle’s words to us even this evening. As we seek to encourage one another and build each other up, to continue in that and to do so all the more. We end this evening with an invitation. That our Lord is one day going to make all things right. And the only thing that will matter in that day is our status in the Lord. We offer an invitation for you to be found in the Lord this evening. An invitation that you will have assurance throughout the rest of your life, regardless of what happens in your life, that because you’re in the Lord, everything ultimately is going to be just fine.

And in fact, more than just fine. Everything is going to work out in our favor. For we will one day be reunited with him. And all the ills that beset us here will be no more. Would you believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God? Would you repent of your wrongs, be baptized, to have your sins forgiven, to be found in Christ tonight? If so, won’t you come, even now as we stand and as we sing?