Honor

Hebrews 2:7-9 - You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet.” In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.


Acts 3:13 - The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.

Philippians 2:6-7 - Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Application:

· What has happened to God’s plan to put everything in subjection under man (or under Christ)?
· Jesus is fulfilling God’s plan to put everything on earth under man’s feet
· Am I voting against Jesus, spurning Him, denying Him and refusing to acknowledge Him as the true Messiah?
· Christ gave up His privileges as King of the universe to become an ordinary (yet perfect) baby bound for the cross.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conscious Of God

1 Peter 2:13-14,17-19 - Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right…Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king. Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.

Romans 12:10 - Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Proverbs 24:21-22 - Fear the LORD and the king, my son, and do not join with the rebellious, for those two will send sudden destruction upon them, and who knows what calamities they can bring?

Conclusions:

• Brotherly love is love within the family of God
• Only a mind renewed by the Holy Spirit could possibly honor others above themselves
• Submission to civil authority is commanded
• To obey God is to fear Him and honor our king
• The king is a terror to the wicked
• Authority established among men depends on God for its existence
• Indirectly, when one disobeys a human ruler he disobeys God, who ordained the system of human government
• When Peter wrote, the emperor was the godless, brutal Nero, who ruled from A.D. 54 to 68
• Of course, obedience to the emperor must never be in violation of the law of God

Application:

• Are you devoted to others within the family of God? Do you honor others above yourself?
• Do you fear the Lord and those who rule over you?
• Do you submit yourself to every authority instituted among men?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Refined By Fire

1 Peter 1:6-9 - In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Psalm 66:10 - For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.

2 Corinthians 4:17 - For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

Romans 6:22 - But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

Conclusions:

• From one point of view, times of distress constitute a testing of God’s people as to their trust in and loyalty to God
• The metaphor is borrowed from the technology of refining precious metals, which included heating the metals in a crucible to see if all impurities had been removed
• Seen in the perspective of eternity, the Christian’s difficulties, whatever they may be, diminish in importance
• By comparison, the eternal glory is far greater than all the suffering one may face in this life
• Slavery to God produces holiness, and the end of the process is eternal life
• There is no eternal life without holiness
• Anyone who has been justified will surely give evidence of that fact by the presence of holiness in his life

Application:

• Do you trust in God and are you loyal to Him?
• Do you see your difficulties from the perspective of eternity?
• Are you a slave to God?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Anxiety

Philippians 2:18-3:1 - Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me. Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.

Philippians 4:6,8 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God…Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

1 Timothy 5:17 - The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.

Conclusions:

• Being anxious is self-centered, counterproductive worry, not legitimate cares and concerns for the spread of the gospel
• Anxiety and prayer are two great opposing forces in Christian experience
• Thanksgiving is the antidote to worry
• All elders were to exercise leadership and to teach and preach, and all were to receive honor
• Those who excelled in leadership were to be counted worthy of double honor
• This was especially true of those who labored at teaching and preaching
• Such honor should include financial support
• Paul understood the influence of one’s thoughts on one’s life
• What a person allows to occupy his mind will sooner or later determine his speech and his action
• The combination of virtues in Philippians 4:8 is sure to produce a wholesome thought pattern, which in turn will result in a life of moral and spiritual excellence

Application:

• Are you anxious or are you thankful?
• Do you honor your elders?
• Do you have a wholesome thought pattern?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible