07-31-2022 - Operating in the Anointing

SCRIPTURE

Numbers 11:16–17 NKJV

16 So the Lord said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone.

Numbers 11:24–29 NKJV

24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again. 26 But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!” 29 Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!”

OPENING

The body of Christ should be operating under the fullness of the power of the Holy Spirit at all times. That is how God designed His church. Christ did not die on the cross to build an anemic, emaciated church with no power and no influence in the world. Christ died to build a strong and powerful church that the gates of hell cannot prevail against. We need a revival of spiritual hunger for the things of God so that we can be a conduit for God’s power and God’s light in this evil and dark world. We need to be a church that is operating in the anointing of the Holy Spirit. And that is the subject and the title of our message this morning, “Operating in the Anointing.”

MESSAGE

One Person Cannot Do It All

God knew that Moses could not handle all the load by himself. In fact, Moses knew that Moses could not handle all the load by himself. So God instructed Moses to gather 70 men of the elders of Israel and God took some of the Spirit of God that was on Moses and placed it on them so they could help carry the burden.

One person cannot do it alone. Your pastor cannot do it alone. The pastor down the road cannot do it alone. We need the church to function and operate in the way that God designed it to operate. God did not design the church to be a bunch of independent spiritual superstars. He designed the church as a body of believers with different callings and different functions that all come together in spiritual unity to advance the Kingdom of God on Earth.

The Apostle Paul tells us 1 Corinthians 12 that all believers have been baptized into one body with the head being Christ. And we are all different members of the body of Christ. The foot is just as important as the hand. And the ear is just as important as the eye. In other words, there are no big “I’s” and little “You’s.” We might all be different parts of the body, and we may all have different functions, but the body of Christ cannot operate in the way Christ intends it to unless all the members of the body are doing their part.

What is your role or function in the body of Christ? Do you know what it is? If not, you need to seek God and find your place. God doesn’t call knots. You can sit there like a knot on a log and refuse to fulfill your God-given calling, but by doing so you are keeping the rest of the body of Christ from reaching the full potential of their God-given calling. Find your place in the body of Christ and get to work building God’s Kingdom.

We Need a Fresh Anointing

In our Scripture text, the Bible says that the Spirit of God came upon the 70 elders that Moses assembled and they prophesied, but they never did so again. In other words, there were given a temporary anointing for a limited purpose.

But thanks be to God today that we do not still live under the Old Covenant. Because under the New Covenant we have a special access to and relationship with the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. God no longer just pours out His Spirit upon certain individuals for a temporary anointing for a limited purpose. If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in your life. The Holy Spirit is not just upon you, He is in you. And we have access to the fulness of the power of the Holy Spirit through our relationship with Jesus Christ.

But too many Christians today are trying to live off of an old anointing. They are trying to function on yesterday’s blessing. The problem is we are leaky vessels. God came into our lives and put the pieces back together, but we still have some cracks that let the oil leak out. So if we refuse to allow ourselves to be re-filled from time to time, we will run out of oil. And when we run out of oil we run out of anointing and we run out of strength and we run out of hunger for the things of God.

We need a fresh anointing. We need to get back to the altar and spend some time with God, turn away from our sins, and seek to draw closer to Him. Yesterday’s gone. The spiritual fire that once burned in our hearts has been reduced to a burning ember. We need to seek God for a fresh outpouring and a fresh anointing of His Spirit in our lives.

You Cannot Hide From God’s Anointing

Two of the 70 elders that were supposed to gather around the Tabernacle that day did not show up for whatever reason. Eldad and Medad apparently had something better to do. Or they must have forgot to put the meeting in their calendar. Maybe the alarm clock didn’t go off and they overslept. Who knows? But it didn’t matter where they were. When the anointing was poured out, they recieved it too and they began to prophesy in the camp just like the rest of the 70.

The gifts and the callings of God are without repentance. You can run, but you can’t hide. You cannot hide from God and you cannot hide from His calling and anointing upon your life. You are either living out your calling or you are abrogating your responsibility. You are either the watchman on the wall, or your have abandoned your post. Why don’t you make the decision today to stop running from God and surrender to His plan for your life?

The Anointing Will Make Some Jealous

Joshua responded hastily didn’t he? After he heard about Eldad and Medad prophesying in the camp, Joshua asked Moses to forbid them or stop them. But I like Moses’ response. Moses said, “I wish all God’s people were prophets and that He would put His Spirit upon them!” In other words, Moses was saying, “Man are you crazy? This is great! I wish God would pour out His Spirit on everybody.”

Too many Christians today get jealous of someone else’s anointing. They say, “Why would God use that person. Doesn’t God know what kind of person they used to be? Doesn’t God know that I could do that job better than they could? What about me? Where’s my promotion? Where’s my blessing? Where’s my acknowledgement?”

That’s a jealous spirit. And a jealous spirit will try to stop the anointing of God from flowing in someone else’s life. They’ll say things like, “I’ve been doing this longer than they have and that makes me more spiritually qualified than they are.” Listen to me. Just because someone showed up late to the party doesn’t mean they weren’t invited. And just because you’ve been hanging around longer than anyone else doesn’t mean God owes you anything. God pours out His Spirit on whoever He wills! Stop getting jealous about someone else’s anointing and start seeking God for a fresh outpouring of your own anointing!

The Anointing Makes a Difference

The anointing that was poured out on the 70 elders of Israel made a difference in their lives and the lives of those they ministered to under the direction of Moses. They helped carry the burden and further the work of God that was needed among the nation of Israel.

It is the anointing of God today that makes a difference. The Bible says:

Acts 10:38 NKJV

38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Jesus stood up in the Temple and read from book of Isaiah about Himself:

Luke 4:18–19 NKJV

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

During His earthly ministry, Jesus operated under the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus went about doing good and making a difference in people’s lives.

It is the anointing of God that will make a difference in our lives and in the lives of those that we come in contact with and minister to. So many in the church today are occupied with coming up with cute little self-help guides. You can go to the Christian bookstore and find shelf after shelf filled with “Seven Steps to Victory Over Addiction” and “Four Steps to a Better You.” And they may have some good points somewhere along the way. But ladies and gentlemen let me let you in on a little secret. There is but one step to victory and that is to put yourself under the faucet of the anointing of the Holy Spirit and let the power of the finished work of Jesus Christ make a difference in your life!

Isaiah 10:27 NKJV

27 It shall come to pass in that day That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, And his yoke from your neck, And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.

The anointing with break the power of addiction. The anointing will mend the brokenhearted. The anointing will destroy the yoke of sin. The anointing will will bring healing and restoration to broken relationships. It is not our clever ministry strategies or latest self-help mumbo jumbo from a $5 preacher in a $5000 suit that will get the job done. It is the anointing of the Holy Spirit of God working in and through the church that will make a difference.

CLOSING

Are you operating in the anointing? Where is your spiritual gauge? Is it on empty or is it on full? If you’re running on empty, and can’t find the remedy, then come to the well this morning. Come to the source of the anointing. Come to the giver of life. God is looking for some people this morning that will show up. You may not feel worthy. You may not feel good enough. You may not feel like God can or would even want to love you or use you. You can spend the rest of your life wondering what if? What if I would have surrendered fully to God? What if I would have given everything I had and went all in for Jesus! Or you can make the decision this morning to stop letting the voices in your head hold you back from opening up your heart to receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit you need to fulfill the calling of God on your life. Start operating in the anointing that God has for you!

ALTAR CALL