Honoring the Son

Q: What does the Bible say about honoring the Son?

The Bible commands that all men should honor the Son as they honor the Father. John 5:23 explicitly states that all men should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. This profound statement emphasizes the deity of Christ and His equality with the Father. Honoring the Son is essential to honoring the Father; to deny the Son is to deny the Father also. In honoring Jesus, we are recognizing His divine nature and the central role He plays in our reconciliation with God.

Q: How do we know Jesus is equal to God?

Jesus manifested His equality with God through His words and actions, demonstrating His divine authority. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus made claims that established His equality with God, such as in John 10:30 where He states, 'I and my Father are one.' The reaction of the Jews to these statements, often filled with anger and attempts to stone Him, illustrates their understanding that He was claiming divinity. His miracles, fulfillment of prophecy, and ultimate resurrection manifest His divine nature and authority. Therefore, recognizing Jesus as God is fundamental to the Christian faith.

Q: Why is honoring Jesus important for Christians?

Honoring Jesus is vital for Christians as it affirms our relationship with the Father and our faith. For Christians, honoring Jesus is foundational because it reflects our acknowledgment of Him as our Savior and mediator. As stated in II John 9, anyone who does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. This underscores the necessity of recognizing Jesus as the way to the Father. When we honor Christ, we align ourselves with God's revelation of salvation, affirming His work and lordship in our lives. Hence, true worship and faith are rooted in our esteem and reverence for the Son.

Q: What does it mean that God was in Christ?

It means that Jesus is the embodiment of God, fully divine and fully human, reconciling the world to Himself. The phrase 'God was in Christ' signifies that Jesus is the physical manifestation of God's presence and work. In II Corinthians 5:19, we learn that through Christ, God reconciles the world to Himself, fulfilling the demands of His justice while offering grace. This doctrine confirms both the humanity and divinity of Jesus, meeting the requirements of the law and providing atonement for our sins. Understanding this is crucial to grasping the nature of salvation, which rests entirely upon Jesus's identity and work.

Q: How does honoring the Son affect our salvation?

Honoring the Son is essential for salvation, as it reflects our acceptance of His atoning work. Salvation hinges on our understanding and acceptance of who Jesus is. When we honor the Son, we accept His role as our Savior and recognize that He is the only path to reconciliation with God, as affirmed in John 14:6. By rejecting or dishonoring Christ, one denies the truth of the Gospel and the witness God has provided regarding His Son. Therefore, acknowledging the Son's authority and work is vital for experiencing the grace and mercy of our Lord.

If you want to, you can open
your Bibles with me to the book of John. I'm going to be speaking
today from the fifth chapter of John. This is a powerful portion
of the Word, John chapter 5. Throughout this fifth chapter
of John, the Lord Jesus Christ reveals His greatness and deity
and eternality and power and just so many things about Himself.
In verse 23 he says this, in John 5 verse 23, and this is
my text and my subject today, that all men should honor the
Son. All men should honor the Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now watch this, even as they
honor the Father, in the same way, If you look at the verses
above it, these Jews got angry with him because he made himself
equal with God. And again, in John chapter 6,
they took up stones to stone him because he said, I and my
father are one. And they took up stones to stone
him. And he said, many good works have I done among you. For which
of these do you stone me? They said, we're not stoning
you because you do a good work. We're stoning you because you're
a man and you claim to be equal with God. And he says here, all men should
honor the Son even as they honor the Father. And he that honoreth
not the Son with full honors and full glory and full worship
honoreth not the Father who sent him. Now in this fifth chapter,
and I'm going back just a little bit, in this fifth chapter, Our
Lord Jesus came to the pool called Bethesda. And there was a man,
most of you know this story, but let me tell it again. There
was a man lying there on a makeshift bed, a portable bed that somebody
took along for him. And he was lying there on this
bed, lame. He'd been lying on this bed for 38 years. He'd been
lame for 38 years. Think what condition he was in
after 38 years of lying immobile, lame. And the Lord Jesus looked
at him and asked him this question. He said, Will you be made whole? And he replied, I have no one
to help me. Now, there was a tradition that
an angel came down at a certain time and troubled the water.
And the first one in the water, after the angel visited the water,
was made whole. And he said, I don't have anyone
to help me. I'm a lame man. I lie on this bed. Been here
for nearly 40 years. And I've got no one to help me.
And by the time I do get down, someone's already beat me to
the water. And our Lord said to him, rise. Rise. Take up your bed and walk. And
the scripture says immediately he was made whole and took up
his bed on his back, his legs so strengthened, so empowered
by the Lord Jesus Christ that he took up his bed and walked
carrying that bed on his shoulders. And here's a significant statement,
and it was the Jewish Sabbath day. It was the Sabbath day. So down the street he goes carrying
this bed, leaping and praising God, rejoicing, and everybody
pointing to him and calling attention to him. Everybody knew him. He'd
been lying there for 38 years by that pool. And these Jews,
he met some of the religious fellows, the Jews from the synagogue,
and they saw him carrying his bed. Some of these religious
Pharisees, they saw him carrying his bed. And instead of marveling
at the great miracle, Here's a lame man, made whole, carrying
his bed. They said, it's not lawful for
you to carry your bed on the Sabbath day. Their traditions
were more important to them than this man and his happiness or
health. They didn't want him violating
their religious traditions. They would defend them at any
cost. It's not lawful for you to carry your bed on the Sabbath
day. And he replied, and this is what I want you to see. He
replied. He talked back to these fellas.
He said, he that made me whole, the same said to me, take up
your bed and walk. I'm carrying this bed because
he told me to. He that made me whole. This is
what he's saying, he that loved me, and carried for me when no
one else did in my weakness and infirmity. He told me to carry
this bed. He that came to me in my need
when no one else could help me, He told me to carry this bed.
He that spoke to me in power and grace, He told me to carry
this bed and to walk. He that by His mercy made me
whole, He told me to carry this bed. He that gave me the power
to walk. He said to me, you take up your
bed and walk. And I intend to do what He says. I intend to obey His words. I
take my orders from Him. And if what He says conflicts
with what you think or what anybody thinks, then it makes no difference. I believe that He's the Son of
God and His Word is my law. And that's what I'm saying. Honor
the Son. Whatever the cost, whomever the
opponent, honor the Son. He that made me whole told me
to take up my bed and walk. And I intend to do what He says. Now, my friends, I want you to
consider five scriptures here. There's no conflict here with
the Father. There's no danger we're going to give too much
glory to the Son of God, too much glory to Jesus Christ. There's
no way we're going to rob God the Father of any glory by giving
glory to the Son. Honor the Son as you honor the
Father. That's what this scripture says
here, that all men should honor the Son even as they honor the
Father. If you honor the Son, you do
honor the Father. Our Lord prayed that way. He
said, Father, glorify me with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was. So when you honor the son, as
you honor the father, you're not robbing honor from the father,
you're giving honor to the father. Actually, he said, he that honors
not the son honors not the father. You can't give Christ too much
glory. You can't praise Him adequately. There's no way that your tongue
could ever praise Him like He ought to be praised. Or you could
think thoughts too highly for Christ. Or you could exalt or
magnify His name. God's given Him a name above
every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow.
Listen to this scripture, John 15, 23. He that hateth the Son,
hateth the Father. You have low thoughts about Christ, then you have low thoughts of
God. He that hateth the Son hateth the Father also. Listen to I
John 2, 23. Whosoever denieth the Son, the
same hath not the Father. When a person puts doubts on
Christ, he puts doubts on the Father. He that denieth the Son
and denieth his deity and eternality and incarnation and sacrificial
work. He hath not the Father. He does
not know the Father. No man knows the Father but the
Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him. I'm telling you the
truth. Listen to I John 5, 10. Listen carefully to this scripture.
He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself.
And he that believeth not the Son of God hath made God a liar. because he does not believe the
record God gave of his son. When I, when a person, whether
it's this preacher or whomever, when I put doubts on Christ,
question Christ's effectual atonement, person, work, whatever about
it, when I don't believe in Christ, I'm calling God a liar. because
I'm not believing what God said about Christ. It's God who said
it, not you or me. In II John 9, listen, Whosoever
transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Jesus Christ
hath not God. He said, I know preachers who
preach God and they don't preach Christ. They don't preach the
true God either. Well, I know people who believe
that salvation's in a church, or salvation's in the Virgin
Mary, or salvation's in works, or salvation's in Muhammad, or
salvation's in Confucius, or salvation's in somebody else,
or salvation's in family ties or heritage. And they talk about
God the Father, but they don't give any glory to Jesus Christ.
Whosoever abides not in the doctrine of Jesus Christ, the doctrine
of His eternality, His covenant mercies, His incarnation, His
righteousness, His death on the cross, His burial, His resurrection,
His exaltation, His second coming. If a man does not abide in the
doctrine of Jesus Christ, he hath not God. He does not know
God because he does not believe the record God gave of His Son. He's made God a liar. And the
God he's talking about is not the God and Father of Jesus Christ.
He's not the God of creation. He's not the God of the Bible.
He's another God. We may as well take Jehorakim's
penknife and design our own God, because we're not talking about
the living God. Listen, in II John 9, he that abides in the
doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. The way
to know God is to know Christ. The way to worship God is to
worship Christ. The way to believe God is to believe Christ. That's
right. What do you think of this? Listen
to this scripture. Tell me what you think of this
scripture. Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6. Under us a child is
born, under us a son is given. What is that? A child is born,
a son is given. A child, man-child, a son, a
child of earth, a son from heaven. That's the Lord Jesus Christ
who is man and God, who's son of man, son of God. And the government
shall be on his shoulders. And his name, what's the name
of this man child? What's the name of this son of
man, son of God? What's the name of this child
and son who was given? Child born, son sent. His name
is wonderful, secret. His name is Counselor. His name
is the Mighty God. His name is the Everlasting Father. His name is the Prince of Peace.
His name is Emmanuel, God with us. Whosoever transgresseth and
abides not in the doctrine of Christ. And don't be afraid of
the word doctrine. It's the teachings of Christ.
It's the character of Christ. It's the truth of Christ. It's
the revelation of Christ. It's the record of Christ. That's
all. The doctrine of Christ is the truth about Him. And if we
don't abide in Him and in the doctrine of Christ, you have
not God. And he that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ has the Father and the Son. Listen to the Father. Listen to Him. Unto the Son the
Father saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever. Let the holy angels
of God all worship Him. That's the Father speaking. That's
the God of heaven and earth speaking about His Son. Unto the Son the
Father sayeth. God sayeth to the Son, Thy throne,
O God. There's just one God is forever. And let my holy angels worship. You don't worship anybody but
God. Well, you worship Christ because He is God. And the apostles
went up on the mountain, Peter, James, and John, with Jesus Christ. They went up on the mountain
with him. And the scripture says that Moses, God brought Moses
back from the dead. And God brought Elijah back from
heaven. And they sat there and talked.
The disciples saw Moses representing the law and Elijah representing
the prophets sitting there talking with Jesus of Nazareth. And they
talked about, what did they talk about? They talked about His
death. This was the summit meeting of all summits. The Law, the
Prophets, and the Son of God, who is, to whom the Law and Prophets
bear witness. And they talked about His death.
And in a moment, Moses was gone, and Elijah was gone, and Christ
was the only one there, and the glory of God glistened upon Him. His clothes glistened, the Scripture
says. And a voice from heaven came
and said, Now, this is my son. Hear ye him. We want to listen
to the prophets. We want to listen to the law.
No, you listen to him. God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake to our fathers by the prophets, by the
law, hath in these last days spoken by his sons. You hear
him. Hear him. What I'm saying is
this. What our Lord taught the disciples is this, I and my Father
are one. One of them said to him, well,
just show us the Father. Show us the Father, we'll be
satisfied. He said, have I been so long time with you and you
don't know me. He that had seen me had seen
the Father. I and my Father are one. And
so my friends, without reservation, without hesitation, without apology,
without fear, I boldly declare unto all of you who will hear
me that Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus born in Bethlehem,
Jesus who walked this earth and died on the cross, Jesus the
Christ is none other than God Almighty in human flesh who came
to this earth to redeem a people for his glory and for his kingdom.
And there's no controversy about it. That's what the Bible teaches. That's what the Word of God teaches.
That's the truth. If you don't believe that, just
take your Bible and right now throw it out the window or set
it on fire because there's no way for any human being to know
Almighty God except in Christ. He's the only revelation of God
in human flesh. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. That's right. I'm telling you
the truth. God's appointed a day in which He's going to judge
this world by that man, Jesus Christ. People talk about going
to the judgment, going to the judgment, going to the judgment.
God the Father judges no man. He's committed all judgment to
the Son. Judgment will be based upon who
He is, what He did, why He did it, and where He is now. Judgment's
going to be based entirely on how you honor the Son and how
I honor the Son. And I can stand up here and brag
on you, and you can brag on me, and we can brag on each other.
And we can talk about our great denominations, and our great
programs, and our great buildings, and our great this, great that,
and great the other. The only thing great in this world is
Jesus Christ. God's going to honor the Son.
And that judgment, that whole judgment, everything about it,
is not going to be how many watermelons you stole, or if you stole more
watermelons than somebody else, or how many this, that, and the
other sins you did or committed. What think ye of Christ? Whose
Son is He? Do you have a Mediator? a redeemer? Do you have a justifier? Do you
have an advocate? Do you have an intercessor? Do
you have a sin offering? Do you have someone to put away
your guilt? That's right. Our hope of participation
in that kingdom and to be among those people out of every tribe,
kindred, nation, and tongue unto heaven is to believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, to receive Him in our hearts, to honor the Son,
to bow to the Son, and know the Son, to have Him call my name,
to know me. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe in your heart God raised Him
from the dead, God made Him Lord and Christ, thou shalt be saved.
Honor the Son. Honor the Son. Now then, take
your Bibles and turn to II Corinthians 5. I want you to look at a scripture.
I'll spend the last few minutes of this telecast on this scripture
here. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 18. Now, let's look at it together.
Very clear, very plain, very necessary. Number one, all things
are of God. All things in creation, all things
in providence, all things in salvation are of God. See that? 2 Corinthians 5, verse
18. Now what's the next line? Who
hath reconciled us, who hath brought us back into fellowship,
who hath drawn us back who went astray, who hath forgiven all
our iniquities. He hath reconciled us. He hath
destroyed the enmity between us and himself, between himself
and us. He hath reconciled us under himself. He hath accepted us under himself. How? By Jesus Christ. By Jesus
Christ. Not by some water they put on
my head when I was an infant. Not by some promises I made at
a rededication. Not by some commitments I made
at a revival meeting. By Jesus Christ. You see, God's
holy and we're sinners. And God came to this world in
Christ and lived for us that he might impute to us a perfect
holiness and died for us that he might put away our sins. He
hath reconciled us to himself, not by our act, but by an act
of Christ, not by our works, but by a work of Christ, by Jesus
Christ. Now then, and look at the next
line, and he hath given to us, he hath given to us this gospel,
this word of reconciliation, this good news of reconciliation. What is the good news? What is
the gospel? What is the testimony? What is
the witness? It's namely, look at verse 19,
Namely, to wit means namely, that God was in Christ. This
is what I've been saying through this whole broadcast. God was
in Christ. When He was born in Bethlehem,
God was born in human flesh. When He walked this earth, it
was God. Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit. seen of the angels, preached
to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into
glory. God was. This is God. That's
right. He hath given us this gospel
of reconciliation, namely, that Almighty God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto Himself. God was in Christ satisfying
His own law, honoring His own commandments, doing His own will. glorifying His own commandments,
honoring His own justice, dying to satisfy His own requirements. God was in Christ. You see, He's
the only one that could honor His law. He had to be made of
a woman and made under the law because He's the only one who
could honor the law. What the law could not do because
it was weak in the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh, condemned sin in the flesh. I tell you, and let me say this
carefully and you listen, you who won't bow to Christ or consider
Christ Jesus or honor Christ Jesus or believe Christ Jesus
or receive Him as your substitute, who's going to honor the law
for you? It has to be honored. Who's going to obey God's commandments
for you? They have to be obeyed. Who's
going to bear the judgment and justice of God for you? It has
to be born. No one else can do it. God was
in Christ honoring his law for those who believe, satisfying
his justice. God did it. He's the only one
who can keep his law. He's the only one who can satisfy
his justice. How could one man suffer for
so many because of who he is? He's God. Listen, not imputing their trespasses
to them. He didn't... The word impute
is charging. You ever gone down to the store
and bought something and said, charge that to me. That's put it on
my account. I'll pay for it. Boy, you don't
want sin put on your account because you can't pay for it.
You ever bought something you couldn't pay for? Boy, it'll
put you in the pit on it. I overextended my plastic card. I overextended my credit. I just
can't pay. I'm sorry. I'm taking bankruptcy."
Well, you take spiritual bankruptcy, you've gone to hell. And that's
what we've done. We've overextended. I can't pay. I cannot pay. So God didn't charge
it to me. He charged it to Christ. He can
pay. He can pay. His blood can make... He came
to save the chief of sinners. He's able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by Him. He's able to pay any debt. You
can't overextend credit with Christ Jesus. There's no sin
that He can't put away. None. Charge it to me. Not imputing their trespasses
unto them, but charging them to Christ. And let me tell you,
He paid it all, all the debt I owe. Sin left her crimson stain. He washed her white as snow.
And he hath committed to us this gospel. This gospel. God calls and sends preachers
to preach this gospel. Some of them dare to do it. Some
of them are bold enough to do it. Some of them are consecrated
and dedicated enough to do it. Some of them don't care for the
things of this world, and they want to honor God, and they're
going to preach this gospel, whatever. They're going to dare
to do it. He's committed to me this gospel,
Paul said. I'm an ambassador of Jesus Christ.
As though God did beseech you by me. Who's speaking? Well,
Mahan's speaking. Well, that's only half of it. If Mahan's telling the truth,
God's speaking. If Mahan's preaching the Bible,
he's not the only one speaking. God's speaking. Because we are
ambassadors of Christ. As though God did beseech you
by us. How else is God gonna speak to
you if He doesn't speak through a man? Be ye reconciled to God. What's He saying? Lay down your
shotgun. Put down your sword. Stack your
arms. Surrender. Bow to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Be reconciled to God. There's
no other name given among men whereby we must be saved. Now
watch this last verse. Three people. He hath made him
to be seen for us. He, the Father, hath made Him,
the Son, to be seen, to be a sacrifice for sin for us. Here's three
people that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. That's the gospel. And He that
honoreth the Son honoreth the Father. And the person who sits
there wherever you're listening to this telecast, at whatever
time, and sits there and says, that's, it's not I'm right, it's
the gospel's right, the scriptures are right, God is right, the
truth is right. What that man is saying is so.
I'm a sinner, God's holy, and the only one who can take care
of my sins and put away my guilt and reconcile me to God and restore
my soul is the Lord Jesus Christ, because He, the Father, hath
made him. He was made flesh and dwelt among
us. He made him to be seen for us. In order that we might be made
the holiness of God, of God in him. Honor the Son. All right, get
this message. God will provide on one side,
honor the Son on the other. Send two dollars. Here's the
address. Till next week, God bless you.

Honoring the Son

What does the Bible say about honoring the Son?

How do we know Jesus is equal to God?

Why is honoring Jesus important for Christians?

What does it mean that God was in Christ?

How does honoring the Son affect our salvation?

Sermon Transcript

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Honoring the Son

What does the Bible say about honoring the Son?

How do we know Jesus is equal to God?

Why is honoring Jesus important for Christians?

What does it mean that God was in Christ?

How does honoring the Son affect our salvation?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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