[0:00] I found that interesting what Tim had shared was actually two elements, probably the two elements that he mostly focused on were the two, some ways probably the most life-changing aspects of my life.
[0:16] The first one was my wife and I, we were in our religious system, had gotten married, but we're dedicated to our religion, but not to Christ.
[0:26] And then that question that Tim started out with, an individual asked me, how is your personal relationship with Jesus Christ? And it was that very question.
[0:37] That was exactly what he asked me. That's how he started that conversation. Didn't know the person very well, but he asked me that question, and that was the question that got me to examine myself.
[0:52] And when he asked me that question, I knew clearly that that's what was missing in my life, my relationship with Jesus Christ. And then it was probably about 10 years after that, those 10 years I was, I would say, very dedicated to the Lord.
[1:10] But then the aspect of living for God's glory is what really began to do a new focus in my life, to think about living for God's glory.
[1:23] And I think I mentioned a little bit about that Thursday night, how Moses was told to step aside. God was going to destroy the people and make a great nation out of Moses.
[1:35] But Moses felt like that would not bring glory to God if God would destroy the people that he had brought out of Egypt. And so thank you, Timmy, for sharing those.
[1:48] And then the aspect of marriage relationship and how that, you know, we care about each other in marriage. And I was thinking about this person that shared this with me.
[2:02] I don't know if he ever even really came to clearly to the Lord, but he was a refugee in Greece and was sharing with him. He got to have a close connection with him, just a very fine young fellow from Nepal.
[2:19] And so he wasn't a believer as such, but he was very open, easy to talk to. I think about him now and then, wonder if he ever really came to the Lord.
[2:29] But as I was talking to him about that aspect about Moses, I think I was specifically talking about that, how Moses lived for God's glory. And then this young man who didn't even know the Lord, he made a statement that to me in his simplicity was very profound.
[2:48] And yet it was like you could get it. He said he was like identifying about how many people may not really live for his glory.
[3:00] And he said it this way. How many people actually say to God, God, how are you doing? And that's how he said it in his simple way of saying things is like, would that not be better that we would think, God, how are you doing?
[3:16] How does this affect you? How does this impact you rather than? And that's, you know, in marriage, is that not what a real relationship is, is we're thinking, are you doing OK?
[3:27] Rather than always thinking about ourselves. And so also I appreciated the scripture that Mike shared and that aspect.
[3:40] In all these things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Can you say amen this morning? In all these things. And he had in that chapter, he had listed a number of things that we could look at that can overwhelm an individual and destroy a person.
[3:57] You know, the trials, the tribulation, the famine. And he lists quite intense aspects that can take place. But then he says in all these things.
[4:09] Amen. Not in spite of, not without these things, but in all these things, we are what? More than conquerors. How? Through him that loved us.
[4:20] And so we can get lots of encouragement from those aspects of the word of God. So this morning, I'm going to kind of build somewhat off of Thursday evening, talking about the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
[4:39] And I would say, you know, my end goal is, and I'll be looking at some aspects of how to position ourself for the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
[4:55] And our end goal should be, and that's, you know, I don't know how much I'll bring it to that. But this is the heart, I believe, of God, is that we as a people, not just as an individual, but we as a people could say, you anoint our heads with oil.
[5:14] As a people, you know, it's one thing for me to say, Lord, anoint me with the Holy Spirit. Send your anointing upon me. But it's a greater element of love and unity and one heart and one mind if we together say, Lord, anoint us with.
[5:31] And then the impact, and we saw in Isaiah, what was it the other, was it 62? When Jesus said, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, he hath anointed me. And then the impact, you know, to bind up the brokenhearted.
[5:44] So, again, that should be our desire, our end goal is, Lord, anoint us with the anointing of your Holy Spirit. And then we can have, expect that impact that the church can have.
[5:59] Can you say amen this morning? To bind up the brokenhearted, bring deliverance to the captives. And so many things there that Jesus, Jesus mentioned.
[6:10] And again, think this morning with me, us, not me, you know. I think it's fine, but sometimes I am a little challenged with a lot of the songs we sing.
[6:23] The courses especially is talking about me, you know, rather than us. And sometimes I think it's good, and we do that back in Lancaster. Sometimes we just say, okay, now we're going to sing this song again, but we're not going to say me.
[6:35] We're going to say us. And it's pretty easy to do that because us and me is not, you know, when you're the way you sing a song. It's pretty easy just to.
[6:46] But let's think about that this morning is, Lord, anoint us, anoint our heads with oil. Or as David said, thou anointest my head with oil.
[6:57] It was a reality that he was experiencing, not just something that he was desiring. Yes. And that we would come more and more to that place where we could say, you're anointing my head with oil.
[7:11] Or you're anointing our heads with oil. And to think about, you know, rather than just God anointing one individual or a few individuals.
[7:24] Think about the impact, you know, if God anoints a church with the Holy Spirit. And that's biblical, right? That's the book of Acts, is it not? They were all together in one, and the Spirit of God came upon them, not as an individual.
[7:41] Think about the affiliation, the churches we work together with. If the anointing comes upon our churches. And you think about, you know, that's, you think about history.
[7:51] There was a movement, movements that come out of God anointing a people. Not a man as such, not one man or one woman, but a group of people with the Holy Spirit.
[8:05] So, when we think of the anointing of the Holy Spirit, we're referring to the empowerment, the consecration, the endowment of individuals or a group of believers by God, okay?
[8:22] The empowerment that God gives, the endowment that God gives a group of believers or an individual for specific tasks or specific responsibilities or ministries or roles.
[8:39] God, through His Spirit, equips, consecrates, and empowers individuals for His service, for the ministry, and for the fulfillment of His will on earth.
[8:51] Can you say amen? That's what the anointing of the Holy Spirit should produce, is to empower us, you know, first of all, what that does is we're empowered to live a victorious life and not to live according to the works of the flesh.
[9:09] You know, without that, I expect all of us have tried to live a righteous life, but not been very successful without, if I can say, the grace of God, which is the anointing, is we experience the grace of God.
[9:25] But as the anointing comes upon us, then we're empowered, we're equipped. And what, again, is the end result is so that His name is glorified.
[9:38] Brother James started out Thursday evening with the scripture. Jesus said that I might be glorified in them or that thou mightest be.
[9:49] I'm trying to remember if it was that thou mightest be glorified in them or that I might be. I said, is it thou, I think, James, in that thou mightest be glorified in them. Isn't that God's desire?
[10:01] And is He not worthy of that, that He might be glorified in us? So we're going to look at various aspects of this this morning.
[10:12] Again, a couple of verses before we continue. And I found this interesting, some of the aspects that I had never really put together so much out of John chapter 17.
[10:23] I've kind of known these verses individually. But when I saw that they're all kind of following each other, the first one, which, again, was a theme that really has had an impact in my life.
[10:37] And I trust that it will continue to sanctify me more and more is the statement Jesus made. John 17, verse 4. I have glorified thee on the earth.
[10:50] I have finished the work that you gave me to do. Okay, so that's in John 17, verse 4, where Jesus made the proclamation, I have glorified thee on the earth.
[11:00] And then again, the one that James quoted on Thursday evening is actually just six scriptures later, where Jesus said, I am glorified in them.
[11:11] I am glorified in them. So interesting, as I was pondering this, is, you know, he says, I have glorified thee on the earth. And now he's thinking about leaving.
[11:22] And now he makes the statement, I am glorified in them, which is us. Can you say amen this morning? It's not just that he glorified God on the earth while he was here. But now he's adding to that is now his people.
[11:35] He is glorified in his people. The Amplified says this. I am glorified in through them. They have done me honor. In them, my glory is achieved.
[11:49] In them, my glory is achieved. Can you see the amazing calling upon the body of Christ, upon the church? He is glorified in us.
[12:02] His glory is achieved in us. You think about if the church is not on the earth. And I thought about that in the recent elections. And, you know, my wife and I, we voted this time.
[12:16] We just felt like it was appropriate that we vote. We don't always vote. But I, as there was people analyzing that a lot of believers don't vote, kind of from a critical perspective is the concept.
[12:30] But, you know, I thought about that as what is more important that believers vote. And I'm not advocating this morning whether they should or not.
[12:41] But you think about the biggest difference is not whether they vote or not. It's just them being on the earth that makes the biggest difference. Are you with me?
[12:51] Like, if they wouldn't be on the earth, if the believers wouldn't be on the earth, you think about what the earth would be like. And so it's him being glorified in us.
[13:03] And then still in that same chapter, Jesus now says, when he says, I'm glorified in them. And then a couple of scriptures later, verses later, it says, the glory which you gave me, I have given them.
[13:21] Can you say amen this morning? He says, the glory which you gave me, I have given them that they all might be one as you and I are one. And so this is God's heart.
[13:33] This is his desire that he would be able to anoint us. And we experience his glory. He says, I have the glory which you gave me.
[13:44] I have given them. So it's good for us this morning to have the expectation, the confidence that, yes, it's his desire.
[13:56] And again, we're going to read these verses out of 61 and verse 1. We looked at Thursday evening. Jesus said, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me.
[14:08] Can you say amen this morning? The spirit of the Lord God is upon me. He hath anointed me. And this is for believers today that we could have this through Jesus abiding in us and him being exalted in the church and him having the preeminence that we can experience this, that the spirit of the Lord God is upon us.
[14:27] And he anoints us. To preach good tidings to the meek. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison to them that are bound.
[14:42] Can you say hallelujah this morning? That the spirit of the Lord, the anointing, where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. You've experienced that, yes? Him bringing liberty.
[14:53] When the spirit of God comes upon a man, the spirit of God comes upon a woman, you find joy and happiness. And you say, like David, or somewhere in the Psalms is, Lord, set my spirit free that I might worship thee or that I might praise you.
[15:09] And that's what we experience when the spirit of the Lord rests upon us and we find freedom and liberty and joy and peace. The Bible says the kingdom of God is not meat and drink.
[15:21] It's not just about eating and drinking, but it's righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. That's the anointing. We have righteousness that comes forth out of our lives. We tried for many years before to live a righteous life and without the grace of God, without the anointing.
[15:37] But when the spirit of God rests upon a man, upon a woman. You know, I've been enjoying the aspect that I've been hearing from some of you. Mike, I think yesterday, a couple others I heard that seems like the aspect of somebody being enlightened, but not transformed.
[15:55] And that's been growing on me since I've been hearing you talk about that is, you know, a person can be enlightened, but not transformed. But if any man be in Christ and the anointing comes upon a people, we're not just enlightened.
[16:08] We are transformed. Can you say amen this morning? We are transformed. And we've all, I believe, experienced the anointing coming upon us. And we find ourselves saying things that we're just like, that is so amazing what God is doing in my life.
[16:24] And my desire is this morning that we would have a greater hunger and a greater thirst to experience the anointing, to experience the Holy Spirit. Where, you know, Jesus, John said, who you see, whom you see, the person that you see, the spirit of God abiding upon.
[16:43] That's the same that baptizes with the Holy Ghost. There's something about the Holy Spirit coming in and just dwelling with the people, abiding upon a person rather than just you experience it now and then.
[16:54] I believe God wants to make his abode with us. And the spirit of God is abiding upon us. I think I have a little bit later in my notes. I may bring that out now. The dove, the spirit of God is like a dove.
[17:08] And who did he abide upon in the person of Christ? It was the Lamb of God, the Lamb of God. So you think about a lamb different than a goat.
[17:18] You know, a lamb is meek and and he said, I am meek and lowly of heart. And the dove, you see the tenderness of a dove. Right. So for the dove, the Holy Spirit to abide upon us, we need to have the meekness and the gentleness of a lamb.
[17:35] Can you say amen this morning that without that? Because we enjoy and God enjoys the Holy Spirit enjoys being with people that are like him.
[17:47] OK, and he is humble and meek and lowly of heart. And so if we're not like that, how is he going to feel comfortable being with us? And so meekness and gentleness of heart.
[18:00] I always started reading these scriptures. He says, Spirit of the Lord is upon me, has anointed me. Jumping ahead a little bit here, we read some of them. The opening of the prison to them that are bound to proclaim the aseptal year of the Lord in the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto those who are mourning in Zion, to give unto them beautiful ashes.
[18:22] This is all after he said, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He hath anointed me. These are all the impact. These are all the evidence or the fruit or the results that come from the Spirit of the Lord, from the anointing be upon a man or a people.
[18:37] Is those who are mourning are comforted to give to them beautiful ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, all so that he might be glorified.
[18:56] Can you say amen this morning? There's all these things that come out of people that are mourning and now they are comforted, the people that are brought deliverance, that were in captivity, the people that were bound are set free and they become trees of righteousness so that he might be glorified.
[19:19] One of the things when you ask for the anointing, I think I mentioned this on Thursday evening, I used Elijah and Elisha as an example, that Elijah had been anointed by God, Elijah, and now God was preparing to take him and Elisha was aware of that, as well as the 50 other prophets, various other prophets that were aware that Elijah was.
[19:46] And so during that time, Elijah told Elisha numerous times, I'm going to this city, I'm going to this area, Bethel, Gilgal, and you'll stay here.
[19:59] And each time Elisha said, no, no, no, no, no, I'm not staying here, I'm going with you. Wherever you go, I'm going. Can you say amen this morning? And so why was he wanting to stay with Elijah is because there was that relationship.
[20:16] And finally, Elijah asked him, what is it that you're wanting? You continue to insist, and Elijah wasn't offended by that.
[20:28] It was, I believe, a test. Sometimes God says, okay, Mike, just stay here and just be content. You know, it's a test. It's not a command. And some people take that as a command, that, yeah, we're going to stay right here.
[20:40] You know, I'm not moving anywhere, you know. But then there's sometimes there's a hunger in somebody and say, no, no, God, I want more. I want more. I'm going to, you know, take my whole family to another state if I need to, because I'm looking for more.
[20:53] And that's what Elisha was experiencing when he was given the opportunity just to be content and, you know, it'll be fine. He said, no, no, no, no. I want, I want, I'm willing to.
[21:06] But then my point is, is what was he told when he said, I want a double portion. To me, that was like, I really want the anointing that you have.
[21:17] I want the power of God that you have. I want all of it. And even twice as much as you have, he said, you, Elijah said, you've asked for a difficult thing. You've asked for a hard thing.
[21:28] So I think from that, and I don't think it's strange for us to, to realize that, you know, if Nancy, if you really want to be a woman of God, if Rachel, you know, any of us really want to be men or women of God, you're going to go through some trials.
[21:44] You're going to go through some battles. You know, the enemy is going to fight against you. And the enemy will use people and circumstances and situation. And so Elijah didn't hide that from Elisha.
[21:58] You know, he wasn't discouraging him. He was just like, look, you got to face reality. You got to, Jesus said, you should count the cost. Before you go down that path, you should realize that, okay, you might face some challenges.
[22:12] Getting back to the scripture that Mike said, but in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Can you say amen? So that doesn't dishearten us, but it also makes us realize that, okay, I should be, I should be prepared.
[22:26] If I really want to be a woman of God, I really want to be a man of God. I should be prepared that I'll probably have to spend a lot of times on my knees and crying out for grace and saying, God, I need your grace upon my life because we are going to face some difficulties.
[22:40] Yes. But those difficulties, what Satan means to destroy us, God actually uses those to refine us. Yes. God uses those trials and difficulties, those tears that were coming out of our hearts, out of our eyes that were shedding.
[23:01] God uses those to humble us, to prove us, to test us. And at the end of it all, we say it's good for me that I've gone through these difficulties.
[23:12] Yes. Sometimes, sometimes we're more in danger and I'm not the first person to quote this, but sometimes we're usually more in danger through prosperity than we are in trials.
[23:24] Yes. Sometimes we're more in danger of pride and arrogance and self-confidence. And so Paul said, you know, it was like I had the sentence of death. We had the sentence of death upon us. Like God brought the, so many situations upon us so that we don't trust in ourselves, but in God who raised, oh, and it's the God who raises the dead.
[23:44] Hallelujah. Yes. He said, but in God. And by the way, that God that we're, we come to trust in, he allows difficulties and the sentence of death is like upon us.
[23:55] It's so that we trust in God. And, oh, by the way, he's the one who raises the dead. So we are full of faith and full of confidence in the midst of our hard thing that Elijah said.
[24:08] I found it interesting when Jesus said then in the New Testament, he's quoting Isaiah 62. It says he, it's interesting, you know, he says he, he, he, he was in the, and he found the place where it was written.
[24:26] Right? It says he found the place where it was written. Isaiah 62. And he, he read the scriptures. He opened the book. He found the place where it was written. And he said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me and he hath anointed me.
[24:37] This is now the New Testament. This is now Jesus quoting the Old Testament. He says, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me. He has, he's reading the scriptures, but he's reading it in a way that the people know he's talking about himself.
[24:51] Yeah, that's what happened. He's reading the scriptures, but he's reading it with authority or he's reading it with like, and, and what happens there? We're talking about, you've asked for a hard thing.
[25:01] If you read in that scripture, it was in the same chapter. They're trying to throw him over a cliff. You see what happens when you say, I want the anointing. I have the anointing.
[25:13] God is with me. I'm going to bring deliverance to the captives. I'm going to bind up the brokenhearted. I'm going to see the church body. I'm going to be a blessing to the church body. And then the enemy is like, oh, I'm going to have to stop this, this individual.
[25:25] Yes. And so they tried to throw him over a cliff and it says he, he escaped through their midst and went his way. I like when it says those things a couple of times, you see they were trying to kill him, trying to destroy him.
[25:41] And you read a little bit further and he's, what's he doing? He's healing a blind man. You know, he just keeps right on walking. Yes. He doesn't have time to sit there, pity himself and, and, and, and say, oh, these people, you know, and fight back against them.
[25:56] He just, he has a mission. He has a calling on his life. He has the anointing and it's not to argue with people. Yes. It's, it's, it's to bring deliverance to the captives. So literally you can see various times in the scripture when he had a big problem, you, you'll keep reading a little bit further and you'll see he was ministering to somebody.
[26:15] Yes. Wasn't distracted. May God give us the grace to be those people. Isaiah 49 says, he has made my mouth like a sharp short sword in the shadow of his hand.
[26:28] He hid me. He made me a polished shaft and his quiver. He hid me and said to me, you are my servant. Oh, Israel and whom I will be glorified. Not sure that I'm going to, the time keeps moving here, but maybe I'll just touch this, you know, a polished shaft.
[26:43] He says, you made me a polished shaft. This, this was in the streams of the desert that says there's a beach in California. California, where there's stones. Okay.
[26:54] A beach and the, the waves come into that in a, in a way that. Hit the, the stones. Continually, these waves that, and people come from all over the world to look at these.
[27:11] I'm going to just read this now. Tourists from all over the world come together around these stones that become so beautiful. How did they become beautiful? Right? Because they're always being battered by the waves.
[27:25] But it says, but streams of the desert says, but go a little bit off to the side around the point of the cliff that breaks off. The cliff breaks off the force of the sea and up in that quiet place behind the cliff where the water still comes, but not the waves.
[27:46] it's like a cove sheltered from the storm and lying always there. It's always pleasant. The sun is shining there. You'll find an abundance of pebbles, but they are never chosen by the tourists because they don't have the beauty.
[28:03] The ones that are always in that. So isn't that a possibility in our lives that those who go through challenging times, if we don't get bitter, if we don't get resentful, if we keep our faith, we come forth like pure gold.
[28:19] Can you say amen this morning? And we say, Lord, that grace that you give me. And it's these kind of things I believe that then position us to continue for the anointing to abide upon us for the Holy Spirit to remain with us.
[28:39] So one, I said I'm going to have various elements. of having the anointing. And I would like to say a small bit here about the need if you really want the Holy Spirit, the anointing in your life, the need just to have faith, just to believe.
[28:57] Are you with me this morning? And Paul said to the Galatian church, he says, who has bewitched you? Like it was quite a strong statement, but he said, did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?
[29:10] Okay. So did you receive the Spirit? And then he says, he that works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law or hearing of faith? I think it's, so again, for us to have the anointing, for us to receive the Spirit, first of all, we received it by faith, not by the works of the law.
[29:29] Can you say amen, Joe? When you received the grace of God, it wasn't because you became good enough to receive the Spirit of God. Yes? It was because your faith, your faith in Jesus Christ.
[29:43] And so, for us to, and I want all of us to hunger and thirst, Lord, I want more anointing, you know, it really needs to come with a simple, Lord, we're looking to you and we're believing.
[29:54] We have faith. Yes? And so, may the Lord increase our faith to believe the Scripture, you know, and James, I'm not sure if you and I talked a little bit about this, I think we did and James and Carol were so gracious to have my wife and I again stay at their house and such love and hospitality they give us when we come here.
[30:16] But the aspect of, you know, the spiritual gifts in operation, for one thing, the spiritual gifts will not be operating unless the anointing, and James made a statement something about how could you have the spiritual gifts in operation unless it's the Holy Spirit in your midst, right?
[30:36] It's the gifts of the Spirit. It's like, yes, hello. We're not going to have the spiritual gifts in operation. And how do those take place?
[30:47] You know, again, the anointing, but they come forth through faith. You know, one of the, it says about even prophecy, which is a spiritual gift, is you should prophesy in proportion, I don't know if that's the word proportion, but to me, it's like in proportion to your faith.
[31:04] It's like, if you don't have faith, you're not going to prophesy. And the spiritual gifts, oh, they, we need to pray, God, increase my faith.
[31:17] Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to you, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. Without faith, it's impossible to please God.
[31:31] Yes? Without faith, it's impossible to please God. So may God deliver us from just becoming a good, oh, we have a good organized church, we have good structure, and we begin to rely on our good structure rather than always just saying, you know, we walk by faith, and we're looking to God.
[31:49] Another aspect, and I think I quoted this scripture without expounding on it on Thursday evening, he that believeth on me, and my focus right now is he that believeth on me as the scripture has said, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.
[32:12] Okay? So for the anointing to be upon us, to have those rivers, and that's what we're desiring, to have rivers of living water flowing from us so that people that are mourning can be comforted, people that need deliverance can find deliverance in all the elements in Isaiah 62 that Jesus spoke about when he said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, hath anointed me, and this is the outcome, is he said, if we believe on him like the scripture has said.
[32:45] Like the scripture has said. Sometimes people believe but not from a very solid biblical foundation. Yes? But if we believe on him and we go back to it is written, it is written, it is written.
[33:03] Okay? And what a powerful place to be, not even just from a solid doctrinal foundation but even inspirational to be able to say, greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world.
[33:19] Yes? That's what the Bible says. And we stand on the scriptures. Greater is he that, and so we're facing battles but we make that proclamation that the one who is in me, the anointing that I have, I have a pastor friend from Puerto Rico and he very often, and he stands for truth, he's a man who loves righteousness and he goes through a lot of battles because of that but he very often in our conversation, a lot of times on the telephone, he talks about, you know, if we have the anointing, everything's going to be okay.
[33:54] If we keep ourselves in the anointing, I believe that. If you keep yourself in the grace of God, in the anointing, the Holy Spirit is upon a man who can be against you and you can say, greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world and you can go to bed at night and sleep peacefully regardless of how many things are taking place against you.
[34:17] So he that believeth on me as the scripture has said, another aspect of positioning ourselves for the anointing, this one is an important element for us, I believe.
[34:29] If you want to position yourself to have the anointing resting upon your life, this is an important element. Jesus said, or prophetically about Jesus, Jesus didn't say it, but it's prophetically about Jesus.
[34:43] It's written, you have loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore, God, even your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy above your fellows.
[34:53] Why? Was he anointed? Because he loved righteousness and he hated iniquity. So for us to position ourselves that the anointing will rest upon us is we need to more and more say, I want to love righteousness and I want to hate iniquity.
[35:11] You know, it's kind of a strong word in our day when we try to be nice to everybody and there we don't hate iniquity. We might maybe do not approve of it, but it's time we get to the place where we hate iniquity.
[35:22] Are you with me this morning? We love righteousness and we hate iniquity and we don't compromise for the sake of finding favor, men pleasers. You know, you quoted the verse, you're seeking to please men.
[35:34] That was the religious people in Jesus' day. They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. And therefore, they were not living for the glory of God ultimately.
[35:45] They may have fooled themselves to thinking, but when you come to the place where you love righteousness, you hate iniquity, you don't really care how much criticized you are, but you have a desire to please God.
[35:59] And that positions, it positioned Jesus to be anointed with the oil of joy above the others because he loved righteousness and he hated iniquity.
[36:10] We read the verses or I'm not sure if we actually read those verses, but it talks about being trees of righteousness. So again, the response to Jesus' love for righteousness and hatred for iniquity, the response to that was God's anointing, the oil of gladness, symbolizing joy, divine approval, and the empowerment by the Holy Spirit for his ministry work.
[36:34] Jesus was empowered with joy. He had the divine approval from God. He was empowered by the Holy Spirit for his ministry work, the oil of gladness, because he loved righteousness and he hated iniquity.
[36:49] Actually, we did read that element where he, that being called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified, that is in those verses in Isaiah chapter 61.
[37:07] A quick point on this one as far as desiring the anointing or positioning ourself before the anointing is we need to ask, Jesus said, I say to you, ask and it shall be given to you.
[37:22] Seek and you will find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. And then he says in the same time there, if you know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask?
[37:43] Who ask? You're not offending God if you say, God, I want the anointing and give me a double portion. This generation needs young men and young women and they need a church where they are hungry for the glory of God.
[37:59] They are hungry for the anointing of God. They're not satisfied just to have a good program. You know, you've got lots of good programs in America today. Yes? Lots of good churches and, you know, I was saying a million dollar buildings, but actually they're 20 million dollar buildings where you walk in and it's like, wow, this is great.
[38:19] And we've got lots of good programs. But what about just the people? You know, I think Peter, I don't think they had big buildings back then. You know, they had what? They had the power of God in their life.
[38:30] Yes? They had the anointing of God in their life. They didn't, it doesn't look like they had lots of good structures. Now, you know, I believe structure is fine and they, you know, they ordained seven because, was it seven?
[38:43] They ordained because they had a program to feed the widows and things, you know, they had some program. But beyond all that, they had the anointing of God. They had the power of God. So it's good for us to ask.
[38:56] He wants us to ask. I felt inspired by this a couple months ago is where it seemed like God just said, ask. Oh, you want the Holy Spirit?
[39:07] Ask. And then when you ask, then seek. And he says, ask, seek, and knock. So there's three elements there, not just ask and then quit asking.
[39:18] And I think one of the versions says, ask and keep asking and keep asking and keep asking. Yes? Seek and knock. You know, it's like, don't just ask one time and say, okay, I've asked and I guess, I guess he doesn't have a big plan for my life because I've been asking and no, no, no.
[39:34] You keep pressing and do like Elisha did and say, no, I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to follow you. I'm going to follow Jesus wherever it leads. Yes? Positioning ourself for the anointing.
[39:47] He says he dwells in the high and holy place. Also with those who have contrite and humble spirits. Yes? So we need to have, as I mentioned, the dove and the lamb is the dove came upon the lamb of God.
[40:00] And so we need to position ourself in humility and meekness. We need to draw near to God. He will draw near to us. Okay, my last point is unity.
[40:14] My last point is unity. For us to experience the anointing, how good and how pleasant when brethren dwell together in unity.
[40:28] Yes? I would say you can ask, you can seek, you can knock, but if there's strife, how is the Holy Spirit going to come if there's strife in your midst? The scripture various times in my life had a profound challenge and impact in my life.
[40:45] I trust I yielded to it. It says, a dry morsel and quietness therewith is better than a house full of sacrifices with strife.
[40:56] Okay? A dry morsel. Who wants to be a dry morsel? Well, nobody, but he says that's better than being super spiritual and bringing strife. Are you with me this morning?
[41:07] A dry morsel and quietness therewith is better than a house full of sacrifices if it brings strife, if it brings division. This is how much God desires unity.
[41:21] And he says we should be meek and lowly of heart towards each other in meekness and gentleness, preferring one another before ourselves. And so, let's read it.
[41:34] How good and how pleasant when brethren dwell together in unity. It is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, that went down to the skirts of the garments as the dew of Hermon and the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion.
[41:57] For there, there, what happened? The Lord commanded a blessing, even life forevermore. Isn't that powerful? When God commands a blessing upon a people, who's going to be able to stop the blessing?
[42:11] The gates of hell cannot stop the blessing. When God commands a blessing upon a family, upon a church, upon an individual, God says, you have found favor in my sight. And here, in this context, it's saying, when brethren dwell together in unity, the end result of that is God commanding a blessing.
[42:34] It's like the precious ointment. We're talking about the anointing. It doesn't use the word anointing, but clearly that precious anointment that comes down over a people, clearly he's talking about the Holy Spirit, about the anointing.
[42:47] And that takes place when brethren dwell together in unity. Does that go along with the New Testament? I would say absolutely when the day of Pentecost.
[42:58] This is now in the New Testament. When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all what? With one accord. Where? In one place.
[43:09] They weren't in one accord just by watching online. You know, that's okay, but they weren't just watching things online and it's pretty easy to get along if we're not all in one place.
[43:22] Yes? I get along really, really good with the church in Africa. I hardly ever see them and I don't have much contact so it's easy for me to get along with them. Yes? Because they don't see my weaknesses.
[43:33] I don't see their weaknesses. But when we're all together in one place and we're in one accord in that situation, that's a real evidence that we have love and the Spirit of God is pleased to come upon a people that are in one accord in one place working through their trials, working through their difficulties and not ignoring, you know, when you've offended me, I don't just go to another church and it's like, oh, we're going to work this out.
[44:05] Yes? It's possible we get offended because we're flesh and blood. You know, I make mistakes, you make mistakes. Yes? We fool ourselves if we say that, you know, I am so spiritual that I know people make mistakes but not me because I'm real spiritual.
[44:22] Yeah? Oh, okay. We just got done making a mistake right there. Yes? Okay, but when we work through those things and we say, no, I'm not going anywhere. We're going to work together.
[44:33] So they were all together in one place in one accord and suddenly, suddenly, can you say praise the Lord this morning? Suddenly, there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire and it sat upon a couple of them.
[44:57] No, that's not what it said. It sat upon each one of them. Yes? They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. The anointing came upon all of them. The glory of God.
[45:07] That's what we're looking for is not just a couple people but that we're all together in one accord and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. All right, I am going to touch on this one.
[45:20] I told you I have one more point. This is still my point on unity but I'm going to give you one of the most effective ways. I think this is one of the most effective ways in our generation one of the most effective ways to hinder the anointing.
[45:38] Okay? One of the most effective ways to hinder the anointing is bring disunity. Yes? And I'm going to expound on one of the most effective ways to bring disunity which will hinder the anointing.
[45:57] So I'm kind of saying two things here. One is disunity does what? It hinders the glory of God. Yes? And now I'm saying the other thing is how what is the most effective way to bring disunity?
[46:13] That's what I want to focus on a little bit because we recognize that if how good and how pleasant when brethren dwell together in unity God commands a blessing there and it's like the oil going down which I think I have some notes there.
[46:26] I might not get to that but you know that in itself is from the head Jesus the head and it goes down from there over Aaron's beard and over his whole body and that's what God wants I believe that's a picture of you know the head is anointed and it comes down over the elders and down over the whole body.
[46:44] Can you say amen this morning? That's what God wants you know comes from the head down over the beard and it's like the dew which that dew you know brought life and lots of things that the heavy dew brought but now we're looking at breaking that unity destroying that unity and what is one of the most effective ways to bring disunity right?
[47:09] Okay so again disunity will stop the anointing or hinder the anointing but then how do what is one of the most effective ways and we're not looking for that but it's good for us to be aware of what can bring disunity?
[47:27] To me this is a very big one in our day one of the most effective ways to bring disunity Paul says this being reviled we bless being persecuted we suffer it which I think he was saying we allow it if we're persecuted first of all he says when we are reviled we bless those who revile us when we are persecuted we suffer it that's the King James he may be saying two things here is one is we allow it we suffer it we allow it and also we suffer through it yes it affects you when you're persecuted but then he uses the word and we're going to look at that being defamed being defamed we entreat he uses three statements here the first one is what?
[48:22] reviled persecuted and being defamed so he's talking about three elements I believe it's not all the same element and I would like to think as I you know ponder this and you go through experiences and you you can identify with elements but to be reviled I imagine if somebody is going to revile Joe he's going to be in your face and really you know confrontational where everybody knows this person does not like Joe right you're reviled I tend to think when somebody is reviled for the most part believers can detect that okay that doesn't seem right yes because it's so straightforward so bold I think persecuted is a little less in your face it's still there I think defamed to defame Joe is very very subtle and is the most effective way for me to get people to think about negative things about Joe to defame
[49:31] Joe first of all to defame him I'm probably going to say you know I really like Joe but then my next statement is going to be but that's going to be my next statement because Joe he's a good person but you see I'm very subtly I'm getting people to think negatively of Joe and to defame Joe the more people that think negatively of Joe I think we call that then a stronghold okay it's now a lot of people are thinking a certain way and the more people that think that way the more you're sure that we are right because it's not just me that thinks that way about Joe it's we together and it becomes a stronghold where sometimes that can be really really hard to break to me this is one of the most effective ways to bring disunity is to defame somebody
[50:32] I personally think that's what happened to David when Absalom he defamed David it doesn't use that word but when you analyze it Absalom he didn't revile David I don't think he even persecuted him but he began to say things about David that just caused you to question is he really looking out for our best he didn't say like really bad things about David are you with me when you look back at the garden that's actually how the serpent did about God well God knows that if you eat from that tree you know God is is keeping something good from you he didn't the serpent didn't say God is like like a bad God but he began to get the people to question Eve the question is God really looking out for my best oh he said I'm not supposed to eat from that tree but the serpent is saying if I eat from that tree
[51:39] I'm going to be like God so he's defaming God yes I believe that's what happened to Moses they tried they tried to defame Aaron and Miriam tried to defame Moses I find this one interesting because when you want to defame somebody you're not really going to expose what you have against the person but you're going to try to find something that everybody can identify with you're going to try to find a weakness Jerry right so everybody knows Jerry has some kind of weakness suppose he does I don't know you've got some kind of weakness all right it doesn't mean you're a bad person doesn't mean you're a big sinner but you've got something that your wife would say hey you know Jerry come on but if your wife wants to defame you she will take that one thing that may be not that big but she will begin to focus on that one thing I'm not going to use you as an example because it's not good but you get my point is you're going to look for something that everybody can identify with yeah we know that he has that problem that might not be that's not your reason why you want to put him down right
[52:55] I think that way about Donald Trump I think okay about a couple other rulers in the world okay I'm not saying they're good people but the reason they're trying to destroy them is not because of their weaknesses it's because they're standing against their agenda right they're trying to destroy Trump not because he is a bad person I mean I'm not I'm sure he's got some weaknesses I'm sure he's done some things that are wrong but that's not what they're trying to put him down it's when he stands against your agenda so you find something in the person's life and to me that's what happened with Miriam and Aaron Aaron is he married an Ethiopian woman okay so everybody could kind of identify like is that was that really right for him to do that now that was not the reason that they were trying to defame him because you can read and it says oh you're just who do you think you are you're the only one that hears from God that was their underlying motive that they had against Moses are you with me is he was hearing from God and they weren't getting the recognition that
[53:56] Moses was getting and so the their I believe their root issue was as they were jealous they had envy against Moses but then they found something that he did that maybe everybody would question should have you actually got married do you see how you defame somebody they didn't come out right and say you know James is just a bad person but you find something in the person and you begin to make little statements here and there like you know James he's a good person but and everybody starts listening to that and you're like yeah you're right you're right and then you you'll get your opinion based on emotions based on what other people are saying and what happens disunity only disunity and and I'm not saying James doesn't have any problem not saying that I'm just saying what's the root issue here yes what's the root issue that people are starting and I'm not I don't know anything I'm just saying you know from my personal thinking when I read these verses here some time ago to revile to persecute and to defame and I began to say what does it mean to defame you know he says we've we've been defamed we've been reviled we've been persecuted and we've been defamed what does it mean to defame somebody and I came to the conclusion what I'm expounding on this morning is to defame somebody you do it in a very subtle way the end results are well let me say this again I mentioned it earlier but this is the most vulnerable this is the greatest impact for the body of Christ because again you don't detect that as near as easily when you revile somebody yes so you look for a way to accomplish that aspect of trying to destroy somebody but you do it in a very subtle way so again my notes from my study here some time ago I think being reviled could perhaps be the easier way to I think being reviled could perhaps be easier to deal with than being defamed since being defamed can take place in a much more subtle way and it's much more difficult to discern whether the accusations are true or not people can be defamed by focusing on their weakness and exaggerating how wrong they have been more people are convinced to take a stand against an innocent person when they have been defamed than if they are reviled against remember apostle
[56:42] Paul great man of God even he himself was defamed he said we've been defamed and so let's be careful not to allow this in our midst in the body of Christ yes let's be careful to guard the unity of the spirit and let's have a passion how good and how pleasant how good and it's so pleasant it's good and it's so pleasant two different words when brethren dwell together in unity for that's where the anointing I can add my own words that's where the anointing will be and that's where God will command a blessing are we looking for the anointing this morning can we have faith can we be humble various elements that we looked at this morning can we hunger can we knock and say God I want I want Lord I'm here I'm seeking I'm asking I'm knocking and then in the midst of our asking we make sure that we're not violating the scriptures by bringing disunity or other elements it's like yeah you're you're hungry you're thirsty but you're not walking in righteousness and so we love righteousness we hate iniquity why don't we stand to our feet and just ask God anoint my head with oil yes make my cup run over would you enjoy more and more of that that you're you could say God has anointed me he's anointed me in my devotions when I get up in the morning wow I'm just a young girl but he sees my meek and gentle heart and he comes and draws near to me and you say Lord you're anointed my head with oil my cup's running over yes let me say I want more Lord
[58:44] I want more all of us we begin to say Lord that's so awesome when I feel you're anointing it it's so I'm crying but I'm happy yes have you ever experienced that where you're crying usually before I came to the Lord I would everybody thought I was happy inside I was crying I was joking and drinking my alcohol but inside I was crying now I can be crying but I'm happy yeah totally the opposite I'm crying and people see you no I'm happy God gave me a song in 1986 and it's never left me he put a he put a musical instrument in my heart and my wife and I we've gone through some battles since then I'm not talking in our marriage I'm just saying we've we've been in the ministry and when you're in the ministry you'll face situations and my wife has been so faithful to stand with me years back I was ready to yield to not a not a sin but well probably would have been sin because God had put it on my heart to do something and I was getting a lot of pressure and I was like okay maybe I should just not continue to do this that I believe God put on my heart and so my wife said no no no you hang in there she didn't use those words but and so you face challenges and you say I know I've asked for a hard thing but it's okay because I love the glory of God yes and when you have this sense
[60:25] Daniel when you have the sense that God is God is happy with me you don't really care what people say you don't really care what people think you got to be sensitive because maybe somebody maybe God wants but ultimately when you know that God's favor is upon your life the opposite is true is everybody is happy with you but you're not real sure if God is happy with you how can you be happy everybody's smiling and saying Daniel you're so charismatic and so but you're saying well but I'm not sure God how do you feel about my life when you know God you're anointing my head with oil can everybody say this morning yes that's what we want we want to say Lord let's close our eyes and just just lift up our hearts and say Lord bring us to that place as a people that we're dwelling together in unity we love one another we wake up in the morning and again we're looking for a fresh anointing David or somebody there in the Psalms I think said you anoint my head with fresh oil yes fresh oil fresh oil father I ask that you would anoint this congregation with fresh oil with fresh oil from the youngest to the oldest the young sisters the young brothers the families the individuals father I just ask hallelujah for the glory of your son Jesus I'm glorified in them that that could be the ultimate that could be the conclusion that Jesus was glorified because there was a people that lived in the anointing and represented Christ appropriately father we ask it for your great name saved through Christ we pray amen you can be seated companions back in Jesus Throughě‹ verlation