Faith And Power:
Two Ingredients For Receiving Healing
By Kenneth E. Hagin
Most car owners know that if they drive too many miles without V changing the oil in their cars, the oil loses its usefulness as a lubricant and detergent for the engine. You see, the motor oil cleans out impurities in the engine–dirt, grime, and microscopic pieces of metal and material–and helps keep it running smoothly.
If you use the same oil in a car too long, it will eventually ruin the engine. Having the oil in your car changed regularly is a preventive maintenance measure.
Spiritually speaking, there are many people who received the Holy Spirit years ago, but they haven’t had an “oil change” since! You know, every so often, believers need an oil change, so to speak. Now the oil I’m talking about here is the oil of the Holy Spirit. Oil in the Bible is a type or symbol of the Holy Spirit.
In the Old Testament, oil was used to anoint people. The Lord gave Moses specific instructions on how to mix the oil and how to use it (Exod. 30:22-31)
The holy anointing oil was to be poured out on certain people. Only prophets, priests, and kings were anointed with the sacred oil. It empowered them to do the job explosion. Too many Christians they were called to do. Another way to say it is, they were anointed on the outside or from without with the Holy Spirit.
But, thank God, before Jesus was taken up into Heaven, He told the New Testament Church that they would be anointed with the Holy Spirit too!
ACTS 1:8
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Then Acts 2:1-4 tells us that when the 120 disciples gathered in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost, they received the Holy Spirit.
ACTS 2:1-4
1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And THEY WERE ALL FILLED WITH THE HOLY GHOST, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote, “And they were all FILLED WITH THE HOLY GHOST, and BEGAN TO SPEAK WITH OTHER TONGUES, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (v. 4). The phrase “with other tongues” is understood to mean a tongue or language they didn’t know, a language other than the one that they normally spoke.
When you are filled with the Holy Ghost, you will speak with other tongues. I’m not talking about what some theologian or Bible college or seminary says. I’m talking about what the Bible says!
If you’ll continue reading in Acts 2, you’ll find that there were devout Jews from every nation staying in Jerusalem, because it was a feast time. When they heard the disciples speaking in different dialects, they said, “These Galileans are speaking in our languages” (vv. 5-7). But the disciples were speaking as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance.
As I said previously, under the Old Covenant, only certain people were anointed with the Holy Spirit. But under the New Covenant, every person who has been saved by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is a candidate to be empowered from on High with the Spirit of God! Every believer can be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Going back to our analogy of oil in a car, the Holy Spirit is your “oil.” If you let the oil of the Holy Spirit run low in your life, you’ll find yourself operating less effectively in life than you should. For example, you’ll be griping and complaining instead of rejoicing , and praising God. You’ll also find that your love walk will be “on the blink.”
But the oil of the Holy Spirit can keep you from experiencing “friction” in your life, similar to the way oil prevents friction in a car engine. Friction causes heat to build up, and if too much heat builds up, there can be an explosion. Too many Christians don’t have their “oil” changed–they don’t stay filled with the Spirit–so “heat”
in the form of impatience, rudeness, anger, and so forth, builds up inside them until they just explode all over others!
It’s time we realized that the Holy Spirit came to work in us to perfect us and to work through us to minister to others. We are anointed! The Bible says, ” . . ye have an unction from the Holy One . . . the anointing which ye have received of him abideth IN you . . ” (1 John 2:20,27). The word “unction” here is translated anointing.
After the Day of Pentecost, there was no longer a need for the holy anointing oil of the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, replaced the oil. He came to anoint each and every believer with the power of God. But you have something to do with it.
PSALM 92:10
10 . . . I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
I want you to notice that the psalmist was very positive when he declared, “. . . I shall be anointed with fresh oil” (Ps.92:10). He didn’t say, “I hope,” “I think,” or “If God hasn’t run out of oil.” He said, “I shall be anointed with fresh oil!” There is no stronger word in the English language than “shall.” When you say, “I shall,” it indicates that there is no possible way that you won’t do something.
For example, when you were growing up, did your parents ever say to you, “You shall do such and such”? Let me ask you another question., When they said that, was there any doubt in your mind that you would do it? No! In fact there was no use putting it off–you knew you were going to do it!
Well, the psalmist said, “I shall be anointed with fresh oil.” He knew it was possible, because with God there is no lack of fresh oil. Just as the children of Israel received manna from Heaven every morning, you and I need to receive a refilling of the Holy Spirit daily. You see, as the manna could grow stale and become of no value, our relationship with the Holy Spirit can go stale and become of no value to us unless we keep it fresh and alive.
Each time we receive fresh oil as it were, it is a fresh confirmation to us that we can do what God has asked us to do. Each time we are renewed with fresh oil, it speaks to us of the abundance and bounty that we have because of what Jesus did at Calvary. Every time we are revived with fresh oil, it lifts our spirits and boosts us
to new heights.
When you begin to feel down and everything seems to be going wrong, all you need to do is go to your prayer closet and get some fresh oil! It will change your outlook on life. It will take the drag out of your walk and put a bounce in your step! It will put a song in your heart and a smile on your face. That’s what the power of God does–it revives your spirit.
When you experience tests and trials and the enemy hits you with everything he can muster from his arsenal, you need to get an “oil change” from the Holy Ghost. Then you can walk right on top of the devil! You can overcome him, because you are more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:37)! The minute you begin to feel as though you’re not a conqueror anymore, you need some fresh oil. You should never tire of receiving fresh oil, because it’s the freshness of the Holy Spirit that keeps you going.
The good news is, you don’t have to wait until you go to church and listen to someone preach a sermon in order to receive fresh oil. And you don’t have to wait for the next Holy Ghost meeting, either. You can have a Holy Ghost meeting in your home every day–and you should!
Every morning when you rise, pray, “Lord, give me the fresh oil of the Holy Spirit to meet the challenges of this day. Whatever it is I’m going to face today, give me the anointing to face it and come through victoriously.”
But I want you to understand something. You won’t receive fresh oil just because you wish for it. No, you must ask for it. The Bible says, “. . . ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24). Ask the Lord for a fresh anointing every day. Then begin to rejoice in the Spirit, speaking in other tongues and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs and making melody in your heart to the Lord (Eph. 5:19).
The infilling of the Holy Spirit in your life must always be fresh and real! Every day that you live, you should be as excited about the power of God as you were the day you first received the Holy Spirit.
Too many Christians let the fact that they are filled with the Holy Spirit become just status quo. It’s nothing special to them anymore. They say, “I’ve lost the feeling.” But the Word of God teaches us not to live by feelings, but to walk by faith (2 Cor. 5:7). Yet when you are continuously being ‘ filled with the Spirit, you will feel revived and refreshed.
My message to you is I this: Remember to have an “oil change” every day. Stay full of the oil of the Holy Spirit so that you may walk worthy of what God has called you to do and so you can do it with power and joy. Stay anointed with the power of God. Then when the devil threatens you by telling you what he’s going to do to you, you can tell him, “Jesus Christ defeated you more than two thousand years ago on Calvary. And I am empowered by the Holy Spirit to walk on top of you and on to victory!”
It’s up to you to receive what God has given you through the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He will not force it on you. He won’t make you take it. But if you receive the Holy Spirit and move forward in that anointing, you will walk from victory to victory.
I didn’t say you wouldn’t fight some battles in life. Friend, you can’t have a victory until you’ve had a fight! But with the anointing of the oil of the Holy Spirit, you will always triumph, because the power of God dwells in you!
The Above Material Was Published By The Word Of Faith Magazine, October 1998, Pages 5, 7. This Material Is Copyrighted And May Be Used For Study & Research Purposes Only.
