[Listen to post here.]

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Having considered what the practical expression of the priestly and prophetic aspects of the anointing of the Holy Spirit may look like when embodied in a local expression of the Body of Christ, we will now consider the kingly aspect of the anointing in similar manner.

Kingly anointing/The face of the lion

• Divine habitation – The first work of the kingly anointing is to establish a place of habitation for the King of kings and Lord of lords in the midst of His people.  Built upon the priestly and prophetic workings of the Holy Spirit, the kingly anointing brings God’s people into a deeper place of reverence, consecration, brokenness, and surrender to the One who sits on the throne.  Worship of Him becomes marked by extravagant, high praises and holy, contrite reverence.  God’s unrivaled worthiness and absolute authority are exalted as man’s religious pride and presumptuousness are humbled and broken before Him.  Subsequently, the Lord Jesus Christ increasingly becomes known in His manifest presence as sovereign Head and reigning Lord in the midst of His people by the power of the Holy Spirit.
• Personal holiness – The kingly anointing works to establish the rule and reign of Christ in the midst of His people from the inside out and from the individual to the collective.  The primary beachhead of the kingdom of God, therefore, is within the individual hearts of believers.  This is accomplished through the persistent dethroning of self through the inward working of the cross and the consistent enthroning of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit within the heart.  This leads to lives marked by personal holiness in surrender to God’s Spirit and obedience to His Word in all areas of life, spiritual and natural.
• Family godliness, orderliness, and peace – As the Holy Spirit expands the kingdom of God outward from individual hearts, He seeks to establish the orderliness and righteousness of His kingdom within the homes and families of the ekklesia.  The kingly anointing equips and empowers husbands to sacrificially lay down their lives for their wives and children as Christ-like, servant leaders.  It enables wives to honor and respect their husbands as they serve their families in sacrificial love and devotion.  It effectually works within the hearts of children to cause them to obey their parents as they are raised in the fear and admonition of the Lord. (See Ephesians 5:22-6:4; Colossians 3:18-21)  The households of such an expression of the ekklesia increasingly exhibit godliness, orderliness, and peace as the heavenly fruit of the kingly anointing.
• Godly leadership – Leadership under the kingly anointing tends toward a plurality of mutually-submitted, non-lording-over, servant leaders, who inspire by example and lay down their lives for the flock.  They are the most zealous to see the headship of Christ spiritually established and submitted to in the ekklesia and most ardently endeavor to never usurp His rightful place as Chief Shepherd, sole Mediator, and uncontested Head.  They have a holy disdain for honorific titles, distinctive garb, exclusive privileges, the love of money, and the love of having the preeminence.  (See Matthew 23:5-12; Luke 22:24-27; John 10:11; 1 Peter 5:4; 3 John 1:9)  They abhor sectarianism and party spirit, and ever seek to promote the unity of the one body of Christ locally and beyond.  They live lives of humility, holiness, and patient, sacrificial zeal for Christ and His heavenly kingdom.
• Social/cultural influence – An expression of the ekklesia that is substantially embodying the kingly anointing becomes a “city on a hill [that] cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14).  Its members become “salt” and “light”  (Matthew 5:14-16) in their homes, jobs, and spheres of influence so that the society and culture around them become challenged and changed through their godly witness and righteous lives.  Works of justice and mercy extend to the community among which they live and the Father is glorified in the eyes of unbelievers by their multitude of good works done in humility and compassion. (Matthew 5:16)
• Spiritual warfare – Lastly, the kingly anointing, symbolized by the face of the lion, is a warring Spirit.  Beyond the ever-present need for defensive warfare, the kingly anointing is fully intent on offensive warfare against Satan and his demonic strongholds.  In this regard, the priestly and prophetic aspects of the anointing synchronize together with the kingly authority of the Spirit to wage battle against the forces and fortresses of darkness.  Spirit-anointed, priestly/prophetic high praises, intercession, and “sword wielding” (of the Word) become the primary weapons of the spiritual offensive that is waged.  An expression of the ekklesia that is substantially endued and imbued with the kingly anointing will have an established culture of spiritual warfare as an inherent part of its spiritual DNA.

These, then, are some of the primary aspects of the kingly anointing that God desires His Ekklesia to have incorporated into its collective expressions.  Until we have substantially pressed into these aspects of the Spirit’s working, we are in need of continued growth and development until we more fully apprehend our high calling as “the anointed Body of the Anointed One.”

“Therefore, leaving the elementary message about the Messiah, let us go on to maturity…”  Hebrews 6:1 HCB

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Having sketched a picture of what an expression of the Body of Christ may look like that is substantially embodying and expressing the priestly/face of the ox, prophetic/face of the eagle and kingly/face of the lion aspects of the anointing, we will next take a look at the culminating aspect of the anointing: sonship/face of the man.

Related:
Audio Reboot (#thecorporatechrist)  [First seven posts in collection in mp3 playlist and with original post links.]
Four Faces in the Mirror (#thecorporatechrist)
Progressing in the Anointing (#thecorporatechrist)
The Anointed Body of the Anointed One: Priestly Anointing (#thecorporatechrist)
The Anointed Body of the Anointed One: Prophetic Anointing (#thecorporatechrist)