Acts 10: 38, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him”.
The Apostle Peter was preaching to Cornelius and his household when he said what he did in Acts 10:38. Peter had just previously had a vision of a great sheet being let down from heaven, letting him know not to call anything unclean that God calls clean. Of course, this was a prophetic vision of hid future ministry to the Gentiles.
When Peter entered the home of Cornelius, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he began to preach under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Here, in verse 38, of Acts 10, he speaks of Jesus and uses His life as an example for Cornelius and his household to follow. He spoke of Christ’s power through the anointing of the Holy Ghost, and of His power to act under that anointing while here on earth.
Peter’s statement makes it clear that being baptized in the Holy Ghost is not a holiness experience, but rather a power experience for holy people. The question that arises though is, power for what? Once a believer has been clothed with this power from on high, what is the next step in their spiritual life? Is it to joyously wait for the rapture of the church, while the world dies in sin? Or is it to be much more? If Christ is our example, then it must be for more if we are to advance the kingdom of God while we are here on this earth as well.
Regrettably though, the advancement and furthering of God’s kingdom has been hindered because a number of Spirit-filled believers have been tricked into feeling they have been anointed to wait, rather than anointed to act. Such feelings have not only hindered the growth of the kingdom of God, but they have also hindered the personal growth of both Christians and churches throughout the nations. The end results of these feelings have been a withdrawal from action into a state of waiting for the kingdom coming.
Oh my friend, how we need to wake up and be stirred into action once again by God’s Holy Spirit! Believers should be men and women of action, not complacency. The entire Bible, and especially the Book of Acts, provides us with example after example of believers in action for God. Are we to follow Biblical example? If so, can the church of our day possibly do the work like the early church did? If our answer is yes, what must we do then to have the same power and authority they had?
First of all, believers must realize they have been saved from sin and clothed with power for a reason. They must realize that more is expected of them than just to occupy until He comes. Occupying without action is unprofitable to God, to the church and to ourselves. There have been multitudes of Christians throughout time that have done nothing more than just sit back waiting for Jesus to come. The never made a difference in this sin-sick world and that is a shame! Somehow, I don’t believe that God is pleased with that kind of lifestyle. There has to be more. There must be more!
The enemy has a plan to destroy every soul on earth. In response to this, believers must be anointed by the Holy Spirit to take action against the forces of darkness. Winning this battle and getting this message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ out to the lost takes action and that action must be effective. And that brings us as a church to a point of evaluation. Is our action being effective? Are we really making a difference? Or are we just stumbling in our efforts?
The difference is made in the anointing. As long as we, in the flesh, are trying to do anything in our own efforts, we will not accomplish anything of lasting value and our efforts will have been in vain. But, when we turn it over to the Spirit and allow Him to do what he wants to and let His anointing flow through us, then, and only then, will we be effective in our actions. Numbers of Spirit-filled believers have marched across the sands of time, making a difference in their world because of the anointing. That’s the difference between success and failure. Many today are trying to do a work that they feel obligated to, rather than anointed to do, and their work is nothing more than a fleshly endeavor to be seen of men. They spend so much time trying to remember all the right plans and procedures that they learned somewhere in a class that they don’t have time to discern what the Spirit wants.
If there ever has been a time that the church needs to rely upon God and His leadership alone, it’s now! We need to rely more on the Spirit and less on the plans of man. We need to learn how to yield totally to the Spirit and let Him lead us into action against the forces of darkness. We must move forward. We must be anointed to act!
Finally, we need to understand that God keeps His promises. He said He would be with us everywhere we go and that’s what he meant! When we act under the anointing, we have no need to fear, for the path to our victory has already been blazed before us by the Spirit. As long as we walk in the Spirit, victory will be there for us because He is there. And as God prepares our hearts for action, He will also place within us the anointing that it will take to act.
My friend, the saints who have gone on before us left us a legacy of mighty warriors. But now they have passed off of the scene and it is now our turn to take up the fight and move forward. It is not an option; it is our duty! We have been set apart and anointed to act on behalf of the kingdom, so it is time we lived up to our responsibilities. God has anointed us to act, so let’s decide to do just that – act!