SERMON VIDEO LINK
Anointed But Not Appointed
Anointed but Not Appointed – Jeremiah Johnson at The Roads Church – I’m believing for a great impartation tonight. I also believe that we’re streaming. God bless you! I believe that God is reaching people through media today, and it’s a real honor to be here. As I mentioned this morning, I have a spiritual son with me, Dominic D. Tresy.
Dom will be back at the book table after service. I will spend a few moments signing books and also greeting you. We brought a couple of books here. I mentioned this morning that I’ve written extensively on church planning, five-fold ministry—something that God has called me to do over the last 15 years. I do believe that we’re in a new era. I do believe that God is calling us back to the ancient paths, and I have blueprints that I believe God has given me for this generation.
You can get this book, Prophetic Pioneering, back there, and then we also brought The Warrior Bride. I had an encounter several years ago where I saw a woman dressed in a white dress. It was a dream that I had at night, and I looked down at her feet and saw commando boots that she had on.
The Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, I’m just not coming back for a bride; I’m coming back for a warrior bride.” I really believe that the Lord is equipping the church for spiritual warfare. We must not be ignorant of Satan’s devices, and I want to encourage you to grab this book if you can—to get equipped for the battle that we’re in. Amen?
An Audible from the Holy Spirit
All right. I feel that the Holy Spirit is calling an audible tonight. So, I kind of flow in the audible, but when He calls an audible, I’m like, “Oh boy, this is really going to be interesting.”
I have been preparing and feeling led up until worship to preach a message out of the book of Acts, but as we were in worship, I felt strongly that the Lord began to speak to me about sharing part of my story with you.
For me, this is something that I’ll do maybe once in every 500 messages I speak. I don’t really even remember the last time I shared this part of my story. So, I’m just trusting that as I follow the Holy Spirit, maybe it’s for one person, maybe it’s for a group of people, but I want to talk about my journey in the Lord.
I want you to just pray with me, and then we’ll have some ministry time and just see where God wants to take us. Is that cool? If it’s not, I’m doing it anyway, but I just appreciate the liberty of the Holy Spirit and am just praying that Jesus would be glorified in our midst.
Let’s pray together.
Jesus, we thank You for this time. We thank You that no one is here by mistake or coincidence. Lord, You are writing our story. Lord, You are continuing to reveal Yourself as good. And Lord, I just offer up my story—the pain, the suffering, the glory, and the wins. Lord, I pray tonight, Holy Spirit, that You would just lead me to share what it is that You want me to share, Lord, and leave the rest to You.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
“God is saying to many of us: Yes, you are anointed, but you’re in a season where I will appoint you. Will you declare my goodness even in the fiery trial?” – Anointed but Not Appointed – Jeremiah Johnson
The Difference Between Anointing and Appointing
If you have your Bibles, would you turn to 1 Samuel 16? [Applause] Y’all are awesome!
1 Samuel, chapter 16. Samuel, the prophet, is headed to Bethlehem. He is in search of who would become the next king of Israel, and many of us know the story, but I want to maybe give us some notes or some concepts that we can think on.
1 Samuel 16:12—So he sent and brought him in. Now, he was ruddy with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. The Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
David is anointed king over Israel, but he has not yet been appointed. I want to tell you tonight that there is a difference between the anointing and the appointing.
David has this experience where he is anointed king over Israel, but the timeline here is that he will not be appointed king for almost 13 years. If I’m David, I’m kind of having this conversation with Samuel, like, “Hey man, you kind of left out a big part of the prophecy. You remember my anointing service? You remember when you just kind of came in and anointed me King over Israel? But you left out the part where, from the anointing to the appointing, I would be chased by a demonized leader who was supposed to be my spiritual father.
You know, you kind of left out all the hell, all the pain, all the—are you tracking with me? There’s a difference. I got the prophetic word, but the prophetic word doesn’t come to pass tomorrow. The prophetic word begins the process, and a lot of times, the process doesn’t exactly go as quickly as we would hope.
There are so many people in the body of Christ who can claim, “Yes, I have been anointed by the Lord,” but have you been appointed yet? Have you passed the test? Have you won in the mundane? The Word of God says, “Many are called, but few are chosen.”
Especially those of us who probably have somewhat of a prophetic call—I do lots of mentoring. I do lots of training with prophets and prophetic people around the world. I do them in person; I do them online. I tell prophets, “Your training ground is the wilderness.” The training ground for the true prophetic is called rejection.
“Anointing without appointing leads to destruction. The process is what refines us for the weight of our calling.” – Anointed but Not Appointed – Jeremiah Johnson
The Process of Refinement
There’s a difference between being rejected and walking in the spirit of rejection. It’s like you get a group of prophets, and it’s the same story: “You’ve been rejected. I’ve been rejected. We’ve all been rejected.” Get over it. You’re not being punished; you’re being processed.
These kinds of messages don’t go viral in this generation because the ways of God are non-microwavable. God wants to raise up shining stars, not shooting stars. God, as a Father, is not interested in raising up someone anointed where the anointing takes them where their character can’t keep them.
And we continue to see one after the other after the other—yeah, anointed, but did they go through the process to be appointed? And so you see David go on this journey, and even at that, we know that he fell. Even through the 33-year process, there were still unrefined areas of his life that God was after.
I believe the process I speak of is lifelong because we are all on a journey to be conformed to the image and likeness of Christ. Everyone on the Earth is born in the image of God, but not everyone is being conformed to His likeness. It’s a revelation.
To be conformed to His likeness, we must submit ourselves to the process of character transformation. You look at the life of the Lord Jesus—think about it. He was processed for 30 years for three years of ministry.
You think you’ve got 33 years of life? Thirty of those years are going to be spent processed. Only three of those years are going to be public.
“Remember: Your anointing is real, but the process to appointment is vital! Stay faithful, stay ready, and trust in God’s perfect timing.” – Anointed but Not Appointed – Jeremiah Johnson
Paul’s Journey and the Call to Consecration
I talk to people about the life of Saul-turned-Paul. Most people think Saul was knocked off his horse on the road to Damascus, and he just wakes up and writes the New Testament. But you have to read Galatians chapter 1 to recognize Saul is knocked off his horse, he goes to the desert of Arabia for three years, and he does not return to Jerusalem for fourteen.
We’re in this “Give it to me, give it to me now!” mindset. “I got the call. I’m anointed. I can do this. I can do that.” But God is not impressed with what He’s given us. God is looking for people who can carry the weight of His glory.
In the New Testament, I say it like this: There’s a calling, there’s a consecration, and then there’s a commissioning. Many people wrongly believe, “Because I’m called, I’ve been commissioned.” But when you skip out on the consecration process of the Lord, you might have your time of fame, but when you crash and burn, you’ll take down too many people with you.
Walking Through the Wilderness
God is raising up people in the earth who are willing to go through a process, who are willing to walk with the Lord. And I want to share a little snapshot of my story, just to invite you in.
Sure, I could get up here and preach a powerful message, but I don’t believe that’s what God wants tonight. I believe that there are people in this room that God wants to meet you in your wilderness.
I believe there are people in this room who are mad at God—just admit it. I believe that there are people in this room who are jealous of other people that God has raised up, and you’re wondering, “When’s my turn?”
I want to encourage you that God wants to meet us in every season of our lives.
“You’ve been anointed, but have you been appointed? The enemy may try to stop you, but God’s plan is GREATER! 🔥
Declare it today: “Satan, you will NEVER win!” – Anointed but Not Appointed – Jeremiah Johnson
A Personal Journey of Testing and Refinement
I mentioned this morning that I was called from my mother’s womb, very much like Jeremiah chapter 1. My mom had a dream to name me Jeremiah—that God would use me prophetically, that I’d write books, that I’d travel the nation.
I was really blessed to grow up in a charismatic pastor’s home in Indianapolis, Indiana. I grew up in an environment that welcomed the gifts that God had given me from an early age.
I credit my Sunday school teachers for not settling for animal crackers and good video games—they wanted to baptize us in the Holy Spirit as early as possible. They wanted to hear what God was speaking to us through dreams and visions.
“Many want the public platform, but they don’t want the private process. The anointing is not enough—God must refine us before He appoints us.” – Anointed but Not Appointed – Jeremiah Johnson
Faith in the Fire
I grew up in the faith, in the charismatic Pentecostal movement, and all of a sudden, these songs we used to sing— “He gives and takes away, He gives and takes away, my heart will choose to say, blessed be the name of the Lord”— all of a sudden, I’m rethinking these lyrics.
I have a decision to make during this time. My decision was:
Would I turn to God in this moment of crisis, or would I turn away from Him?
My dad was in the ministry up until this point, and due to the crisis, he decided to get out of ministry. His name is Joseph, and his decision during my mom’s mental illness was to get a full-time job in a factory—working Monday to Friday, 4:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
I asked the Lord what I should do. The Lord said, “Go in with your dad and hold his hands up, or he will die.”
I didn’t know my dad would become suicidal due to my mom’s mental illness.
There are so many people in the body of Christ who can claim, “Yes, I have been anointed by the Lord,” but have you been appointed yet? Have you passed the test? Have you won in the mundane? The Word of God says, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” – Anointed but Not Appointed – Jeremiah Johnson
The Crucible of Suffering
I put what I thought was my call to ministry on hold and went back to Indiana. Growing up, my dad was my hero. He was my spiritual leader. He was someone who was strong.
And now, I find my dad in a season where the roles are reversed. Rather than him holding me up, I’m holding him in my arms as he cries himself to sleep at night.
I don’t know if you’ve ever had that happen—where someone in your life is a rock, someone you trust, and suddenly, they’re the one who needs you to hold them together.
I was 19 years old. I had a call on my life. I was anointed, but now I was in the crisis of a lifetime, trying to figure out what was going on.
Closing Thoughts: Will You Declare His Goodness?
Each of us has a gift that we can use for God’s glory. Each of us has an opportunity to impact people in the sphere of influence God has given us.
And I’m praying tonight, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that something would rise up inside of us—that we would look the enemy in the face and say, “You will never win!”
No matter what happens, I refuse to let the devil win. God is good. Period.
📖 Scripture References:
📌 Jeremiah 1:5 – Called from the womb
📌 Matthew 22:14 – Many are called, but few are chosen
📌 Romans 8:28 – God works all things for good
📌 Galatians 1 – Paul’s time in the wilderness
📌 Genesis 50:20 – What the enemy meant for evil, God uses for good
To Learn more about Jeremiah Johnson, and his ministry at Altar Global, visit: https://www.thealtarglobal.com/