YOU NEED A MAN PRT 3

YOU NEED A MAN PART 3. HONOUR FOR THE ANOINTED

So far in this series we have looked at what honour is, why we must honour unbelievers and why we must honour believers. We have seen that even unbelievers deserve our honour in that God saw enough value in them to die for them. Click here to read the PART ONE AND PART TWO of this series if you have not read it.
In this last part of the series, we will be looking at honour for the anointed. You must realise that the best gifts you can have on earth are the gifts of men.  In Jesus ascension into our heart he gave us men as gift.
Ephesians 4
8  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men
11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
The gifts are the men. So in the body of Christ we have apostles, prophets, Evangelist,  pastors and teachers as gifts. Many times, when God is doing anything in the body of Christ it is through men. He called out some so as to raise all. This does not mean these men are superior men, neither should they be seen as equal.  Reading through the scriptures we see a lot of admonitions to honour these men. We will look at some of them here.
That some anointed abuse this does not justify your dishonour for them. The devil will go any mile to make sure your heart is poisoned against the gift God sent to you. You must watch it!
1 Timothy 5: 17  Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
18  For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And,The labourer is worthy of his reward.
Here, we have a strong admonition to honour elders especially they that Labour in the word and prayers. Let me establish first that elder here does not just mean an older person. An elder is an authority over you especially in word and prayer. Ministry is not in age. Ministry is in grace of election. It is not an occupation. It is God who set them up. It is enough reason to honour them. People say respect is earned. For someone to be your pastor is enough EARNING of your respect and honour. Note in the verse above it says COUNT THEM OF DOUBLE HONOUR.  Honour here means valuing at a price. It means wages. Count them of double wages. What I am actually saying is that you should count them of double salary. We have established that one basic way to show honour is by GIVING. When it comes to giving and honour for the anointed, it is seen as a must not optional. You give to them because of their labours in word and prayers. When last did you give to your pastor? You may say I don’t have. That little recharge card, that little money, that foodstuff  etc.  Is not too small. Why not start from somewhere.
WHEN YOU give to the anointed, YOU ARE NOT DOING THEM A FAVOUR. YOU MUST NEVER GIVE TO THE ANOINTED as if you doing them a favour.

HOW TO RECEIVE FROM THE ANOINTED
When it comes to the anointed, your reception matters a lot. 
Matthew 10:
41  He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet'sreward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.
How you receive and see someone determines what you get from the person. If you receive some one as a brother you will receive a brother's reward. When it comes to the anointed, you must never receive them as brothers. You see your pastor as your pastor. Your prophet is your prophet. Your pastor is  not your “paddy”. Have sense. Even if the person is humble enough to relate with you as a brother or a friend. You must see the person beyond that. This is the reason many people can not receive from some one close to them.  You will see a great anointed person, with great miracles and you will see his brother, or sister or friend sick and they cannot come for healing. I have been around sick people and I know I can heal them. But they could not receive me as the anointed. Ooh those moments hurt me. Even when I make attempt to talk to them so I can heal them, many times they still prefer  buying drugs. It is an act of dishonour. Never you see yourself as equal with the anointed. The anointing is A PUBLIC PROPERTY. Even unbelievers can receive from it. Anybody can receive from the anointed. This is why some times you see unbelievers receive from the anointed while  Christians are busy criticising.
We have established in part 2 that honour affects reception. YOU CAN NEVER RECEIVE FROM WHO you despise.
Even the almighty Jesus the God made flesh could do no mighty works in His home town because of their familiarity and dishonour.
Mark 6
1  And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.
2  And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?
3  Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.note
4  But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.
5  And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. (Compare)
6  And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.
Jesus in teaching was restrained by the people's unbelief. Their unbelief here was that of dishonour. The people were looking at the humanity of Jesus. Is this not the son of Mary? Just the same way people compare the anointed, looking at the humanity of the person. Is this not the boy I schooled with? When did he become a pastor? Hmmmm all these people. Are you sure they are called? While you are busy asking questions, many are being transformed by the same person. Many are getting healed. Never despise your answers in men because of familiarity.

SEPARATE THE ANOINTING IN A MAN'S LIFE FROM HIS CHARACTER.  This does not mean ministers of God should not have good conducts. You as a receiver must remove your eyes from the weakness of the person. YOUR PASTOR IS A MAN AND ALSO BEYOND A MAN. He is a man in that He can make mistakes just like you can.  He can eat as a man. He can play, he can make mistakes. In all these humanity, HE IS BEYOND A MAN because he is graced to help you. When you see his humanity never loose sight of the fact that he or she is ANOINTED for you. When last did you knee down for your pastor to speak a word of blessing over You?   The answer you are looking for is in a man.

THE WORD OF THE ANOINTED IS THE ANSWER
When your pastor tells you it is well, it is not the same thing as when another person tells you it is well. You must honour the word from his mouth. You must see the word from them as the word of the Lord. Look at Jesus and the centurion in Matthew 8. The centurion said SPEAK THE WORD ONLY and my servant will be healed. Matthew 8:8. You must value the word from your pastor. Look at Jacob and Esau, they were fighting over words of blessing from Isaac. They were  not fighting over physical possessions even though Isaac had wealth. They knew that THE ANSWER IS IN THE WORD OF BLESSING . Even when you give to the anointed, the reward many times is the word of blessing from the person. When you are around the ANOINTED don’t be concerned with their physical things like their money. Your major concern should be their spiritual endowments.  You should know that they are spiritually blessed for you.

Some things that can cause dishonour for the anointed are FAMILIARITY AND COMPARISON.  Never you compare yourself to God's anointed. You may have the same Holy Ghost, the same life, but you are not graced the same way. THEY are graced higher to call you up.
What if the person is not teaching the right doctrine? Still honour the anointed.  Even if you have progressed more than the person in Knowledge, stick with the truth and don’t despise the anointed. For more on the truth see my series on the truth only part ONE, part TWO  and part THREE. 
One way to break familiarity is giving.  When you give something big to the anointed, it dawns on you again that the person is higher than you. It positions you to receive.  Develop an attitude of giving. START NOW with what you have. Don’t wait till you have enough. Send that little recharge card, send that money even if small, send the goods. You owe the anointed honour with your substance. You must honour them. You must give to them out of honour. Giving is very  spiritual. It will connect to your deepest desires though you don’t give for selfish reasons. Look at the story of Elisha and the Shunammite  woman in 2kings 4:8-40. The woman gave Elisha where to dwell willingly not because she needed something. But the Grace of God on the prophet connected to her deepest desire and she had a son according to the word of the Prophet.  Even when the child died , Elisha raised him up. Your giving can make a way for you though that is not why you give. You give out of honour.  You can still give believing that as you give your need will be met. It will happen. This is because giving is spiritual.

In summary, we have seen in these series many things about honour. We have seen that we must honour believers because they are good enough to carry God. We must honour unbelievers because God saw enough value in them in that He died for them on the cross. We must  give double honour to the anointed because they are graced to lift us up. THE ANSWERS YOU ARE LOOKING FOR ARE IN THE MEN AROUND YOU. Learn to accord value to men. When the Lord wants to lift you up, He sends the right people your way. You must never despise men so you won’t loose your answers in them.  Be instructed and stay blessed.

The anointed is being exalted, for many tricks of the devil to severe people from RECEIVING has been abolished. The body of Christ is getting stronger. They are maximizing the gifts of men around them. They are being equipped to do mighty works and they are known for honour.

By OBIAZIKWOR EMEKE MODESTY
www.emekemodesty.com