So everyone today will have something that God wants you to break out in, and as a body He wants us to break out in the engaging intention and connecting with people who don't know Jesus. So I want you to read with me in 2 Samuel, Chapter 5, Verse 17. Now the Philistines heard they'd anointed David king over Israel, and all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it, and went down to the stronghold. The Philistines also went and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. So David inquired of the Lord, saying: shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand? And the Lord said to David: go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand. Isn't that good? Go up, you'll win! So David went to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there; and then he said: the Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water. So that's why he named the place Baal Perazim, meaning 'the Lord breaks through', or the 'Lord of breakthrough' - and he said: because the Lord has broken through my enemies before me like a breakthrough of water.
So they left their images there, and David and his men carried them away. Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. And David inquired of the Lord, and He said you shall not go up; circle around behind them, get them from behind, come upon them in the front of the mulberry trees. And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, you'll advance quickly. For then the Lord will go out before you, and strike the camp of the Philistines. And David did so, as the Lord commanded him. That's a good statement - and he drove the Philistines from Geba, as far back as Gezer. Isn't that fantastic? What a great thing.
I want to pick it up and just open it and show you some things the Lord just dropped into my heart this morning, reading in Verse 17. Now the Philistines heard they'd anointed David king, so the Philistines were a very war-like people. They lived and dwelt in what's modern day Palestine now, lived on the coast. The name means literally 'to roll in the dust', and they were very violent, they worshipped idols, and they were a constant threat and a constant irritation to Israel. While Samuel was a prophet in the nation, while he was alive, they were held back by the anointing that he had on him. Once Samuel had died the Philistines began to invade the nation taking city after city, until the nation became deeply oppressed and impoverished because of the Philistines. Notice then, then the Philistines heard of David being anointed. Now they haven't heard that before. They didn't know about that before. Now they heard he's anointed king. Anointing is to empower you to do something. Every believer is anointed by the Holy Ghost. Every believer is given an anointing, a baptism in the Holy Spirit, an initial experience, but it's an empowerment experience,
David was anointed. When God anoints you, His anointing is for a purpose. A big mistake is to look for experiences, and separate your experiences from the purpose. I love experiences, I can't get enough of them, but if I separate experiences from the purpose of God, then the experiences become a deception, they become a trap, and we become irrelevant to the purpose of God. It doesn't matter how great the experience is, it is to lead you nearer to the Lord, so you'll bring people nearer to Him. So your anointing, God anoints us for a purpose. When the Holy Ghost was poured out - we read in Acts 1:8 - it was for a purpose, that we would make Jesus known. The second thing you notice there, in that verse is it says: they heard that David had been anointed king. Kings - notice it didn't say he was anointed a prophet, or a priest, or anything like that; he was anointed a king. This is what upset them, that he was anointed to be a king.
Here's the next thing: kings have dominion. Kings have a territory they rule over. God anointed David king because He had a purpose for Israel, to advance it, and to establish His kingdom in the earth. When you get anointed by the Holy Ghost, it's because God has in mind that you would, as a representative of heaven, advance His kingdom. How much did the kingdom advance last year, because of your effort? What advances were made, either at a personal level, or in the realm of influencing others? Ask the question - so David was anointed king, and kings have a territory, and kings dream of how they can enlarge their territory. Saul failed in his kingship, because he did not understand that he was a king in order to advance the purpose of God. The moment he stopped advancing the purpose of God, and just enjoyed the status he had, that's when he lost the plot, and lost his kingship.