2. In his anger, Balak rebuked Balaam and told him that the Lord had kept him back from great honour.
3. This is an interesting statement on Balak's part.
4. What is honor?
a. Definition: "Respect, esteem, dignity, good name, a nice sense of what is right." (New Webster's Dictionary).
b. Even more important than what it is; who is deserving of honor?
5. Points of Sermon:
a. In whose eyes do we want to be honorable?
b. What makes a person worthy of honor?
A. One could choose to be honorable in man's eyes.1. Balaam.
a. This is what Balak was referring to when he told Balaam that God had kept him back from honor (Numbers 24:11).
b. This honor included:
(1) Great wealth.
(2) An high position of authority.
(3) Power.
c. Balaam greatly desired to be honorable in man's eyes.
(1) That is why he continually inquired of God and tried to curse God's people.
(2) Listen to what the New Testament says about Balaam:
(a) Jude 11.
(b) 2 Peter 2:12-15.
2. What about us?
a. Most people in the world today desire to have honor in man's eyes.
b. They desire:
(1) Wealth.
(2) Authority.
(3) Power.
(4) Popularity or Fame.
c. Many false teachers today curse God's people so that they can have "honor" bestowed on them by men.
(1) Titus 1:11.
(2) Romans 16:17-18.
3. This honor is of a temporary sort (James 1:11; 1 Timothy 6:7).
B. One could choose to be honorable in God's eyes.
1. Balaam.
a. This is something in which neither Balaam nor Balak were interested.
b. Balak wanted to curse God's people and Balaam wanted to do it for him.
2. What about us?
a. To be honorable in God's eyes should be our number one goal in life.
b. Let us not be like the chief rulers of Jesus' day (John 12:42-43; John 5:41-44).
c. When God considers us honorable, the result is eternal life.
A. We are worthy of God's honor when we decide to forsake the honor of the world and serve him (1 John 2:15-17).B. Confession of Christ (John 12:42).
1. This includes obedience to all of his commands (John 14:15).
2. By obeying God and living a righteous life, we confess Christ to the world.
3. James 2:7; "that worthy name..."
C. A man is worthy of honor when he honors God (1 Samuel 2:30).
1. When I say "honor" God, I mean to respect Him.
2. When children are told to honor their father and mother, they know that it means to obey them.
3. When we are told to honor God, it means that we are to obey him.
4. When we live the way God would have us to, many men will respect us also.
D. The Lord does not keep us back from honor but makes it possible for us to obtain that honor.
2. All that is going to matter is: Does God find me to be honorable?
3. If it can be said of us at our funerals that we were honorable in God's sight; we have won!
4. There is no greater honor than to be called the child of God (1 John 3:1).
5. Here is how you obtain that honor.... Please see Plan of Salvation.
-- Ralph Price, 1999 --
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