Sermon Tone Analysis

Today we break new ground in verse 8 of Romans 12. Beginning again with verse 6: “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.

If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.

If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully” (Romans 12:6–8, NIV).

This word “exhort” (found in the King James Version) is not a familiar word to common parlance or language.

It’s used, perhaps, more exclusively in church kinds of circles.

It is a beautiful word, coming from the combination of two Greek words—the same words which the Lord uses to define, or designate, the Holy Spirit, the “Paraclete.”

Literally, an “exhorter” is “one who is called alongside to help.”

An exhorter is one who is called to help somebody.

The King James Version sometimes translates this concept of one called alongside to help as a “comforter.”

In fact, the Holy Spirit is on occasion in the King James called the Comforter.

That seventeenth-century designation of the English word “comforter,” then, was much closer to the Latin root than the word “comfort” is now in the English language.

Now, comfort conveys the idea of more of a soothing presence.

But in Latin, comfortaremeans to make strong.

Therefore, a comforter was one who makes strong.

And this fits well with the idea of an exhorter, or one called alongside to help.

An exhorter is one whose life helps, encourages, and aids others who are in need.

Especially, the exhorter is alert to needful situations within the body of Christ and within persons who are in the church family.

This, then, becomes our third speaking gift that is given in the list of seven motivational gifts in Romans 12:6–8.

We have looked so far at the gifts of prophecy—in fact, I think we spent three weeks there—and the gift of teaching.

Now, the gift of exhorting.

There is a certain overlap among these three speaking gifts.

We shouldn’t precisely think that if you have the gift of exhortation you then cannot exercise the gift of teaching, nor can you exercise the gift of prophecy, or vice versa.

In fact, in our series on prophecy I developed from 1 Corinthians 14:3 that one of the very purposes for the gift of prophecy was exhortation.

Paul very clearly indicates that the prophet exists for the upbuilding, for the encouraging, and for the consoling of the Church.

One of the purposes of teaching is the application to life, which is a great deal of what exhortation is about.

Paul tells masters and slaves in 1 Timothy 6:2 that they are to teach and urge, or exhort, these duties.

So teaching can go hand-in-hand with exhortation.

Prophecy can go hand-in-hand with exhortation.

So while there is somewhat of an overlap among these speaking gifts given to us in Romans 12, there is also a distinctive among them.

I personally feel that the distinctive between the three speaking gifts may be how it is that the person who is exercising the gift arrives at his message.

The prophet depends upon the inner voice of the Spirit.

The teacher, for his message, depends upon mastery of his subject through thorough study and preparation.

But the exhorter depends upon a need to arise so that encouragement and inspiration can be given.

The prophet directly hears from God.

The teacher works with the materials that are available to him from life and from literature.

And the exhorter is more in tune to where people are at in the moment existentially, if you will.

These three speaking gifts are designed within the body of Christ to compliment one another, rather than to compete with one another or to contradict one another.

We all recognize when we see these gifts being given that there are some who especially excel in one area over another, while in any particular person all three of these instruments of ministry may be taking place.

That is, in one ministry you can see prophecy, teaching, and exhortation.

But one might stand out especially above the other.

In Acts 15, where the Church is involved in whether or not to include people who have been Gentiles—and who are non-kosher in their eating habits and the like—we might say that the prophet would have emerged in that council and said, “Whom God declares clean, let not the Church declare unclean.”

He might have come with a decisive word from the Lord.

Whereas, the teacher might have come in that situation and would have said, “We must look at the Old Testament text and understand what the Pentateuch is saying.

And it is laying the grounds for circumcision.

But, however, we go to the exceptional cases where the Old Testament itself says we are to circumcise our hearts.

And really what matters before God is not the multitude of sacrifices and offerings, but a pure and repentant heart.”

So the teacher would have tried to work with all the material in the Old Testament and develop a theology of doing away with circumcision.

The exhorter would have come along and said, “All of these Gentiles feel badly because some of you in the Church are looking down upon them and saying they are not spiritual.

We need to encourage these brethren.”

So the ministry of prophet, teacher, and exhorter—their message is derived from these differing sources of what they’re being tuned in to speak to.

Just as we have indicated with prophecy and teaching—all of us, in a sense, are called to prophesy or to teach in family or individual situations—so all of us may consider ourselves exhorters, as people who bring courage or strength to others.

As you watch this word in the pages of the New Testament, you will find that the word “exhort” is especially used to apply to strengthening believers in times of persecution or unrest or suffering or struggle.

There is to be a mutual encouragement among believers.

Paul, writing to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 4, is trying to exhort them, or encourage them, in regards to those believers who have fallen asleep in Christ.

He gives them the good news of Christ’s return.

Then he closes that section by saying, “Therefore comfort [or exhort] one another with these words.”

In other words, it’s an obligation of every believer to strengthen one another with this particular facet of doctrine.

Hebrews 3:13 tells us we are to exhort one another every day, that none of us be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

In other words, be alert to one another’s falling away so we can exhort one another to remain pure in faith.

In Hebrews, the writer also says in 10:25, “Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but exhorting [or encouraging] one another all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

When we gather together for worship, one of the things we must be doing together is encouraging one another.

Especially as we see the Day drawing near.

That was a rather lengthy introduction to the subject of exhortation.

I want to focus in on a specific illustration right now in regards to a person from Scripture who models the gift of exhortation beautifully, and perhaps we can set him aside as a classic example of an exhorter.

We would have to turn to Barnabas for our model.

He is first introduced to us in the Scripture in Acts 4:36.

His name is actually Joseph.

He is a Levite whose home is in Cyprus.

Some speculate that he may have been one of the seventy that the Lord sent out on a training mission, but not one of the twelve.

He had been around the apostolic company, the Christians, long enough, and the beginnings of the Church, that people didn’t call him “Joseph” any more.

He deserved another name, which more fittingly described the personality trait which he was known for.

So they called him Barnabas, which means “son of encouragement.”

He was a cheerer-upper.

He had this reputation.

Some people get the reputation of sourpuss.

Critical.

If people were to quit calling me by my given name, George Wood, what would they call me?

Barnabas had a great reputation.

There are some characteristics which emerged in his life which speak of an exhortative-type person—one on whom the gift of exhortation greatly rests.

Remember that all of these gifts are given by God as a spiritual endowment added to our natural abilities to express and to relate.

The first time he’s introduced to us in Scripture in Acts 4:36, he’s introduced as a giving person.

One quality of an exhorter is that this person is a giver.

In fact, he had a piece of land, which he sold.

Luke uses him as a deliberate contrast, I think, to Ananias and Sapphira—who also have a particular piece of property to give, but they’re trying to hold something back for themselves.

Whereas, Barnabas is a person who holds back nothing.

He gives wholeheartedly.

He is in there giving—showing great trust in the people who administer the funds, and in the Church.

It would be so easy for people to chisel on the welfare scheme that the Early Church concocted.

But his giving nature makes him come across as an extremely generous-type being.

There’s another kind of facet to this giving nature of Barnabas that, I think, is sort of a clue of what he may have been like physically, which would have helped gain him the reputation of being a giver.

In Acts 14:11–12, when Barnabas is with Paul in Asia Minor in the town of Lystra, they are mistaken by the citizens for Zeus and Hermes.

Barnabas was mistaken for Zeus.

Statues of the Roman god Zeus preserved from ancient times always present Zeus as a big and husky and handsome man, the chief of the gods.

Hermes was not quite so handsome, but was his messenger, his spokesperson.

This identification of Barnabas by the townspeople at Lystra with Zeus could lead us to suggest that, as a person, Barnabas projected personal warmth, kind of a gregarious, husky guy who just put his arms around you and immediately made you feel accepted.

In fact, I think it’s a clue, at least, to an exhorter’s personality that an exhorter is outgoing, concerned with others, and because he or she is that way, he’s a person who is very, very easy to love.

Touchable.

It’s not always the case that you can easily love a prophet.

John the Baptist is a classic example.

You can’t feel like going up and throwing your arms around John the Baptist.