WBS.194
FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
THE HOLY
SPIRIT – XIV
The Anointing
of the Holy Spirit - 2
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of IAUE is upon Me, because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to
set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To
preach the acceptable year of IAUE.
20 And
he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the
eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21 And
he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Elisha recognized that in order to walk in the spirit of
Elijah; he had to walk like Elijah. His
life was no longer his own. To
demonstrate he understood that, he tore his outer garment in two. Only then could he take up the mantle of
Elijah. When he did, he immediately began doing the works of Elijah.
Last week we discussed the story of Elijah and
Elisha; how Elisha wanted a “double portion” of the spirit that was upon
Elijah. He wanted the inheritance that
was due the firstborn son. This is a critical point to understand. Elisha was not seeking two times the amount
of the spirit that was upon Elijah.
Too often, today, we hear preachers promising
their audiences a greater anointing, or a double anointing, or more of the Holy
Spirit than they have had before. This
mistaken notion comes from two things:
1) Showboating. The preacher is
looking for a bigger offering; so he promises something to his audience that
has no foundation in reality; but it stirs their emotions; and 2) A
misunderstanding of the Scripture that refers to Messiah receiving the Holy
Spirit “without measure” (John 3:34). Thus, they believe that we receive
varying measures of the Holy Spirit.
After his baptism, Yahushua was led into the
wilderness for 40 days. When Messiah
emerged from the wilderness, he began healing the sick and casting out demons
and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of Elohim. His fame spread across the region well before
he made it to his home town of Nazareth (which is the setting for our opening
verses, today). As was his custom, he
entered the synagogue and opened the scroll of Isaiah (to the place we refer to
as Chapter 61), and he read the following:
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of IAUE is upon Me, because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to
set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of IAUE.
20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the
minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue
were fastened on him.
21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture
fulfilled in your ears.
This was a prophecy about the coming Messiah;
so to declare it was fulfilled in their ears was Yahushua declaring to his home
town that he was the Messiah. They
resented the implication that this man whom they knew as a child that grew up
in their midst was the Messiah that the Torah and the Prophets prophesied would
come. After all “prophets don’t grow up
from little boys, do they?” (A favorite lyric of mine from a Keith Green song)
Let’s examine this prophecy. We have read it
so many times, and have heard it preached so many times; and yet we have never
understood what it says. Yahushua said the Spirit of IAUE anointed him for a
specific purpose. The Spirit of IAUE was upon him because he anointed him to preach the gospel
to the poor. That was it. That was
the object of the anointing. That was why
the Spirit anointed him. By obeying the leading of the Holy Spirit to preach
the gospel to the poor, the anointing of the Holy Spirit produced five results.
- It
healed the brokenhearted.
- It
preached deliverance to the captives.
- It
opened the eyes of the blind.
- It
set at liberty those who were held captive.
- It
proclaimed the acceptable year (the jubilee) of IAUE.
We should probably note that the “poor” to whom
Yahushua was to preach were the poor in spirit.
All mankind is poor in spirit.
Many do not recognize it. Those
who believe they are rich in spirit cannot hear the gospel. They are too important in their own eyes to
receive it.
While ministering with his disciples, the
Master sent them out to other cities “to preach.” In the course of preaching the gospel of the kingdom,
they healed the sick and cast out demons.
They set the prisoners free.
Matthew 10:7 And as ye go, preach,
saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast
out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Luke 9:1 Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave
them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.
2 And he
sent them to preach the kingdom of Elohim, and to heal the sick.
Even after the resurrection, in one of his
final messages to his disciples, Yahushua commanded them to preach the gospel;
and He promised them that the gospel would still produce the same results even
after he was physically no longer with them.
Mark 16:15 And
he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to
every creature.
16 He
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall
be damned.
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my
name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any
deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and
they shall recover.
“He that believes and
is baptized” are the “poor” who do not resist the gospel. “He that believes not” are
those the Master commanded his disciples to leave shaking the dust off their
feet when they left. Do you see what the
Master said “shall
follow” those who “preach the gospel?”
Moments before he ascended before them, the
Master told his disciples that they would receive power after the Holy Spirit
had come upon them; and that power is what would make them “witnesses” (Acts 1:8). The disciples would receive
the anointing of the Spirit of IAUE (“The Spirit of
IAUE is upon me because he has anointed me…”) and the purpose of the
anointing is to make them a witness. This
word “witness” in the Greek is “martuse,”
which mean “a witness who will stand by his testimony even unto death.” It is the word from which the word “martyr” is
derived.
Christians the world over are seeking a “double
portion” of the Holy Spirit and they do not know they already have the
anointing of the Firstborn Son of IAUE abiding inside of them. They want the
power of the Holy Spirit; but they want it to just “happen” to them. They do not want to DO the Word of
Elohim. They do not want to remove
themselves from the love of the world.
They do not want to separate their lives from the flesh. They want the world AND the power of the
Spirit.
Romans 1:16 For
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Messiah: for it is
the power of IAUE unto salvation to every one
that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17 For therein is the righteousness of IAUE revealed from
faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
18 For the wrath of IAUE is revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in
unrighteousness;
19 Because that which may be known of IAUE is manifest in
them; for IAUE hath shewed it unto them.
The power of the Holy Spirit is the anointing
of IAUE upon our lives to be witnesses…to PREACH. Eliminate from your thinking that to preach
means to be a preacher in the contemporary understanding of that word. (Technically, there is no Scripturally-based
office in the church as that of the preacher.
It is a corruption of the church that has not been arrested for
centuries. It is the manifestation of
the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes which IAUE hates.) To preach (karusso)
means “to herald, or to proclaim a message.”
That means to be a witness.
This image depicts the choice for every
believer. The circuit breaker is YOUR WILL;
and it connects your life with either the Spirit or the Flesh. To choose the flesh is to choose the way that
seems right to a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death (Prov 14:12,
16:25). If you want to know how to
access the power of the Holy Spirit; if you want the life of IAUE coursing
through your life outward to others to set the captives free, to heal the sick
and cast out demons and raise the dead, you just do what the anointing of the
Spirit was given to you to do…declare the gospel. Tell your story. Witness.
The five results of acting upon that anointing will follow the believer.
Mark 16:19 So then after the Master had spoken unto them, he was
received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of IAUE.
20 And
they went forth, and preached
every where, the Master working with them, and confirming the word with
signs following. Amen.
From my many years of experience, I know that
most Christians who read this will be inclined to just sigh and relegate the
power of the Spirit to others, because the idea of witnessing terrifies them.
The problem is the traditional concept of what it means to “witness;” and that
is, “ to lead others to Messiah.” It is
synonymous with “soul winning.”
Traditional Christianity teaches us to “seal the deal,” to get the
listener to “make a decision for Messiah.” Nowhere in the book of Acts does a
believer “seal the deal.” No one ever “invites”
a person to accept Messiah. Such a
notion is alien to the Scriptures. The church has forgotten that it is the
GOSPEL that is the power of IAUE unto salvation. A witness is not a prosecutor, jury nor
judge. A witness is someone who tells
what they know. The gospel will do the rest
of the work. The gospel will release the
Holy Spirit to function as prosecutor, jury and judge to the hearer; and He will
very likely do amazing things through you to enhance your testimony.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
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