Encouragement I. Introduction A. Hebrews 10:24-25 B. We often speak of encouragement and the need to encourage and be encouraged C. We speak of the assemblies as opportunities for us to encourage one another D. We speak of encouraging one another outside of the assemblies E. But what is this "encouragement"? 1. What is encouragement? 2. Why is encouragement so necessary? 3. How do we encourage one another? F. Let us consider this matter today II. What is Encouragement? A. The New Testament speaks of similar concepts: encouragement and edification B. Encouragement: "The act of giving courage, or confidence of success; incitement to action or to practice; incentive" (Webster's) C. Edification: "A building up, in a moral and religious sense; instruction; improvement and progress of the mind, in knowledge, in morals, or in faith and holiness" (Webster's) D. Greek parakaleo: to address, speak to, (call to, call upon), which may be done in the way of exhortation, entreaty, comfort, instruction, etc.; to admonish, exhort; to beg, entreat, beseech; to strive to appease by entreaty; to console, to encourage and strengthen by consolation, to comfort; to receive consolation, be comforted; to encourage, strengthen; exhorting and comforting and encouraging; to instruct, teach (Thayer's) E. Greek oikodomeo: to build; to found, establish; to promote growth in Christian wisdom, affection, grace, virtue, holiness, blessedness; to grow in wisdom and piety (Thayer's) F. Encouragement and edification, therefore, surround the idea of instilling courage in one another and building each other up 1. This is often done by word 2. It can involve comfort or exhortation 3. It is inherently constructive G. The Scriptures often speak of these matters H. Encouragement / parakaleo 1. Acts 14:22 2. 2 Corinthians 1:4, 7:13, 10:1 3. 1 Thessalonians 4:1, 4:18, 5:14 4. Titus 2:6, 2:15 5. Hebrews 3:13, 10:25 6. 1 Peter 2:11 6. Jude 1:3 I. Edification /oikeodomeo 1. Acts 9:31 2. 1 Corinthians 8:1, 10:23, 14:17 3. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 J. We can see, therefore, the many facets of encouragement and exhortation K. Why, then, is encouragement so necessary? III. The Necessity of Encouragement A. Encouraging one another and building one another up, therefore, are commands of God that we ought to observe B. Nevertheless, why does God require us to encourage one another? C. Encouragement and edification are required by virtue of the nature of Christianity D. Christianity represents a "volunteer" setup 1. God does not force or coerce anyone to do anything! 2. God indeed calls people to Himself, but does expect people to come to Him (James 4:8) 3. While God will sit in judgment on the last day (Acts 17:30), Christians have no authority to force or coerce any other Christian to do anything! 4. There are no "grades" in the church, there is no "monetary incentive" or any other such thing 5. Christians voluntarily take on the call of being God's people E. In short, the types of compulsion that exists in the world in other situations do not exist in the local church 1. If someone does not study for Bible class, it is not as if their grade can be lowered 2. If someone is negligent in their spiritual responsibilities, it is not as if their pay can be docked 3. Sure, it is possible to disassociate from someone who acts immorally or teaches error (1 Corinthians 5, Romans 16:17-18), but that does not, per se, force anyone to do anything F. Christians, therefore, are to serve God out of their own desire, and not by any form of force! G. Compulsion, coercion, or other such tactics, therefore, cannot work H. That is why there is encouragement and edification-- that is the way established by God for Christians to work with one another so that all may be found pleasing to God! 1. If someone does not study for Bible class, we can encourage them to do so 2. If someone is lax in spiritual responsibilities, we can encourage them to be faithful 3. If someone is having difficulties, we can strive to build them up I. While such may require some exhortation to good conduct, encouragement is to be overwhelmingly positive 1. Philippians 4:8 2. One cannot easily build up by tearing down! 3. Hence, Hebrews 3:12-14 4. Colossians 4:6-- need to have properly seasoned words 5. Yes, sometimes one must take down false structures in order to raise up proper and godly ones, but such things must always be done in the proper spirit of love with the goal of building up in the faith! J. Thus we see why encouragement is necessary! IV. How to Encourage A. How, then, can we work to encourage one another and build one another up? B. Encouragement comes often through joint participation in Christianity! 1. Being with one another 2. Speaking with one another 3. Getting to know one another and know what each other needs C. This is done often in the assembly (Hebrews 10:24-25) 1. Acts 14:22 2. Regular times of assembly give us many opportunities to get together and be with one another 3. Joint participation in the Lord's Supper, singing, praying (1 Corinthians 10:16-17, 1 Corinthians 14:16-17, Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16) 4. If one is not assembling, one is not able to take advantage of this encouragement! 5. Furthermore, if one is not assembling, one is hindering the rest from receiving the encouragement gained from one's presence and participation! D. This is often done also outside of the assembly 1. 1 Peter 4:9, Galatians 6:1-2 2. Such things cannot be expected to occur if brethren only see each other in the assembly! 3. We can gain much encouragement from each other from social association, home Bible studies, and brethren simply getting together to do various things! E. Encouragement can be applied in many ways 1. Discussion, conversation, etc. 2. Mere presence with others 3. Sharing in others' lives at different times, both positive and negative 4. In short, being there for one another through good and bad F. In short, encouragement is derived from Christians being involved in each other's lives in various aspects and ways-- if a Christian is not involved with other Christians, he cannot be the source of encouragement he is charged to be! V. Conclusion A. We have examined encouragement today B. We have seen what it means to encourage and build up, and what Scriptures indicate as much C. We have seen that encouragement is necessary to keep Christians going, and that it is to be mostly positive D. We have seen many ways how we can encourage one another E. Let us strive to always build one another up, and all the more as the Day draws near! F. Invitation/songbook