The Anointing
There is a word that is used fairly often in certain Christian circles that can sometimes be confusing. It’s the word “anointing” or “anointed.”
When someone makes mention of the anointing, they are actually talking about the Spirit of God. The Bible teaches that believers in Christ have an anointing.
1 John 2:20 But ye have an unction (an anointing, ointment, something smeared on) from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
1 John 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.
The Inward Witness
Now these verses do not mean that we, as Christians, do not need to be taught in the things of God. We do indeed need teaching as we grow in the Lord. Otherwise the Lord would not have set some in the body of Christ to be teachers, along with apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors.
It does mean, however, that we have an inward witness of the Holy Spirit that witnesses with our spirit concerning what is truth and what isn’t. That anointing abides in each of God’s people, and we learn to recognize the things the Holy Spirit teaches us. After all, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is our teacher of spiritual things.
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew [make known to] you things to come.
He will guide you, or teach you, in the truth of God. Guiding is different from direct teaching. He guides us into what we need to learn. And yes, we do listen to men who teach us, but the ultimate measure of truth in what we are being taught is in the inward witness of the Spirit, the Spirit of truth within us, who is truth, and is no lie.
And, as we’re being led by the Spirit of God, the primary way the Lord leads His children is by the witness of the Spirit. And so, we learn to be sensitive to that inward witness.
The Check of the Spirit
John 16:6 Now when they [Paul and Timothy] had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,
John 16:7 After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.
It says they were forbidden of the Holy Ghost, and the Spirit suffered them not. How did the Spirit do that? Did He speak to them? Did they hear His voice? No. It was by the witness of the Spirit, that inward sense that this is good and right to do or this is not good, which is sometimes called either a witness, or a yes, or a check in the Spirit, which is a no.
It’s like when someone does something that turns out badly, they sometimes say, something on the inside told me not to do that, but I did it anyway. I had a feeling that I shouldn’t do it. That is often a check of the Spirit telling us no.
Led by His Peace
The Bible says in Colossians 3: 15 for us to let the peace of God rule and reign in our hearts. If we don’t have peace in our heart about something, we shouldn’t do it.
Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
The witness of the Spirit is the number one way the Lord leads His children.
The Gift of the Spirit
Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
If any man does not have the Spirit of God, He doesn't belong to Christ. So, we need to recognize that every believer in Christ, that is, everyone who has been born of the spirit, or born of God, or born from above, has the Spirit of God dwelling in them. They received the Spirit of God when they were born again.
Filled with the Spirit
Now, having the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit are two different things. Believers receive the Holy Spirit once, when they’re born again, or, that is, born of the spirit. But the filling of the Spirit is another thing that takes place as we draw near to the Lord in devotion. Not everyone is as filled with the Spirit as others may be. Being filled with the Spirit is the result of time spent in His presence.
Acts 6:3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
Acts 6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
Acts 6:5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
Acts 6:6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.
Acts 6:8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
Notice the people here were asked by the apostles to choose seven men who were full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, to handle the administration of food to the people. Not just ordinary believers, but those who were full of wisdom and full of the Spirit.
Full of the Holy Ghost and Wisdom
What made them more full of wisdom than other believers? More time spent in meditation in the word of God. That’s how faith and the knowledge of God comes. What made them more filled with the Spirit than other believers? They spent more time in devotion, more time in prayer, more time in worship, more time in God’s presence.
And it says that Stephen was full of faith and power, or, that is, the Holy Spirit, and he did wonders and miracles among the people. That’s what being filled with the Spirit produces in a believer’s life. It adds spiritual power, dynamic power, miraculous power.
How do we know that time spent in the Lord’s presence fills us with His Spirit? Because the Bible tells us so.
Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Ephesians 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Being filled with the Holy Spirit involves spending time with the Lord, speaking to our own selves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our heart to the Lord. That means times of worship, times of singing to Him, times of devotion in His presence.
And those times of devotion fill us with the Holy Spirit. They fill us and cause us to be more anointed with the Holy Spirit, more manifestation of the Spirit who is already inside of us.
Anointed of God
Again, our topic here is the anointing of the Spirit, or being anointed of the Lord. “Anointing” and “anointed” are terms that refer to the presence of the Holy Spirit. There are other expressions we use when referring to the Holy Spirit, such terms as the presence of the Lord, the power of God, the beauty of the Lord, the hand of God, the glory of the Lord, and so on.These are all terms that refer to the Holy Spirit. He is all of these things, and more. He brings all these things into our life.
We sometimes say things like, the anointing is on that song, or on that message, or on that person, and so forth. And what we’re really saying is that the Holy Spirit is upon that song or upon that message. And it’s true. The Holy Spirit is on that thing, but we say, it’s anointed.
The Holy Spirit is not an energy or a spiritual power, or some sort of divine force, even though He manifests Himself as those things. He is a person. And so, we could say, the Spirit of God, the Spirit who dwells within us, He comes upon, or anoints, the Christian music we listen to, the Christian teachings we listen to, and the people we recognize to be “anointed.” And when we say that these things are anointed, we are simply recognizing the presence of the Holy Spirit upon them.
Embracing the Spirit
The Bible tells believers to be filled with the Spirit, by speaking to yourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, spontaneous songs, or songs of the spirit. Why? Because Christian songs are anointed. Anointed with what? With the Holy Spirit.
The thing we need to know, the thing we need to understand, is that as we embrace that anointing, as we listen to and sing those songs, our spirits are embracing the Holy Spirit, the One we call the anointing, the One we call the presence of the Lord.
And as we embrace Him, the Holy Spirit, the presence of the Lord, we begin to take that anointing upon ourselves. Or, we might say it this way. When we begin to embrace the anointing, the Holy Spirit, then He begins to embrace us. The anointing begins to come upon us, and we start to become filled with the Spirit, little by little, until we are full of the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
We are changed when we embrace the Holy Spirit, when we behold the glory of the Lord, the beauty of the Lord.
Let us take the time to come into the Lord’s presence and sing songs to HIm, and behold His beauty, and allow ourselves to be changed from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit who lives within us.