A Call To Honor: Honor God

Sharing good news of great joy to all people.

Elation Church. This is week number two in our

series, A Call to Honor. The series started as

just being called Honor. And then I had Jeffrey

change up the artwork just a little bit and change

it to A Call to Honor. Because we are called

to be people of honor. You might not recognize

this, you might not know this, but honor is mentioned

in the Bible over 300 times. So if that concept

is mentioned in the Bible over 300 times, how

many of you think it's probably important that

we know some things about honor if it's in the

Bible that much? So, it's important to God. Honor

is important to God. And Jeffrey and I were talking

before we even started the series. We've been

talking for months. And he said, Dad, you know

what? People my age and younger, most of them

have never been taught what honor is. So how

can we expect someone to be a person of honor

when they don't even know what it is and they've

never been taught about honor? So we're teaching

on it. I've been preaching for over 30 years,

and this is the first time I've ever preached

one message on honor, much less a series on honor.

But honor is important to God. 1 Samuel 2 .30.

Everybody say Eli. Eli was the priest, and his

sons were following him into the priesthood.

And you know what? His sons were not doing right.

They were not handling the offerings correctly.

They weren't handling the people correctly. And

you know what? Even though they were supposed

to be in the line of Levi, they were supposed

to be the priests. God said, you know what? If

you're not going to honor what I've called you

to do, Then it's going to be taken away from

you. So, God spoke to Eli and he said, Eli, you

have been honoring your sons more than you've

been honoring me. So, this calling is going to

be removed from your family line. And here's

what God said. God said, I will honor those who

honor me. Let's just think about that a second.

Would anybody in the room like for God to honor

them? About half of you. Some of you are saying,

well, you know, I don't know. I'm reading a Bible

verse, folks. It says God will honor those who

honor him. He'll honor those who honor him. You

might be saying, well, I'm just unworthy. I don't

need God to honor me. I'm just so unworthy, you

know. But God says he will honor those who honor

him. I will honor those who honor me, and I will

despise. Everybody say despise. Who wants to

be despised by God? Raise your hand. I will despise

those who think lightly of me. Now, in this study,

we've learned what honor is. All of us come into

the room with an idea of what we think honor

is and what despising is. How many of you know

the Old Testament? The majority of the Old Testament

was written in Hebrew. And we're just trying

to translate it into English so that we can understand

what God said to his people. So that word honor

in the Hebrew is kavod. And here's what it means,

to be heavy. Look to the person beside you and

say, heavy, man, heavy. To be heavy, to make

weighty, to honor, to glorify. See, sometimes

when you read glorify in the Old Testament, it

could also be translated honor. To value. Everybody

say value. This is what we need to focus on.

When we honor something or someone, it means

that we value it. We highly esteem it. Okay?

So every time you hear the word honor from now

on, I want you to think about value. Because

it's easier for our minds to grasp. Right? Come

on, somebody help me. It's easier for our minds

to grasp. value in esteeming something than it

is to just get that word honor. The reason why

it's heavy or weighty is I want you to think

of a balance scale. And when people would purchase

things during this time, there wasn't like everybody

didn't have coins, but people had things of value.

And then they would put the weight of the value.

Everybody say weight. The person selling the

item would put the weight of the value on one

side of the scale, and then you would match that

weight on the other side of the scale. Because

you thought that whatever you were buying was

that valuable for you, that you would put down

that much gold or that much silver or whatever

you're weighing. So to be heavy. And I want to

ask you this. Has anyone ever been in a time

of worship with God, whether you're in your car

or in a worship service, when all of a sudden

you sense the heaviness, the glory of God? We

can sense that. Old Testament gives us a lot

of stories of that, right? God's the same yesterday,

today, and forever. We can experience. The glory

of God. You might find this hard to believe,

but I've experienced the glory of God in my car

driving on I -4 before they even opened up the

new lane. Just spending time worshiping, thanking

God, expressing my love for Him. It was... There

wasn't a cloud in the car, but there could have

been. You know what I'm saying? So that's available

to us still today. But think value. Everybody

say value. Now despise. When God says, I will

honor those who honor me, and I will despise

those who think lightly of me. Despise. See,

you might think, just in our English understanding

of the word despise, oh, that means you hate

it. If you despise something, that's like another

level of hate. Right? In our English understanding.

But in the Hebrew language, despise is opposite

of honor. So to despise something or someone

means that you look down on that thing or that

person with disrespect. That you regard... That

person or that thing as worthless. Okay? Are

you with me? So we have value. Everybody say

value. And then we have regarded as worthless.

Everybody say worthless. That's the two ends

of the scale. And then the New Testament, because

some words we're looking at in the New Testament,

looking at the word honor, we have a verb and

a noun and an adjective. Timao is a verb. It

means to prize or to revere. The noun, time,

is a value, valuable to esteem of the highest

degree or esteem in the highest degree. It's

probably better since it's a noun. And then the

adjective, timeos. It means valuable. It means

costly. It means honored and esteemed. It means

beloved. It means precious. So we need to understand

what honor is if we're going to honor. The Bible

tells us that we should honor God. That's what

we're focusing on today, honoring God. But that's

not all. Last week, if you weren't here last

week, I encourage you to go to the Elation Church

podcast. We talked about honor and we talked

about three things, even though there are more

than that, to honor the things God honors. We're

supposed to honor what God honors. Okay? We're

also supposed to honor everybody. We're supposed

to honor people. We're supposed to honor those

in authority. Can you... Can you look at our

society today and see that there's a lack of

honor where there should be honor? It's easy

to see, right? So we need to talk about honor,

what it means, what it is, because we need to

be people of honor. When we honor something,

it's perceiving the value or worth of that person

or that thing. And it's what we willingly assign

to. that person or that thing. It's not forced

on us. We willingly assign that value, that weight,

or that honor. That's the way honor works. It's

a willing thing. Honor includes the ideas of

worth, esteem, dignity, and price, whether used

of God, of Jesus, of people, or material goods.

Write this down if you're taking notes. I want

you to write this down. Honor always measures

value, and don't miss this part, and calls for

a response proportionate to that value. That's

why we name this a call to honor because there's

a call for a response. for a response, proportionate

to the value that you have willingly assigned.

It's not just an idea out there that has nothing

to do with our acting towards. So we're talking

about honoring God. Everybody say, honor God.

What are the demonstrations of honor? How do

we demonstrate honor when we honor God? What

are some ways? biblical ways to honor God. One

is to praise and to worship him. Another one

is giving. Another one is respect. Another one

is obedience. And today we're going to look at

the word of God and we're going to see practical

applications on how you can honor God. Who wants

to honor God? Who wants to honor God? It's more

than just Your words. Look to the person beside

you and say, it's more than just your words.

Revelation 4 .11. Like I said, I mean, the Bible

has over 300 mentions of honor, and we're just

quickly looking. You are worthy, oh Lord, to

receive glory and honor and power. For you created

all things. And by your will they exist and were

created. Is that a reason to praise God? Can

you say it with me? Can you say it loud and say

it with me? Okay. Let's do our best third grade

reading together that we possibly can. But don't

just read it like... You are worthy, oh Lord.

Put some passion in it. Look to the person beside

you and say, put some passion in it. Make the

word of God your words. You ready? One, two,

three. You are worthy, oh Lord, to receive glory

and honor and power for you created all things

and by your will they exist and were created.

Hallelujah. He is worthy to receive glory and

honor. Here's another one. Worthy is a lamb that

was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom

and strength and honor and glory and blessing.

Can you say that with me? Say it like you mean

it. All right, you ready? One, two, three. Worthy

is the lamb that was slain to receive power.

and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor,

and glory, and blessing. Bless you, Lord. Bless

you. Those are just two of many verses. Listen,

we honor God by praising and worshiping Him.

And it's not just singing a song. It's not just

reading a Bible verse. It's only, we did a whole

series on genuine praise and worship. Listen,

we do not praise or worship God unless it begins

in our heart. Because praise and worship is an

expression of love. It's an expression of thanksgiving.

It's an expression of honor that rises up. To

God We honor God by praising him and worshiping

him genuinely And all of us have gone through

the motions It's so easy even in corporate worship

when we're singing together and lifting up the

name of Jesus it's so easy just to walk into

the room and say, I like that song. Well, I don't

really like that one. I don't know why we're

singing it today. And you just go through. You

just go through. Why do we sing that old song?

But we need to be worshiping God. Even Jesus

said in Matthew 15, 8, He said, these people

honor me with their lips. Everybody say lip service.

Everybody say honor, because it says honor, right?

These people honor me with their lips, but their

hearts are far from me. I mean, we can go through

the motions of honoring God and say the words

to honor God, but if our hearts are not connected,

it's... It's not honor. It's possible to say

we honor God while not actually honoring Him.

Honor goes beyond just words. It goes beyond

words. Let's look at something else. 1 Corinthians

10 .31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever

you do, everybody say everything. Whether you

eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the

glory of God. Everybody say glory. Now this isn't

the words that we looked at, but this is the

word doxa in the Greek. And it's translated glory,

honor, praise, and worship. So this is talking

about not just using words, not just using the

tool of words or singing or anything like that.

It's saying everything we do. Look to the person

beside you and say everything. Everything we

do. We're supposed to glory or glorify God in

everything we do. Just go back to think about

the things that you've done this week. What have

you done to glorify God? I know I say this all

the time. Listen, it's not just about going to

church on Sunday. Hallelujah that you're here.

It's awesome. I love to see your smiling face.

I love it when you're here. I miss you when you're

not here. But a relationship with God is more

than just carving out an hour and a half of time

on Sunday. There's so much more. Look to the

person beside you and tell them, there's so much

more. There's so much more. So much more. So

in everything we do, you might say, well, there's

some things I do, I don't know if it's possible

to glorify God in what I do. Well, then you might

not ought to do it. Well, I had a guy in Charleston

one time. I was preaching. I was preaching in

Charleston, South Carolina. And I'm just preaching,

and all of a sudden, somebody goes, well. I've

heard amen and things like that. I'd never heard,

well. He shocked me. I just, I lost my train

of thought. I lost my place. But I got used to

it because he said, well, well, about every two

or three minutes. All week, because I preached.

So I got used to it. So, hey, you can say well

instead of saying amen. I'm good with it now.

It doesn't shock me. Listen. 1 Corinthians 6

.20, you were bought with a price. Did you know

you've been purchased? If you're in Christ, you've

been purchased. God purchased you with the blood

of Jesus. You were bought with a price. So, so

because you've been bought with a price, glorify

God, doxa, God, glorify God in your body and

in your spirit. I was looking at this verse and

I'm like, okay, I glorify God in my body. I can

wrap my brain around that, but what's glorifying

God in my spirit? Because I'm a spirit being,

I have a soul, and I live in a body. Now, I don't

know why I'm chasing this rabbit down, but I'm

going to chase it down anyway. So how do I honor

God, glorify God in my spirit? My spirit is the

part of me that's been born again, that's been

renewed, that stands right with God. I am the

righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. So I just

looked at the word. It's pneuma. Sometimes it's

translated breath. Sometimes it's translated

wind. Sometimes it's translated spirit. So when

I thought about me being a spirit being alive

unto God, now my soul might need to glorify God,

right? My mind, my will, my emotions. But I believe

my spirit is always worshiping God. My spirit

is always honoring God. But I have to get my

soul on board. Are you with me? So I'm translating

this breath. Because I can wrap my brain around

that. Because I breathe quite often. Hello? How

many of you have breathed? How many of you have

breathed in the last few minutes? You've taken

a breath or two. So since I'm supposed to glorify

God in my body, I believe I'm supposed to glorify

him in my breath. And that just goes right along

with that other verse saying, hey, everything,

eating, drinking, whatever, everything, glorify

God. With every breath I breathe, with every

breath you breathe, we should be honoring God

and bringing glory to God. Look to the person

beside you and say, that's a challenge. Is it

a challenge? Look to the other person on the

other side and say, well, I've got ways to go

on that one, that I'm honoring God with every

breath that he's given me. Reminds me of that

song, it's your breath in my lungs, right? I

give you the praise. It's your breath. You're

the one that gave me breath to glorify you, to

honor you, to praise you. So I'm going to use

the breath that you've given me to honor you.

It's your breath in my lungs. So we honor God

by living for him. Everything we do, every breath

we take, we honor God by living for him. Him,

everybody say living for him. I believe when

we look into the word of God, we should be encouraged

and we should be challenged. It's okay to be

challenged a little bit. That's the only way

we're going to stretch. That's the only way we're

going to grow. Is to be challenged a little bit.

So I'm going to ask you a pretty poignant question

right now. Who are you living for? What are you

living for? And I want you to really think about

it. I don't want you to put on, how many of you

grew up going to Sunday school? I don't want

you to put on your little Sunday school halo

and give me a Sunday school answer. Well, preacher,

I always live for God. who are you living for?

What are you living for? Well, give me a church

answer. Give me a reality answer. I'm the preacher

and I need to grow. I love it when people come

up to me after the service and always say, well,

you know, I am, I am, they don't put it in words

like this, but sometimes I hear what they're

saying. They say, You know what? I've perfected

what you preached about today. That's the way

I hear it. That's the way preacher's ears hear

it. Because they come up and they tell me about,

oh, how, yeah, I've always known that. I've always

done that. That's just... I'm too kind to say,

well, I doubt it. I mean, I... I just say, well,

that's awesome. That's awesome. You know what

people are who do that? They're spiritual teenagers.

Because a teenager thinks they know everything.

They done figured out everything. They know everything

about everything. Nobody can teach them anything.

They're going to teach the world. And see, here's

the deal. You can be a spiritual teenager at...

10 years old or at 95 years old? Look to the

person beside you and say, don't get stuck. I've

been stuck there for a while. I'll be honest

with you. I was stuck there for a while. You

probably never were though, see, because you

don't. Preacher, I've never been stuck. I've

never thought I've figured it out and know everything.

Proverbs 3 .9. We read this before we received

the offering today. Honor the Lord with your

wealth and with the first fruits of all your

crops. So, one of the ways that we honor God

is through our giving. Through our giving. I'm

going to ask you. See, we've already received

the offering. We're not receiving another offering.

Y 'all are like frowning at me now. I just want

to ask you a question. Does your giving honor

God proportionate To your value of God. I mean,

that wasn't in my notes, and I didn't even plan

on saying it, but I just... All of a sudden,

that just rose up in me, and I just had to share

it. Like I said, we're not receiving another

offer. Okay? But does the level of your giving,

is it proportionate with your value of God and

who God is? And I'm going to go ahead and say

this. Pull in your toes and your shoes a little

bit. Pull them back just a little bit. Because

I don't want to break anybody's toes. I'm going

to go ahead and tell you that it is. It is. Your

giving is proportionate. What you're giving is

proportionate to your perceived value of who

God is. Yes, sir. Come here. Come here. Just

so you're not testifying it. You know what? Dean

don't know what he's talking about. Not at all.

I've been laboring with this for two weeks. Last

week when he spoke, one of the scriptures that

you had up there that you didn't have today specifically

used the word resources when it was talking about

our giving. And when you said what you said here,

I'm not the guy that wants to just get up in

front of everybody all the time and talk. And

the Lord's been hitting me with the fact that

our resources beyond money, most of the time

what we look at is when we hear, The pastor talking

about the money. Honestly, it takes money. We

all know that it requires currency of some sort

to do what we do here. Building costs, people

costs, all of those things. And I've been running

a business for many, many years. And throughout

that time, I have noticed, and this is not a

testimony of one specific instance. There are

many instances across the years. Being faithful

with those resources, honoring God through our

giving, not just our money, but our time, our

talent, the treasure that we have that he has

entrusted us with, that we are stewards of. We

are stewards of our time. We are stewards of

the things that, if God has put a talent inside

of you that is for his glory, that needs to be

used for his glory within the church. And God

has given us as a family, we have had a number

of people throughout our lives stay in our home

for years. We've had family members, we've had

friends, we've had other people that we have

given of our resources, not just the money. We've

given, we consistently give to church through

COVID when what I do is decimated, literally

like... imagine somebody shutting off the switch

to your income. You lose your job. You don't

know what you're going to do. You don't know

how you're going to pay your bills. You don't

know what's going to happen. When COVID happened

five years ago, we had no idea. Literally owed

people hundreds of thousands of dollars that

I didn't know how I was going to pay. No idea.

But through the process of, one thing that we

never stopped doing is giving. Of our time, of

our talent, of our treasure. My CFO asked me

three weeks ago, he said, you know, cash flow

is a challenge, managing cash flow. We were trying

to talk about how to manage it. He said, well,

there's this one line item here that I see where

you guys are giving. And, you know, if we stop

doing that, then we could help cash flow. And

I said, that is the one non -negotiable. It's

the one non -negotiable. Because I have seen,

and I may start crying. You have no idea the

resources that we have, that God has given us,

that we squander every single day. And we are

here because he has been so faithful to give

us time. You have a bank account that you don't

even know how much is in it. It's called your

time. And, man. You don't know how much is left

in that bank account. You have no idea. None

of us do. God says we do not know when our last

day will be. And yes, we all waste time. I waste

time. I wasted time this morning. I promised

my wife that I was going to be done at 8 o 'clock

working out this morning. She comes out at 8

.20 and says, hey, you told me 8 o 'clock. And

you know what? I didn't keep my word. And that's

on me. And that's something that I have to fix.

When we give, God has never let me down. Not

once. And, you know, we, 10 years ago, we brought

her family, my wife's family, into our house.

And my father -in -law had a terminal illness.

And at some point in time, he will die from that.

And we believed that it was the right thing.

And so for over a year, they lived with us. And

through that time, I saw God do things that,

that I can't describe, I can't tell you what

the Lord has done, but through repairing our

marriage, repairing our family over the last

10 years and just watching all the things that

he's done and taking our time. You know, when

we left Colorado, we came here not knowing what

God had for us. But when I recount the things

that he's done through us for the people, it's

not about me, it's not about... but the people

that have impacted, the people that have moved

to Florida after we got here, and we've seen

them restore families, we've seen them restore

people, we've seen them restore relationships,

we've seen him change lives, we've seen people

come to know the Lord, we've seen, like, literally,

take time to recount that in your life. If you

don't, you'll forget. So... I want to encourage

you that when we talk about giving, when Pastor

Dean talks about giving, like those are non -negotiable

things, but God says honor with your giving.

And when you give, you don't know what the long

-term effect is going to be. You don't know what's

going to happen. But I can promise you this,

that when you turn back and you look on your

life, if you have given faithfully without any

hope of getting anything back, he will continue

to give. And give and give. And it may not look

like what you expect it to look like. It may

not look like what you want it to be. But when

you recognize what he's doing, the blessing of

what he will continue to do will continue far

beyond even your life. That bank account that

you don't know how much is left. Don't miss out

on the opportunities. to give when you have the

ability, the opportunity, and the resources to

do so. Because there may come a day that you

don't have those resources anymore. And you're

going to look back and say, man, I wish I would

have. We don't want the shoulda, coulda, wouldas.

We want the I did. Because that's how we honor

the Lord. Thank you. Look to the person beside

you and say, listen fast. We honor God through

giving. Let's continue. John 12, 26. Whoever

serves me must follow me. And where I am, my

servant also will be. Listen to what it says.

My father, Jesus said this, my father will honor

the one who serves me. So we honor God through

serving God and following God. It's another way

we demonstrate our honor to God. I've got some

stories to go along with this, serving and following.

Matthew 25, verse 14. Jesus is sharing a parable.

Matthew 25:14

Again, the kingdom of heaven. Can be illustrated

by the story of a man going on a long trip He

called together his servants and entrusted his

money to them while he was gone He gave five

bags of silver to one two bags of silver to another

and one bag of silver to the last Dividing it

in proportion to their abilities Don't miss out

He divided it in proportion to their abilities.

Right? He then left on his trip. The servant

who received five bags of silver began to invest

some money and earn five more. The servant with

two bags of silver also went to work and earned

two more. But the servant who received the one

bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid

the master's money. After a long time, everybody

say a long time. After a long time, their master

returned from his trip and called them to give

an account of how they used his money. The servant

to whom had entrusted the five bags of silver

came forward with five more and said, Master,

you gave me five bags of silver to invest and

I've earned five more. The master was full of

praise. Well done, my good and faithful servant.

You have been faithful in handling this small

amount. So now I will give you many more responsibilities.

Let's celebrate together. The servant who had

received the two bags of silver came forward

and said, Master, you gave me two bags of silver

to invest, and I have earned two more. The master

said, Well done, my good and faithful servant.

You have been faithful in handling this small

amount. So now I will give you many more responsibilities.

Let's celebrate together. Then the servant with

the one bag of silver came and said, Master,

I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops

you didn't plant and gathering crops you didn't

cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money,

so I hid it in the earth. Look, here's your money

back. I didn't. Spend it on myself or lose it,

so here's back what you gave me. But the master

replied, you wicked and lazy servant. If you

knew I harvested crops I didn't plant and gathered

crops I didn't cultivate, why didn't you deposit

my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten

some interest on it. Then he ordered, take the

money from this servant and give it to the one

with the ten bags of silver. To those who use

well what they are given, listen, even more will

be given. And they will have an abundance. But

from those who do nothing, even what little they

have will be taken away. Now, Jordan talked about

where I was going. Where I was going. I know

this uses bags of silver, but this is talking

about way more than bags of silver. And Jesus

is talking about the kingdom of God is like this.

Whatever God has given us. Whatever he's given

us. Whatever talent he's given us. Whatever resource

he's given us. Like Jordan was talking about

his home being a resource. Whatever God has given

us. He expects us to be faithful with Him. To

be faithful, to use it for His glory, not for

our own, but for His glory and His honor. So

another way we honor God is through serving Him.

How many of you want God to say one day, When

you breathe your last breath here and you stand

in front of him, how many of you want to hear

the words, well done, my good and faithful servant?

Well done. You took the things, the resources,

everything I've given you, you took those things

and you honored me with those things. You valued

me. You demonstrated the value that you've put

on me by the way you live, by the way you serve,

by what you did for me and my kingdom in this

earth. So we honor him by serving him. And when

we don't honor what God entrusts to us, we might

wind up losing it. Now, those are harsh words.

But we need to understand that. Because didn't

God say, I'll disdain those who think lightly

of me or demonstrate lightly? They don't honor

me, so I'm not going to honor them. They think

I'm worthless, right? So when we don't honor

what God has entrusted to us, we might lose it.

Because we're not using it for his kingdom, for

his glory, for his honor. Here's another story,

Luke 18, verses 18 through 23. Once a religious

Luke 18:18–23

leader asked Jesus this question, good teacher,

what should I do to inherit eternal life? Everybody

say, what should I do? Well, the deal is, you

know, it's by grace through faith. It's not by

works. But Jesus says, why do you call me good?

Jesus asked him. Only God is truly good. But

to answer your question, you know the commandments.

How many of you know we can't be right with God

by keeping commandments? Did anybody raise their

hand? Three people? We don't earn righteousness.

Because if it was all up to us to earn it, none

of us would have it. Because our righteousness

is like filthy rags, the Bible says. But to answer

your question, you know the commandments. You

must not commit adultery. You must not murder.

You must not steal. You must not testify falsely.

Honor your father and mother. We'll talk about

that next week a little bit more. The man replied,

I've obeyed all these commandments since I was

young. Somebody go, ha, ha, ha. Yeah, really?

Really? The law was to show us that we couldn't

keep it, but I guess he was dealing with some

pride, and he said, well, you know what? I've

kept the law. Have you ever met anybody who's

always honored their parents? Have you ever met

anyone who's never told a lie? Have you ever

met just one person? I mean, I'm talking about

in their whole life. I'm not talking about somebody

who's a liar. I'm talking about... I've obeyed

all these commandments since I was young. Maybe

I hadn't murdered anybody. When Jesus heard his

answer, here's what Jesus said. There's still

one thing. Everybody say one thing. There's probably

more than that, but there's one thing I'm going

to put my finger on one thing. He said, there's

still one thing you haven't done. He said, sell

all your possessions, give the money to the poor,

and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come

follow me. But when the man heard this, he became

very sad, for he was very rich. So what did Jesus

put his finger on? He was supposed to love God

with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of

our mind, right? Supposed to love God above all

things. No other gods before him. Our worship

and our love. God is worthy, right? God's number

one. Not for that guy. Jesus put his finger right

on it, didn't he? Put his finger right on it.

Just think. I'll throw this out there. Do you

think Jesus was trying to get rid of all of his

stuff? So that he could be, you know, a poor

beggar the rest of his life? You think Jesus

was wanting to take it all from him so that,

you know, he would have to sit on the side of

the road and ask people for a hamburger or whatever?

I mean, do you think? That's not what Jesus was

after. He wasn't after bankruptcy for the guy.

Right? But Jesus was exposing his heart. Exposing

his heart. He said this. The man said, you know,

he dropped his head, walked away, saying, I can't

give away my stuff. My stuff's really important

to me. I've worked really hard for my stuff.

I'm not going to give that away. This is a true

story that happened. But again, I don't want

you to think that everything we're talking about

is money. It's about your heart. This has more

to do with valuing God more than it has to do

with stuff. Are you with me? Come on, somebody.

Act like you're still in the room. Did he really

value Jesus? He called him good teacher, but

how much did he value Jesus? Well, he valued

his stuff more than he valued Jesus. Listen,

Jesus knew that there was going to be a need

for another disciple, another apostle. Have you

ever taken into consideration? Because Jesus

looked at him, he said the same thing he said

to everybody else. He said, come follow me. Come

follow me. Just think about what this guy turned

down. The life that he turned down. The blessing

that he turned down. Hello? By... valuing or

honoring what he had accumulated more than he

valued or honored Jesus. We honor God by following

him. And again, I want to ask you another hard

question. Who or what Are you following? We're

all following something or we're all following

someone. Who or what are you following? Everybody

say one more. Say he's about done. Look to the

person beside you and say, he's about done. Mark

6, 4. Jesus told them, a prophet is honored everywhere

except in his own hometown and among his relatives

and his own family. Now, we've looked at this

text before, but we've never focused in on honored.

Everybody say honored. Jesus said, a prophet

is honored. He said, look. Everybody is honoring

me except the people in Nazareth. That's what's

going on right here. And the Bible tells us that

because of the lack of honor, everybody say lack

of honor, because of the lack of honor, Jesus

was not able to do. Everything he wanted to do.

The miracles that he wanted to do. Jesus was

not able. Now you might say, Jesus is God. He

can do whatever he wants to. But because of their

lack of honor and their lack of faith. See, lack

of honor and lack of faith will hinder the work

of God in your life. Look at me. God wants to

do some amazing, wonderful, great things in your

life and through you. I mean, it's more than

you could ever imagine. Through everybody in

this room. But our lack of honor and our lack

of faith can keep God from doing what he wants

to do in our lives. This is serious. That's why

honor is so serious, right? One of the reasons.

Because honor puts us in position to receive

what God desires to do for us. I'll say it again.

I know you've read it and I've said it, but I'm

going to say it again. Honor puts you in position.

Your honor of God puts you in position to receive

what God desires to do for you. And with a lack

of honor, God will be hindered from doing what

he wants to do in your life. When your honor

of God increases, this is the last slide. Everybody

say last slide, he's done. Hallelujah, he's finally

done. I could preach all day, but I know you

couldn't listen much more than you've listened

already. But when your, listen, when your honor

of God increases, you will begin to see more

evidence of his honor towards you. He said, I

will honor those who honor me. He tells us to

believe that he is a rewarder of those who diligently

seek him. Right? So when your honor of God increases,

when you value him more and more and more and

more, when you value him and esteem him the highest,

You'll begin to see more evidence. I'm not saying

he's not doing anything in your life now, but

as your honor increases, you will see more evidence

of his honor towards you. This online worship

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