Pentecost Anointing by Phil Kinney
Welcome to Pentecost Sunday – 50 days after Easter
" When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?” Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’ “
Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it." (Acts 2:1-24, NKJV)
What is anointing? It’s not defined by demonstration – too often we look for that and see it as spiritual. This is not the anointing – but if you touch God and He touches you your going to have a reaction
What is it to be anointed? It is to be anointed or endowed by God to function in a particular area. It’s not to say I’m anointed and to look good – it is to prophesy or to preach or to witness or to heal or to create or to bring change
The anointing of craftsmen who were gifted for the building of the temple (Exodus 37)
Jesus did nothing until he had received power from on high (Matt 3: 16). Then he was anointed to minister
Here we see in today’s passage the disciples are instructed by Jesus not to do anything, not to go anywhere, until they had received “the promise from the Father” (Acts 1:4) – what is this promise – the anointing outpouring of the Holy Spirit. With this anointing they are no longer hiding away in the upper room, they no longer walk in fear and trepidation, they boldly declared the goodness of God. They were willing to act for God and obedient to his instructions, they took the time to hang with God, and God poured out his Holy Spirit, anointing them for the job at hand.
You need to be willing to do something. God wont anoint you to do nothing but sit in a seat. The anointing is the solid influence, the power that rises to achieve the task of helping, or witnessing, or planning, or whatever God has called you to do. When you are anointed you become effective! You can have anointing to raise children, to be a husband and wife, to do your job, to serve in the house – it is getting God into your everyday life!
Luke 4: 18 The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”
There are people in this church today who have never enjoyed your life because you have taken on the weight of others around you, and it has become a prison – like being in a cave with a weight around your neck that were placed on you early in your life. And you heard in this morning sermon and thought – how do I get joy – I’ve never experienced the joy, I don’t know what it is to have the joy of the Lord in my life.
First you were born in sin, covered in iniquity. Then you were born through someone in sin, covered in iniquity. Then you were placed in a sinful environment where they said all kinds of things , and words can become a yoke around your neck. People who tell you that you are stupid, and ugly, and your too old or too young, and that you won’t amount to anything, and your useless, and with these words they yoked you and you are carrying this burden of failure and defeat. And what was said about you at 8 is still influencing you at 18, and 28, and 38, and 48, and 58, and 68. There are people in this room that we don’t even know who they are because they have been held back by the yoke around their neck that has stopped them becoming who God made them to be, and they have been labouring under the strain of the yoke and haven’t been able to shake it off. And you have had some accomplishments and success but you have had it under struggle and strain because of the yoke you have carried. Today you have the opportunity to throw off the yoke that has bound you and to be free to soar into all God has for you –you can be free of oppression, and depression, and fear of failure and defeat, and the words that have become a part of your life because the anointing breaks the yoke – it doesn’t just break it - it shatters it!!!!
Isaiah 10:27 It shall come to pass in that day
That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder,
And his yoke from your neck,
And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.
Turn to the person next to you and say – “I gotta get this thing off of me. I gotta see who I can be without this weight around my neck – if I were not limited by this restriction – by what he said and she said and they said, and by what happened to me here and what happened there and distorted my view of God and stole my passion and purpose.
Let me tell you there is nothing wrong with the ox – the problem is with the yoke around your neck. You’ve got the wrong yoke. Jesus said to take up His yoke – which is easy and light – why is it easy and light – because Jesus through the anointing power of His Spirit helps us to carry it so we are not alone. And the yoke of Jesus is made to fit who we are, because we fit with Jesus.
Matthew 11:30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” He has anointing for you that make the yoke easy, that makes getting done what he has called you to do easy under His anointing power, to become all that He made you to be and to do. It breaks depression and paves a way forward.
We live in a world where a mother is a smoker and she has a nicotine addiction. And she gets pregnant and the baby is born and it inherits the mothers addictions. We have mothers who are on crack and the baby is born and it comes into the world suffering and screaming because it has the addiction of the mother to crack.
As it is in the natural so it is in the spiritual. If the mum doesn’t get loose or the dad doesn’t get loose than the child is likely to carry the same dysfunction, and we get upset with our children for behaving in the same dysfunction the parents have had and not dealt with. Well tonight the anointing power of the Holy Spirit is here for the Mum, and the Dad, and the child and the grandchild to break the yoke that has bound and restrained and made a way for you to be free of the oppression and depression that has bound you and ensnared you.
Let me tell you just because your mum died of cancer doesn’t mean you have to die of cancer, just cause your dad had heart problems doesn’t mean you have to have heart problems, the anointing breaks the yoke of sickness, the anointing breaks the yoke of repeat sin, the anointing breaks the yoke of depression, the anointing breaks the yoke of those things that have been spoke over your life pulling you down.
It’s time to get out of prison – a prison of lies that has tied you up for years and generations. Jesus is bigger and stronger than any yoke. Some of you have been hiding behind prisons of conservativism and using this as an excuse to hide sins in your life that have held you bound for years. Others have had words spoken that have created prisons of defeat, and debt, and loss, and sadness, but Jesus said those he sets free shall be free indeed! (John 8:36). He is here by the power of the Spirit to destroy the yokes some have been holding on to, and to release you to a ministry of power, a ministry of healing, a ministry of hope, a ministry of prophecy, a ministry of abundance... oh give the lord some praise!
Some here are believing the lie of the enemy and as I speak you are saying to yourself – this can’t be me, I’m not worthy, who am I to do this. Look at David. He was the least of his family of the least of the tribes. So much so that when Samuel comes to meet with his family, his dad forgets about him and leaves him in the field while they have a feast! But God knows, and when he calls, he calls! And tonight he is calling you to come out and break the yoke that has held you down, and to be anointed for the ministry he has called you to – but he’s not asking you to do it alone – he is offering the power of His Holy Spirit to anoint you to do the task – he is the engine driving your car, the lift beneath your wings, the steam in your train – he is the power that will accomplish all He has set forth to accomplish – you are simply to be the willing vessel.
TALK ABOUT
Try these discussion-starters about this week’s topic:
- Have you had a dream in the past that you have "lost"? Was this a God given dream or just a "wish"?
- Do you think you are fulfilling God's calling for your life? Do you think He has more for you? What is the more?
- What steps can you take to step into the "more" God has for you? God meets us at our point of action - what action do you need to do to start to become what God made you to be?
- What stops you from being the person God has called you be?
- How are you going with the 7 day challenge of reading your Bible every day? It is helpful to praise and worship God before you read as it welcomes the presence of God to your time with him. Is this something you think you'll take up? Make a commitment now.