A Model Encourager

I. Acts 17 gives us an account of Paul’s preaching of the gospel in Thessalonica.

A. During his Second Missionary Journey, having just been arrested on false charges, beaten, jailed, and run out of town in Philippi, Paul and his companions came to Thessalonica. There he very quickly converted Jews, Greek proselytes, leading women, and even Gentiles. But some of the unconverted Jews stirred up a mob, grabbed the brethren, and dragged them before the city officials, accusing them of promoting another king. Paul and his friends had to escape the city by night. In fact, the opposition in Thessalonica was so strong that some followed Paul to Berea (60 miles away) and made it untenable for him to stay there.

B. Arriving next in Athens, Paul was plagued by worry over the new congregation in Thessalonica. Thessalonica was a tough environment due to the governmental and pagan religious influences. It was made tougher still (even dangerous) by hostile Jews. The new converts faced the loss of their friends, the alienation of their families, their displacement in the social structure within which they had lived, and persecution by the Jews who had been their friends, neighbors, and coworkers. We can easily see why Paul would be concerned. He felt that these new Christians were in dire need of encouragement.

C. Consequently, Paul sent Timothy back to check on them. In 1 Thes 3:1-2, Paul writes to them, “Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith….” [NKJV] Thus Paul says that he sent Timothy back to them in order to establish them and to encourage them in the face of afflictions.

II. Encouragement

A. We all need encouragement. This is particularly true in difficult times, but really at all times. Life is not smooth sailing and is full of difficulties, disappointments, and setbacks. It is easy for these to discourage us, to cause us to lose sight that there is hope. Christianity comes with wonderful blessings, but is often still a difficult row to hoe. We are unlikely to be chased out of town, but our faith will often be the source of opposition or even hostility be those of the world around us. Proverbs 29:27 says, “An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, And he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.” And we are far outnumbered by the wicked and worldly. The manner in which we live our daily lives pricks consciences, thus provoking animosity. Matt 7:14 says, “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Christianity is not an easy part, but a difficult way.

B. Thus it is easy to find sources of discouragement. There is a Peanuts cartoon in which Snoopy is playing on the ice, sliding about on his bare paws. He smiles broadly as he glides, spins, and jumps. Along comes Lucy, who says, “That’s not skating; that’s sliding! You don’t have any skates on. Skating is when you have skates on. You’re not skating at all; you’re just sliding!” Snoopy hangs head and leaves, dejected. “How could I have been so stupid. And I thought I was having fun.” How often have you been gliding through life having a ball, only to have something take the wind out of your sails completely.

C. So, where do we find encouragement? When we are discouraged, we lose perspective, focus on the negative, and spiral into even greater discouragement. [Here I project a cartoon by Mike Baldwin from CartoonStock.com which shows an office worker approaching a vending machine labeled “Encouragement.”] If only it were that easy.

D. Our greatest source of encouragement is one another. Heb 10:24-25 reminds us, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” An important part of why we assemble is to “stir up love and good works,” to encourage one another. In 1 Thes 5:11 Paul will tell the Thessalonians that they need to encourage one another in their congregation. In the ESV, this reads, “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up.”

E. But how do we do that? What do we do or say? In the second and third chapters of his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul’s words of encouragement to them give us a model of how it is done.

III. A Model Encourager