Judge Yourself Worthy
I.
Matthew 10:34-40-You’re
going to have to make a choice about who and what is first and the most
important in your life
A. 32,33-This sounds like
those who honor me I will honor and those who despise me I will lightly esteem
1.
Confessing
vs. Denying
a. 32-Confess Definition – This is honor
1)
Praise-Declaring of esteem
bestowed on a person for his personal virtues or worthy actions; To extol
(opposite despise) in words or song; To do honor to; To glorify which means to
honor
2)
Celebrate-Praise, Extol; To honor
or distinguish by ceremonies and marks of joy and respect
3)
Profess-To make open declaration
of; To profess oneself as a worshipper of one
4)
Confess-To own or acknowledge;
publicly to declare a believe in and adherence to; To declare to be true or to
admit or assent to in words as opposed to deny
5)
Concede-To yield; to admit as
true; to grant; to allow
a)
To
same the same thing as another (The opposite of that is to contradict what
someone says)
b)
To
agree with
6)
Delcare-To make known to others
by words; To publish, to proclaim
7)
Not
deny, not refuse
b. Deny Definition – This is dishonor
1)
To
reject-To throw away as anything
useless or vile; to slight, to despise, to refuse to receive
2)
To
not receive or embrace-To seize
eagerly, to lay hold on, to take with willingness what is offered, press to
bosom in token of affection
3)
To
refuse to grant, to not afford, to withhold
4)
To
refuse or neglect to acknowledge (receive with respect)
5)
Contradict,
Oppose one’s words (Confess means say the same thing as another and to agree
with)
6)
Refuse-To decline to accept
what is offered; To deny a request, demand, invitation, or command
2.
There
are different degrees of this “denying and confession” the same way there are
different degrees of “honor and dishonor.”
a. If Jesus wants you to be
somewhere and you aren’t you denied him versus if you’re there you’ve agreed
with him
3.
He is not going to
confess (honor you before the Father) while you refuse and dishonor him
a. 33-Jesus didn’t say if
you deny me I won’t love you; He loves the person who denies him, but loving
you and honoring you with precious things are two entirely different things; If
you dishonor him he still loves you, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to honor
you with precious things
4.
2
Timothy 2:11-12-I will honor those who honor me is NT principle too
a. If you with him you’ll
possess supreme honor with him
B. 31-36-Jesus came to
separate so that you have to make a choice about who’s going to be Lord and
who’s going to be first
1.
34-Jesus
is telling us don’t think this way so we need to not think this way
a. You can assume something to be scripture and it not be and you
can imagine something to be true and it not be true
1)
HCSB-Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on
the earth; Philips-Never think; Voice-Do not imagine
b. Don’t think that when
Jesus shows up that everybody is going to get along because in fact the
opposite will happen
1)
Peace-Peace between
individual’s, harmony, concord-agreement,
union in opinions, views, sentiments
2)
Sword-Persons at variance,
disputants, strife, contention, cutting, battle, fight or combat; Variance-Disagreement, lack of
agreement, state of dissension or controversy
3)
When Jesus was done
preaching there was never harmony and agreement, there was dissension and
discord
4)
Everybody
on the earth is not supposed to get along and agree; You shouldn’t be getting a
long with darkness
c. What he says is the truth and a sword; When the truth is
preached it doesn’t unite, it cuts and divides into 2 sides-Jn17:17, Heb4:12
1)
What
he says is not going to bring harmony and agreement among all people; What he
says is going to cut and divide and then you’re going to have to pick Jesus and
follow him or follow something else
2.
35-He
came to set a man at variance against his father, the daughter against her
mother
a. You can’t be clinging to them and they can’t be first
1)
Variance-To cut into two parts,
sever, cleave asunder; Twice, two, DI
2)
For
I am come TO – This reveals his purpose in coming
a)
DLNT-For I came to cause
a separation
b) MSG- 34-37 “Don’t think I’ve come to make life cozy. I’ve
come to cut—make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and
mother, bride and mother-in-law—cut through these cozy domestic
arrangements and free you for God. Well-meaning family members can be your
worst enemies. If you prefer father
or mother over me, you don’t deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don’t deserve me. 38-39 “If you don’t go all the way with me, through
thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If
your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself.
But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and
me.
b. Eli did this with his
boys, he preferred them over the Lord, he honored them over the Lord, they were
more important to him than the Lord was and it cost him and them and because his
boys were ahead of the Lord it hurt his boys; 1 Samuel 2:29-You honor your sons above me
1)
You hurt your family when
you put them ahead of the Lord (and it’s teaching them the wrong thing)
2)
If
God would have been first he would have put his boys out and maybe they would
have woke up to how serious it was and repented and got restored; but he was
clinging to them
c. You can’t be clinging to
them and preferring them more than you do Him and He came to sever you from
that clinging to them, from that preferring them to clinging and preferring Him
1)
He’s
not going to show up and tell you he’ll share first place with your family and
it’s all good; he’s going to show up and say you’re going to have to pick it’s
either them or it’s me because you can’t have two firsts
C. What makes them unworthy?
1.
36-The
biggest enemy you have to choosing him and following him and making him first
is your own family
a. Jesus should be more important to you than them and if he’s not
then you are not worthy of him
2.
What makes them unworthy
is that something is more important than He is and that means you don’t honor
him the way you should
a. He didn’t say, “He that’s
conduct is not up to snub or he that is bad or he that’s not good enough is not
worthy of me,” He said he that love someone MORE THAN they love me is not worthy of me
b. It’s not your bad conduct that makes you unworthy, it’s that
something is more important to you than the Lord and His things
3.
The
problem is not loving your family, the problem is loving them MORE THAN Him
a. There are some people who
would do absolutely anything for their family and won’t get to church once a
week for the Lord
1)
It’s not that what you’re
doing for your family is bad, what’s bad is that you’ll do it for them and not
for Him
b. The problem is not in
just loving your family more than him, the problem is when you love anything
more than him
1)
You
shouldn’t love/honor anybody or anything more than love/honor the Lord
c. It’s amazing the things we take more pleasure in than we do
the Lord (AMP-And takes more pleasure in)
4.
If He and His things
aren’t important enough to you to be the biggest thing in your life than you
have judged yourself unworthy to partake of Him and His things
a. 38-Follows-Side with his
party; Amp-Cleave steadfastly to Me; Siding with him, cleaving steadfastly to
Him makes you worthy of him
b. If you don’t recognize
how more valuable and precious he is than your family you’re not fit to have
him; You’re not to fit to have me because you don’t know the value of me
D. 39-This is how you find
your life and the life that God wants you to have and the life that He wants to
honor you with: You allow Jesus to become your life and when he becomes your
life and he is the biggest thing in your life you’ll find your life
1.
Ephesians 2:10 (AMP)-God
has prearranged and made ready for you’re a good life this is how you find that
life
a. EXB-Those who try to hold onto cling to seek to preserve
their lives will give up true life. Those who give up their lives for me will
hold onto true life
b. TLB-If you cling to your life you will lose it; but if you
give it up for me you will save it
c. VOICE-To find your life you must lose your life
2.
Trying to teach how
people how to live a victorious life while God is not first place in their life
is like trying to build a house with no foundation – IT WON’T WORK
II.
If you can judge yourself
unworthy to have these precious things, then you can judge yourself worthy to
have them; by honoring God and His things you can judge yourself worthy to get
into and experience and have the precious things of God
A. You can prove yourself,
deem yourself worthy and fit to have and handle and experience the precious
things of God
1.
2
Corinthians 13:5-Prove yourselves (Deem yourselves worthy, approve yourself)
2.
Acts
13:46-They deemed themselves unworthy, unfit
B. You can initiate more of
God’s honor in your life
1.
God
does not honor everybody with the same amount of blessing, grace, revelation,
His presence, greater assignments, greater anointings so then to whom does God
choose to give these precious things? Can you initiate Him honoring you more
and experiencing these precious things more? Could you deem yourself worthy and
fit to have and handle and experience these things?
a. Why does God use whom He does? Why does He choose whom he
does? Why does he anoint he does? Why does He manifest himself to whom He does?
Why does give some greater assignment and greater responsibility? God looks on
the heart (how you value him and his things) and he looks at how you treat what
he has given you
2.
Our attitude ought to be
there may be some more talented, more gifted, more experienced, but there won’t
be one who honors God more, who God and his things mean more to
a. When God looks at your heart he sees your treasure and what
you value the most and that’s why God looks on the heart because the most
important thing to him is to find out what’s most important to you
C. Judges 6-Why did God
choose Gideon?
1.
6-Greatly
Impoverished-Exceedingly, abundantly
2.
10-Dishonor
has them in this position
3.
11,15-He’s
not that impressive naturally
4.
18,19-In
a time of great, exceeding, abundant poverty he gives an offering the Lord
a. In a time where they were greatly impoverished and his hiding
threshing wheat in a winepress just how valuable is goat and approximately 40
liters/10 gallons of flour? In a time of famine this had to be precious to him
and yet he gives it to the lord-Prov3:9
b. This was more than about
money and stuff this revealed his heart and his honor for God
5.
24-This
meant enough to him that he built and altar to the Lord
a. It didn’t say God told him to build one he just built one;
God’s things mean something to him
b. Altars where places where
people would worship God by making sacrifices and they were memorials for his
goodness
6.
27-This
is why he got picked because the Lord’s words mean something to him
a. Gideon knows he’s going
to catch trouble because of this, but this is so important to him he does it
anyway
7.
7:1-Dishonor
deserts, but honor sticks with the Lord when it doesn’t understand
a. 1-7-He doesn’t understand
this, but honor doesn’t have to understand
8.
There
might have been people more gifted, more talented, but there was no one who
honored God more
a. He didn’t get picked because he had perfect conduct and
didn’t have any faults; he judged himself worthy to have this because God’s
things meant something to him
D. Why did God choose David?
1.
1
Samuel 16:7-In David’s day there were many more qualified, more gifted, with
more experience
a. Gods look on the heart
and by doing so he finds out what you value and what means the most to you
because where your treasure is there is your heart also
2.
Acts
13:22-God said he was a man after my own heart
a. This man after God’s
heart will do fully what the Lord wants because what the Lord wants is the most
important thing to Him
b. I have found a man after my own heart – God was looking
1)
Found-To come upon after
searching, to find a thing sought, to find by enquiry, examination, scrutiny,
observation
c. This man was after what was important to the Lord because if
you are after God’s heart you are after His treasure/what He values/what’s
important to Him (Where God’s heart is there is treasure his also); David was
after what was important to the Lord
1)
CEB-A man who shares my
desires
2)
EXB-A man whose hear tis
like mine
3)
MSG-Whose heart beats to
my heart
d. 1 Samuel 13:14-The Lord
has sought him a man after his own heart
1)
Sought-To seek to find, Desire,
Require
2)
God not only seeks this
and desires this, He requires it if He’s going to honor a man with precious
things
3.
2
Chronicles 16:9-Is God really looking for this?
a. Run to and fro-To go eagerly or quickly to and fro
1)
God is eager about
finding something who is after his heart
b. Throughout the whole
earth
1)
You can’t hide honor from
God; you may feel like you’re in a place he wouldn’t find it, but God’s going
to find honor
c. He’s looking for somebody
who He has all of
1)
If
something is valuable enough to you, you’ll give all of yourself to it (Perfect-Complete, Whole, Full)
a) EXB-For people who have given themselves completely to Him,
He wants to strengthen them
b) ICB-Who have given themselves
completely to Him. He wants to make
them strong
c) MSG-God is always alert, constantly on the look out for
people who are totally committed to Him
d. If God showed himself
strong on your behalf that’s him honoring you
1)
ESV-To give strong
support; VOICE-To strongly support; TLB-So that He can show His great power in
helping them
e. God values honor and honor is what’s important to him
1)
If he is really looking
for this, then this ought to become your great quest
2)
This is huge that God has
revealed to us what he’s looking for
4.
Three
examples of why David was chosen
a. 1 Samuel 24:10-By
treating God’s choice with honor and respect, David treated God that way
1)
5-His
heart smote him because his heart was right
2)
David
said about Saul, “He is the Lord’s anointed,” and David wouldn’t touch him
3)
Dishonor
would say oh it doesn’t matter, he’s jut a man and after all he’s going nuts
and doing the wrong stuff
4)
This
right here showed that David was a man of honor, a man after God’s own heart,
and this had so much to do with why David was picked to be the next king and
why God used him the way he did
b. 2 Samuel 2:24-David
didn’t want to give something that cost him nothing
c. 1 Chronicles 17:1,
22:5-David said it’s not right that I live in a house of cedars and God lives
in a tent; We’re going to build him something and it’s got to be exceedingly
magnificent
III.
Dishonor disqualifies you
(1 Samuel 2:30-Spend Some Time Here)-Loving Father or mother or son or daughter
more than him is dishonor and it disqualifies