This sermon emphasizes the desperate need to experience God's anointing, highlighting the importance of surrender, humility, and radical departure from nominal Christianity. It addresses the dangers of partial obedience, the power of worship in being filled with the Spirit, and the impact of pride in hindering spiritual growth. The speaker urges listeners to seek more of God, acknowledge their need for Him, and avoid being satisfied with a superficial faith.

I want to talk to you about an interesting topic and we left off last week. If you weren't here, I encourage you to listen to the message entitled Desperate, the desperate need to experience God. And we talked about the Mount of Transfiguration where Jesus brought up a few of the disciples and they experienced Jesus in a radically new way and that they were transformed. And I was still on that topic of the anointing. We talked about the anointing of God. And it's this, this word, many of you will probably realize this, this word can be controversial. You know, you talk about the anointing people like, Oh, where's he going with this? I thought this church was solid. I thought this church was stable. What's going on? Well, in the same way that I don't want gay marriage advocates to take the rainbow. We don't want, you know, God's word to be trampled on by people who misuse and abuse this word anointing. Because as you'll see in a minute, it's actually a very powerful word. It's a very biblical word. And it's a very good word. But many times people use it to excuse odd behavior. And that just, you know, if it's odd, it's God, anything goes and then well, they're just anointed brother, or, you know, just let things go crazy and use that as an excuse of people being anointed. And that's not anointing. That's bizarre manifestations of the flesh. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, again, that's good. But if you do know what I'm talking about, you'll know that this word anointing can take on a whole new meaning if it's given the opportunity. So let's talk about that again, this week, because my heart and here's how when I prepare a sermon, I like to stick with Matthew, I like to stick with where we're going. But if God's got my heart going in a certain direction, and it's pulsating, and there's a there's a passion there, and I just can't get off of this. And God's rocking my world, so to speak, in the morning and the evening with this thought with this process, it's usually a good idea, I preach on it, because he's wanting me to be that vessel to bring it to you. So with that last week, talking about being desperate for more of God, and driving home here Saturday, it just struck me again, that how many Christians this is the answer to many people's problems, to be desperate for more of God to have that that desperation satisfied to be filled with the Spirit, you could end so many problems, you could end so much fear and anxiety and worry what's going on with the world. If we're just focused on being filled with God's presence and seeking him more and more that because when you seek God, and he's elevated, everything else is minimized. But when everything else is elevated, God is minimized. And some of you saw I put on Facebook, we put together this little thing for Facebook, that says the next time we post something on Facebook, we should run it through the Philippians four test. Is it going to fuel fear? Is it lovely? Is it honorable? Is it worthy of praise? Is it true? Let's put before you put something on Facebook, run it through the Philippians four test. Is it edifying? Does it build up the body? Because many times we're doing the opposite, we're not filling the Spirit, we're not being filled with the Spirit, we're being filled with the world and we're being pulled down. So the anointing, here's an interesting thing, I'm going to actually take a few minutes on the introduction to explain it. The anointing, what I mean by that is this, it's available to all believers. The anointing of God is available, I believe, to all believers. Everybody in this room, the anointing is available. And now you're saying, what is this guy talking about? Well, let me explain. Here's one of the ways it's used in Luke 4.18, talking about Jesus, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, he has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed. So because Jesus was anointed by God, he can set captives free. Because we're anointed by God, we can do the same thing. I truly believe that we are called to preach the good news, we are called to set people free, we are called to pray for them. And when you're walking in the anointing of God, life takes on a whole new meaning. You'll go to the grocery store and end up praying with somebody. You'll go just on a walk and end up ministering to a neighbor. The anointing is with you, life takes on a whole new meaning, because now God's Spirit is working through you in a powerful way. So let's break it down. The word anointed, Creo, C-H-R-I-O in the Greek language, they wrote the New Testament in Greek. The word anointed, which I'm using, is translated Creo. And it basically means the authority and the ability to perform God's will with supernatural strength. So when a person is anointed, they are able to do God's will with a supernatural strength. They're able to pray. Do you want somebody to pray with you who just got done watching Desperate Housewives and all these other things and just, you know, come pray with me? Or do you want somebody to pray with you who's been spending time with God and who's anointed? Same person, same age. Who do you want to pray for you? Why? What's the difference? The anointing. Now here's where it gets interesting. The word Christos, where do we get the word Christ from? Christos, Christ, the anointed one. So he was called the anointed one. That's who the Christ was. You are the Christ, the son of the living God. You are the anointed one, anointed by God. And this anointing is available to every believer in the capacity that Jesus had. Well, nobody's perfect. Nobody's going to be able to walk in that type of anointing. But the aspect of God's anointing is there, available for every single believer. A couple of quotes on this. Charles Spurgeon, a church in the land without the spirit is rather a curse than a blessing. If you have not the spirit of God, Christian worker, remember that you stand in somebody else's way. You are a fruitless tree standing where a fruitful tree might grow. The kingdom of God is not going to be advanced by our churches becoming filled with men, but by men in our churches becoming filled with God. Duncan Campbell, that one's worth repeating. The kingdom of God is not going to advance in our churches by our churches becoming filled with men, but by men in our churches becoming filled with God. And what he's saying there is the kingdom of God is not going to advance in our world, in our culture. Everybody's worried about the Supreme Court decision. I'm up there with you, of course, and what's happening with our nation. What's happening? Well, we're not going to make a difference with the churches being filled with people. The difference here is when men in our churches and women are filled with the presence and the power of God when they are anointed. That's how you're going to make a difference. See, most Christians aren't going to win those who struggle with homosexuality over to the kingdom unless they're anointed, unless they're filled with the Spirit, unless they're a vessel now that God can use. Because anger and debating isn't going to do it. It's got to be the anointing of God speaking into the life of an individual. It's got to be somebody anointed to make a difference in politics, in our culture, in the church, and lead the church in our nation. It's going to have to be somebody anointed with God's Spirit to do God's will with supernatural strength is what the anointing is. It was interesting. I read an article this week entitled, One Big Reason Spiritual People Are Leaving the Church. Just that title will get you, right? The one big reason why spiritual people are leaving the church. Not youth, not carnal Christians, but spiritual, Spirit-filled believers. Here's why. To those really seeking to encounter God, soon the fancy stage, the bright lights, the cool bands, and the video screens just become white noise. They want Spirit and fire. Sometimes they cannot even articulate the reason they are leaving. They might tell you it's because of the music, or the preaching, or the youth, or the children's program. But the underground reason why many people are leaving churches is because they are not encountering God. And this is absolutely right. People are dying spiritually. They're hungry for God. So the big performances aren't going to cut it. The way we've been doing church before, people are desperate for more of God. They want to encounter God. They want the anointing of God. That's why I love Psalm 63. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory. See, there has to come a point in every person's life, I'm talking to everybody in this room right now, where you have to set your heart towards God. You have to set your heart. Daniel set his heart towards God. Nehemiah set his heart towards God. Ezra set his heart towards God. Many other people I wrote down. Samuel set his heart towards God. New Testament believers, the early church, they set their heart towards God. They set their heart towards that anointing and that presence of God where God filled everything. That's the anointing. That's the anointing of God. And you know it. Some of you I'm talking to, you know it. Maybe it's been years, but when God has anointed you for something, when he has anointed your life and your conversations take on more weight, you can talk to somebody and say, I don't know where all that came from. And you just minister to them. You bring in the word of God. You have supernaturally, you're overcome with the love of God, the grace of God. You're anointed. And it's interesting on this topic. People often say, well, that's great for you. I'll get emails like when I preach on topics like this. Well, that's great for you. You're a pastor. Of course you have to have that. Well, how powerful is a mother anointed by God? Raising her children, being able to give them the right word, the wisdom, not perfect, but anointed. Being able to raise them up in the fear and admonition, a father anointed. He'll go to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John versus ESPN, Bill Reilly, and Sean Hannity. For the Republicans, who should I say for the Democrats? CNN and I mean, all those other ones. I don't know who they are. But what do you want a father filled with the world? Anointed of God. See, it's not just for pastors. That's a great line. Actually, my job is to equip the saints. It's not me. Shane, you don't need to counsel everybody. You don't need to talk. No, I need to equip you to have you anointed with the spirit of God. Then we work as a body, the eye, the ear, the arm, the leg, they all come together. What difference could you make on your job site? If you're anointed, construction, truck driving, contractor, bug spray, real estate, whatever it is, everything. If you're anointed, you see how that makes the difference? Do you want somebody selling your house that's anointed and filled with God's spirit or a slick talking salesman? We all know the anointing is vitally important for all areas of life. If somebody's unemployed, would you rather be anointed of God and filled with the spirit seeking a job or just going through the motions and I'm too lazy? I don't want to do anything. It affects everything. So it's not just for pastors because people do well, Shane, you need to read all those books. You need to spend that time and much time in the Bible. You need to because you're a pastor, right? But I'm just to infuse this Christian life onto others and motivate people for this. Think about this. I thought about this yesterday. I think it was because there's a lot of marriages falling apart. No secret, right? We can be honest. This church, all churches, every church, it's hard. Marriage is difficult. I'm not minimizing any of that. But do you wonder what the chances are of separation or divorce when both spouses are anointed and filled powerfully with the presence and power of God? Slim to none. It's not happening because they're filled with God's spirit. They're filled with the spirit and presence of God. Now you can have one that is and the other that's not and that's going to be challenging, but you have this other one praying and petitioning and contending while the other one's being hopefully changed and transformed. It changes everything. The whole house can change by somebody being anointed of God filled with God. And what I mean when I'm talking about there's the terms kind of crossed. Being filled with the spirit is pretty identical to being anointed. As a person is filled, with that filling comes authority, the supernatural strength, and now they are anointed with God, for God's work. So they interlap there. There's not different words or different terminologies we should be seeking, but as a person is filled with the spirit of God, they're going to be anointed to do God's purposes. They go together. And I mean the news, the news is just, and Facebook, everybody's, it's a good term to use here, flipping out. I mean everybody's just saying what's going on, judgment, hell in a handbasket, the world, the nation, everything's coming. Well how are you going to make it in these dire times if you're not anointed? How are you going to walk in the power of the spirit, lead your family, make wise decisions, overcome evil, and walk in the will of God without it? You're not. You're not. There's a price that's being paid. And I know that's the big thing right now is people are worried, and rightly so. I'm not minimizing that. God's judgment is coming, and all these different things. And that, I say that often. I write articles, I preach on it, that God does judge sin, and the nation going this direction is a scary spot to be living in, for sure, a scary time to be living in. But also sometimes instead of judgment, God will bring revival. Because the light of the gospel shines the brightest in the darkness. And being anointed changes how you live. Being filled with the spirit changes how you live. Here's how. You're either a doomsdayer building a bomb shelter, or you powerfully fill with the spirit of God being a man or woman on fire for God and seeking his presence. I'm not joking here. That's the one or the other. Either you're fueling that fear, and you're going into protection mode, or you're being filled with the spirit of God saying, Lord, how can you use me in these dire times? Because I'm not necessarily hoping for judgment. I'm praying for revival. I'm praying that God awakens his church, awakens his people. Remember that God said also to Abraham, hey, I'll spare the land for 50. I'll spare it for 45, for 40, for 35, for 30, for 25. And God got down, hey, I'll spare the land for this. So if there's a remnant of people petitioning and praying and saying, Lord, this isn't right. We're on our faces. We're repenting. God moves sometimes in those times and saying, okay, I'll bring refreshing. I'll bring revival. I'll bring awakening. So before you get all discouraged and hunker down, be encouraged and be filled with the spirit. Be anointed of God. Be filled with the spirit so you can begin to accomplish his purposes and use wisdom. I mean, the way things are going, do you want to be filled with the spirit and go through this or filled with the world? Oh, nobody knows, huh? Okay, there you go. I'm glad that was, that made me worry for a minute. Always remember this though, and here's where the rubber meets the road. This anointing I'm talking about, this being filled with the spirit and walking in God's will. And what this kind of looks like is, as you're going through your days, you're driving even to work, you're praying, you're being prompted, as you're stopping at a gas station, everything's about God's presence, and you're anointed, you're walking in the power of God. There's mistakes, there's failure, there's things you said that you shouldn't have, but overall, the heart is in a direction set towards God. But this anointing has a cost, and here's where we lose many people. You don't just say, oh yeah, Shane, that sounds great. Can I leave here with that? No, not without paying a price, not without a cost, not without giving up something, not without repenting, not without during worship, getting on your knees, or saying a prayer, or changing some things. We can't just leave here and say, oh yeah, I think I want that, and leave, and nothing change. Because God falls, the fire of God falls on a person who's submitted and surrendered their life. And here's where you lose half the crowd, is on this topic. Everybody says, that sounds great, but there's a cost, there's a price to pay. And I used to, you know, I still do, I read a lot of books by Puritans that came over on, you know, even before the Mayflower, but in the 14th, 15th, 1600s, 1700s. Actually the Pilgrims came over on the Mayflower, some Puritans did too. The difference is, just so you know, Puritans were trying to purify the church from the inside out, where Pilgrims were trying to escape persecution and find freedom. And a lot out of this came a lot of strong theological writings. And one thing that a lot of them would say, and there's sermon titles on this, I've talked about this before, they would often say, others may, you cannot. Others may, you cannot. When it came to this area being filled with the Spirit of God, and having His presence, having His anointing, because we look at others, look at what they do, look at what they enjoy, look at their whole life. Yes, others can, but you cannot. If you want to walk into a deeper, more prominent relationship with God, some of those things have got to be cast off. And this is the part where people don't like to hear, oh, I've got to give up this. But is it really giving up? Is it really giving up? Because the pull, the world pulls us away from God. And God says, I want you to do, and what does that look like? Well, I don't want to sit here and list certain things, but you know in your own life, things and areas. You know, is six hours of TV really benefiting? I can bring some examples here if you'd like. Four hours of news, and you have no time for prayer. Certain habits that we just love, but we know that aren't pleasing God. Those things, God says, listen, I want you to get rid of those things. There's a cost, because that's the power. And when God says to do something, it's not like, oh, this is no fun, I can't do this anymore. There's an exchange of exchanging, ridding ourselves of this, and then being filled with the Spirit of God. And as you're walking in that thing, I don't even know how I even enjoyed that. That is repulsive to me. And there's a difference there. There's a change there. Many of you know, I see it all the time, and we get emails all the time, but the Word of God now is alive and powerful. I love worship. I used to be so bored. What happened? They exchanged things. There's a cost they had to pay to get rid of certain things, because certain things are like kryptonite in Superman's pocket for the Christian. There are certain things that keep you away from God, and that's why I talk about entertainment media so often. Is there anything wrong with a good entertaining movie now? Of course not. You know, it's good to relax, put your feet up on the couch, and enjoy it. But four hours, five hours a day, seven days a week, and compromising and watching certain things, it takes away from God. We become desensitized. And I read a report that was so funny. What was considered pornography on TV 30, 40, 50 years ago is now like PG. So what has changed? We've become desensitized. And I don't want to sit here and harp on this, but this is where reality in the Word of God hit. It's in how we live our lives. I mean, I was also reading where they used to measure girls' bathing suits like down to here before they were allowed on the beach. You know, those big long one-piece, you know, down to there. And everybody's like, oh gosh, they were so Puritan. They were so weird. Well, for men, that or G-string? Come on, let's be honest. These things pull us away from God. The more we feed the flesh, the more we compromise, the more we come down on our standards, the more we become desensitized to the things of God. We live in this saturated cesspool, and we think it's okay. I'm not that bad. True story. I don't even know if I should tell it. There's a Christian couple, a person I know, and they told me they mentioned some show where this guy and girl are nude, and they block out this, and they live on an island trying to survive. It's a new reality show. I'm like, what? You guys watch this? Yeah, it's kind of weird, but like what is... I'm sitting there going in my mind, what am I missing here? Lord, help me. I've been born 200 years ago. I mean, this is just bizarre. But I'm reminded we've drifted that far. What used to amaze us, and we would never allow into our homes, now amuses us. You've become desensitized. I mean, if you look at who's putting all these shows on the top back when Desperate Housewives, and Housewives of New York City, and Swapping Wives, and all. Who's putting those on the top? Christians. Christians. Who's watching ungodly things? Who's doing all these Christians? And we wonder why we know nothing of the Spirit's power? I talked to so many men. They are crying. There's tears. I want to experience God's so bad chain. So bad. I said, there's two things you got to kick. Kick that corona and kick that porn. Oh, I don't want it that bad. I mean, do we honestly think that we're going to be able to live in two worlds? Do we honestly think we can love the world and still love the things of God? Listen, there has to come a point where you say, I need to pay this price. I need to draw closer to God. One good indicator is if you know you're dying spiritually. You know that these things are not edifying. They're not building you up. That's why they would say, others can. You cannot. We often say, well, look at everyone. Look at, they're all doing that. Yeah, the church is dead. The church is falling asleep. You've got how many Christians? I was, I don't even know, shocked is the right word. When the Supreme Court decision came out, I see all these posts now of rainbows on their pictures. I'm like, really? You're going to go there and you're Christians. Flaunting, rainbows, everywhere. It's everywhere. Well, Shane, you're mean-spirited. No, I'm just sad at the condition of how far we've drifted because, see, we've lost our moral compass. There's no gauge for truth. Now, truth is, well, whatever makes people feel good. As long as they don't upset or offend them, whatever is right for them, Shane, is right for them. No, the Bible calls it, every man is doing whatever is right in his own mind. And God says, I'm sick of that. I'm going to bring judges to bring in order. And then the judges get corrupt. And then people get corrupt. And God says, well, now I'm going to bring in kings. I'll allow you out of a king. And I'm going to get to that in a minute. And then that becomes corrupt. And the people, Judah, Israel, they split up. And God's always calling his people out of this world mindset. I mean, just think of how far we have drifted. And I talk to people all the time who want more of God. And that you can feel it. They're so sincere. But when you start to talk about you need to get rid of that. You need to stop that. You need to stop belittling your spouse. You need to stop being. I can't. I can't do that. That's kind of who I am. It's how I was raised. Well, how bad do you want it? Be available and willing. No agenda but God's. Then live accordingly. And I always want to build people up during sermons like this because nobody can do this perfectly. You think I just live my life perfectly and walk in the anointing of God everywhere I go? It's a daily struggle. It's difficult. It's challenging. But we can do it if we're dying to the self, dying to the flesh, removing the things that are pulling us down. This is why many Christians are fearful, angry, bitter, and unproductive. They aren't walking in the power of the Spirit. They are compromising in many different areas of their life. Because we all know if we're Christians and we're not living like we know God wants us to live, are we happy and joyful and nice to everybody? No, we're bitter. We're mean. We're angry. And I want you to know it. I'm just not happy. I'm upset. I'm going to take it out of my family. I'm going to take out my kids. I'm going to take out my wife. Why? Because hard is the way of the transgressor. A Christian is supposed to live a life surrendered to God. And that's why I love to use the word repentance a lot. It's because that's what gets us back in right fellowship with God. That's why many churches don't want to use that word. It's because it upsets people. Why does it upset people? Have you ever thought about that? Why do certain things upset people? Because they don't want to turn from what they're enjoying. It never fails. Yesterday, my son made it in all-stars. They finally won the district last night. Very stressful game. 19-18, we beat Lancaster. And I'm sitting there just, oh yeah. And he's pitching too. I'm like, oh, this is way more nervous than Saturday nights. I mean, I'd take Saturday night preaching over this any day because, you know, you're there with the kids. And this guy comes up to me. He goes, oh, Shane, how's it going? I said, good, thanks. He goes, yeah. He goes, I just want to tell you, we love your ministry, your church, and I don't know why so many people get upset at you. I'm like, what are you talking about? His wife, my friends, they say, why is he so loud? Why does he have to say these things? Why doesn't he let people enjoy things? And he even confirmed it. It's because those people don't want to remove those hindering blocks. So a part of Westside Christian Fellowship, the goal is to get you more motivated towards God, to be a church revival type church, to get you more into the presence of God, to experience Him in a more powerful way. But in order to do that, there's a cost. Things have to be removed. Things have to be exchanged. Things have to be repented of. And people, when we're caught in that and we enjoy it, we don't want to hear that. We don't want to hear that. That's why certain people on TV are so popular, because they'll tell us what we want to hear. And that's why I know a lot of pastors in the Valley here. I'm not going to just leave it at that. But a lot of them are so happy about their numbers, but they don't convict anybody. They don't challenge anybody. There's nothing. There's no conviction. Of course everybody likes you. You're a motivational speaker. That's why people like you. It's all about love and community and all that. And we need all that. But if that's all you're going to focus on, when are people going to experience a deeper walk with God? When are they going to experience a life of full surrender, being filled with the Spirit of God, if they're not being called out of that cultural mindset? See, one of the jobs of the pulpit is to help all of us say, hey, come out of that world. Come out of that mindset. Get rid of those things so you can experience God. And that rubs a lot of people the wrong way. And rightly so. You would have told me all this in my 20s. I would have laughed at you and walked out of that back door, stopped at the liquor store, turned on ESPN, said, I'm going to have a fun evening, because I don't want my life challenged. And then I wake up depressed. The whole cycle starts over. Have you ever thought about what the definition of insanity is? To do the same thing day in and day out and expect different results. So how many people are insane? They're doing this. Lord, I know you don't want me to do this, but I know you don't. And they just stay in the cycle. They just stay in the cycle. They just stay in the cycle. And they think, well, something's going to happen, right? And no, you're expecting different results, but you're doing the same thing. And that's why this is so hard. This is called heart surgery. And when people come out of surgery, they're filled with joy and peace because the heart surgery took place. But many people get up off the operating table and run out the door and never come back because of this topic. The anointing has a price. Ask any man or woman that you know, if you don't know too many, I can set you to talk to some in this congregation, even some at the second service as well. And ask them if they had to give up something. Ask them if they had to live their life differently. Ask them if they had to not go with the flow of the world, the flow with the culture. All the other Christians do this. All the other Christians, you know, head to Vegas, hit Circus Circus tonight, throw down a couple hundred, walk back to the hotel. I mean, these are just practical examples. Then they get up and they go, oh, I'm so depressed. I'm not going to that church. Or they do it again. Well, let's try Laughlin. Let's try Palm Springs. Let's try, and they keep trying different things. Same result. Same thing with sin in our own lives. There's certain areas that God is saying, I want to remove that from your life. But we keep falling back into expecting different results. So the anointing has a price. And here's the example I wanted to get to after that long introduction was when David was anointed king after Saul was rejected. First Samuel 10. Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel. And this was a, they consider him a seer, a prophet, a judge of Israel. This mighty man, Samuel, mighty man of God. And he anointed Saul to be the first king. God said, I don't want Israel, you to have a king. I want to be your king and I will rule you through judges. But what did they say? We want to be like all the other nations. Give us a king. So God says, okay, here's your king. But not only did he give them a king, he actually anointed this king. See how God's so loving. I mean, that just leaped out at me saying, okay, here's your king. I'm going to anoint him with my spirit so he can help lead you. You think he'd say, you want a king? Here, I'm going to start with Manasseh. If you're saying, I don't know what he's talking about, that means you need to get in the Old Testament and start reading. Wicked King Manasseh. I mean, child sacrifice, mock God. You'd think God would say, you want a king? Here you go. But he gave them this guy, Saul, filled with the spirit of God. But now we fast forward. Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel saying, I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel. Verse 17, so Samuel said, when you were little in your own eyes, Saul, were you not the head of the tribes of Israel and did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? Now the Lord sent you on a mission. Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil and do evil on the side of the Lord? And Saul said to Samuel, but I have, and then Saul, the king said to Samuel, but I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. Isn't it interesting? He's coming to confront Saul saying, you've disobeyed the word of the word of the Lord. And he's saying, no, no, I obeyed the word of the Lord, but I have obeyed the word of the Lord. And I got on the mission, which the Lord sent me. And I brought back Agag, king of Amalek, and I've utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But, but the people did take of the plunder, the sheep and the oxen, the best of things, which should have been utterly destroyed, but they were going to sacrifice them to the Lord. So basically God said, Saul, here's what I want you to do. Saul went, said, oh, look at all that spoil. Man, there's, there's, in our, it'd be millions and millions of all these sheep, all these cattle, all these things. And God said, utterly destroy it. God, Saul said, well, here's what I'll do. I'll destroy a few things, but I'll keep all this plunder. That's why he said, swoop down on the plunder, swoop down on all this stuff. And he didn't follow the voice of the Lord. Verse 20, so Samuel said, has the Lord as great, has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifice as in obeying the voice of the Lord? In other words, he's saying, I was going to sacrifice this stuff to God. Samuel says, does God really concerned about the sacrifice, or is he concerned about you obeying what he said to do? Big difference. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed what the Lord says is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king. And I want to pull a few things from this. I'll have more time now than I will at the second service. But the first thing is the anointing that we've been talking about. It can be extinguished. It can be quenched. Here's the big difference though. And then I'm glad I don't live in the Old Testament times. I don't know about you, but it was difficult. The anointing back then, God would give his anointing, give his spirit. And the spirit of the Lord came upon Samson. And the Lord came upon Saul. And the spirit of the Lord came upon Elisha, and he prophesied. And the spirit of the Lord would come upon certain people. But then it could be withdrawn. Where in the New Testament believer, we are filled, we are baptized into the body of Christ with the Holy Spirit. So every single believer has the Holy Spirit. But then it begs the question, how much of does the Holy Spirit have of you? So the Holy Spirit won't exit now, he's here. But you can quench and grieve the Spirit to such a degree that you will feel powerless. You'll feel the anointing is gone. It's like a big fire burning in your house. And you get up in the morning, you see just a little red ember or two. It's there, but you don't even feel it's quenched. So that's the difference. New Testament believers can quench and grieve the Spirit. Where in the Old Testament, God would say, I'm just withdrawing my spirit completely. So it can be, the anointing of God can be extinguished. The Bible says, for he turned his back on God. He turned his back on God and that caused, now this isn't a one-time thing. This guy saw was a rebellious person and finally said, okay, Lord says, I've had enough. I've regretted that I've made him king. He's not listening. And there, and I think, and I've said that many times. There comes a point when we confuse God's patience with his approval. Have you ever done that? You confuse his patience, Lord's being patient and long suffering with his approval. And that's a dangerous spot to live. So the anointing, the good thing, if it's been extinguished in your life or been quenched in your life, it can be rekindled very easily. That little, that little, that little tiny ember in your house fire that you don't even, you can't even feel the heat can turn into a blazing fire very easily. Lord, I'm sorry. I've been wrong. I turn from those things that have been destroying my life. I've been sidetracked. I've been away from you. I'm coming back home. Would you open your arms? Let me worship you tonight. Let me pray. Let me get my life back on track. And tonight or even tomorrow morning, I'm getting back in your word. I'm worshiping. I'm keeping a posture of repentance and I'm seeking you with all my heart. Oh, hold on. Hold on. Because when people do that, I often get emails that say something like this, Shane, my life has been radically changed so much so that I don't even know if I was saved to begin with. I've been so transformed. The fire of God is in my life. I can't stop listening to sermons online. Not mine, just anybody's. I can't get enough worship. I'm craving it. I want to go to church Monday and Tuesday. And that's what it sounds like. That's what it sounds like from somebody who's been anointed and filled with the spirit of God, who rekindled that fire. So see on one hand how people might say, oh, this is so discouraging. Why is it discouraging? It's only discouraging if we don't want to do what it takes. Then it can be very discouraging. If I'm hearing all this and going, yeah, that sounds great. I'll never, I don't want to do that because I love the world more than the things of God. And that's very discouraging spot to live. But God calls us out of that to rekindle that flame. Humility. This is important. Humility is always a requirement of the anointing. Always, without a shadow of a doubt, always a requirement. Look what he said here. When you were little in your own eyes, were you not the head of tribes, the tribe of Israel? When Saul was little in his eyes, actually, if this is the same Saul I remember, it is the same Saul, but if I remember his words correctly, I read this last week, he said something along the lines of, who am I? I'm just the smallest in this little clan. I believe the clan of Benjamin. I'm just this small. Who am I? And God says, perfect, perfect. Now I can exalt you. Now I can promote you because you're small in your own eyes. And it's a very simple formula. Less of me, more of God. That equals the anointing. Less of me, more of God. Less of me, more of God. So one thing, when I want anointed sermons, when I want sermons that fall on the heart and hit the heart with such magnitude that people leave here rocked and their world is changed, I can't go around all week thinking, oh, how great I am in the church and look how bright. I've got to come broken and humble saying, Lord, just speak through me. Use me in a powerful way. I don't even know, can you have this text come alive to me? Can you show me? Can you direct me? I don't know how to handle this. And this is your service. What do you want to do? This is good. Now I can use you because you've been broken in such a way that now you can go and break others. Remember the old saying, it takes broken men to break men. And that's absolutely true. Prideful men will foster pride in others. A prideful man will, oh, did I ever see this in baseball? Little eight-year-olds thinking they are the next big league player. And they just, and I was coaching too, they would, I mean, they just had the attitude down. They had the whole, it's like, he's 80. He's acting like he's 22. The most prideful, I mean, it was amazing what they'd say, you know, chewing their gun. I don't play first base. I'm a shortstop. Well, you're playing first base this year. 10 times out of 10, pride dripped from the parents. I mean, it was like, oh, I see where this is coming from. With every time, prideful kid, the dad would not stop talking about how good he was when he was a kid and how good his kid is. It's his pride, it goes together. See, you influence, don't you understand? You influence those men in your home. If you're a humble man, you're going to foster and build humility into your family and your wife and kids. But if you're prideful, what are you going to build into that family? And is that family anointed of God, called of God, where lives, you're going to affect different people's lives. If the humility is not present, if humility is not present, you will not be filled with the Spirit of God. No stammering. I'm not saying, I'm not sure. I'm saying, I'm crystal clear on this. Without humility, we cannot be filled with the Spirit of God. One thing, another thing we learned from Saul's life, and this is probably one of the biggest struggles that most people have. Partial obedience is not obedience. Fellow struggler on this one, Lord, I did everything you told me to do. I preached a sermon, I had my night, yeah, but you didn't apologize to that person. Well, yeah, that's true. But I did everything else. I've left here before and, oh, man, that was wonderful. Like, God, man, I should have reached out to that, right? Partial, you know, partial obedience is not obedience, because you have rejected the word of the Lord. And this was not a one-time slip up. God's patience, again, is not his approval. But the people took the plunder. That's what he said. But the people took the plunder, right? It's not my fault. The people took the plunder. So I would just encourage you in this area. I don't even know if I'll get through all this, but partial obedience is not obedience. When God calls us to do something, now, we don't do it perfectly all the time, but when God calls us to do something, and we partially do it, I mean, this happens a lot when God says, go apologize to whatever, you know, whoever that is, spouse. You know, we usually have the attitude that comes with the apology. Well, I guess, you know, yeah, I apologize. I was wrong. But, you know, this is what you did to me. And you leave there going, I apologize, God. It's like, no, you're not. Especially, I hear this a lot from men. I provide financially, but you deplete spiritually. Yes, you're providing for your family, but you're killing them spiritually. Partial obedience. I go to church, but you still live like the world. I read the Bible, but there's no change. I give to charity, but you take from everyone else. See, partial obedience. I think we've got ourselves tricked in this area. I do some of what God says, but rebellion is the sin of witchcraft. What we're learning from this is partial obedience. When God says, listen, I want you to do something. Whoever this is in here, in this room, fill in your name with the blank here. I want you to do something, and we don't do it, but we do just a portion of it, and we feel proud about the portion. And we say, see, God, see what I did? So very good lesson there. Partial obedience is not obedience. Now, let's backtrack. Back before this incident, when Saul was anointed king, then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul's head and said, is it not because the Lord has anointed you? The Lord has anointed you commander over his inheritance. After that, you shall come to the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is, and it will happen when you have come there to the city that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place where they used to worship God. They'll have stringed instruments. They'll have tambourine. They'll have a flute. They'll have a harp. They'll be worshiping God before them, and they will be prophesying, which is powerfully speaking God's word. He says, then that the spirit of the Lord will come upon you, Saul, and you'll prophesy with my people, and you'll be turned into another man. That's what the word of God says, that you'll be turned into another man. Now, I could actually had a whole sermon from this section here, but I just want to pull this from this as well. Don't minimize the role that worship plays in being anointed and being filled with the spirit. A spirit-filled believer without worship is like a car without an engine. You might look nice, but you're not going anywhere, and I'm not going to speak on this because I spoke on a call to worship a few years ago. You can look it up online. It's called a call to worship on our website, talking about the importance of worship, but you could see these guys were prophesying, speaking God's word, and they're worshiping tambourine, flute. They're worshiping God. The anointing was coming with them, so Saul sees them. Saul experiences them, experiences the worship, and then the Bible says the spirit of God fell upon Saul, and he began to prophesy. Now he is anointed king. God put his spirit on Saul through the worship, through these other people prophesying. The spirit fell upon Saul. Now God's going to anoint him king, and he was changed into another man. See, that is an absolute as well. The anointing leads to a radical departure from nominal Christianity. If you don't get anything else from this sermon except this, get this. Anointing of God, being filled with the spirit of God, leads to a radical departure from nominal Christianity. Somebody filled with the spirit of God will not look like a carnal Christian. They can't. There's a radical difference. There's a difference. There's a distinction. So if in your own life, you're loving the things of the world, you're filled with anger and bitterness and hatred and unforgiveness and the things of the world, God wants to change you into a whole new person. He wants you to look back and say, I don't know who that was, but that's not me now that I've been filled and anointed with the spirit of God. Look what the Bible says, and he was turned into another man. Was he literally turned into somebody different? No. When the Bible says that, it means their character, their spiritual nature changed from being fleshly driven to being driven by the spirit. And how bad do we want it? How bad do we want the same thing that Saul experienced? More of God always leads to less of the world. Always. This is a non-negotiable. Did you catch that? More of God always leads to less of the world. But what's the flip side? More of the world leads to less of God. And some people might be confused. The world, what are you talking about? Well, the world, when Paul says, love not the world, or John, love not the world, the things of the world, all that's in the world, the less of the flesh, the less of the eye. And he talks about he who loves the world. It's an interesting word there. It's cosmos. The world is cosmos. And the literal meaning is the world's mindset, the world's way of thinking. So then it makes perfect sense. If we think like the world, and we stay trapped in the things of the world, and we love, and we're pulled to the things of the world, the love of the Father cannot grow in us. It's one or the other. Now you know what Jesus said, you cannot serve two masters. So as the love for God grows, the love of the things of the world will diminish. And we can be changed and turned into a different person. So here's the closing thought. Back to Psalm 63, my soul thirsts for, my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory. And I had a list here of many different Christians that came before us, Oswald Chambers, many of you read his devotional, John Wesley, John Bunyan, Amy Carmichael, Catherine Booth, Charles Finney, D.L. Moody, all of their testimonies of them being, Oswald Chambers, for example, let me read this. He was almost to the point of depression. This Christian man was almost to the point of just severe depression. He said, God used me during those years, but I had no conscious communion with him. The Bible was the dullest, most uninteresting book in existence. Then he writes a few years later, if the four previous years had been hell on earth, these five years have been truly heaven on earth. Glory be to God, the last aching abyss of the human heart is filled to overflowing with the love of God. Where did that come from? You just wake up some day and there it was. No, in all cases, in all the cases, all great men and women of God who've came before us, even you, there has to come a point where we turn and we say, here's the difference. All these people and all people feel the Spirit of God and anointed, they are hungry for more of God, but you are satisfied. If I could sum it all up, they are hungry for more of God, but most people are satisfied with where they're at. And D.O. Moody said, I think it was about 120 years ago that he was deeply saddened by many Bible teachers in his day. He asked, why don't they see that this is just the one thing that they themselves need? What I'm talking about. They are good teachers, they are wonderful teachers, but why will they not see that the power of the Holy Ghost is just the one touch that they themselves need? And let me revise it for today. I'm saddened by most Christians today. Why don't they see that the presence of God is the one thing that they themselves need? They are good people, but they lack spiritual power, they lack anointing. So there's probably a few good answers to this question, but the most common answer to this question, why do most people lack the presence of God? I'm going to tell you right now. The most common answer is pride. Many do not want to admit that there may be something lacking in their spiritual life. Is that not true? If I were to come to each of you after the service and say, hey, is there something lacking in your spiritual life? No. If somebody came and asked me that, do you think I'd be excited to answer? See, this is what it comes down to when we challenge a person's spirituality. Pride says, I'm fine, I'm good, leave me alone. But humility says, no, I need more of God. So let me be the first to tell you, I need more of God. I'm not prideful enough to say, no, I got this mastered. If I don't die to Him daily, if I don't see my need for Him daily, if I don't take time and seek Him daily, I will fall astray. I will fall away. I need Him. And that's the one thing that'll keep you away from this, is satisfied. You're satisfied. And I know it's pride because I'll talk to you, I know a lot of pastors, preachers, teachers, Christian leaders, and I know the one thing they need is the power of the Holy Spirit. You can call it the filling of the Holy Spirit, the presence, the anointing, whatever it is, but they're lacking it. And if you approach them, pride doesn't want to engage that. Whether it's theological education, whether they've been raised in a certain denomination, they think they've got it together and they are preventing the work of God in their life. Is that interesting? Present your bodies as living sacrifices. And that's what I'm trying to get you to realize. And I can tell, because people get upset at this. I read my Bible, I was raised in a fundamentals church, and this, who do you tell me, you know, you're exactly who I'm talking to. You can read the Bible for an hour, but you can't spend 10 minutes in God's presence in prayer and worship. What's the problem? The problem is not on God's end. So I would just encourage you to open your heart. I need Him now as much as I did back then. I'm spiritually hungry for more of Him. I'm not as spiritual as people think I am. I'm trying to be, but by the grace of God, and I would just encourage you to look to Him. And if you don't know Him today, stop mocking Him. Stop mocking Him, stop mocking His word. This is not a joke. This is about heaven and hell, right and wrong, light and darkness, good and evil. Stop buying the lie of the media and the lie of all these other people saying, oh, there's no God out there. Really just explain creation. Just explain where that came from. I'll close with this. You guys remember when I told you, I don't know if his name is Dawkins or what his name was. He's one of the top, you know, one of the top atheists. But they started to finally pinpoint him on where did human life come from? The greatest mind in the world said probably on the back of aliens, on crystals or something like that. And we've got, and we're mocked and ridiculed for having faith. We were planted here by aliens on the back of crystals. Look it up. The greatest mind in the world who's mocking God. Well, where did the aliens come from? I mean, where the crystals? I mean, this is ridiculous. The reason they mock God is they're fighting God. They don't want there to be a God. They love bowing to themselves. They love worshiping themselves. They don't want there to be a God. I want to do what I want, when I want to, who I want, when I want. I'm God of my life. I'm captain of my ship. I'm the master of my own destiny. Don't tell me there's a Lord Jesus Christ that I have to bow to. Yes, sir, I am. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. You either bow to him now or you bow to him on the other side of eternity and you will wish to God that you had made a different decision.