In this sermon titled "The Anointing," preacher William Dumas emphasizes the importance of having the anointing from the Holy One. He refers to 1 John 2:20, which states that believers have an anointing and know all things. Dumas highlights the significance of hearing God's voice and being moved by His presence, rather than being swayed by external displays of power. He also addresses the issue of pride and judgment in the heart, using the example of Elijah's experience in 1 Kings 19. Overall, the sermon encourages listeners to seek and rely on the anointing of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

This message is one of the Times Square Church pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. You're welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends. However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission, existing copyright laws apply. My message this afternoon is entitled, The Anointing. The Anointing. Would you pray with me? Father, I do thank you in Jesus' name that I am so dependent upon you right now. And I do thank you, Lord, that everyone you've brought into this sanctuary that will hear this message, Lord, you want to say something to us. Lord, I thank you every time you speak. It is life-changing if we can hear you. Lord, I thank you for everyone you've brought here. Lord, you've brought the hungry. You've brought those that want you. You've brought those, Lord, that are confused and puzzled. But Lord, your word when spoken does everything that it's supposed to do. Lord, it will meet our need. It will fill us with joy and power. It will release us. Lord, I pray that we would grant us an anointing, oh God, to receive from your hand and to receive this word. Lord, I'm dependent upon you to bring it forth. And I thank you, that's why the Holy Spirit is here, to reveal Jesus and make this a living word. In your precious name I pray, amen and amen. I think when many of us think about the anointing, we have an idea of a preacher and someone who can powerfully speak truths that change the hearers. Many times that's true. And I think when we think of the anointing, we can think of men or women, especially called of God, and they may have a healing ministry. They have a word from God and they can hear him, what he wants to do. And he wants to heal this one or go to this place or speak this word. And all that is true. That is what the anointing is. But the scripture is very clear when it says that all of us who are in Christ, God grants an anointing to. And I'm encouraged today that God wants to give us an anointing in which no matter what he has called us to do, we may know God's mind, we may know God's word and we may have the ability to speak it and to live it. The anointing is like a veil, a bridal veil for his body, his bride. And the scripture tells us very clearly that we are partakers of that anointing that he has. And if you would just turn with me to 1 John 2, two verses, we're going to look at those today. 1 John, that's almost just the book before the book of 2 and 3 John, which is just before Jude and Revelation, right at the end of your New Testament. 1 John 2, there was a Zulu preacher, his name was William Duma. And he ministered in South Africa when South Africa was still under apartheid. And God granted this man an ability to heal. God sovereignly chose him to have a healing ministry. And in addition to that, many, many wonderful miracles were recorded in this man's life. He passed away in the 70s. But one of the things he also did was when God would speak to him and he knew it was God, God granted him the ability to obey him. Of course, if you're anointed and we're going to see that, God gives us that ability. And one time a couple came to him for marriage, to be married. And he was very uneasy about this marriage. And he tried to speak to the couple, but she would hear nothing about waiting or about postponing that marriage. And he went ahead and he started the wedding. The day was set and he was the minister to officiate their wedding. And as he was standing with this couple before him, he felt the spirit of the Lord tell him, preach. Now, I have been to a Zulu wedding in South Africa and they do preach. And they don't preach to the bridal couple, they preach a sermon. So this was not really out of character, except that usually you shorten it up for a wedding. And William Duma began to preach and preach and 15 minutes went by and he kept preaching. And 30 minutes went by and he was preaching. And 45 minutes went by and he was still preaching. And finally, almost to the hour, the groom sank to his knees, put his hands in the air and said, stop, stop, I'm a married man. This man, William Duma, had an anointing. But beloved, when we look at 1 John 2 verse 20, it says, But ye have an unction, that's an anointing. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. Verse 27, But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you. But as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, ye shall abide in him. Beloved, this is telling us here that the anointing is going to be our teacher. The anointing that God grants is going to search us. And it is going to reveal things of God that God is going to tell us directly about himself. It is by his Spirit. And when we have an anointing, we are going to be in touch with God and we are going to hear things that other men can't teach us. We are going to hear things especially designed for us to hear that we need to know. We are going to hear things so that we may be faithful in proclaiming it and faithful in living it. And everyone that is born of Christ, everyone that has the Spirit of God in him, the Scripture says, But ye have an unction, that word means anointing, but you have an anointing from the Anointed One. And it says, And ye know all things. You see, beloved, when it says that we have an anointing from God, it means something very special. You know, in the Old Testament, a person who had an anointing meant that they were a person chosen by God, separated to God's service, and it was a serious responsibility because the Spirit of God always accompanied that person. That Spirit of God, the living God, was upon that person. And so when God asked them to do something or to speak something, it meant that they had a direct pipeline to God. It actually signified a very special responsibility, a unique relationship between that person and God. And the Hebrew word for the word anointing means is Messiach, and that underlines the word Messiah, which is the Hebrew for anointed one. In Greek, the word anointed one is Christos. And both these words, Messiah and the anointed one, of course, are talking about there is ultimately an anointed one from God, that every word he speaks, everything he does, he will hear it from heaven, and he will be doing the absolute will of God. And all that he does, he will go about doing good, and he will break the power of the enemy, he breaks all spiritual darkness, he reigns supreme as the anointed one, there is nothing of hell, the flesh, or devil can come against an anointed one, the anointed one Jesus Christ. But now the scripture says the anointed one from God, who has that anointing, who can hear and does the will and work of the Father, now comes and gives us an anointing to New Testament believers. It says you have an anointing from the Holy One, and it says, and you know all things. Now that means that when we know all things, it means that we have access to the one who knows all things. When it says that we know all things, it means that all truth as we need it, because we are in Christ, through the Spirit, we are joined to God Almighty, the God who knows everything. And everything we need to walk this life with an anointing to know God's mind will be ours for the asking. When we by faith say, God, you have not left me alone to face this world without your word to me, without an anointing to perform what you are asking me to do. And all that we need, it says, you will know all things. You see, those with the Spirit of Christ instinctively begin to know what are the holy things. You see, you can be very young in Christ or you can be far advanced in Christ, but the Scripture is letting us know that when the Holy Spirit comes and takes up residence, He's going to begin to communicate to us, this is good, this is acceptable, or stay away from that. You'll feel churning about something. You'll feel uneasy about something. We're going to be drawn to light. We are going to be attracted by truth. And at the same time, we are going to have a sense, even when we are young, that we don't understand it all. But we will understand for some reason we don't feel good about this. We don't feel we should go there. We don't feel we should partake in that and we don't understand it all. But it is the deposit of the Holy Spirit in us. And the Holy One in us recognizes what is good is an acceptable will of God. And He will teach us if we ask Him. He will reveal it to Him. As we go through our day, He promises that He will anoint us, that He will give us a living word from God for every situation that we face. But in verse 27, it goes on and it says, But the anointing which you received of Him abideth in you. And that word, the anointing which you have received, is the word charisma, and it means it is an anointing that we experience. Beloved, nobody can teach this to you. You have to experience it. There is something that God wants us to experience in a daily way with Him. There is an anointing where we can truly know His mind in a moment when we need it. God says, I will be faithful to you, but have we experienced it lately? It is something that we experience. And then the Holy Ghost gives us power to communicate the things of the Spirit. So that word anointing there means experience and it means communicating. And God says, I am going to give you a unique experience to hear my voice. That is your privilege. When you need it, when you need me, when you need a direct word, you lift your heart up on faith and wait on me and I will be faithful to you. He says, there is an anointing for you. Because the cross, I have gone to the cross, and because you have been cleansed by my blood, and now a Holy Spirit lives in you by faith. And He says, you have a direct line of communication, and I can send the Spirit to anoint you. Have we had that experience? He says, then you are going to be able to communicate the things of the Spirit. Beloved, so many times we back up because we don't feel we know what to say. Many times we say, God, I don't know how to confront this situation. God says, I want you to come to me by faith because He says you are going to experience something, and I am going to give you the power to communicate because you are going to hear me clearly. What you experience will be my voice clearly. And what an incredible thing it is when we begin to speak forth, lifting our heart up to Him and trusting Him, that when we begin to speak not our words and not our thoughts, not our heart, but not our will. Beloved, we are going to be given the ability to speak things we have never fully thought out, we don't fully understand, we have never even considered. Under the anointing, we are going to know all things. It's all of a sudden we have a direct line into eternal wisdom, and we have a direct line to how God's perspective on things. And beloved, that's a precious thing that God has given us. And it says, but the anointing which you have received of Him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you. And the Scripture is telling us here that this anointing will abide with us in Christ as we walk with a sincere and upright heart as we heard this morning. The Scripture clearly tells us, I'm going to abide in you. My anointing will remain in you, it's not a transient thing. It is dwelling in you, and we are to stir it up by faith. There is a resident anointing for you today. There is an anointing waiting for you and I to tap into by faith. It says it abides with us. It's not going to be something if we've had a good day or a bad day. God says, if you are mine and you will lift your heart up to me, I will be faithful to you. And when we lift up our heart and say, God, I need a word, when the anointing comes, God searches out our heart. He gives us an understanding of our own situation, but He will be faithful. And it will be something that can be stirred up. It abides in us. And sometimes, you know, because we don't have a white suit and we don't have a healing ministry, we think the anointing is not for us. Where we can have a direct line to knowing God's mind and heart for a situation and the ability to perform it. God says, no, there is an anointing and it abides in you, and that's why you need not that any man teach you. Because, beloved, under the anointing we are divinely informed. You see, God divinely informs us. You see, that's what an anointing is. That's why nobody can teach it to you. It's because God chooses you and He's going to speak to you in that choosing. Is our hearts open? We have to learn, God, I have to learn to be trained to know your voice because you are going to divinely inform me about things. And in the Scripture, we see many men, many women who have been divinely informed because they are under the anointing. No one taught them, no one told them this word, no one gave them, no one sat down and gave them the four principles of what they were about to hear. But when they heard something, they knew it was God. The Scripture tells us Moses was admonished of God. God says when he was about to make the tabernacle, God, it tells us in Hebrews, it says, see that you make all things according to the pattern shown thee. Beloved, he was divinely informed. God came and admonished him, says, you have been called to build a tabernacle. And he said, make sure you do it according to the pattern I've given you. This is a man who God can speak to at every stage and concerning everything in his life. He says, you're called to build something and I've given you a pattern. Beloved, have we heard the pattern for our lives? He's building his life into us. He has a plan for our life. He has a direction for us. Do we have the pattern of it? It is our privilege to have it. There is an anointing that dwells, abides in us and we can have his mind and be divinely informed about our lives. Scripture tells us that Cornelius in Acts was warned from God to send for Apostle Peter and to hear from him. And here is Cornelius, a man who was outside the religious system that God seemed to approve. Yet here was a man that in his seeking for God, God began to speak to him. You know, there are people who have not been born again as we would say and God will still speak to them. God is God. Do you think there are some people God can't talk to them because they don't go to church? Because they don't read the Bible. Beloved, God is God and he can speak. And when he wants to and for his own good purpose, he will speak. And Peter was aghast. How can this man know to call for me? And yet when he came and the man heard him in his old household, the Holy Spirit was poured out. The Holy Spirit because he was saying that I've called this man and in the calling I've given him an anointing and he's going to become a divinely informed man. And that's our privilege too. Scripture says in Genesis that Noah warned of God of things not yet seen, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house. Noah being warned of God became a divinely informed man and of things not yet seen, God could speak to him. That's an anointing. They say that where he built an ark, a huge boat in the middle of a desert, he had never seen a deluge of rain, he had never seen a flood. And yet God begins to speak to him things that he can barely understand, he can't fully comprehend. And yet being a divinely informed man, he knew it was God. And he did not debate with him and argue with him and give me more information. There was an anointing on him to recognize it was God's voice. And in that recognizing, he bent his knee to who was speaking. And he says he was moved upon with fear, with a deep awe and a deep respect and he prepared an ark. And his obedience in hearing the voice of God, his whole household was saved. Beloved, that's our privilege to be that divinely informed. Sometimes we want to know the whole story. God says no. There are things I can't even begin to explain to you about. But he says because the Holy Spirit dwells in you, you have an abiding anointing and I can speak to you things that you can't fully, fully understand with your mind. But he says I am God and I will lead you through my Scripture. I will let the Holy Spirit confirm through this Word what I'm asking you to do. And he says if you will obey me, he says I will anoint you and you can do something you thought you could never do in the midst of ridicule, in the midst of misunderstanding, in the midst of yourself, of your own doubts and fears and insecurities. He says there is an anointing for you to believe me and to move and prepare an ark to the saving of your house. There is that kind of anointing available to you and I. But sometimes we get so blinded to it. We don't understand the Scripture and we're saying God, I need more. He says I will be your teacher in this anointing. I will divinely inform you and you're not going to hear it on a tape. You've got to get along with me. But he says I will speak to you things you know not of. He says I will speak to you. Beloved, sometimes we get shut down to that because who am I, we'll ask. I'm no great one in the kingdom. I don't seem to have a lot of talent. I don't know what you want me to do. God says if you are mine, you have an unction from the Holy One, the Anointed One. There is an anointing for you from the Anointed One and He will lead us on a path. But beloved, we need to come in faith and say God, I thank you. You're going to make me a divinely informed person. Where you will speak to me things that I will know it is you. And then God, I'm trusting you. You will give me the grace and the power to obey you in it. Now the scripture says in verse John 2 27 again it says, But the anointing which you have received of Him abideth in you and you need not that any man teach you. But as the same anointing teaches you of all things and is truth and no lie. And beloved, when we look at that word anointing here, it also means the doctrine of Christ. It means that the anointing which you have received of Him is an anointing of the doctrine of Christ. That means God is promising that He will teach us things of Christ. Everything that pertains to Jesus Christ, He will teach us. The scripture says in John 16 14 that the Holy Spirit will come and He shall receive of mine and He shall show it to you. The Holy Spirit has promised to teach us the doctrine of Christ, the right teaching of Christ. He will show us all things that pertain to Jesus Christ. Beloved, there is a protection in here now because we know and we're going to talk about it in a minute. But the enemy's offense against the anointing is to mimic or counterfeit the voice of God. Because the anointing is so powerful. When you know like you know, God has given you a word, it changes your life. And I'll tell you something, it'll go with you to the grave. Whether we follow it, obey it, I'll tell you, there'll be a time when the heavens open and an understanding and a power and a word will grip us and no one can convince us otherwise. God spoke to me. And when that comes and that conviction becomes a guiding light, it becomes a rock, it becomes something to stand on, it becomes something to build our life on because it can't be taken out of our hearts. God spoke it and this is what I will do or this is how I shall build if we're wise. And so the enemy is so fearing a divinely informed man or woman that he's going to counterfeit the voice. But scripture says that he will teach you of all things that word anointing this name, but the anointing which you have received is an anointing to know the doctrine of Christ. He says, I promise you, I'll teach you of myself. He says, I'm going to break it down, I'm going to crumble the bread so that no matter where you are in your walk of faith, young or old, he says, I'm going to speak at your level. I'm going to speak your language. I'm going to use words you understand. I'm going to give you experiences that make it real. I'm going to teach you, he says, that's what the anointing is for, that you may know me, that you may understand me, that I may become real to you, that you will long to obey me because life is such an adventure as a divinely informed person. He says, I'm going to teach you all things that pertain to me. You don't have to worry if your heart is seeking me. If you say, Holy Spirit, come and give me that anointing to understand your will and what step do I make and what decision I make. Jesus says, I'll be faithful to you. There's an abiding anointing in you to know. And that's our safety and that's our safeguard. He says, I will teach you all things of the doctrine of Christ. And he says, and is truth, everything that the Holy Spirit says will be truth. This anointing will magnify truth in our hearts. This anointing will bear witness only to the truth. A true anointing from God will only deal in truth, only speaks truth, only bears witness to the truth. And that's our safety. The Holy Ghost will never anoint a lie. It says, but this anointing which you received of him and that lives in you, this anointing that we've received from God will always bear witness of the truth and stir us up to truth and teach us truth and cause us to love truth and want us to move and live and have our being in truth. And when we stray from truth, the Scripture says, we can do nothing against the truth. In other words, it will be there. It will not leave our mind. It will not leave our spirit. And there'll be those that have known truth and turned away from it and ended up going mad, such as the power of truth. But the anointing that we have received, it says, even as it has taught you, it has taught us the doctrine of Christ. The Scripture says if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God. It says in teaching us what the doctrine of Christ is, beloved, it's going to have to teach us the power to obey. Because Scripture says if any man will do his will, he shall know the doctrine. If any man will do his will, he shall know the doctrine. And if the anointing has come to teach us the doctrine of Christ, to teach us all things about Christ, it has to teach us how to obey him. Because those that obey him, who do his will, know the doctrine. And so he is going to give us the power, the will and the heart to obey him. That's part of the anointing. Because the knowing and the doing are inseparably linked. And we will join that line of divinely informed men and women, Moses and Cornelius and Noah, who could be directed by the Word of God and who could be found performing the will of God because they knew who was speaking to him. But another definition that I found of the anointing which we have received of him that lives in us, that means also the Christian temper or disposition arising from a sound Christian faith. In other words, the anointing, when it comes upon us, is a tenderizing influence in our lives. It begins to influence our Christian temper or disposition. In other words, when we begin to believe right and think right, it becomes a truth and a powerhouse in our life that begins to change our disposition, our temper. In other words, as we begin to move in Christ, and we begin to see who we are apart from him and what our heart is really like, and yet we find that he is so willing to forgive, and he is so willing to cover us and give us that anointing, to give us hope for the future that says, I am with you so you will change. I am with you so there is hope. And when we begin not to fear to be able to confess and come to him truly with what is in our heart and what are our failures, God says that I begin to tenderize your spirit. He begins the Christian temper or disposition arising from living under anointing becomes evident. In other words, we cannot be anointed men and women and continue in a harsh or brash or arrogant manner. The anointing begins to tenderize us. And it says, even as it has taught you the last line, even as the anointing, this kind of anointing that gives us faith and begins to change our temper and teaches us of Christ, it says, even as it has taught you, you shall abide or dwell in him. It means that this brings us to a place that we can walk with Christ. Because we are becoming like him. There is no separating. We don't go off in our own way, in our own tangents, in our own anger, in our own pride. We get arrested by that Holy Ghost, by that anointing that says, stop, where are you going? You are not dwelling. You are not remaining. You are moving away. And it is faithful to draw us back and say that you, as it has taught you, you shall abide in him. It is teaching us how to abide in Christ. It is teaching us how to live in harmony with Christ. The Scripture says to live with Christ, we must become as he is. It says if two cannot walk together except they be agreed, how much more live together? If two cannot walk together unless they are agreed. If after a while that walk becomes tedious, there is nothing to say or there is an argument breaks out and everybody wants to separate. How much more living together? How much more agreement? How much more does one have to become like the other? And praise be to God, the good news is, Christ says, if you dwell with me, you will become like me. Rising influence, who I am, will begin to pervade every part of your being. You are anointed to receive that. We are anointed as we walk with God. If the anointed one lives in us, we have an anointing to dwell with him. We won't go off in our sin. We won't run off in this way without being stopped and checked by the Holy Ghost. He says there is an anointing upon you that you may dwell with me. Sin cannot live with him, but I'll put an anointing upon you where you won't want that sin. Where you will want to lay it down. He says there is an anointing there to change your heart, that you will want to dwell with me. And remain in me. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And so a true believer will have in his life being produced a kindness and a gentleness that will eventually pervade our whole nature. And so someone who is truly anointed has been divinely chosen. Divinely appointed and divinely informed to lead a life of hearing him and obeying him. And growing in his nature. But what I want to say right now is that of course the enemy wants to counterfeit the voice of God. The enemy wants to counterfeit a true anointing. Because the anointing is such a powerful thing in our life. You have to, I'll repeat again, you have to experience it to know what I'm talking about. You can be a little on the outside of this message right now because you yourself have not experienced it. But if you've come into Christ you can. You can know what it is to know his mind and ask for the ability to speak it. You can know what it is all of a sudden. You know what to do. You know what to say. No one has shown you this pattern before. But you know like you know God is speaking to you. And you begin to obey him and move and you see results happen that couldn't happen otherwise. And you begin to know that the kingdom of God has come to you. And you've been just moving in his power. You've been moving in his grace. But because it's so powerful, the very power of it wants to now come because it changes us. The enemy will want to come in now and he will want to corrupt it. He will want to counterfeit it. And he is going to come against a true anointing in our lives. And a counterfeit anointing, beloved, something that is not sent of God. Something that where we begin to think we have the mind of God. We're speaking the mind of God. We're acting God told me. And we move forward and we can't be told otherwise. Beloved, it's an anti-Christ spirit. It anti-Christ. Everything against Christ. Everything opposite to Christ. Is what is now operating. Because if we're not under that anointing that we can access by faith. That God will let, if we will wait on him, God will speak. God will speak to us. If we're his children, he will speak to us. He will show us what to do. But if there's something else operating in us and we begin to hunger for that anointing. You see because under the anointing we are powerfully used. Under the anointing we do have the mind of Christ and we speak his word and things happen. And the enemy wants to counterfeit that. He's afraid of a true anointing. And so this false anointing. Which will never produce truth. Will never produce right doctrine. Which will never produce gentleness or meekness. Will try to come attach itself and influence us and deceive us. And we have to know that in the last times. There is a stronger and stronger anti-Christ spirit. You know at the end of the age the ultimate anti-Christ will come. And he will be the opposite of everything Christ is. But he will be judged good for a season. This is the power of the deception in this. When the anti-Christ appears on the scene. The world men are going to hail him as the savior of the world. As a man with the answers. As a man finally who has a plan. As a man who can be looked up to and admired because he's a leader. Beloved all that a true anointing is to us in our lives. Where we truly when we have the mind of God. We have the plan. We have the answers. We know things when we're divinely informed that others around us don't know. But this other spirit is going to come. And it's going to be animated by something evil. And basically the bottom line to an anti-Christ spirit is pride. And pride is the anointing killer. And pride will target the anointing in a believer's life. And we're going to be vulnerable after being used by God. Because the enemy will try to come and think it was something of us in it. You see we were gifted with that word. We were gifted with that action to perform. We were gifted that's what an anointing is. But then the enemy or pride or flesh will want to come in and think we had a part in it. And pride will begin to in the bottom of our hearts many times. Begin to find a place when God uses us. We may know in our heads that it was God's word and it was God's power. But beloved we're talking about a heart that can be so easily wanting its own praise. Wanting to be puffed up. Wanting power. Wanting to be well-spoken. Wanting a spiritual leadership role in the lives of others. And when we speak under the anointing and we're divinely informed and we know what to do. And there are results. We can begin to think that we know better and we understand better or we see better than others. And people will agree with us. Because under anointing we're seeing what they're not seeing. Do you understand what I'm saying? There's a true source. There's a true power. But then our own heart and aided by the evil one will want to come in and tell us that we have a part in this. That we because of who we are have been specially chosen. You don't need to turn there but in Dan 520 it's talking about Nebuchadnezzar. And this was a king who God spoke to. Who in his own testimony said the Lord he is God. But there came a day when he was lifted up. And here's what happened to him. It says but when his heart was lifted up and his mind was hardened in pride. You see when the heart gets lifted up the Holy Ghost will be faithful. He will come. He will convict. He will show us in private. He'll show us in devotions. He will show us through the works. He will begin to expose the underbelly of our actions and motives. But if we when our heart lifted up and we will not deal with it and call it what it is. You see because pride won't want to call its own cards. It won't want to say this is pride and yes I'm being prideful. We are know when we are dealing in pride but we need the grace now to say that is me. God I don't think of myself as a prideful person but God if you are beginning to show something. If you're going to make me if you're showing me the root of my heart give me the grace to agree with you. But it says that Nebuchadnezzar when his heart was lifted up his mind was hardened in pride. When his heart is lifted up then the mind is influenced by this lifted up heart. And it gets hardened in pride. It won't hear that it's proud. It has a reason why it does what it does. It knows better. It is the king and no one will tell him any different. And this is a picture of a heart that God spoke to that God used for his own good purpose. And it can be a picture of what happens when people have known a genuine and true anointing. Who have been divinely informed and moved in it and saw results happen. God says a heart can get lifted up in the mind hardened in pride. But the scripture says he was deposed from his kingly throne. And his glory was taken from him. Till he knew the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men. And that God appointed over it whosoever he will. Beloved this is the pattern that God is committed to us to follow because he loves us. That anyone who gets lifted up whose mind now is in danger of being hardened through pride. Because God has granted us an anointing. And in entering that anointing and knowing his power. He says here's the downside. He says I'm going to speak to you. I will be faithful to do it when I see something that's going to corrupt you. Because God wants to use each one of us in a way that far surpasses anything we could think or know. And the greater that God wants to use us. The greater the danger that our heart will be puffed up and our mind will be hardened in pride. You know it. And I know it. And God says that I'm going to depose him from his kingly throne. Even the anointed ones. And his glory I will take from him. Till he knows that the most high God rules over the kingdom of men. And that he appoints whoever he will to lead and to speak for him. One of the most powerful testimonies of a Niagara like anointing in the Bible we have is Elijah. And if you will just turn with me there quickly to 1st Kings chapter 19. Many of you know the story. That Elijah was a prophet of God who confronted the evil religious system of his day. And he seemed to stand alone. He felt he stood alone. And he confronted a wicked king. And he confronted him with this word that says the Lord God before whom I stand. And that was his source of anointing. He had God's words and thoughts that he was chosen to deliver. The scripture says he was a man of like passions. In other words he was like you and I. But he was like you and I in another way. Because in Christ we stand before God. The Lord God before whom I stand was Elijah's statement. And that's what we can say. We also in Christ stand before the Lord God and are able to receive his words and empowerment to obey him. And Elijah he stands and he says to the king in 1st Kings. You don't need to turn there but in 1st Kings 17 he says no dew no rain all these years according to my word. And it was a given word to him. That wasn't his words or thoughts. God gave them to him. And then in 1st Kings 18 God says go and show yourself after three and a half years because I'm going to send rain. And he goes and he stands before Ahab. And beloved under the anointing he could receive a word from God. He believed it. He was able to perform it because there was no rain for three and a half years. And he was fully convinced it was God doing the work. That's true humility at work. And beloved that is the evidence that we're under a true anointing. We can hear the word. We receive it. We're able to perform it. And in our heart of hearts we know it is all about God. And there is a humility sown in him. Sown in us at the same time. And Elijah is truly moving under a true anointing. And then the scripture tells us that he confronted Ahab's and Jezebel's prophets. And for 450 of them he exposes the bankruptcy that they are not divinely informed. He exposes that they don't have, they're not speaking for the most high God. They're being animated by another spirit, by an antichrist spirit. They want the praise of men. They want to be seen. They want power no matter if they get it through an access, through an evil means. They want control over the minds of people. And Elijah comes and he confronts this false anointing with the true anointing. And the false must bow. And it does before the true anointing. And the scripture tells us that he says the God who answers by fire, let him be God. And so when he challenges these false prophets, God answers by fire on the altar Elijah built. And Israel's heart is turned. And Israel says the Lord, he is God. And it's like the mission that Elijah was sent out to do, he accomplished. But then the scripture tells us that he takes 450 prophets of Baal and they are killed. And then the scripture says he outruns the chariot that the king Ahab is riding in. And then the scripture tells us that Ahab's wife Jezebel threatens him and he runs. And suddenly the anointing seems to lift in his life when he's threatened. Suddenly he cannot stand, he runs for his life. It's like mission was accomplished, Israel's heart turned. And it's like the nation realized that they were being seduced by a false anointing. That they were being used for their own gain. That they were being manipulated. That there was no fruit in their life. There was no holiness. There was no change. There was no worship. There was no freedom in their spirits. And when they came to that conclusion, they repented. But now Elijah is running. And beloved, I believe there are lots of reasons why he's running. But as I was thinking about this, I sense that this man now, all of a sudden he's fearing. He's fearing for his life. He feels he's alone. And I know that we never feel alone under the anointing of God. We never feel alone because we know it is God working in us and through us. But beloved, this man is alone. And here is the point. There are times God induces us with an anointing for a service, a work. And then that anointing seems to lift. And then we say, God, why do I feel so vulnerable? Why do I feel so alone? Why do I feel so threatened? Why is it the day before I could stare down everything of hell and today I run? How can Elijah be so invincible one minute and running the next? And in First Kings 19, chapter 4, when Elijah, First Kings 19, I'm sorry, verse 4. When Elijah runs, he goes into the wilderness alone. And he says, it is enough now, Lord, take away my life. For I am not better than my father's. I am not better than my father's. And beloved, here we see pride now that's been at the base. There is something in his heart and life that God is exposing. Whoever said he was better than his father? Here's something coming out of his heart. And he felt he was. And we see here that he's been judging and probably criticizing others. It's like, I'm alone. Where were everybody else? I alone am the prophet of God. And yet the scripture tells us a few chapters earlier, a servant had told him, I have hid a hundred prophets in the cave. And beloved, when this man now, he has a great anointing on his life. So great. He has an estimation of himself that it's been hard for him to hear something that lowers his opinion of himself. It's getting hard for him to hear the truth about himself. And he says, I'm not better than my father's. And then in 1st Kings 19.4, he says, it is enough. Take away my life. And now we're seeing that he is falling to a deep disappointment in his life. He's all of a sudden deeply disappointed in himself. Beloved, that's pride too. Because you know, pride is a coin. You may have heard it said, but on one side is inferiority and the other is superiority. But it's still the same coin. And now he's upset at himself. How can I, who've done what I did the day before, live like this, think like this, be acting like this? How can this be me? And beloved, when the anointing lifts and we are left with ourselves, this is the time for us to be honest. Because this is where great gains happen. Because that anointing was gifted, it's not in us. That word was given to us, that ability performed was given to us. And now when his anointing lifts and he's faced with who I am, and he's running, and he was judging everybody and criticizing everybody else. Where were you guys? And yet not realizing it was God who chose him, God who divinely informed him, God who empowered him. It was all his God to confront Ahab. And there's something growing in his heart and God says, I have to in my faithfulness expose it. Because I want to anoint men and women. But every time the archenemy of anointing comes, I will be faithful to expose it. And so this is what's happening in Elijah's life and he needs to deal honestly. Because it says, the Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. God says, I'm close to you. When you're ready to deal in truth, I'm right there. When you're willing, as painful as it is, to deal with what is going on. He says, I'm going to be there because he says that anointing will abide in you. I don't want to separate you from that. The plan in your life is precious. It is awesome. But we play according to my rules. God makes the rules. He says, when the anointing lifts and we're left with ourselves, be honest about who we are. The scripture says, the fear of the Lord is clean. And when we do that, when we say, God, I'll bend my knee. And what you have to say to me, what I'm facing, what I'm dealing with in my heart when your anointing lifts. If I will agree with you. If I will let the fear of you and say, speak what you have to speak. A cleanness comes in. And we don't have to defend ourselves anymore. We don't have to spend our strength on arguing and not wanting to look. But we get clean and we get whole. The scripture says, the Lord takes pleasure in them that fear him. And in those who hope in his mercy. The Lord takes pleasure in those who will hope in his mercy. But when the story of Elijah continues, Elijah is given strength to go to a God appointed place. Because God wants to speak to him about these things. And so he is given strength and an angel feeds him and gives him water and brings him to a mountain. And God's whole purpose now is to bring him a mountain alone. Now, beloved, when God is dealing with us, he has a call on our lives, on your life. There's an anointing awaiting. There's anointing happening in your life. When God has to deal with us, he will take us to that place alone. When he has to go to the innermost core of our being, it's not for 10,000 eyes to watch. And Elijah is taken to a place alone and God wants to speak to him. Something he needs to know. And the scripture says that God takes him there in 1 Kings 19, 19 and God asks him a question. And he says, Elijah, what are you doing here? And in verse 10 he answers and he says, I've been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts. For the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, slain thy prophets with the sword. And I, even I only am left. And they seek my life to take it away. But you see, beloved, he didn't answer the question in truth. God says, why are you here? The truth is I'm running and I'm afraid. I didn't think that I would do this. I have a reputation. I'm Elijah. I'm the only one who'll stand in a critical hour. And now I can't believe I'm doing this. I can't believe I'm this man. And then God gives him a parable in verse 11. God doesn't contradict him. God is going to show him and speak to him. And you know, many of you, the story. And then God says, go forth and stand upon the mountain before the Lord. Behold, the Lord passed by. And a great and strong wind rent the mountains and broken pieces the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still small voice. And it was so when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle. Went out and stood in the entering of the cave. And behold, there came a voice unto him and said, what are you doing here, Elijah? And God's got his attention, but he won't own up. He won't say what's really going on. And so God gives him a parable. And he sends a strong wind, an earthquake and a fire. But the Lord was not in it. And you can imagine what this kind of display was like. Because it says the rocks were rented. It was a great wind and there was this huge display of power. But God says, I'm not in that. But then a still small voice happens and he wraps his face. And God is saying, I may not be in the wind. I may or may not be in the wind. I may or may not be in the earthquake. I may or may not be in the fire. Because as awesome as it all is, you were unmoved. You see, there was one time God was in the fire. But God is saying, when I'm not in something, you can stand there with your face unwrapped. You can see the greatest display, the greatest show. You can talk about it for days, but you're basically unmoved. It doesn't change. But when the still small voice of God was heard, after the big light show, after the big wind, after the big display, he covers his face immediately. Because the voice of God penetrates right to the core of who we are. And we know what we are dealing with God Almighty. He hides his face. He says, Elijah, what are you doing here? He asks him again. Now, in the power of God, before a still small voice that goes to his core. And he knows who's speaking to him. And what does Elijah do? He hangs on to the answer again that sounds so right. He doesn't deal in the truth. And he reiterates again the big story as if God doesn't know. And he says his side and it makes him look good and it builds him up. It's not taking down his little house of cards upon which his ego is built and his ministry is built and everything he's tried so hard to build and now resting on a house of cards. And God says to him, go and anoint your successors. When Elijah's refrain was, I alone, I alone am left. God is reminding him, the anointed are never left alone unless they choose it. God's saying, I'm pursuing you. I took you to a mountain. I showed you how empty your life is going to be if you pursue a false anointing where you're going to have to bear the show. You're going to have to show up and do a big jump through the hoops for everybody and they're going to remain unmoved. They're going to love you one minute. They're going to hate you the next. And that false anointing will take you to a place you don't want to go. Remember where the 450 ended up, Elijah. And God is saying, now you have to deal with me. But when you say, I alone, you are speaking an antichrist spirit. When someone says, I alone have the word, that's drawing to self. When someone says, I alone, that's exactly the truth. God's not with him. He's alone. You know, it may be said that he felt in the beginning, he knew there was a hundred in the cave. And when he said, I alone, what he really meant was I alone, the only one with guts enough to stand here. But beloved, when we, the Holy Spirit will be faithful because the anointing upon us is always to truth, never a lie. Always to truth. Always to truth. Always to teach us about Christ. Always about right doctrine. That's what the anointing is about. And he's resisting the anointing when he says, I alone. Because he wasn't alone. God showed him that. But then I'll tell you something, you begin to repeat a lie, it'll grip you, it'll take over your mind. The lie will become reality. The lie will become a truth. God says, I'm going after that, Elijah, because you will not stand with mine anointing and let your lips speak a lie. Let your lips have be animated by an antichrist spirit. And say you speak for me. I will remove my spirit. And it will be evident to all with the spirit that I am not with you anymore. But just as Nebuchadnezzar was brought to his senses, till he realized that the Most High God ruled in the kingdom of man and that he appointed who he would. When God spoke to him and said, you're going to anoint your successor. You won't deal in truth. I'm not interested in your reputation and what you've done for me, Elijah. I gave it to you all. I'm after your heart. I'm after the health of your mind. I'm after your spirit, soul, and body. I would prosper you. I would anoint you. I would have you move in a dimension that they would speak till the ages end. He says, I'm going after something. You anoint your successor. And the scripture says he did. In 1 Kings 19-20, Elijah obeyed. Because, beloved, I believe that this man having experienced a true anointing of God, there was a fear of the Lord in him. And if we have been blessed by a true anointing of God, it is so that we will fear him. We will know that when God speaks, God happens. It's not about us. And as much as he wouldn't want to anoint his successor, he had the same coming to himself that Nebuchadnezzar did. And he appointed to be another prophet in his room. And in 1 Kings 19-20, it talks about Elijah when he goes to anoint his successor. And it says in verse 20, he calls and he says to Elijah, come. And Elijah goes to him and says, can I go home, kiss my mother and father, and then follow you? And Elijah says to him, and he said unto him, go back again, for what have I done to thee? And we can see this ungraciousness. It's like, I don't want this to be happening. I don't want to be anointing my successor. You can imagine. But he did it. And yet, and with this I close, that God was gracious to Elijah. Because when he left that mountain, when he had a word from God, go and anoint, he obeyed. God was able to grip his heart again. And the scripture tells us that he trained Elisha. The scripture says that the school of the prophets came out of hiding. That when he began to walk the earth and be seen among them again, that these clusters of men in Jericho and different places, they began to be openly seen in the school of the prophets. They began to be revived. And Psalm 145 says, he will fulfill the desire of them that fear him. He will also hear their cry and he will save them. And that's what happened to Elijah. That he would fulfill the desire of them that fear him. Oh, God, don't let me go in disgrace. God, give me one more chance. God, I'm seeing the bankruptcy of my own heart. God, on that mountain, I know you to be God. And the anointing is a precious and an awesome thing. And it is not for our disposal and not our use. And God, I will not, forgive me for despising it. Forgive me, God, for not taking it as the gift it is. That, Lord, that you called me and you anointed me. God, I will treasure it. And when he went to anoint that young man, he was able to teach him and to train him. He was able to have that tenderness worked into him because the scripture says, Elijah, when Elijah was taken up from him, he goes, my father, my father. He cries out to him. There was this relationship. It wasn't just mentor and student. There was a tenderness. There was a father and son relationship. And the anointing was restored to Elijah. The anointing was restored this time. And he was a greater and a better man. And how do I know that? Because God granted him an Elijah. Beloved, because just as Moses was given a Joshua, that is God saying, you have learned something and what you have learned is worthy to be passed on to the next generation. Because who you are now, I'm sovereignly calling you to train those under you. Because what I have done in you, what you understand now, what you can communicate, has to be communicated to the next generation. There were not many in the Bible that were given successors that they were to personally train and transmit all that God had done in them to someone else. Because when it was all said and done, there wasn't enough to pass on. But there is an anointing, an Elijah anointing, that was promised that John the Baptist would move into. There is an Elijah anointing that God says, if I can go after every area of your heart that threatens the anointing in your life, if I can speak to you of whatever I have to speak to you about, He says that to you and I. And He wants to restore. He wants to show what threatens the anointing in our life. And beloved, those that have felt that there has been somewhere they have missed it, the story of Elijah is that I restore, God says to us. If you will open your heart to me, if you will fear me, He says I will save you, I will deliver and I will restore. And Elijah went out in a chariot of fire and he had an exit like nobody else had. Beloved, God promises that this anointing that He will grant us will be our teacher. The anointing will teach us. And when we say, God, I thank you that you have granted me an anointing to be divinely informed, to move. And God, when your anointing lifts, if I will be honest with you, if I will come before you, whatever you have to say to me, I will agree with you. Then the next time the anointing comes, it's sweeter, it's stronger, it's deeper, it's God-centered, it's God wanting the glory and the honor because in those in-between times, God deals with the issues of our hearts. And if we won't deal with the issues of our hearts, then we will see a whole, we will end up joining the whole legion that think they are God's great anointed and they are, who is deceived is these people. When the average man on the street knows they're fake. When the average guy looks at him and goes, you call that anointed? When they're so full of self. Beloved, there is an hour and a time God saying, I'm looking for a people to anoint that I may be seen and loved in the earth. And whatever it takes, that that anointing that he gives us that abides in us may remain a clear and a pure stream. He says he will grant it to us. He will have his way in our lives and we follow him his way. Hallelujah. And we thank you for that Jesus. Will you stand with me? Hallelujah. The musicians could just play. You know, I prayed and I really don't feel that God is giving me an altar call. I feel that pride is every man's battle. And I think that there are some here that God wants to deal with us in an area that is not for public consumption. But I will open these altars if there's anyone that's saying, God, I want to get right with you. I want to know what it is to have a relationship with you. Come forward because we'd be delighted to pray with you. To lead you in a prayer that would help you on that. But for many here, God wants to deal with that pride that will show itself a thousand different ways but will eat up everything precious in our lives. And if we will just walk before him in a very honest way and say, God, I want, I want you to use me any way you want. And I thank you. That means that you're going to go after every pocket and area of my life where pride lives. For many of us, our pride, we give it another label. We give it something, you know, that's my self-image, that's my self-dignity. Beloved, God is our dignity. He loves us. He cleansed us. He's the one who's called us. Our self-worth is in Him. We can let go these areas where we can't be challenged on, where we don't want people speaking to us about, where there are issues we don't want to go there. Beloved, those are danger signs to the precious anointing that God wants to give us in our lives. For many, there are some here that don't even believe God would anoint them. But if you are in Christ, if we are in Christ, we have an anointing. He wants us to experience it. He wants it to be reality in our lives. Hallelujah. I would just like to lead us in a prayer. Father God, I thank You for Your incredible love. I thank You, Lord, You know us to the very core of our being. I thank You, Lord, You take us to a mountain to speak to us. Lord, whatever You have to speak, we open our hearts to You now. We thank You, Lord, and Your incredible grace and Your incredible mercy will be there for us if we will be honest. Lord, we never have to fear truth. Lord, You will anoint us to speak truth now. Anoint our lips to speak truth. Anoint us, O God. Anoint our minds for right thinking. Anoint our lips, O God, that we may speak the truth. We may speak the truth to ourselves and we may speak the truth to others. God, take off the exaggerating. Take off the case building. God, we ask You now to come and anoint our tongues, anoint our hearts, that we may be people of truth that, God, we will be prepared, O God, for that anointing You've promised us that You may use us beyond that we ever thought capable. Lord, we thank You in this hour that You have granted us an anointing in Christ, that, Lord, it is an abiding anointing, and that, God, we lay down every hindrance that You, the Holy Spirit, are showing us, O God, what it is in this time alone that we must agree with You about. Take away the fear. Take away the stubbornness, O God. Lord, let us admit, O God, who we are when the anointing lifts, that when the anointing descends, O God, when we are divinely informed, O God, we stand with clean lips, a clean spirit, O God, unhindered. Thank You for the grace that awaits those that walk honestly. Thank You for the grace that awaits, O God, that we may speak truth in a world full of lies. God, that we may speak it straight when everything else is pushing us to go crooked. God, we ask for that anointing, O God, to live in truth, speak truth, walk in truth. Lord, that we may speak Your doctrine, that we may speak, O God, the right things of God, that we will not fall prey to the condemner's voice, that we may call it a lie that is our heritage. O God, let us now come upon us, O God. Anoint us, I pray, O Holy Spirit. Anoint us now with that right speaking. Anoint us with a humility. Anoint us with a humility that we may, God, confess all that is in our heart and that, God, we may rise up and we may know Your power and Your presence and experience You like You long for us to do. And, Lord, we'll be careful to give You all the praise and glory for we know, God, You want to use us mightily and those, O God, that lift up are always in danger, O God, of falling to the enemy of an anointing. So we trust You today, O God, that we can go as high as You purpose us to go as we cling to You. That pride will not take us down. Lying lips will not take us down. But, God, You will move forward in us and through us with an anointing, O God, that our families and the world will know it is You. And we give You all the praise and all the glory in Jesus' name. Hallelujah, Lord. We praise You. We praise You, O God. Hallelujah. Thank You for Your grace, God. Thank You for Your mercy, O God. Thank You for Your hope, O God. You will always bring hope. We praise You for it in Jesus' name. Amen. Hallelujah. This is the conclusion of the message.