Encouragement
Doxologies, Salutations, and Benedictions • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
Have you ever lost your confidence? Have you ever lost your enthusiasm? Have you ever been dispirited? These questions are the definition of discouragement. It can come on us like a fast moving plague. Something that weighs a few ounces can suddenly become like tons when discouragement sets in on us. It can become a lethal emotional cancer which poisons our body. Discouragement is part of the trouble that Jesus said we would face when He said in :
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
However, notice the antidote that Jesus gives? Even in the midst of announce discouragement, Jesus gave encouragement. Jesus in His wisdom gave us a model and example to follow that others throughout the Bible have discovered as well. Paul saw this, and in many of his doxologies, the closing statements of his letters to the various churches in which he ministered, he was able to give encouragement.
Encouragement is the act of inspiring with courage, spirit or confidence. To give encouragement means to promote, advance or foster. Many of you are great encouragers. Paul wanted to encourage the Church at Corinth. Listen to what he wrote in :
Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints send their greetings.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
2 Corinth
You might say, “Well Mitch, the word encourage is not in passage whatsoever, how can you say this is a message from this text about encouragement?” Well, the best encouragement one can receive is the one where the word encouragement is not stated but demonstrated. That happens here in the passage!
Encouragement is Needed (vs. 11)
Encouragement is Needed (vs. 11)
The Church in Corinth was getting weary. They were trying to grow in a society that was anti-Christian and the church itself was in turmoil. There had been attacks on Paul and the Christians for their ministry. Divisions had started to develop and favoritism among the leaders was starting to take place. Paul recognized this and uses the words in 1 and 2 Corinthians as a means of instruction and guide for Christian living. Our text is the conclusion of these letters and like any good leader, Paul stated some parting words.
Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
2 Corinthians
He recognizes that encouragement is needed. He just doesn’t pack up his bags and leave, he says good-by. He uses the opportunity to give instruction, but instruction that is needed encouragement. The New International Version says “aim for perfection.” A better translation might be, “aim for restoration.” Paul is encouraging his readers to become fully restored in and through Christ. This verse goes back to :
We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection.
For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. And this also we pray, that you may be made complete.
The encouragement is for us to be made perfect, completely restored, and completely complete. He continues with the plea to “listen to his appeal.” The appeal is to receive comfort under all the sufferings and persecutions. Paul is stressing that the way that is done, is by being of “one mind” and the he stresses to “live in peace.” Paul describes being of one mind as being like-minded in Philippians 2:2:
then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
You see, if you are on one mind, if you are like-minded as described here, you will greatly help your comfort. Being one mind means you agree as much as possible. Yet, if you can’t agree, at least you can respect the other’s belief and be able to live in peace. A difference of opinion should not pull people apart. No congregation can worship the God of peace with the spirit of bitterness. Do you see the need for that encouragement?
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul is giving encouragement to his readers. The same Holy Spirit can use these same words to give encouragement to you and me as well. We can be encouraged to aim for restoration, be of one mind and live in peace. If we do so we can not only recognize the need for encouragement, we can give it away.
Encouragement is Ours to Give
Encouragement is Ours to Give
This is an interesting passage.
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints send their greetings.
2 Corinthians 13:12
While there may be some of you that really like this verse, there are others that are thinking, how fast can I get out that door!
There are at least four mentions in 4 different letters that Paul wrote where his readers were instructed to give holy kisses.
In Biblical days, greeting one another with a kiss was a customary thing, similar to today’s handshake. It was a sign of sincere brotherly love and unity. This greeting was especially precious to new believers in that they were often outcast from their families when they became Christians. For them coming in to a new family and receiving the love and encouragement was a big deal. These new believers gloried in the new spiritual kinship they had found among other Christians. Furthermore, the holy kiss from a Jewish Christian to a Gentile believer was evidence that the Gentiles were accepted fully into Christian fellowship.
This is long been something that is not practiced any longer in the Christian church but the principle should be. We should wholeheartedly and enthusiastically greet one another as Christians. It is important that we who have the redemption of Christ greet each other with sincerity that springs from real love and friendship and what we share is true Christian fellowship.
We are practicing here for eternity. Do you want to spend eternity with someone that is not happy to see you? Me neither!
The point is, that we should be able to be so close as brothers and sisters in Christ, we can genuinely greet each other with encouragement and the love of Christ. One church I was involved in had a time of fellowship in their worship service where they was shake hands or hug and offer the “peace of Christ”as a greeting.
How do you greet your brother and sister in Christ? Do you give them a holy hug or handshake or do you try to avoid them? We are instructed to give encouragement. We need it but we need to give it as well.
Think about the principle mentioned in :
Love and faithfulness meet together;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Encouragement is ours to give when we greet each other. Verse 13 implies that it is a characteristic of those that are saints. It can be a saintly characteristic because it is exemplified in through the Trinity.
Encouragement is Exemplified
Encouragement is Exemplified
2 Corinthians 13:14
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
You perhaps have heard the phrase, “The Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ” used over and over again, but does it mean?
Grace is from the word charis. It conveys the sense of a gift of kindness and favor given to someone that really doesn’t deserve it.
2 Corinthians 8:9
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
John 1:16
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
Ephesians 2:
It is the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that allows us to experience the love of God. How do you explain the love of God?
In this context, love is agape. It is unconditional, undeniable, unlimited, undeserved and unstoppable.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
It comes to us as a gift. What an encouragement to know that the God of the universe, Creator all things, loves you and me.
Paul tells us we have the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and next, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
The word fellowship is a translation of koinonia, which essentially means participation or coming alongside. The phrase literally means that the Holy Spirit is participating with us alongside the grace of Jesus Christ and the love of God.
When we realize all these truths, we will do what states:
Ephesians 4:3
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
The grace of Christ removes aggressiveness. The love of God removes jealousy and hatred. The Spirit of God destroys bitterness. What a prayer of encouragement! What difference that could be made in the world if we just practiced this type of encouragement.
Baltimore Orioles baseball player Chris Davis was recently the recipient of such encouragement. Earlier this season, he went 210 days with out a hit, creating the longest batting slump in Major League history. Nine year old Henry Frasca is a devout Boston Red Sox fan. When Henry heard about Chris Davis’s batting slump, he wrote him a letter of encouragement. In the letter, young Henry wrote that Davis was an incredible person, and that everyone goes through a slump sometimes. He continued, “Don’t give up, we are rooting for you!”
Davis got the letter and read it and then folded it up and carried it with him. That same day he received it, Davis went 3 for 5, hitting 2 doubles and getting 4 runs batted in.
A Major League Baseball professional was encouraged by a 9 year old boy. Who in your life is in a batting slump of some kind and needs to be encouraged?
The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Proverbs