Chapter
Ten:
GOD
TAKES CONTROL OF WORSHIP: THE ANOINTING
'But you shall receive power, after that the
Holy Spirit is come upon you: and you 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)
The anointing brings us into a new
realm in worship where the Holy Spirit takes control of the worship. This was not the case in the earlier levels
of worship where the worshipper was always in control. The believers on the day of Pentecost were
worshipping, but the Holy Spirit was leading them in worship. If we always want to be in control we will
not be able to enter into anointed worship.
The anointing makes the Lord Jesus more precious to us, gives us a new
tongue to praise Him and fills us with a boldness to be worshipping witnesses
to the Lord Jesus.
Jesus told His disciples that
they would receive power to be witnesses, but the baptism with the Holy Spirit
is more than an empowerment to witness; it is an empowerment for worship. The believers were anointed to be
worshipping witnesses. Being a witness
to the Lord Jesus Christ can never be separated from being a worshipper. The Baptism with the Holy Spirit brought the
believers into a higher realm of worship, the anointing. This higher level of worship is the means of
drawing multitudes to Christ.
Anointed worship on the Day of
Pentecost gained the people's attention.
Three thousand men came to Christ
after Peter preached in the temple. But
what was it that drew this crowd to listen to Peter? It was the believers worshipping in the Holy
Spirit. They said '...we do hear them speak in our tongues
the wonderful works of God', (Acts 2:11). Peter's preaching alone would not
have caused these people to recognise Jesus as their Messiah. It was the believers worshipping in the Holy
Spirit that had gained the attention of the multitude. Peter's preaching was in response to the
commotion among the people when they heard the believers worshipping in their
own languages.
United to be
anointed
The believers were gathered
together on the Day of Pentecost in unity.
They were united in their love for the Lord Jesus. Joy overflowed in their hearts after the
resurrection of Jesus. They were filled
with thankfulness and praise. Their
lives were totally surrendered to Christ as they waited expectantly for the
promised empowerment with the Holy Spirit.
Then they were brought into a new realm of worship through the
anointing. It was not their unity that
brought the anointing, but unity was essential in order for them to receive the
anointing.
The
people of God are a body, and every member is essential for the needs of the
body. A body can only be in unity when
every part is in the right place, and every member is functioning in perfect
relationship with the other members of the body. A church is more than a group of individuals
who come together at meeting times. The
church is one body with many members who can only function right when they are
in right relationship with one another.
The anointing cannot flow through the body unless there is the unity of
the Spirit. This is not a man made unity
where differences are ignored; it is the unity of one body in Christ with one
Spirit, (Ephesians 4:4). The Psalmist
saw this unity as being like precious ointment. The blessing of God will be
upon believers who dwell together in the unity of the Spirit. 'Behold,
how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the
head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the
skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of
Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore' (Psalm 133: 1-3).
When the body of Christ worships
in unity then the anointing of the Holy Spirit will minister through the body
in three ways: The Holy Spirit gives; He serves; and He energises (1
Corinthians 12:4-6). The body of Christ will be known by a willingness to give;
a willingness to serve; and for the energising power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit anointing is necessary to
empower and make effective everything in the life of the body of Christ. Prayer meetings will come alive when the
wonderful energising power of the Holy Spirit is present. The evidence of this anointing among
believers is great joy.
The anointing
of the Holy Spirit empowers the worshipper to be a witness to the Lord Jesus
Christ.
The
body of Christ has looked upon the baptism with the Holy Spirit as an
empowerment for witness without recognising the all-important truth that
witness must never be separated from worship.
Those who desire to be anointed witnesses to the Lord Jesus must first
be anointed worshippers. Even the
unsaved are aware of the difference.
'Who Jesus is' can be an interesting topic of discussion for drunkards
on a Saturday night and the conversation is soon forgotten. But anointed worshippers witnessing in the
power of the Holy Spirit will cause men and women to tremble like Felix
trembled before Paul. 'And as he reasoned
of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and
answered, Go your way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will
call for you' (Acts 24:25).
When
Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost there was an awareness of a new
anointing upon the believers. The people
who heard Peter preach were pierced to the heart because of the anointing
moving upon them. 'Now when they heard
this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of
the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?' (Acts 2:37). The Holy Spirit was moving in a way that had
not been seen before. People had not
responded to the ministry of Jesus like this.
The crowds had followed Jesus because of the healings and the miracles
that took place, but on the day of Pentecost it was worship that brought a
multitude to receive Jesus.
This
level of worship moves us into a completely new realm because the worshipper
moves out of the way and the Holy Spirit controls the worship. The anointed worshipper looks to the Lord for
leadership, but this is not possible if we have never been broken. A hardened heart will resist the moving of
the Holy Spirit. Many will never allow
the Lord to break them because they are afraid of losing their
self-respect. If we are concerned about
our reputation we will never know the anointing of God upon our lives.
David bringing the anointing to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:12 -19)
When David brought the Ark of the
Covenant to
Many
Christians are content to know that God's presence is everywhere. But this higher realm of worship is more than
being aware of the presence of God. It
is the place where God is 'more present' and where the Glory of God is upon His
people. Those who desire to worship God
in the anointing will always come against opposition from people who resist the
moving of the Holy Spirit. Even David
was not an exception to this, and he faced opposition as soon as he went
home. David had been unashamed to openly
declare that he was a worshipper of the Lord.
His heart was filled with joy, and he had humbled himself before the
Lord, but his own wife, the daughter of Saul, despised him for it. Opposition to the anointing can often come
from those closest to us. She despised
him because he had a greater desire to be clothed with the anointing of the
Holy Spirit than to be clothed with kingly garments. The greatest opposition to the anointing will
always come from those who, like Michal, have a form of godliness but deny the
power of God (2 Timothy 3:5).
The
anointing will always bring a greater awareness of the presence of the
Lord. Anointed worship produces greater
love among believers, greater joy for worship, and greater power for
witness. The anointing is characterised
by believers experiencing 'joy unspeakable and full of glory' as the Holy
Spirit anoints them with the 'oil of gladness'. The anointing always brings opposition and
in the Acts of the Apostles it is seen that the anointing which produced great
joy and brought a multitude to Christ also produced hostility in the religious
leaders who resisted the moving of the Holy Spirit. For the worshipper this is a great blessing
because it enables him or her to move up to an even higher place in worship.
The greatest evidence of the
anointing is joy, but in addition we can see that the early church had a great
love for the scriptures. They were
filled with love one for another and this was expressed through joyous
giving. They desired to be in fellowship
with one another. They were anointed
witnesses to the Lord. They ate together
with gladness and without the cares and concerns of life. They no longer sought their own interests,
but they became rejoicing people giving themselves continuously to prayer (Acts