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Announcer (00:00:00): Think about the Bible like you never have before. You are listening to Christian Questions. Experience more episodes, videos and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com. Our topic is, "Have We Lost Our Ability to Honor One Another?" Technology puts watching and learning about the entire world in the palm of your hand. Before we talk about how awesome this is, let's think for a moment about what's missing. Have you noticed how honor and respect for others seems to be drowned out by opinion and anger? What do we do now? Here's Rick, Jonathan and Julie.

Rick (00:00:36): Welcome everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Jonathan, my co-host for over 25 years. Julie, a longtime contributor, is also with us. Jonathan, what's our theme scripture for this episode?

Jonathan (00:00:47): Romans 12:9-10: "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor."

Rick (00:01:01): Our society is in trouble. In many ways it seems we've lost our way, and we no longer have a general sense of societal respect. Maybe it's just me, but when I was a kid, I was clearly shown the importance of valuing others. We were taught to respect those in charge, respect those who enforced the law and kept order. We were taught to have high esteem for parents and educators. We were taught to appreciate and value all who did whatever their part was, be it big or small. Now--now it seems that we're taught respect should be demanded from others and not given. Our go-to approach encourages disrespecting and demeaning any who don't fit into our personal perceptions of how we think life should look. Interestingly, the Bible has a lot to say about how honor and respect should work. As we open up this subject, what we want to look at is the heights to which honor and respect should be able to rise in our lives, not look at it as something that I demand for myself. It's a whole different thing when we look at it scripturally. In very few words, our theme scriptures set a baseline for the respect that we as Christians should show. Let's go over those two scriptures again and just pull a few things out of them. Romans 12:9-10:

Jonathan (00:02:28): "Let love be without hypocrisy."

Julie (00:02:31): Our selfless love must be pure and genuine.

Jonathan (00:02:34): "Abhor what is evil;

Julie (00:02:35): Detest that which is hurtful or of evil influence.

Jonathan (00:02:39): "Cling to what is good."

Julie (00:02:41): Glue yourself to that which is excellent, upright, honorable.

Jonathan (00:02:44): "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love;"

Julie (00:02:48): Cherish each other with fraternal affection.

Jonathan (00:02:51): "Give preference to one another in honor."

Julie (00:02:53): Lead the way in giving value and esteem to one another. These are short little phrases, like Proverbs, for us to stop, pause, and consider. They're like little profound pieces of direction.

Jonathan (00:03:04): The entire 12th chapter of Romans gives wonderful instruction on how to have a happy Christian life.

Rick (00:03:12): Isn't that what we want? We want to have a happy Christian life. It really does come down to honor. This is a big part of a happy Christian life. The word for "honor" in this scripture is a very powerful word. When we examine how it's used in the New Testament, we find profound instruction for our treatment of one another. To gain the full impact of this, we want to first establish what the word for "honor" means, and then, and then we want to invest some time into grasping what its root word is all about. We've got some digging to do here to put things in perspective.

Jonathan (00:03:49): Well, in the New Testament, the verb "to honor" means "to prize; fix evaluation upon; to revere." The noun form of "honor" means "a value, that is money paid, valuables; esteem in the highest degree." The Greek-English Lexicon adds, "the honor which one has by reason of rank and state of office which he holds; deference, reverence."

Julie (00:04:14): This ought to be interesting to consider what society esteems in the highest degree versus what God deems as actual value. The root word for "honor" is an adjective. It means "valuable, costly, beloved, as of a great price, precious, esteemed, especially dear."

Rick (00:04:32): We've got that root word that comes from this word that essentially means "to revere." We want to look at the root word because it's going to give us a whole lot to base this kind of revering of one another upon once we see it work. This root word is used only twice in relation to any individual in scripture, and we'll touch on one of these examples first. Then we're going to look into several profound examples of this word for "honor" in relation to things of great value. We're going to be focusing on things of great value. As we review these things, let's keep following this one basic question. There's one basic question we want to keep in mind. Julie, what is this question?

Julie (00:05:16): Well, I'm going to keep asking you, "How highly do I esteem _______?" We're going to go into these various examples. How highly do I esteem these things? Let's listen closely.

Rick (00:05:25): Alright. How highly do I esteem these things? What things? First example is the high-level value of reputation; reputation. At the time of the early church, when it was just beginning to develop through great works and miracles (and these works and miracles were especially through the Apostle Peter), the Pharisee Gamaliel's reputation proved absolutely critical in one very pivotal experience. Let's take a look at the reputation of Gamaliel in this particular circumstance. Jonathan, we're going to go to Acts 5:12:

Jonathan (00:06:04): Gamaliel is considered to be one of the greatest teachers of Judaism of all time: "At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico."

Julie (00:06:19): That's his porch. Miracles and healings were happening everywhere. Crowds were bringing sick people on cots into the street just so that Peter's shadow could heal them as he walked by. More and more people believed. There's a lot of excitement in the air.

Jonathan (00:06:34): Continuing in Acts 5:17-18: "But the high priest rose up, along with all his associates (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy. They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail." Here they are doing all these wonderful things for the people, and they get thrown in jail?

Julie (00:06:55): It's incredible. The Pharisees and Sadducees, they're normally at odds, but the one thing they agreed on was that Jesus and his followers had to be stopped. This was a continuation of their hatred and jealousy of Jesus, who they just put to death in order to keep the status quo with the Roman government and their own power and influence over the Jewish people. They were jealous about the attention Peter and the apostles were getting. In effect, they were taking business away from them.

Rick (00:07:22): Yeah, sure. Make it a business thing. That's where this breaks down. When we look at the concept of honor and respect and revering, it is not competition that we should be seeing. You see goodness happening amongst the people and you decide you need to stop it because the goodness isn't coming from the source that you want it to. I mean, let's put it in order. Call it what it is. So, they put him in jail. Here's what happens. During the night, an angel comes and frees the apostles from the jail, and the angel tells them, I want you in the morning out there preaching. Do not stop. Do not miss a beat. Keep going. Do what you are called to do. Let's go to Acts 5:21:

Jonathan (00:08:11): "Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest and his associates came, they called the Council together, even all the Senate of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the prison house for them to be brought." Now, "the Council" was called the Sanhedrin, made up of 70 men and a high priest, like their Supreme Court. The alarm was sounded, and they were going to put a stop to this once and for all.

Julie (00:08:41): Yeah, they sent for Peter and the other apostles at the jail. But they found out that somehow, oops, they got out and they were again preaching. They're furious. They bring the apostles in to address the Council personally, and the high priest asks them, "Didn't we tell you never again to teach in Jesus' name? Instead, you filled all of Jerusalem with his teachings and want to blame us for his death!" Isn't that ironic? Peter calmly explains, "We must obey God rather than human authority..." (Acts 5:29). He goes on to explain that God raised Jesus from the dead and they were witnesses. Here he is preaching, and they weren't going to stop.

Rick (00:09:19): Yeah. It's interesting. He not only preaches to the public, but those who are trying to put him to death, he's preaching to them too. He can't help himself! This is Peter with God's spirit working in him. You see the tremendous difference and the tremendous focus that he has here. Now what happens? Peter has essentially stood before their Supreme Court, if you will, and embarrassed them all because he won't stop. Here's what happens now. Acts 5:33-34:

Jonathan (00:09:50): The high council didn't take this very well. "But when they heard this, they were cut to the quick and intended to kill them. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time." That word "respected" is the same root word for "honor," meaning "beloved, precious, esteemed, especially dear."

Rick (00:10:16): You have his respected, his revered reputation, and he speaks from that place. He basically says, take these men out of the room. We have to talk without them. We've got to have a private conversation. When Gamaliel speaks, they listen because they revere him. This is the kind of honor that we're talking about here. Gamaliel explains that there had been similar disruptions of the peace in the past, and with each of those disruptors, you know what happened, he said? They all faded away. It always died out. It always died out. It always died out. He's reasoning through this. You notice he's the one who's not reacting. He's not emotional, he's not outside of himself. He is thinking through this, and this is why his reputation was so highly revered. What happens as a result of what Gamaliel says? Acts 5:38-40:

Jonathan (00:11:13): "So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God. They took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them."

Julie (00:11:40): They couldn't help themselves, could they?

Rick (00:11:42): Well, but they released them. Why? They released them not because it was what they wanted to do. They released them because they honored and revered the reputation of Gamaliel. We talk about the Pharisees a lot and it's generally never a good thing. But Gamaliel is showing us a high level of maturity, at looking at this and saying, we shouldn't be doing this. We need to be better than this. Because if this is of God, then we will be guilty of fighting against God, and that's not where we want to be. The first example here of this high reputation, this honored reputation, really sets the context of what honor we're talking about. Something that you look up to, it's different, it's higher, it's better. Let's wrap this up. Respecting what truly has value--Jonathan, what do we have?

Jonathan (00:12:42): Gamaliel was a Pharisee and his reputation among his peers was highly valued. In a very tenuous moment, his opinion was esteemed enough to curtail a wave of anger that was pounding its way towards a murderous end. Let's consider and respect the life-changing value of a well-thought-out and principle-driven approach.

Julie (00:13:04): Here's that esteem question for us now: How highly do I esteem a principled reputation? Now here, the uniquely prized reputation of Gamaliel stopped a heinous sin amongst the elite of Israel. He was honored, so people were willing to listen and learn.

Rick (00:13:19): Now see what happens with social media is we don't think about esteemed reputation. We think about saying what we want to say. You see the tremendous difference, the power and influence of that esteemed reputation for good versus the emotional reaction for whatever end comes from an emotional reaction, which incidentally, generally isn't very good. In a world that tends to minimize the value of a sound and principled approach, let's pause and consider before jumping to conclusions.

Jonathan (00:13:53): The extreme value of things that are honorable is now beginning to be unlocked. What other examples do we have?

Rick (00:14:02): The New Testament gives us several examples of things that deserve our appreciation and respect. Interestingly, some of these examples are from the natural world around us. As we unfold these natural examples, we want to take note as to how they are always in Scripture, always used to show us higher and more enduring spiritual value. The key here is to look at these things that are talked about using this word "to revere," the root word for honor. We want to see it as something that sets whatever it is we're talking about apart from everything else. Our first view of this after this high reputation is the high-level value of nature's bounty. Nature's bounty--you say, well, what is what? Where are we talking about? Well, let's look at James 5:7:

Jonathan (00:15:03): "Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil..." Let me pause there. "Precious" here is the same root word for "honor" that was described by Gamaliel. Continuing: "...being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains." What the farmer grows sustains life. Successfully growing crops is a unique combination of work, observation, patience and timing.

Julie (00:15:33): This phrase "precious produce of the soil"--I'd never seen that before. The King James version calls it "the precious fruit of the earth." Back then in places around the world now, people lived and literally died by the success or failure of their crops. There was an extreme connection to the soil. For the most part, our modern society has lost touch where our food comes from. I mean, here in the United States we walk into a grocery store and pick out unlimited fruits and vegetables in season, out of season, imported from all over the globe. When is the last time our prayers included specific thankfulness for "the precious produce of the soil?" Okay, crops are precious, they're honored. What's the spiritual lesson in this?

Rick (00:16:16): That really, as we will see, is always the point. Whenever this word "precious" is introduced in Scripture in the New Testament, it brings us to something higher. It shows us something of the earth that is precious is incredibly valuable. But where do we go from there? Well, let's continue with James. This is James 5:8-11:

Jonathan (00:16:40): "You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the judge is standing right at the door. As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful."

Rick (00:17:11): You can see that James is feeling the effort that the farmer puts in to raising the crops. He's feeling the effort because he says, "You too, just like them, you too be patient and strengthen your hearts." You know the patience of Job. He's saying this example should motivate you because they work hard. So should you on a spiritual level. James is telling us to put the patient effort into growing of our characters that a farmer puts into the growing of life-sustaining crops. Our spiritual lives being cultivated to maturity so they can be crystallized in Christ are every bit as precious as the life-sustaining harvest of the fields. That's a very powerful comparison and lesson in regard to honor.

Jonathan (00:18:04): That's great picture language. I'm very visual, and it's amazing how that really jumped out.

Julie (00:18:09): Yeah, I never realized. What's produced in us is even more valuable, it's even more precious, more honored than the life-sustaining food we grow and eat.

Rick (00:18:18): It is, and we need to put this all in order. We need to understand it to say, "Hey, I need to pause and consider." Because If the Scriptures tell us to honor something, we need to follow that example and then we can see where to go from there.

Jonathan (00:18:34): Let's look at another analogy about growing, sowing, reaping and patience. Galatians 6:7-10: "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of faith."

Julie (00:19:13): Sowing and reaping--I like these simple-to-understand analogies. They use the natural world to reflect the higher lesson. The things of this world can connect our thinking to the things of the spirit. That's the point of this lesson.

Rick (00:19:25): The point is to look at that which is precious and say it is precious on an earthly level, and we need to have esteem for that. Then let us see the lesson growing out of it. Jonathan, respecting what has true truly high value--where are we now?

Jonathan (00:19:44): Sometimes we overlook the extraordinary value of those things that for many of us are just there. The amazing process of growing life-sustaining food is to be highly appreciated. Even more so, we need to revere the process and results of cultivating Christlikeness. We are to cultivate, navigate and patiently wait for God's bounty to flourish.

Julie (00:20:10): Let's ask our question: How highly do I esteem the cultivation of nature's bounty that pictures our maturity in Christ? We think back to Adam who was told to cultivate the Garden of Eden. That was a precious responsibility, but our maturity in Christ is really where that should bring us to.

Rick (00:20:29): But see, the interesting thing about that, I'm glad you brought that up, is because the cultivating of the Garden was one of the very first commands given to humankind. This is why we look at this with such great honor and respect. The Scriptures keep that held up in high esteem as we should. What the New Testament does is says, let's build upon that with your spiritual growth, your spiritual development. Honor that which you see so you can honor that which can develop within you. That's what it's saying. It's a connection to raise us higher. We've got the value of reputation, the value of crops, of nature's bounty. The next high-level value is that of precious stones. This value comes from the rarity and enduring beauty of these stones. There are several scriptures that use this word to describe stones, vessels, and gold.

Julie (00:21:26): We're going to look at 1 Corinthians. Now in context, we're going to talk about when the Apostle Paul was trying to mend divisions between the Corinthian brethren. They were exalting one leader over another. They were pledging loyalty to who they were following.

Jonathan (00:21:38): They were spiritually immature. Let's look at 1 Corinthians 3:5-14, reading until verse 9: "What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building."

Julie (00:22:19): Here's a farming reference again. Each of the servants did the work, but it was God who caused the seed to grow. Who does the planting or watering isn't important. I like how it says, so then the one who plants, no, the one who waters is anything. They're kind of arguing over two nothings, yet it's God they should have been focused on.

Rick (00:22:40): Yeah.

Jonathan (00:22:40): Exactly. Now, the servant of Jesus is there to reflect God, not steal the light and take credit for someone's spiritual growth. This is hitting home for me. I need to look in the mirror and ask, "Am I growing, am maturing or am I stagnant and comfortable in Christ?" To be honest, I have work to do.

Rick (00:23:01): Yeah, when we get comfortable, it means that we have stopped the striving on the level that we had previously been striving. Now look, it's okay to have some comfort, but it's also important to realize that moving higher, this idea of precious stones, which we're going to be getting to in a moment, is going to help us understand the value of the work that has to be put in. We have this 1 Corinthians 3 scripture and we read 5-9. The value of crop cultivation, as you said, Julie, Paul uses and focuses the brotherhood on the incredible privilege of each of us having opportunity to build upon the foundation of Jesus and his example. He goes back to that and then things begin to change.

Jonathan (00:23:47): The analogy now moves from farming to building. Listen for the word "precious," the adjective meaning "highly esteemed." Continuing with verse 10: "According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward." The Christian is God's building or structure. Jesus is our foundation, and our building materials are likened to gold, silver and precious stones or the very temporary wood, hay and straw.

Rick (00:24:54): The idea is you've got "gold and silver" and then these "precious stones." Gold and silver are inherently valuable because they've already been through a purification process. They're not called gold and silver until they're purified, until they're recognizable. But stones, stones that are precious are not obvious. They need to be found, they need to be cut, they need to be polished, they need to be put in a place of honor and respect. The fact that they're presented with the gold and silver shows the high-level category that they belong in. When you say precious stones, you're not saying, "Oh look, I found a stone on the beach." No, you're talking about something that has had an amazing amount of work go into it to give you something that is very remarkably appreciated.

Julie (00:25:46): Yeah, I'm excited to talk about the jewelry portion of this episode! I can assure you, you don't just find a diamond fully polished, ready to put into a ring. When they're found in nature, they're just a clear stone, sometimes with a yellow or brown hue. They're kind of ugly, and they need to be cut and polished by a master gem cutter. We use the phrase "a diamond in the rough" to describe someone who has exceptional qualities but lacks refinement or polish.

Jonathan (00:26:12): I can't believe we're talking about bling on Christian Questions.

Rick (00:26:16): Oh, okay, bling. Let's "bling" it to a higher level, shall we then?

Jonathan (00:26:21): But seriously, what we're saying is we need shiny facets of Christlike character so that God's light can shine from us.

Rick (00:26:30): That's the point. That's the point of precious stones. Not ordinary--precious--intimating the work that has gone into them. Paul likens these precious stones to necessary ingredients in our building our lives in Christ. Perhaps they allude to--perhaps, and it's a thought here. The gold perhaps means divine truth. The silver perhaps is focusing us on a justified life in Christ. Precious stones are perhaps our Christlike character. You put all of these things together so that you have something of incredible value. But it's not just stones, it's "precious stones," something that you look at as different than everything else. Let's go to a companion scripture in 1 Peter 1:3-7:

Jonathan (00:27:20): "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again (or begotten) to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

Julie (00:28:10): Just how precious is gold? One characteristic of being precious or honored is being rare. If it's precious, it's not regular. According to the World Gold Council, as of this month, February, 2024, it said "The best estimates currently available suggest that around 212,000 (212,852) tons of gold have been mined throughout history...if every single ounce of this gold were placed next to each other, the resulting cube of pure gold would only measure around 22 meters on each side." That's about 72 square feet cubed. That's it. That's the length of two school buses. That's 72 feet. It's about the height of a seven-story building. There's not much gold. It's precious.

Jonathan (00:28:55): The trials we have that prove our faith are more precious than gold that is esteemed so highly in the world. We are connected to something much, much higher.

Rick (00:29:07): In the first scripture, it talked about using the building materials of gold, silver, and precious stones. We look at those things as pictures of spiritual things. In this scripture it's saying that the trial of our faith is more precious than those things that we're building with. You've got to understand the depth that the scriptures are saying. Look at these things that you look at and say, how expensive, how beautiful, how much respect we give. How we oftentimes long to have possession of these things, and yet the trial of your faith, those simple difficulties that you may have in your life, are more precious, more reverential, more honorable than those things. Jonathan, respecting what has truly high value, where are we?

Jonathan (00:30:02): Precious stones are present in nature but rarely recognizable in their natural form. Once discovered and mined and cut and polished, they are enduring symbols of nature's hidden beauty. Spiritually, we are the same, as we need to be called, developed and refined to be able to be recognized as precious in the hand of God.

Julie (00:30:26): Let's ask our question: How highly do I esteem gold and precious stones and all they've come to symbolize? Do we stop and appreciate the physical beauty but then make the connection to higher spiritual things?

Rick (00:30:39): That's the key. There is wonderful physical beauty, and the idea is to be able to look at that with honor and respect. But for the Christian, the idea is to look at that with honor and respect and say, "Oh wait a minute. There's something even higher, something even stronger, something even more desirable, and that is Christlikeness." There's a fundamental simplicity in how the New Testament helps us focus on the enduring beauty that is daily being developed in us.

Jonathan (00:31:15): God's plan through Jesus is profoundly pictured in nature. What other examples are we given of this precious value?

Rick (00:31:23): Well, the New Testament shows us several other examples of the precious value of Christ and his followers. With each, we will continue to build up the necessity of taking notice of those things that are labeled as precious and honorable. Let's remember that when we are shown something that has such high value, we must keep it in that category to fully appreciate the lessons. In other words, when God in His word, His inspired word, says these things are valuable, don't take them out of that category. Don't make them just regular. Don't allow them to become just part of your daily life. Think of them in terms of the honor that they deserve. That brings us to the next thing that is called "precious" by God in the New Testament, and that's the high-level value of the marriage relationship.

Jonathan (00:32:20): Paul describes how to live our lives in the world around us. Hebrews 13:1-5: "Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body. Marriage is to be held in honor among all..." Let me pause here. The word "honor" is the same word translated "precious." Marriage is sacred. Continuing: "...and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you."

Julie (00:33:12): This is interesting. We have five individual, stand-alone verses of admonition. Love the brethren, be hospitable. Remember the prisoners and always be faithful in marriage and don't love money. The word "honor" is kind of hiding in this list. What God says is precious, honorable, sacred, it's not in the category of ordinary. Here we're bluntly told what will devalue the preciousness of marriage--fornication and adultery.

Jonathan (00:33:39): Keep the marriage union with sanctity that it is meant to have.

Rick (00:33:44): Marriage in this list of very important things is talked about as precious. You just want to pause here for a moment because the idea of looking at somebody, you know you've got the covenant that's precious. That means your spouse is precious to you. You look at that and you think, okay, well how do you do that? I cannot go without telling you about a childhood story of this word "precious." My grandmother, my mom's mom, her name was Helen. She had a sense of family that was remarkable. I would love to sit here and tell you for hours about the things that she did to cultivate and maintain and protect her family. But when we...she had four grandchildren. Just four, because she had an only child, my mom. She would talk to us and always without exception, would call us "precious."

Julie (00:34:41): Aww.

Rick (00:34:42): It was this very, very sensitive embrace with words. You felt incredibly honored and special because you were "precious" to her. You were "precious" in her words. You were "precious" in her sight. You were "precious" in her actions. That's the kind of value that we're talking about here. I will never, never forget the feeling of being her "precious" grandchild. Let's go back to this marriage covenant because we talked about it as precious. Now, last week, Jonathan, in our last episode, we talked about the covenant of marriage and how important it is. But here's the next step on this: this sacred covenant of marriage was chosen to picture the union of Christ and his church. Now this is big! Revelation 19:7-8:

Jonathan (00:35:38): "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints."

Rick (00:35:55): You have "the marriage of the Lamb," and it's talking about the bride of Christ being made ready for this incredible connection, this incredible sacredness. When it says in that Hebrew scripture, marriage is to be held in honor, it's to be held as precious. It's telling us something about marriage that we need to always, always remember. Jonathan, respecting what has truly high value; what about marriage?

Jonathan (00:36:27): The marriage covenant is the most cherished covenant within our human interactions. Reverencing its fidelity, closeness and lifelong nature only enhances the spiritual connection it symbolizes between Christ and the church.

Rick (00:36:42): You've got the symbolizing of Christ and the church. Let's remember that the very beginning marriage was the very first covenant between the man and the woman. That was the first thing. That's where God started humanity. Before God reconciles humanity--because Jesus bought all of humanity with his blood--before He reconciles, you have this picture in Revelation of what? The marriage of Christ and the church, so that the reconciliation of what God began with Adam and Eve happens. Marriage is at the beginning. You have sin and death in between, and then marriage is the way that reconciliation comes to all of us. It is truly sacred. It is truly precious. Let us not demean it in any way.

Julie (00:37:35): Well, that leads to a wonderful question: How highly do I esteem the marriage covenant and its spiritual meaning? For those of us who aren't married, understanding and appreciating this picture of Christ and his church and what it means to be unfaithful to God through all kinds of idolatry is still very important.

Jonathan (00:37:53): For those of us who are married, look at what our life has the privilege of representing.

Rick (00:38:01): Preciousness. Folks, I hope that you're beginning to see that where this word appears, it's just something to just look at and consider and say, "Wow, there's something wonderful here." It shows us something even higher. That brings us to the next high-level value, and that is the high-level value of Jesus' ransom price.

Jonathan (00:38:27): What do we mean by Jesus' ransom price? We know from Romans 5:12: "Therefore, just as through one man (referring to Adam) sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to ALL men..."

Julie (00:38:40): What's the remedy for this sin and death? We go to 1 Timothy 2:5-6. It says, "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time." "Ransom" here comes from a Greek word meaning "a corresponding price." Two things of equal price of value. The perfect man Jesus, for the perfect man Adam.

Rick (00:39:07): Now let's go to the scripture that talks about this as "precious;" 1 Peter 1:17-21:

Jonathan (00:39:16): "If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For he was foreknown before the foundation of the world but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God." How precious was the blood of the lamb in Egypt when the angel of death passed over the firstborn? It showed us deliverance.

Rick (00:40:07): That's why the Apostle Peter talks about the "precious blood" of a "lamb unblemished." He's taking us back to that and saying that's the picture of Jesus. Make sure you understand the deliverance, the precious life-saving deliverance that comes from that shed blood. This is a powerful reminder that the things of highest earthly value can perish. The precious value of the blood of Christ is an imperishable and eternal gift to bring us to God. You compare the things that perish with something that brings eternity, and there is no comparison. There is no comparison. We have to rise up to that level of appreciation. Peter continues in 1 Peter 1:22-23:

Jonathan (00:40:54): "Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again (or begotten) not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God."

Rick (00:41:13): Again, the meaning of the blood sacrifice of Jesus is eternal, and he's saying honor it as such. It is of such high level. The precious blood of Jesus has transformed us. That's what he's telling us. You see this, and it makes you different. We need to live that transformation. You see, to honor something is not just to say, "Wow, that's great." It is to live, "Wow, that's amazing!" That's what it is. Jonathan, respecting what is truly high value, where are we?

Jonathan (00:41:47): We have thus far seen lofty and abiding value in principled reputation, the development of crops, gold, silver, precious stones and marriage. All of these things point our lives to a higher spiritual value that culminates in cherishing the ransom price that Jesus paid. Without that price, there is ultimately only suffering and death. With it, there is life and peace.

Rick (00:42:16): When you put the things that we've talked about together, you see how they're building up to this big crescendo, and you have now the ransom price as this height that we started out by looking at and honoring crops and seeing what they show us. Then gold and stones and then reputation and then marriage and now you're at the ransom price. This is just an incredible journey of honor.

Julie (00:42:44): The question for us is, are we spending time contemplating this? Are we praying about our thankfulness for this? How highly do I esteem this ransom price of Jesus?

Rick (00:42:56): How often do I think about it? How often do I say thank you for it?

Julie (00:43:00): Right.

Rick (00:43:00): Because how many times is it appropriate to say thank you for eternity? I mean that's the gift. How many times should we be saying thank you? Probably, I don't know, for eternity? That's the kind of honor that we need to have. Let's go on to the next high-value piece. The next high-level value is the promises of God. Now we've got the ransom price, and that opens up doors for things that were unimaginable before that. Let's look at this, the high-level value of the promises of God.

Julie (00:43:34): Well, I love the promises because when they're from God, they are facts, not completely understood or disclosed. Each promise will happen even if we don't yet see evidence of it, because if He says it, it is a fact.

Jonathan (00:43:49): Now let's look at 2 Peter 1:2-4: "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust." Now let's add 2 Corinthians 7:1: "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."

Rick (00:44:38): When we look at that word "precious," we should immediately go to that place of reverence, of awe, of just deep, powerful appreciation and what the promises, it says, "His precious and magnificent promises" just so you make sure you pay attention. These promises are meant for the followers of Christ. This is something to have great respect for.

Julie (00:45:02): There are hundreds, maybe thousands of precious promises from God to help us stay focused, encourage us about His plan for all humankind. They give us strength, they give us courage. Consider Lamentations 3:22-23: "The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."

Jonathan (00:45:23): Hebrews 4:16: "Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Julie (00:45:33): What about this beautiful precious promise? Philippians 1:6: "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."

Jonathan (00:45:44): 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Rick (00:45:53): Put these promises up in a place where you can revere them because they are magnificent and they're given to us by the heavenly Father, and when He says it, He does it. Jonathan, respecting what has truly high value:

Jonathan (00:46:09): To be promised something is to be given a hopeful anticipation for the future. God's promises are on a whole different level. To be promised something by God Himself is to be given a guarantee of His providence in our life. The positive power of these promises is only available through Jesus!

Julie (00:46:29): How highly do I esteem the precious promises that God has given to those who follow His will? First we have to find them and understand what they mean and who they're for. That's why studying the Bible can give us such comfort. In this week's CQ Rewind Show Notes available on our app and website, we're going to have a pdf link to the free "Precious Promises" booklet that lists hundreds of them. Wonderful study material!

Rick (00:46:55): The idea here, folks, is really simple. It's simple, but it's not easy to accomplish. The idea is put these things in a place that you will revere them because they will change your life. The whole point of this whole study is to say that when we honor these things, they are life changing for us. God gives us things to honor so He can bless us. Think about that for a second. I mean, the whole thing just blows you away. At this point, let's take a moment and just bask in the vision that true honor and appreciation of all of God's plan provides.

Jonathan (00:47:31): To have the Bible put all of these things before us is amazing. How do we take what we are learning and make it work in our lives?

Rick (00:47:41): This is always the most important question. As we have unfolded a specific New Testament definition of honor, we now want to deeply personalize it, then apply it to how we are to honor those around us. We haven't talked about other people yet. We now want to begin to learn how to honor those around us. All we've talked about up to this point gives us a truly sound foundation for elevating our interpersonal relationships. Honor is so lost in our world. It is so absent in our everyday lives that we thought it was important to take a podcast and say, you know what? We're going to build a foundation according to the Scriptures for what honor looks like before we even talk about trying to honor one another. That's what today really, really is all about. Now let's get to our next high-level value. The next high-level value is of understanding our human purpose. Now this one is going to be very unique. A little context: when the Apostle Paul was parting with the brethren from Ephesus for the last time, he clearly defined our human purpose. He's going to be leaving them. He knows he's never going to see them again. What does he do? He calls the elders of the church together, and they have this highly emotional parting and in this parting, in this last time they're together, the apostle, it causes him to evaluate his past service to them. In Acts 20:18-21, this is him looking back over his time with them:

Jonathan (00:49:21): "And when they had come to him, he said to them, You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ."

Rick (00:49:52): He basically says, I have poured my heart and soul into your lives in every way that I could possibly think because it was about the word of God, the plan of God, the sacrifice of Jesus. It didn't matter who I was talking to, I gave you everything I had to give. He's evaluated what he's looked at. Now his evaluation continues with what he now knows is coming, and that's a very different scenario. We're in Acts 20; Jonathan, let's do 20:22-23:

Jonathan (00:50:27): "And now, behold, bound by the spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the holy spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me."

Julie (00:50:42): What kind of conviction does it take to voluntarily keep moving forward directly into serious trials?

Rick (00:50:50): It takes the kind of conviction that says, "I will honor God through my giving of myself to follow Jesus." It takes a conviction that says nothing else matters. That's exactly what Paul is about to say. His response to that question and to the obvious bondage that he's going to get into that will eventually take his life. His response to this is powerful, faith-strengthening, and it is, if we pay attention, it is perspective-altering. Jonathan Acts 20:24:

Jonathan (00:51:30): "But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself..."

Rick (00:51:35): Okay, okay, hold on right there. "As dear to myself;" that word "dear" is the same word for "precious." He's saying, I am not considering my life as precious to me. Now why would he say that? Because that life that he's saying isn't precious was just poured out for the sake of the brethren. Why is he saying, well it's not precious to me? Listen carefully to where he goes with this. Go ahead, Jonathan.

Jonathan (00:52:03): "...so that I may finish my course in the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God." What a focus of self-sacrifice in doing God's will.

Rick (00:52:19): He is saying that my human life is not precious to me because the spirit life that I have been privileged to be a part of supersedes it in every aspect, every corner, every detail, every experience, every thought, every action. I am about something higher than just my physical life. That's what he's telling us. When we look at the high-level value of understanding our human purpose, it is to be spiritual if we're called to Christ. Paul understood that his human life was a blessed but temporary experience and that his destiny was to follow Jesus in laying that human life down for the sake of God's ultimate plan. It was temporary, to be used and put aside when appropriate. He was basically saying, I'm ready to put it aside because that's what God is calling me to. Folks, understand the depth of honor that he has for the call of Christ and the purpose of our human lives. Jonathan, respecting what has truly high value; let's get into this.

Jonathan (00:53:34): Honesty, deep faith, and humility are absolute requirements as we put our human lives in perspective. Paul's own humanity was NOT as precious to him because the privilege of giving it up for Christ's sake WAS precious to him.

Julie (00:53:52): How highly do I esteem the preciousness of spiritual life in Christ over my own humanity, over my own comfort, over my own wants? We want to be careful not to put a higher value on that which is supposed to reflect the eternal (the earthly example that is supposed to reflect the eternal), because what's perishable doesn't have the same value as what's not perishable.

Rick (00:54:14): The Apostle Paul literally lived that, especially in this circumstance. He gives us this amazing picture to look at and say, okay, I'm beginning to understand all of this. Alright, let's go further now. With the Apostle Paul's comparative view of honoring God's eternal purposes over the fleeting attachment of our lives here, let's begin to set the stage for appropriately honoring one another in this life.

Jonathan (00:54:44): Let's look at the opposite of "honor." Let's look at "dishonor." The New Testament adjective uses honor in a negative sense to mean "without honor, dishonored; or of less esteem." Where do we see this in Scripture? One example is how many perceive Jesus in a dishonorable way. The next text takes place in Nazareth, Matthew 13:54-58: "He came to his hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things? And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household. And he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief."

Julie (00:55:51): We recently talked about bias. We had a two-part series on that and how damaging it can be. The people who knew Jesus growing up were biased because they knew him as just ordinary--"that guy." They didn't see past what they thought they knew.

Jonathan (00:56:04): You're right, Julie. In our case, people see us for who we were and not for what we are becoming in the school of Christ. The other point brought out is that those of our own natural families don't understand the change taking place either, and it can bring skepticism from them and persecution from those close to us. Not having respect for our own family members? That's hard.

Rick (00:56:31): Here's what's happening. In this situation with Nazareth and his hometown and his own household, the key factor for inappropriate dishonor is preconceived expectations. You both have talked about that. We expect something and get something remarkably better, so we doubt the facts that are presented before us. When we have preconceived expectations we typically--especially in our world, folks, especially here, especially now, especially in the age of social media and technology--we often are set up to look at things, and we project the disappointment before we even give it a chance, especially if it's something we may not see eye-to-eye with. That's so unfortunate. It's so ungodly, it's so unscriptural, but that happened to Jesus. If it happened to Jesus, we need to look at things like this and say, "Ah." We need to be aware of the idea of preconceived expectations being tools of dishonor.

Julie (00:57:37): The Corinthian church had issues with appropriate honor as well. Let's move into that. We just talked about previously their spiritual immaturity, their personal pride, their bragging about who they're following -Paul, Apollos, Peter. Paul now addresses them pretty sarcastically in 1 Corinthians 4:8-11:

Jonathan (00:57:55): "You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor" (in other words, dishonorable). "To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless."

Julie (00:58:42): Wow. A Bible commentary by David Guzik said, "The Corinthian Christians had two problems: they were proud of their own spirituality, and they were somewhat embarrassed of Paul because of his "weakness" and humble state. Paul is trying to address both of these. With contrast after contrast, Paul sarcastically shows how foolish it is for the Corinthians to think that they are more spiritually privileged, blessed, or endowed than the apostles were. Paul's description of his own ministry focuses on deprivation and humiliation."

Rick (00:59:12): This brings us to another key factor that brings inappropriate dishonor. That other key factor is personal pride. We had the preconceived expectations and now we've got personal pride. When we have an elevated view of ourselves that will skew two things. First, it skews our ability to have an accurate assessment of who we are. We can't see ourselves honestly, and that is a highly unfortunate circumstance. We can't see ourselves honestly. Then secondly it blinds us to humbly accepting one with true godly wisdom who's been set before us for our instruction--because we are so good, what do we need that for? Unfortunately, we get lost in that. Folks, we are so dishonorable in the world in which we live right here and right now because we miss these things and the Scriptures, if you've been following along with us, tell us the incredible value of honor in its right place. Let's finish this up. Respecting what has truly high value, Jonathan and Julie, what do we have?

Jonathan (01:00:22): Opportunities to truly honor and respect many things that surround us are available every day.

Julie (01:00:29): Our last question: Am I pausing to consider and appreciate these things not only for what they are but for what they teach us about God's plan?

Rick (01:00:39): We have a lot of questions here. We have a lot of questions. We've given a lot of thought to what the scriptures tell us are things to look at and say, Hey, here's an attention getter! Honor this and then see that, honor what's here and see something higher. This is what we really are talking about here. Folks, in our next episode we're going to talk about the basis of what it means to have appreciation and respect and focus on people. Who gets what level of respect? Why? The scriptural answers are detailed and powerful. Right now it's about understanding honor. Let us honor the way the Scriptures tell us. Think about it. Folks, we love hearing from our listeners. We welcome your feedback and questions on this episode and other episodes at ChristianQuestions.com. As we mentioned, coming up in our next episode, "Have We Lost Our Ability to Honor One Another? (Part II)" We'll talk about people next week.

Final Notes (01:01:38): copyright @2024 Christian Questions. In addition to this transcript, we provide comprehensive CQ Rewind Show Notes for every episode. They include every scripture quoted during the podcast, as well as graphics, illustrations and bonus material. Click the "CQ Rewind Show Notes" button near the audio player or sign up to receive these weekly at ChristianQuestions.com. This transcript was created using artificial intelligence. While we believe it to be accurate, we apologize for any errors that may exist.