Jentezen Franklin - The Spirit Of Honor
All right, if you have your Bible, Matthew 13:57. "And so, they were offended at Him. And Jesus said to them, 'A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house'", and I want you to notice what happens next. "Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief". "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house", and it's not a coincidence that the next verse is there, "He did not do many mighty works".
In the previous chapter, He was in Capernaum, and He healed them all. But He goes to His hometown and He performs not many mighty miracles because He was not shown honor. I want to talk to you for just a few moments today on the spirit of honor, and the power of the spirit of honor upon your life. When you find a Bible principle, when you find a Bible truth, if you will grab hold of it and begin to practice it, it will release the mighty works. This is one of those things that I am convinced can limit your life if you don't have it, and it's a spirit of honor. If you don't have a spirit of honor, it really affects your life.
We live in a generation where it's popular to disrespect honor. It's popular to show dishonor. It's popular for comedians, and movies, and TV shows to show dishonor to people. It's almost like if you want to be popular and you want to be known, then show more dishonor and you get a bigger microphone. Many of us, I'll speak for myself, grew up in a time when, you know, we were forced to show honor. We were taught to show honor. We were taught to honor people's property, and honor people's places and things, and honor our schoolteachers, and honor people in authority, and honor people like our mother, our father, our grandparents.
We were taught that we had to honor people because of the position that they were in in our life. But now, you know, so many people have a spirit of dishonor, and it's not just dishonor is manifest by not doing what you're asked to do, but it's possible to dishonor people while doing what you were told to do. You can dishonor people with what you say. You can dishonor people with your attitude. If someone in authority tells you to do something, and you do it sucking your teeth and rolling your eyes, and spilling somethin' all over 'em 'cause you're mad you had to do it, then that is a spirit of dishonor. Give me a big amen right there.
Of course, you know, I'm not promoting abuse in any way, but if we sucked our teeth when I was a little kid, we would be missin' one of 'em before too long. I'm just gonna tell you like it was. It was not tolerated in our family and in our house. A spirit of dishonor is not something that you want to get ahold of your life, because if you allow your children to dishonor you, then it's a matter of time before they get a job and they think that they can treat their boss like they treated you. And so, when they lose their job later in life because they gave 'em a piece of their mind and the boss decided to give 'em a piece of a pink slip, don't be surprised if they fail at life. If you don't watch it, you'll allow a spirit of dishonor to attach itself to you.
And what I want to talk about is this spirit of honor, because it's possible to do an honoring thing in a dishonoring manner. And when you have the right spirit, it's the way you do it. We get caught up, well, I did it. I did what they asked me to do. But, did you do it with the right attitude? You can be doin' all the right things and still have a spirit of dishonor. Jesus said, "In My own hometown", this is Jesus speaking, "I'm not honored". And read the story, it shut Him down. This is a big principle. Dishonor shuts down what God puts in people for you. Dishonor closes you off to whatever they have. The miraculous power of God in Jesus Christ was shut down. He didn't say He didn't want to. It said He could do no mighty works there, or many mighty works there, because of their unbelief and because they had dishonored Him in the previous verse.
They were talkin' and sayin', "Is he not Joseph's son"? They were dishonoring Him as God, in the flesh, standing there ready to perform miracles for them, but they did not show Him the honor, and as a result, it cut off His power in their life. You can be under the most anointed person and not get your breakthrough, and not get nothing, and people all around you be getting breakthroughs and getting blessings, because they have a spirit of honor. Your reception is not the thermostat for the body of Christ. Just because you don't like a singer, or you don't like a preacher, or you don't like a way the woman looks or the person who's speaking looks, or you've got a problem with this, you are not the temperature or thermometer for the body of Christ.
You have to understand that if whoever you honor, you get opened up and they can release. Whoever you dishonor, it's shut off to you. And other people around you may benefit greatly, but if you're shut off to it, you'll never get it. Your reception matters. In other words, if we develop a spirit of honor in the culture of our house, when people come in - the Bible said if you receive a prophet in the name of a prophet, you receive or get their reward. You receive them in the office. You honor the office. You honor the authority. You honor the place that God has raised them up to.
There's something about showing honor to people that can release mighty works in your life. The next generation desperately needs to develop a spirit of honor, a culture of honor in their lives. When people come in, we want to have an honor culture in this house, that even if we don't agree with everything, even if we don't agree with everything about 'em, can you eat the fish and spit out the bones? If somebody says the name of Jesus, can you get somethin' good out of it? And you know what? The rest of that stuff is up to God to deal with, but if I show honor, I can get the reward.
Romans 13 put it like this. It said, "Give tribute, give honor where honor is due, for there is no power except for God". People in position over you on the job, or in life, may not be qualified to be over you, but that doesn't give you the right to dishonor them, because honor has to do with your own standard. No matter how someone acts, I'm not going to get over into a spirit of dishonor, because honor has to do with me, and if they're acting dishonorable, you know what? I'm gonna pray for them, but I'm not gonna get into that same spirit. No matter how someone acts, I'm not gonna get over into their spirit of dishonor, I'm gonna keep a spirit of honor. It affects your life. It affects your children.
The Bible talks about, in the Book of Numbers, I think it's the 13th chapter. It talks about Miriam, it talks about Aaron, and it talks about Moses. Now, they were siblings. Miriam, this is really amazing. Jochebed, their mother, was a phenomenal mother apparently, because she raised the first prophet, who was Moses. She raised the first worship leader, who was Miriam, and she raised the first high priest. She must have had some kind of culture goin' on in her house. And, the Bible said that Moses was elevated above his siblings, and Moses decided to marry an Ethiopian girl, so she was of a different nationality and she was of a different skin color. And, the siblings didn't like it, and they had a falling out.
Aaron and Miriam, the Bible said, did not agree, and they started murmuring and talking about their brother, Moses, and his fiancee, or now his new wife. And the Bible said the Lord heard it. That blows my mind. And the Scripture said God heard them running down His friend, Moses. I just want to warn you that God hears a spirit of dishonor in our life. People, you know, they begin to lose their passion for God when they take on a spirit of dishonor.
When you quit honoring people and honoring God, and you get an ugly spirit, and you cut 'em off because you don't like this about 'em or you don't like that, and you can no longer receive from what they have and what God has gifted them with, that's not their loss, it's your loss. And it's like a car that runs out of gas. I've seen it. I've seen people who get in church and they get offended at somebody, and they lose the honor in it, and because they don't like something that was said or done, and the next thing you know, they can't receive and they're like a car out of gas sittin' out there, and nobody can preach you into happy, and nobody can sing you into happy, and people can be rejoicing all around you, but you're empty, and it has to do with your own spirit of dishonor.
I'm preaching good today! The Lord heard it. Somebody shout, the Lord heard it! And this is the part of the story that got me. And God said, tell them, Moses. Tell your sister and your brother that are talking about you, tell them to meet Me at the door of the tabernacle. This is the only time when God, in the Old Testament, was not behind the veil. Once a year, the only way you could get back there was for the high priest to go through. He was the only one. God stayed behind the veil. But on this day, He got so upset with them dishonoring the one that He had raised that the Scripture said that God said, tell them to meet Me at the door. I'm not waitin' on 'em to come back into the third level back here. I want to meet 'em. I'll be waiting at the door. Wow!
God said, I'm breaking the rules. I'm not going to let them dishonor Moses in the tabernacle. That's my first earthly church. In other words, listen. I believe God was thinkin' like this. I believe it's so disturbing, because He said, I'm not about to let the same spirit that got in Lucifer, that dishonored Me in heaven, now get in my first church down there on earth. I am a God who believes in honor and authority. And God met them at the door and He said, who do you think you are? You ought to read it.
He said, who do you think you are? He started sayin' things like this. I talk to everybody else in dreams, and visions, and prophecies, but I talk to Moses face to face. And you got the nerve to come up in here? You're eatin' the food he prayed in. You're drinkin' the water that he struck with a stick and turned into a water fountain, and you're drinkin' it and complainin' about it, and you're wearin' those clothes for 40 years, and as your feet grew, they grew, and as your belly got bigger, your shirt went out there. And, all of this stuff and all you can do is murmur and complain?
And the Bible said that they had a problem with his wife because of her color, and the Scripture said that leprosy came on Miriam and she turned white. It's kind of funny! And Moses, being the meekest, runs to God. I actually almost want to turn there, because it's really remarkable. In Numbers 12, Moses, being the meekest, you know, he turns and says, God, please, this is my sister. She can't die of leprosy. Please, Lord. Most of us, most of you mean people out there, you'd say, good, good, get her, kill her! But, not Moses. Moses had the right spirit.
And, listen to what God said. Listen to what God said in Verse 14. "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Well, if she had disrespected her father, he'd have spit in her face'". God said that! This is how serious honor is to God. God said that. He'd have spit in her face and he would have shamed her seven days. She'd at least have to sit outside the camp for seven days, for just showing dishonor to her father. He'd have spit on her and put her outside the camp for seven days.
Now, watch this. So God said, I just decided to give her leprosy. And Moses said, please, Lord, please. But, listen to this. Leprosy carries with it isolation. And God said, let her have leprosy for seven days. And when you've got leprosy, you haven't got to tell people to not get around you. The principle is this: if a person has a spirit of dishonor, you're supposed to treat them like a leper. You're supposed to treat them like they have leprosy until they get over their little negativism, because leprosy is contagious. Dishonor is contagious.
Leprosy is a disease that affects your nerve ending and it causes you to lose feeling, and when a person has a spirit of dishonor, they lose the ability to feel God anymore. They're singing, but you can't feel it. They're preaching, but you can't feel it. The anointing is flowing, but you can't feel it. You've lost the ability to feel when you allow dishonor to come into your life.
In Genesis 9, Noah spent 40 days and nights locked up on a boat with a bunch of animals and his family, and he got off instantly and got drunk, and you would have, too. He was drunk and he was uncovered in his tent, and Ham, one of his boys, came into the tent and saw his father's nakedness. He saw some uncovered flesh. This is very important. I don't care how spiritual people act around you. I don't care how holy and anointed they are when they're behind the pulpit. Don't you ever forget that somewhere, there is some flesh. I don't understand why God uses who He uses! It blows my mind!
Why do you think I'm standing here? I question! I really do. I say, God, can't you find somebody else to do this? I like what Paul said. He said, not many wise are called. I don't know what the Corinthians did to him. I don't know if they gave him a bad honorarium or what, but he just starts rippin' into 'em. And he says, there's not many wise among you. And then he really gets insulting. He says, and there's not many good looking. He does! He says that! He says, really, He's hidden it from the prudent and the wise and given it to the simple.
I guess God's tryin' to say it like this. "I want to see how you do with the position of authority, even when you're more qualified to be there than they are, but God put them there to test your spirit". 'Cause sometimes, God would rather have somebody leaning on him that has a humble spirit than somebody who's so qualified that it would be crazy if they ever got there. So hence, you have people like me with a microphone. That's how it works! How many of you are glad he said not many wise are among you that God uses? How many of you are glad? Come on, the rest of you, how many of you are glad he said not many good looking? Let me see your hands. Some of you ought to raise a foot and two hands. I'm gettin' ugly, too. Listen to this, he saw some flesh and he ran out and told everybody, and he dishonored his father. He ran out and told his brothers what he saw.
Noah was in the tent, speaks of his covering and he starts slandering, and spreading, and guess what I know, and guess what I saw? I'm not talkin' about weirdness. I'm not talkin' about you just look the other way, and blatant sin, and all of that. I'm not talking about that. I'm just talking about this spirit of dishonor. Do you understand what I'm sayin'?
The Bible deals with problems. When there's problems, you deal with 'em and confront 'em and all of that, but we must have a spirit of honor on our lives. His brothers hear about it and they get a blanket, two of his brothers, and they go into the same tent, and they take the blanket and they won't even face him. They back up and walk in backwards, and cover him. Why? Because they had a spirit of honor. He's just a man, and we're coverin' him.
Noah has the blessing of the entire world in his mouth. What he pronounces over these boys, the prophecy that he will release, will touch the whole world. And he then prophesies, Shem, you will be the head of the Semitic tribes, and you'll do amazing things. And Japheth, you'll be over the European tribes, and you will be spread out. And he prophesies amazing things, but then he gets to the boy, Ham. And I've heard people mispreach this, and they said that Ham was cursed, but that's not what the Bible says. Read it. The Bible said that Ham was not cursed, but watch this. He said, "Cursed became your son". Ham was the one who dishonored him, and he said, cursed be Cain, your son, because what you did is going to the next generation.
I submit to you today that the spirit of honor will either elevate you, and your children, and your grandchildren, or it will absolutely decimate you. A spirit of dishonor will take them down the wrong path. But if I honor God and honor people, it will be passed down and it will affect my children and my children's children. I just shared with you in 25 minutes, 20, 30 years of wisdom, and I'm here today to declare a spirit of honor over you, to honor God, to honor authority. I don't care what the mob is doing, I don't care what the press is screaming, I don't care what others are doing.
We are to be people of honor. May there be a culture of honor in this house, and on our house, and on our children and our children's children. We don't have to agree with everybody that we honor. We honor the office if we can't honor the person. May not like it when, you know, what they do, but honor the office. And, I just don't like it when people get personal. Show honor. Let this be a house of honor. Honor the Lord. Honor leaders. Honor pastors. Honor authority. Honor police. Honor all manner of men, government leaders. Honor the office, even if you can't honor the person.
Don't be caught up in a spirit. It is a spirit of dishonor. Don't do it. Don't do it. Do you want the mighty works? When you get a spirit of dishonor, He could do no mighty works. Do you want mighty works released in your life? Keep a spirit of honor. I honor God, therefore I honor all people who are in authority. The Bible said God allowed them to be there, whether you agree with it or not. So, be careful. Check yourself.
The Bible said, husbands, honor your wives. As Christ loved the church, love your wives. Honor them! Do you have a spirit of honor for your husband? Do you have a spirit of honor for your wife? Or do you just treat them like they're nothing? Honor one another. The Bible said, children, honor. One of the big Ten Commandments, "Thou shalt honor thy mother and thy father". They're not perfect people. You're gonna see some flesh, but honor them. Let's disconnect from this spirit of dishonor and say, I'm not gonna dishonor people that God has put in a position of authority. I'm gonna pray for 'em. god, heal our leprosy.