A CALL TO THE “NOW” ANOINTING
 
The Body of Christ has been robbed for years by her theology.  We cannot seem to accept God’s Word for the NOW anointing because our theology has told us that it will all come LATER after we are dead and in heaven.  The Church is flooded today with books and movies about “prophesied events” that will happen after the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But there is a current restoration theology that states that we can and will receive a present dimension of Biblical promises on this side of eternity. Most of the Bible was written for our lives here and now. We are called to rule and reign, not tuck, run, and fly away.
 
Many of us were brought up with an eschatology, (study of end times), that taught us that the Church is in a lot of trouble and that the devil’s kingdom would increase and totally dominate the earth until the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We were taught that our Lord Jesus would return and rescue a beaten up and defeated Church.  Then our Lord would destroy the enemy and his forces through His power, truth and light by way of His return.  This thinking has programmed defeat within the body of Christ.  Therefore, the church sits in a corner defeated with her only hope tied to a theology that lies in the future at the return of our Lord Jesus which allows her to escape to a better place.
 
The idea of a strong militant mighty Church waging an effective war against the devil is completely foreign to much of our thinking.  Many would agree that there will be a time of heightened spiritual conflict, but to believe that God is going to bring about a great massive harvest during this time seems unthinkable to many within the body of Christ. So, much of the teaching and preaching of the Church over the years has been a theology about a future kingdom.  It would be a kingdom that is established after the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.  It would be only in the “New Heaven” and “New Earth” that His righteousness would be established.  Until then, according to this theology, we can only expect the world and the church to lie helpless in the hands of the evil one. With this theology the final glory and victory of the Church will have to wait until the end of the earth and the re-creation of the heavens and the new city. But the Lord Jesus Christ through His death, burial, and resurrection, has given authority and government to the Body through the Apostolic and Prophetic ministries. There is an army rising up that is ready to take back what is legally and rightfully ours. The problem is that the body is walking in hurt, unforgiveness, rebellion, and broken relationships. There needs to be places of refuge whereby the spiritual leaders and body of Christ can be healed. 
 
Question:  Is it true that the enemy was defeated at Calvary or do we have to wait until the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ for his defeat?

John 16:7-8 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. [8] And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 
John 16:11  Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. 

1 John 3:8  He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.  
It is consistent with the teachings of the Scriptures that our Lord is ready to destroy all the works of the evil one through His Body, the Church, in this present age, so that the world would know that the enemy’s judgment has already taken place and that the Church is victorious.
 
We are not sure as to how far we can go in this final work of our Lord until He returns but we know that the world longs for the manifestation of the Sons of God to come forth. The Scripture of Jn.14:11-14 must be a reality for the NOW and not something just hoped for all our lives.
 
John 14:11-14  Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.  12  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.  13  And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  14  If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

2 Samuel 23:11-12 ESV And next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines. (12) But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the LORD worked a great victory.

I heard a story about a preacher who was always going out of town to do revivals. One day as he was about to leave the church office on his way to another city to preach a revival his secretary ask him for the titles of the Sunday messages so she could put them in the bulletin. The preacher said for the Sunday morning service just put in the bulletin "The Pastor Speaks" because he was still without a message and unsure about what he would preach. But he informed his secretary that on the Sunday night sermon he would be preaching from Ps.14:1, “The fool hath said in his heart there is no God”.

Well, said the secretary, "What title do you want to use for the Sunday night message from Ps.14:1?" The preacher told her to come up with the title herself as he rushed out the office for his travels .

The preacher returned from his preaching engagement early Sunday morning just in time for the preaching service. He rushed in, grabbed a bulletin and sat down. As he read over the bulletin he was shocked at what the secretary placed in it.

Sunday morning sermon "The Pastor Speaks" 
Sunday night "What The Fool Says"

Just a little humor to introduce the issue of Pastors preaching from a dry well and failing to stand fast. They go hand in hand. When the leaders are dry, empty, and no one is listening, instead of falling on their face and seeking God for a fresh anointing of His Spirit, there will be the tendency to go after the new catch words and modern methods of trying to draw in the crowds. We then forget that John the Baptist just preached the Word out in a desert place and the crowds came running out to hear him. John didn't have the fluff and duff, bright lights, flashy praise teams, or a corporate title. All John had was the Word of God and the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

I have seen some of our spiritual leaders get so far away from standing fast in the Word that all they can do is stand and speak foolishness for 30 minutes. We need a fresh Word from God today delivered from our pulpits. We need to stop trying to bring fresh water from a well that has gone dry.

I believe that today more than at any other time in history, preachers need a fresh Word from the Throne Room of Heaven. Not just any word, but one which is rooted and grounded in the Word of God and not from the leaven of the Pharisees. But along with that fresh Word from God our Pastors need to stand for what is right and for what is holy because God calls it right and holy.

A boy with a small horse was asked one day, "Son does your horse run fast?" The boy replied, "No sir, but he stands fast."

Shammah took his stand right in the middle of a pea patch for no other reason than it was God's pea patch. We can't give what we don't have. We as men of God need to preaching from a well of living water that is flowing up and out of our bowels.

Instead of trying to keep up with all the new names, gadgets, apts, and titles the world has introduced to the church, the shepherds of God's sheep should be receiving the roles and titles that God gave us in His Word, like servant and friend. More and more preachers are ridiculed, disrespected and laughed at because they fail to stand fast in God's Word.

Father, help us to stand firm and fast right in the middle of Your pea patch even if we have to stand alone, and only because it is Your pea patch. 

​ANOINTING-POWER-FIRE-GLORY:

What are these? Why does God drop them on and through us? What can we expect to experience while under them? What does God expect to be the end result of having these in our lives?

I have a detailed study on each, but for now I'll just share my quick-list chart.