The Psalm 23 Adventure, Part 43

 

 

June 9, 2017

 

You’ll pardon me if I take another opportunity to talk about some of the growth developments and the spiritual changes we are seeing with the four grandchildren we are now raising.

 

A couple Sundays ago, we were seated around the breakfast table when we saw an explosion of anger in Alden that has cropped up from time to time.  It was clearly a demonic manifestation, and it was time to address it.  Della and I carefully explained to the children the significance of being free from evil spirits, and how they insert themselves into the lives of people, camouflaging their activities as part of the person’s character and makeup.

 

I shared with Alden the root of the anger that was being expressed and where – in the past -- it had entered into his life.  The other children have had their issues as well, so we took the time to pray deliverance over each of them.  The change that manifested in each of them was immediate, but it has been the evidence in their own praying since that has really been a blessing to see.

 

Listening to Alden pray last night before he went to bed was really something to hear!  “Thank you, Lord, for taking that bad spirit of anger out of me, and thank you for taking other bad spirits out of me.  If there are any other bad spirits that are trying to control me, then I command them to leave me and leave my brother and sisters, too.  I love you, God, and I want to be the kind of person you want me to be.”

 

My quote of his prayer may not be exact, word for word, but it’s pretty close.  It was an emotional moment for me hearing him pray like that, and to realize that he – along with the other kids (who also prayed similarly) – are developing spiritual sensitivities that are critical for their future!  Praise God!!

 

Let’s continue our sharing on the anointing.

 

Last week, we stopped in our discussion with Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, following his 40 days of fasting.  It was the Holy Spirit that led Him into the wilderness for the express purpose of being tempted — and yes, this is not just testing, this is tempting.  Jesus had to beat Satan at his own game for our sakes because of what was (and is) to come.  Because of the fasting, his flesh was it its weakest and he would have been the most vulnerable to the temptations.  Understand that Father knew exactly what would take place, but it was critical to the pattern that Jesus would set on our behalf because of the dimension of anointing that would follow.

 

The temptation was not for Jesus’ undoing but rather for our overcoming!  Father had already declared that “This is my Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.”  There was no doubt who Jesus was when He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness.  Mark expresses it just a bit stronger.  This wasn’t just a “leading” of the Spirit, this was being “driven.”  Jesus was compelled to begin his years of ministry with fasting and the temptation to His flesh that would follow as a matter of natural course.

 

I remind you that we have been being “led” of the Spirit in the Paths of Righteousness.  This leading couldn’t begin until after we drank of the living waters of Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit would now be with us and there would be a compelling in our spirits to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, no matter where that leading took us.  All of this, after all, is “for His name’s sake.”

 

The fasting that Jesus experienced could somewhat be likened to the “Valley of the Shadow of Death.”  It wasn’t for His undoing.  It was His overcoming, and that overcoming was essential on His part so that we also have the power to overcome as we walk in Him and He in us.

 

I can see the curious looks on your faces.  You were thinking that the Valley of the Shadow of Death was a onetime experience, and you couldn’t be more mistaken.  With the anointing, the power and authority to break the yokes of bondage — the bondages of fear —are constantly present.  That is critical to our understanding for the years that are ahead.

 

We’ll come back to this event later to show you something else, but watch what unfolds next.

 

Matthew tells us that angels came and ministered to Jesus following the temptations.  Luke, however, records the following:

 

Luke 4:14:  And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.

 

How did that happen?  How did it happen that “there went out a fame of him through all the region?”  The anointing that was upon Him went before Him to prepare the people for the stupendous revelations and miracles that would follow.  Let’s talk about this for a minute.

 

Because of the varying gifts and ministries of the Spirit, there are different anointings.  That’s a strange way to put it, perhaps, but consider how Paul expresses it when writing to the Ekklesia in Ephesus.

 

Ephesians 4:8, 10-13:  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

 

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

 

The person anointed for apostolic ministry differs from the one anointed for prophetic ministry, and yet the two work together.  One anointed for pastoral ministry is very different from one anointed for prophetic ministry.

 

Here’s a unique thing, though.  Sometimes you will see people with multiple anointings to function in different capacities.  There are even instances in which Holy Spirit will anoint individuals to function in different capacities at different times.

 

Allow me to digress for a minute.  It has been a bee in my bonnet for a long time over the fact that so many folks call these “offices,” treating them as titles and positions in God, and yet there is no such thing in the Word.  These are anointings.  They are commissionings for the moment in time that they are needed.

 

If a person remains intimate in their walk with the Lord, and sensitive to the heartbeat of the Lord Jesus Christ, the ability to function in these different anointings may occur throughout their entire walk with God.  Obviously there are folks who function in multiple anointings on a continuing basis.  Then there are those who grow from one anointing to another as they mature and season with the Lord.

 

Let me share with you a quick illustration out of my past.  At age 5, I was leading my playmates and friends to the Lord.  That continued to be a major part of my early years.  I was functioning in the role of an evangelist.  Was there an anointing for it?  Well, there certainly was an anointing for each instance, but I was not anointed for evangelistic ministry.

 

At age 9, prophetic ministry began to appear.  While I certainly was not anointed for prophetic ministry, I do believe the experiences that the Lord began to give me at that age set the stage for things that were to come in later years.

 

At age 11, I began teaching.  You know what?  I love teaching.  It is in my blood!  It is something that has been a part of my life and ministry ever since.  Is there an anointing for teaching?  Yes, I believe there is!  It is a gift that God has given me, and something that has been a hallmark of my life for over 60 years.  But it is not the sum total of the gifts and anointings that I have been privileged to walk in during the past 70-plus years.

 

At different times I have fulfilled the role, the ministry, the anointing of a pastor — despite the fact that I’ve been told a few times during the years that “I don’t know what you are, but you’re no pastor!”  What folks have seen is something that goes beyond pastoral ministry – and I have to agree with them, never mind the fact that there has been a pastoral component to how Holy Spirit has directed my life for well over 50 years.  I see people who are anointed – and I mean, really anointed – for pastoral ministry, and they have giftings that I simply do not have.

 

That’s OK!  Holy Spirit has anointed me for whatever task He has at hand for me – no matter what you call it.  Let me put it like this.  Don’t call me a pastor.  Don’t call me a prophet.  Don’t call me an evangelist or a teacher or an apostle.  Don’t ascribe some title to me.  I’m simply an heir and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ.  That gives me continual access to different anointings at the times when they are needed.  I don’t need the titles.

 

Besides, take a look at something that Jesus said to the disciples:

 

Matthew 23:1-12:  Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:  All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 

 

But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. 

 

But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.  And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.  Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.  But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

 

You get the picture, right?  The body of Christ has gotten far too title-conscious.  Titles mean absolutely zip in God’s economy.  The anointing of Holy Spirit speaks for itself.  If a person is truly anointed for some specific place of ministry, that anointing will demonstrate without the individual promoting himself (or herself) with some title – especially like “apostle” or “prophet” or “prophetess.”

 

OK.  Enough!  Sorry for the digression, but there’s a lot more territory to cover.  We’ve barely scratched the surface, and I still want to share with you the prophetic significance of the anointing we have awaiting us.  The scope of the anointing is nothing less than stupendous!  It is a vast dimension in God!

 

Let me go back and cover some things we’ve touched on in previous Coffee Breaks and set the stage for next week’s sharing.

 

Ezekiel 28:12-19:  Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

 

Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

 

Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.  Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.  All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

 

There is a rather unique phrase that occurs twice in Ezekiel’s prophecy.  What the Lord is saying is this, ”Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so:”  Then He says, “I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.”

 

The first thing we see is that Lucifer was “the anointed cherub that covereth.  The Lord says that “I have set thee so.”  The Hebrew phraseology here is what we need to understand, and that understanding has to come in the context of what we are seeing and hearing.

 

 Sorry to leave you hanging, but I need to stop here.  We will flesh out this picture next week so that you understand a dimension of anointing in God that is coming for God’s people.

 

For those of you who’ve been participating in our Monday night Healing Prayer Conference Call, we just want to let you know that beginning with the month of July and continuing until the first Monday night in October, we will be taking a break for the summer.  We’ve found during the past three years of doing this call that participation during the summer months drops significantly because of folks taking their vacations, and being involved in other activities.  That said, we will resume our prayer calls on Monday night, October 2nd.

 

At the same time, in case you are missing out on real fellowship in an environment of Ekklesia, our Sunday worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about 10:45AM Pacific.  That conference number is (712) 770-4160, and the access code is 308640#.  We are now making these gatherings available by Skype.  If you wish to participate by video on Skype, my Skype ID is regner.capener.  If you miss the live voice call, you can dial (712) 770-4169, enter the same access code and listen in later.  The video call, of course, is not recorded – not yet, anyway.

 

Blessings on you!

 

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES

RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Temple, Texas 76504

Email Contact: CapenerMinistries@protonmail.com

 

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