Amen. Romans 15. It is the verse number five that I want to focus on with you. Let's all pray, please, together. Let's look to the Lord for A genuine word to our souls today as we continue what we commenced last week. I would imagine we'll be four weeks in total. This is number two on the subject. Next week and possibly a fourth week, certainly. I won't expect more than that. So let's pray together. Our Lord and our God, we are here to do business with thee. We are here, rather, Lord, rather, we are here for thee to do business with us. We pray, Lord, you would help us. We pray for a word from God. We pray, Lord, for strengthening. We pray that we'll be conformed to the image of Christ. And as we speak on this subject, and as we consider the biblical texts on being an encourager, we pray, Lord, that it will be driven home by the Holy Ghost. And Lord, the work that must be done in each heart well be done. Thank you, Lord, for the challenges personally to my own heart, and we pray, Lord, it will challenge others as well. Be with us now. We give thee thanks for your word. Pray you'll bless us who meet in the building, those who watch online, that, Lord, you would encourage them as they view from their home. And, Lord, we pray a word and season will be received by all. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. Just before we start, I want to thank you all for just remembering my family and I in prayer. Just had a few weeks of sickness. As I said to so many of you, it was like a hospital ward. You get six beds very often in a hospital ward. We had six beds and everybody was in the bed for a wee while at least. Some of us for longer than others, but thankful to be up and about. We're no better looking, but we feel better and that's the way it is. So thank you for remembering us. Good to be back in the pulpit again. Okay, Romans chapter 15 in the verse number five. Now, now, the God of patience and encouragement and encourager grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ. Jesus. Now last week we made the observation of the word consolation there and it means to be an encouragement, to encourage one another. That's what God does. God encourages us. He consoles us. We ought to do the same for one another. Then we thought about that word encourage for a moment. The word encourage has two words there, E-N. which means to put someone in the place of, or to bring someone into a state of, and then you have the word courage. It is to bring someone into a position of courage. It is to give someone courage. That may be courage to face a particularly dark circumstance. That may be encouragement just to face the daily grind of life, whatever it may be. There's a clear theme in the Word of God, more than a theme of command, that you ought to be an encourager, someone to give courage. And how sweet it is, as we observed from Proverbs 16, 24, it's always a sweet thing, it's a sweet word. As the Proverb Penman said, it's a sweet word. That's a word of encouragement, a good word, it's a sweet word, it's good to the taste. Builds you up, strengthens you. But there are times, let's be honest, there are times when you will be alone. And we observed this last week, when there is no one to pat you on the back, when there's no one to come with a wee word of encouragement to you. And in such occasions, you cannot be weak. You cannot be feeble. You cannot be a coward. You must learn. Learn how to be an encourager of yourself. And that's what we read in these portions here. Psalm 31, 24. Well, there David was actually encouraging the people of God. That gives us Psalm to read to find encouragement. But, well, you have the verse in front of you in your notes there, 1 Samuel 30 and 6. At the end of that verse, remember what he saw last week? David was in trouble. There was no one for him. His wives were gone, they were stolen, they were kidnapped. His men were against him. Everyone Saul was chasing him. The Philistines were out against him. He had nobody. And the end of verse six, it says there, but, but, but, but David encouraged. himself in the Lord. Now, I have an English version of the Hebrew there for you. It's the word chazak, all right? And that means to strengthen. That's what encouragement means, to get courage, to strengthen yourself. David encouraged himself. You must learn. And so we've written there as well, how to encourage yourself. Number one, spend time in honest prayer. Be honest with the Lord. Confess your faults. Confess your limitations. Confess you make mistakes. Confess your need of wisdom. Confess it all. Honest prayer. Number two, dwell on God's sovereignty. Everything happens for a reason. Thirdly, the Bible gives examples of how to encourage yourselves. The Psalmists, Psalm 42.5 says, I'm cast down. prayed over the fact that he was broken. Number four, you remind yourself of all that God has given you. You just remember when everything's against you. Think of everything God has given you from the moment you were conceived in the womb to the moment you're standing now. Even beyond that, think about what God gave you in eternity past when he chose you. Think about what God's gonna give you in eternity future. He's good to you. And those are ways to give yourself Encouragement in times of difficulty. Then, last week, we thought, firstly, the instruction, the command in Scripture to be an encourager. God said to Moses there in Deuteronomy, I hope you're with me here, in Deuteronomy 1, verse 38, same word, Shazak. for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. And I'm taking you to that verse because there is Moses. He was told, Moses, you sinned against God. I'm not letting you in the promised land. I'm going to replace you, but you have to go and encourage your replacement. That would have been hard for Moses. to encourage the man that God gave to replace him. Saul didn't do that for David, did he? Anyway, look at Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10, 24, 25, it says, and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works. Provoke each other, help each other. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the man of some is, but exhorting one another. And the word exhort there means to encourage, to comfort, to strengthen. There's a command. You see, sometimes it is the way, let's not gather together. There's problems or difficulties, let's not gather together. The Lord says, instead of doing that, let's meet together and encourage one another. Don't forsake your responsibility here in encouraging others. A few other verses there, 1 Thessalonians, Ephesians 4, Romans 15 we read. I want to move on this morning now. I hope what we've said is a sufficient introduction. We're talking about how to be an encourager. I'm not talking about me giving you verses to encourage you today. I'm not saying you and me going to the Bible that we can find encouragement. That's what I'm looking for right now. What we're talking about now is you encouraging other people. This is not self-centered, this is other people-centered. And this is our duty, to take upon ourselves the responsibility of encouraging others. Now, number two here is where we pick up then this morning. Because here's a reality. The wicked encourage each other in sin. That's a reality. You see, the ungodly know the value of being an encouragement. In taking other people, younger, older, whatever, manipulate them, and in some way encouraging them, go on, push on in your sin! Don't worry about God! The unbelievers encourage each other. Would you take your Bibles and go with me, please, to Psalm 64? Psalm 64. States exactly what I've just said there. Okay, Psalm 64. Read the first verse with me here. Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer. Preserve my life from fear of the enemy. Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked. All right? from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity. Now go to your verse, verse five. They, so the word they refers to the wicked, the workers of iniquity. They encourage themselves in an evil manner. They commune of laying snares prevalent. They say, who shall see them? What they're doing is they're encouraging each other to pursue their sinful pursuits. Who's gonna see us? We'll do it in the shadows. We'll do it in secret. There is no God. Can I also turn you to the book of Isaiah? Isaiah 41. Turn over there with me, please. So just over a few books, you have a similar theme. Isaiah 41. And the verse six. Here you have idolaters. They want the people to engage in the act of idolatry. In verse six, it says of Isaiah 41, they helped everyone his neighbor. And everyone said to his brother, be of good courage. Courage to do what? Read verse seven. So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith. And he that smoothed with the hammer encouraged him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the soldering. And he fastened it with nails that should not be moved. What's that talking about? They're encouraging each other to make idols, the goldsmiths there. He and he does his bit. The next one does his part, smoothing it out and making it into an idol. And they're encouraging each other. It specifically says that at the end of verse six, be of good courage. Go on. Continue in your pagan religion. Continue defying God. Continue to ignore the gospel and the truth. Continue to pursue your ungodliness. The ungodly, the unbelievers will encourage each other. Isn't that a reality? Why is that? Because they know the value and the effectiveness of carrying one another under sin. What's that saying? United, we stand. Divided, we fall. That's not just a mantra of the people of God, that's the mantra of every people group on earth. Whatever your sin or whatever your task is, there's always that desire to go together in groups. There's safety in numbers. And that's why the unsaved will encourage each other in their sin, and they'll encourage you to sin. Many a young person, many a mature person has been led deeply into sin by other people encouraging them to do so. Listen, one more drink of alcohol. Just take another drink. You're over the limit, don't worry about it. Your spouse isn't here tonight. You're with us. Go ahead and have fun with that prayer. It's only a bit of fun. Those are the encouragements you'll find in dark, shadowy places or other encouragements to do that which is obnoxious to God. The ungodly encourage each other. So we as the people of God, all the more need there is to encourage one another and move on. Because here's the problem, as you can see thirdly there, quite often, believers encourage each other in sin. Don't be surprised at that. There will be times that it's a believer who is provoking you and encouraging you in sin. That's a reality. Can I turn you please to 1 Samuel? You have it in front of you, obviously, but just turn with me there. Anyway, 1 Samuel. In chapter 11, what a sad portion in the word of God. Now let me just think, is that? No, 2 Samuel, 2 Samuel, I'm turning to it and wondering. 2 Samuel chapter 11, yes, that makes more sense. And the verse 15. In this sad chapter, here's David and Bathsheba. And David, and Bathsheba have encouraged each other in sin. You ever heard that song? It's called the Hallelujah Chorus. I remember a man in my house one time, he wanted me to listen to it for a thought. Oh, that's so encouraging, David. See that song? That song is singing about David's relationship and adultery with Bathsheba. and they're crying hallelujah as they engage in the act of sin. That is not, that is blasphemy. Okay, that is not a funny song, that has corrupted the core. But anyway, here you have Bathsheba, and Bathsheba was encouraging David in sin. Likewise, David encouraged Bathsheba by inviting her to the palace. Here you have believers, children of God, encouraging each other in the act of sin and in lust and in wickedness. Now the verse I wanted you to go to is actually later in the chapter, chapter 15. Sorry, verse 15, where we read, And he wrote in the letters, saying, Set you Uriah, that's Uriah, who is Bathsheba's husband, in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten and die. And so David is encouraging Joab to sin. In fact, he's giving a command to sin. But it fits for our example this morning, that's encouragement. David was now encouraging Joab to sin. So understand this. Believers, wrongly, sinfully, wickedly, and in an ungodly manner may well be the very ones who encourage you to sin. Be conscious of that and be aware of that. Now, it's a serious thing when that happens. Let's go to the New Testament just to see another example of this. 1 Corinthians, let's go to chapter eight. I may preach on this in more length on another occasion, but just in passing this morning, 1 Corinthians chapter eight, verse number nine. But take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. Now you may or you may not understand that verse. But let me say this in brief. Here is a Christian who is mature, and they know they have their liberties. The example here is eating meat offered to idols. So if you eat. I don't know, a piece of beef. And that beef had prior been offered on an altar to some idol. It doesn't change the beef. It's still a beef, all right? But the point is, by going and eating that beef, some weaker brother who has just been saved out of that idolatry sees you going and buying meat offered to idols and then thinks, oh, it must be okay, and they go back to their paganism. And what the point is here, you can accidentally encourage someone to say, And we need to be careful and cautious that we don't, as believers, encourage either by deliberate encouragement or by accidental encouragement, ruin other believers by leading them into sin. Like I said, we can do that deliberately, like Bathsheba and David. We can do it accidentally, as Paul is dealing with there in 1 Corinthians. You can do that by foolish behavior, agitating, aggravating. A husband can do this to his wife by being hard on the wife and driving her away. A woman can do this by dressing in a very provocative manner. You can cause other people to sin. And you answer God for that. A serious matter. A serious matter. Move on with me here as we try and make progress. I want you to see, fourthly then, that very often, encouragement takes the form of rebuke. So when I talk here about encouraging one another, I don't only mean saying nice things. Sometimes it's speaking a hard truth, but doing it in love. Turn with me please to the book of Proverbs 27. Proverbs 27. Of course you have a gate in front of you, notes, but let's just go to it. Proverbs 27, the reason I've given you those notes is because I want you to keep them. Keep them in your Bible or wherever and throughout the year, look at them, read them, pray over them, and the Lord will help you to do these things. Rather than me just preaching it and you forgetting about it by the end of the week or the end of the month, keep it. So Proverbs 27 and the verse number five. Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of the friend. but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. I think those words are fairly obvious, but focusing there on verse five, it says, a genuine rebuke is better than someone loving you secretly. Someone can love you secretly. What that means is, it doesn't mean a romantic love. It means, you know, they think well of you, think nicely of you, but they would never dare say anything to you. They would never come to encourage you. They would never come to help you, just at a distance. They may say, well, they never say it, but they might think, well, there's a good Christian, but they would never express it. And secret love is of no value to you whatsoever. It's of no value. And that's what the proverb means. Open rebuke is better than secret love. And the idea of rebuke there, it's not being harsh or anything else, but lovingly telling someone the truth. speaking the truth in love. This is important. Remember the occasion when Peter came to Antioch, and he had done something that was wrong, and so Paul the apostle rebuked him for it. Well, Peter took that rebuke well. He took it well, because Paul wasn't going to love Peter secretly. He was going to lovingly speak to him. That's important sometimes. Now, I wanna pause with this for one moment this morning, for it's important to do so. We must, as believers, mature to such a point that we are able to take criticism, that we are able to take someone's rebuke. When someone comes and says something to you, and they highlight a sin, keep your mouth closed and take it. See, here's human nature. When somebody criticises us, what do we do? We want to retaliate. We want to put the guard up, as it were. We want to defend ourselves. But it must always be, men and women, we must always pursue truth. So if someone is telling you something, and there's even an element of truth in it, you take that truth. Don't fight against it. Don't resist it. Don't be overly sensitive to criticism. If someone criticizes you, go home and thank God for it. That's okay. When I was looking at this, I just thought for a minute, could you imagine a home? Let's say there's some children, and those children are never, ever, ever rebuked. Never, ever, ever corrected. Never are they told when they do something wrong, those children would be hellish in their behavior as they grew up. Rebuke isn't only good, it is absolutely necessary. And so when you're rebuked, you see it for what it is. This is you, a little child, maturing. Don't be surprised. But we shouldn't be surprised when someone shows a fault in us. Expect people to show you faults, for you're full of them. Let's not be proud and arrogant and think more of ourselves than we ought to think. There are many, many faults and very often we don't even see them. But it's an encouragement when someone comes out of love. Now if they do out of hatred, well listen, listen. If someone comes and rebukes you out of hatred, well they're sinful for doing that. But of what they rebuke you for, if there's even an element of truth in it, take it. And thank God for it. Here's the reason why. When someone shows you a disease, when someone shows you a sickness, when someone shows you a sin, they've showed you something that you've never seen before. Get it and rip it out. Thank God for victory. Another bit of your dirty, carnal, ungodly, un-Christ-like nature has been ripped out. That's a blessing. Soar. Difficult, unpleasant, but like I said, when Paul came to rebuke Peter, Peter didn't defend himself. Peter didn't stand there and say, but hang on a minute here, everybody else was doing this. Peter kept his mouth shut and took the rebuke. That was good. That was good. And so when we're shown an error, whether it's in the word of God or by a brother or sister, take it and thank God and grow. Don't be sensitive. Now, let's be honest. I know and you know that there are people who view themselves as God has personally called them to point out everybody else's faults. And they'll be the first person to come and show you all your faults. People like that. You know that. But there's a wee saying. And the saying is this. Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer. And here's what that means. Your friends might not always tell you the truth. Don't want to hurt your feelings. Don't want to offend you. But enemies, they are just chomping at the bit to point out every fault, every error. That's a good thing. they'll tell you the truth very quickly. It'll be harsh, painful, wrong on their part, wrong motivation, but if what they say is right, thank the Lord for it, and grow. Open rebuke, men and women, is better than secret love, and so encouragement is telling people the truth, but doing it lovingly. Don't you be sinful in doing it wrongly. If you can't do it lovingly, Well, maybe go and pray about it before you say anything. And get the victory yourself, and then go and speak about it. Take time, don't rush. And likewise, don't rush when you're being the one rebuked. So we all need to be strong to do that. Move on with me here, fifthly please. There are many things that cause discouragement. We're all aware of that. There are many things that cause discouragement. And we need to be aware of that in other people. We know ourselves what can discourage us, personal failures, other people discourage us, whatever the case may be. There are many, many things that discourage us, and you remember everybody else around you is the same. We're all easily discouraged. What happens when you're discouraged? Well, you're probably still on Proverbs. If you are, just turn back to the Psalms again, Psalm 51. You see, when discouragement comes, you lose your joy. You lose your song, and it's just miserable. It's just miserable. Psalm 51. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions. He's just miserable. The psalmist here, this is when he sinned with Bathsheba. Verse two. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquities and cleanse me from my sin. Move down here to verse eight. make me to hear joy and gladness. Here's the man who plunged into an ungodly relationship with another woman. And he did it because he thought it would bring him joy and gladness. And when he's been honest before God, he's saying, Lord, I don't even know what joy and gladness sounds like anymore. I'm just miserable. I'm just miserable. Read the whole verse again, verse eight. Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. He fears the rebuke and the conviction of sin. That's brought him no happiness, none whatsoever. Sin never does, does it? And so he's praying here for help. So when you have other people around you like today or any day, understand that every believer in this room has sinned this week. And we all come to church having broken God's law, personal failures, and we're discouraged by that every single week, every single day. And that's why the Lord says, encourage one another. Be an encourager to other people. Help them through their problems. You see, in this case, David had a friend, the friend who was a prophet. Oh, his name, Nathan, wasn't it? Nathaniel, Nathan, Nathan, I think it was Nathan. And Nathan the prophet came and told David, listen, David, you've sinned. But he told them a wee story about a sheep. He told them lovingly and tenderly, but truthfully. That would have been a hard thing for Nathan to do. Imagine going to the king and pointing out to the king, who can have you beheaded in a moment, that you've sinned against God. And he did that. And what happened? Well, he was a real friend of David. David recovered and did receive his joy again. But furthermore, yes, our own failures can discourage us, but like I said, saved and unsaved people can discourage us as well. That's why we sang that. Sam, I think I have it on the notes there as well, the CV turning to it. Don't I? Maybe I don't. No, I don't. Sorry about that. Oh, I do. Psalm 41, verse nine. There it is, yes. Psalm 41, verse nine. What does it say there? Yea, my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. And what David's saying there is there's somebody who was close to him, someone who ate at his own table. A close friend. And that friend turned on him. And he feels the pain and the agony of that in his heart. See, we can be discouraged by those who are closest to us. Never for a moment forget that. So there's so much. And here's the thing. We have a duty as a people of God to be an encourager to each other, to journey home to heaven and to bring everybody with us. The enemy isn't here. The enemy is the world, the flesh, and the devil. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. And the way to navigate through that in regards to the people of God is to genuinely encourage one another. When there is words of rebuke, you speak it encouragingly, and you seek to win them through, not bring them down. You see, It's an awful sin. Like David's familiar friend in Psalm 41 and nine, it is a serious, serious matter to be that familiar friend who lifts up your heel against another believer. I need you to feel and to understand how genuinely serious this is. And there's no better verse to demonstrate it than Luke 17. Now I have it printed out for you there. Time's gone on, so just read it in the notes there. Luke 17, one and two. So you will be offended. Don't be naive here. Don't think coming to church we'll all be lovely and fluffy and nice. Catch yourself on, we're all sinners. It is impossible but the offenses will come. But woe unto him through whom they come. It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he cast into the sea than he should have feigned one of these little ones. And what the Lord's saying there is, it is better believer. Feet about a millstone round your neck and end up in the ocean. Had to offend one of my children. I was thinking about this. I was thinking about my own family, my own home. I was thinking about any family unit. And there's one child who deeply hurts and offends the other. And that child was wrong for their abuse and for their words and for their action. How does the parent feel? Very angry. at the child who offended the other child, obviously. And what happens? That child will be rebuked severely. And they will learn never, ever, ever, ever you offend or hurt your sibling. And that's a demonstration and an example of how God works. Now, that child who was wrong in discouraging the other sibling, and the parent rebukes the child, that child is still the parent's child. Their relationship hasn't changed. Still redeemed, still saved, but they're going to feel the rebuke of the parent. God will rebuke, and therefore we must be very careful that we do not discourage. We are called to be encouragers, and that is essential. So let's not discourage, dishearten, offend, agitate, weaken any other brother or sister and cause them to sin. It is one thing to share a loving rebuke because you want that person to grow. It is another thing to be out of a twisted, angry heat to find someone to always vent your frustration on and just take them down. That is the kind of attitude that God will severely rebuke. And you need to be careful. You watch your heart. When you're speaking to someone, you check your heart. Is this out of love for their soul, to see them flourish, or is it jealousy? Is it hatred? Examine your soul. I've brought you through the notes there this morning, and I'm satisfied that we have went through them today. There's more we'll come to next week, such as some examples of encouragers in the Bible, and we'll look at those next Lord's Day. But can I close with one verse? And it's the psalm that we read at the beginning, the psalm that I quoted a moment ago. I want to finish with it as well. Here's the reason why. You see it in your notes there, Psalm 41, verse nine. Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. That's a prophecy. Now just bear with me, turn to me this one verse, I want to show you where that prophecy actually happened. Go with me please to the Gospel of John, John 13. John 13, and here you have Christ. And Christ is talking about Judas, all right? So John 13, and the verse 18. So right, I'm in Luke. I'll just move over to John. Okay, John 13, 18. I speak not of you all, Christ said. I know whom I have chosen, but that the scriptures may be fulfilled. He that eateth bread with me. That's Judas at the Last Supper. He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. And I want to leave that verse with you today because Christ knows how it feels when your closest friend comes and lifts the heel against you. He knows. Let that encourage you. Come to him in prayer. You can say to the Lord directly and specifically, Lord, you know how it feels when someone puts a foot in you You know how it feels when you have a boot of your own friend driven into your stomach. Lord, give me grace to handle like you did. And how did Christ handle Judas? When Judas came to betray him, he called him friend. Because Christ had the maturity to stand above Judas' debased, hellish nature. He was above it. And I want you to be the Christ. And that's not easy. And that's why we have to pray, Lord, help me to be holy as Thou art holy. We have a long way to go in our walk with God. Being the work of an encourager is not easy, but it's required. The people of God need it. We need it. And I pray that this will be A message that will help you and I to give ourselves to being encouragers for the glory of God, knowing that Christ feels well when he is discouraged and pushed against.