Actions to Avoid to Be Faithful to God’s Anointing

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

All of God’s children have an anointing, and with it comes the responsibility of not losing it. Are you being faithful to God’s anointing?

Introduction

In my two most recent sermons, I’ve examined the leadership of Moses so that we can see what it takes to be a good spiritual leader.  This week, I’m going to move in a different direction, sharing with you the leadership of Saul.  Saul had an anointing from God to be king of Israel, yet his leadership will serve as a warning of the kind of leadership we must not move in as God’s children.  The last thing we ought to do is waste God’s anointing.

An Obedient Beginning

By the end of his life, Saul was a man whose only desire was to kill David and hold on to his throne.  No, Saul was a rather humble man when we first come across him in scripture (1 Sam. 9:21).  In fact, when he was chosen to be the king, I would tell you that he was a bit timid, as he hid away, too shy to be seen by the people when his name was called (1 Sam. 10:20-22).

In his first year, 1 Samuel 11-12 shows us that Saul moved with fearful obedience to God’s instructions.  He moved in a manner that most people do when they first start working a new job or have earned a new promotion!  Coming off the heels of defeating the Ammonites, Saul would do as the Lord instructed him to do.  When the Lord instructed him to this or that, Saul did this or that.

So, you could say that things were looking up for Israel, as the people had gotten what they desired.  They got a man who had the look of a king and a seemingly good leader.

Fatal Errors of a Leader After Satan’s Heart

However, 1 Samuel 13:1 shows us that in year 2 of his reign, Saul had grown comfortable on the job of being a king.  You know, when you’ve grown comfortable in a new workplace, you slowly move away from moving in fearful obedience.  Some folks grow so comfortable that the idea of being fired doesn’t even cross their mind.  That was Saul in year 2 of his reign as king of Israel.

In year 2 of his reign, Saul began to move like a king, and that is when he began to fail.  Scripture shows us two fatal errors that doomed Saul to failure, which I am going to share with you.

Failure of impatience and blatant disobedience

In 1 Samuel 13:5-13, before battling the Philistines, Saul made his first fatal error.  Before the battle, Samuel was to come and to meet with Saul, yet scripture shows us that Samuel was delayed in meeting him.  Rather than waiting for Samuel to arrive, Saul moved ahead and offered up a burnt offering to the Lord.  This may not seem like a big ordeal to some of you, but this was a grave mistake, which showed some of Saul’s character.

Since the days of Aaron, it was lawful for burnt offerings to be made only by the priests.  Therefore, Saul’s offering was an unlawful offering that he had made to the Lord.  This was a failure of impatience, where faith calls on one to be patient and to wait on the Lord.

In 1 Samuel 15:1-9, we will see his second fatal error.  God instructed Saul to do battle against the Amalekites and utterly destroy all they had, sparing nothing and nobody.

Saul, having received those instructions, chose to do his own thing.  Saul destroyed all the people, but chose to spare the king of the Amalekites, along with the best of their cattle.

I want to be clear that Saul did not exhibit any qualities of a godly leader.  As we saw with Moses, a godly leader obeys the voice of God.  As we saw with Moses, a godly leader is selfless and will uplift his people, rather than enable their sin.  Saul disregarded God’s voice, and he moved in a manner of selfishness to glorify himself.  Saul couldn’t have cared less about dragging his people into his sins!

The sin of omission

What was it that caused this anointed man of God to fail so badly?  In Samuel’s rebuke of Saul, we can get a sense for what it was that led Saul to fail.

In Samuel’s rebuke of Saul, 1 Samuel 15:17-19, we will see the prophet ask Saul, and I’ll paraphrase the question:  ‘Did God not bless you when you were nothing in your own eyes?’  Saul was nobody, even in his own eyes, yet God had lifted him up.  The implication here is that Saul had forgotten what God had done for him.

The prophet, in his rebuke, then spoke of the mission that God had sent him on, and as we saw, Saul did his own thing.  This led Samuel to ask Saul, “Why did you not obey the voice of the Lord?”

Let’s be clear about this:  Saul was insubordinate; he disobeyed God’s authority.  Saul’s sin was a sin of omission.  If you’re not familiar with what that means, a sin of omission is when one has received instruction, knows what they’re supposed to do, but chooses to do otherwise.  

Saul anointing as the king had gone to his head!  Saul raised himself to be above the priest, the law, and God’s instructions, which means that he had raised himself above God by his actions.  The once humble, timid man had become overtly prideful, participating in the sin of Satan!  As Satan failed his anointing, pride is how we can fail our anointing.

God’s Initial Response to Pride

How do you suppose God responds to the kind of arrogance and hubris that defies His command?  Do you think that God ignores such sin?  

As we’ve seen in recent Sunday School lessons, God does not ignore such sin.  The Lord has repeatedly promised and shown that He visits the wickedness of the wicked and judges them.  Before His judgment, such sin is rebuked by the Lord, giving the sinner an opportunity to repent from their sins.

What should one do when the Lord has rebuked them?  One ought to heed God’s rebuke, right?  

As shown in 1 Samuel 13:14, after his unlawful offering, Saul was rebuked by Samuel.  Saul was told by Samuel that his kingdom would not continue, as the Lord sought a man after His own heart to lead the people.  In other words, Saul was told that the Lord sought a man who would move in obedience to His word to lead His people.  That rebuke was the first of the two rebukes, and on both occasions, Saul’s response was telling of the man he had become.  

Saul blamed Samuel for his unlawful offering, saying he offered it up to settle the fears of the people.  Then, in 1 Samuel 15:20-21, you will once again see that Saul shifted blame.  Saul first justified himself, having the hubris to say that he had done everything right, just as God had commanded.  Though by his own admission, Saul admitted that he had spared the king of the Amalekites, going against God’s instructions.

Saul blamed the people for not having destroyed the cattle and taking the plunder of the Amalekites.  He did the complete opposite of what Moses had done when they did sin at Mount Sinai.  Moses interceded on behalf of the people, seeking for God to show them mercy!

What kind of ‘leader’ does not take accountability for their actions?  What kind of leader deflects and shifts the blame around onto others?  Certainly not a godly leader!  The answer:  Poor ones who are too proud to admit they’re wrong, and when they have failed.

Destruction of the Proud

Proud leaders fall, whether they are anointed by God or not.  Proverbs 16:18 warns:  “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Because of his blatant disobedience, in 1 Samuel 15:23, we will see that the Lord viewed him as a rebel, a convicted sinner.  God rejected Saul being king and the leader of His people, which is to say that the Lord cast Saul away, giving Saul up.  

The thought of God giving up on someone may sound wrong to some of you, as we’re often told that God gives up on nobody.  Let’s be clear, Saul had made a choice, and his choice was not to go in God’s way, but to go in his own way.  God rejected Saul because Saul had rejected Him!  To be clear, God rejects those who reject!

One may wonder whether or not this means they can lose their anointing.  Again, let’s be very clear about this:  an anointing is not the same as salvation.  Salvation has been sealed through the shed blood of Jesus and the receiving of the Holy Spirit.  The promise of salvation cannot be lost to those who have believed and received.

However, one can lose their anointing.  The anointing we have received has been given to us by God, through the inner dwelling of the Lord.  Saul is an example of one who lost his anointing because he failed to walk faithfully in it.  Another example of one who lost his anointing is Samson, who lost his anointing because he broke the vow.

To be clear, an anointing is lost due to disobedience; one failing to move faithfully according to their anointing.  Without that anointing, what can one do and accomplish?  We are anointed by God not just to shield and protect us in this world, but for us to minister the gospel and bear much fruit in holiness and all truth.  Failure to move faithfully to our anointing is what causes one to lose their anoint–God will reject them!

How to Keep from Repeating Saul’s Failure?

So, how do we set out to not repeat Saul’s error and lose our anointing?  The answers lie within Samuel’s rebukes of Saul’s actions.

Step one: Have obedience over religion

In 1 Samuel 15:22, Samuel asked Saul, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?”  Which was to ask, ‘Does God desire sacrifice and offerings more than obedience?’

Samuel then answered the question in his rebuke of Saul, saying, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.”  For us, if we desire not to lose our anointing, we must understand that it takes obedience.  You must have obedience over religious works.  

Now, this may be confusing to some of you, so let me explain the difference.  James and Paul both taught on this subject, with James’ statement of ‘faith without works is dead’ being most remembered.  However, both men’s focus was on how faith moves, and when it moves, it moves in sincerity, not mechanically, not robotically.

Saul offered up a burnt offering, not because he had the desire to offer up a burnt offering, but because he thought he had to do that ot win against the Philistines.  I will say something now that is going to make many older believers frown.  Going to church does nothing for the soul if one doesn’t desire to be in the service.  

Sure, as Hebrews 10:24-25 states, we ought not forsake assembling together because when we assemble together, we are able to stir up love and good works in each other.  Yet, if one’s heart is genuinely not in the assembly, then one has simply shown up because of religion.  Many show up to church each Sunday out of religion, and no change comes over their heart because their hearts weren’t in the assembly.  

Saying a prayer does nothing for the soul if one’s heart isn’t in the prayer.  James said that when one asks amiss, they ought not expect to receive anything from the Lord (Jas. 4:3).

My point:  Religion does nothing for the soul.  God’s desire is for one to move with faithful obedience, having the desire to move accordingly.  God’s desire is for us to move in a manner after His own heart.

God doesn’t ask you to go up and beyond His commands, but rather, He asks for you to fall in alignment with your anointing!  Too many of us are trying to go beyond our anointing, and all we do is meet struggle.  Paul did this, and often he found himself rebuffed by the Lord, though he believed it was Satan who buffetted him.

Moreover, God doesn’t ask for any of us to be perfect, as religion would have you think you ought to be.  God knows very well that we are sinful creatures, and so He desires that we will hold ourselves accountable and seek repentance.  

God desires for us to move with integrity.  This is to say that the Lord desires your sincerity and honesty.  The Lord desires for you to be true to your anointing!  So, again, move with obedience over religion if you desire not to lose your anointing.

Step two:  Remember God

For the second step, I will reference Samuel’s rebuke of Saul in 1 Samuel 15:17 one more time.  Samuel had asked Saul, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel?  And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel?

Saul had forgotten where God had brought him from–you must not do that!  Growing up, I used to always hear, “Don’t forget where you came from.”  The more and more I grew up, the more I realized that saying was not about me remembering South Fulton, Fairburn, Creekside – where I grew up.  No, my parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents wanted me to always remember all that God had done for me.

God is the reason for my still being able to stand today.  Yes, sure, this world is a terrible place, but it is a blessing for me to still be here today, moving in my anointing.  God was with me through my years of suffering from kidney failure.  God was with me in the time following the passing away of my dad.  

God has brought me through too many things for me to forget Him and all He has done for me!  Remembering the Lord and where He has brought us from helps to ground us, which is to say, it helps to keep us humble in those days of great success.

Think about it:  Where would we be without God’s blessing and anointing?  To the Ephesian church, Paul wrote, that when we were once alienated from God, by sin, we were without hope (Eph. 2:12).  Without God, we would be lost and destroyed by sin.  God is He who strengthens us and leads us to succeed, not we ourselves!

None of us can override God and His command!  Yes, we have been anointed and given authority over God’s gospel by God!  Who are we to think that we can use what God gave us to raise ourselves above and over Him?  That makes no sense!  We need to check ourselves before we ruin ourselves.  If we don’t check ourselves, it won’t just be our ruin, but the ruin of all of those who do their best to follow our lead.

Let us keep these things in mind, as in this present day, while we’re running the Christian race, we must run faithfully to our anointing.  When we run faithfully to our anointing, we will bear much fruit, and there will be nothing and nobody that can get in our way.