A Call To Honor: Honoring People

Sharing good news of great joy to all people.

Elation Church. We're continuing in our series

named A Call to Honor. A Call to Honor. Everybody

say A Call to Honor. A Call to Honor. This is

week number three in that series. Honor is important.

Honor is mentioned in the Bible. The concept

of honor is mentioned in the Bible over 300 times.

So if something's in the Bible that many times,

it must be important to God. What do you think?

Do you agree with me? All right. Thanks for talking

to me. Honor is important to God. It's very important

to God. The Bible says in 1 Samuel 2 .30, this

is God speaking, and he says, I will honor those

who honor me, and I will despise those. who think

lightly of me. Who wants God to honor them? Well,

if you want God to honor you, you need to honor

God. And that's what we talked about last week.

We just specifically talked about honoring God.

This is in context with Eli, who was a priest,

and his sons were serving as priests. And his

sons weren't doing right. They were not doing

right at all. They were stealing from the offerings.

I mean, the priests were allowed certain parts

of the sacrifices that were brought, but they

were stealing above that, not doing right, not

handling the offerings correctly. They weren't

treating the people correctly. They were even,

I guess everybody in this room could understand

this, they were even taking advantage of women

as being a priest. They were taking advantage.

of women who would come to the temple. So they

weren't doing right. And Eli would not correct

his sons. Eli knew it was happening. He wasn't

blind to it. He knew it was happening, but he

wouldn't correct his sons. And here's what God

said to Eli. God said, you've honored your sons

more than you've honored me. How many of you

know that's a bad thing? He honored his sons

more than he honored God. And as a result, God

took away the priesthood from Eli and his family.

He despised those who thought lightly of him.

That's what took place. God said that he will

honor those who honor him. So it's important

to honor God. That word honor, we... We think

we know what it means, but maybe we don't fully

understand what it means. The Hebrew word is

kavod. It means to be heavy, to make weighty.

It means to honor, it means to glorify, and it

means to value. I think it's easier for us to

understand what honor means when we think of

the word value, right? Because when we value

something, then we honor it. If we value a person,

we honor that person. Now to be heavy, to be

make weighty is, because sometimes this word

in the Old Testament is even translated glorify.

To glorify God means that you're honoring Him,

that you're valuing Him as worthy. Right? So

we honor him, we value him. But to be heavy,

you get the idea of a scale. Not a scale with

numbers on it, but a balanced scale. And during

this time, most of the transaction was done with

a balanced scale. The value of an item would

be placed on one side and weight. you had to

equal that value in order to purchase it on a

balanced scale. So we honor what we value. You

can't separate honor and value. It can't be separated.

And then when we think of the word despise, just

in our minds, in our normal conversation in English,

when we think of the word despise, we think that

that's like next level hate. When you think of

that word, I despise you. I mean, that's like

even beyond just saying you hate somebody if

you say that you despise them. But the word in

the Old Testament doesn't mean the next level

of hate. Right? Sometimes our understanding of

English words and understanding God's word can

be two different things. So to despise means...

to look down on with disrespect or to regard

as worthless. So Eli's sons looked down on what

they were supposed to be doing for God and honoring

God, the instructions that God had given them.

So they just despised that. They knew what they

were supposed to do. Eli knew what he was supposed

to do. But, you know, they just were casual about

it. They looked down on it with disrespect. They

regarded that as worthless. They didn't honor

the position that God had them in. So it was

taken away. In the New Testament, when we read

verses in the New Testament, they use the word

honor. It could be a verb, a noun, or an adjective.

Timao, the verb, is to prize something, to revere

something. The noun, time, Represents a valuable

or something valuable. Esteem of the highest

degree. And then the adjective temios is valuable,

costly, honored, esteemed, beloved, or precious.

So honor has to do with a perceived value or

worth. Perceived value or worth. Even when you're

purchasing something, You've got to think it's

worth what it costs before you will make the

purchase, right? So in honor, it's a perceived

value or worth. The value, weight, or honor that

is willingly assigned to something. Willingly

is important. It's what you assign, right? The

value, the weight, or honor that you assign.

Honor includes the ideas of worth, esteem, dignity,

and price. Whether we're talking about God, whether

we're talking about Jesus, whether we're talking

about other people, whether we're talking about

material goods. And I want you to not forget

this part. Even if you took notes on it last

week and the week before, don't miss this part.

The term honor always measures value, and it

calls for a response. proportionate to that value.

So that's why the series is called A Call to

Honor. Because when you honor something that

is valuable, there must be an act or a response

proportionate to that value. If not, it's just

lip service. Alright? It's just lip service and

not honor. So, the first week we talked about

Honoring what God honors. Who was here the first

week? Talk about honoring what God honors, the

things that He honors. The Word, the Church,

the Kingdom were the three things that we focused

on. Last week we talked about honoring God, because

ultimately that's where our honor is due. But

when we honor what God honors, we're also honoring

Him in the process. Today we're going to be talking

about honoring people. Honoring other people.

Now this slide is going to come up a lot. Because

I want you to remember this. How many of you

would agree with me that our society today needs

more honor? Can anybody remember a day where

there was more honor than there is today? I know

I can. And we're going to find out why, I believe

in our study today, why there's less honor in

our society. But to demonstrate honor to another

person means that you will speak highly of them.

So when you do not speak highly of someone, you're

not honoring them. We can take the negative side

of this too. So to honor someone is to speak

highly of them. Always speak highly of them.

then you are honoring them. Another way to demonstrate

honor is showing generosity towards another person.

We're supposed to be generous people. People

of God are supposed to be like God, and God is

generous. Hallelujah, amen. I'll amen myself.

Okay? Demonstrating honor is having a high respect

of someone. High respect of someone. And it's

also submitting to leadership. Submitting to

the leadership of is a demonstration of honor.

And we can look at our society today, and sometimes

we can even look at our own lives and see this

list of how to demonstrate honor and figure out

that maybe we're not honoring other people as

much as we should. Anybody got an oh me or an

amen or something like that? Here's where we're

starting. Honor should be modeled in the home.

I'll say that again. Honor should be modeled

in the home. The first thing God instituted was

the family. Long before the church was ever instituted,

the family was instituted. And honor should be

modeled in the family. It should be modeled in

the home. And we're not going to read Ephesians

5. We're not going to read these verses because

I'll be up front with you. The word honor is

not in these verses. But, everybody say but.

But, demonstrations of honor are in these verses.

Right? So you can look it up for yourself. Write

it down if you want to read it. In Ephesians

5, it talks about the home and how the home should

be structured and modeled. And it says this,

Wives should love and submit to leadership of

the husband. Don't get mad at me. That's what

the Bible says. Okay? Y 'all got to deal with

it. If God said it, then you've got to deal with

it. Don't get mad at me. Deal with it in your

soul. Wives should love and submit to the leadership

of their husband. But husbands, we're not off

the hook. Husbands should love and esteem. That's

one of the definitions of one of the Greek words.

Esteem and sacrifice. Okay? So, we all, each

one of us, need to model these things in the

home. And just in case you forgot, a lot of those

things are exactly what demonstrations of honor

are, if you want to look at that, right? Speaking

highly of. Spouses should always speak highly

of the other spouse. Say oh me or amen or something.

Okay? We're supposed to speak highly of each

other. This works both ways. Showing generosity

towards. That falls more in the husband's category

than the wife's, but we should show generosity

to each other. We should have a high respect

of each other, even though the husband is directly

told. To highly esteem. We should have high respect

of each other. We should submit to the leadership

of under submitting to Christ. Because the role

of the husband says we need to be like Jesus

in the home. We need to be at that level of who

we are and how we act and what we say and what

we do. Oh, me, yeah. I'm not letting the guys

off one minute in this. Let's take a look at

the next part of the home that it actually uses

that word, honor. Exodus 20, 12. And this is

one of the Big Ten. Everybody say the Big Ten.

It's one of the Big Ten commandments, right?

Honor your father and mother. So that you may

live long in the land the Lord your God has given

you. What, a commandment? Right? And what? A

promise attached to that. It's quoted again in

Ephesians 6, 1 -3. Children, obey your parents

in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father

and mother, which is a first commandment with

a promise, so that it may go well with you and

that you may enjoy long life on the earth. So,

who wants your life to go well? Who wants to

enjoy a long life on the earth? Not just live

a long life on the earth, but enjoy a long life

on the earth. When honor is displayed by the

parents, because that's where it's got to begin

in a home. When honor is displayed by the parents,

a culture of honor is built in the home. And

when the culture of honor is built in the home,

it can be easily nurtured in the children. But

if the children do not see, The husband honoring

the wife and the wife honoring the husband, they're

not going to get it. There's going to be no culture

of honor. Now, some people try to beat it into

the kid. Some of you laughed, some of you got

quiet. Some people try to force it, but if it's

not modeled, it's not going to be... Easily received

by the children. Honor is more easily caught

than taught or demanded. That's a good one to

remember too. Honor is easily caught. It's more

easily caught than just being taught. Because

if you just try to teach it without... modeling

it, then it's like, do what I do, do what I say,

not what I... Don't look at what I do, just do

what I say to do, right? So honor is more easily

caught than taught or demanded. And again, honor.

I don't want you to forget this. Honor is speaking

highly of. So children should always speak highly

of their parents. Even when you're grown and

on your own. If you're obeying God's word, you

speak highly of your parents. You show generosity

towards. You have a high respect of. You submit

to the leadership of. Here's the deal. Honor

is recognized and rewarded by God. When we honor

the way God calls us to honor, when we honor

other people, God notices. Look at the person

beside you and say, God sees it. God sees it.

God sees it. Honor is recognized and rewarded

by God. And then this was one of the promises

that we focused in on already. It may go well

with you and that you may enjoy long life on

the earth. So God sees. God sees. Here's something

else we're going to talk about today. Throughout

the Bible, honor and love are often connected

together. Side by side in verses in the Bible.

Honor and love. They work together. They work

together. Look at the person beside you and say

they work together. Honor and love works together.

Matthew 19, 19. Honor your father and mother.

There it is again. In case you thought it was

only there one time and you could get by. Here

it is again. Honor your father and mother and

love your neighbor as yourself. Who's your neighbor?

Who's your neighbor? Well, when they asked Jesus

who the neighbor was, Jesus told the story of

the Good Samaritan. And the Samaritan wound up

being The greatest neighbor to the Jew who despised

the Samaritans. Hello? Jews hated Samaritans.

They didn't want anything to do. Some Jews would

actually pray. Real religious Jews would pray

every day. God, help me to not even see one of

those dog Samaritans today. And then when...

A good Jew asked Jesus, who's your neighbor?

He told the story of the good Samaritan. And

then he asked him, he said, now, who is the neighbor?

And the good Jew had to say, well, the Samaritan

was the good neighbor. So, a neighbor is not

just your favorite person who might live next

door or down the street. That's not your only

neighbor. They are your neighbor, but that's

not all. Love your neighbor as yourself means

to love everybody. That's why a minute ago when

I said God loves people and I love people, that

should be our motto as followers of Christ is

that we love people. Even the people who might

not be easy to love. Does anybody have someone

in their life that's not easy to love? Well,

we've got to love them too if we're going to

be like Jesus. And He will help us and He will

empower us. The fruit of the Spirit, you know,

we talked about that in our last series of self

-control, but the fruit of the Spirit is also

love. And that's the number one, this mission,

is love. So we can love even the people we...

view as unlovable when we're empowered by the

Spirit. When we acknowledge Him, we can walk

in love. Y 'all got quiet when I said you got

to love your enemies. Jesus said love your enemies.

He said do good for the people who did bad to

you. Do good for them. To those who despitefully

use you, love them and do good. It sounds impossible.

But all things are possible with Christ. All

things are possible being empowered by the Spirit.

We can be different. We can be different than

the world. We're called to be different than

the world. Somebody smile or something. You're

frowning at me too much. Makes me want to stay

on this topic that wasn't even in my message.

The more you frown, the more I'm going to stomp

on it. Honor should be displayed by the church.

And it should be displayed in the church. Like

I said, we're supposed to be different. We've

been born again. We have God in us. Empowering

us. Filling us. People need to say, if people

are not followers of Christ, when they see you,

and I'm talking about every single one of you,

not just a preacher, when they see you at work,

they ought to see something different about you.

The main thing they're going to see is your love.

The main thing they're going to see is your honor.

Right? Should be displayed by the church. The

church is us. The church is called out ones.

It's not an organization or a meeting. That word

church is a compound Greek word that means called

out ones. Somebody raise your hand and say, I'm

a called out one. I've been called out. So we

should display honor to the world. Sometimes

I've done acts of honor towards people and they've

laughed at me. You know, I'll never forget. Sometimes

when we go to different parts, I don't know if

I'm not against people who are not from the South,

but go to different parts and you start saying

yes ma 'am to somebody older than you and they

just look at you like you're crazy. They visited

our church before, but the first time I went

to their house and they come, you know, four

or five times a year, I was saying, yes, ma 'am,

and she looked at me and said, why are you calling

me ma 'am? She was a school teacher. Nobody had

ever called her ma 'am. Nobody in her family

had ever called her ma 'am. I was the first one,

when she's 70, I was the first one to ever say,

yes, ma 'am, to her, and it freaked her out.

But that's an honor. It's a term of respect.

Right? Glad I got two little amens. Romans 12,

10. Love each other with genuine affection. Listen,

and take delight in honoring each other. I'll

read it again. Love each other with genuine affection.

And take delight in honoring each other. I'm

not telling you that we all have to walk around

and say, yes ma 'am, yes sir. I mean, it's more

than that. It's more than just words. It's more

than just words. We need to honor. Offering a

seat. Opening a door. Whatever it is. Honoring

each other. Preferring other people over ourselves.

See, genuine honor busts selfishness. And we're

supposed to honor everyone. Again, just like

we love everyone, we're supposed to honor everyone.

1 Peter 2 .17, respect, in the New Living it

says respect, but it's the same word that's translated

honor. Respect or honor everyone and love the

family of believers. Respect and honor everyone

and love the family of believers. Now do you

know how to demonstrate that honor to everyone?

Have you figured it out yet? Well, it's going

to come back up in just a second. Because I've

already said it twice. That's why it's up like

four times in this message. 1 Timothy 5 .17 Let

the elders who rule well be considered worthy

of double honor. Especially those who labor in

preaching and teaching. Who are the elders? Those

who lead with wisdom and integrity with a focus

on God's Word. I'm just going to read that and

leave it there. So how do you honor? How do you

honor everyone? How do you honor everyone? Well,

you speak highly of them. When you're talking

to somebody else, see, this bust gossip, there

is no such thing as gossip when you're honored.

Because you always speak highly. I'll never forget

the little Haitian choir when I was a teenager

doing a mission trip in New Jersey, and they

said, tell it like it is, and if you don't tell

it like it is, don't tell it at all. That was

their little song. Well, If you can't speak highly

of someone, keep your mouth shut. It's better

to not speak at all than to trash somebody. It's

better to not speak at all than to trash somebody.

So, don't... trash the preacher at lunch after

the service. My dad was a pastor and it was like,

you know, so many people, when they got together

at lunch, boy, they would run the preacher down

the road because he preached too long or he preached

too hard or he preached too, right? And he's

a double honor person, right? So especially don't

speak lightly or lowly of the, but that's everybody.

It's everybody. Everybody. So guard your tongue.

Look at the person beside you and say, guard

your tongue. If you're going to honor somebody,

you're going to speak highly of them. You're

going to show generosity towards them. Generosity

is not always about money. It's being a generous

person with your time, with your resources. Huge

generosity from Robert and Alyssa for us being

here today. Huge generosity. Because they've

got people back here in the kitchen working.

But when I asked, he said, sure, let's do it.

That's huge generosity. Having a high respect

for somebody. So if you're going to honor everybody,

you've got to respect everybody. And again, this

busts selfishness. Selfishness has no place in

the life of a follower of Christ. Having a high

respect of submitting to leadership up. 2 Kings

2, 1 -8. I'll share a story with you. When the

Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in

a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were traveling

from Gilgal. And Elijah said to Elisha, Stay

here, for the Lord has told me to go to Bethel.

But Elisha replied, As surely as the Lord lives,

and as you yourself live, I will never leave

you. So they went down together to Bethel. The

group of prophets from Bethel came to Elisha

and asked him, Did you know that the Lord is

going to take your master away from you today?

When Elisha and Elijah got there, the other prophets

started saying, Hey Elisha, you know God's taking

Elijah today, taking him to heaven, don't you?

And what did he say? Of course I know, but be

quiet about it. Of course I know, but be quiet

about it. Then Elisha... Keep getting tongue

-tied and crossed up here. Then Elijah said to

Elisha, stay here for the Lord has told me to

go to Jericho. But Elisha replied again, as surely

as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will

never leave you. So they went together to Jericho.

Then the group of prophets from Jericho came.

to Elisha and ask him, did you know that the

Lord is going to take your master away from you

today? He said, of course I know. But be quiet

about it. I'm not happy that it's happening today.

Because I've been following Elijah. I've been

honoring Elijah. I'm dedicated to him, to helping

him. To our friendship. Then Elijah said to Elisha,

stay here for the Lord has told me to go to the

Jordan River. But again, Elisha replied, as surely

as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will

never leave you. So they went together. He wanted

to spend as much time as he possibly could, right?

Fifty men from the group of prophets also went

and watched from a distance as Elijah and Elisha

stopped beside the Jordan River. We've looked

at different groups of prophets that supposedly

respected and honored Elijah. There were more

prophets. He wasn't the only one, but the other

prophets, I mean, they even had schools of prophets.

But here's what we're finding out through what

we're reading. Elisha honored Elijah more than

any of the other prophets. Everybody say honor.

He respected him more. Followed him more. Then

Elijah folded his cloak together and struck the

water with it at the Jordan River. hit the water

with his coat. The river divided, and the two

of them went across on dry ground. It wasn't

even soupy. It wasn't even wet. It was dry. Just

immediately split. Water's dry. They walk across

dry ground across the bed of the Jordan River.

When they came to the other side, Elijah said

to Elisha, Tell me what I can do for you before

I'm taken away. Look to the person beside you

and say, genuine honor is always rewarded. Genuine

honor is always rewarded. Tell me what I can

do for you before I'm taken away. And Elisha

replied, please let me inherit a double share

of your spirit. And become your successor. Double

portion. You have asked a difficult thing, Elijah

replied. It's actually something Elijah himself

could not give him. See, his honor is rewarded.

His honor is acknowledged. His honor is seen.

By God. And it will be rewarded by God. You have

asked a difficult thing, Elijah replied. If you

see me when I'm taken from you, then you will

get your request. But if not, then you won't.

As they were walking along and talking, suddenly

a chariot of fire appeared. Drawn by horses of

fire, it drove between the two men, separating

them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into

heaven. What a way to go. What a way to go. I

mean, Enoch walked with God and was no more earlier

on in the Bible. I mean, he walked with God so

closely that God said, just come on home with

me today. Right? There was no funeral. There

was no grave. There was no body. He just went

home with God that day. Walked so close with

God. Well, we got a fiery chariot with fiery

horses. Came and picked up Elijah. Carried by

a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha saw it and cried

out, My father, my father, I see the chariots

and the charioteers of Israel. What did Elijah

say? If you see me go, your request is going

to be granted. So his honor was recognized. His

honor, Not only to God, but his honor to Elijah

was recognized and rewarded by God. Elisha received

that double portion of Elijah's prophetic anointing.

And it's even recorded in scripture. We have

seven recorded miracles in Elijah's prophetic

ministry. And we have 14. Everybody say double.

14 miracles recorded in Elisha's ministry, in

his prophetic ministry. So honor is important.

It didn't happen for all the other prophets.

They went to two different places, right? They

went to Bethel and Gilgal. There were other prophets

there, but they didn't honor Elijah as much as

Elisha honored him. And God saw that and rewarded

that. So how do we show honor? Everybody say

one more time. How are you going to show honor

today to other people? Because when we come to

church, it's not just about our religious concept

that we're talking about. It's not just, right?

It's not just rub a little Bible, rub a little

Jesus on our life. And check off something in

our calendar. Hey, I went to church today. Wow,

God must be thrilled that I went to church today.

And I might see him again next week. I might

not. Depends on if we get a better offer or not.

Right? Come on. Don't shout me down while I'm

preaching, good. So how are we going to apply

this? The Bible says be doers of the word, not

hearers only. It's not just about us acquiring

more spiritual head knowledge. It's about us

doing it. Doing it. So, how are you going to

show honor? How are you going to show it? The

rest of the day, tomorrow. This week, next week,

how are you going to display honor? How are you

going to show it? It's going to have to do with

your words. You're going to have to speak highly

of people. And not just your favorite people.

It's easy to apply it when it's easy to apply

it. Speaking highly of people. We're going to

show people honor. We're going to be the body

of Christ. We're going to represent the kingdom

of God. We're going to speak highly of people.

We're going to show generosity in our lives.

We're going to be generous people. We're going

to respect other people. We're not just concerned

about ourself all the time. And us getting first

and getting best. We're going to prefer others,

right? We're going to have a high respect of

other people. We're going to submit to leadership.

I want you to come back next week. Jeffrey's

going to be talking about that a little bit more

in detail. So, he's going to be finishing us

up next week. Remember, next week we're going

to be back at Citrus Ridge Academy. The week

after that, we're going to be back here. Back

here at Honics. Let's pray together. God, thank

you for your word. Thank you for your truth.

Thank you for each person that you've brought

to this place today, and I pray that your word

will be planted in their hearts in such a way

that the roots grow deep and grows into maturity

and produces a harvest of honor in our lives.

Thank you for your promises to us. When we honor

other people, you will notice... Our honor. And

you will reward us. And we thank you for that.

Help us to be obedient. Help us to submit to

you. Help us to honor you and esteem you. Highest

of all. In everything we do. In everything we

say. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.