THE SECRET TO PAUL’S ANOINTING
Php 3:3 – Although I am a Jew, I worship God in the spirit and do not place any confidence in the flesh.
2 Cor 1:12 – For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.
- POINT TO REMEMBER: The secret to Paul’s anointed ministry is that he did not put confidence in the flesh.
- WHAT IS THE FLESH?
The word FLESH appears nearly 150 times in the New Testament. For some, it means meat, and for others, it brings to mind sinful desires. But the Greek word for FLESH is SARX, and it can mean at least 5 different things, as shown in these passages –
(i) A human being: FLESH can directly refer to a human being.
Check Acts 2:17 – I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.
(ii) The Physical body: FLESH can refer to the physical body of the human being
Check John 1:14 – The word became flesh and dwelt among us.
(iii) The Natural world: FLESH can mean the physical natural realm we live in
Check Mat 16:17 –When Jesus compliments Peter for his declaration, Jesus said: “Flesh & blood has not revealed this to you but my Father who is in heaven.”
(iv) Meat: FLESH also refers to the flesh of a creature, which can be consumed as meat for food
Check 1 Cor 8:13 – I will eat no flesh if it offends a weak brother.
(v) Self-efforts: In the New Testament, the main meaning of FLESH is a person’s own efforts to be right with God.
Read Rom 4:1-2 – What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
Notice how the words ‘flesh’ and ‘works’ are used interchangeably. This shows that the main use of FLESH in New Testament teaching is to describe a person’s own efforts apart from God.
- POINT TO REMEMBER: To walk in the flesh is to depend on your own ability, but to walk in the Spirit is to depend on God’s grace.
- ANOINTING CANNOT COME ON “FLESH.”
Exo 30:31-32 – The anointing oil shall not be poured on man’s flesh.
Leviticus 14:14-18 says that the oil rests on the blood of the sacrifice.
Not putting confidence in the flesh means not depending on your own actions or achievements; instead, it means trusting God’s kindness and grace to help you and work through you with his powerful, miraculous power. But when you rely on your own strength and effort, sin shows up instead of the anointing.
Rom 7:5 – When we were in the flesh, the sinful actions that were aroused by the law operated in our members.
All of us carry sin in our flesh, even though our spirits are renewed when we are saved. This sin in the flesh only becomes active when the law is applied. In other words, when you trust in your own strength, sin and sinful desires are stirred up and come alive.
- POINT TO REMEMBER: When you try to keep the law, sin is activated. When living under grace, the anointing is activated.
- LIVE UNDER GRACE
Living under grace and receiving the anointing of the Holy Spirit go together. This is what Zerubbabel found out hundreds of years ago. The temple rebuilding stopped because they had no money, no matter what they tried for over 15 years in Jerusalem. God sent the prophet Zechariah to help them reach a place where the Holy Spirit could work on their behalf. He said – Not by strength or power but by my Spirit, says the Lord. You will bring the final stone with shouts of GRACE! GRACE! (Zech 4:6-7). Notice the link between the Holy Spirit’s work and God’s grace.
In the Bible, the first instance of an anointed person praying for another’s healing followed after Abraham’s lie. Clearly, the anointing of God flows through you as you operate under grace.
Here are 5 signs that you are indeed living by grace –
(i) You will live every day mindful of the unmerited favor of God
(ii) You will stay in love with Jesus
(iii) You will reject guilt and condemnation
(iv) You will grow in a constant attitude of gratitude and thanksgiving
(v) You will develop and cultivate a gracious heart
- THE ANOINTING WILL MAKE UP FOR WHAT YOU LACK
By living under Grace, you admit that you are weak and don’t have everything you need, so you must depend on God’s strength to get things done. When you do this, you will see the Holy Spirit come in and take control, giving you what you need and doing miracles through you for His glory.
→One day, a Shakespearean actor stood up and recited the Lord’s psalm in a dramatic way, and everyone applauded him. Then an old man recited it, and there was not even one dry eye in the audience. His language was not as eloquent, but the anointing.
→I’ve heard now, normally when Smith Wigglesworth spoke, he just rambled, but when he spoke under the Anointing, the words were clear, and it was a flow that blessed people and wrought miracles.
→Pastor Benny Hinn, when he was young, stuttered and stammered as he spoke. But after he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, God began to fill him with his power, his gifts, and also many dreams and visions. One day, a youth minister invited him to share his testimony. In his book “He touched me,” Benny writes that when he opened his mouth to start speaking on stage, he felt something touch his tongue, and at that moment, it loosened! That night was powerful, and in the days to come, God would use him to show forth his power as people began to be slain in the spirit and be healed of various diseases. One day, his picture appeared in the newspapers of an upcoming meeting where he would minister. His father, who was strongly opposed to Pentecostalism and to being filled with the Spirit, grabbed the newspaper and, sure enough, entered the auditorium where Benny was ministering that night. Pas Benny was terrified to see his parents in the audience, but he continued to preach, and God moved wonderfully. That night, his parents waited for him at their home. His Father told him – Benny, how can we become like you? He was touched by the fact that his son, who stuttered and stammered, is pic-ad in the newspaper – parents came – He drove till 2am hoping they’d slept – But Dad awake: how can we become like you? That night, Pastor led his own parents to salvation – all because they saw how the anointing made up for what he lacked, changed his life, and healed his stuttering!