Don't Prostitute Your Anointing

I. Title: Don't Prostitute Your Anointing

II. Text: 2 Chron. 18:3-13; 1 Kings 18:19

19 Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

III. Introduction:

The Players: A.Jehoshaphat, king of Judah- 1) 2 Chron. 17 he followed hard after God, single minded in following God, God granted him favor. 2) He understood the power of worship and the teaching of the word. (2 Chron. 17:7-8)

B. Ahab, king of Israel. 1 Kings 16, he was an evil king, married to Jezebel and served idols.

C. The Prophets, (2 Chron. 18:5) presumably this group of 400 prophets are the same prophets of 1 Kings 18:19 “that ate at Jezebels table”

D. The prophet of the Lord, Micaiah

The Problem: Whether or not to go to war in Ramoth-Gilead

IV. Proposition/Sermon Thesis-

Prostituting your anointing brings many problems.

V. Interrogative sentence

What problems do we encounter when we prostitute our anointing?

Prostitute: a person who willingly uses his/her talent/gift in a base and unworthy way. (misemploy, waste, squander, commit sacrilege)

VI. Body

a. Point 1- We prostitute our anointing by aligning with the wrong people for the wrong reasons. - Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance for Jehoshapat (vs 2) with the ulterior motive of having him on his side. Jehoshaphat already was rich and walking in the favor of God(vs 1), but committed himself and his people to an alliance with Ahab.

Even though Jehoshaphat had made a commitment, he still desired the word of the Lord (vs. 4), telling Ahab, “before you do anything, please consult the Lord”.

Why do we align ourselves with the wrong people? Sometimes, most often times, it is a flesh issue. We want to be seen, we want to be known, we want influence. It’s often not enough for us to “just “ have the favor of the Lord. Sometimes, the thing we are aligning with looks good, but is not GOD.

Look now at Micaiah. Micaiah was determined to speak nothing but what the Living God told him to speak. The 400 prophets tried to get him to go along with all of them but he held his ground. He flippantly gave an answer Ahab liked but was rebuked by Ahab himself to speak what God said. The anointing on your life is supposed to make you stand out from the crowd. Not so you can be noticed or your name put in lights, but that the Living God can be glorified.

b. Point 2- Prostituting your anointing will cause you to lose the posture of humility. 1 Peter 5:6 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,” In verse 9, we see Ahab and Jehoshaphat “dressed in their royal robes,” resplendant (MSG) before the city gate. The city gate is a position where the business of the city was held, everyone who came to town would see you if you were at the city gates. They put themselves on display for all to see. The anointing on our lives requires that we be in the posture of humility. The anointing often demands obscurity. Look at John the Baptist.

c. Point 3- Prostituting your anointing will cause you to take on a false identity. (vs 29)- Jehoshaphat was already a king in his own right (we are a royal preisthood, a holy nation) but he took on the robes of another king. It almost got him killed (vs 31)

VII. Conclusion