SPEAKER_01 0:01

Hi, my name is Michelle Steele. Pastor Phillip and I want to thank you for listening to this message from Life of Faith Church. We have more resources available to help you build your faith and bring your world by the Word of God. From our website, lifeofffaith.net, you can connect to our YouTube channel. Watch the live stream feed from our church services. Access books and downloads in our web store. And discover more about Life of Faith Church. Producing life city, state, nation, and world. Visit lifeoffaith.net today.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Let's go to Psalm 115. And uh we want to continue with this that uh we've been ministering uh entitled The Door to More. And uh the Lord had said to us, he said that April was the door to more. And uh He said the door had been cracked open, but in April it would be flung wide open. And uh what the Lord has been sharing with us again is that this more includes finances, but it's not just finances. All right, it's it's more in the terms of what God wants to see in his church. There are things that that he wants us to experience more of. And more is simply being exposed to a higher standard. All right? I remember uh years ago, now 2012, I think it was, uh Pastor Caldwell ministered uh 11 weeks. He ministered on being exposed to a higher standard. And uh uh the if if you remember, if you remember that message, he said the Lord woke him up one day and was talking to him about vitamins. And he said, I thought vitamins? He said, Yeah, the Lord said vitamins. He said, You take vitamins to help your body and to help you out. He said there's a higher standard. He said there's vitamins and then there's long life. And wisdom for long life. And he said, that's when he started looking through the book of Proverbs and found out that that over half of the chapters in Proverbs deal with wisdom for long life. And he said, the Lord said, so you can live on a vitamin level or you can live on the long life level. This is a higher standard. Do you still take vitamins? Of course. But this is the higher standard. He said there is healing and then there's divine health. That's the higher standard. So more is being exposed to a higher standard. In other words, when you'll remember uh before we read Psalm 115, we talked Wednesday night about Abraham, and the Bible says in Genesis that Abraham, uh, in Genesis 13, that he was very rich in cattle and silver and gold, and they had so many flocks, him and Lot, that the land could not contain them, and they got into strife. You'll remember Lot and Abram's workers, and that Abram came and said, Look, let's separate, and you go whichever direction you want to go. And after Lot separated from him, you remember the Lord said, Now look now from where you're at. And look at all the land. Look at it north, south, east, and west. And everywhere you see, I've given it to you. And your descendants will be as the stars of the sky. Remember? Well, Abraham was pretty well off when God said, Now look. So what's God saying? I want to give you more of what you already have. So as well off as you are, there's more. You know, as spiritual as you might be, there's more. As well as you know the Holy Spirit, there's more. As much anointing as you carry, there's more. As blessed as you are, there's more. See, so what God's trying to get us to see is we never get to the place where that's enough, that's all I need. There's always more. Hallelujah. You know, we we know this even in the natural. You know, when when you get married, you got married, you know, you love each other, but boy, that was that was elementary school, that was preschool. Because you knew each other, I mean you knew each other, but you didn't know each other. There's more. And so as you stay married, it gets better. There's more love, there's more affection, there's more understanding, there's more wisdom. Is that right? I think I know her better today than I did then. I think. I think so. Hallelujah. But there's more. Everybody say out loud, there's more. So Psalm 115, verse 14. This is a familiar verse, but notice it says, the Lord shall increase you more and more, you and your children. So the Lord will give you increase, and he will do it more and more, you and your children. So the word more refers to an increase or multiplication of blessings. So if there's this multiplication, more emphasizes ongoing abundance, meaning that God will continue to add to and expand the blessings on both you and your descendants. Hallelujah. So when he said increase, it's to do more, to do again, or to get more. Meaning that whatever God has done for you, or whatever he's doing now, he's going to do it again, and you'll get more. So it's not just he increases me one time, he increases me more and more. He increases my family more and more. So wherever you're at in that realm, he's going to do more of that. The key is that I'm expecting that. Hallelujah. More is an expansion of what God's already done. It's an expansion on what he's already done and adding to what he has already done. Amen. And that's why when you hear churches, they they talk about revival and they talk about these things. Listen, the church does not need revival. And I know I go crosswise to people when I say that. The church does not need revival. It's never been dead. The church is not dead. When I hear ministers talk about the church is backslidden, the church is cold, the church is lukewarm, the church is dead, I want to send them a free case of my books called The Local Church, The Hope of the World. Where in the world do you find that in the Bible? It's not there. There are carnal elements in the church, but I can tell you what God is going to do in the day we live in. More of what he's always done. It's not new. People think a move of God is new. It's not new. It's more of what God has already done. Hallelujah. This is so important because he's saying, I just want you to press into more. I want you to press into more of what I have already done. So more is that expansion. The Lord gives us increase increasingly. And so my increase is increasing. So the idea of more is not necessarily something we've never seen before, but more, a higher level of what we've already seen. Hallelujah. Let's look at 1 John 2. Because we want to center in today on the anointing. And 1 John 2 and 20. And it says, but you have an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things. You have an unction from the Holy One and you know all things, or you have an anointing from the Holy One. And notice, you know all things. You know, you can read this from the Word of God, but uh if you've ever listened to Sister Jeannie sing the song, It's the Anointing, right? And it's the anointing in that song that makes the difference. It's the anointing that really makes the difference. It'll teach you how to walk, it'll teach you how to talk. It's the anointing that makes the difference in our lives. This anointing that we've received from God. The anointing is the presence of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Sometimes we experience a feeling. Sometimes we experience a sensation. But understand that feeling was just our response to the presence of the Holy Spirit. I don't need to have a feeling to know the Holy Spirit's there. That feeling can be my response to the Holy Spirit. Amen. Now understand, I'm from that line that I feel my experience. You understand? But here's the thing: whether we feel it or not, it's there. Because the Bible says, I have it. I have the Holy Spirit. I have Him. I have that anointing. Say it out loud. I have that anointing. Amen. That feeling was my response to the presence of the Holy Spirit. Now, here's what's important: the anointing is more than a feeling, it's a consecration given to me in order to perform a task. Every person here has been anointed by God to do what God wants them to do. Now, that's not just a ministerial office. Every believer is anointed by God to do what God's asked them to do. Amen. One of the definitions of the anointing is to furnish what is needed. To furnish what is needed. So it is when the Holy Spirit comes on you in such a way that he furnishes you with what you need at the time. More. So I find myself in a situation, I'm anointed, I don't know what to do, but the Holy Spirit comes on me in such a way that I do know what to do because that anointing is there. That's more. Hallelujah. When you got born again, the Bible says when you got born again, Jesus used this illustration. He said when you got born again, it was like a well of water on the inside of you. He said when you were in filled with the Holy Spirit, it was like rivers of water. Well, being in dwelt by the Holy Spirit at salvation was wonderful. It changed your life completely, but guess what? There's more of what? More of the same Holy Spirit. Not a different Holy Spirit, more of the same Holy Spirit. Hallelujah. Once you know the anointing, you'll never be the same. Why? Because it exposes you to more. It exposes you to a higher standard. You know, I don't know how everybody in here was raised, but uh, you know, I was raised Pentecostal, and uh so I never, I never um I never had to go through that or experience that joy of being exposed to the Holy Spirit in the sense of, I've never seen that. But I'm sure there are maybe in here or watching online, you were maybe in a denomination that they didn't necessarily believe in the moving of the Holy Spirit that way or speaking in other tongues or whatever it was. And you remember when you begin to be exposed to that, and it was like, man, that's something I want. Amen. You decided, how did I ever live without this? How did I ever live without him? Why? Because things were changing. You had the same Holy Spirit that you had at salvation, you just had more of him. Hallelujah. Glory to God. So that's more. Once you know the anointing, you'll never be the same. Because it exposes you to more, it exposes you to a higher standard. We'll get into this in a minute. You know, did you know you know all things? Because the scripture says that you have an unction from the Holy One and you know all things. Because why? The Holy Spirit is what? The spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of knowledge, the spirit of truth. Hallelujah. See, here's the thing. In some Pentecostal circles, they limit the Holy Spirit just to being able to speak in other tongues. Yeah, I'm filled with the Spirit. Listen to me. And that's fine. We should do that. Obviously, we pray in tongues a lot. But here's what I want you to understand: that same Holy Spirit that enables me to pray in other tongues will lead me and guide me and direct me in every situation and circumstance that I have to deal with in my life. That's more. Praying in tongues is outstanding. You should do that every day, as much as you can. But there's more. There's the leading, there's the guiding, there's the directing. Why? Because I have that anointing. I have that. Remember, it's an anointing to furnish what is needed. So when I need wisdom, I have it. On the inside of me, in the person of the Holy Spirit. Amen. And so instead of saying, I don't know what to do, I don't know, I don't have, I can't figure out, stop and say, Holy Spirit, you have been given to me to help me know all things. Now you've entered into more. And you declare that and pray in the Holy Spirit. Declare it and pray in the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah. You know, in all the years I've been pastoring this, these churches, I've never had, if I could say this, I've never had somebody come to me and say, I would like to have a meeting with you. Now understand this, that was an important meeting that the Lord didn't tell me what they were going to say before they said it. I would go to my wife one or two days before and say, This is what they're going to say. And already, I already had the direction formulated before I ever went in the meeting. Why? Because I decided long ago I'm not smart enough to pastor these churches. The greatest thing any one of us in here can figure out is we're not smart enough to do life. We need the Holy Spirit, and we need more of Him. Amen. I don't we can't just formulate our direction and our way and what we think we're gonna do because I need more of that in my life. Hallelujah. Amen. I remember one time I was uh I was mowing the yard and I had a meeting that day with a with a couple, and they they were involved in ministry. This has been a number of years ago, and uh this man had been delivered out of uh uh a lifestyle of addiction and different things. And uh I was mowing the yard, and the Lord stopped me, and he said, uh, when you go to that meeting today, he's gonna tell you that he's stepping away from ministry and he's gonna give you a bunch of excuses. But he said, Here's the reason. He's smoking dope again and he wants to backslide. Wow. Right? So we went to the meeting, and uh we were sitting there in the restaurant, and he was saying some things. I said, Well, let me tell you why we're here. And he said, Okay. I said, Yeah, the Lord told me that you're gonna step away from ministry, and this is why. Because you're going back to smoking dope and you don't you don't want to serve God no more. Well he says, You got two choices. That's right, that's what I'm gonna do, or repent. Here's what I'm trying to explain to you. But the Holy Spirit didn't leave me in the dark. He didn't, uh He doesn't put put you in a meeting and you're trying to figure out what do I say to this. When He said, He said this, Jesus said, Remember what he said to the disciples? He said, When they when they call on you after that day that you're in filled with the Holy Spirit, he said, Don't even think about, don't worry about what you're gonna say, because in that day, the Holy Spirit will tell you what you need to say. That's more. There are people you know and I know they live their lives trying to figure out what they're gonna do from day to day. And we can know what's coming before it shows up. Hallelujah. Why? Because now we're gonna get deeper into that because we know all things. Unction, when it says unction, you have an unction, it means you've been anointed and you know all things. You know, it's possible to know all things and not know that you know all things. It's possible to know and not know. Hallelujah. This is more. I know some things, I will know more things, and I can know all things. I know some, I'll know more, and I can know all. Amen. You're right there in 1 John chapter 2, look at verse 27. But the anointing which you have received of him abides in you, and you do not need any to teach you, but as the same anointing teaches you of all things and is truth and is no lie, even as it hath taught you, you shall abide in him. So notice the anointing you have received. Meaning, the anointing has been given, but it must be received. That anointing has been given, but you have it has to be received. Now, I realize there are people that read that and and you know they go too far. Well, you know, I don't need anybody to teach me. Then that would contradict Ephesians chapter 4. Because it says that God has placed teachers in the body to teach us, right? And and and over and over again he says, pay attention to those that teach you the word of God, honor them, respect them. So that's not what he's talking about. In the perfect context, he's talking about people that were teaching erroneous doctrine. And he says, nobody needs to tell you that's wrong. You have an unction from the Holy One. You know it's wrong when you hear it. Hallelujah. Do you see that? That would help people. They wouldn't get sucked in by charlatans and and fake people if they if they just relied on the Holy Spirit. Amen. It's not opinion. You know, I've listened to people before that that I never listened to because for whatever I didn't think they were my uh flavor of ice cream or whatever. And and I'd start hearing them preach, and right here, it was like, that's me. Amen. I was listening to a Presbyterian guy not too long ago. And and and and right here, I just, that's me. He was saying some things. That's me, that's the Holy Spirit. Amen. But then I've I've turned people on that that everybody wanted you to listen to. And the minute they started speaking, I would thank uh right here in my spirit, it would be like, don't listen to that. Yeah, but everybody's listening to him. I don't make it right. You've got to listen on the inside. Why? Because what did he say? He said, I don't need anybody to tell me that's erroneous. I have the Holy Spirit on the inside of me. I remember one time Miss Jeannie said that she was praying. They had not been in the ministry very long. And you know, even back then, in the early days, you know, there were people that, if you were word of faith or believed these things that we believe, you know, about the blessings of God and God will heal you. And that's the primary things. You know, they kind of, oh, I don't know about all that. And so she said she was out in their van praying one day. And she asked the Lord, she said, no, Lord, what about this? Are we right? Are we believing right? And the Lord began to ask her, are you, are number one, are you, are you, are you more satisfied than you've ever been? Are you at more peace? Yes, yes, I am. You know, are you more blessed than you've ever been? Are you doing more for me than you've ever done? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yes, I am. And the Lord said to her, Then you don't need any other thing, but just that that witness on the inside. This is God. See, that's what we need more of. That's what God wants more of in the church. And then you don't get involved in erroneous doctrines, you don't get taken away with what Paul called fables because you're listening to the Holy Spirit. Oh, hallelujah! So I know some things, I will know more things, and I can know all things, and the Holy Spirit's the key to that. The Holy Spirit is the key. Amen. So he said, the anointing you have received, it's been given, and it must be received. The anointing is the real teacher. The anointing teaches us through men, teaches us through women, teaches us through the ministerial gifts. But notice he said, the anointing teaches us all things. Well, that's not just all things about the word, all things about the Bible. It's all things. If I run into a situation, I need wisdom, I need to be taught, he'll teach me. He'll teach me how to do it. Amen. I'm referencing that song, but you remember uh the song she sings, it says, the anointing will teach you how to walk, it'll teach you how to talk. Right? When she went through that search, went through brain surgery and and and they were had some questions. Pastor put that uh uh music, that song up to her ears. It'll teach you how to talk, it'll teach you how to walk in Jesus' name. Why? Had to relearn everything. Well, it wasn't physical therapy that taught her it was the Holy Spirit. I say it was the Holy Spirit. This is important. Why that's that's more. See, that's another level. When you see someone interacting with the Holy Spirit on a level that you're not interacting with him, don't don't be don't be worried, don't be condemned, don't be ashamed. Find out how do they cooperate with the Holy Spirit that way? That's another level. That's more. Oh, hallelujah. Look at Luke 4, Luke chapter 4 and verse 18. Am I helping you today? That's what, and again, I'm I'm I'm cautious here because I think I understand what people mean, but I don't, I think they think wrong. That's why when you you hear people and they're they're always saying, we need to get back, we need to get back to this, and we need to go back to how it used to be. But that's not more. That's going back to less. Amen. The Bible says, don't say, in Ecclesiastes, it says, don't say the former days were better than these. It said that's not wise. Hallelujah. So it wasn't better 40 years ago. This is the best time ever, right now. Why? Because this is what God's doing now.

unknown 26:26

Dr.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

Les Summerall, you say, Lord, whatever you're doing in the earth, let me be right in the middle of it. I don't want to get behind, I don't want to get ahead, I want to be right in the middle of what you're doing. Amen. Folks, listen, I remember those days. I remember when people would drive across two states to come to a conference and sleep on a couch, didn't have money for a hotel. They would come and bunk with you. I remember Michelle and I would drive, we would drive hundreds of miles to be able to stay one day in a conference and have to turn around and go back because we didn't have money to stay the whole conference. Those were exciting times. The word of God was coming alive to us. I am I I can go stay at the whole conference now. Those were wonderful days. That was a wonderful time when we were first being enlightened to the word of God. It was that ignition point. It was the word of God who coming alive to us. But here's the thing: the word of God has never stopped being alive to us. Those were not better days than these days. Why? I know more. I have a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit. I'm more mature, I'm more knowledgeable of the things of God. My faith works better. Now, now, it wouldn't work that well. I wouldn't have that relationship if I had not had those days. But I don't want to go back to sleeping on somebody's couch. I don't want to go back to not having enough for what I need. Those were exciting times. Amen. But they're more exciting today. Hallelujah. So Luke 4.18, the Spirit of the Lord Jesus said, is upon me, because He here it is, He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. So notice Jesus was anointed, he said to preach the gospel to the poor. You know, you have to be anointed to preach the gospel to the poor. Hallelujah. Have to be anointed to do that. Now all of us are anointed to do that. He said, He has sent him. Notice, God has, the Father hath sent him to heal the brokenhearted. You're not sent without an anointing. If he sends you, you're anointed to go where he sent you. Amen. God sent us. We're anointed to be in Little Rock. We're anointed to be where we're at. Because God sent us and established us here. Amen. Hallelujah. Say out loud, I've been sent where I'm at. See, and that's important. That's not just for ministers, you know, in a in a city and in a church. It's where you go to church. It's who you call your pastor, it's where you call your body. That's important because there's an anointing there. And that's where it's going to be the heaviest. Amen. Then he said, notice to preach deliverance to the captives. And notice he's anointed to do that. We're anointed to do that. Recovering of sight to the blind. Oh, hallelujah. To set at liberty them that are bruised, oppressed, downtrodden, broken victims. He said, I've been sent and I'm anointed to do that. See, this is so key. I've talked to ministers before. And they'd say, Well, I'm just not, you know, I'm I'm not, I'm not. I remember one time a young minister came to start a church in the Kansas City area. Uh, and they were, he was a uh son-in-law of one of the assembly of God pastors there that was a friend of mine. And so his father-in-law, mother-in-law asked me if I would meet with him and talk with him. And and he wanted to come there and plant a church. Obviously, I have nothing, there's nothing wrong with that. And and he asked me, he said, you know, would you help me? And and I think probably just out of honor for them, I said, yeah, I'll I mean I'll help you. I'll look at what you got going on. And uh, so he gave me his plan, you know, his vision of whatever it was. Well, it it was it was uh, if if I say it this way, it was uh it was ambitious to say the least. And and I took it home and I read it and I prayed and said, Lord, what do you want me to say? And uh I mean he didn't give me a choice. He said, You you gotta tell him he can't do that. I mean, you're asking me to tell you the truth. And so I went and I said, Look, I said, this is way too ambitious. I said, you can't do all that in a year. Because he wanted to have a church for a year and then plant their first church, and then every two years after that, plant another church. And I'm like, Do you know how much it costs to plant churches? You know, you can't just send a man and his wife off to a city and say, God bless you, do your best. You gotta help them. Amen. And so he didn't uh necessarily like what I said. But the other thing that was very clear to me was he was not anointed to do that. Whatever you say you're gonna do, you've got to be anointed to do it. If you're not anointed to do it, it won't work. Oh, hallelujah. The key is find out what you're anointed to do. What are you anointed to do? And don't worry about anything else. I know pastors that want to be traveling ministers. They're not anointed to be traveling ministers. It don't mean you can't travel somewhere and minister, but you can't be. Listen, if you're anointed to pastor, don't be gone all the time. Oh, look, that's a little bit quiet. It it kind of gets me when I hear a guy on TV and he's like, I'm pastor so-and-so, but all of his all of his messengers are in somebody else's church. Well, I thought you said you were a pastor. I thought you said you were a shepherd. If that's what you're anointed to do, those sheep need to hear you. The main voice that they need to hear is the one that's anointed to speak into their life on a regular, weekly, daily basis. We need all the five-fold ministry to what? Perfect the church. But you can't have a local church without a pastor. Hallelujah. So, what are you anointed to do? If you're in here and you're anointed to be an evangelist, you will be a help to this church. You'll be a blessing to this church. If you're a prophet, you'll be a blessing to this church. If you're a teacher, you'll be a blessing to this church. But you find your channel of anointing and you function in it. Just because you're called to teach people the word of God doesn't mean you got to take your teaching gift outside the local church and go start XYZ ministries. And now you don't need the local church anymore. The local church is the lifeline for the five-fold ministries. Every five-fold minister has to have a local church that they're involved in, or they separate themselves from the trunk and from the vine. It's so important. Amen. And and what am I anointed to do? You've heard the story. Dr. Les Summerall said to Pastor Calwell, he said, uh, I want you to be on the board of this uh uh ministry they had In Time Feed the Joseph Pro F in Time Joseph Feed the Hungry program that the Lord had revealed to Brother Summerall in Israel. And uh he wanted them to be just ready at a moment's notice to drop everything and fly across the world. Pastor said he took the letter, he read it, and prayed about it, and he talked to him, he said, I can't do this. He said, Why? He said, If what I'm doing is of God, it's the most important thing in the world. Well, you know, that's true. For him, it's the most important thing in the world. And it's very important. But Pastor said, Well, what about my ministry? What about the church I have to pastor? Now I know I bring my pastor up a lot, but I've learned so much. I've learned so much. Understand why what I learned from this. He did not think it made him more or less of a minister, whether he was on the board of Lester Summerall Ministries or not on the board of Lester Summerall Ministries. He didn't think he thank. He didn't think. He didn't think he was less of a minister because he wasn't on that board. He did not think he was more of a minister because he was on that board. He knew the minister he had to be was the minister that stood in the pulpit of Agape Church every Sunday morning and preached the gospel to the people. Amen. Hallelujah. See, that's more. That's more, and that's why the church grew, and that's why the church was strong, and that's why the church touched the world. Because there was nothing in that pulpit that said, I've got to have this to feel like I'm successful. Hallelujah. You're successful if you're ministering in the level and the realm of the anointing that God called you to. That's what matters. Doesn't matter how many churches you go to, how many people know you or don't know you. Amen. I settled that a long time ago. Amen. Say out loud, I settled it too. Look at 2 Corinthians 1. This is this is good stuff. 2 Corinthians 1. See, we're talking about more. If you want to see an increase in the anointing on your life, get involved helping God's people in whatever realm it is. I talked to a young man one time that was visibly anointed, had an anointing from God on his life. And he was uh uh attending our church a number of years ago, and he wanted to pastor, he wanted to pastor like nobody's business. I mean, he just that's that was what he felt like God called him to do. And I and I talked to him one day. I said, Look, I said, I I appreciate your life and the anointing. I said, but I'm gonna tell you the real truth about it. God has never spoken to me and told me that you're gonna pastor this church. You gotta understand that. God has never said that to me. And I said, but here's the thing: if you're called and anointed to be a pastor, help me pastor the people. You don't have to go have your own building and your own church to be a pastor. I need pastors here. I mean, how are you how are you how are you gonna function in a local church if all the pastors say, well, I'm called a pastor, I'm gonna go start my own ministry across the street. Then what are we gonna do? You understand? What was I trying to say to him? Look, what you're anointed to do, God wants you to do it here. God wants you to use that gift here. Now, if you feel like God wants you to do something else, I understand. I'm all behind that. I'm 100% about people doing what they believe God wants them to do. But when you go do what God wants you to do outside the local church, it's not gonna hurt the local church. It's not gonna cause questions and disruptions in the local church because it's what God wants you to do. Amen. Hallelujah. Notice in 2 Corinthians 1 and 21, it says, now he that establishes us with you in Christ and hath anointed us, notice, is God. Amen. He that's established us with you in Christ, and he that hath anointed us is God. Now, most everyone will agree there are certain people that are anointed by God. But those same people might not agree that every believer has been anointed. Everybody in this room has been anointed. We we'll readily agree there are people that have been anointed by God, but then when you say every believer's been anointed, well, now I don't know if I walk in an anointing, but the Bible says you do. That unction. Amen. We tend to only believe a person's anointed based on what we see: gifts and manifestations. That person's anointed. Look at the gifts operating in their life. But here's the thing: the Bible says any member of the local body can operate in those gifts as the spirit wills. What how can you operate in those gifts as the spirit wills? You have an anointing from the Holy One. Amen. The Bible says we're all anointed. That's more, that's a higher standard. Right? So, yes, my pastor is anointed to what? To stand in the office they stand in. Right? They're anointed, but I'm anointed. Now I've had ministers insinuate to me, well, you know, you don't want to say that too much because you don't want people thinking you know they know as much as you. Listen, I'm anointed to stand in the office that I stand in. I'm anointed to pastor. I don't care if you know as much as I know. I hope you know at least as much as I know. I hope I'm not getting up every day and telling you a bunch of things that you don't know. I hope you're in the word and are finding some things out for yourself. I hope you're feeding on the word of God because there's gonna come a day you're not gonna have pastor around when you when you need something from the word of God. You're gonna have to get in there and dig for it yourself and find out what the Bible says and operate in it. That's why I'm telling you today, you are anointed. You have an unction, you have knowledge on the inside of you, you know all things. Oh, hallelujah! The anointing of God is for every day. Every day. That's more, that's a higher standard. He said in 1 John 2.27, the anointing that you have received. So I have to receive that anointing. Look at Acts chapter 19. And um, we'll look at verse 1 and 2 and then verse 6. It says, It came to pass while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper coast, came to Ephesus and finding certain disciples. Now that's important because notice they're disciples, not prophets, not apostles, disciples. We could say believers. And he said to them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? And they said, We have not so much heard whether there'd be any Holy Ghost. And they said, You know, we've been baptized to John's baptism. We've been baptized into salvation, repentance from dead works and from sin. So they had a measure, they had a portion. But notice what Paul did. Verse 6. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Ghost came on them, and they spake with tongues and prophesied. Hallelujah. There was more. There was more. This is what's interesting. These men, uh, according to the scriptures, they're just now receiving the Holy Spirit, the infilling of the Holy Spirit. And they receive the Holy Spirit, and in seconds, minutes, if you will, they're prophesying. Well, well, prophecy is just divine utterance in known speech. You know, a simple gift of prophecy doesn't mean you're a prophet. It's design, it's divine utterance in known speech. Why is this important? Paul said, You may all prophesy. That what he said when he's talking about the gifts of the Spirit? He said, You can all prophesy. In other words, everyone under the sound of my voice is capable of divine utterance in known speech. Whether to yourself, to someone else, or to the entire body. That's more. I say, that's more. You know, in certain churches, you know, somebody will give a message in tugues. And they're, you know, they're they're they're looking around for sister spiritual because she's the one that always interprets. And so they're not even trying to press in. They don't even think I could give a message in an interpretation. Because after all, I mean, if if anybody, if God's going to talk to anybody, it's going to be her. But he said, You can all prophesy. Amen. Now, do you see that? Now, if you if you stand up and say, I got a word, then you you need to prepare for it to be judged. You need for the pastor or those in leadership to say, Well, we're going to judge the word, but you can stand up and give it. And if it's if you know, if it's not right, then be prepared to be told that's not right. Don't get your feelings hurt. Why is this important? That's more. That's the whole body moving into more. We're not just depending on two or three people. We're all bringing our supply. We're bringing more. So, see, this more involves finances, but it's not just finances. It's a deeper walk, it's a deeper manifestation of the Holy Spirit. It's a body moving into more and more and more. Amen. Say out loud, I know all things. Glory to God. Amen. So they had not received the Holy Ghost. They had not received the anointing. They had not received the infilling. According to 1 John 2.27, the second thing that happens when we receive the anointing is that he abides in you. He abides in you. I mean, if you if you ever give any lengthy thought on what does it mean to be the temple of the Holy Ghost. One translation, one Greek translation says that uh uh the Spirit of God moved from behind the curtain and took up residency in us. Hallelujah. See, that would make you think more. I'm walking around the temple of the Holy Ghost, the temple of the living God, the dwelling place of the living God. That's more. You can't think of yourself as the dwelling place of God and think of yourself the way a lot of people think of themselves. Just a sinner saved by grace, just a nobody trying to tell everybody about somebody that can save anybody. I'm just nobody. You're the temple of the living God. Right? God chose to dwell in me. It doesn't make me much. It doesn't exalt me. God chose to move on the inside of me. But but if I'm thinking that way, then I'm understanding He abides in me. Look at John 14, John chapter 14. And verse 17. He's talking about the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. And he says, even the Spirit of truth that the world cannot receive, because it it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but you know him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you. Hallelujah. He dwells with you. Now notice he's talking to the disciples before Calvary, before he rose from the dead, and he said, He dwells with you in the person of me. As Jesus, I'm dwelling with you. But notice what he said, he will be in you. That's more. You know, it would be wonderful. It would be wonderful to have the physical presence of Jesus. Meaning, you could get up and go in your living room every day, and there's Jesus sitting there waiting on you. That boy, that would be a blessing. But Jesus infers that the greater blessing is that he lives in me. Because remember what he said? He said, It's expedient for you that I go away, because if I don't go away, the comforter won't come. Hallelujah. My spirit, the third person of the Godhead, cannot arrive and indwell you and live in you and walk in you and talk through you if I don't go away. Why? Because I was anointed to do what I did on the earth for three and a half years. I did that as a man anointed by God. I did my job. I went through what I needed to go through. I did everything I was supposed to do. And there's another person called the Holy Spirit that has a job to do. And if I don't return, he can't come and do his job. Right now, the Holy Spirit's doing his job in you. He's living in you, he's walking in you, he's living through your life, he's speaking through your voice. The Holy Spirit is doing his job. And he's doing more than Jesus did on the earth. Hallelujah. How is he doing more than Jesus did on the earth? Because look, right in this room, in this room today are more people saved and filled with the Holy Ghost than Jesus saw saved and filled with the Holy Ghost. Jesus spent three and a half years in earthly ministry and saw 12, 11, if you wonder about Judas. But anyway, that many people saved and filled with the Holy Ghost in three and a half years. There are people sitting here. You've witnessed to more people in a week than Jesus saw saved in an entire three and a half year ministry. Because the Holy Spirit lives on the inside of us. Greater works. Oh, hallelujah. That's more. Jesus did not die and send the Holy Spirit back for us to just sit and wait on him to come. He said, I want you to go into all the world and I want you to preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized will be saved. He that does not believe will be condemned. And what did he say? These signs will follow them that believe. That believe what? That we're anointed. That we're full of the Holy Spirit. We're believers in the name of Jesus. And what did he say would happen? They would lay hands on the sick and they would recover. They'd cast out devils. Things that affect other people would not affect them. Why? Because we are full of the anointing. You're not just anointed in church. You're anointed at Kroger. You're anointed at Starbucks. You're anointed at home. You're, amen. You're anointed wherever you go. You're anointed at Tokyo House this afternoon. You're anointed at wherever you're going to eat. Oh, hallelujah. There's some places you better pray and thank God you're anointed before you eat there. Amen. Anyway. The point being is so everywhere I go, that more is with me. Amen. So notice he said, the anointing is on the inside of us. And if this anointing's on the inside of you, you know it. Not because necessarily a feeling, and I know it. I recognize him. Amen. We're one with the Spirit of God. Amen. The uh next thing that 1 John 2.27 said was that you did not need a man to teach you. But that anointing would teach you. You're there in John 14, look at verse 26. But the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things. Now see, John said we know all things. It said he would teach us all things. And bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have taught you. So he'll teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, meaning what? I'm never at the mercy of natural knowledge. As believers filled with the Holy Spirit, we're never at the mercy of natural knowledge. Because he'll bring it to my remembrance and he'll teach me. I have the divine teacher on the inside of me. I have the divine guide on the inside of me. I have perfect wisdom on the inside of me. Now, the more you access it, the more you walk in it, the easier it becomes to access it. Oh, hallelujah. Remember when you first got a smartphone, how dumb you felt? What are we doing? What is this computer in my pocket? Amen. You know, you go from flip phone to iPhone. Pastor Michelle, she's always been a big techie person. And so, yeah, I had a flip phone. I was fine with my flip phone. I had one of them uh uh uh phones that it had a button on it, it was walkie-talkie. Flip phone. That was great for me. And she said, we need to update. I'm thinking, you need to update. I'm good. But because she was in charge of the phone program, we're gonna update. And we got we got the iPhone. Oh dear God. I thought, why do I need all this? All I need to do is make phone calls, and then she started downloading apps. Strong's concordance. Bible app. I still like to flip the pages, but you understand. You get you got you got the you got the whole Strong's Concordance at your fingertip. Man, this is pretty, pretty, right? But then there's things up, there's things on my phone today. I'm still like, I don't get it. But you have all that knowledge right there. You have the answer to everything in you. That's more. That's more. There are people you know, family members you know, Christians that you know. They are at the mercy of natural knowledge and at the mercy of what they can know naturally, and you're not. And that and that's what makes you seem different to people. You're spiritual. You're not spiritual because you walk around, oh, ooh, ooh, ooh. Right. You're like, oh, that's not you. But you're spiritual. You think spiritual, you think in line with the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah. Amen. Say it out loud. The Holy Spirit has come, and he is teaching, and he's teaching me. So Jesus said the Holy Spirit would teach you everything he said. That's more. Amen. One of the best things you can do any day of your life is sit down with your Bible and say, Holy Spirit, teach me. Show me. Amen. I remember one time, you got time for a story? You do. I just saw, you do. One one time I remember there was this um doctrinal discrepancy going on in uh uh this has been a number of years ago, probably 20 years ago, maybe 25 years ago. And uh it was it and it was all the rage, and and it comes back, it came back around a few years ago. And uh, and and it was this you know, can a Christian have a demon? You know, can a Christian be possessed by a demon? And uh, you know, there are people going around teaching that you know Christians had to have regular deliverance sessions. Now, I'm not talking about coming up front and you're oppressed and and and your pastor and and or an elder helps you get free. I understand. A believer can be oppressed in in their mind and their body, I understand that. But here's the thing the guy that was teaching this in the area, he said that you know, uh he he went through regular deliverance sessions. You know, every week he went through deliverance sessions. And you know, inquiring minds want to know. And so I'm trying to figure out well, how do you know you're getting delivered? Well, you know, you'll yawn. They started talking to you, you know, demon leaves, you're yawning. I thought, well, dear Lord, I got delivered a bunch yesterday. I was yawning a bunch. Then they said, sometimes you'll cough. Then then he said, You might even belch. I'm thinking, all right, now, them Coca-Cola demons. I'm not making light of demons or possession, I'm just saying. And so my friend, I had a good friend, he's in heaven today. He was raised in the church of God. And uh he said, Philip, we got to do something about this. And I said, No, you got to do something about this. I don't teach that, I'm teaching my church, right? This is what we're gonna do. Well, he set up a meeting with them. And there were there was like 12 of them. He set up a meeting and he called me and he said, Look, I'm I'm going to meet them tomorrow, and I want you to go with me. Well, I know what that meant because I know him. He's like, I'm gonna go and get in a fight, and I want you to fix it. Well, I knew I needed to go because they they were on the radio right after me, and a lot of people listened because they and so anyway, I just got in the back bedroom of my uh little shed that I had there uh where we lived in Gardner, Kansas. I said, now, Holy Spirit, you're gonna have to teach me about this. I said, because I know a born-again, spirit-filled, bloodwashed believer cannot be possessed by a devil in their spirit. And I said, This is ridiculousness. And within probably three hours, he gave me every answer. And we went to that meeting. And they started, well, you know, so-and-so has this ministry, and so-and-so has this ministry, and this preacher has this deliverance ministry, and this, that. And they they went on for probably the better part of an hour. And finally I stood up in that meeting and I said, Look, I uh, you know, y'all are my elders, and I respect you, and I'm I'm thankful for the work of God. And I took my Bible, and they had a big, like, mahogany table there, and I just tossed my Bible down in the middle of the table. I said, Now, brother, I've heard you say so and so said, and you said so and so said, and sister, you've said so and so said. I said, Somebody show me what the Bible says. We need to know what the Bible said. How will the Holy Spirit lead you in line with the Word of God? And I asked them one simple question. I said, What do you do with this verse in 1 John that says, Whatsoever is born of God sinneth not, and the devil cannot touch him. I said, What do we do with that verse? If you're born of God, according to 1 John, the devil can't inhabit you. It got just that quiet. Right? See, I didn't go find out what somebody else said. Holy Spirit, you need to tell me. And God saved a lot of people because we're looking inside. When somebody asks you what you think, unless it's something that just doesn't matter. Hey, hey, you want to go eat today? Well, I mean, I don't know that you need to pray about that. Maybe you need to pray about where to eat. But the but the point is, if it's anything of any importance, don't just say something. Look in here, the teacher. The teacher's here. Amen. Yeah, but they're pressuring me for an answer. Then that, hey, that's not that's the number one sign right there that maybe I don't need to do it. We're looking for more. We want more. Amen. If you've made mistakes, you've made wrong decisions, and you keep saying, How am I doing that? You're getting more today. You're getting more. This is how we do it. Amen. Let me hurry. I got to get done. So the Holy Spirit will bring to remembrance everything Jesus taught you. The next thing John, 1 John 2.27 said was that the anointing is the Spirit of truth. Look there in John 14 and verse 26. Or excuse me, 16. He said, Oh, pray the Father, and he'll give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever. So, what does that mean? I have access to the spirit of truth all the time. Forever. That's more, that's a higher standard. Hallelujah. Amen. And I can know positively, instantly, what he wants me to do. That's more, that's a higher standard. We have access to the spirit of truth. And notice, he he called him, this Jesus called the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth more than he called him any other thing. Because he's always in line with and coincides with the Word of God. And Jesus said the word was truth. David said, All your precepts concerning all things are right. And so the Holy Spirit will lead you in line with the Word of God. That's more. That's a higher standard. Hallelujah. Look at this last verse, John 16 and verse 13. It says, When he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak of himself, but whatsoever he will hear, that shall he speak, and he'll show you things to come. Now that's in any situation. It's hard for people to lie to you when you're relying on the spirit of truth. Because he speaks up. No, they're not telling you the truth. Amen. This is important. Why? Because you see, you see people get led astray. Well, I really believed in that person. Well, no, wait a minute, you got the spirit of truth on the inside of you. And when the spirit of truth hears a lie, it responds. He responds. Oh, that's that's not the truth. Right? Remember what Jesus said? All the religious leaders that day, and and they were saying this and saying that, and Jesus said what? He said, You're of your father, the devil. What'd he say? He was a murderer from the beginning. And then what'd he say? He was a liar from the beginning. So what's he saying? I'm picking up right here, you're not telling the truth. Because of who you're of. Well, listen, you are of God. So if I'm of God, I'm of the truth. If I'm of the truth, there's no falsity. Amen. Hallelujah. And you want to, as we're wrapping this up, you want to cultivate and maintain that sensitivity. Don't hang out with and listen to a lot of people that are always saying things they don't mean. Desensitizing your spirit. Don't you say things you don't mean. I mean, it's okay to be humorous, and you know, I understand that. But you don't want to run around saying things you don't mean. Because you're dumbing down the spirit of truth on the inside of you. Because why? You're used to hearing falsehoods. You're used to hearing things that aren't true. Well, you know, I know it's true, it's it's not true, it's just a joke. But your spirit doesn't know you're joking. It thinks you believe that. Hallelujah. You know, this has come to me three times. I had a uh a situation some time ago. And um a um a person that was was was close to us started getting involved with people that uh I didn't trust. All right. And uh Every time I would think about that person, I'd think, man, I maybe I need to call them. This is what would come up. I got this on the wall of my office. My pastor said this years ago. He said, when someone I trust becomes intimate with someone I distrust, it changes my opinion of them. I don't know who this is for. The reason you feel uneasy around that person is you can't trust them. And if you can't trust them, why are you talking to them? They're going to cause you a problem. And so every time I would think about calling that person, that's the thing that would come up to me. When someone I trust becomes intimate with someone I distrust. You know, that that doesn't make them a bad person. They're just not trustworthy. That may sound simple, but that's the Holy Spirit helping you. When I get around that person, I just, there's something I don't know. I just, I just, I need to. No, you need that uneasiness is reason enough to quit being around them. Don't, don't, don't overcomplicate it. The Holy Spirit is a quiet gentleman. He's not going to grab you by the ear, put you in a headlock, and yell at you. He's going to lead you gently with nudges and leadings and promptings. The devil drives you. God leads you. And remember, leading is not pulling. I was raised from a young man breaking horses in West Texas. And all the work started on the ground. Before you ever got the saddle on the horse, the work started on the ground. It had to be gentled down. You had to be able to mess with their head and mess with their legs and mess with their feet. Because there's breaking to lead and breaking to walk, and then there's braking to ride. Well, if you broke a horse to lead, when you walked off with that horse, the reins were never tight. When you moved, he started moving. And there was always slack in the rain. And when you stopped, he stopped. And he didn't run up on you and run over you. He stopped. And then you dropped the reins on the ground, and they're taught and trained to be ground tied. I don't have to tie him to a post. If the reins are on the ground, he don't move. Because that's how he was trained. See, that's leading. This is not leading. Come on, come on. That's making. That's pulling. That's jerking. The Holy Spirit never jerks you or pulls you or makes you do something. There are a lot of people, I watched them growing up. They were making that animal do something for them every day. And then there are people that had broken that animal correctly, and that animal was doing what they wanted because they wanted to cooperate. I want to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. And so when I'm in a situation or a circumstance and it doesn't seem right, it's not right. And I have to just pay attention to what's going on. I don't need a voice. I don't need a word. I don't need a prophetic utterance. I just need that understanding. I just need that nudge. Amen. That uneasiness, if you will. Don't, don't, don't ignore that. Amen. I remember we were doing ministry in a certain area in the city every Saturday. We had four different locations that we went to every Saturday. We had a 15-passenger van, and we had one group that went to two of them, and one that went, and the group I had went to the other two. And we were coming in in this area in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and they called it the Paseo District. And the Paseo is a long boulevard, goes, oh my goodness, eight or ten miles through Kansas City. And it's really unique in that it has two lanes on each side with a uh like a only way I know to say it is like a grass between it. Yeah, it's really nice, built back in the 1930s. And uh so we're down there and we were ministering, and we had to come this certain way, and we're coming down the hill, 10th and Paseo. We were on 10th Street crossing the Paseo. And uh in any event, we're we're coming down and the and the lights are green. I see the lights green on my side, and we're we're getting closer. We're not up on it yet, but we're getting closer. And I didn't hear a voice. Just right here, there was a nudge. Stop the van. Well, I hit the brakes to stop the van. And no sooner had we got stopped and a guy blew that red light. We would have been right out in the middle of the street with a van full of kids. Now I'm not saying this so anyone can say, oh, isn't that wonderful to hear from the Holy Spirit? That's way. No, no, no, no, no. It's more, no matter how much you're hearing from him, there's more. I can hear more, I can hear clearer, I can hear more descript, I can hear plainer. Amen. My goal, my desire for our body is that none of us are ever saying, I don't know what to do. But we're so in contact with the Holy Spirit that we know what we need to do and we know how we need to do it. That doesn't alleviate the need for wisdom from people. There will always be wisdom that we'll need from people because there will always be people that have lived longer than us, done more than us, and have more knowledge. But the but the key is to not look for the leading outside of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Let's bow our heads today. Father, we thank you for the word of God. We thank you for the manifestation of your precious presence in our midst. Amen. Hallelujah. Glory to God. We thank you, Father. We praise you, we thank you.