A Fresh Anointing Part 9

You see, because the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, the supernatural power of G.o.d operated through them, not as they willed, but as the Spirit willed. If you want the supernatural power of G.o.d to manifest through your life as the Spirit wills, you'll have to stay filled up with the Holy Spirit too. Of course, you will have to live a life of obedience to G.o.d. And you can't just sit around and wait for G.o.d to make you do something - to make you get filled with the Spirit or to make you get filled up with His Word. He's not going to make you do anything. But if you want the supernatural power of G.o.d operating in your life, stay filled up!

Extremes in the Church Today

There are some basic problems or extremes in the Church today when it comes to the supernatural move of G.o.d and the manifestations of the Holy Spirit and gifts of the Spirit. Some folks just don't believe in any supernatural manifestations of G.o.d's power at all. And some folks have seen such excesses and fanaticism even in Full Gospel, Pentecostal circles, that they're in the ditch on one side of the road and they don't want the supernatural move of G.o.d's Spirit.

Then other folks have gotten way over in a ditch on the other side. They desperately wanted G.o.d to use them and they were full of zeal, but they lacked wisdom. And because they wanted G.o.d to use them but they weren't full of the Word of G.o.d and wisdom, they got into the ditch on the other side and got into error by trying to perform in the flesh.

Let's just do what the Bible says to do! Let's stay full of the Word of G.o.d. Let's be sure the Word of G.o.d dwells in us richly in all wisdom. And let's be full of the Spirit of G.o.d. The Word first; then the Holy Spirit. And in everything we do whether it is in word or in deed, let it glorify the Lord. He is the One we want to be lifted up and glorified.

Chapter 11 Full of the Word and the Holy Spirit!

Christians who are filled up with the Word of G.o.d and the Holy Spirit are easy to recognize. Acts chapter 6 tells us that being filled with the Spirit and being full of the Word is recognizable.

ACTS 6:1-6.

1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

2 Then the twelve called the mult.i.tude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of G.o.d, and serve tables.

3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of HONEST REPORT, FULL OF THE HOLY GHOST [the Spirit] and WISDOM [the Word], whom we may appoint over this business.

4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

5 And the saying pleased the whole mult.i.tude: and they chose Stephen, a man FULL of faith and of THE HOLY GHOST, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: 6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

The twelve apostles were the only ministers the Church had at that time. The disciples said, "It is not reason that we should leave the word of G.o.d and serve tables" (v. 2). Therefore, seven men were selected and appointed to serve tables. Evidently these were the first deacons. The Greek word translated "deacon" means helper and these men were elected to help the disciples so the disciples could give 109.

themselves more fully to the study and preaching of the Word.

Many times in the church today when church leaders select others to fill certain positions or offices, they just focus on whether the candidates for the position are filled with the Holy Spirit or whether they were filled with the Spirit at one time. They forget about the fact that they need to be people of honest report and they need to have a reputation for being full of wisdom or full of the Word of G.o.d.

Remember the verse we read in Colossians 3:16: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. . . ." The Bible says that even those who are chosen to the deacon's office, not only need to be full of the Spirit of G.o.d and wisdom, but they must be of honest report. Deacons often take care of finances in a ministry; they often handle church finances. You don't want people with a dishonest report handling your money. No, you want someone who is of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost, and full of wisdom. People can be full of the Holy Ghost, but lack wisdom in some areas.

Therefore, in selecting people for church offices, we need to choose people who have all three of these qualifications: Men and women of honest report, full of the Holy Spirit, and full of wisdom. One or two of these qualities is not enough! We need Christians who possess all of these qualities if we're going to operate according to the Bible.

The Bible tells us in verse 3 that an honest report is recognizable. For one thing, if an honest report weren't recognizable, the disciples wouldn't have known which men to select for this position!

You know yourself, you could say about a person, "I don't know whether we ought to put him in a position of authority or not. For one thing, he owes everyone in town - he doesn't even pay his debts. Besides that he can't be trusted." People like that are not of honest report, are they?

On the other hand, someone who is reputable in every area is recognized by all. For example, you could say about a person, "His reputation in all matters is impeccable. He has a fine reputation in the community financially and in every other way. I'd trust him in any position in the church!" A man or woman's reputation follows him or her, and an honest report is recognized by all.

Also, being full of the Holy Ghost must be recognizable or how would the disciples have known whom to select? By the report that you get about people it is quite obvious whether or not they are honest and whether or not they stay full of the Holy Spirit and the Word of G.o.d. And as we've seen, spiritual health is recognizable.

Just as a side thought, notice Acts 6:6, where these men who were chosen to be the first deacons were brought before the disciples: "Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them." If it's important to lay hands on men and set them aside to serve as deacons, you can see how much more important it is to lay hands on those who are called into the full-time or fivefold ministry.

Let's look at an instance in the Bible where men were set apart for the fivefold ministry. I think we can glean something from this.

ACTS 13:1-3.

1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch

certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas ... Simeon ... Lucius ... Manaen ... and Saul.

2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

Notice the Bible said they prayed and then laid hands on them. It didn't say, "They laid hands on them and then prayed." They laid their hands on them and sent them away - not broken cisterns but full reservoirs!

Don't Lose the Anointing!

I've been in the ministry for more than fifty years, so I'm not just exactly a novice when it comes to the ministry. Besides, in more than fifty years of ministry, you wouldn't have to be too brilliant just to stumble over a few things by accident and learn some things that way! But I've observed this: pastors and other ministers can get so involved in making money on the side, running businesses and selling this product or that product, that they can lose the anointing to preach.

I've known some ministers who had two or three businesses on the side and were so involved running them that they had no time to study and prepare for the ministry. Then when they got up to preach, they were no more anointed than last year's bird nest. And they wondered why their preaching was dead and their churches had grown cold!

Some of these ministers had marvelous abilities to preach and teach but they lost the anointing because they were constantly taken up with business details. How sad when they could have really done something for G.o.d! Of course there are duties and responsibilities that pastors must attend to - the business of the church! But I'm talking about pastors whose time and attention gets entirely taken up with the business affairs of running the church or ministers who get so involved in running their own businesses on the side that they have no time for the Word of G.o.d or prayer.

If deacons are to be full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, so should those who are called to the fivefold ministry! Over the years, I've seen some pastors quit the ministry just because they didn't use wisdom in the way they did some things. For example, I remember one pastor who had a congregation of 400 people, and sometimes for special services, 500 people. During special services when there were 500 people, there was standing room only, so he decided to build a 1,000-seat auditorium to accommodate his largest crowds.

I said to him, "If you're going to build an auditorium, build it in such a way that you can close off part of it. Otherwise, if you take 400 people and put them in a 1,000-seat auditorium, there will be 600 empty seats. That will cause the people to wonder where everyone is and get discouraged, when in reality the church congregation is just as large as it ever was. If your people get discouraged, and you can't fill up your sanctuary, you will get discouraged too and want to leave.

This particular pastor said to me, "Oh, but I'm going to take this city for Jesus!"

"How long have you been pastoring in this city?" I asked him.

"Oh, eight or ten years."

"Well," I said, "if you haven't taken the city in eight or ten years, it stands to reason it might take you a few more years to 'take the city.' If it took you eight years to go from 165 people to a congregation of 400 - then you'd do well to have 650 in another eight to ten years. And if you build a 1,000-seat auditorium, you'll still have 350 empty seats."

"Oh," he said, "but we're going to do it! We're going to win this city for Jesus in just eighteen months!"

I said, "Now I'm not talking unbelief, but I don't think you are. Use some wisdom. You've been here all this time and you haven't won the city yet. Don't misunderstand me, you're doing a good job, but you need to use some wisdom in your building project so you and your people don't get discouraged."

Well, he went ahead and built his 1,000-seat auditorium anyway. I preached a crusade for him in that big auditorium, and many of the seats were tied off with ropes. Of course, everyone sat down toward the front, so it looked like there weren't many people in attendance. Very shortly after that, he got discouraged and left the church.

It's fine to build a larger church than what is necessary for the present congregation; however, provision ought to be made in the construction of the building so part of the sanctuary can be part.i.tioned off. That way it could be used for certain special occasions which draw larger crowds, but also certain parts of it could be closed off when it wasn't in use. That way the pastor won't get discouraged and neither will his people.

I saw pastor after pastor make that same mistake in their building projects. I tried to get them not to be unrealistic. I advised them, "Don't build huge auditoriums that are too large for your present congregations unless you can close off part of the auditorium. Otherwise, it will ultimately hinder your growth because the people will become discouraged from coming. For example, the typical Wednesday night crowd is usually smaller than the crowd on Sunday morning, and so when the people come on a Wednesday night to a 1,000-seat auditorium, they will wonder where everyone is."

Sad to say, within about eighteen months to two years, every one of these pastors I cautioned was gone - they left their churches. They got disillusioned because they weren't able to fill those big auditoriums right away, so they left. And their congregations were left with those big church buildings!

One Foursquare pastor was the only one I saw who used wisdom in his church building project. I held a meeting for him, and although his building could hold 750 people, on the other hand, his normal crowd was only about 250 people. But because of the way the building was constructed, 100 people in the main sanctuary on a Monday night looked really good. When the lights were off in the balcony, it was just naturally closed off, and under the balcony he had folding doors which could be shut. If he needed to use the rooms under the balcony, he could open the doors. He used those rooms for Sunday school cla.s.ses, and he could open them up if he had to.

Our meeting started off on a Monday night, and I counted 99 people. It looked like we had a good crowd, because he had all those other rooms and the balcony closed off. But before the week was out he had to open up the folding doors underneath the balcony to accommodate all the people, and on some of the nights we even had to open up the balcony. He used wisdom in his planning.

You can readily see that if the apostles were careful to choose men who were full of wisdom to wait on tables and take care of ministry business, then it must be important for pastors to be full of wisdom too. These men in Acts chapter 6 were chosen for their wisdom!

There's something else I want you to see in this pa.s.sage of scripture.

ACTS 6:4,5.

4 But we will give ourselves CONTINUALLY to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

5 And the saying pleased the whole mult.i.tude....

The disciples gave themselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the Word. Is it any wonder they had a fresh anointing upon their lives and the supernatural power of the Spirit of G.o.d was a normal part of their lives!

Just a side thought, it's interesting to note that the preacher said something that pleased the whole crowd! The reason the preacher could say something that pleased the whole crowd is that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. They weren't half full; they weren't empty cisterns; they were full reservoirs and they were all in one accord! And we know this crowd included many disciples because the Bible says, "... the twelve called the mult.i.tude of the disciples unto them..." (Acts 6:2).

The Early Church had probably grown to at least 8,120 people by this time because we know that 120 people had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost; 3,000 were added to the church when Peter preached (Acts 2:41); and 5,000 were added to the church when Peter and John preached after the man at the Gate called Beautiful was healed (Acts 4:4). Therefore, we know that the Early Church probably had at least 8,120 members at this time and probably more than that because the Word says, "... the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved" (Acts 2:47).

We also know that the Church - those first converts - hadn't left Jerusalem yet. The Early Church was still gathered together in Jerusalem because we read in Acts 8:1 where the church was dispersed and scattered throughout Judaea and Samaria. But up until that time the Christians were still in Jerusalem.

So here's a mult.i.tude of people - probably at least 8,120 - and the preacher said something that pleased the whole mult.i.tude! Dear Lord, you could have 20 now and not be able to say something that pleases the whole crowd! Do you know why? Because they're not filled up with the Spirit! They may have had that initial experience of being filled with the Holy Ghost, but they have not had those refillings - those fresh anointings. But if you get people filled up to overflowing with the Holy Spirit, it makes all the difference!

Also, what the disciples said pleased the mult.i.tude because those early Christians were fervent in Spirit, and they had a hunger for G.o.d. If people aren't hungry for G.o.d, they're broken cisterns that are empty! Don't ever lose your hunger for G.o.d. If you're hungry for G.o.d, you'll seek many refillings of the Holy Spirit.

ACTS 6:5,8.

5 And the saying pleased the whole mult.i.tude: and they chose Stephen, a man FULL OF FAITH and of the HOLY GHOST, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch....

8 And Stephen, FULL OF FAITH AND POWER, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

There's that word "full" again! Stephen was full of faith and full of the Holy Ghost. The disciples chose someone who was full of faith and full of the Holy Ghost. If you're full of the Holy Ghost, you're full of power. But if you don't have any faith mixed with the power of G.o.d, all the power in the world won't do a bit of good!

Full of the Holy Ghost! That's why G.o.d was able to use Stephen to do great wonders and miracles among the people. Too many preachers are full of the wrong things. But stay full of the Holy Ghost! Get full of the Word and then what you'll talk about is the Word.

What Are You Full Of?

I held a revival for a certain pastor, and I was there for four full weeks. I ate at least the noon meal with him every day, and then sometimes after church we'd go out and have something to eat. So I ate with this pastor at least twice a day and sometimes three times a day for four weeks or about twenty-eight days.

Every single time we went to eat, he'd tell me at least three new jokes. He never repeated himself. Well, if I had eaten with him twice a day, that would be six new jokes a day he'd told me. If I'd eaten with him three times a day, that would be nine new jokes each day. Out of all those jokes, I can only remember one! Well, if you multiply six times twenty-eight, that's more than one hundred and fifty jokes that pastor told me while I was there holding this meeting for him.

In my meetings, I quoted most of my scriptures by heart. Once when we went out to eat, this pastor said to me, "I wish I could remember scriptures like you can." Finally, I said to him, "You know, if you'd feed on the Word like you do on jokes, you could remember scriptures. I can't remember jokes like you do because I'm not interested in jokes. That's why I can't remember them - I'm just not interested in them. I'm interested in the Word!" I don't know about you, but I like to stay full of the Word!

What are you full of? The Bible didn't say to be full of jokes or things that are insignificant and of little importance. The Bible said to be full of the Word! If you're full of the Word, then that's what you're going to talk about.

MALACHI 3:16.

16 Then they that FEARED the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord HEARKENED, and HEARD it

Throughout the Old Testament we see that expression "to fear the Lord." That's not talking about being afraid of G.o.d like you'd be afraid of a tornado or a rattlesnake. That word carries with it the thought of a holy or reverent awe of the Lord! We are to reverence the Lord, and to have a holy awe for Him. If the Church wants the supernatural move of G.o.d's Spirit, we're going to have to get back to that holy reverence for G.o.d and the things of G.o.d.

Well, if the Lord heard those saints of G.o.d back then in the Old Testament who reverenced Him, I wonder if the Lord still hears us today? Or do you suppose He's gotten so old He's lost His hearing! Maybe we should take up an offering and get Him a hearing aid! No, thank G.o.d, His hearing is not impaired. His hearing is just as good as it always was!

MALACHI 3:16.

16Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.

It says the Lord hearkened and heard what those who feared the Lord said to one another. The word "hearken" means to listen to, to give attention to, and to give heed to. The Lord paid attention to what they were saying and He heard what they were saying. I wonder if they were telling jokes to one another? Is that what caused the Lord to hearken and to hear them? No, they weren't full of jokes; they were full of the Word! They were full reservoirs, not empty cisterns. They had a reverential awe for His Name!