Exhort.
parakaleō Verb. to incite by argument or advice: urging strongly
The modern church has dropped the baton on exhortation and discipleship which go hand in hand in, but we will name those that are most evident and have profoundly affected and speared our mission. Our awareness of these things has easily come through being military spouses, stationed throughout the world, and moving, collectively, 23 times, over two military careers. In that amount of time, the amount of churches we have sat in and under the leadership of is astounding. We have a very broad and diverse history in church buildings.
First, there are generations of people sitting right now in churches with the best sound systems, the biggest lights, the 3-point tips on how to apply the 3 verses for that week, yet they have refused to come under the authority of a preacher, husband, teacher, much less the Word of God.
“So that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the Word of God will not be dishonored.”
Titus 2:3-4
After the Apostle Paul’s conversion, he vanished to the desert for three years, during which time the Holy Spirit instructed him in the ways of God. Therefore, he was fully taught, then fully equipped to be in the service of the Lord. Paul, the man who persecuted Christians and was present to witness the first Christian martyr stoned for his faith, would emerge from his isolation fully equipped and ready to deliver the gospel of Christ and preach divine truth. Sound doctrine is available to all who choose to sit under the teaching of the Word of God. Paul would go on to write 14 books in the New Testament, laying out the plumbline for every Believer to test their walk.
“For I give you sound teaching; Do not abandon my instruction.”
Proverbs 4:2
Secondly, in order to live, one must first die.
Before we can die, we must first know WHO and WHAT we are dying for!
What do you prize in this life? Is it your own knowledge? Is it God’s wisdom?
If you, my friend, prize yourself on any knowledge apart from the Word of God, you’d better look out! How do we know this? Our answer is based on the authority of the Word of God…
“My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.”
Hosea 4:6
Look at what’s going on in our education system. We have young folks who will click ‘share’ quicker than they can think, without taking the time to investigate, to read up, to reason, to educate themselves on exactly what they’re sharing. We are currently programmed as a society for two to four sentence feeds. We’ve lost an ability to think comprehensively and critically. Who reads anymore? No wonder why we don’t prize the Word of God, much less learn the Word of God, all the while mainstream pulpits are following suit.
In addition, we’ve so leaned on the side of grace that we’ve done it at the cost of TRUTH!!!! The truth – EXHORTS!
