HONOUR THE LORD

(1 Sam 2:30)  …them that honour me I will honour…

Let us decide in our heart to honour God.

“Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.”

We’ve been designed…

·        To Glorify God

·        To Honour God.

Life’s fulfilment is in knowing and trusting in Him.

How can I honour God?

God is interested in how we live

We can honour God by how we live.

(1 Tim 3:15)  …that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

Are honouring God - or dishonouring God?

Are we pleasing Him in how we live - or not?

(Isa 29:13)  …this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me…

Some say they love God, but their heart is far from Him.

They don’t have a living faith in Christ.

The most important step is having the heart right with God.

God is interested in the heart of man.

When He has our heart…

·        our thinking will change

·        our priorities will change

·        our walk will change

Some people say “we aren’t under the law”. 

It doesn’t matter how we live, they say.

But…

True Liberty comes FROM law

Some people call it “legalism” when preachers talk about standards, and aiming high to please God.  They think it is being too strong or too hard.  But true liberty and freedom can only come as we seek God’s way for our lives.

Legalism means “keeping man-made rules and regulations in order to earn salvation.”   It teaches a salvation by works.  We know salvation is not earned - it is a gift received.  Not legalism.

There is a right and a wrong way to live:

(Psa 119:44-45)  So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever. {45} And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.

Imagine… If we had no law in Australia we’d have total chaos and mob rule.  If we had no road rules, no speed limits, no limits on drugs or crime, no police. 

Police – if they do their job honestly – help to make our country a safer place.

Wise laws give a country its freedom.  

So too we find true freedom as we seek to obey God.

Some folks say the Bible warnings about worldliness and sin must not be taken too literally.

The Bible speaks of the freedom and liberty we have in Christ.  -But this liberty doesn’t mean we are free to do whatever we like.  We get liberty when we’re saved and when we’re delivered from the bondage of sin.

Some think that setting standards is too tough – too hard.  It sets goals we cannot reach. 

But true commitment in any field brings a reward. 

As we deny our self we will gain: For example:

·        A hard working engine, put through its paces, brings a harnessed and useful power;

·        A football player gains from committing to strenuous, regular practice sessions;

·        Look at the self denial and strain of a champion athlete; most athletes are glad to keep the rules (even though they are rigid) for sheer love of the sport.

The Christian life is a discipline. 

It involves standards and obedience.

“There are not 10 suggestions but rather 10 commandments.”  God promises blessings to those who do -  and do not do - certain things.

God’s Word is full of instructions, commandments, limitations and commands.   “The person who seeks to obey the Scriptures is a Biblicist, not a legalist.”

“Are we legalists? No, we are just people who believe the Bible and are simple enough to believe that if God says, “do it,” we ought to do it, and if God says, “don’t,” we shouldn’t.“

“We need to have rules.  Let a school try to operate without them!”  Homes with no rules and guidelines have produced a generation of rebels and caused all sorts of social problems.

(Heb 5:9)  …he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.

The Bible says that some things are a SHAME.

A dishonour.

(Eph 5:12)  For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.  It says that it’s a shame even to speak of sinful things.  We don’t want to know about them.

(Rom 16:19)  …I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

It honours the Lord when we seek to learn of Him and His word, and we are ignorant of the world and sin.  The most needful thing we can know is the Lord Jesus and His saving love and grace.

How can I honour God?

By following His manual for living…

Here are some areas we can honour Him…

Honour the Word of God

(Job 23:12)  …I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

“A Bible that's falling apart probably belongs to someone who isn't.”

“The lack of scriptural knowledge is the source of all evils in the church.” (John Chrysostom)

Take the Bible into your heart and mind.

It will help to bless and fulfil your life.

Honour God in your Love

(Col. 3:2) Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Let your love and what you love be in tune…

·        With the things above

·        With pleasing God.

“Christ does not take us out of the world; he takes the world out of us.”

 

Honour God in your Lifestyle

(1 Th 5:22)  Abstain from all appearance of evil.

Avoid all appearance of evil.

Let’s not have anything in our lives which may bring dishonour to His name.

It is quite true to say, "I can't live a holy life," but you can decide to let Jesus make you holy.  (Oswald Chambers)

(1 Cor 10:31)  Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

·        Seek the glory of God.

·        Honour God with your daily life.

·        Beware of pornography, crude TV programs and dirty rock music.

“True holiness is doing God's will with a smile.”

It becomes a way of life.  It is not irksome and unpleasant.  We love Him.  And so we want to please the One we love.

God wants us to live right.

The old-fashioned standards for godly living help us to live a life that has no regrets.  A life that shows Christ at work in the soul.  A life that helps bring others to know the Lord.

Paul cried, "We preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom" (Col. 1:28).

 

Honour the Lord’s day

(Isa. 58:13)

“You see, God, it's like this: we could attend church more faithfully if your day came at some other time. You have chosen a day that comes at the end of a hard week, and we're all tired out. Not only that, but it's the day following Saturday night, and Saturday night is one time when we feel that we should go out and enjoy ourselves. Often it is after midnight when we reach home, and it is impossible to get up on Sunday morning. We'd like to go to church and know we should; but you have just chosen the wrong day.”

 

Attending church is good for your health says a recent survey:  The risk of fatal heart diseases is almost twice as high for the non-churchgoer than for men who attend once a week or more.

Today is a holy day set aside to worship.

Honour God with your time.

Honour God in your Workplace

Find some work to do, if you are able, and be a good worker.

As Christians we ought to have a strong work ethic.

“When you are working for others, let it be with the same zeal as if it were for yourself.”  Confucius (C. 551-479 B.C.)

Of course the Bible says we should work as unto the Lord…

(Eph 6:7)  With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men.

(Col 3:23)  And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.

Honour God with how you Dress

The Bible says that man does look on the outward appearance.  Our outward appearance presents a message about what is on the inside.

How would we dress if we were going to dinner with the king?

“There are those who think we should act like the world and look like the world in order to win the world. But it is not necessary to dress like a soldier to win a soldier or to look like a clown to win a clown. For me to put on greasy overalls in order to win a mechanic is not even sensible. A Christian lady does not have to dress indecently to witness to a go-go girl.”

“The early church had its greatest impact upon the world when it lived least like the world.”

Honour God with your Body

(1 Cor 6:19-20)  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? {20} For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify (honour) God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Remember, we were bought with a high price – God lives in us – and we must honour Him with our body. 

Use your body to please and honour God

The Word says that the Holy Spirit has been given for the purpose of glorifying Jesus Christ (John 16:14). 

Since our body is His temple, let us use it to glorify Jesus Christ. 

Our body was not made to fulfil our own various pleasures, but for God’s service. 

As a Christian we seek to please the Lord in accord with this principle and avoid that which will harm our body and our testimony.

Do we live for our own pleasure – or to honour the Lord?

Honour the Lord Jesus

(John 5:23)  That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

We are called to honour the Lord Jesus Christ as they honour the Father.

A little girl said she liked Santa Claus better than Jesus because "you have to be good for Santa only at Christmas but for Jesus you have to be good all the time." Much of the Christmas observance at church is not far removed from that attitude. (Vance Havner)

Biblical standards are a way of living – a conduct we follow because we love the Lord and want to please Him.

“Holiness is not inability to sin, but ability not to sin.”  (G. Campbell Morgan)

SUMMARY

·        Honour God in your Lifestyle

·        Honour the Word of God

·        Honour the Lord’s day

·        Honour God in your Love

·        Honour God in your Workplace

·        Honour God with how you Dress

·        Honour God with your Body

·        Honour the Lord Jesus

DECISION

Who is our allegiance to?

Does our life honour God?

Refuse to dishonour God.

Resolve to honour God.

Let us honour God out of a heart of loving obedience.