Honour3- Honour is to treat with respect and regard as sacred. Whatever God commands and instructs is sacred. Whatever God says is Holy is sacred. Wherever God dwells is sacred. Whatever God does is sacred. We must respond in honour. Listen to what He says to Peter. Acts 10:15 And the voice came to him again a second time, What God has cleansed and pronounced clean, do not you defile and profane by regarding and calling common and unhallowed or unclean. (Amplified Bible) What God pronounces as sacred should never be treated otherwise. In this context He refers to people who were bought with the blood of Christ and fit for salvation (besides the immediate reference to the fact that no animal is unfit for food ). God has cleansed believers in Christ. He has called them Holy, Sacred. 1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. 1 Corinthians 6:11... but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. 1 John 3:1 SEE WHAT [an incredible] quality of love the Father has given (shown, bestowed on) us, that we should [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! The reason that the world does not know (recognize, acknowledge) us is that it does not know (recognize, acknowledge) Him. 2 Beloved, we are [even here and] now Gods children; it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be [hereafter], but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we shall [as Gods children] resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He [really] is. (Amplified Bible) Believers are sanctified people. They are Holy. They are sacred. They are God’s Children, His priests, His Seed. No parent tolerates having their kids being treated with disdain or brought into disrepute. We must treat our brethren in Christ with utmost regard and respect. In our offices we must treat brethren differently. In our campuses we must see believers as our responsibilities. We must give and show them respect. Galatians 6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. The way we treat fellow believers MUST be different from unbelievers. We are to treat believers better! They are SACRED to God! 1 Peter 2:17 Show respect for all men [treat them honourably]. Love the brotherhood (the Christian fraternity of which Christ is the Head). Reverence God. Honour the emperor. This is Christian Conduct. Show respect. Love the brotherhood. The word in the Greek as used by Peter here suggests something almost cultic (not secret or occultic!). It’s a bond! A divine association. We must affectionately treat believers and treat them well. The Church in the Bible had a culture. Today we are losing this culture. They referred to one another with respect. A brother in Christ is properly so-called. A sister in Christ is properly so-called. It wasnt a title. It was respect. Ananias had a different impression of Saul of Tarsus. He spoke of him in this light. Jesus corrected Him. He is now mine. Ananias treated him differently immediately. Acts 9:17 So Ananias left and went into the house. And he laid his hands on Saul and said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, Who appeared to you along the way by which you came here, has sent me that you may recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. He is now BROTHER SAUL! Women also were called sisters. Romans 16:1 I commend unto you Phoebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea. It’s no slang. It’s no cliché. They are our brethren! I grew up with this culture. We saw it as the right thing and right way to act. Alas, gradually a strange system came into the midst. We started by saying breee jokingly referring to fellow believers. Then gradually it lost its meaning. Soon we felt those who used such words were unexposed, un-enlightened and religious! We lost the culture! We have become irreverent, uncultured. Some even refer to just any one- unbeliever, atheist as my brother! How? Where? In what sense! The Sacred becomes secular. The secular is now sacred! We must repent. And do so fast. Ephesians 5:21 Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). (Amplified Bible) Matthew 18: 15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Jesus taught the men under the law to leave the gift meant for God, put it aside to go and reconcile with brethren. It must be a major issue. If he didnt listen, they were to call two or more, and afterwards the assembly. You must not carry on as though all is normal. They are our brothers! Paul teaches the New Creation a Higher principle. As men of the Spirit we act and conduct ourselves like God, our Father. In 1 Corinthians 6 He forbids taking the believer before the Law. 1 DOES ANY of you dare, when he has a matter of complaint against another [brother], to go to law before unrighteous men [men neither upright nor right with God, laying it before them] instead of before the saints (the people of God)? 2 Do you not know that the saints (the believers) will [one day] judge and govern the world? And if the world [itself] is to be judged and ruled by you, are you unworthy and incompetent to try [such petty matters] of the smallest courts of justice? 3 Do you not know also that we [Christians] are to judge the [very] angels and pronounce opinion between right and wrong [for them]? How much more then [as to] matters pertaining to this world and of this life only! 4 If then you do have such cases of everyday life to decide, why do you appoint [as judges to lay them before] those who [from the standpoint] of the church count for least and are without standing? 5 I say this to move you to shame. Can it be that there really is not one man among you who [in action is governed by piety and integrity and] is wise and competent enough to decide [the private grievances, disputes, and quarrels] between members of the brotherhood, 6 But brother goes to law against brother, and that before [Gentile judges who are] unbelievers [without faith or trust in the Gospel of Christ]? 7 Why, the very fact of your having lawsuits with one another at all is a defect (a defeat, an evidence of positive moral loss for you). Why not rather let yourselves suffer wrong and be deprived of what is your due? Why not rather be cheated (defrauded and robbed)? 8 But [instead it is you] yourselves who wrong and defraud, and that even your own brethren [by so treating them]! (Amplified Bible) Very straightforward. No need for any strange interpretation. It is wrong to treat your fellow-believers like ordinary people even when they are wrong! He says why not rather SUFFER WRONG! For God’s love does the same. 1 Corinthians 13:5 It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (Gods love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. (Amplified Bible) Very simple! We must treat brethren as brothers and sisters. Before unbelievers we must show respect and regard for our own! We must honour fellow-believers because God honours them too. Let us make this change. Start to refer to believers as brother A and Sister B. It will drive the consciousness home. Hope this is clear enough? I treat God’s Children as special and sacred. I do this in the Fear of God! Jesus is Lord,We win!
Posted on: Wed, 28 May 2014 05:20:58 +0000
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