CONTENTS Preface 1 Disaster in Detroit 2 The Most Valuable Gift 3 In the Beginning 4 An Answer at Last 5 It's Not By Might 6 An Unusual Woman of God 7 What Is It? 8 You Must Have It 9 Three Anointings 10 It Didn't Begin Yesterday 11 Jesus the I AM 12 It's for You—Now 13 Two Profound Basics 14 The Example of Jesus 15 Change Your Oil 16 Getting a Double Portion 17 Will You Pay the Price? Study and Discussion Guide About the Author Preface n my previous book, Good Morning, Holy Spirit, I Iemphasized the reality of the Holy Spirit as God, an equal member of the Trinity, a person as real as, if not more so than, you or I. My purpose in that book was to acquaint you with the Spirit and to lead you into the experience of His presence. My purpose in The Anointing is to further that beautiful, ongoing relationship and lead you into the reality of the power to serve the Lord Jesus in His particular calling on your life. The power is the anointing of the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus after His resurrection: "Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me" (Acts 1:8 KJV). I think we all agree that if there ever was a time when the body of Christ needed power, this is it. Only the miracle-working power of Almighty God can roll back the tide of sin and disease flooding the world in every corner. Weakness is not our inheritance as Christians, yet many of us have settled for just that. The Bible says our witness to Christ can be confirmed "with signs following" (Mark 18:20). Fulfillment of that promise is the purpose of the anointing of the Spirit, and equipping you with this hidden treasure is the purpose of this book. First there must be the presence, and then comes the anointing. The anointing is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit, although that is important. The anointing is the power, the power to serve God. You will know assuredly when the presence of the Holy Spirit has come upon your life, for you will have sweet fellowship. And you will know immediately when He has empowered you spiritually, mentally, and physically to battle demons and disease. Make no mistake about it: God wants you to have these two great gifts. This will become real as you read on. You have life-changing moments ahead. May the Lord bless you in every way as you go forward step by step. We serve a wonderful and powerful God! Chapter 1 ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ♦ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Disaster in Detroit I lay on the bed in my Detroit hotel room and relaxed, praying quietly and worshiping the Lord. It was a Saturday night in 1980, the clock showed midnight, and I was to preach the next morning and evening at a church just outside of town. After a few moments, the presence of God came into the room so strongly that tears began to roll down my face and I was caught up in His glory. The presence —that wonderful presence of the Holy Spirit that had so revolutionized my life several years earlier—was so heavy that I was oblivious to everything. Before I knew it, the time was 2 A.M., and I was still praying. The next morning I rose quickly, feeling rested and strong, and prayed again before leaving for the service. I was aware that my prayer session this time was not extraordinary. It felt nothing like the night before, but that would have been hard to equal. I went to the service and, when the time came, began to preach. I opened my mouth to say the first words, and a cloud of glory came into that building. It was as though the shekinah—the awesome holy presence of God Almighty—glory had arrived. It was heavy—so heavy that you couldn't move. People began to weep. As I was speaking, some fell from their seats onto the floor. They just crumbled and sobbed. Their response was amazing. What was happening? Then I closed my eyes and said one word: Jesus. Whoosh! God's presence and power swept through the auditorium even greater than before, and people everywhere were moved. I saw no one who wasn't touched visibly. A man next to me said, "I've never felt God's presence like I'm feeling it now." Tears were streaming down his face. I knew he was right. I had never before felt the presence and the anointing of the Holy Spirit so powerfully in a service. A Break for Lunch Following the service, I was scheduled to have lunch at the home of a cousin who lived in Detroit. I had not seen her in some time and looked forward to lunch with her. My cousin and her husband welcomed me when I arrived, and we sat down at the table together as we renewed our acquaintance. We had a delightful lunch, and our conversation was lively and enjoyable. Suddenly, as we sat enjoying our lunch, I felt the Lord tugging at my heart. I knew the feeling well. He was gently calling me: "Go pray." I was startled, and in my heart I responded, Lord, I can't leave now. I'm having lunch with these people. And I didn't even drive here myself. The hotel is forty-five minutes away, and I have no way to get there. Besides, how can I get up and leave in the middle of lunch! Silence. Our lunch concluded, and the man who had driven me there took me back to the hotel. I was so exhausted when I got to my room that I took a nap. When I arrived at the service that evening, the crowd was double what it had been in the morning. God's power had been so awesome that the people were still excited, filled with anticipation about the evening service. What would tonight be like if the morning meeting had been so powerful? It Was Different I got up to preach, but when I opened my mouth, there was nothing—only words. No presence. No overwhelming anointing of the Spirit. No power. I struggled. I didn't know what to do next. I could tell by the expression on their faces that many were wondering what was going on. The truth was: Nothing was going on. Only hours before, I had simply spoken the word Jesus, and God's power had invaded the auditorium. People had felt the touch of God as they wept in His presence. But now ... I was saying everything I could think of, and nothing was happening. Finally the service ended. It was a disaster! I couldn't get back to my hotel room fast enough. I rushed into the room, closed the door quickly, and locked it. What a relief! The service had seemed like an eternity. I sat on the bed, and my mind raced over the ordeal. I was puzzled and confused. "God, what happened? This morning Your presence was so overwhelming and Your power so great that I could barely stand in the midst of Your glory. People were moved to tears." The words continued to pour out of me. "It was like heaven. But tonight! What was wrong? Why did the service seem so empty? So empty of You?" Finally I stopped. And the soft, gentle voice of the Holy Spirit whispered, "Remember this afternoon when I was tugging at you, saying, 'Go pray'? You chose to stay with your cousin. You gave your cousin and her husband the place that belongs to Me. You put them before Me." Much quieter, but very defensive, I responded, "But, Lord, I couldn't leave. What would my cousin have thought?" The voice was still gentle and soft. "That's part of the price, Benny. Are you willing to pay the price for the anointing?" I Had Been Told Before Yes, there is power in the presence of the Holy Spirit that I wrote about in Good Morning, Holy Spirit. And there is the power of the anointing that I want to teach you about in this book. And there is a price we each must pay for it. This Detroit episode, once again, drove home all three facts. The presence of the Holy Spirit leads us to live in the power of the anointing if we are willing to pay the price of obedience. Kathryn Kuhlman, who was so important in my introduction to the Holy Spirit and to the truths of both the presence and the anointing of the Spirit, had talked about "the price." She had paid it. I have also never forgotten my encounters with a man in England who had a tremendous anointing of the Spirit upon His life. Every time I got near him, my legs ould shake. Sometimes I would feel weak by just looking at him. One day I prayed, "Lord, let Your anointing be on me as it is on him." The Lord spoke back to me: "Pay the price, and I will give it to you." "What is the price?" I asked. The answer didn't come immediately. But one day it came suddenly from the Holy Spirit. He showed it to me in Acts 4:13: "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus." That is the key—to be with Jesus—over and over and over, constantly, not just a few minutes a day, not just occasionally. In Detroit I had been with Jesus on Saturday night. But I had refused to be alone with Him later when He beckoned. The presence and the anointing. As you read on, you will learn how the Holy Spirit can lead you to experience the fullness and the power of the Godhead each and every day. Once you grasp what the anointing holds for you, experiencing the depth and rich reality of that precious touch, you will never be the same. Chapter 2 ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ♦ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ The Most Valuable Gift What do you value most as a Christian?" "People have asked me that for years. And each time my answer is the same. Except for my salvation, I value the anointing the most. The phrase the anointing may be unfamiliar to some of you. This book should change that. As I wrote in my previous volume, Good Morning, Holy Spirit, I have never been the same since God first graced my life with the precious anointing of His Holy Spirit. And those last four words are important. The anointing is the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and it is performed by the Lord Jesus Christ. No human can do it. Having had that glorious encounter, which I will discuss in the next chapter, I would rather die than live one day without it. That sounds dramatic in our age of "selfism" and humanism, but it is the truth. My constant prayer is simply this, and I believe it will become yours: "God, please don't ever take Your anointing from me. I would rather die than face a future without Your touch on my life. May I never know a day without the anointing of Your Holy Spirit." What God has taught me about that special touch of the anointing has caused me to treasure my relationship with our ever-present Companion, the Holy Spirit, even more. I know now that there are several types of anointing, and I will explore that in later chapters. And I know that it is possible for me to forsake the Master and forfeit this intimate relationship that I value with my entire being. I could, by an act of the will, turn my back on Him and alienate myself from fellowship. But I will never do that. As I've said before, I'd rather die than lose His touch. My goal is to deepen my relationship with God and to grow to a greater dimension of the anointing. For, despite the unbelievable experiences He has given me, I know He has more ahead for His children. I want to share this incredible adventure with you. Dear friend, I want you to know God has a special touch for your life today. "This is your day," as we proclaim on my daily television program. It can be today and every day of your life if you desire, a day of the reality of the Holy Spirit with you—the anointing. Your Desire Can Be Fulfilled Perhaps you are like so many who have said, "Benny, I desire to experience God's power in my life, but I really don't know how to make that happen. I love God, and I know that He loves me. But I have a longing for a deeper, more intimate relationship. I don't want to know about Him; I want to know Him and to experience the reality of His power regularly." Be assured that your desire can be fulfilled. He's heard you cry. The first thing He would have you now is that He intensely desires His children—all of them— to experience His presence, not once or twice, but every day. He longs for them to know not only His presence, but also His communion and power. Nevertheless, my friend, you cannot know the power of God's anointing until you experience the presence of God. Many have misunderstood the real meaning and essence of "the anointing." They think it is some "goosebump" experience that is only a matter of feelings and thus short-lived. That is untrue. When the anointing of the Spirit comes upon your life, all confusion will vanish. You will be transformed forever. I can remember the first time I felt that sweet, awesome, powerful, rushing river of the anointing coursing through me. It was as though I was wrapped in a blanket of His love. It was unmistakable. The warmth of His presence surrounded me. My surroundings faded into the shadows as I basked in the presence of the Holy Spirit. There was no mistaking who He was. I was overwhelmed by love and His closeness. I felt total peace, and yet I exploded with ecstasy. You, too, can know God this intimately as you experience the anointing and power of His Spirit—