Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] It was a joy on Friday that we gathered our staff, team and elders and our church planters and church planting teams together for the day. We met in Dio Gloria coffee shop in Newton Abbott, which a year ago wasn't opened. We heard stories about God changing people's lives and impacting communities. That wasn't happening a few years ago. And it's a great joy, isn't it, to see what God's doing when light comes into places of darkness. It's a real joy. I wonder if you know what happened on the 6th of May, 2023. Anybody could guess.
[00:00:36] 6th of May. Don't Google it. 6th of May, 2023, what happened?
[00:00:42] The what, sorry, the coronation. Well remembered it was the coronation of King Charles.
[00:00:50] Something happened on that day that has happened for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years, in fact, going back to Old Testament times, that there was something happened in that ceremony that has been taking place for generations, and that was that King Charles was anointed with oil.
[00:01:13] This isn't a new phenomena.
[00:01:16] One minute somebody places some oil on your head. And of course, the oil doesn't contain any particular special properties, although I think the oil they used was a special oil that they'd gathered from Israel. But it's not the content of the oil, it's what it represented and symbolized that within that oil it was dedicated to enable the king to be anointed as a representative of God. In the nation and throughout the Old Testament, we read that there were many times when certain people or things would be anointed with oil and it would represent that these are special, they are empowered by God, set apart from God for God, they are made distinctive for him.
[00:02:14] And the oil couldn't be put on everything.
[00:02:18] You couldn't anoint everybody in a nation. There were only certain people that could be anointed. They consisted of prophets, priests and kings.
[00:02:33] If you were to become one of those in the nation of Israel, a prophet, you would be anointed and it would be an oil that was poured on you that said you are now God's prophet to the nation.
[00:02:48] But not everybody experienced that if you wanted to be a priest, there were lots of rituals and lots of things that needed to be done in order for there to be a seal, a covenant, a connection, an evidence that God was upon those priests and only certain people could become that. And they would be anointed with oil. And as the oil poured over them, it was symbolic that these people are now saved and protected and called out and special from those who surround them of Course, the oil would dry up and it would no longer drip down them. But just that moment was enough to separate them from everyone else.
[00:03:35] And as they received that oil, they were making a commitment and a covenant in their life that my life is now set apart entirely for the purposes of God.
[00:03:47] So the prophets were anointed, the priests were anointed, and then, just like on the 16th of May, 2023, that there was a king in this nation that was anointed that day. But throughout millennia, there have been kings who have had an oil poured upon them symbolically that they are being set apart for God, set apart for his purposes. Of course, it wasn't appointment by democracy. It wasn't appointment by qualification. It was often an appointment by hereditary. But there's an appointment that's given that says God is now setting you apart. And there are responsibilities that come with that.
[00:04:30] Can you imagine if after the ceremony on the 16th of May, Charles just quickly ran out of the cathedral and he stripped off his clothes and he just put his jeans on and his T shirt and he just said, I need to go to TK Maxx. You know, I just need to get a few new clothes. And then you saw him walking around Marks and Spencer's getting a meal deal afterwards. You know, there were some things that would just feel like, this is a weird thing for you to do after that appointment, after that anointing.
[00:05:02] And there was something about being set apart that determines not just the moment of being set apart, but how people live and conduct and speak and think because they have been established and anointed by God.
[00:05:22] The oil in the scriptures symbolized that this was God's choice, someone or something. Because there were things as well in the temple that the sacred things in the temple would be anointed with oil to symbolize that these were not going to be used for anything else in their life other than the glory of God. They would have been established that this is their entire purpose. And as a result, they would have been anointed to symbolize that set of partners.
[00:06:02] But the oil in the Old Testament was restricted.
[00:06:06] It was forbidden to be used for common purposes. You couldn't take some of the anointing oil and then suddenly go and season your chips with it or something. It was dedicated entirely for sacred purposes.
[00:06:24] It was not to be replicated for personal use.
[00:06:29] And that's why when the prophet, the priest and the king were anointed, that the oil was so powerfully symbolic of this unique, sacred relationship.
[00:06:41] That's the Old Testament.
[00:06:44] Then the New Testament starts, and very quickly we're introduced to someone in the Hebrew called the Messiah, or in the Greek Christ, which means the anointed one, referring to Jesus as the anointed one.
[00:07:05] Jesus is the ultimate prophet. Jesus is the ultimate priest, and Jesus is the ultimate king. He is the anointed one. He has been set apart to be our prophet, priest and king.
[00:07:24] But the wonderful thing about Jesus is that he doesn't just stand apart from us, but he came among us.
[00:07:34] And that Jesus, the prophet, priest and king, he shares his anointing with his followers.
[00:07:43] He poured himself out like an offering upon those who gave their life to him, those who follow him.
[00:07:53] So there's a distinctive between what I would say is an Old Testament anointing and a New Testament anointing. The Old Testament anointing was for a few select people, but the New Testament anointing is for everyone who follows after Jesus. It's for all. It's for you.
[00:08:13] If you have heard a preacher or a leader in a church handle criticism by saying you should not be saying that because you should not touch the Lord's anointed.
[00:08:25] You've just encountered someone who hasn't broken free from an Old Testament revelation into a New Testament revelation, because you could answer them and say, listen, you are anointed. I respect God's hand upon your life, but so am I. I'm anointed by God, and I have the anointing of Jesus upon my life. We might be anointed for different purposes, but the anointing sets us apart for the glory of God. And that's why we should be kind to one another in church. That's why we should be loving to one another. Because everyone who surrounds us is the anointed ones. We're all carrying the glory of God on our lives. He has poured himself out for each of us. There are no superstars in the kingdom. There are just ordinary people like you and I that have had the oil of God poured upon us and we are set apart for his glory.
[00:09:18] That's the reality of your life.
[00:09:20] You know, I think there are probably some days when the king of this country wakes up and feels fairly ordinary, feels fairly tired. But he has been anointed for the task by the constitution of this nation, the people of God. There are days we wake up. There are days we struggle. There are days we feel like we're not on best form. But I want you to know the anointing of God has set you apart. He has poured himself out upon you, and it breaks the power of every yoke this world brings upon you. The anointing of God breaks the fear of this world. It breaks the narratives of this world. It sets us apart to live directly connected to the kingdom of glory.
[00:10:02] The anointing breaks the yoke.
[00:10:06] So this New Testament anointing, it is for who follow Jesus.
[00:10:14] All believers are described as being anointed by the Holy Spirit. Not just by your church, not just by some oil. You have been anointed by the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 1 says these words, verse 21. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in in Christ. He anointed us. Say that after me, will you? He anointed us. And again, he anointed us. He set his seal of ownership on us, and he put his spirit in our hearts as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come. There's a down payment on our lives. If you've ever bought something and put a deposit down on it, there might be like, you might not have it in your home, you might not feel like it's part of your life, but you have sealed it. You have put a promise on it. You have made a commitment to redeem it. The Holy Spirit is the deposit guaranteeing the eternal security of your life, and the Holy Spirit has anointed you.
[00:11:26] We get from this an understanding that just like in the Old Testament, there were certain people from the tribe of Levi of the Israelites that could be priests.
[00:11:38] We as Gentiles, many of us in this room, have been grafted in to that great promise of God, grafted into salvation.
[00:11:48] The Messiah of the Jews is now the Messiah of the Gentiles as well. And we're made one in Christ Jesus. And as I see his anointing poured out upon us, he no longer says that there are a select tribe that can be priests, but he looks out over his church and he says every single one of you are being anointed as priests. It doesn't matter whether you're ordained. It doesn't matter whether you wear a dog collar. It doesn't matter whether you officiate at weddings. It doesn't matter whether you have been trained theologically. What matters is the Holy Spirit has called you to be a priest, and you are a priest this morning.
[00:12:33] 1 Peter 2, 9 says these words, this is about you.
[00:12:40] But you are a chosen people.
[00:12:44] You are a royal priesthood.
[00:12:48] You are a holy nation, God's special possession that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
[00:13:05] I'm Speaking to a room of priests today.
[00:13:11] I'm not speaking to a room of people who have got a multiplicity of careers that just give some of your time on a Sunday to. To honor the Lord. I'm speaking to a room of priests.
[00:13:27] I'm speaking to a room of people who have been rescued from darkness, brought into light, anointed by the Holy Spirit, sealed by the deposit of the Spirit. And he has anointed you and called you to be priests in the nations of the world. That's you.
[00:13:45] You see this specialism that we create. We love creating specialisms. We love having a sense that there's somebody that will help me that's better than I am.
[00:13:57] When you're sick, if there's someone that's got a little bit of a rumor or a reputation for seeing healings through their ministry, we'll drive miles to go and get them to pray for us. But the Bible says that you and I have been anointed by the spirit of God. And we, the priests of God, can move in the power of God, know the promise of God, stand in the truth of God, see the glory of God revealed through our lives. That's you.
[00:14:28] You have been chosen.
[00:14:30] Come on, you need to shake off this doubt. You need to shake off this intimidation. You have been chosen by God.
[00:14:44] I know there are different traditions in the Christian faith.
[00:14:47] I know there are some that require you to go and see a priest to get your sins annulled.
[00:14:56] Let me tell you, Jesus is the priest, the high priest, and you can confess your sins to him.
[00:15:06] I believe that Jesus has made it possible for us to enter boldly into his presence, irrespective of the mess of our lives.
[00:15:20] And if you're sat here this morning, you think, mark, you don't know how much I've messed up. Well, maybe I do, maybe I don't.
[00:15:29] But I know I've met a lot of people in my time who have messed up.
[00:15:34] And I've seen the spirit of God be ever so kind with them.
[00:15:39] I've seen the anointing of God still come upon their life when they will humble themselves before him and set themselves apart for his glory.
[00:15:48] Your shame does not disqualify you. What qualifies you is the anointing of God.
[00:15:55] And the access point to that on our life is repentance. It's not works. It's not becoming better followers of Jesus. Oh, we long to become a better follower of Jesus, but you don't qualify for that. There's not a point system in the Kingdom of God. There's just a response, a yieldedness, an openness to say, God, I want everything you've got for me. And listen, what he's got for you is that you're a priest, a royal priest.
[00:16:30] We are no longer restricted to specific offices or classes.
[00:16:37] So this anointing is for all.
[00:16:42] But this anointing in the New Testament differs from the anointing in the Old Testament because the anointing is from the inside, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Bible talks about, about us being like temples. If you think that you'll come to this church building in order to meet with God, then I hope you meet with God here. But there's something special about meeting together with the people of God. But God does not live in pop up church. He does not live in cathedrals. He does not live in sacred places across the world. God lives everywhere and he lives in people.
[00:17:23] And so on this series of thank God, it's Monday. The temple of God is you. The priest of God is you. The infilling of God is in you. He has anointed and appointed you.
[00:17:36] And he dwells within us. See, in the Old Testament there was a physical oil that would come and flow on the outside. And they weren't as conservative as we are today. And in a moment we're going to pray for one another to be anointed by oil. But we tend to just put a little tiny bit of oil on the edge of our finger. Conscious that we don't want to clash with their makeup, conscious, we don't want to stain their clothes and get the dry cleaning bill. Conscious, we don't want to mess their hair up. Although some of us have less concern about that than others.
[00:18:06] We know that we don't want to pour out oil. But there's a beautiful story of unity in psalms. And it talks about. It's like the oil being poured on the head, running down the beer, just dripping oil everywhere. That's the picture of anointing in the Old Testament. It's not a dab, it's a deluge. It's just poured out upon us. And the Holy Spirit pours out freely in our life by power.
[00:18:31] And he pours within us, he saturates us, he fills us, the people of God. We're called to bubble over with the fullness of the Spirit in our life. You know, we're not meant to just try harder. We're meant to be full of the Spirit that pours out from us, that our conversation is an overflow of The Spirit. Our thoughts are an overflow of the Spirit. Our actions are an overflow of the Spirit. Our kindness is an overflow of the Spirit. Our love is an overflow of the Spirit. You don't see fruit trees going, oh, I must try harder. If I push harder, there's going to be an apple somewhere on these branches.
[00:19:22] They just need to be in the right conditions.
[00:19:25] Because an apple tree will grow apples. A follower of Jesus will grow the fruit of the Spirit. If the Spirit of the Lord is in your life and allowed to work in your life as he desires to move, you will grow fruit. You will bear fruit, fruit that will last.
[00:19:42] And it won't be because you tried harder. It won't be because Christianity is some sort of self help group. It will happen because the Spirit of God has anointed you from the inside. Because the Holy Spirit fills you to overflowing.
[00:19:59] I love that there are multiple expressions in the New Testament of the anointing oil as well. Oil. In James chapter five we read, is anyone sick among you?
[00:20:12] Let him call the elders of the church to anoint them with oil and the prayer of sick. The prayer faith, rather get it the right way around. The prayer of faith will raise up sick.
[00:20:30] There's nothing special in the oil, nothing special in even the elders. What's special is the yieldedness to the anointing of God that flows through the people of God. And the faith is in the one who anoints us, not in the oil.
[00:20:51] It's the one who anoints us.
[00:20:56] In the New Testament, we find less emphasis on political or national leadership as the expression of oil being poured out. But we find more emphasis on the spiritual empowerment for service.
[00:21:12] We find that this is not just a one moment experience where someone says, I was anointed back in 1982.
[00:21:23] It's a daily continuous anointing that pours in us and through us. Keep being filled with the Spirit.
[00:21:34] Keep living in the anointing. Keep being set apart. Keep being empowered by on high.
[00:21:43] It's continuous.
[00:21:47] Listen to a few things before we pray.
[00:21:50] You are anointed.
[00:21:55] The exception to that is if you're here and you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
[00:22:01] And the great news is, before you leave today, you can encounter the love and the power of God setting you free from all of the shame of your past, liberating you from all of the mistakes of your life, and setting you in a place where you encounter the love of God, where you don't have to fear Him. You can know Him. And that can be your experience here today.
[00:22:25] And those of us who have walked through that door, those of us who have walked through the door of Jesus, that that's all possible because he gave his life on the cross.
[00:22:35] Those of us who've walked through that door, we can know the power of the Holy Spirit anointing us from within and allowing us to move in this understanding that we are priests, prophets, kings, and we can walk in that separate anointing, that separateness, sacredness in our life.
[00:22:56] You are anointed. And the reality of our anointing in 1 John 2:20 it says, but you have an anointing from the Holy Spirit.
[00:23:07] And all of you know the truth. Think about that for a moment.
[00:23:14] The same God who anointed King David to be king, who anointed Jesus for his ministry, the same God has placed his seal and anointing on you.
[00:23:34] If you are not stirring in your spirit right now, there's only a number of reasons why that can be the case.
[00:23:41] Either you don't fully comprehend that reality or secondly, I've explained it really badly.
[00:23:50] Both are possible.
[00:23:52] But let me tell you, the reality is that you have been anointed by God, Chosen.
[00:24:03] Set apart a chosen people.
[00:24:09] You've got to learn to kick the butt of the enemy. You know, it's really important that you learn to wear spiritual Dr. Martens in your life to do some damage to the advancements of the enemy.
[00:24:32] I'm fed up of seeing the enemy plunder people's lives and them going, oh, I don't know what to do. Put your boots on.
[00:24:41] The Bible says, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Why will he do that to me? I'm woe is me. How can he do that? How can I have so much authority? Because you've been anointed by God.
[00:24:56] Because there is power upon your life. Because the powers of hell are afraid of the one who is in you.
[00:25:04] And as long as we forget that reality, we just allow these things to happen around our lives.
[00:25:11] Oh, the enemy's having a go at my life. I feel so vulnerable, so weak. Put your boots on.
[00:25:19] Rise up in the strength and the power of your mighty God.
[00:25:24] Greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world Church. It's time to get serious about the things of God and recognize the power that we have. The power that we have to change environments, the powers that we have to change the family circumstances, the power we have to change the atmosphere in our workplaces, the power that we have to change that which is around us in our society. And when the church puts its boots on and stands up and stops complaining about Keir Starmer and stops complaining about Donald Trump and starts complaining about the foxes that are running around our nation and saying, we're not having this any longer, that's when the church will rise up in power and in might. That's when we will know that we are the priests, the kings, the prophets in the nation. That's when we will know that if God is for us, who can be against us and church? It's time to rise up. It's time to stop being subject to the one that is subject to you.
[00:26:27] The authority of God is real.
[00:26:31] It's not based on your eloquence. It's based on his authority. It is a real authority. He has crushed the enemy.
[00:26:41] We become so familiar with this stuff and yet so familiar with the words, but not familiar with the practice. We sing songs like In Christ Alone, My Hope is Found and we look half depressed.
[00:26:55] We sing songs about the enemy being crushed under the feet of Jesus, and yet we feel like we are crushed under the weight of the enemy. It's time to grab a hold of the revelation. You are anointed are appointed by God, and he has called his church to rise up in authority and in might. You are anointed.
[00:27:19] Remember the day when you accepted Christ?
[00:27:23] I don't know if he was in a large auditorium or a quiet room, maybe a church service.
[00:27:30] That moment wasn't just about your forgiveness.
[00:27:34] It was your coronation.
[00:27:39] God didn't just clean you up, he crowned you.
[00:27:44] He didn't just save you, he commissioned you.
[00:27:51] You see, there's power.
[00:27:53] There's everyday power in this anointing.
[00:27:57] When you walk into your workplace or your study place tomorrow, you're not just an employee.
[00:28:04] You're carrying the presence of God. That difficult conversation with your colleague. You're anointed for that.
[00:28:15] That project that seems overwhelming, you're anointed for that too.
[00:28:22] Think about Moses.
[00:28:24] Before he was parting seas, he was tending sheep.
[00:28:29] But even in those ordinary moments, he was being prepared for an extraordinary calling.
[00:28:35] Your anointing isn't just for Sunday mornings. It's for Monday mornings too.
[00:28:41] When David was anointed, he didn't suddenly stop being a shepherd. He just became a better shepherd.
[00:28:48] Your anointing should make you a better employee.
[00:28:53] It should make you a better husband, a better wife, a better father, a better mother, a better son, a better daughter, a better friend, a better student.
[00:29:08] Because the anointing empowers us to excel because we're glory carriers.
[00:29:15] We're carrying the presence of God into each of these places and how dare we do that and be slovenly about the opportunities before us.
[00:29:25] I pray that LinkedIn and other recruitment places that across the nation they begin to create a pattern that the best people they can take on are Christians.
[00:29:39] That should be how it is because we're carrying the presence of God.
[00:29:48] I've never been blessed with lots of self confidence in my life, but I have many times in my life when I've gone into environments that feel overwhelming and feel like there are situations I've never been in before, whether that's job interviews or challenging circumstances.
[00:30:07] When I've gone into those things, aware that I'm carrying the presence of God.
[00:30:12] I went into a difficult meeting a few weeks ago and I knew it was going to be a challenging meeting. And I knew that if I went in there and tried to bring my own wisdom and my own ideas, it was going to be a really challenging meeting. But if I went in carrying the presence of God, something could happen.
[00:30:28] I just thankfully had a three hour journey to get to the meeting and I just spent the three hours speaking in tongues and praying and I went into the meeting and the presence of God changed what could have been. Because that's what God does. Because you and I are temples of the Spirit and we carry him in our lives.
[00:30:48] And you don't have to call your colleagues and work and say, hey guys, I'm a Christian and let's have a prayer meeting about this. And they're like, what? What are you talking about? You don't have to do that. You just have to know what you've got in you.
[00:31:04] You have to know that the same spirit which raised Jesus from the dead is alive and kicking in your life.
[00:31:13] And some, some of our frustrations in workplaces, you need to take it less out on your colleagues and you need to stand in your spiritual authority in Christ because there is power in the presence of God.
[00:31:30] The presence of God doesn't exist to give you a few shivers down your neck when you're worshiping.
[00:31:37] If that's the entirety of the presence of God, then disappointed God.
[00:31:44] The presence of God exists to transform darkness with light, to break bondage, to liberate, to set people free. The anointing breaks the yoke.
[00:32:02] You remember the picture of the oil and the utensils in the temple. The priest, the prophet, the king was to set them apart.
[00:32:11] This is not an ordinary basin in the temple. This is not an ordinary person with ideas. But this is a prophet. This is not an ordinary place. This is a sacred place.
[00:32:26] And it can be good at the start of your day to recognize, lord, I thank you that I am anointed for this day.
[00:32:37] There will be a battle around that statement.
[00:32:43] There will be a contention, truth is always contended.
[00:32:49] Contest it and you establish truth in your life not by being just overwhelmed by its logic. You experience truth in your life by allowing its experience to break through against the arguments, to cast down everything that sets itself up in opposition to Christ.
[00:33:10] That's how you establish truth in your life.
[00:33:13] You can quote the Bible all you want and you can talk about the promises of God. But there's a moment when you have to step into them. And it's the stepping into them that feels vulnerable. And when you feel vulnerable, you feel vulnerable. Because where you stood before stepping into it, you knew what that felt like.
[00:33:34] But stepping into this, you don't know if it's going to work. It's a step of faith. And as you step in by faith, it feels vulnerable because you have to let go of something to embrace the promises of God.
[00:33:47] And I meet too many people that they find so much comfort in this place or they don't like it. They love the promises of God to be transported to where they are, to change where they are. But they have to step in to the promises of God to change their posture and their place, to understand that the truth does set you free.
[00:34:09] The truth setting you free is not from a sermon. The truth setting you free is from a step of faith into the promise of God that experiences it in your life.
[00:34:19] That's the promise of God. That's the promises of God in all our lives.
[00:34:24] There are many experiences that you and I can have in the Lord that we don't have because we don't step by faith into the promises.
[00:34:34] The scriptures are full of them.
[00:34:37] We don't earn them, but we do claim them. And claiming them is costly. So when in the morning you say, lord, I thank you that I am anointed for this day, there will be voices saying, no, you're not.
[00:34:52] Remember the shame on your life. Remember the fears in your life. No, you're not.
[00:34:57] And you get out of bed and instead of putting your slippers on, you put your Dr. Martens on and you say, I need to have a word with someone. Just excuse me, just miss the coffee for a moment because I need to sort someone out by faith.
[00:35:13] Christianity is not a passive faith.
[00:35:19] We rise up in our authority so the anointing start your day by acknowledging. Secondly, the anointing in you has the capacity to turn the secular into sacred.
[00:35:38] Every moment of your day can be made holy by remembering his presence is with you.
[00:35:47] If you see your circumstances through the lens of an anointing, maybe that difficult person in your life, maybe they're not just an irritation. Maybe they're an opportunity for you to demonstrate God's love, that mundane task on your Monday morning. Maybe it's a chance to show God's excellence even when you don't feel like it.
[00:36:14] Nita and I recently went through our entire home and we anointed with oil every part of our home that some things are quite obvious. The doorways. Lord, we pray that there'll be nothing of the enemy will come in this home. We pray that your glory will come into this home and live and reside here. The windows. Lord, we pray that the windows will be places that the enemy will not climb in through. But we pray, O God, that there will be a window into your glory that we'll see in our. We went through the whole house, every doorway. Lord, we pray the kitchen will be a place where we won't just eat good food, but we'll digest on the things of God together. Went through the whole home. Some of those things make sense. But then we went to the tv.
[00:37:01] Now be careful how much oil you use.
[00:37:05] Don't send your bills in for your nice new tv dysfunctioning because of sparks in the back because you've poured Old Testament type oil over the top.
[00:37:18] But Lord, we pray that there is nothing on this ordinary man made bit of plastic that will be unholy, but this will be sacred to you.
[00:37:32] Your computers, your phones, you've all got screen protectors probably on your phones. If you haven't, you probably regretted not putting one on there at some point before the smash happened.
[00:37:45] But what about anointing those things in your pockets or in your hands?
[00:37:49] Lord, we want them to be for your glory.
[00:37:53] You see, when you understand your life in the terms of anointing, when you're dripping with oil, if we were pouring it on each other, everyone you hug after that would have oil on them. Everywhere you go would have fingerprints. I remember there was a period of time and I think in our previous building where we went around one of our prayer meetings and we just got loads of oil and we prayed for everything for weeks and weeks. All over the stage I could see these handprints of oil.
[00:38:21] You could see the evidence where the oil had been applied.
[00:38:27] Church I can see the evidence of where the oil has been applied to your life. And it's infectious and it should touch everything that you touch.
[00:38:38] And when you understand that, you can turn the ordinary and the mundane into sacred.
[00:38:47] Thirdly, expect God to work through you.
[00:38:51] The Holy Spirit didn't anoint you to leave you on your own. Where God's anointing flows, his power follows. There's a hunger growing in the UK church.
[00:39:03] We've been traveling lots these last few weeks, meeting with many, many leaders, meeting many, many churches. And I am excited because I'm seeing a heart for revival like I haven't seen for generations. I'm seeing a desire for more of the things of God that I've not seen for a while. I've seen leaders that have built successful churches, that have built things that look like they're impressive from the outside, but they're saying, we just don't want to go through the motions. We want more of God in our life.
[00:39:34] There's something stirring this week in the national press. There was an article in many, many of the papers carried it that said that their research shows that a younger generation are more likely to believe in God than an older generation. Something is stirring in our nation.
[00:39:50] Something is happening. There's an openness in our society and church. This is not a time to just stand on the wings and clap and say, well done, world. Thank you for waking up. This is a time to rise up in our anointing, to rise up in our calling, and to be priests in the workplace, priests in our community, priests in this world. And they'll make a difference for Jesus. And where you go, his power will follow.
[00:40:22] As we come to a conclusion, I believe the impact of an anointed life, if we could be mindful every minute of our day of the anointing, that's on us.
[00:40:37] I believe our homes would become places of peace and grace.
[00:40:43] Our workplaces would be transformed by integrity and excellence.
[00:40:48] Our communities would be touched by supernatural love and wisdom.
[00:40:54] So in conclusion, who's anointed here?
[00:41:04] I'm going to ask you to be bolder than that.
[00:41:07] In a moment, I'm going to ask you not just to put your hand in the air, but if you believe the truth that you are anointed by God, then in a moment, I'm going to ask you to celebrate it, not just acknowledge it. I'm going to ask you in a moment to stand, to cheer, and not to sort of identify with what I'm saying, but to cheer and say, God, you've Anointed me. This is incredible.
[00:41:37] And as you do that, Lord, I thank you that the anointing breaks the yoke on my life.
[00:41:44] Listen, there are yokes this world wants to give you.
[00:41:48] You don't even know you're wearing them. They become so familiar.
[00:41:53] Fear, materialism.
[00:41:57] There's so many philosophies of this world that want to get their claws into you.
[00:42:03] What breaks his power?
[00:42:05] The Anointed One giving His anointing to you breaks the yoke.
[00:42:12] But before we get to that moment. And we're also going to pray for one another with oil.
[00:42:20] But before we do that, I said earlier on that the only people in the room that wouldn't be anointed ones are those who have not received Jesus as their Savior.
[00:42:28] And I want to give you an opportunity to change that so you can join in the next part of our gathering together.
[00:42:36] Jesus gave his life not because he was driven by instruction, but because he was compelled by love.
[00:42:48] And the object of that love was you.
[00:42:52] Because unless he was compelled by love and gave his life, you would not have a hope of knowing his love.
[00:43:00] So he gave his life. And then he kicked death in the teeth with his Dr. Martins by rising up from the dead.
[00:43:07] And he conquered sin, death and hell so that you could be free.
[00:43:13] So I'm going to pray a simple prayer, going to invite you all to close your eyes.
[00:43:18] And if you want to give your life to Jesus, either for the first time or to come back to Him, I'm going to invite you to pray this prayer after me.
[00:43:27] It's not a complex prayer. It's a prayer that has some themes. It's a prayer that acknowledges Jesus died for you. It's a prayer that acknowledges you've messed up. And it's a prayer that asks for his forgiveness. And then it's a prayer that asks for his spirit to fill you so that you can follow him as anointed.
[00:43:49] Those are the themes.
[00:43:51] Now, here are the words. Please pray this after me. And if you want to encourage those who will be praying it for the first time, why don't you speak it out loud to encourage them as well? And the prayer goes like this. Jesus, I thank you that you love me.
[00:44:07] You were compelled by love which took you to the cross to pay the price for my failure.
[00:44:19] Please forgive me all the shame and the mess of my life.
[00:44:25] Please forgive me.
[00:44:28] Wash me internally and fill me with your spirit.
[00:44:35] I ask that you will lead me and that I will follow you all the days of my life in Jesus name, Amen.
[00:44:51] One thing I guarantee you, when you utter a word or a prayer to God, he's attentive.
[00:45:01] He wasn't distracted. Then he heard your words.
[00:45:04] So if you prayed that prayer for the first time or to come back to God, we would like as well as to invite you into the next section of the service. We would also like to invite you to let us know you prayed that prayer, because this room will erupt with joy to know that you prayed that prayer.
[00:45:25] So if you pray that prayer, would you just raise your hand and when you wave it, we'll see it. Thank you.
[00:45:31] Anyone else here today?
[00:45:39] Yes. There. Thank you. Come on, let's keep welcoming. Is there anyone else wants to give their life to Jesus today?
[00:45:55] Amen.
[00:45:57] Jesus loves you.
[00:46:01] You're really special. You are.
[00:46:08] You've survived a brain hemorrhage.
[00:46:12] Beautiful. So good.
[00:46:18] So good. And you know Jesus loves us. And when we give our life to him, we don't have to keep earning Him.
[00:46:27] We can know his love continually in our lives.
[00:46:31] Those who raised their hand, we would love to speak with you after the service. And there will be someone at the front or someone on the door out there that will be able to give you a little bag if you've not had one of those before. And they will love to help you church and those who pray that prayer, then this is it. Now, if you're going to put your boots on, if you're going to rise and kick out doubt and say, I am anointed by God and I am going to stand in the authority of what he's placed in my life, I'm going to ask you not to conservatively stand and clap, but I'm going to ask you to apply the authority that there is in the Lord and rejoice and celebrate. There is an oil of gladness. I believe there's an anointing that brings joy.
[00:47:34] And it's a joy that recognizes that no matter what's going on in this world, greater is he that's in me than he that's in the world.
[00:47:43] So when you're ready, you stand and give thanks.
[00:47:59] Jesus.
[00:48:00] Thank you, Jesus.
[00:48:13] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. The anointing breaks the yoke. The anointing breaks the yoke. In the name of Jesus. Every device of the enemy that has come against your life, it has to bow at the name of Jesus. In Jesus name, we thank you, O God, for your authority, for your might, for your power, for your freedom. In the name of Jesus, we are yours, O God, we belong to you. We are A generation of prophets, priests and kings.
[00:48:52] Let me explain what we're about to do. Now, we have lots of little cups with just little bits of oil in here.
[00:49:04] And we just put the boundary in. Before I explain, there's a couple of boundaries. One is don't pour it over someone's head.
[00:49:15] As wonderful a picture of the reality that would be. This is just symbolic.
[00:49:21] But in a moment we're going to ask everybody who wants to participate in this to remain standing. If you're able to, or if you can't stand, you can raise your hand as an alternative to that. So if someone is sitting down and their hands not raised, that's your message, that you don't want to participate and that's fine. We don't hold that against you. We don't condemn you. We want you to feel really comfortable and we want you to observe what's taking place.
[00:49:46] But everyone else, we're going to pray for, all those in the front row, we're going to anoint you with oil.
[00:49:53] And then we're going to pass these along, those on the front row, and then we're going to ask them to dip their finger in a little bit and turn around to the people in the second row and then pray for them. Now, there might be more people on the second row than they were in the first. If that's the case, you might have to pray for more than one person.
[00:50:10] And then when everybody on the second row has been prayed for, then they receive one of these and then they turn around to the person on the third row. You say, wouldn't it be better if the elders did this? Well, it'd be all right. Be here a long time.
[00:50:25] And also it wouldn't be as good a picture of us all being priests.
[00:50:34] So is everybody clear?
[00:50:41] Actually, should we pray for the worship team first? Come and join us, guys.
[00:50:46] Let's pray for these guys. They serve so well week after week, so just dipped a little bit on my finger. Lord Jesus, thank you for your anointing.
[00:50:59] Some people might symbolically just make the shape of a cross. It's not. It's not in the Bible. It doesn't matter if you do that or not. But Lord, I thank you for your anointing on Priscilla's life.
[00:51:11] Lord, anoint her afresh. We pray in this new season in Jesus name.
[00:51:18] Hallelujah.
[00:51:20] Hallelujah.
