September Theme:

September 5 - Sunday

"Reflections"

Pastor Bill

“The Extent Of The Lord’s Anointing”

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 brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (bold emphasis mine)

Luke 4:18 (KJV)

A profound personal impression of the Lord’s first message in Nazareth transpired in 1984 – a key year in my spiritual journey. The Scripture unfolded over the year, “a little here, a little there” (Isaiah 28:10).  As I speak of this passage in this context, I am not referring to illumination on teaching material, but the work of the Holy Spirit to bring revelation at a deeply personal level.

First, I began to see the uniqueness of the Lord’s anointing – “the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing” – the power of His Spirit to move deeply into every human condition. None of the five conditions listed here are out of His reach!  The ministry of Jesus contains an extraordinary touch to bring release to any circumstance.

My Greek studies led to this examination of the four categories here:

Poor: “destitute of wealth, influence, position, honors, lowly, afflicted.

Brokenhearted (captives – NASB): From αἰχμή, a spear-point, and ἁλίσκομαι, to be taken or conquered. Hence, properly, of prisoners of war.

Blind: τυφλος - ‘darkened by smoke’

Bruised: broken in pieces. Only here in New Testament. “to break, break in pieces, shatter, smite through, broken by calamity”

Through this verse, the Holy Spirit, enlightened my heart to see indeed, I was a prisoner of war, broken in pieces, even by spear point. It cannot be emphasized how crucial it was for the Spirit to open this up – here I was, a pastor with letters behind his name, a father, a wife, a man to whom others looked to – yet I was the one deeply bruised.

But the real story is not how difficult my human condition but how glorious the Lord’s anointing to move in, discharge and release from the human condition. This is how I understand the “full gospel”.  I am deeply moved by this verse to this day as it speaks of His glory to deal with anything in our lives.

Pastor Bill