WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL
SEPTEMBER 11, 2024
TOPIC: HOW TO RELATE TO THE LORD’S ANOINTED (4)
BY T. O. BANSO
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1 New Century Version).
For some days, we have been looking at how to relate to the Lord’s anointed. I have discussed six ways already, including:
1. Honour the Lord’s anointed.
2. Believe the Lord’s anointed.
3. Respond in faith to their ministration.
4. Obey the word of God they teach and their instructions.
5. Be faithful to the Lord’s anointed.
6. Be truthful to the Lord’s anointed.
I will discuss two more ways today and conclude the series tomorrow.
How to relate to the Lord’s anointed
7. Don’t speak negatively of the Lord’s anointed or harm them. Speak good of the Lord’s anointed, not evil. They are no perfect people like anyone else, but don’t be the one spreading bad news about them. We are all members of the body of Christ and we are to care for each other. “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26 New King James Version).
It’s better to withdraw peacefully from your relationship with the Lord’s anointed and keep quiet than to continue to relate to them and say negative things about them even if you believe they are true. “Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval” (Romans 14:4 New Living Translation). Leave the discipline or correction of the Lord’s anointed to those who rightly have authority over them.
David and the Lord’s anointed
Saul was wrong in seeking to kill David, for he didn’t do him any wrong. David had the opportunity to kill Saul twice but didn’t because of his regard for the Lord’s anointed (1 Samuel 24:1-22; 26:1-25). He spared the life of Saul. Killing Saul would, naturally, have been justified.
David’s men wanted Saul killed. In 1 Samuel 24:4, they even spiritualize it, reminding him of a prophecy about this: “Then the men of David said to 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” (New King James Version). But there is no record in the Bible of the Lord saying that.
In 1 Samuel 26:8, Abishai, one of David’s chief men, said to David, “God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him at once with the spear, right to the earth; and I will not have to strike him a second time!” (New King James Version). Nevertheless, David didn’t allow them to kill Saul. He said Saul was the Lord’s anointed, although he had become an ex-anointed then because God had rejected him and Samuel had anointed David king to replace him. The earlier Saul died, the better it would have been for him. But David looked at that approach as self-help. He would rather wait for God’s time.
Even when David heard about Saul’s death, he didn’t rejoice. He and all the men with him “mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword” (2 Samuel 1:12 New King James Version).
David would not speak ill of or harm the Lord’s anointed. That was why when an Amalekite came to David to confess that he killed Saul on the battlefield, David didn’t spare his life for not being afraid to kill the Lord’s anointed. “So David said to him, ‘How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?’ Then David called one of the young men and said, ‘Go near, and execute him!’ And he struck him so that he died. So David said to him, ‘Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed’” (2 Samuel 1:14-16 New King James Version). David had tremendous regard for the Lord’s anointed even when he was determined to kill him.
Alexander the Coppersmith did so much harm to Paul that he didn’t forget to mention it. Paul said, “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” (2 Timothy 4:14-15 New King James Version).
The rebellion of Miriam and Aaron
Do you remember the story of Miriam and Aaron, Moses’ sister and brother respectively? They criticized Moses for marrying an Ethiopian woman but this was just a smokescreen for their envy of Moses for his influence over the people as the leader. “Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. So they said, ‘Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?’ And the Lord heard it” (Numbers 12:1-2 New King James Version).
Psalm 105:15 says, “Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm” (New King James Version). Do not harm the anointed; don’t have anything to do with those who plan or do evil against the Lord’s anointed so that you don’t share in their punishment when it comes.
Moses, whom the Bible describes as more humble than any person on the face of the earth, did not respond to this criticism; he didn’t defend himself. Although he kept quiet, God didn’t. He told the duo not to compare themselves with Moses or criticize him. “Then He said, ‘Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?” (Numbers 12: 6-8 New King James Version).
God was angry with Miriam and Aaron after saying that and left. The result was leprosy on Miriam for seven days despite Moses’ intercession. That was even though Miriam was a prophetess and Moses’ sister. When Aaron saw what happened, he quickly admitted their folly probably to forestall judgment on him too. “So Aaron said to Moses, ‘Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned’” (Numbers 12:11 New King James Version). Miriam was kept outside the camp for seven days before God healed her. Miriam and Aaron never tried such again.
The rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram conspired against Moses and Aaron led two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation in rebellion saying, “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 16:3 New King James Version). God defended His servant.
Just as Moses had prayed, the earth swallowed up Korah, Dathan, and Abiram together with their families. All Korah’s men and everything they owned also went down. They were all buried alive. They died an unnatural death. Fire also came out from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were their co-conspirators offering incense (verses 32-35).
The next day, there was a protest by the Israelites over the death of these people, and, in anger, God caused a plague that resulted in the death of 14,700 people (verse 49). Don’t rebel or lead a rebellion against the Lord’s anointed. Don’t join or support any such conspiracy, no matter what the anointed may have done. It has serious consequences. Let God and those having authority over the Lord’s anointed deal with Him.
Diotrephes is another person in the Bible who did evil to the Lord’s anointed. Paul recalls his evil: “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” (3 John 9-10 New King James Version). Note how Diotrephes harmed Paul. Don’t emulate him. Don’t speak malicious words against the Lord’s anointed or slander them. Control your tongue not to speak evil against them. Don’t harm them or join anyone to do them evil.
8. Follow the example of the Lord’s anointed as he follows Christ’s example. Paul, the Lord’s anointed, told the Philippian Christians, “The things which you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things [in daily life], and the God [who is the source] of peace and well-being will be with you” (Philippians 4:9 Amplified Bible)
Paul was so confident to tell the Philippians to practise what they had learnt, received, and heard from him and seen in him and even to model their way of living on it because he was sure of his walk with God. He knew he was following the example of Christ.
Earlier, Paul said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1 New Century Version). Note the phrase “as I follow the example of Christ.” Therefore, I am not talking about following God’s servant blindly but emulating his Christlike example. The pastor is not replacing Jesus in your life. If he is not following Christ’s example, don’t follow him but follow Christ.
Paul didn’t elevate himself to the status of Jesus Christ but he was his model. Earlier in 1 Corinthians 4:15-16, Paul said, “For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitate me” (New King James Version).
God had chosen Gideon to deliver the Israelites from seven-year domination by the Midianites. As they were about to attack the Midianites, Gideon told his 300-man army, “Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do: When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, ‘The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!’” (Judges 7:17-18 New King James Version). They followed his instruction by imitating him, and the Lord gave them victory. The Lord’s anointed should be a good example for the people.
If a minister is following the Bible, follow him. If he stops following the Bible, stop following Him but continue to follow Christ. Paul declared, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8-9 New King James Version).
I will stop here today and conclude this series tomorrow. Relate the Lord’s anointed as God wants you to.
TAKE ACTION!
If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. Take the following steps: *Admit that you are a sinner and cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, and Bible-practising church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.
Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto You today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and God raised Him on the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.
I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You must join a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, and Bible-practising church where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.
PRAYER POINTS: Father, I repent of every wrong word I have spoken against the Lord’s anointed or any way I have harmed them. Forgive me, Father. Holy Spirit, help me to control my tongue and not sin as I relate to the Lord’s anointed. Father, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I shall follow Your servants as they follow Christ.
(For over 900 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).
T. O. Banso is the President of Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org
