The sermon titled 'The Itinerant Encourager' by Peter Allison focuses on Paul's ministry of encouragement as depicted in Acts 20:1-12. Paul travels extensively throughout Macedonia and Greece, emphasizing the importance of physical presence and words in building up the early Christian communities. The sermon highlights Paul's dedication to encouraging the saints, even amidst personal trials and adversities, such as conflicts in Corinth and hardships during his travels. Paul’s ministry is characterized by his frequent visits to the churches he established, where he offered comfort, exhortation, and commendation. The sermon underscores the power of presence and words in the ministry of encouragement, urging believers to use their own experiences of comfort to support others in their faith journey.

Please turn in your scriptures to Acts chapter 20. This picks up following the outcome of the riot in Ephesus that Demetrius had raised. Pick up at verse 1, Acts 20, verse 1. After the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself and embraced them, and departed to go to Macedonia. Now when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece and stayed three months.

And when the Jews plotted against him as he was about to sail to Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. And Sopater of Borea accompanied him to Asia. Also Aristarchus and Segunus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe and Timothy, Antichicus and Trophimus of Asia. These men going ahead waited for us at Troas. But we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and in five days joined them at Troas where we stayed seven days.

Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul made ready to depart the next day, spoke to them, and continued his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together, and in a window sat a certain young man named Eudicus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep and as Paul continued speaking he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him, said, Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him. Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak he departed.

And they brought the young man in alive, and they were not a little comforted. May Jehovah bring his judgments of old to mind and comfort us in them. Father, please teach us out of Your Word this morning. Give us a spiritual mind to understand the things of the Spirit. Sanctify us this morning.

Build us up in the faith. And I ask that you would sanctify my sinful lips, that they may proclaim faithfully your gospel. In Jesus' name, Amen. Have you ever tried to read a letter or a paragraph with no punctuation and no spaces between the words. What about a handwritten letter with no punctuation and no spaces, and maybe even in all capitals.

Well, it can be a bit of a challenge, especially if you're not familiar with the text. And if you're familiar with the text, you can kind of figure it out. But it goes a little bit slower than when you have the punctuation and the spacing to help you sort the words. And sometimes The meaning can even be in question. If you look at the...

You've probably heard the God is now here is exactly the same. If you run all the letters together, it's exactly the same as God is nowhere. And there's no way to tell the difference except by context what might be meant. Well, that's the way New Testament manuscripts were written according to the many early copies that we have. No spaces between the words, no punctuation, just one letter after another to save space.

So writers had to use literary techniques to communicate the information that we can communicate with punctuation and paragraphing. And one of those devices that they would use to mark off sections, paragraphs about a certain topic is what's called an inclusio. That's where a section or a topic is identified by using the same word or phrase at the beginning and at the end. It's like a flag. It signifies that what is between those two phrases is covering a similar topic.

It's like a similar paragraph. Proverbs 1 verse 2 and 1 verse 7 form an inclusio to the very well-known introduction to the book of Proverbs. It's setting apart everything between those verses. Verse 2 begins with, to know wisdom and instruction. And verse 7 ends with, fools despise wisdom and instruction.

It repeats that same phrase, beginning and ending, setting that off as an introduction. This text also has an inclusio of sorts, setting verses 1 to 12 apart, and that's why we read verses 1 to 12 this morning. But it opens and closes this section with the same Greek word. And that word is encouragement. Encouragement, or comfort, or exhortation.

It's all the same word in the Greek. The word literally means to call to one's side. Verse 1 reads, After the tumult had ceased, having called the Disciples together and embracing them Paul departed for Macedonia that in verse 2 now when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece. And then in verse 12, and they brought the young man in alive and they were not a little comforted. That word, encouraged and comforted, it's the same word.

Parakaleo. The word in the first verse has a different prefix. The word for called them together, but it's the same root word as what's used in verse 2 and verse 12. The ESV actually adds the verb encourage in verse 1. And so it reads, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia.

Now they add that extra word because the text they're translating from adds that extra word. But it actually makes my point stronger in this case, although I don't think it's actually in the canonical text. It is what that verse is saying. Paul, he called them together to bring encouragement to them. Encouragement is a wonderful thing, isn't it?

It's good to be encouraged, isn't it? And Luke sets this section apart as a passage that records the extensive amount of time and effort that Paul put into the ministry of encouraging the saints in the churches that he had planted. Paul was an evangelist to the Gentiles. And in that calling, he devoted a lot of time preaching to unbelievers and starting churches from those converts. But once churches were established and he visited them again and again and again to encourage them and to build them up in the faith.

He not only made great efforts to engage in this type of encouragement, but he also endured great trials and difficulties to do it. So I wanted to look this morning at Paul's ministry of encouragement. His ministry of encouragement to the churches. And the first observation is that Paul is committed to the ministry of encouragement and edification of the saints. Of all the New Testament books, the Greek word for encouragement is used the most in Acts, Mostly in the parts related to Paul's ministry.

Also his letters to Philemon, the second letter to Corinthians, and the letters to Thessalonians, Timothy, and Titus make frequent references to exhortation and to comfort or encouragement. So this is Paul's pattern. It's Paul's practice to regularly visit the churches he planted and encourage them. On his first missionary journey, he went back and revisited all the churches that he had just planted to encourage them, Acts 14-22. On his second missionary journey, Paul started by revisiting the same churches that he had planted on his first journey.

That's their third visit now. And on the third journey, he started by visiting all the churches that he had planted on the first journey again before planting the church in Ephesus. And then going back and visiting all the churches that he had planted on the second journey twice. He did it twice. It's also Paul's custom to gather the saints together after traumatic events, to comfort and to encourage them.

When he was stoned at Lystra and left for dead, The disciples gathered around him, and then he rose up and went back into the city, and he stayed with them. He didn't depart until the next day. After Paul and Silas had been caned and imprisoned in Philippi, there was an earthquake, the jailer was converted, Paul and Silas are released the next morning, and then Acts 16 tells us that they went out of prison and went straight to the house of Lydia, when they had seen the brethren. And they encouraged them and departed. That was a priority.

Here they had just been through this trauma. The church had been, the saints there had been through a rather traumatic experience in this. This would have been frightening to have the leadership in the church arrested and caned publicly in the city. They would have been afraid. So Paul took time to comfort them and encourage them before he departed.

And Paul does the same thing here after the Ephesian riot in the first verse of Acts 20. After the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself. And the same root word there, he's calling them together, he's summoning them. It's a summons to do something. He summoned them to himself.

He embraced them and departed to go to Macedonia. So it's this pattern of his ministry is to encourage and build up. How does he do it? What does he do to encourage and comfort the saints? Well, his ministry of encouragement consists of two things, though not necessarily equally.

Two things. The first is present, his presence. Face to face, in person, conversations, physical touch and embracing. See, a big part of encouragement is simply being present, physically present. Paul didn't simply write nice letters to encourage them and say nice things or say true things or exhort them.

Paul visits them in person, often at great expense. See, this is the foundation of encouragement to show that you have a genuine concern for other people and that you are willing to sacrifice to be present. That is in itself the foundation of encouragement. If that isn't there, all the things that you might say can be easily discounted. But when they're built on a foundation of personal sacrifice to be present, for no other purpose than to simply be there.

Then that provides a basis for substance in our words. Sometimes being present takes travel, and sometimes travel is not convenient. But Paul was willing to travel by any and all means to come in person. Luke says here that he went all over Macedonia, verse 2, all over that region to encourage the saints. And the second component of Paul's encouragement, we read there, consists of words.

He went all over that region and encouraged them with many words. These words take the form of exhortations, of comfort, or even at times of commendation and affirmation. Exhortation is urging someone to do according to the directions and counsel of the Word of God. Exhortation is urging somebody to do according to the directions and counsel of the Word of God. I encourage you to do such and such.

It's saying I urge you or I exhort you. Exhortation follows Teaching. Instruction of the word is followed by urging obedience to what has been taught. In his letter to Thessalonians, Paul said to the busybodies who were not working, I command and exhort you to work. He instructed, he told Timothy to teach and to exhort.

1 Timothy 6.2 You see, exhortation is encouraging people to do what has been taught or commanded in the Scriptures. Comfort, it's the same word in Greek, but is a different nuance to it. Comfort is reminding someone of the promises and assurances of the Word of God. Comfort involves speaking relevant truths to someone. Paul instructed the Thessalonians to comfort one another with words in 1 Thessalonians 4.18.

Therefore, comfort one another with His words. He told them to comfort one another with His words about Christ's second coming that He had just written to them. And He said, comfort one another with these words. Remind each other of these truths. Comfort, as we said, is also extended by our presence.

2 Corinthians 7, 6, Paul was comforted by the coming of Titus. And Paul told the Ephesians that he had sent Timothy to them, Ephesians 6.22, whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that he may know your affairs, and that he may comfort your hearts." Timothy was sent there in person to be able to communicate with them, to be able to get an understanding of their needs, and to be able to comfort them. Paul sent Tychicus to Colossi so that he could do that same thing. He said, I'm sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts. So Tychicus there is going to be speaking those words of comfort once he understands their particular situation.

Now it can also, he said, thirdly, include or mean commendation or affirmation informing somebody of the good effects or good benefit of their labors. And Paul does that in his second letter to the Corinthians when he encourages them by telling how beneficial and encouraging their repentance was to his soul. Now Paul encouraged and comforted these people out of his own affliction. I think what makes Paul's example this morning all the more important to us is that he encouraged in the saints and he did this comforting out of his own great discouragement and sorrow. And to see this, we need just a bit of background on what's happening between verse 1 and verse 2.

In Acts 20, Luke doesn't go into very much detail. He departs Ephesus to go to Macedonia, and he goes all over that region encouraging people with words, and ends up in Greece where he stays for three months. But there is a whirlwind of activity, many months, a very intense activity that go on between those two verses. And that provides a whole lot of context to this simple statement that Paul traveled all over the place encouraging people. It gives us, and understanding that context gives us a window into what Paul was enduring personally during this time when he was encouraging the churches.

And so I'd like to briefly, as much as possible, review Paul's travels here. And what's going on in this time in his life. And this is admittedly a little bit complex. I maybe shouldn't admit that, but I don't expect you to follow all the logistics afterward, but I want to convey the depth here of Paul's anguish, his sorrow, and great grief, and also physical travails, out of which he was still encouraging these saints. And so it starts in Ephesus.

Paul's been at Ephesus this whole time. And he learns of trouble in Corinth, the church that he had just come from, or the church that he had planted on his last journey. And so he writes a letter to them. We don't have that letter, but he alludes to it in 1 Corinthians 5, 9 when he says, I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. So he's referencing an earlier letter that he's written to these Corinthians.

The Corinthian church then receives this letter that we don't have and writes Paul a letter back with further questions about what he had written. And Paul, while he was there, still at Ephesus here, also heard an update about continuing problems at Corinth. And so in response, Paul writes a second letter which we have as 1 Corinthians. And we know this from 1 Corinthians 7-1 where he says, "...Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me. So in chapter 7, he's going to deal with the things that he wrote to them, or with the things they wrote back to him.

And then in 1 Corinthians 11, 18, he writes, for first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part, I believe it. So he's gotten an oral report about the problems going on, the divisions going on in this church. And so in this letter to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians, Paul tells them about his plans, his future travel plans, plans that Luke alludes to in Acts 19, 21 and 22. Luke alludes to those plans and Paul communicates those plans to the Corinthian church in Telling them that he plans to stop by Corinth After visiting Macedonia on his way to Jerusalem And then he goes on to give them directions about the collections to be taken up when he's there So he says this in first Corinthians 16 now I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia for I am passing through Macedonia and it may be that I will remain or even spend the winter with you that you may send me on my journey Wherever I go For I do not wish to see you now on the way, but I hope to stay awhile with you if the Lord permits.

But I will carry in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a great and effective door has opened for me and there are many adversaries. And if Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without fear, for he does the work of the Lord as I do. But send him on his journey in peace, that he may come to him, for I am waiting for him with the brethren." And so this is where things stand, probably in Acts 19. And he sends that letter by Timothy, having informed them of his plan to stop by there on his way back from Macedonia. So from Ephesus then, Paul departs to Macedonia and Achaia on his way to Jerusalem.

Now, see, originally he had planned to visit Corinth before going to Macedonia and then visit them again on the way back. We know these original plans from 2 Corinthians. In chapter 1 and 15 he said, In this confidence I intended to come to you before that you might have a second benefit, to pass by way of you to Macedonia, to go to Corinth, and then up to Macedonia, and to come again from Macedonia to you and be helped on my way to Judea." So since the Corinthians knew about this original plan, it must have been communicated to them somehow. Maybe in the lost letter, or maybe by someone sent to them. We don't know.

But he delayed his trip because an effective door for ministry had been opened in Ephesus. And he communicates this change in his letter in 1 Corinthians. So Paul's in Ephesus now. He's made a change in plans. He's not going to go to Corinth.

He departs to Macedonia directly from Ephesus. But after the first Corinthian letter was written, he was attacked and discredited by the so-called false apostles at Corinth. And the church, or at least some of the church, follows them. And so Paul quotes some of the things that they were saying about him in 2 Corinthians 10.10. He says, For his letters, they say, the attackers say, are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible.

And the situation was so bad and Paul was so deeply wounded that he apparently made an unplanned trip from Corinth to Ephesus in an effort to bring repentance and reconciliation, but that effort didn't succeed. And he refers to this as his painful trip in 2 Corinthians 2 when he says, "'But I determined this within myself that I would not come again to you in sorrow, come again.'" So there was a trip there that was painful, sorrowful. It caused Paul great pain. And so because of the outcome of this trip, he changed his plans and didn't visit Corinth first on his way to Macedonia. And for that then he's criticized by his detractors at Corinth.

And so picking up in 2 Corinthians 15 he defends himself and he says in this confidence I intended to come to you before that you might have a second benefit, to pass by way of you to Macedonia, to come again from Macedonia to you and be helped by you on my way. Therefore when I was planning to do this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I planned to do, do I plan according to the flesh that with me there should be yes, yes and no, no? But as God is faithful, Our word to you was not yes and no." And now right here in the midst of his defense of his own integrity against the attacks of these people in Ephesus, right in the midst of this, he gives one of the great and precious promises of Scripture as it relates to His defense. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not yes and no, but in Him was yes.

For all the promises of God are in Him yes, and in Him amen, to the glory of God through us. All The promises of God are in Him, yes, and in Him, amen, to the glory of God through us. All the promises of God are in Him, yes, and in Him, amen. That means they're true to the glory of God through us. Now, he who establishes us with you in Christ has anointed us and has anointed us is God who has also sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." That's in the middle of great pain.

These people attacking him, they're attacking his credibility, his own integrity. They're saying he's a liar, that he didn't plan, that he didn't keep his word. He continues his defense in verse 23. Moreover, I call God as a witness against my soul that to spare you I came no more to Corinth. Paul said, I changed my plan to spare you for your sake.

Not that we should have dominion over your faith, but our fellow workers for your joy, for by your faith you stand. But I determine this within myself, that I would not come again to you in sorrow. For if I make you sorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me?" So he determined he wasn't going to go back until there was repentance. He changed his plan. Here he takes an oath.

That's an oath. When you call God as a record against your soul, that's an oath. He's taking an oath that he's telling the truth about the purpose of his change of plans. It wasn't because he was fickle or unfaithful, but it was for their own sakes. And now he's being criticized for that.

And this is so often the case, when people are opposed to us, even the sacrifices, even the sacrifices that we make for their good, are thrown back in our face. And yet in the midst of this, Paul is still bringing comfort. He's bringing encouragement. He's reminding them of the great and precious promises of his word. And so Paul departs then Ephesus for Troas.

Instead of going to Corinth, he goes to Troas on foot, but he sends Titus to Corinth to bring repentance and reconciliation with instructions for Titus to meet him in Troas. But that trip was not without great difficulty, this trip to Troas overfoot. He says of that trip in 2 Corinthians 1, 8, "'For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death and does deliver us, in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, you also helping together in prayer for us, That thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many." He said we had a lot of arduous labor in that trip. So that we even despaired of life.

This was probably one of the things that he alludes to a little later. And then he gets to Troas, although Troas proved to be a great opportunity for ministry, it was an emotionally challenging time for Paul because he was hoping to meet Titus coming from Corinth with good news. But He never heard from Titus. Titus never arrived. And Paul eventually leaves Troas without Titus.

He says in 2 Corinthians 2, 12, Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, a door was opened to me by the Lord. I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find Titus my brother, but taking leave of them I departed for Macedonia." So Paul is here trying to encourage the saints at Troas when he's in sorrow himself because he hasn't heard any word from Titus. He's been delayed, which presumably means that there's been difficulties. He hasn't been able to resolve the matters. And so then Paul spends time traveling throughout Macedonia, preaching and encouraging the saints.

According to Romans 15, he gets as far north as Illyricum, which is far north on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. I didn't have time to look up the distance, but it's quite a ways North. So Paul is doing a lot of traveling and it must have taken a number of months. But this too was not without great difficulty. He describes these in difficulties in 2nd Corinthians 7, 5.

He says, For indeed when we came to Macedonia our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears. It wasn't just physical travel difficulties. He was saying inside. He was dealing with burdens, with fears, with sorrows.

He hasn't heard from Titus. He elaborates on those fears in 2 Corinthians 4, 8, saying, We are hard pressed on every side, yet we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Struck down, but not destroyed.

Always caring about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus that the life of Christ may also be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Christ's sake, that the life of Christ may also be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you." Paul is hard-pressed. Life is being destroyed, but he's doing it so that they might have life. The life of Jesus might be manifested in them.

And you see, it is out of this hard-pressed, perplexed, persecuted existence that Paul was ministering encouragement and comfort to the saints with many words. Death is working in him, but life to those to whom he ministered. And he details some of the specific hardships that he endured, Some of which would have been in this time, in 2 Corinthians 11. And he'd mentioned specifically three times being shipwrecked. And the shipwreck recorded later in Acts hadn't happened yet.

And he says, a night and a day in the deep, meaning one of those shipwrecks he was cast adrift in the open ocean, spent a day and a night. And he goes on to describe many of the other pearls, journeys, waters, robbers, his own countrymen, Perles in the city, in the wilderness, the sea, Perles among false brethren, and so on. And then he says, that's all in addition to my daily deep concern for all the churches, His concern that they be strengthened and edified and encouraged. You can see why if you're spending a day and a night adrift in the open ocean, why you would say that you have the sentence of death within yourself. Many don't survive spending a day and a night in open ocean.

But then he's comforted by Titus' arrival with good news from Corinth, telling of their repentance and their reconciliation. He says in 2 Corinthians 7 verse 6 he goes on, Nevertheless, God who comforts the downcast comforted us by the coming of Titus." He's comforted. He's saying we were downcast. And this is remembered all the while. His work is to minister comfort and encouragement to the saints.

He says not only by the coming of Titus, but also by the consolation which he was comforted in you when he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more. See, his hearing of the repentance of the Corinthian church, of their mourning, of their zeal, brought him comfort. And he encourages them with that news. And so this sets the stage then for his arrival in Corinth in verse 3 of Acts 20 of our text, and his three months stay. He stayed there three months.

It took that long to work out and reap this reconciliation and rebuild these relationships. And then his difficulties continue because his purpose now is to leave Corinth, leave is to leave Corinth, leave Greece, and sail to Jerusalem via probably Ephesus or one of the port cities. But he hears about a plot to take his life. There were probably a lot of other Jews of the Diaspora who were going to be on this boat, same boat going back to Syria for the feast they were going back to. And he hears that it would be very easy in a long sea voyage like that for him to get thrown overboard.

Nobody would know the wiser in the middle of the night and never be found. And so he changes his plans. He sends the team on to Troas, but he departs and goes up to Macedonia. So he ends up going back around and revisiting some of those churches. So he just changed his plan entirely to get himself off of that boat where the plotters would have been.

So he ends up at Philippi. They stayed there through the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And then they took a five-day journey down to Troas, where the rest of the team was. And all this team is listed here. These are the people that are carrying the gift.

These are the representatives from all these different churches. And Luke names them by name and where they are from, what church they are from. And They are the stewards that are carrying this gift to the saints in Jerusalem. And so they get to Troas. And on the first day of the week, Now that word is actually Sabbath.

Sabbath. It's really the first Sabbath, or the first day Sabbath, or on the Sabbath day. It's just the way it's expressed. I think when it's translated week, we miss the fact that this is the Sabbath the Luke is Connecting this first day of the week as the Sabbath day So it's on the Sabbath so when people talk about well there's nowhere in the Bible that commands us to worship on the Lord's on Sunday or that makes the Sunday the Sabbath This is one of several places in the New Testament that contradict that The first day of the week the Lord's Day is identified in the Scriptures as the Sabbath day, not the seventh day, any longer. So they are gathered together on this Sabbath, first day Sabbath, the first day of the week, to break bread, to have the Lord's Supper, and for worship.

And Paul, the point I want to look here at is just a narrow focus, and that is as it relates to Paul's ministry of encouragement. Paul is ready to sail away the next day, But he's not back at the house getting ready to travel. He's here preaching and it's not just a short sermon. He preaches until midnight. Now that's at least six or seven hours because they would have gathered before sundown and they broke bread.

They would have had a fellowship meal. And he's now talking past midnight. So six or seven hours here he's been talking. It's a hot, crowded room, and there's lots of lights burning, candles burning, lamps burning, burning up the oxygen. So they have a window open to get some air in, and But nevertheless, one young man, Eudicus, can't help but fall asleep.

He's overcome. And you can understand why. He probably has been working all day. He may have been a servant, and so he's tired. It's the end of a work day.

He's got to get up and work again the next day. And he can't help. He's overcome. Meaning he was trying to stay awake, but was not able to. And He falls down three stories and dies.

You can imagine if Paul had simply left under those circumstances, what a discouragement this would have been. Here Paul is, this is not a church that he spent a lot of time at, unlike Corinth or Ephesus and other places that he stayed at. And so this was their one or two chances to be able to spend time with Paul. And Paul is committed to spending that time with him in the preaching. But to have a death in the church would have been incredibly discouraging.

And so Paul goes down, falls on him, and embraces him, and then says, do not trouble yourselves for life is in him. He raised Eutychus from the dead, just like the Old Testament prophets have done, or just like Peter did with Dorcas. Paul does this. This is a sign and wonder of an apostle. But he does it, notice, so that they are encouraged.

So the end result here is they brought the young man in alive and they were not a little comforted. And then Paul spends the rest of the night with them. This is a traumatic event that had a wonderful ending by God's grace. But Paul still spends the rest of the night until daybreak. He spends all night.

In the day that he's got to leave for a trip, he spends all night with this church. Comforting them, encouraging them, being with them. He didn't just send them a letter, a card, but he spent the whole night with them. And at daybreak then he departed. Well, just a couple applications from this.

First, we have a duty as believers to encourage and comfort one another. It's our duty and it's our privilege. Hebrews 10, 24 says, Let us consider one another. Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another." There it is. Encouragement, the ministry of encouragement.

And you notice it has to take place in the context of assembling together. This assembly is an important part of our ministry of encouragement to one another. And when we're absent, we're not able to encourage the others. Exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approach. And remember the importance of bodily presence and of touch in ministering encouragement.

It can mean as much as the words that we say, it certainly magnifies the impact of words. And sometimes too, just listening, just being present and listening is an encouragement and help secondly remember the power of words to build up Paul says he encouraged with many words words can tear down but words can all can also be just as powerful in building up one another. Proverbs 18, 21, death and life are in the power of the tongue. Life there. Encouragement building up.

And those who love it will eat its fruit. This is really one important reason to learn the promises of Scripture, to commit them to memory so as to be able to comfort and encourage one another with them, including ourselves. And thirdly, don't let your own trials, sorrows or discouragements be an excuse not to encourage others. In fact, use those trials, use those discouragements and afflictions as the basis from which to comfort others. We are to comfort with the comfort with which we have been comforted.

May the Lord add His blessing and His comfort to the hearing of His Word. Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have given us great and precious promises in Your Word, promises that comfort us, that strengthen us, that encourage us, and that enable us to persevere. We ask that these great and precious promises might be ready upon our own lips, that they might dwell richly in our own hearts, to encourage ourselves with them, as well as one another, so that we may be built up in the faith day by day, week by week. Father, may you give to us skill, facility, in using your words to edify and to comfort, to encourage and to commend one another. In Jesus name we ask, Amen.