Toure Roberts - Anointed to Solve Problems

There is an anointing on the church to solve problems. Oh, you’ve got to catch what I’m saying. It’s not just doing good, you know, and feeding people—that’s wonderful; we can do all that too. But no, no, no, there is a philanthropic anointing on the church that allows the church to solve societal problems. See, I thought—and you thought—we thought that the anointing was simply for preaching. Oh glory, I feel the Lord! We thought that the anointing was for laying hands on the sick and watching them be healed. We thought that the anointing was only for driving out devils and raising the dead. But as I rethink church and look at the perfect model of the expression of God in the kingdom, I see Jesus. The Bible says that He was anointed to be philanthropic, to solve problems supernaturally. As many of you know, I was on the board of a major city-wide outreach called One Day L.A. Google them and check them out. One of the things that really blew me away was how the Lord had given the leadership team wisdom on solving problems that the county of L.A., the city of L.A., and state and local officials had not been able to solve. One of the areas we addressed was the backlog in the foster care system. Studies show that a lot of the dysfunction we see in the world today can be traced back to fatherlessness or to things that have broken down the family, specifically to the foster care system. Isn’t that something? So, we began working with these organizations, leveraging our wisdom, insight, and relationships to decrease the caseload. As a result, many foster children who once lacked homes are now finding solutions and placements. One of the things this pandemic has done is introduce modern problems. One problem the pandemic introduced is debt, specifically medical debt, because people got sick. You didn’t plan on getting sick; you were saving for a house, a car, or college. Who has savings set aside for, «If I get sick, I have $40,000 just in case»? The average person doesn’t. So now, not only have you lost your job or struggled with your business due to sickness, but now you have bills, and you’re in debt. Through our organization, we were able to raise, watch this, over $20 million to eradicate debt, solving a problem that not even welfare could solve. Let me tell you something about the Holy Spirit. Let’s turn to Isaiah, chapter 11. I just want to read verse 2. It’s interesting because we think we understand the Holy Spirit, but I want us to recognize what we received. Isaiah 11:2 says, «The Spirit of the Lord”—speaking of Jesus when He would come, this is a prophecy of Jesus—“shall rest upon Him: the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.» In other words, there’s more to the Spirit than you think. Just give me one of those attributes, and I’m good! The Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge—I’m getting excited right now! Knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord: the reverence of the Lord, the deep reverence of the Lord, postures you in a way where He reveals His secrets to you (Psalm 25:14). Are you tracking with me? So, in all that, you don’t think there’s an anointing in the Spirit of wisdom, revelation, counsel, might, and knowledge? You don’t think that what God has anointed us for lacks the ability to figure anything out? There’s a passage of Scripture in Deuteronomy 4:6 (or 6:4; study it when you get a chance; it’s powerful). It’s when Moses is giving instruction to the children of Israel and says something brilliant and profound. He says, «These things I’m teaching you now.» He was teaching from the Torah. We know that on Pentecost, the Torah became Spirit, just as it was prophesied—Jeremiah 31:33, somewhere around there; read the whole Bible, it’s in there. But Jeremiah prophesied and said, «The law that you’re reading will be in your hearts and minds.» So, when Moses was teaching the Torah and saying to keep these commandments, he said, «For this will be your wisdom and understanding in the sight of all the peoples.» Wisdom elevates you. Your ability to solve problems elevates you. We attracted the attention of many people because, «Who is this crazy radical bunch, anointed to solve problems we have been trying to fix?» We were making them look good, and then, next thing you know, we’re at the SoFi Stadium—a brand-new stadium, by the way. I mean, ten things haven’t happened there yet; I don’t even think five things have occurred there yet. And now all of…