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Spirit of the Word - Covenant Eschatology - Introductory Note - New Stuff
From the The Antichrist-Part 2 by Preston EbyTHE ANOINTING IS SUFFICIENT
I have pointed out that "antichrist" is a compound word made up of the preposition "anti" and the Greek word for Christ which is "christos". "Anti" means instead of and "christos" means anointed, and by extension anointing. Our Lord Jesus Christ is THE ANOINTED, but Christ in us is THE ANOINTING, as the apostle affirms, "But you have an unction from the Holy One ... the anointing which YOU HAVE RECEIVED OF HIM abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the SAME ANOINTING teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide IN HIM" (I Jn. 2:20,27). There is in the Christ within, or in THE ANOINTING such a generous, copious, abundant, plentiful, profuse, rich, full, and overflowing bestowal of the grace and abilities of God that there is no need for anything that men might add to such an anointing. And that is the great truth that the man-made Church systems do not and cannot understand. The CHRIST IS SUFFICIENT. The ANOINTING IS SUFFICIENT! Nothing else is needed to quicken, support, or guide the true Church of Jesus Christ.
The anointing is sufficient to bring it into being. The anointing is sufficient to quicken it and give it life. The anointing is sufficient to teach and mold the lives of the members of this Church. The anointing is sufficient to bring it unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. No rituals of any kind are needed. No sacraments of any kind are needed. Its ministers need no robes, no costumes, no ornaments of any kind. This true Church has no need of ceremonies, no lofty spires, no stained glass windows, no chiming bells or great and wonderful organs to inspire worship in its members. It has no need of elegant and costly Church edifices, fine furnishments, artistic choirs, polished orators, and no need of a hierarchy of any kind, elevation, or rank. Its apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are not lords but SERVANTS, and therefore need no couriers running before them to announce their coming. THE ANOINTING IS SUFFICIENT.
There are many Christian people that the devil does not bother himself about. When the devil comes to certain Churches and looks in, he thinks he is not in any trouble at all; because he sees a fellow there in the pulpit who has all his religion written out before him, and he finds the people grinding out their prayers from a prayer book, just in the same way that a Tibetan turns a prayer wheel, always saying, "God have mercy upon us poor miserable sinners, for we have left undone the things we ought to have done, and we have done the things we ought not to have done; and there is no help in us." The devil thinks that is right, and that congregation can be left safely.
But in the true Church there need be no creeds and no litanies memorized and repeated over and over for these are "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit" and, though we know not what we should pray for as we ought, the Spirit also helps our infirmities ... the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered... He searches the hearts... and makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Rom. 8:26, 27). THE ANOINTING IS SUFFICIENT!
There is no need for these or myriad more religious trappings in the true body of Christ, for the ANOINTING WITHIN will abundantly supply this Church with all of everything it can possibly ever need. This anointing has no need to count noses or erect attendance boards to show how many people attend the meetings, neither does it need a membership roll to keep track of its members or what they are doing. The hour has come for us to realize that only THE LORD knows them that are His. Only THE LORD can call His sheep by name and lead them in and out to find pasture. Only THE LORD can look into the four corners of the earth and call forth His elect. The anointing within every member keeps that member in his or her proper place at all times and in everything. Who, then, are we to circumscribe anything? We must learn to know men not by what they say, what they believe, how they appear on the surface, where they are, or by what Church they do or do not attend, but by that strange witness that made Jesus say to Peter, "You are Peter," and by that same spiritual revelation that made Peter say to Jesus, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!" How often we have been shockingly disappointed in men! Ah, how often has the man who could "preach like Paul" surprised everyone by suddenly divorcing his wife and taking off with the Church organist! And the brother in whom we trusted the most has forsaken us, turned on us, and rent us to pieces, while the man we thought would never receive the message of the hour has been unexpectedly quickened by the spirit of revelation from God, finding a swift entrance into the things of the Spirit. Thank God, we are truly learning to "know no man after the flesh," from a human point of view, in terms of natural judgment, by what can be discerned by the seeing of the eye or by the hearing of the ear - but after the spirit. THE ANOINTING IS SUFFICIENT!
Let all men know that this anointing does not consist of any physical demonstration or words. Across the land, especially in "Spirit-filled" circles, we have heard much of the anointing, and for the most part the anointing has been considered to be in operation when the subject displayed some kind of physical manifestation or fervor. Precious saint of God, let me say here and now that the anointing has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with seeing a flash of light, feeling a tingling sensation running up and down the spinal column, emotional excitement, breaking out in "goose bumps", trembling, jerking, jumping, running, arm-slinging, loud and vociferous hand-clapping and singing peppy choruses. In fact, it is very easy for any of these things to be SUBSTITUTED FOR the anointing, literally being "anti-christos" - in place of the anointing - antichrist!
The anointing is given to make a man able to be a person he could not naturally be and to do a work he could not naturally do. It is impossible for a natural man to love his enemies, to bless them that curse him, to do good to them that hate him, or to pray for them which despitefully use him and persecute him. But the ANOINTING will do that! It is my earnest prayer to God that our eyes may be enlightened and our understanding made keen by the Spirit of God so that we may grasp the truth that all the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount REQUIRE THE ANOINTING TO MAKE THEM WORK. Only the anointing will cause us to go the second mile. Only the anointing will turn the other cheek. Only the anointing can or will forgive. Only the anointing will pray, fast, and give without pretense or outward show or secret hope of personal gain. Only the anointing can make us the salt of the earth or the light of the world. Only the anointing can transform us into Sons of God. BUT THE ANOINTING IS SUFFICIENT!
The means by which God separates people unto Himself and for His purposes is called in the Bible "the anointing". Let us look at this "anointing" and meditate deeply upon its origin and use in the Scriptures. The term anointing first appears in the book of Exodus in connection with the consecration of the Priesthood and the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. When they built the Tabernacle, God commanded that they should apply the "holy anointing oil" to the Tabernacle and all the articles within it (Ex. 29:7,21; 40:9-16; Lev. 8:10-12,30). All the Priests who served and the High Priest also had to be anointed with the anointing oil. Once the Priests and the articles were anointed, they BECAME SEPARATED AND SANCTIFIED UNTO GOD. Later, Kings and Prophets were anointed by God for His service. The purpose for which God anoints people is that the anointed ones may be separated unto Him to fulfill His will and purposes. The holy anointing oil in the Old Testament symbolized the Holy Spirit, and today it is the moving of the Holy Spirit in us that constitutes the anointing of God. I Jn. 2:27 says, "The anointing which you have received of Him ABIDES IN YOU, and you need not that any man should teach you: but ... the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth..."
Let us look even deeper into what this anointing means. The anointing of I Jn. 2:27 in the Greek is not a noun, but a verb pertaining to a certain kind of motion. It does not bespeak an oil in a motionless state, inactive, standing still, but an oil in a state of motion and activity. If you only have the oil in a vessel it is not "the anointing". But when the oil is poured out and applied it then becomes "the anointing". In the vessel it is merely oil; poured out it is anointing and separates and sanctifies and changes the proprietorship and function of that upon which it is poured! Thus, in this day of reality, the anointing is not the Holy Spirit, but the MOVEMENT AND ACTION of the Holy Spirit WITHIN US! You say, "I have the Holy Spirit, therefore I have the anointing." Not so! The Holy Spirit in the vessel IS NOT THE ANOINTING, only as the Spirit MOVES AND ACTS WITHIN YOU do you have the anointing. The Spirit must not be motionless within us, He must be active and energizing - speaking, stirring, dealing, quickening, changing, transforming, acting, manifesting the glory of God in our lives!
After the firstborn Son had received the Holy Spirit at His baptism, He said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised" (Lk. 4:18). From that moment the Spirit MOVED IN AND THROUGH HIM and His whole life became the revelation of His Father as the nature, mind, wisdom, will, words, power, and glory of God were manifested through Him, climaxing in His triumphant resurrection from the dead!
And now - a vast company of "many brethren" are receiving of that same anointing, that MANY SONS may be brought to the same glory in which Christ now dwells. Yes, beloved, we also are called to be ANOINTED ONES, that the name of the Father may be called upon us, creating this bond of union between the Son and the Sons of God, transforming us into His image, that as He is, so are we in this world! We are discovering what it means to be ONE WITH HIM, and He ONE WITH US in the absoluteness of a divine immanence, dwelling in us, even as the Father in the Son, and the Son in the Father. Let us bow in holy reverence to worship and adore, and to live and walk in the blessed reality of such an high and holy calling!
The anointing will lift all who abide in it into the proper spiritual standing and state before God. In the presence of the anointing nothing needs be PRAYED DOWN or WORKED UP. I must assure you, dear ones, that anything that can be either PRAYED DOWN or WORKED UP IS N-O-T F-R-O-M T-H-E A-N-O-I-N-T-I-N-G, for "the anointing which you have received of Him ABIDES IN YOU." Beloved, if the anointing abides in you, and you abide IN HIM, what, under all God's heavens, could be added to you FROM WITHOUT? Stop seeking anything at all from or through the myriad SUBSTITUTES pawned by the countless modern day antichrists. Man with all his religion, his Church membership, his organization, his preachers and priests, his bishops, cardinals, popes, and his programs and ritual has NOT FOUND GOD, nor been conformed to His image.
What good, O man, will these things do if after a lifetime of trusting in them and looking to them for help you find yourself at the end of your earthly sojourn without having been transformed into the likeness of God's Christ, and with no hope of sonship? These external observances will not suffice in that hour. BUT THE ANOINTING IS SUFFICIENT! In the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, divorce yourself completely and forever from all the substitutes, the realm of the INSTEAD OF. You will find absolutely nothing in it that will satisfy the deepest cravings of your heart after God. The anointing IS ALL YOU NEED.
If the early Church had been organized after the manner of the harlot church systems of today, the records would have been quite different from what they are. We would have had some reference to our Lord's installation of the apostleship with great ceremony, Himself sitting somewhere in state as a Pope, receiving the apostles in scarlet robes as cardinals, etc. etc. We would have had strict laws and regulations respecting Friday, abstaining from meat, etc. - and specific instructions about the observance of Christmas as His birthday. There would be something respecting "holy water" sprinkled upon the apostles or upon the multitude, and something about making the sign of the cross. Mary, our Lord's mother, would not have been forgotten. An account would have been given of her claimed miraculous conception and she would have been announced as "the mother of God," and Jesus Himself would have been represented as doing her some special homage, and as instructing the apostles to approach Him through her. Some injunction would have been given respecting "holy candles," when and how and where they should be used; some instruction respecting the invocation of saints; some instruction about the amass," and how Peter, meeting with the other disciples, was recognized as the Pope; how they prostrated themselves before him, and how he performed mass for them all, declaring that he had power to re-create Christ in the bread and to sacrifice Him afresh for personal transgressions.
We would have some account of Stephen's burial; how Peter or the others "consecrated" a grave for him, so that he might lie in "consecrated ground," and that they put in his hand a "holy candle" while they said certain prayers over him. We would have had rules and regulations respecting the observance of Lent and Easter, and respecting various orders of the clergy, higher and lower, Reverend, Right Reverend, Most Reverend, Bishops, Archbishops, Cardinals, and Popes; and particular directions how each and all were to attain their positions, seeking honor one from another, and who should be greatest. We would have some statement about how Paul set in "the Pastor" over each Church, how Paul later returned to visit the Churches and met with "the Pastor" of each, and how the sick should call for the Pastor of the Church, and let him pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.
We would have some reference to the need for the Church to be recognized by and chartered by the State so its ministers can legally marry the young and bury the dead; we would have some specific examples of how Paul conducted funerals, how Peter performed weddings, and how the Pastors performed dedications. There would be instructions on how to organize a Church, the formation of the "board," how to conduct business meetings, and what percent of the members present constitute a ruling voice. We would be informed how to "call" a preacher, how to hire and fire ministries, and told of the importance of the choir. We would be instructed about the work of the Sunday School, how to select the Sunday School Superintendent, and the necessity of Sunday School "Quarterlies". And there should be multiplied other recommendations about rituals, altar calls, mourner's benches, special numbers, revivals, concerts, Christmas programs, Easter sunrise services, festivals, ceremonies, sacraments, communions, counselors, Church buildings, spires, building funds, drives, campaigns, crusades, invasions, Bible Schools, non-profit corporations, etc. etc. etc. The fact that these matters are in no sense of the word even hinted at by the Lord or by His holy apostles and prophets is evidence that the whole Church world has gone far afield, the whole system is literally antichrist, instead of Christ, IN PLACE OF THE ANOINTING! But T-H-E A-N-O-I-N-T-I-N-G I-S S-U-F-F-I-C-I-E-N-T.
You will probably ask me the question, "Do you not believe in meetings, the assembling of the saints, and the ministries in the body of Christ?" I answer with assurance, "Most certainly I do!" But THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE BASIS FOR ASSEMBLING OURSELVES. Our Saviour gave us this basis when He said, "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them" (Mat. 18:20). The vast majority assemble not in the name of the Lord but because of tradition. All their lives they have assembled at certain times and to them it would be sacrilege not to do so. Others assemble for social and business purposes, and others for the sake of making proselytes, and still others for the sake of furthering their particular denominational program. Praise God, the consuming fire of HIS dealings and processings in our lives are being used to THOROUGHLY PURGE AND CLEANSE OUR HEARTS of Babylon's spirit and ways until once and for all we shall forsake all the traditions, giving ourselves over to true oneness with Christ, that He may teach us how to gather IN THE NAME OF THE LORD IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH. When our minds are one with Him and all earthly program and tradition has vanished away and He takes His royal seat upon the throne of our hearts, then we are truly able to assemble IN HIS NAME. Then we are LED BY HIS SPIRIT, and then there is a freshness for those who gather, and a flow of His life, light, and love, and confirmation to be received from each member.
Antichrist ministries carry in them the nature of this world's bestial system, and they do everything patterned after the world and the harlot systems - to build a name for themselves, and a kingdom, to gain, to usurp control over other men's lives, to establish a creed or a movement, to solidify a power base under them, and for financial gain. The true ministries in the body of Christ carry in them the nature of Christ, taking the way of the cross, being stripped of all fame and earthly glory, going without the camp to bear reproach and shame because of what GOD has spoken into their heart. They seek no power over other men's lives, no control, nothing for themselves. They are maligned because they have "no works" that the flesh can boast in, they are scorned because they have no name, no title, no identification the world recognizes. These build no kingdoms about them, establish no hierarchies, but are LIVING EPISTLES OF CHRIST, "examples to the flock" (I Pet. 5:3), and "servants of all" (Mat. 20:25-28).
