Great Southland in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | Christian church

Great Southland

Locality: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Phone: +61 432 230 401

Address: 8-12 Thorn Street, Ormiston, 4160 Brisbane, QLD, Australia

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10.01.2022 "Growing In The Anointing." By Peter Barfoot David was anointed no less than three times as he developed from shepherd boy to court minstrel to warrior king. Th...e second and the third anointing confirmed the prophet Samuel's initial selection of David. (1 Samuel 16:1-13) Family recognition came first. Years later, in Hebron, David was anointed king over his own tribe, Judah. (2 Samuel 2:1-4) Tribal recognition came second. Finally, when David was 37 years old, all the tribes anointed him king over Israel. (2 Samuel 5:1-3) National recognition came at last. King David reigned for 40 years, from the age of 30 until the age of 70. The waiting period from first to final recognition was at least 20 years - years spent developing in the anointing. After the first anointing, which took place among his brothers, the shepherd boy slew a lion and a bear, then Goliath, the giant champion of the Philistines. But David's biggest problem began when women sang songs about him, exalting his military prowess above that of King Saul. (1 Samuel 18:6) Dodging the jealous Saul's javelins, and evading murderous plots, the shepherd-minstrel eventually fled to the cave of Adullam, where his family joined him, along with a number who were distressed, in debt, or discontented. After many years of struggling to survive, during which he refused to kill Saul, David faced his greatest test at Ziklag. A band of Amalekites raided the camp in his absence, and took away everyone and everything gained during the years he and his men had fought for survival. Mastering his turbulent emotions, David acted on a word from God. Pursuing the Amalekites, he recovered all they had taken. Soon after, King Saul and three of his sons died in a fight with the Philistines, and David's life as a fugitive came suddenly to an end. The first stage of his development in the anointing over, David was now ready for whatever challenges the next stage might demand. It's possible to begin ministry as a person with potential, winning small but important victories - as David did over the bear and the lion - without continuing to develop in the anointing. If some evangelicals don't seem to get beyond John 3:16, more than a few Pentecostals can't seem to get beyond Acts 2:4. And "something more" is promised those who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, as well as those who need it. David progressed beyond that first anointing - from shepherd boy to national hero; from the leader of 400 rebels to a warrior able to recover quickly from grief and win back more than he had lost. Along the way, David remained true to God's promise that he would one day rule Israel - refusing to fight King Saul, even though anointed to rule when the prophet Samuel poured oil on his head. We develop in the anointing by degrees. Our experiences in the anointing are progressive - steps to higher levels. David's first steps were the killing of a lion and a bear, and led him to the next level, the conquest of Goliath. Israel's inability to face the giant Philistine was the result of the nation's longtime failure to deal with its fears. (Numbers 13:33) David's time in Saul's court developed him further. Evading hateful javelins was an experience new to the shepherd boy turned court minstrel. When your elevation is due to God-given victories - get ready to duck! Take special care when around those who once had the anointing in which you are beginning to minister, and who came to know the value of what they had only after they had lost it. Forging the distressed, the debt-ridden, and the discontents into a 400-strong fighting force developed David even more. Mastering the temptation to kill Saul when the opportunity presented itself did likewise. Defeating discouragement - a far greater 'giant' than Goliath - at Ziklag, was David's final, 'first level' step. His days as a hated, hunted fugitive were at last over. But, as someone has said - "New levels, new devils!" One wonders whether David later looked back on the Adullam years, dangerous though they were, with more than a little nostalgia, for during the seven years that followed, his integrity was severely tested when those closest to him pierced him far more painfully than Saul's sharp javelins might have done. Are you still doing what you did when first anointed with the Holy Spirit? If so, then it's time you developed further in the anointing! Although anointed king by the prophet Samuel, David's initial development in the anointing took place while hiding from Saul. On learning of the king's death, David asked the LORD for direction, and was guided to Hebron, a town belonging to Judah, his own tribe. "Then the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah." (2 Samuel 2:4) Although David was no longer a king without a kingdom, his reign was to be a limited, tribal one for the next seven years. If the first phase of David's development in the anointing can be described as potential, then the second phase was certainly nominal - Judah was much smaller than the kingdom God had promised him. To David, however, a portion of the kingdom was better than no kingdom at all. After having kept his family and 400 others safe while being hunted in the wilderness, he could keep safe his family and his followers in the territory of his own tribe. This 'second level' of recognition brought change: instead of random skirmishes, there was "long war" between the dynasties of Saul and David. (2 Samuel 3:1) But as David grew stronger and stronger, the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker - the reason being that David's "house" or dynasty, had an anointed and capable king - a shepherd-king. Seeing the danger in this, Abner, commander of the dead Saul's army, took Ishbosheth (whose name means "a man of shame") and crowned him king of Israel. He was to rule for only two years before being assassinated. Meanwhile, David fathered six more children. (Two of them, Absolom and Adonijah, would later destabilise his kingdom, by attempting to seize the throne). David's greatest grief during his seven years at Hebron was caused by Joab, his nephew, and the commander of his army. Angry with Ishbosheth, Abner sought to make David king of all Israel, but was stabbed to death by Joab in a revenge murder. (Abner had killed Joab's brother, Abishai, in battle.) "I am weak today, though anointed king", David lamented, "and these men, the sons of Zeruiah (David's sister), are too harsh for me." David was learning that those who had helped him most during his rise to power came to harm him most after he gained the throne. David's noble attitudes and actions during his reign in Hebron were in stark contrast to those of his nephews, who were close to his throne but far from his heart. Warriors by nature and experience, his nephews were unhelpful to David's cause, shedding the blood of war in a time of peace. Similarly, it's possible for evangelists, God's warriors in the field, to destroy a work they've built by trying to pastor it. Military-style personnel are often unsuited to the pastoral requirements of a stable, developing church. How to rule peaceably, when family members, indispensable in war, insist on solving everyday problems with the sword? That's another challenge you'll face as you develop in the anointing! When Ishbosheth heard of Abner's death, "his hands were feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled." (2 Samuel 4:1) Two assassins, thinking to ingratiate themselves with David, murdered Ishbosheth in his bedroom. Repelled by the cowardly act, David executed them. Saul's dynasty died with Ishbosheth. All the tribes of Israel then came to David, recognized his right to rule, and swore loyalty to him. Acknowledging his past leadership and faithfulness to Saul, they also remembered that, through the prophet Samuel, God had long before chosen him as their rightful king. "So all the elders of Israel came to the king in Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel." (2 Samuel 5:3) In just 20 years, David had developed in the anointing, from POTENTIAL king to NOMINAL king to ACTUAL king. He had grown from SHEPHERD to WARRIOR to RULER. He had been recognized by his FAMILY, his TRIBE and his NATION. With national recognition came a need for a national capital - a City of David. So David stormed the almost impregnable Jebusite stronghold, renamed it Jerusalem, and made it the seat of his kingdom. (2 Samuel 25:6-9) Hearing that David had been crowned king of Israel, the Philistines acted swiftly. Deploying their forces in the Valley of the Giants, they waited for the new king's response. Understanding the spiritual nature of the confrontation, however, David's first move was to seek counsel from the LORD. On being assured by God of total victory, David mounted a concentrated frontal attack on the enemy's ranks - and broke through! "The LORD has broken through my enemies before me as water bursts through a wall!", David exclaimed, and named the battlefield: "The Lord of Breakthroughs"! (2 Samuel 5:20) Desperate for a win over the newly-installed king, the Philistines re-gathered their forces, deploying them a second time in the valley. David again asked and received counsel from the LORD, who said: "Do not confront them - circle around them, and approach them by the mulberry trees. When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, prepare yourselves; for then shall the LORD go out before you to smite the army of the Philistines." (2 Samuel 5:24) David did as the LORD commanded, and won a battle that finally broke the yoke of Philistine military might! Many of David's actions portrayed those of the coming, greater Son of David, Jesus Christ. David's victory over Goliath portrayed Christ's victory over Satan. Since David was a prophet, much of what he said and did was prophetic. (Acts 2:25-31) David was anointed three times - the second, among his tribe, and the third, among his nation, confirming the first, which had been among his family. Each was a further, and wider, recognition of David's right to rule. Although he was anointed three times, David did not have "three anointings"! The Bible tells us of "the anointing" - singular! (It's the gifts that are plural.) "The Spirit of the LORD" anointed Jesus in the River Jordan - "to preach the gospel to the poor; to heal the broken-hearted; to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to set at liberty those who are bruised; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." (Luke 4:18,19) One anointing -- many expressions! Don't settle for less than your full right to rule! Lead your family and your friends into freedom. They'll come to recognize your spiritual leadership. Lead all who are willing to follow you. Wider recognition will come! Develop in the anointing until who you are potentially, who you are nominally, becomes who you are actually! The pastoral skills learned by David, from the sheepfold to the throne, helped to develop the anointing of God in his life. As Psalm 78:70-72 puts it: "He also chose David His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the ewes that had young He brought him to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance. So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands." What you are doing with what God has given you is what you will do in future leadership. Grow and develop in the anointing!