Honor the Son — E.A. Johnston

Loving and Honoring the Son

There once lived a very wealthy man who had an only son. This man dearly loved his boy, who in turn both loved and honored his father. But one day, to his father's immense grief, the boy died. The fond parent never forgot his son.

At last the old man himself passed away. When they came to settle the estate, no trace could be found of the old man's will. In vain, they searched, until at last the authorities ordered that the property should be sold, and his estate settled according to law.

At the auction, one of the articles put up for sale was a portrait of the boy who had died. The picture had little or no value in the eyes of most present, but among the bidders was an old woman who had nursed the rich man's son when he was a child.

For a very small sum, she bought the picture, glad to have this reminder of one she had loved and cared for years before. One day, while cleaning and repairing the frame, the old lady discovered at the back of the picture a document which turned out to be the old man's will.

He had left all his property to anybody who loved his son well enough to buy his portrait at the sale. The old lady became rich overnight. God looks upon those individuals who love his son and honor him.

In the Gospel of John, we read the words of Jesus which state that all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which sent him. When I examined the life of the Apostle Paul, one thing stands out in his life more than any other thing, and it was that he was jealous for God and his glory.

So to honor the Son means we too should be jealous for God and his glory. Our lives should reflect his presence and purpose, and we should be gripped with the realities of eternity and the God of that eternity as we press onward toward heaven.

Listen friends, it is my prayer that you will not only hear this poor preacher's voice today but that you will hear his voice as God speaks to you through his written word and by his Holy Spirit. As you listen to this message, I will ask you to do two things.

Number one, be open to hear from God as he speaks to your heart. And number two, be obedient to what he shows you. If he asks you to do something, then be obedient and do it. If during this message you feel that the Holy Spirit shines a searching spotlight to a specific area of your life, which is a raw spot, and God asks you to get right with him regarding this area, then be obedient and get right with him through a repentant heart.

The Command to Honor the Son

Because we are going to spend time in considering the Lord Jesus Christ and how we can honor him with our daily lives. This message today is entitled Honor the Son. This declaration by Jesus is a command.

Jesus is commanding all men to honor the Son. And here in the Gospel of John, Jesus declares that whoever honors not the Son honors not the Father which sent him. This is serious business. If you call yourself a believer, a follower of Jesus Christ, then you must obey him in every aspect of honoring the Son.

Well, how do we honor the Son? We will look at how we are to accomplish this in two major ways through our daily behavior. Then we will examine the minor aspects which make up these two major parts. So first, we must honor the Son by staying in an unbroken fellowship with him through a daily surrender to his Lordship in every aspect of our lives.

And secondly, we must honor the Son by maintaining a vital love relationship with him. Everything in the Christian life hangs in the balance on these two aspects, a daily surrender to his Lordship in every area of our lives and maintaining a vital love relationship with him.

If we are off here, we are off everywhere and are guilty of dishonoring the Son through our disobedience to him. And if we dishonor the Son, we dishonor the Father. For he that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which sent him.

Please pay attention to this message, which will have vast implications to our usefulness to him. But we will first consider what Jesus has done for us as redeemed sinners. For to consider what Jesus has done for us as believers will demonstrate the great debt we owe him in lives of surrender to him as we honor the Son with our lives.

Christ’s Obedience and the Believer’s Surrender

Consider how Jesus obeyed the Father and honored him as he set his face toward the cross for sinful man. The book of Hebrews declares who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared, though he were a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered, and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.

See Jesus there in Gethsemane as he unburdens his heart to his disciples with the words, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death, tarry ye here and watch. Now look at Jesus there in the garden as he labors in anguished prayer with strong crying and tears.

Hear him as he cries out to the Father, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee. Take away this cup from me, nevertheless, not what I will, but what thou wilt. See his humble submission to the will of the Father and the cross before him.

See his great love for you in his anguished heart cries and tears. Consider what Jesus did for you as the text declares. He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him. Did you hear those words?

Unto all them that obey him. Do you obey him? Have you obeyed him today? Honor the Son and a life of obedience to him. He is a risen Lord who sits on a heavenly throne, and he got there by way of a bloody cross.

He earned that right. He demands obedience from you as his follower. How can you claim his name and live in disobedience to the will of God for your life? Perhaps God has called you to ministry. You have delayed, made excuses.

You have put off that clear call to ministry. Why? How can you honor the Son by refusing the Father's best for you? O friend, if this is your situation, if God has called you to full-time service for him, why delay?

The lost perish and fall into hell while you delay. I repeat the text from Hebrews states. He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that what? Obey him. Look at the obedience of Jesus and how Jesus honored the Father.

And God declares that all men should honor the Son. How can you honor the Son with your life today? Think about that. What can you do today to honor the Son? Are you redeeming the time because the days are evil?

The Cross, Sin Substitution, and the Justice of God

Let us ponder Jesus on the cross. A useful exercise is to meditate on Christ's work on the cross. What he did there at Calvary. He took our sins upon him. He is our sin substitute who purchased us by his death and with his blood.

See Jesus as he hangs there as a sin offering. The prophet Isaiah declares, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Let us consider Jesus on the cross for a few moments. Picture him hanging there in agony on that bloody tree.

Christ bore our sins. They were laid upon Christ when he was made a sin offering for us. And he redeemed us from the curse of the law by being made a curse for us. It was the Lord that laid our iniquities on Christ.

He made this way of reconciliation and salvation available through the death of his dear only begotten Son. Only God had the power to lay our sins on Christ. Sin was committed against him. And to him the satisfaction was to be made.

Jesus, his own Son, the Son of his love, who himself knew no sin, became sin for us. He became the atonement for sin. O friends, see him there on that bloody cross. Listen to the words from Isaiah chapter 53.

He is despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed.

Jesus set his face toward Calvary in submission to the will of the Father. There had to be a sin substitute to satisfy the justice of God. Jesus was our sin substitute. Why, all men are held up against the strict severity of God's holy law.

And friend, when you are placed alongside the holy law of God, you will fail the test. Man sins because he's a big sinner. And the strictness of God's holy law will undo you when you are set beside it.

You will be judged by the severity of the law of God. Your best day will condemn you. I need a substitute for sin. And I'm glad that Jesus is my sin substitute. Let me share with you the shortest and clearest definition of sin found in the Bible.

It's found in Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 6. Let me read it to you. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. We have turned everyone to what?

His own way. Listen, friends. Sin is going your way when you know it isn't God's way. That's what sin is. Rebellion can be in a so-called good thing as well as an evil thing. Sin can be not doing what God has called us to do.

Evangelism and the Urgency of Witnessing

There, that stranger sitting over there. In your daily course of activities, how you pass him by without a notice. But that person needs Christ and needs to hear of the good news of the gospel of the Son of God.

Will you honor the Son today by sharing the gospel with that stranger? Has the Holy Spirit prided you to witness to a person and you failed to do so? You made excuses not to tell that person about the Savior.

I'll never forget his face. The face of the man who worked on my house. I hired out some work to be done on my house. And this construction worker seemed to always want to talk to me. But I was too busy for small talk.

So I cut our conversation short. A month to the day that he finished the work on my house. I was reading the newspaper. And I saw his picture in the obituaries. He was a young man who died suddenly. I felt awful.

I had not shared the gospel with him. I was too busy to speak of Christ to that man. And he died. His face haunts me to this day. We must honor the Son with submission to the leading of the Holy Spirit in regard to witnessing to the lost.

We must honor the Son in regard to advancing the gospel in our generation. The day is far spent and the time is short. The Spirit of Antichrist is in the land already. These indeed are the last days. Do you believe that?

Eternity, the Judgment Seat, and Kingdom Priorities

If that is the case, then the only thing, the one thing that should be before us all throughout the day is the judgment seat of Christ and eternity. All will appear there at the judgment. Every knee will bow to Him on that day.

If we truly set our minds and thoughts to the judgment seat of Christ, then our actions would reflect that coming day. Our behavior would be consumed with eternity and the God of that eternity. Our vision for the lost and perishing would increase as we realize the desperate hour in which we live.

We would cease building our empires and instead spend all of our time and energy on God's kingdom work. Our lives are like a vapor which appear for a little while and then disappear. Life is short, friends.

You have no guarantee of tomorrow. C .T. Studd wrote these words which should grip each of us with eternity. Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. Can you honestly say that your life right now is a reflection of that little poem?

Is the bulk of your life consumed with witnessing for Christ and reaching a loss with the gospel of the son of God? Why are you here? Oh, why did Christ save you? So you can live for yourself. Listen to the words of the apostle Paul from 2nd Corinthians.

And that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. How are we to honor the son with our lives? Listen again to Paul from Colossians chapter 3.

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ and God.

Listen friends, don't miss this. To honor the son, to honor the Lord Jesus Christ, you have no life of your own. You've been bought with a price. Your life is not your own. Your money is not your own.

Your time is not your own. Your body is not your own. Christ must become a complete master. To be a Christian means you no longer have any rights. You are an enslave to Christ and his lordship. When you are saved, self is dethroned and another is enthroned there.

Jesus said, take up your cross and follow me. Have you done it? Next, we are to honor the son in a life of unbroken fellowship with him. We are called to a life of holiness as believers. Listen to what Jesus expects from us as his followers.

Holiness, Love, and Obedience

Listen to his words from John chapter 14 and verse 21. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my father. And I will love him and will manifest myself to him.

We honor the son with our love. And our love is expressed to Jesus through our keeping his commandments in a life of obedience to the will of God. God declares, be ye holy for I am holy. And he states in Hebrews, for without holiness no one shall see the Lord.

We love him through our obedience to him. Is there an area in your life that is not sanctified or surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Do you have an unsanctified temper? How can we lay claim to any area of our life as it stands against the love of God toward us?

How can we honor the son with that area of rebellion in our life? Perhaps you have recently stumbled and fallen into sin. And you hate the fact that your Bible is a closed book and your fellowship with God is no longer a close walk with him.

You feel ashamed for your sin. You want to turn from that sin. Listen friend, God has a promise for you. His word declares, return to me and I will return to you. When the prodigal son returned home to the father, the father saw him in the distance and ran out to greet him and threw his arms around his neck in love and forgiveness.

Return to the Lord Jesus, dear friend, and he will welcome you back and throw his arms of love around you once more. Ask Christ for the grace of repentance and with a broken heart, return to him and turn from your sin.

And the love of your soul will restore a sweet fellowship to you once again and you will know the joy of your salvation. Ask the Lord Jesus Christ to take you back into a vital love relationship with him and ask him to give you the grace to love what he loves and to hate what he hates.

He will do this for you, friend. Then we can once again honor the son with every area of our lives because we love him. Think of the love of God, dear friend. Listen to this compelling story. There was an Englishman who frequently traveled to India for business purposes.

Scripture as God’s Love Letter

He enjoyed shopping in the Indian bazaars for his little eight-year-old girl, often bringing her home a new trinket. Returning from a recent trip to India, this Englishman had purchased a jade necklace for his little girl.

After she worn it a few days, the metal clasp broke and he took it to a local London jeweler to be repaired. The jeweler emerged from the back room with the necklace and inquired, May I ask you how much you paid for this jade necklace?

The man replied, I believe I paid ten pounds for it, nothing more. The jeweler smiled and said, Look into this magnifying glass. See the letter carved on each piece of jade? It is French lettering. When you lay these seventy-eight pieces of jade side by side, they form a love letter written from Napoleon to Juliet.

This jade necklace is worth a fortune, well over a half a million pounds. Oh friends, the love of God, the Bible is comprised of sixty-six books and they form a love letter from God to us. The Bible is a story about God's love towards sinful man and reconciling man back to him through the death of Jesus Christ.

The love of Christ was demonstrated for us by the pouring out of his blood on an ignoble cross so we could escape the wrath of God through a sin substitute who died on our behalf. God gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

And Jesus is seated on a heavenly throne right now where he reigns in glory. He sits at the right hand of the Father and he earned that right by way of a bloody cross. I repeat, the Bible is a love letter from God to sinful man.

It speaks of the broken heart of God over sin. It's a book of love letters which tell of the great love of God and it's a book which declares the good news concerning the gift of God, his Son, Jesus Christ.

Prayer, Revival, and a Life That Honors Christ

Have you honored the Son this week by interceding on behalf of our nation? Are you driven to your knees over this morally bankrupt society and the increasing darkness all around us? Do you weep over the sins of the land?

Do you pray for revival that God in his mercy will send a heaven-sent revival to our land in our day? We are instructed to honor the Son. Are we doing it? Are we doing it? Will you do it? Take time to honor the Son who gave himself for you.

Go to your knees right now and ask God the Father how you can honor the Son with your life today. Ask him to reveal to you by his Holy Spirit the areas in your life that dishonor the Son and then ask God for the grace of repentance to get right with him in a red-hot love relationship with him.

Honor the Son by keeping the judgment seat of Christ before your eyes throughout each day. Let your thought life honor the Son. Let your choices in life honor the Son. Let your words spoken today honor the Son.

Let your life be a fragrant flower that attracts others to Christ as you honor the Son and as they see the Son in you through your daily walk with him. I'll never forget the dear Christian man who gave me my first Bible.

He was the first person to tell me about Jesus Christ and share the gospel with me. This man's life in every aspect honored the Son. To be around this man was to be near Christ himself as this man's life overflowed with the presence of God.

Can that be said of you, friend, when others are with you? Do they thirst more for Christ because of your life? Is your life on the full stretch for God? I am reminded about a story of D .L. Moody. D .L. Moody was in London walking with a British pastor who inquired, Mr. Moody, I see that you sign your name with the initials O .O.

I am a doctor of divinity and I sign my name D .D. But tell me, why, sir, do you sign your name O .O.? Moody replied, I am D .L. Moody, on the out-and-out for Christ. Are you on the out-and-out for Christ, friend?

Our text in the Gospel of John states that all men are to honor the Son. The rich old man gave his entire estate to the person who loved his son enough to buy the portrait of his son. God has given His very best in His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for sinful man.

God's greatest gift is the good news of the Gospel of the Son of God. If you are truly born of the Spirit and washed in the blood, then you know Jesus Christ is your Savior. Ask Him today how you can better serve Him with the rest of your life, how you can honor the Son throughout the course of each day, how you can honor the Son and bring glory to the Father who loved you enough to save you.

The Gospel Invitation: Repentance and Faith in Christ

And friend, if you are unsure of your salvation, if you are awakened to the fact that you are a sinner in need of a Savior, I have good news for you. God has provided a remedy for sin and a way for you to be reconciled back to Him through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

One of the most remarkable things I ever read came from the pen of the Puritan Bible commentator Matthew Henry who wrote concerning the birth of Christ. Christ was born in an inn. An inn receives all comers, and so does Christ.

He hangs out the banner of love for His sign, and whoever comes to Him, He will in no wise cast out. Only, unlike other inns, He welcomes those that come without money and without price. Listen, friends, the gospel is for the weary, the hungry, the thirsty.

Listen to these pleas from the heart of God. Listen to these promises from the Word of God. Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that is a thirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. O dear friend, trust in Christ. Repent toward God and exercise faith in Jesus Christ.

Wherefore, He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. He is able to save the worst of sinners. No one is too bad to be saved.

He is able to save them, friend, to the uttermost. The uttermost. Come to Him, dear friend, and He will satisfy your thirsty and hungry heart. Honor the Son.