If you use any or all of this message--would you be willing to fire off a quick email to:pastorjerryvargo@juno.com? I would like to have an idea of how often my sermons are actually being preached to strengthen the Body of Christ. Thanks!
Walking in the Favor of the Lord
By Pastor Jerry C. Vargo – Part Four
I. Introduction.
"FAVOR is the special affection of God toward you that releases an influence on you, so that others are inclined to like you, or to cooperate with you."
- Lance Wallnau
A. I suspect that this definition is limited in scope, as I’m sure Lance Wallnau would agree.
B. There is so much to this subject that to limit it to this quote would be foolish.
C. Yet, it does seem to compress into one statement the heart of FAVOR.
D. Today, if you will bear with me, I possess a bag of golden nuggets related to FAVOR.
E. If my Bible College professors could hear this message, I’d get in a lot of trouble because I want to make 7 observations related to FAVOR that may or may not interrelate. So forgive me in advance.
F. I intend on only spending just a brief time on each point…so do not worry!
II. Body.
1. Favor comes to those who do what is right!
1 Peter 2:19-20
"For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God."
A. Note: Conscience toward God! Suffering unjustly! Doing what is right in patience!
Application
If you do something wrong at work and are caught…and you handle that well…God says, "What credit is there to that?"
BUT…if you live right at work…and others treat you wrong…and you handle that well…God says: "This finds FAVOR with God."
2. When FAVOR is upon us, the works of our hands are confirmed!
Psalm 90:17
"…let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; and do confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands."
A. To have the works of our hands confirmed in Hebrew means to be directed and steadfast morally, or to be prepared and ready.
B. When FAVOR is upon us that is literally what happens.
3. Speaking the Truth Brings FAVOR!
Proverbs 28:23
"He who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with the tongue."
A. We often think of rebuke as harsh…but that is NOT God’s way. Even rebuke must be tempered with love:
Ephesians 4:15
"...but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ…"
B. Notice also the warning in this verse: Flattery will not bring you FAVOR.
C. Flattery is really the way of the adulterer. Why is flattery like the sin of adultery?
Illustration
Well, it’s like the man who has eyed a woman or a woman has eyed a man…what do they do? They flatter! What is flattery? Excessive praise! HOWEVER, this is the motive of self-interest. The praise is for receiving what they want…to satisfy their sexual desires.
It’s like the guy who was at a wedding reception and was introduced to a beautiful woman he had never met before. He said to her, "I don’t know how old you are, but you surely don’t look it!
4. FAVOR doesn’t always translate into riches!
Proverbs 22:1
"A good name is to be more desired than great riches, Favor is better than silver and gold."
A. Do not fall into the trap that FAVOR is just about God blessing you with money.
B. Look at the verse again…a good name is more desired.
C. Besides…some with little money have a much greater FAVOR who have great wealth:
James 2:5
"Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?"
5. It is not ability that brings FAVOR!
Ecclesiastes 9:10-11
"I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise, nor wealth to the discerning, nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all."
A. Now we know that the Preacher Solomon is viewing things from an earthly perspective, yet that doesn’t mean that his words are not true for us today.
B. This blends well with other verses in the Bible—the most famous one in Zechariah 4:6:
"Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts."
C. In Ecclesiastes, the word "ability" simply means, "to know." And let me just reiterate again—just because you know about FAVOR, doesn’t mean your living in FAVOR.
6. Favor serves as a shield!
Psalm 5:12
"For it is Thou who dost bless the righteous man, O LORD, Thou dost surround him with favor as with a shield."
A. Righteous living leads to FAVOR—FAVOR leads to a shield!
B. Our attempt to serve God in righteousness has benefits. This is a great one…HE SURROUNDS us with FAVOR!
Psalm 3:3
"Thou, O LORD, art a shield about me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head."
Psalm 84:11
"For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly."
7. Favor Takes Away Disgrace!
Luke 1:24-25
"And after these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant; and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying, "This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men."
A. For Elizabeth it was the conception of John the Baptist. For us it can be a whole host of things.
B. You see, when you get the FAVOR of God on your life it removes your disgrace or a better word is SHAME.
C. No longer are we defined by our pasts…in FAVOR we now find ourselves defined by God’s awesome hand upon our lives.
D. Many of us are living out a life script that someone else wrote for us. Fathers, Mothers, Employers, Teachers…ect.
E. But, I only want to walk out the life script that God has written for me—and I BELIEVE that His life script is that of FAVOR!
III. Conclusion.
A. As I close, I want to say one final time--Just because you are a Christian doesn’t mean you have tapped into the fullness of FAVOR.
B. I truly believe we can get to a place of so much FAVOR that we are swimming in it.
C. And, like I warned in the first message in this series, FAVOR must be handled with care—so it isn’t abused.
D. However, how many of you want so much FAVOR that at times you feel overwhelmed by it?
Jesus had so much FAVOR that he had to break it off Himself in order to be crucified!
E. I close with this story:
John 19:8-11
"and he (Pilate) entered into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate therefore said to Him, "You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?" Jesus answered, "You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above…"
Now that would be something: Having so much FAVOR that we have to lay it down at times in order to walk in God’s perfect ways!
