Surviving The Anointing (Video)

The title of the message this morning is Lessons, Lessons from Samson, Surviving the Anointing. Surviving the Anointing. And I want to encourage all of you since I'm speaking on this important topic Wednesday night, this Wednesday I'm gonna be talking about praying, prayer, and then waiting on God. Waiting time is not wasted time. Anytime we're waiting on God, we think we're just wasting time, and we're wasting time. So this Wednesday, I wanna encourage you to come at six o'clock. I'm gonna talk about that a little bit. But let me get into Samson. Most of you, I'm assuming, know who Samson is, correct? Even unbelievers know who Samson is. Take a survey, walk down the mall, and ask anybody if they've heard of Samson in the Bible. And most people have heard of him because he was an incredible character. The context, though, if I had to go through the whole story of Samson, it would take us a while, but if you have your Bibles, I'm gonna start at Judges 16, 16. Judges 16, 16. But before I get there, let me give you the context. Samson is anointed by God. The children of Israel are in bondage. Judges 16, 16. The children of Israel are in bondage. Does that ever happen to you? You know, you get bound, and you're in bondage, and you've walked away from God. So God would often send a deliverer to deliver his people, that being Samson. You'd hear the Nazarite vow of not eating certain foods and touching dead carcasses, not having alcohol touch their lips. And it was a Nazarite vow. It was this call because Samson was anointed by God. Now, here's the interesting thing. The more I studied this, the more I realized, and I think most of you realize, that as believers, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are anointed. Do you have any Scriptures for that? I do. 1 John 2.20. It says that all true believers have an anointing from the Holy One. And actually, the word Christ means anointed one. Anointed one is where God puts his Spirit upon a person for a particular purpose. So you hear that word anointing. God, the pastors have to be anointed. Well, so do fathers. I believe God has anointed everyone in this room if you are a believer, in construction, in law enforcement, in aircraft, in all these different areas. Wherever you're at, it doesn't have to do with preaching. And that's where we make the mistake, is anointing is God's call upon your life. What he's called you to do, he's anointed you. Acts 10.38, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. So in a nutshell, God will anoint the believer because they believe in Jesus Christ, they have the Holy Spirit in them, but the degree that you are anointed is directly reflected by how much you're filled with the Holy Spirit. Because many people might say, well, Shane, that's nice, but I don't feel anointed. I don't have the spiritual power. I'm not witnessing. If the truth be told, church is kind of boring. Worship is a little boring. See, the anointing's been quenched, it's been grieved in many cases. Because the anointing is the work of the Holy Spirit on our lives, and as we begin to not be men of God, we begin to quench and grieve that anointing of the Holy Spirit. So we're not doing anything for God. And that's a miserable place for a Christian to be. Have you ever been there? That is just a miserable place for any believer to be because they know, they know the Holy One of God, they're anointed, they feel this, I want that spiritual power, but I'm not walking in it. How frustrating would that be? To know something, but not be able to walk in that. So I think we can gleam a lot from Samson. And what I mean by being anointed is, as men, we are called to be fruitful, and we're called to be fighters. How are we doing? And this is a time where we do take inventory, like Chris said during that song. Many times we don't want to take inventory. Are we being fruitful? Are people being led to the Lord? Are we being an example in our workplace? What kind of example are we leaving for our children? Not perfect fruitfulness. It doesn't happen on this side of heaven. But is there fruit in our lives? Can somebody look at us and say, there's some fruit growing there. I see some fruit. And then also, are you fighting? Are you fighting sin? Are you fighting the enemy? Are you interceding on behalf of your family? That's what men primarily are called to be, fruitful and fighters. And the anointing of God upon our lives is for that very reason. To fight the good fight. And I will just tell you this up front, so you know, the more anointed a person is, the more the world will hate you. The more you follow Jesus Christ, the more you will offend the world. The more you will upset the status quo. The more you will not quite fit in. And you're actually going to offend lukewarm Christians. You're going to offend pharisee Christians. Pride and arrogance, they don't want to be challenged. And you're going to offend because that anointing is the light shining into the darkness. And I run into people all the time, they say, well, Jesus didn't offend. He was just so nice. Why can't you guys be so nice? Well, did you know Jesus said He's the only way, the only truth, the only life? You can't get to the Father except through Him. He said it. That's pretty offensive. Well, but He didn't really mean that. He's open. No, He's not. Did you know He rebuked entire cities? Oh, Chorazin, oh, Bethesda. If the good works were done in you that were done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago with sackcloth and ashes. And He couldn't do many works there because of their unbelief. He upset the whole religious system. Yes, we should draw sinners to us who are open, but many sinners are not open. They will not like the work of Christ. I can tell you, I can invite an unbeliever to church, and if God's working in their heart, if they're open, they'll thank me. If not, I'll get a middle finger emoji. What's it, is it called emoji? You pronounce it right? What's the difference? See, the heart's not open. They don't want to hear from me. I spoke at a memorial service Monday of a friend of mine, and you'd be amazed at how many people don't even want to shake your hand. You walk by and they just look in the other way. You know when somebody's avoiding you, right? Come on. I've been around the block. And how many people just avoid you? I bet if they could hit me and get away with it, they would. Because they just hate you, so be prepared for that. Because sometimes we think, well, the world hates me. People don't, maybe there's something wrong with me. Now, it's a good reminder that your attitude shouldn't offend people, okay? The attitude should be one of loving, compassionate, caring, graceful, good listeners, but your truth that you uphold and that you promote when God opens that door will upset and offend people. So to survive the anointing, what I mean by that is actually David Ravenhill, have you heard of Leonard Ravenhill? He's got a son named David Ravenhill. I emailed him a year ago and he sent me this whole box of books. I think we gave them all out. The title is, and I would encourage anyone to read it, surviving the anointing. Because many Christians start out well. Do you know how many don't finish well? I know with pastors, it's one out of 10 finish well, stay in the ministry. That's a little alarming. I texted two people to come to this event. Both of them have left their marriage. And there's kids involved. Started well, said all the right things. So how do you survive this anointing when God put his Holy Spirit on you to do something because guess what, now you're a target? How do you survive that? Well, let's look to Samson, Judges 16, 16, and it came to pass. I'm gonna read this whole passage this morning. And it's very important. And it came to pass when she, who is she? Delilah, you don't think about this morning. We're not given a description of Delilah. So I wanna ask you to think about this morning. What is your Delilah? It's anything that is taking you away from God. It can be a drink, it can be pornography, it can be another woman, it can be whatever it is, another man. What is Delilah? And here's what she did. She pestered him daily with her words and she pressed him. I know it sounds like some of your homes. So that his soul was vexed to death. Have you ever been there? Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Woman? Delilah? So his soul was vexed to death. It means he's had enough. So he finally told her all that was in his heart. He said to her, no razor has ever come upon my head for I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me and I shall become weak and be like any other man. We don't have a lot of time to go back on Samson and talk about this, but it really wasn't that, you've probably seen the movie Samson and different things. It's not the hair that gave him strength. The strength came from the anointing of God and to go deeper, it came from his consecration. The more consecrated you become, the more Christ-centered you become, the more you unfold the Holy Spirit you become, the more dangerous to Satan's kingdom you become. So it was in the consecration, God says don't do that or I will withdraw my spirit. Don't go there. Don't do that. There's a consecration. I believe men of God are called to be consecrated. Where are those old topics of holiness at these days? I talk about it and people, oh, here he goes again, holiness, well, it's biblical because there's a consecration. The more holy you become, the more like Christ you become. Not following rules, oh, I gotta do this, but holy and set apart. And so we can stop here for a minute. Pester, what does that mean? To annoy repeatedly with demands or to be pressed and pressured. Men, are you ever pressed and pressured? I would say that's why many of us, often many people fall away from God. I'm done with this. I'm pestered. I'm, all these demands of life. So here's the first thing. Surviving the anointing involves knowing who to run to when you are pressured. Here's why this is so important. Most people, most men run back to anger, back to alcohol, back to porn, to pills, to doubt, to unbelief. We run back to something. We run back to Delilah. And to survive that anointing, if God's called you to do something, you must run to the correct person. We, of course, know who that is, right? Proverbs 18.10, the name of the Lord. Just the name of the Lord. It's interesting he doesn't say the Lord. He says the name of the Lord because one of his names is a strong tower. And the Bible talks about the different names of God. Jehovah Nissi, Jehovah Jireh, my provider, Jehovah Nissi, my banner, my strength, and all the names of God. He said the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous man, what? Runs into it and is safe. So where do your feet take you in times of despair? And if I were to take a survey right now, I would guarantee that most of us who have fallen back in sin, this is why, because our feet have taken us to the wrong thing. When God says run to me, I'll be your strong tower, and we say, what, a strong tower? What is that? Well, parallel today, we're sitting on a Navy battleship with a nuclear submarine to the right and warships to the left, and you're in this strong tower. Nothing's gonna penetrate that. You run to the tower of safety. So when you feel the pressures of life, and they're coming, if you don't, I feel them, you run to that strong tower in desperation. But what does pride do? Pride says, I don't need that, I've got this. Samson said, I will get up as other times as before and defeat the Philistines. He lost almost his life. See, I hate pride. I hate the look of pride because it destroys, because I see it in my own heart. Seven things the Lord hates. What are they? A haughty look. I hate the look of pride. God says, I hate a lying tongue. I hate hands that shed innocent blood. I hate feet that are swift to running to evil. I hate one who sows discord among the brethren. I hate an evil heart that plans wicked ways. At the top, I hate the look of pride. That look, that pride, I don't need God. I don't need to run to him. There's a song we sing, I think we're singing it today. Not for a minute was I forsaken. Not for a minute was I forsaken by God, and I will run to that strong tower. Verse 18, when Delilah saw that he told her all of his heart, be careful, man, there's a key right there. When Delilah saw that he told her all of his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, come up once more, for he has told me all of his heart. So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees. And called for a man that he would shave off the seven locks of his head. So obviously, on this issue of heart, surviving the anointing means that you must, must, must guard your heart. Think about it this way. Our heart is this. They are our desires, our will, our thoughts, our feelings, and our choices. Those must be guarded. It's not just the heart, the pulmonary, your heart, your physical heart. It's the core of who you are. Guard that heart. Did anyone come over the hill this morning? Why are there guardrails? To guard the vehicle from going off. So you have to guard your heart. What guards my heart? What guards your heart? What has to guard our heart as believers? The word of God. So you run the filter of your feelings through the word of God. The desires, the choices are ran through the filter of the word of God. So I've got this guard up. I'm not gonna say too much. I'm not gonna do the wrong thing. When I do, when you do, we fall forward into God's arms of grace. But there's a guard. There's a safety around our heart. Woe be to the man who just, caution to the wind, and just reveals his heart, reveals his feelings. Doesn't put them under the gauge of God's word. Is what I'm feeling line up with the word of God? That's why one of the guys who just left his spouse and little children, I wanna slap him if I could. Please pray for me. Run that through the grid of God's word. See, you're not guarding your heart. You're open praying for the enemy. He's looking for that heart to be open to the work of Satan and not the work of God. See, you can't defeat your demons if you still enjoy their company. For those who like to tweet, just go ahead and tweet that later on today. You cannot defeat your demons if you enjoy their company. Proverbs says, keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it springs the issues of life. Another translation I learned many years ago, it says, guard your heart. Guard your heart, for from it flows all the issues of life, or from it flows the wellspring of life. Everything flows from the heart. And what are the three things that are hurting men? Well, I'll tell you right now, it's anger, pride, and giving in to temptations. That removes the guardrail. And you've heard me say this before in other sermons, but you'd be amazed at what God does with humility. You'd be amazed at what God does with humility. That's why it's so hard. That's why it's so hard. There's so much power in humility. When we humble ourselves. Could you imagine, just for a minute, when they sang that song, Reckless Love, and Chris talked about that. That is so true. The men, we don't want to open up. Can you imagine this altar being full of men? What prevents that? Pride. Put my hand on my heart. I'm gonna put my hand on my heart. I don't need to go to that altar. I don't need to raise my hand. I don't need to worship God. Pride. Don't you see how deadly it is? You'd be amazed also at how much pride blocks His blessings. He resists the proud. It could be this morning that God is resisting you because of pride. Could it be that God is resisting you because of pride? He says He gives grace to the humble, but He resists the proud. Then what? She began to torment Him. Think about this. He tells her all is hard. She lures Him to sleep. I don't know what He's thinking. I don't know if He really thought that would happen because part of pride is thinking, oh, that's not really gonna happen. So I don't know if He was just telling her that to get her off of Him or what, but she began to torment Him and His strength left Him. Is that interesting? Be very careful. Guys, remember this. I'm thinking if there's any takeaways, this should be one of them. This should be one of them. Sin, like here, sin fascinates. Then it assassinates. That will change your directions. Sin fascinates. This is so fascinating. That same sin that fascinates you is going to assassinate you. It's going to take it down. We need the pulpits to get back to the holiness of God and fearing God and fearing sin. Not saying, oh, it's just a bad mistake. It's just a bad choice. No, it's sin that put Christ on the cross and it'll fascinate you until it assassinates you. It'll take you down. That's the goal of sin. The goal is not to play patty cake. The goal is not to just torment a little bit. That wasn't her goal. Their goal was to torment and take Him down, take Samson down. And then verse 20, and she said, the Philistines, Samson, they're upon you. Here they come again because the last three times he got up and he kicked their butt. Not this time. Samson, here they come. So this is so classic. So he woke from his sleep. He said, no problem, no problem. I will go out as other times and I will shake myself free. They bound him. He was bound. He said, no problem. I'm going to shake myself free. Uh-oh. He can't. Man, this theme of sin fascinates and assassinates. Do we realize what happened to Samson? Have you ever had your eyes gorged out? Obviously not. They would lay you down. They would tie you down and get a metal instrument like an ice cream scoop, and they would gorge that eye out or they would pull it out. But that's where this led him. I will go out and shake myself free. But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. I love the King James. And he wist not that the Lord had departed from him. He knew not that the Spirit of God departed from him. Now this is so interesting. I don't want to get off track here, but he can go meet with a prostitute and still have the anointing of God. He can go tend to marry somebody unequally yoked, marry a pagan wife, still have the anointing of God. But he got to a point where once that consecration was gone, once the hair was shaven, and he began to be like all other men, the Holy Spirit of God said, enough. And I do believe there can become a time where we're confusing God's patience with his approval. Because we know that, oh, God is patient. He's patient. He's long-suffering, patient, long-suffering. But there comes a time where God might say, hold on guys, I'm going to remove my anointing, remove my influence in your life. But for those maybe who aren't well versed in theology, let me just encourage you in this. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would descend upon someone. The Holy Spirit would come upon David. Will come upon Elisha. Will come upon Samuel. Will come upon Saul. Will come upon Samson. And the Holy Spirit of God could be removed. Scary, but New Testament believers now have the Holy Spirit of God residing in them that cannot be removed. So what happens? We quench and we grieve that fire. So this fire that should be an all-consuming fire, this fire that should change all of our lives, this fire that should give us a boldness for Christ, a fire that should help us at home be good husbands and not get the last word in and not be loud all the time and not, you know, this fire of God begins to be quenched. And it's just a little flicker. And I wonder how many churches know not that the Spirit of the Lord has departed. When you begin to walk away from God's absolute truth of His word, the Spirit of the Lord will withdraw. When worship becomes entertainment, when sin is not confronted, where disunity is running rapid, the Spirit of God lifts in that place. I'll never forget what A.W. Tozer said. I started reading him 20 years ago. I'd encourage you to read him. I had to put the book down. It was so impactful because it's so true. He said, in the early church, if the Holy Spirit was removed, removed from the early church, 90% of the work would have ceased. Today, if the Holy Spirit is removed from the church, 90% of the work will continue. That's why I often say we didn't come to play church. We don't want a social club. We want to meet the living God. We want the power of the Holy Spirit here. But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza. Gaza, pronounce it Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters. It's like what we would call handcuffs. Behind and front, bronze fetters. He was bound. And he was now a prisoner. And he became a grinder in the prison. So this mighty man of God, this deliverer is now bound with his eyes removed and he's probably on some type of system, or it says with oxen. So there's a grinding machine that you just push. You push around and you grind the wheat, you grind the barley, you grind whatever it is, and you grind it. And that's all you're doing all day long, grinding in the prison. That's where he found himself. God, I don't know about you guys, but we gotta take the call of God seriously. Because you know, God doesn't do that anymore. Well, it's not the Old Testament God and New Testament God. And I honestly don't know why. I mean, maybe a lot of that spiritual power has left the church. We don't see the miracles like we used to. Because God wasn't playing around. Have you heard of Ananias and Sapphira? They lied to the Holy Spirit and God struck them then dead. That's the New Testament God. And I think it's good to be fearful of sin. I've gave this analogy before, but some of you men weren't here, but in my past I was a heavy equipment operator. Jason, you know. And when you're digging and it says next to you, eight inch high pressure pipe, next to your gas main, it'll be painted in yellow and say HP high pressure. Like, holy smokes. Or watch out, over here is a 12,000 volt Southern California Edison. You hit that and you're done unless your tires are grounded, you've got some rubber there to offset the voltage through you. I've lost a couple friends in construction. Electricity, one got ran over by the loader and different things. But there's a fear. You don't just go to work, ha ha, let's just dig down and hit it and we'll fix it later. No, mm-mm. There's a fear. You go in, there's a trepidation. Let me dig down pothole and find it. And then let me dig around it. And as you're digging around it, you're still like this. You put this on low throttle so I can barely feel it. Can I feel even a rock that I'm getting? And there's this fear, there's this respect, there's this reverence. Why shouldn't it be like that for God? It will change the way you live your life. It will change the way you treat your spouse and others. The fear of the Lord, Proverbs says, is something we shouldn't even worry about. The fear of the Lord is a beginning of wisdom. It's a beginning of knowledge. So he was grinding at the prison. I just wonder if that's applicable for us today. He knew not that the Spirit of the Lord had departed from him. So again, is there any area where compromise has entered in? The guard is down. Are you saying, I will go out as before and shake myself free? I'll go out before and shake myself free. And you might be wondering when I talk about sin, what am I talking about? Well, I love a definition that John Wesley's mom gave, believe it or not. She said this, whatever weakens your reasoning, whatever impairs the tenderness of your conscience, whatever obscures your sense of God or takes away your relish for spiritual things, in short, anything, if anything increases the authority of the flesh over the Spirit, that to you becomes sin, even if it's a so-called good thing. So the definition of sin is pretty easy. In the Hebrew, it originates, it means missing the mark, like you're shooting an arrow at a target and you're missing the mark. The New Testament talks about sin as sinning against God, doing things that go against his character, against his nature, against his will, even good things, good things take you away from God. I would say most of you in this room are not having a sufficient time alone with God because other things are taking you away. There's something there contending for our heart and affections. Isn't it interesting, they removed his eyes. It's a good parallel because the enemy targets your eyesight. Did you know that? Not physically, your eyesight, because where you see is where you go. He's after our vision and what he's called us to do. Then the Philistines put out his eyes and brought him down. And you know what, I looked up, all five verses that I looked up about removing eyesight would be, you have this image of groping. Have you heard that before, you're groping like a blind person? It was never in the affirmative. It was never positive. Actually, in the big chapter, Deuteronomy 28, most people read the Bible a lot, Deuteronomy 28, blessings, cursings. Well, part of the cursings of walking away from God, it says this, you will grope at noon and the blind man gropes in darkness and you will not prosper in your ways, but you shall only be oppressed and robbed continually with none to save you. You will grope, it's this groping. When we leave God, we're groping, we're like blind. That's what sin does, it blinds you. So the enemy's going, because you say, I'm called of God, I'm a man of God, I don't feel worthy, but because of what Christ did, I'm gonna fulfill that, I see the calling, I see where I'm taking my, I can see, I've got vision, for without a vision, a revelation of God's word, the people perish. I've got it, so the enemy goes after your vision and now you're groping, now you're just finding your way around life and not knowing, that's why you're making bad decisions here and bad decisions, I have no purpose. You ever feel like you're just groping, just going through the motions? The enemy's after that God-given vision when a man of God said, this is what God has called me to do, this is what he's called my family to do, and this isn't just me, it's any type of work, any type of responsibility as a man, I see where I'm going, now he can't get me off target very easily. You watch a Super Bowl, you'll stay on target for three and a half hours, nothing's gonna distract you, except in an emergency, you're focused. You've got it, this is what I'm doing for the rest of the day, you don't think God wants even more of that? He'll go after your vision, what he's called you to do. There's nothing like confusion to ruin our lives, is it? And then Isaiah 59, we grope along the wall like blind men, we grope like those who have no eyes, we stumble at midday and at the twilight. Among those who are vigorous, we are like dead men. Well, what's Isaiah's problem? Confronting sin in the people. They had rebelled so much against God that now they find themselves groping. Oh, it's a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God, and to remove our sight and grope. And all these things lead to the prison of bondage. You know, and some people, I heard this this week, too, that, man, Jane's too hardcore, he's always, oh, oh, sin, holiness, oh, you know what, that's the only thing that's really gonna change us. I went on a very popular Christian website with hundreds of sermon titles, I'm on there, it's oneplace.com, I'm not putting it down, it's a good website. But just about every title was encouraging. I loved it, thank God, I need to be encouraged. But if everything I'm listening to is encouraging me in my sin, I will not change. If every pastor is being a cheerleader, not a coach, you will not see change. I still remember my high school coach. The hardest coach I ever had, his name was Dad. Oh, Dad, I don't feel like you get it. Get up, we're going to play baseball. You're gonna pitch, you're gonna throw 100 pitches. You're gonna have to learn to get up and do the things you don't wanna do, son. Life is not easy, get up, let's do this. Looking back, I thank God, because we are raising a generation, the millennial generation, iPhones and Twitter, and they act so tough, but they're so fragile inside. We have to be challenged, we have to be confronted in this area. And all these things that leads to the prison of bondage. He became a grinder in the prison, barely hanging on, going through the motions. Do you ever feel that way? I'm barely hanging on, I'm going through the emotions. I think this is what really motivates me a lot at church, is I see so many Christians going through the motions. Right? They start 11 a.m. sharp and they leave at 12 p.m. dull. They'll take or leave church because there's not a mighty move of God. Sermons aren't piercing the heart, worship is a performance. Throughout our landscape, churches just become something we do. Can you imagine the New Testament church seeing a lot of churches today? The power in the New Testament church, and being that close to God. Grinder in the prison, barely hanging on, going through the motions, and I believe that's why we put this on this morning. To awaken the spiritually dead, to crush the proud, and to encourage the downtrodden. I said this at the opening prayer, often as the man goes, so goes the family. So to survive the anointing, you must also prioritize your life. If you wanna survive what God's called on, God's put a call on your life, you better prioritize your life. You know what that means? First things first. And they should be spiritual things. The first thing must be your relationship with God. And then from that, filters into our family and into what we do for God. But we have it often reversed. Many times, the priority in men is what? The workplace. Paying the bills. So that's a priority, and then guess what? Everything else does not fall into place, because our priorities are off. Look at that fast food place. It closes down on Sundays. What is it, Chick-fil-A? And they're like, one of the most popular. But you're losing millions and millions and millions of dollars. I don't know where they're at spiritually. I'm just using it as a parallel to men, putting first things first. Interesting scripture this week that I stumbled upon. I knew all about it. You men know about it too, but sometimes we don't read it enough. 1 Peter 3, seven. Husbands, in the same way, be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as the heir with you of the gracious gift of life so that nothing will hinder your prayers. If your prayers are being hindered, could it be? Could it be? That we're not honoring our wives, which means to admire, to appreciate the gift. They are a true gift of God to listen to them, to elevate them, to hold them in high regard. Could it be that that's why God's not honoring our prayers? I know this is a tough area. Many of you, or some of you were at the men's conference where John White spoke. How many of you were at that? I don't know. There's a couple throughout the room here. And he talked about, Wade, you were there too. He talked about his wife, Jane. And I actually met them up in Hume Lake four or five years ago. What a wonderful couple. And we got back from Hume Lake, and Joe, I think, told me, and she went in for a stomach issue, really short, and after all the diagnostic machines and the diagnosis, and they said she's got three weeks, maybe, three weeks. And he talked, John talked about how to love your wife unconditionally. And that will change you when you've got three weeks. And John just passed away a few weeks ago. But that really touched my heart, and it really reminded a lot of us that we have to get back to that tender heart, the heart that's praying for our spouse, because God sees. See, we can fool a lot of people, can't we? We can walk in, and we can say, hi, brother, how's it going? They don't know if you just looked at porn and got drunk last night. But God does. They don't know if you just cussed, and you dropped some F-bombs in your house, told your wife off, got into some shady business deal. Nobody knows that. Because we know how to say the right things and look the right way, but God sees the heart. So, man, I wanna encourage you, if prayers are being hindered, don't overlook this, because kids are watching. The next generation is watching us. Do you know that? You think I'm in a fishbowl, so are you. If you name the name of Christ, and people know it, they are watching. To survive the anointing, you must know when it's fading and recapture it. To survive the anointing, you must know when it's fading. Do you know what I'm talking about? You can tell. Maybe some are convicted this morning, I'm sure you can tell something is not right. Something has been fading. And there's a lot of different men, a lot of different scenarios. Some men will say, I remember. Oh, God, Shane, I remember when I loved church two, three days a week. I look forward to it. Prayer meetings and worship services, I remember, but I'm not there anymore. It's faded. Or some of you maybe don't even know what I'm talking about. It's been boring to you from the get-go. And I believe that's why we're here. I believe that's why many of you are here. Now, if that was a difficult 30 minutes, there's an interesting word in here. And I capitalized it in verse 22. However, oh, thank God for however. Thank God for however. My Lord. Or whenever you read, but God. I'm like reading the Bible going, oh, Lord, what's happening, what's happening? But God. But God slew the Assyrian army. But God parted the Red Sea. But God killed off that group of wicked leaders. But God, but God, but God. You never see that being defeated. And then you have this, however, however, oh, my Lord, I could get a little excited on this one. Because I should be dead. I've opened up before. I've totaled two vehicles. One without seatbelt. Dave, you fixed one of them 18 years ago. It was still totaled and you couldn't fix it. And it was just my life and so many mistakes. Oh, my Lord. I've had guns pulled on me. Anybody ever drank too much? A few times? We look, oh, you got a DOI. How could you? How many times have many people got away with it? I mean, the list is long. Oh, but God, how gracious is our God. To me, that should make us run to Him. Run to Him and say, thank you, God. Thank you, God. However, however, they're in this great despair. However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven. I love this. He's in prison. His eyes are out. I don't even know what that looks like. His eyes are out. He must just be a mess. And he's grinding at the prison. But day after days, he's waiting on God. I guarantee he's repentant. I guarantee he's been humbled. And that hair begins to grow back. That's a sign the consecration is coming back. See, those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. That's a promise you can take to the bank when they wait upon God. When you say, God, you have humbled me and I'm gonna sit in this place and I'm gonna wait on you. And as I wait on you, that strength is growing. That faith is growing. Oh, I remember what you called me to do. The devil got me last month. But come hell or high water, I'm going to finish strong. And as day goes by in the word of God and worship and praying, I can feel the spirit of God building up again. And you begin to feel that anointing come back. And you begin to leave these doors and say, devil, you should have killed me years ago, but now you've upset me. And I'm gonna take down your kingdom because my hair is growing back. My anointing, my God. That's what we need in the midst of total failure. Oh, God, I should not be pastoring. Before you get your smug look on your face, you should not be doing a lot of what God's called you to do. If he judged me on my 20s, holy smokes. Oh, I remember the youth up in the mountains just filled with the spirit of God, loving God, at 12 and then the enemy got me. Delilah had a name, gin tonic. Coors, country music, drunkenness, drugs, party. Man, God waited and waited and waited and waited and year after year after year after year. The anointing began to come back and I'll admit to you that I cried like a baby. When the prodigal son came home, I cried like a baby. And God filled me with a tremendous boldness, a tremendous love for his word. It was amazing. I'm like, I had the Bible. I'm like, this is, I've called my mom. This is amazing. I know, son, it's been there for 2,000 years. This is amazing. This is amazing. I went to a dead Catholic high school and don't remember a thing. This Bible I'd never read. Now it was my necessary food. I can relate to Job. Yeah, that's me, that's me. I can relate in this, the word of God. I gotta have more and I gotta have more because the more you hunger and thirst, the more you will be filled. See, God doesn't work the same way as steak and potato does. The more you eat of God and of his word, the more you want and the more you want and the more you crave. And then even, even I still stumble from time to time and make mistakes. And God says, I still have you. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and though he falls, he will not be utterly cast down because the Lord is holding him with his right hand. So the strength came back. So you survive the anointing by waiting on God. Interesting scripture in Isaiah 30, I read this week too. Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you. I said, hold on, is the Lord possibly waiting for us too? Have you ever thought about that? The Lord waits to be gracious to you and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him. The opposite of waiting is to be in a hurry. The opposite of standby, God says, standby is to push. I don't think we realize how powerful it is. The Bible, you can negotiate in sales, you can negotiate in your business, you can negotiate in your marriage, you can negotiate with your kids, but you cannot negotiate with God. I know the word says when I wait on you, but I'm busy. God says, well, I'll wait for you then. I'll wait for you. See, the opposite of waiting is to be in a hurry. The opposite of standby, wait for God, is to push. Does that sound like men today? How you doing in that area? I'm pushing, I'm in a hurry, I'm pushing in a hurry. I'm groping, my eyesight's gone, I'm lost. Wait, wait upon God. I'm gonna talk about that Wednesday, so I don't wanna get too much into that right now. And then verse 23, now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, their God, and to rejoice. And they said, our God, think about that. They're excited, they're getting drunk. Our God, Dagon, our God, Dagon, has delivered Samson into our hands. This mighty man of God, this mighty man of God who slew Philistines, who nobody could touch. I knew, I knew his God was not real. Our God, Dagon, has prevailed. That's what they're doing. And when the people saw Samson, they praised their God. They said, our God has delivered our hands into our enemy. No, the real God allowed it. So it happened when their hearts were married that they said, call for Samson, that he may perform for us. They're gonna make fun of him, they're gonna joke at him, they're gonna make sport of him, maybe bring him out naked, maybe throw things at him, turn him to the wild beast, hit him with clubs, we don't know. But they call for Samson from the prison. And he performed for them. And they stationed him between the pillars. Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, he's got a little boy, a little boy holding him by the hand, leading him out, this mighty man of God, this man who could kill Philistines with a jawbone, now is being led out by a little boy. I remember some pastor 20 years ago, in this illustration, he said, that should be a sign for us, the condition of our families, that a little child needs to lead them back, our children, our families need to lead us back to that place where we need to be in God's will. And Samson said to the lad, let me fill the pillars, let me fill these pillars that support the temple, so that I came and I leaned upon them. Now the temple was full of men and women, all the lords of the Philistines were there, about 3,000 men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed. This is key, I'm gonna share something with you that has been life-saving in my life. Survive the anointing by knowing who you are even when your enemies taunt you. Taunting comes in victory and defeat, taunting comes during mountaintop experiences and low valleys, taunting comes when you're doing God's will and when you've fallen. Do you know what the taunting is? That discouraging voice, do you ever hear it or just me? That discouraging taunting, look at Samson, you've been beat up, you've been defeated, your eyes are out, you're nothing anymore. We're taunting, the enemies are taunting, but Samson, don't forget who you are, don't forget who God called you to be. The enemies of God will always taunt you, always. If somebody's not taunting you, you better check your faith. Taunting and taunting and taunting. I've got LGBT activists taunting me, I've got local atheist groups taunting me, I've got unbelievers taunting me, I've got lukewarm Christians taunting me. But always remember who you are, and that's all they can do. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but your words will never hurt me. That's all they can do is the taunting voices. What else can the enemy do? Can he physically destroy you? That's how we approach, oh, the devil's gonna, no, he's taunting, he's a taunter, he's a liar, he's a deceiver, so you say, I know what God's called me to do, and that's a taunting voice, and I will not listen to it. That's what drives most addicts back to the addiction. You're not gonna see them hit their addiction right after this. Come Monday, come Tuesday, the taunting, the jeering of the enemy. God, this is so important. That's why we can sing songs like though, through many dangers, trials, and snares. I've already come. It's His grace that's brought me here this far, and grace will lead me home. To survive what God's called you to do, you have to listen to the right voice. And I know for some of you, even your spouse taunts you. And it's difficult. I don't minimize that. Your kids taunt you. Your family members taunt you. But remember who you are, and hold on to that. Then Samson called. Then Samson called to the Lord. Guys, this is getting good. I'm about ready to tell you a secret here. Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, oh Lord God, remember me, I pray. Strengthen me, I pray, just this once. Oh God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes. Again, surviving the anointing by remembering what God has called you to do. You would think you'd see this long prayer. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, and breaking down. But he just said, oh God, remember me. Remember me. And you have this picture that he's got his hands on the pillar, right? The boy put him on the pillar. He can't see. And all he says is, oh God, remember me. God, remember me. In my pain, in my suffering, I remember you. Oh God, would you remember me? And as he pushed on those pillars, the entire Colosseum came down. All the taunting voices, all the jeering voices, all the enemies of God who said Dagon has succeeded. God had the final answer. And Samson pushed with all his might, and the whole Colosseum came down. And the Bible says the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. He finished well. He finished well. Get back up and fight again. And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple. And he braced himself against them, one on his right, the other on his left. And Samson said, let me die with the Philistines. And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than they that he killed in his life. This is the final thought I need to leave you with. Surviving the anointing by knowing where to put your hands. Basically, where to focus your strength. If you want to survive the anointing, know where to focus your strength. And here's where I think the enemy gets us, and we have to start getting him. Know where to focus your strength. Put your feet on the neck of the enemy. The Bible, when kings would conquer, they would actually come and put their foot on the neck of the enemy, of their king. Can you imagine that? You just conquered the king of Assyria or Babylon, and you have your foot on that? That's how you survive the anointing. Where do I put my hands? God, where am I gonna put my focus, my priority, my strength? See, that's why I promote so much being in the Word of God daily, living in that, having a heartbeat of repentance and a heartbeat of humility and brokenness. I'm putting my foot on the enemy. I don't know about you, but I came here to defeat the enemy through heart-wrenching prayer and deep repentance, and that's a prayer God will never forget. He'll hear that prayer, oh, Lord, remember me. Remember me. Does anybody feel that welling up inside of them? Lord, strengthen me. I came in here dead. I came in here bored during worship. I came in here ticked off. I came in here not wanting to hear what he was preaching. Oh, but God, would you remember me? Remember me. See, oh, Lord, I remember. I remember. I remember the powerful filling of the Holy Spirit. I remember subsequent fillings of the Holy Spirit when God broke me and broke me and broke me, and it was always after prayers. God, remember me. Remember me. My eyes, my vision's gone. I'm detouring from my destiny. Oh, God, remember me. And that's a prayer God will answer. See, we're too worried about eloquence and praying the right prayer. People say, oh, I can't really pray. Sure you can. You just say, God, remember me. Help me. Lord, help me. You know why we can't say that? Many people? Pride. We got this. I got this. So let me just encourage you guys. The worship team's gonna come up. We're gonna do some songs. I'm not sure how many songs. Here's something interesting. Often, those who are filled mightily with the Spirit of God want to worship. They find themselves on the altar. They find themselves not worried about what time it is. They're worshiping God. Those that are bored are exactly the men I'm talking to. I'm just shooting you straight. Because if I don't shoot you straight, God shoots me straight. I'm on my way home, you coward. Speak the truth. If you're bored during worship, there's something wrong with your heart. I hated these songs in my 20s. I hate, get me out of here. Even as a believer in church, bored to death, it's just, it's so ironic. One month, these songs stink. I'm bored to death. Give me George Strait and a six-pack. And then the next time I'm in church, I'm hearing these. Remember the 90s? Those, these are the days of Elijah and all these songs and holy, holy, holy is our God. Holy, and now it's moving my heart. I'm on the altar. I'm just weeping. God's just breaking me. What happened? What's the difference? The filling of the Holy Spirit. That's why many people run to different churches. Well, I wonder if this church will be fulfilling. I wonder if this church will be fulfilling. I wonder if this church, this one has a really good kids program. Well, do they have the spirit of God? What's really close to my house? Does it have the spirit of God? I better stop and keep offending. But it's so true. You've heard me say it before. God has to crush a heart and break a heart before he can really use it. And that is so true. God's gotta break the wild stallion out of us before he can use us. You know where your wife's perfume comes from? A flower being crushed. That olive oil you cook with? How do you think the olives feel? Man, we have to be crushed. We have to be broken by the spirit of God. God's gotta break a heart and break a heart.