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Bible Study: The Moving of the Spirit: Understanding the Anointings

Understanding the Anointing: Part 1 The Individual Anointing

Have you ever wondered:
• What Does it Mean to be Anointed?
• What is the Anointing?
• Who Is Anointed?
• How Do I Know if I am Anointed by God?
• Are There Different Kinds of Anointing?
• What are the Different Anointing?
• How Do I Receive an Anointing?
• Why Does God Anoint People?
• What is an Individual Anointing?
• What is a Corporate Anointing?

Brothers and Sisters,
Find out what the Bible says about the anointing and the moving of the Spirit and discover for yourself how to be led and used by God in a powerful way!
 

Scripture Study:
"How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him." [Acts:10:38]

"But the anointing which you have received of him abides in you" [1Jn:2:27]

Understanding the Anointing,
The first thing we have to recognize is that God anoints His people - for a purpose!
He anointed Jesus, and he anoints His children.

Why? 
Look closely at the scripture found in acts 10:38: "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power....who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.""

Notice first of all that the Scripture doesn't say: "How God anointed Jesus the Son of God with the Holy Ghost...."

No! What is says is that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth (the man). You see, what so many Christians don't understand is that even though Jesus was the only begotten Son of God - He left all of His power and glory in Heaven and came to earth in the same form as every other man. 

"And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." [Phil:2:8]

"Wherefore in all things it pleased Him (Jesus) to be made like unto his brethren,.." [Heb:2:17]

• He was born a man
• He lived on earth as a man
• As a man He had no more power than you or I
• He hungered and thirsted as a man
• He suffered as a man
• He died as a man

The Anointing Brings Power:
It is extremely important to notice in the Gospels that Jesus never did even one miracle 
until He was anointed by the Holy Ghost. It was only after the Spirit of God (the Holy Ghost) descended upon Him that he began His ministry. [Mt:3:16].

Regardless of what many think - There is no Biblical evidence that Jesus ever performed any miracles, nor did he enter into ministry until after He received the Holy Spirit - and the power that comes with the infilling (anointing) of the Holy Ghost.

It is also important to note that Jesus also told the disciples not to go anywhere, or do anything, (not even to witness) until they had received the anointing (baptism) of the Holy Ghost).

• "And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but wait in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." [Lk:24:49]
  

• "But you shall receive power, after the Holy Ghost is come upon you ... " [Acts:1:8]

Anointed By God:
There are indeed many different kinds anointing, none of which are without importance. Yet, the most important thing for us to realize is that every born-again child of God has received the Spirit of God - and thereby an anointing of the Spirit.

Every born-again child of God has received the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. This is not to be confused with the infilling or the baptism of the Holy Spirit which is a completely separate experience - but every born-again believer has received the Spirit of God.

• "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; ...." [1Cor:2:12]
  

• ".... but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." [Rom:8:15]
  

• "...In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise," [Eph:1:13]

About The Anointing!
As mentioned, there are many different kinds of individual anointing.

• The 5-Fold Ministry (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher: Eph:4:11)

• Special Anointings in the Gifts of the Spirit [1Cor:12:7-11 • 1Cor:12:28]

• Special Anointings in the Area of Helps, Administrations, etc [1Cor:12:28]

The 5-Fold Ministry:
When God calls someone into the 5-fold ministry (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher) He anoints them with supernatural power and ability to carry out the functions of that office. When we understand this it becomes easy to recognize those who are called and anointed by God for the office they stand in because they seem to have a supernatural endowment to carry out the functions of that office with ease and excellence.

It also becomes easy to recognize when someone is not called and anointed to an office because they are not able to perform the duties of that office in a manner consistent with the excellence required by the Lord for that office. Everything is a struggle for them, and the enemy seems to constantly be able to overcome them and their goals.

It is important to mention here that no one should ever attempt to stand in a ministry office without the call of God and the anointing that comes with the office. Not only is it dangerous for the individual personally to attempt to stand in one of the 5-fold ministry offices if they have not been called and anointed to that office - but it can also bring great harm to the body of Christ. [Read what happened to Aaron and Miriam when they tried to stand in an office that they were not called to by God: Numbers 12:1-10]

Special Anointings:
Every born-again person has the Spirit in them - and thereby is enabled by the Spirit to be used in ALL of the gifts of the Spirit [1Cor:12:7-11] whenever the Spirit wills and to the level that they are willing to be used by Him.

However, the Lord does grant special anointings to certain individuals who seem to be able to operate in a higher degree of various gifts. I have seen, and known individuals who operate in a higher degree of the gifts of healing than most other people, and still others where the Word of knowledge is in manifestation to a greater degree than in others. These special anointings are granted by the Lord for whatever reason He chooses and they are not something that someone can just simply call upon at their own discretion. it is as the Spirit wills [1Cor:12:11]

Additionally, every born-again person is anointed to some degree to be a help [1Cor:12:28] to the body of Christ and to assist in the many different needs of the ministry as they are needed and called upon by the Pastor and other Leaders of the Church.

Yet, I have seen and known individuals that seem to operate in certain areas with a greater anointing than others in the area of helps, administration, etc. Again, this is something that the Lord anoints them to do for a specific reason and it is not something that we, on our own can just scoop up at will.

Brothers and Sisters, this message is so important that I have made the complete teaching absolutely FREE. Details on how to receive your FREE CD are provided at the end of this study.

The Individual Anointing:
For the purpose of this study I want to focus specifically on the basic individual anointing: 

• "But you have an unction (anointing) from the Holy One..." [1 Jn 2:20]
   

• "... the anointing which you have received of Him abides (lives, remains, dwells) in you..." [1 Jn 2:27]
   

• "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world." [1 Jn 4:4]

Notice three things:

1. You have an anointing

2. The Anointing abides (lives) in you

3. The Anointing is there for a purpose (to over-come the world)

There is no doubt that we have an anointing because the Word of God says so: " But you have an unction (anointing) from the Holy One..."

And, we see from the Scripture that this anointing or unction is not just a passive thing that is simply placed in us for some future unknown reason or just to simply seal us - but rather the anointing abides in us.

The Greek Word used here that is translated as abides is 'meno': It literally means to dwell - take up residence - remain - live.

This anointing is a living and tangible thing that lives in us - takes up residence in us - dwells in us - and best of all - it remains in us (it never leaves us!). The reason for this is because we are talking about the Holy Spirit Himself - whom God has promised will come to live in us and will never leave or forsake us.

• "... as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." [2Cor:6:16]
  

• "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever" [John 14:16]
  

• "... for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." [Heb:13:5]

For A Purpose:
Finally, the anointing that we have received of Him is for a purpose!

• "But you shall receive power, after the Holy Ghost is come upon you ...and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. " [Acts:1:8]
  

• "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world." [1 Jn 4:4]

According to the Scriptures the purpose of the anointing is two-fold:

1. To be a witness to the saving power and goodness of Christ.

2. To overcome the World (and the things that are in it)

Power to Witness:
The disciples received specific instructions from the Lord Jesus himself that they were to wait in Jerusalem until they had been endued with power from on high. They were told not to go anywhere - nor were they to do anything until they received this power or anointing of the Holy Ghost.

Power to Overcome:
The anointing that abides in us is there to help us to overcome those things that come against us and the plan of God for our life: Sickness, poverty, lack, weakness, doubt, anxiety, stress, confusion, depression, oppression, etc - all of which are (according to Acts 10:38) tools if the devil.

And, the level to which we receive and lean on the anointing, is the level of the power we have to exercise when endeavoring to overcome these things when they come against us.

This is why it is so important to not only be sealed with the Holy Spirit - but to be baptized by Him and filled with Him continually. (it doesn't take a genius to realize that being FULL of power is better than being almost empty!)

"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;" [Eph:5:18]

A careful study of the above scripture will show that the literal translation of the original Greek is as follows: "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be being continually filled with the Spirit;"

Did you notice that we are to be continually filled? This would indicate that just being filled once is not enough! Apparently the possibility exists that (like a battery) as we use the power or anointing - as it flows out of us [Jn:7:38] we are literally drained to some degree and so we need to refill it - continually so that we stay filled! Otherwise why would we need to be continually filled. If this wasn't the case then all we would need to do is to be filled once and that would be enough - right?

A Greater Anointing:
There is an individual anointing - and it has a purpose. And, apparently that anointing has power - and is given to us in order for us to use it in witnessing - and to overcome those things that come against us.

But there is a greater anointing! And it is for our use as well Praise God! I encourage you to continue to study this subject by reading Part 2 of this powerful Series and learn how to tap into that greater power and anointing.

Read Part 2

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