This year LifeWay Christian Resources of the SBC released through Holman Bible Publishers the inaugural edition of the Holman Christian Standard Bible from which I read Romans 12:4-8 today . . . There are 7 heart Motive gifts listed here. That’s who you are! There are many Ministries, that’s what you do and the Manifestations are unlimited in the way God works through us. However, God created you with one focus, one mind, one heart. Paul wrote in Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus...” Jesus was the perfect example of every one of the motivational heart gifts. But the Holy Spirit has given you one heart gift – God picks it, you don’t. There are many ministries in which you cooperate with the Lord Jesus and as you commit to Ministry through the Body of Christ there may be multiple Manifestations in which God may use you in His Kingdom work.
Today we come to the Gift of Exhortation. The exhorter is one who urges another to pursue a course of conduct. The Greek word is “paraklesis” which is the same word used for the Holy Spirit in the NT, “parakletos.” “Para” means to the side of and “klesis” means to call. So, the meaning is a calling to one’s side that is, to aide; one called alongside another, to encourage or admonish one to choose a particular pattern of life or to perform a particular act. It denotes both exhortation and encouragement. If the teacher aims for your head, the exhorter aims for your heart. And it’s not so much the content that the exhorter wants to impart, as to how that content can be made effective in people’s lives. All of the exhorters efforts are geared toward edifying and encouraging other people.
Now the person who personifies the profile of the Exhorter in the NT is Paul. If you’ll just look at the first 3 or 4 verses of every letter he wrote you’ll be encouraged. He says, “Oh, I love you, I miss you, I want to be with you, I’m praying for God’s grace and mercy for you. Paul was a great guy. And as for the guidelines for expressing the Exhorter heart Romans 12:12 says, “rejoice in hope; be patient in tribulation or affliction; be persistent in prayer.” The exhorter is always helping people have hope, the expectation and desire for things to get better, encouraging them to be thankful for and in all things for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Of course, in the difficulties, tribulations, trials and afflictions of life you encourage people to be patient, to wait on the Lord and to persevere allowing God to work out His desire, design and direction in your life. And finally, you come alongside in prayer to edify and encourage according to the Word of God. You must exhibit a constant readiness for prayer. Well, let’s look at the:
The Characteristics of the Gift of Exhortation
1. Committed to Spiritual Growth
The motivation of an exhorter is to see spiritual growth take place in every day living. In general they like to see things grow. They have a motivation to urge people to their full maturity in Christ. In fact, they’re willing to become personally involved to see it achieved. And one of the down sides to this involvement is an exhorter’s willingness to give people whatever time is necessary to help them grow spiritually and that often cuts into family time and personal responsibilities. So many times I keep others waiting on me because I’m still listening, talking and encouraging. Paul’s goal was to “present every man perfect (mature) in Christ.”
2. Visualizes Spiritual Achievement
An exhorter heart has the ability to visualize spiritual achievement for another Christian and then help them work out practical steps of action to achieve it. Their desire is to give precise steps of action in urging people toward spiritual maturity. That’s why outlines and notes are given on the screen and in handouts. That’s why copies of these characteristics are made available. A Christian who really means business with God ought not to come to church without a Bible, a pen and a piece of paper. If you really want to grow in the Lord you need to write some things down. When you get on your knees to pray you ought to have a Bible and a legal pad beside you. We should be open for God to teach us whenever He wants to teach us. A person with the gift of Exhortation is very intense on the fact you get down in your heart the steps that will lead you to what you are looking for or your counsel is of no value. Paul’s writings are filled with practical counsel and precise steps of action on how to grow spiritually.
3. Is able to see root problems
An exhorter can discern the spiritual maturity of another person. And based on this, the exhorter is motivated to search out hindrances in the lives of those who are not growing spiritually and give further encouragement to those who are. The exhorter heart looks beyond the symptoms and sees the root problem in other’s lives. They’re able to discern where a person is in their spiritual growth and to speak to them at that point. For example, in 1 Corinthians 3, Paul saw the believers as spiritual infants and said, “And I brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.”
4. Views trials as opportunity for growth
Exhorters see opportunities, not obstacles – challenges, not trials – possibilities, not problems. They turn problems into benefits. They unquestioningly believe Romans 8:28 that “God works all things together for good...“ Mature exhorters have learned by experience that God gives special grace during trials. And based on this, Paul gloried in tribulation. His credentials were the persecutions which he experienced and the counseling God gave him during those afflictions. And they’re good about sharing personal life experiences of their own growth. They’re very vulnerable and have a desire to be transparent, to live an open life in order to gain a wider hearing for the Gospel. They have an ability to see how tribulation can increase maturity. The person with the Gift of Exhortation has insight into seeing how difficulty can increase their maturity which would say that this person may be one who can bear tribulation, persecution and heartache maybe more patiently, more willingly and more fruitfully than a person with another gift. An exhorter heart is looking for ways to apply spiritual truth to somebody’s life, therefore they know the more they suffer, the more they’ll understand the Scripture and out of that experiential background will have a far more effective impact on other people’s lives. So, the Exhorter has an ability to welcome personal tribulation as a chief motivator of spiritual growth.
5. Desire to share face to face
The person with the gift of Exhortatioin has a desire for face to face discussion in order to determine and insure a positive response. An exhorter needs to see the facial expressions and gestures of their listeners. There’s a dependence on visible acceptance when speaking. They want to see something happening. They want to look you in the eye balls. And when they say Amen, they want a response, AMEN! Now, they don’t send a lot of notes or do a lot of talking on the phone – they want to see you face to face. They come to where you are, visit one-on-one. They’re personal and people oriented. They want eye-to-eye contact. It’s an honor when somebody looks at you when they talk to you. It’s disrespectful when they don’t look at you and exhorters know that, they know how to build relationships. Paul’s longing to see his fellow believers was constantly mentioned in his letters.
6. Prefers to apply truth to researching it
Research is not the exhorter’s cup of tea. They’d rather present the truth than research it. “Why reinvent the wheel?” they’ll ask. If someone else has put together materials on a subject, use what’s available. It’s putting truth to work that the exhorter’s interested in. In fact, they tend to avoid systems of information that lack practical application. They’re interested in what works in your life. An exhorter heart is not nearly so concerned about a particular doctrine as they may be about applying the truth of it to your heart that will make a difference on Monday morning.
7. Desires unity among believers
A person with the Gift of Exhortation has a motivation to bring harmony between diverse groups of Christians. They have an awareness that unity is basic to spiritual maturity. Our greatest potential is our greatest liability. Exhorters hate conflict. They want unity – it’s important, it’s paramount to them. In fact, they’ll sometimes avoid conflict because they want unity. Paul worked constantly to resolve conflicts and divisions among individuals, churches and other groups of people. Some of the personal characteristics that a person with the Gift of Exhortation will display when walking in the:
SPIRIT vs. FLESH
Wisdom vs. Natural inclinations
Discernment vs. Judgmental
Faith vs. Presumption
Discretion vs. Gullible, Simple-mindedness
Love vs. Selfishness
Creativity vs. Underachievement
Enthusiasm vs. Apathy
The question is: Do you hear the Holy Spirit saying “That’s you, that’s who you are in Christ?” However you may have been hearing the Holy Spirit speak to you this week I invite you to respond. Do you hear Him saying to you it’s your time to receive Jesus into your heart? Do you need to reaffirm His Lordship in your life? Would you become a member of this Body to exercise your gift?.
