But I know you, that ye have not the love of God
in you. I am come in my Father’s name, and ye
receive me not: if another shall come in his own
name, him ye will receive (John 5:42-43).

In these passages, Jesus is pointing out to these
men that He will not play their honor game.
What’s the honor game? Giving each other “honor”
or medals or titles in order to boost one’s own sense of
self-worth. I’ll give you rank so you can give me privilege,
etc. That is pride and greed, not honor.

Jesus is not saying that men should not honor
other men, because the Word of God says we should
give honor to whom honor is due (Romans 13:7). It is
a wonderful thing to honor the hard work and diligence
of other men. It is, however, a dishonor to God
to seek the honor of others rather than that which
comes only from the Lord.

You and I cannot demand that we be given honor.
For instance, we must not demand that others call us
“doctor” or “teacher” or “master.” This is the very thing
Jesus is talking about to the proud Pharisees of His
day—and to us in our day.

Jesus won’t play honor games.

Seek God’s Honor

How can ye believe, which receive honour
one of another, and seek not the honour that
cometh from God only? (John 5:44).

Notice the word “only” at the end of this sentence.
As we have discovered, there is honor that comes from
God only. You cannot give it to me, and I cannot give it
to you. I can only tell you about it.

For instance, I cannot give you the kind of honor
that conveys authority over the devil. I can tell you
about your authority over Satan, but it is God who has
given that authority to you. How did He give it to you?
By giving you His Name.

I cannot give you God’s Name. I could give you
my name and enter into some kind of covenant agreement
with you. I could adopt you, thereby bestowing
my family name upon you; but that act would not
give you authority over the devil. It might give you
authority over my earthly possessions, but not over
the enemy of your soul.

Only God can give you that power and dominion.
Why? Because only His Name has authority over the
evil one. That is an honor that only God can give. Jesus
spoke about this honor in a passage of Scripture from
Mark’s Gospel.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

admin Kenneth Copeland, kenneth copeland ministries honor, honor game

As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so
honour is not seemly for a fool (Proverbs 26:1).
For the turning away of the simple shall slay
them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy
them (Proverbs 1:32).

A fool and honor are like oil and water—they do
not mix. The Bible does not say that prosperity ruins
a person. It says it ruins the fool. The key to this situation
is, don’t be a fool.

How do you know you are not a fool unless you go
to the Bible and find out what a fool is? One thing we
know already about a fool is that he is dishonorable.
He does not know the honor of God.
Honor does not look right to a fool. It just makes
no sense to him.

We have been “blessed” in recent years with an
outstanding work of foolishness called situation
ethics. If there ever was a concept imbued with the life of
a fool, it’s situation ethics.

Basically, situation ethics says that right isn’t
always right and wrong isn’t always wrong—it
depends on the circumstances or the situation. It is
really an excuse to be dishonorable. I guarantee you,
the person who thought up this theory does not really
believe it himself. It seems right, however, to anyone
who does not have the honor of God inside him to
influence his thinking.

Recently, I was praying over a situation that had
to do with a young, born-again man who had gotten
into some serious trouble. Everybody around him was
totally shocked by what he had done. They knew he
had committed his life to God and the ministry. There
was no question about it.

The worst thing about the whole situation was
how he felt about what he had done. He could not
understand that he had done wrong.
When I heard about it, I prayed, “What’s the matter
with him? Has he taken leave of his senses?”
No, the Lord answered, he’s dishonorable. You have
a whole generation of honorless people. They don’t
know anything about honor.

There are such people in all segments of society
today. We see them everywhere. In every area of life
there are dishonorable men and women. Even our
ministers and spiritual leaders are not immune to
dishonor, as we have seen all too often.

We must always be on our guard lest we too fall
prey to the devil’s devices. We must be careful to keep
our eyes on the Lord and our feet on the path of honor.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

admin Kenneth Copeland, kenneth copeland ministries dishonorable, fool, honor

Since the real nature of honor has largely gone
untaught, caring and knowledgeable Christians have
fought an uphill battle. Far too many of us have been
trying to teach honor using religion as the basis. The
concept of honor has become lost in the translation.
Many people today have no foundation for receiving
spiritual teaching.

Part of this problem is that the Church is divided
into so many different denominations, associations
and affiliations that we no longer speak the same
language. Through the years we have developed different
vocabularies as well as different doctrines and
practices. The result is that we have different terminologies
for different things.

Various groups of Christians speak different
languages. They speak the language of Protestant,
Catholic, Evangelical, Fundamentalist, Pentecostal
and on and on.

To effectively teach honor—real honor—to someone
else, we must learn to speak his language. We
have to learn to interpret our message in terms that
he can understand. We must base the teaching we are
trying to impart to him on something he knows.
Let me give you an example.

Not too long ago, I heard a street gang member
being interviewed on television. He was asked if he
would kill.

“Yeah,” he answered.

He was asked what would cause him to kill.
Immediately he responded, “If somebody jumped on
one of my boys, I’d do what I gotta do.”
My ears perked up.

“Did you hear that, Gloria?” I exclaimed. “There’s
a covenant between those kids, and they’re honoring
their covenant.”

If somebody would go into those gangs, preach
the blood of Jesus and talk with those young people
on a basis they understood, we would see some
results. He might ask them: “Did you know that Jesus
is offering Himself as leader of your group, your gang,
your family of people? His message is simple. He’s saying:

‘You come to Me. When the devil jumps on you,
I’ll do what I have to do. I’ll give you My weapons. I
have given you My life.’” Believe me, they would
understand that type of language.

When I preached the blood covenant this way in
Africa, some of those people sat on the edge of their
seats. And they didn’t stay there! They jumped out
onto the floor. I was talking about the foundation of
their culture—their life.

When I began to talk to those people about honor
coupled with that kind of covenant, I presented the
gospel in a way they could understand. In their culture
they would rather die than dishonor a covenant.

They would rather give up their lives than criticize or
curse somebody who is in covenant with their family.
It is a matter of honor. In fact, these people are taught
that they will die if they dishonor a covenant.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

admin Kenneth Copeland, kenneth copeland ministries covenant, honor, language

I must be about my Father’s business (Luke 2:49).

God does not want us to be slothful in conducting
our business. He has honored us by giving it to us. We
have to honor our obligation to Him by running that
business or doing that job to the best of our abilities to
do it in faith.

I’ll give you an example. God has given me this
ministry. He has given me the calling to minister. I
have to honor that call and duty. I made a decision
that I am going to live responsibly and honorably. I
know Jesus wants me to do that, so I am determined
to do it.

I promised God that any time I was called on
to preach or minister, I would be ready; I would be
prepared. That does not mean I want to all the time.

It does not mean I am constantly, consistently prayed
up and ready to go just on a second’s notice. Most
of the time I know in advance when I am going to
preach. I promised the Lord that I would never take
time for myself and my own wants during the periods
I should be preparing to minister to other people.

I am responsible for a prophetic ministry. When
I travel from place to place on behalf of the Lord,
I don’t sightsee. I have been all over the world and
have hardly seen anything but airports, hotels and
convention centers. I don’t go for pleasure or relaxation.
I don’t go to visit or fellowship. I go to do business.

I take seriously Jesus’ instructions to His disciples
as He sent them out to minister. He said, “When
you find a worthy house, stay there” (Matthew 10:11,
author’s paraphrase). I don’t run all over town. I
come prepared, ready to settle down and attend to
business—my Father’s business.

I learned this originally from Oral Roberts; then I
found it in the Word of God. Later, I saw it in Kenneth
E. Hagin and in other anointed men of God.

I have certain time limits that I just won’t violate. I
may be in your presence sometime, look at my watch
and say, “Excuse me, it’s time to go.” I do that because
I am determined to have God’s anointing on me. It is
only with the anointing that I can, in turn, be of help
to you at all. It is only through the anointing that I
can minister effectively to others.

That is the reason all of my children are in the
ministry. That is the reason there is romance in our
family: between Gloria and me, our children and their
mates and our grandchildren. My family and I honor
the business—the ministry—that God has given us. We
honor one another, uplifting one another at all times.
As a result we enjoy the blessing of God upon us.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

admin Kenneth Copeland, kenneth copeland ministries anointing, honor, ministry

And he went out from thence, and came into
his own country; and his disciples follow him.
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?

Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother
of James, and Joses, and of Judah, and Simon?
and are not his sisters here with us? And they
were offended at him. 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. And he could there do no
mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon
a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marveled
because of their unbelief (Mark 6:1-6).
Jesus said that a prophet has no honor in his
own hometown.

When He went back to Nazareth where He had
grown up, He found that there was certainly no
honor for His ministry or for God. The total lack of
honor and appreciation in the people of that city
meant that He could do no mighty works there
because of their unbelief.

To believe God, then, is to honor God. Jesus said
to the Jews, “If anyone honors Me, he honors the
One who sent Me” (John 5:23). When He said that a
prophet is without honor in his own land, and that
He received honor from no man, He was not saying
He refused to receive honor from men. He was saying
He did not receive the honor of men because none
was being offered. There is a big difference between
the two.

He was referring to the fact that many of the people
of His own area did not come to Him to honor God or
His ministry. In fact, they dishonored God by refusing
to believe the Word that Jesus preached.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

admin Kenneth Copeland, kenneth copeland ministries honor, prophet