HONOUR

Understanding The Dynamics of Honouring Leadership

Eric Xexemeku

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 HONOUR

HONOR
Eric Xexemeku

ISBN: 978-1-64370-572-9

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ©2018

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in

any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information
storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing
from the publisher and the author of this book.

Unless otherwise indicated, all of the scripture quotations are

taken from the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible.
Scripture quotations marked with NIV are taken from the
New International Version of the Bible. Scripture quotations
marked with NASV are taken from the New American Standard
Version (NASB) of the Bible. Scripture quotations marked with
Amplified are taken from The Amplified Bible (TAB).

First Printing, May, 2018

Published By: Prophetic Destiny Heights Inc.

Edited By: Claude A. Mann, Sr.
Layout & Cover Design: Divine Studios Inc

Printed in the USA

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 Dedication
HONOUR

Dedications

This book is dedicated to my children

Maxwell, Akpene and Dzidzo.

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 Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

F irst and foremost I would like to give thanks to God

Almighty. In the process of putting this book together
I realized how true He has been a blessing to me, in my life
and ministry. I thank You for giving me the power to believe
in my passion and pursue my dreams. I could never have
done this without the faith I have in you, The Almighty.

To Dr. and Lady Mensa Otabil, I am grateful to be connected

to you. Under your leadership have I been able to express my
calling and ministry.

To The Apostle General Sam and Premier-Lady Rita

Korankye- Ankrah I say thanks so much for believing in my
ministry.

I am grateful to my parents Mr and Mrs E. J. K. Xexemeku

for your continuous prayer and support for my life and
ministry.

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 Acknowledgements
HONOUR

To all my colleagues in ministry around the globe thanks for

your support and believing in as always God bless you all.

To all the congregation of ICGC-Open Heavens Temple

Adjiringanor, East-Legon, I thank God for your lives and I
am glad to be your pastor and leader.

Thanks to Rev. Claude Mann, for the editorial work and

special thanks to Bobby Banson for proof reading, I am
grateful for your contribution to this project. To Emmanuel
Aryee of Divine Studios Inc. USA, thanks for the cover
design and typesetting.

Finally and most importantly, to my wife Gertrude and

our lovely children, I am grateful to God for your lives and
may God reward your sacrifices for me in encouraging and
supporting me to fulfill my ministerial assignment.

Now to the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible the only Wise

God be all the Glory, Majesty, Honour, Dominion and
power forever and ever. Amen.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedications iv
Acknowledegments v
Introduction “Where Is My Honour?” 8

Chapter 1: What Is Honour? 15

Chapter 2: The Call To Honour 35
Chapter 3: Dimensions Of Honour 53
Chapter 4: The Protocol Of Honour 61
Chapter 5: Lucifer: The Spirit Of Dishonour 71
Chapter 6: The Spirit Of Dishonour In Old Testament 83
Chapter 7: The Spirit Of Dishonour In New Testament 111
Chapter 8: Beware Of Presumptousness 133
Chapter 9: Honouring Our Parents 147
Chapter 10: Pouring Out The Oil Of Honour 169
Chapter 11: Honouring Your Man Of God 187
Chapter 12: 15 Ways To Honour Your Pastor 203
Conclusion: Honour Begets Honour 221

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HONOUR

Introduction

“WHERE IS MY HONOUR?”

“Leadership is not about a title or a designation.

It’s about impact, influence and inspiration.
Impact involves getting results, influence is about
spreading the passion you have for your work,
and you have to inspire team-mates and customers.”
- Robin S. Sharma

C ulturally and traditionally, and by normal human

experience, honouring fathers and elders - leaders
- is regarded as very important in our societies. This is
especially true among many nations of the world. But in
our more cohesive homogenous African communities, it is
an unquestioned duty for sons and younger ones to respect
– and even revere – fathers, grandparents, elders and those in
positions of authority and leadership. Revering and showing
honour to superiors are supposed to be a norm.

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 Introduction

This principle of honour is seen even more among God’s

people. God demands honour from His people. All through
the Bible, we read of God often warning against rebellion
and dishonour of the leaders He puts over His people. In
the Book of Malachi for example, we observe that there is
no possible excuse for disrespect, when the guilty ones are
priests, the very spiritual leaders God gave His people to
lead them according to His Word. The priests were hallowed
people who were seized with the most knowledge of God
and His expectations.

In Mathew Chapter 23, Jesus accused Israel’s religious

leaders who were well informed men of “despising” the name
of God. As in verses 2 and 3, the extreme here is meant to
show a contrast. The priests “despise” the name of God in the
sense that they do not give Him the honour due Him and
His hallowed Name.

In the Book of Malachi, God Himself asked the priests: “if

I be your Father, where is My honour?” God asked them
this question because of their disrespect of Him as the Most
High God. They offered sacrifice that were dishonourable
unto God. The Old Testament Law was clear about the kind
and quality of offerings God expected (Leviticus 22:17–33).
One modern application of this passage is to consider the
obligations required of spiritual leaders (II Peter 2:1). Church
leaders are placed under higher scrutiny, since they have a
great influence on the discipleship of others (Malachi 2:7;
James 3:1).

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 Introduction
HONOUR

The Priests of Israel Dishonoured God

Malachi 1:6-2:9 was directed specifically at the priests of
Israel. Despite having knowledge of the Old Testament
Law, they were offering improper sacrifices to God. Instead
of following the requirements for pure offerings, they were
sacrificing animals so deformed that even a secular politician
would not accept them! This showed their apathy and
disrespect towards God.

In response, God warned that He would cause even Gentiles

to offer Him praise; even if that would spite His own chosen
people. Further, God threatened to humiliate the priesthood,
if they did not lead the people as they have been instructed
by Him.

God’s principle of honour is still at work today. Anyone who

fails to give honour to whom honour is due, shall incur the
judgment of God. The aim of this book is to help us avoid
God’s judgment for dishonouring leadership.

Give Honour To Whom Honour Is Due!

Today, many seem to have lost every sense of honour! People
have lost their ability to honour friendships. People have lost
their ability to honour relationships. Many in the society
seem to have lost their ability to honour fathers, and mothers,
grandfathers, and grandmothers. They have lost their ability
to honour leadership. Unfortunately, this is even more in
God’s House -I mean the Church - and that unfortunate order

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must be reversed for God’s order and culture of honour to be

revived among God’s people. That is what I am addressing
in this book.

God put this great burden on my heart to write and address

this all-important issue of honour in this book and I know
this book shall cause a revolution in the world and a revival
in the Church, because it will teach the younger generation
to honour those in leadership and in authority.

To begin with, to properly honour God the Father, we must

learn how to revere and honour our biological parents,
mentors, bosses, leaders and all in authority, thereby teaching
the next generation – our children - to do the same and even
do it better than we do.

As we dig deeper into this book, you will agree with me

that honour is critically necessary when it comes to dealing
first with our biological parents, our spiritual fathers as well
as leaders; the term “leaders” include our school teachers,
Sunday school teachers, role models, mentors and all who
have influenced our lives in any way, especially in our
character development.

Honour actually begins with God the Father and His dear
Son, Jesus Christ. Honour includes the ministers of God here
on earth. We are mandated to honour those individuals who
have invested countless hours into our lives, to try to make

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HONOUR

us better people, with better character. Of this the Apostle

Paul issues this command to children – including: five-year-
old boys and girls, to the ten-year-old boys and girls and, to
the twenty-year-old boys and girls, and even to the fifty-year-
old sons and daughters:
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is
right. Honor your father and mother; which is the first
commandment with promise; that it may be well with
you, and you may live long on the earth.”
- Ephesians 6:1-3

This Apostolic Command by Apostle Paul is sourced from the

Torah, beginning with Exodus 20:12, where God Himself
commands: “Honor your father and your mother: that
your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your
God gives you.” Deuteronomy 5:16 adds to that: “Honor
your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has
commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that
it may go well with you, in the land which the LORD your
God gives you.”

Sadly, it is uncommon thing in this side of the 21st Century

to find a young boy or a young man or a woman, who
really understands what honour truly is. In fact, you hardly
can find a book on the market that deals specifically and
comprehensively with the subject of honour.

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 Introduction

It is for this reason I did not hesitate to start this work when
the Holy Spirit communed with my spirit to take this book
as an assignment and help the Body of Christ and the world
at large with this book project. Let us move on now and
define what honour is.
ERIC XEXEMEKU

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 CHAPTER 1

What Is Honour?

“If I be your Father, where is My honour?”

T he Word honour is used in several different ways in the

Bible. In fact, appears nearly 150 times in our English
Bibles. That means the subject and the idea of honour
is a very important idea in the Word of God. In the Old
Testament, the word translated as honour is the Hebrew
“kabad”. Kabad simply means to be heavy, weighty, grievous,
hard, rich, glorious, burdensome. In other words, our parents
should be a significant priority in our lives.

Leaders should be held in high esteem and be seen as persons

who are heavy or carry great weight. From the same root word
kabad that we derive the word “kabod”, which means glory.
Thus we must see leaders and parents as glorious or persons
who command reverence. Our parents in particular should

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not be ignored or taken lightly. Our choices should take their

needs and wishes into serious consideration.

In the New Testament, the Greek word used for honour in

Ephesians 6:2 is “Timao”. It means to determine the value
of something - in this case, to determine that the value is
high. We should give our parents and leaders a high value
and treat them accordingly. We are commanded to love our
parents – and our leaders - with agape love. We must treat
them with the fruit of the Spirit We must speak of them and
to them with respect. We must forgive them wholeheartedly,
should they wrong us. And we should seek reconciliation
when issues of misunderstandings get in the way.

The same applies to parents who act less honourably.

The Bible gives counsel for dealing with ungodly people. We
may not have a close relationship with them,and we may even
treat their advice with contempt;, However we are obliged to
love them. And there is nothing in the Bible that indicates
we are absolved from seeing to their basic needs when they
are older.

Honour According to the Ten Commandments

Christian scholars generally divide the Ten Commandments
into two groups; the first four deals with God and the last
six deals with our relationships with fellow humans. This
puts “honor your father and mother” in the same category
as those commandments telling us to honour God. God
commissioned parents with the upbringing of their children.

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 What is Honour?

Who Are We To Honour?

As we have seen already, to honour means: to respect, revere,
esteem, have high regard for, admire, and to reward the one
who is held in high esteem. The term “honour” can be used
to express respect or reverence to those who are superiors or
are in authority or leadership – both spiritual and secular
leadership. For example, the Bible uses the term in reference
to the following individuals, who deserve to be honoured or
revered and held in high esteem:

1. Honour is used in reference to God Himself.

“Now to the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the Only Wise
God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
- I Timothy 1:17

2. The term “honour” is also used in reference to Jesus Christ.

“That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the
Father. He that honors not the Son honors not the Father which
has sent Him.”
- John 5:23

3. It is used in reference to Ministers of God - or Church

officers or Elders or Spiritual Leaders.
“Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor,
especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.”
- I Timothy 5:17

4. It is also used in reference to The King – this includes

Presidents, Prime Ministers, Heads of States and

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Governmental Leadership.
“
Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the
king.”
- I Peter 2:17

5. It is also used in reference to The Elderly and Older

Widows. Regarding widows, it says:

“Honor widows who are really widows.”
- I Timothy 5:3

6. The word “honour” is used in reference to Parents.

We have already made reference to several scriptures where
we are admonished to to honour our fathers and mothers.

7. Honour can also be something bestowed as a reward for

virtuous behaviour. It can be a reward for honouring God,
or serving Christ. It can also be a reward for manifesting
wisdom, discipline, humility, being peacefull , righteousness,
and merciful. Biblical images of honour in this manner
include examples of persons whose achievements bring
honour to them and to God. For example: Joseph, Joshua,
Solomon, Daniel, and the Apostles all earned honour in the
sight of man.

Two Ways of Expressing Honour

To honour someone is to acknowledge and show respect for
the authority, or worthiness, of a person. Honouring, first

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 What is Honour?

and foremost, entails an attitude of gratitude and deep respect

- which is an inward emotion. In other words, an attitude of
deep feeling of respect, which is termed as reverence or awe or
veneration or admiration.

Secondly, honour entails outward manifestations of

appreciation -such as gestures, as in the way of bowing before
someone, or being attentive to them, or actions, in the way of
conferring titles, or giving citations or certificate of honour
or privileges on the one to be honoured. It could also be in
the form of money or a sponsorship package to be used by
the honoured one for a humanitarian action or project.
So there are many ways in which “honouring” is used in the
Bible. All these ways of showing honour elevate the person
that is honoured.

In addition to the primary meaning, honour is used in the

Bible to name something possessed by certain people as an
innate, inner, quality. Indeed, all human beings are endowed
with an innate honour by virtue of their creation in the
image of God. While this is inferred from the creation story,
and is stated explicitly in a song of David penned in Psalm 8,

“What is man, that You are mindful of him? And the son
of man, that You visit him? For You have made him a little
lower than the angels, and have crowned him with glory
and honor.”
- PSALM 8:4-5

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Let me emphasize that true honour begins with God. The

writer of the Book of Hebrews makes it clear in Hebrews
2:7, that: “and did set Him over the works of Your hands.”
Thus, it is God who bestows true honour. Note here also
that, biblically, honour is viewed from both external and
internal perspectives. That is, outwardly honour includes:
rank, wealth, or public respect; and inwardly it means
dignity, nobility, excellence and integrity of mind, heart and
character.

In the Old Testament, both external and internal perspectives

occasionally merge. Quite often when God blessed Israel,
He causes external and internal honour to go hand-in-hand.
When the nations or individuals disappointed God with a
dishonourable act, God often deprived them of their rank,
wealth, and public respect. This is something that is inherent.
It is a curse that comes with dishonour – and we shall see
that in the chapter that deals with the spirit of dishonour.

The New Testament writers drew a sharp distinction between

the two forms of honour, making it clear that, because
the world is corrupt, those whom the world honours are
usually corrupt themselves. Therefore, the New Testament
emphasizes that the proper and genuine honour to seek is
honour of character- which may reap public dishonour on
earth, but public acclaim from heaven! So there is a direct
contrast between the world’s definition of honour and God’s
true and genuine definition of honour.

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 What is Honour?

At this stage, permit me to define the specific type of honour

that this book seeks to expose and advocate. . This is the
definition we are going to work with for most of this book:
‘Honour is a deep, profoundly abiding inner attitude
of reverence and sense of worthiness that is expressed
towards the one who deserves to be celebrated.’

Honour is not simply an outward action. Yes, of course,

honour is an outward action; and without that outward
action, there is no manifestation of honour. But the meaning
of honour goes even deeper than that. For example, you can
do things with your face, and you can do things with your
hands, and you can say the right words and still not know
how to honour another individual. Thus, you do all of that,
which looks like “honour” (on the face of it) and yet not
really honour those individuals who deserve to be honoured.
Romans 13:7commands: “Give honor to whom honour
is due.” Thus, “honour is due” based on two things:
relationships and on authority. Our lives will not be well
with us until we come to grips with true honour. Aside
honouring God, the greatest honor which is due to any
human being must first be to our biological parents. That
is crucial because, we will not live long in the land; and we
will not prosper; or be at peace until we truly honour our
physical parents - and also our spiritual parents or parents
in the Lord. That means, we should honour all of the other
relationships that are an extension of this same principle of
honour.

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Note also that, honour is at the foundation of our way of life,

if we are truly Christians. The issue of honour is significant
and central to everything in the Bible. It is the reason God
commands: “honor your father and mother…This is the first
commandment with promise.” This is the first command that
God gave where He said, “Listen very carefully: If you do this
one thing, this will unlock the key to your spiritual success;
and you will have physical prosperity and good success as
well.”

We find out, in Deuteronomy 28 and elsewhere in Scripture,

that if we do not do this thing, God will bring judgment on
us. He will sell our daughters into slavery! God will utterly
destroy us and annihilate us. As if that were not enough, He
will cut off our future generations! That is how important
God sees honouring leadership – especially our parents! God
gives us this contrast; on the one hand, that we will have
blessings if we obey; and, on the other hand, curses if we do
not.

The Principle of Honour

Honour breeds honour, respect breeds respect, and
gentleness breeds gentleness. On the other hand, dishonour
breeds dishonour, and disrespect breeds disrespect. We must
therefore firmly established in our hearts that, God has a
principle governing how we honour those to whom honour
is due. We must understand and practice the language of
honour.

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 What is Honour?

We must develop symbols of honour in your home. As true

Christians, I recommend that you post important statements
such as the Ten Commandment at prominent places in our
homes, or in our church premises or offices. It helps us
remember to practice the principle of honour. As we are
instructed to do in Deuteronomy 6,

“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall

talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by
the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. And
you shall bind as a sign on your hand, and they shall be
as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the
doorposts of your house, and on your gates.”
- Deuteronomy 6:7-9

We do not all have posts on our house, especially if we live

in an apartment. We do not all have gates on our house.
But the principle is that they should be posted where they
can be seen easily in our homes. Imagine having The Fifth
Commandment right there, at eye level, in your sons and
daughters’ rooms, so that when they walk into their rooms
they read, both consciously and unconsciously. Then you
point it out to your son in the morning, to make sure that he
realized that it is there. It reads:

“Honor thy father and mother: that your days may

be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives
you!”

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It is so important that children have that as standard of

righteousness, standing there where they can see it. And even
though your son may not read it every time that he walks
into his room, the fact that it is there means symbolically
that it is hanging over his head - so to speak - or, that is
how our household lives. It sends a clear message about the
importance of honour leadership, starting with honouring
dad and mom!

As parents, we should note that, we are at war for the minds

of our children! Ephesians 6:12 reveals that: “For we do
not wrestle [or, war] against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in
the heavenly places.”

The whole world conspires to make our sons and daughters

disrespectful. This is spiritual wickedness, because disrespect
and rebellion originates from Satan. He inspires sons to be
dishonourable and rebel against authority. Satan instigates
perverse authority that makes sons rebel against their fathers
and authority figures. We shall delve deeper into this when
we deal with the spirit of Absalom later in this book.

This “perverse authority” is someone who is in authority over

your life, but is acting wrongly. Every one of us has dealt
with this, or will deal with this, at one time or another in our
lives, because there are so many “perverse authorities” in the
world.

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 What is Honour?

Do Not Rebel Against Even An “Abusive Authority”

I am so thankful that, when I was younger, my father taught
me how to deal with this type of situation. It saved me
heartache upon heartache in dealing and complying with
employers over the years. This principle is found in the book
of First Samuel, where we are given a dramatic example of
the most “abusive authority” leader that we can imagine - that
of a son who is being abused wrongfully.

If ever there was a person who had a ‘right’ to rise up and

shake his fist and to destroy that authority figure, it was
David. Here was David, and he was in a situation where his
‘father’ Saul was operating in a “perverse authority.”

Saul was actually David’s father-in-law, and was just like a

second father to David. Saul was also his king, which means
Saul was set up by God Himself to rule over David. This is
something that we need to recognize as well. God chose your
father to be your father, and He chose your mother to be
your mother!

God is the One who set them up. And it is God who instructs
us to honour them. God knew that our fathers and our
mothers would not be perfect. He knew that they were going
to be sinners. He knew all of these things, and He still gave
them to us as our parents and set up our leaders over us; yet
He still expects us to respond to them in a positive way.

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David Chose to Honour Spiritual Authority of Saul

From the account in I Samuel 24, David had been fleeing
from Saul for quite a long time when he had an opportunity
to take things into his own hands. All the while, his peers
were pressuring him to fight Saul. That is, to dishonour Saul,
and by inference, to dishonour the source of that authority:
God. This is such an important example, and it is stated so
well by the Eternal God here.

“Now it happened, when Saul had returned from following

the Philistines that it was told him, saying, “Take note!
David is in the wilderness of EnGedi. Then Saul took three
thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek
David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats. So he
came to the sheepfolds by the road, where was a cave; and
Saul went in to attend to his needs. [For those of you who
are very young and do not know what that means, it means
that he went in there to go to the bathroom.] (David and
his men remained in the sides of the cave.) [So they were
in the same cave, at the same time that Saul was doing his
business.] Then the men of David said unto him, “This is
the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will
deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to
him as it seems good to you.’” And David arose, and secretly
cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. Now it happened afterward
that David’s heart troubled him, because he had cut Saul’s
robe.”
- I Samuel 24:1-5

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 What is Honour?

“And he said unto his men, “The LORD forbid that I

should do this thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, to
stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed
of the LORD.” So David restrained his servants with these
words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And
Saul got up from the cave, and went on his way. David
also arose afterward, went out of the cave, and called out to
Saul, saying, “My lord the king!”And when Saul looked
behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth,
and bowed down.”
- I Samuel 24:6-8

“And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words

of men who say, Indeed, David seeks your life?’ Look, this
day your eyes have seen that the LORD delivered you today
into my hand in the cave, and someone urged me kill you.
But my eye spared you; and I said, ‘I will not stretch out
my hand against my lord; for he is the LORD’s anointed.’
Moreover, my father, see! Yes, see the skirt of your robe in
my hand! For in that I cut off the corner of your robe,
and did not kill you, know and see that there is neither
evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned
against you. Yet you hunt my life to take it. Let the LORD
judge between you and me, and the LORD avenge me on
you. But my hand shall not be against you.”
- I Samuel 24:9-12

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David chose to honour spiritual authority. We see how David

showed deep respect to that authority figure, Saul, and how
he honoured his ‘father’ Saul, the king, despite the latter’s
shortcomings! This is an important principle. If we have a
“perverse authority” figure over us, it is not for us to take it
into our own hands! Let go and let God! As the proverb of
the ancient says, “Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.”
David said in earnest,
“But my hand shall not be against you. After whom is the
king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog?
A flea?”
- I Samuel 24:13-14

There you see humility in David’s attitude! He was not

thinking of himself as greater than Saul. This is very important
lesson especially for our youth of today. If you are under any
form of leadership authority - spiritual or secular – and even
you feel your leaders are being unfair to you, please do not
rebel. Stay under the authority and seek God’s wisdom to
know what to do. Heed to David’s counsel and action:

“Therefore let the LORD be judge, and judge between

you and me, and see and plead my case, and deliver me
out of your hand.” So it was, when David had finished
speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, “Is this your
voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice, and
wept. Then he said to David, “You are more righteous than
I; for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have
rewarded you with evil.”
- I Samuel 24:15-17

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The question that comes to mind here is this: Is there ever

a time when a child may disobey his parents? Yes, there is;
but we must be very careful with this. You may disobey your
parents on this note: if your parents ask you to break God’s
Law. Here is an extreme example: You are a young Christian
lady, living in Accra with your parents and they want to sell
you into prostitution. Here you may then not obey them,
because God’s law supersedes their ‘law.’!

However, except in cases where they require you to break the

laws of God a , you must obey your parents, in accordance
with God’s Law. But do not think God has given you the
license to second guess every decision your father or your
mother makes. Do not ever fall into that trap! The same
applies to all other forms of leadership and authorities you
serve under.

Difference between Honour and Counsel

There is a caution here though. Know the difference between
honour and counsel. A young man who is living under the
roof of his father is required to obey him. If you are living
under the roof of your father, and he is providing for you
and protecting you, it does not matter your age, you must
obey him as long you choose to live under his roof, unless he
is telling you to break God’s Law.

On the other hand, if you are a young man who has established
your own household, then your father is no longer the

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commander in your life. He is now the counselor in your life.

This means that you are ultimately responsible in your life:
for your own actions, and for making your own decisions.
Nonetheless, in all circumstances you need to show honour
to your father and your mother. However, “honour” does not
always mean “obey.”

But if you seek your father’s counsel - as you should, no matter

your age, it would be in the most uncommon occasion, that
you would not take your father’s counsel. Whether you are
10, or 18, or 30, or 50, if your parents are still alive, it is good
to seek your parent’s advice. You would certainly want to
take their counsel with a great deal of respect, because they
know you in many ways better than you know yourself.

God’s System of Honouring Requires Humility

Throughout the Bible, God demonstrates His desire for us to
conform to His system of honouring,;both by revering Him,
and by aspiring to His value system, in humility. This theme
occurs again and again in the Old Testament, as God tried to
show His people that blessings and honour come forth from
Him, and that the only way to receive them is to humble
ourselves and honour Him. Honour and Humility are closely
associated
“A man’s pride will bring him low: but the humble in
spirit will retain honor.”
- Proverbs 29:23

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 What is Honour?

God honours humility, anytime. Humility is essential in

properly administering honour in the lives of our spiritual
fathers, our secular leaders and our physical parents. This
principle is indicated in Proverbs 6 regarding friends, but it
can be applied to parents and leaders as well,

“So do this, my son, and deliver yourself, for you have come
into the hand of your friend: Go and humble yourself;
plead with your friend.”
- Proverbs 6:3

If you have dishonoured any person in leadership, especially

your parents, then go and humble yourself; and “make peace”
with them, especially if it is your father, or your mother. Jesus
said in Matthew 23:12that: “And whoever exalts himself
will be humbled; and he who humbles himself will be
exalted [or, honored].”

Even those to whom God gives the worldly honours of

power, fame, and riches must learn the boundaries of His
Goodness. Again and again, God taught the rulers of both
Israel and other nations that their honour on earth must be
accompanied by humility, because God is the source of the
honour in the first place.

We must conform to God’s system of honouring, both by

revering Him and by working to reach His standard of
righteousness, in humility. In reaching God’s standard of

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righteousness we must develop an honest and genuine. Like

the scriptures says ‘Train up a child the way he should go and
when he or she grows he will not depart from it’.

The Old Testament is a testimony to the fact that ultimately

God alone is the Possessor of honour, and worthy of being
honoured. When God ended the disgrace of Hannah’s
barrenness by giving her a long-waited-son, she voiced this
important principle,

“He [God] raises up the poor from the dust, and lifts the
beggar from the ash heap, to set them among princes and
make them inherit the throne of glory [or you could say,
the throne of honor]. For the pillars of the earth are the
LORD’s, and He has set the world upon them.”
- I Samuel 2:8

It is God Himself who determines who shall be honoured,

and who shall not. He has commanded that we honour our
fathers and mothers. Sometimes the word love is used as a
synonym for honour. Paul wrote to the Romans – and to us
too - to “love one another” with mutual affection. That is, to
out-do one another in showing honour! In Romans 12:10
he wrote to us to “Be kindly affectionate to one another with
brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.”

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 What is Honour?

The True Foundation Of Honour

This is the true foundation of honour: that we love our parents,
we love those in authority , that we love our brethren, and
that above all, we love God. The highest example of such
loving honour is the example of Jesus Christ. In washing
the disciples’ feet, He paid them the honour of service
and subjected His own priorities to their interests. Such
honouring of others is tied up with humility, which is the
means of obtaining true honour. In this way, we obtain both
honourable character and honourable distinctions forever.

May God grant us wisdom and ability to put into action

all that I am sharing with you in this book. May God help
us develop a culture of honour based on God’s universal
principle of honour. May we develop the ability to show
reverence for God, for our parents, our leaders, our pastors,
our mentors and all individuals and groups who offer us any
form of leadership and help us develop good character for
excellence in life.

May you never forget to: “Honour your father and your
mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you;
that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well
with you! That is the beginning of the journey of Honour:
Understanding The Dynamics of Honouring Leadership.
Shalom!

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HONOUR

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 CHAPTER 2

The Call To Honour

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are

keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to
give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with
groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
- Hebrews 13:17, Esv

I n the sermon, The Spirit of Honor, Bishop Michael Pitts

said this about honour: “Honor means agreeing with
God’s choice. God has hidden treasure in each of us and
the spirit of honor recognizes it. When we recognize it, we
can celebrate it! We live in a culture of dishonor, reducing
the accomplishments of others, but the Kingdom of God
is about being willing to buy the field where the treasure is
hidden. Are you a field inspector or a treasure hunter?” True!
We all have times in our lives when we stop and contemplate
our walk with Christ, and question whether or not we are

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living the blessed life God intended for us.

Often we find dissatisfaction or unfulfilled destiny and

wonder if something is missing in our lives or that God
has forsaken us. That is why I love Bishop Tudor Bismark’s
exciting insights in his book, “The Spirit of Honor. I must
proudly say that, when God put the idea of this book in my
heart, the first book on the subject that came to my mind
was The Spirit of Honor and it has really inspired and guided
my thoughts greatly as I gathered my information together
to begin this project in earnest.

Bishop Tudor Bismark shows us in his book that God is

always faithful. However, people perish because of lack of
knowledge and many suffer because of the spirit of dishonour
that is operating in their lives. Bishop Bismark’s teaching in
the book brings fresh revelation on the spirit of honour and
invaluable information key to our growth as Believers.

Learning about honour and all the blessings that are connected
with honour are what we are looking at in this book. For the
rest of the chapters, we will learn Biblical concepts of honour
and the spirit of dishonour that has operated from the days
of Lucifer through the Old Testament to the New Testament
until the present day. We will also learn about how to reverse
negative occurrences that come as a result of the spirit of
dishonour.

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 The Call To Honour

I believe that an in-depth study on the subject of honour,

provides an opportunity to examine both our heart and our
roles in the Corporate Body of Christ. Now, let us take a
look at the subject of honour, and what qualifies one to be
honoured and what disqualifies one from being honoured.

Honour Is Given, Not Earned

An adage goes that: ‘respect is earned, but honour is
given’. This is deep! Indeed, throughout the Bible, people are
commanded to give honour to others, with no conditions
attached. Of these commands, the most well-known to us
which I have quoted already - is: “Honor your father and
your mother.”

This vital oft-quoted verse first mentioned in Exodus 20,

has been repeated several times in both the Old and New
Testaments, and we will deal with each of them in the
consequent chapters. The Bible also instructs us to honour for
the elderly, those in the Church, widows, Pastors, government
leaders, spouses, and most importantly and ultimately, Jesus
Christ as Lord.

Honour Is Outdoing Each Other In Good Deeds

In particular, I love the passage in the Book of Romans,
where Apostle Paul instructs the membership of the Church
to ‘outdo one another in showing honor’ (Romans 12:10,
ESV).I term this instruction, the call of honour. What Paul
is instructing us to do is essentially a command to have a

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‘friendly competition’ in the Church, trying to surpass each

other in honouring people, not necessarily because they have
done anything to earn or deserve being honoured. Always
remember:
“Respect is earned, but Honour is given”.

Indeed, we must “outdo one another in showing honor.”

It is interesting how the other different translations of the
bible put it. If you study carefully, you will notice that other
translation may have used words different from the NKJV
translation. Notice the differences between these common
translations:
NKJV: “…in honor giving preference to one another.”
ESV: “Outdo one another in showing honor.”
NASB: “give preference to one another in honor.”
NIV: “Honor one another above yourselves.
NLT: “…take delight in honoring each other.”

If you ponder the meaning of those phrases – like “giving

preference” or honouring one another “above yourselves” –
you end up with a very similar picture. But in the wording
from the English Standard Version, which states: “Outdo
one another in showing honor.”

At first, it probably sounds funny to think of “outdoing” each

other in something like showing honour, as though we are
actually competing with each other as to how well we are
living out biblical commands. But rest assured, we are not

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 The Call To Honour

talking about some strange competition here.

The idea of the original Greek verb which translated into

“outdoing” is that of: taking the lead in something; or being
out front. If we think of honour as showing appreciation and
esteem, I can give it a good paraphrase for this command,
as: “take the lead in showing appreciation and esteem.”
That is what exactly it means: To take the lead in showing
appreciation to others.

In a biblical sense, honour actually is not associated with

an individual’s performance. We are not to withhold honour
because someone is not living up to our expectations. In
fact, Apostle Peter covers all the bases by saying we should
honour “everyone” (I Peter 2:17). Certainly, the great apostle
understood that “everyone” would include those individuals
who have not earned honour - those who have not been
honourable people.

Honour Even Those You Consider as ‘Un-honourable

There surely will be members in the local church who might
have bad records among the brethren. The elderly person
with a checkered past, or the pastor who has hurt your
feelings, or the church member who has been criticizing you
the leader or pastor, or your spouse whose attitude has not
been encouraging, or the waiter who spilled your drink at the
restaurant, or the government leader of the party you do not
belong to, and what have you. Nonetheless, we are instructed

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to honour them – of course, in addition to those who really

deserve and have earned our respect as honourable people.

Let us examine now, what the Bible is asking us to do when

we are told to honour someone. In the New Testament,
the word honour essentially means “to treat someone as
valuable.” Now we must realize that we are pulled by our
flesh and our culture to determine someone’s value by what
they have done, specifically, what they have done for us. It
is not difficult to think about honouring someone who has
treated you well, provided you blessings, or enriched your
life in some way.

For most of us, it is easy to honour our parents (especially

our mother), our spouse, our pastor, or our boss, etc, because
they are honourable people who treat us well. But that is not
true for all the people in our lives. Whether it is someone
close to us or individuals we have encountered in our daily
routine, we all interact with those who do not act in ways
worthy of our respect. But the Bible calls us to step outside
of our natural preferences and honour each one of them.

By our words and our actions, we are to show people that

they are valuable, often, despite their behaviour. You may
be asking now “what makes people valuable, if not their
performance or contributions to society?” You are right.
There is a culture of honour, whereby we honour those who
excel and qualify to be honoured. That kind of honour exists

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 The Call To Honour

and we shall deal with it in this book soon.

Coming back to the basic reason for honouring, what we

must have in mind is, all honour must actually and primarily
go to God. Now, gleaning from scripture, we observe that,
the value of life, of every life, is rooted in this biblical passage
from Genesis 1, that: “God created mankind in His own
image and likeness.”

What separates the human race from the rest of the creation
is that we are the image bearers of God. This speaks not of our
physical likeness, but of our spiritual identity and capability.
All people are born with a unique ability to intimately know,
serve, worship, and love God, and our Creator (God) is the
only one “worthy to receive glory and honour” (Revelation
4:11).

Now, He has chosen in His mercy, to crown us with a

measure of the same glory and honour (Psalm 8:5). Indeed,
all of us “have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory”, which
is ultimately why people hurt other people. But even then,
God chose to send His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ to
redeem His ‘image-bearers’ and restore in us, the glorious
likeness of God in those who believe in Him, Jesus Christ.

Consequently, all people – especially believers in Christ Jesus

- have an inherent value, because it has been bestowed upon
them by God. Every person belongs to God. Every believer

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 HONOUR

is stamped with His image and His likeness. Every person

can walk in His likeness through faith in the death and
resurrection of Jesus.

Thus, to dishonour people - for any reason - is to dishonour

their Creator. Of course, not every person will earn our
respect, but every person must be treated as valuable – and
that is honour. Often giving someone honour is all it takes
to encourage them to live honourable lives – the life that
honours God and His Word.

Honouring is Both An Innate & A Learned Behaviour

Generally, psychologists defined a learned behaviour as the
process by which a living organism develops as a result of
experience. Thus, learned behaviours contrast with innate
behaviours, which are genetically-wired and can be performed
without any prior experience or training. Of course, some
behaviours have both learned and innate elements. For
instance, zebra finches are genetically pre-programmed to
learn a song, but the song they sing depends on what they
hear from their fathers.

I believe that our ability to honour one another has both

innate and learned elements. We all have it in us to feel
appreciated and to appreciate others for who they are as
well as for what they do. We all have intrinsic and extrinsic
abilities to value others and be valued too. To show one a
special attention, we would naturally expect that person to

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 The Call To Honour

do same unto us. Thus, honouring each other is reciprocal or

is supposed to be so.

Furthermore, learning to honour others show how much we

value what Jesus Christ has done for us. God first loved us
and we are expected to love Him back as well as demonstrate
love and appreciation to each others. That is what honour
is. We do not love others because they deserve it; we love
because God first loved us.

For a personal example, as a Christ’s follower and a Pastor

over many souls I shepherd for Christ, my first and foremost
honour is to the Father God through Jesus Christ. To Him
I hold my first unalloyed allegiance. I must learn to honour
Him first in all things I am and do. Then and only then can
I honour those in authority over me- the fathers, leaders and
mentors over my life.

I then my fellow leaders, members and others including my

family. especially. Even as I would also want my children,
church workers and my congregation to honour me as their
shepherd and spiritual overseer, I must show the way. God
has commanded me to honour others. If I do not honour,
then what is in my position as a spiritual leader? I must be the
first to teach and practice the Culture of Honour, according
to the Kingdom Protocol.

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 HONOUR

When honouring others become my lifestyle, I am showing

the value of Christ’s love, exactly the way He did in loving
me unconditionally, when I was not worthy of His love, yet
He loved me and embraced me as his son. That is what this
book is all about: teaching the Body of Christ the art and
act of honouring each other and of course, those who are
honourable.

Why Is God Worthy Of Our Honour?

Revelation 5:13 indicates that: “…the One sitting on the
throne and…the Lamb” deserves to be honoured. Note that
in Revelation 4, one reason why God deserves to be honoured
is made crystal clear. Exalted creatures in the heavenly realm
lifted their voices in praise to Jehovah, singing to: “the One
who lives forever and ever.” They declared: “You are worthy,
Jehovah our God, to receive the glory and the honour
and the power, because You created all things, and because
of your will they came into existence and were created.”
(Revelation 4:9-11).

That Lamb who was honoured is Jesus Christ: “the Lamb of

God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) The
Bible tells us that He is far superior to all men who are or have
been kings. It explained: “He is the King of those who rule
as kings and Lord of those who rule as lords, the one alone
having immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light,
whom no man has seen or can see.” (I Timothy 6:14-16).
What other king on earth has ever died as a ransom for our

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 The Call To Honour

sins? Do you not feel moved to join with the innumerable

hosts of heavenly creatures in proclaiming:

“The Lamb who was slaughtered is worthy to receive the

power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and
glory and blessing.”
- Revelation 5:12

Why Honouring God and Christ is not Optional

Honouring God the Father and His Christ is not optional.
Our everlasting life depends on our doing so. The Words of
Jesus Christ in John…….. help us to see that plainly: “The
Father judges no one at all, but He has entrusted all the
judging to the Son, so that all may honour the Son just
as they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the
Son does not honour the Father who sent Him” (Read also
Psalm 2:11, 12).

After honouringGod, we are commanded to honour each

other too. Why should we show a measure of honour and
respect to people in general?

Firstly, humans were created “in the image and likeness of

God” (Genesis 1:27) Thus, most humans exhibit some godly
qualities, albeit to differing degrees.

God designed us in such a way that, humans are capable

of showing one another love, generosity, kindness, and

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compassion. We have been created with a conscience,

therefore as humans; people normally have an inborn sense
that alerts us to what is right or wrong, honest or dishonest,
appropriate or inappropriate.

Most people are drawn to things that are clean and beautiful.
Generally, they want to live with others in peace. Whether
we realize it or not, they reflect to some extent God’s Glory,
and for this reason, we deserve a measure of honour and
respect. Psalms affirms this.

For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
“

And You have crowned him with glory and honor.”

- Psalm 8:5, NKJV

Proper Balance In Rendering Honour To Others

In the matter of rendering honour to fellow humans, how
do we as God’s people differ from all others? Let me begin
by stating that, balance is needed in determining what kind
of honour should be rendered to other humans and to what
extent. Most humans are strongly influenced by the spirit
of the world and that is Satan. That is why people tend to
idolize certain men or women - as stars and celebrities - rather
than just showing them appropriate honour and respect due
them.

We tend to place religious leaders, political leaders, sports

figures, entertainment stars, and other celebrities on pedestals,

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 The Call To Honour

often elevating them to almost super-human status. Hence,

young and old alike look to them as mentors and role
models. We sometimes elevate them beyond measure, and
even imitate their mannerisms, dress-code, and conducts.

My caution is, as Christians, let us give honour to whom

honour is due. Nevertheless, we must be circumspect not to
give unto man, an honour that is due God. We must refrain
from such a distorted view of honouring humans. Jesus Christ
is the only One who ever lived andwhom we can consider a
Perfect Role Model (I Peter 2:21). God therefore would not
be pleased if we extended to humans, more honour than they
are due. Anyone who tried to take God’s honour suffered
fatal consequences. Herod comes readily to mind:
Never Try to Take God’s Place of Honour!

“Then he (Herod) went down from Judea to Caesarea and

spent time there. Now Herod was angry with the people of
Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord,
and having persuaded Blastus, the king’s chamberlain,
they asked for peace, because their country depended on the
king’s country for food. On an appointed day Herod put on
his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered
an oration to them. And the people were shouting, “The
voice of a god, and not of a man!” Immediately an angel
of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give
God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed
his last.”
- Acts 12:18-24

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 HONOUR

Here was Herod, sitting in the judgment chair, dressed to

impress. The arrogant king made a speech, but the people
also had a message that they were anxious to get across to
him. Most translations have them shouting, “The voice of a
god and not of a man”. That was a great blasphemy – taking
God’s glory and honour! Herod – being man - should have
raised his hands in protest and silenced the people.

Herod should have said something like, “I am a just a king.

I am neither a god nor a prophet of God. God grants me
power to rule by His grace. I have no power of my own!”
But instead Herod accepted the hero worship and did not
give God the glory. Herod attempted – like Lucifer – to steal
God’s Glory.

The people of Tyre and Sidon wanted favour from Herod. So

when Herod spoke, they all decided to flatter him. In fact, he
had been hoping for this, so in his royal robes, what he hoped
for the people did: they flattered him. They honoured him
with God’s attribute. They said “He spoke as a god.” What
did he do? He accepted that praise and honour, as if he was
God! Herod took glory that belonged to God alone!

Beloved, God always arises in judgment whenever we compete

with Him regarding His glory and honour. God dispatched
an angel. An angel of the Lord caused Herod to be consumed
by worms. According to Doctor Luke, Herod was eaten by
worms and died! The death by this affliction was meant to
show clearly that God is God, and men are men.

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 The Call To Honour

May we be very careful never to compete with God for the

honour due Him and Him only. No matter how powerful
you may be, always know that you are mortal and not to be
worshiped by fellow men! As a king, chief, leader or a pastor
or a prophet, you may be gorgeously arrayed, but remember,
you are only human and corruptible! Never permit your
people to give you any form of worship or adulation.

In this age when many are hungrily pursuing big titles and
big names, I beseech you by the mercies of God to refrain
from ‘fighting over’ titles and appellations that befit only
God. Be content with the titles that are genuinely in line with
your area of calling! The lesson here is clear: God’s Glory and
Honour, He shares with no one!

God’s Glory is an awe-inspiring physical manifestation of

His splendor, the Shekinah - a bright shining cloud that look
like white-hot fire during the Exodus led by Moses. Even that
incredibly bright cloud seems only to be a shroud to protect
people from the fullness of God’s blinding glory! At Matthew
17, Jesus sets aside His humanness for a few moments and
transfigured, revealing that He indeed possesses all of the
Glory of God!

All of the physical manifestation and all of Character attributes

of God’s Glory dwell fully and delightfully in Jesus Christ.
All of the blinding burning power - as well as the merciful
and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love

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 HONOUR

and faithfulness characteristics of Go – are found in only

One Person, Jesus Christ. Let us honour Him!

May you never fall victim to this! Glory stealing and self-
honouring happens when we think of anything about us as
self-generated. There is nothing that we have that has not
been given to us! You do not have to be great to steal God’s
glory. The people said to Herod, this is the voice of a God
and he accepted that praise. He was living for it but instead
died shamefully in the end! May we learn to be like Apostle
Peter,
“When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down
at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up,
saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.”
- Acts 10:25-26

Some of us are involved in things that could easily bring glory

to us. An athlete who points to the sky or bows in prayer,
gives glory to God after a touchdown and that is exactly
what we need to do! Even Jesus would not be worshiped for
the wrong reasons. Paul did same. Joseph did same:

“Perceiving then that they were about to come and take

Him by force to make Him king, Jesus withdrew again to
the mountain by Himself.”
- John 6:15

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 The Call To Honour

“Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not

use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never
walked. He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking
intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made
well, said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.”
And he sprang up and began walking. And when the
crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices,
saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in
the likeness of men!” Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul,
Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. And the priest of
Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought
oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice
with the crowds. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul
heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into
the crowd, crying out, “Men, why are you doing these
things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and
we bring you good news, that you should turn from these
vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and
the earth and the sea and all that is in them.”
- Acts 14:8-16

“And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and

there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said
of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”
Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give
Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
- Genesis 41:15-16

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 HONOUR

God killed Herod for not giving glory to Him. God, the
Righteous Judge of the Universe, slammed His divine
gavel down and said, “Guilty”! Death sentence!” “And the
people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a
man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down,
because not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms
and breathed his last.”

Ultimately what Herod did was to belittle God’s name.

When we steal God’s glory and honour, we belittle God’s
Name. God is to be glorified. In fact the reason we exist is to
glorify God. So to take the glory that is His for ourselves, we
state our desire to exist apart from God! Let us learn to be
humble and remember:
“…whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all
to the glory of God.”
- I Corinthians 10:31

Beloved, God is absolutely committed to His Glory and

Honour. He is committed to His Glory because He is worth
beholding! The Lord said of Him: “In the same way, let your
light shine before others, so that they may see your good
works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven”
(Matthew 5:16). We cannot in any way add to God’s Glory.
He already has it, so honour Him by worshiping Him “in
Spirit and in Truth.”

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 CHAPTER 3

Dimensions Of Honour

“It is better to deserve honors and not have them than

to have them and not deserve them.”
- MARK TWAIN

T here are many dimensions of honour. More often, for

someone to qualify to be honoured with a specific
honour, nominations are decided by an honours committee.
Also, there are many honour schemes here on earth. For
example, England has many honour schemes such as:
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).This
is awarded for having a prominent but lesser role at national
level, or a leading role at regional level. They also have the
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE); this is
awarded for having a major local role in any activity, including
people whose work has made them known nationally in their
chosen area.

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 HONOUR

Then there is the Member of the Order of the British Empire

(MBE), and this is awarded for an outstanding achievement or
service to the community. They also have the Royal Victorian
Order (RVO), an award given by the Queen - usually to
people who have helped her personally, like members of the
Royal household staff or British ambassadors. Then there is
the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
This is awarded for having a prominent but lesser role at
national level or a leading role at regional level.

There is also the Commander of the Order of the British

Empire (CBE). They also have the Officer of the Order of
the British Empire (OBE). This is awarded for having a
major local role in any activity, including people whose work
has made them known nationally in their chosen area. The
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) is awarded
for having a major local role in any activity, including people
whose work has made them known nationally in their chosen
area.

In Ghana, our highest national award is called The Order of

Volta, that comes in different divisions, distinguished with
ribbons of diverse colours- navy blue with red borders and
a central black stripe. These are given to persons who have
excelled and made great impact on many in the nation.

There is also Order of the Star of Ghana. In fact almost

every nation on earth has their own honour award schemes.

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 Dimensions of Honour

All these go a long way to affirm the truth that: honour is

given to whom honour is due.

Now, in Christian service, there are three main types of

honour and they are: false honour, good honour, and eternal
honour. People use the same word “honour” for all three,
and this causes confusion. Failing to note the three kinds of
honour affects our discipleship and theology. So here is an
explanation of each one.

• False Honour
“False honour” is when people are respected for the wrong
reasons. Everybody can sense the difference between the
“honour” of say, a corrupt official with an entourage and
fleet of cars, whose only respect is because of his ill-gotten
wealth, and a wise, gray-haired elder in the village. People
acknowledge the “status” of the official out of fear rather than
genuine respect. But they revere the old man for his wisdom,
experience, gray hair, his great influence in the community
and more importantly, his integrity record among his people.
False honour comes at the expense of other people. People
accrue such bloated honour by robbing others of dignity to
show off. Such personalities have no character depth, so they
hold on their artificially acquired reputation, and nothing
more. They try to humiliate others into submission by reason
of their wealth, making them appear superior; but such status
is dishonest in God’s eyes!

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This false honour is temporary and their house of cards

eventually collapses sooner than later. False honour is
destructive in the end. It causes relationships to be sacrificed
in order to pursue such a status. False honour is ungodly, as it
is born out of a system of buying honour – instead of earning
it – and contradicts God’s purposes. False honour is acquired
by sinning and ends in shame, because: “…everyone who
exalts himself shall be humbled” Psalm 35:26.

Common biblical synonyms for such honour includes:

“pride” (when ascribed to self ) or “idolatry” (the false worship
ascribed to others). The Bible has many examples: King
Nebuchadnezzar forced everyone to worship him, and many
did, but that honour was fleeting (Daniel 4). False honor is
a defining characteristic of “Babylon” throughout the Bible.

Another example include Eli and sons, who honoured

themselves by keeping the choicest parts of sacrifices that
belongs to God, thereby despising God (II Samuel 2:30).
Jesus Christ told the Pharisees not to seek the places of
honour at a feast, lest they be humiliated (Luke 14:7-8).
Apostle Paul said of his opponents, “their glory is their
shame” (Philippians 3:19).

Unfortunately, most Christian reflection on honour only

involves “false honour.” Most of what we call as honour is
synonymous with pride, egotism and boasting and what have
you. The key point is: any pursuit or expression of honour

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 Dimensions of Honour

that is bloated with self-achievements and self -glory – always

using the phrases, “I did it” and “I am the one who did it” and
“I will…I will” - contradicts God’s perfect will.

• Good Honour
“Good honour” is the respect people enjoy for living upright
and responsible lives. A parent who works hard to provide
for his children and other dependents, a person who always
shares from the little they have, a boss who pays fair wages, etc.
These people should have a positive reputation and must be
honoured for their compassion, integrity and responsibility.
People who live righteously deserve to enjoy good honour.
This is how God designed his world to work. When acquired
for the right reasons, honor is a good thing. The Bible speaks
positively about being an honorable person in the eyes of
other people. In certain ways, Christians should seek to be
honourable before people, as Paul commends it:

“Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles,

so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see
your honorable deeds and glorify God when He comes
to judge.”
- I Peter 2:12

Paul took pains to do “what is good, not only in the eyes of

the Lord but in the eyes of man” (II Corinthians 8:21).The
Book of Proverbs contains many verses about earning a “good
name” or “honourable name” for wise living. Good honour is

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part of God’s common grace for people who live wisely and
respect others.

Indeed, being an honourable and respectable person in

the community is a key qualification of leaders in the local
church (I Timothy 3:7-8, 11). God’s people are instructed to
have a positive reputation in their community. This “good
honour” is not the goal of the Christian life though, but it is
a natural by-product as we live according to God’s Spirit in
our community of people.

Christians should therefore aspire to possess “good honour”

in the society. This is how we contribute to the common
good. Nevertheless, Christian mission goes beyond this
world and involves a third type of honour – the highest form
of honour that lasts forever.

• Eternal Honour
“Eternal honour” is the honourable status that God grants
Christ-followers for all of eternity. God imputes this honour
to only those whose names are found in the Lamb’s book
of Life. One could also call this eternal honour, “spiritual
honour,” or “divine honour.” I wish I could go deeper into
this form of honour – eternal honour – but that is beyond
the scope of this book and I hope to deal with the depth of if
in a book I will write in the near future; by the Grace of God
In conclusion, I can say that the Bible assumes multiple
dimensions of honour, which we must know to correctly

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understand and explain God’s world. Christian growth

is not just doing what is right, but it is also doing what is
“honourable.” Spiritual maturity includes a heart that “desires
to act honourably in all things” (Hebrews 13:18).

The Holy Spirit empowers believers to forego false honour

and to live out patterns of good honour; possessing the
promise of eternal honour makes this possible. One must
account for these three types of honour. This offers a better
moral and ethical framework for living honourably within
one’s community.

Biblical ethics involve the conduct that is honourable before

both God and before people – both the people of the faith
and the people of the world around us. Our godly conduct
becomes our greatest evangelistic tool to win souls for Christ
and honour our God. May we continue to live honourably
for God.

Let Us Beware Of The Spirit Of Dishonour

Let us beware a spirit called the spirit of dishonour. It fights
against anything that is honourable, especially our call to
honour God in all things. In the next three chapters, will
deal with this spirit of dishonour; its origin and how it wove
itself through both the Old and the New Testament, and is
still at work amongst us.. Before we touch on that subject, let
us look at what I term as the Protocol of Honour.

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 CHAPTER 4

The Protocol Of Honour

“…But everything must be done in a proper

and orderly manner.”
- I Corinthians 14:40

I n God’s Kingdom there is a “Protocol of Honour.” Now,

what is Protocol? It is basically, a set of code to regulate
and correct conduct and order. In the Church, there is what
I call Kingdom Protocol and it is actually the culmination of
the who, what, and how and where of the kingdom of God.
God’s House operates by order of ranks and duties.

Because ours is a Kingdom, God is the King and we are

His subjects, and He has set in place and Honour System
among us, so that reverence would be given to all who

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deserve honour in His Church. Of this, Apostle Paul wrote

to Timothy – who was an overseer or bishop over a number
of local churches in Asia Minor:

“…A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver,
but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable
use, but others are for common use. So if anyone cleanses
himself of what is unfit, he will be a vessel for honor:
sanctified, useful to the Master, and prepared for every good
work…”
- Ii Timothy 2:20-21

Apostle Paul was describing the Church, but changed the

foundation image for that of a great house, and stated that,
there are always found two distinct kinds of vessels: the
precious and enduring, and also the comparatively less-
valuable vessels. The first kind of vessels are destined for
honour. Without going into details on the exegesis of this
scripture, I want us to focus only the honourable vessel.

The Master of the House is God Himself Who, through Jesus

Christ, has given His Church (House) honourable vessels,
and that depicts the order of protocol God has set in His
Church:

“And God hath set some in the Church, first apostles,

secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles,
then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of

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tongues…Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?

Do all work miracles?…”
- I Corinthians 12:28, 29 KJV

“
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some
prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and
teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we
all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer
be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every
wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning
craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in
love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the Head
- Christ…”
- Ephesians 4:11-15, NKJV

God’s House operates by order of ranks and duties. Thus,

in setting up a kingdom culture in the Church, first things
must be ranked/done first.

Properly honouring spiritual leadership is very crucial.

When the fivefold ministry in the local church is properly
honoured, it trickles down to all the other sub-ministries in
the church and their leadership. This brings us back to the
who, what, and how and where of the kingdom of God.

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The Who of God’s House is the Identity, or who we are of

the kingdom of God. The What is the definite Purpose.
The How is the Procedure or the Order of Execution that
serves as the Operational Strategy of the Church. It shows
the decree of the King and the steps it must filtrate every
facet of the Kingdom. God our King wants things to be done
decently and in order; honour and respect being given to
whom honour and respect is due.
In I Corinthians 14:40, Paul wrote the instruction: “Let
all things be done decently and in order”. Paul in this
scripture, points out by the spirit that “all” things should be
done decently and in order. The reference to the word “all”
shows that there is a strong emphasis on the importance of
“order”.

Again in Colossians 2:5, Paul wrote:”For though I be absent

in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and
beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in
Christ.” Here the word ”order” was very important for God.
so much so that God gave grace to Paul for him to be in the
spirit to see visions of the Colossian Church to behold their
“order”; which in other word, is the kingdom protocol.

God Our King Is Very Much Concerned With Protocol

It is important to know that, God our King is concerned with
the finest details and patterns of His Kingdom, especially His
Kingdom Protocol. Let us take for example, Cain and Abel.
This is example of where God has a protocol when it comes

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to His worship and the sacrifices we offer Him, and of course

how we handle the leaders in His Church.

In the case of Abel and Cain, God accepted Abel’s sacrifice

and rejected that of Cain. Now if something can be rejected,
then there is a protocol or a standing order by which it is
judged. Once Abel met God’s standard order, his worship and
sacrifice was accepted. Cain might have had very decent and
attractive fruits for a sacrifice unto God, yet it was rejected
by God. Why? Because God operate strictly by His spiritual
protocol among His people.

Regarding Noah, God gave him very exact instructions of

measurements, including what type of wood to use, and how
many animals to bring of each species. His obedience to these
instructions brought safety to his family and the sustaining
of creation.

Moses is another example of Kingdom Protocol. Moses

was given a detailed blueprint of measurements, colours,
furniture, and etc. of the tabernacle by God. Adherence to
this brought remission of sins and the glory of God.

The Levitical priesthood was another example. There was a

protocol of the priesthood and if they missed one aspect of
that protocol, it will cost them their lives and the remission
of sins of the children of Israel.

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God gave David a detailed blueprint of measurements,

colours, furniture, and what have you of the Davidic
Tabernacle. Adherence to this brought remission of sins and
the glory of God. Beloved, we cannot enter into the deep
realms of God’s Glory just anyhow. Remember how God
killed Uzza who attempted to ‘help’ Him by trying to steady
the falling coach carrying the Ark of Covenant!

Ultimate Example Is Jesus Christ

The Son of God only did what He saw the heavenly Father
do. By His obedience in this, it made the impact of the
whole world and ushered in the New Testament Covenant.
New Testament Apostles took the pattern, the blueprint, the
Protocol of the King of kings, Jesus Christ, and established
the New Testament Church.

Jesus, the Son of God only did what He saw the Father do
and never for once on earth, did He do what He did not see
His Father do in heaven. That is how to honour the Father.
By Jesus’ obedience in this, He was able to carry out in details
every line of His earthly assignment and in the end, declared
triumphantly on the cross: “IT IS FINISHED!”

By that, He made the greatest impact of the whole world and

ushered into action, the New Testament Covenant that we
are all enjoying today! Indeed, it takes great self-discipline
and extreme selflessness to please God, thereby honouring
Him.

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The New Testament Apostles took the pattern, the blueprint,

the Protocol of heaven and of the King of kings, Jesus Christ,
and established the New Testament Church in Acts 2. This
led to the growth of the Body of Christ, with great signs
and wonders and pushed the advancement of the Kingdom
of God on earth ultimately resulting in the birth all the local
churches we see today!

Unity achieved by obedience is the main thread of protocol

in the Kingdom of God to bring the fullness or mature
manifestation of the Kingdom of God. Once the vision of
God to the given visionary is established, then the shifting
of those who are in covenant with the visionary into right
position is key to the manifestation of the vision.

For true Kingdom Protocol to be in operation, there must

be two parties. First, someone who sets in motion the vision
and strategy, and then second, someone or persons who are
in unity with and obedience, by getting in position, to what
was set in motion.

“And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision,
and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that
readeth it.”
- Habakkuk2:2

Note that, the vision of any local church is bigger than one
person. Indeed, the integrity and blueprint of the vision

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must be maintained in unity to produce great results, which

is blessing, and the move of God. God’s will be done on earth
as it is in heaven is God’s Protocol. The Psalmist sums it up
brilliantly,

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to

dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment
upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s
beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the
dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the
mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the
blessing, even life for evermore.”
- Psalms 133

God’s Kingdom Mandate is clear: It is for Him to fill all

in all, from the top to the bottom in every way with
no disconnected, broken, or unfilled spots! Paul puts it
beautifully and graphically,

“And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be
the head over all things to the church, Which is his body,
the fullness of him that filleth all in all.”
- Ephesians 1:22-23

Kingdom Protocol In The Local Church

Observing Kingdom Protocol in the Body of Christ and the
local Church will bring a mighty move of God. Paul writes
in I Corinthians 12:28 that, “And God hath set some in the

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Church, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers,

after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments,
diversities of tongues.”

First the foundation or blueprint or vision, and foresight from

of the Apostle and Prophet must first be in position. That is
the Kingdom Order on Earth. Then next, the right teaching
and shepherding of the pastor and teacher can continue to
build momentum.

However, the other important aspect of the protocol is for the

members of the local church responding to the grand vision
of the church. Teaching is crucial in linking to the vision and
moving into position, the functions in the church, taking it
to another level.

Therefore, with the Body of Christ being equipped, then

per the scripture above, we will begin to see as a Body, the
manifestation of miracles, and healings which will create
the Kingdom Atmosphere to enable the Body of Christ to
be a help to the world, defeat the forces of darkness, and
impacting nations and governments.

In conclusion, God has ordained a Kingdom Protocol or

Honour, or an Order of function, in the kingdom of God.
Moving from that protocol of honour will bring demise, and
failure, but flowing in that protocol that has the heartbeat of
God’s will from the top to the bottom, will bring prosperity,

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miracles, growth, and restoration. Indeed,

“Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain

that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman
waketh but in vain.”
- Psalm 127:1, KJV

The Kingdom of God is everywhere and His Kingdom

Protocol is supposed to work effectively in the local church.
Through the Protocol of God, the Kingdom Mandate will
be fulfilled, His servants honoured, and the Body of Christ
victorious in every way! To be able to work effectively with
this Protocol of Honour, I want us go now to examine the
spirit of dishonour, that fights the Kingdom Protocol of
Honour. Let us begin from heaven, even before this Earth
was created and prepared for Man by God.

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 CHAPTER 5

Lucifer: The Spirit

Of Dishonour

“But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven;

I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will
sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make
myself like the Most High.”
- LUCIFER

T he first sin in the universe came through Lucifer, and it

was a sin of dishonour. Yes, the first sin in the universe
was dishonour born out of pride and selfishness. The first
being to sin was Lucifer, an Arch angel who dwelt in the very
Presence of God in heaven. Throughout the Bible, there are
three key scriptures which describe this tragic beginning of
sin vis:: Isaiah 14:12-18, Ezekiel 28:12-18, and Revelation
12:1-13.

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Theologians believe that Lucifer was the worship leader in

heaven, and that he was the only angel with the ability to
get closest to the very presence of God without any covering
of his face. Indeed, Lucifer was exceedingly beautiful and
endowed with special abilities.

Starting from the passage from Isaiah 14, we see Lucifer who
fell in love with his own beauty and wisdom yet forgot that
he was created by a Creator. He decided not to honour his
Creator, and rather he decided that he would raise his own
throne above the Almighty God! What a grandiose delusional
ambition he had! He foolishly and ungratefully declared, “I
will make myself like the Most High!”. You will notice that
he said to himself ‘I will’ five times. This was a great sign of
self exaltation.

“How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning,

son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you
who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the
stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the
recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the
clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

“Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the

recesses of the pit. Those who see you will gaze at you. They
will ponder over you, saying, ‘Is this the man who made
the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the

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world like a wilderness and overthrew its cities, who did

not allow his prisoners to go home?’”
- ISAIAH 14:12-18

There are many people today - both believers and non-believers

- who have great fear of Lucifer, now known as Satan or the
devil. Yet Isaiah tells us that the day will come when, “Those
who see you will gaze at you, they will ponder over you,
saying, ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble…” It is
important to remember that Satan is a finite, and a created
being. At Calvary, Jesus defeated Satan once and for all time!
As believers we must be careful that we don’t grow into self
exaltation like Lucifer.

Another key verse is found in the Book of Ezekiel. Though

it addressed to the king of Tyre, most theologians believe
that this passage describes the fall of Lucifer from heaven.
Here we see that Lucifer’s heart was filled with pride after
considering his own beauty. “Your heart was lifted up because
of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of
your splendor”:

“Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre

and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, you had the
seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone
was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond;
The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the

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turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship

of your settings and sockets, was in you. On the day that
you were created they were prepared. You were the anointed
cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were on
the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the
stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways from the day
you were created until unrighteousness was found in you.
By the abundance of your trade you were internally filled
with violence, and you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as
profane from the mountain of God. And I have destroyed
you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of
fire. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You
corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you
to the ground; I put you before kings, that they may see you.
By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness
of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I
have brought fire from the midst of you; It has consumed
you, and I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the eyes
of all who see you.”
- Ezekiel 28:12-18, NASB

A final passage that helps to piece together the fall of Satan

is from the Book of Revelation. Here we see that somehow
Lucifer convinced one-third of the angels in heaven to
follow him in his rebellion. They followed him and were all
cast from heaven to earth, becoming the fallen angels, now
known as demons or evil spirits. Theologians believe that the
woman in this prophetic story represents spiritual Israel and
the child is Jesus Christ,

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“A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with

the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a
crown of twelve stars; and she was with child; and she cried
out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. Then another
sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon
having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were
seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars
of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon
stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so
that when she gave birth he might devour her child. And
she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the
nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up
to God and to His throne. Then the woman fled into the
wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that
there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred
and sixty days. And there was war in heaven, Michael and
his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and
his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough,
and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.
And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old
who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole
world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels
were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice
in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation, and the power, and
the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ
have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown
down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.’
And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb

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and because of the word of their testimony, and they did

not love their life even when faced with death. For this
reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe
to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to
you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short
time. And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down
to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to
the male child.”
- Revelation 12:1-13, NASB

Defeating the Spirit of Lucifer – the spirit of Dishonour

Lucifer allows pride in himself to overtake him. Pride can
cause you to think to highly of yourself. The Bible says, that
pride goeth before a fall. You see the spirit of Lucifer cannot
stand for anyone to be above them or over them. The spirit
of Lucifer is jealous of anyone that is going to be close to
God. Most of us are probably under some kind of attack in
some way right now.

The good news is, Lucifer has lost his position with God, but
we can still have ours! The good news is that if you have lost
your position with God, you can ask God to forgive you and
He is waiting and ready to give you your place back! This is a
battle we can win! The Bible warns and encourages us in our
spiritual warfare with Satan, God’s archenemy – the spirit
behind all dishonour,

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 Lucifer: The Spirit of Dishonour

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to

stand against the wiles of the devil…”

- Ephesians 6:11, KJV

We are familiar with his evil schemes! We are at war with

him and his evil forces. Defeating Satan is a great honour
unto our God. Satan the devil, Lucifer hates us and wants
to destroy us, we must therefore be aware of our enemy’s
weapons and tactics, because our spiritual life depends on it.
The Bible alerts us to Lucifer’s subtle deceptions.

Seven (7) Facets Of The Spirit Of Dishonour

#1. Lucifer – turned Satan - is an offended spirit. He was
offended when God created man! He was very offended
when God created a new worshiper to take over the ministry
he used to head in heaven: worship. That is why Satan hates
the worship of God and always try to attack the music
department in the church with offenses. He attempts to
inject pride and offensive spirit among the choir and praise
and worship leaders as well as musicians in the church.

How do we deal with this spirit? How do we overcome?

We do by being quick to forgive and continue walking in
that forgiveness until Jesus comes. We overcome by praying
blessings on those who have offended us with a sincere and
positive attitude for them to be blessed.

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#2. Next, Lucifer is a critical spirit. A critical spirit is a

negative attitude of the heart that seeks to condemn, tear
down, and destroy with words) We overcome by cultivating a
positive attitude that strives to encourage, lift up and elevate
with our words.

#3. Lucifer is a complaining spirit. He spurs up a negative

attitude that makes people murmur and grumble, making
them contentious, grudging, arguing, always instigating. We
overcome the spirit of dishonour by cultivating a positive
attitude of thankfulness that produces within us the fruit of
the Holy Spirit.

#4. Also, Lucifer is a fault-finding spirit. It is a negative

attitude that’s looking for what’s wrong with others, things,
situations, always looking for and expecting the worst. We
overcome by looking for the good in others, things, and
situations, etc. Not denying problems, but rather looking
in a positive way to be a part of the solution rather than
becoming a part of the problem.

#5. Lucifer is a stubborn spirit. This is a negative attitude

that is not open to counsel, advise, or suggestions. It is an
unteachable spirit, with an attitude that resists and fights
against authority. This spirit refuses any further change,
transformation, maturity or progress in life.

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 Lucifer: The Spirit of Dishonour

We overcome this by allowing ourselves to be flexible,

allowing others to influence our lives positively. As Christians,
we must be there for each other, both in times of honour and
times of crisis. We must allow someone else therefore to be
right and allow ourselves to be okay with it and accept help.

#6. Lucifer is a grudge holding spiritual personality. He

operates in an unforgiving spirit, which manifests in a
negative attitude that rears its head in our lives when we are
hurt, wounded or injured by others or the happenings of life
and refuses to allow us to heal.

Unforgiveness in our lives means that we are hurt by

something or someone and we are refusing to get well. We
overcome by forgiving everyone and everything that has hurt
or wounded us in any way. When we forgive others, we are
not letting them off the hook, but, we are healing ourselves.

Satan wants us to live our wholes lives trying to heal ourselves

without God’s help. He tries this with every kind of escapism
and addiction he can use to tempt and deceive us with alcohol,
drugs, sexual immorality, porn, dark/horror movies which we
find easily at websites, video games, internet activities, etc.
All these are attempts by demons to instigate us to dishonour
God in our minds and bodies. May be aware of these and
choose rather to walk in honour and decency.

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#7. Satan is a foul spirit. This is a general term for all

“demonic spirits”, according to Revelation 18:2, “And he
cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great
is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and
the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and
hateful bird.”

They are also called unclean spirits and there can be many
of them in one person. They can cause all kinds of sexual
perversion that dishonour God. They may be vocal and will
try to harass you (Matthew 10:1; Mark 6:7). Jesus gave His
disciples power against unclean spirits, to cast them out:

“He said unto him, come out of the man, thou unclean
spirit. And he asked him, what is thy name? And he
answered, saying, My name is legion: for we are many.”
- Mark 5:8-9

Lucifer wants us to live our whole lives trying to bandage our

own wounds. He wants us to wrap up all our broken places
with the band-aids of fears, insecurities, suspicions, paranoia,
isolation, eating disorders and personality dysfunctions.

To overcome the spirit of dishonour we must train ourselves

to put God first and above everyone else and everything else
in our lives. We must cultivate the spirit of honour in us and
make it a Kingdom Culture that we practice each other. We
must practice it by being grateful to God and honour each

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other. We must learn how to celebrate God’s grace and show

appreciation unto each other.

By this, we starve and kill eventually the spirit of dishonour

from among our midst! Through Lucifer-turned Satan, sin
entered the universe, and through his temptation and the
fall of Adam, sin entered the world. But we see a wonderful
promise in this passage from Revelation - in Christ we
overcome sin, Satan and the world,
“…because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the
Word of their testimony, and they did not love their life
even when faced with death.”

“Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He

Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through
death He might render powerless him who had the power of
death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through
fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”
- Hebrews 2:14-15, NASB

“Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who
practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;
the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has
sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for
this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”
- I John 3:7-8, NASB

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Jesus won the ultimate victory, defeating Satan and his fallen
angels as he declared from the cross that “it is finished” and
Paul describes it further that: “In this way, God disarmed the
evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his
victory over them on the cross of Christ” (Colossians 2:15,
NLT). Alleluia!

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 CHAPTER 6

The Spirit Of Dishonour

In The Old Testament

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some

will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving
spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy,
having their own conscience seared with a hot iron…”
- I Timothy 4:1-2

W e live in the last days and knowing this fact, the

devil’s agenda is to make believers defame, slander
and pollute God’s people who are about to enter the greatest
awesome revival that is about to come on the planet earth! It
is amazing to see today, tongue-speaking and demon-casting
believers being used cunningly by the devil to destroy the
Church! Satan is succeeding in this ploy against God by
using a dangerous attitude called the spirit of dishonour.

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This spirit of dishonour operates behind closed doors and

seepssurreptitiously into the Church. It is a deceptive spirit!
This spirit works behind the scenes and is able to even affect
our spiritual lives, our ministries, businesses, careers, and
corporate lives.

It is this dangerous spirit that I seek to help us discover how

it operates in our lives, so that we can nip it in the bud,
and live our godly lives and walk in the attitude of honour
and give honour to whom honour is due, first and foremost,
honouring God as our Father in Heaven. Let us look now at
how it manifests in our midst.

Manifestations of The Spirit Of Dishonour

“But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts,

do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not
descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For
where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every
evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above
is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full
of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without
hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by
those who make peace.”
- James 3:14-18

Here, I will attempt to define what this spirit of dishonour

is by citing practical examples of persons in the Bible who

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manifested this spirit of dishonour. I will cite from both the

Old and the New Testaments to let us know that, this spirit
still operates today, even under the dispensation of grace.
Now, below are examples of some manifestations of the spirit
of dishonour.

1. THE SPIRIT OF KORAH - (The uprising and insolent

spirit)

“Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of
Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On
the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men; and they rose
up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two
hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives
of the congregation, men of renown. They gathered together
against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too
much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every
one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you
exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”Then Moses
said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: Is it a small
thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from
the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself,
to do the work of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand
before the congregation to serve them; and that He has
brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the
sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking the priesthood
also? Therefore you and all your company are gathered
together against the Lord. And what is Aaron that you
complain against him?”

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“
And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of
Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up! Is it a small
thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing
with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you
should keep acting like a prince over us? Moreover you have
not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey,
nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you
put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”
- Number 16:1-3

“Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words,

that the ground split apart under them, and the earth opened
its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households
and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. So they
and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the
earth closed over them, and they perished from among the
assembly. Then all Israel who were around them fled at their
cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up also!”And a
fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred
and fifty men who were offering incense.”
- Numbers 16:31-35

Look out for this always: the spirit of Korah always rise
against leaders! This is key. It is a dangerous spirit that seeks
to break the spirit of leadership, in order to infuse rebellion
in the hearts of sons, followers, disciples and mentees. It is
a spirit of dishonour and it manifests itself as if it loves the
people more than their leader does!

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People with this spirit seem to have a magnetic personality

and a bubbling charisma that attract followers so quickly.
This spirit has the ability to sway minds and gather people
and make them cause trouble in a church or any organization.
They have a sly tongue and ask questions that can make
followers follow emotions rather than reasoning.

Their words are persuasive and sound so convincing but

not truthful. They use suggestive statements that instigate
rebellion in the ears of the hearers. Have you not heard
statements like ‘But for us Subordinates, would you be the
boss?” or “what makes you think your decisions so right”
or “why should he have the final say?” or “why will he not
also submit to us?” or ‘We outnumber you and we are all
holy too!” or “Are we not the ones who appointed you as our
leader or president!”

These instigators often cry out slogans that appeal to the

masses, such as: “power belong to the people…!” and “we
won’t sit down to be cheated every day!” and “you are the head
pastor and so what? Or “We are the sheep and we make you a
shepherd…!” Do these chants sound familiar?

Now let us go further and examine the indicators or signs

that a person is operating under this spirit of dishonour:

Traits of the spirit of dishonour

1. You detest your pastor’s or your leader’s style of leadership.

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2. You want a leadership position to change what you do

not like
3. You will always judge the preacher rather than obey the
Word.
4. You band people together against your pastor in private
meetings.

2. THE SPIRIT OF JEZEBEL (The Spirit Of Hatred)

This spirit is the one that leads you to hatred. It makes you
turn from your love walk and begin to devour and seduce
leaders. Let us find out how it manifested its operation in the
Old Testament:

“
For so it was, while Jezebel massacred the prophets of
the Lord, that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets
and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with
bread and water.
- I Kings 18:4

“
He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite,
and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else,
if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And
he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” Then Jezebel
his wife said to him, “You now exercise authority over Israel!
Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give
you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” And she wrote

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letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent
the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling
in the city with Naboth. She wrote in the letters, saying,
Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among
the people; and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to
bear witness against him, saying, “You have blasphemed
God and the king.” Then take him out, and stone him, that
he may die. So the men of his city, the elders and nobles
who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to
them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to
them. They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high
honor among the people. And two men, scoundrels, came
in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against
him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying,
“Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!” Then they took
him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he
died. 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been
stoned and is dead.”
- I Kings 21:6-14

The Jezebel spirit is sociopathic in the nature of operation.

A sociopath is a person with a character disorder, and such a
person seems to lack conscience. Sociopaths lack of empathy
and they disregard the rights of others. Sociopaths have a
huge ego and wants to meet its desire and need for power at
all cost.

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The Jezebel spirit does this by assuming false authority by any

means possible. With this false authority, the Jezebel spirit
not only fulfills its need for power, but also gets tremendous
ego satisfaction as it continually maneuvers for a position of
control.

Traits of the Jezebel Spirit

The Jezebel spirit finds access through carnality or the
uncrucified flesh. Although the Jezebel spirit is described in
the Bible as being a woman – Jezebel, the wife of Ahab – that
spirit does not actually have a gender. In other words, the
Jezebel spirit functions just as proficiently through men as
much as in women.

Also the Jezebel spirit is a religious spirit. He spiritualizes

everything. A Jezebel in the local church sounds very
spiritual and most of his statements are about authority and
leadership, making it obvious that his eyes are on a position
of authority.

When a controller is confronted, he commonly spiritualizes

the situation, explaining it off on God. This prevents him
from owning up to responsibility required of him. The
implication is always, “You’ve got a problem; I don’t.”Let us
take a look at a few traits that manifest in persons who are
possessed by this evil and anti-authority spirit:-
Traits of this spirit

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1. They gain Power by Destroying Others.

They manage to get in positions of authority – by fair or foul
means. They are jealous of authentic spirituality. They are
very much against the true prophetic anointing and will do
anything possible to produce a pseudo-prophetic anointing
sooner or later.

2. They are Controlling, Manipulative, and Bossy.

These are very critical of others. Will oppose or talk negative
about any instruction the leader gives at the corporate office
or in the church. They are vicious in their attacks, to the
point of being bloodthirsty!

3. They Manifest Multiple Personalities.

They are intimidating in their posture and attitude. Yet,
they can be “sweet” and seen as almost “perfect.” They are
very deceptive in their actions and can easily mislead the
inexperienced ones. They are sneaky and tricky in their
actions. They are therefore able to fool and influence others
to join them so easily.

4. They Recruit Others In Their Charges Against Their

Victims.
They act to persuade recruits, and do not give up this activity
until the recruits are won over. If the potential recruits do
not co-operate and buy into their desires, this angers them
and sooner or later begins to undermine those people and
even intimidate them with threats.

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5. They are Never Wrong.

Persons that manifest this evil attitude refuse to admit guilt
or wrong. They are always right or must be allowed to be
right. A Jezebel spirit is never wrong, unless it is a temporary
admittance of guilt to gain “favor” with someone in
authority. To accept responsibility would violate the core of
insecurity and pride from which it operates. When a person
with Jezebel spirit apologizes, it is never in true repentance or
acknowledgment of wrongdoing but rather an excuse, such
as: “I’m sorry your feelings were hurt.”

6. Takes Credit for Everything

While a strong trait of Jezebel spirit is to never take
responsibility for his or her wrong actions or behaviour,
he also is quick to take credit for benefits for which he
contributed no effort.

7. Uses People to Accomplish its Agenda

The Jezebel spirit lets others do its dirty work. The Jezebel
gets another person’s emotions stirred up, and instigates that
person go into a rage. The Jezebel sits back looking innocent,
saying “Who, me? What did I do?” This behaviour makes
it difficult for even the most ardent truth seekers to pin one
down. The Jezebel spirit is clever in its agenda.

8. Withholds Information and Talks in Confusion

A Jezebel wields power over you by knowing something you
do not know in a situation. In the eyes of a Jezebel, being
informed more than you is a powerful weapon of control.

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This is a form of control. Also, note that, it is impossible

to converse with a Jezebel in logic. One pastor wrote a six-
page letter to his elders about a situation in the church. The
context was so vague that no one was left without confusion.
This is a way to maintain control and domination. When
confronting a leader with a Jezebel spirit, the subject may
be changed five times in one minute. Confusion keeps their
motive hidden and unexposed.

9. Volunteers for Anything

A person with a Jezebel spirit volunteers in order to establish
control. He seemingly has endless energy and eagerly looks
for opportunities to be in charge of projects. Although he
will work hard, his motive is never pure, and eventually his
secret agenda cannot be hidden.

10. Tells Lies A Lot

A Jezebel lies convincingly. No one can lie better than he can.
He can turn on the charm and make you believe blue is red.
He always fools those whom he’s just met while those who
have been victimized by his tactics stand by helplessly. The
fact that Jezebel can look you in the eye and lie just shows
how strong and adamant this rebellious and recalcitrant
spirit is.

11. One-Man-Show
A person with a Jezebel spirit will always upstage another
person. He feels threatened by anyone who dares to steal the
limelight or anyone who is a threat to his power and control.
If you are with such a person and tell of your accomplishment

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or victory, you can be assured he will quickly tell of something

he has accomplished.

12. Is Insubordinate
A Jezebel never takes the side of the employer or a person in
authority, unless it is a temporary action to make himself look
good. He often will take credit for someone else’s idea. His
main desire is for power and control. There is no conscience
when an opportunity for recognition presents itself. Also he
is pushy and domineering.

13. He Is Clairvoyant
Many who operate with a spirit of control also have a
clairvoyant spirit. Clairvoyance may be defined as the
power to perceive things that are out of the range of human
senses. It is a paranormal phenomenon. A clairvoyant
person therefore has mystical ability in knowing and sensing
information beyond logic. That is the mystical power that
most false teachers and false prophet operate with. They can
discern things in the spirit realms, and predict rightly and
can intimidate you with the things he tells you. Their goal
is cause fear in you and make you dependent on them for
spiritual direction – whereas true teachers and prophets will
always direct you to God and guide you to experience God
for yourself.

If a clairvoyant person uses this mystical anointing against

you, he may say “I can’t tell you how I know this…I just know
it.”Watch it; this is not the Holy Spirit, but the help of a
clairvoyant or a familiar spirit! That is how the Jezebel spirit

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works. Also a person with a Jezebel spirit pressures you to do

things, ostensibly ripping from you your right to choose or
make a decision for yourself! He makes others feel as though
they do not have enough sense to think for themselves. Does
that sound familiar to you?

14. Sows Seeds of Discord

A Jezebel will continually belittle another person in the most
subtle way. The strategy is to “gain” control by minimizing
the value of another person. It is common for him to tell
half-truths to implicate another person in your eyes. By
sowing these seeds, he hopes to eventually reap a harvest of
destruction, improving his position of power.

15. Commands Attention

A Jezebel likes to be the centre of attention and does not
like to see others recognized and applauded. When someone
else is recognized, he will quickly undermine the person’s
accomplishments verbally and by his gestures.

16. Is Vengeful
Since a person with a Jezebel spirit is never wrong, if you
contradict or confront one, get ready to become his worst
enemy. As long as you are in agreement with him, all is fine.
But if you confront or challenge him, then look out. You are
the target of his fiercest venom. A Jezebel will stop at nothing
to destroy your reputation. Finally, the person with a Jezebel
spirit has strong desire, but all for himself. “I want what I
want when I want it,” describes his worship of self-will. A

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Jezebel leader will never use the words, “We have a vision,”
but rather, “My vision is thus and so.”

We all want to believe that the person with a Jezebel spirit

is delivered. The person may seem “normal” for a period,
exhibiting none of the classic traits. Then suddenly without
warning a situation will arise, once again with the spirit
taking control and wreaking havoc over lives. Hopefully, true
repentance will come. Only then will the person be delivered.
The good news is that God gives each individual person
the freedom of choice. Everyone has the freedom to make
decisions, to make mistakes, to think for himself, to
communicate, to like or dislike and to express his taste and
creativity. Those who control are in worship of their own
wills and their own ways. Thank God for freedom. If you
recognize any of these traits in your own life, begin by praying
for repentance.

3. THE SPIRIT OF ABSALOM (The Jealous Spirit Of

Conspiracy)

Absalom was the third son of King David, by his wife

Maacah. The details of Absalom’s story is told in II Samuel
13-19. He indeed had a strong influence on his father’s reign.
The first recorded event defining Absalom’s life involved the
dishonouring of his sister Tamar and half-brother Amnon.

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Tamar was beautiful, and Amnon, half-brother lusted after

her. When Tamar rejected Amnon’s advances, he arranged,
through subterfuge, to have her come to his house, where he
raped her. After the rape, Amnon put Tamar out of his house
in disgrace. When Absalom heard what happened, he took
his sister in to live with him. For the next two years, Absalom
nursed a hatred of his half-brother. Using some subterfuge
of his own, Absalom invited Amnon to his house for a party.
During the festivities, in the presence of David’s other sons,
Absalom had his servants kill Amnon in cold blood. Out
of fear of his father, Absalom ran away to Geshur, where he
stayed for three years.

During that time, Scripture says that David “longed to go

out to Absalom,” but we are never told that he actually did
anything to reconcile the relationship. David’s general, Joab,
was ultimately responsible for bringing Absalom back to
Jerusalem. However, even then, Absalom was not permitted
to enter David’s presence, but had to live in a house of his
own.

He lived this way; most probably he was never contacted by

his father, for two years. Finally, once again by way of Joab’s
intercession, the father and son got back together, and there
was a small measure of reconciliation. Unfortunately, this
peace did not last. Possibly resenting his father’s hesitance
to bring him home, Absalom began to craftily undermine
David’s rule. How? He set himself up as judge in Jerusalem

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and gave out promises of what he would do if he were king,

thereby dishonouring his father undermining his wisdom as
the reigning king. After four years of this, he asked to go
to Hebron, where he had secretly arranged to have himself
proclaimed king. The conspiracy strengthened, and the
number of Absalom’s followers grew steadily, such that David
began to fear for his own life. David gathered his servants
and fled Jerusalem. However, David left behind some of his
concubines and a few informers as well, including Zadok
and Abiathar the priests and his advisor Hushai.

Upon entering Jerusalem as king, Absalom sought to solidify

his position, first by taking over David’s house and sleeping
with his concubines, considered an unforgiveable act. Then
he laid plans to immediately pursue and attack David’s
forces, but the idea was abandoned owing to the advice of
Hushai. This delay allowed David to muster what troops he
had at Mahanaim and mount a counterattack to retake the
kingdom. David himself did not take part in the counter-
attack, having been persuaded by his generals to remain
behind. He did give explicit instructions to the generals to
“deal gently” with Absalom, despite of his treason. Scripture
makes the point that all the troops heard David’s orders
concerning Absalom.

However, the orders were disobeyed. As Absalom was

riding under some trees, his long hair became entangled in
the branches, and he was unhorsed. Joab found Absalom

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suspended in mid-air and killed him there. Thus, the rebellion

was quelled, and David returned to Jerusalem as king.

David mourned deeply over his son, so much so that it

affected the morale of the army. His grief was so great that
their victory seemed hollow to them, and they returned to
the capital in shame rather than triumph. It was not until he
was rebuked by Joab that David was restored to a measure of
kingly behaviour. Much has been said about David’s neglect
of Absalom in this sad incident. It is possible that parental
responsibility is a lesson we can take from this episode, but
Scripture does not expressly teach it here. We do know that
David did nothing about Amnon’s rape of Tamar, although
he knew about it.

If David had avenged Tamar, would Absalom have taken it

upon himself to mete out justice? And what was the impact
on Absalom’s soul of carrying hatred for Amnon for so long?
We do not know the answers to those questions, but it seems
that David’s inaction had an injurious effect in Absalom’s
life.

What we can say with certainty, however, is that pride goes

before a fall. Absalom’s self-promotion led to nothing. Then
the sovereign God foiled Absalom’s plan to overthrow his
father’s kingdom. Beloved, be rest assured that, the Absaloms
of the world, can never thwart the power of God to do as He
pleases in history!

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The Traits of the Absalom Spirit

“After this it happened that Absalom provided himself
with chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before
him. Now Absalom would rise early and stand beside
the way to the gate. So it was, whenever anyone who had
a lawsuit came to the king for a decision, that Absalom
would call to him and say, “What city are you from?” And
he would say, “Your servant is from such and such a tribe
of Israel.” Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your
case is good and right; but there is no deputy of the king
to hear you.” Moreover Absalom would say, “Oh, that I
were made judge in the land, and everyone who has any
suit or cause would come to me; then I would give him
justice.” And so it was, whenever anyone came near to bow
down to him, that he would put out his hand and take him
and kiss him. In this manner Absalom acted toward all
Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole
the hearts of the men of Israel.”
- II Samuel 15:1-6

Now the spirit that fueled Absalom’s behaviour is what I

term as the Absalom Spirit. This spirit will lead you in the
realms of jealousy of other fellow believers, pastors and even
own family members. This spirit will cause you to be part of
a conspiracy against your spiritual leader or boss. This spirit
works on people heart behind the king’s back until he steals
their hearts. This spirit worked mightily in Absalom that
he was able to influence (negatively) so many people that
they believed in him even more David, his father as in above

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quote. Now let us take a look at the traits this evil spirit
manifests in people who dishonour leadership.

Traits of this spirit

1. An Absalom Spirit is rooted in hidden agendas, hidden
strategies and hidden alliances.

2. An Absalom Spirit manifests in self-promotion, an

Absalom Spirit manifests in selfish ambition, disguised to
appear as service to others.

3. An Absalom Spirit is rooted in hidden contempt, hidden

hatred and hidden revenge - of authority and those under
that authority

a. An Absalom Spirit manifests in thievery - stealing the

hearts and loyalty of the people away from their true
authority.

b. It makes people feel the punishment of Pastor is even

too harsh.

4. THE SPIRIT OF THE TEN SPIES (A contagious

spirit of unbelief and quitting)

“Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron

and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the
Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to

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them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit
of the land. Then they told him, and said: “We went to the
land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey,
and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell
in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very
large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. The
Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the
Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and
the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the
Jordan.”
“
Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and
said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are
well able to overcome it.”But the men who had gone up
with him said, “We are not able to go up against the
people, for they are stronger than we.” And they gave
the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had
spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone
as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the
people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There
we saw the giant (the descendants of Anak came from the
giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight,
and so we were in their sight.”
- Numbers 13:26-33

“So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried,

and the people wept that night. And all the children of
Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the
whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died

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in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this

wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us to this land
to fall by the sword, that our wives and children
should become victims? Would it not be better for us to
return to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let us select
a leader and return to Egypt.”
- Numbers 14:1-4

Traits of this spirit

1. This is the spirit that causes you to die at the brink of
our breakthrough. These ten spies stirred up the whole
congregation to change the minds of the people except
Caleb, Joshua and Moses could not calm the crowd.

2. This is a spirit that causes people to quit and expect God

to do it all. It makes to have a very view and opinion of
yourself.

3. This makes you think why God didn’t just hand over your
blessings to you without any effort from you.

4. They are disappointed that they had to do something to

obtain their blessings.

5. It makes you see yourself as a grasshopper.

6. This spirit causes you to stir up the whole congregation,

to resist your leader and rally against him.

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5. THE SPIRIT OF GEHAZI (The spirit of greed and

self-seeking)

“And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me, saying,

‘Indeed, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets
have come to me from the mountains of Ephraim. Please
give them a talent of silver and two changes of garments.’”So
Naaman said, “Please, take two talents.” And he urged
him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with
two changes of garments, and handed them to two of his
servants; and they carried them on ahead of him. When
he came to the citadel, he took them from their hand, and
stored them away in the house; then he let the men go, and
they departed. Now he went in and stood before his master.
Elisha said to him, “Where did you go, Gehazi?”

“And he said, “Your servant did not go anywhere.”Then he

said to him, “Did not my heart go with you when the man
turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it time to receive
money and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards,
sheep and oxen, male and female servants? Therefore the
leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and your descendants
forever.” And he went out from his presence leprous, as
white as snow.”
- II Kings 5:22-27

Gehazi spent much of his time with Elisha. Therefore to be

servant to Elisha would surely be a great honour. As servant
to Elisha, it was Gehazi’s lot to accompany Elisha as he went

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about ministering. Gehazi had indeed been a faithful servant

to a true prophet and the report of him throughout the Bible
until this one singular event was told.

He faithfully served his master in everything. Yet somehow,

he thought he wanted more and mammon and greed got the
better of him. O, Gehazi! What was he thinking? The gift of
God is not for sale it never has been and never will be! This
curse that fell upon this once faithful servant of the Lord’s
prophet is a warning to all of those who serve the Lord to
never sell or even insinuate selling anything that has to do
with the kingdom. That is a great dishonour to God!

The Kingdom of God does not operate under the principles

of the spirit of Mammon - riches and the world system. It is
totally different. The temptations to merchandize the things
of God are very high in our days. Yes, I know what it is like
to run a ministry with little or no support. It is very difficult.
If you have never run a ministry or build a local church, you
just do not know, though you may think you do. I hear a lot
of Murmurings and complaints as a pastor.

Yet we find time and again that Gehazi failed to take heed to
the godly ways of his master. Gehazi practiced a heart that
was never brought under the Lordship of the God of Elisha.
Sadly, there are many “Gehazi’s” in the Church today and
true ministry of the Lord will always have people who have
the spirit of Gehazi hanging around, who dishonour their

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calling. Gehazi in the Bible manifested the spirit of greed and

also the spirit that makes people to follow God for earthly
gains. According to II kings 5:20, it came to Naaman’s
attention that there was a prophet in Israel who could heal
him. Thinking it was the king of Israel himself who could
heal him, Naaman was sent to be healed by him. Elisha sent
word to Namaan. Naaman was then instructed by Elisha to
go and dip seven times in the river Jordan. On hearing those
words Naaman turned and went away in a rage. Naaman
humbled himself, returned to Jordan and dipped himself
seven times. After Naaman saw he was healed, he returned to
“pay” Elisha for his help.

Prophet Elisha refused to accept any money for what had

happened. Even when Naaman urged him, he still refused.
God’s word and work would not be tainted with the curse of
money placing a price on what had happened in the healing
of Naaman. Gehazi had observed all that Naaman had tried
to do, and after he left to return to Syria, Gehazi went after
Naaman.

Gehazi portrayed a covetous heart and that covetous heart

caused Gehazi to lie to Naaman, saying that Elisha had sent
him for some gifts. The Spirit of God in Elisha knew what
Gehazi was up to, and even though Gehazi tried to lie his
way out of it, the judgment of God came upon him and
Gehazi became a leper.

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The spirit of Gehazi makes a person not to be spiritually

connected. One day as Elisha and Gehazi were passing
through a place called Shunem, a great woman forced Elisha
to stop by and eat. While Elisha and Gehazi were resting
in that woman’s room, Elisha asked Gehazi what could be
done for the woman in return. Gehazi informed him that the
woman was childless, and Elisha said to her that she and her
husband would have a son II Kings 4:16.

The woman could not believe what Elisha said. The prophecy
of Elisha came to pass and the woman got a boy. The time
came when the grown boy became sick and died. Immediately
the mother went to Elisha, travelling herself to where he was.
Gehazi was with him.

Here was a woman whose heart was crying out to Elisha

to spare her only son which God by a miracle had given
her. She was very disappointed. When she saw Elisha she
fell down and grabbed him by the feet. But Gehazi came
near and pushed her away. Gehazi showed himself to be a
man without compassion and honour. This spirit influences
people to sell out their leaders and well as their own soul. It
is a conniving and lying spirit. This spirit makes you a self
seeker and indoctrinates you. It makes you go for money or
any other opportunity that the prophet turns down.

Yes, money is a necessary evil as long as we live here on Earth.

Look at Gehazi, somewhere deep in his soul lurked the soul

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of a coveter and a liar. His service was impeccable but he

failed an important test and was cursed for it. He and his
decendents were cursed forever for this one act of mammon
worship.

“This is a hard saying”, as the disciples would say, “who can

hear it”? Those who really want to serve God in Spirit and
Truth can hear it, those who have the spirit of mammon and
lies lurking deep in their soul cannot hear it.

You see, they want the money now and cannot wait for
their heavenly reward, so they charge for their work now in
the form of mammon’s reward which is money. One must
wonder if God is really behind these ministries or if another
spirit is at work.

Some of these ministries are spot on and ‘right on target’ when

it comes to doctrine, last days teaching, salvation and know
the time in which we live. Yet, they refuse to actually heed
the teachings of Christ on the subject of money. Remember
Judas Iscariot. He sold the Lord out for thirty pieces of silver!
What a greedy, traitor! Judas was well acquainted with the
teachings of Christ and sat at Christ’s feet and heard teachings
that were reserved only for the apostles.

We are talking about someone who was intimate with Christ

and knew His teachings. Yet Judas wanted money now! He
would not wait for Christ to come into His Kingdom. That

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is the trait of the spirit of Gehazi and the curse thereof. If

God wants you in ministry, surely He will provide, however,
faith and obedience are required to receive God’s provision.
All true Christian ministries are on God’s timetable and under
God’s specific direction. Some ministers I have seen, heard
and read had powerful ministries but I think somewhere
along the way they either did not heed God when He said
that phase of their life’s work was over or just missed God’s
direction either by sin, hardness of heart and disobedience,
or they caught a terminal case of Gehazi’s Syndrome. May
we learn to honour God by working within His set time for
us and know when to bow out gracefully.

Traits of this spirit

1. This spirit will cause you to be jealous of the attention that
your leader gets from people that you think you deserve.

2. It causes you to lie to people and misrepresent your pastor

or leader.

3. It makes you exchange your ministry’s future for today’s

pleasures.

4. It causes you to judge the motives of your pastor.

5. Sadly, in the end, it ends you in disgrace – with leprosy.

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110
 CHAPTER 7

The Spirit Of Dishonour

In The New Testament

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some

will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving
spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy,
having their own conscience seared with a hot iron…”
- I Timothy 4:1-2

A t this side of the end-times, the devil’s agenda is to make

believers defame, slander, and pollute God’s people, who
are about to enter the greatest and most revival that is about
to come on the planet earth! To succeed, Satan’s strategy is
to use certain ancient spirit he has been using for ages – in
addition to all the examples we studied in the preceding
chapter.

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In this chapter, I will cite a few of those foul spirits of

dishonour that operated in the Early Church and are still
at work today, even with more intensity. Let me begin with
what I term as the Iscariot Spirit.

1. THE ISCARIOT SPIRIT (The spirit of sneaky betrayal

and confused repentance)

“Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot went to the

chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if
I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty
pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity to
betray Him.”
- Matthew 26:14-16

We are told by Luke that Jesus spent a whole night in prayer

prior to choosing His twelve disciples, and one of those
He selected was Judas Iscariot, the man who later betrayed
Him! During the public ministry of Jesus, Judas travelled
everywhere with Him and lived in closeness to Him, but
never seemed to share His Spirit.

Note that Christ’s divine qualities were His ability to know

what was in every man. What do you think about the
selection of Judas as one of the twelve? Was it a mistake? Did
Christ know Judas’ traits, yet hope he would improve? Or
did He permit it for a sovereign purpose? Surely, the Lord
knew what He was doing by choosing Judas. We can be sure

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of this. He once said:

“You did not choose me, but I chose you to go and bear fruit -
fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you
ask in my name.”
- John 15:16, NIV

Having chosen Judas to be one of the disciples, Jesus gave

him a position of trust as keeper of the common purse. He
proved, however, to be unworthy of that trust, taking for
himself the money which had been donated to support Jesus
and the disciples. Judas’ greed and hypocrisy were also shown
by his willingness to betray the Son of God for the price of
a slave.

“
If the ox gores a male or female servant, he shall give to
their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be
stoned.”
- Exodus 21:32

In his pretended concern for the welfare of the poor, Judas

criticized Mary of Bethany for anointing Jesus’ feet with
costly ointment. His continued presence in the apostolic
band must have daily involved him in hypocrisy as his heart
became increasingly turned away from Jesus.

Billy Sunday, the old-fashioned preacher, used to say:

“Hypocrites in the church? Yes, and in the home. Don’t hunt
through the church for a hypocrite; go home and look in the

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mirror. Then see that you make the number one less!” Jesus
said: “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do
what I say?” (Luke 6:46).

Judas was a Traitor

The Gospel writers, on almost every occasion when Judas’
name is mentioned, refer to him as the betrayer of Jesus. The
betrayal of Christ was indeed a heinous crime, and there can
be no doubt that Judas acted as the instrument of Satan in
perpetrating it. In fact, in one place Jesus describes Judas as
a devil, and it appears that Satan entered into him following
his rejection of Jesus’ final gesture of love at the Last Supper.
Judas Iscariot was also described by Jesus as “the son of
perdition” (John 12:17, RSV), and nothing good was ever
said about him except, perhaps, that he was capable of feeling
remorse after seeing the result of his evil crime. Dr. W.E.
Sangster, when writing of Judas’ betrayal of Christ, wrote:

“Every Christian should periodically question his own soul:

‘Am I really in this because of my devotion to my Lord?
Would I stand if a crucial test came?’”

Good questions to ask before you start the day! Let us be

minded of these words of Jesus: “They claim to know God,
but by their actions they deny him.” (Titus 1:16).

Judas’ Betrayal Was Foretold

Jesus Christ, being the person He was -the divine Son of

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God - knew both the strengths and weaknesses of every one

of His disciples. He took steps also to alert them to the evil
possibilities that lay deep in their hearts. When Peter insisted
that he would never deny Him, Jesus tried to prepare him for
the next hours by telling him that he would deny Him, not
just once or twice, but three times.

He did something similar with Judas Iscariot on the eve of

His betrayal, as if He wants to give him an opportunity to
repent of his evil intentions. As we know, however, Judas was
so bent on evil that he remained unmoved even when treated
as an honoured guest at the Last Supper.

How grateful we ought to be for the love of Christ that pleads

with us when we are bent on some course of action that will
dishonour His name. Where would we be now if, at our first
fingering of sin, He had not pleaded with us…where would
we be?

“…Having loved his own who were in the world, he now

showed them the full extent of his love.”
- John 13:1

A spirit entered Judas Iscariot, and that spirit drove him to

do what he did! Let me point it out to you that, the demon
is still on earth today! Judas was a chosen disciple and seemed
to have the same spirit and heart of the other disciples. He
presented a spiritual attitude that was higher than others,
sometimes even higher than Jesus, seemingly! For example:

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“Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany,

where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had
raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and
Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the
table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil
of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet
with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance
of the oil.”
“
But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who
would betray Him, said, “Why was this fragrant oil
not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the
poor?” This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but
because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he
used to take what was put in it. But Jesus said, “Let her
alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the
poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have
always.”
- John 12:1-5

The spirit of Judas displays a superficial spirituality and voices

great care for the poor. This spirit causes people to be over-
concerned of how the church and pastors use money, and
display an extra concern for the people. In sum, the Spirit of
Iscariot manifests this way:

Traits of this spirit

1. This spirit will slowly cause you to have a dual personality.
2. This spirit makes you a perfect pretender.

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3. It causes you to betray your leaders with a kiss

4. This spirit will cause you to be sneaky and you will trade
your leaders for money

2. THE ANNANIAS AND SAPHHIRRA SPIRIT (The

spirit of lying and show-off)

“But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his

wife, sold a possession, and kept back [part] of the price, his
wife also being privy [to it], and brought a certain part, and
laid [it] at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why
hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost,
and to keep back [part] of the price of the land?”
“Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? And after it
was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou
conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto
men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell
down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all
them that heard these things.”
- Act 5:1-5

After the Day of Pentecost, The Early Church was established

and the Holy Ghost was at the forefront of the new things
God had begun on earth. The new move of God was among
Believers in Christ Jesus. It was a new community that had
everything in common and honour for God and each other
was amazing.

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All needs were met and members were so excited about

their faith that they not only met daily, but members were
always giving something to assist the church in meeting the
needs of others, honouring each other. What an awesome
time of daily fellowship! This may have made the work of the
Apostles easier!

Further account in Acts 4 spoke of a man by the name of

Joseph, also called Barnabas who sold his property and gave
all the profits to the church. Joseph became famous as a
result of this gesture. He was highly acclaimed and celebrated
throughout the community of Believers for his generosity.
Ananias and his wife Sapphira were members of the Early
Church.

Unfortunately, Ananias and his wife wanted to emulate

Joseph’s act of giving for the wrong reason. They wanted
to receive recognition, honour and praise so they sold
their property and promised to give all the proceeds to the
Church. Nevertheless, when they sold their property, Satan
convinced them to withhold some of the proceeds. When
the husband and wife took part of the money to the Church
leadership, they both agreed to lie and say that it was all they
had received and be honoured for their gesture.

The husband and wife could have openly told the apostles
the amount they had decided to bless the Church which; but
they chose to lie. As a result of the lie, they died immediately.

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You cannot make a vow to God then suddenly refuse to keep

your end of the bargain. They were ill-motivated by a spirit
that I term as the Ananias and Sapphira spirit. That spirit is
a deceptive spirit which every Believer should avoid. It still
works amongst us today in the Church!

Maybe Ananias and his wife would not have died, if they
had been honest, and not tried to deceive the Man of God;
who through the power of the Holy Spirit perceived their
dishonesty. The lesson to be learnt by Believers today is that
we should be honest in all our dealings with each other and
the church.

Dishonesty is a spirit of deception that fools us into thinking

that because no one is present when we perform an act, the
act will remain hidden. The Holy Spirit is a Secret Revealer.
He is the God of all truth. So when you as a Christian walk
in the spirit of dishonesty, know that you are dishonouring
God.

Many dishonest Christians abound in the Body of Christ

today. Many stay home from church on Sunday and lie about
being sick, but when Monday comes they are miraculously
healed and ready for work. Then there are those who lie about
working and not getting paid because they do not give their
tithes faithfully or give an offering to honour a commitment
to sow a seed.

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It is time for us to be honest and walk in integrity. Stop

being dishonest and walk in truth, particularly when dealing
with the servants of God, because God will expose you in
a manner similar to Ananias and Sapphira. Do not allow
yourself to be brought to open shame and disgrace. God is
not mocked, what you sow you will reap. Sow truth and you
will reap eternal life.

Traits of this spirit

3. THE SPIRIT OF DEMAS (The spirit of the world)

“
Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as
do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Amen.”
- Philemon 24

“Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken

me, having loved this present world, and has departed for
Thessalonica - Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia.”
- II Timothy 4:9

“For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present

world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to
Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.”
- II Timothy 4:10

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Who Was Demas?

Throughout Scripture we find examples of those who profess
Christ, but later turn out not to be saved. One example is
Demas. I do not know why Demas was not able to stay in
faith and left Paul in his prison.

Maybe fear of death, maybe disagreement with the path of

martyrdom Paul was choosing, or maybe for other personal
reasons. We do not know but we know now that he was indeed
operating under the spirit of dishonour. He abandoned his
spiritual leader Paul, when the Apostle needed him most.
By so doing, he dishonoured leadership and ultimately
dishonoured God.

The name Demas is mentioned in passing in a few passages

of the Bible – New Testament - but those small references
contain a lot of insights regarding this subject of honour and
dishonour. We find those references in: Colossians 4:14 and
Philemon 1:24 where Paul mentioned him as a fellow
worker, and II Timothy 4:10, where Paul, alone in his prison
cell, and wrote:

“Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because

he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to
Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to
Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me.”

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Demas began as a faithful disciple of Paul. He suffered

imprisonment with Paul for his faith. His life was surely full
of love but sadly he ended in woeful failure. Sadly, today’s
Church is full of Demases! This is an awful warning to us all!
We must caution ourselves that there is no neutral ground
in the battle of righteousness versus evil; honour and
dishonour. Either you are for righteousness or you are the
enemy of righteousness. Either you stand for honour and
for dishonour. If you are an enemy of righteousness and the
spirit of honour, it simply means you have joined forces with
the devil.

Demas did love the ‘world.’ Word used in the verse is actually
‘the current age’ - or aeon - the same word translated elsewhere
as ‘eternity’ as in ‘eternal destruction’ or ‘age’ as in ‘the age to
come’. These were the last words of the chapter and some of
the last words spoken by Apostle Paul. No doubt, Paul and
others had high hopes for Demas. But something happened
and now Demas has departed.

Let me state here that, there is never a good time to quit,

especially when the need is so great. Paul here gave the reason
and leaves no questions as to why Demas quit. Paul wrote
that Demas departed “loving this present world.”Demas,
who was a fellow labour of the Apostle Paul, and had worked
hand-in-hand with the great Paul - as part of the apostolic
company – eventually fled in dishonour.

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Firstly Demas forsook Paul. That means, forsaking your

pastor and the church is also the first sign of dishonour to
your spiritual leadership. Secondly, Demas fell in love with
the world. Once you cast off restrain you are done! It is just
a matter of time before you change direction to the world
again. This is a great caution for us:

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the
world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father
is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not
of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth
away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of
God abideth for ever.”
- I John 2:15-17

This spirit of dishonour makes you grow cold towards the

things of God. Thirdly, Demas departed, and it will only
be a matter of time before you depart, after you have taken
the first two steps. Demas died later, having abandoned his
dedication and faith in the Lord.

When you begin to look at the world with lust, you will do
things that you never thought you would. Notice what Paul
said in Ephesians 6:10-12, that:
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power
of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may
be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle

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not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against

powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places.”

If we obey this, we will be able to prevent the spirit of Demas

operating in us. Before we end our study of Demas, note this
steps that the deserter took: He began as a very passionate,
follower and a very committed disciple of Apostle Paul
(Philemon 24). These was the Apostle’s testimony of him:
“Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellow-labourers.”
(Philemon 1:24).

Demas begun as a very determined, dedicated, desirous and

devoted disciple. Soon, his passionate commitment moved
from maximum to that of a minimum Christian: “Luke,
the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.” (Colossians
4:14). You can see that he was no longer referred to as a
“fellow-labourer.”

He was just there as one of them; and from an excellent disciple

to a mediocre one. He has cooled off, lost his enthusiasm and
his zeal. Why? He was focusing on the world. He became a
casualty. Demas went on AWOL (Absent Without Official
Leave)! So sad, isn’t it? Having begun fervent in spirit, now
Demas had lost his course in ministry and dishonoured his
spiritual father and head pastor by abandoning him, when
Paul needed him most! May that never be your story!

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Traits of this spirit

1. This spirit coerces you to forsake your pastor, ministry
and eventually the faith and the church, when you are
needed most.

2. This spirit makes the things of this world look more

attractive than things of eternal value. It makes you
despise and look down upon noble things, and makes
them seem as dishonourable to be desired.

3. The Demas spirit inspires you to lust after carnal things,

thereby dishonouring God’s Word and go on to do
what God forbids. Satan blinds you from seeing the
consequences of lusting after what the eyes see and the
effects lust of the flesh – as happened to Samson!

4. The Demas spirit makes you become bold enough to deny

and actually depart from the ministry assigned to you by
God, thinking you are taking the right step. It is a spirit
of deception that leads many to backslide in the faith. It
is the spirit of heresy that causes you to commit sacrilege.

5. The Demas spirit makes you love the materialistic things

of the world, and the things that are in the world, thereby
forsaking the things that are eternal and of God.

6. The Demas spirit lead you ultimately to things you once

denounced – as one who eats back his vomit, so to speak.

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It makes you value the things of the flesh and the world,
leading you eventually to lose taste for God and ending
your life miserably without God. May the Lord help us
flee from this dangerous spirit and live in honour and
reverence of our God!

4. THE SPIRIT OF ALEXANDER (The vicious and

assaulting spirit)

“Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the

Lord repay him according to his works. You also must beware of
him, for he has greatly resisted our words.”

Who was Alexander the coppersmith in the Bible? He was a

man who did significant harm to Paul’s ministry (II Timothy
4:14). The word coppersmith is translated from the Greek word
chalkeus, which means “brazier” or “a worker of metals.” The
NIV translates it as “metalworker”; the ESV, KJV, and NASB
have it as “coppersmith”. Some scholars believe this Alexander
the coppersmith to be the same Alexander mentioned in two
other places in Scripture (Acts 19:33 and I Timothy 1:20).

The first mention of this Alexander the coppersmith

occured in the Book of Acts. During his travels through
Asia, Paul encountered some Greeks who were opposed to
his preaching because it was damaging their business. For
example, Demetrius was a silversmith in Ephesus who made
the silver shrines of Artemis, and he in turn gave business to

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many other workmen in the area. As the Church in Ephesus

grew, sales of the idolatrous shrines fell. Demetrius got the
guild of tradesmen together and stirred them up. Hear him
blaspheme and dishonour Paul here:

“You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this

business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced
and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in
practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by
human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that
our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the
great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself,
who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world,
will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

- Acts 19:25–27

During the ensuing riot, Alexander was pushed forward to

make a statement to the crowd, since he was a Jew. However,
the mob refused to listen to him (Acts 19:34). Alexander the
coppersmith, being associated with the Church and being a
metalworker himself, he was chosen by Paul to try to make
peace in Ephesus.

The next mention of Alexander the coppersmith is in I

Timothy 1:20, as Paul wrote to Timothy in Ephesus. Paul
wrote that Alexander rejected his faith and conscience and
that Alexander and another man named Hymenaeus had

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been “handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme”

(I Timothy 1:19, 20).

Alexander, who had obviously professed faith in Christ at

one point, had “shipwrecked” his faith. That is, he veered
off course, away from good teaching and drifted into the
dangerous rocks of false teaching. He had refused to follow
the dictates of his conscience. Thus he was walking according
to the flesh and not the Spirit (Romans 8:5-9), claiming the
name of Christ while behaving like an unbeliever.

Linking to Acts 19, Alexander was an influential Jewish

metalworker in Ephesus. When the missionaries came to
town, Alexander the coppersmith got to know them and was
seemingly open to the gospel. When the unrest broke out
over the Artemis sales, Alexander was chosen as a natural
liaison between the silversmiths and the target of their anger.

Later, Alexander showed his true colours in the church,

and it became apparent that he and Hymenaeus were living
for themselves, not for Christ. Paul warned Timothy, who
was pastoring in Ephesus, about the situation. Later still,
imprisoned in Rome, Paul bemoaned the fact that Alexander
the coppersmith had continued to damage the cause of Christ
and had become a personal enemy.

As a result, Paul had pronounced an apostolic curse upon

Alexander, allowing Satan to destroy or harm the man so that

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his soul might still be saved. In Paul’s second and last letter to
Timothy, we find the only direct mention of Alexander the
coppersmith. Paul wrote:

“Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the

Lord will repay him according to this deeds”
- II Timothy 4:14, ESV

Paul did not mention any details about the harm Alexander
did, but he made it categorically clear that it was “great.”
Alexander dishonoured God and Paul. Paul did not seek
personal revenge; instead, he wisely turned the matter over
to the justice of God.

Alexander had used his influence and financial standing to

prejudice the Roman authorities against Paul. Whatever the
case, “the Lord will repay him for what he has done” (II
Timothy 4:14). He used his advantage of having been close
to the Apostle to persecute and harm the ministry of Jesus
Christ. That was a great dishonour to God. Paul therefore
turned him over to Satan, so that his soul will be saved
eventually.

Traits of the Alexander Spirit

These are people who will be propelled to resist the ministry
and forcefully stop it. They withstand the Word of God that
is preached and they despise and do all they can to dishonour
God’s servants because they have a following.

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They carry in them the same spirit that operated in Alexander

and their function mainly is to dishonour spiritual fathers
and persons in authority in the local church. They manifest
the following traits among others:-

1. This spirit turns you against your Christian leaders

2. This spirit causes you to betray your pastor and local

church family but it is a very vicious spirit that attacks to
damage the reputation of pastors and to scatter the local
church.

3. This spirit causes you to damage the Kingdom and those

in it, and influence you to continually think you are doing
God a favour. However, it is a deceptive and a seducing
spirit that works in the local churches.

4. This spirit drives you to cause discord among the brethren

and split the church and slander the preacher.

5. The spirit takes advantage of having been closer to the

church leadership to eventually discredit, persecute, harm
and dishonour the ministry of Jesus Christ.

Anyone afflicted with the spirit dishonour will never move

forward in life – as it happened to Absalom. Anybody can
be attacked no matter your position or status. The spirit is
no respecter of anyone. The spirit of dishonour is so hidden

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in such a way that you would not notice it when you are
attacked. That is why you need to pray aggressively for the
spirit to leave you alone! Here is my appeal to you, if you have
dishonoured your father or your mother,please go to them
now, to them and ask them to forgive you unconditionally!

Go on and begin to build a relationship of honour with

your father and your mother. Whether they are ‘in the
church’ or not, you should still be honouring your father and
your mother. If you are still young, you have a wonderful
opportunity ahead of you. Learn how to honour your father
and mother now!

You are going to be tools in the hand of the Almighty God

to change the world. Forget it - all your dreams, and all your
hopes gone, unless you learn how to honour your parents.
Not only do you need to honour your father and mother, but
also those who have invested in your life – including your
mentors, teachers, bosses and pastors. It is very important.

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 CHAPTER 8

Beware Of
Presumptuousness

“Has presumptuousness come? Then dishonor will come;

but wisdom is with the modest ones.”
- PROVERBS 11:2

P resumptuousness is the act of arrogance that leads to

disaster and disgrace eventually. Presumptuousness often
leads to dishonour. We have many examples in the Bible, and
we have dealt with a number of them already. In this chapter,
we will repeat some of those characters of dishonour, for the
sake of emphasis on the dangers of being dishonourable.

For example, there was this envious Levite who led a rebellious
mob against God’s appointed authority. There was also that

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ambitious prince who concocted a devious scheme to usurp

his father’s throne. And there was this impatient king who
disregarded the explicit instructions of God’s prophet. These
three Israelites share a common trait: presumptuousness,
which is an anti-authority, arrogant spirit that manifest in
sons in ministry.

Presumptuousness is a characteristic of the heart that poses a

serious threat to all. The presumptuous person boldly takes
liberties without having the authorization to do so. Often,
this leads to disaster. In fact, presumptuousness has ruined
kings and toppled empires in history. It has even ensnared
some servants of God and led them to their ruin. How can
we learn about the dangers of presumptuousness?

For good reason, the Bible states: “Has presumptuousness

come? Then dishonor will come; but wisdom is with the
modest ones” (Proverbs 11:2). The Bible provides us with
examples, confirming the truthfulness of this proverb.

An examination of some of these will help us see the danger

of over-stepping our bounds. In this chapter therefore, I want
us to consider how envy, ambition, and impatience caused
some three men, who acted presumptuously, leading to their
dishonour. I will start with a prince called Korah – who we
have dealt with previously.
1. KORAH: THE ENVIOUS ROYAL REBEL
Who was Korah? According to Numbers 16:1-3, Korah

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was a Kohathite Levite, a first cousin of Moses and Aaron.

Apparently, he was loyal to God for decades. Korah was
privileged to be among those who were miraculously delivered
through the Red Sea, and he likely shared in executing God’s
judgment against the calf-worshiping Israelites at Mount
Sinai.

“Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of
Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On
the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men; and they rose
up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two
hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives
of the congregation, men of renown. They gathered together
against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too
much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every
one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do
you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”
- Numbers 16:1-3

Eventually, however, Korah became the ring-leader in

an uprising against Moses and Aaron that included the
Reubenites Dathan, Abiram, and on, along with 250 Israelite
chieftains. “That is enough of you,” they said to Moses and
Aaron, “because the whole assembly are all of them holy
and Jehovah is in their midst. Why, then, should you lift
yourselves up above the congregation of God?”
After many years of faithfulness, why did Korah rebel? Surely
Moses’ leadership of Israel was not oppressive; for he was “by

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far the meekest of all the men who were upon the surface
of the ground”. Yet, it seems that Korah envied Moses and
Aaron and resented their prominence, and this led him to
say– wrongly - that they had arbitrarily and selfishly lifted
themselves up above the congregation.

From my observation, part of Korah’s problem was that he

did not cherish his own privileges in God’s arrangement.
True, the Kohathite Levites were not all priests, but they were
teachers of God’s Law. Some also carried the furniture and
utensils of the tabernacle when these had to be transported.
That was no insignificant task, for the holy utensils could
be handled only by individuals who were religiously and
morally clean.

Hence, when Moses confronted Korah, he was, in effect,

asking, do you view your assignment as something so
trivial that you must also secure the priesthood? (Numbers
16:9, 10) Korah failed to realize that the greatest honour is
serving Jehovah faithfully according to his arrangement, not
the attaining of some special status or position.

“Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: Is

it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated
you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to
Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the LORD, and
to stand before the congregation to serve them; and that
He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your

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brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking
the priesthood also? Therefore you and all your company
are gathered together against the LORD. And what is Aaron
that you complain against him?”
Numbers 16:8-11

God Brought Korah’s Rebellion to a Disastrous End

Moses invited Korah and his men to gather the following
morning at the Tent of Meeting, with fire holders and
incense. Korah and his men were not authorized to offer
incense, since they were not priests. If they came with fire
holders and incense, this would clearly indicate that these
men still felt that they had a right to act as priests- even after
having had an entire night to reconsider the matter.

When they presented themselves the next morning, the Lord

God rightly expressed His wrath. As for the Reubenites, “the
earth opened its mouth and proceeded to swallow them up.”
The rest, including Korah, were consumed by fire from God.
Korah’s presumptuousness led to the ultimate dishonour
- God’s disapproval! Sadly this tendency to envy manifests
itself among Christians of today! The account of Korah is
a warning to us. Since that tendency to envy is present in
imperfect humans, it can manifest itself even in the Christian
congregation.

For example, we might be position-conscious and position-

hungry. Like Korah, we might envy those who have privileges

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that we desire. Or we could become like the first-century

Christian named Diotrephes. He was highly critical of
Apostolic authority, evidently because he wanted to be in
charge. Indeed, John wrote that Diotrephes “likes to have the
first place.”(III John 9).

“I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the

preeminence among them, does not receive us. Therefore, if
I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating
against us with malicious words. And not content with
that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids
those who wish to, putting them out of the church. Beloved,
do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does
good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.
Demetrius has a good testimony from all, and from the
truth itself. And we also bear witness, and you know that
our testimony is true.”
- 3 John 9-12

What attitude toward congregation responsibilities do we

need to avoid? We must have the proper view of our place in
God’s calling and placement in His Church leadership. Of
course, it is not wrong for a Christian man to covet to do the
work of ministry or to have a particular spiritual gift, as long
as the desire is born out of love of God’s people. Apostle Paul
even encouraged such a course.
However, we should never view privileges of service as badges
of merit, as though by attaining them, we have moved up

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a rankg on some perceived “ladder of advancement” in the

body of Christ! Remember what the Lord Jesus said:

“Whoever wants to become great among you must be

your minister, and whoever wants to be first among
you must be your slave.”
- Matthew 20:26, 27

Clearly, it would be wrong to envy those who have greater

responsibilities, as if our value to God depended upon our
“rank” in His organization. Jesus said: “All you are brothers.”
(Matthew 23:8) It is truly a blessing to work shoulder-to-
shoulder with millions who are striving to apply the Bible’s
counsel: “Gird yourselves with lowliness of mind toward
one another” (I Peter 5:5).

Always remember that the call to spiritual leadership is a call

to service and not for self-aggrandizement. We are called to
the higher call of servant leadership, and it is the model of
leadership that separates us from secular leadership that is
based on power play. Ours is people-oriented and the leader
serves the followers.

2. ABSALOM: THE AMBITIOUS OPPORTUNIST

Who was Absalom? How did he attempt to court the favour
of those coming to the king for judgment? He was King
David’s third son. The character of Absalom provides a study
in ambition. This scheming opportunist tried to court the
favour of those who came to the king for judgment.

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First he insinuated that David was indifferent to their needs.

Then he dropped the subtlety and got right to the point.
“O, that I were appointed judge in the land,” Absalom intoned,
“that to me every man might come that happens to have a legal
case or judgment! Then I should certainly do justice to him.”

Absalom’s crafty politicking knew no bounds. “When a man

drew near to bow down to him,” states the Bible, “he thrust
his hand out and grabbed hold of him and kissed him. And
Absalom kept doing a thing like this to all Israelites that
would come in for judgment to the king.” With what result?
“Absalom kept stealing the hearts of the men of Israel”
(II Samuel 15:1-6).

How Absalom tried to usurp David’s throne

Absalom was determined to usurp his father’s kingship. Five
years earlier, he had David’s eldest son, Amnon, murdered,
ostensibly in revenge for the rape of Absalom’s sister Tamarin
II Samuel 13:28, 29. However, even then Absalom might
have had his sights on the throne, viewing Amnon’s murder
as a convenient way to eliminate a rival, because Amnon was
David’s firstborn and the natural heir apparent.

In any event, when the time was ripe, Absalom made his
move. He had his kingship proclaimed throughout the
land, according to II Samuel 15:10. That was the evil and
presumptuousness character of Absalom that led to a life that
ended in shame and gross dishonour.

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For a while, Absalom had success, for “the conspiracy kept

getting stronger, and the people were continually growing
in number with Absalom.” In time, King David was forced
to flee for his life. (II Samuel 15:12-17), Soon, Absalom’s
career was cut short when he was slain by Joab, pitched into
a hollow, and covered with stones. Imagine this ambitious
man who wanted to be king did not even receive a decent
burial upon his death! Presumptuousness indeed led to
Absalom’s dishonour, especially in how he died as recorded
in II Samuel 18:9-17.

What lessons can we learn from Absalom’s life? How can

an ambitious spirit take root in the heart of a Christian?
Absalom’s rise to power and his subsequent fall serve as a
lesson for us. In today’s aggressive world, it is common for
people to grovel over their superiors, trying to ingratiate
themselves to them simply to make an impression or perhaps
to gain some type of privilege or promotion.

At the same time, they might make bragging assertions to

their subordinates, hoping to curry their favour and support.
If we are not careful, such an ambitious spirit can take root
in our heart. Apparently, this happened among some in the
First Century, making it necessary for The Apostles to give
strong warnings against such ones.

We must avoid this ambitious, self-exalting spirit. God has

no place in His Kingdom for self-aggrandizing schemers

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who try to “search out their own glory” (Proverbs 25:27).

Indeed, the Bible warns: “God will cut off all smooth lips,
the tongue speaking great things” (Psalm 12:3), Absalom
had smooth lips. He spoke swelling words of flattery to those
whose favour he needed. He did it all to acquire a coveted
position of authority.

As we move to the final character I am dealing with in

this chapter, may we see how blessed we are to be amid
a brotherhood that follows Apostle Paul’s counsel: “Do
nothing out of contentiousness or out of egotism, but with
lowliness of mind, considering that the others are superior to
you”- Philippians 2:3.

3. SAUL: AN IMPATIENT KING

At one time Saul, who later became king of Israel, was
very modest. Consider, for example, what happened in his
younger years. When God’s prophet Samuel spoke favorably
of him, Saul humbly replied:
“Am I not a Benjaminite of the smallest of the tribes of
Israel, and my family the most insignificant of all the
families of the tribe of Benjamin? So why have you spoken
to me a thing like this?”
- I SAMUEL 9:21
So in what way did Saul manifest an impatient attitude later
on? Sadly, later, Saul’s modesty vanished. While at war with
the Philistines, he withdrew to Gilgal, where he was expected
to wait for Samuel to come and make entreaty to God with

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sacrifices. When Samuel did not come at the appointed time,

Saul presumptuously offered the burnt sacrifice himself.

Just as Saul finished, Samuel arrived and this interaction

ensued: “What is it you have done?” Samuel asked. Saul
replied: “I saw that the people had been dispersed from me,
and you- you did not come within the appointed days…So I
compelled myself and went offering up the burnt sacrifice.”
(I Samuel 13:6-12).

“
When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for
the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves,
in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. And some of
the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad
and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the
people followed him trembling. Then he waited seven days,
according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not
come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.
So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings
here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering. Now it
happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt
offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet
him, that he might greet him.

“And Samuel said, “What have you done?”Saul said, “When

I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that
you did not come within the days appointed, and that the
Philistines gathered together at Michmash, then I said,

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‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and

I have not made supplication to the LORD.’ Therefore I felt
compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”

At first glance, why might Saul’s actions seem justifiable? Why

did God censure Saul for his impatient act? At first glance,
Saul’s actions might seem justifiable. After all, God’s people
were “in sore straits,” and “hard pressed,” and were trembling
because of their desperate situation. Certainly, it is not wrong
to take the initiative when circumstances warrant it.

Remember that God can read hearts and perceive our

innermost motives. Hence, He must have seen some factors
about Saul that are not directly stated in the Bible account.
For example, God might have seen that Saul’s impatience
was stirred by pride. Perhaps Saul was deeply irritated that
he, being the king of all Israel, had to wait for someone he
viewed as an old, procrastinating prophet!

In any event, Saul felt that Samuel’s lateness gave him the
right to take matters into his own hands and to disregard the
explicit instructions he had been given. The result? Samuel
did not praise Saul’s initiative. On the contrary, he chastised
Saul, saying: “Your kingdom will not last…because you did
not keep what God commanded you.” (I Samuel 13:13, 14).
Once again, presumptuousness led to dishonour.

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May we Guard Against Impatience

Impatience is causing many a modern-day servant of God
to act presumptuously. Young gifted men and women in
the churches are being used by the dishonouring spirit of
Absalom to cause discord in our churches. Many are rushing
into selfish and independent ministries, leaving their spiritual
fathers with pains and hurts. May the Holy Spirit deal with
them and restore the Spirit of honour and bring revival
among God’s people.

The account of Saul’s presumptuous act has been recorded

in God’s Word for our benefit. It is so easy for us to become
annoyed at the imperfections of our brothers. Like Saul,
we may become impatient, feeling that if matters are to be
handled properly, we must take them into our own hands.

For example, a brother excels at certain organizational skills.

He is punctual, up-to-date on congregation procedures, and
gifted in speaking and teaching. At the same time, he senses
that others do not measure up to his meticulous standards,
and they are not nearly as efficient as he would like. Does this
give him license to express impatience? Should he criticize
his brethren, perhaps implying that were it not for his efforts
nothing would get done and the congregation would falter?
This would be presumptuous!

In reality, what holds a congregation of Christians together?

Management skills? Efficiency? Depth of knowledge?

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Giftings? Granted, these things are advantageous to the

smooth operation of a congregation. However, Jesus said
that His followers would primarily be identified by their
love. The congregation is not a business that needs rigid
management; instead, it is made up of a flock that needs
tender care presumptuous disregard for such principles often
result in contention. In contrast, godly order produces peace.
In conclusion, the Bible accounts of Korah, Absalom, and
Saul clearly show that presumptuousness leads to dishonour,
as stated at Proverbs 11:2. However, the Bible verse adds:
“Wisdom is with the modest ones.” What is modesty? What
examples from the Bible can help to shed light on this quality,
and how can we show modesty today?

A modest person is unassuming, humble, unpretentious,

meek and honourble in his character and in his ways. A
modest person values and respects authority and walk in
simplicity of heart and does what is right and the right time
for the right people. In the next two concluding chapters,

I have put together how to honour the authority figures God

has put charge over us. We will look at many creative ways by
which we can proffer honour to whom honour is due, so that
God will bless us more and grant us His grace to accomplish
His purposes for our lives here on earth.

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 CHAPTER 9

Honouring Your Parents

“Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD

your God has commanded you; that your days may be
prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land
which the LORD your God gives you.”
- Deuteronomy 5:16

H onouring our parents is the most basic form of

honour and it is a command from God that we – as
sons and daughter – must honour our fathers and mothers.
That means, whether your parents are godly or ungodly,
responsible or irresponsible, caring or uncaring, Christians
or non-Christians, this universal principle applies.

It is your godly duty to honour them, especially so, because,

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it is the command of God with a conditional promise of

longevity of life. Also, you need the blessing of your father,
whether is godly or ungodly. It is his duty to release a blessing
on you, and it is your duty to do what is required of you –
honour him – in order to provoke and set into action, the
fulfilling of the promise God has promised all children who
obey it.

Sadly, the spirit of dishonour is at work, especially among

the children of disobedience in our world today. This spirit
of dishonour is a very bad spirit! It is a spirit of rebellion
and comes from Satan, who was once Lucifer, who rebelled
against God. He instigates children to rebel and fight against
their own fathers and mothers.

Practical Benefits To Honouring Our Parents

There are very practical benefits to honouring our fathers
and mothers. And there are few questions like these:
1. How do I deal with an abusive authority in my life?
Everyone has experienced an “abusive authority” in his or
her life at a time or another. Sometimes even good men act
abusively..
2. How do I deal with it, when my father is wrong and I
know he is truly wrong?
3. Does that mean I give a different response than when my
father is right?
4. How do I deal with my father when I am a grown man,
and I have a family?

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5. What happens when my unconverted parent asks me to do

something contrary to the Word of God?
6. Can I disagree and honour my mother at the same time?

The above questions are very practical, and they are questions
that God answers in His Word. There is not a person in God’s
Church who has not had to deal with these questions at
some level. But every single one of these questions has been
anticipated in God’s written Word and directly addressed.

God has given us - through precepts, patterns, and principles

- the answers to these questions. Precepts are those commands
of God intended as a general rule of action. Patterns are the
examples that are defined in Scripture and given for our own
benefit. And principles are the wise and proper application
of God’s unchanging truths to constantly changing facts.
Precepts, patterns, and principles - we have all three of these
in Scripture that will bring us to honour, and help us to walk
through these different and difficult circumstances.

We might be very surprised by the answers God gives to these

questions. We want to begin to unlock some of these questions
by asking children, and parents, and grandparents’ questions
like these: “How do you deal with people in authority over
you?”Do you have a hard time with these questions that have
to do with authority and honour? If you do, you are probably
struggling with honor; and probably it is your fault that you
are struggling with these problems.

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Those people may be very much at fault, but the actual

responsibility for the problem lies on us and how we honor
people in authority, and how we honor our fathers, and
how we honor our mothers. The most abusive authority in
the world will not make it “unwell” with you. You make
it “unwell” with yourself when you do not understand the
principle of honour!
“Do you have security in knowing God as a loving Father?”
If not, it may be that you have not learned properly to honor
those individuals that are due honour. Are you confident
that your parents love you? Do you trust your spouse? Do
your children respect you? All these questions deal with the
first commandment God gave with a promise.

“Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your

God has commanded you; that your days may be prolonged,
and that it may go well with you, in the land which the
LORD your God gives you.”
- Deuteronomy 5:16

God forbid we should every raise our voice against our

father, or our mother! As we look at the Word of God, we
see that God is so serious about this issue that if you mock
your parents, if you put them down, if you criticize them, if
you even get angry with them, He says, “You will die.” It is
one of the most serious things you can do. And I think it has
been very much underestimated.

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We read that scripture “Honor your father and your mother;”

and we have all (including myself ) pretty much glazed over it,
not really realizing the impact it has on our lives. You might
steal -and that is bad enough and that requires restitution.
But, according to Scripture, it is worse to curse your parents.
If you curse your parents, God says He will blot you off the
face of the earth. That is how serious it is!

Admonition To Fathers
Let us look at an admonition to fathers and sons to respect
authority. God has specifically ordained that a father would
be the instrument by which a young boy learns who God the
Father is. The discipline of a father is a mark of ownership. If
your father disciplines you - if he spanks you, if he corrects
you - that is a sign that you are a true son. But if your
father allows you do what you want and you do not receive
correction from your father, the King James Version of the
Bible says you are a “bastard.” This is a very strong word! It
means “an illegitimate child.”

The mark of legitimacy is corrective wounds. In Hebrews

12, God shows us that honour, fatherhood, discipline, and
submission are utterly critical, not only to your success and
longevity, but also to your ability to know who God the
Father is.

“And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to

you as to sons, “My son, do not despise the chastening of the

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Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him.

For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every
son whom He receives.” If you endure chastening, God deals
with you as with sons; for what son is there whom the father
does not chasten? But if you are without chastisement, of
which all have become partakers, then are you illegitimate,
and not sons. Furthermore we have had human fathers
who corrected us, and we gave them respect. [That is, we
gave them honor.] Shall we not much more readily be in
subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? For they [our
fathers on earth] chastened us as seemed best to them, but
He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
Now no chastening seems to be joyous for the present, but
painful; nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit
of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
- Hebrews 12:5-11

How can we go to God if we do not understand honour? How

can we go to our heavenly Father and say, “I want to serve
You,” when we refuse to honour our earthly father, whom
God has given us as a picture, or proto-type, of the Heavenly
Father above? The principle of honour applies to parents,
and it applies to children. Here are some of the promises that
are associated with this:

“For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all

who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
- Acts 2:39

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God will call your children at His good pleasure. He has given
us the promise of His faithfulness. Proverbs says, “Train up a
child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not
depart from it” (Proverbs 22:7).In other words, train a child
to understand the principle of honour, and when he grows
up, he will be an honourable man.”

“But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to

everlasting on those who fear Him [or those that honor
Him, or those that reverence Him], and His righteousness
to children’s children; to those who keep His covenant, and
to those who remember His commandments to do them.”
- Psalm 103:17-18

This includes the Fifth Commandment: “Honor your father

and your mother.” But what is that covenant? Honour God
the Father by passing on the promises that your righteous
father gives you. Contained to the idea of the covenant is the
idea of honour. We cannot understand covenant faithfulness
without understanding honor. It is inherent with it.

The father passes on the word to the son. The son embraces
the word, and out of honor for the legacy of the fathers, passes
it on to his son, who passes it on to his son, and passes it on
to his son, and so on. Such as keep His covenant and teaches
his son to do so, is the first commandment with promise.
This is the Fifth Commandment: “Honor your father and
your mother.”

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“Since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty

nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed
in him? For I have known him, in order that he may
command his children and his household after him, that
they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and
justice; that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He
has spoken to him.”
- Genesis 18:18-19

Abraham is the father of the faithfulness. God saw in him this

quality - that he was the teacher and mentor of his children
and household. He taught his children to honour him. What
did his children do? They honoured their father. And Isaac
and Jacob became honourable men. Basically, God said, “I
know Abraham. I’m going to bless this man forever, because
he’s going to teach My way to his children. They’re going to
obey him; and, in doing so, they’re going to honour him.
And, because of this, it will be well with them. They will be
mighty in the land. They will always be a present factor in
the work of God on this earth.”

Let us take a look at the height of the father-son relationship.

You sons and daughters still under your father’s roof, take
this to heart. Please understand and appreciate the true value
of your parents, and take what it says here in John 5 to heart.

“Then answered Jesus and said to them, “Most assuredly, I

say to you, ‘The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what

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He sees the Father do. For whatever He does, the Son does
in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows
Him all things that He Himself does.’”
- John 5:19-20

“I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My

judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will,
but the will of the Father who sent Me.”
- John 5:30

This is the standard to strive for. This is the perfect father-son

relationship that we are looking at here. Amazingly, this is
the opposite of the independent spirit that older boys reflect
today in this society. Statements like, “I’m my own boss!” and
“No one is going to tell me what to do!” and “I’m my own
man!” and so on, are common in our current dispensation .
None of them understands true honor and how important
that is to their future and to their success.

Deep down in our hearts, we all want a close relationship

with our fathers. We see Christ’s relationship with His Father,
and we want the same relationship, every one of us. But our
human nature gets in the way. Every father who has ever set
foot on earth was imperfect.

Thus this law of honour is given for imperfect situations,

not perfect fathers. In fact, all of God’s laws are given for
imperfect situations, so that we will know how to respond

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when they come up. These restraints are given partly to teach
us how to act when our father or mother makes mistakes.
When things are problematic at home, when your authority
figure is blind about something: that is when these laws are
most important, because they explain to us how to react in
those situations. The standard being set before you today is
not merely being polite to your father, or mother. We should
always be polite to them. It is a matter of deeply respecting
them.

Of course, we are to do that! There is no doubt about it. It

is a matter of having a deep inner reverence that places us
under their authority, so that we are “one” with them. We
want to be with them. We want to honour them. We want
to help them. This is the attitude that comes from a deep
honour of our parents.

My fellow sons and daughters, we could forget everything

that studied in school; but if we fail to honour our fathers
and mothers, we will never taste true success on earth! Yes, we
may have financial wealth and material prosperity, but never
true wealth and prosperity that come from God. That is how
more important it is to honour your father and mother!

Properly honouring your father and mother is a way of life,

based on God’s truth. It is part of God’s way of life. It is
the lifestyle of heaven God desires that we practice here on
earth, even as it is in heaven. Now, there is a flip side of this

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that you need to know. That is, we must never forget that
God promises He will destroy us if we do not follow His
commands!

“For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and

mother.’ And ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be
put to death.’ But you [Pharisees] say, ‘Whoever says to his
father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received
from me is a gift to God”- then he need not honor his
father or mother.” Thus have you made the commandment
of God [to honor your father and mother] of no effect by
your tradition. Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of
you, saying, “These people draw near to Me with their
mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart
is far from Me. And in vain they do worship Me, teaching
for doctrines [that is, as true doctrines] the commandments
[the traditions] of men.” When He called the multitude
to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand. Not
what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes
out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
- Matthew 15:4-11

The Lord was speaking of the attitudes that come out of a

person towards another individual. So, a son or a daughter
can dishonour their parents, with the wrong looks, with the
wrong tone of voice, with the wrong words. God cautions us
in Exodus 21:17 that: “And he who curses his father or his
mother, shall surely be put to death.”

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Today, we are not “put to death” for disrespecting our parents.

But if we were in ancient Israel, under Moses, we would be!
So, do not allow yourself to reason, since we do not receive
the death penalty today for dishonoring our parents, that it
is not as serious an offense.

The point is this: We will be judged! That is an eternal

law. Do not kid yourself. You will not escape. We may not
receive the death penalty right away, but what happens in the
meantime? God places a curse on anyone who dishonors his
parents: as He does for committing other abominations.

“And the Levites shall speak with a loud voice and say to all
the men of Israel, “Cursed is the one who makes a carved or
molded image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of
the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in a secret.” And
all the people shall answer and say, “Amen.” “Cursed is the
one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.”
And all the people shall say, “Amen.”
- Deuteronomy 27:14-16

This means to make fun of. It means to make light of them.

We are never, ever at liberty to make light of our parents.
Neither should we argue with them. Verses 17-26, here in
Deuteronomy, go on to list other abominations that receive
a curse as well. The person who dishonors his parents is listed
here with some very, very contemptible things. If you have
this attitude of making light of your parents, it is a sign of

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final judgment.

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,
God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things
which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness,
sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness;
full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they
are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud,
boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving,
unmerciful; who knowing the righteous judgment of God,
that those who practice such things are worthy of death,
not only do the same but also approve those who practice
them.”
- Romans 1:28-32

Look at this list of evil actions. “Disobedient to parents” is

right in there with them. There is not any distinction made
between them—as far as one being any worse than the other.
It is right in there with all the rest of the abominations, from
God’s viewpoint. And Paul tells us that this sin is a very
common problem in the end time - and that we should avoid
people who brazenly disobey, or dishonour, their parents.

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will
come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,
boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers,

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without self control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors,

headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers
of God; having a form of godliness but denying its power.
From such people turn away!”
- II Timothy 3:1-5

This is a major problem in the end time! We are in the End-

Time. Of all of the things that God condemns in Scripture,
dishonouring our parents is one of the most serious. It is not
that He condemns it once. He condemns it over, and over,
and over again. God only needs to say it once for it to be
true. So what do you think it means when He says it dozens
of times - that we are to honor our parents and respect them?
Principle after principle, it is stated in the Bible.

“There is a generation that curses its father and does not

bless its mother. There is a generation that is pure in its
own eyes, yet is not washed from its filthiness. There is a
generation, oh how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are
lifted up.”
- Proverbs 30:11-13

This is a description of our generation today, especially our

youth. What are some of the comments that you hear from
our youth today? Maybe they do not say these in the exact
words, but the attitude is written all over their face. “Look at
me; I’m sixteen years old and a repository of wisdom. I know
more than my father, and my pastor, even though they have

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lived more than twice as long as me!” When you put that
into perspective, it looks absolutely ridiculous that anybody
would have that kind of attitude of disrespect and dishonour
towards his or her parents.

“There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, and

whose fangs are like knives, to devour the poor from off the
earth, and the needy from among men.”
- Proverbs 30:14

You can just see this in the attitude of some teenagers today.
Their teeth are as swords: with them gritting them together
in anger.

“The leech has two daughters - Give and Give! There

are three things that are never satisfied, four never say,
“Enough!” The grave, the barren womb, the earth that is
not satisfied with water - and the fire never says, “Enough!”
The eye that mocks his father, and scorns obedience to his
mother, the ravens of the valley will pick it out, and the
young eagles will eat it.”
- Proverbs 30:15-17

Beloved, we have all seen children mock their fathers with

their eyes. You know the look. It is a look of disobedience,
rebellion and defiance. When you do this, you children out
there, you have just incurred the death penalty - unless you
repent. This is very serious for all of us, and we need to be
very careful what our attitudes are.

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As I write these, I am reflecting on my own relationship with

my parents from childhood, and honestly speaking, I feel
somewhat inadequate, because I, myself, have disrespected
parents before I got saved in one way or the other; and I feel
very bad for that! But I know that I am new creature in Jesus
Name. Amen.

The spirit of a Raven

Of “the raven,” mentioned in Proverbs 30:17, the
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia describes it thus:
“A bird exhibiting as much intelligence as any, and of a saucy,
impudent disposition, it has been an object of interest from
the beginning. It has been able to speak sentences of a few
words when carefully taught, and by its uncanny acts has
made itself a bird surrounded by superstition, myth, fable,
and is connected with the religious rites of many nations.”
“It is partially a carrion feeder [or, meat eater], if offal or
bodies are fresh; it also eats the young of other birds and very
small animals and seeds, berries and fruit, having as varied a
diet as any bird. It is noisy, with a loud, rough, emphatic cry;
and its young are clamorous at feeding time.”

So, we see a bird that is very aggressive, and very changeable

-very adaptable. And it can show up in any form to try to get
us to disrespect our parents, or to pull us away from God’s
church. The raven is a type of the carnal human being that,
having left God, finds no rest; or the rebellious spirit that
rejected God’s supremacy, as Satan did.

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Satan and his demons seek to peck at the weaknesses of

mankind, as a raven seeks to peck at the eyes of its victim.
These spiritual ravens are blinding our children to the way
of true happiness. They can even appear in the form of peer
groups at school or at work, pulling the children down. So
fathers, how do we cultivate the spirit of honour in the hearts
and minds of our children?

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the

coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD; and he
will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the
hearts of the children to the fathers, lest I come and strike
the earth with a curse.”
Malachi 4:5-6

Luke 1:16-17 adds, or substitutes, something that helps to

clarify this verse even farther - or gives it a different slant, so
to speak. For “the hearts of the children to the father,” Luke
substitutes “the disobedient to the wisdom of the just.”

This implies that the reconciliation to be effected was that

between the unbelieving disobedient children - that is, the
descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - and the believing
ancestors. Some of those ancestors would be Jacob, Moses,
Elijah, and others. This is why it is so important for us fathers
to teach what the patriarchs taught their children, namely,
God’s truth. It is so important that we teach our children the
truth.

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The Key To Honour Is In The Heart

The hearts of our children have to be filled with God’s way
of life. And the only way that will happen is if the fathers
teach the children that way of life Then, as they get older,
they learn from others - including the ministers. We have to
work hard for the heart of our children. You can get a soldier
to salute by command, but that does not necessarily mean
there is any respect in that salute.

But what does it take to get him to really honour his

superiors? We can “show” respect for someone and not “have”
any respect for him. But what we are looking at here is that
you have to have respect, because that would be the inner
reverence that is needed. To “show” respect on the surface
still allows for disrespect in the heart.

We must speak to our sons and daughters as to worthy

children. They need to know that they are important to us.
They need to know that they have value in our lives. The
same is true for our relationship with our parents. All of this
takes communication. To honour our parents, we have to let
them know that they are important to us.

Our children need to know that they are expected to address

us with honour. You have heard many times where the child
has to say, “Yes, sir.” That is, when a child is trained to say,
“Oh, yes sir.” And that is good. That shows honour. But
not all fathers want their children to address them as “sir.”

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But “Sir” is definitely a sign of respect; but children are not

required biblically to say, “Yes, sir.” However, it certainly is
the language of honour.

You can communicate honour without using the word “sir.”

Or, you can communicate dishonour while using the word
“sir”, if it is said in a rebellious tone. The issue is a matter of
the heart and attitude. That is what has to be changed. That
is where the honour has to be developed. That is where the
reverence has to come from.

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of

silver.”
- Proverbs 25:11

O, how sweet it is when our children show us genuine

respect! And we can tell when their words are genuine. One
of the most important rules in a family, next to respect of the
father, is respect of the mother. I do not want to leave that
out at all!

The key instruction is: “Honour your father and your

mother.” Both are important. But in order for the mother
to have respect and to be honoured by her children, her
husband must show respect to her first. Children learn a lot
of what they do habitually from their fathers

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I have seen families in which the father talked to his wife in a

contemptible way, even going as far as saying she is stupid in
front of the children! I have seen some husbands losing their
temper in utter frustration at their wives, and in front of
the children, telling a wife and mother to get out of the car,
while he is driving along and the children are sitting in there!
What effect does that have on the children? The children
unconsciously begin to speak to their mother in exactly the
same tone, because it is the father who has to set the example
for honouring the mother first and vice versa.

On the flipside, the mother has to set the example of

honouring her husband and the father of her children. How
many times have you seen wives and mothers complained to
your husband about something that he was right about? Or,
how many times have you husbands and fathers (including
myself ) gotten irritated with your wife?

Usually, it is “small things” and usually it is when we are

under duress, or stressed, or depressed. But that is no excuse!
We must set examples, not only for our own children, but
for everyone else’s children as well! As fathers, we must teach
our communities about how a man should hold his woman
in great regard and respect her.

“A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word

spoken in due season [at the right time, in the right
attitude], how good it is!”
- Proverbs 15:23

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My fellow fathers, we set the tone for respect and honour in

our homes and the household. The same principle holds true
for the way the mother respects or disrespects the husband,
who is the father of both the children and the whole
household. We do not own our children. We have no right
to not take the best care of them.

Part of that is in the way that we teach them. We should

not provoke our children to wrath. Our children are created
in the image of God. They have been entrusted to us for a
season of time.

We have authority and jurisdiction over their lives, but we do

not own them. And they are to be respected as image bearers
of the Almighty God. That means that we care about them.
That means that we communicate to them with the language
of honour. It is required of us that we communicate with the
language of honour at all times.

It means cultivating the symbols of honour in your household.

The head of the household sits at the designated head of the
table. That is not a command. That is just a suggestion. But
it is something that sends a message to the children. You
train your child to respond in a particular way. You train
your daughters to serve their father and their mother in a
very special way. The father sets the example by treating his
daughters in a very tender way.

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This does not mean that there are not times when a child
has done something wrong and they have to be corrected,
and corrected quite harshly. But the general attitude toward
each other should be of tenderness. Fathers, how often do
you thank your wife for making breakfast, making lunch, or
making dinner for you? There is a great pressure on fathers in
a household - today, especially.

As a father and the head of my household myself, I must

know that the attitude of honour begins with me always.
Thus, I set the pattern of the honour attitude for my entire
household: my entire family, especially my children.

If my attitude is bad, it affects my children’s attitude; and

a wrong spirit prevails in the whole household. And if my
attitude is good, generally speaking, the whole household’s
attitude is good. That is the power of a good father. He has
an amazing amount of influence on the family as a whole!

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 CHAPTER 10

Pouring Out The Oil

Of Honour

“…and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she

began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them
with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and
anointed them with the fragrant oil.”
- LUKE 7:38, NKJV

A nointing the Body or pouring on the head with oil

was a common practice among the Jews, as with other
Oriental nations. Anointing the head with oil or ointment
was also seen as a mark of reverence sometimes paid by a host
to his guests. Also, pouring out oil on others was a Jewish
rite of inauguration into each of the three typical offices of
the Jewish commonwealth, and they are Prophets, who were
occasionally anointed to their office (I Kings 19:16) and

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were called messiahs, or anointed. Also Priests – especially

Highpriests - were anointed at the institution of the Levitical
priesthood. They were all anointed to their offices.

Finally, those anointed included the Kings. Anointing

was the principal and divinely-appointed ceremony in the
inauguration of the Jewish Kings. The rite was sometimes
performed more than once. David was thrice anointed.
Inanimate objects also were anointed with oil, in token of
their being set apart for religious service. Thus Jacob anointed
a pillar at Bethel.

In the Old Testament a Deliverer is promised under the title

of Messiah, or Anointed and the nature of His anointing is
described to be spiritual, with the Holy Ghost in Isaiah 61:1.
Also in Luke 4:18 In the New Testament, Jesus of Nazareth is
shown to be the Messiah, or Christ or Anointed.

The historical fact of His being anointed with the Holy

Ghost is asserted and recorded Acts10:38 Christ was thus
anointed as Prophet Priest and King. One woman caught this
revelation and decided to honour the Lord as her Prophet,
Priest and King in a dramatic way.

Her story brings us back to the subject of pouring out

honour. Beloved, anytime you show honour, you are sowing
a seed, honour as precedes favour the honour you give away
will always come back to you, in a form of uncommon favor

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everywhere you go. This is demonstrated beautifully in the

life of our Lord Jesus Christ, when a woman appeared on a
scene to anoint the Lord Jesus Christ:

“…and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she

began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them
with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and
anointed them with the fragrant oil.”
- Luke 7:38, NKJV

Now, oil represents honour. The woman therefore poured her

honour on him. As she honoured the Lord, what happened?
How did the people around the Saviour react? Let us read:

“But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying,
“Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been
sold for much and given to the poor.”
- Matthew 26:8-9, NKJV

“But Jesus said: Leave her alone! Why are you bothering
her? She has done a beautiful thing for me.”
- Mark 14:6, CEV

“Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this,
he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a
prophet, would know who and what manner of woman
this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”And Jesus
answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to

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say to you.”…Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are

many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little
is forgiven, the same loves little.”Then He said to her, “Your
sins are forgiven.”
- Luke 7:39-48, NKJV

Isn’t it amazing? Jesus acknowdged the woman for what she

did in honour of him. Because she showed honour, favour
came into her life! Any lesson? The honour you pour on others
will become the blessing that comes back to you. Thus,
without honour flowing out of you, there will be no flow of
blessing – no prosperity, no promotion, no increase, and no
breakthrough – into your life. You will in no way receive what
you are not willing to give away. This truth is key.

If indeed you desire to be honoured, first pour out honour on

others, especially those who have the mandate and the ability
to bless you. Honour your bosses. Honour the leaders God
has put in your life. Honour your spouse. Your parents have
the authority to bless you. Your pastors have the authority to
bless you. Your spiritual fathers have the power to bless you.
Honour them, and receive the blessing that will turn your
life around for the best! Also honour each other.

“Love each other with brotherly affection and take delight

in honoring each other.”
- Romans 12:10, TLB

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Everywhere we go, we should look for opportunities to pour

out the oil of honour. How? Encourage people, compliment
others, and make them feel better about themselves. This
should be a priority. On the forefront of our minds, let us
ask: “who can I honour today?” “Who can I put in a good
word for?” “How can I make them feel special?”

The secret is, the amount of honour you show others will be
directly related to the amount of favour God shows you! If
you are stingy with your honour, you would not see a lot of
honour flowing back into your life. But if you will cheerfully
learn to be generous with your honour, you surely see honour
bring poured into your life.

From today, begin to practice it. Tell your spouse, and your
children, how proud you are of them. Tell your parents and
your siblings how you value them. Tell your manager how
great the waiter is. Tell your supervisor what a great job
your co-worker did. At all times, learn to pour out words of
honour for others. Words of honour are not mere nice words
or compliments; they are deeper than that. They are honest
word you are pouring out of your heart in honour of others
and God respects that.

Honour Releases The Commanded Blessing

The Bible talks about how, when you honour others, there
is a commanded blessing flowing into your life. The Bible
describes the oil that was poured on the high priest, Aaron’s

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head, and how it flowed down to the rest of the body. In

like manner, when you pour out the oil of honour on others
– especially those in authority over you - it always flows
right back to you.

God commands you to be blessed, but blessing is only

activated when you put value on the vessels that carry the
blessing – parents, leaders, ministers of the Gospel, especially
your pastor who is your shepherd. You will see more favour
and new doors open up, if you would just take time to start
honouring those who deserve honour in your life.

From today, look for ways to pour out the oil of honour. If
you will develop this habit of honouring others, you will
find that you will be more rewarded than the person you are
honouring; it will lift your spirits and brighten your day!

“It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

- Acts 20:35, TLB

Yes, you cannot give away something without God giving

you more in return. When you pour out the honour - give
the compliments, the kind words, the encouragement – it
will always come back to you. It’s an established principle.
When you lift up others, God will always lift you up! When
you make other people’s day, God will always make your
own day.

Every one of us has enough honour supply to give out. It

is not going to do you any good to hold on to it, it’s not

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for you, it’s for others. If you will start giving it away, then
you will see the honour, the promotion, the blessing that
God has in store for you! when you go out of your way to
make people feel special, to let them know they are loved and
appreciated, all that honour you are pouring out, one day is
going to come back to you or to your children.

Honour Activates The Commanded Blessing

When you have a spirit of honour, it gets God’s attention.
Who are you lifting up? Who are you celebrating? Who are
you making look good? Make sure you are generous with your
honour. Be free with your compliments. Take time to write
the note, to send the text, call the friend and congratulate
them. Do not be too busy. Make the honouring of others
your priority. The Bible says this about David:” David set
out to honor Jonathan’s son.” That should be our goal!

Now David said, “Is there still anyone who is left of the
house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s
sake?”
- 2 Samuel 9:1

Tell yourself: “I’m setting out to honour someone today!” Start

with your family: “I’m setting out to honour my father, my
mother, my wife, my husband, my children, today!” And
“I’m setting out to honour my mentor, my coach, my friend,
my pastor.” Make them feel very special.

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Indeed, nobody can hear “I love you” enough! Husbands,

your wife will never get tired of you telling her, “honey, you
are so beautiful!” Set out to honour your parents. Maybe
you are older; you do not live at home with them. So surprise
them with a dinner in a nice restaurant. Take them out. Call
them; bring them a gift for no reason. Make them feel loved,
for the scripture says:

“Honor your father and mother, as I have commanded

you. If you do, you will be blessed with long life and all will
go well for you.”
- Deuteronomy 5:16

When you are generous with your honour, all will go well
with you. When you take time to honour a man you hardly
even know, you are kind, you let him know that you believe
in him, then somewhere down the road, when you need a
good break, or when your children need favour, all will go
well with you.

Have you received a strange honour lately? That was not

a lucky surprise. It was not a coincidence. God sets it up
for! Why? It was all connected to the honour you showed
others yesterday. It was all directly related to the seeds of
encouragement, the seeds of kindness, and the seeds of
loyalty you sowed yesterday. It was the commanded blessing
God sent into your life.
If you are not seeing a lot of favour in your life, examine
your life. If you are not seeing many good surprises, you need

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to check up on your honour attitude. Are you setting out

each day to make somebody feel better about themselves?
Are you missing the rare opportunities God brought your
way to show honour? Yes, it is easy to be competitive, and
think, “I’m not to give them a compliment, and they do not
deserve it!” or, “she got engaged today, but I’m not going
to call and encourage her, when I remain still single…”

More than ever, you need to pour out the oil of honour; that
is what releases the favour. Go on and honour someone today.
Husbands, wives, set out to honour your spouse. Make the
first move. Do not let someone’s lack of honour keep your
honour supply bottled up. Your honour is not dependent on
what others do; it’s dependent on what you do. So set out
to honour others, including your co-workers. Bring them a
cup of coffee in the morning. Stay late and help them finish
that project. Make them feel special.

Of course, honouring others is not something that naturally

comes to us. We have the natural tendency to be selfish in
our base nature. We get all busy, and are more concerned
about our own issues. To break this natural tendency, we
ought to go the extra mile. That is why David said, made
it a priority. David’s attitude was, “I’m on a mission from
God. I’m going to honour somebody today. I’m going to
brighten his day.”

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I wonder what kind of world this would be if we would all set

out each day to honour someone! We must consciously plan
it and set out to honour others. Honouring should become
a habit and a lifestyle. It does not have to be something big.
Just a phone call, saying, “Hello…I’m thinking about you,
I want to tell you, you mean the world to me!” When you
do this, you have just poured honour in and that simply but
profound act will leave indelible mark of appreciation on the
person’s mind and heart.

Know that, simple things can honour people. When you

pour the oil of honour on, it will always flow back to you. It is
not all about the other person, it’s about what I am supposed
to do; I am supposed to take delight in honouring others. Do
not miss opportunities to be good to people.

You can think honouring thoughts all day long, and it’s not
going to blessing them. Every so often, we have stored up
honour. We think about it, but we are not releasing it, pouring
it out. Do not miss opportunities to demonstrate honour. If
a spouse or a co-worker looks better than normal, tell them,
“you look great today!” That is not just a compliment; you
are pouring honour in. You see the security guard walking
out of the building; “thanks for what you do, I appreciate
you” and you are pouring in more honour.

It’s astonishing to observe that, people are quick to express

the negative, but they withhold the positive. As followers of

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Christ, we should learn to be just the opposite. We should be

generous with our compliments. We must not be stingy with
our complaints. Let us be free with our honour.

Let us starve the spirit of dishonour and feed rather the spirit
of honour. There is already enough gossip, slander, scandal,
talking badly behind people back. Let us develop the habit of
talking good behind people back! If a person’s name comes
up that you know, and you can put in a good word for them,
do not be passive; pour in some oil of honour!

Talking good behind people’s back makes a huge deposit. Just

like the bad always gets back to people, the gossip and
slander, the good will get back to them as well. A second-
hand compliment can be more powerful than a direct
complement.

For you to talk good about people in front of your friends,

your family, your peers, your co-workers, and church
members, without them being there, that honour you are
pouring in carries more weight and attracts God’s favour to
you!

Putting a good word in for somebody by talking good behind

their back is the best way to honour that person. It is very
easy to talk badly behind people’s back; to find fault, and be
critical; but when you have this spirit of honour, you see the
best in people!

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You focus on the good, and you magnify what is right. If you
hear somebody talking negative about a person you knows,
do not just sit there and take it all in, adding, “O yeah, let
me tell you what I know too…” No! Be a part of the solution
and not the problem.

Honour attitude not only quiets the negative, not only helps
the other person, but it will always come back to you. That is
the secret. So anytime you are tempted to say something bad
about another person, ask yourself: “am I sowing honour
or dishonour?” Practice this truth until it becomes your
honour. Remember that:“You cannot talk badly behind people’s
back and not expect people to talk badly behind your back. You
cannot sow seeds of dishonour and expect to have avalanche of
harvest of honour!”

This is especially important in our homes. Do not talk badly

about your family members. Yes, you may not agree with
them. Your unwise aunty might get on your nerves, but do
not air out all your dirty laundry, putting that woman down,
telling all of her hidden faults. That does not make you look
good, nor her look good.

Make great efforts to protect your family. Protect their

reputations. Stick up for your family. Even if you are
divorced, do not be dishonouring to your ex-spouse. You
may not like them, they may not have treated you right, but
do not fall into the trap of sowing seeds of dishonour.

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As a divorcee, if you have children, know that that man

or woman is still the father or mother of your children. In
fact, it confuses a child to hear one parent disrespecting
the other. You can show honour by not being critical, not
making them look bad. They may have done uncountable
number of things wrong, but you know what, you are not
the judge, only God is. Everything done against you is in His
hands. You will never go wrong by sowing honour.

Beware of The Disease of Miriam!

The Bible gives us a practical illustration of this case of the
attitude of dishonour, when Miriam – together with Aaron -
disrespectful to her younger brother Moses,

“Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of

the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had
married an Ethiopian woman.”
- Numbers 12:1, NKJV

Miriam did not like the fact that Moses married an Ethiopian
woman, someone from a different nationality. This obviously
went outside of what she was used to. She started talking
badly behind Moses’ back, being critical of him, getting the
whole family stirred up. The Bible puts it succinctly: “…
And the Lord heard it” (Numbers 12:2, NKJV).

My dear reader, God hears us when we honour people, and

He also hears us when we dishonour others! Miriam could

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have disagreed respectfully with Moses, without becoming

bitter and negative. Sometimes the way you show honour
is you just do not stir it up, you just stay quiet. But she kept
being critical, getting the whole family riled up. Here is the
problem: what you sow, you are going to reap:

“And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle,

suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then
Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a
leper.”
- Numbers 12:10, NKJV

Miriam was struck with leprosy, but not Aaron, because she
was first in the transgression, and God would put a difference
between those that mislead others to dishonour and those
that are misled. Fortunately for Miriam, Moses was a man of
honour and he had a lot of compassion too, so he intervened.
He interceded on her behalf,

“So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “Please heal

her, O God, I pray!”Then the Lord said to Moses, “If her
father had but spit in her face, would she not be shamed
seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven days and
afterward she may be received again.” So Miriam was shut
out of the camp seven days, and the people did not journey
till Miriam was brought in again.”
- Numbers 12:13-15, NKJV

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A great lesson for us all! We all behave like Miriam sometimes,

consciously or unconsciously. We malign our leaders and
pastors. Only God knows the gossips and scandals we do in
the secrecy of our homes and secret places! May we change
and put on the attitude of honour, if we desire to be honoured
by others.

May you stop dishonour others, if this has been your habit.
Stop dishonouring your own family because whatever you
do at your family circles, it’s very easy for you to continue
doing it in the community as well. Learn to show honour by
covering some faults, protecting some reputations. When
you have this spirit of honour, you go to work each day, and
you do not just perform your duties, but you do it with the
right attitude; that is how you honour your boss, and you
honour that company.

You can go to work and do everything you are told, accomplish

all of your tasks, but if you do it with a sour attitude, you are
doing your job, but that dishonouring spirit will keep you
from rising higher. Know that promotion does not come
from people, it comes from God. Yes, the work environment
may not be fair, the people may not be treating you right, but
do not let that be an excuse to become sour.

Know that, as a Christian, you are not working unto people,

you are working unto God, and if you will do your job with a
spirit of honour, God will get you to where you are supposed

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to be. He will grant you divine elevation.

“If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good
things of the land.”
- Isaiah 1:19, NIV

It is not enough to just be obedient, the bottom-line question

is; “are you willing?” Do you have a right and a willing
attitude? Do you do what you do with the spirit of honour? I
say this especially to young people, this is so important! If
you will learn to honour your fathers and mothers, your
leaders and your teachers, and your pastors, God will bless
you more! As a worker, do your work with a good attitude,
then God can continue to promote you.

Emulate Joseph
Do you aspire to go higher in life? Then emulate Joseph in the
Bible. His own brothers despised him and dishonoured him
by selling him as a slave to foreigners. Yet Joseph’s attitude of
honour did not change. He did not muse: “this is a waste,
treating these people good that are treating me badly. I also do
the right thing, but wrong thing keeps happening to me. It’s
never going to pay off, so why should I keep doing good?”

Not Joseph! Some fifteen years later he was honoured highly.

Joseph honoured his master, Potiphar. He worked as a chief
servant for his master and his wife. Yet later Joseph was
falsely imprisoned, yet his master dishonoured him by not
defending his integrity.

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Even in prison, Joseph honoured his prison officials and

excelled in his work. They honoured him by making him
the chief servant over all the other fellow prisoners. Joseph’s
attitude of honour sent him from prison to the palace and
he eventually was promoted to the very high position of a
Prime Minister in Egypt at a youthful age of thirty years! He
was put in charge of the whole nation, and his former boss
Potiphar served far below him in the presidential palace!
As a Prime Minister, he had the rare opportunity to pay
back his wicked brothers, but not Joseph! He honoured his
brothers by forgiving them unconditionally. The ones that
threw him into a pit eventually came back to him! And
Joseph honoured then and honoured his aged father and all
the family by relocating them all to Egypt! What a way of
honouring a family!

You Will Reap What You Sow!

I encourage you to possess the Joseph kind of the spirit of
honour. Keep having that spirit of honour! Keep being your
best, and like Joseph, you better get ready; your time of
public honour is coming!

Your honour is on its way, if you do not give up! Remember

always the principle: “what you sow, you will reap.” When
you have a spirit of honour, being your best with a good
attitude, taking delight in honouring others, then God
will take you to higher places that you have never even
dreamed of!

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I challenge you: keep on pouring out the oil of honour

on others. Set out each day to honour someone. Look for
opportunities to be good to people. Take time to write
the note, to send the text, to make them feel better about
themselves. If you will do this, the honour that you send
out will always come back to you. I believe and declare; you
will accomplish every dream, overcome every obstacle, and
become everything God’s created you to be!. Keep the oil of
honour flowing and sooner, that oil shall be pouring on you
continually!

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 CHAPTER 11

Honouring Your
Man Of God

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles,

some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and
teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we
all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ…”
- Ephesians 4:11-13

B eloved, your Pastor is your God-sent gift to equip you to

fulfill your destiny! Your Man of God is your Prophet.
God has place in your man of God the dynamics and grace
to release your destiny. Know that Pastors are God’s anointed
messengers. These men carry an amount of God’s presence
authority and grace.

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Thus by giving and honouring your Men and Women of

God, you provoke prophetic utterance and blessing from
them with the prophets offering. This is what Apostle Paul
wrote concerning honouring your man of God:

“Render to all men their dues. [Pay] taxes to whom taxes

are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, and respect to
whom respect is due, and honor to whom honor is due.”
- Romans 13:7, TAB

The word honour – as used above - means: to respect, to

revere, to treat with deference and submission and perform
relevant duties to. Honouring your man of God is vital in the
life of every born-again believer. Even as a Senior Pastor of
my local church, it is a privilege for me to honour the men of
God that I consider my spiritual fathers and mentors – such
as my General Overseer, Dr. Mensa Otabil.

Such men and women serve as life coaches to me on my

spiritual journey to success and fulfillment. They are shining
examples of excellence in ministry, men and women to whom
I look for advice, counsel, prayer, guidance, mentoring and
leadership. The importance of a man such as this cannot be
over-stated.

Many of us would not be saved from the wrath to come, had

it not been for the assistance, support and intervention of
our Pastors. We would be ignorant of the Word, were it not
for a man of God anointed to teach.

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Thank God for men who dare to teach the “Word of God”,
instead of the doctrines of man. To honour, trust and believe
in your man of God puts you in a place to be overtaken with
favour. Of such prophets over our lives, it is written:

“Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be

established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”
- II Chronicles 20:20,NKJV

I have discovered it as a great secret of ministry success to sow

honour into the work of the ministry of our spiritual fathers.
God blesses all those who sow into the work of ministry. But
even more I have found that when I have sown directly into
a man of God’s life, I have experienced a mighty return.

I encourage you to buy your Pastor a gift, not only on special

occasion, but as a surprise when he least expects that. Send
him a card of appreciation. Give him good money. Do
something that will let him know that you honour him,
revere him and love him.

“Honour all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God.

Honor the king.”
- Peter 2:17, NKJV

If you do not have a Man of God in your life, find a good

church that preaches the pure and unadulterated Word of
God and join and get yourself a personal Pastor. God has

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placed them in the body as gifts to you, to shepherd your

soul. When we give honour to our Pastors, we are giving
Honour to God for the gift He has given us. As you honour
God, He will honour you! In doing this, you will release
unprecedented favour over your life. These are the Words of
Jesus Christ on honouring your Man of God:

“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me

receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in
the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And
he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous
man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever
gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the
name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no
means lose his reward.”
- Mathew 10:40-42

EXAMPLES OF HOW TO HONOUR

THE MAN OF GOD

1. ABRAHAM
Abraham was the father of faith. He honoured God by
taking care of His physical needs, and by that honour, God
opened His treasures with the keys of Abraham’s generosity.
What came out? Abraham got his Isaac exactly a year after he
showed honour to the Three men who visited him.

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“Then the LORD appeared to him by the terebinth

trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in
the heat of the day. So he lifted his eyes and looked, and
behold, three men were standing by him; and when he
saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and
bowed himself to the ground, and said, “My Lord, if I
have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by
Your servant. Please let a little water be brought, and
wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. And
I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh
your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as
you have come to your servant.” They said, “Do as
you have said.” So Abraham hurried into the tent to
Sarah and said, “Quickly, make ready three measures of fine
meal; knead it and make cakes.” And Abraham ran to the
herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man,
and he hastened to prepare it. So he took butter and milk
and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them;
and he stood by them under the tree as they ate. Then they
said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” So he said,
“Here, in the tent.” And He said, “I will certainly
return to you according to the time of life.
- Genesis 18:1-10

We see in the above text how Abraham show honour to these

three men who were on their way to Sodom and Gomorrah.
But you will notice that when Abraham noticed who they
were he run and bowed to the ground as a sign of honour

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and worship. Then he invited them for a meal. He showed

honour in what he said to them. After the men had been
satisfied, they released a blessing of fulfillment of the promise
of God on Abraham and his wife. You must always know
that honour precedes favour.

If you will enjoy uncommon favour in your life then be

ready to honour people no matter who they are. Sometimes
most people who will usher you into your next level may
just be ordinary people whom you meant but may not look
like great people. Abraham honoured these people thus the
promise concerning Isaac the destiny child was released in
due time.

2. ISAAC
Isaac was a prophet, and he wanted something before he
blessed his son. Jacob outsmarted his brother Esau, and
honoured Isaac with his most favourite meal and so got
the blessing of the firstborn – reserved for Esau, the natural
firstborn:

“Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were
so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older
son and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him,
“Here I am.” Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I do
not know the day of my death. Now therefore, please
take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go
out to the field and hunt game for me. And make me

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savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I

may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”
- Genesis 27:2-4

Isaac was about to die and wanted to transfer a blessing to

Esau, but he wanted the son to honour him with a particular
meal, it not that Isaac was hungry, but he wanted the son
Esau to work and labour for a particular meat. As he said,

“Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and

your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me.
4
And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to
me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die”.

As it were, Jacob positioned himself and took the blessing. If

we going to be blessed in life you must be ready to honour
and pay the price of honouring our fathers with what they
want and what we want to give. The blessing is a not physical
thing the fathers give, but is a supernatural impartation and
elements that it release on our lives.

3. ELIJAH
Elijah was honoured by the widow of Zarephath, whom God
used as a vessel to cater for his ministry during the years of
famine in the land. Because the widow was obedient to the
instructions of the Prophet Elijah she entered a season of
provision till the famine was over.

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Sometimes when there is a need to honour a man of God,

that is when things may seem difficult for you, but if you
obey the instruction of the Holy Spirit, you will be ushered
in a season of unlimited breakthrough.

“Then the Word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Arise,

go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell
there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide
for you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when
he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there
gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please
bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.”And as
she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please
bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” So she said,
“As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only
a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and
see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and
prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and
die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as
you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and
bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and
your son. For thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘The
bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar
of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain
on the earth.’” So she went away and did according to
the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate
for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did
the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD
which He spoke by Elijah.”
- I Kings 17:8-16

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4. JESUS CHRIST
Jesus had a good team of women determined and followed
Him and honoured Him by supporting His ministry on
earth. Jesus was the Son of God but He needed support from
people who were called honour in His earthly ministry. In
the case of Jesus you will notice that they were women, in
most cases women have a strong tendency to support the
work of the ministry than men.

“Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through

every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad
tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with
Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil
spirits and infirmities - Mary called Magdalene, out of
whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of
Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others
who provided for Him from their substance.”
- Luke 8:2-3

5. APOSTLE PAUL
Apostle Paul was honoured by the Philippians Church and
the Apostle was so pleased with this great honour and in
turn, blessed the Church:

“Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of

the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church
shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you
only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again

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for my necessities. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the
fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed I have all and
abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the
things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable
sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And my God shall supply
all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and
ever. Amen.”
- Philippians 4:15-19

Any time you give to your Man of God, you are moved to
share in the blessings, grace and favour that your Man of
God moves in. You should note that, it is not the Man of
God that that needs the blessing, but it is you who need his
utterance and blessings.

Three Fs You Must Do For Your Pastor

As we conclude this chapter, there are three things – I call
as the Three Fs – which I suggest you do in honour of your
Pastors, and they include: Firstly, be faithful to your Pastor.
Secondly, you must fight for your Pastor and protect his
integrity and reputation. Thirdly, you must finance your
Pastor in any way possible.

YOU MUST HONOUR YOUR PASTOR!

“
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets,
some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the

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equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for

the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the
unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ.”
- EPHESIANS 4:11-13

Dear reader, your Pastor is your God sent gift to equip you
to fulfill your destiny. God has placed in your man of God
the dynamics and grace to release your destiny. Know that,
Pastors are God’s anointed messengers. These men carry an
amount of God’s presence authority and grace.

By you honouring God’s servants that He has placed over

your life, you provoke prophetic utterance and blessings that
can come from only them. Thus your Pastor or your Man of
God is a gift from God to you. As we know, every gift has a
purpose and if purpose is not known abuse is inevitable. So
do not abuse your pastors by dishonouring them!
Why Do Need You Need to Honour Your Pastor?

1. God gives you a pastor as your spiritual life overseer:

“Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they
watch out for your souls, as those who must give account.
Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would
be unprofitable for you.”
- Hebrews 13:17

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Your man of God is a strong source of covering over your

souls. God has placed in him a grace to cover your life so
you are protected. Pastors often fight battle on your behalf,
in secret. They get a lot of demonic attacks and fight many
private battles unknown to us, the members of the church.

2. Your Man of God guides you into your divine destiny.

“
And he said to him, “Look now, there is in this city a man
of God, and he is an honorable man; all that he says surely
comes to pass. So let us go there; perhaps he can show us the
way that we should go.” Then Saul said to his servant, “But
look, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread
in our vessels is all gone, and there is no present to bring to
the man of God. What do we have?”
- I Samuel 9:6-7

There is a special grace on your Man of God, that makes

him know how to show you the way you should go. He does
that through his preaching and teaching from the pulpit.
Pastors are destiny-guides and dream-releasers. Pastors
possess the ability to usher you into your next level in life
and purpose-pursuit. Until Saul met Samuel, he was busy
chasing donkeys!

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3. Your Man of God is your Prophet!

“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me

receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in
the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And
he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous
man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever
gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the
name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no
means lose his reward.”
- Matthew 10:40-42

In this life, whatever you honour appreciates. When

you honour your prophet you get the prophet’s reward.
The prophet’s reward is the fulfillment of God’s Will and
prophecy over your life. Your prophet has an ability to cause
whatever has delayed in your life to come to pass. That is why
honouring your pastor is a must and non-negotiable.

4. Your Man of God is a Curse-breaker

“Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning

of my strength, the excellency of dignity and the excellency
of power. Unstable as water, you shall not excel, because
you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it - He
went up to my couch.”
- GENESIS 49:3-4

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“Let Reuben live, and not die, nor let his men be
few.”
- Deuteronomy 33:6

Your Man of God carries a supernatural grace that contains

heaven’s power and authority to cancel out any generational
or family curses that is working against you. Your Man of God
has the power to overrule any spiritual legislation against you
– including every handwriting or written code in your family
lineage that works spiritually against your progress in life.

Your Man of God is the one who carries the anointing and
the kingdom keys to enforce this powerful revelation by
Apostle Paul in your life:

“And you, being dead in your trespasses and the

uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together
with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having
wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was
against us, which was contrary to us. And He has
taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a
public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”
- COLOSSIANS 2:13-15, NKJV

In the next verse, we shall take a look at How to honour our

Pastors. Before we do, I want to remind you of the four key
things – that I call, the four Fs - you must do for you Pastor,

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summed up as follows:

You must FOLLOW for your Pastor!

You must stay loyal and FAITHFUL to your Pastor!
You must FIGHT for your Pastor!
You must FINANCE your Pastor!

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15 Different Ways To
Honour Your Pastor

“…Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet

will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a
righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a
righteous man’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold
water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I
tell you, he will never lose his reward.”
- MATTHEW 10:41,42

I f you have ever had a job at working with the human

resource department of you corporate organization, you
would agree with me that, dealing with people - and their
personalities - is one of the most difficult jobs in the world!
Well, for your information, there is no difference when you
are a Pastor!

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Most pastors are stressed, misunderstood, over-worked and

yet under-paid! Most pastors, especially of small churches - of
less than two hundred people - give back more to their church
- in time, talent and treasure –far more than the church is
able to give back to them. I therefore want congregations to
appreciate their pastors and their families. Know that:

“What you fail to appreciate will soon exit your life

eventually!”

Do you really love the Man or Woman of God that been

set over you by God? Then do everything you can to help
them carry the weight of the vision and mission God has
given them! Recognize and celebrate them as your persona
Man of God! Always be a blessing unto them in material
and financial terms! Surprise them and be the answer to their
secret prayers unto God. Appreciate them, both in secret and
in public.

It is my hope that God will use this book to inspire a

paradigm shift in how we perceive servants of God and help
us shape positively, our culture of honour in our churches or
ministries or organizations. Convince them that honouring
their leaders is more for the benefit of the members than the
honourees. Read what Jesus Christ, our Master Himself said
unto us about honour;

“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives

Me receives the One who sent Me. Whoever receives a

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prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s

reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he
is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.
And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these
little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will
never lose his reward.”
- Matthew 10:41,42

Unfortunately, many pastors often have the awkward job of

equipping their members to learn how to honour pastors
and spiritual leaders. We seem to know very little about the
sufferings and sacrifices pastors make in secret to ensure the
progress and prosperity of their churches.

Some leave their prestigious and high-paying jobs just to

do God’s work full time. For example, I left my enviable
profession as a mechanical plant engineer to do God’s work
fulltime. Some pastors sell valuable personal assets in order
to build the chapels and equip it for members’ comfort.

Some pastors sell their personal vehicles and even their houses
and invest the money in God’s work. Some pastors sacrifice
their meager salaries to pay poor members’ children’s school
fees, even when the fees of their own kids’ fees have not yet
been paid!

I know many servants of God who volunteer to do missionary

and evangelistic ministries in rural communities, putting
the education of their children at risk. Some reach out in

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charitable works, working without any paycheck or financial

rewards. They walk distances on foot because they own no
cars. Think about this. We must reach out to celebrate and
honour them. Let us use special days – such as Fathers’ Day,
Mothers’ Day, etc, to honour them and be blessed in return.

Fifteen Ways of Honouring Your Pastor

Now I want to suggest a number of ways our local churches
and ministries can honour our pastors and other leaders
who sacrifice all things and labour to feed our souls and care
for our welfares. I encourage you to inspire your leaders to
ensure that these are carried out in your local or community
church or ministries.

1. HONOUR OUR PASTORS BY LOVING AND

SUPPORTING THEM
As a local church, we are mandated by God: “…to esteem
them (pastors) very highly in love for their work’s sake.
Be at peace among yourselves” (I Thessalonians 5:13). We
must develop the culture of honouring our pastors by loving
them unconditionally and passionately, always remembering
that they are the shepherds over our souls.

One of a pastor’s job descriptions is to ‘keep watch over you’

– according to Hebrews 13:17, but sometimes he or she
needs you to watch over him as well! How? Practically and
physically and financially show love to your pastor praying for
him, saying good things about them, buying them gifts, and

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letting them be rest assured that he or she has an encourager,

a friend and an admirer in you! Have this attitude clear on
your heart and mind that: “the worker is worthy of his
wages.” This is what Apostle Paul wrote:

“The elders who are good leaders should be considered

worthy of an ample honorarium, especially those who
work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture
says: Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,
and, the worker is worthy of his wages.”
- I Timothy 5:17-18

The original Greek Paul used here was “ample honorarium”

(or double honour) and he reserved this for those who served
the church in spiritual leadership – such as: pastors or elders
or overseers or bishops. This is very important because God’s
people should pay their pastors generously, although no
specific amount is stated.

Of course it is not God’s plan for pastors to ‘fleece their sheep’

neither is it permitted for churches to neglect their pastors.
The personnel committee or human resource ministry of
any church must benchmarks staff salaries. Pastors must be
honoured for the selfless work they do among God’s people.
In fact, in my opinion, no local church can pay their pastors
salaries for the work we do as shepherds over human souls.
Whatever any local church gives to her pastors, to me is an
honorarium, and not a salary – although the national system
may compel the churches to call is salary, for taxes sake.

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According to Biblical Protocol of the New Testament Model,

All pastors are to be honoured, but two kinds of pastors are
worthy of “double honour.” They are “The elders who are
good leaders” and “Those who work hard at preaching and
teaching.”

Of course, Pastors are not more important than the other

members of God’s household; however, they are the human
leaders and human resource persons God uses to exercise
spiritual oversight on His people. What God would have
done, if He were to be a human being, He does through
His servants - the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and
teachers. The pastor’s primary job is to take care of his
local church, and it is the local church’s duty to take care
of their pastors.

“Those who proclaim the gospel should make their living

by the gospel.”
- I Corinthians 9:14

“The one who is taught the message must share all his good
things with the teacher.”
- Galatians 6:6
2. HONOUR OUR PASTORS BY DEFENDING THEM
It is important that a Pastor must be blameless, however
there are other pastors and believers whose agenda is to
attack the Pastor reputation. It is a church members’ duty to
protect your pastor from the Alexanders in your church and

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in the communities. It is not enough to defend your Pastor

privately but you must do sopublicly!

A non-negotiable qualification for a Pastor or an elder is that

he must have a good reputation with outsiders (I Timothy
3:7). Apparently, several church leaders attacked the Apostle
Paul’s reputation and its hurts anytime I read what the great
servant of God went though, as he wrote in final words to
his son, Timothy:

“Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will
repay him according to his works. Watch out for him yourself
because he strongly opposed our words. At my first defense,
no one stood by me, but everyone deserted me. May it not
be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and
strengthened me, so that the proclamation might be fully made
through me and all the Gentiles might hear,
- II Timothy 4:14–17

You have to be a pastor over a large congregation or a Bishop

over many churches to appreciate and identify with what the
great apostle went through, especially as he was wrapping up
his ministry on earth. Pastors – especially Head Pastors and
Resident Pastors go through so much that they cannot share
with assistant pastors or their congregation.

But let me put it straight here that, it is the church member’s

job to not only to provide for their Pastors’ welfare, but to

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also to protect them from the Alexanders in your local church

and community of today! In their era, Joseph, Moses, David,
Jeremiah, and Nehemiah and many other servants of God
were also criticized and slandered both within and publically.
Beloved, it is not enough to defend our Pastors privately.
It is our job as members to ensure that our Pastors are not
treated like a door-mat or punching bag! We must defend
and protect our Pastors against external attacks. That is an
honour we must do to our servants of God, who offers us
spiritual oversight in life.

3. LET US HONOUR OUR PASTORS BY

RECOGNIZING AND CELEBRATING THEM
Most at times, Pastors work hard to get things done for the
church and for believers in general. But we are easy to point
out the human weaknesses of them, than their strengths. We
seem to have a short memory, when it comes to good deeds
of our pastors!

As Pastors, if we do the best we can, the church will do

the best that they can to take care of us. That must be
the protocol or standing order in most times, if not all of
the time. Sometimes the Pastors do not do the best they
could, while the church did its best for the Pastor. Other
times, the Pastors did the best they could but the church
did not step up. But no matter what; even if your Pastor
makes mistakes or under-perform, it is our duty to cater for
our Pastors. We are a family, and families make mistakes.

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You know, it takes less effort to point out someone’s

weaknesses than their strengths. We must begin to develop
the culture of honour and recognize and celebrate our Pastors
regularly. They are our ‘celebrities’ and they serve us and offer
us spiritual oversight.

“Now we ask you, brothers, to give recognition to those

who labor among you and lead you in the Lord and
admonish you.”
- I Thessalonians 5:12

Every local church must have their own standing order and
the kingdom protocol obligation. I urge you to join me in
recognizing our spiritual leaders at specific times on the
calendar and the celebration must be made in a public way.
Celebrate your Pastors – and families - birthdays and as well
as appreciation days. Do it and be blessed!

4. HONOUR OUR PASTORS BY LOVING THEM

UNCONDITIONALLY
The Pastor’s primary job is to “keep watch over you”
(Hebrews 13:17). However sometimes, he also needs
you to watch over him as well. Whether your Pastors are
leading successfully or failing miserably, in season and out of
season, they all need the respect and unconditional love of
their church families. This is the standard biblical protocol
concerning pastors:

“Regard them very highly in love because of their work.”

- I Thessalonians 5:13

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As congregation, make sure your Pastor knows that he

is a beloved member of your church family, and not just
an employee or a hireling, who will eventually retire or be
transferred somewhere else. Let us choose to pour out our
hearts into the care of our Pastorsespecially those who have
so generously fed us spiritual food – God’s Word - and
have nurtured our faith and our character. True Pastors are
shepherds indeed. They have a heart of compassion that
makes them very passionate about their members (sheep)
and do all they can to ensure they are well feed and catered
for with rich food (greener pastures). Paul’s words make the
work of genuine pastors even clearer here:

“It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because
I have you in my heart, and you are all partners with me
in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and
establishment of the gospel. For God is my witness, how
deeply I miss all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.”
- Philippians 1:7-8

5. HONOUR THEM BY SAYING “THANK YOU!”

Make time to say thank you! Today many come to church
services late and rush to get out the door because our lives
are always set on go, busy! This week, make it a point to stay
after service and speak to your Pastor. Tell them how much
you enjoyed the Word of God they preached.

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Do not take up all of their time, but at least take a moment

and let them know you are receiving and growing in God
through their teachings and guidance. Just that little wave,
handshake or smile is encouragement enough! Let us the
Pastor know he is being a blessing to you and you there are
for them.

6. SEND YOUR PASTOR MESSAGE OF ENCOUR-

AGEMENT!
Make it a point to randomly buy a card for your Pastor. Write
them personal short letter. You can send it as text message
or whassap message to them. Post a motivational quote or
message of appreciation on his facebook wall.

Do you know that, most of all the feedback that pastors

receive are complains and very negative? Too many take
time to let the Pastor “have it” when it comes to services and
sermons, but few take the time to write to the Pastor and let
him or her know just how much they are being a blessing
and encouragement!

From today, make it a habit to send only encouraging messages

to your Pastors. Draw the attention of other members to
celebrate their Pastors. Develop the culture of honour among
them. That letter or card or wats app messages you send your
Pastor once or twice a month could be the very thing that
keeps your Man or Woman of God going strong, you never
know!

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Is your Pastor on social media? Take the time to read their

posts and click “like” and “share”. Seeing other the members
of your church enjoying what you are saying or writing on
facebook or watsapp status as a Pastor, is very encouraging.

Also, your Pastor feels honoured to see his members

patronizing books he writes or worship or preaching album
he launches. Buying your Pastor’s books and CDs is a great
honour to him and encourages him a lot. Never absent
yourself from the book launch of your Pastor, and even if
for a genuine reason you are unable to attend, see to it that
you buy a copy when you return and let him autograph it to
show that you are proud of him as not only a Pastor but as
an author!

7. BLESS YOUR PASTOR WHEN HE OFFERS YOU A

SERVICE!
Have you ever needed the Pastor to officiate or for something
– such as: a funeral, a graduation ceremony, a traditional
marriage, a wedding, baby-naming ceremony, a hospital visit
or maybe counseling? Never let a Pastor do a service for you
or your family and not give back to them!

Be sure to give them a thank you card with a financial gift

in it! It is not a payment; it is an honorarium! If he has no
car, ensure that you get him a good taxi or someone to drive
them back home. Never let you Pastor feel bad after having
officiated for you.

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Of course, most pastors would never expect anything

from you for doing what they are called and gifted to do,
but we should never just expect them to do it and not be
compensated. It’s an honour we must do to activate more
blessings.

8. SET ASIDE SPECIAL TIME TO APPRECIATE YOUR

PASTOR!
A number of churches practice “Pastors’ Appreciation Day.”
Does your local church have this in place? If not, please suggest
it to your “Church Board” (or any name it is called by your
denomination). Spend time to teach your congregation why
and how to celebrate your men of God. Inspire gratitude
among your church members. Let your church members
learn how to culture of honour.

Ensure that the church gives the Pastor an appreciation

service. Set a definite date as your church’s Pastors appreciate
month. It is good to do a service corporately and specifically
to show the Pastor(s) just how much the church body needs
and appreciates them. It is a good idea to celebrate them
more than once a year! Encourage members to also celebrate
their respective birthdays. Honour them and surprise them!

9. NEVER EVER OVERLOOK THE PASTOR’S SPOUSE!

When celebrating your Pastor, you cannot fail to celebrate
their spouse as well! Most pastors’ spouses are just as involved,
even more involved in the church’s activities. You cannot

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love your Pastor and not love his/her spouse! They are ONE.
Even if the spouse is never seen or heard, do not take them
for granted!

They feel every pain, every murmuring, every insult and the
rejection that the Pastor feels. It would be a good thing to
set a day aside just to celebrate them! For example, take up
an offering for them; send them a gift certificate for a day of
shopping. Let them feel pampered. Know that, if you bless
your Pastor’s spouse you are blessing the pastor even more,
and your blessings/rewards increase!

10. DO NOT FORGET YOUR PASTOR’S CHILDREN!

Never forget your Pastor’s children. Pastor’s kids are always
under such underserved scrutiny! Many suspect and even
wish pastor’s kids to be bad, unfortunately. Do something
valuable for them to show your appreciation.

Know their birthday and surprise them with gifts. Take

them out and make the happy. Let them know that you love
them and appreciate all they do to make the church the great
church it is. Invite them home and let them play with your
children. Let them feel that you are a family.

11. SPONSOR YOUR PASTOR’S VACATION!

When was the last time your pastor took a vacation? The
church should think about getting a vacation package for

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the Pastor. Register your Pastor with a membership to a

vacation club or a keep fit club. Sponsor your Pastor to go on
a vacation with his family. Buy them tickets to travel abroad
for a vacation. Offer them your house in that prestigious
residential area to relax or to have a conducive atmosphere to
complete the writing of his book.

Maybe you or someone in the church has an extra week in a

vacation club. Why not donate it to the Pastor? You know,
getting away for a few days or a few weeks to re-charge,
refresh and relax will do wonders for your Pastor!

12. PRAY FOR YOUR MAN OR WOMAN OF GOD!

Take time to lift them up in prayer every day. Pray that the
Lord strengthen them, provide for them and send in the help
needed for the vision. When you pray for others, God will
answer your own prayers faster! God turned Job’s captivity
when he prayed for his friends.

13. GO TO CHURCH REGULARLY AND BE ON TIME!

This one may seem small to you, but it is one of the biggest
ways to bless and encourage your Man or Woman of God.
Yes, go to church service and be on time! It seems in our
generation that people are not as committed to Church Life
as they used to be! Having you in service worship and service
helps the Pastor feel what they are doing is not in vain.

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Do your best to be there every time the door is opened.

And if you know the Pastor is out of town, do not miss that
service. Pastors need you even more when they are not in
church! This one is not just for your Pastor, you need it too
because it shows that you are loyal and committed to God
and the vision of your Pastor. It shows that you have not
been doing an eye-service, but you are truly part of him,
whether is around or has traveled, and that, you value his
ministry and love God and His Church.

14. BE A CHEERFUL, CONSISTENT AND A

GENEROUS GIVER!
It’s factual that twenty percent of the congregation carries
eighty percent of the financial load in any local church or
ministry. So be a faithful tither and a giver. Decide to be
among the best of best of givers in your church. It’s not so
much about the size of you tithe envelope; it’s more about
the heart that follows your giving.

The benefits of giving of offerings – especially the Lord’s

tithes - are much bigger than encouraging the Pastor. It is
your sign of honouring God and the vision of the Church
and that of your Pastor.

Giving in the church is your way of pledging your allegiance

to God and your Pastor that: “I am for you Sir, and I am for
the vision and commission to the very end!” being a faithful,
consistent giver is a major way of honouring your Bishop
and your Pastor and ultimately, to God!

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15. DO NOT FORGET SPECIAL OCCASIONS SUCH

AS CHRISTMAS AND BIRTHDAY!
Be sure your fellow members are working together in doing
something for the pastors on special occasions. For example,
a Christmas bonus for the Pastors is a must for every local
church! It said a must! Set up a Christmas account and be
sure to bless the Pastors and their family every Christmas,
especially your head or resident Pastor.

Never forget the Pastor’s birthday! Make it a point to

celebrate your Pastor’s birthday, that of his wife as well as
that of their children. Be sure to mark this date down on the
church calendar and have everyone help celebrate the Pastor!
Make a big deal about it, especially if it is a landmark birthday
– such as 25th, or 30th or 40th or 50th or 60th Birthday etc! Find
out what he wants to do on his special day and set a committee
to help do that. For example, if he plans to make a donation
to a poor community or a prison or an orphanage, make it
the whole church’s programme and participate actively and
honour him.

Finally, never forget who your pastor is! Never become familiar
with God’s anointing. Always maintain your reverence for
your Pastor. The Lord said, “I will send you Pastors after
my own heart” (Jeremiah 3:15). Your Pastor is a Man or
Woman of God, sent specifically by God to you and your
family.

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Your Pastor is a grace gift given by the Ascended Christ,

according to Ephesians 4:10-12. So always honour and respect
your Pastor. Never treat any of the Fivefold Ministry leaders
of your church like buddies! They are God’s mouthpiece for
your church and your community. Honour them as The Gift
of God that they are. According God, in II Chronicles 20:20,

“Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established;

believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.”

Know that, Honour is more than words. Put your time, your
prayers, your talents and gifts, your expertise and all your
treasure into action to honour your Pastor. Never forget to
be a blessing to your Prophet and you will live in the blessing
yourself! That is God’s Word and if you obey Him, you will
never lack in His blessing.

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Honour Begets Honour

“Render to all men their dues. [Pay] taxes to whom

taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due,
and respect to whom respect is due, and honor
to whom honor is due.”
- ROMANS 13:7 (AMP)

H onour your Man of God! I want this sink deep into your
heart and spirit, even as we wrap up our journey in the
land called honour. Meditate on it and decide to obey and do
it! Truth is, no matter who you are and your status in this life,
you are product of someone’s inspiration and instruction.
Even if you are the wealthiest person on earth, or you are the
president of your nation or corporate organization, you need
a Man of God in your life. No matter how spiritually deep
you might be, you need the prophetic prayer and direction

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of a Man of God.

In His wisdom, God has placed many such persons in your

life. God has given you one particular person – among many
– to be your Man of God. Locate that person. Show him
reverence. Protect his integrity. Honour him in words and
with substance. He deserves to be honoured and you must
honour your Man of God!

Now to go over it again as we conclude, the word honour

means: to respect, to revere, to treat with deference and
submission and perform relevant duties to. Honouring your
man of God is vital in the life of every born-again believer.

I Honour and Revere Dr. Mensa Otabil

I will forever be grateful to Dr. Mensa Otabil for my spiritual
father and the greatest teacher in my life! He is not only a
father and teacher in my life; he has been a prophet, a mentor
and a teacher unto many thousands and millions around the
globe. Over the past thirty years plus, he has been the voice
of God, guiding, instructing and building many lives with
God’s Word and he has been very consistent in his amazing
teachings all these years.

The unique godly wisdom with which this great and humble
Man of God teaches God’s Word with crystal-clear, practical
instructions, many lives and visions have been shaped and
many leaders have been raised in Africa and the Diaspora

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over the last thirty years plus. This is a Man of God who
deserves great honour!

By God’s uncommon grace and wisdom upon his life, God

has used Dr. Otabil to raise many great men and women,
who are occupying many high places in the society and are
very influential in shaping destinies of families, communities,
nations, churches, corporate organizations and institutions
of higher learning around the world! We salute you, Sir!

Celebrate Other Servants of God

Of course, there are many other Servants of God and leaders,
who are his contemporaries, both local and abroad. They
also deserve to be celebrated and honoured - especially by
those whose lives these great men and women of God have
influenced and impacted. Let us honour them and be blessed
in return!

Let us honour them in their lifetime! Write their tributes

today. Sponsor them to put their God-given sermons into
books and videos. Surprise them by building houses for
those who are still renting houses. Buy them new cars.
Sponsor their vacations. Sponsor the education of their
young children. Sponsor them to partake in international
ministerial conferences. Be proud of them and say honorable
things about them.

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Feed them and they will bless you, even as Isaac blessed Jacob
after he fed him! There are many great servants of God, who
are pioneers of God’s movements in this nation. In fact, they
are the vessels God used to bless our Pastors and founders of
most of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches we have
today.

They are still alive! Some are living in a poor state and that must
move our hearts. Let us visit them and celebrate them. Let us
interview them and with their permission, let us sponsor and
publish their messages. Covet their mandates and anointing
and let them guide us and bless us. Before that, let us honour
them first! Let us provoke the generational blessings upon
their lives. Do not let us wait for them to pass on before
we give glowing tributes and donations posthumously. They
deserve to be honoured and celebrated publicly and their
good deeds engraved in gold!

As a Senior Pastor over the church I lead, I want you to know

that, I also have a Man of God – and other servants of God –
in my life. Dr. Mensa Otabil is my Man of God, and I have
other servants of God who mentor me and I am accountable
to. It is therefore a great privilege for me to honour such men
of God that I consider my spiritual fathers and mentors.

They are my life coaches who guide me well on my spiritual

journey to success, fulfillment and to eternity. They are the
shining examples of excellence in my life and my ministry.

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These men and women to whom I look for encouragement,

counsel, advice, prayer, guidance, leadership and covering
are they eyes that are on me daily, showing me what to do
and what not to do; where to go and where not dare going.
There the importance of such men and women of God in my
life cannot be overstated.

Indeed, many of us would not be saved from God’s wrath to

come, had it not been for the discipleship training, assistance,
support and intervention of our Pastors. We would have been
ignorant of the Word of God, were it not for a Man of God
who was anointed to teach us and lead us.

Let us therefore make time to say a big “Thank You” to them

and thank God daily for these reverent servants of God who
dared to teach the Pure, Infallible Word of God - instead of
the doctrines and philosophies of men!

Please, learn to honour, trust and believe in your Man of

God. Sow into their lives and they will pray into your life
and position you prophetically and strategically, in a place of
advantage and favour on earth! As you honour your Man of
God, may favour and goodness overtake you, in Jesus’ name!

Who is your Man of God?

Who speaks God’s Word into your life? Who is your Pastor?
Who is your shepherd? Who is your prophet? Who is your
counselor and advisor? Who speaks grace into your life?

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Believe him your Man of God and honour him, and you
shall prosper:

“Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be

established; believe His prophets, and you shall
prosper.”
- II Chronicles 20:20, NKJV

Beloved, it is great to know who your Prophet of God is.

Believe in him and honour him and you surely shall prosper
and be a blessing. Go on and honour your Pastor, for it is
excellent to honour your Pastor. Go on and sow into the
work of their ministry! Bless his family. Support and protect
your Pastor and he will continue to speak blessings into your
life.

God blesses those support and those who God’s work. But
even more I have found that when I have sown directly into
a Man of God’s life, I have experienced a powerful return. I
dare you today to buy your Pastor a gift! Do it today! Send
him or her, a card of appreciation. Give him good money.
Do something that lets him know you honour him, respect
him and love him. Be guided by Apostle Peter’s word of
instruction:

“Honour all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God.

Honor the king.”
- I Peter 2:17, NKJV

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Your Pastor is the God-appointed ‘king’ and shepherd over

your life. If you do not have a Man of God in your life, please
find a good church in your community that preaches the
Pure Word of God. Join it and get yourself a Pastor. Know
that, God has placed them in the Body as His gifts to you,
whose primary function is to shepherd your soul.

When we give honour to our Pastor, we are giving honour

to God for the gift He has given us. As you honour God,
He will honour you. In doing this, you will keep releasing
unprecedented and a never-ending divine favour over your
life.
Your children will grow to practice same and be blessed,
until all generations after you enjoy this never-ending
blessing! Abraham honoured God many times in his life
and by that, God covenanted with him and blessed him
with an unconditional generation blessing that his natural
descendants – the Jews and the Arabs – still enjoy today.

Meditate on this and determine to practice honouring your

Man of God and all who feed you spiritually and in all other
ways of life. As you celebrate, appreciate and honour those
you honour, God will cause others to also honour you in
due season. Honour God, honour your parents, honour your
leaders, honour your spouse, honour your boss and your
mentors, and see God continue to bless you and bless you
until blessing becomes your name! God bless you richly!

Shalom!

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