One to One

I Thessalonians 4:9-18; 5:10-11; Acts 17:11; Ecclesiastes 9:5-6; Colossians 1:18

Love, Encourage, Build Up One Another

CIT: Love in Action

CIS: How to Walk in Love

SO: The hearer will love one another

Follow along at d1.church/notes.

Intro: One to One. Fifty-nine statements in the New Testament have the words “one another” in them. Jesus starts us with the New Commandment to “love one another.” This is easier said than done. The Leaders who wrote letters to the churches spent time re-affirming this concept in all their writings. Over the next few weeks, we will look deeper into these “one another” statements to see how we can show Christianity as intended. 

Let’s get into the word….

1. Love one another (1 Thessalonians 4:9-12)

Now, about your love for one another, we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

EXP: The Church in Thessalonica is a church that we know was established on Paul’s 2nd Missionary journey. Until Paul wrote these books, we did not see much about it, except in Acts 17:11, when Luke says that the Berean Church was better than them. 

Acts 17:11 Now, the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

If you were a student of Paul’s writings, you would find one thing true about this that is not true about the others. Paul thought they were exceptional. He praised them and shared deep secrets with them. They made up for their beginnings. In this letter, Paul commends them for their outstanding execution of Jesus' words. He says I do not need to write to you about Loving one another; this church is known throughout the area for its love. They are so good about it that Paul encourages them to do it with humility and quietness. And he wants them to be self-sustaining so that no one but Jesus can take credit for their actions in this way.

ILL:  For many of us, this has been a challenging series. As we flush out the command to Love one another, there are no doubt many who feel they have fallen short of the mark. Some may have taken it as a challenge to improve or exercise, which is one of the ways we have been talking about. At this moment, however, I want to echo Paul. Some people have allowed Love to rule in their lives for decades in this building and this church. Some are hearing this series and being validated for things others told them that made them look weak. They followed God, and the world chastised them for it. So can we just stop and, for a moment, honor the saints who led us to Christ, whose example was the thing we saw that finally gave us hope in a hopeless world? CHEER for them!

ILL: This past week, we did a funeral for such a man. I loved hearing how he had been a consistent believer his whole life. One of his sons commented that they were sometimes called Holy Rolling Hogans. Noting that it was not always popular or fun for them to honor God and follow their father’s lead. But he did not waiver. He succeeded in Loving like Christ.

APP: The Thessalonians had a past where they were just zealous but not deep. But a few years later, a church that Paul says is an example for the region for the 11th commandment. Wow!

T.S.: Paul, move on since you are doing this life so well. Let's focus on the promise of God for the future.

2. Hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore, encourage one another with these words.

EXP: The apostles knew Jesus about the end times. Jesus tells several end-time parables and even gets real specific about his return to his church in the Gospels. John documents his return and subsequent events in The Revelation. Paul is a student of Jewish writings, and at some point, he has put it all together and given this church an understanding of what is to come when Christ returns. It is an incredible word picture that assures each Christian. Whether you die before you are alive when he returns, your faith in God will ensure you are all a part of celebrating the 2nd coming of Christ. This is our hope. Without it, we all just die and have no hope. 

ILL: The future is important. Paul is commending the fact that the church in Thessalonica is Loving well. He instructs for the moment to continue to be humble and work hard, support yourself and the work of God. But then he jumps into the end game. 

Solomon, the wisest person to ever live, wrote a book that sometimes can be depressing in our Bible called Ecclesiastes (which means preacher). He says this in 

Ecclesiastes 9:5- 6: For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. Their love, their hate, and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.

Solomon had no hope of anything after this world and was super bright. 

No matter how good our life is or how well we have done, we can stop having hope. We can believe we did everything in life and that there is no life after death. Eternity matters for the believer. It is the reason for our hope.

APP: Paul tells what he knows about Christ’s return. Not to make new doctrines or understand, but because without the hope of heaven, we will eventually believe that this is it. 

T.S.: This is not the fullness of God’s plan for your life. Paul commands us to use this understanding as an encouragement for everyone. One day, we will be with the Lord in the clouds with all the other believers. No matter what this world has. Part of loving one another is to share the Gospel truth and encourage others that God has more for them.

3. Build Up (1 Thessalonians 5:10-11)

He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as, in fact, you are doing.

EXP: Paul reiterates his whole point for writing to the Thessalonians. That God did all the work of salvation and redemption in our lives. And regarding those who have died or, as Jesus called them, those who are asleep, death is not a barrier to being with Christ; instead, it is an express train to his presence. 

ILL: Paul describes Jesus this way in Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. Christ is the firstborn of the resurrection. He broke the way Solomon understood the world and provided a way for us to be with him here through the Holy Spirit and to be with him still when we die. Being connected to Christ is not like a coat you get to put on and take off. He is as close to you as breathing. 

ILL: Encourage: give support, confidence, or hope to (someone).

Build Up: make a person or their body stronger.

There are five types of Friends we should all have in our lives. 

1. 1.   The Cheerleader: Boosting confidence and motivation.
2. 2.   The Coach: Guiding through experience and wisdom.
3. 3.   The Challenger: Encouraging growth and development.
4. 4.   The Connector: Knows more than the average amount of people.
5. 5.   The Companion: Balancing Enjoyment and Productivity.

I have always liked this example because it teaches me two things. Not all people are going to do the same function in my life. It will take a group of people just to run me. Also, I may not be able to be all 5 of these for everyone in my life. It will take the whole church to help fulfill what Paul asks us to do in Thessalonians.

ILL: Francis Chan once did this example, and it helped me shape how hope works… 

Stretch a string across the stage, take a sharpie, and make a dot on it. This is how much time you will spend in this life… 

APP: As a person who believes in Christ, eternal life is for you. 

T. S:  Paul says it will take us all to continue to encourage and build up one another to remember the promise of God. The world and the living of this life can drain you of hope. We all need to be reminded. We need to run our race well and bring as many as possible.                                                                                                                                                      

I want to pray for three groups today:

1. Some of you may be like the Thessalonians: rough start, but now you are in stride.
2. I pray that your walk is an encouragement to someone who is starting.
3. There are some who were discouraged when the Christian you knew passed away. 
4. Today, I pray that hope was encouraged in your life. 
5. There are those who have heard today for the first time that Heaven is honest; eternity is absolute. It just decides to follow Christ.
6. I pray today for salvation.