In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war…
The Restoration of the Kingly Anointing to the Church for the End Times
Regional Elijah Challenge Affiliates
It is springtime for the Church. Prophecies are blossoming regarding the blessings that the Lord desires to pour forth in the year 2007. The Church has bloomed and responded with gathering after gathering of priestly intercession and worship unto Him. The problem is that spring is also the time for kings to go off to war (2 Samuel 11:1). There can be a consequence when they fail to do so.In the last few decades the Lord has restored to the body of Christ the understanding of the priestly anointing. As priests, believers offer sacrifices unto the Lord. Prayer, worship, fasting, and a consecrated life of holiness are manifestations of such priestly sacrifices which are pleasing to the Lord. There are private expressions as individual believers minister before the Lord as well as expressions where many believers may gather together---sometimes outside in public view---to intercede and to worship Him. Along with the priestly anointing there can be manifestations of the prophetic anointing where God speaks to the Church or to the world.
What has so far been neglected in the larger body of Christ is the kingly anointing. This is the third and final anointing which will be restored to the Church. The purpose of this third anointing is primarily for her to fulfill the Great Commission before the return of Jesus Christ. The balance between the priestly office and the kingly office must be restored.
The priestly office by itself cannot complete the Great Commission that Christ gave the Church. He commands us to go and heal the sick, to cast out demons, to preach the gospel to all creation, and to disciple all nations (Mark 16:15-20; Matthew 28:18-20). These commands require us to go out to the world and to proclaim the kingdom of God with a demonstration of power. There must be a direct confrontation with the enemy involving ministry to the lost. The priestly anointing, however, is not for ministry to the lost but rather for ministry directed up to the Lord. By contrast, the kingly anointing on earth is primarily for ministry to the lost, for war and destroying the works of the enemy who has bound them.
At present there is a definite imbalance between the two. What passes for missions and evangelism nowadays can be prayer walks, praying on site, and prayer/worship gatherings in public places. While not minimizing the importance of prayer in evangelism, prayer by itself can never take the place of preaching the gospel to the lost. When Jesus sent out the seventy disciples in Luke 10:9, he commanded them to “heal the sick, and tell them ‘the kingdom of God is near you.’” Yet today the Church for the most part has disobeyed this command to heal the sick because of ignorance and fear.
The fact is that when we preach the gospel to the four-billion-plus pagan souls who live outside of the West, we must also heal the sick as Jesus commanded to demonstrate to them that the gospel is the absolute truth. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, idol-worshippers, adherents of witchcraft, even "ordinary" sinners---without seeing the miracles---simply will not follow Christ in appreciable numbers.
Healing the sick as part of the proclamation of the gospel to the lost requires the operation of the kingly anointing. This understanding is for the most part unknown in the Church today. As Jesus sent out his disciples to proclaim the gospel, he gave them His authority to heal the sick and cast out demons. This authority over disease and demons was to be wielded in the same way that a king would give commands. When one gives commands to diseases and demons in this way, one is moving in the kingly anointing and they will obey our commands. Moreover, a king goes to war to destroy his enemies. The kingly anointing is being restored to the Church today for destroying the works of the enemy---primarily by healing the sick and casting out demons---as proof to the world that Jesus is the only way to the Father.
Why is there such an imbalance today between the priestly anointing and the kingly anointing? Part if not most of the reason is fear and doubt. As important as prayer is, it does not take great mountain-moving faith for believers to pray or to praise God in public. Once you are done, you disperse and go home. You are not there to prove to the lost that your God is the only true God, but only to seek His face. But healing the sick and proclaiming the Kingdom of God in public as Jesus commanded are an entirely different matter. Like Elijah on Mt. Carmel calling on the Lord to send the fire, you are trusting God to give visible evidence of His power and existence---that is, miraculous healings---as you proclaim the Kingdom of God to the lost. For the typical believer, this is completely beyond the pale and beyond their faith. Yet Jesus commands us to preach the gospel in that way.
Perhaps we now have better understanding of what Jesus may have meant in Luke 18:8 when he said, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
The good news is that God is now in the process of restoring the balance between the priestly anointing and the kingly anointing. He is restoring the understanding of faith---especially mountain-moving faith---to the Church. It is with mountain-moving faith that we exercise our authority over disease and demons and operate in the kingly anointing (Mark 11:23).
Yes, the Church will continue to pray to the Lord as she should. But after we pray, we will not simply hide in church and “trust the Lord.” Rather, we will go to the lost wherever they are. We will heal their sick in the name of Jesus Christ and then tell them, ‘the kingdom of God is near you.’”
Jesus himself preached the gospel in a similar way when he was on earth.
John 20:30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
And Jesus promised that we his disciples would do likewise:
John 14:12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
It is time for the Church to go off to war on earth as we have been commanded by Christ in the Great Commission. This is to be distinguished from "spiritual warfare" as taught in some quarters today. It is not clear from Scripture that direct war against powers and principalities in the heavenlies is the domain of the Church. We do not see any actual example of this practice performed by the disciples of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. What is clear from Scripture is that we must pray to the Lord and that we must proclaim the kingdom of God to the lost with power.
In addition...
Keep in mind what befell David when he decided to stay at home in his palace instead of going off to war as kings normally do in the springtime. Read the sobering account in 2 Samuel Chapter 11. Although David was the consummate worshipper, he was also a great man of war. When he neglected the latter responsibility, he was tempted and fell into adultery. Has not the Church in some ways already committed adultery with the world?
For more on mountain-moving faith, please click here.
Luke 10:9 "Heal the sick who are there and tell them,
'The kingdom of God is near you.’"
