Build God's Will. Surrender to His Time.

"Council of Kings"

"Oh, Taste and See ... the Lord is Good!"

There is a set of biblical principles that seems to have been forgotten or lost in the Church today. These Principles may be called "Kings and Priests" and describe the proper relationship between godly Pastors, godly men and women of business and commerce and godly finances.

In our Church we have a Ministry called the "Council of Kings", and it is based on these Principles. I want to share some of these Principles with you here today.



"How did Israel work?"

I believe that God's wisdom in the structure of Israel is something that can help us in the New Testament Church. Revelation 1:6 says that we will be kings and priests to our God. In Israel, kings and priests were two distinct and different ministries.

Let's take a look at the roles of priests and kings.

Priests:

1. They carried the responsibility of hearing from God.

2. They offered sacrifices to the people.

3. They received tithes and offerings from the people.

4. They cared for the house of God.

5. They cared for widows and orphans.

6. They watched out for the stranger at the door.

7. They gave encouragement to the people before the battle.



Kings

1. They destroyed the enemies of God.

2. They took the spoils of war.

3. They paid tithes and offerings to the priests.

4. They governed the physical affairs of the nation.



Although the priests were occasionally involved in the government as advisers, they did not move the people to overthrow the bad kings. Rather, they spoke the word of the Lord about the situation and eventually judgment came, while kings sometimes gave directly to the needs of the people. They were not allowed to interfere with the office of the priest. In fact, if a king tried to do the work of a priest, he suffered the judgment of the Lord.

Once, when Saul was impatient to go into battle, he stepped over the line when Samuel was late. The priest was to offer sacrifice and pronounce a blessing on the people before battle (Deuteronomy 20:1-4). When Samuel was late, Saul made the sacrifice and invalidated his position as king. Samuel said to Saul: What have you done? (1 Samuel 13:11). The event was so out of character for a king that Samuel spoke this word of judgment against Saul: But now your kingdom will not continue (I Samuel 11:14).

Although some common ground was allowed, the lines of separation were pretty firm. Some things were just not allowed. This separation brought great respect for both ministries. The king would not go to war without the blessing of the priest. The priest would have nothing to distribute to bless the nation without the king's success in battle.


"The Priests Provided the Vision and the Kings Provided the Provision"

A divine teamwork coexisted for centuries in Israel. Mutual respect born of mutual need. The priests spoke blessing or judgment to the kings, and the kings did not dare harm the priests. When King David sinned with Besaba, and Nathan the prophet came to him with a word of judgment, David accepted the word and did not harm the priest. You can read this account in II Samuel 12:1-15. In fact, when Solomon was born later, it was this same prophet Nathan who was called by David to bless his new son (II Samuel 12:25). Because either taking it upon himself to physically remove the other from the office would bring the wrath of Heaven. They respected God's anointing and calling in ministry, even when man failed in his charge. If God chose, then only God must reject and remove.

Another interesting point is that when God chose the tribe of Levi to be His priests, He divided the tribe of Joseph into two tribes: Ephraim and Manassas, which left twelve other tribes in addition to the priests. Also, Levi was smaller than the other tribes, which meant that when giving tithes and offerings, there were approximately 27 men tithing for every priest. This structure provided ample provision for the priests to care for their responsibilities listed above.

He has always had financial resources to run the Kingdom and always will, if the Levites had tried to take all the truly committed men out of Israel and take the priests out of them, they would have severely upset the balance between vision and provision. It would have been foolish for the tribe of Levi to try to make the other 12 tribes feel guilty because they were not priests. The priesthood was not God's destiny for the other tribes. They were the warriors, the providers, the protectors of the nation.


"New Testament Application"

Please hear me out on this point. I know that we are a royal priesthood and that we will rule and reign. We are all to some extent kings and priests. But could it be that, as a matter of call or emphasis, we can lean more to one side than the other? Could it be that the call to provision could be just as important and equally seen by God as the call to receive the vision? Can we all have a pulpit ministry? If we did, who would pay the bills?

Living at different times in my life on both sides of this fence, I have found that there are two distinct anointings, one for kings and one for priests. Preparing to carry out a healing crusade and preparing a business presentation require you to draw the different strength of God. In the same way that warriors and priests required different strengths and talents, I believe that today the Church needs to develop all its muscles.

I think the modern church, out of ignorance of other options, created subtle pressures for priests to get out of each member. Consequently, we have become a kingdom of priests, not of kings and priests. The Church suffers today from a lack of long-term planning and provision because the king's side of the Kingdom is severely underdeveloped. Kings feel like second-class citizens because they have GIVEn up and moved to some remote jungle to preach. This lack of honor and recognition has left the royal providers feeling as if they are spiritual failures and therefore do not see themselves as necessary, valuable, and necessary for the fulfillment of God's plan on earth. Dissatisfied kings become spectators and eventually drop out because they can't find their place.

I believe that God's call to the King of the Kingdom is as real and necessary as the call to the priest. If the shepherds today understood this simple concept and ministered encouragement to their kings, they would not lose the respect of the people. Rather than lose respect, I believe that divine teamwork would create more powerful and effective churches that could minister in a more relevant way to their communities and eventually to the world. Kings would have more respect for their priests because they would be free, blessed, and sent to war for the Kingdom.


"Kings Fulfilled"

God made men prosper in conquest. When men see their daily life as vitally important for the success of the Kingdom on planet Earth, something changes within them. When Monday through Friday is as great a spiritual experience as Sunday, then we are making progress. For the kings of the God Realm, today's battlefield is the marketplace. When men catch the vision that they go to war to do exploits for God as providers of the Kingdom, the focus of real life ensues. However, when men see the Kingdom as a weekend thing unrelated to their work, their need for conquest is lost. When kings are not GIVEn the proper vision to fight as providers, their need for conquest will turn to other things. You may recall an example of this misplaced conquest from the Bible. When King David should have been in battle with his men, he was home with time on his hands. If he had been planning his battles instead of planning his pleasures, the incident with Besaba might never have happened. You can read the account in I Samuel 11:1-4. Today's kings with a stray conquest may turn to drugs, hunting, alcohol, sexual impropriety, etc., which could eventually drive them out of the Kingdom.

The pastor asks, "Where's George?"

A possible response, "Oh, he's on a hunting trip."

If priests could more effectively show their congregations how to tie their dreams and talents together with the vision of the Kingdom, people would never live a boring life. The reason George is hunting and not worshiping with the saints is because he is looking for a way to satisfy his need for excitement and conquest. Trust me, there is nothing more exciting or rewarding than tying into a vision of God and watching it move forward. Believers, not only will his life be filled with God's challenges, but he will also find that he has less and less time for self-pity, self-indulgence, or other sins.

Sin usually requires a lot of planning, time, thought, and money. When your life is harnessed for the Kingdom, you don't need to look elsewhere to find fulfillment. Take my yoke upon you and lean on me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matthew 11:29-30). To be faithful and responsible, I just don't have the time or desire to run away and pick up a bunch of expensive new habits.

Could you imagine Moses saying, "Oh, this job is fine, I guess, but I think I would have been happier if God had GIVEn me Aaron's job."? Moses was on the king's side and Aaron on the priest's. What we often don't realize is that they were both spiritual men who were equally anointed to do their job. Could you imagine God calling a man to do Kingdom work and not anointing him to do that work? If you want to be anointed, simply submit to God's call on your life.


"Cultural Conquest"

For all the evangelism that has occurred since Jesus left earth, one would think that more of the world would be saved. If we add up all the numbers that all Christian ministries claim as converts, the world has already been saved. Obviously, the world hasn't won yet, so what's the problem? Where are all the converts? It's time for us as Christians to ask ourselves some tough questions about our long-term effectiveness.

In the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:23, the seed was sown, but not all of the seed remained until the harvest was produced. The seed was sown, but with different results:

I. Some fell on the edge of the road and the birds ate them.

These listen to the Word, but it never reaches their understanding; Therefore, there is no positive answer. Before they have a chance to believe, other things distract them.

2. Some fell on stony ground and had shallow roots.

This group hears the Word, and before they fully understand the full Kingdom message, their emotions begin to run away with them. Many of us hope so desperately to be loved and forGIVEn that our emotions drive our response to the Word. The highs of this group are higher than the others, and their lows are lower than any other. Because the true understanding of the Kingdom is pushed aside by this superficial response on the emotional level, when hard times come, there is nothing there to keep the faith. Even though these seem to have a genuine experience, time and hard times show something is missing, as they withdraw from the fervent zeal they had in the beginning.

3. Some sprouted and the thorns choked them.

This group seems to have a genuine answer. They hear the Word, and it seems like they have every intention of going through with their decision. However, somewhere along the way, the daily pressures they just hang on to begin to drain the intensity of their commitment. As much as they want to do what they promised to do, something more important is always demanding their attention. Eventually, their first love loses to neglect. The end result is the same as the first two answers. The only difference is that it takes a bit longer before the Kingdom message becomes ineffective.

4. Some fell on good ground and produced about 100 times, about 60 times, and about 30 times.

When God's Word finds a hungry heart that sincerely responds to heaven's call, tap into spiritual understanding. The heart attitudes of these true believers resonate with the opportunity to GIVE away what they have just received. The reality of their new relationship with the God of Heaven compels them to share the Good News with their entire world. They become witnesses of what they have experienced. As a result, others discover the same peace with God.

These various yields of seed sown can tell us a lot about the effectiveness of different ministries. While evangelists sow seeds, few stay around long enough to watch over the seed to see it come to maturity. They are mainly counting on the fourth group. There are always those who listen to the Word, and nothing will prevent them from reaching maturity. Those who have the fourth answer immediately fall in love with the heavenly message and stay the course, as the Kingdom grows within them, and they themselves begin to bear fruit. If it were not for these determined self-starters and seekers, the evangelist would see little fruit. In fact, most evangelistic ministries look at category two and three responses along with four and believe that everyone who walks down the aisle or raises their hand in some way will stick with their commitment. But we know from the parable that this is simply not true. By sowing the seed and simply leaving it, the harvest will not be three out of four, but rather one out of four.

Simple math tells us that if we think we are 75% effective when in reality we are only 25% effective, we feel like we are winning; But in fact we are losing. The dark is quite content with the status quo. If this is even a fairly accurate representation of our effectiveness, then something quite different is necessary if we are to make major inroads into the strongholds that enslave this lost and needy world.

What is needed to reverse the situation? In Scripture, the failure of the seed sown on stony ground (#2) was due to an excess misplaced enthusiasm. When difficulties arose, there was not enough understanding for the initial commitment to sustain the life of the Gospel seed. The seed sown that was attacked by thorns (#3) indicates that the importance of the decision to receive the good news of the Gospel is simply pushed aside by the many demands of life. I don't know if you see it that way or not, but it seems to me that in this illustration the main enemy of the Gospel is not the devil. In the parable, the devil is only directly involved in the first of the four categories of seeds sown. He just walks out and walks in and steals the Word before the listener understands it. The Word never has a chance to penetrate the listener's understanding; So those seeds never sprout.

By attacking the devil that only directly controls 25% of the seed and ignoring or minimizing the cause of the failure of the other 50% to reach maturity, we may be missing out on a tremendous opportunity to increase the yield of sprouted seed in categories two. And three. So what is the cause of the 50% failure (#'s 2 & 3)? I believe that the world or rather the "culture" of the world attracts twice as many people as the devil does directly. Most of the maintenance preaching, teaching, training and counseling of churches is aimed at taking the 75% success rate of the evangelist and keeping as many of the new converts as possible.

Having pastored for many years, I know that 90% of my time was consumed by 10% of my people, most of whom eventually drifted away no matter how much effort was put into helping them "make it." As these few consumed all he had to GIVE, he occasionally glanced over to realize that many others had simply wondered through lack of interest. Over the years, there have been large numbers of people who seemed to have real faith only to drop the faith and return to a fruitless life. For years I wondered what was wrong and how I was failing as a Pastor.

Now that I've had a few years to step back and take notice, the answer seems pretty simple. The pattern of the culture is so strong that people will over and over again make short-term decisions out of fear, emotion, survival, the need for acceptance, etc. and will put the Gospel aside. Basically, the Church strongly believes in fighting the devil, but when it comes to fighting the culture, we seem to GIVE in.

Oh, we are quick to preach against the dark side of our society. Any good shepherd has a briefcase full of messages intended to persuade the flock not to drink, smoke, complain, or go to dirty movies. The problem is that technology is running faster to deliver the ease of sin and the cares of this world than we are racing to respond to it.

In the Western world, the masses fight so that the lust of the flesh and the cares of life do not stifle the clear call of the Gospel. In the Third World, the struggle to survive makes the decision made last night at the crusade to retreat into the sunlight from the harsh realities of making a living and providing for families in very closed societies. If culture cannot distract decision in the Western world, it threatens survival in the Third World. How can the priests adequately address these challenges without the support and backing of the kings?

I think it is clearly time for some radical changes in strategies to maintain the harvest reaped by evangelists. If kings rose to the occasion and removed the rocks and cut off the thorns, how much more of the harvest could we keep? Recently, when I was able to share the Gospel with a young Muslim man from a West African country, his response was typical. After carefully explaining the difference between Muhammad and Jesus, I asked him if he understood. He said yes. I then asked him if he believed what he had told him.

He said: "You have told me the truth, I agree with you." Then I asked him if he would like to receive Christ, that his sins be forGIVEn and that his name be written in the book of life. His response was typical. He said, "I am a Muslim, my family is Muslim, I work for a Muslim, I have to provide for my family."

Although he clearly understood the Gospel message, the threat of being considered an outcast and not being able to survive in this life prevented him from making the right decision about the life to come. If the economy of his country were controlled by kings of God instead of Muslim businessmen, the culture would not have won.

Instead of preaching against the problems, what do you think would happen if we started offering alternatives? I'm not naive enough to believe that we'll win you every time. However, wouldn't it be nice to see some positive alternatives for a change? Instead of complaining about all the rotten movies, let's put some muscle behind our dissatisfaction and create movies that are uplifting, morally uplifting, and spiritually challenging.

Instead of complaining about the video games kids are playing with all the murder and violence, let's make some games that teach the right things, like the principles of God's Word.

Instead of complaining about Walt Disney's decline into humanism, evolutionism and spiritualism, why not create a family entertainment complex that exalts the glories of the Kingdom to come?

Instead of languishing in the economic bondage of mortgages and high utility bills, why not believe God for ingenious inventions that will transform wealth and GIVE the Christian community financial independence?

Instead of complaining about the condition of our educational system, why not develop curricula that challenge and motivate young believers to excel intellectually so they can rise to leadership positions?

Instead of watching the Third World harvest go by, why not take real investment opportunities and jobs for those who need them and watch the standard of living rise and economic power within these nations makes a change to the God's Kingdom?

If by these and other culture changing moves kings can remove some of the stones and cut some of the thorns, then the success rate of the herders should start to see some positive changes. Teamwork has the opportunity to touch 50% of the seed that has already taken root but needs seriousness to survive.

I believe that exciting days have arrived for the Church. As we advance in cultural conquest, we have the great privilege of changing the effectiveness of the preached Gospel from the 25% to maintaining the 75% who respond positively to the Word. In a short period of time, when we start keeping more of the crop than we are losing, the world will start to look different.

2 Chr. 31:1-12, 20-21

"When all this was finished, all Israel that was present went out to the cities of Judah, broke the images in pieces, cut down the forests, pulled down the high places and the altars of all Judah and Benjamin, In Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them. to all. Then all the children of Israel returned, each to his possession, to his cities."

"Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites according to his commands, each according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister and to GIVE thanks and to praise at the doors of the tents of the Lord ."


"Summary"

Have you ever wondered why all the money seems to be in the hands of the world? Why all the technological innovations being marketed to us by corporations that seem not to answer the world's true need to know God? These questions have haunted me for years. I have asked myself over and over again: "Why can't the Church lead for a change?"

You may have noticed in recent years that strong and mature ministries are on their feet with plans for global evangelism. For these plans to succeed, the royal side of the Kingdom must be equally committed to the cause. Kings must live with the same dedication, sacrifice, and long-term planning that will provide the bridge to transfer the world's wealth to the cause of God. If the wealth of the wicked is reserved for the righteous, God must anoint someone to go after it.

The days of lack must GIVE way by the application of the divine economy to see the provision pursue and achieve the vision. As God has blessed my wife and I to travel the world in pursuit of his development plan, it has been our great joy to see so many respond to these new areas of service.

The door is open for applicants. Anyone who has the inside witness can apply. Can women serve as kings? I'm sure you noticed that this was written with a masculine slant. That is the way it flowed out of my heart.

Scripture says that it is God's will that all men be saved. Does that mean that God did not want women to be saved? Of course not, surely we are all mature enough to know that in Christ there is neither male nor female. Consider the lives of Deborah, Ruth, Esther, Prisilla, and Dorcas to see if their services fit more on the king's side or the priest's side.

Whoever you are, Jew or Greek, free or slave, male or female, if you have heard of God and moved toward his will, there you will find his grace and uncion.

My sincere prayer is that your heart has been opened and that you can see a broader area of service to God. Kings shouldn't feel second class. They are called by God to their duties. Kings, the world seriously needs your gift. The priests seriously need your gift. May God bless you in his personal search to find his place in his body. Once he finds it, serve with all his heart.


I Chronicles 29:2
"Now I have prepared myself with all my might for the house of my God."


(We would like to publicly thank David R. High for his efforts and his book called "Kings and Priests", without whose research and efforts this ministry would not be a reality today).

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