In any discussion of tongues, it is important to note that they were not just spiritual gifts. They also were designated as a “sign gift” and part of a cluster of gifts named by Jesus in Mark 16. These sign gifts were given to individuals to authenticate the message of the gospel. The early Christians had no New Testament in the early years following the ascension of Christ. As the gospel went to Jew and Gentile alike, it needed the witness of the signs to undergird its authority, until the written Scriptures established that authority base.
John Napier

Gift of Exhortation

                                  GIFT OF EXHORTATION

BASIC MOTIVATION DEFINED
Motivated to give encouragement and wise counsel to persons in need.

AMPLIFICATION
Teaching stimulates the mind: exhortation stimulates the will and faith.
The exhorter encourages spiritual growth through counseling and speaking.  Urges
another to pursue a course of conduct based on Scripture.  Tells another how to
apply God’s truth to daily life.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ONE EXERCISING THIS GIFT
1.  A desire to visualize specific achievements and prescribe precise steps of action.
2.  A tendency to avoid systems of information which lack practical application.
3.  The ability to see how tribulation and suffering can produce new levels of maturity.
4.  A dependence on visible acceptance when speaking to individuals or groups.  A
real awareness of his listeners.  Watches the faces of his hearers.  (A prophet
doesn’t pay much attention to reaction of listeners.)
5.  The discovery of insights from human experience which can be validated and
amplified in Scripture.
6.  A grief when teaching is not accompanied by detailed, practical steps of action.
7.  A delight in personal conferences that result in new insight.

DANGERS IN EXERCISING THIS GIFT
1.  Giving homemade advice rather than Biblical truth.
2.  Spending too much time with those who want only temporary relief.
3.  Relying too much on your own understanding and not the leading of the
Holy Spirit.
4.  Becoming discouraged with lack of prayers.

MISUNDERSTANDINGS
1.  The emphasis on specific steps of action may appear to oversimplify the
problem.
2.  The urgency to give steps of action may appear as having an overconfidence
in them.
3.  The desire to win non-Christians through living examples may appear as lack of
interest in personal evangelism.  More concerned for sanctification than justifi-
cation.
4.  The use of Scripture for practical application may appear to take it out of
context.
5.  The emphasis on steps of action may appear to disregard the feelings of those
being counseled.