The Anointing Is the Difference

Cleaned from the live recording. Lightly edited for reading.

This is he

The atmosphere here is going to shift gears shortly. Tell your neighbour, whether you want it or not, it's going to happen. So just get on board.

Let us go to 1 Samuel chapter 16. It's good to see each and every one of you this morning. I'm expecting an awesome time in the presence of the Lord. Do the ESV. It's a little easier on the people's ears.

*1 Samuel 16:1-13 is read: Samuel is sent to Jesse's house with a horn of oil. Eliab and seven sons pass by and are refused. David is brought in from the sheep and anointed, and the Spirit of the Lord rushes upon him from that day forward.*

I want to look at verse 12. "And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is he" (1 Samuel 16:12).

This is he. Arise and anoint him, for this is he. Just say, "I am he," or she, whichever one you are. If you're he, don't say you're she, and if you're she, don't say you're he. Tell your neighbour, "I am the one."

The Lord said to anoint him, and I believe the Lord is speaking to me this morning. There's oil in the house. And God is looking for someone to anoint. There's a word in the house. There's a prophet in the house with oil. And the voice of the Lord is in the house. But God is looking for people.

You can be in the crowd and God says, "No, not you. Not you. Not you." But I'm saying this morning He's saying, "You are the one." Some of you believe it. Arise. Say, "I am the one the Lord is looking for."

Samuel could have gone back home with a horn of oil. It doesn't matter how anointed he was. The Lord was looking for someone who could receive it. Tell your neighbour, you must be able to receive the oil. Are you prepared to receive?

God is always looking. Tell your neighbour, the book of Acts is not closed. God is still looking for people to do great exploits, extraordinary things. Prophesy with me: "I am the one."

Man looks on the outward appearance

It says man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). I know some of you are already gone: "Rend your heart and not your garment" (Joel 2:13). But just before we continue, it's in the scripture: people look at the outward appearance, so be presentable.

There's no contradiction there. Sometimes when people read that scripture they say, "Well, I don't have to worry about how I look, because God looks at the heart." That's not what the scripture is saying. It's simply saying people look at the outward appearance.

Just look at your neighbour and tell them you're looking beautiful or handsome this morning. I see some husbands looking in the next direction. Nothing is wrong with that.

"Anoint him, for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers" (1 Samuel 16:13). He heard the voice of the Lord and he responded.

The Lord is going to anoint people this morning. Then I'm going to go into what the anointing is for and what the anointing helps us to accomplish. But I want to concentrate here a little. God is looking for vessels. Tell everybody, He's looking for vessels.

Rushed

And the word says, "And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David" (1 Samuel 16:13). When I was looking at this word, it carries the idea of penetrated, got through to him. Seeped into his vessel. Marinated him. That's the concept of baptism: baptizo, to pickle, to marinate.

Like somebody spraying fragrance on you. You know when you go home, if you went to certain places with fragrance, from the time you step in the house, the wife asks, "Where were you?" And sometimes we're trying to figure out why she's asking. She's asking because she smells a fragrance different from what you left home with. Something got on you.

With David, Samuel poured the oil. But something else happened. We can pour oil and there can be no rushing of the Spirit. We can take the oil, and when we finish pouring it on you, you're just an oily person. Tell your neighbour, "I don't want to be an oily person. I don't want to just shine in the natural. I want the real thing."

Samuel knew he was carrying something. He knew when he poured this oil, heaven was going to react. The Spirit of God was going to move. And what rested on David symbolically as oil would be confirmed by heaven with something weightier, the real thing. Samuel understood that when he raised his horn and poured oil, he was standing in the place of God. And what he did, heaven backed up.

We see the same rushing of the Spirit in Acts chapter 2. As they gathered, there was a mighty rushing wind (Acts 2:2). Just say, "Holy Ghost, rush on me. Do something in me this morning that will distinguish me from my brothers, from my sisters, from my colleagues."

God was looking for one who could accommodate the Holy Ghost

The brothers came in, and when you read the scripture, many of them were handsome too. David wasn't the only handsome son. When Samuel looked on each of the brothers, he said, "Surely this is the one." But the Lord kept saying no. He looked at the outward appearance. Obviously he saw beauty. He saw strength. He saw something about leadership in them. But God said, "That's not the one."

God was looking for one who knew how to accommodate the Holy Ghost. One who knew how to work with the Holy Spirit. One who knew how to receive, and allow the Holy Spirit to direct and guide his life.

So you can be in the house. You can look all lovely. You can know a lot of scriptures, and people can be saying, "Surely this is the one." But God says, "I want somebody who knows how to embrace Me." Do you know how to embrace God? Do you know how to work with God? Can you hear the wind? Some of you are looking at me strange.

The sound at the Cultural Centre

I remember a service at the Cultural Centre, and I'm sure Minister Michelle won't forget it, when Apostle Randy Clark ministered. Before he could say "stand," I literally heard, I don't know if it was in my spirit or natural, a mighty rainstorm. So when he said stand, I could feel the glory of God about to rush into the service. When he said stand, Prophet Lennox, beside me, hit the floor. I saw all the apostles in front get on their knees, and the entire Cultural Centre atmosphere changed. It was as though God stepped into the place. The glory of God was so thick. It took me nearly an hour to leave that atmosphere. I think it took you a long time too; they had to carry you home.

You could hear the sound. Rain is coming. Tell your neighbour, there's a sound of abundance (1 Kings 18:41).

Samuel poured and the Holy Ghost rushed. When we anoint you this morning, understand we're doing something not just natural. We're working with the Holy Ghost. As oil is poured, there's going to be a movement of the Holy Ghost.

David could have gone home with just oil on him from the horn. But he understood something else was being poured out. In this prophetic action of anointing, the glory that had rested on Saul was going to touch him.

Samson and the lion

Forgive me, I'm trying not to be long this morning. Tell your neighbour, rushed. Let's look at some other instances where the Holy Ghost moved like this and what happened.

Judges 14:6: "Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat" (Judges 14:6). This is Samson. The Holy Ghost rushed upon him and he tore a lion in pieces as though it were a young goat.

When the Holy Ghost comes upon you, you're going to tear apart him who goes about like a roaring lion. Who does the Bible say goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour? The devil (1 Peter 5:8). I love this typology, this prophetic picture. When the Holy Ghost rushed upon Samson, he grabbed a lion and tore him in pieces. You're about to tear the enemy into pieces.

When the Holy Ghost comes upon you, He calls you to do extraordinary things. He calls you to be mighty. He calls you to be fearless. Some of you are not too sure. That's why the devil walks around intimidating some of you. But the Holy Ghost just rushed upon me. I'm about to terrify the enemy because of the anointing of the Lord. The anointing gives you supernatural strength, supernatural ability to do the impossible.

There are things in your life that need to be destroyed, and it's the anointing that destroys the yoke (Isaiah 10:27). Some of the things you're struggling with and trying to change, tell your neighbour, you need the anointing, not a resolution. You can be as resolute as you want facing a lion, but your resoluteness will disappear along with you if there is no anointing. Are you ready to tear the enemy's works into pieces?

Thirty men

Another portion with Samson. Judges 14:19: "And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil" (Judges 14:19). This was when they pressured Samson's wife to get the answer to his riddle. He had to fulfil his pledge, and he went down and struck down thirty men of the enemy.

God wants to use you to take down your enemies. Some of you are not too sure that's a nice message. You're not a warrior type of person. But there are things in your life you need to take down. There are altars that may have been erected with your names, your photos, your pictures on them. People work against you.

Satanists in the community

I was sharing with somebody during the week. They were telling me a dream, and I shared about a season in my life when the Lord took me in a dream and showed me a particular house in our community where satanists were gathered. Whatever they were doing there was affecting my house, my children, my family. In the dream I decided to fight back. I reached into the place and confronted all of them. When I started to confront them, the head one came out ahead of the rest. I watched him and I commanded him to die. He died and the others scattered. Your enemies will scatter.

I was discussing with my son a few months ago. Someone had sent a project into our home. In my dream, in the realm of the spirit, I was able to discern where they were. When I went to confront them, they kept hiding in the shadows, in the dark. I spoke, and that was the end of it.

Sometimes we have to be very careful what we say. There are some situations where I've asked myself, "Do I speak?" Because you need to be very careful with your words.

The Barney church

You've heard us tell the story of a woman who came when we had church at her home. Many of you were there. She came the first time and did her mischief. She came the second time, and when I came down, Elder V said to me, "A witch is here, and she brought something to give you. But I told her, my pastor doesn't need that. You keep it."

As some of the persons prayed and cast out demons, she was collecting. When they said "fire," she started throwing back fire, and the whole service went into uproar. We really have some fighters in the church. It's good to have fighters. She's throwing fire and they're throwing it back.

But I told them, "Leave her alone." And as I said that, I perceived in my spirit that heaven was intervening in this matter. I said, "If a witch has entered this place, she has entered at her own demise." That's what heaven was saying. With the anointing, you must be in sync with God, in sync with the Commander-in-Chief, the God of heaven's armies. I spoke, and she went out.

My wife called me during the week, about Tuesday, and said this woman was going all around the community saying she went to the "Barney church" and the fire doesn't work. Barney, because we had a daycare in the church with a big Barney on the wall. I said to my wife, "Don't take worries with that. She's broadcasting our defeat."

On the Thursday I noticed somebody from the neighbourhood suddenly on the roof, banging, fixing the roof. Chairs and tables were being fetched out to where she was living. My wife said, "No, a tent is going up." It looked like a wake in her own home. A relative came and sat and told the story of this woman, an aunt or grandmother, who had the custom of going to various churches and putting brooms and glasses of water over the door. But she went to a church the last time, came home, and was crying out for fire the whole week, crying that she was burning up.

She went to declare to the community that the fire doesn't work, and the same fire kicked in, in the place where she did her foolishness. Heaven responded to a word. Tell your neighbour, it's just a word.

Walking in two realms

With the anointing, we need to bring what heaven is saying into the earthly atmosphere. That's what was happening with Samuel here. He went to the house of Jesse, but he was walking in two realms at the same time. In the natural he was saying what was going on in the natural, but under the anointing he was in the spirit, communicating with the God of heaven's armies. God was about to raise up a king, a warrior king, and He chose to empower him with the anointing.

Tell your neighbour, we are kings and priests (Revelation 1:6), and we cannot function without the anointing.

I hope you understand why I'm using this scripture: to help us distinguish between the oil and the Spirit. They work hand in hand. Where there's the prophetic action, the Spirit moves. We don't just want people with oil running down their faces. God is looking for people who will open their lives to His Spirit.

I keep repeating it because many persons go to an anointing service and receive it thinking it's about the oil. But this scripture is telling us it's about the Spirit. Tell your neighbour, it's about the Spirit.

A violent reaction to power

Have you ever seen something rush? It's very quick. It's sudden, and sometimes it can be violent. That's why when the Holy Spirit touches some people, you see them fall, and it's like electricity hit them. There is a violent reaction to power.

I have three boys, and they loved to experiment when they were growing up. From time to time they'd push a fork in the socket. And when I'm doing some electrical work, one will say to me, "Daddy, I know how this feels." I've never seen anybody touch power and remain calm.

When the anointing comes, you'll see some people walking and suddenly they jerk, and sometimes we laugh at them because we don't know what's happening. This is not fever. It's a different kind of heat. When you have fever you feel things rushing through your nerves and you're jumping. Sometimes the anointing has you like that. There's nothing to be worried about. Sometimes it makes you sweat. It's so hot.

I'm simply saying that with a rushing, they knew something happened. That's why that word was used. Sometimes you can't tell which direction the Holy Ghost came from. But you can describe that something is happening. "My ear started feeling fat. My head feels like it's going to blow up." Some people feel light. Some feel their legs can't move.

Some people burst out laughing. I was talking with somebody yesterday who told my wife and me they laugh a certain type of laughter in prayer and they're concerned. I told them it's a good thing. I remember being young in prayer meeting and having to excuse myself, because I was laughing so hard, a whole laughing party with the Holy Ghost, and I had to go outside the church into a corner. Sometimes people think you're crazy.

I believe also there are going to be experiences this morning where people are caught up to the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2) and see things and hear things. He is going to rush, and there's going to be a response.

Let me ask you another question. When you see something rush at you, how do you respond? Sometimes you jump, sometimes you run. You have different responses to the move of the Holy Ghost. When the Holy Ghost starts to move, I'm sure I see some people who want to run. Some leave the church and go outside to the back. They suddenly want to go to the washroom. They suddenly receive a phone call. They're running from the presence. Tell your neighbour, you don't need to run. You need to be in church.

Eldad and Medad

Moses had an experience where the Lord told him to take seventy of the elders of Israel, and God took of the Spirit that was upon Moses and placed it on them, and they prophesied. But there were two who weren't among them. For some reason they were absent from that anointing service. But right where they were, they started to prophesy too (Numbers 11:24-26).

Tell your neighbour, you might not be physically in here. You might be watching us online. The Lord is going to touch you too. The Spirit of the Lord is going to come upon you too.

Turned into another man

Come, worshippers. Before I start, bring up 1 Samuel 10:6, and then 11:6.

"Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man" (1 Samuel 10:6). Look at your neighbour and say, "When you see me operating a little crazy, it's the Holy Ghost. When you see me operating like another man, operating mad." Not a bad mad. It's like when the young people say, "This thing is mad good. The concert was mad."

"And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen! Then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people" (1 Samuel 11:6-7).

The dread of the Lord. Jeremiah 20:11: "The Lord is with me as a dread warrior" (Jeremiah 20:11). You ever see how a dread warrior operates? Like a mad warrior. Don't worry, worshippers, the atmosphere is gradually changing.

Back to 1 Samuel 10:6: you'll be turned into another man. I don't know about you, but I was born a human. Then about fourteen or fifteen, I died. And I was born again, not after the first man who became a living soul, but after the last Adam who became a life-giving spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45). And the word of the Lord says to me, I am a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17). This Spirit that rushed upon these men is inside of me. And sometimes you can feel the storm inside. Not a bad storm. A mad storm.

When Saul met the prophets, the Bible says he started to prophesy, and those who saw it said, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" (1 Samuel 10:11). Can you feel the atmosphere changing? If Saul was among the prophets, something happened that caused Saul to operate differently.

The anointing amplifies

Back to 11:6. "And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled." Let me tell you something about the anointing where you need to be very careful. It amplifies different things in your life, good and bad.

That's why some persons, while they were fasting during this season, you never knew you were so violent, so angry. There were things in your soul that got amplified. And you thought to yourself, "How can I be fasting and behaving like this? Is it the devil?" No, it wasn't the devil. It was you. The anointing caused it to be amplified, for you to look at the issues you need to work on. It was hiding.

The anointing makes room for you

When the anointing comes upon you, it also makes room for you. Tell your neighbour, it makes room for you (Proverbs 18:16).

When you read this portion of scripture, the Holy Ghost rushed upon David, and He departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit tormented Saul. Read from verse 14. *1 Samuel 16:14-19 is read: Saul's servants seek a skilful harpist, and one says, "I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skilful in playing, a man of valour, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him."*

I wanted to concentrate on this part of the scripture this morning, but it would take a lot of time. So let me say it without expounding. These are some of the things the Spirit of God will help you with.

Skilful in playing. The Lord will help you to be skilful in whatever profession you're in. You'll get ideas, revelations. Things people have difficulty with on the job, you will be skilful at.

A man of valour. What is his name? Gideon. The Lord called him a mighty man of valour, and he said, "Who, me? I'm the least in my family, and my clan is the least in the tribe" (Judges 6:12, 15).

A man of war. Tell your neighbour, the anointing makes you skilled at war. You saw what it did to Samson when he saw the lion. It's that same anointing that was upon Daniel that caused the lions to say, "We've heard the stories. When the anointing came upon a servant of God, he tore a lion to pieces. We can see He's resting on you. We'll keep a safe distance and be at peace" (Daniel 6:22).

When you read the Bible, you hear He's the Lord of hosts, the Lord of heaven's armies. What does an army do? Stay home and hope there's no war? Plan to run away when there's a war? No. They train all their life to fight. He teaches my hands to war and my fingers to fight (Psalm 144:1). That's why demons should be afraid of you. That's why everywhere Jesus went, they asked if He came in peace.

In this portion, you hear the elders of the city asking Samuel, "Do you come peaceably?" (1 Samuel 16:4). This was a man trained as a priest, a judge, and also a prophet. Tell your neighbour, prophets know how to war.

Prophets are confrontational

One characteristic of prophets: they're confrontational. They don't leave things be. And that's why, when they're not trained and the fruit of the Spirit is not developed, it's quarrel and argument the whole day. They don't believe anything.

I remember a time I was driving down the road and I said, "I could run over some of these people." And I'm driving and saying, "Lord, this thing has gotten out of hand. What is wrong with me?" About a week after, Prophet Delaron had a conference here, and he said, "The Lord has placed upon you an apostolic warfare mantle." And I said, "Oh, that was it." That's what I was feeling. Aggression. I could tear everything in my way to pieces.

So when some people tell me they're prophetic, and I look at them and don't see any spark or fire in them, I wonder. Because prophets know how to war. Like Elijah facing the 450 prophets and taunting them: "Maybe your god is asleep. Maybe he's gone on vacation. Maybe he just can't hear you. Call a little louder" (1 Kings 18:27). That's the nature of a prophet. They are people of war.

Man or woman of war. They always said my little sister was fighting a little piece. I don't see her here today. But whether woman or man, at school, fight.

Prudent in speech

Prudent in speech. It needs to go hand in hand. When you're a person of war, you've got to be careful with your words, because you'll always be in conflict. So you have to be very careful with your words.

A man of good presence. Tell your neighbour, you look like a person of good presence. You command the presence.

And the Lord is with him. The anointing causes people to know that God is with you. When you show up in places, it's as though God shows up. The anointing causes people to see God, hear God, feel God when you are around. Just say, "I am anointed." Lift up your hands.

*Worship: "Like a rushing wind," "Here I am, down on my knees again," and "I'm too anointed to fail / He anoints me with oil."*

Ministry time: what the manifestations mean

*From about 1:19 Apostle Lambert invites forward those who sensed the presence of God during the preaching, and they describe heat, electricity, cold, shaking, a vision of a horn of oil suspended in the air, and a vision of oil on the altar with a cloud sweeping across it.*

I want the church to understand. Some of us wait until there's an altar call. But there's a grace upon my life and a grace in this house, that from the time I start to talk, the Spirit of God starts to move. There's angelic activity taking place, not just here but in the homes of those watching us.

A horn of oil suspended? Tell your neighbour, no suspension any more. It's pouring-out time.

*He calls families to stand together at the altar and continues through words of knowledge.*

The glory of God is about to descend in this place this morning in a way I don't think we've experienced Him before. Lift your hands. There's a wind blowing in this place, and as you lift your hands there's an increase, an intensity. Don't look at me. Pay attention to God right now. I release the fire of the Holy Ghost in this place right now. Ministers of fire. They're coming your direction. Just take it. It's yours.

Samuel anointed, and the Spirit rushed. That's what's happening in this place.

We're going to anoint every family today, but we're working with the Holy Ghost. He's rushing, He's moving mightily, and we're working with Him. I know there are persons with different types of pain in the head, behind the neck, migraine. I don't really do much of that, but you'll be healed in His presence. I want to concentrate on impartation this morning, but in the same atmosphere the Lord is healing, and some persons are going through deliverance. I was trying to minimise word of knowledge this morning and concentrate on impartation. But when the Lord is flowing, we just flow with Him.

Some of you are going to start feeling like electricity, like the ground is electrified. Some of you are feeling heat on your face. Some of you are feeling fire in the right hand. Distinctly the right hand. You're in an air-conditioned building, but it's as though your face is facing the sun. It's the glory of the Lord.

You see, I keep saying to you, when Samuel poured the oil and they said the Spirit rushed upon David, there had to be something they noticed. How did they know the Spirit rushed upon David? There had to be some manifestation for them to know the Spirit of God was in operation. And you're having those manifestations. I did just as Samuel did. I poured oil, and then the Spirit moved.

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Interestingly, in my devotion I have this coldness. When I'm ministering it's more of the fire. In different services it may be the cool. He's flooding you right now with light. Revelation. As I lay my hands upon you, I lay hands on all of you simultaneously right now, in Jesus' name.

To make your way prosperous

Every one of you knows it's not just about oil being poured on you, but God anointing you. Please go back and read 1 Samuel 16. This anointing is to make your way prosperous.

When we talk about prosperous, sometimes people think of money alone. But when Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for his son Isaac, the servant asked how these things would happen, and Abraham said to him, "The Lord, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way" (Genesis 24:40). The same God who has been with me will go before you and make your way prosperous.

Hold hands and say, "Lord, wherever You manifest Yourself, Holy Ghost, I want in this morning."

What I'm trying to show you: with this moving of the Spirit of God and the anointing, He can be very specific, to get your attention and let you know it's Him doing it. For some people it's fire and electricity. For you it can be so simple.

Angels in the house

*A member describes seeing two angels smiling and waving from one side of the building; another describes a being like coals of fire, hot and cold at once, entering from the same side.*

We don't worship angels, but we're not ignorant of the work of God. We understand they are sent to help the heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14). When the Holy Ghost is on the move, we saw even with Abraham: when the Lord came down to talk with Abraham, two angels came with Him. While Abraham and the Lord had their conversation, those two angels went to Sodom and did what they had to do (Genesis 18:1-2, 22; 19:1). So the Lord uses ministering spirits to work with us too.

Continue to pray. We break the fast at six this evening. Even though you had the opportunity to eat, this fast was difficult. You could eat three square meals, but it was very difficult.