Encourage One Another (1 Thessalonians 4:18; 5:11)

The meaning of encouragement. The Greek word translated “encourage” has two complementary senses, and our English word carries the same double meaning.

First, it means comfort. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 7:6, “God who comforts the downcast comforted us by the coming of Titus.” That word “comforts” is the same word as “encourage.” In 1 Thessalonians 4:18, Paul tells believers to “encourage each other with these words” — words about how Jesus died and rose again, how our loved ones who have died in the Lord are with God now, and how death for the believer is not the end but merely falling asleep. It is a beautiful way of describing death: temporary, a short interruption, a preparation for a new phase of life and vigour.

Second, it means exhortation — urging one another to live lives worthy of the gospel. A teacher might say, “I encourage you to start your revision in good time” — not comfort, but a strong appeal. In 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Paul has just exhorted the Thessalonians to be alert and self-controlled, to put on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet, and then he says: “Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up.” In other words: you do for one another what I have just been doing for you. Barnabas, the “son of encouragement,” embodied both senses. When he arrived at Antioch and saw the evidence of God’s grace, “he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts” (Acts 11:23).

The need for encouragement. It is not hard to see why the Thessalonians needed so much of it. Their circumstances were brutal. Acts 17 describes how, when people in Thessalonica became Christians, the Jews got the worst characters in the city to form a mob and lay siege to the house of Jason. They dragged Jason and some believers before the city authorities, shouting that these people were saying there was another king, Jesus — a politically explosive charge in that city. The persecution was so fierce that after just a few weeks, Paul, Silas, and Timothy had to flee. The young church was left feeling vulnerable and weak, and some believers had since died, causing the rest to lose heart.

On top of hard circumstances, the demands of holiness are immense. Paul tells them to live lives “worthy of God” (2:12), to make their love “increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else” (3:12), and to do it “more and more” (4:1). Then comes a rapid-fire list of commands: respect your leaders, live in peace, warn the idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone, be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, test everything, avoid every kind of evil. Living to please God is not a small thing at the best of times, let alone when surrounded by hostile enemies of the gospel.

If that was true for Thessalonica, it is no less true for us here in Galway. Christians used to be regarded as the good guys; now our teaching is treated as toxic. We go against the stream every day — at college, at work, on the streets — and we come to church frazzled and exhausted. That is why gathering on the Lord’s Day and at the midweek is so vital: these are oases in an ocean of hostility where we can bind up one another’s wounds and exhort one another not to give in.

The practice of encouragement. This is a responsibility for every member of the church, not just the minister and the elders. How do we do it?

We comfort one another in many ways. You can encourage someone simply by smiling at them, by giving them a hug, by touching their hand in sympathy. You encourage by your presence — just turning up at church or at the midweek speaks volumes, even if you feel you have nothing to contribute. You encourage by your perseverance — Paul, Silas, and Timothy were comforted simply to hear that the Thessalonians were standing firm. The fact that you keep going as a Christian in spite of hardship encourages the rest of us. And above all, we comfort one another by our words. We should talk together about the things of God more than we do. Look out especially for those in particular need — the ill, the unemployed, those searching for a place to live — and make it your business to say or do something that will comfort them.

We exhort one another lovingly and gently. Paul puts it beautifully: “We dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God” (2:11–12). A good rule of thumb is the one you see at railway stations and airports: “If you see something, say something.” If someone has not been at church for a few weeks, get in touch. If someone is gossiping or speaking unkindly, gently exhort them. We do this in personal conversations, in small groups, in family worship, over tea and coffee after church. We do not just pat each other on the back and affirm everything — there must be that element of calling one another to more consistent, godly living.

Paul’s closing phrase is wonderfully encouraging in itself: “Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing” (5:11). This is not airy idealism. It was happening in Thessalonica, and it is happening here in Covenant Fellowship. But Paul does not say, “You’re already doing it, so you can stop.” He says: do it more and more.

Related sermons: Spur one another on to love and good deeds (Heb 10:24) · Bear One Another’s Burdens (Galatians 6:2)