TRANSCRIPTION | Sunday, October 31, 2021 | God In It Series | Move The Monument

 

Pastor Eric:

I've been on the road a lot this week. In fact, I was in a three day stretch there where I was on the road over 21 hours. I've been traveling preaching this week and getting to share with different churches and different settings. And I got a call from one of my friends up in West Virginia. And he said, "Pastor Eric, I believe our church is on the verge of revival. Maybe even beginning to experience revival. I feel like you're supposed to come and share." And I looked at my schedule and I thought, man, I don't know how I'm going to do this. And prayed about it. Felt like I was supposed to do it. And I went there and I can say they are definitely in revival. It was an incredible move of God. The service started at 7:00 PM. We worshiped for, I don't know, maybe 30, 35 minutes. I preached maybe 40, 45 minutes. Gave an altar invitation. And at midnight people were still in those altars just seeking the Lord and longing for more of God.

Pastor Eric:

And when you say a service went past midnight, you got to be careful because I know what y'all think. Y'all think I was one of those Longhorn preachers, right? Two good points and a whole lot of bull in between. I do my best to get to the point, but was really grateful for the way that God moved in that setting. And I'm going to share probably at worship night tonight, I'll probably share a couple of testimonies from that service that were pretty profound that I'm still just really thankful for. I want to preach this morning on a subject that I don't know if it gets talked about a lot in modern Christian experience, but I think it should be. And the word that I'm going to reference repetitively today is one that really, dependent upon your background will probably determine how familiar you are with it or how much you might feel like you know about the subject. But if you'll allow me this one, I believe the Lord wants to lay a foundation in our hearts to just lead us to a deeper experience in him.

Pastor Eric:

1 Samuel chapter 15 verse 12 says this. And so when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told to Samuel saying Saul went to Carmel and indeed he set up a monument for himself. And you drop down just a few verses, verse 17. And so Samuel said, "Saul, when you were little in your own eyes, where you not the head of the tribes, Israel and did not the Lord anoint you as the king over Israel. And so I want you to notice what is happening here is there is a dialogue between a man named Samuel and a man named Saul.

Pastor Eric:

And Samuel was a man whom the Bible says that never a word that he spoke, fell to the ground. Samuel spoke like an Oracle of God in the earth. He spoke to people and communicated to them what God would want them to know. And Saul was a man that was raised up under the ministry of Samuel. And Saul even learned a lot about his own destiny and purpose through Samuel. But then Saul began to drift in his relationship with God, and Samuel had to show up and bring him back to a proper perspective and help him to understand, listen, this whole setting up the monument thing, that's not what God intended for you. God put an anointing on you when you were little on your, in your own eyes. And if you to continue to experience that anointing, it's going to be essential that we move the monument.

Pastor Eric:

And so I just want you to look at somebody and tell them move the monument father, want to ask you to help me to preach and help me to teach and help me to share your word. And God, I pray that you'll use this moment for your glory and God provoke every single one of us to our next step in you, what it might be in Jesus name. And this church said, amen. The anointing. It might be a phraseology that you're somewhat familiar with. It may be a phraseology that you've never really heard, talked about other than perhaps it's referenced loosely in a message or maybe at some point during a prayer time, the anointing. Growing up, I had a lot of confusion about the anointing, what it was and what it isn't. I remember even when I first went into ministry, I heard so much talk about the anointing. I heard people labeled as I either anointed or maybe, well, they're not very anointed.

Pastor Eric:

And I decided based on what I saw as anointed, that I wanted to be in that classification, I wanted to be in that category. And so I began to pursue the touch of the holy spirit. And, and I remember one time I was so hungry for the anointing that I heard this, I heard it referenced that this, this guy he had preached and he was really loud and he was really rambunctious and he had sweated profusely while he was preaching. And I heard someone say, "Boy, I'll tell you what, that man is so anointed, He just sweats like crazy while he's preaching." And so I thought, well, that must mean if I'm going to be anointed, I have to sweat. And so I went and I bought a bunch of long johns, and I wore them underneath my three piece suit, just praying to God somebody would think I was anointed. It didn't work.

Pastor Eric:

I have seen so much confusion over what's anointed and what's not anointed, but the scripture actually makes it pretty clear about what the anointing will look like and what the anointing won't look like when it shows up in someone's life. And when someone begins to function under that special touch of God. The place that we really learn about the anointing first is in the Old Testament. And if I could just give you a summary of what the anointing was in the Old Testament, it was basically when people in the Bible were often anointed in recognition of the Lord's divine calling upon their lives. The anointing was a physical recognition of their particular role or office such as king, prophet, or priest. So there would be these moments where the peers or the people would recognize in someone's life that God wanted to do something special with that person.

Pastor Eric:

And so there might would be a recognition that this person is supposed to be a priest. And so they would have this public ceremony where they would literally take what was called a horn of oil. It contained about a gallon and a half of olive oil. It would typically have some kind of perfume or special spices put in it to give it a beautiful fragrance and they would pour it over this individual's head. And this person would literally drip with the oil of anointing from the top of their head, to the soles of their feet. And it was meant to symbolize on the outside, what everyone believed God was already doing on the inside. The same thing went for somebody who would be a prophet. And it even was how that they would anoint their Kings in the days of Israel in that time.

Pastor Eric:

And so today, we no longer when we recognize God wants to do something in somebody's life, we don't bring them forward and pour a gallon and a half of oil on their head. In the New Testament though, we do still believe and understand that there is the opportunity for the holy spirit to spiritually touch someone in a special way, and to give them a special grace. And that's what we like and unto the anointing, or even sometimes we'd say the spiritual oil of anointing. And so what we learn is that in Psalm chapter 23 verse five, God wants every one of us to experience an anointing. You may be familiar with Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want, he leadeth me besides still waters. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He makes my path straight. He restores my soul and yay though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me, your rod and your staff they comfort me.

Pastor Eric:

And then he says, you prepare a table for me, verse five, in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. We often talk about the a Lord's my shepherd I shall not want. We often talk about the fact that we want to lay down in green pastures. We talk about that we want to be led beside still waters. We talk about that we want God to restore our soul and make our path straight. And we celebrate the fact that he'll get us through the valley and we don't have to fear any evil. We'll even talk about the fact God's going to give us a table and the presence for enemies. We might even celebrate that goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our life. But I feel like sometimes we overlook a very key portion of verse number five.

Pastor Eric:

And that is that God doesn't just want to seat you at a table in the presence of enemies, he wants to put an anointing on your head. And he wants that anointing to impact every aspect of your life from the top of your head, to the soles of your feet, he wants you to be anointed. And so I think when we think about a, a new Testament understanding of the anointing made be the best definition we could use is this, that the anointing is a special grace up on our lives, which allows us to be used by God for the benefit of others. So think about that, that the anointing of the holy spirit is when God puts a special grace on my life, on your life, so that we can then be used by him for the benefit of other people. And so when God puts the anointing on someone's life, when God touches somebody, he doesn't do that for their own benefit. He does that for the benefit of everybody else.

Pastor Eric:

But the thing is, when you get touched by God in a special way, you might sing better than you would've ever have been able to sing. And now people start to think it's about how great of a singer you are, rather than the special touch that God put on your life. That when God gives you a special grace, you might be able to preach in a way that you would've never have been able to preach. And then when God begins to use you, sometimes people get it confused and think it's about the person who's delivering the message rather than the one that gave the special touch for the message. And so even in life, just like there could be someone anointed to be a king in the days of old, today there be someone anointed to be a leader, to be a business owner, you could be anointed to be a parent.

Pastor Eric:

That God can put a special touch on your life that you could speak with wisdom that's beyond your understanding. And you could speak with knowledge that's beyond your learning, and you could be able to do things that you would otherwise have never been able to do. You don't have the education for it. You don't have the relationships for it. You don't have the money for it. You don't have the network for it. You're not from the right zip code, but yet somehow there's a special touch on your life. And what happens is that we can never confuse the person who has been touched with the one who provided the touch. The oil of anointing. I think about this thing that happens between Saul and Samuel. And Samuel has to show up and Saul's really gotten sideways in his life and Samuel's needing to rebuke him.

Pastor Eric:

And the way it unfolds is in First Samuel chapter 15, verse 17. So Samuel said, "Here's the issue Saul. When you were little in your own eyes, were you not made the head of all the tribes of Israel and did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel?"I'm going to read it again. I want you to lean in. I believe the Lord wants to give you the revelation of this. So Samuel said, "When you were little in your own eyes, were you not the head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? I believe there's a correlation between those two questions. And Samuel is trying to help Saul understand when you were little in your own eyes, God gave you an anointing. When you didn't think you were a big deal, God did something big in your life. And as long as you were willing to be little in your own eyes, you had a life and a heart that was conducive to receiving the importation of the oil of the anointing from the holy spirit.

Pastor Eric:

And what Saul seems to be finding out is that because he is no longer little in his own sight, the anointing is no longer functioning the way that it should be functioning in his life. And what he's about to learn is he is going to lose his position and that even his family is going to be cut off from the legacy that would've been theirs all because he did not remain little in his own sight. One of the things that we understand about scripture is that God is attracted to humility. In fact, God says that if someone will humble themselves, he will exalt them. But God also says that if someone exalts themself, he will humble them. Jesus put it this way. He said, "You can fall on the rock and be broken, or the rock can fall on you and you can be crushed." Here's what Jesus was saying, is that if God has to get involved in helping you humble yourself, it will be the difference between humility and humiliation. And so you don't ever want to invite God to help you find humility.

Pastor Eric:

What you want to do is study the word and live your life in such a way that you are able to fall on the rock of his word and break yourself and humble yourself. And what God's says in that brokenness, he will be attracted to it and he will pour out his spirit upon it. The difference between falling on the rock and the rock falling on you. One of the things I'll help you to understand is that God likes to hang out at the back of the line. God likes to find somebody that's been overlooked and stepped over. And because they don't think too much of themselves, he can just meet them right there at the back of the line and say, "Let me show you something. I'm about to make the last first. And I'm about to make the first last." There's something about God that teaches us the less you have, the more likely it is that you're going to be used by God.

Pastor Eric:

And one of the things we learn about Saul is that even though God was able to do something special in his life when he considered himself little in his own eyes, Saul was never considered little in the eyes of other people. In fact, when God first found Saul, first Samuel chapter 10 verse 22, it says, "And so they asked the Lord, where is Saul?" Because it's go time for him. He's about to be publicly acknowledged in this position that God's given him. And they replied, "He is hiding among the baggage." He's in the stuff. He's hidden in the luggage. And so they found him and they brought him out and he stood head and shoulders above everybody else. Do you see the significance? That God recognized here's this guy, and he's little in his own eyes, and I can take this guy who's made himself small and do something big.

Pastor Eric:

And when it's time for Saul to be used, Saul feels so inadequate, he feels so unqualified, he even makes the statement. He's like, "Do you not know who my daddy is? We are from the tribe of Benjamin, which is the smallest tribe in all of Israel. And my dad is the least within that entire tribe. I did not come from the right side of the tracks to be used in the way that you're saying God wants to use me." And so he literally goes, and he is hiding, because he does not think that he is capable. And then when they stand the guy up, they're like, "You are head and shoulders above all the competition. Clearly God's hand is already on your life." He was always considered big, and capable of great things in the eyes of everybody around him. But he was intentional about making sure that he stayed little in his own eyes.

Pastor Eric:

And the result of that, God tells him what he's going to do. In first Samuel chapter 10, verse six, he says, "The spirit of the Lord is going to come upon you, and you will be turned into another man." Let that sink in. The anointing of God is going to come upon you, and you are going to be turned into another man. It goes on to describe verse 10, "And it happened." And all who knew him formally said, "Is this not the son of Kish? Did he not grow up at the end of the cul-de-sac? Is he not the guy that used to get in trouble at recess while we were at school? Is this not the joker that we used to see playing with Tonka trucks?" Y'all aren't following me. Is there anybody with me in this house this morning, that what God is saying, what God is saying to Saul is because you are little in your own sight, because you don't think you deserve it is the reason I'm going give it to you.

Pastor Eric:

And I'm going to cause something to come up on you that the people that have known you the entirety of your life will look at you and be confounded by the wisdom I bring through you, and be confounded by the strength that I manifest in your life. It's not going to make sense to anybody that knew you way back when, because I am going to do such a regenerative work in your life that you won't even resemble the same human being that you used to be. Do you understand that that's what the anointing can do in your life? I would challenge you, seek the practical application of the word and come to understand scripture and study leadership and get an education. But in all of your seeking, you better never cease to make yourself available to the anointing of the holy spirit. Because at the end of the day, the touch of God is the only thing that can truly change lives through your own life. I watched this unfold and it says that that Saul's uncle even gets confused.

Pastor Eric:

It says in verse number 14, it's like, Saul's uncle talks to him and he says, "Hey, when you left the house, you were one way. But now that you're back at the house, you're a totally different way. You left here at one level and you've come back at a different level." Saul, where did you go? And I love what Saul says, verse number 14. He says, "I just went to look for the donkeys." In other words, my father gave me an assignment and I just did what I was told. In other words, there was nothing in the father's house that was beneath me. I was just willing to submit to the authority of the house. And when I was out there seeking those donkeys, I ran in to a kingdom connection. I ran into a divine appointment and I received a download from the holy spirit that coincidence cannot take the credit for. And all I know is that there was an anointing that came on my life and whoever I was when I left here, I'm not that man anymore, because God has touched me.

Pastor Eric:

And so I came to tell somebody this morning, don't be afraid to look for the donkeys. If you really want God to touch your life, if you really want to live in a special grace, don't ever make the decision that there's something that's beneath you. Because if you're too good to serve, you're too good to lead. But when you'll make that decision, whatever the father's house needs, if today the assignment is nothing but chasing stinky, stubborn, hateful donkeys, sorry, you've never served in that ministry y'all. If that's the assignment, then I'm making myself available, because God, I'm not too big to go get the donkeys. God, it's not beneath me to go get the donkeys. And when he went to get the donkeys, it's when he had a head on collision with his destiny, and the spirit of the Lord came up on him and it turned him into another man. That's how it started. You want to see how it's going?

Pastor Eric:

First, Samuel chapter 15. Saul's starting to believe his own press. He's finally recognizes that he really is head and shoulders above everybody else. He's starting to realize that he really has been turned into a brand new man, and that people are quite taken aback by him. They're enthralled with him. They're attracted to him. They're blown away by him. And so in chapter 15, verse 12, Samuel's got to go see Saul again. And this time when he gets there, he says, "Saul, we found out that Saul went to Carmel, and indeed he has set up a monument for himself." So this guy that received the anointing of the holy spirit in his life, because he was little in his own eyes. This guy who God said, I can take him and I can use him. And I can do great things through him because he's not over here thinking about how much he deserves it. He's over here thinking about how unworthy he would be of it.

Pastor Eric:

This guy. Now that this guy has made it to the palace, he decides to stop everything in regards to what God had called him and commanded him to do, and say, "Let's build a monument and celebrate me. Let's just have a hall of fame ceremony for me. And let's get everybody to talk about how wonderful I am. And then this is when Samuel comes on the scene and says, "Hey man, what is wrong with you? Do you not realize that when you were little in your own eyes, that's when God gave you the special grace. That's when God gave you the special touch. That's when God gifted you in a way that nobody could understand or even explain? Hey, Saul, we got to move the monument man." But what had happened in Saul's life is that he had transitioned from a move of God, to a monument.

Pastor Eric:

Isn't it amazing how it can happen? I want to tell you there's something about the palace that changes people. David, as long as he was in the shepherd's field, God himself said, "This guy's a man after my own heart, put an anointing on him." In fact, scripture says in Psalm chapter 45, that David became more anointed than anyone else in the entire land. All because he had the right heart. All because he was little in his own eyes. But you fast forward to where David's living in the palace and sitting on a throne, and he turns into a murderer and an adulterer. There's something about promotion that messes with us and makes us vulnerable to the traps of the enemy. In fact, when Israel said that they wanted a king, God argued with them. He's like, "You don't need a king." "But we want a king." "You don't need a king." "But we want a king." And sometimes you'll learn that the wrath of God is to be given the thing that you thought you wanted only to learn that you never needed it.

Pastor Eric:

And I think that one of the reasons that God did not want them to have a king is because he knew no man could handle it. And when you read the book of Kings and you read the book of Chronicles, every single King's life comes down to one sentence. He either did right in the eyes of the Lord, or he did evil in the eyes of the Lord. And over and over again, even when it would say that they did right, almost every one of them at some point in their life would compromise. And so the question becomes, do you want to go to through life with a casual experience with God? Do you want to go through life with a common experience in his presence? Or is there something about you that says, "I don't want to just parent, I want to be anointed to be a parent." That I don't want to just work on a career path. I want to be anointed in the marketplace. Is there something on you that says, "I don't want to just have a small group. I want to be anointed to host a small group."

Pastor Eric:

I'm not just going to stand here and be a door holder serving on this team of greeters. I want to be anointed to greet people and welcome people and turn depression into joy with a simple interaction. There's something that says I don't just want to serve in kids, but when my kids are in class, I want there to be a shift in the atmosphere, that the anointing of God would begin to impact those kids. Not because of me, but through me. We've all seen it happen. We've seen people sing, and you're like, "Well, that was good. But I just feel like something's missing." We've heard people preach and teach and we're like, "It was good, I don't know. It just kind of felt like something was missing." We've seen people try to lead in the realm of business and we're like, "Well, you know, it's good. But it's like, something's missing." Some of you in your own life, you're looking at different situations and you're like, "Well, it's going pretty good, but it's like, there's just something missing."

Pastor Eric:

Let me tell you if it feels like something is missing, it is the special grace, the special touch, the anointing of the holy spirit that can literally reshape everything if you will just allow him to touch your life. And the way that that touch has to come is by making yourself little in your own eyes. Have you noticed that we very rarely ever bow in modern Christianity? And yet the Bible talks repetitively about bowing in the presence of the Lord. In fact, Paul referenced in the New Testament that one of the practices in his prayer was to bow before the Lord. I really believe that one of the reasons that God enjoys the physical posture of someone who will bow in prayer is because it makes us small. That there's something about even the physical aspect of becoming little in our own eyes. God, if you don't show up and teach me how to raise these kids, I'm going to make a mess out of it. God, I need an anointing.

Pastor Eric:

God, if you don't show up and give me wisdom on how to handle my finances, Lord, I don't even know how I'm going to pay my refrigerator bill. God, I need an anointing. Father, God, if you don't show up and give me wisdom beyond my years beyond my understanding, God, I am certain that my next step is probably not going to be the right one. But God, right now I make myself small in the presence of heaven. I bow before your throne. I am little in my own eyes because God, I know that I am nothing without you. I totally and completely surrender to you god. I feel like that one of the things that has come over us is that we've kind of, a lot of us think we've paid our dues. And a lot of us think we've been in this thing long enough that there's some things that we are entitled to. And there are some things that we deserve.

Pastor Eric:

And the moment that you move into that place, you'd better be careful because you're probably spiritually building monuments instead of experiencing a move of God. That's the reason there are churches all across this landscape that resemble monuments rather than a move of God, it's been 25 years since they saw anybody pass through the waters of baptism, because they're settled for sheet rock and two by fours becoming a semblance of their wealth and affluence. You better understand something about this place. There is a reason you don't see anybody's name on anything. And there's a reason. My name ain't on these church signs. The reason is because this is not about a personality. It is not about what our for and no more happened to accomplish. It is not about a, an establishment of, wow. Look at us, look how wonderful we are. Look how incredible we are. There's only one thing we are after. And that is a move of God because a move of the holy spirit is the only thing that can transform and change lives.

Pastor Eric:

In this place it's got to be something more than a motivational speech with a God slant in a concert venue. We want everything from start to finish, from the parking lot to the pulpit and back out again to have a touch of the holy spirit and his anointing. And if that ain't your thing, you ain't at the right church. Because this ain't a country club, and this is not some kind of societal establishment of how wonderful we are. As we blow the horns like Pharisees passing through main street to show everybody how wonder we are. There is one thing that we are after and it is that the holy spirit would come down, put marriages back together, set drug addicts free, save the loss, deliver people who are bound, and to heal sick bodies in the name of Jesus. And I can't do that and you can't do that. And we can't buy that, and we can't get it in Amazon's cart, but we can most certainly make ourselves little in our own sight and become small that the presence of God would come down.

Pastor Eric:

Can I get somebody just one time to join with me this morning and say, "Yay and amen."

Congregation:

Yay and amen.

Pastor Eric:

Listen, I ain't preached like this no where else I been this morning. There's a religious spirit over south central Kentucky that loves to settle from a form of godliness and deny the power thereof. And one of the things that the Lord very clearly lays out, I believe through the context of scripture is that when you settle for the form of religion, you deny the relationship of its presence. And the only way that we can really experience an anointing is if we are willing to move past formality and traditionalism and whatever it is that we think it should be because yes, God is the same yesterday, today and forever. And his character will never change, but his methods never stop changing. And one of the ways that you can make yourself little in your own eyes is to say it doesn't have to be my way because I want it to be God's way.

Pastor Eric:

And to say that my preference will never take precedent over his presence. That's one of the ways we make ourselves little in our own sight. It's when we've been fishing on this side of the boat all night long, and he says, "Get the net and put it on the other side." And you're like, "But we've been fishing all night long." And he says, "But get the net and put it on the other side." And you're like, "But we've been fishing all night long." "But get the net and put it on the other side." When you pick up the net after you've been fishing all night long and you think you know how to fish, and you think you got it figured out, and you are willing to move from this side to that side, you are making yourself little in your own sight and realizing I don't have the council.

Pastor Eric:

I don't have the wisdom. I don't know where the fish are at, but Father, God, I'm not going to settle for this net turning into a monument, this net was meant to catch fish and it was meant to catch fish until the thing started breaking and we had to call for more boats. So Father, God, am I making sense to anybody? And so if we're going to serve God and we're going to experience God, there's going to be moments where sometimes God will tell you to move the net to the other side, but to no other reason than , if you're still little in your own side, amen. And just to make sure that you're still willing to make yourself small. And so 3Trees, we have a mandate from God to reach the state of Kentucky. And I have no idea what that looks like. I don't even know how to logistically lay it out. I don't know how to analyze it. I don't know how to break it down and then build it back up structurally.

Pastor Eric:

I do not have it all figured out, but I believe that with one touch of the anointing, God could download the blueprint for every bit of that. But here's the other part of it. We are nothing. We have done nothing of significance in comparison with what God wants to do. And what we have to be willing to do is to take anything he's given us to this point and lay it on the altar and get little in our own eyes and say, "God, the only way we can go forward is if you turn us into something we don't know how to be." Am I helping anybody? If I ain't helping you, I'm helping me. So here's the thing. They're going to play some music, and I'm going to get out of your way in just a minute, but I want you to reach into the seat back in front of you. And I want you to take out the elements for communion.

Pastor Eric:

And what I want you to do is I want you to go back with me to Psalm 23. And I want you to think through this with me. I'm going to ask Mandy to come, we're going to do this as a family. And if your family's there near to you, I hope that you'll participate with them as well. Psalm 23:5. Can they pull it up? I don't know if they can, yeah, there it is. Will you read it out loud with me? Ready, begin. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. So the commentators of scripture, the scholars who develop chapter and verse, they believe...