True Exhortation

Hello everyone,

How are you doing on this day? I hope well and bubbling in the Lord.

Primary Text

“For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile:” 1 Thessalonians 2v3 (KJV)

One mark of a true exhortation is that it is not deceitful - it is not fraudulent, neither does it stray from the truth. Some may bring forth a deceitful exhortation but you will find that their motivation for preaching the Word might be wrong, and for their own gains. 2 Peter 2v12-15 (NLT) says “These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed. They scoff at things they do not understand, and like animals, they will be destroyed. Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They delight in deception even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals. They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse. They have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong.” Our Lord Jesus would not have us tossed to and fro by different winds of doctrine and has given gifts to the church to guard against that.

Supplementary Text

“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of His body, the church.” Ephesians 4v11-15 (NLT)

Prayer

Father, I thank You for Your Word this day. I pray for a spirit of discernment and knowledge of who You are that I may be able to tell the truth from the lies. In Jesus name, amen.