LASTING HONOR

 

     This is our last message in the summer of the Psalms which is fitting knowing that Tuesday is fall.  I hope you have enjoyed these messages as much as I have enjoyed giving them to you.  In summary, Psalm 111 and 112 are written by Ezra.  They are acrostic psalms which means, they are the Hebrew Alphabet with a truth about God.  Psalm 111, is about who God is, and 112 is our response to God in lifestyle.  Remember true religion is action based.  You show your faith by what you do or it is vain.  There are four things we are going to learn today from these last two verses of Psalm 112.

 

 

1.      They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor.  Generosity is a mark of the follower of God.  God loves a generous and cheerful giver.  In Jesus’ society there were three cardinal rules of faith, prayer, fasting and alms.  Alms were the practical outgrowth of prayer and fasting.

 

a.       Jesus says when we do it to the least of these we are doing it unto Him.  Ezra has you are sowing seeds.  It is the law of the harvest  andwhen you sow you receive.  Ezra was also reminding them they had been in captivity for 70 years.  Now was their chance to redeem and touch others

b.      Ezra also didn’t want them to miss the blessing of giving to those who cannot give back to you.  .  Writers in the New Testament remind us that it is the responsibility and duty of the Christian to give especially when it is in our power to do so.  Remember everything you have belongs to God and must be available for His use. 

 

2.      Their righteousness endures forever.  It is the quality of being morally right or justifiable.  Choosing to be good, virtuousness, upright, decent and walking in integrity.  This is a sign of being connected with God.  This is who God is and who we should be. 

 

a.      This is a wonderful promise and we are building legacy.  Jesus said I go to prepare a place for us.  And where He is so we shall be.  What we do counts for eternity.  It also affects those after us. 

b.      Noah saved the human race, Abraham was the Father of many nations, Joseph saved his world, Moses delivered Israel from Egypt, Joshua conquered Canaan, David gave us Jesus, Solomon built a temple, Daniel gave us a glimpse in the future, Isaiah showed us Jesus, John the Baptist was a forerunner, Jesus the Messiah and Savior and Paul gave us the New Testament.  What is your contribution only you can craft your legacy?  In the Lord all things are possible.  Remember He can do more than you can ask or imagine. 

 

3.      Their horn will be lifted high in honor.  In the bible horn means power, glory, strength, royal authority, enabling power, honor, dignity, and dominion.  This means that those who follow the Lord will have true honor.  It means you will distinct, one of a kind. You will be given privileges by God.  You will have the characteristic and nature of God.

 

a.      You will have the congratulations and kudos from God.  You get to reign and ruler with Him and the prestige that comes from that.  It also means in your personal life and dealing with others you will a person of integrity and you will be same person in public as you are in private.  You will be honest, truthful, ethical, and moral.

b.      The rewards of the overcomers in Rev 2-3 are amazing.

 

1.      To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

2.      The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.

3.      To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.

4.      To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—  that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery, just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will also give that one the morning star.

5.      The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.

6.      The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.

7.      To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.  Now that is honor.

 

4.      The wicked will see and be vexed, they will gnash their teeth and waste away and the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.  Ezra closes with what happens to those who chose wickedness. 

 

a.      The greatest tragedy of the wicked is they miss the amazing of heaven and choose hell.  They miss eternal and abundant life and get a life full of ashes and broken dreams.  Ezra hits on a theme of Solomon when he says the fool chooses their own way.

b.      Pride, pleasure and possessions will always leave you hollow.  The book of Ecclesiastes is a testimony to this.  Vanity all is vanity.  What a contrast.  People choose momentary pleasure instead of the eternal.  Let this not be you and let us pray that it is not what happens to those we love.