* KEY WORDS OF THE CHRISTIAN WALK PART 2--"ENCOURAGED" 1 PETER 4:12-13 INTRODUCTION In the first message in this series,

we discussed the fact that often life will throw us a curve or two along the way. We often find ourselves faced with circumstances that are not pleasant or just plain difficult to deal with. That is not unusual in the life of a believer. In the text here, Peter reminds us that there is nothing unusual about Christians facing trials. In fact, it is to be expected. od has given man!ind a free will. With that free will, we have the privilege of ma!ing many choices over the course of our lives. What an awesome privilege this is" #owever, there are no privileges without responsibilities. We may ma!e right choices or we may ma!e wrong choices" There are blessings to ma!ing right choices and there are conse$uences of ma!ing wrong choices. %ometimes the conse$uences of ma!ing a wrong choice can be devastating in our lives. Three words that we are loo!ing at in reference to the Christian wal! are &discouraged,' &encouraged,' and &courageous.' (o you !now that we get to choose what !ind of Christian wal! we will have) In the first message, we loo!ed at the &discouraged wal!' and tonight I want us to consider the &encouraged wal!' of a believer. I. THE WRONG KIND OF ENCOURAGEMENT. We need to be careful about what we allow fol!s to encourage us in" A. Som P o!" C#$ E$%o&'#( U) To S*'#+ F'om Go,%ome fol!s will hinder our Christian wal! by turning us to idolatry. * Corinthians *+,*-.&Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.' * /ohn 0,1*.&2ittle children, !eep yourselves from idols.' I3m not just tal!ing about the image of a god that we most often associate with 4ible times and also with countries that are less developed than ours. What I am tal!ing about are the more subtle forms of idolatry that we may not readily thin! about but that are prevalent in our society. 1. R . ""/o$ #$, S*&..o'$$ )). * %amuel *0,15.&6or ' . ""/o$ /) #) *0 )/$ o1 2/*%0%'#1*, and )*&..o'$$ )) /) #) ini$uity and /,o"#*'+.' 2. Co3 *o&)$ )). Colossians 5,0.&7ortify therefore your members which are upon the earth8 fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and %o3 *o&)$ ))4 20/%0 /) /,o"#*'+,' A$+*0/$( T0#* I) I$ Go,5) S* #, I$ O&' L/3 ) . Psalms 9:,0.&6or all the gods of the nations are idols, but the 2;<( made the heavens.' #. A$+*0/$( *0#* *#6 ) *0 */m *0#* . "o$() *o Go,. People will ma!e the time to worship their god"

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1 .. A$+*0/$( *0#* *#6 ) *0 *' #)&' *0#* . "o$() *o Go,. People will ma!e sacrifices for their god"

<emember what caused Israel to get caught up in idolatry. They failed to drive out the inhabitants of the land od gave them. Instead, they formed close associations with those inhabitants and those people became a snare to them. 4e careful who you let influence you and your family" (on3t allow them to encourage you to stray" 7. %ome People Can =ncourage >s To %tray 6rom od" Som P o!" C#$ E$%o&'#( U) To S/$ A(#/$)* Go,?ow understand that straying from od is sin itself. #owever, when we get away from od, it is so easy for us to be encouraged to do other wic!ed things too" Psalm :-,0.&They encourage themselves in an evil matter, they commune of laying snares privily8 they say, Who shall see them)' 1. T0o) O1 U) W0o A' P#' $*) A' Co$% '$ , A.o&* W0o O&' C0/",' $ H#$( A'o&$,. Proverbs *,*+.&7y son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.' 2. D/, Yo& K$o2 T0#* T0/) P'o." m I) No* Co$1/$ , To C0/",' $8 A,&"*) C#$ 7 E$%o&'#( , I$ T0 W'o$( T0/$() A")oProverbs *5,1+.&#e that wal!eth with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.' W M&)* M#6 T0 R/(0* C0o/% ) Fo' O&' C0/",' $ A$, O&') "3 )There are those who will hinder our Christian wal!@we need to avoid them" =phesians 0,**ABnd have no fellowship with the unfruitful wor!s of dar!ness, but rather reprove them.' Psalm *,*.&4lessed is the man that wal!eth not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.' * Peter 5,*+C**.&6or he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they spea! no guile, 2et him eschew DavoidE evil, and do good8 let him see! peace, and ensue it.' T#= W<;? FI?( ;6 =?C;><B =7=?T. B. =ncouragement To %tray 6rom od. 4. =ncouragement To %in Bgainst od. II. THE RIGHT KIND OF ENCOURAGEMENT9ENCOURAGEMENT TO SER:E GOD. When he was a young boy the great painter 4enjamin West decided to pain a picture of his sister while his mother was not at home. #e got out the bottles of in! and started, but soon had an awful mess. #is

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5 mother came home and saw the mess. Instead of scolding him, she pic!ed up the portrait and declared, AWhat a beautiful picture of your sister"A Then she !issed him. 2ater in life he said, AWith that !iss I became a painter.A =ncouragement can be a wonderful thing in our lives if it is in the right things" I remember what encouragement did to me as a youngster growing up" A. W A"" N , E$%o&'#( m $* F'om O*0 '). ;D &* 'o$om+ 3:2<= *. /oshua had a tremendous tas! before him. a. To lead the rebellious nation of Israel into the Promised 2and. b. 1. 5. 7. To follow 7osesG leadership.

od !new what a great tas! /oshua was faced with and new that /oshua needed the encouragement of 7oses. We are no different than /oshua.We all need encouragement in our Christian wal!"

W A")o N , To L #'$ To 7 A$ E$%o&'#( m $* To O*0 '). ;>&,( ) 2?:22= =xample.#ave you ever seen teammates be an encouragement to one another right before a big game) #ow about during a game) #ow about when the going gets tough) =xample.#ave you seen our President and others in high places in our government be an encouragement in the war on terrorism and in the War in Ira$. Bs men prepare for battle, it is natural to be afraid and apprehensive. #owever, it is important to encourage one another in spite of the fear and apprehension. Bs believers, we need to learn this valuable principle. We need to encourage one another to be faithful in our Christian wal!. We all need this@because we are all in a battle" <emember 4arnabas in A%*) @:2A-3?8 T&'$ *0 ' . 4arnabas was an encourager. In fact, his name means &son of consolation.' When %aul, who later became !nown as the Bpostle Paul, needed someone to be an encouragement to him, od sent him 4arnabas. 4arnabas had already been an encouragement to the apostles and the new saints in /erusalem by his unselfish financial gift. ;Loo6 #* A%*) 4:3A-3B= 2ater we see that 4arnabas became an encouragement to the church at Bntioch. ;Loo6 #* A%*) 11:21-3?E What a great example for all of us today.

;h how we need to strive to be an encourager to those around us. ?ot only with our lips, but with our lives" C. E$%o&'#( m $*4 L/6 D/)%o&'#( m $*4 C#$ 7 Co$*#(/o&). *. %omeone said that encouragement is li!e peanut butter on a sandwichCCthe more you spread it around the better things stic! together. 1. Paul reminds us in alatians :,H that we will reap what we sow. I believe that applies to more than just sin" The law of sowing and reaping applies to many areas in our lives. If we sow encouragement, we will reap the benefits. ?ote the example during #eIe!iah3s reign over /udah in 2 C0'o$/%" ) 31:1-<. Co$%"&)/o$ What !ind of encouragement do we allow to influence us) The wrong !ind.To stray from od or to sin against od) ;r the right !ind.To serve od) We get to decide. It is our choice We can choose to be around those who encourage us to wal! with od or those who donGt. We also get to decide how people will remember us. When our name comes to mind, do people thin! of us as encouragers or discouragers ) We can choose and ought to choose to become encouragers" %omeone may be about to $uit on the 2ord because of discouragement. B word of encouragement to hang in there might be all that3s needed" What will our choices be)