There was a medieval writer who asked the question, what are the similarities between the rooster and the preacher?

And then he kind of went along to answer his own question. And he said, the rooster crows at a certain hour.

So does the preacher. And the rooster crows at a certain hour. So does the preacher.

And the rooster has the tendency to strut.

So does the preacher.

Well, not all preachers strut.

But I think this kind of similarity fits in our concept and our, rightly or wrongly,

our idea of what an exorter is. He's the one who always crows and struts. In fact, there are

denominations that have the office of an exororter in their churches, a preacher, teacher,

they have exhorters. It's an office in the church, in their ministries. But the gift of

exhortation is given to many people in the body of Christ, as I'm going to show you in a few

moments, and you're going to discover

that it is far more encompassing than just those who are in preaching and teaching.

I know some people, when they hear that word, exhortor, or exhortation, they immediately think

of that, you know, crowing, strutting, preacher. But exhortation really does not necessarily

mean being vociferous or thunderous. In fact, the word is far beyond and far greater and far

encompassing than the screaming people.

Exorting encompasses, advising, and pleading and warning and encouraging and strengthening and comforting.

For example, this gift is exercised when you persuade somebody to turn away from a certain sin or a destructive lifestyle. You're exercising that gift of exhortation. At the same time, you are exercising that gift of

exhortations when you are encouraging that same person to pursue a godly lifestyle. The gift of exhortation can be used

when you admonish a person or admonish a small group of people or admonish a whole congregation.

It doesn't matter. As I've been telling you that the manifestations of gifts are different

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