“That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
to praise, honor, and glory
“Praise” is the expression of honor. Jesus will express His approval on that day. The word “praise” is a compound of two words “upon” and “a tale.” It meant to tell a tale about someone. It came to mean “praise” with the idea of commendation or approbation.
“Honor” is the esteem that someone has for someone else. God will honor our faith when we meet the Lord Jesus.
Proverbs 18:12 “But humility comes before honor.”
We know little about humility. The station on this side of honor is humility. We cannot get to the second station without stopping at the first station. If we receive honor without humility, it might go to our head. We would inflate with our own importance.
One day we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. We will get our grades then. Some of us will receive more honor than others. Some will have crowns. Some will have none.
“Glory” means to manifest the attributes of a person. This is the glory that results from a good opinion. Does God have a good opinion of us? The New Testament uses “glory” to refer to the blessed estate of the child of God when he is brought into the glorification of the likeness of Christ.
God will make a big deal of the quality of our faith on earth. In the marketplace of eternity, gold will be of little value. The quality of our faith will be of much greater worth.
Very few of us receive glory here on earth. The reason faith is more valuable than gold is that when we meet God, He will find it to have honor, praise, and glory.
PRINCIPLE:
God has established a day when we will get our due.
APPLICATION:
We do not get much praise here on earth. That’s life. If you are inclined to praise someone down here, don’t hesitate to do so. If you fear that they will think it is flattery, do it anyway.
One day we will receive praise from the most important person of the universe.
1 Corinthians 4:5 says, “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.”
When the Lord comes back and we stand before Him, we will receive our due then. Why do we think that we will have a fair shake down here? Life is not fair here but it will be hereafter.
