Most of us are familiar with the story of Saul, first king of Israel. God chose this young man to be the leader of His people. He anointed him and gave him favour; however, Saul did not handle God’s anointing well. Much was entrusted to him, and he failed. The sins he committed had severe and public consequences, one of which was that God removed the kingship from him and gave it to another man, a shepherd named David.

Here, we come across something surprising: God removed the kingdom from Saul; He did not remove the anointing.

Many of us know men and women of God who have committed grievous, public sins. They fell. They made Christianity look bad to the rest of the world. They hurt a lot of people, and today, they may or may not be sorry for it. Having witnessed their shortcomings, it would be very easy for us to pass judgment on them. But before we do, we need to remember the anointing.

 

There is a reason the Bible clearly says, “Touch not My anointed” (1 Chronicles 16:22). Doing so can be dangerous. Saul was obviously operating out of the flesh. He tried to kill David; he tried to kill his own son. But he still carried the anointing. David recognized that and refused to harm the man, even though no one would have faulted him for doing so. The man had tried to kill him! Nevertheless, David let God bring judgment and chose not to lay a finger on Saul.

 

God is the One who directs His anointing. He is the One who removes it or pours it out. We need to be very careful what we say about our brothers and sisters who have fallen and maybe even left the ministry. We don’t have a right to speak against them.

 

 

THE ANOINTING IS DEPENDENT ON GOD

We are “anointed” when God puts a measure of His Spirit in us, and that measure resides with us. Similar to oil, the anointing has a tendency to leave a residue on almost everything it touches.

When people carry God’s anointing, that anointing touches us when we come near them. We aren’t touched by the people themselves or their charisma. The anointing is not dependent on what those people say, do or think; it is not dependent on how appropriately they act. It is dependent on God.

 

In a way, the anointing is like the wind. We don’t know where it’s going next, but we do know when it’s present. God chooses when the anointing resides and when it leaves. If it resides, it resides to serve God’s purpose. This is why it’s important not to speak against our family — our brothers and sisters who have made mistakes and poor choices. We are not the One who determines where the anointing should go and what it should do next. If David was not willing to touch Saul, a twisted, sinful man who never truly changed, then we should not be willing to touch God’s anointed, either. In due time, God delivered to David everything He had promised him and more.

 

In conclusion, I would like to leave you with a few thoughts to ponder. Would Israel’s history be different now if David had responded to Saul the way many of us would have responded to him? How much do our words delay or escalate our destinies? What if our potential has been stifled because of the judgments we have made and the words we have spoken against God’s anointed fallen?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HONOURING GOD’S ANOINTED FALLEN – PART  TWO

Written by John Paul Jackson - The Prophetic

 

 

 

Last month’s e-letter was sent out in response to the way many churches malign their leaders over small and trivial matters such as carpet color or the songs sung during worship. Far too many sheep seem to think their pastors are like Ahab, who sold himself to evil. There is a massive difference between evil and carpet color. I was not intending last month’s e-letter to be specifically applied to some of those national ministries that have recently fallen.

 

There is no gift or anointing that is above Scripture, and yes, there are sins that require confrontation. However, our response to the moral decay we are witnessing in the Body of Christ today must include God’s will, His timing and His heart both for the person and for the gift. In the quagmire of all of this, there are times to act, times to speak up, times to keep quiet and times to step back and allow God to bring justice Himself. Moses stepped back, and God acted with Korah (Numbers 16). Peter took one step forward by addressing the sin and then let God do the rest with Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5). Knowing God’s ways is essential to knowing the type of action to take with any sin.

 

As sin continues to abound and accelerate, the understanding of this subject will become more and more important. Discerning holiness, God’s justice and the consequences of sin is vital and will become a distinction between those who desire righteousness as a way of life and those who simply view it as an idea or concept.

 

MORALLY BANKRUPT

We are experiencing a massive decline in the moral and ethical fiber of the Western Church today. Sin management has become the norm, and the apostolic exhortation that demands deep sorrow over sin as evidence of repentance has seemingly been discarded as “lacking in grace.” Thus pastors who divorce their wives, commit adultery with one or more women, father illegitimate children, view porn, visit prostitutes and secretly record video of women in skirts on escalators and stairways are allowed to remain in ministry, or within a few months are rushed back into ministry. All of this is allowed because of the supposed need for their incredible anointing.

 

In some cases, the church body actually stood to applaud the minister after his or her confession. Interviews with some of the parishioners were surprising in that they seemed to think the humanness of their leader somehow alleviated the weight of their own sin. So sin in the flock now becomes justified by sin in the pulpit.

 

‘DIDN’T  I HEAL IN YOUR NAME...?’

I am now convinced that if we haven’t already seen it, we soon will see Matthew 7 played out in the lives of many who heal, prophesy and cast out demons. Blindly, the Body of Christ will accept them as anointed leaders — even though, according to this passage, these men and women one day will not be allowed to enter the gates of Heaven.

 

Evidently, Jesus did not consider signs and wonders to be proof of ministry fruitfulness. If signs and wonders were the litmus test for righteousness in ministries, how would we be able to distinguish between the Holy and the profane — as healings, prophecy and miracles are seen in both?

 

‘WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T KNOW ME?’

Perhaps even more bizarre is that those who did these signs and wonders written about in Matthew 7:20–23 were actually surprised when they were not allowed to enter Heaven. Clearly, they believed that the miracles they performed were more important than intimacy with God, which would have transformed them and shown them the Father’s heart in the matter. I am afraid that many of those in ministry today believe that signs and wonders are God’s endorsement of their ministries and lifestyles. Instead, we must ask the difficult question: “If signs and wonders are an endorsement of God on a ministry, how could Matthew 7 be true?”

 

As Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 8:11, “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” In other words, the apparent delay in judgment is taken to mean God condones their sin.

 

JUDGING THE FRUIT VERSUS THE HEART

Scripture commands us to test the fruit, not the motivation of the heart. Judging the heart is for God and God alone (Romans 14:12). He is the only One who knows our thoughts and intentions.

 

A friend of mine, Sid Molenaar, recently reminded me, “It is dangerous to follow any ministry without weighing and testing that ministry.” Yes, God’s anointed men and women are capable of stumbling, and yes, I believe the Bible directs us not to “touch” them in a harmful way, verbally or otherwise; however, like most things in life, this, too, must be balanced. You might remember that in the moment when David could have killed Saul in the cave, he chose not to (1 Samuel 24). That does not mean David did not recognize Saul’s problems, and one could assume they were discussed that day in the confines of the cave.

 

WHAT FRUIT SHOULD WE LOOK FOR?

Healings, miracles, signs and wonders are not fruit; they are gifts, and that being the case, what fruit are we to look for in any ministry?

• Do the people have a greater love and concern for others than they have for themselves?

• Do they radiate a contagious joy that others feel and take on?

• Do they ooze a tranquil peace when life’s events do not go the way they anticipated?

• Do they show a steadfastness or unwavering nature in the midst of long suffering, betrayal or deep disappointment?

• Do they display gentleness with others who appear weaker or less capable?

• Do they have an overriding goodness that seeks the wellbeing of others over their own wellbeing?

• Do they have a faith in the unseen and the “not yet” purposes of God?

• Do they radiate a meekness or softness, evidenced by how they handle others when they disagree with them?

• Do they display a temperance or an ability to master their passions and desires?

 

These nine points are found in Galatians 5 and are noted as fruit of the Spirit. All deeply spiritual people will have fruit that is spiritual. Why? Because thorns produce thorns and grapes produce grapes. That which is Spirit will always have spiritual fruit.

 

There must be a change in the moral fiber of the Church, because the culture is not to blame for the condition of the Church, but the Church is to blame for the condition of the culture. When the Church actually begins to behave like the Body of Christ, we will see the fruit of that — not only in our pastors and ministers but also in our judicial systems and in our politicians. In other words, the culture will reflect the Church’s passion for Jesus.