THE ANOINTING
November 27, 2018
BY J.P. TIMMONS
© 2019 CCI Publishing
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
If you are familiar with our ministry books and/or teachings then you know that we speak a lot about the anointing. During the past month while ministering in Michigan and California I spoke about it often and also demonstrated different anointings. Remember, Jesus is our main model for ministry and Acts 1:1 records two important facts about Jesus' ministry that we see in the Gospels--He taught and did! Several of the videos of recent ministry are on my Facebook page and also my YouTube site. If you've not seen them then you should watch them; they will help you understand the subject of this teaching as well as help you to develop the anointings in your own life. Remember, there are many different types of the anointing but they all come from the Holy Spirit. There are also counterfeit anointings by Satan that seek to fool neophyte Christians and those who have not developed The Eye of the Eagle.
I learned several things about the anointings from the Holy Spirit back in the '80s and '90s. All Christians have the basic anointing of prophet, priest and king. These were the only three offices in the Old Testament anointed by the Holy Spirit whereas in the New Testament there are five offices--apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher and evangelist--anointed by Jesus to minister to His Church (cf. Ephesians 4). All five together represent the full ministry of Jesus to His body and they were created by the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost to build up and edify the Body of Christ for the work of ministry. We see their operation in the Book of Acts and we also learn that certain individuals, e.g., Philip, were promoted from the ministry of helps (he was one of the original seven deacons) to a Five-fold office of evangelist.
I would encourage you to spend a lot of time reading and meditating in the Book of Acts. Acts is the only book in the Bible where we can obtain an accurate picture of the Church. As the Holy Spirit showed me back in the '90s and I wrote in Another Gospel, Satan moved quickly to destroy the Church through false teachers and false prophets preaching and teaching another gospel, another Jesus and being led by another spirit which is not the Holy Spirit but rather a religious spirit--the very spirit of Antichrist.
When you study and meditate in the Book of Acts you will notice a number of differences between the original Church and most churches today. First, they had genuine love for one another and for those outside the Church--they were very unselfish. Second, there was unity--they were in one accord. And this occurred because of what we read in Acts 2:42, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' doctrine." About 15 years ago the Lord gave me a message for our church in Libby, Montana, titled "Unity at What Price?" He gave me the title first and as I began to research what the Bible has to say about unity I was amazed! There is not much there except for one important fact--unity can only occur through Five-fold ministry! So the Body of Christ today will never come into complete unity unless and until they embrace the way Jesus originally set up the Church government through apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors and evangelists.
Now each of these five offices in the Church possesses a different anointing--most people, even ministers do not know nor understand this. One of the spiritual gifts that the Lord gave me over 30 years ago is the ability to see the anointing. At the time I did not understand that this gifting was part of the apostolic; however, I could and still can clearly see that there are five distinct anointings for the five offices--the anointing to pastor is not the same as that of an evangelist or teacher. Just because a person is anointed to pastor does not automatically mean that they are also anointed to stand in the office of Teacher. A person can have more than one anointing, e.g., the Apostle Paul was an apostle but also anointed as a prophet and a teacher.
Anybody with some knowledge can teach the Bible but when a person is anointed for the five-fold office of Teacher then it is a quantum leap from the ordinary and you will know when you are sitting under the anointing of a Teacher. Jesus stood in all five offices and there are men and women in all five today and as stated earlier it requires all five to bring maturity to the Church.
Now you also have to understand as I said last week at a church in California, "God don't anoint business cards; He anoints people." Just because a person hands you a business card with the title Apostle, Pastor or Prophet on it doesn't mean that is the case. If that anointing is upon them then yes, but if not then no because it is the anointing that makes you what you are and if you are not anointed for a Five-fold office then you ain't one no matter what your business card says.
It is the anointing as we all know that "destroys the yoke" of bondage and there are many different types of anointings for ministry. There are the Five anointings given by Jesus to edify, build up, mature and teach the saints for the work of ministry and there are special anointings by the Holy Spirit given through the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Cor. 12) as well as other anointings and spiritual gifts such as the spiritual gift of liberality mentioned in the Scriptures.
And if you are not functioning in your spiritual gifts the Church will remain weak! There are normally three levels of anointings as well, For example, three levels of the prophetic: 1) every born-again Christian has a basic prophetic anointing, 2) the Holy Spirit gives certain Christians the spiritual gift of prophecy, one of the vocal gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12, and 3) there is the third level and highest level of the prophetic which is the Five-fold office of the prophet (or prophetess if the person is a woman).
Yet even today there is little understanding in the Church regarding these things. When the Lord moved Evelyn and I to Helena, Montana, back in the '90s we were looking for a church to buy and I discovered that the pastors in this town thought that all Christians had the same anointing(s). No, we are all different. We all have spiritual gifts given to us "Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us," as Paul wrote in Romans 12. And we also can be anointed as a Five-fold minister, intercessor, deacon, etc., for the work of ministry.
Evie and I have taught and activated people in their gifts for decades. I want to encourage you to seek your spiritual gifts, become activated in them and use them for ministry to build up the Body of Christ. This glorifies the Lord Jesus and expands the Kingdom of God upon the earth. In addition, you must never forget that you will give an account as a steward to the Lord Jesus not just for stewardship of your finances and material things but also spiritual gifts as well.
Seek the Lord today regarding your spiritual gifts. Then begin to minister them to the Church as the Apostle Peter told us to do in 1 Peter 4:10.
MARANATHA SHALOM
