5 Solas Round Table

OFFENSE of the CROSS
Do Christians understand the CROSS?
Not all Christians understand it as well as they should.
Some Christians would separate Christ from His Cross.
Some would separate the God of the O.T. from Jesus.
A renown theologian, H.R. Niebuhr said about liberal theology:
"A God without wrath brought men without sin
into a kingdom without judgment
through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross."
Bishop Sheen said: "The cross without Christ
is the concentration camp, the police state and slavery.
Christ without the cross is effeminacy,
degeneration, L*D and mysticism
which settles for pharmaceuticals ( ) instead of sacrifice."
5 BRETHREN, WE HAVE ME TO WORSHIP
? WILL YOU PRAY WITH ME, PLEASE ?
Dear Lord,
Thank You for the Life You give us in Your Son.
Thank You for the Cross where He died
to bring us back to You.
Send us Your Spirit today that we can
worship You in Spirit and in Truth. AMEN
I am speaking today on how the cross offends people.
It was about September of 2009 that just 20 miles from here
in Monterey, California that a cross was cut down.
The cross marked a spot where a Spanish explorer
who founded Monterey in 1769 is believed to have landed.
Members of the community donated the cross 40 years ago
as a copy of an original cross built in the 1700s
Someone who hated the Cross cut it down.
Attacks on crosses have happened thousands of times
because people are offended by the cross of Christ.
The cross has always offended unbelievers as Paul writes in
1 Corinthians 1:18 “The message of the cross is foolish
to those who are headed for destruction! - - -
But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God”
Why does the cross offend people?
One reason is the Cross attacks our pride.
The Cross proves no one is better than any one else.
As Galatians 3 says, (GNB)
So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free people, between men and women;
you are all one in union with Christ Jesus.
The Cross proves we are all the same in the sight of God.
The cross offends us, it insults our self-righteousness.
It shows how unacceptable our pride is to God.
It shows how we must repent and embrace the cross
for Him to accept us.
Christians know it does not please God to be proud.
Unbelievers know this & often accuse us of self-righteousness because we are sensitive about that very thing.
We can respond by saying that we have no righteousness - - - - that we welcome the righteousness of God in Christ -
Why does the cross offend people?
Another reason it offends is the cross demands our attention
Christ on the Cross cannot be ignored.
Jesus said in John 12:32 “And I, if I am lifted up
from the earth, will make all men come to Me”.
You must either accept or reject Christ on the Cross.
You cannot ignore the Cross.
The Cross forces us to be honest with God.
That offends the unbeliever but the Christian can honestly
pray to His Dear Father because of the cross of Christ
Why does the cross offend unbelievers?
The cross offends us because it points out how bad our sin is.
The cross is so extreme, so violent, so bloody, so barbaric.
That God the Son would go through that
just because of our sins and just to bring us back to God
has to make us think.
Why would He do that? Am I really that bad?
When we look at the perfect Lamb of God on the cross,
We can't ignore or minimize our sins.
We are offended because we can no longer gloss over our sins.
We have to take our sins seriously. We must decide.
That is what this old hymn says.
10-WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS
We can't ignore the cross of Jesus. We must decide.
Those who refuse to believe are offended by this
but those who God has chosen are just grateful.
? Why does the cross offend unbelievers ?
People want to think we are independent - self-sufficient.
The Cross offends people because it is God's gift to us.
We can't earn it. We are helpless. It is totally undeserved.
It is a marvelous gift. Holy Scripture says, 2 Corinthians 9:15
“Thank God for His gift that is too wonderful for words! “
Unbelievers are offended that they are not good enough -
Believers are just grateful that God is so good to them.
I am speaking about the scandal, the offense of the Cross.
It is a God's gift: so wonderful I don't know how to say it.
For this reason, I will let Holy Scripture speak for me.
1 Corinthians 2
“When I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know anything among you
except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3
I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching
were not with persuasive words of human wisdom,
but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men
but in the power of God.” AND 1 Corinthians 1:18-23
“...The message of the cross is foolish to those
who are headed for destruction!
But we who are being saved know
it is the very power of God.
As the Scriptures say,
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
and discard the intelligence of the intelligent." ...
God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish.
Since God in His wisdom saw to it that the world
would never know Him through human wisdom,
He has used our foolish preaching to save
those who believe.
It is foolish to the Jews,
who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish
to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom.”
You know- people still look for you to prove Christ & the Cross
are real by performing a miracle or by giving them a reason.
But the fact is, a lot of people in the time of Jesus were not
convinced by either one of those things and they are not now.
"So," Paul says, “when we preach that Christ was crucified,
the Jews are offended and
the Gentiles say it's all nonsense.
But to those called by God to salvation,
both Jews and Gentiles,
Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. .. As a result,
no one can ever boast in the presence of God."
1 Corinthians 1:23-24
Christians know we have nothing to be proud of
and we can never save ourselves from ourselves.
Why does the cross offend unbelievers?
Because they are proud and want to be in control. BUT
God is always in control, even when it seems He is not.
Holy Scripture says in Acts 2:23-24
"God had already planned and decided
that Jesus would be handed over to you.
So you took him and had evil men
put him to death on a cross.
But God set him free from death and raised him to life. Death could not hold him in its power."
It said "God had already planned and decided
that Jesus would be handed over to you."
God was in control even when His Son was nailed to a cross.
The cross teaches us that when things look most hopeless,
God is still in control and we have to trust in Him.
15-SONG- THE GLORY OF THE CROSS
All over the world the cross is hated and ridiculed.
The way of the cross is the way of suffering.
? Why does the cross offend people ?
People don't WANT to suffer. That offends us.
Paul gave up everything to know Christ. Philippians 3:7-11 CEV
“Christ has shown me that
what I once thought was valuable is worthless.
Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
I have given up everything else and count it all as garbage
All I want is Christ and to know that I belong to Him.
I could not make myself acceptable to God
by obeying the Law of Moses.
God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ.
All I want is to know Christ
and the power that raised Him to life.
I want to suffer and die as He did,
so that somehow I also may be raised to life.”
We don't like to suffer --
-- but that is how we become like Jesus.
Thousands of Christians suffer and die each year.
? Why are people offended by the Cross ?
Because Jesus challenges us to suffer-
- to take up our OWN cross and follow Him.
Why does the cross offend folks ?
Another reason the cross offends people is because
they think people should get and do get what they deserve.
We are a lot like the people in those days
who thought that if someone suffered,
God was punishing him for his sins.
If we see a homeless person, we think he is lazy or crazy
The Cross offends folks who think you always get
what you deserve. But Jesus did NOT deserve the Cross.
And Christians know we do not deserve God's grace
and salvation through the death of His Son on the Cross.
But Jesus expects us to suffer - with Him and for Him.
Jesus told us, "You cannot be My disciple unless
you carry your own cross and come with Me." Luke 14:27
? Why are people offended by the cross ?
The cross offends their sense of justice.
They think everyone should suffer for their own sins.
But it they did --- every one would go to hell.
(Don't ask God for justice; ask Him for mercy.)
People are offended by the cross because
it proves we are all the same - we are all sinners.
We are all equal at the foot of the cross.
? Why are people offended by the Cross ?
It is a constant reminder of the inevitability of death-
THE CURSE on all of us because of Adam's sin and our own.
Scripture says in 1 Corinthians 15:21-22
“Just as we will die because of Adam,
we will be raised to life because of Christ.
Adam brought death to all of us,
and Christ will bring life to all of us.”
People are offended because they must decide: life or death.
The Cross forces us to take sides.
We can't ignore it. We must decide.
The Roman Governor Pontius Pilate asked the people,
"What shall I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?"
That is the question we all have to answer.
You cannot choose -- NOT to choose.
Do I accept His offering Himself for me?
Do I reject Him? Do I ignore Him?
No matter what you do, you must decide.
Why do some people hate the Cross?
Why are they offended so much that they become ill?
Because they hate the One who WAS on it.
Jesus said, "When I have been lifted up from the earth,
I will draw all people toward me."
When He said this, He let them know
that He knew He was going to be crucified.”
When Jesus was crucified on that rough wooden cross,
it is true that people gathered around Him.
Some were there because they loved Him
and were deeply grieved
but others were there to ridicule Him, to spit on Him
and His cross - to make His suffering worse, if possible.
? Why are people offended by the Cross ?
Because they know Christ must be the only Way to God
-- and they will not accept God's Way.
It is so radical that no one can honestly say
there has to be another way.
If God in all His wisdom and power could find no other way- -
? what argument have we got left?
If you have been offended by the cross,
-- may I suggest you change your way of thinking
-- before it is too late?
“The message about the cross
doesn't make any sense to lost people.
But for those of us who are being saved,
it is God's power at work.” 1 Corinthians 1:18
If the cross makes sense to you
it is because God is calling you to come to Him.
It is written, "Today is the day of salvation."
Please don't put it off. Come to Christ now.
20-SONG-IN CHRIST ALONE
Let us review what we have said today.
Why does the cross offend people?
The Cross attacks our pride.
The Cross proves no one is better than any one else.
The cross demands our attention.
It forces us to be honest with God.
It proves to us that God takes our sin seriously.
Why are we offended by the Cross?
The way of the cross is a way of suffering.
We don't WANT to suffer. That offends us.
It reminds us of the inevitability of death and judgment
The Cross forces us to take sides. Life or death.
We can't ignore it. We must decide.
? Will we repent of our sins or mock the one on the Cross ?
WILL YOU PRAY WITH ME, PLEASE?

Dear Lord,
We love Your Cross.
We are waiting with the whole universe
in delightful expectation of seeing our Lord
come again to bring us to Himself.
But until then give us the courage to follow Him. -
- To share in His suffering that we may share in His glory.
Give us Your grace each day to stay close to Christ our Lord
and His cross AMEN
Hebrews 13:20, 21
“Now the God of peace,
that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,
that great shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever.”
Amen.
30-SONG -GOD BE WITH YOU TIL WE MEET AGAIN

"Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God."

> The Rest Homes are in lock down because of Covid.
I will not continue with the LIFE OF CHRIST at this time
but publish some topical sermons. <
LIFE AND DEATH-GOOD AND EVIL-HEAVEN AND HELL
5-SONG-HERE I AM TO WORSHIP
Religion is an effort to find ultimate, final truth.
Dead religions get stuck is the confidence they are right. Christians know they have no righteousness or rightness
in their selves but must depend on the righteousness of God.
We never feel worthy of God's grace toward us-only thankful.
Repentance is vital to our Christian faith and for us to grow.
We are sailors on a turbulent sea of life.
To reach the right destination, we need to check our compass,
see that it is aligned with the North Star and
make a course correction now and then.
That is what repentance is - a change of direction.
This sermon is not primarily about repentance, however.
It is about Life and Death, Good and Evil, and Heaven and Hell
Will you pray with me, please.
Dear Father,
You are all that is good. You are HOLY.
You create and sustain our lives and give us all good things.
You have prepared a place for us near You when we die.
Today we commit our whole being into Your care,
now and forever.
AMEN
Life and death; good and evil; heaven and hell -
We think of these as opposites.
Sometime - we think of them as mysteries.
But the Word of God has a lot to say about these things.
In fact this one statement of Paul's has to do with them all. Philippians 1:21 “For to me, living means living for Christ,
and dying is even better.”
Let's read more to better understand what he is saying.
22 “But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ.”
? What kind of work ? Good work, fruitful work. Paul did good.
“So I really don't know which is better.
23 I'm torn between two desires:
I long to go and be with Christ,”
? Be with Christ? Where? In heaven ! Paul says
“THIS-- would be far better for ME.
24 But for YOUR sakes, it is better that I continue to live.
25 Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive
so I can continue to help all of you
grow and experience the joy of your faith.”
Wow! I want that to be my prayer as well. - - -
- - - Life and death - good and evil - heaven and hell.
Death is the absence of life.
Evil is the lack of or deficiency of good.
Hell is where the essence of evil and death is destined to go.
There is no joy or pleasure in hell; only misery and pain.
Hell is a terrible place we don't want anyone to go to -
- a place where evil is punished and people long for death.
Hell is place NOT of God's love but of His wrath.
We preach so people will accept God's love in Jesus Christ;
so they will not experience the wrath of God.
We want everyone to know God's amazing grace.
10-SONG-AMAZING GRACE-MY CHAINS ARE GONE
The translation, God's Word, translates Paul's words as;
Christ means everything to me in this life,
and when I die I'll have even more.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was one prominent pastor in Germany
that stood up to Hi**er.
He was executed about the end of W.W. II. - - He was 41
In his book "The Cost of Discipleship"-Bonhoeffer wrote,
"When Christ calls a man, He bids him "Come and die"
Paul said, "For me, to live is Christ; to die is gain"
To be able to die, there is one certain requirement.
You have to be living.
We are born to die. I have read that
during each two or three year cycle of life,
each and every cell in our bodies dies and is replaced.
If we are dying anyway, why not die to self and live for Christ
Jesus is our life. He Himself said,
"I am the way the truth and the LIFE."
- Jesus is the center of all of life… Paul writes to Colossians,
“For by Him all things were created,
both in the heavens and on earth,
visible and invisible, ... ...
all things have been created by Him and for Him.
And He is before all things,
and in Him all things hold together.”
- Even the Bible itself has Jesus at its center. 2 Cor. 1:20
“For all the promises of God find their Yes in him [Christ]”
Heaven is where we find life and goodness without end.
The love of God is on the side of life and goodness.
When we love God, we are on His side
and we inherit His life and goodness in heaven.
We could say a lot about these things but let us be satisfied today with connecting them into one.
Life is about one thing:
WORSHIP, glorifying God and enjoying Him forever.
We are weak, God is strong.
We know very little, God knows everything.
We can do nothing without God but as Paul says,
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
He will not ask you to do anything
without giving you what you need to accomplish it.
It may be painful; it may be embarrassing
but He will give you the power to accomplish His purpose because as God told Paul, "My grace is all you need,
for my power is greatest when you are weak."
Some think to die well gives their life meaning. Does it?
That depends. When someone commits su***de,
he is saying suffering in life had no meaning, no purpose.
Since everyone suffers to one degree or another,
a su***de is saying NO life has meaning.
But death can have meaning.
Paul suffered more than most anyone. 2 Corinthians 11:24-30
I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number,
and faced death again and again.
Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me 39 lashes
Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked.
Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea.
I have traveled on many long journeys.
I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers.
I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews,
as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not.
I have worked hard and long,
enduring many sleepless nights.
I have been hungry and thirsty
and have often gone without food.
I have shivered in the cold,
without enough clothing to keep me warm. ...”
Besides all this Paul has what he called his "thorn in the flesh",
a constant irritation to say the least.
Paul had a purpose for living - doing what Christ would do
He knew that he would die when God was ready for him to die
and WHEN he died he would come in the glorious presence
of his master Jesus Christ.
Paul had seen Christ in His glory on the road to Damascus.
This revelation had temporarily blinded him.
A little girl lost her sight when she was only 6 weeks old.
Latter when she married, her name became Frances Crosby.
F***y, the blind lady, wrote more than 9,000 hymns.
There is one hymn that is her favorite and I like it too.
She was attending a meeting with
the great evangelist Dwight L. Moody. He asked if F***y
would give a personal testimony to the audience.
Not wanting to draw attention to herself,
she almost declined, but finally got up to speak, and said:
"There is one hymn I have written
which has never been published. - - - I call it my soul’s poem.
Sometimes when I am troubled, I repeat it to myself,
for it brings comfort to my heart."
This is the song she wrote.
"Some day the silver cord will break,
And I no more as now shall sing;
But oh, the joy when I shall wake
Within the palace of the King!

And I shall SEE Him face to face,
And tell the story—Saved by grace;
And I shall see Him face to face,
And tell the story—Saved by grace."
Blind F***y Crosby now sees
the glorious beauty of Jesus Christ in heaven.
An estimated 187,000 Christians
die for their faith every year.
Their deaths have meaning. Psalm 116:15 says,
"Precious in the Lord's sight is the death of His saints."
Jim Elliot wrote, "He is no fool who would give
what he cannot keep to gain what we cannot lose."
He was talking about his life.
Jim Elliot decided to give his life as a missionary.
Before he was able to bring one soul to Christ as a missionary,
he was speared to death
along with four other missionaries in Ecuador.
Five lives taken by the most violent tribe on earth.
The tragedy compelled some of their widows
to risk their lives and those of their children,
to live alongside their husbands’ killers.
Through the example of these brave women,
a brutal, warring culture is transformed,
murderers become healers,
and what was once known as the cradle of darkness
becomes a community of light and hope.
They brought that whole village to the foot of the cross.
15-SONG- HE IS NO FOOL
Life and death meet at the cross of Jesus, the Son of Man.
Jesus the Christ, the One who gives life, died for our sins.
Death and life met at the tomb of Christ, God the Son,
when He rose from the dead to make us right with God.
As Paul tells us in Romans 4:25
“He was handed over to die because of our sins,
and He was raised to life to make us right with God.”
Since God the Son has given His life for us, can we do less?
Death is not the final destiny for the Christian - - -
We do not get justice - what we deserve -
- - we get mercy because of God's grace.
- - - We are forgiven the evil we have done because
of the good thing God has done in His Son, Christ Jesus,
and not because we deserve it.
We can rest from trying to please God
and live our lives here in peace and joy.
The world is good; life is good because God is good
and He created the world - and US for His glory.
Life and death; good and evil; heaven and hell.
Evil is rejecting good and rejecting God.
Evil is rejecting God in Jesus Christ.
Evil is rejecting life, goodness and heaven
because we want to go our own way.
Evil is rebellion against the God who created us; rebellion against the LORD of Life who keeps us and provides for us;
and evil is rejecting God's plan for life.
We have a path to follow, a way to go, a journey to endure.
Some of the time the pathway is dark
but God shows us our next step. In Psalm 119: , we read,
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”
We don't have to endure everything at once.
We don't have to complete the journey right away.
All we may see is the next step.
Elizabeth Elliot was the wife of Jim Elliot who died in Ecuador.
Elizabeth Elliot said, "Do the next thing."
After her husband was killed, she went to live with the people who had killed him and showed them Christ living in her.
She did the next thing.
What is the next thing for you?
Don't worry about anything more than that - the next step.
eus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me"
Live your life WITH, IN and FOR Jesus.
Then you will be happy to spend eternity worshiping God.
- - - - Life and death, good and evil, heaven and hell.
Someone may ask,
"Why would a good God send anyone to hell?"
All of us deserve a season in hell for our evil ways -
our rebellion against God should justly be punished.
But God saves us - those who accept His mercy.
God saves us from death, evil and hell.
It is His work, not mine, not yours, not anyone's but Christ.
When I began this sermon, I thought I had 2 large a subject
I thought it was too complicated for a short sermon.
I was wrong. It is very simple.
There is a story in the Bible that ties it all together.
What is the relationship between life and death ?
? good and evil ? and ? heaven and hell ?
We can see it at the grave of Lazarus.
Jesus loved Lazarus. He was a good friend of Jesus.
Lazarus had been dead four days.
Jesus wept. That is the shortest verse in the Bible.
Jesus wept. Why did he weep? Why did He cry?
I think Jesus cried because He hated evil, death and hell.
Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life."
His mission in coming to earth was to do away with evil,
death and hell for those who follow Him.
Jesus stood in front of the grave of Lazarus and shouted,
"Lazarus come forth."
And Lazarus came ALIVE.
Life not death because Jesus is the Life.
Good not evil because Jesus is God and He never sinned.
When Lazarus finally died, he went to be with Jesus forever.
- - - - - - When we accept Jesus and His cross,
we love life but we love Jesus even more.
Paul said, "For me, to live is Christ; to die is even better"
because Paul knew that life does go on after death.
Death for Paul meant living forever in heaven with Jesus.
“We would rather be away from these earthly bodies,
for then we will be at home with the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 5:11
We love GOOD - not evil because Jesus is good
and because we want to please Him and be like Him.
We love LIFE and want to live forever worshiping the LORD.
Jesus said, "Where I am you will be also."
Life as we know it; eternal life in this body is not possible
But our bodies will be transformed.
No more death, no more evil and no more suffering.
See how it all connects?
Life and death - good and evil, heaven and hell.
"For me to live is Christ and to die is gain."
Will you pray with me please?
Dear Jesus,
Help us to SEE You so we will be more like You
and to live our lives for You
in the assurance that we will be with You forever
AMEN
Now all glory to God,
who is able to keep you from falling away
and will bring you with great joy
into His glorious presence without a single fault.
All glory to Him who alone is God, our Savior
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All glory, majesty, power, and authority are His
before all time, and in the present,
and beyond all time! Amen
30-SONG-I AM A NEW CREATION

The Ridge where I usually preach is in lock-down. I only found out after the bus dropped me off. So I asked next door and another convalescent facility if they would like me to preach there. They agreed to but the people who were assembled were not prepared to hear a sermon. I was discouraged. I am prone to depression so I looked up this sermon from someone else about encouragement.
I hope it encourages you.
Every One Needs Encouragement

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NIV)
"May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word."
One resolution all of us should make this year is to be an encourager.
We should dedicate ourselves to encourage others.
Everybody needs encouragement!
Don't you get discouraged at times?
I read about a football coach who was having a very bad year.
He was so discouraged.
It got so bad it even affected his home life.
He said, "My dog is my only friend."
He told his wife, "A man needs at least two friends."
So, she bought him another dog.
None of us can get too much encouragement.
Have you ever heard anybody say, "Stop encouraging me. I don't need it any more."
Everyone need encouragement.
Have you heard the story about a preacher who was deathly sick in the hospital.
Following the deacons meeting, the deacon secretary sent him a get well card on behalf of the deacon body, with this note penciled in:
"Your deacons have voted to pray for your recovery by a vote of 15 to 5."
We all need encouragement, and others need it from all of us.
So, where do we start?
The best place to start is at the source of all encouragement.
The Lord is the source of all encouragement.
Our Lord is an example we must emulate.
The Devil is the discourager.
When Jesus said that we are for Him or against Him, I believe that is true of encouragement.
• We either encourage or we discourage.
• We either edify or we tear down.
• We either build up or we destroy.
Even those who do sit by and do nothing are discouragers.
When they sit by and do nothing, that is discouraging.
They are saying by their silence and inactivity, that God's work is not important to them.
And that is discouraging to those who are striving to do their best.
In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 we read that the Lord is the source of all encouragement.
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our trouble so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."
You may say, "I never heard the word, 'encouragement,' in that passage."
That is true, but the word translated "comfort" is precisely the same Greek word commonly translated, "encouragement," throughout the New Testament.
That is true for the word translated, "consolation."
It is the same Greek word that is used in this text in 2 Thessalonians 2.
It is a form of the word "parakaleo," which literally means, "to call alongside."
That word in its various forms is used throughout the New Testament.
So, the Greek word for encouragement depicts something
or someone called alongside of you to help you, to strengthen you, to assist you.
That's what real encouragement does.
It does more than sympathize, it strengthens.
The English word "encourage" is a compound of the prefix "en,"
which means, "to put into," and the word, "courage," meaning "confidence, or strength."
To encourage literally means to put courage into someone.
To "discourage" is to take courage away from someone.
An encourager builds you up, strengthens you, and increases your courage.
Paul says that God is the source of all such encouragement.
He says that part of the reason He encourages us is to equip us, in turn, to encourage others.
So, if we want to learn how to be expert encouragers,
we have to start by studying the God of all encouragement.
Paul says here that Christ Himself and God the Father are our encouragers.
The Devil is our discourager.
When we encourage someone, we are acting like Jesus,
and when we discourage someone -- well, you know who we are acting like -- it's not Jesus.
We make a deliberate choice in every situation
as to whether we will be an encourager or a discourager.
There's an ancient fable that tells about the devil auctioning off his tools.
He had different tools (lust, envy, jealousy, pride, and so forth.)
But there was one tool that he priced so highly that no one could afford it,
and the Devil said, "I really don't want to sell it anyway because it's my favorite tool."
It was a well-worn tool, and in this make-believe story, someone said, "Well, what is that tool?"
And he said, "That tool is discouragement."
He said, "I use that tool to pry open a life, and when I pry open a life with discouragement
I can get inside and do all kinds of other damage with my other tools."
There is a great truth behind that old fable.
The Devil uses discouragement to weaken, to immobilize us, and to divide us.
And when we are discouragers, we are the tool that he uses.
Everybody needs encouragement.
Encouragement comes from God.
2 Corinthians 1:3, "The God of all encouragement …"
The word, "all," includes all kinds of encouragement.
God gives all kinds of encouragement in all kinds of situations to all kinds of people.
Why does He do this?
It is because He loves us.
Look at verse 16, "God…who loved us…"
That why we must encourage others -- because we love them!

Remember, that we have been commanded by Jesus to love God with all our heart, and all our soul, and with all our strength and to love others like we love ourselves.
• If we are not doing that, then we need to ask God to forgive us and change our sinful ways.
• If we are not doing that we are sinning against our God -- we are not keeping His greatest commandment.
• If we are not doing that then we are discouaging others -- not encouraging them.
Now listen to 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 with this in mind:
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion, and the God of all encouragement, who encourages us in all our troubles, so that we can encourage those in any trouble with the encouragement we ourselves have received from God."
God not only encourages us to encourage us,
He encourages us so that we will encourage others.
We are the body of Christ!
He use us to speak words of hope to the discouraged and despairing.
Verse 16 says "God loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope…"
There is only one thing that can give us eternal encouragement,
and that is the assurance of eternal life.
Of all the encouragement we need, nothing compares to the encouragement that comes from being assured of eternal life and to know that death will not defeat us.
When you know that you have an eternal inheritance in heaven,
it sure helps to defeat the discouragement when we suffer disappointments here on earth.
"May our Lord…encourage your hearts…" (Verse 17)
Everyone here has had their share of heartaches.
Martin Luther, the great Protestant reformer, fought a severe battle with discouragement; and so did Charles Spurgeon - perhaps the greatest preacher since Paul.
Paul testifies in 2 Corinthians 2:4, "For I wrote to you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears…"
Praise God, He can mend broken hearts and He will encourage those who have "lost heart."
Jesus spoke encouragement to those whose hearts were troubled when He said in John 14:27,
"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you, not as the world can give. Do not let your hearts be troubled; and do not be afraid."
If you are have lost heart for ....service...witnessing...to invite...to encourage...
Then, it is probably because someone laid a hurt on you... someone ...criticized...threw discouragement at you.
Why is it as Christians, that we feel we must put others down to put across our plans.
This is not like Jesus.
Jesus will bring encouragement to your hurting heart.
The Psalmist wrote this in Psalm 10:17-18, "You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted;
You encouragement them, and You listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed."
Look at how the 17th verse proceeds, "May our Lord…strengthen you in every good deed and word."
So, the Lord encourages us for our comfort and reassurance and to motivate us to encourage others.
When Grammy-award winning country music singer Naomi Judd learned she had a debilitating liver disease, she said in Reader's Digest, January, 1992,
"This is not my tombstone; it's a steppingstone."
That's what God does for us.
• He can turn our worst into His best.
• He can take setbacks and turn them into comebacks.
• He will make us productive and useful.
Through His encouragement, we can accomplished that which is beyond our abilities
Our Lord encourages us individually, and He encourages us corporately - as His people.
God would have us to be united in our fellowship.
Romans 15:5, "May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
God encourages us to be united as His people.
That is what brings glory to God.
God would have us to be united in our witness.
Acts 9:31, "Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers living in the fear of the Lord."
The Spirit of God encouraged the church, and still does.
The result of the encouragement was numerical growth as well as spiritual growth
The Holy Spirit encouraged the church to continue to fervently proclaim Christ to all they encountered.
The Holy Spirit then gave spiritual fruit when they did proclaim Christ, and that encouraged them that God was in their witness.
Remember Job.
Job was a successful, God-fearing, clean-living businessman.
Satan, the discourager, attacked Job.
He loses his herds and he loses his children.
His wife tells him to curse God and die.
Folks, we must listen to God as Job did.
Job endured great physical suffering.
His friends were judging Job.
They told him that he had brought this trouble on himself.
Job was not encouraged by his so-called friends.
• These friends were not speaking to Job for God.
• They had not prayed about this.
• They were attacking him.
• They just shot off their mouth with their analysis of his problems.
If I criticize you, it had better be in love and it had better be because I love you.
I have no right to criticize you if I don't love you.
And if I criticize you, it had better be to make things better,
and I better pray and seek God's will and help in doing so, or I will hurt not help.
After any criticism, we must come through it loving each other.
Job said, "When I looked for light, then came darkness.
The churning inside me never stops…" (Job 30:26-27)
Then later, God showed Job The great universethat He had created.
God showed Job that He was in charge and that He had not forgotten Job.
That's the encouragement Job needed.
He didn't need an explanation from God.
He needed an experience with God.
Job responded by saying,
"I know that You can do all things.
No plan of Yours can be thwarted."
God gave even greater prosperity to Job.
The Bible says God gave him twice as much as he had before.
Job 42:12 says, "The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first…"
That is what God is ready to do for us!
And as we get closer to receiving God's great blessings,
The Discourager will try his best to divide us.
I believe that you and I are determined to step unafraid into water.
We are at the edge of the promised land of God's great blessing.
Come on!
Let's cross over and don't look back!
"I've had many tears and sorrows,
I've had questions for tomorrow,
There's been times I didn't know right from wrong.
But in every tribulation God gave blessed consolation
That my trials come to only make me strong.

I thank God for the mountains
And I thank Him for the valleys,
And I thank Him for the storms He's brought me through.
For if I never had a problem,
I'd never know that God could solve them.
I'd never know what faith in Him could do."

God is cheering us you on!
All heaven is watching!
The eternal God, creator of all the vast universe,
has a personal, loving, encouraging interest in us.
"Here am I, Lord, use me to be an encourager?"

Sermon by Dr. Harold L. White
Email Dr. White at [email protected]