The Gift of Exhortation
Spiritual Gifts • Sermon • Submitted
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Lesson 6
Lesson 6
Are you vitally concerned about correcting error wherever and whenever you find it? Do you are deeply about helping others to avoid mistakes, and helping those who have made mistakes to repent of their ways and return to righteousness before God? You may have the gift of exhortation.
Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
Exhortation always has an element of caution and concern about it: the exhorter desires to see every believer stay on the straight and narrow path that leads to both heavenly and earthly rewards.
First, many are called to exhortation, but not all are called to be apostles.
Second, many are called to exhortation in the church, but not all are called to exhort groups of people.
Central to the gift of the exhortation is a heart that desires to encourage other Christians and to see them become all that they can be in Christ Jesus.
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
The person with a gift of exhortation is called alongside another believer to help that person understand and adhere to the truth. The person who is a genuine helper or exhorter encourages others by presence, word, and deed to continue forward in following Jesus Christ.
John 8:
And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. That is the spirit and those are the hallmark words of the person who exhorts. Forgiveness, admonition not to sin, compassion, an awareness of a person’s potential in Jesus Christ - each of these is to be manifested in exhortation and should be at the cor of what an exhorter says and does.
Why did Jesus forgive the woman caught in adultery in ? What were her accusers hoping Jesus would do?
Characteristics of the Gift of Exhortation
The person with a gift of exhortation desires to see others mature in their faith.
The person with a gift of exhortation desires to see others discover their spiritual potential.
When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
What does it mean that we must enter the kingdom of God “through many tribulations”? What role do tribulations play in a Christian’s growth?
In what way did it strengthen the souls of the disciples to be warned about such tribulations? How does such a warning fit in with the gift of exhortation?
3. The person with a gift of exhortation is quick to ask about the spiritual welfare of others.
4. The godly exhorter must always point others toward Jesus Christ.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.
What elements of exhortation are demonstrated in the verses above?
5. The gift of exhortation includes the ability to give precise instructions about how a person might grow in relationship with Christ.
6. The person with the gift of exhortation has learned value in suffering.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Explain in your own words Paul’s paradox: “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” How is this possible? How does it work out in real-life, practical terms?
7. The person with the gift of exhortation is concerned with the application of God’s Word.
8. Those with a gift of exhortation want to be with people and see first-hand how they are growing in their faith.
I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.
Words of Caution to Those Who Exhort
The exhorter must not oversimplify a problem.
The exhorter must be able to empathize.
The exhorter must not lose sight of the importance of leading people to Jesus Christ.
The exhorter must be skilled in applying the Word of God within the context of Scripture as a whole.
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
How does the exhortation help prevent a person from becoming hardened in sin? How does exhortation to undeceive people?
Attributes of Exhorters
Wisdom: to understand the Word of God and how it might be applied to you.
Discernment: to be able to clearly your spirit and your potential.
Faith: to believe that God can take you from where you are to where He desires you to be.
Discretion: to keep what he knows about you in confidence and to lead you step by step into the greater future that God has for you.
Love: to desire the best in your life and always be willing to give you his best, offering you God’s truth without personal judgment or condemnation.
Creative: to recognize that you are a unique individual, and to help you apply God’s Word to your life at any particular moment and in light of particular circumstances.
Enthusiasm: to be able to inspire you to desire more in your Christian walk.
For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
List the qualities of an exhorter which are illustrated by this passage.
List the things that are not qualities of an exhorter, as illustrated by this passage.