141130 Knowing Christ

Philippians 3:1-11 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.

² Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. ³ For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— ⁴ though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. ⁷ But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— ¹⁰ that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

The Apostle shows us very clearly the contrast between having confidence in the flesh and having confidence in knowing Christ. As far as the flesh was concerned Paul was born a Jew, of the tribe of Benjamin who was trained as a Pharisee. He was a persecutor of the church and, so far as the law was concerned, he was blameless. Very few people could claim that they have such a high standard. We all need to have the same attitude that the Apostle Paul had. Even though he was very religious, and completely committed to the faith of his fathers, after he met the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus his entire life focus changed. From that point on everything changed!

Paul had worked very hard on becoming a leading Pharisee. He lived and breathed the Old Testament law and the rabbis’ interpretation of it. If any man could think of himself as having arrived there were none better than Paul. Yet in spite of all that…

Paul counted all his achievements worthless. We are told almost nothing about the apostle before he came to Christ. The only blood family members we know anything about is a sister, and a nephew, who is unnamed. Yet, I can imagine that Paul was very special to his family. He was born in the city of Tarsus and probably grew to manhood there. Tarsus would have been a very cosmopolitan city. Anyone born in Tarsus was automatically Roman citizen. It was the capital city of a region called Cilicia. I can imagine that he was chosen by his parents to be the Rabbi in the family. We do know, from his own statement, that Paul came to Jerusalem to study under Gamaliel, a leading Rabbi. Apparently, Paul’s sister and her family lived in Jerusalem where Paul was held by the Romans. When a plot was devised to take Paul and kill him his nephew heard of it and warned the Romans.

Paul was a rising star in Jewish society but he…

Exchanged his credentials for knowing Christ. Turn with me to Jeremiah 9:23-24. Paul would certainly have been familiar with this teaching in Jeremiah. In fact, Paul might have been directly influenced by passages like this in the Old Testament. Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, ²⁴ but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

Paul had written to the Corinthians to say that he had decided to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:2-3) He did not come to them with eloquence and human wisdom. He said that he came to them in fleshly weakness but spiritual power. He gave up all his credentials in order…

To be found in Christ. Turn with me to Ephesians 1:3-14.  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, ⁴ even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸ which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight ⁹ making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ ¹⁰ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

¹¹ In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, ¹² so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. ¹³ In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

This is a long passage of Scripture but “in Him” occurs several times. We have been blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing. Before the world was created, God chose us in Him. God predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ. In Him we have redemption through his blood. In Christ the Father has a plan to unite all things in heaven and on earth. I pray that he soon will come again to earth and establish that unity. In Him we have already obtained an inheritance. In Him we were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Our inheritance is part of that unity found in Him.

We could go on and on citing passages of Scripture that talk about what we have in Christ Jesus. Among the most important things to have is…

To have the righteousness that comes through faith. Turn with me to Romans 1:16-17. Here we find the theme of the book of Romans.  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Paul gave up all his worldly, as well as religous, human achievements after he met Jesus on the Damascus road. Having come to know Christ I am sure he began to restudy the Scripture that were so familiar to him. Now he approached the Bible with a new understanding of what it was all about.

The good news of Jesus Christ that had come to him with such force confirmed to him the words of Habakkuk, “The righteous shall live by faith.” He knew, of course, the words of Isaiah, “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” (Isaiah 64:6) So he understood that in order to know Christ in that special sense of “knowing” that he desired he had to have the righteousness that comes through faith. It is important for us to note that Paul was not urging us to try harder to be righteous in our own strength but instead was urging us to come to a righteousness from God that depends on faith.

It is by grace that we have been saved through faith and that is a gift from God. (Ephesians 2:8-9) We have just observed Thanksgiving. High on our list of things to thank God for should be the fact that he has given us the faith to believe in Him and release His grace in our life. We cannot earn our salvation and we cannot work up any kind of acceptable “righteousness”. We have to receive it from God. In Christ Jesus we have a righteousness that is approved by God. A part of the work that God is doing in our life should spur our desire…

To know the power of His resurrection. Turn with me to 1 Peter 1:3-5. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Apart from the resurrection of Jesus Christ Christianity would be meaningless. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that our faith is futile if Christ has not been raised. (1 Corinthians 15:17) Throughout the New Testament it is affirmed again and again that the power of the resurrection is the key to our salvation. Peter has confirmed that our new birth is through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3) The primary theme of the preaching of the apostles was giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

Paul had put aside everything in his life in order to know Christ. Not just to know about Him but to “know Him”. He knew and understood that nothing he could do in his own strength would give him the joyous relationship that he had acquired by the grace of God.

God had given to Paul the faith to believe and that caused him to be spiritually hungry for the righteousness of God. It is absolutely essential that all of us, along with Paul, experience the power of Jesus’ resurrection.

Jesus had stated that in the world we would have trouble but, He assured us that He had overcome the world. (John 16:33) In order to know his resurrection we will need…

To share His suffering. Turn with me to James 1:2-4. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

One thing for sure — we will face trials and tribulation. This is, in a way, sharing in Jesus’ suffering. After all, we are part of his body here on earth. When a Christian is persecuted for his faith it is Christ who is being persecuted.

When Paul was on the road to Damascus, as reported in Acts 9, he was on his way to arrest everyone there who claimed the name of Christ. He was going after the followers of Jesus.

But Jesus did not ask him why he was persecuting them he said to him, “Saul, Saul why you persecuting ME?” To persecute the church is to persecute Jesus. Across the world today governments and individuals are persecuting Christians. They may think of themselves as dealing with one individual or a group of people but God sees them as persecuting His Son.

The persecutors are on the wrong side of the issue. They are not just hurting believers they are calling God out. The power that raised Christ from the dead and that stopped Paul on the road to Damascus is the power that will confront the opponents of Christ today.

There are many examples throughout history of efforts to wipe out the Christians only to find that there were more, and more of them. It will be true today also! There will be many new believers in Christ Jesus in the world of Islam. In exactly the same way, there became more and more Christians in the Communist dictatorships. I often cite China for example.

Starting in the 1930s the Communist Party began to rise to power. One of the things they did was to attack missionaries and Chinese believers wherever they went. When the entire country fell under the control of the Communists in 1949 it is estimated that there were about 5 million Christians in China. 30 years later, after severe persecution, the Western world was allowed to look behind the “Bamboo Curtain”, as it was called, to the amazement of almost everyone the number of Christians had increased to 50 million or more. The current growth rate of the Christian church in China will cause that country to have more believers than any other country in the world in a few more years.

Today it is the Islamic countries that are trying to destroy the Christian church. In the short term they seem to be winning because everything is being measured by human standards. But we need to remember to factor in the power of the resurrection of Christ released in the world. In the long run God will raise up believers everywhere they are being killed today.

The Voice of the Martyrs reports on things that are happening in Syria today. In one situation the militants entered the church buildings and destroy everything in sight. They burned Bibles, hymnals, and prayer books. They tore down the crosses on the steeples and used the church buildings as sniper positions.

Although the church buildings were severely damaged many Syrian Christians remain hopeful. They know that the church is not a building but rather consists of all who belong to the body of Christ.

One pastor, who has remained there, fatefully travels each week to nearby villages to conduct services for the Christians there. The other church leaders that were there have either been killed or driven out by the Islamic State militants. This pastor’s wife recently said, “Our family is in danger, but we serve a mighty God.” There are many Christians who have remained behind and continue to bear witness to the Muslim neighbors. One Muslim, in Syria, was heard to say, “If this is what Islam is I don’t want to be a Muslim.” When he observed the Islamists and their cruelty.

Paul was wanting to gain Christ, and be found in Christ’s righteousness, and come to know the power of his resurrection. He came to know that such knowledge would result in…

Becoming like Him in His death. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 4:8-11. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰ always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. ¹¹ For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. ¹² So death is at work in us, but life in you.

Paul is not talking about our being crucified like Jesus was. He’s talking about us following Christ into deadly persecution. I can hardly imagine what the Apostle Paul’s body looked like by the time he came to the end of his life. Use your imagination. In 2 Corinthians 11:23, and following, we find Paul saying he had been beaten so many times he couldn’t count them. He was often near death. Five times he was beaten with 39 lashes of a whip. Three times he was beaten with rods. One time he was stoned. And the list goes on and on!

When one of His people is afflicted it is Christ who is being afflicted. We need to understand that being united to Jesus means that we are always carrying in our body the death of Jesus. The death of Jesus takes away our wrongdoing and releases life in us. In order for us to be comforted, and therefore qualified to comfort others, we have to first be afflicted. And when we are afflicted we share in His suffering and when that is carried to the extreme we become like Him in his death!

Most of us will never go through the kind of suffering that Paul did. But we need to be ready — the day may come, even here. When we gain Christ we get an entire package that includes suffering and also comfort. Praise God we also gain resurrection power over sin!

Above all things we need to be found in Christ Jesus. Our faith in Him should cause us to value everything in comparison to Christ. Nothing we have in our possession, nothing we have earned by the world’s system, no relationship that we have on earth, is of more value than Jesus Christ. It is absolutely essential that we have His opinion on every part of our life. If Jesus is your Lord then He has the right to direct us in our actions and decisions. Remember, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” If you have made that kind of commitment you need to follow through with baptism and church membership. This could be your day. 

All scripture quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

140615 Oh, to be a Barnabas

Once again we come to Father’s Day. I know, I didn’t preach on mothers or the role of women on Mother’s Day. I just didn’t feel lead in that direction and I struggled with today’s message to be sure it’s supposed to include the role of men. Well first I want to look at Barnabas and see how he lived his life and how It can affect how we, as men, should live our lives. Barnabas was a nickname for a brother named Joseph in the first century church. He was a compassionate person who went out of his way to help others. Because of his concern for others he was chosen by the church to serve as an organizer. Barnabas saw the value in others that was not always seen by other leaders. He was willing to take a stand when necessary.

Barnabas is introduced to us in Acts 4:32-37. Listen while I read. Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. ³³ And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. ³⁴ There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold ³⁵ and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. ³⁶ Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, ³⁷ sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Obviously God was moving in that church in a gracious manner. There was a large number of believers from all walks of life. Quickly those who had property saw the needs around them and began the process of turning their material things into money so that they could meet the needs of others in the fellowship. So far as we know, Barnabas was the first to sell a piece of property and bringing the money to the apostles to meet the needs of others. From this action we know that…

Barnabas was generous. Barnabas was a Levite which meant that he came from the same family as Moses did. We do not know whether he had served as a priest but he might have. I am sure that he was very familiar with Scripture. One of the passages he would have known was Proverbs 19:17. Listen while I read. Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.

Today, we live in an increasingly divided society. Some people are poor because they will not work. Some people are poor because of bad decisions they made, such as, drug addiction or a belief that their existence gives them the right to a certain level of material prosperity. Nonetheless, we have a responsibility — where possible — to help the poor.

One of the ways our church helps the poor is through the thrift store. CORE VALUES is an excellent way to provide a person with the necessary things in life and give them the respect of paying something for it. When there is a flood or a fire the family is given the necessities.

The second half of the verse says that God will repay the generous person. The living Bible translation gives us a stronger view. It goes like this, “When you help the poor you are lending to the Lord—and he pays wonderful interest on your loan!” Many of us think that we have never had the resources to be a lender. However the Bible says that giving to the poor with a generous heart is lending to the Lord. God always pays his debts and is always on time! On HIS time, not necessarily ours! Or, as someone said, “God is never late in meeting our needs. Seldom is he early, but he is never late.”

Through our church’s generosity we have established the thrift store and maintain a food pantry that helps out a number of families. Most of the people that we help are not Christians and therefore we have the opportunity to share the gospel with them.

Not only was Barnabas generous but also…

Barnabas was brave. Listen while I read Acts 9:26-27. This passage is talking about the time when Paul, then known as Saul of Tarsus, had come to Jerusalem after his salvation experience. The people in Jerusalem knew him as the man who held the coats of those who killed Stephen, the first martyr. And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. ²⁷ But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.

When Saul was converted on the Damascus road he was told by Jesus to go into the city of Damascus and wait for instructions. Then a disciple of Jesus in Damascus was told, by Jesus, to go and find Saul and laid hands on him so that he could be healed. Ananias was hesitant because he knew the Saul had come there to arrest him, and others, and take them back to Jerusalem for probable execution. In the same manner the disciples in Jerusalem were afraid of Saul! I believe Barnabas was afraid as well but he was brave. A brave person has courage in the face of fear. We do not know exactly how Barnabas came in contact with Saul, or Paul, we do know what he did when the others were too fearful. Remember, those who were afraid included the Apostles. They ran away from Saul the same way they ran away from Judas and those who were with him on the night that Jesus was arrested. However, Barnabas, a generous man, and a brave man, sought him out and opened the door for him to begin his ministry in Jerusalem. Saul left Jerusalem and went back to his home town of Tarsus because his former friends turned against him because of his salvation experience.

Later, when questions arose about the churches that were being raised up outside Jerusalem someone had to go check the validity of them and…

Barnabas was trustworthy. Listen while I read Acts 11:19-30. This is a longer passage but I believe it is necessary to understand the background. Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. ²⁰ But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. ²¹ And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. ²² The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ²³ When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, ²⁴ for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. ²⁵ So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, ²⁶ and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

²⁷ Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸ And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). ²⁹ So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. ³⁰ And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

The leaders of the church in Jerusalem needed someone they could trust to know whether or not the new churches were sound in their doctrine. They immediately turned to Barnabas and sent him to Antioch. When Barnabas arrived in Antioch and saw the grace of God that was being manifest in this church he was glad.

However, Barnabas could see that the church was in need of good leadership. He knew exactly who needed to be there. He had not seen him for 12 years but he went immediately to Tarsus to find Saul, or Paul, and bring him back to become part of the leadership of the church in Antioch. The grace of God was so effective there that the people who were part of the church were being called “Christians”! It’s possible that the word “Christians” was a derogatory term but it quickly caught on and remains today the best descriptive word for followers of Jesus Christ.

Not only did the church in Antioch trust Barnabas as much as the church in Jerusalem did they showed it by letting him become one of their leaders and later trusting him with an offering that have been taken for the church in Jerusalem. Barnabas and Saul were the newcomers in the group but they were trusted to deliver the relief funds.

As time went by, Barnabas and Saul were included in the group of elders that led the church in Antioch. When it came time for them to branch out and become a missionary sending church the Holy Spirit designated these two men to be their missionaries and we see…

Barnabas accompanied Paul. Listen to the account in Acts 13:1-3. Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

The journey they began that day would forever be called, “Paul’s First Missionary Journey”. Somehow, the historians of the church missed the fact that it was Barnabas whose name was first. Now maybe Luke, the writer of Acts, just listed them alphabetically. I don’t know! But I do know that Barnabas was an important part of this journey.

The two of them were accompanied by John Mark who apparently was a relative of Barnabas. I assume (I know that’s dangerous) that this is the same John Mark who was with Jesus and his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane the night he was taken. I believe he was the same man whose mother, Mary, allowed the church to meet in her house in Jerusalem. Nonetheless, John Mark came along with them on this first missionary trip.

First, they came to Cyprus where they proclaimed the word of God so effectively that they were invited by the Roman proconsul to preach the word to him! When they left Cyprus they sailed north to Pamphylia. We do not know why but John Mark left them there and went back to Jerusalem. Barnabas and Saul continued without him. They had a very successful ministry during which Saul of Tarsus began to be known as Paul the Apostle.

On this trip churches were planted throughout a region that covers much of modern day Turkey. Barnabas and Paul met with strong opposition to the point that Paul was stoned at Lystra and left for dead. I believe that Paul was dead and was brought back to life by the prayers of the church.

After that they returned to Antioch in Syria to report to the church and wait for directions from God. While they were waiting a great conflict arose over whether a person had to become a Jew before they could become a Christian. Paul and Barnabas argued against that idea. And they, along with the Judaizers, went to Jerusalem where they met with the church leaders and the Spirit of God convinced that council that the Gentiles were to be accepted as equals without having to first become a Jew.

They returned to Antioch from the Jerusalem Council, and after a period of time, Paul proposed that they go back to see the churches they had founded. Immediately Barnabas proposed that they take John Mark along with them and Paul absolutely refused. Apparently, Paul wasn’t into second chances, however…

Barnabas had a forgiving spirit. Let’s look at the account in Acts 15:36-41. And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” ³⁷ Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. ³⁸ But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. ³⁹ And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, ⁴⁰ but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. ⁴¹ And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

Barnabas, remember his name means “Son of Encouragement”, wanted to give John Mark a second chance! Apparently the discussion started out mild and slowly escalated until they were in sharp disagreement. Paul would not let John Mark go with them because he had not finished the trip the last time. One strike and you’re out! It seems that Barnabas was a relative, possibly a cousin, of John Mark and he trusted him to have learned from his past experience and he wanted to encourage him.

We know nothing about Barnabas’ and John Mark’s journey. There were many Christians planting churches across the Roman Empire in those days and these were just two more. For the rest of the Book of Acts we have the story of Paul’s expanded ministry. This is obviously what the Holy Spirit wanted. Luke, the Beloved Physician, joined with Paul later in his travels and became the writer of the record. The Book of Acts is a history of the early expansion of the church and we only can learn from its illustrations of what happened.

As we look through the New Testament we see that…

Encouragement is the job of the church. I could have chosen several different passages but listen while I read 1 Thessalonians 5:13b-18. Be at peace among yourselves. ¹⁴ And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

This is quite a job description for the local church. Jesus had said, “Blessed are the peacemakers” and Paul begins this list with, “Be at peace”. “Peace” should characterize every local church. I remember an instance when there was some conflict rising in the church that I pastored many years ago. One of the men took me aside and said, “I get enough conflict out in the world. I don’t want to see it in the church.” I agreed with him and we worked together to calm the troubled waters. Paul goes on to say that we are to admonish the idle. In his second letter to the Thessalonians he said simply, “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” Admonish the idle is certainly one of the jobs of the church and we really are not set up for it.

We are to encourage the fainthearted. A lot of people are timid about a lot of things and they don’t need to be yelled at they need to be encouraged! We do this in many ways but not enough. When a brother or sister in the Lord is discouraged we need to hold them up in prayer and make contact with them. Sometimes a person just simply needs someone to sit with them a while. It might be that we consider a person to be weak in faith when they are discouraged. It might be that we simply do not understand the mood they are in.

We need to know the Bible because…

The Scriptures give encouragement. Listen while I read Romans 15:1-7. We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. ² Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. ³ For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” ⁴ For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. ⁵ May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, ⁶ that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷ Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

There is that obligation for the strong to bear up the weak and in fact to accept the weak rather than please ourselves. If we work together to help all those around us then our world will be a better place to live in. We need to remember that the Lord Jesus Christ did not please himself but rather accepted the will of the Father, took our sins into his own body, paid our sin debt on the cross so that if we will accept him as Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead we will be saved. Our God is a God of encouragement and he has given us the Bible as a source of encouragement. The church, all those who put their faith in Christ, needs to live in such an attitude of harmony that the grace of God will be seen in our actions. The whole purpose of our encouraging one another is so that we can glorify God and receive each other as Christ has received us.

The God of endurance and encouragement is the very God we serve! Men are to fill the role of “Encourager” in the church, in the families and in the world. Paul wrote to the Ephesians to explain to them that husbands are to love their wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Men, we are to pattern our lives after Christ. The husband is to love his wife as himself. We are to bring up our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord and do it in such a manner that we do not make them feel anger. Remember, we come to Christ by grace through faith and we need to be gracious to our families.

All scripture quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.