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.
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
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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