 Do you sometimes feel as though you're left out that you have gifts that you can use that are not being used? Do you ever ask the Lord, Lord, when is my time going to come? When are you going to use my life? When are you going to bless my ministry? Perhaps you watch others doing things that you feel called to do and in your heart you can't help but wonder if you've been put on the shelf, if you've been neglected and overlooked. Well today, I'm going to be talking about the anointing, more specifically about the process of the anointing and how God will first hide you before He exposes you. He will first test you before He blesses you. Stephen Moctezuma is with me as usual. He's going to lead you in some worship and then we're going to get right back into this spirit church lesson. Here's Stephen Moctezuma. I belong to you, my mind belongs to you, I belong to you, my life, my life belongs to you, my heart belongs to you, my heart belongs to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, we sing I belong, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I belong to you, I I belong to you, I belong to you. We sing my life, my life belongs to you. My heart belongs to you, belong to you. Our love... My life belongs to you My heart belongs to you We sing, I belong I belong to you I belong to you Oh, I belong to you Jesus I belong to you We sing, we... We belong to you We belong to you We belong to you. We belong to you. We belong to you. We sing my life. My life belongs to you. My heart belongs to you. Well, thank you, Stephen Moctezuma, for leading us in worship. I'm going to get into this spirit church lesson now, and I'm excited to be bringing this to you. Because I believe that there are those who are watching this, and in their heart of hearts, they know that they're called the ministry. But, as I talked about at the beginning of this program, you feel that you're being overlooked. You feel that your gifts are not really being tapped to the fullest of their potential. We're going to go and we're going to look at the anointing of King David, and we're going to glean from this portion of Scripture, and we're going to see keys to walking through that season of hiddenness. First Samuel chapter 16, beginning at verse 1. So Samuel did as the Lord instructed. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town came trembling to meet him. What's wrong, they asked. Do you come in peace? Yes, Samuel replied. I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Purify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. Then Samuel performed the purification right for Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice too. Verse 6, when they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, Surely, this is the Lord's anointed. Verse 7, But the Lord said to Samuel, Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. Then Jesse told his son Abinadab to step forward and walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, This is not the one the Lord has chosen. Next, Jesse summoned Shamiah, but Samuel said, Neither is this the one the Lord has chosen. In the same way all seven of Jesse's sons were presented to Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not chosen any of these. Then Samuel asked, Are these all the sons you have? There is still the youngest Jesse replied, But he is out in the fields watching the sheep and goats. Send for him at once, Samuel said, We will not sit down to eat until he arrives. So Jesse sent for him. He was dark and handsome with beautiful eyes. And the Lord says, This is the one, anoint him. So David stood there among his brothers. Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Rama. Now we're going to take a look first here in verse 1. First Samuel chapter 16 verse 1 says, And we see that the Lord had commanded him not to mourn for Saul. I've rejected him as king of Israel, the Lord says. So we see here the context is that Saul the current king of Israel has been rejected by God because of various acts of disobedience. Now this is not to say that it wasn't God's will for Saul to be anointed because Saul was anointed by the same prophet. And though some translations say that David was anointed with the horn and Saul was anointed with the flask. In this translation we see that a flask is also used on David. So it's quite possible that David is being anointed with the very same anointing oil or the very same holder of the anointing oil that King Saul was. But we see that the oil has now drained. The oil is now gone. This represents a spiritual vacuum. The anointing is no more. There's emptiness. There's a void. And God wants to fill it. Now whether or not Saul was disobedient to the Lord, whether or not he was obedient to the Lord, I don't think that's really the case. I believe that if Saul walked in obedience toward God that there would have been a godly transition from Saul to David. But because of Saul's disobedience the anointing was stripped from him and it was placed upon another. But we do see that it is God who initiates the call. David was not out looking to be anointed the king of Israel. Perhaps God had given him visions of this. Maybe the Lord spoke to him during his times of worship and prayer that he would be the next king of Israel. But all David was focused on was what he was called to do. He was tending sheep and he was worshiping God. He was fellowshiping with the Holy Spirit. Yes, David was filled with the Holy Spirit. For the Psalm says, Cast me not away from thy presence, O Lord, and take not thy Holy Spirit from within me. David was Spirit filled. But we see that God initiates the call. But it's up to us to respond. Then in verses 2 through 3 we see that Samuel asks, But how can I do that if Saul hears he will kill me? The Lord tells him, Take a heifer and say that you have come to make a sacrifice. Invite Jesse to the sacrifice and I will show you which of his sons to anoint for me. Verse 4 says that Samuel did as the Lord instructed. As the Lord instructed, God sent a prophet to position a king. God does not raise self-anointed people. You must be anointed and appointed by God through orderly conduct, through the church, through a minister, through someone that God has called to impart to you. Now I'm not saying that man is the one who appoints. I'm saying that God works through man. There's a very rebellious spirit that's causing people to think nowadays that they don't need someone to teach them. They don't need to be discipled, that they have everything they need in Christ. And though that is true in principle, it's not necessarily a full reality yet in practice. So David was not self-anointed. He did not anoint himself. A prophet came and anointed him. If you want to walk in the anointing, if you want to leave this season of hiddenness and be used by God, then you must come to the place where you're submitted to leadership, to where you find someone who's mentoring and discipling you, because every legitimate ministry is connected to the body of Christ. Now we look in verse 4-5 that Samuel performs this purification ritual. This tells me that there has to be a purity to the anointing. Now though this was only ceremonial and the brothers weren't even anointed after this ceremony, it does go to show that the protocol was that one needed to be pure before he was anointed. And so this anointing that came on David came because there was a purity upon his life. The greater the purity upon your life, the greater the power can flow. Now I'm not saying that God's looking for perfect people, but God is looking for those who will surrender and choose to devote themselves to committing to walking in holiness, who will choose to on a daily basis decide that they're not going to make the decisions that cause them to drift from God, but that they're going to make the decisions that cause them to be drawn closer to him, please him and receive his power. You can't live an unholy life and expect to see miracles. You can't live an unholy life and expect God to back you with the anointing. Sure there are those who are crooked and corrupt just as we see in Matthew chapter 7, who didn't know the Lord yet performed miracles. But I'm talking about a power that's stronger. There are greater levels of power and as you walk in purity, you grow in that power. If you're not living in purity, then God cannot use you to your fullest potential. And then we see, I think this is great in verses 6 to 10. I'm going to read them to you. When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, Surely, this is the Lord's anointed. But the Lord said to Samuel, don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn't see the things the way you see them. People judge by the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. Then Jesse told his son Abinadab to step forward and walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, this is not the one the Lord has chosen. And then Jesse gets his other son. We're going to skip down to verse 10. In the same way, all seven of Jesse's sons were presented to Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, the Lord has not chosen any of these. And then Samuel asked, are these all the sons you have? When you're anointed by God, when you're positioned in worship, when you're positioned in a place where you're seeking the face of God and you're not being driven by ambition, you're not being driven by unholy desire. I was having lunch with a friend today who said something that captured my attention. He said, you know, wanting to be famous and that being your motive to preach the gospel is just as bad as preaching the gospel for money. And I would agree with him. You know, especially in American culture, there's this idea that our dreams are more important than God's will. Let me tell you something. The gospel and the call and the sacrifice to follow Christ is not about your dreams. It's about God's will. We need to sacrifice our ambitions, our wants, our desires on the altar of selflessness and commit to saying, Lord, less of me and more of you. I praise God for powerful and influential leaders who are well-known and powerful and influential worship teams who are well-known. But here's the truth. Not everybody is going to be powerful and influential. Not everyone's going to be at the top of the game. Not everyone's going to be someone who's world-known or world-renowned. That's not what God's looking for and that's not what we should be looking for. And so when people hear preaching about their dreams coming true, that's what they envision. But the truth is that God's called each of us to do something in the body of Christ that may not be exactly what we imagine it to be. And so, we don't need to leave room for jealousy. We don't need to leave room for covetousness. We don't need to leave room for feelings of insecurity and feelings of ego. We need to be able to say, Lord, I trust that because I am in a place of worship, that because I am seeking your face, that because I have committed to giving myself to your cause, that you, Lord, will position me where I need to be, when I need to be there, with whom I need to be there, and under the circumstances that I need to be there. And when you've completely surrendered to God, then He draws you from the places of hiddenness and He can trust you to be exposed on the platforms of influence. He can trust you to be used to impact lives. He can trust you with the anointing. He can trust you with the message. And so, I think it's very interesting that Samuel says, we're not going to sit down to eat until he arrives. What does that tell me? It tells me that God's saving your place. This is not to say that God can never replace you, because the truth is, if we walk in disobedience long enough, there are some things for which God will have to replace us. Now, the gifts in the call are never removed from your life. But the truth is that you're going to miss opportunities that God doesn't want missed. And if some opportunities are not seized by you, in some occasions, on some occasions, God will allow for someone else to take that opportunity. But the truth is that when we're surrendered to the Lord, when we're worshiping, when we've given ourselves to seek the face of Jesus, when He has become the focus of our existence, when He Himself, His presence, His person becomes our reward, then we can be assured that our place at the table will be saved. You don't have to rush. You don't have to worry about it. You don't have to be hasty. You don't have to try to force things to happen. You just walk in obedience and trust that He will hold your place, and He's not going to let another step in, if you're giving yourself to Him, if you're devoting yourself to worship, if you're spending time in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Now, verse 11 says, Then Samuel asked, Are these all the sons you have? There are still the youngest Jesse replied, but he's out in the field watching the sheep and goats. Send for him at once, Samuel said, and like I said, he says, We will not sit down to eat until he arrives. Now, why was it that Jesse didn't bring David to the forefront? Was it perhaps because David was very odd? You know, we as believers can be very odd sometimes. I was up north several years ago. I won't tell you what church I was preaching at, and they had people worshiping there with flags, and I've grown accustomed to seeing that in churches, because it's taken on as somewhat of a trend during worship portions of the services. And so I'm walking into the church service, and this lady, as I'm trying to get to the front, because the pastor had called me to sit down in the front, I was about to speak, as I'm walking toward the front, this lady comes with a giant flag, she twirls it around her head, drops to the ground, lets the flag drape over her, and she's just curled up in a ball standing in front of me. And I'm thinking, this is odd. Now, don't get offended, don't be religious. It's odd that she did that. And I said, this is very different, so I just kind of made my way around her and moved forward. But I don't doubt that she was being sincere. I don't even doubt that it was pleasing to God. I think God may have taken delight in that kind of worship. Now, this is not to say that we should be disorderly, but I'm talking about the heart. I'm saying that people of God, we can be weird sometimes. Maybe that's what happened with David. I mean, imagine you look out in the field, he's tending sheep, and he's sitting under a tree and looking up and playing the harp and talking to someone. That might seem odd. Maybe Jesse was embarrassed by the strangeness of David, but it is that very strangeness that will raise you. You see, the people who stand out are the spirit filled. The people who stand out are the ones who move in the supernatural, who have that fellowship with the Holy Spirit. We may be odd, but we're called upon by God. Maybe he rejected him because he thought, my other sons are so capable that there's no way that he's talking about David. Or maybe he was jealous of what David had going on with the Lord. Whatever the case, Jesse didn't call for David. But the Lord did. It wasn't Jesse who hid him either. It was the Lord. The Scripture says in Psalm 32 verse 7, it describes the Lord as our hiding place. And when you're hidden in the presence of God, it's God who is hiding you. You may say, Lord, I feel like I'm being hidden by you. Well, I really do believe that is the Lord. I really do believe that God will hide you before he'll expose you. Why? Because it is in that hiddenness that you are processed. It is in that hiddenness that you are tested. It is in that hiddenness that secret place, the quiet place, the place with no distraction, that you find fellowship with the Holy Spirit, that you are caused to be someone who carries the presence of Jesus upon your life in such a way that it's tangible. And from that hiddenness, the power overflows. From that hiddenness, the presence of God becomes evident upon your life. And it is from that hiddenness that you emerge as someone ready to be used by God. Don't be discouraged if you're tending to the sheep. Because if you'll worship God in the place where you're tending sheep, then he will call upon you to serve in the places of influence as a king. I want to pray with you now. And let's believe God that he's going to raise you. Let's believe God that he's going to encourage you. And I want to impart something spiritual to you today. Come on, stretch your hands toward mine. Let's believe. Father in Jesus' name, I pray for that one watching who's grown discouraged. Lord, who's kicked against the process. I pray, Father, in the precious name of Jesus, that you would cause that one watching to experience your presence right now. That you would cause them to be affirmed. That you would cause them to be assured. That you have called them. That you are working in their life. Lord, that they would not grow anxious. That they would not grow worried. That they would not become hasty. Father, that you would begin to develop them even in this season. I thank you, Lord, for the anointing, the glory that rests upon their life. The shapeless in the people who bear the countenance of Christ and carry the glory of your beautiful presence. We thank you, Master. We love you. We praise you in Jesus' name. And if you agree, you said, amen. I want to take this moment now to welcome the new members of Spirit Church. There they are up on the screen. You'll see your name, your city. I want to welcome you personally. I want you to know we're praying for you. We love you. And we're glad that you've joined the Spirit family. If you'd like information on how to join the Spirit family, then go ahead and click on the link that just appeared over my head right now. That's going to appear if you're watching this on our website at DavidHernandezMinisteries.com or on YouTube. If you're not watching this on YouTube or the website, if you're watching this maybe the Facebook version of this video or in the app, you're not going to see that link appear overhead. Instead, use the URL that's being listed below right now and manually type that in to any browser and you'll be able to go in and sign up to become a Spirit Church member. I want to challenge you now, if you're blessed by this ministry, you're receiving impartation, you're receiving of God, then I want to challenge you, support this ministry. Consider today a one-time gift of 10, 20, or 30 dollars and consider also a monthly gift of 10, 20, or 30 dollars. You know those one-time gifts help us, but those sustaining gifts are what are enabling us to plan for the future. Those monthly partnerships are what help us to plan for events and help us to plan our year and help us to plan and, in fact, have greater impact with our resources. We can do more with 30 dollars a month than we can with 30 dollars one-time given, even if it's given on a monthly basis. Why? Because when it's monthly, we know it's coming and we plan and we gather the gifts of others who are giving monthly and we're able to do more for the gospel. You know, we estimate it right now as far as this time in the ministry goes for every one dollar you invest in the ministry, 30 people will hear the gospel and that's worth investing in. Do it today, don't delay. Consider also a gift of 100, 500, or $1000 one-time if that's how you'd like to initiate your partnership. That is it for this edition of Spirit Church. I do want to encourage you to participate in the comments section below here on YouTube. Tell us what you thought of the lessons, suggest topics, give us your prayer request and maybe add to the lesson. We want this to be a discussion that continues throughout the week that this has been posted and also don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. You're going to get these weekly teachings and I know they're going to bless you and you can even be a part of everything that we're doing. That is it for this edition of Spirit Church. Until next time, remember, nothing is impossible with God.