The Gift of Exhortation

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us,

each of us is to exercise them accordingly:  if prophecy, according 

to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he

who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation...

Romans 12:6-8a

The gift of exhortation is considered one of the speaking gifts, and its Greek root means to come alongside of so as to help.  So it is a gift that enables one to give aid to another, to come alongside and give aid by speaking to the need of the moment.  It is a gift that enables one to speak truth, God's truth, the truth of Scripture, into the life of a fellow believer.  It is the gift to be able to speak the truth, and speak it in love.

Sometimes this will be a word of encouragement and sometimes a word of rebuke, sometimes it will admonish and sometimes it will strengthen, sometimes it will correct and sometimes it will comfort, sometimes it will convict and sometimes it will affirm.  It will always aid in helping the fellow believer press on in the faith, to press on in Godliness, to be encouraged to live a more Christlike life, and to see the truth about themselves and the situation they are in.

It is an important and necessary gift to the body of Christ, and is important in discipling and mentoring; and those who exercise this gift should be greatly appreciated.

Keeping our Preaching in Perspective: Why no Preacher should Boast Before God

For I am not ashamed of the gospel,

for it is the power of God for salvation

to everyone who believes...

Romans 1:16

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,

so that the surpassing power will be of God

and not from ourselves.

II Corinthians 4:17

For this reason we also constantly thank God

that when you received the word of God

which you heard from us, you accepted

it not as the word of men, but for what it

really is, the word of God, which performs

its work in you who believe.

I Thessalonians 2:13

For consider your calling, brethren, that 

there were not many wise according to

the flesh, not many mighty, not many

noble; but God has chosen the foolish

things of the world to shame the wise,

and God has chosen the weak things 

of the world to sham the things which

are strong...so that no man may

boast before God.

I Corinthians 1:26-29

When we preach the gospel, and see it bear its fruit by bringing life to the dead and sight to the blind, and see it strengthen the knees that are weak and the hands that are feeble, and see it save the lost and edify the saved, let us not believe it is because of us and our preaching or persuasion that this is happening.  For that would be like the shovel taking credit for digging the hole, or the violin taking credit for making the music.

No, let us rejoice that God has chosen to manifest His power through feeble vessels, that God has chosen to accomplish His redemptive work through the most ordinary of instruments.  Let us rejoice in the power of God.  Let us rejoice in His gracious choice of using us.  Let us rejoice that we are being used as His means of bringing glory to Himself through the preaching of His word.  Let us thank the Lord for the blessing of being used by Him in His great work of salvation.

The Pastor as Leader and Servant: A Pastoral Application of Matthew 20:25-28

Pastor's, how do we lead our people?  Simply, we lead them by serving them.  And, "How do we serve them?" you might ask.  Let me list a few basics, and these all fall under the umbrella of spiritual oversight.

1. We serve them by preaching to them.
2. We serve them by praying for them.
3. We serve them by watching over them.
4. We serve them by guiding them.
5. We serve them by caring for them.
6. We serve them by listening to them.
7. We serve them by planning.
8. We serve them through the staff we hire, both lay and ministerial.
9. We serve them through the elders and deacons we appoint.

If you look closely at this list what you will see is that service, being a servant to your people is the motive that undergirds and guides what we do as pastors; and I truly believe that this is the underlying motive that Christ was talking about in Matthew 20:25-28, and that re-surfaced in Matthew 23:11.  The point is that our heart is to be about serving our people in what we do as a pastor.  In essence, our love for our people is manifested in our service to them.

So throw all that silly corporate vision-casting nonsense into the trash pile where it belongs.  Run from the pastor as leader/CEO model.  Stop worrying about growing the church, and start being concerned and aware of serving the church. Make serving your people your main priority, and see the position that the Lord has called you to as one which has multiple ways for you to serve His people and to manifest His love for them through you.

Glorifying God

   For us to truly glorify God, we must do God's work God's way.

Testing and Blessing, Ours and the Lord's

Bless our God, O peoples;

let the sound of His praise be heard, 

who has kept our soul among the living

and has not let our feet slip.

For you, O God, have tested us;

You have tried us as silver is tried. 

You have brought us into the net;

You laid a crushing burden on our backs;

You let men ride over our heads;

we went through fire and through water;

yet You have brought us out to a place of abundance.

Psalm 66:8-12

There is much to say about this great Psalm of praise, but let our focus be on this section of praise as the Psalmist praises God for His testing and refining them, His keeping them during the time of testing, and His bringing them out of the testing into a place of spiritual abundance.

God has put their spiritual mettle to the test as one would test silver.  How is silver tested?  It is tested by turning up the heat until its impurities and infirmities come to the surface.  As the infirmities and impurities come to the surface the silversmith scrapes them off and then heats the fire even hotter to remove those that are more deeply imbedded in the metal .  He does this until he can see his reflection in the silver.  That is when he knows the silver has been thoroughly tested and purified.  This trying of silver not only purifies the silver but strengthens it as well; and it serves to prove the genuiness and quality of the silver.  The higher quality, the fewer the impurities; and a lesser metal, metal that is not genuine silver, would not be able to stand the heat.

God, the master craftsman of our faith, is about the task of testing and refining our faith.  And He uses that testing and refining to bring us to a place of spiritual abundance.  He uses the very testing He puts us through to broaden our faith, deepen our faith, and purify our faith; and in the time of testing He will not let the faith of the true Christian fail (Philippians 1:6).

This is why the Psalmist is praising God before the peoples.  He does not keep his praise silent or to himself for he wants to share the greatness of what the Lord has done for his soul (Psalm 66:16).  

We are to give thanks in all things.  Why?  Because the Lord is working for our great good in all things, leaving nothing unused to make the image of Christ shine in our life more brightly than ever.  Let us bless the Lord, privately and publicly, for His testing, His keeping, and His blessing us with spiritual abundance.

Filled with Righteousness

having been filled with the fruit

of righteousness which comes through

 Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:11

 As those who are indwelled by Christ, as those in whom He abides, we are filled up, yes literally crammed full, with righteousness.  Overpowering thought, isn't it?  But that is the truth.  This is our new self, our born-again self, our regenerated self, which in the likeness of God has been created in the righteousness and holiness of the truth (Ephesians 4:24).  

This is why we can no longer practice sin, but will practice righteousness (I John 3:7-10).  In other words, we just can't help but be who we are, and we are now the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ.

Yes, I know we don't always live up to this, but this is the work of salvation that God has begun in us; and it is our outworking of this righteousness that we have been filled with that brings glory and praise to God as we act more and more like Him.