"HONOUR THE KING!"--1PETER 2:17           11/87
--"Honour to Whom Honour Is DUE!"--Rom.13:7               DO 2383

         1. I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE READ THE LETTERS WE'VE WRITTEN ABOUT KINGS, "Rags to Riches" and "Kings," as well as "Problem Kings," "Rules for Rulers," "The Tree" etc. It would certainly do you well to read them again, because the truths in those Letters are just the same TODAY as they were when they were written. Kings haven't changed any, they're very much the same as ever. But the reputation of most kings with Prophets, if you go back through the Bible, is not very encouraging! The dealings of the Prophets with the kings is even less encouraging! But nevertheless, they had to TRY, & kings were just as necessary to Prophets as Prophets were to kings.
         2. IT IS ONLY THE PROPHET'S JOB TO GIVE THE WORDS OF THE LORD, WHAT THE LORD HAS TO SAY ABOUT THINGS, the Lord's advice & counsel or orders to the king, but he can't MAKE the king do God's Will. The king has to do that himself. Prophets are usually successful in giving the witness & the orders & the message & making the suggestions, & that's as successful as any Prophet can be. From there on it's up to the person RECEIVING the witness--the king or whoever it is.-It's THEIR business how they REACT & how they RESPOND! That's not YOUR business, it is not your responsibility, you cannot MAKE them, you cannot FORCE them.--And of all things, for God's sake, DON'T try to PUSH them!

A SUMMARY OF "THE WAY OF KINGS!"

         3. AS I SAID IN "THE WAY OF KINGS," IF YOUR KINGS START TALKING ABOUT HOW THEY WANT TO BE DISCIPLES, they start saying that they ARE disciples, don't ever laugh right in their faces! They're just saying that because they don't want to think that anybody could do anything better than THEY can or would go further with the Lord than THEY would. But I've never seen a king yet who could be a disciple, they just aren't built that way!
         4. THEY OFTEN PUT THEMSELVES ON THE SAME LEVEL AS THE PROPHET, & they figure if you work for DAD, you can work for THEM as well! So they'll try to dictate to you the way they think things ought to be.--And you might just have to TAKE it! You can't complain about it or try to lord it over them, thinking or saying, "After all, I'M the PROPHET, I'm the SPIRITUAL leader, & you should follow MY counsel & advice!"
         5. ONE CRITERION TO REMEMBER: YOU CAN NEVER DEPEND ON KINGS! Never be disappointed when they fail. If you start out expecting them to eventually fail, then you won't be too disappointed or surprised when they do! Depend on the LORD! Keep your eyes on the LORD, because kings are some of the most UNCERTAIN & DIFFICULT people to handle in the whole World!
         6. I HAVEN'T FOUND TOO MANY KINGS THAT YOU CAN WORK WITH FOR VERY LONG. Sooner or later they vary from the course & you just have to keep on going with the LORD & leave them behind, just like I left FRED behind & David left SAUL behind & quite a few others!
         7. WE'RE WARNING YOU ABOUT WHAT I'VE FOUND OUT ABOUT KINGS. Don't misunderstand me, we're THANKFUL for the opportunities & the open doors that some of our kings have provided, & we know God is going to USE it or He wouldn't have done it. But don't expect too much of your kings, don't depend on them too much. Don't look to THEM for leadership, don't expect them to do it all. Only GOD can do it! And He just wants to use you & He will use them as long as they are willing & yielded.
         8. BUT IN THE END, NO MATTER HOW THEY ACT OR WHAT THEY DO OR HOW MUCH THEY CLAIM TO LOVE THE LORD OR LOVE YOU, THEY'RE NOT GOING TO LET THE PROPHET BE THE BOSS. When it comes to really sacrificing anything that's going to cost them POWER or LEADERSHIP or even MONEY sometimes, that's where they usually put on the brakes. But as long as something is going to benefit THEM, they're going to all be gung-ho for it.

WHEN TO COMPROMISE, AND WHEN NOT TO COMPROMISE!

         9. THERE ARE TIMES WHEN YOU HAVE TO SORT OF COMPROMISE WITH THEM.--And that's fine, as long as you're not compromising your CONVICTIONS or WITNESSING or getting the MESSAGE out or compromising the SPIRITUAL things. Sometimes they may want you to do something, & if it's not so bad, even though you wouldn't normally do it, if it's not going to HURT anything you might just have to do it to keep them happy.
         10. SO A LOT OF TIMES YOU MIGHT HAVE TO SOMEWHAT COMPROMISE SOME OF YOUR MINOR CONVICTIONS & SOME OF YOUR PERSONAL DOCTRINES.-Particularly some of our peculiar ones on which they may not agree, in order to take advantage of something much more IMPORTANT, an OPPORTUNITY, an OPENING, a MINISTRY that could be much more fruitful if you'll just go along with them on whatever it is they're asking you, providing it's nothing too major or serious.
         11. THAT'S ONE THING YOU HAVE TO LEARN WHEN YOU'RE WORKING WITH KINGS, YOU JUST HAVE TO COMPROMISE SOME OF YOUR OWN PERSONAL CONVICTIONS SOMETIMES, as long as you're not literally violating your love of the Lord.--As long as you're not denying the LORD, you're not denying His WITNESS, your own CALLING, the WORK you're doing! If they let you continue to do God's Work & what you're there FOR & what you WANT to do & what the LORD wants you to do, sometimes you can kind of cut the corners a little bit & just say, "Well, okay, it's not that important to be so dogmatic about some of these things!"
         12. SO THAT'S THE WAY OF KINGS & YOU HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO GET ALONG WITH THEM & FOLLOW THEM. You literally have to FOLLOW them sometimes! Even though God is trying to make YOU the leader & they should be following YOU, like the kings of old should have followed the Prophets, a lot of times you have to go along with THEM anyhow.

HONOURING THE KING!

         13. AS SAUL SAID TO SAMUEL, "AT LEAST HONOUR ME BEFORE THE PEOPLE!"--1Sam.15:30. Samuel had already blasted him & almost blown him away, & told him he was going to lose the kingdom & everything else because of his disobediences! But Saul said, "Oh come on, at least honour me now before the PEOPLE!" Well, why did Samuel do that? WHY do you think he went ahead & went out & honoured Saul before the people, in spite of all Saul's stubbornness & disobedience?
         14. SAUL BEGGED SAMUEL TO ACT LIKE HE STILL BELIEVED IN HIM. Why do you think Samuel did that? Wasn't he COMPROMISING? Here the LORD had already told Samuel, & he'd even already told the king, that he was LOSING the kingdom, that it was RENT from him!--1Sam.15:26-29. Why do you think Samuel went ahead then & went back before the public & honoured the king? That, by the way, is a COMMANDMENT even in the NEW Testament: "HONOUR the KING!"--1Pet.2:17. What if Samuel would have gone out before the people & DENOUNCED Saul publicly & EXPOSED him & destroyed their confidence in their king, destroyed their obedience & desire to follow a leader?
         15. THEY HAD DESIRED THE KING, THEY'D ASKED FOR A KING. They didn't just want to follow God or the Prophet. (See 1Sam.8.) What if he had destroyed this symbol of authority? It could have literally wrecked the KINGDOM! If Samuel had destroyed the symbol of authority & the leader, it could have destroyed the entire kingdom! Who would they have followed THEN? David was just a lad, he wasn't ready. He needed to undergo years of training under Saul.
         16. YOU CAN'T DESTROY OTHERS' CONFIDENCE IN SUCH PEOPLE. You can't belittle them before others, you can't laugh at them before others, you can't challenge them before others, you hardly dare even DIFFER with them before others! You may make a general suggestion, "Well maybe so-&-so, what do you think about this?" Let it come from THEM as though it's THEIR idea. You ask the QUESTIONS & let THEM give the ANSWERS!
         17. IN A WAY, YOU HARDLY EVEN DARE CORRECT A KING PRIVATELY! If you see they're making a wrong choice, going the wrong way, just ask a QUESTION, & try to be gentle about it, FACE-SAVING about it. One of the smartest things you can do is to say, "Let's PRAY about it.--Let's pray about it & see what the LORD has to say about it & get our answers from the LORD." And hopefully, if they're in tune at all, perhaps they'll get an answer from the Lord. So it pays to PRAY!
         18. FOR GOD'S SAKE, HELP THEM SAVE FACE, DON'T CONTRADICT THEM IN PUBLIC, DON'T DESTROY THE PEOPLE'S CONFIDENCE IN THEM EVEN BY TALKING ABOUT THEM BEHIND THEIR BACKS! Honour the king before the people! They have to live with him, they have to have some kind of respect for him, & therefore you must show YOUR respect. Otherwise they'll do just like YOU do, they'll criticise him behind his back, they'll pick out all of his flaws, they'll have CONTEMPT for him & sooner or later it's bound to SHOW, even if they try to do it mostly behind his back. If you LEADERS don't show respect for him & honour the king, neither will your PEOPLE!
         19. SO TO KEEP THE WHOLE THING FROM FALLING APART, SAMUEL WENT OUT BEFORE THE PEOPLE & HE HONOURED THE KING. If he HADN'T, what do you think would have happened, besides destroying the respect & the confidence of the people in their leadership? What do you think Saul might have done if Samuel had come out there in public & denounced him before the people? He probably would've felt like, "Hmmm, YOU'RE going to get rid of ME, Samuel? Well, I'M going to get rid of YOU FIRST!"
         20. SO DON'T GET TO THE POINT THAT YOU DISGRACE OR EMBARRASS OR DISHONOUR THEM OR SHOW DISRESPECT IN ANY WAY OR CAUSE THEM TO LOSE FACE! "Honour the king!" Show them RESPECT. And remember, they wouldn't have BEEN king if GOD hadn't appointed them, & if the Prophet hadn't anointed them! So they were GOD'S choice! If you need a king & God gives you one, then HONOUR that king & USE him as long as he honours the Lord and gives you some amount of credence & respect, or at least allows you to work with him and work for him. But don't EVER cause them to LOSE FACE before the PEOPLE and lose the confidence of the people. Don't even criticise them behind their backs.
         21. WATCH OUT ABOUT WHAT YOU EVEN SAY BETWEEN YOURSELVES ABOUT THEM. Watch out about getting in the habit of having belittling sessions amongst yourselves. It's not good for YOU & it's certainly not good for your RELATIONSHIP with OTHERS! So try your best to HONOUR & RESPECT them. Keep reminding yourself, "Now Lord, YOU appointed this king to help us, & we NEED him, & we need what he's GOT.--Not just his money or his property, but his INFLUENCE. We NEED him! Lord, he can be a great help in making contacts with people of influence. So we not only need THIS king, but we need him to help us reach OTHER kings! So help me to be THANKFUL for this guy, even though I don't like some of the things he does & I'm convinced that some of the things he does are not right! Help me to be able to TAKE those things!"--Especially if it's not something FUNDAMENTAL, something that is absolutely AGAINST you & what GOD wants you to do, as long as he's not preventing you from doing your JOB as a witness!

HOW NOT TO HANDLE YOUR KINGS!

         22. IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR KINGS & THE PLACES & OPPORTUNITIES OF SERVICE THEY HAVE MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU, then it's not very wise to break loose & really let'm have it! You often have to make a choice, & it's a very delicate decision whether you want to handle them gently & wisely or whether you want to come on like I do most of the time!--I blew apart every church I went into!
         23. SO YOU'VE GOT TO BALANCE & WEIGH OUT THE ADVANTAGES AGAINST THE DISADVANTAGES. Is your little objection or your little complaint WORTH costing you the use of their kingdom or the protection of your king? Is it WORTH it? Unless there's really a basic fundamental completely contradictory thing that he asks you to do, or thing that he WON'T do, you've just got to ask yourself, "Well, is this the time when we PART ways?--Is it worth my sticking to my guns at the risk of losing the kingdom & its use & the protection of the king, just for this one little shibboleth or this one little piece of gravel that's caught in my craw?--Is it really WORTH it?" You've really got to ask yourself, is it worth taking the chance that they'll be offended & grow cold & get RID of you!

THE RIGHT WAY TO HANDLE KINGS!

         24. SO IF YOU WANT THE BENEFIT OF YOUR KINGS, REMIND YOURSELF TO CONSTANTLY THANK THE LORD FOR THEM. Say, "Well, thank You Lord that at least we're getting this benefit, at least we're having this advantage, at least he's giving this, at least he's doing that" etc. And try to always SHOW your respect & your honour, that you RECOGNISE them for what they are, true kings & queens.
         25. HONOUR THE KING! I guess that's the name of this one, "Honour the King!" GOD gave you that king to begin with, HE appointed that king, HE anointed that king or queen, & He expects you to APPRECIATE it & THANK him!--Not only thank GOD, but also thank the KING! They love PRAISE! They LOVE appreciation. They love the honour & respect that they know is DUE them! "Honour to whom honour is DUE!"--Rom.13:7. Amen?
         26. THAT IS WHAT KINGS LIVE FOR EVEN MORE THAN MONEY: THEY LIVE TO RECEIVE THE HONOUR OF THE PEOPLE! "Come, at least honour me before the PEOPLE!"--1Sam.15:30. They LOVE that honour, that adoration, that respect, that glory, they eat it up, they love it! No matter what they SAY, no matter what they PRETEND, they still LOVE it!--So GIVE it, & KEEP giving it, & they will love you for it!-Because you're giving them what God EXPECTS you to give them & has ORDERED you to give them, has COMMANDED you to give them. "HONOUR to whom honour is DUE!--Honour the KING!"
         27. SO WHEN YOU'RE HONOURING THE KING, YOU'RE NOT JUST SALUTING THE MAN OR HONOURING THE MAN, but the GOD Who APPOINTED him, & you're thanking GOD for him, for USING him to HELP you to do what you need to do! Amen? I'm not saying you should get down & grovel before your kings or worship them after this, but give the HONOUR that God EXPECTS you to give them & which is DUE them as your king, the respect & even the obedience. If they ask you to do certain things that you wouldn't normally do, if it's not totally offending your conscience & offending the Lord, even if it's a little odd or embarrassing or whatever, just go ahead & do it!
         28. IT MAY TAKE A LOT OF HUMILITY, IT MAY TAKE A LOT OF PATIENCE, IT MAY MEAN THAT YOU'RE EMBARRASSED, especially if you have to do it amongst your own people that know you & know what you think & know what your convictions are. But still, you're having to salute, you're having to kneel, you're having to obey, as long as it is not absolutely contrary to the Will of God! You can know if you're obeying the Lord if you do what He has already told you to do in His WORD: "Honour the king!"--"Honour to whom honour is due!"
         29. AND THOUGH YOU MUST HONOUR THEM & GO ALONG WITH THEM ON THINGS YOU DON'T ALWAYS FULLY AGREE WITH SOMETIMES, YOU CAN ALWAYS PRAY & EXPECT THE LORD TO DO MIRACLES WITH YOUR KINGS, expect Him to CHANGE their minds about some things when necessary! You don't HAVE to take no for an answer.--PRAY! If the LORD wants something done, HE can change their minds! That's one verse you can really count on & expect the Lord to fulfil: "The HEART of the KING is in the hand of the LORD, & HE turneth it whithersoever He wants it to go!"--Pro.21:1. So don't worry about it!
         30. THE KING IS GOD'S MATERIAL REPRESENTATIVE, SO TO SPEAK. He's God's anointed for your PROTECTION, to help you with MATERIAL things etc. GOD has chosen him to be your king because God knows He's got the heart of that king in HIS hand!--Even though he may be stubborn & unwilling sometimes. When the LORD turns His hand, the king's heart is going to turn too, if he's the Lord's at all.
         31. SO DON'T WORRY ABOUT THEM MORE THAN YOU SHOULD!--Trust the LORD & do YOUR JOB, & let THEM do THEIR job. You don't have to try to tell your kings & queens how to do their business. You just do YOUR part. You tell them how to do GOD'S business, God's Work, because you have a hot line with the Lord & you really know God's Will. You've been serving the Lord fulltime and in His Work for years, & you're FAR more mature than they are in SPIRITUAL things, & even in leadership in some ways.
         32. JUST GO ALONG WITH THEM AS MUCH AS YOU CAN & TRUST GOD TO USE THEM TO DO THINGS THAT YOU CAN'T DO. There are many things that they can do FOR you that you CANNOT do for yourselves, especially in dealing with the SYSTEM. They can do things for you that God has APPOINTED them to do FOR you, that you cannot do for yourselves, & wherein they are far smarter & more clever in things we don't really even know anything about! So leave such matters up to THEM!
         33. SO LET THEM DO WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN THEM THE ANOINTING & THE APPOINTING & THE WISDOM FOR, things which you wouldn't even do that way yourself! YOU wouldn't even THINK of doing some things the way THEY would! Let'm do it their way, which is usually, thank God, the way that God has led them to do it.
         34. NOW IF YOU DON'T FEEL THAT WHAT THEY'RE DOING IS THE LORD'S WILL IN SOME CASES, then you may have to question it. But do it very TACTFULLY: "Well, what do you think?--Do you think maybe such-&-such?" They come back with the answer, therefore then it becomes THEIR idea. You just put the question in their mind & they give you the answer.

KINGS--LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN!

         35. SOME OF THESE KINGS CAN BE SUCH BABES, SUCH LITTLE CHILDREN IN SOME WAYS, IN SOME THINGS, that you could almost laugh at some of the things they do!--But you don't. You might laugh as though, well, they did it on purpose. You need to HELP them save face & cover up for them & let them think that you think they did it on purpose.
         36. SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO HELP COVER UP FOR THEM & HELP THEM SAVE FACE, LEST THEY LOSE TOO MUCH FACE & BE TOO EMBARRASSED & REALLY BE HUMILIATED, which is one thing that they usually cannot stand. You could even LOSE them, you could have them turn AGAINST you if you expose them & if you let them know that you know. That is just almost more than they can stand. So the picture is like a little child, even when they fall. You've got to laugh & pretend that you think they did it on purpose. Do you get the point?
         37. SO LOVE, HONOUR, THANK GOD FOR & PRAY FOR YOUR KINGS!--Amen? GBAKY! ILY!--D.
         --DO YOU HONOR THE KING?

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family