Anointing is one of the most important factors in the life of a Christian. The Bible speaks about this. There are three types of anointing in the life of a Christian, and in each case, it must increase and be renewed.
When someone receives Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of his life, he receives the believer’s anointing. “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things… 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” (1 Jn. 2:20, 27).
The believer’s anointing helps us receive revelations from the Word of God and apply them in everyday life. Due to this anointing, the commission of our Savior is fulfilled: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mk. 16:15-18).
Yes, and amen! However, these passages do not mean that the believer does not need to learn from other believers, his pastor or other preachers. Every person learns constantly, and every believer must be alert and have fresh anointing oil so that he is not deceived or mislead.
A Christian receives the second type of anointing when he enters into ministry. This is the ministerial or priestly anointing. This anointing teaches and leads the Christian to fulfill God’s will in ministry.
As a head of the Social Ministry in our church for more than 30 years now, I received the vision about each program that we carried out from my pastor and the way to carry the program out from the Holy Spirit. I want to tell you about one of these programs to explain this.
It was August 1997. Pastor Artur told me that we had to help the homeless in Armenia. At that time, there were a large number of extremely poor and sick people that lived in stench on the streets and sidewalks of Armenia. The social-economic situation in Armenia was very unfavorable.
Some churches and just good people used their means to distribute food to the homeless that were sleeping in apartment building basements and pedestrian subways. Their situation could be deemed as indescribably terrible and hopeless. The homeless had two ways – to live in those inhumane conditions until the end of their lives or to commit suicide.
Having received the vision of a new program from the Pastor, I went to my prayer closet to pray. Only God could show the way He wanted to help the homeless, because the Pastor received that vision from the Lord. The Holy Spirit was speaking, and I was writing down. The name of the program would be “The Divine Third Way for the Homeless.”
I will describe shortly what I have received: “For the homeless that will participate in this program, the church will open the third way through the Mercy Ministry. Selfless work of the Mercy Ministry Team and the goodwill of the homeless will change the mentality and life of each one of them. They will work themselves, and they will acquire furniture for the apartments, which I will give them through you.” As a confirmation to this word, the Lord gave me the following passage from the Bible: “He turns a wilderness into pools of water, and dry land into water springs. There He makes the hungry dwell, that they may establish a city for a dwelling place” (Ps. 106:35-36).
This vision had to be carried out within three years. There were sixteen homeless people who pariticipated in this program. As a result of a three-year work, this divine vision came true in the lives of eight of them. These were years full of worries, anxieties, disappointments and happy days.
Surprisingly, among those sixteen homeless people there were both men and women who had lived for more than five years on the street – in winter cold and summer heat – who preferred to return to their old lives. They lived according to a philosophy, which they invented themselves: “We are free as wind, and your order is like shackles on our feet.” There were others who wanted to continue their old ways – roam about the streets, get food from trash bins, but live in the apartments, which we would give them. They rejected the social and psychological assistance the Mercy Ministry offered them. They refused to work. Only eight of them left their “comfort zone”, changed their mentality and in 2001 moved into their new apartments. Later those apartments became their own property.
God had the third way for each of those people, and He paved it through His anointed ones. Those who were faithful to God’s vision and remained in the anointing till the end saw the fulfilment of the word of the Lord.
The third type of anointing is royal anointing. This anointing has authority in the spiritual world to destroy and thwart demonic actions and the plans of the devil.
The more anointing, the more results. Elisha asked for double anointing. “Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?’ Elisha said, ‘Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.’” (2 Kgs. 2:9). Elisha received what he asked and he performed twice as many miracles as Elijah. Of course, in each case, one needs to pay the price for it.
Jesus the Savior was anointed by the Lord, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted…” (Is. 61:1).
Anointing is not given easily, but the one who endures receives an abundant reward from the Heavenly Father. The believer whose heart is full of infinite love for God experiences the joy of victory and reward from the Lord.
Before receiving the anointing from the Father, Jesus left the heavenly glory, took on human form and served on the earth as a hundred percent man. He completed His mission by His death on the cross, rose back to life by the power of the Holy Spirit and sat at the right hand of the Father. He received all the authority in heaven and on earth. “He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body…” (Eph. 1:22-23). Similarly, in order to receive the anointing, a believer must leave his comfort and fulfill not the desires of the flesh but the Word of the Lord.
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In 1990s, I worked in the Matenadaran – the Institute of ancient manuscripts, and I saw my future in the sphere of science. I attended the church only on Sundays and each time I thought that I would never set my foot there again. I thought that it was a waste of time, and if I wanted, I could read the Bible and pray at home. Besides, I could not stand some members of the ministry team and I had “good” reasons for it.
One day, the Holy Spirit told me to pray for Artur who at that time was an assistant pastor, and treat him with divine love. I was astonished: why for Artur in particular? I hated him along with a few other assistant pastors. However, because I loved the Lord so much and wanted to be obedient to Him, I began to pray that the Lord would help me be free from hatred.
The more I prayed, the more I understood that it was impossible. I heard so much gossip about Artur (and believed it); so I asked the Lord to change His suggestion. God was immovable. My desire to submit to God and not to grieve Him was so strong that I opened the First Corinthians and read aloud the verses describing the divine love in chapter 13. I read them in the following way: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love for Artur, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal… My love for Artur suffers long… does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil…” I read the whole chapter several times a day. It was very difficult for me, but my love for the Lord was infinite. This love helped me to leave my prejudices and my comfort zone and submit.
In a couple of days, I saw that I had no hatred toward pastor Artur and that I even received revelations from his sermons. I was pleased with it. But how great was my joy when I understood that everything I heard about him was just gossip and slander. Praise the Lord that my thoughts submitted to His will! At that time, I would not even believe that one day, he would become my pastor. Together we serve the Lord for over thirty years now glorifying His name and bringing the Kingdom of God into the lives of people.
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The Lord anoints those who love righteousness and hate wickedness: “You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions” (Ps. 45:7). It’s not written: “dislike”, but “hate.” The one who dislikes wickedness is rather passive in his actions; he just does not like it, while the one who hates fights and destroys the works of wickedness. “But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil” (Ps. 92:10). When God anoints us with fresh oil, He also expands the boundaries of our activities.
What is going to happen to those who have a calling but refuse to submit to God that is to leave their comfort zone? “Moab has been at ease from his youth; he has settled on his dregs, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into captivity. Therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent has not changed. ‘Therefore behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘That I shall send him wine-workers who will tip him over and empty his vessels and break the bottles” (Jer.48:11-12). The Lord is going to destroy their comfort and give them up to the hands of their enemies.
Anointing does not work in case of disobedience. Samson was anointed, but he tried to use the anointing to fulfill his carnal desires. Therefore, he was blinded and mocked. This is written in the Book of Judges.
King David was anointed by the Lord and lived according to His heart. He prayed, “Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me under the shadow of Your wings” (Ps. 17:8). The Lord heard his prayer and saved him from many trials and brought him out of the valley of the shadow of death: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil” (Ps. 23:5).
After all those trials, David wrote, “Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven” (Ps. 20:6). The One Who created the universe and holds eternity in the palms of His hands is generous to His anointed ones.