Acts 10:38 

 The Word we continue preaching and believing today is the same word the Early Church preached and taught wherever they went. That word is simply defined by Luke in this fashion “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him” (Acts 10:38). Could it be that we have confused and complicated the simplicity and forcefulness of the message we were sent to replicate and represent? It is still really all about Jesus. We are only his representatives and his agents – carriers of the good news authorized to act on his behalf. 

 Church, may we never forget this fact. As Jesus was anointed, so too we must be anointed in order to be effective. There is very little that is produced without the anointing. Without the anointing, we remain powerless and unproductive. Our sermons are dry and our worship is ineffective, without the anointing. According to the prophet, the anointing is described as the burden-removing, yoke-destroying power of God. The prophet declared “And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing” (Isaiah 10:27). 

 It is the anointing that enables the people of God to do supernatural things. Jesus, with great authority, so powerfully drives this point across to us, when at the very outset of his ministry, He declared, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. . .” (Luke 4:18,19). Surely, if He needed the anointing of the Spirit, how much more we His church, especially in these last days. It is the anointing that enables us to function supernaturally as we constantly engage in spiritual warfare. We can accomplish precious little without it. More than ever, we seek a fresh anointing of His Spirit in these last days. 

 As Peter preached to the Gentiles at Cornelius’ house, he made this unmistakably clear to them, that this Jesus was anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power (v38). A church without the anointing is a dried-up, powerless, anemic church. Fully anointed, Jesus went about doing good. The anointing compels us to minister, to find people in need, to alleviate and dismantle heavy burdens, and to be conscious of the less fortunate and those who are weighted down by the pressures and burdens of this life. It causes us to remove burdens and dispense blessings over the afflicted and oppressed. It remembers the poor. It makes us do good, all the good we can to the desperate masses. Not only must we preach good but the Church of God must be characterized by doing good deeds. The Word must be substantiated by our works. 

 It cannot be overlooked that because of the anointing, Jesus healed all who were oppressed by the devil. Herein lies our mission! As anointed followers of the Messiah, we are called upon to heal all who are oppressed by the devil. God being with us, we go about doing only good, healing, and delivering all who have been taken captive by the enemy. Let the anointing flow throughout this last day’s church! 

Leroy V. Greenaway 

Presiding Bishop – Northeast Region 

September 16th, 2023