GOD'S ANOINTING

1Jn 2:27 But the ANOINTING which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

ANOINTING: G5545, chrisma, khris'-mah
From G5548; an unguent or smearing, that is, (figuratively) the special endowment (“chrism”) of the Holy Spirit: - anointing, unction.

God’s anointing is simply a WITNESS to your spirit. You just KNOW whether something is right or wrong, whether it is the truth or a lie. So many times I have seen and heard people peddling absolute and unadulterated horseshit! Am I being too frank?

I am not talking about “Honest Abe” the used car salesmen, or some guy making “deals” from the trunk of his car, I’m talking about people who are claiming to be “prophets”, “evangelists”, and “ministers” of the gospel. Naïve people continue to strain at gnats, while at the same time swallowing camels whole. These false teachers are literally leading countless numbers of people straight to hell!

Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

Jesus also warned us that in these last days, a deceiver would appear that was going to be so convincing that if it were possible, he would deceive even the very elect!

Mat 24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Mat 24:25 Behold, I have told you before.

Every Christian MUST have God’s anointing. The antichrist is not just going to be some smooth talker, or a great orator, he is going to be a miracle worker par excellence! The whole world is about to enter into THE BATTLE OF THE AGES! It is not going to be a normal battle. Satan is going to pull out all the stops AND God is also going to pull out all the stops. WE ARE ALL ABOUT TO BE PULLED INTO THE SUPERNATURAL REALM!

I was listening to two Baptist teachers on the radio and one of their listeners had written into their program and asked them about God’s “anointing”. It was pretty obvious that they did not have a clue about God’s anointing. Most of their discussion appeared to be a chance to put down Pentecostals’ “emotionalism”. They began by saying that Pentecostals believe that God’s anointing is an emotional feeling.

I was raised a Pentecostal, and I will admit that Pentecostals tend to be a lot more emotional than most Baptists. Unfortunately, many modern Pentecostal services are conforming more and more to the average dry Baptist service, and not the other way around. However, these Baptist teachers on the radio were mistaking the “evidence” of God’s anointing with the actual anointing.

I do not have anything against Baptists, or any other Christian sect for that matter. However, the problem with most Christian sects is that they all eventually box themselves into theological dead ends (become spiritually dead)…and that includes many Pentecostal sects.

I believe that God’s “anointing” is truly the dividing line between walking in darkness and walking in the light of God’s Word. God’s anointing is the difference between being intimate with God or being a stranger to God. God’s anointing is the difference between victory and defeat. God’s anointing is the difference between life and death. You can be a born again Bible believing Christian and still be walking in darkness. Let me attempt to explain, and hopefully we will be able to see what we are missing.

Suppose you were lost and walking aimlessly during a very dark night. Then suppose you were found by somebody with a bright oil lamp, and they led you to a road and told you if you follow that road, you would eventually arrive at your destination. Now, also suppose that the person who found you gave you an oil lamp and a little bit of their oil, and they warned you that there are many side streets and roads that branch out from the main road, but if you stayed on the main road you would be safe.

I suspect that if you are like most people, you would want to stick as close as possible with the person with the bright lamp and oil. The person with the bright lamp may lead you quite a distance down the road to your destination. Unfortunately, eventually the person with the bright lamp and oil will no longer be available to guide everyone down that dark road…because they are only human. Everybody has their own assignments and tasks from God. WE ALL NEED OUR OWN OIL SUPPLY!

Now suppose the oil in your lamp has run out and you are almost too scared to move, but you are with a large group of other lost people that were also found by the man with the bright lamp. There is one person in your group who also does not have any oil, but this self-appointed “leader” is very confident that they know the way to your final destination and they will not get lost. Therefore, everybody decides to link hands and follow this confident fellow.

After a long journey, your group meets another person with a lamp and a good supply of oil. The person with the lamp and oil explains that your group has taken a side street and your group is way off the main road, but the confident fellow leading your group strongly disagrees. A few of your group debate whether you should follow the man with the lamp and oil, but the leader of your group, and a few of his close associates, are adamant that there is safety in numbers. The leader asks, “How can so many people be travelling in the wrong direction?”

The person with the lamp and oil asks, “How can you accomplish any work in the dark?” Then the person with a lamp finally shrugs their shoulders and simply walks away from the group, allowing them to continue wandering lost in the dark.

Mat 15:14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

As a matter of fact, when we read about the early Baptist worship services, they bear a striking resemblance to the early Pentecostal worship services:

Baptists required complete spontaneity in worship, so that individuals could respond to God as the Spirit might lead them at any moment. This made Baptist worship somewhat unpredictable, for at any moment a worshiper might be given a doctrine, an exhortation, or a psalm to share with the group. Baptist resistance to set forms of worship in the Prayer Book helps explain their freewheeling style. Baptists insisted that they could not pray out of a book but that prayer and praise must come directly "from the hart." http://www.pastortim.org/baptistbeacon/2000/seventeenth-century-baptists-tim-binion.htm

I have always liked to read history books, including books about different Christian movements throughout history. One thing I have noticed over and over again is that new movements in the Church are nearly always a reaction to the perceived stale and uninspired Church establishment. I will also dare to say that ALL new Christian movements are from the laity of the Church and not from the ecclesiastical authorities.

It also appears that the leadership of God’s “last” anointing always resists any “new” anointing from God. Not only do all new moves of God usually begin with the laity, but they are more often than not fiercely opposed by the established religious authorities. Why would Church history be any different from when Jesus was beginning His new movement?

Mat 21:23 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus did not attend any rabbinical school, nor did He serve an apprenticeship under a famous rabbi. Why?

Joh 7:14 Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.
Joh 7:15 And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?
Joh 7:16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.

The world always looks at a person’s family and their background: Do they have family money? Are their parent’s important people? Did they go to the right schools? Do they know the right people? Do they support the status quo?

God on the other hand, seems to favor plucking unimportant people from complete obscurity, and then using them to turn the world upside down… Jesus was not an exception to the rule! Jesus did not need to be taught by anybody because He had God’s anointing. He had direct access to the Father. If you have God’s anointing… you also have direct access to the Father!

1Jn 2:27 But the ANOINTING which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

I am not saying that once you have the anointing, you can run off and start your own religion or totally disregard fundamental Church doctrine. Starting a new religion is something people WITHOUT God’s anointing tend to do. There are some fundamental Christian truths that are beyond dispute: 1) Jesus Christ is God incarnate. 2) Jesus Christ died for all our sins! 3) Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day! 4) Jesus Christ is physically coming back to the earth. HALLELUJAH! If you can believe and confess these fundamental truths, you are saved. If you cannot believe and confess these fundamental truths, then you are lost and do not have God’s anointing…I don’t care how confident you are, or how good you might feel about yourself.

We are all born into the middle of a spiritual battleground. The battle is raging all around us and it is becoming more and more intense every day, and the battle will continue to increase in intensity as the Day of the Lord draws ever nearer. You may memorize large portions of the Bible; therefore, you will possess a dangerous spiritual weapon. However, if you do not have God’s anointing, it is like going onto a battlefield with a bazooka, and then wearing a blindfold over your eyes.

1Co 9:24 You know that in a race all the runners run, but only one runner gets the prize. So run like that. Run to win!
1Co 9:25 All who compete in the games use strict training. They do this so that they can win a prize--one that doesn't last. But our prize is one that will last forever.
1Co 9:26 So I run like someone who has a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something, not just the air. Easy-to-read version.

If you ever hope to make significant spiritual progress and to be successful in your spiritual battles, you must have revelation and direction from God… you MUST have God’s anointing! It is super important that you have the sword of the spirit (God’s Word), but it is just as important to know who and where your enemy is located, otherwise you are playing a very dangerous spiritual game of blind-man’s bluff.

We are all made up of a spirit, soul and body. Just like the Temple in Jerusalem was made up of the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place, and the Outer Court. When God took up residence in the temple, he first arrived in the Holy of Holies and then His presence filled the whole temple.

1Ki 8:10 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,
1Ki 8:11 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.

There are three steps to a Christian’s “sanctification”. When we first receive salvation, God has entered into our spirit. Next, when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, God has entered into our soul (mind)…and we begin to receive “revelation”. Finally, the Holy Spirit begins to reveal Himself with signs and wonders…and we begin to experience “manifestation” of spiritual gifts and the fruit of the spirit.

1Co 12:7 But the MANIFESTATION of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
1Co 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
1Co 12:9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
1Co 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

MANIFESTATION: G5321, phanerōsis, fan-er'-o-sis
From G5319; exhibition, that is, (figuratively) expression, (by extension) a bestowment: - manifestation.

With due respect to Catholic priests, you need a lot more than a cross and some holy water if you plan on contending with demonic spirits. Also, when the Holy Spirit begins to actually manifest with miracles during a service, people won’t be looking at their watches and worrying about missing their favorite football team on the television. This is why Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches continue to grow, while the old line Catholic and Protestant Churches are dying.

One word of warning, just because a Church has “Pentecostal” or “Charismatic” in their name does not necessarily mean they are actually Pentecostal or Charismatic. I have been to “Pentecostal” Churches where they would show you the door if the Holy Spirit actually manifested during a service. However, I believe your best chance of actually growing and maturing is to find an actual “Pentecostal” Church…and to be baptized in the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues.

I have read articles by people, who claim that they speak in tongues but that it never made any difference in their Christian growth. There are even people who speak in tongues that have completely fallen away from Christ. I really don’t know what to make of them. I suspect, like Judas Iscariot, there is some secret sin that they have allowed to overcome them (i.e. lust, greed, pride, etc., etc.). Don’t allow one bad apple to scare you away from enjoying the fruit from the rest of the orchard!

Also, Christian growth is often a long, slow process. It usually takes far longer to mature into a victorious Christian than we ever imagined possible, but I suspect it is because we need much more pruning by God than we ever imagined possible.

Jesus put a whole lot of emphasis on seeking the Holy Spirit. This should illustrate that receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not something that happens automatically when you are first saved. When Jesus told us to seek and keep seeking, and to ask and to keep asking, and to knock and to keep knocking, He was not talking about asking for a new jet airplane, or a new Mercedes Benz, or a mansion on Lake Como…Jesus was talking about seeking the baptism of the Holy Spirit!

Luk 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Luk 11:10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Luk 11:11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Luk 11:12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
Luk 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Do not miss out on receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, He is your right and privilege as a child of the Living God…but you must seek Him until He be found.

Mat 13:44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
Mat 13:45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
Mat 13:46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.