ENCOURAGING ONE ANOTHER

Not only was the promise of Jesus’ return a cause for encouragement, but it was also a reason for the believers to encourage each other.

Faced with the tragedies and disappointments of life, the believers also had the added challenges of threats and persecution directed against them because of their faith.

The promise of Jesus’ Second Coming was a promise to be repeated and relied on as a note of encouragement amid whatever circumstances they faced.

But being ready for the Second Coming was also a purpose for which the believers would seek to encourage each other. With an apparently uncertain future and an unknown time for this promised event, it was—and always has been—too easy for believers to become preoccupied with the busyness and distractions of life; they might even become used to the everyday threats and challenges from those around them.

Even people who claimed to be living with the expectation of Jesus’ return could be taken by surprise by this event, Paul warned, so the believers should encourage one another in their everyday faithfulness and alertness, living with faith and love, hope and salvation (see 1 Thessalonians 5:8). In this way, the work of encouraging one another is a vital role of the church community. While Adventists have often talked about the importance of “being ready” for the return of Jesus, this is not a new or additional task to that of being followers of Jesus in all areas of our lives. The kind of encouragement that Paul described is something that we do together—and for one another. By retelling the story of Jesus, especially recounting the stories of His death and resurrection (see 1 Thessalonians 5:9, 10), the believers in Thessalonica were to build each other up in their faith and faithfulness, so they would be “awake and sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6).