In Part 1, we discussed three results that happen when the Lion of the tribe of Judah roars: the captives are set free, there is a pronunciation of judgment against our enemies and that there is a response to the call for the warriors to rise up. We examined the life of King David and how he persevered in the wilderness, contending for his destiny. This week in Part 2, we'll continue to examine what it takes to walk in the kingly anointing by once again, taking a look at the life of King David. Also, we'll take a look at the life of Samuel, the priest, who became a trusted prophet later in life. We'll close our series by coming before the Lord to examine our hearts, and then we'll pray together.



PROMOTIONS INVITE DIFFICULTY

Last week we studied the life of King David and how he persevered in the caves of Adullum and the surrounding wilderness (1 Sam. 22:1). We saw that when David emerged as an outstanding leader, God promoted him and changed his home base to Hebron where he was anointed King of Judah. In this new location he was surrounded by even more intense spiritual warfare because Anak's descendants lived there. These wicked descendants created a nesting place for darkness. (Last week we examined Anak's descendants and the darkness they represented.) New levels, new devils!

How would you like the kind of promotion that by its very nature, just seems to invite great difficulties? Most of us would never sign up for hard times, but God knows that adversity builds both our character and our spiritual muscles. The psalmist expressed this so well: I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me" (Ps. 119:75). King David's promotion worked to his advantage because he gained great strength and wisdom in Hebron, overcoming many enemies both in the natural and spiritual realms (2 Sam. 2-5).

God didn't want David just to camp in Hebron for a few days. Rather, it was a necessary place to live so that he could grow in maturity for the next leg of his journey. God designed David's pilgrimage to include many difficulties, on purpose. He knew that adversity would prepare him to reign in the kingly anointing from Zion, the city of Jerusalem (Ps. 84:5-7). David didn't get rebellious on this tough road. His heart attitude always wanted to please God and that was the focus that motivated him.


THE PRIESTLY ANOINTING IS FOUNDATIONAL

King David eventually left Hebron and was anointed King over Israel, reigning from Jerusalem (2 Sam. 5:3-7). He walked in the kingly anointing. So David went on and became great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him" (2 Sam 5:10). But before David ever became King, although he wasn't part of the Levitical priesthood like Aaron (Moses' brother) and Zadok (the son of Ahitub), he possessed the heart of a priest. You know, the function of a priest is very much like that of a pastor, and pastors are also called shepherds. So it's not surprising that David's heart (as a priest) would go hand in hand with his role as a shepherd.

He was a true protector over his family's flock of sheep; an excellent shepherd. He didn't flinch when it came to making sure each little sheep was safe. When a prowling lion or bear approached his flock, he laid down his life and fought the intruders (1 Sam. 17:36). He was a hero when no one was watching. He wasn't going to be in Charisma Magazine or interviewed on television! But God saw him from heaven above like a proud Father watching His child. He knew that because David laid down his life for the sheep when no one was looking, he'd do it when they were looking.

David had a passionate heart; he was a lover of God, one who desired deep intimacy with Him. When no one was around, David would take his stringed instrument and compose psalms and hymns. He probably danced wildly in the pastures, too! You see, God is watching what we do in secret. I meet these guys and they have this face that they put on when they're in a ministry position. They think: I'm going to church; it's Sunday. I got a position and a job to do. The pastor gave me 10 minutes this morning to speak. And all week they don't pray. It's like the preacher who preaches because it's his job. He's not concerned before the meeting to take time to soak and seek the Lord to be sure that he has something that God wants him to say. I'll just pull out something that I already have." But David was like a priest because he had the heart of a priest and this was what God was looking for.

 

TRUE PRIESTS ESTEEM GOD'S HOLINESS

When we have the heart of a faithful priest, then we have the right foundation so that God can increase our level of authority and bring us into a kingly anointing. And there is a great responsibility that comes with the priestly anointing. The Bible records that the Lord spoke to Eli (the priest) concerning his two sons because they didn't have the faithful hearts required of a priest. In fact they acted wickedly (1 Sam. 2:12-17, 22). They despised the things of God to the point that God was forced to pronounce His judgment against them (1 Sam. 2:31-32). But God did show compassion to Eli when He said that He would raise up a faithful priest and anyone who was left in Eli's household would be permitted to approach him:

Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever. And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and say, ‘Please, put me in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a piece of bread'" (1 Sam. 2: 35-36).

A faithful priest in God's eyes is a servant who will do what is in His heart and mind. Now I want to ask a question. How can we do what's in God's heart and mind, only doing those things that we see the Father doing, if we don't take the time to see what the Father's doing? (Jn. 5:19). We have to seek the heart and mind of God. A faithful priest isn't concerned about his own agendas and how he looks in public; it's about who he is in his heart.

Eli functioned as a priest during the days when the word of the Lord was rare and visions were infrequent (1 Sam. 3:1). His eyes were so dim that he couldn't see, which really is a picture of his spiritual condition. It's in this context that the boy Samuel (who was in Eli's care) ministers to the Lord and the word of the Lord begins to come to him. When God began to call Samuel's name, he thought it was Eli calling. Three times Samuel came to Eli, and it took Eli that long in his prophetic sensitivity to think, Hey, maybe this is God (1 Sam. 3:4-8).

After all the years of walking in God's presence, what happened to Eli? I believe that He neglected to lie down where God's presence was and this resulted in Eli's household having no regard for God's holiness. The true priestly anointing always reflects the holiness of God and it's nourished in God's presence.

 

JUDGMENT BEGINS AT THE HOUSE OF GOD

Eli's sons didn't resist temptation and Eli didn't rebuke them. His sons lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting (1 Sam. 2:22). Eli knew, but he did nothing (3:13). However, God knew and He was going to do something! The Father will not be mocked (Ga. 6:7) and He has a standard of righteousness, a divine evaluation or plumb-line.

Today many preachers and ministries are being examined by God because it's judgment time concerning the house of God. How many ministers and preachers are going to be in trouble soon because they wouldn't confront some of the controversial issues in their churches and ministries? Their attitude is: It's good enough! Come on, we don't want to rock the boat. We want to be politically correct and draw in as many people as possible. Just think about how much money they give. We don't want to speak into that situation or become confrontational. We don't want to be a prophetic voice.

Listen! So often what we say and do in church all looks good and it all sounds good, but it's full of compromise. We need to have a message today of conviction that leads to repentance; a message that calls sin for what it is. Yes, we need to walk in love and in wisdom, but if there's something going on in our ministries or churches, if there's something going on in the lives of those that God has put in our care, we have a responsibility to speak up. Then it's off our hands. But Eli's attitude was, Oh, I don't want to do anything about that. We don't want to be like him, doing nothing about immorality, worldliness and prayerlessness. Prayerlessness, apathy and love without passion-all needs to be addressed.

So God came to Eli and judged his house. The apostle Peter spoke about God's judgment coming first to the household of God: For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (1 Pt. 4:17). God removed the priestly mantle from Eli and his household: Eli, you're not going to be in the house anymore. I'm about to raise up a faithful priest. I want a man who's going to do what's in My heart and a man that's going to do what's in My mind.

Young Samuel was the one God chose and raised up because He saw this young boy's faithful heart and He knew Samuel would do His will. Samuel became God's trusted prophet, one who grieved over sin (1 Sam. 16:1) and one who had the authority to anoint David as King. God backed up what Samuel said (1 Sam. 3:19). Samuel spoke prophetic wisdom because he knew God's heart. We can't move into the kingly anointing without the prophetic anointing, and we can't move into the prophetic anointing without the priestly anointing.

Also we shouldn't forget that even though David had a devoted heart toward the Lord, he was involved in a great sin when he lived in Jerusalem (2 Sam. 11). But his heart was different than Eli's because he repented when Nathan the prophet came to him about what he had done (2 Sam. 12). Eli never repented. And because David repented, God wasn't forced to remove his kingly anointing, but he did suffer God-ordained consequences because of what he did (2 Sam. 12:10-11). As I said earlier, God will not be mocked. Christians are accountable for their actions, and Christian leaders even more so, because they have influence with people from all walks of life and they set a standard that people will follow.

 

THE KINGLY ANOINTING RELEASES A CORPORATE ANOINTING

Christians prove that they have the heart of a faithful priest when they esteem the holiness of God and when they're only concerned with doing God's will. Then they'll have what it takes to carry the kingly anointing. But what is the kingly anointing? The kingly anointing involves a wide scope of spiritual authority because it releases a corporate anointing. Here's an example of what this means. The kingly anointing is in operation when we see one thousand demon possessed people coming to the altar and when we pray in the name of Jesus, one thousand people go through mass deliverance.

Ministering in a crusade setting is a different dimension than praying for someone in a counseling room setting, one on one. There is an anointing for the counseling setting and that's good, but there's an anointing called the kingly anointing that God wants to impart so that the masses are touched simultaneously. For instance there might be 60,000 people at one of our crusades and in Jesus name I'll command the blind to see. Then I'll command the deaf to hear. And many, simultaneously, will see and hear instantly! When this happens, it's the corporate anointing. We need more of this!

I believe God wants to release a whole new focus and new level of authority in the body of Christ to advance His kingdom. I see this new level in our ministry here at Fresh Fire. We're being led to pray for thousands at one time in our crusades, commanding different diseases to leave. And many people are healed and delivered all at once! I don't have four hours to cast out a devil. There has to be a level of authority and power in the church where we can see a whole stadium healed at one time! We need this level of anointing! When I go into the nations I can't pray for the sick in a healing line one by one. It doesn't work because there are so many needy people. In the future we might have thousands of people who are crippled at our crusades. We won't be able to lay hands on them all individually.

When masses of people are healed and delivered, then the kingly anointing is demonstrating God's power and this will transform cities, regions and nations. Having said that, I believe there is an increase in the level of anointing and authority that is coming upon leaders and ministries to bring breakthroughs in cities, regions and nations! Some leaders and ministries will affect cities because their present level of authority is for cities. Others will affect regions and others will affect nations. There are different levels of authority. We need to prepare our hearts to receive a whole lot more from God!

 

EXAMINING OUR HEARTS

In this teaching series we examined significant segments from the life of King David and smaller chunks from the life of Samuel, the prophet. Each is an excellent example concerning what it takes to please God and how to walk as kings and priests. God is looking for those whose hearts are completely sold out to him; those who He can strongly support (2 Chron. 16:9) like He supported King David and Samuel. God said that King David was a man after His own heart who would do His will (Acts 13:22) and the Bible records that Samuel also was a man after God's own heart and would do his will. In order for God to strongly support us, we must be radically sold out to him like King David and Samuel. And so I want to ask a few questions and invite us to take some time before the Lord examining our hearts.

• How do we take care of the lamp stand? Scripture says: Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it" ( Ex. 30:7-8). The burning of incense is prayer. Prayer was going on simultaneously while Aaron was tending the lamp. Prayer makes the ground of our heart fertile so that we can begin to hear and receive revelation.
   
  
  
• When it's all said and done, what does our week look like? I felt the Lord say that He wants to bring us into a whole new level of intimacy, through soaking and seeking, because that's how we're going to go deeper. So let's take time to be with the Lord and not book our week up so there's no room for God in our lives.
   
  
  
• Are we walking in humility and devotion to the Lord? If so, then we're in a safe place spiritually and when the Lion roars and pronounces judgment against our enemies we won't be swept into it. (We spoke about this last week.) Rather, we'll see bondages break and freedom come to our sons and daughters.
   
  
  
• Do we sense our hearts have become a little callused and cold? Let's be like Samuel and minister to the Lord and ask Him to renew our passion for Him. If you want to come back and buy gold refined in the fire, I want you to do that today (Rev. 3:14-22). Your relationship with God might need to be made right. God may be challenging you to begin to confront an issue.
  
  

 

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we come to you today mindful that we need to surrender our lives to you completely. We want you to take us on the journey that You have tailor-made for us so that we can rise up into our kingly anointing. Please help us not to run away or refuse to allow You to have Your way with us. We want to say Yes" to being led by You into the wilderness and the difficult places so that adversity can have its perfect work in our lives. God, please help us to contend for our God-ordained destinies by overcoming the enemy.

Father, please help us to be faithful concerning our prayer life and taking time to be with you. We want to walk in humility with devoted hearts and we know that as we experience a deepening relationship with you, our hearts won't be callused or cold! We want to be diligent and faithful concerning your kingdom when no one is watching us.

We want the kind of heart that pleases you; a heart that's only concerned with what's on your heart and mind, God. Please anoint us with increased authority in our lives and the excitement of the kingly oil and the kingly dominion, the increase of Your government, Your rule and reign.

We need a whole new level of authority that will impact the masses. Father, please release Your heart and Your strategy so that cities, regions and nations hear the good news of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you, God. Amen.