The Anointing of God

Welcome to Insights. This is Pastor John

and today we're going to be talking

about the anointing of God. It's

probably something that can be

misunderstood quite a bit. Um, and the

purpose of today is to give you a better

understanding of actually what the

anointing is. So in its

easiest way to understand, the anointing

is God's power

operating through an individual.

It's not the individual, it's God. And

when we look at things and and we're

looking through the scriptures and it

talks about different places, one of the

things I I always refer to when talking

about how the anointing works.

If you stop and read in Acts,

how as Peter would walk through the

town, the anointing had come to rest on

him in such a way that even his shadow

falling on someone would cause them to

be healed.

And what the anointing is is you've

prayed, you spend time in praise and

worship, the power of God is is present.

You know Jesus said, "Wherever two or

three are gathered together in my name,

there am I in the midst of them." So

when we gather together as believers,

we have access to God's power and the

anointing is there. And that anointing

is available to us because we've spent

time in his presence. We've spent time

in prayer and studying God's word and

seeking a closer relationship with God.

Now, some of the things the anointing

does is it's the Holy Spirit that draws

people to repentance. So, when the word

is preached

and the altar call is given where you

ask people if they would like to receive

Jesus as Lord and Savior, you have two

two things happen.

And uh

one is that the Holy Spirit will draw

someone in to receive Jesus for

salvation. And the person accepts it.

And when they do, it's the anointing

that brings God's grace to that person

and restores them their fellowship with

God. They become justified

and then they're sanctified and

restored.

And that's one operation in the very

beginning. That's what happens at first.

It's the anointing through the Holy

Spirit that draws people in to receive

salvation. The thing about the anointing

is you can stop it.

A lot of people say things to themselves

that these are believers. Why would I

want to stop the anointing of God when

it brings so much with it?

But

it's that same anointing

that raised Jesus from the dead. Paul

said in Romans this, the same spirit

which raised Jesus from the dead lives

in you. So that power is within you. You

have that same power that raised Christ

from the dead. It resides in you when

you accept Jesus. The thing that we have

trouble with is drawing it out. We're

we're we have trouble uh

accepting the fact that God loves us so

much that uh he's given us access to his

spirit in such a way that uh we can

touch other people for him. So he

operates through the people. So the

anointing is God's power flowing through

people. Now when you read about Jesus's

anointing, it says that he was anointed

in the fullness of God's power. And we

operate

in a more finite way. In other words, we

don't have as much of that anointing as

Christ did, but it's the same anointing.

It allows us to reach people and touch

people and set people free through the

operation and gifts of the Holy Spirit

that God has promised us in his word.

And when you do that for people,

they're set free. Freedom comes. That's

the purpose of that anointing is to

change people's lives. And you know

really and truly

when you look at people and they and

they do things to change their lives

unless there is some form or major

uh

event takes place that goes along with

this change they're trying to make. The

change doesn't stay permanent. But when

that change is brought about by the

anointing those per those those changes

remain permanent. They come to a place

where people will be set free and people

are healed and people are delivered. And

if you stop and think about people that

I remember this, I had a was preaching

one night and there was a man came into

the church and he was in the back and I

gave the altar call and he received

Jesus as Lord and Savior and the man was

an alcoholic and he came to the altar

and you could tell by looking at his

face that he was a very heavy user of

alcohol

and we laid hands on him and prayed for

him to receive salvation which he did

and that God would deliver him from the

bondage and addiction of alcohol. And he

began to cry

as the spirit of God was moving on him.

And as he wept and he wiped his face,

his countenance changed. And when he got

up from the altar, his mind was

completely cleared. Um the effects of

the ravaging of alcohol on his body had

been subsided. And the man continued to

come to church and he continued to go to

church until the day he died. And he

never drank alcohol again. God instantly

delivered him from the bondage of

alcohol at salvation. And there was a

physical

appearance

change of this man as the Holy Spirit

through the anointing began to minister

to this man and take care of his needs.

Now,

does that happen every time? No.

Uh, is it possible for it to happen

every time? Yes.

What makes the difference? The

anointing. How much anointing actually

this person was willing to receive at

the time. When I first got saved,

um, and I've shared this testimony many

times. When I first got saved, um, I had

I had a the closest thing I can describe

to it is a vision that I was falling

into this deep, dark, bottomless pit.

And and the devil was telling me, I I

have you and I'll never let you go. And

in the midst of that, I heard a still

small voice. And that voice said, "If

you cry out to me, I'll save you." And

the first time I heard it, I didn't know

if I actually heard it or not. But then

I heard it again. It says, "If you cry

out to me, I will save you." And I

passed out drunk and high. I was on both

alcohol and drugs. And I I said, "Jesus,

if you're real

and if you'll save me,

I will serve you for the rest of my

life."

I woke up instantly clean and sober and

I have never went back to it since. And

that was 41 years ago. So, I had a

supernatural experience with God that

delivered me from drugs and alcohol.

and I've never went back to it.

The anointing of God breaks every yoke

of bondage. It takes people to places

they never thought they could go. And

the important thing for you to remember

is that power

that delivered me from drugs and

alcohol. That power that delivered this

man from alcohol. And you could

literally see the physical changes in

him

as he wept before God

is alive and well today.

And we need to focus on fostering our

relationship with Christ to the place

where the anointing is flowing freely

through us for other people. God's not a

respector of persons. Any person he's

ever anointed in the past, he will

anoint you in the same way if it's

something you desire.

And that's one of the keys. You have to

be willing to surrender

yourself before Christ

for that anointing to flow through you

and its purpose is to help other people.

So when you go to church and they open

up the altar and it says anybody here

have a physical need would you like to

be prayed for? Then the the scripture

says, "If there's any sick among you,"

this is in James chapter 4 or five, "Is

there any sick among you, let them call

for the elders of the church, let them

be anointed with oil, and the prayer of

faith shall save the sick." Uh not save

the sick from sin, but save the sick

from the sickness.

And so, the power of the anointing in

our lives is for restoration.

uh and for

a deeper relationship with Christ. And

that anointing,

God gives it liberally.

I've had many instances in my lifetime

where the anointing would begin to flow

and people would get healed and these

and people would say, "Oh, you know, you

prayed for me and and and God healed

them." and they begin to look at people

who operate the anointing as they're set

aside specially for some special

purpose. And the fact is the Bible says

in J uh Matthew chapter 16

that these signs should follow them

which believe. They lay hands on the

sick and they shall recover. U it's not

that anyone has a very special anointing

over somebody else. It's that God is

using you to meet someone else's need.

That's the power and the purpose of the

anointing. Uh one of the greatest

stories in the Old Testament I think

about when I think about that is Elijah

and uh the woman and the cruise of oil

and and a handful of milk uh flour.

And for 18 months, this woman, a widow,

her son

and Elijah

through God's power

were fed for 18 months. And then God

took it and showed it even greater

because at the end of that time

Elijah tells the widow, "Get every ve v

vessel you can find and continue to pour

the oil out of that cruise

and until you and as long as you have

vessels to pour it into, the oil will

not fail." and she poured enough oil

that it put her into a place of

financial success. She built a room

special for Elijah.

Uh she went from being in a state of

famine and ready to die to a place of

uh

where she lacked for nothing.

because of the anointing.

And then when you read through Elijah's

life and he's getting ready to be taken

up, he tells Elisha,

"If you see me go,

God will grant you the double portion

anointing that you asked for." Now, I've

had I've been prayed for twice in my

life where someone has prayed for me to

have the double portion of the

anointing. And when you read through

that, uh, you're talking about being

able to operate in an area that's not

natural. It's supernatural. I've walked

into churches and I've had the Holy

Spirit showed me what was wrong with

different people. And I've been able to

pray for them and they were were

delivered from it. And they received

restoration.

And all because not because I'm special.

I'm not. But because I was operating in

this place of anointing that God wants

all his people to operate in. Remember,

he's not a respector of persons. If he

will do it for one, he'll do it for you.

He doesn't make any distinction. If he

put that anointing on, if he's put it on

one person,

it means it's available to you. And

whether or not you get it is up to you.

It's not up to God. He already gave it

to you. When Jesus was hanging on the

cross and he said, "It is finished,"

everything you needed was provided at

that point. When Jesus said, "It is

finished," it was all complete.

When he rose from the dead and the Holy

Spirit was poured out on the day of

Pentecost, he empowered that promise of

it is finished and the church was born.

And what happened that day? people went

out and they testified to the goodness

of God and people got saved.

And then the very next event that

happens is Peter and John are on their

way into the temple and the man begging

alms is laying there and he says, you

know, he's asking for money and Peter

looks at him

and him and John are together and he

says,

"Look at us." So he got the man's

attention. And then Peter says, "Silver

and gold have I none, but such as I

have, I give unto you.

Rise up in the name of Jesus Christ of

Nazareth and walk."

And when Peter reached out and grabbed

his hand, instantly he was restored. And

he rose up and he went into the temple

and he was leaping and he was shouting

and he was praising God right in the

temple. And people were astonished

because the only other person who had

ever healed people like this was Jesus.

Yet here's Peter and John going into the

temple and they performed the same kind

of miracle. And then after that, people

were getting healed and people were

receiving salvation. And then Peter

would begin to go through the towns and

wherever his shadow fell on people that

were sick, they would get healed. And so

It's completely and entirely possible

for you as a believer

to walk in that place.

God's not a respector of persons. It

doesn't matter whether you're a man or a

woman. None of that matters. What

matters is how closely you're you are

working on your relationship with

Christ. Um, the anointing doesn't

doesn't come by chance.

Uh, in the Old Testament it did, but not

in the New Testament because he made it

available to everybody. I I stop and

think about this one. I think about a

lot. A lot of people that are Christians

like to live their Christian life like

Samson. They like to go out and play

with the world and then come back and

see if they can still touch God.

because you'll read through Samson's

life and he would do these stupid things

and then he would go out and shake

himself to see if if the power of God

had left him. Uh

God doesn't want you to be a Samson.

He wants you to be a Samuel.

Samuel had a great anointing as well.

Everywhere he went, the power of God

went with him. And that's what God wants

from you. He wants you to be walking in

a place where the anointing is flowing

through you. Not hit and miss, but every

time that you go in someplace, the

anointing is available through you to

touch people that you're keeping your

relationship that close to God. It's

hard at times. Uh it takes a lot of

dedication on your part. You've got to

spend time in prayer. I I use this

analogy a lot. And your relationship

with Christ is like a relationship with

a husband and wife. If a husband and

wife are married and they never talk to

each other, they don't actually have a

relationship. They're just roommates.

But when a husband and wife are truly a

husband and wife, they have a

relationship. They have a close intimate

relationship. They talk they talk to

each other.

Uh they pray for each other. They lift

each other up.

They're there to support each other.

That's the kind of relationship that God

seeks with you. That close intimate

relationship. He gave you a pattern to

understand your relationship with him.

And it's the same as a marriage

relationship between a husband and a

wife. So if you want that powerful

anointing flowing in your life and you

want to reach people and change their

lives, then you're going to have to

spend time in prayer. You're going to

have to spend time in God's word. You're

going to have to seek

God and his anointing to change your

life. So, I want to encourage you.

Read those Bible stories for what they

are.

See what the people did

to have the anointing they had. Find out

what you need to do to touch people for

God. and then pursue it.

Uh it doesn't make you weird or anything

else. And uh if you're married, you

know, it's something that as a husband

and wife you could do together like

Priscilla and Aquilla

uh in in the book of Acts. Uh they

ministered with Paul and in many places.

Uh they spent time together uh making

tents

and they were they were excellent Bible

teachers, but they did it together.

Aquilla and Priscilla. Now, if you're

like Paul and or in my case like me,

you're not married, you're single. Um,

then the person that you're creating

that relationship directly with is God.

The anointing is available for you

anytime you want it. The anointing is

available to you to reach other people.

It has a purpose. That purpose is to for

restoration, reconciliation,

justification through the grace of God.

God uses people

and you're one of his people.

Think about that. Focus on the

anointing. Ask God, "How can I have more

anointing? What can I do to reach more

people? And as I reach more people, help

me Lord to remember that those are your

children. Those are your people. And

that is who you want reached with the

gospel of Jesus Christ. I'll see you

guys next week. And remember, you can do

all things through Christ who

strengthens you.