Why Her? Why Him? Why Not Them?
I.
Luke 4:25-27-The question
is why here with this widow and not the other widows? Why Naaman and not the
other lepers? Why not in Nazareth, while the other towns got it?
A. The answer to these types
of questions is not as mysterious as some have made it to be and Jesus is
giving us light on it right here
1.
These
are the types of questions that many believers think there is no answer to and
that we could never know the answer to it and they’ll to you, “We just have to trust the “Sovereignty” of
God and he chooses whom he chooses and it’s all in his hands and for some he
does and for some he doesn’t,” and you have to ignore 100s of scriptures to
believe that
2.
There
was something going on with this widow that wasn’t with the others, there was
something going on with Naaman that wasn’t with the other lepers, there was
something going on in other towns that wasn’t going on in Nazareth that enabled
God to move and manifest in their lives while he couldn’t in others lives
3.
So
what’s going on with this widow and Naaman that enabled God to move in their
life? What’s not going on in Nazareth that kept God from moving there?
B. Does God love the other
widows in Israel? Does God love the other lepers in Israel? Did God want these
other widows sustained? Did He want these other lepers cleansed? – 2
Chronicles 9:8 NIV, Hosea 11 MSG); Does God love the people and Nazareth and
does He want to do in Nazareth what He did other places – Matthew 9:35,
Luke 4:18 --- YES!
1.
Yet many widows in Israel
were perishing, many lepers in Israel perished, people in Nazareth are
perishing and it’s not what God wants and God loves them just as much as he
does anybody else
a. Many other widows WERE IN
ISRAEL; They were God’s people and yet they were perishing in this famine, but
not this widow
b. Many lepers WERE IN
ISRAEL: They were God’s people and yet they perished under the leprosy, but
Naaman (Syrian) got cleansed
2.
God goes where honor is,
God’s presence manifest in the presence of honor
a. The widow woman was in
Sidon, not Israel; God, in essence, “leaves” Israel and goes to Sidon because
that’s where honor was
b. Naaman was a Syrian; God,
in essence, “passed over” Israelite lepers (his people) & goes to Naaman
b/c that’s where honor was
c. The interesting thing is
the other widows and the other lepers God didn’t even come to and give this
opportunity because he knew how they responded with previous things
3.
God’s desire &
willingness to move comes from His love for you, but his ability to move in your
life comes from your honor for him
a. We are seeing people who
God wanted to move on their behalf, but were “passed over” and Jesus is
teaching us how to not be passed over
b. This is not an issue of
His love for us because if it was just based on his love for us everybody would
have it
1)
Your
receiving from God is not hinging on His love for you, but rather on your Honor
for him
2)
God
loves everybody, but not everybody is getting treated the same by Him; Some are
being used more, some are being chosen for more, some are being honored by Him
more and it’s not because He loves them more
3)
God
didn’t do this for this widow and for this leper because he loved them more
c. You aren’t going to find
people who dishonor God, who distrust and disobey Him, who don’t value Him or
His things and see God moving and manifesting in their lives
II.
Where there was no honor
God could do work, no mighty work
A. Honor Defined
1.
Mark
6:4-Without Honor-Less esteem, base,
Without value, without reverence
a. Honor (Timios)-To
honor as sacred/special, to value of great price, precious, esteemed, hold
especially dear, reverence
2.
Honor
has to do with valuing something so much that you treat it with great respect
a. Your honor for a thing is
seen in how you treat that thing; If something is valuable to you, you treat it
differently and with a greater level of honor and respect
3.
The
opposite of honor is to despise-Esteem
something lightly, Treat something as unimportant, To care little for, regard
lightly, make small account, Fail to acknowledge the importance of, To see a
thing as worthless, to not value something
B. Honor vs. Dishonor
1.
Luke
4:28-30-We know that they didn’t honor Jesus because they threw him out of town
and wanted to throw him off of a cliff
a. Why would you throw
something/someone out? You don’t value it/them
2.
Luke
4:31-In Capernaum there was honor
a. 38-They didn’t throw him
out of he synagogue, They invited him into their house
b. 40-42-This is going on all day and after it’s going on all
day they don’t want him to go
C. Dishonor denies
(authority), Dishonor distrusts, Dishonor disobeys and Dishonor deserts
1.
Offend-To see in another what
you disapprove of and what hinders you from acknowledging their
authority-Denying authority
a. They won’t acknowledge
Jesus as one in authority over them and this is dishonor and lack of respect
b. Matthew 13:58 (AMP)-They were repelled and hindered from
acknowledging his authority
c. If Jesus is the authority
in your life and God’s word is final authority over your life then Jesus is the
biggest “thing” in your life and whatever that word says you’re going to trust
and obey and whatever Jesus says you’re going to do if you lived like that
you’d live a life of honor
2.
Offended-To cause a person to
begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey
a. He’s talking and they
don’t trust him, they don’t obey him or do what he says, and they desert him
b. Why would you treat
something like that? You don’t value/honor them
c. What he is saying means nothing to them because He means
nothing to them
3.
John
8-Everything he says the question it, and he’s in authority over them, but they
won’t acknowledge it, they distrust what he says and they are saying we don’t
value you or what you’re saying
a. 13 (AMP)-They don’t trust
him and they told him what he was saying was worthless
b. 37-You don’t find place for what’s not valuable and his word
is of no value to them
c. 45-They didn’t believe
him and Jesus calls it dishonor
d. 49-They are dishonoring
him by distrusting him, disobeying him and ultimately deserting him or wanting
nothing to do with him
4.
John
6:53-Dishonor deserts because it doesn’t value what it deserts
a. 53-58-Jesus preaches the
eat my flesh drink my blood sermon and they don’t understand it
b. 59-They got offended and
distrusted and disobeyed and deserted him
c. 64-Dishonor distrusts
d. 66-Why would you walk no
more with him? Because of dishonor, you don’t value him
e. 68-Peter doesn’t
understand either, but honor sticks with him because they value him and what
he’s saying
D. If He wanted the widows
sustained, the lepers cleansed and miracles done in Nazareth and they weren’t
then it wasn’t an issue of God saying I won’t, but more so of God saying I
can’t
1.
Mark
6:5-He COULD do no mighty work – Can God do anything He wants?
a. Did God want to heal
people in Jesus’ hometown? Did God want to see to it that these other widows
didn’t perish? Did God want to see these Lepers in Israel cleansed? –
YES, YES, and YES; Then why didn’t He just do it?
1)
If
you believe God can do anything He wants then it the next question
which will be, “Then why doesn’t He?”
2)
This
is where people get ignorant and say things like we could never know why and
they like to act like a person could have no influence on whether or not God
moves in their life and God’s is sovereign and he chooses whom he chooses and
it’s all in his hands and for some he does and for some he doesn’t and you have
to ignore 100s of scriptures to believe that
b. If God can do anything He wants and He can do it anytime he
wants then when it’s not happening you’ll be tempted to turn on him and this is
a strategy of the enemy to get you question God’s love for you and for people
1)
People
say why did God let this happened? He could have stopped it? Could he have?
2)
They
limited the Holy One of Israel; There were things he
wanted to do, but couldn’t because they limited him-Psalm 78:41-Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy
One of Israel.
3)
He
is able to do not according to what he wants, but according to the power that
works in you-Ephesians 3:20-Now unto him
that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works in us,
4)
He
wants to come in and do some things, but He can’t if you won’t open the door-Revelation 3:20-Behold, I stand at the
door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open
the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
2.
Mighty
work-Ability; Because of their dishonor God had no ability to do anything
there-Dishonor Disabled him
a. It’s not an issue of God
saying I won’t if you don’t honor me, but rather it’s the issue of I can’t do
it if you won’t honor me
b. Dishonor disarms God in your life; Because dishonor doesn’t
respect him enough and value him enough and love him enough to trust him and do
what he says; Dishonor won’t open the door for him; Dishonor distrusts and
disobeys and unbelief and disobedience will keep God from doing what he wants
to do in your life
1)
God CAN’T do what he
WANTS to do in your life if you don’t honor him enough to trust Him to do what
He says
3.
There’s a connection
between honor and the supernatural (Mighty-Dunamis-Power
for performing miracles)
a. In the atmosphere of honor the supernatural will begin to
manifest
1)
Where God and His things
are valued greatly and are the biggest thing going on, the supernatural will
manifest
b. You’re not going to ignore the honor principle and pray in
the supernatural
1)
You can’t pray in the
supernatural, you don’t desire in the supernatural, Jesus manifest where honor
is
c. There are certain places and certain peoples lives in which
God moves in a greater degree
1)
Matthew
9:35-Everywhere else he went he could do mighty works, but here he couldn’t; Luke
4:25-27-There were many widows suffering in that famine, but he only went to
this one and there were many lepers, but only Naaman did God cleanse; What’s
causing this widow to get provision? What’s causing this man to get cleansed?
What’s keeping Nazareth from the move of God?
III.
The reality is the more
you honor God and trust him and obey him the more he will be able to do for
you; and because some honor God more and trust God more and obey God more God
will be able to do things for them that He is not able to do for others
A. 1 Kings 17
1.
2-Why
did God come to him? God goes where honor is present
2.
2-4-The
Lord tells him to go hide by brook Cherith and he’ll
drink of the brook and the ravens feed you THERE
a. Go camp out by the creek
and the birds will bring you food; So he went – This is not just
obedience this is honor
1)
He acknowledges God as
his authority, he trusts what he says, he obeys him and sticks with God
2)
The word of God is the
biggest thing in his life; bigger than his circumstances, bigger than the
draught and that’s honor
b. This is a time of draught and famine, but he’s eating and
drinking because honor gives place to the supernatural
1)
In
the place where he honored God he received his provision
2)
In the place where you
honor God, in the place where God and his things are the biggest thing going on
in your life that’s where you’ll be sustained and cared for the way God wants
to sustain you and care for you
c. 9-I have commanded a
widow woman THERE to sustain
you; If he continues to honor God, he’ll continue to be sustained
1)
It’s
a time of famine and draught and a widow woman taking care of you makes about
as much sense as birds feeing you
3.
There
were many widows in the land in that day that weren’t sustained, but God sent
His man to this one – WHY?
a. He asked her for a cup of
water in a time of drought and for some bread in a time of famine; It’s like
asking for gold
b. She stopped doing what she was doing to go get him a cup of
water; So obviously his cup of water is more important to her than whatever she
was doing (She was getting sticks to feed her and her son a final meal, but he
was more important than that)
1)
She
recognizes that this is a man of God and when he asked for water she goes and
gets the man some and that’s all you need to know as to why God sent him to her
and not others because the others wouldn’t respond this way
2)
She acknowledges his
authority, she trusts him, obeys him and sticks with him when what he said
couldn’t have made any senses and this the honor of God and this ushers in the
supernatural
c. Elijah said me first,
then you – The honor variable
1)
Many
wouldn’t have respond like this, they would have valued their life and their
family over the Lord
2)
Why didn’t the Lord send
Elijah to his own country and folks and people? Why is he over here at this
town with this widow? It’s about who loves God enough and respects the things
of God enough, trust Him enough to actually do what he tells them
3)
15-What’s
different about her than the other widows? She went and did it because of honor
4)
She
fed the man of God before she fed her kid and it was an issue of honor
4.
Her
honor ushered in the supernatural and while others perished in this famine she
was satisfied
a. 2 Chronicles 16:9-God is looking for permission; If you don’t
honor him enough to trust him and obey him and do what he says then you limit
him from doing all that he wants to do in your life
b. Dishonor disqualifies because it shuts God out
B. 2 Kings 5:1-Why did God
send Elisha to Naaman? Because he knew he’d have enough respect and honor and
faith to do what he said and the other wouldn’t have responded like this
1.
1-We
already know he is a man of honor because God honored him by giving him victory
2.
5-This
is honor for the prophet that he’s going to spend his money and take his time
to go see the prophet
3.
11-13-When
he was tempted to desert, distrust, disobey and not acknowledge the prophets
authority he acted in honor
4.
15-He
wants to honor the man of God with is substance