Welcome to the Believer's Bible Assembly This is the day that the Lord has made and we're going to rejoice

and be glad in it Today I want you to go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 18 and

it says therefore encourage one another with these words I want to talk to you about encouraging one another with

the word That's what we have been called to do to encourage one another with the word

We live in a world that's full of disappointment discouragement trials and uncertainty But as believers we have been

called to encourage one another We have been called to lift one another up Not just

with words or good intentions but we've been called to lift one another up and to encourage one

another with the truth that's found in God's word that will give us hope In our text this

morning we see that the apostle Paul is writing to the church in Thessalonica In the last portion

of First Thessalonians he talks about the return of Christ The Christ is coming back

And he wrote words to encourage them to continue in their faith to continue to

persevere continue doing what Christ has called them to do because he's coming back Don't be

discouraged Don't be caught up with the things of this world But being encouraged because Christ is coming back And

he encouraged the church of Thessalonica to encourage one another with these words to encourage one another

with the promises of God that's found in his word So that's what I wanna do this

morning I want to unpack how you and I can encourage each other with the word of

God In times of trouble in times of grief and times of doubt and worry How do we encourage

each other We encourage each other with the word of God Now the context of

them because people are starting to grieve They were starting to be concerned about things Especially what

happened to their fellow believers who had passed away and Paul had to remind them

of three things Number one he had to remind them that those who die in Christ

will be raised when Jesus returned He had to remind them that the believers who

are alive will be caught up together with them when he returns And when he returns we will be forever

with the Lord These are words of encouragement to keep them focused on the task

to keep their minds on Christ to help them keep walking by faith and not by sight And you

and I are called to do the same thing with brothers and sisters that are in the

faith and the word teaches us how to encourage one another The word teaches us how to help people not

just look at the present circumstances but to look forward to the future in Christ That will

give them hope And this hope in Christ will overcome whatever they dealing with presently That's

what we were called to do because we are all going through things we are all

going through situations and circumstances but we have been called as believers to encourage one

another In John chapter 14 verses 1 through 3 Jesus told his disciples Do not

let your hearts be troubled Then he reminded them that he would come back and take them to be with

him for eternity How do we keep our hearts from being troubled We have to focus on the promises

of God We have to focus on the things that Jesus said he would do for

us He's given us the Holy Spirit to remind us of these things to bring back to our memories those

things that Christ has said in his word to encourage us to build us up to keep

us focused and steadfast Romans chapter 8 verse 18 Paul encouraging the believers said our present

suffering are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed What you're going through

right now cannot even compare to the future glory that will be revealed Another encouraging word from

the apostle Paul to help people to encourage people to build them up along this faith

journey that we have called to walk First Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 13 to 17 gives us encouragement for the

future to focus on the things of Christ And not our present situation Now he specifically gave

them a command in verse 18 to encourage one another with these words The comfort we receive

from God's promises is not meant to be kept to ourselves We live in a time we live in a

world where it's all about me myself and I but the word was not intended for us to

keep to ourselves We have been called to share the word We have been called to remind others of God's

promises We have been called to tell people about the faithfulness of God Why To build

them up in their faith to encourage them Now that word encourage means to call to one side

it means to comfort or to exhort That's what the word encourage means And in the context of the body

of Christ believers are called to encourage to support and uplift one another because we're all

going through something every one of us Now we don't need to know all the details No we

don't need all that All we need to do is just encourage one another in the

faith with the word Encouraging one another is not an option for believers It's a requirement

it's a necessity 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verse 3 says this but he who prophesized

the word prophesized means speak forth the word Speaks to men people for their edification

to promote their spiritual growth for their encouragement to encourage them of what God has promised in His word and

to comfort them meaning to compassionately comfort them with the word You see how everything connects back to the

word We ought to build men up We are to encourage people and comfort them with the word of God

That's what we've been called to do Now Hebrews chapter 3 verse 13 takes a step further

It says exhort encourage one another daily as long as it is called today so that none of

you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness So this encouragement is a daily encouragement not just on Sunday

but a daily encouragement of one another Ephesians chapter 4 verse 29 says this Let

no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth but only what is helpful for building

up encouraging the one in need and bringing grace To those who listen That's what we've been called

to do We are not called to put other believers down We're not called to trample upon their problems their

fears and worries We've been called to encourage them to speak a word to them

that's gonna build them up and it's going to bring grace to those who listen The grace we

receive we now have to share with other people because it's only by God's grace

that we're saved it's only by God's grace that we're where we are today in life it's only by

God's grace So we don't have the right to look down our nose at other people especially other believers that

are going through things that are dealing with stuff No no no we've been called

to uplift them We've been called to build them up to be a minister of God's grace through the

word Romans chapter 15 verse 4 says that everything that was written in the past was written to teach

us to instruct us so that through the endurance taught in the scriptures watch this

and the encouragement they provide we might have hope The scriptures gives us hope We encourage one another with

the word the scriptures that will give them hope It all comes back to the word

And we've been called to be faithful ministers of God's word sharing it with other people to encourage them and

to build them up in their faith There's power in the word God's word has the ability to

strengthen us God's word has the ability to restore us The empowerment that we're talking about this morning

is rooted in God's word and it has the power to restore hope To renew

our faith to refocus our hearts and our minds on the internal promises of God

found in His word That's what the word is designed to do It's designed to restore

our hope meaning we were once hope for now because of the circumstances of life we

become hopeless The word says no it comes to restore your hope The word comes

to renew our faith We were once walking by faith and not by sight We

had mountain moving faith We had faith the size of a muster scene Then all of a sudden life happened

and now our faith starting to dwindle We start to become full of war and doubt

and fear An encouraging word what we gonna do Renew our faith bring us back to the

promises of God Reminds us of what the word of God says Now our faith is renewed And encouraging words

will refocus our hearts and minds meaning we once were focused We had our eyes fixed on Jesus

that often the finish of our faith Now because of situations and circumstances we become unfocused But what does a

country word do It refocus us back and reminds us of the internal promises of God

not temporary promises but the eternal promises of God That's found in his word That's what you and

I have been called to do And listen We don't encourage with church cliches You all heard them Hold on

It's gonna be alright in the morning That's not encouraging nobody in the world That's giving somebody fake

hope fake encouragement because it may not be right in the morning but we just throw these cliches out

here thinking we're helping people but a cliche is not gonna restore your hope A cliche is not gonna

renew your faith A cliche is not gonna refocus your heart and mind on the promises of God But

the word of God will So we speak the living word of God which is powerful and

effective The word of God is alive is full of power That's the word we speak to encourage

others in times of trouble and to help transform their lives Real encouragement brings people back to

the promises the word Not just a positive saying that gives false hope Psalm 119 verse

me life That's what the psalmist wrote He said my comfort is in my suffering What My

comfort is in my sufferings and here's the reason because what you said in your word has revived

me And gave me life It's the word of God that's gonna revive people It's

the word of God that's gonna give them life give them hope Isaiah 40:8 says

the grass with us and the flowers fall but the word of God endures forever that eternal word

that strengthens us that restores us that revives us endures forever See the word is not a temporary fix The

word is a permanent solution for the issues of our life 2 Timothy chapter 3

verse 16 to 17 says that this word that internally strengthens and restores us and revives us also

equips us and prepares us and encourages us for every good work You and I have

to be channels of encouragement Pastor you mean me Yes you We have been called to be channels of

encouragement 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 11 says this Therefore encourage and build one another up just as you

are already doing What the apostle Paul is saying here to the Church of Thessalonica and he's saying to

us this morning That as believers we all know someone who needs encouragement It could be

a family member it could be a friend It could be a believer that's struggling with

their faith Someone who is waiting for God to answer their prayer and don't seem like God has

even heard their prayer We have the word to encourage people In the time of

need I said this over and over again You don't have to be a preacher to encourage someone Often times

people think it's just the pastor's responsibility No the pastor's responsibility to encourage and equip you

to be a channel of encouragement If you are expecting the pastor to do it

all you are forfeiting your responsibility your obligation to encourage other people like we've been talking about this morning

In this world of technology in this world of social media it's easy We can just share verse and

that the verse do the speaking We can send a text with a scripture to

remind someone about God's love to remind someone about what God said on the matter the

situation the circumstances that you're going through So no you don't have to be the

pastor to do these things Everyone can be an encourager but it starts with one person sharing one

verse because that's the true purpose of social media not to be on social media talking about who

shot John and what the president doing ain't doing and what the Housewives of Atlanta episode was about no

no no no no not as believers Social media is not supposed to be a place of

gossip for the believers We have to use social media technology to do the work of God.courry someone in their

faith leading someone to the Lord That's what social media is for as far as

the believers concerned This is what Proverbs says Proverbs 25:11 I'm gonna read this to

you from the CV It says this The right word at the right time is like precious gold

set in silver The right word at the right time That's what being an encourager is all about

We're seeking the word of God to help us encourage another believer and if we're following the leading of the

Holy Spirit We're gonna have that right word at the right time for that person

in the situation and circumstance This is a ministry and we've all been called to partake in the

work of ministry and this is one of the way you can do it Ministry and service We're engaging

in the lives of other people to help encourage them and strengthen them in their faith And

we have the right word at the right time to share with someone And when you do this it's like

precious gold set in silver Colossians chapter 3 verse 16 says this Let the word

of Christ dwell in you richly Why So that you can use the spiritual wisdom that

you receive from the word to teach and instruct spiritual things to each other That's the purpose

of letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly The word is just not for

you is for others But we have to let the word of Christ dwell in us We have to

study to show ourselves approve We have to meditate on the word night and day to get the

word in us Now at the right time and the right opportunity we'll have the right word to

share with someone because we let the word of God dwell in us So now we

can use the spiritual wisdom that we've learned everything that we went through To help teach

and instruct spiritual things to each other to encourage them So let me leave you with this The word

of God isn't just information It's just not words in a book on a piece of

paper But it's life-giving encouragement Everyone that's under the sound of my voice this morning has

been encouraged built up With the word of God that encouraged our life that changed our

lives that transformed our lives Now we have an opportunity and responsibility to share and encourage other people

with the word Those who are dealing with hopelessness those who are dealing with grief and confusion We

need to let them know that the word of God the scriptures has the answers

We need to let them know that the word of God the scriptures will give

them hope for the future We need to let them know that the word of God can

strengthen them for whatever they're dealing with today And we need to let them know that the word

of God is designed to comfort them in times of sorrow So we have to be

intentional about this We have to be intentional about encouraging one another with the word

and encouraging one another with the word daily What Paul is encouraging the believers is to

keep encouraging one another keep building one another up Don't stop keep encouraging daily That's what we've been called

to do I challenge you this week to encourage someone Send somebody a text send somebody

a message Call somebody and give them a word of encouragement Whatever word encouraged you that day Share it with

somebody else It's real simple And it all starts with one person you sharing one Bible

verse to encourage someone I challenge you to pray this week and ask the Lord who can I encourage

and the name that the Lord puts in your heart send them an encouraging word Send them a verse

send them some words of comfort because you never know what they're going through And that one encouraging

word at the right time could change their life forever because you never ever know if that

encouraging word might be the one thing that someone needs to keep them going in life So be an

encourager this week Encourage someone with the word Be blessed