RESIDENT ANOINTING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Jesus declared that Christians can do
the works that He did.
In Act 19:12
Paul was so full of the Holy Spirit that the cloths that he sent out carried the same anointing that Paul had. This is called the "Resident anointing of the Holy Spirit."
We have the same ability to pass the anointing to an item whether it is a cloth as Paul did or an object such as a soap,water, toy, garment, food,perfum,chair, use your imagination, if we are full of the Holy Spirit.
Paul was so full of the Holy Spirit that the cloths that he sent out carried the same anointing that Paul had. This is called the "Resident anointing of the Holy Spirit."
We have the same ability to pass the anointing to an item whether it is a cloth as Paul did or an object such as a soap,water, toy, garment, food,perfum,chair, use your imagination, if we are full of the Holy Spirit.
MANIFESTING THE ANOINTING
Before we begin this teaching, I want to invite you to join
with me in prayer. Just let the Holy Spirit descend on your heart, bringing a
fresh revelation of "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
God, we want to ask You for the spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge of Him. Jesus, please give us a revelation of Your
presence, a revelation of Your power. God, we want to know who You are, who we
are, and what we have. So, God, I pray today to receive a much greater awareness
of You. Thank You, in Jesus' mighty name.
WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE HAVE
Before we examine how to manifest the anointing, we need to
understand who we are and what we have available to us as an inheritance because
we are sons and daughters of God. Three Scriptures, spoken by the apostle Paul,
in the Book of Romans in the 8th chapter, lay a foundation concerning this.
"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made
me free from the law of sin and death" (v. 2).
"For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear,
but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father'" (v.
15).
"And if children, then heirs -- heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified
together" (v. 17).
We can see that we are children of God, heirs, set free from
the law of sin and death, and we have an inheritance in Christ. (I'll speak more
about our responsibility to set people free from the law of sin and death later
in this teaching.) We need to come to understand who we are and what we have by
developing a God consciousness. This awareness will give believers the first key
they need to unlock God's power concerning manifesting the anointing.
Also, I believe that a time is coming when God will reveal
and manifest His glory in us. So let's continue in the Book of Romans with more
revelation by the apostle Paul.
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the
earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons
of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because
of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be
delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the
children of God.
"For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with
birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the first
fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting
for the adoption, the redemption of our body." Romans 8:18-23
Paul explains that creation itself and those who are gripped
by sin (sickness, disease, death, and decay), long to be set free from sin's
evil power. But before deliverance can come, the body of Christ needs a
revelation of who we are and what we have. We need to understand what it means
to be set free from the law of sin and death, which is: sickness, disease, and
poverty; and what it means to be joint heirs with an inheritance.
This understanding and revelation is "the revealing and the
manifestation of the sons and daughters of God."
BEING SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD
God wants to put inside our hearts the revelation of what it
really means to be His sons and daughters. As believers, when we come into a
greater understanding of this, we will step into the kind of ministry that
brings the earth, and the world that's in corruption, into what we call "the
glorious liberty of the children of God."
This glorious liberty means freedom from the law of sin,
sickness, disease, and death. And so there is a deliverance that is taking place
in creation called "the glorious liberty of the children of God" where the sons
and daughters of God are being revealed as they walk in the manifestation of the
anointing. In fact, this is what it means to be ambassadors for Christ (2
Corinthians 5:19-20).
Ambassadors have a job to do: set the captives free, break
the curse of the law, and expose/destroy the work of the devil. They help others
come to understand the magnitude of their inheritance as sons and daughters, who
are adopted by the Father and those who are destined to manifest the anointing.
Ambassadors for Christ do not want people to focus their attention on them, but
rather that people would see and feel Jesus and His presence being released
through them.
God wants His sons and daughters to walk victoriously,
triumphantly, conquering and overcoming the enemy. His desire is to see His
children walking in God consciousness -- possessing and manifesting the
anointing like the apostles Peter, Paul, Moses, and the prophet Elisha.
HOW IS HIS ANOINTING MANIFESTED?
Jesus is the Son of God, who perfectly modeled the manifest
anointing. His anointing for healing touched many people, sometimes through His
personal laying on of hands, or when someone touched His clothing.
"And they begged Him that they might only touch the hem of
His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well." Matthew
14:36
Power actually manifested on the clothes of Jesus, and that's
why, when the woman with the issue of blood touched the hem of His garment, she
was healed (Matthew 9:21-22). He was carrying the power of the Lord, which is
present to heal, because He was carrying substance on His life, the manifest
anointing.
The apostle Peter was a son of God who possessed and
understood the manifestation of the anointing. In Acts 5 we read how Peter
carried such a great anointing that when people brought the sick on their beds
and couches out onto the streets of Jerusalem, the shadow of Peter would heal
their sicknesses. I'm not referring to the natural shadow of Peter, but rather
to the same shadow that came upon Mary and overshadowed her with the power of
the Most High when she conceived Jesus. It's the overshadowing of the presence
and canopy of the Holy Spirit.
"THE LINGERING PRESENCE OF GOD STILL LIVED IN HIS VERY
BONES"
Also, the apostle Paul was another son of God who carried the
manifestation of the anointing to such a great extent that God worked unusual
miracles by his hands (Acts 19:11). Paul took the anointing and the substance
that he possessed and put it on handkerchiefs or aprons (v. 12), and when the
cloths were carried from his body to the sick and demonized, they were healed
and set free because of the resident anointing on the material.
I don't believe the handkerchiefs or aprons were merely a
point of contact. I believe that the substance of God—the living, manifest,
tangible, transferable anointing of the Holy Ghost that Paul carried—was
transferred to these cloths because they were in contact with the manifest
presence of God on/in Paul's body.
Scripture doesn't give details concerning the exact kind of
contact the material had with his body, but it would be reasonable to imagine
Paul laying hands on the material before it was carried to the sick. The Bible
does not give a lot of detail, but we feel that desperate family members of the
sick and demonized brought handkerchiefs or aprons to Paul so that he could
touch and pray over them. Many people must have been healed and delivered
because Scripture says "and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out
of them" (Acts 19:12).
As well, Elisha the prophet was a son of God, who not only
possessed a double portion of the spirit of Elijah (2 Kings 2:9, 12), but he
also carried the manifest anointing of God. The Bible records that a deceased
man was about to be buried, but he was cast quickly into the grave of Elisha
rather than his own grave because of sudden danger from a marauding band:
"...and when the man touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his
feet" (2 Kings 13:21). The man was resurrected! Why? Because the manifest
anointing, the lingering presence of God, still lived in the very bones of
Elisha, even after his death.
CHRISTIANS RECEIVE AND DISPENSE GOD'S GLORY
What amazes me is that the tangible presence of God manifests
on man's flesh as well as in his bones! So I want us to consider just how much
of God's glory we can receive and manifest in our flesh as we look at this
aspect in the life of God's servant, Moses. After Moses encountered God's Spirit
(for 40 days and 40 nights on Mt. Sinai) he had to put a veil over his head
because the radiance of God's glory shone through his face so brilliantly the
people were afraid to come near him (Exodus 34:29-35).
We need to remember that Moses was a human being (just like
us) who carried the manifest glory of the Lord because he had an intimate
relationship with God and he was continually in His presence. He is such a great
example of someone who manifested the glory of God. And, today, I believe there
is a place being prepared in our hearts to receive and manifest the glory of God
in a much greater capacity than ever before.
Listen! The glory of God will also be seen on our flesh, if
we're serious about seeking the Lord concerning this. I believe our capacity to
receive and manifest the glory of God on our flesh is increasing. As our faith
for this manifestation intensifies, there is great potential for God to touch us
mightily with His glory on our flesh. When God's glory shines in us and on us,
we'll be like lights shining in a dark world. The prophet Isaiah describes this:
"Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the
Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep
darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be
seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the
brightness of your rising." Isaiah 60:1-3
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE WHEN WE DISPENSE HIS GLORY?
As Christians begin manifesting the glory of God, they'll be
so filled and impacted by the presence and the anointing of the Holy Spirit
that, when they step into a city, literally, they'll take the ground for Christ.
Charles Finney, born in Connecticut in 1792 (died in 1875),
was one powerful believer who took the ground when he stepped into factories
carrying the manifest anointing. All he would do is step into a factory, not
saying a word, and the presence of God that he carried brought such a conviction
of sin that the workers got saved. He was a dispenser of God's glory.
I'm waiting for Christians, who carry the manifest presence
of God, to cause demons to manifest and flee! You know, all I have to do in some
crusades is start talking and the demons manifest because of the presence of
God.
For instance, in Israel, at one of the holy sites we visited,
as I preached and the team began to pray and minister, the on-site Jesuit priest
began to manifest a demon, speaking out in demonic tongues and doing a demonic
dance. Our tour guide, who's been to that particular place about twice a month
for many years, said that she had never seen him act this way before. It was
obvious that the anointing of the Holy Spirit agitated the enemy. As sons and
daughters of God we can take authority over demons and bring deliverance to
those who are affected by them.
And, did you know that in the Welsh revival, there was such
an anointing (on that revival), that in the bars, patrons couldn't even get the
beer up to their mouths because there was such a permeating, convicting power
and presence of the Holy Spirit? That's the kind of anointing that I'm talking
about; it will take place when we develop a God consciousness.
When we see the manifestation and the revealing of the sons
and daughters of God who understand who they are and what they have, they will
take responsibility to defeat sin (corruption, sickness, disease, death,
poverty) and to bring the glory of God with them wherever they go. Because of
the glorious liberty of the children of God, believers will carry the revelation
of who they are and what they have and they will be dispensers of glory.
"IT IS NO LONGER I WHO LIVE, BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME"
As well, I believe God is going to bring the body of Christ
together in unity, positioned to receive a corporate revelation concerning the
fact that "...it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me..." (Galatians
2:20). We need to be possessed by the Holy Spirit in such a way that we know
it's no longer us who lives, but Christ who lives in us. And we'll be walking in
this reality when Jesus actually lives through us like He wants to; through our
eyes, ears, words, touch, and our presence.
Then the body of Christ will have a deeper revelation of what
it really means to be sons and daughters of God. They will be possessed with so
much of the fullness of God that they will dispense God's glory through their
prayers and worship -- filling the very atmosphere with the knowledge of the
glory of the Lord.
"For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory
of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Habakkuk 2:14
The glory will be seen like it was when the Shekinah glory
filled the temple. And not only that, the glory will also be revealed in us.
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Romans
8:18
It's not just in us and to us, but through us; because those
whom He has called, He has justified and those He has justified, He has
glorified (Romans 8:30). And if we have this treasure in earthen vessels (2
Corinthians 4:7), how much of a capacity do we have as mere men to receive and
manifest the glory of God? As I said earlier, I believe we will be saturated
with that glory just like Moses was.
"THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD HAVE BECOME THE KINGDOMS OF OUR
LORD"
Listen, the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 10:7). And
when we look at the world and the world system, we need to understand that the
kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and Christ
(Revelation 11:15). It's done. The world just doesn't know it yet!
Instead of looking at how defeated the world is, let's look
at the potential there is for the world to become the kingdom of God. We need to
understand that it's the knowledge of the glory of the Lord released through us
as sons and daughters of God and the dispensers of His glory that will cause His
kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.
by Todd Bentley
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