I. We need honor. It s not real popular in society but it s a Kingdom principle. Honor to whom honor.

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1 Stay in the Ship Part 34 (Partnership Part 15 Honor and Blessing 3) Acts 27:31, Mark 6:1-6. Intro: We live in what I m going to call the society of self. Self concentration & self gratification. The 5 I wills I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. There s a feeling of entitlement, defiance, rebellion, insubordination. Many are crass, rebellious, & disrespectful, rude, impolite, vulgar, offensive, discourteous & ill mannered. Exodus 22:28, you don t curse the ruler of your people.. I. We need honor. It s not real popular in society but it s a Kingdom principle. Honor to whom honor. A. Children are to honor their parents (1st commandment w/promise). Parents are not to provoke their children to wrath, but honor them. Husbands are to honor wives & wives husbands, employees employer & employer employee, citizens leaders & legislators & legislators & leaders citizens. You can disagree & voice your displeasure & opinion but do it w/honor. B. It s bad enough when you see children & parents & students - teachers & in the government, but when you start witnessing it in the church you know it s gotten bad. We re a house fitly joined & if the house divides it cannot stand. 1. God works through people. The problem we have is not w/god. The problem I have is the people He created. People add to your stress level. The problem is not the treasure, it s the field. I have to contend w/the field to get the treasure. 2. Matt. 13:44, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth & for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field. The treasure is hid in the field. There is treasure hid all over this church. 3. It s hard to find & sometimes you have to look long & hard to see it because it s hidden. a. The covering of the Tabernacle. b. I know you see these pics where Jesus has the halo, not biblical. He had glory before the world was, but there was nothing about his external appearance that made Him stand out. He had no comeliness & there was no beauty that we should desire Him. 4. If you don t recognize the gift you can never receive the gift. a. The prophet Samuel was looking for Sauls replacement & found David. b. The educated & religious sect of the day look at Jesus & saw the field. They saw a carpenter, son of Mary, one of the local boys.

2 II. It s important, imperative, crucial that you learn that about leadership. If you dishonor you miss the treasure, if you honor & receive you can be blessed. A. I believe God sends people w/a word. Remember the widow of Zarephath? Lk 4 there were many widows but only to 1 was the prophet sent. Ps. 107:20, He sent His word & healed them. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me sent me to heal Jesus sent the 12 w/power to heal & cast out devils. He sent 70 out & they returned saying, devils are subject Rom. 10:14, How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? B. Matt. 10:40, He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. C. 2 Chron. 20:20, Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. It works because it s not their word, it s His word & God hastens (watches His word) to perform it (Jer. 1:12). It will not return unto void but will accomplish what God pleases & prosper in the thing where He sent it (Is. 55:11) III. I believe God will send you a word in season, a word that changes lives, a word that can bless. The power of blessing only works when you honor the blessing sent to you by God. A. Sent one apostle. 1 Cor. 9:1-2, Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are not ye my work in the Lord? If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship is in you in the Lord. B. Honor each other. Jesus said, I was hungry & you didn t give me meat, thirsty drink, stranger take me in, naked clothe me, sick visit, prisoner come unto me. You didn t do it to least of these so you didn t do it unto me (Matt. 25). C. Ex. 28:1-3, And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. Gold, blue, purple, bell, pomegranate, 40, And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty. 41, And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office. The people made garments for the men that were going to bless them. The people s honor of them positioned them to be blessed by them. D. Num. 6:22, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto

3 thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them. E. Num. 22 Balak & Balaam I ll pay false prophet to curse. If you curse them I will defeat them. He couldn t. 23:20 I have received commandment to bless & I cannot reverse it. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought! Can t reverse it or take it back.

4 Stay in the Ship Part 35 (Partnership Part 16 Honor and Blessing 4) Acts 27:31, Matthew 10:40-42, Mark 6:1-6. I. Let me begin by reminding you that the church is a spiritual entity. I know it s made up of individuals & people sit in the seats & people sing the songs & people pray the prayers & people preach the sermons, but there is an unseen force behind it all. He s the vine branches. Apart from me ye can do nothing, but I can do all things through Christ A. You will struggle if you try to intellectualize the church, the things of God & the ways of God, no searching His understanding. His ways are higher His ways are past finding out. The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14). B. There are ethics, principles, & morals in this book love neighbor as yourself. Day to day applications like, if you want a friend friendly, just weights & measures, what you sow reap. But there are spiritual applications as well. I know we have the letter of the law but we also need the spirit of the law, the letter kills but the Spirit gives life. C. There are some things you don t have to understand to be involved in. I experienced this & the deeper in it I got the more I understood. As I ve gotten deeper into this I ve learned that being a Christian is about life, living, he that has the son has life, Jn. 3:16, for God so loved everlasting life. Jn 10:10 the thief life more abundantly. Rom. 6:22-23, But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. In Him we live & move Nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me II. This message is about activating the blessings of God. A. Prov. 26:2, the curse doesn t causeless come. We are the by-product of decisions & choices, both good & bad, Gal. 6:7-9, be not deceived God is not mocked what a man sows reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 1. I believe there are things we can do or sow to attract the miraculous. 2. I believe we can invite, invoke, initiate, & instigate the favor of God. The OT patriarchs believed in sowing a word. Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Rachel, Joseph. 3. The mind isn t gonna get this, it s not a natural concept, it s a spiritual concept, but we work it from the natural world. We live in 2 kingdoms, visible & invisible, seen & unseen, touchable & untouchable, physical & spiritual, temporal & eternal. What happens in the natural can affect the spiritual. 1 Cor. 15:44-46, It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. B. I believe in pronounced & spoken blessings. 2 Chron. 20:20, Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.

5 1. The key is not the delivery, but the reception. I can cook the meal but you gotta eat. I can drop off the mail but you have to read the letter. Parable of the sower, problem wasn t the sower or seed, but the soil. 2. Hebrews 4:2, For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it & that s why they didn t enter into His rest. III. The prophetic word may not always make sense. A. 2 Kings 6, Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver. And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son. And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day. He blamed the famine on Elisha. It s wasn t Elishas fault, this was sins fault, w/holds good things 1. Elisha was about to stop the famine & bring the FEAST. He was about to release a word into the atmosphere that would turn the famine around. 7:1, Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Who said it? Elisha. Whose word was it? Gods. Elisha was the field & the word was the treasure. Thus saith the LORD, Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour [be sold] for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. What is scarce & rare today will be in abundance & surplus tomorrow. 2. But remember you have to receive the prophet to get the blessing attached to the word he delivers from God. 7:2, Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? He is disrespecting the prophet, yea right. And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. B. While this is the story of a man that didn t receive the prophet, there was a widow that did, the widow of Zarephath. 1 Kings 17, there d been a 3 ½ year drought that caused famine & in midst of famine Vs 2-6, the word of the LORD came to Elijah saying, get thee hence & turn thee eastward & hide thyself by the brook Cherith that is before Jordan. And it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook; & I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went & did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went & dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning & bread & flesh in the evening & he drank of the brook.

6 1. Eventually vs 7 the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. And the word of the LORD came unto him saying, arise, get thee to Zarephath which belongeth to Zidon & dwell there: behold I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose & went to Zarephath. 2. How did he know when he found the right widow? Lk. 4:25, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah. God doesn t tell him which widow, no description. He uses call & response. He said, if you respond to my call the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruise of oil fail until the day that the LORD sends rain. She had to discern & decide if he was of God or not, if there is a treasure in the field. If he s of God she has to move because if she moves she gets fed & if she doesn t move when the man of God tells her to she starves & her & her son die. And she went & did according to the saying of Elijah: & she, & he, & her house did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah. Her obedience to the man of God sustained her family through the famine. 3. James, Elijah was a man of like passion. He prayed & it stopped raining for 3 ½ years but when he spoke it rained. It was Elijah s word. 1 Kings 17:1, Elijah said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel lives before whom I stand there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. C. Num 6:22, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them. Put, we read that when Israel was about to apply the blood of the Passover, put the blood on doorposts & upperpost, because when I see the blood Put means apply, place it where I can see it. Put my name on them & I will bless them. D. Num. 22:1, And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho. Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. And Moab sent messengers unto Balaam come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed. And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed :5, And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. 11, And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether. 12, And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD hath put in my mouth? 19, God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said 2. Vs 23, Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel. Can t reverse it or take it back.