I am Caleb Fielding and I have a question for you. Do you feel like you are starving spiritually?
Perhaps you would say the church you go to is great , its got great preaching, great music, great people, but you feel like on a spiritual level you are starving.
If this sounds like you this is certainly a conversation you should have with your pastor, but the only thing I can tell you over the internet is my story.
Growing up I went to a church that had amazing music, where the music director even wrote a song that became a number one hit in southern gospel music. I went to a church with amazing preaching, where they started a Bible college because so many men were asking the pastor to teach them how to preach. I was basically at church 5 times a week, and yet I felt like I was starving.
This is another area in my life where I was struggling because I did not know the Bible well enough to obey the Bible. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 10:24-25
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
The Bible is saying five things about church here, and in all honesty I was obeying one of them. I was attending church a lot, but because I was not obeying the other four I was starving to death.
I was going to church faithfully and getting some exhortation from the music and the preaching, but the Bible says we are to be exhorting one another. That means that as individuals we are to exhort people on a personal one on one level. Yes we need exhortation from music and preaching and I don’t want to discount that at all, but alongside preaching and music we must exhort one another on a personal level, otherwise we will starve to death under good preaching and music.
Exhort means to strengthen, comfort, and encourage. Married people very naturally exhort one another in their marriage. The very act of marriage strengthens people because now instead of going through life singularly they are going through life as a couple. Two are better than one. They are automatically encouraged because they are a couple. They live together so it doesn’t take long for them to realize what struggles each other has which puts both of them in a place to comfort one another. Exhortation very naturally happens within marriage.
For the singles the most natural place for exhortation to happen is church. In church its natural for you to be strengthened, comforted, and encouraged, but you are going to have to open yourself up to get the exhortation you need. God designed all humans to need exhortation.
Exhorting one another is especially important to single men because exhortation is an area where men can get their greatest relational need of respect met. I think this is why there are a lot fewer men going to church than women, many men do not even know they have this relational need for respect, much less how to get it met through exhortation, so since they are not getting this need met they are leaving church, which is honestly the best place to get this need met as a single.
To get this need met we will need to be intentional about exhorting others. As an adult you must take the first step so that others can respond.
If you have never taken the initiative to personally exhort people, please talk with your pastor, show him Hebrews 10:25 and ask him how you can best exhort people on an individual level.
In the last two lessons I said that you should be close enough to people to know when they are suffering and when they are honored. When you know how people are suffering or when they are honored this gives you an opportunity to exhort them.
This is important because when people are struggling and you encourage them in their struggles then you give them strength to keep on going. When people are honored and you encourage them they are now empowered to take steps beyond what they thought possible. When people are hurt and you comfort them they are healed more quickly.
Exhorting others is often about giving them a moral boost in the midst of their battles.
In Exodus 17 we find Moses leading the children of Israel to the promise land. On the way there the nation of Amalek fought Israel. Moses sent out Joshua to lead Israel into battle. During this battle God performed a miracle. As long as Moses’s hands were held up Israel was winning the battle. But when Moses dropped his hands Amalek would start to win the battle.
Moses held up his hands as best he could but his arms started getting tired, and as his arms started getting tired and too heavy for him to keep lifted up Amalek started winning the battle. But then Two men, Aaron and Hur started helping Moses keep his hands held up. They exhorted him. Because they exhorted Moses Israel won the battle.
I want you to notice something very specific here. In the overall picture Israel needed to win the battle, but Aaron and Hur did not focus on the battle that involved the thousands of men of Israel. They did not exhort the thousands of men that were fighting. Aaron and Hur were close enough to Moses to know that God was blessing him with a miracle, which was a great honor, but they were also close enough to moses to know he was struggling in the midst of being honored by God. Out of thousands of people they exhorted one man in his specific unique need and because they exhorted him, thousands won a battle.
Do you know anyone in your church well enough to exhort them in their unique situation? Many people in your church have been honored in many unique ways but with that honor also comes unique struggles. Your exhortation can be the difference in winning a battle in their life, and many lives. Exhorting other Christians is empowering to your local church.
What would it take for you to strengthen, comfort, encourage, to exhort people in your local church in their specific unique situations?
If you have not been exhorting anyone on a personal one on one level, I would encourage you to go to your pastor and find out from him if there is anyone who needs that encouragement now. Perhaps it will be your pastor or for the single ladies your pastors wife who needs the exhorting.
As you begin to exhort people in your local church the natural reaction is for the church to respond to the exhortation with exhortation. You take the first step to exhort others to get to know them, to strengthen, comfort them and encourage them, in doing so you opened the door for them to respond in kind.
Sometimes exhortation is like a smile. One person is smiling and laughing and everyone gets cheered up due to exhortation. Sometimes in life because you have exhorted others they can immediately turn around and exhort you. This is a very shallow form of exhortation, its better to have a shallow form of exhortation than no exhortation, but I would encourage you to let this shallow form of exhortation increase in depth over time.
Sooner or later there will be times where you face battles and storms and to get through them you will need someone to exhort you in a deep and meaningful way.
We mentioned in the last two lessons that you need to share your suffering and your honor with those in your local church. When someone knows your unique set of suffering and honor it gives them an opportunity to strengthen, comfort, encourage, to exhort you in a personal, specific and unique way. The more aware people are of your situation the more they will be able to exhort you.
In Acts 27 we find Paul. He is a prisoner and he is being transported by ship to Rome. On the trip they run into a storm. Paul the preacher was in this storm with the captain of the ship, roman soldiers, sailors, other prisoners, slaves, and passengers of all types.
Because Paul knew exactly what they were going through he could exhort them in the best way possible. Paul did not give these men useless platitudes, he gave them real strength, comfort, and encouragement.
During the storm some of the men had the idea that they should jump into the life boat, but because Paul knew their situation he told them not to, so they cut it off the ship. They totally got rid of the ability to use the lifeboat.
They went through this storm for fourteen days but the entire time Paul exhorted them in their storm.
Paul knew about their specific storm, he knew of the bad idea they had to get out of it, he knew how long the storm would last, he knew where they were trying to go, he also knew when to get off the ship. He knew all this because he was very aware of what everyone on the ship was going through, and this empowered him to exhort everyone on the ship.
Exhortation is most effective when someone is exhorting you in your specific place of suffering and honor. And when someone is exhorting you in your specific storm it will allow you to, much more easily, make it through the storm.
Do people in your life have an opportunity to exhort you in your storms? Or do they have no idea you are going through? If they know you are going through a storm do they have enough information to actually encourage, comfort, and strengthen you in the storm? Are people in your life able to exhort you in your storms, or are your relationships to shallow?
In Conclusion exhortation is not about a shallow “how are you” when you come into church. Exhortation is about encouraging, comforting, and strengthening people, Especially, in the midst of their suffering, their battles, and their storms. But do you know others well enough that you can exhort them in their suffering, battles, and storms? Do others know you well enough to exhort you in your suffering, battles and storms? Exhorting others and being exhorted is necessary for Church to be a joy to you.
Perhaps you would say the church you go to is great , its got great preaching, great music, great people, but you feel like on a spiritual level you are starving.
If this sounds like you this is certainly a conversation you should have with your pastor, but the only thing I can tell you over the internet is my story.
Growing up I went to a church that had amazing music, where the music director even wrote a song that became a number one hit in southern gospel music. I went to a church with amazing preaching, where they started a Bible college because so many men were asking the pastor to teach them how to preach. I was basically at church 5 times a week, and yet I felt like I was starving.
This is another area in my life where I was struggling because I did not know the Bible well enough to obey the Bible. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 10:24-25
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
The Bible is saying five things about church here, and in all honesty I was obeying one of them. I was attending church a lot, but because I was not obeying the other four I was starving to death.
I was going to church faithfully and getting some exhortation from the music and the preaching, but the Bible says we are to be exhorting one another. That means that as individuals we are to exhort people on a personal one on one level. Yes we need exhortation from music and preaching and I don’t want to discount that at all, but alongside preaching and music we must exhort one another on a personal level, otherwise we will starve to death under good preaching and music.
Exhort means to strengthen, comfort, and encourage. Married people very naturally exhort one another in their marriage. The very act of marriage strengthens people because now instead of going through life singularly they are going through life as a couple. Two are better than one. They are automatically encouraged because they are a couple. They live together so it doesn’t take long for them to realize what struggles each other has which puts both of them in a place to comfort one another. Exhortation very naturally happens within marriage.
For the singles the most natural place for exhortation to happen is church. In church its natural for you to be strengthened, comforted, and encouraged, but you are going to have to open yourself up to get the exhortation you need. God designed all humans to need exhortation.
Exhorting one another is especially important to single men because exhortation is an area where men can get their greatest relational need of respect met. I think this is why there are a lot fewer men going to church than women, many men do not even know they have this relational need for respect, much less how to get it met through exhortation, so since they are not getting this need met they are leaving church, which is honestly the best place to get this need met as a single.
To get this need met we will need to be intentional about exhorting others. As an adult you must take the first step so that others can respond.
If you have never taken the initiative to personally exhort people, please talk with your pastor, show him Hebrews 10:25 and ask him how you can best exhort people on an individual level.
In the last two lessons I said that you should be close enough to people to know when they are suffering and when they are honored. When you know how people are suffering or when they are honored this gives you an opportunity to exhort them.
This is important because when people are struggling and you encourage them in their struggles then you give them strength to keep on going. When people are honored and you encourage them they are now empowered to take steps beyond what they thought possible. When people are hurt and you comfort them they are healed more quickly.
Exhorting others is often about giving them a moral boost in the midst of their battles.
In Exodus 17 we find Moses leading the children of Israel to the promise land. On the way there the nation of Amalek fought Israel. Moses sent out Joshua to lead Israel into battle. During this battle God performed a miracle. As long as Moses’s hands were held up Israel was winning the battle. But when Moses dropped his hands Amalek would start to win the battle.
Moses held up his hands as best he could but his arms started getting tired, and as his arms started getting tired and too heavy for him to keep lifted up Amalek started winning the battle. But then Two men, Aaron and Hur started helping Moses keep his hands held up. They exhorted him. Because they exhorted Moses Israel won the battle.
I want you to notice something very specific here. In the overall picture Israel needed to win the battle, but Aaron and Hur did not focus on the battle that involved the thousands of men of Israel. They did not exhort the thousands of men that were fighting. Aaron and Hur were close enough to Moses to know that God was blessing him with a miracle, which was a great honor, but they were also close enough to moses to know he was struggling in the midst of being honored by God. Out of thousands of people they exhorted one man in his specific unique need and because they exhorted him, thousands won a battle.
Do you know anyone in your church well enough to exhort them in their unique situation? Many people in your church have been honored in many unique ways but with that honor also comes unique struggles. Your exhortation can be the difference in winning a battle in their life, and many lives. Exhorting other Christians is empowering to your local church.
What would it take for you to strengthen, comfort, encourage, to exhort people in your local church in their specific unique situations?
If you have not been exhorting anyone on a personal one on one level, I would encourage you to go to your pastor and find out from him if there is anyone who needs that encouragement now. Perhaps it will be your pastor or for the single ladies your pastors wife who needs the exhorting.
As you begin to exhort people in your local church the natural reaction is for the church to respond to the exhortation with exhortation. You take the first step to exhort others to get to know them, to strengthen, comfort them and encourage them, in doing so you opened the door for them to respond in kind.
Sometimes exhortation is like a smile. One person is smiling and laughing and everyone gets cheered up due to exhortation. Sometimes in life because you have exhorted others they can immediately turn around and exhort you. This is a very shallow form of exhortation, its better to have a shallow form of exhortation than no exhortation, but I would encourage you to let this shallow form of exhortation increase in depth over time.
Sooner or later there will be times where you face battles and storms and to get through them you will need someone to exhort you in a deep and meaningful way.
We mentioned in the last two lessons that you need to share your suffering and your honor with those in your local church. When someone knows your unique set of suffering and honor it gives them an opportunity to strengthen, comfort, encourage, to exhort you in a personal, specific and unique way. The more aware people are of your situation the more they will be able to exhort you.
In Acts 27 we find Paul. He is a prisoner and he is being transported by ship to Rome. On the trip they run into a storm. Paul the preacher was in this storm with the captain of the ship, roman soldiers, sailors, other prisoners, slaves, and passengers of all types.
Because Paul knew exactly what they were going through he could exhort them in the best way possible. Paul did not give these men useless platitudes, he gave them real strength, comfort, and encouragement.
During the storm some of the men had the idea that they should jump into the life boat, but because Paul knew their situation he told them not to, so they cut it off the ship. They totally got rid of the ability to use the lifeboat.
They went through this storm for fourteen days but the entire time Paul exhorted them in their storm.
Paul knew about their specific storm, he knew of the bad idea they had to get out of it, he knew how long the storm would last, he knew where they were trying to go, he also knew when to get off the ship. He knew all this because he was very aware of what everyone on the ship was going through, and this empowered him to exhort everyone on the ship.
Exhortation is most effective when someone is exhorting you in your specific place of suffering and honor. And when someone is exhorting you in your specific storm it will allow you to, much more easily, make it through the storm.
Do people in your life have an opportunity to exhort you in your storms? Or do they have no idea you are going through? If they know you are going through a storm do they have enough information to actually encourage, comfort, and strengthen you in the storm? Are people in your life able to exhort you in your storms, or are your relationships to shallow?
In Conclusion exhortation is not about a shallow “how are you” when you come into church. Exhortation is about encouraging, comforting, and strengthening people, Especially, in the midst of their suffering, their battles, and their storms. But do you know others well enough that you can exhort them in their suffering, battles, and storms? Do others know you well enough to exhort you in your suffering, battles and storms? Exhorting others and being exhorted is necessary for Church to be a joy to you.