Touched by God Are You Anointed?

Here we go, the title is Touched by God, Are You Anointed? That word has been used and abused many times over the years, depending on who uses that word. And sometimes I throw out names out there, I might throw it out there again, but if you hear John MacArthur talking on it, and you hear Benny Hinn talking on it, you know, you see a title sermon on YouTube, the anointed by John MacArthur, the anointing by Benny Hinn, you know, it's gonna probably go different directions, okay? And of course, just in case you're wondering, I follow definitely more on the conservative side of certain topics, and I have the MacArthur Study Bible, but one thing we've disagreed with over the years with their ministry is on this gifts of the Holy Spirit, the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, the revival atmosphere, and it's okay. There's always divisions in a good way in the Christian community, because there's differences on the non-essentials, and that's why we have to practice teachability, erring on the side of grace, loving others despite disagreements, because it's easy to love people when you agree on everything, isn't it? I've ran those people, man, we just hit it off great, but you get somebody who's not quite with you, hmm, I don't know, they believe in the rapture, I think we're gonna be pre-trib, post-trib, mid-trib, no-trib, and they argue for hours.

Sometimes God allows us the differences to practice the fruit of the Spirit. How else can you practice it if you're not confronted with challenges? So I'm gonna get to the main thrust of this message in just a minute, but I wanna work through Acts chapter 10. As you remember, last week, Peter went with Cornelius' team.

Cornelius had a dream, Peter had a vision, or actually, Cornelius meant an angel, and Peter had a vision, and God brought them together. And so, now Peter's going with these people to meet Cornelius, this Roman official who did not know the Lord yet, even though he was doing many good things. And that's the key I brought out last week.

You can do supposedly good things and not know the Lord. How many religions, I mean, I can name some that they're actually many times better people than Christians, because they have to, number one, right? There's good works, but just their character, and I get that question sometimes, the pastor, so you're telling me, my neighbor down the street, who's this wonderful guy, if he doesn't know Jesus, he's gonna be separated from God for eternity. Yeah, again, remember, there's none that are good.

I mean, if we really weigh the motives and look at the heart, that sin nature has to be dealt with, and it was dealt with on the cross. And I just actually finished Galatians. I read through it this morning.

I would encourage you to just sit down and read it. It's such a good book on thinking that you can do these things. Oh, foolish Galatians, who have bewitched you? Are you gonna finish in the flesh? What, begin in the spirit? And they started to add these things on.

Oh, we love Jesus, yes, but by the way, you need to be circumcised. Or you need to, mm, that Sabbath, you gotta keep that Sabbath. You gotta celebrate those festivals.

Yeah, Jesus plus, it's never Jesus plus. That actually minimizes the cross and what he did. It's an affront to God's saving mercy and grace.

And so they brought Peter in to Caesarea, and now Cornelius, of course, is waiting for them. Can you imagine, angel spoke, go get Peter. He can't wait to hear what Peter has to say.

And he called together his relatives and his friends. He was so excited. Everybody, come over to my house.

We're gonna hear what God has to say. And so as Peter's coming in, Cornelius met him and he fell down at his feet and he worshiped him. Not good, but Peter lifted him up, saying, stand up, I'm just a man.

Now, it's a good reminder that every human ever born was and is a worshiper. From the Beatles to Beckham and from Swift to, how do you pronounce his name? Shohei, Shohei Otani, okay. But I mean, it's just, they worship people.

And they were, oh, can you imagine? Can you imagine? I bet some people, if I said that he was coming from the Dodgers next Sunday, there's just no room. Waiting outside for 18 hours. I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait.

Worship, that's where your affections are at. That's where you just can't, I just love, I can't wait to see this person. But we're talking about the living God.

There needs to be more worship. Now, it'd be cool to meet people, I got it. But let me tell you something.

I'm not gonna name names, but over the years, I've met a lot of what people call Christian celebrities. And some have been here, and I've passed across, and I've got friends that will text me with, hey, here's Kirk Cameron, and introduce to Shane, and hey, here's this person, and hey, and all these people I've, you know, it's just God has done some incredible things. Jack Hibbs was in there.

All these people, and I'm not talking about these two people I just mentioned, because I think they're incredible people, but others I've noticed, like, guys, they're just people. They're just, in green rooms, they're kind of rude. They got kind of an attitude.

You know, when you do cameras today, make sure it's this side. Worship leaders will go to an event for 50 grand. 50 grand, what? Now, to people, to some people's defense, they have to charge when they travel.

That's all they do. But come on, guys, we need to, you know, we need to take a look at what we're earning. And they're just, they're kind of, they're just rude, unless they can get something out of you.

Like, they'll respect you if you have more followers on Instagram than they do. But if you don't, I actually try to make it a point when I hear from people on Instagram, 62 followers or X, I try to get back to them, because that's the least likely. God is, those people need more help.

It's not about promoting your platform, and that's why a lot of people aren't called out on their shenanigans, because they have too many fans and not enough true friends that will speak the truth to them. And I've just seen it, even trying to, I mean, I've turned down, I think, maybe once or twice, going to the White House with this council and Mar-a-Lago, and it's like, I just don't, it's just the photo, it's the photo opportunities and the selfies, and it's just this, oh my gosh, look at me. I think of the traffic to LAX, sitting in LAX, going somewhere, my whole day shot, three-hour time change, and now I go back to the airport, and I just wasted three days.

That, honestly, that's how I look at it. I'd rather spend time with my kids. Now, that can be a downside, too, because maybe God wants me to go certain places, so I have to pray about certain things as well, but I've seen it, guys, in the Christian community, with people, I mean, they'll do, I mean, they'll lie about backstage passes or getting into green rooms or, you know, if they could just meet this friend, and then once they think, and this has happened, once they think they meet them, like the person's nice to them, now they wanna constantly try to reach out to them.

And it's just, it's kinda sad, because we should worship God. And again, most people struggle with this. Like I said, it'd be cool to meet, you know, people, but you have to be content where God has called you.

Be content where God has called you. Worship will be our only response when we see Christ. I think I said last Sunday, you're not gonna get there and look Him straight in the eye.

Oh, it's nice to meet you. Boom, down. Don't you think? It's like you're, you die, you're in heaven, it's like, boom, down, down, down, down, down, down.

Lord, Lord. Yes. That's what it'll be, won't it? Down, face down.

And as he talked with them, he went in and found many. Just realized I got up pretty easy. That normally doesn't happen.

I shocked myself. And as he talked with him, he went out, you gotta get back track, guys. It was serious for a minute.

My wife, if she's watching, she's gonna be astonished. What just happened? And as he talked with them, he went and he found, so Peter's talking to Cornelius, he goes in, he's like, you've gathered a whole bunch of people. And he said to them, you know how lawful, unlawful it is for me, a Jewish man, to keep company or even to go into your house? But God has shown me, guys, that's the key.

He went from legalism to purity of the gospel. Last week, that's why I talked about Peter not being a modern day Pharisee because he was teachable. That's often the difference that makes, and I've seen it, that tilts the scale from loving the truth, holding the truth, and a Pharisee who says the same truth, but they're not teachable.

You ever run into people, it's like, no matter what you show them, no, I'm right, I'm right, I'm right, I'm right, I'm right, I'm right. Wait, hold on here. Do you miss anything? Because nobody has perfect theology.

Uh-oh, pastor, you better clarify. We have perfect truth, but all these great theologians are divided on the non-essentials in many areas. For example, as we were doing that baby dedication, I just thought of, how many of you have seen the great debate between R.C. Sproul and John MacArthur on infant baptism? Do you remember what he said at the beginning, Donna? R.C. Sproul said, and I'll never forget, "'Now, before I get started, I need to let you know "'I'm not gonna argue from Scripture.'" Hmm, hmm, hmm.

But he's arguing from tradition. They look at infant baptism as the same way you would circumcise a child on the eighth day, the covenant relationship with God. In the Reformed theology, they have that covenant relationship by, and I believe they would, I would still think that a person needs to get baptized.

In their case, Roman Catholicism takes it a whole new, it's called baptismal regeneration, and infant baptism things, but they believe, okay, we're gonna baptize the infant as a sign of our covenant relationship with God. The circumcism was in the Old Testament. This is in the New, and that child still has to get baptized later as a believer.

So I don't really, I don't have a problem with them doing that at all. Gosh, you might get to heaven going, yeah, you were right on that one, but we just don't see in Scripture. There's no scriptural course or mandate or command to baptize infants.

It's actually a believer's baptism. I think a much stronger argument can be made for dedication, and then you baptize later on. So another, you guys are getting a lot of rabbit trails today.

So God showed me through the vision that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore, I came without objection. That's how I feel too.

Therefore, I came without objection as soon as I was sent, and so Peter said, okay, why am I here? Why did you send for me? This must be important. So again, Peter was teachable. Oh, I should have wrote down the underlines on mine, so I don't know what's underlined and what's not, so you need to follow along even more.

Peter was teachable, teachable. I love this verse, the humble he teaches his ways. Do you ever see Christians that God is not working in their life? They're prideful, and you see others just humble, and you get mad, you're like, I've been a Christian 25 years.

They've all, Lord, what's going on here? God's just using them. Everything they touch seems to be God, and they're just full of the Spirit. Humility, humility, that's the key.

That really is the key to this topic, and then Cornelius, through verses 10 to 33, he talks about what happened, and he basically told Peter about his dream and things like that, and so what I do, I don't put all the verses in there. I usually just sum it up for you because it's a repeating what has already been said, and so then Peter opened his mouth and said, in truth, I perceive that God shows no partiality, so this is an incredible time in church history. They thought Jesus was for the Jews.

Jesus is for, and they're finding out, wait a minute. God is pouring out his Spirit on the Gentiles as well, and as a matter of fact, I believe, Peter was the chosen vessel to go to the Jews. Paul was the chosen vessel to go to the Gentiles, and I would think that would be the, like, Pharisee of Pharisees, and he talked to a lot of Jews, but his main calling was to go to the Gentiles, and sometimes God doesn't make sense, does he? Me being up here, to me, it does not make sense, but it's God, what he wants to do, but in every nation, whoever fears God and works righteousness is accepted by God, so here's the thing, I had to take out some things.

That word accepted, you know, you might read it and think, oh, they're saved. Accepted is more like God sees them. He accepts what they're doing, but they need to come to saving faith, so he saw Cornelius fearing God and praying, God, I understand you're trying to seek me, now let me put in the pieces of the puzzle together and send Peter to you, and I believe, I've told atheists this and agnostics this, if you sincerely say, clearly the Son did not put itself there, I mean, have you ever took a biology class? Like, how could this all just happen from nothing? How many of you know the liver, the heart, the kidney, everything has to happen at once? You can't develop a heart and say, you know what, a couple years from now, a kidney will evolve, and then, you know what, we need a liver.

It doesn't, it's, boom, creation, so if they wake up and humble themselves from their arrogance and say, his invisible attributes are clearly seen, if you're out there, I sincerely, I need to know you, I truly believe that he will bring a missionary, a dream, a vision, somebody, somehow, someway, because a sincere seeker, he will not turn away, all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. He welcomes sincere seekers, he does, but I can hear some of you now, listening maybe on the radio later, down there near Hollywood, I'm sincere, I'm a seeker, I'm into this and that, and I'm just seeking this higher power, no, no, no, no, no, you must come to God on his terms, not yours, oh, that's so arrogant, no, it's bold, and I'm sincerely seeking God, man, I think he's in, you know, he's in the, he's everywhere, he's in the trees, man, he's, I'm gonna go to, what's that place in Arizona? Morgan just visited, Sedona? Show you, it's a little, I go spiritual, yeah, weird, new agey, yeah, but all those people, you talk to them, I'm seeking God, I'm seeking God, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, not God as you, how you define him, God as he defines himself, well, the Bible can't be trusted, then ask him if it can be trusted, clearly, he can show you what is true and what is not, be careful, though, the devil sometimes can do certain things, do you know that people believe, they go to a certain, the church down the street, and they say, confirmed by a burning in the bosom, that their doctrine is different than ours, way off, by the way, but this burning in the bosom is their confirmation, oh, be careful, be careful, if it strays away from the truth, Paul said, if an angel, even if an angel preaches a different gospel, he's to be accursed, do you know how that religion was started? Angel's name starts with an M, anytime somebody comes to you and says, listen, listen, all these churches are wrong, and this is when D.L. Moody was alive, Spurgeon was alive, all these churches are wrong, I'm gonna tell you the real, the real truth, come on, come on, and I'm gonna give you some tablets that have the special writing and these special glasses that nobody can still find, and so the reason I talk about these things, we gotta wake up and wake people up, so many people, Shane, don't go there, leave them alone, no, they're sincerely on the way to hell, who loves them more, who loves them more, who loves anybody more, to show them and point them to the real Jesus, well, how do I know, ask him, ask him, I don't like what that bald guy said, ask him if what I said is true, not me, and again, it's just Bible, there's no other gospel, they actually say that God was once like us, now right there, I'm done, see you later, shoo, this is not for me, I cannot believe people listen to that, God was once like me, and I will become like God, hmm, that sounds more like the serpent than the savior, by the way, guess what, you get a rule planet and have celestial sex with your spirit wife, some of you are excited about that, but that's not a good thing, rule my, where does this nonsense come from, and you can keep pulling it apart, it's nonsense, utter nonsense, and so you have to lovingly speak the truth in love, sometimes keep your mouth shut, sometimes say something, but guys, this is so, because so many people, how many people are in hell who were sincere? Many will come to me in that day and say, Lord, Lord, we did all these things in your name, he'll say, depart from me, I don't even know you, you tell me they weren't sincere? Man, I'm a little uncomfortable, good, good, it's a conviction of the Holy Spirit saying, stop fooling around and get right with God, that's how he works, and then Acts continues, the word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching, preach, preaching peace through Jesus Christ, he is the Lord of all, that word, you know, it's almost like he's telling Cornelius, you know, you heard of this guy, you heard of him being preached, it was proclaimed everywhere, and it began in Galilee and went throughout Judea, you know about this, and again, so many people today, and back then, knew about Jesus intellectually, how many people lived during Jesus' time but are in hell right now, they talked to Jesus, they saw Jesus, yet, they're eternally separated from God because they knew, so the word is intellectually, in your notes, but they need to know him relationally, and I love this part, peace through Jesus Christ, I'm so thankful for that verse, let's put the next slide, it's this time of year, I made the font a little larger for you, the Prince of Peace, we're celebrating, the child is born to us, a son is given, the government will be upon his shoulders and he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, that's one thing that Christianity gives that no other religion gives, the peace, the knowing that you know the Father, the Holy Spirit Christ, Abba, Father, knows, it confirms that he is our Savior and our Lord, here we go, finally got, how long did it take to get to the topic here, so Peter said how God, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth, there's that word, there's where I got it from, so God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, they always go together, there's no way around, when you're anointed with the Holy Spirit, there's spiritual power, you can't have one without the other, it's like saying I drank some, I ran into some water and it was wet, we can't have either separately, so Jesus went about doing good works and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with them, with him, so anointing, if I could sum it up, it's where kindness and strength kiss, kindness meaning you have the fruit of the Spirit, the love of God and you have the strength of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual insight of the Holy Spirit and this message grew legs, so I think part two is gonna be next week, but it's such an important topic, because anointed, this might be easier, how many of you don't use this word or have ever heard this word? Probably not too many, because we say that worship was so, fill in the blank guys, that church is so, that message was so, that prayer was so, anointed, we use it more than we think, don't we? Now what do we mean by that? Well, some of us mean different things, some of us say it when our feelings are engaged, it's great when our feelings are engaged, but that's not the final gauge, okay? So the word anointed, biblically speaking, it's actually related to the word Messiah, and it means one who is anointed, so this refers to a person such as a king, a priest, or a prophet, who was consecrated for a sacred purpose, in other words, set apart, they're anointed by God, I rejected Saul, I anointed David, I'm rejecting Eli, I'm anointing Samuel, Samson, those who have this touch of God on their life, and it was incredible, now the New Testament, it's kind of the same thing, but James also talks about, it's for healing, so the anointing oil for healing, and remember, healing is not necessarily in the oil, it's in the act of obedience, because we pray for healing, it's not like we have no oil, forget it, it's like when Samson's hair grew back, and his strength grew back, oh, there's some black, there's some hair fall, ooh, the strength, ooh, no, it's in the consecration, he was not supposed to shave his head, so when that grew back, it was a sign of consecration, of obedience, same with the anointing oil, we just obey, because it represents, so we have oil, we'll pray for people, and we pray because it represents, it's a step of obedience, and so it's used in various ways in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament, so another thing you have with, you've got questions.org, this saved me so much time, because it summed it up perfectly, so the anointing, what is the anointing that God bestows upon every believer, and every believer, 1 John 2 talks about the anointing that you receive from God, it remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you, okay, now by the way, that doesn't mean, the context is false teachers, he's talking about false teachers, you have the same Holy Spirit, you don't need, don't have these false teachers come and influence you, because obviously John is teaching, so he's not telling you to not listen to teachers, they have to line up with the word of God, and then the verse is connected to verse 20, that informs us we have an anointing from the Holy One, so this gets interesting, that's why you'll sometimes hear the same anointing that Jesus Christ had, often believers, often, well they do, they have that same anointing of the Holy Spirit, obviously not Jesus, in case you tried to, haven't figured that out yet, have anybody prayed for somebody who's sick, and they're still sick, prayed for this, and it doesn't happen, Jesus knew the perfect will of the Father, and he goes on to say, you don't need anyone to teach you, again, is dealing with false teachers, and then number two, at the moment of salvation, every Christian receives the gift of the Holy Spirit, number three, the anointing refers to the presence and empowering work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, whenever the Holy Spirit dwells, the anointing remains, this means that all genuine Christians are anointed with no distinctions among them, so you need to know that, if you're a believer here, feel at the, you don't have any less anointing than I have in my life, in my heart, at all, why are you doing what you're, hold on, we're getting there, while we possess different gifts, and we vary in our maturity, the anointing remains the same for all Christians, okay? So, let's dig a little bit, a person may not, it's like, Shane's more anointed than all of us, no, we're all the same, now here's the difference, a person may not be more anointed, but some people are more gifted, have you seen that before? You know, you see, well, I think of so many examples, but gifting doesn't always equal a powerful anointing, does it? Because there's a lot of people gifted, but they're not really anointed, especially if they're not believers, of course, and so that's where we get confused, I mean, Brandon Lake, I mean, he's got the strongest anointing I've ever seen, or whoever you put in there, I don't know, you throw out the names, right, Corey Asbury, what's the guy, Forrest Frank, no, no, no, no, no, no, same anointing, now God might've upped the gifting a little bit, he might've opened some doors, for sure, absolutely, you don't think if Hollywood took Maddie, right, spent 100,000 on Instagram shares, and just bringing it home, getting a contract from Nashville, hey, can you fly out, let's talk to you, right, God opened the door, right, so somebody's not more anointed, they can be more gifted, because sometimes, like, I'm anointed to do what I'm called to do, but I'm not quite gifted, to do this, what a powerful name it is, what a powerful name, now is God saying, oh, no, same anointing, but there's gifting, and as a church, we have to recognize gifting as well as anointing, so sometimes people, if they're not quite gifted, they might not be in positions of where we need that strong gifting and anointing, and that's hard to navigate those waters sometimes, and anointing is the complete opposite of self-promotion, it's God's promotion, it's God's promotion, and he may withdraw or lessen the anointing based on pride and self-exaltation, for example, we might have the same anointing, like the Bible talks about, but many people could be quenching and grieving that powerful moving of the spirit in their heart and in their life, prideful, like God, here's what we see a lot, right, God exalts somebody, and their head goes with them, up, and there's a kind of removal of that anointing, they're still anointed, but they're quenching and grieving the spirit, so character plays a huge role, actually, it's been said that your gift will take you, but your character keeps you there, it's God's promotion, and he may withdraw or lessen the anointing based on pride and self-exaltation, bottom line is, hashtag, be content, but pursue God, let me tell you, this is another thing I saw in the Christian community, so many people are after the limelight, if I could just, if I could just, and often, God uses the person who doesn't say that, it's often the person who, least likely, because they feel the awe and the reverence of that calling, it's God's promotion, and sometimes he elevates people, and then we're tested with jealousy, envy, anybody else been there? What do we do with those things in our heart? I mean, think about how foolish this is that we think numbers equal anointing, the biggest churches, is T.D. Jakes more anointed than me, or Andy Stanley, or Steve Furtick, Joel Osteen, oh man, but look at, God's not in the numbers, guys, he's in the quality, I've seen it, he often uses, I love to listen to guys who not very many people know, no, there's nothing wrong with some of the, again, if God raises them up, God raises them up, but you have to be careful, I know for a fact, people, remember Jim Baker's scandal, and Jimmy Swagger, Jimmy Swagger, that was a powerful, powerful preacher, David Wilkerson talks about how he warned him, months or years in advance, that he needs to let it go and begin seeking God again, and there's a warning, because the more God elevates, there's a danger there, so we should pray, Lord, give me neither poverty or riches, give me what you've called me to do, give me what you've called me, because he knows what will destroy you, destroy you, and what won't. Somebody think Phil, and somebody else sent me this guy named Joby, out of Florida, he's like, you sound like this guy, he looks like me, but he's bigger, and he's got a beard, and it's like the fastest growing church in Florida, or in the United States, I think, right now, right? And I told Morgan yesterday, I go, thank God, I would never, I don't, can you imagine the 70, 80 hour work weeks? Can you imagine just, maybe his kids are moved out, but I wouldn't even, that could destroy a person, so you have to be comfortable with where God has put you, and placed you, and be content in that, because the more you try to chase the limelight, and the followers, and likes, I wanna be up there, that's self-worship, you should say, Lord, wherever you wanna put me, whatever you wanna put me, and mean it, because it's easy to say it, to get something, but it's really, really important to mean it, because the touch of God should bring us low.

The touch of God should bring us low. Guys, character determines the outflow. Character is what really determines the outflow in our lives.

What's the next screen? I don't know if I put D. Martin Lloyd's quote up there. I'm actually missing that whole page, so I'm glad we have this, thank you, Sarah. Because I knew I wasn't done yet, like, what's going on here? So next Sunday, because I mentioned part two, this is so important, I didn't wanna like, just cut it off, just hurry up and get it out.

I wanted to, so next Sunday's gonna be stewarding this anointing. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. How do you walk in that anointing, and steward it correctly? And just to give you a little taste of that, guys, set apart, okay, I found out the hard way.

Set apart by God, doing God's will now means you're a target. I almost stopped by Turner's Gun Store this week and got a target and wore it right here. Like, wow, David was anointed, did the enemy go after him? Turner? Samson? Saul, did you know Saul was anointed? Solomon? It's a target, you become a target.

Anointing is only a protective covering if you stay under it. Oh, man. Let's say, okay, I'm anointed to do this, and God grows the ministry.

Whatever he's doing, there's a covering I have to stay under. Or you have to stay under. What about if he exalts you? Exalts your ministry? We gotta be careful.

And I pray for people, and you know Seth Gruber? Or John Amachuka? The big African American who goes to school board meetings? I knew those guys when they didn't have any followers, and they just exploded with Turning Point US. And praise God, because we need those voices out there, but I'm like, pray, be careful. Stay low.

Stay low. And you guys should pray, God, don't exalt too quickly. Because the character has to match up with the calling.

Pray for your grandkids and your kids in this area as well. There's a covering you have to stay under. God honors his word that goes out.

God honors his word that goes out. Praise God to that. But, this is a big deal too.

When it comes to anointing, do not trust feelings. Because sometimes you ever make the mistake of, I just didn't feel it. I just didn't feel worship today.

Well good, it wasn't about you. I've been guilty of saying that. Not here necessarily, but other places.

It can't be about feelings, because you have to learn perseverance and fortitude and doing what God has called you to do regardless. I love it when the feelings are there, don't you? Like I feel great this morning. Especially when I got up easily.

That helped motivate. But here's what I wasn't sure I'm gonna tell you. I think it's okay though.

There's probably a handful of times I can count in 15 years of preaching that I did not feel anything. Like I just wanna get out of here. And Wednesday was it.

Wednesday was it. Things weren't popping. And a lot has to do with how you're feeling too.

I was down in LA, recorded with KKLA, hit in traffic, get home, then I go to four o'clock meetings, five o'clock meetings, and then I step up to preach. So that plays a role too as well. But I knew I just gotta read what's on my heart and Lord get me out of here as soon as, it was a 15 minute sermon.

I tried to go longer, I just couldn't think of anything to say. I texted the elders. I apologized to Natalie who did worship because we had a longer set.

And I'm like, Lord, what is going on? But this sermon would not have come had it not been for that moment. I had to rewrite this whole thing, Thursday, Friday. And when I texted Natalie, she said, I brought my sister who's been struggling and she said every word was exactly what she needed to hear.

It's like, oh. Kevin Riley texted me. Man, that's, I'm like, this is a joke.

What is going on here? And God will often sometimes use that to keep you, remember hotshot, it's not about you. How can God, and then people comment, it's like, oh my, every word, I knew people here, that's exactly what they need to hear. I'm like, why didn't I feel it? Why didn't I, what was I, because you have to press through and be ready in and out of season.

And sometimes He'll do that just to remind you, it's my word, I'm gonna take away, you won't feel a thing, you wanna just go home. I don't wanna talk to anybody, I just wanna go, because I want to do well with what I do, if that makes sense. And I thought we'd have some rabbit trails, I thought, it was like, what is going on? Like even praying, like, Lord, help me, because I don't know what, I'm just gonna read what I have.

Hello? And the feedback, it was so encouraging, and God taught me that lesson, and that's why I begin to write down a lot of these notes. What is the anointing? Because I felt I lost it that night. There's no sin, there's a, as far as I knew, I'm fasting, I'm ready for the Wednesday service, and then, you ever been in LA traffic on the five? And then, I'll be on the go, can't collect your thoughts, get here, and so, you have to work through the normal human emotions, as well.

And your emotions coming into play, and I said, Lord, what is this anointing? Can we always walk in it? Because I felt that, that was anointing, I felt terrible. I could text the elders, hey, guys, sorry about tonight, I don't know what happened. Natalie, like, what are you talking about? Like, well, okay, good.

I mean, some people, my wife can tell, she knows, she can tell, because sometimes, if I'm not there, and I'll come from a bench, she goes, did a fire fall? I'm like, yeah, it fell. And she knows, and she knows, fire's not, what's going on? Okay, just press through, you know, and those who are close to you. But this whole thing, and then, part two, next Sunday, came from God breaking me again, humbling me, like, what just happened? Like, this is not me.

And so, but he used that, probably number one, of course, to keep us humble. He knows how to keep us humble. And also, to show that the anointing is his word.

Being obedient to his word, regardless of if my serotonin is low, and I'm moody, and it's cold, I wanna stay home. I wanna watch House of David. Don't get me started on that.

I do like it, I give my kids money if they can figure out all the places it's wrong, according to the Bible. But it's good, I'd rather watch it out than other stuff. And I actually like it.

I don't know why the side trail, but it's a rabbit trail. But I can find, like, when Saul, how many of you watch it? Saul, maybe I shouldn't tell you, because. But when they're saying, David's 10,000, so he's like, he doesn't get upset, his wife does.

I'm like, no, that's not in the Bible. You get really upset, mister. And other things we look for.

Kids are looking for stuff now. Is that in the Bible? Did that really happen? Well, some of the stuff we don't know, because there's artistic liberty. You know, you just, who knows if it happened.

But other stuff, it's like, mm. When David slew Goliath, the Philistines ran away. They didn't run to engage armies.

So, things like that, just kind of looking for. So, that's what I wanted to share with you. And the closing question then, and next week's actually gonna be more important, because this just sets the stage.

Next week is, how do you, I want to use the title, surviving the anointing. David Ravenhill, Leonard Ravenhill's son, wrote a book on surviving the anointing. But this one's gonna be more on, like, how do you, because here's the thing, guys, when you're anointed, watch out, there's a target.

Don't play games. We want to say, how close can I walk to the enemy side? Be careful, because he'll just pull you over, eventually. And so, when God anoints you, how do you guard that? How do we guard what God is doing here? Listen, I'm telling you, I want this church to be more known for the presence of God than the pastor.

It's the presence of God, anointed on this place, with believers coming hungry for more of God. But I know there might be some people listening, or hear, that you are not anointed. And so the question is, are you anointed? What I mean by that is an unbeliever, an unbeliever is void of the spirit of God.

That's why they are empty, fearful, anxious, and uncertain. Would you ever look at the world and go, what is going on? Thank God that you have the rock that will not leave you, and the anchor that will keep you steady in the storm. The world doesn't have that.

Can you imagine the, like David prayed, take not thy Holy Spirit from me? That's scary, did you know that could happen in the Old Testament? No, no, no, Lord. But praise God, the believers have. I actually want you to put up right now, Sarah, if there's that little flame, I want to show you this illustration.

Some of you, you just got a little flickering. Your fire's about ready to go out. And you can stay there the rest of your life.

That's quenching the fire of the Spirit. That's quenching. You don't have a big blazing fire heating up your home and heating up your hearts around you.

It's just, you've quenched and grieved it, and you don't do much for God. You're barely holding on. What needs to happen? Full surrender.

Let's go back to that slide about an unbeliever, they're void of the Spirit. Romans 8-9 says, if anyone does not have, oh, actually, I think I might have added this one, so it's on the slide. Romans 8-9, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him, and he is not a child of God.

This is what sets apart this from any other religion. We're not a religion, we're a relationship. Always remember that.

Christianity, oh, you're just one of many religions. No, this is God coming down to man. This is not man going up to God with good works.

And so, what other religion has the Spirit of God dwelling within them? Nobody. And because of that, they're empty, they're fearful, they're anxious, they're uncertain. I wanna do a sermon sometime titled, Let the Buyer Beware, meaning unbelievers being seduced by the enemy, buying into his lies, buying into what the world says.

And then I'll leave you with this thought. As a Christian, the anointing is there, but for many people, it's almost out, just like the fire I showed. Guys, that's my heart.

That's my heart. And that's why this church convicts so many people, and they don't wanna come back, and it convicts so many people, and they end up at the altar. Like, only because that fire's out.

And when your fire's out, you don't wanna be challenged. If you're not ready to put some fuel on it, run to Chevron and get a gas of Galilean, gas of Gali, Gali-gasoline, that rhyme, and throw it on that fire. That's what full surrender does.

Guys, it's full surrender. That anointing won't leave, but it can be quenched, and it can be grieved. It was an old Latin hymn in the seventh century.

It said, oh, source of uncertain heat, the Father's promised paraclete. That fire, that paraclete means they come alongside the helper. The helper to what? To live the Christian faith.

I'm gonna read this story, and we'll play a clip, and I'll be done. A man by the name of F.B. Meyer, I've got a lot of his books. He was probably in the 1800s.

He wrote about the following experience. Shortly after the conversion of D.L. Moody, how many of you heard of D.L. Moody? One of the most powerful anointed evangelists in America's history. And what he did, he took the big market hall in Chicago.

He gathered a vast crowd of people at the Sunday evening service, but with comparatively small results. No conversions, no fire, nothing. And a group of Christian women used to occupy the front seat, and as D.L. Moody would come down from the platform right after the sermon, they would say, very good, Mr. Moody, very good, but there is something better, and we are praying for you.

He didn't like those two ladies. Can you imagine that? If I every time, like, hey, Shane, that was good, but there's something missing. Yeah.

The fire, the strong anointing. He was so bothered by that statement. Some of you need to hear this story because you're trusting in your theological mind.

And you're gifting, but you're quenching the anointing because of pride. And he questioned these ladies. He got upset.

The hall's crowded. Many of these megachurches I just mentioned are crowded, but do you know comparably how many lives are actually changed? Because when you encourage people in their sin, they don't change. They tell their friends, come to this church.

It tells me what I want to hear. So one summer afternoon, as D.O. Moody was passing by Fifth Avenue in New York, he felt that he must get alone with God. And going to the house of a friend, he asked for the use of a room that he might be alone.

So he put aside all the fellowship, any food. He just locked the door. And in that sacred hour, he yielded his whole being afresh to Christ and received what they call the baptism of power.

And on the following Sunday evening, the Spirit of God moved so powerfully and with such might and power that the women who prayed for him with tears smiled at him and said, ah, Mr. Moody, you've got it now. And that was the beginning of his ministry. That was the beginning of the ministry, of his ministry and the power of the Holy Spirit, which affected the entire world.

You would not know if D.O. Moody had it not been for that time. Someone by the name of Billy Graham came to that same crisis, I believe it was the 1950s, in a Welsh apartment or hotel when he was challenged about the mighty baptism filling of the Holy Spirit. And I do want to clarify, as a church, we believe in one baptism.

You're baptized into the, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is when you become a believer but there are subsequent fillings and Peter being filled and Paul being filled and you'll never receive that if you're full of self. I'm smart, I have an education, I study. So what? God will use the least likely to exalt his name.

Humble yourself, get back, get back to that place of humility and anointing. I just want to talk to you about the cost of a fresh anointing. Jesus said the Father anointed him to preach the gospel.

When I hear it, I know that it's a man or woman that's touched God. And when I hear it, I'm convicted. When I hear it, I'm moved.

When I hear it, I know I'm driven to my knees. And there's such a weightiness about it that I can't ignore it. I have to deal with it.

You see, God does not give the anointing to lazy preachers, lazy Christians, he won't do it. There's a cost to the anointing where you will never again be satisfied as long as you live without seeing God at work in you and walking with you. And I had to travel all over the United States promoters got a hold of it, Christian promoters.

And I traveled for, I think, two months, national television, radio television, and it went around the world and I became what some would call famous. I know what it's like to have the anointing and I know when it's lifted. I know when I don't have it.

I know when the death moves in. And folks, I got so busy that there's no hunger, there's no brokenness, there's no cry. When I go into the scriptures, I look at men that God has used and there's always been a cry.

Jeremiah said, I engaged my heart to seek the Lord. And you'll find that there was a cry. There is nothing worse that I can think of for a man of God or a woman of God than to lose the anointing of God and be dead and have the knowledge that something is wrong.

I was known around the world as a man of God and yet growing lukewarm and cold in my heart. That is David Wilkerson, founder of Teen Challenge and author of The Cross and the Switchblade. And what he's talking about is what I mentioned when he talks about the anointing, it's the fullness of the anointing.

We're anointed, all of us as believers, but we're quenching and grieving. So I think it'd be an incredible opportunity. The worship team's gonna come up.

Maybe some on the worship team need to humble themselves as well. You know, any ushers, hello? Sound, media, any staff, volunteers. If you feel that you've been quenching and grieving the Spirit, you could even kneel where you're at or just cry out to God.

You don't have to do anything necessarily, but say, Lord, I need that brokenness. I've drifted. I need that fullness of the Spirit.

Lord, I know I'm anointed, but I've never done much for you. Or some of you, I used to do a lot for God. I hear that a lot.

Oh, man, Shane, the 1980s, well, 1990s, early 2000s. It's supposed to be a continual, filled with the Spirit, filled with the Spirit until you breathe your last breath. I can't do much, I'm at home.

You can be an intercessor. These women were intercessors for D.L. Moody. Intercessors have sparked revival from the Welsh Revivals and New Hebrews Revivals, First Great Awakening in America, have always been fueled and started by intercessors, interceding.