Unction: the anointing

I tell you, this thing has been bothering me for the past two weeks. Why our Christian lives and ministries seem dry and usual, lacking something that I was not able to explain until now. For as far as I can remember, back in the days when I was young in faith, there was a burning fire to seek out for something unknown to me yet undoubtedly believed it existed. Though aware this is no excuse for me now, but I must argue my case.

Now I have learnt that somewhere along the path I substituted this drive with intellectual learning and mere human information. The point of surrender till all my groanings in prayer lost all meaning to me diminished in significance! I let the wind of modernity swift me gradually and without  understanding I find myself acting in futility. But thanks be to the God of steadfastness who revives and restores His people and has caused me to gain an understanding of the unction of the Holy one!

Let us look at these scriptures;

(1John 2:20) But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. (KJV)

 

(1John 2:20) But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. (NKJV)

(1John 2:27) 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. (NKJV) 

Unction is the anointing of the Holy Ghost, separating unto God’s work and qualifying for it. Without this unction there are no true spiritual results accomplished; Without unction our work in ministry remains potent.

Many pleasant impressions may be made, but these all fall far below the ends of gospel preaching. This unction may be simulated. There are many things that look like it, there are many results that resemble its effects; but they are foreign to its results and to its nature. The fervor or softness excited by a pathetic or emotional sermon may look like the movements of the divine unction, but they have no pungent, perpetrating heart-breaking force. No heart-healing balm is there in these surface, sympathetic, emotional movements; they are not radical, neither sin-searching nor sin-curing.

Unction backs and interpenetrates the revealed truth with all the force of God. It qualifies the preacher’s heart, and brings it to that condition of tenderness, of purity, of force and light that necessary to secure the highest results.

Without the unction, God is absent.

Unction is that indefinable, indescribable something. This unction comes to the preacher not in the study but in

Are we missing something in the Gospel?

I write this lamenting in my own heart about the state of Churches today. The bible indicates to us that we are surrounded by so great a crowd of witnesses; the patriarchs, the elders, the prophets and the apostles who went before us. They were counted as faithful and sacrificially served God even to the point of shedding their blood for the cause of the Gospel. I remember Stephen a man full of faith and the Spirit of God; I remember John the Baptist who lived in caves and ate locusts and wild honey, yet preaching the coming of Christ without fear only to die in the hands of King Herod! Apostle Paul was always in danger, at sea while travelling and in the land from the plotting of the jealous Jews. He was living like one under the sentence of death. No home to call his own. No holiday destination to go. His place was in the prison mostly bound by chains.

I am mesmerized by the apostles, pastors, bishops and preachers of our generation. Most of them live in luxury. Most of them are not our neighbors, as we generally live in the common neighborhoods, but as for them, they live in the leafy suburbs of our cities. They drive the top of range cars and wear the finest of the clothes. They are unavailable for the flock; always surrounded by security to keep away the people and their disturbances. Through this method, how will they know the state of their flock as the Chief Shepherd has commanded them to do? Is your pastor or apostle available for you specifically? The CEOs of our organizations are more accessible and readily available than our pastors!

What has changed of the Gospel? The truth is that the time has changed. But the Word of God remains steadfast and unchanged! What do the apostles of today know that the bible apostles missed about the Gospel? If none, then the first apostles would have been the richest and most comfortable of all men of God having received the truth of the Gospel firsthand. But it was not so for them. Instead, they sold all their possessions and placed them at the apostle’s feet for serving the needy amongst them! The question is; are we called into worldly riches or spiritual riches? The emphasis today is more on the temporary outward life more than the inner hidden eternal life!

I listen to the sermons of our preachers and I am impressed by the eloquence, earnestness, the learning expressed and I admit I am intellectually aroused. Nevertheless, there is something lacking in most of them; the unction of the Holy Spirit. I have often been told, what the preacher brings from his mind can only get to the mind of the listener but that which comes from the heart of the preacher gets into the hearts of the listeners. And this is the reason for many folks in the church who are not getting transformed by the Word of God. They hear the word but it quickly dissipates in the same way they were excited to receive it!

Since the time draws neigh quickly, and the son of man will return in the glory of His father and the holy angels, it is important we make our election sure. We must ask the hard questions. Are we doing the Kingdom business or our own businesses? Are we running the race in the stipulated rules or we have created our own. All of you will agree with me that God is a righteous and just God and He is in one mind. The foot print has been laid for us by those who went before us. In fact it has been written for our learning and instruction. We are called to

Live Fully so You Can Die Happy

Lesson 101 from the book: Who will cry when you die

Most people don’t discover what life is all about until just before they die. While we are young, we spend our days striving and keeping up with social expectations. We are so busy chasing life’s big pleasures that we miss out on the little ones, like dancing barefoot in a park on a rainy day with our kids or planting a rose garden or watching the sun come up. We live in an age where we have conquered the highest of mountains but have yet to master our selves. We have taller buildings but shorter tempers, more possessions but less happiness, fuller minds but emptier lives.

Do not wait until you are on your deathbed to realize the meaning of life and the precious role you have to play within it. All too often, people attempt to live their lives backwards: they spend their days striving to get the things that will make them happy rather than having the wisdom to realize that happiness is not a place you reach but a state you create. Happiness and a life of deep fulfillment come when you commit yourself, from the very core of your soul, to spending your highest human talents on a purpose that makes a difference in others’ lives. When all the clutter is stripped away from your life, its true meaning will become clear: to live for something more than yourself. Stated simply, the purpose of life is a life of purpose.

As this is the last of the life lessons it is my privilege to share with you in this book, I wish you a great life filled with wisdom, happiness and fulfillment. May your days be spent in work that is engaging, on pursuits that are inspiriting and with people who are loving. I’d like to leave you with the following words of George Bernard Shaw, which capture the essence of this final lesson far better than I ever could:

This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose

recognized by yourself as a mighty one, being a true

force of Nature instead of a feverish little clod of

ailments and grievances complaining that the world

will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of

the opinion that my life belongs to the whole

community, and, as long as I live, it is my privilege

to do for it whatever I can.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die. For

the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for

its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It’s a sort

of splendid torch which I’ve got to hold up for the

moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as

possible before handing it on to future generations.