In Touch Ministries

Dr. Charles Stanley: What is it that drives the person with the gift of exhortation? Above everything else, they desire to see other people grow in their spiritual life. So that whatever they're doing—whether they're serving this person or whether they're giving here, whatever it might be—the underlying motivation of all of that is their desire to see people grow spiritually.

They want them to become the person God wants them to be and to be able to accomplish the things that God wants them to accomplish.

Guest (Male): Is something troubling you today? Do you need a word of encouragement? Then you could use a visit from someone with the gift of exhortation. Today's edition of In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, tells us about those whom God has equipped to be our encouragers. Our series, *Living in the Power of the Holy Spirit*, continues.

Dr. Charles Stanley: One of the essentials of the Christian life is that you and I grow. The scripture says that we are to desire the sincere milk of the word that we may grow thereby. And so He has enabled us to grow, He desires that we grow, and He's equipped us to grow.

Part of what's involved in all of that are His spiritual gifts. That is, He has gifts and manifestations of those gifts, how they're expressed, and He also has different ministries for us. The scripture tells us that the whole body of Christ needs the whole span of all of those gifts.

Now there are three primary divisions of scripture that talk about the gifts. One of them is in 1 Corinthians 12, that people understand primarily. Then of course there are the ministry gifts that Paul mentions in Ephesians chapter four. Then of course there is his chapter in Romans, Romans chapter 12, where he talks about the motivational gifts and he names them there.

What is a motivational gift? A motivational gift is that gift which is the drive within us. That is, we are wired a certain way that God has wired us in order to help meet a particular need or facet of the body of Christ. In 1 Peter chapter four, for example, and we read this every week on purpose because he makes it very, very clear what this is all about.

He says, "As each one of us has received a special gift"—one of these motivational gifts—"you may be gifted to do many things." And we've talked about the difference between a talent and a gift. We're talking about these spiritual gifts given to you at salvation. He says each one has received a special gift; employ it. Put it to work. For what reason? Serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

The manifold grace of God is the various expressions of God's grace in our life from salvation all the rest. He says the reason He gives us these spiritual gifts is that you and I are to serve one another in the body of Christ. He says in the next verse we are to do it in the strength of Almighty God.

So God has gifted you as a believer, and He intends for you to exercise that gift. It's the underlying motivation for what you do. So we come to the gift of exhortation. What are the characteristics? One of the primary characteristics of the gift of exhortation is this: that person is motivated to urge people to full spiritual growth.

What is it that drives the person with the gift of exhortation? Above everything else, they desire to see other people grow in their spiritual life. So that whatever they're doing—whether they're serving this person or whether they're giving here, whatever it might be—the underlying motivation of all of that is their desire to see people grow spiritually.

In each one of these gifts, there's some biblical character that best describes them. In prophecy it was Peter; in service it was Timothy; in teaching it was Luke. And now in exhortation, who do you think would be the best example of exhortation in the Bible? Paul, absolutely.

Because all the way through his epistles you will hear him saying things. And what he's really saying in essence, he is encouraging people to grow in their Christian life. Here's what he says, for example, just one verse in Colossians chapter one verse 28. He says, "We proclaim Him"—that is Christ—"admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ"—that is mature.

So verse after verse, scripture after scripture, chapter after chapter, epistle after epistle, what is he doing? He is encouraging us to live a godly life, and to walk in that life and to grow up in our Christian life and to be spiritually mature believers. Because that's the will of God for all of us.

So what is he saying? We're all saved, born again the Bible says, and we're little children so we must grow. Many people are satisfied, it seems, that they just want to be sure that they're saved and they get into heaven. So they want to get inside the salvation door and have God lock the door in, then they want to just live casually. No. Because it is the will of God that you and I grow up.

And the gift of exhortation is committed to doing what? The person they're able to influence, the person they're able to speak to, they're always going to have this innermost drive. Whatever they're saying, whatever they're doing, whatever the relationship is, to help that other person grow up spiritually and become the person God wants them to be and to be able to accomplish the things that God wants them to accomplish.

When you think about that, you think about the fact that because they have that gift, they're able to visualize for somebody else. They can visualize so accurately about what their possibilities are, what their potential is, and how God can work in their life. And so that is what drives them above everything else.

Now, it would be wonderful if every parent had that gift. If every parent was so committed to living before their children and to admonishing them and to encouraging them to live a godly life, and to grow up as a Christian by the time they're 13, 14, 15, 16. They're on their way to spiritual maturity. And yet oftentimes parents want to wait until they become teenagers or become 21 years of age. Listen, spiritual growth begins the moment you're saved. The more help you have, and the more instruction you have, and the more good exhortation you have, what happens is you grow stronger more quickly.

The second characteristic is simply this: the ability to see root problems in people. That is, a person who has a gift of exhortation is able to quickly go to the root of the cause of the problem in that person's life. Sometimes it's pride, sometimes it's selfishness, sometimes it's insecurity, sometimes it's fear, sometimes it's control.

All of us have those root issues in our life that need to be dealt with. And so the exhorter, he especially or she wants to get to the root of the problem and they have a very discerning spirit to be able to discern what that is. Now, if you want somebody to get to the root, you let one of those persons deal with you.

This doesn't mean it's going to be hard and difficult necessarily, because a person who's walking in the Spirit who has a gift of exhortation knows how to approach a person. They're not going to walk up and say, "I've been thinking about you and praying for you and I want to tell you, you have a root cause of bitterness." They're not going to do that because you know that's the end of the session when you do that. That's not the way to do it.

And so a third thing is this: that person wants to prescribe steps of action. Now watch this. By steps of action I mean what they'll do is say, "Okay, here's the root issue in your life we want to deal with. Now the first thing you need to do, step one." Then they'll say, "Then step two." Or they may say, "Here's step one. Now when we talk about that for a while and we work on that then we come back to step two."

Somebody says, "Now I don't believe in all those steps." Well, I'm here to tell you the only way you got here this morning is step by step. You got out of the bed, step one. And so the truth is in our thinking, in our process of how we process ideas, we go by steps. And so what I want you to see is this.

There are precise steps in any situation and the same thing is true in our spiritual life. Now what happens is simply this: the gift of exhortation is very precise in giving steps. That is, if you will take this step, if you will take that step. And they're willing to get involved in your life to some degree.

Now I'm not talking about necessarily some big counseling situation. It could be a friend you work with, a friend at school, or in your home as you're talking to your children. You give them precise steps. And what happens is that's how we grow. We grow a little bit at a time. And so step by step by step, the person with the gift of exhortation is very precise in giving those steps and very insistent.

If you just want to talk about it, the person with the gift of exhortation is not simply interested in hearing you say the same thing over again. They want to see some growth, they want you to grow. And they're doing the wisest thing they can do is to help you by giving steps. This is a reason oftentimes that I say, "Okay, step number one, step number two." Why? If you write it down you have a little map, you have a little traveling note here and you say, "Well, I'm moving this step, that step, this step." And so what happens is that's the way we grow. We grow by learning this truth and this truth and this principle and that principle, and one principle upon the other. After a while, God's doing something awesome in your life. That's what that person's committed to.

Then of course they like turning problems into real benefits in our life. That's the way they think, the person who has a gift of exhortation. So therefore they may say to you, "Well, I know you're going through a bad time but you know what, this is really good." "What do you mean it's good? I'm hurting, I'm disorganized, my mind's fragmented. You tell me that's good? That's real good!" Well, how can it be good? Because you see the gift of exhortation knows that if God has allowed you to get into this situation and you're miserable, He knows that God's working in your life.

And so God is in the process of doing that so that the growth process in the Christian life deals with hardship, trial, pain, persecution, rejection and all the rest. And the person who has a gift of exhortation knows that, takes that and turns it into something good by helping that person realize that God still loves you, He still cares for you, He has a purpose for you, He wants to work in your life. Give Him the privilege and give Him the opportunity of doing so.

Then of course that person, the exhorter, desires not to write you a letter or call you on the phone. The exhorter wants to see you face-to-face. They want to look into your eyes. They want to see your responses. They love, listen, they love not being critical, but they love to see how you respond when you say, "Do you think there could be some root cause for this?"

They can tell in a split second, faster than that. They'll watch you react, watch you react right here, right in your eyes because you cannot, listen, if there's a slight bit of hesitation or rebellion or objection to what they say, it's written all over your face, you cannot hide it. And if you respond in the right way and you say, "That's right," it's very evident.

So the person who has a gift of exhortation desires to talk face-to-face. They want to see how you respond because they want to see growth. And so you come back to them or they come to you and they talk to you again, and this time your response is totally different. Then the person with the gift of exhortation is encouraged because they see some growth. They see this desire, they see this hunger. Maybe the first time you talked you just said, "You know what, not interested. I want to talk to you but don't give me any steps today." Then the next time or two or three times later they're saying, "Now what was that step one you tried to give me?" They see it, they feel it, and the person with the gift of exhortation is very encouraged.

The church needs lots of exhorters because the truth is all of us need some. I have a person who is my very, very dearest friend. And that is he is 1,000% exhortation. 1,000%. He happens to be trained in that area but it just happens to be by the grace of God that that's his spiritual gift. And it's amazing how intuitive they can be.

For example, he will ask me a question once in a while and I'll say to him, "Why did you ask me that? You know exactly what I'm going to say." And he just laughs because it's the truth. And you see everybody needs an exhorter in their life. I don't care who you are. If you think you're above and beyond it all then you've got a mistake coming.

Everybody needs someone that you can talk to, you can listen to, you can share your heart with. And if that person happens to have the gift of exhortation you have a jewel. You have a treasure because they're going to make themselves available. They love to see you grow.

This person is such an encourager to me. And sometimes when I'm saying, "Here's what I've been praying about and just asking God to show me about this." Well, you know, also the exhorter oftentimes when the two of you are close, God will lay upon that person's heart what you're praying about and when you talk to them, you know what, they'll already know it. They'll already know.

Especially if they're a praying person, God delights in using exhorters to encourage us because that's what an exhorter is ultimately. They're an encourager—not a condemner, not a judger, but a person who desires to encourage. Now likewise that person desires to gain spiritual insight themselves through experiences in their life. And so if you were to say to the exhorter, "Well, what about you?"

The exhorter knows that this is the way you learn spiritual principles. The exhorter knows that this is the way you grow, by personal experience. And the truth is you think about this. When you go to someone, or if you were going through some problem, some heartache, would you for example go to someone who could only tell you what they read in the book? No you would not.

You want to hear from somebody who's been there. Somebody who's hurt like you've hurt. Somebody who's been through something that's been trying and difficult and hardship in their lives. And you want to hear them be open. And the exhorter will be open because they want to get involved in your life. Not to pry or be nosey, but they want to get involved in your life to help you grow.

Remember, their whole motivation is to help you grow up, help you to grow. And when I think about how that works and think about the fact that the person who is an exhorter is willing to go through difficulty, hardship and trial. What does it do? It equips us and you know this. Listen, the more you've been through, the more God has done in your life, the more He's worked in your life—and you may have been through some very, very tough times. You know what, part of that is God's equipping process. Equipping you, it may not be your spiritual gift, but He's equipping you to help somebody else in the body of Christ or somebody who's unsaved.

He says all of these gifts He says employ it for the good of the whole body. So think about tough times you've been through. Think about disappointments you've had. Think about times of discouragement. Think about times when you were rebellious toward God. Think about times when He has forgiven you and you just think, "God how could You ever forgive me?" All of that has equipped you to do what? To pour your life into somebody else's life.

And I think about people who live a very selfish and self-centered capsule life. That's what I think about it. They go to work in the morning and they come home and they do their thing and then get up next morning and they do the same thing five or six days a week. On the weekend they just all closed up whether it's watching TV or whatever. What about the rest of the world?

What about people out there who need you? People who want the fellowship with you, people you need to fellowship with, people you need to pray about, people you need to give yourself away to. Selfishness doesn't fit. Capsule living doesn't fit who we are as the children of God. And so the person with the gift of exhortation giving themselves away unselfish in every way. And you see the person with the gift of exhortation is very strong.

When they give us steps, these are the steps. Now if you follow these steps, here's what you can expect. But if you don't, here's what you can expect. Very important. And so the person with the gift of exhortation is strong in that way for that reason. Then of course with the gift of exhortation is the characteristic of what makes them the happiest. What makes the person who has a gift of exhortation the most joyous?

When they see you taking those precise steps and watching God work in your life and watching Him change you and watching how God is bringing about a change of attitude, therefore change of action. What's happening in your family? What's happening where you work? In other words, one of the great characteristics of the exhorter is what makes them happy is very simple: watching us grow up in our walk with God.

So I want to challenge you to do something. To ask God, you may not have this particular gift, but ask God to make you very, very sensitive to the people you work around, people you live around, your friends, maybe the folks you go to school with. Make you very sensitive to the people around you. And if there's somebody that He wants you to speak to, that He would give you the discernment to speak to that person a word of encouragement in some fashion.

Now here's what He'll do. He'll take your word of encouragement to that person. You may think it fell on deaf ears, but God will use that oftentimes, many times, most of the time in some way that will open the door for you to speak to them another word of encouragement. Or it may be that He brings them back to you and the next thing you know you have become a vessel through whom God is speaking to a person who's deep into something they should not be in.

Deeply divided in their mind, fragmented in their thinking, going through some trial, some big temptation in their life. And He's using you to do what? To help them understand there's a better way and it may be that God is using you to prevent them from making a mistake that could destroy their life. You see too often we're so single-minded and so focused on what we want, when we want it, how we can get it and that's all that matters, that we miss out on why God gave us these gifts. So whatever gift you have, I challenge you to watch how God will use you in a single person's life if you will pray that prayer. Amen.

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us on In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley. It's helpful to have an exhorter to go to for inspiration and counsel. If that's your gift, look for opportunities to put it to use. God has gifted you to build others up through reassuring support. Want to hear this message again? Go to intouch.org to look for the link to today on radio or study more about the work of the Holy Spirit on your own by looking through our free resources.

To order a copy of Dr. Stanley's complete message, *The Gift of Exhortation*, visit our online store. This message is also included in his teaching set, *Living in the Power of the Holy Spirit*. Again, log on to intouch.org. To call or text, the number is 1-800-IN-TOUCH. To write to us, address your letter to In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia 30357.

Receiving salvation is simple; providing salvation was not. Today's *Moment with Charles Stanley* is coming up. Tired of faith feeling like a performance? Worn down by constant striving? Jesus never meant it to feel that way. His call was always to something more, to a life that's generous, vibrant, joyful, and sustainable—a real life with Him. That's the heart of *Follow Me*, our new book created to help you answer that call. Get your copy at intouch.org/followme.

Dr. Charles Stanley: There is an inexplicable joy that comes from understanding scripture and learning how to apply it in our own life.

Guest (Male): The *Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible* includes 30 foundational truths that Dr. Stanley has learned from over 60 years of ministry. It's available in the New King James Version, New International Version, the King James Version, and New American Standard Bible version. To order, call 1-800-IN-TOUCH or go to intouch.org/store.

*From the Pastor's Heart* is an in-depth teaching letter inspired by the teachings of Dr. Charles Stanley. To receive In Touch's *From the Pastor's Heart* letter, call 1-800-IN-TOUCH or visit intouch.org/pastorsheart.

You're listening to In Touch. The cost of our salvation is immeasurable, yet it's a gift we simply receive. Here is a *Moment with Charles Stanley*.

Dr. Charles Stanley: How many people have I talked to, and probably you have, and you talk to them about being saved and here's what you say. You say, "This is how you get saved. This is how God brings about your salvation. You acknowledge that the word of God is true. You acknowledge that Jesus Christ went to the cross, died on the cross for your sin, paid your sin debt in full. And then you accept Him by faith as your personal Savior on the basis of what He's done."

That's the reason He's forgiven you, because He died for you. You ask Him to come into your life and save you and He does. And how many times people say, "Well, it can't be that easy. That's too easy." Now the reason they respond that way is because they want to believe in Jesus plus they want to do certain things because you know why they want to do certain things? Makes them feel good. Makes them feel like they had a part in it. It can't be so simple that God does it all.

And so the truth is it is simple in a way. But when you look at the whole complexity of the whole atoning plan of God, it's a complex thing. But my responsibility is simple. Am I willing to ask the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive me of my sins? Not on the basis that I'm going to do this, that and the other, but on the basis that He died for me. In other words, all the work was done at Calvary 2,000 years ago. He did all the work. He died in my place. And now I am to accept Him as my personal Savior and to believe in my heart my sins are forgiven.

Guest (Male): Learn more about God's offering of salvation through Jesus Christ at intouch.org. How are you encouraged by today's message? Please let us know. On the next edition of In Touch, we've been in our series for a little over a week. Have you found your gift yet? If not, keep listening for more instruction on spiritual gifts and the ministry of the Holy Spirit when we return on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia and remains on this station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.