Welcome to Waymaker Church! We are so excited to have you join us today! We exist to Encounter, Live for, and Advance the Kingdom of God!

As we continue to look at the outward work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, I want to draw your attention back to the fact that the Holy Spirit is in you for your benefit, but He comes upon you for the benefit of others. The power of the Holy Spirit active on a person is what we refer to as the anointing of the Spirit.

This is not something isolated to the New Testament. There are many stories of God anointing people in the Old Testament for the benefit of others. As we begin, let me share a few with you.

In the book of Judges: Othniel Judges 3. Gideon Judges 6-9. Samson Judges 14-17. Saul 1 Samuel 11:6. Azariah 2 Chronicles 15.

• Othniel. The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord after the death of Joshua. They began to serve the false God’s Baal and Asherah. Judges 3:9–10 “When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-Rishathaim.”

• Gideon. One thing I love most about Gideon is that like many of us he was fearful of the assignment. There is a theophany (Christ revealed in the Old Testament), Judges 6:11–12 “Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!””

Gideons response was one of fear and frustration. Over the rest of the chapter and into the next few chapters you see a dialogue to convince Gideon that God was with him.

In Judges 6:33–34 you see the effect of the anointing. “Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet, and the Abiezrites gathered behind him.”
The result is that he subdued His enemies.

• Samson. In Judges 13 another Theophany moment happens for the brith of Samson. Samson’s mother was barren, Manoah his father prayed for a son. The Lord appears and prophesies that they would have a son, and that He was to be a nazarite (one who was set apart from the world and dedicated to God completely).

As Samson grew the Spirit of the Lord moved upon him. Judges 13:25 “And the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.” Judges 14:5–6 “So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.”

In His life, he would have great victories over his enemies. One side note to about his life. There is a great lesson not to take the anointing of God for granted. He allowed himself to be deceived and it cost him. Judges 16:19–20 “Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.”

• There are many more examples I could share like Saul when He became king and how the Lord moved upon him 1 Samuel 11:6, or how the Lord came upon Azariah the son of Oded during the reforms of Asa in 2 Chronicles 15:1.

The anointing of the Spirit, as I have shared, also rested upon Jesus.

Last week, I shared with you one of the most important needs we have before we ever attempt to do exploits for God. We need to have affirmation of identity in Him. Our identity comes from Him. If we are to see others correctly, we must view ourselves correctly also. In Him, you are loved, chosen, forgiven, adopted, and empowered by His grace.

As we continue to look at Jesus who is our model what else did he experience after being anointed by the Spirit?

Can I point out to you that this portion of scripture is one of those situations where we have the thought, “It’s not like I thought”. You would think that because He is the Son of God, and anointed by the Spirit that the expected next step surely would be to go immediately crush the enemy.

What do we see instead? THE SPIRIT led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted (tested) by the devil. To be tested is to be put to the test in order to ascertain the nature of someone, including imperfections, faults, or other qualities.

How does Jesus prepare for the test? He fasts for a period of 40 days.
Why fast? Fasting denies our flesh what it wants so that we can focus more clearly on strengthening our spirits. I think it’s important to note here from the passage that when you face off with the enemy, you don’t want to do it in your own strength.

1. Temptation #1. Matthew 4:2–3“And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

This is a test of provision through identity. Does He trust that God will sustain him, or should he choose to provide for himself? Satan desires for him to use his abilities to meet His own need apart from the provision of God.

This is what I spoke of last week. If you don’t know who you are and whose you are you will be tempted to use your gifting’s to provide for yourself. Jesus overcomes first temptation by the word.

Matthew 4:4 “But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

2. Temptation #2. Matthew 4:5–6 “Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.”

This is a test of God’s providence through identity. God’s providence is the governance of God by which He, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe.

The test is essentially, if you are the foretold Son who was to come and make all things new, then God will care for you even if you jump off the building. This action would be quite presumptuous in that it declares that I can do what I want and God will simply take care of me. The thought is rooted in pride and arrogance.

What is important to see here is that Satan uses the word to tempt Jesus. He is quoting Psalm 91:11-12 to Jesus. Jesus overcomes again by the word.

Matthew 4:7 “Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

The first two temptations deal directly with you using what God has placed in you for your own benefit. Your hungry, don’t trust God, feed yourself. Your supposed to be used greatly by God, let’s test Him and find out by doing something foolish and rash to prove it.

The final temptation in the wilderness deals with Jesus’s assignment. Jesus knows that He who gets the kingdoms of the earth, gets the souls. Jesus came to redeem the souls of man.

3. Temptation #3. Matthew 4:8–9 “Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

I see two separate elements in this temptation. The first, Satan will always try to present you with what seems like an easy way to fulfill the assignment God has given you. Instead of following the leading of the Holy Spirit. He will try to make you think you can skip the process.

The second element is the element of worship and devotion. He was tested to see if He would give His worship and devotion to something other than God to get what He wanted.

Victory in Christ through the anointing of the Spirit is costly. It is purchased in the secret place as you place your life, dreams, aspirations, desires, and future on the altar before the Lord. Anyone desiring to be used by the Lord will always face the temptation to accomplish his purpose in our own power. We must not give in.
Jesus overcame by the word.

Matthew 4:10 “Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

I want you to see today, that affirmation of identity and testing are prerequisites for ministry. It is imperative that the Lord reveals the condition of our hearts to us before we have impact or influence on others.

As much as we detest it, we need the wilderness experience. Our faith and devotion needs to be tried. We need to solidify our identity in Christ so that we might have maximum impact for the kingdom of God.

Like Jesus our model we develop in the secret place, and we are strengthened through fasting, prayer, and standing on the word of God.


After Jesus completes His testing in the wilderness He begins His ministry. What I love is how Luke describes his exit from the wilderness.

In Luke’s account of the wilderness temptation it says, in Luke 4:14 “Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.”

Victory in the time of testing prepared Jesus to walk in the power of the Spirit, anointed for His assignment.

Next week, we are going to look outworking of the Spirit in Jesus ministry.