Honored and Hallowed Shall His Name Be
Philippians 2:5-11
The other day I was watching a sports program and they were talking about two individuals who were sure to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
**They also mentioned those who deserved to be there but probably wouldn’t make it
**Those that had no business being on the ballot
Over the years there have been over 100 others who have receive the honor of being inducted
**However there have been many more that have played the game and had not even been put on the ballot.
**The same thing holds true for both the pro football and basketball Hall of Fame.
While it might seem to be good to belong to an earthly Hall of Fame
**When it comes to standing before God it doesn’t mean a thing
I want to talk to you today about a different Hall of Fame
**One that is greater than all these three put together
**That is the kingdom of God
To be inducted into other Hall of Fame’s you must get elected/voted
**You may still not make it in
But with God’s Hall of Fame all you have to do is ask and you are in
**Since Jesus died on the cross he deserves all the honor
**And there is no greater honor than to glorify his name as we walk each day in God’s Hall of Fame.
**There is power when we honor the name of Jesus
**To honor his name and see his power in action is the reason that we have gathered here today.
**You see our lives only become complete when we show honor and glory to him.
**I am going to spend the next few moments talking about how we should show honor to Jesus
**At the same time point out where it is neglected.
I. THE LORD’S PRAYER IS A GOOD PLACE TO START.
A. We see in this prayer where it says, “Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”
**An excellent place to start to honor God by hallowing his name
**Hallow means to make holy or sacred, to sanctify and concrete.
**While we are singing, “All Hail the power of Jesus name,”
**It is not just singing words that are written down in a book
****Rather we are uplifting his name by singing from our hearts.
**Do we truly realize what we are indeed singing?
When we become saved the bible says in Romans 8:15 that we have received the spirit of adoption.
**What this is saying is that we have changed parents
**Satan is the father of the sinner, when we come to Christ, he becomes our father
ILL There is a story of a young girl who every night would pray before she went to bed by saying the Lord’s prayer. The only thing wrong was that it didn’t mean anything to her, but then one day she found Jesus and her Lord and savior and her prayer changed to “My Father.”
**When you know him, not just of him, then the joy floods your soul
**You know the true meaning of Hallowed be thy name
**It no longer becomes lip service but something that comes from your inner being
B. The problem today is that there are many, both in the world and in the church that don’t give God the honor he deserves
**When they use God’s name in vain that is a total lack of respect for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
**Instead of giving honor, they disgrace his wonderful name
To take it a step further, people no longer respect his house
**There was a day when the church doors were open all the time
**You can’t do that today because people will steal you blind
ILL One church said they had two gangs that wrote things on the walls of one of their churches about gang wars and the people were afraid to go to church at night
BUT it is not just people outside the church
**Church people leave their trash in the pews, gum under the benches, candy wrappers stuffed down the pews and in the rack for the songbooks
**Really there isn’t much difference if you deface the outside or inside
C. We need unity and come together and say, “hallowed be thy name”
Revelation 5:12:13- saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and glory and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven and on earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the lamb forever.
II. SECONDLY, WE OBSERVE HIS NAME.
A. Observe means to celebrate or keep a holiday according to custom
**We just finished celebrating his birth
**Celebrating Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins.
**Christmas is more than a decorations, gifts, and lights
**It was the birth of the Son of God for the sins of all mankind
Easter will be here before you know it, it is a lot more than just the Easter bunny
**Day that Christianity was truly born
**The day in which Jesus defeated death, hell and the grave and rose again
**We should observe his name 365 days a year
**Because he is worthy to be praised and he deserves the praises we give him
III. WE MUST NOTICE HIS NAME.
A. Hebrews 1:4 says, Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they,
**Have you ever noticed that on TV, biblical movies are shown before Christmas and Easter and seldom any other time of the year?
**The same holds true for people for they flock to church on Easter or Christmas
**But the rest of the year it doesn’t seem to be high on their priority list
**Some Christians forget his name when they leave church after service
**They think Sunday morning is enough of God to carry them through the week
**I need to gather as often as the church doors are open to gain more of Him
****To magnify his name as well as glorify his name when I am not here
B. The benefits of noticing his name are described in Isaiah 26:3- Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
**We must learn to remain stayed on Him
**We must learn to trust more in Him
**We learn by attending church and noticing His name and wonderful works
IV. WE MUST OFFER HIS NAME
A. We need to tell others of his love and grace.
Have you ever had someone offer you recognition for something you did?
Or Maybe notice you for a particular team you route for?
**We will tell others of things we do or boast on a team we route for
**How much more should we tell others of our risen Savior?
**I didn’t have to look for Him because he looked for me first
**While I was still a sinner, he died for me
I will not for any reason hide the fact that I am His child
**I will tell the world what he has done for me.
B. We are living in the last days and it is time that the church quits sitting in a corner
**We must rise and proclaim his name to as lost and dying world.
ILL A preacher once said he was told that he would never be popular, never have a big church because he refused to compromise on his beliefs
**But he still wouldn’t compromise the truth and his beliefs
**We must tell it like it is so no one can stand before God and say that they didn’t hear the truth from us
**Tell the world of John 14:6, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the father but by me.
**That is the message along with John 3:16.
CLOSING: I know that there have been times when I have failed to hallow his name, observe his name, notice and even offer his name. But yesterday is gone and today is the first day of the rest of my life. I want to do whatever I can to honor the name of Jesus. He has done so much for me. Let’s give him the praise and honor that he deserves as we walk in his Hall of Fame.
