The Anointing of the Holy Spirit — Zac Poonen

The Anointing of Jesus by the Holy Spirit

There is a very lovely verse in Hebrews chapter 1 That tells us why Jesus Christ had such a rich anointing of The Holy Spirit more than anybody else as a man. Not talking about Jesus Christ as God. But when he came to earth as a man, just like us He needed the Holy Spirit to live this life.

He needed the Holy Spirit to prompt him With the right word of Scripture when he was tempted by Satan and the Holy Spirit will do that for us, too. He needed the Holy Spirit to tell him What to speak at different times when he spoke and preached to people.

He needed the Holy Spirit to tell him whom to heal and whom not to heal. Sometimes we think that Jesus healed everybody who was sick. It's not true. Do you know that when Jesus went into the? pool of Bethesda.

You read in John chapter 5. It says there was a great multitude of people there who were sick. Multitude means what hundred two hundred three hundred people waiting there At the pool of Bethesda and he healed one person.

One man who had been sick there for 39 years. Or 38 years. He said take up your bed and walk. Do you think that's the only person there who needed healing? Why did he not heal the others? Because Jesus did not live by a rule saying thou shalt heal all sick people whom thou shalt see.

There are today's fake healers who pretend that they are doing that. It's a lot of rubbish. Jesus did not heal everybody. He saw was sick in the last verse of Matthew 13. It says Matthew 13 58. He could not heal certain people because of their unbelief.

In the pool of Bethesda, he just did not heal people because he was not led to heal. And let me give you another wonderful example of the tremendous blessing that came When Jesus did not heal somebody.

There are many examples of blessing that came when Jesus healed people. Here is an example of Jesus Not healing somebody. Turn with me to Acts of the Apostles in chapter 3. In the Acts of the Apostles in chapter 3 we read about Peter and John walking into the temple and we Read here of their walking past a man who was Lame and the man asked Peter and John for money and He said silver and gold.

I have none. But in what I do have were six Acts 3 verse 6 that I give you in the name of Jesus Christ rise up and walk and We read that as a result of that. About 5 ,000 people we read later on came to the Lord.

Now this man it says here if you read carefully He was laid at the gate of the temple by his relatives every day verse 2 and This happened just a few days after the day of Pentecost. So He must have been and it says he was more than 40 years old later on.

It says he was more than 40 years old. So he'd been lying at the gate of the temple for many years. Can you imagine the number of times Jesus saw him as he went in and out of the temple just like Peter saw him.

Jesus walked into that temple numerous times in the three and a half years before this incident and he saw this lame man and the lame man stretched out his hand to Jesus and said give me some money and Jesus would have said Judas Give him some money.

And the next time when they came by and he asked for money Jesus would have told Judas Give him some money and that happened for three and a half years every time Jesus went in and out of that temple and he went many times.

He would tell Judas to give him some money. Why didn't he heal him? Because the father said no. I Feel that Jesus walked like that in such intimate touch with the father, you know, like these police officers who got a walkie-talkie Inside their car in which they are constantly connected to headquarters always switched on suddenly, they may hear a message go here go to that street or Come back to headquarters or something like that.

They're always listening. Always listening. Sometime it may be silent for one hour all of a sudden a message comes and that's how I see that Jesus lived his walkie-talkie With heaven was always on. All the time listening listening.

Going by the sick man. No, don't heal him. Just leave him alone. Give him some money. One year later coming by that same man, don't get don't heal him. Give him some money. What is the result? Later on when Peter and James went by and they healed that man five thousand people were converted.

Who would not have been converted if Jesus had healed that man earlier? Got it. See the blessing that came by Jesus not healing a person so what we need to learn is the most important thing is not to heal the sick, but to Do what the Lord tells us to do.

Obedience to the Holy Spirit’s Leading

So in this connection, we read Hebrews. This is the verse. I wanted to point out to you Hebrews chapter 1. How was Jesus anointed in such a wonderful way that he could hear the Holy Spirit speak to him?

All the time. It's one of the things when I was a young Christian I And I thought of a man whom I knew a godly man who was very careful to listen to God speaking to him and he wouldn't accept every invitation he got he would pray and seek the Lord and Would go only where he's invited and I found the result was that wherever he went there were churches.

And I said Lord, this is a wonderful way to work where you don't just go roaming around here and there hoping something will happen, but you listen to God and God says go here go there and Don't go here.

Don't go there. It's a wonderful way to live. You see the picture I had in my mind is of a owner of a large fruit garden. And he wants laborers to come and help pick the fruit. And supposing I'm one of the laborers wanting to help them the Lord.

Who's the owner of a great food fruit garden? And I say, okay, I want to help the Lord and I don't consult him. I just go and go to this tree. I think I'll get some fruit from this tree for my Lord and I sit there for five years.

Managed to get some fruit and bring it to the Lord. Then I go somewhere else of my own choice and sit there for another five years and bring a fruit basket to the Lord and I thought a better way would be to go to the master of the vineyard first and Say Lord, where do you want me to go?

And the Lord says he gives me the latitude longitude of the exact tree in this huge Square miles of garden go there. Like a GPS pointing me straight to that point go there. And I go to that tree and the fruit is ready to fall and what took me four or five years in another place I filled up my fruit in one hour my basket and I take it to the Lord now Lord next where and the Lord says now Go to this.

This latitude longitude and the GPS takes me there and That's another tree ready to pluck in one hour, I got another basket full and go back to the Lord and I say What a wonderful way to serve the Lord.

More efficient than my choosing where to go not knowing head or tail, which is the best place to go to to wait on the Lord. There's a. This is the way the Holy Spirit led Jesus. And which says in Hebrews in chapter 1.

Why he was anointed. Hebrews 1 verse 9 you have loved righteousness and hated sin. Therefore therefore that's why God anointed you More than all your friends. That means all of us. We are his friends and companions.

Why was Jesus anointed more than us we say because he was the Son of God. No. Because he loved righteousness and hated sin. More than us. So he was anointed more than us. Very important to understand that the anointing was given to Jesus because he loved righteousness and hated sin and.

So I say Lord I want an anointing if I am to serve you effectively all of us are called to serve the Lord. And I want to say to you what I you may not be called to preach like me. You may not be called to plan churches.

But you're called to do something for the Lord in the body of Christ. Every member of the body of Christ has a ministry. That's something I love to tell people you may not be the tongue like me. There are many people in the body of Christ who are like the heart.

Do you see your heart? No. The heart is the praying. The praying machine of the body. Men and women who have a burden to pray for God's people for God's servants. Like the heart pumping blood constantly they pray and pray and pray and pray and I know when people pray for me.

The tongue is able to speak the moment the heart stops. The tongue stops speaking and I'm absolutely convinced in my life. That is because many people pray for me around the world. That I can speak freely and so.

Remember that you also my dear brother sister. I don't care if you were born again yesterday. If you're a member of Christ's body, you have a very important ministry in the body of Christ. Even if it's invisible.

Think of the invisible parts of our body the kidneys. Do you ever see your kidneys? But the moment the kidneys pack up you pack up, too. It's these invisible members inside the Liver the kidneys the heart the lungs.

They're not seen but they do a fantastic ministry. There are many people who will never stand in a pulpit in their entire life. Who did fulfill a fantastic hidden ministry and you could be one of them just fulfill it.

By prayer by doing a little things here and there. You may be like a little finger. You say what value is a little finger very important. You may say I'm not even a little finger. I'm only a nail. When you feel scratchy in your body which part of the body can help you.

Not your heart. Not your tongue. I mean cows use their tongue scratch themselves. You can't do that. Our tongue is not long enough. We need nails. How can you scratch somebody's back? If your wife says hey.

Scratch my back. You can't use your tongue. You've got to use these nails. These small little nails, do you know what the ministry of scratching somebody's back is in the body of Christ encouraging them.

One word of encouragement and like your wife says, ah, thank you. It's such a relief to scratch my back. That man is so blessed when you speak one word of encouragement. The world is full of so many people criticizing gossiping backbiting in the midst of it all that darkness.

Can't you shine a little gleam of light a word of encouragement. When you speak to somebody on a phone and you write an email to someone. When you send a text message one line I'm praying for you. And God will encourage you.

Do you know what a difference it can make to that person? Tremendous. Just a one sentence. Very very important. That's the scratching ministry. You may be only a nail and you can do that. Is there anybody who cannot Give a word of encouragement to somebody.

Do you know what a word of encouragement can do? Let me show you Hebrews chapter 3. This is good. This is what I call the nail scratching ministry. Scratch my back ministry. Hebrews 3 13 Encourage one another every day so that They don't get hardened By the deceitfulness of sin.

Our fellow believers are all in danger of getting hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. How can you deliver them from the deceitfulness of sin by encouraging them by scratching their back? With your nails, you're a very you're a very lowly member of the body of Christ.

You're only a small nail. But you can encourage somebody by speaking a word of encouragement. Don't give up. Hang on. God will see you through. I'm sure God will solve your problem for you. Just trust him.

I'm praying for you. How long does it take to say that how long does it take to write that in a text message. But the result can be amazing. That person's encouraged doesn't give up. Hope I'll never forget a true story that I heard In San Francisco, it's a true story.

There was a man who was so fed up with life he was living in an apartment all by himself lonely and Very discouraged with various things. He felt nobody cared for him and it's a long walk from his house.

He said today. I'm going to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge Into the stream of water down below into the Pacific Ocean and commit suicide but In this long walk of many miles to the Golden Gate Bridge from my house if one man Smiles at me.

I'll come back home and he walked all that way many miles. I don't know how many hours. And he jumped off the bridge and commit suicide. When the police picked up their body picked up the body. And discovered where he stayed his address was on his clothes in his clothes somewhere.

They went back to his room and they found this note written there. I'm gonna commit suicide today the Golden Gate Bridge, but on my way there if I find one man to smile at me. Just smile at me. I'll come back home feeling that is at least one man in the world who cares for me.

One man's life would have been saved if somebody had smiled at him not talk to him total stranger. Just a smile. Which costs nothing. Now, I'm not asking you to go smiling at everybody you see. That's not my purpose of this message.

I'm just saying be sensitive. I believe this that it was a if there was a man of God or a woman of God. Walking down that street where this man crossed. I think the Holy Spirit would have prompted that one man or woman.

Smile at this man, not at everybody on the street. Just smile at this man, that's how good the Holy Spirit is. It's a wonderful life my brothers and sisters. To listen to the Holy Spirit all the time all the time.

He'll prompt you to pray for someone that person may never know that you prayed for him, but you'll see the result in eternity. Be in touch with the Holy Spirit all the time, but how can you have this anointing love righteousness and hate sin.

Jesus loved righteousness more than and hated sin more than anybody else so he was anointed more than anybody else. So what we learned from that is the more you love righteousness and the more you hate sin.

You'll be anointed too in the measure in which you approach The level of Jesus. We are a long way from that, but we can still have some measure of anointing. I'm so challenged by the life of Jesus. You know how he Would be prompted for example, he'd be walking down a road and the Holy Spirit would say stop.

Imagine living like this. It's a challenge to me stop Jesus stop look up at the tree there. He looked up and the Holy Spirit tells him. See that man sitting there. His name is Zacchaeus. He even tells him his name.

Tell him to come down go to his house today. Salvation came to that house. Because Jesus listened these are stories from the Gospels now. I'll tell you another play. He was once by the Sea of Galilee and the Holy Spirit said said to him Take a 50 mile walk cross the border of Israel and Go to Syrophoenicia.

He did that. It's in Matthew 15. He went all the way there Not knowing what is happening and he walked with his disciples and that would have taken him two days. How long can you walk in a day. I mean If it was 60 70 miles, it would have taken him two days to reach there 48 hours and he reaches there and there's a woman with a demon-possessed daughter and He cast the demon out of that daughter and the Holy Spirit says, okay and go back to Galilee now 60 miles back another two days.

He walked 96 hours 48 hours 48 hours to help one person. I believe that person will be in heaven. That Syrophoenician lady Not even a Jew with her daughter. Because Jesus listened to the prompting of the Spirit and I say Lord I want to be like that.

I Want to listen to you all the time. I Want to go where you tell me to go. I Don't want to go where you don't want me to go. I'll tell you something that happened in my own ministry some years ago. It's amazing how God led me through many many contacts in different parts of the world.

To get an invitation in I think it was about 12 13 years ago to go to Romania now. I had never been there I And But when I got an invitation, I felt okay. Let me go and there was a church there of a number of sincere people who believed in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

They're newly formed and they needed some leading to go in the right direction and In a prayer meeting that they had there Which is long before I came they didn't know me. I didn't know them In a prayer meeting that they were having together one old godly lady Said in the midst of while everybody was in prayer gave a word of prophecy.

She said a Man with another color skin Will come here and lead this church Into another direction a good direction. Listen to him. They didn't know who it was that's all there was in that statement. Then they looked around when some African brother came they would invite him and No, they didn't feel that was it.

And then without any other I didn't even know anybody there through somebody else's contact. I went there and they arranged some meetings for me and They observed and listened to me for two three days and after they heard the message.

I Didn't know anything about this prophecy. I didn't even know who these people were the leader got up and And said to them do you remember this prophecy we heard last year from God. Here you see the fulfillment of it and from that time I went there a number of times and even now they have all my messages there in Romanian on their website and and from there the word Went out to many Romanian churches around the world that I got openings to Romanian churches in America France Australia all over the place, but it all started with one little step.

What I'm saying is that? It's amazing how God leads and here was this godly woman who I met her when I went there and She was such a self-effacing Humble lady who never wanted to know to know anything then did not think that because I said one right word once I'll always have a right word.

She was very cautious and I Remember when I was there somebody asked her. What do you think about this situation here? They wanted a prophetic word from her. She said I don't know. I have nothing to say and I heard that I knew this lady is genuine.

Because these fake prophets they always have a word about everything under the sun a True prophet may give one word and then say nothing for the next two years and something like that. You know that means they are really listening to God.

So what I mean is that there are these amazing things that happen we God who works in the supernatural and if you have not experienced that sometimes even Unconsciously, I remember once you know meeting.

Some meeting I was speaking at and in some Context I was explaining something from scripture. It's concerning something I said about Somebody occupying a house. I don't know whether it was Peter's house or some house and some connection with some house.

I said you should not take a house like that. And there was a man sitting there. I didn't know that I didn't know that till one month later or something. There was a man sitting there Who had come to the meeting with a specific question.

He said Lord. I'm just about to rent a house here. I want you to speak to me definitely today whether I should take that house or not. Now I never knew anything about this and He's sitting there waiting to hear this and in some other context.

I said about not taking a house. He saw I got my word. I should not take that house. So he went and told those people I'm not renting this house and the next week that house caught fire and burnt up. So he comes to me a few weeks later and said brother zag.

I'm so thankful for what you said. I said, what did I say? I said you said in that message that I shouldn't take that house. I said, I don't even remember what I said. Sometimes it can be unconscious like that.

But I was so moved when that man that his life was saved because of that. I said Lord that scares me. It really scares me when I hear that that I want to be very careful about what I say from the pulpit.

I want to be very careful that I'm in touch with you and If I'm sincere Even unconsciously I can say something which will bless somebody. If I'm not in touch with you, I Will not be able to do that. And so how can I ensure?

That every time I speak even in ordinary conversation with people. To be able to say something that will really because some of them may be looking for direction. I don't even know that this guy is looking for some direction.

And I say something and he takes it seriously. I Want you to say see this my brothers and sisters. I wish all of us could live like this. To be in constant touch with God you know how every part of our body is constant touch with the head that immediately we react for example, if you see a Suddenly a car rushing by you spring back immediately because the head says step back.

Or a snake suddenly comes in your path. The head is so quick the reaction that you don't even think about it and is the head immediately pulling us back from danger. And so if we are in touch with Jesus Christ like this He'll immediately be called back, you know, for example, we read That Jesus when he was a little baby Not knowing anything.

He was in born in Bethlehem and Herod that evil King Herod was scheming to kill Jesus and wanted to send his soldiers there to kill him after the wise men didn't come back and We read before the soldiers came.

The Lord told Joseph take the baby and go to Egypt and he went to Egypt and by the time the soldiers came The baby was not there. That happened in my life once. When some people who wanted to create some problems for me planned to Come and raid my house with the police one morning, you know in a corrupt way then in India.

You can bribe magistrates and judges and get them to pass corrupt orders and one of them they got something to do that and they came and They phoned up they phoned up my house the previous night just to make sure I'm at home.

They were planning to come the next morning. And 830 they called my phone and I said hello. No response they were just checking up that I was at home next morning when they came. I Wasn't there. Because I'd left the previous night after the phone call to some other place and when they came Just like they found Bethlehem empty they found the house empty, you know that song we sing As he cared for Jesus He will care for you.

That I wrote that song in 1977. It was what I experienced in my life. What he did for Jesus he will do for you as he cared for Jesus. He will care for you. If you know Jesus as your Lord and your elder brother God is on your side.

Who can be against you my dear brothers and sisters? Seek for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. At any cost more than money or position or honor or don't even seek to be a preacher. You can be an ordinary brother anointed with the Holy Spirit going around blessing people wherever you go with one sentence here one Sentence there may be a text message.

Maybe a phone call. It's amazing what will come out of your life. If it says he was anointed with the Holy Spirit above all his fellows because he loved righteousness and hated sin. So when I read a word like that that he hated sin, I Asked myself.

What are the sins that Jesus hated the most? And I think number one among them number one Was hypocrisy. Pretending see in Matthew 23 How he lambasted the Pharisees first of all notice that the Pharisees had all their doctrines, right.

Matthew 23 it says here Jesus told his disciples All that the Pharisees tell you to do do but don't do according to what they Do because they say things but they don't do them. What he was telling is them was the Pharisees that doctrines are a hundred percent, right?

There was another group called the Sadducees their doctrines are wrong. They did not believe in the resurrection or in angels or any such thing. But the Pharisees that doctrines were a hundred percent right because Jesus said whatever they tell you to do verse 3 do.

Do you think Jesus will tell you people whatever the Roman Catholics tell you to do do. Pray to Mary worship the Pope. No. He won't say that. Whatever the Jehovah's Witnesses tell you to do do they don't believe that Jesus Christ is God.

No, he will not say whatever they tell you to do do. In fact many Protestant groups also who practice infant baptism. He will not tell you whatever they tell you to do do. Many of things may be right, but not everything.

But in the Pharisees, he said whatever they tell you to do do that means that doctrines were not 99 right but hundred percent right, but they were the ones who killed Jesus teaching us that you can have all your doctrines right and be totally wrong spiritually and.

To people who had all their doctrines right Jesus said these words Matthew 23 further down in that chapter. You verse 33 you serpents you brood of vipers. How will you escape the sentence of hell? You who have all your doctrines, right?

How will you escape the sentence of hell that is a word we need to hear? You know we glory in CFC that we have got such pure doctrines better than probably most other people, okay. So what the Pharisees had all their doctrines right.

It's the life that matters. Not that we have got our intellect, right. So these Pharisees what did Jesus criticize them for. Verse 13 you hypocrites. Was 14 you hypocrites. Verse 15 you hypocrites. Verse 16 you blind guides.

Verse 23 you hypocrites. Verse 25 you hypocrites. Verse 27 you hypocrites. Verse 28 full of hypocrisy. Verse 29 you hypocrites. Their doctrines are right, but they pretended to be spiritual hypocrisy is Pretending to have a life that you don't have.

Pretending before everybody else that you're spiritual when you're not Pretending that you have overcome sin when you have not you give people an impression. By the words you speak that you're an overcomer but it's not true and Your wife will say it's not true.

You know it's very easy to preach a lot of hypocritical things. I heard of one preacher in some pulpit Standing up there and preaching a fantastic sermon and his wife was sitting down there and said said John don't forget.

I'm sitting here I'm listening to all that you're saying. Don't tell people lies now some wise may not be bold enough to say that in public, but what does your wife think of your sermon? What do your friends who know you intimately what about your children who watch you at home?

What do they think of what you're preaching what you're saying to people? It's very easy to be a hypocrite. The word hypocrite is not an English word. It's a Greek word. Which means in Greek the word means actor.

That is just like these film actors and those days. It was not movies. It was dramas 2 ,000 years ago. The the dramas in Greece the actors were all hypocrites, so if you ask people Where are the hypocrites they say go to the theater today you ask where are the hypocrites you say go to church?

You'll see them there and those days it was in the theater actors who act and so when Jesus said Don't be a hypocrite to translate it. It means don't be an actor. Don't act Holy like these Hollywood movies where somebody is Moses.

While the filming is going on then later on in the day He's a drunkard or is going living with this third divorced wife or something like that, but in the movie He's the holy man of God, but there are a lot of people who come to church like that acting.

Wanting to give an impression to people. I'll tell you this if you have the slightest desire in your heart listen carefully. You have the slightest desire in your heart. To give anybody an impression that you're more spiritual than you really are you are a hypocrite.

You're the people whom Jesus is referring to and he hates it. He hates hypocrisy. You want to love righteousness and hate sin so that you can be anointed more than others hate. Hypocrisy number one hate to that people get an impression of you, which is not true.

And that's why Jesus hardly ever spoke about. Some of the amazing things he did he would tell people who may heal don't tell anyone that you were healed. Today's healers are so different. They say go and publish it go and tell everybody I healed you don't forget my name.

Tell everybody I was the one who prayed for you. Jesus was exactly the opposite. He never wanted people to know he said don't tell anyone that you were healed. Keep quiet. So there's a difference there I find.

If you have the slightest desire to give people a certain impression About your spirituality by the language you speak or by your bearing or certain things you do, you know. You can try and be hospitable in your home just to show people that you know, I'm a spiritual guy.

I'm so hospitable and nice to people if you have the slightest desire for the praise of men. Don't waste your time asking God to fill you with the Holy Spirit. Just forget it. Just keep pursuing in that direction and you'll be a first-class hypocrite and you probably end up where the Pharisees ended up.

I want to tell you the truth that Jesus hates hypocrisy. Some years ago, I Preached a series of sermons. It's on the Internet in YouTube called 16 lessons that God has taught me in my life and among those 16 lessons the number one was God loves honest people.

I Honest people and I'll tell you honestly that I have striven more to be honest than to be holy. The first step to holiness is to be honest. First of all honest about my sins. Don't I would want to cover up some wrong attitude.

I have in my heart by saying no no, no, but Lord. It was like this never justify yourself. Never never justify yourself and the pure conscience convicts you when the Holy Spirit convicts you say Lord, you're right.

See it says here in Luke chapter 16. Another characteristic of the Pharisees was Luke 16 and verse 15 Jesus said to the Pharisees. You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men but God knows your hearts and What men appreciate so highly is Detestable in the sight of God.

That's when men appreciate you so much. You're stinking in the sight of God because you're seeking to justify yourself before men. My dear brothers and sisters you ask yourself this question. Is there a desire in you?

To always show yourself in a better way before men. Before human beings than you really are. Do you want people to think of yourself more? Spiritual than you really are. You're on the road to becoming a first-class Pharisee and to end up where the Pharisees ended up.

God loves honest people. Strive for honesty because it doesn't come easily. You try and teach your two-year-old to be honest. It's not easy. It's not easy for children to be 100 honest. From childhood they did learn pretense.

And we develop it more and more as we go and in our place of work. You know There's a lot of need for pretense to pretend that we know a subject when you don't know it even in school when the teacher asks us something we want to pretend that we know it or Pretends is so much among children as in school in places of work all the time.

But I say don't try it before God and don't try it in the church beware of. Pretending to be more spiritual than you really are. God detests hypocrisy. He loves honest people so. You know David when he sinned.

When I wonder one of the wonderful things about David was that when he sinned with Bathsheba. He wrote a psalm about it and you know that Psalm Psalm 51. Let me read it to you. Not the whole thing just one sentence there in Psalm 51.

When he was convicted of his sin, it's very interesting to see. It says at the head of the psalm David wrote the psalm and Nathan the Prophet Came to him after he had committed sin with Bathsheba, but it did not happen immediately.

It was nine months after his sin. When at a time when Bathsheba was about to deliver the baby. Which is a result of David's sin, that's when Nathan the Prophet wait. God waited nine months. For David to hum himself acknowledge his sin, but he covered it up covered it up covered it up.

Till Nathan the Prophet came to him and said you're the man. I Love those prophets of Old Testament times. They were not scared of Kings. They'd walk up to a king and tell him you're a sinner. We need more prophets like that today and When Nathan came David said these words Lord Verse 6 Psalm 51 6 you desire truth in man's innermost being.

God wants reality truth the word truth means reality. Very often in New Testament particularly when you read the word truth. It means reality the opposite of hypocrisy. The opposite of truth is lie. To live a truth is different from living a lie.