Sermon Tone Analysis

*Abiding in The Anointing*                   28th Jan 07

 

It is imperative that we learn to KNOW the Holy Spirit – really KNOW Him.

I don’t need to go over again just how this hour, this age in which we live, demands a return to the W.O.G.

 

*2 Th 2:1-4* Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

*Heb 6:4-6  *For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

We talk of a great end time harvest – (I’m not sure) – but this is emphatic – there will be a great falling away – many, so rejecting the Holy Spirit that they cannot be renewed.

/Do you think they will do this by choice?

That they will reject God and choose hell by free choice?

--- NO they will be deceived, seduced and they will embrace a deception believing it is God.

They will walk a wide path calling it narrow!/

---- Jesus said: ---

 

*Jn 16:12-15  *“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

All things that the Father has are Mine.

Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

* *

*1 Jn 2:27  *But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

How can we know the truth?

– How can we know the glory of Christ?

– How can we know the Father?

-- If we do not know the Holy Spirit – it is the Holy Spirit – the indwelling anointing that teaches, trains, leads and equips us – it is actually the Holy Spirit that reveals Jesus to us.

O church we must KNOW the Holy Spirit – there is no more precious pursuit, there is nothing of more value in all this creation than knowing the Holy Spirit.

We must not assume because we have been baptized in the Holy Spirit that is all there is –

We must not take Him for granted or become familiar – familiarity really does breed contempt or arrogance and apathy.

Jesus was baptized in the Holy Spirit : --

 

*Lk 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;

   

*Lk 6:12* Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.

*Lk 5:16* So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

Jesus was baptized in the Holy Spirit and He didn’t receive the Spirit by measure.

There was no sin nature in Christ – there was no hardness of heart and hidden agendas – no secret motives – no tainting of any sort – there was nothing in Him to hinder or hold back the Spirit of God – and yet He had to withdraw and pray often.

– *Jesus prayed often* and sometimes all night – and He was not constrained by our wickedness – how much more should we pray??

 

*Eph 5:18  *And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

This “be filled” means be continually filled – not a one off thing but a determined and deliberate seeking after the Holy Spirit – even an everyday thing.

Men like Smith Wigglesworth so determined to Know the Holy Spirit and the glory of Jesus that they prayed every 30 minutes or so – just prayed to stay sensitive – to be aware of His indwelling Presence –and the most wonderful thing was that these men KNEW Jesus – saw Him!!

You know as they */thought about/* the Holy Spirit – kept Him always in their conscious minds, they brought every thought captive, they began to KNOW the mind of Christ, – they always knew the way of escape, – and they learned obedience, – they learned to respond instantly and it was that that gave them authority and power – that allowed them to see miracles and healing and KNOW great faith.

It was this constant awareness and practice of the Presence of the Spirit of Christ that enabled great men like David – he wrote about it in the Psalms –

*Ps 139:7  *Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

It seems these men of old, men of renown had a knowledge of the Spirit of God – an awareness that we somehow miss – or maybe, */and I think this/*, – that we have not spent the time to develop a real sensitivity.

In our busyness of life and our rush into activity and doing things and moving around – we have not learned to stop and listen and meditate.

We have not learned to let the W.O.G. wash over us and reveal the Holy Spirit in us!!

 

*Eph 5:25-27  *Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

There is a beautiful picture here of intimacy and closeness, of unhurried relationship – of cleansing and developing and washing until holiness is revealed – it shows us clearly Jesus’ desire for the church.

This is not a picture of business and haste but of rest and trust and waiting with patience and desire.

Like being refreshed in our souls beside still water – we can’t be refreshed until we lie down in green pastures – and meditate on the Spirit of God.

 

*Ge 1:1-2* In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.

And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Before creation was – God was! Father, Word and Spirit – the 3 delighting and completely satisfied in BEING.

Satisfied with being God.

– Then God */created/* and the Spirit of God was intricately involved in the creative process – He hovered or brooded over the forming creation.

You know there is not on instant, one second of all time in which the Holy Spirit has not been involved – this is an incredible thing to contemplate.

But there is nowhere to hide from Him!

 

Every possible thing you could think of He KNOWS!! – it was the Holy Spirit who took Enoch home to Father.

It was the Holy Spirit who closed the door on the ark so the waters would not rush in.

– It was the Holy Spirit who empowered Samson, came upon Saul so that he prophesied – it was the Holy Spirit who empowered Gideon, moved Daniel and filled the temple of Solomon with GLORY! – It was the Holy Spirit who captured David’s heart to God.

And when he fell in sin it was with deep anguish he cried out to God – O Father do anything You must, but please—O please don’t take Your Holy Spirit from me!!

It was the Holy Spirit who empowered Elijah and took him home by chariot and the Holy Spirit who translated Philip – it was the Holy Spirit upon Paul and Peter and John and the others that saw miracles and healing and brought dreams and revelations --- in fact look at this : ----   

 

*2 Pe 1:21  *for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

*1 Pe 1:11  *searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

*Ac 1:16  *“Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus;

 

Everything we have of the W.O.G. came by the Holy Spirit – everything we can know from it, comes by the Holy Spirit.

O church The Holy Spirit is God and He is Christ – and think about this – you know we love to quote from history because of the marvellous things we can learn – but you know when Martin Luther had that revelation of justification by faith – it was the same Holy Spirit that had been upon Paul when he recorded it, that revealed the truth to Martin!

It was the same Holy Spirit that was in Jonathan Edwards and John Owen and that came upon Charles Finney – you know the same Spirit that had brooded over creation was inspiring and moving upon men – all through history.

And the Spirit of God is not constrained by our sense of time – when He baptized Smith Wigglesworth in the 1920’s the same Spirit, brought with Him, the relationship He had with Adam in the garden.

*1 Jn 2:20  *But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.

We can know all things by the anointing – the Spirit who dwells in us – because He knows all things – He has been a part of all that has been from before time and He is the Spirit of God who searches the deep things of God so knows what is to come – in fact it was by Him the W.O.G. was recorded so He knows exactly what is to come right to the last word of revelation.

The more we know Him the more of that knowledge we have access to, as it were!

*Is 11:2-3  *The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

His delight is in the fear of the Lord, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;

 

Wisdom and understanding – Solomon, David, Paul etc.

Counsel and might – Jesus perceived what was in their hearts – OFTEN – He knew beforehand and was able to speak into that situation whatever it may be – jealousy, ambition, fear etc. – with authority and power!

Fear of the Lord – reverence for God – awe and respect and – He delights in the F.O.G.

As the most important thing to God is His own glory – His own holy, glorious satisfaction – and that we should be content and satisfied in Him – and if Jesus came to do the will of God – and delighted in it even though it meant the cross – and if the Holy Spirit’s delight is in the Fear of the Lord – then surely the Holy Spirit delights in Himself – He loves being Holy and Glorified!

For in Him God the Father and the Son are exalted!!  --- the Holy Spirit is HOLY.

We must resist grieving Him – quenching Him

 

*1 Th 5:19  *Do not quench the Spirit.

*Eph 4:30   *And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

We must be always developing a sensitivity to Him – increasing all the time by being transformed from glory to glory

 

*Jud 20-21* But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

This is what I do – W.O.K. – etc.

 

*Is 40:28-31  *Have you not known?

Have you not heard?

The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary.

His understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

Wait = twist with twining

Exchange strength

 

How I do it – yield, submit, listen, feel, etc.