Seven Great Encouragers in the New Testament

I made up a phrase to begin this sermon. I'm going to talk about the seven great encouragers in the New Testament. I already mentioned in a sermon about the seven great encouragers in the Old Testament. And here's the phrase, encouragement is like water that revives the plants, and it renews the spirit and mind. Just like those plants need to be watered, so we also need encouragement. It is one of God's qualities. He is the great encourager, God the Father, Jesus Christ. And of course, there are many others in the scriptures that I could mention, so don't think this is just an exclusive list. But I'd like to mention to you seven of those great encouragers in the New Testament. Those in the Old Testament I mentioned before were Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Barcelay, and Nehemiah. And of course, the first in the New Testament and the greatest of encouragers was Jesus Christ. He was Emmanuel. That was one of his names. In Matthew 1.23, it says that his name will be Emmanuel, which means God with us. God is with us. He was here on the earth. And he was the great encourager. Notice in John 13, verse 1. John 13, verse 1, it says, Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come, that he should depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. What a statement! He loved them despite their failings, their weaknesses. He kept loving and encouraging them to the end, just as he does us. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He doesn't change. We need to connect in prayer, but he's there as our great intercessor. He's there as our mediator. He is there as our advocate, which is one of the terms. Just like when you have a defense attorney. If you have ever been on a trial, I hope you never have, but if you've had to go, the defense attorney is the one that is on your side. He tries to defend you, to get your point of view across, get the best terms possible. Jesus Christ is also our great defender and encourager. Notice in John 16, in verse 33, this is from the literary translation of the Bible. It says, I have spoken these things to you that you may have peace in me. You have distress in the world, but be encouraged. I have overcome the world. Yes, he is in charge. We know we're going to have distress, trials, difficulties, many times we can't control those. But he says, be encouraged. I have overcome the world. He's always going to be there for us. If we go before that throne of mercy and love, he's always going to be there.

So, one of his roles is to be an intercessor, to be there, and that's why we can come boldly to the throne of God. It's not because we deserve it, or in some way we merit it. No, it's because there he is, our elder brother. He is there. He is on our side. When we come before God the Father, that's why we can come with confidence, because he died for us, he called us, he's helping us, and he's encouraging us. Notice in Hebrews 4, verses 14 through 16, Hebrews 4, 14 through 16, I'd like to read it in the contemporary English version. It says, We have a great high priest who has gone into heaven, and he is Jesus the Son of God. That is why we must hold on to what we have said about him. Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are, but he did not sin. So, whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There, we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help. We need to have faith. That is true. That Jesus is there. He's doing his part. He is merciful. He's an encourager. Never gives up on a person. The person might give up on God and Jesus, but he doesn't give up on them. So, that is our great intercessor, mediator. Let's go to one more scripture here in 1 Timothy.

1 Timothy. 1 Timothy.

Tells us about Jesus Christ, who is faithful.

Mentioned that he is the intercessor before God and men. Let me look it up here.

Anybody have the scripture? Here it is. 1 Timothy 2, verse 5. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men. The man Christ Jesus. So, when we pray, we're not alone. Jesus comes up. He's there. To help translate what we want to say to God the Father. He encourages us, and he is our advocate. Let's never forget. He is the greatest of the encouragers that we find in the Bible that came here to be that high priest, loving and patient.

Now, we do have another great encourager in the New Testament. And that was the Apostle John. He was a great encourager. He was known to be tender-hearted. He defined himself. He didn't want to even mention his name during that gospel that he wrote. Because he was humble and modest. So, he would just put the disciple whom Jesus loved. And Jesus identified with John. He was very loving and encouraging. And we have numerous examples in his epistles where he mentions the encouragement to others. Notice in 1 John 1, verses 3 and 4. This is again from another translation. The New Living Bible expresses it a little clearer. It says, We are telling you about what we have seen and heard because we want you to have fellowship with us. The fellowship we share together is with God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. We write these things to you so that you can be full of joy with us. This is quite a statement because this is one of those specific purpose statements. He says, We want you to be part of the church so you can enjoy that fellowship. That we have in the church. And boy, do we ever need that fellowship. It's really sad that we can't all be together and have a joyous song and be able to love each other more, but we're doing what we can for the time being. Maybe because we miss it so much, we won't take it for granted once it's there. Because we've always met, we've always taken it sort of for granted, but it is a great privilege to be able to do that. And he says that, that fellowship we share together is with God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. Notice what is missing here. It doesn't say anything about another person, the Holy Spirit. If there was fellowship, which means a talking and sharing, conversing, it would include a third person if the Trinity was true, but it doesn't. It says that our fellowship is with God the Father and Jesus Christ. Just that statement alone would refute the idea of a Trinity or a third person. Also, it refutes the idea that there's just one being. No, it talks about God the Father and Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of the Father. Doesn't say anybody about sitting at the left hand, does it? So again, the picture we have of what is in heaven and what is in Scripture talks about our fellowship, the term there. The term there, a beautiful word, koinonia, means to have this close sharing and loving relationship like a partnership with God the Father and Jesus Christ. It's part of the family. Notice in 1 John 4, verses 8-11, John is showing again his encouragement toward the churches he is writing to. He says, He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. And again, that's not just a term, a nice feeling. It's a word of action. In this, the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation or sacrifice for our sins. It wasn't just a feeling. God sacrificed the greatest thing he could ever do. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Again, John was expressing that because he was encouraging the brethren to have that same type of love, and we certainly need it more than ever today.

In 3 John, the first chapter only has one, verses 2 through 4. He addresses the church and again uses words of encouragement. He says, God's truths. He had no greater joy than that. Because people were already distorting God's truths, twisting them, replacing them. So, of course, as a loving pastor, he wanted people to follow the truth in God's Word.

So, the Apostle John was a great encourager. A third, and who they actually nicknamed him the son of encouragement, Barnabas. They actually coined this because he was such an encourager. Acts chapter 4, verses 36 and 37. His name was Joseph.

It says, He was not just an encourager of words, he was also an encourager of actions. He put his money where his mouth was. Because he knew the church had great needs at that time. And he had a certain land. And he said, well, I'm going to sell that and help God's church at this time. And he laid it at the Apostle's feet. He said, here, you use it. Didn't have any strings attached to it at all. Again, the person that most comes in mind was a former pastor here in the Garden Grove congregation, Dennis Luker. And I think that was one of his main attributes, was being an encourager. And I was able to enjoy his words of encouragement. Those three years I worked under him. Dealing with Latin America. And he was just always upbeat. No matter how much the trials were raging around. No matter what was going on, he was always there. Just leading the way. Knowing that we have God. We're doing what is right. It'll all come out right in the end. And for good. And so, I've tried to follow his example. As poorly as I can, but certainly he gave me a model. Living model to pattern my life and to encourage others.

So, we also have Acts chapter 9. He was there at the very beginning. He was a type of person that once he got involved, boy, you couldn't stop him. He was always there seeing how he could help. What he could do. No strings attached. Always there with that spirit. And God used them for a very important mission. Because of that spirit. Acts chapter 9, verse 26.

After Saul's conversion, he went to Jerusalem. And all the people were very afraid of him. Let's read verse 26. And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples. But they were all afraid of him. And did not believe that he was a disciple. He had persecuted. He was one of the worst persecutors in the church. And all of a sudden, God changed his mind. And he converted him. But then Paul was trying to get involved in fellowship with the people. How would you like it? It would have been like having a Gestapo policeman who had persecuted the Jews and put them in jail and killed them. And then all of a sudden, you see this Gestapo fellow come to services. I mean, how would you feel? You wouldn't feel trusting, would you? Well, who was the one that did trust Saul? Barnabas. Barnabas saw the true conversion of Saul. He not only saw the exterior of Saul, he saw the interior. He saw the man had changed and deserved an opportunity. Verse 27, But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. I'm sure he got a lot of criticism. Here you can take him to the top leadership so then he can blow the whistle and have him all arrested. But Barnabas was certain that Paul was the right man. He says, And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road that was the road to Damascus, and that he had spoken to him. Paul speaking here. And how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out. So he won their confidence. He became part of the church. Remember that he had already been baptized. And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, which were the Jewish Greeks. But they attempted to kill him. When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus. Boy, talk about a person that was being ostracized, persecuted. Everybody said, Get this man out. We're not going to have rest. And so they sent him back to his hometown of Tarsus. He said, Thank you. Yes, we believe you're converted, but we'd rather have the apostles. We know about them. And you're just causing a ruckus wherever you go. And so they sent him to Tarsus and basically forgot about him. But somebody didn't forget about him. Let's go to Acts 11. Acts 11. You talk about a humbling. Boy, Paul must have felt completely humbled and humiliated because God had called him. He had this privileged mind and all this energy and enthusiasm. And basically, he was just put out to pasture. So we'll call you. Don't call us. And so in Acts 11, in verse 22, it says, Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. Have you ever met somebody like that that just always has these visions of everything that can be done? And here he was, and he encouraged others. This man, you couldn't get him down. Verse 24 describes him, For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a great many people were added to the Lord. And so there was a lot of growth at Antioch. God was doing a great work.

And then others started being called, not only of the Jews, but Gentiles. And so Barnabas said, Well, this is getting to be so big. I'm going to need help. Where can I get help? You remember Paul in Tarsus. What was Paul doing? Yep, he was tanning skins. He was studying God's Word, learning to be humble. Wait till God calls. Don't do it yourself. Don't be impulsive. Don't push the envelope. God will call when it's due time. Sometimes there are lessons to be learned by learning patience, learning to be misunderstood, or learning that you're going to be criticized. Nobody does everything perfectly. But boy, it sure is nice when you have a Barnabas around. And so what did he do? Verse 25. Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, so it took a while, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year, they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first-call Christians in Antioch. So thanks to Barnabas, that type of spirit of encouragement, the Apostle Paul finally was used. I'm sure God gave the green light. Paul is ready now. He has great gifts, but now he's going to be able to use it humbly. He has learned his lesson, obedience, and waiting patiently, which is something that we all need to learn.

So Barnabas is the third great encourager that we find in the New Testament. Let's go to the fourth. The man we have been talking about that Barnabas brought, he wrote 14 epistles in the New Testament, including the book of Hebrews. He was full of encouragement. In Acts chapter 15, after the Jerusalem conference was finished, notice what it says in verse 40. I'll read it here in another translation, the Passion translation. It says, And Paul, this is Acts 15, 40, and 41, and Paul chose Silas as his partner. After the believers prayed for them, asking for the Lord's favor on their ministry, they left for Syria in southeast Turkey. Every place they went, they left the church stronger and more encouraged than before. So notice again that spirit of encouragement. You don't hear them just going and disciplining everybody and telling them how wrong they are and telling them of all their problems. Not at all. This was the main thing. Strengthening the faith, encouraging them. Remember, the word encourage means to give the person inner courage, to help them out of their depression, out of their low standards and low perspective of themselves.

Notice in Acts, no, Romans 14. Just a couple of examples, because those 14 epistles are full of encouragement. Romans 14, verse 19. I'll read it again in that same translation. The Passion Translation. It says, So then make it your top priority to live a life of peace with harmony in your relationships, eagerly seeking to strengthen and encourage one another. So again, that should be a top priority. Of course, sometimes you can't live in peace because the other person doesn't want peace. But Paul said in Romans 12 that, as far as your responsibility, do your part. The other person doesn't want to do theirs. That's their problem. We can't live their lives, but we should do our part.

1 Thessalonians 5, verse 11. This is the easy reading version. It says, So encourage each other and help each other grow stronger in faith, just as you are already doing.

If you look at different sports, which of course is an analogy of competition, the greatest coaches were great encouragers. Because many times the teams would lose. Sometimes they'd go on a losing streak. It's easy to get down and discouraged. But the coach that does manage to become a champion and have a championship team, he doesn't give up. He encourages. He sees every potential and develops them as he can.

Let's go to the fifth of the encouragers. That was young Timothy, one of Paul's disciples. He became a pastor, an evangelist, and a pastor. Notice what Paul said about Timothy and the qualities that Timothy had. Philippians 2, 19-23. Philippians 2, 19-23. Again, I'm going to read it from the Passion Translation. It says, Yet I'm trusting in our Lord Jesus that I may send Timothy to you soon, so I can be refreshed when I find out how you are doing. Timothy is like no other. He carries the same passion for your welfare that I carry in my heart. For it seems as though everyone else is busy seeking what is best for themselves instead of the things that are most important to our Lord Jesus Christ. You already know about his excellent reputation since he has served alongside me as a loyal son in the work of ministry. After I see what transpires with me, he's the one I will send to you to bless you. So again, encouragement, help, strengthening. Correction wasn't the main situation here. That wasn't the main purpose. Sure, correction is also necessary. But it doesn't say here that he's going to come and just correct everybody, show them everybody doing wrong. No, it says here to help you, to encourage you. Notice another scripture, 1 Thessalonians chapter 3, 1 and 2, 1 Thessalonians 3 verses 1 and 2. He says, 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. So, when a person is sent out, that's what he is principally involved in. Usually, if there has to be some correction being done, Paul would have done it. But when he sent forth his helpers, co-workers, other ministers, they were there to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith. That would be an excellent goal and purpose. If I had someone had to go take care of some of the churches, basically, that's what they need to have. Whether it's at a feast of tabernacles, or just visiting a church, we are there because a lot of people are going through a lot of trials and difficulties. It's not the time to step on their necks. No, it's there to help them lift the burden. Help them strengthen their necks. I was thinking that some people, and I remember talking to a young lady, and she used to attend. She's a little young girl at that time. But she said, Well, I tried praying to God, but I really didn't get very far.

To me, it was painful to hear that because she was hoping that God would help her and lift her burdens. And when her burdens were not lifted, then she said, Well, what's the use of prayer? And I was thinking, what is the use of prayer? It's not to just petition God and request God. It's to draw nearer to Him to receive power from Him. As you get closer, you receive power than to overcome. If you're at a distance, if you're so far and you think with just a little charge, you're going to get your spiritual batteries charged, you're very wrong. And so, to me, there is power that we tap into. And that's why when you don't pray, you feel lackadaisical. You don't feel the same. That's why it tells us to renew God's Spirit every day. Notice here in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, in verse 16, Paul says, Therefore we do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing, it's wasting away aging, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. So it's just like a spiritual battery that needs to be charged. And so, if a person has a battery that doesn't have any charge, and then they go before God and they say, Well, I'll go there and without any charge, without any of his power, I expect him to do things for me. That's not the way. God wants us in earnest prayer with faith to say, I need that strength. I need for you to empower me, to strengthen me, because when we do have that power, things happen. Good things happen. But we're not going to get it unless we do our part.

Prayer to me is so essential, because I can't generate the spiritual power. It comes from God. And if I'm far away from him, I can't expect then for me to have the physical and spiritual strength to face my trials with energy and faith. So that's why it's so important to have prayer.

Let's go to the next one here. This is one that you don't usually hear about much. It was another minister, a very beloved minister of Paul, Tychicus. His name is Tychicus. D-Y-C-H-I-C-U-S. That's the way it's pronounced. Tychicus. In Ephesians 6, verses 21 and 22, Paul tells the Ephesians, I am sending you, Tychicus, the brother we love. He is a faithful servant of the Lord's work.

He will tell you everything that is happening with me. Then you will know how I am and what I am doing. That's why I am sending him, to let you know how we are and to encourage you. You can imagine how disappointing it would be for a pastor to send a minister, and then he hears back, what did the minister do? Oh, he gave this attack speech! Is that what you are supposed to do? No. That is not what the ministers are supposed to do. They are to encourage you.

They are God's servants. They are not lords and masters over you. Now, there are times when things get difficult. You can have heresy, rise up, wrong teaching. And it is just like a virus that starts infecting people. But you can still do it in a positive way. Paul did it constantly. He could talk and he said, brethren, this is not the right way. He told the Galatians, who has bewitched you into following a wrong gospel? But you see there, he's always pleading.

He's trying to persuade people. And there are times when there's sin that a minister, and that's when the pastor has to be involved, just like Paul did it, 1 Corinthians 5. But he still did it in a loving way. And he explained why they had to put this person out. That was committing fornication. And this was something that was known in the congregation, and that it was causing people to get alarmed about, and shocked, and whatever.

And Paul said, well, this person needs to learn a lesson. So that then he can come back and change his ways. Notice in Colossians 4, verses 7 and 8, this is from the easy reading version. It says, Tychicus is my dear brother in Christ. He is a faithful helper, and he serves the Lord with me. He will tell you everything that is happening with me, that is why I am sending him. I want you to know how we are, and I am sending him to encourage you. That's what I want to hear when a person goes out and is sent.

Well, how did the brethren receive him? Was it positive? Were they encouraged? Was their faith strengthened? That's what you need. Even in the military, which is a different organization altogether, but again, the great leaders, they had to encourage people. If they were there, finding fault with all the little things and how everybody was doing everything wrong and how the enemy was coming and you can't beat them, why don't we just give up? That's not the way. They were great encouragers when you read about the great leaders.

George Washington. Talk about somebody that could have gotten so depressed. Here he had this ragtag army, basically of volunteers. Some of them were barefoot. They didn't even have right clothing, ill-fed, ill-trained. And here comes the British, the most powerful army in the world at that time, and the most powerful Navy. And one of the things that George Washington learned right away, he tried fighting them directly. It didn't go well. So he said, okay, we're just going to have to outlast them. We will wear them down to the point where they are just going to get so tired and we will eventually prevail.

Well, guess what? It took eight years of fighting before they finally won. And again, why? He was a great encourager. He never gave up. And he knew they were fighting for liberty, for people that could live free and not under the oppression of what was at that time an English tyrant. And George Washington prayed to God, and he always talked about Providence, which was a God that acts in this world, and that they were, had a just cause.

These British, they weren't going to set liberty and freedom for the Americans. They wanted to keep them under their thumb. And so George Washington knew that God is a God of liberty, of freedom, of justice, and that carried the day eventually.

So again, these are biblical principles. And the last of these seven that I have placed in this category was the Apostle Peter.

Peter wrote several epistles.

He knew what discouragement was, and yet he didn't let himself get down. Notice in 1 Peter chapter 3, verses 8 and 9. Again, from the Passion Translation, it says, Now this is the goal, to live in harmony with one another, and demonstrate affectionate love, sympathy, and kindness toward other believers. Let humility describe who you are as you dearly love one another. Never retaliate when someone treats you wrongly, nor insult those who insult you, but instead respond by speaking a blessing over them, because a blessing is what God promised to give you. Peter had to learn that the hard way. He knew what insulting people was. He did that. He had to learn humility, and God's Spirit changed Peter, as God's Spirit can change us. Notice in 1 Peter chapter 4, verses 8 through 11.

It says, Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other. For love covers a multitude of sins. Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay. God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. That's excellent advice. Let God himself as if he was speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever. Amen. Peter had to learn how to do things Christ's way. And he did. And that's why he became a great encourager. So, brethren, we have these great examples for us to become encouragers in our life. Here are three points we can apply. One, to encourage others, you have to be encouraged yourself.

You have to be encouraging yourself. Number one, have God's love in your heart, staying close to him to receive that love from God. Number two, take advantage of the opportunities to encourage others. Is that one of the purposes when we come to services? Is to seek, encourage the person who is discouraged, find out who has a need, how can a person be of help? And thirdly, remember the end result. God is going to win in the end. His kingdom is going to come and be set up, and we will have wonderful fellowship, each encouraging others. Can you imagine in God's kingdom? We're all going to learn to be encouragers. There's not going to be anybody to turn a person off, to be little, to discourage. In God's kingdom, we're all going to be encouragers. Why don't we start today? Why don't we start as we can? And of course, with our children, you have to begin early. Be an encourager, but don't be a encourager. Be an encourager, but don't be an enabler. There's a big difference between being an encourager and being an enabler. An encourager is one that's there. They're the cheerleader. They're helping out. They're helping them to rise to greater heights in their jobs, in their school, in whatever they do, even standing up as a baby to be an encourager. But an enabler is a person that lets them do what they want, doesn't correct in love, doesn't guide them in the right way. So you need to be an encourager, but also a director. Direct their paths. If it's going to work, you're going to have to be the one behind them, helping them along the way, teaching them the way that they should go before it becomes too crooked, becomes too difficult later on. So I'd like to end with this scripture from the Apostle Paul, 1 Thessalonians 5. Verse 11. The easy reading version, it says, So encourage each other and help each other grow stronger in faith, just as you are already doing. So, you know, brethren, we're helping out, but he reminded them, don't slack off, don't weaken. Then, just like these seven great encouragers in the New Testament, we're part of that church. We're part of the brethren. We're part of those great encouragers that God is calling to his kingdom.