Honoring God

When you get up in the mornings, assuming you get up in the mornings, what's the most important outlook you can have upon the day that's right then new and stretching in front of you? I mean, as you face the new day, what's the most important view and approach, perspective, that you can have upon that day that's now lying before you? What's the most important use you can put it to? What's the prime focus? I said prime because it's not the only focus, but the prime focus. I want to give you the subject and the title right up front. Two words. Honoring God. Honoring God. That should be the central emphasis that each day is lived with. It won't be the only emphasis in your day. There will be many emphases if that's the way to say it. But that should be the central emphasis, the light that shines upon what you do and think and say. That should be the guiding light throughout the day. That should be the guiding principle of all your thinking and your doing. And at the end of each day, ask yourself these questions. Have I pleased God today? Have I served Him? Have I honored Him in the way I have done things? When you say honoring God, what does that mean? You get down to the brass tacks of it. What boots on the ground? What does that actually mean? How do you go about it? What is it that you do to honor Him? I would ask this question. It's rhetorical. Does God live a certain way of life? Does He live life a certain way? God is a being who exists. Does He live life a certain way? Does He think? Does He live? Does He operate a certain way? You know, the greatest honor to Him and the greatest worship of Him, think about it, is to copy that way.

How can you honor God more or worship Him more than to copy that way? In other words, you have a mind, you have a body, you have members of your body. You think, you operate, you do. To put your mind and your body to that way is the greatest worship and the greatest honor that you can show God. I'd like for you to turn with me to the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 6, 1 Corinthians 6, verses 19 and 20.

Let's read this. Now again, as we all well know, Paul is writing to the church or congregations in Corinth. He says what? Verse 19, Your spirit or your mind, which are God's, that your body with its members and your spirit, your mind, are God's, and use them, your thinking, your doing, in a way, to glorify God. So what does it mean to glorify? Or that is to honor God with your mind and your body.

It's not complicated. You know, God's ways are not complicated. They may be a little bit difficult to put into practice, yes, especially depending on what you're talking about. But as far as grasping them and understanding them, that's not difficult. To honor God with your mind and your body simply means to use them in the way and for the purpose for which they were designed.

To say it another way, it just simply means to do it God's way. Not the natural way, always. Not the carnal way, not the human way. Now, when I say it simply means to use them in the way and for the purpose for which they were designed. It means to do it God's way. We have a very, very clear, simple example that we'll look at right now.

And the example starts right here where we are by backing up a few verses. And it gives us a very clear illustration of misuse versus proper use, which we will put with this after I read this part. I've got a script you will turn to in making the illustration. So, we just read this that Paul wrote to the Corinthians. Well, if we back up to verse 13 and we read verses 13 through 18, he says, Meets for the belly and the belly for meats.

But God shall destroy both that and them. I mean, the material world, obviously, is all going to pass someday. Then he says, now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. And God has both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His own power. Don't you know that your bodies are the members of Christ.

You know, we talk about the bride of Christ. We talk about how the church is the body of Christ, how the ecclesia, we become members of the body of Christ. When we repent and we're baptized in Christ, we become part of His body. We become part of the body of Christ, the bride of Christ. So, Paul says, know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ. Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid.

What? Don't you know that He which is joined to a harlot is one body? For two says He shall be one flesh, but He that is joined into the Lord is one spirit. Every fornication, every sin that a man does is without the body, but He that commits fornication sins against His own body. So here, he talks about the misuse of body, of the body, of the body equipment. See, in Paul's Corinthian congregations, there were people who had come out of, obviously, the society around them. And in Corinth, as well as other places, they had, in the pagan temples, temple prostitution was part of the religious service in some of those cases.

But even above and beyond that, Corinth was one of the sin cities of that time. And so, many of them had been called out of that kind of thing and had turned their back on it. And maybe some were slipping back into it. But anyway, he's giving a very strong admonition, don't use your body, which belongs to God, and your mind.

Don't use it in a wrong way that dishonors. Now, I said I would give a clear example. I need to add to this Hebrews 13, verse 4. In this section of Corinthians, he condemns sexual intercourse outside of marriage. It says it dishonors God. It is a misuse. But notice what the same one, I believe it was the Apostle Paul who wrote Hebrews.

It doesn't matter if it was him or one of the others, because it's still the truth of God. And in Hebrews 13 and verse 4, the inspired writer says marriage is honorable in all. And the bed, what bed? The marriage bed, undefiled. You think about that for a moment. Marriage is honorable in all. And the bed, the marriage bed, undefiled. But horror mongers and adulterers God will judge. On the one hand, here in Hebrews, you have an honoring marriage relationship that honors God because it utilizes the human body in a way that honors God in marriage versus a dishonoring one. So to me, that's a very clear example.

When you look at what Paul said over there, and you look at what he said here, very clearly, same body, same members, same equipment. But one is used in an unerring way to God, and one is used in a dishonoring way. You know, when a person takes to heart 1 Corinthians 6 verses 19 and 20 and honors God, he becomes and is what is spoken of in 2 Timothy 2 verse 21. 2 Timothy 2 and verse 21.

2 Timothy 2 verse 21. Paul says to Timothy, If a man, therefore, purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and prepared. You know, sanctified, set apart, and meet are fitting for the Master's use as an instrument in his hands and prepared unto every good work. Set yourself, nobody can set me to do it. I can't set you to do it. Nobody can set anybody else. Set yourself to honor God throughout the day by how you use your time, by how you use your energies, by how you spend them, by how you operate your life, by what you think, what you do, by how you think and do, by the uses that you put your mind and your body with its members too. See, it's no great mystery that living in an honorable way is the greatest form of worship that you can give God. We're here today on this Sabbath of His, worshipping Him. This is just part of the time that we worship Him, and we worship Him in a certain specific special way that's not required of us in this way tomorrow or Monday or Tuesday, etc. Living in an honorable way daily is the greatest form of worship that you can give God, and that glorifies Him. Notice with me Matthew 5 and verse 16, a very familiar Scripture. Matthew 5 and verse 16. Let your light, puts it in the possessive sense, your light, not somebody else's light, I mean not a fellow brother or sister in Christ, their light, the light that is in you. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and what glorify your Father which is in heaven. I'd like for you to turn with me. You might keep your finger here if you wish. I'll come back here in a few moments. But I do want to read John 1 and verse 4. And your light that shines, that's in you, that shines forth, is the life you receive from Christ. Because it says in John 1 and verse 4, in Him was life, and the life was the light of men. When you take on the life of God in you through Jesus Christ, that becomes light that shines forth to others by which God is glorified. So, if we talk about honoring, we talk about glorifying, which is honoring God, and our light is to shine forth, and our light comes from the light that is in us that comes from Christ, or the Father, both actually, made possible by Christ, then where does that begin daily? Honoring God starts with going to Him, going to the Father through Christ, for the life that is the light in us that shines forth to others that reflects the glories of God. I start my day with a cup of coffee. Those of you who know me aren't a bit surprised about that. You probably say, only one? No, that's usually more than one. But I start my day with a cup of coffee. Now, if I'm out of my regular routine, you know, I'm out going out overnight or something, I may not be able to do it in this exact chronology.

But when I'm home, when I'm home and I start my day with a cup of coffee, I have my very first cup of coffee with God. I am on my knees with my coffee cup, and my first sip of coffee is while I'm on my knees with God. And I thank God for the coffee, too.

But I go to my knees with that cup of coffee, and I say, thank you for my life. Thank you for this day that is stretching in front of me. Thank you for this unit, this measure, this amount of time and energy that I have before me that represents opportunity to think and do and learn and serve and share and relate and serve and be.

Bless me to be able to use it in a way that honors you and your name, Father. Bless me to use it in a way that honors you and the things that are yours. And there is a focus on honor, and there is a focus on honoring.

And that particular focus is how Christ started the prayer outline in Matthew 6, verse 9. So if you're still in Matthew, look with me. Matthew 6 and verse 9. Now, this is not the Lord's prayer. This is the Lord's prayer outline. It is an outline of the crucial areas that cover a range of what we can and should be praying about. But look how Christ started the Lord's prayer outline here, beginning in Matthew 6, verse 9. He says, After this manner, therefore, pray you. The first part is an acknowledgment, simply acknowledging. Our Father, which art in heaven, there's words in the King James, it's an acknowledgment. That God is in heaven. He's on His throne. He's supreme. The next word, the first word of the next part is active. It connotes action, activity. It's not passive. It's not a passive word. It's not put in the passive form. It's in the active form.

Hallowed be your name. God's name is hallowed, but it's put in the active form that we are to hallow it in how we present ourselves in our thinking, our actions, our activities, our lives. Hallowed be your name. And that is the first and foremost emphasis in terms of action or activity on our part. Hallowed be thy name. In the Greek, Strong's exhaustive is one of the easiest tools and one of the most basic fundamental tools for looking at the Greek and the Hebrew. It's very helpful. But in Strong's, in the Greek side, it's number 37, if you want to just jot that down. It's number 37. The Greek is hajiazo. I'm not a Greek scholar, so somebody is. Don't get embarrassed how I pronounce it. I'm from Mississippi. But hajiazo, H-A-G-I-A-Z-O. H-A-G-I-A-Z-O. It means to make holy, obviously. That is, purify or consecrate, to venerate, to hallow, to be holy, to sanctify. Now, you take those meanings, let's say sanctify, venerate, consecrate, treat in a holy way. That's what our mouth, that's what our words, that's what our thinking, that's what all our actions and doings should be. You can go in the basketball court and you play in a carnal way, or you can play in a converted way. You can play in a way that God turns his head on a frown, or you can play in a way that God smiles upon it. But simply with mouth, words, thinking, actions, doing it in a way that hallows God's name. Sadly, there are too many cases where God's name is not hallowed. I get so tired of... Oh my! You fell in the blank. O-M-G. I get tired of hearing it. I get tired of hearing the wonderful name of Jesus Christ used as an explosive expletive. Now, I know what some of you might be thinking. You might be thinking, that's mild. The way God's name is coupled with certain words is a whole lot worse. And you know what? I agree. But you know why I chose these? Because there are preachers. There are a lot of good quote conservative quote Christians who will say, Oh my! You fell in the blank. That will say Jesus Christ in a very explosive expletive way.

And they don't stop to think about how there's no consecration in that. There's no veneration. There's no respect. There's no honor in such. They're not hallowing God's name. Revelation 4, verse 11 says, You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. For you have created all things, and for your pleasure they are and were created. And then if you couple that with Revelation 7, in verse 12, saying, Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. So be it. I like to go to the short form of a definition sometimes. I mean, you can go to the long forms.

And of course Webster's, in one sense, short form dictionary says enough a lot of times. Webster's, when it talks about defining honor, it says, High respect, sense of what is right or due, to treat with respect, value or worth. Now, brethren, as I stand here before you, I am glad we're part of the New Testament, New Covenant, I should say.

Not the Old Covenant, because the New Covenant so supersedes the Old Covenant in more than one way. The Old Covenant, for what it was, was wonderful. But it was always intended by God to be superseded by the New. Now, I'll give you one example. Don't turn back here, please. But if you wish to write it down, write it down. Leviticus 24, you can just write this down. Leviticus 24, verses 10 through 16.

It contains the account of a man who cursed, who blasphemed God's name under the Old Covenant. And they took him out, and they stoned him. They executed him. Because in the Old Testament, if you cursed or blasphemed God's name, if you took it in the direction of not howling it, cursing and blaspheming, you literally were taken out and executed because they had the administration of death. And that was one of the things that they would execute over. Well, I'm not for, in any sense, cursing God's name, as you well know. And I'm being a little bit facetious and ridiculous even to say that.

But I'm glad we don't have to take people out and execute them, you know? Now, at the end of the road, all the way down the line, when the salvation of mankind has been fully processed, there is death at the end of the road who, in the final analysis, those who have not repented, obviously there is an eternal death that will be passed through the lake of fire upon them. But that is another subject, and that's way on down at the end of the road. But in the times we live in, I'm so thankful that the church, the Ekklesia, does not carry a responsibility to carry out penalties like that, like ancient Israel under the Old Covenant did.

Anyhow, honoring God by honoring His name and the things of God is extremely important. You know, the very first commandment, think about of God's major ten, the Big Ten. Think about the very first one. The very first commandment says we are to have no gods before the true God. And we all know that gods can be far more than an image. That's why God has another commandment that talks about making grave images. It could be another human being that's a god before the true God.

It could be a career. It could be a hobby. It could be all kinds of things. But anyhow, when you have a commandment that starts off the commandments of God saying, we're to have no other gods before the true God, and you apply that, that is a commandment about honoring Him. And then, of course, the third commandment says we're not to take His name in vain.

I think sometimes people, they think, they come up with questions, which we should think. And one of the ways we learn is sometimes coming up with questions that we then therefore seek answers for. Some might say, well, why does God... I mean, God is God and... Well, I can read scriptures where it says our righteousness doesn't make God more than God is God. God is God as God is God.

And my righteousness doesn't add to His righteousness. My wickedness doesn't take any of His righteousness away. I mean, He's righteous and He's God, whether I'm righteous or wicked or not. I mean, I can't add to God's righteousness by being righteous. I can't take away from His righteousness by being wicked. Sometimes people will phrase questions like, why does God so emphasize giving honor and glory first and foremost to Him? Because whether I do it or I don't do it, He is still God. And He always will be God.

And He always has been God. So why does He so emphasize giving honor and glory first and foremost to Him? Well, just one factor. Not the only one. But it is a necessity that He realized by having experienced the Luciferian rebellion. When a whole entire angelic creation of His, one-third were turned against Him by Lucifer.

Where Lucifer turned against God and convinced one-third of those angels to turn against God and become His enemies in their sight. It's a necessity realized by Lucifer taking glory and honor unto himself and leading one-third of the angels of God astray. See, here is a truth about honoring God.

Those who truly honor God will be loyal to Him. Michael honored Him. Gabriel honored Him. Two-thirds honored Him. They kept that honor for Him. They practiced that honor for Him. They stayed loyal to Him. And God knows with us, as humans, as given the opportunity, that those who truly honor Him will be loyal to Him and thus and therefore He will be able to bless us. Please turn with me to 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30. 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30. See, God wants to bless us. God wants to honor us. Now, I'm just breaking into the thought. This is the account of the high priest Eli, who had a couple of sons, and he didn't reign them in.

It caused problems in Israel. I'm not going to go through the account. But I want to read a statement that Samuel says on behalf of God. He's speaking for God and quoting God in 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30. Wherefore, Samuel said, the Lord God of Israel said, I said indeed that your house and the house of your Father should walk before me forever. But now the Lord says, be it far from me. Notice this phrase, for them that honor me, I will honor.

Those that honor me, I will honor. Of course, it goes on to say, they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. See, this verse where it says that them that honor me, I will honor. He takes no to that. I will honor. But it also serves as a warning by saying the rest of what it does, they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Because it's like, you know, if one doesn't care what God thinks, do you ever run into anybody just run into people or know people who don't care what God thinks?

I know people who just, in some cases, they don't really care what God thinks. It's not important to them. Well, God isn't going to care what they think. If one sees no reason to honor God, God sees no reason to honor them. If I were speaking to a Christian, one who wants to be classified as a Christian, and I said, you shouldn't say, oh my, you know, the blank. You shouldn't take the name Jesus Christ as an expletive, and they were to say to me, no big deal. It doesn't matter. God doesn't care.

If one sees no reason to honor God, God's going to see no reason to honor them. But the main thrust of this is not that God is asking us to honor Him just for His sake, but it's for our sake. So that He may honor and bless us. It's like God saying, look, I'm asking you to honor Me, not so much for my sake, but for your sakes, so that I may honor and bless you.

Now, a scripture that I'll just reference, in fact, two that I'll reference, the first one is John 12, 26. I'm not going to turn there. But Jesus said in John 12, in verse 26, He said, if any man serve Me, him will My Father honor. Now, I cannot read, I cannot reference that and read that without another scripture popping into my mind, and it's Luke 6, 46. And I'm not going to turn dead either. But Luke 6, 46, because Luke 6, 46 is where Christ said, why do you call Me Lord, Lord, but you won't do the things I say. So when I read, if any man serve Me, and I know Christ said, why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and you won't do the things which I say, if any man serve Me, obviously we're going to be doing the things He says, okay, in that positioning, him will My Father honor. It's very simple. You honor God, He'll honor you. Sounds simple, doesn't it? It is. What's the catch? There's always a catch, in a sense. What's the catch? What's the biggest impediment to honoring God? What's the biggest impediment to honoring God? What gets in the way, first and foremost, on a regular basis with people? What's the biggest impediment to honoring God?

It's also very simple. And boy, you talk about an experience of close encounter. It's the honoring of oneself. The honoring of oneself. That comes so naturally. That comes so automatically. And honoring oneself brings cursings, not blessings. Notice with me Proverbs 12 and verse 9. Proverbs chapter 12 and verse 9. It starts off interesting here in saying, he that is despised and has a servant. Now, think about it. There may be somebody that is despised by people. If he has a servant, he's got to be pretty well off materially. Or he couldn't afford a servant. So here's an individual who's well enough off physically, materially, let's say, that he can afford a servant, but he's despised by people. Yet, it says, he's better than. That kind of situation is better than he that honors himself and lacks bread. Honors himself at the cost of not having enough food or substance or food, clothing, and shelter.

See, what it is saying is honoring self, pride, ego, can cause loss of jobs, sustenance, and all. When you have lived most of your lifetime working with people, more and more you learn the realities of these statements. And more and more you can read scriptures. Like I read this one, and you can have names pop into your head that fit the verse. Years ago, I knew a man, a big strong man, big powerful strong man. He had three kids. They went without a lot. There were times when they were cold. There were times when they were hungry. Because his approach was he was going to honor himself. If the boss man told him to do something he didn't want to do, or the boss man spoke to him in a tone or manner that he didn't appreciate, I don't have to take that. I'm out of here. I don't need this job. And he had three little kids at home.

And I saw the lackings that occurred because he was willing to honor himself, even though it cost those who were depending upon him, as well as it cost him. Let's go over and look at good old... If you want to put a marker in Proverbs, in just a short moment or so, I'll come back to Proverbs. I want to go over to Uncle Neb. Uncle Neb. Nebuchadnezzar. Or Cousin Neb or whatever. Daniel 4. Daniel 4. And verse 30. Now, we've just read a proverb about honoring oneself to really one's own hurt. Here in Daniel 4 and verse 30, you have King Nebuchadnezzar. Babylon is tremendous. The glory of it, the beauty of it, the magnitude of it, his kingdom, the hanging gardens, all of that. And one day he's out here in the midst of it, and he's walking around, and he's admiring it, and he's just soaking it all up. And the King spoke and said, it is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty.

He's just raking with it. Keep your finger here in Daniel 4. I want to read two proverbs. Proverbs 25-27. Proverbs chapter 25 and verse 27.

The first part when it says, it's not good to eat much honey. It's just, you know, honey is a good thing. It's pure food. There's a balance on it. It's what it's saying. But this second part here says, so for men, and of course, there's a point being made by the Psalm, instead of the one writing the proverb here, so for men to search their own glory. And that's what Nebuchadnezzar is doing.

For men to search their own glory is not glory. And then Proverbs 27 verse 2. Proverbs 27 verse 2.

Let another man praise you and not your own mouth, a stranger, and not your own lips.

I wonder how many of you have seen the movie? It came out, I don't know what's it been, 10 years ago or so? Gladiator, starring Russell Crowe, won a Best Actor for that year award for it. I think the first time that an action, pure action movie, so to speak, somebody, the main guy, won Best Actor award, I believe.

I wonder how many of you saw the movie? I've seen it, several of you have. I'm not necessarily advising you to see it. If you haven't seen it, it's rough. It's very true to the Roman arena. It's very true to the Roman Caesars. It's very true to that time and how fate can be switched on you. You know, the fates can switch on you so quickly. But I'll just give you the brief gist, because there's something in that movie that, you know, one line in particular that really stood out to me. Russell Crowe is Maximus. He's a Roman general of Roman legions. He's Spaniard by Nativity. And the Caesar, the ruler, is dying. And he wants him to become the ruler. But the son of the Caesar, who's in line, Commodius, or Commodus, I guess it is, Commodus wants the throne, and he's corrupt, and he finds out the plan. So, make a long story short, he takes Maximus, strips him of his power, leaves some soldiers to execute him. Maximus manages to get away, tries to get back to his home before his wife and child are killed, doesn't succeed. He winds up as a slave in a gladiatorial school, and he winds up being taken to Rome, and he winds up in the arena. And in the first battle that he has to do, and he's got a helmet on, so you don't know who he is, and Commodus is in the stands with the Praetorian Guard and all, and the Senate and all the others in the crowd. And in the aftermath of that first battle, Maximus is victorious. Commodus doesn't know who he is. He goes down to the arena, surrounded by his Praetorian Guard, and Maximus turns to walk away, and he rebukes him, Don't you turn your back on me, and he makes him take the helmet off, see who it is. He is shocked when Maximus lifts his helmet and identifies himself father of a murdered child, husband of a murdered wife, general of Roman legions. Commodus is shocked. This corrupt ruler then begins to taunt him and to gloat about what they did to his wife and child, and what they put them through before they were killed, and Maximus just has to stand there and take it.

And when Commodus is through, Maximus looks him in the eye and he says, The time of honoring yourself will soon be at an end. How true that statement is in human affairs. The time of honoring yourself will soon be at an end. Nebuchadnezzar, the time of honoring yourself will soon be at an end. It is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house, the kingdom by the might of my power, for the honor of my majesty. Now, one year before he had been warned by God through Daniel. If you read verse 29, it says at the end of 12 months. What do we mean at the end of 12 months? If you read the previous account, you see that a year before, a whole year before, he had been told, warned, what was going to happen if he kept honoring himself. A dream had been given to him and Daniel interpreted it. So at the end of 12 months, he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. One year later, I guess it didn't ring with him anymore. It faded away. Whatever happened. So verse 31, while the word was in the king's mouth, the words hadn't even fully left, so to speak. There are still phonetic sounds, you know, air vibrations, vibrations in the airwaves. They're full of voice from heaven saying, O king, Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken. The kingdom is departed from you, and they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you to eat grass as oxen, and seven times, seven years, seven long years, shall pass over you until you know that the most high rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever he will. And the same hour, the very same hour, was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar. And he was driven from men, he did eat grass. God changed his digestive tract for that period of time, to where he could eat grass and subsist on it as oxen. And his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hair was grown like eagle's feathers, and his nails like bird's claws. And then verse 14, And at the end of the days, seven years later, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the most high, and I praised and honored him that lives forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation. I praised and honored him from the highest to the lowest, from the greatest to the smallest. All will eventually have to learn to honor God instead of themselves. When Nebuchadnezzar honored God instead of himself, God honored him by restoring his sanity and his kingdom. We live in momentous times. We live in very fast-moving times. They're speeding up more and more all the time. Look around today. Look at our society. Look at our culture. Those of you that are raising children in this age, you have my support, you have my prayers, because it's much more difficult now to rear children in this society than it was when I was rearing. My wife and I were raising our kids, because everything is on a faster and faster downhill side. Look at our culture. What do we see reflected in our culture? Do we truly see an honoring of God around us? And again, the biggest impediment to honoring God is honoring ourselves. And honoring ourselves has awfully, awfully big business. And look at the fruits. What are the fruits of honoring ourselves? Sex and violence, depravity and degeneracy, broken minds, broken bodies, broken hearts, broken homes. We, as a society, are paying a huge price for people honoring themselves instead of God. Notice Romans 1. I just want to read through and emphasize certain scriptures here in Romans 1, beginning in verse 18. Romans 1, beginning in verse 18.

There is no God. I say you have no excuse. Anybody who logically, an atheist, has no excuse. There is no excuse for saying there is no God. There is proof on top of proof on top of proof that there is a God. That's what this is saying. There is no excuse. Now, somebody said to me, I know there's a God. I just don't know what all he's doing. I don't know what his plan is.

I don't know what his purpose is. I'm lost and all that. I just don't know. I mean, I know he's there. I just don't know what's going on. I say, that's fine. You want to talk about some of it? There is no excuse for saying there's no God, because the basic fundamental things of God, his existence, that's understandable. Anybody, uncalled, can pick up the Bible and read it and see certain things that are applicable, that make sense, that they ought to try to do in their lives.

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. And change the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like a corruptible man to birds, four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own bodies, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creation more than the Creator, who is blessed forever.

For this cause, God gave them up to vile affections. Even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.

And even, notice, even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, I heard for the first time in my lifetime, back in 2012, the major of the two, the larger of the two major political parties in this nation, at their national convention, Boo God, for the first time in my lifetime, because they didn't have God as one of their planks and their platform, and they had to put God in so they wouldn't lose votes, and the majority, I listened to it, I saw it, I watched it, the majority booed God being made a part of their platform.

That's not saying that the other party is okay, and you know, oh hunky-dory, that's not my point. But I just find more and more we're seeing don't want to retain God in their knowledge, and now they live their lives, and more and more. I believe it's Isaiah 3.9 that says they declare their sin as Sodom. We officially declared the legality of such in 2012, confirmed it in 2013 and 2014, and certain states that have taken a stand like Utah, Indiana, Michigan, Arkansas, have had their bans against certain activities overturned by federal judges.

And if you read verses 29 through 32, just look at the list on righteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whispers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents without understanding, covenant breakers without natural affection, implacable and merciful, who know at the judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of death not only do the same but take pleasure in them that do them.

It reads, society today, this reads of society today, and it's not to say that everything is bad, and I'm not saying that, but we're seeing what is laid out here by the Apostle Paul becoming more and more and more the reality. I do not recommend anybody to go see on YouTube the snippet that was posted of the MTV Awards. What's it been now?

About a year ago? Maybe not quite a year ago. With a certain little, what was once a sweet little Disney character who has grown up and depraved herself drastically. But I watched it just to see if it was as bad as what I'd been told, and I watched the performance and what I saw her doing and what she was simulating. I just had to shake my head. When you read Romans 1 and you read this and you look at what's becoming more and more accepted in our culture, and with so many today, the whole attitude of too many people is captured in the lyrics of the recent pop song, which was on that YouTube that says, It's Your Body.

We can do what we like. It's your body. We can do what we like. And that is totally directly opposite to what we started off reading in Scripture in 1 Corinthians 6, verses 19 and 20. God gave us our life. You know, a scripture that has always carried a lot of meaning for me is Acts 17, verse 28.

I'm not going to turn there, but Acts 17 and verse 28, where Paul was on Mars Hill, and he was speaking to the philosophers about their altar to the Unknown God, and he said, For in him we live, and we move, and we have our being. God's the one who's given us the opportunity to have life, to have our minds and our bodies, and what we do with our mind and our body either honors or dishonors God. And he's given us all of us, even the uncalled, more than ample instruction on what honors him and how to use it.

Do you want to turn to Proverbs 3 and verse 9? Now, in Proverbs 3 and verse 9, in a sense, there's two parts of it. There's two parts of it. I'll read the whole thing. It says, Under the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your increase. Now, when you see the part with the first fruits of all your increase, you tend to think financial, don't you? And logically so. You know, offerings, tithing, you know, we honor God financially. There are ways we honor God financially. But because the second part says, with the first fruits of all your increase, and we tend to think financially, we tend to color the entire statement under a dollar sign.

And that first part does not come under a dollar sign. It includes a dollar sign as part of it, but it is not a dollar sign. In other words, honor, honor the Lord with your substance. What is your substance? If somebody says, my substance solely is the money in my bill, I feel sorry for that guy. That's only part of your substance.

If you're to honor God with your substance, what is your substance? It's your time, for instance. You know, when you have no more time, you're called dead. You ever notice that? If you have no more time, you're dead. The only people that don't have time are those who are dead. If you have time, you're still alive.

It's your energy. Now, when I was young, I had the experience, as so many of us do when we're young, of, well, sometimes I've still got energy, and I've run out of time.

Now, sometimes it's reversed. I may have time, but I've run out of energy. But your substance is your time. It's your energy. That's life. It's your health. It's your body. It's your mouth. It's your hands. It's the members of your body. It's your talents. It's your gifts. It's your skills. It's your resources. You can make the list about as long as you want to in one sense. All of that is your substance. All of that. When you use your substance in the God-ordained, God-designed way, you are honoring Him. When you keep the Sabbath day properly and holy, you are honoring Him. I want to read one verse along that line in Isaiah 58 and verse 13. Isaiah 58 and verse 13. Just to make that point. In Isaiah 58 and verse 13, it says, If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, talking about not trampling on it, from doing your pleasure, your business, etc., on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, now it says, The holy of the Lord, honorable, honorable, and notice what it says next, I'm reading from the King James, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, your own pleasure, your own words, certain things that we're allowed to do the other six days, but there are certain things we know that are off-limits to what we should be doing on the Sabbath. But it's interesting, honor Him. When we keep the Sabbath day properly, we're honoring God. When we refuse to put certain things in our mouth that God has said, don't put this in your mouth, I never intended this to be eaten, consumed by a human being. Oh, can you do it? Yeah, you can do it. But it was never intended for human consumption. If you want to consume like certain meats, if you want to consume meat, you don't have to eat meat, but if you want to eat meat, here are the ones that I have created to be consumed for human consumption if you want to eat meat. When you render to God the things that are God, when you put in your mouth certain things that are okay, you're honoring God. When you refuse to put certain things in your mouth that you know you shouldn't, you're honoring God. When we render to God the tithe that is His, obviously we're honoring Him. So, again, it's very simple. But the challenge is making it a part of our lifestyle, what we do with our mouth, our mind, and our body. What we do with our skills, our gifts, our talents, our time, our energies, either honors God or dishonors Him. And brethren, we want to honor Him because God honors those who honor Him and He wants to be able to honor and bless us. And I want, and we want, to be blessed of God and He wants to bless us. So learn, learn to live a life that honors God in your thinking and in your words and in your doings and do your best to start each day of your life with that perspective in mind.