Have you ever noticed the words ‘Holy Spirit’ and ‘power’ in the Bible? They are actually synonymous terms meaning when you have one you have the other. When the Holy Spirit comes, there is power. How did Mary, the mother of Jesus, become pregnant by herself without following the normal course of nature? By a manifestation of the anointing. The virgin birth is a ‘power’ manifestation by the Holy Spirit. Let’s look further into this anointing and look at it at work in the life of Jesus.

 The Anointing in Jesus Life

• First, let us define some terms.

Synonymous Terms for the Anointing:

Luke 1:26–27 (ESV)
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.

Luke 1:30–32 (ESV)
30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,

Luke 1:34–35 (ESV)
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

• Notice the words ‘Holy Spirit’ and ‘power’.
• They are synonymous; meaning when you have one you have the other.
• When the Holy Spirit comes, there is power.
• How did Mary become pregnant by herself without following the normal course of nature?
• By a manifestation of the anointing.
• The virgin birth is a ‘power’ manifestation by the Holy Spirit.
• Let us look at the word ‘power’ here… ‘the power of the Most High will overshadow you’

DEFINITION: δύναμις/dunamis/power – the word has a wide range of meaning; potential for functioning in some way, power, might, strength, force, capability (Arndt, Danker, and Bauer, 262)

• According to Rick Renner, ‘dunamis’, is the word for dynamic power. This is a strength that always releases sufficient power and possesses the ability to make needed changes.
• The word dunamis does not have in it ‘how much power’ or ‘how much might strength or force’ is involved.
• In other words the word does not give you a measure of power.
• For example, if we say the word ‘hand grenade’, we can understand that to mean both a type of power and an amount of power.
• Modern day hand grenades have a lethal radius limited to approximately 49 feet.
• And so they cannot wipe out an entire city.
• When we say ‘nuclear bomb’, we understand that to be an amount of power much greater than a hand grenade but still having radial limits.
• The most powerful nuclear bomb on the planet can cause 3rd degree burns 62 miles away.
• Powerful but still with limits.

How Much Power is ‘Dunamis’?

• Enough power to get the job done that God intends to be done.
• ‘Dunamis’, from a word origin standpoint, developed from Greek into English as ‘dynamite’ in the mid-19th century.
• Some have latched on to the English word ‘dynamite’ trying to use it as a descriptor of God’s power.
• It is poor exegesis to do so.
• First, dynamite did not exist in the first century and so the Bible writers could not have meant it as a signifying definition.
• Second, it is a 19th century English term not a 1st century Greek term and, in effect, way too small to describe the awesomeness of the power at God’s disposal.
• Dunamis is strength that releases sufficient power to make needed changes.
• What was the needed change in this verse?
• Mary needed to be impregnated with Jesus without the help of Joseph.
• The virgin birth is a manifestation of gifts of the Spirit.
• It is a manifestation of power. It is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit coming upon a person, in this case Mary.
• It is a manifestation of working of miracles and special faith.
• Many times these two gifts of the Spirit (1Cor. 12:7-10) work together.
• Working of miracles is a divinely setting aside of the normal course of nature.
• The splitting of the Red Sea by Moses is working of miracles.
• A woman becoming pregnant without a man is not the normal course of nature.
• Setting that aside is working of miracles
• But the gift of faith was also manifest in Mary.
• The gift of faith is special faith given at a singular moment in time.
• Note, Mary’s immediate response to the angel’s message…

Luke 1:38 (ESV)
38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

• How do you know that the ‘gift of faith’ or ‘special faith’ was involved?
• We know that because it has never been duplicated that we know of.
• It would be an extraordinarily difficult thing to believe with only your own faith.
• Mary was endued with a measure of God’s faith or the gift of faith.
• Notice that these two phrases in Luke 1:35 are equivalent here.
• The first “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,”
• The second “And the power of the Most High will overshadow you;”
• They are both saying the same thing.
• Therefore, the ‘Holy Spirit coming upon’ and the ‘Power of the Most High’ are equivalent.
• So when we are referring to the word power, we are referring to the action of the Holy Spirit ‘coming upon’ someone.

Looking at the Ministry of Jesus.

Matthew 3:16 (ESV)
16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him

• This verse indicates that the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus and rested on Him just like He came and rested on Mary.
• May I ask you a very obvious question here in order to frame a thought?
• Do you think that there is any connection between the miraculous raising of people from the dead, the causing of blind eyes to be opened, the healing of lepers, the supernatural calming of storms, the multiplying of bread for thousands of people, the turning of water into wine etc. etc. that we see in the ministry of Jesus and this event where the Spirit of God came upon Jesus and rested on Him?
• Do you think these two things are connected, His miracles and His being anointed at His baptism?
• Here is the thought that you need to see in connection with this question.
• There is NO other event in the life of Jesus that we can point to in the scripture, whereby we can say that this is where the power came from.
• This is an important thought; let it be magnified in your thinking.
• The anointing that He received at the Baptism was the source of the miraculous in Jesus life.
• The action of the Holy Spirit coming upon a person produces the miraculous.
• The fasting that Jesus did was after he was anointed at the Jordan. It was after the baptism not before.
• So, we can see that dunamis power is synonymous with the Holy Spirit coming upon a person.

When the Holy Spirit Comes upon a Person, There is Power Available.

• Look at all of these verses that speak of the Holy Spirit coming upon people.
• Look at all of these verses that speak of the Holy Spirit coming upon someone.
• Read them, you will learn about the anointing.

Num. 11:17, 25-26, 29
Num. 24:2
Judg. 3:10
Judg. 6:34
Judg. 11:29
Judg. 14:6
Judg. 14:19
Judg. 15:14
1Sam. 10:6, 10
1Sam. 11:6
1Sam. 16:13-14
1Sam. 19:20-24
2 Kings 2:9
1Chron. 12:18
2Chron. 20:14
Isa. 32:15
Isa. 42:1
Isa. 59:21
Isa. 61:1
Ezek. 11:5
Ezek. 37:1
Matt 3:16
Matt. 12:18
Mk. 1:10
Lk. 2:25
Lk. 3:22
Lk. 4:18
Jn. 1:33
Acts 1:8
Acts 10:44
Acts 11:15
Acts 19:6
1Pet. 4:14

• Aren’t you struck by the number of verses there are that speak of this phenomenon?
• Here is an Old Testament example of power and the Holy Spirit in the life of Samson.

Judges 14:5–6 (KJV)
5 Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. 6 And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.

• Now, the word power is not specifically mentioned in the verse but you can see power, you can see capability.
• When the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, he had an ability, a strength that he didn’t have before.
• So, we see the Spirit coming upon Mary with miraculous results.
• You see the Spirit coming upon Jesus and the world can’t even hold the books of all that Jesus accomplished by that anointing.
• And, we see Samson flexing unusual strength and power physically when the Spirit of God came upon Him.
• We can see the same two words, power and Holy Spirit in Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 (ESV)
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

• We are supposed to witness with power.
• What does this verse imply to us?
• It connotes the fact that the same Holy Spirit that came upon Mary, the same power that came upon Samson and the same anointing that came upon Jesus is available to come upon you.
• Let us go further and pick up another word that is synonymous with the words power and Holy Spirit.

Luke 4:14–21 (KJV)
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18 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, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

A Third Descriptor: Anointing.

• The ‘Holy Spirit coming upon’ is equivalent to power which is also equivalent to anointing.
• So, if you sense the anointing on you that means the Holy Spirit is upon you.
• When we say that someone is anointed we are saying, in fact, that we sense the power.
• When we say that someone is anointed we are stating that the Holy Spirit, or, has come upon that person.
• This verse in Acts now ties these three words together.

Acts 10:38 (KJV)
38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Functions of the Anointing In Jesus Life

• Let’s look at these verses again and look at the capitalized words.

Luke 4:14–21 (KJV)
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. 15 And he TAUGHT in their synagogues, being glorified of all.

Function #1: Jesus Taught in the Power of the Spirit.

• This is the only way to teach.
• Jesus was anointed to teach.
• Jesus had a tangible sense of the anointing upon Him when He taught.
• If you were transported back in time and you were in the room or on the side of a mountain listening to Him teach, you would have sensed that anointing upon Him.

How does knowing that help us?

• Understand that words are containers of the anointing.

2 Peter 1:21 (KJV)
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

• Which is why today, when you read the gospels, when you read the words of Jesus, you can still sense that same anointing.
• When you act on those anointed words, the ones that can be acted on, the power is released, the ability to make needed changes is unleashed.
• Words are containers of the anointing.
• The power you are sensing, when you are reading Jesus words is a measure of that same anointing that was upon Him that day.
• Saying it again, the anointing is timeless.
• This is one reason why Bible reading is so phenomenally important.
• Now, when you read the Bible, understand what you are reading: you are reading the anointed words of men upon whom the Spirit of God came.
• You also, in the same Bible reading the words of men who were not anointed by the Spirit of God, upon whom the power did not come.
• You can read the words of Judas the betrayer of Jesus, you can read the words of Cain the murderer of Abel, and you can read the words of the devil, the deceiver of mankind in the same Bible.
• There is no power in any of their words!
• You cannot use the words of Judas and stand upon them and have any divine power or godly ability or strength released.

Question: Why are the words of non-anointed people in the Bible then?

• They are written for your admonition.
• They are written to keep you steady on your path.
• They are written to warn you not to engage in certain actions.
• They are written to help you protect the anointing, the power, and the call of God on your life.

2 Timothy 3:16 (KJV)
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

• So the Bible is a combination of anointed words and un-anointed words all of which are inspired.
• Let us take a side trip and look at the realm of music for a moment in this context.
• Have you ever read the Psalms of David?
• Have you ever, as you were reading them, just lifted your hands and worshipped Him?
• Those anointed words, spoken under the influence of the Spirit of God, that is, as the anointing came upon the psalmists, will pull you into His Presence and cause the Holy Ghost to come upon you.
• Elisha asked for a minstrel and look at what happened!

2 Kings 3:15 (ESV)
15 But now bring me a musician.” And when the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon him.

• The anointing can come upon you in connection.
• This is why music is so valuable.
• It is one reason why we keep music going in class.
• It is why you need to keep it going in your home.
• Now, you can play whatever you want to play in your home but if your heart’s desire is to have as much of the anointing in your life; you remember we spoke about this last week when we asked the question, ‘is the anointing more valuable to you than your valuables?’, but if you desire God’s power in manifestation then anointing music playing in your home will help.
• Psalmists can sing songs under the anointing.
• The Spirit of God is upon them when they sing.
• They record it on media and you listen to it months or years after it was recorded and you experience that same anointing.
• You walk away from that saying, ‘Wow that was anointed’.
• You are sensing the anointing that was on that person the day they recorded it.
• Which is also why, you can pick-up a different album from the same artist a year later or a year before, in another time frame, and those songs may have nothing on them.
• The words they are singing maybe right, they maybe scripturally accurate but you sense nothing.
• What happened?
• They did not have the anointing on them that day they recorded that song or album.
• I like listening to Live worship music.
• Music recorded live sometimes has an extra punch to it because of the corporate anointing involved.
• This happens with sermons also.
• Have you ever listened to an anointed message?
• Have you ever listened to one that wasn’t by the same person?
• Now understand that there are two sides to this.
• Sometimes the person delivering the song, the message, the sermon doesn’t have it.
• Other times the anointing is not manifest because the hearer, who is not in place to sense the anointing, could be out of sorts.
• They could be in un-forgiveness or strife, or spiritually not receptive etc. etc.

Another Thought on Jesus Teaching by the Power of the Spirit.

Ephesians 4:11–12 (KJV)
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

• This verse indicates that God anoints certain people and places them into ministry offices.
• These individuals who have an anointing upon them are listed as.

Apostles
Prophets
Evangelists
Pastors
Teachers

What is the difference between an evangelist ministering by the anointing and a layperson trying to win a soul for Jesus?

• The degree of anointing.
• The Evangelist has a greater anointing, stronger, more of it, than the soul winner.
• It is stronger and more pronounced.
• You may win one in a certain setting.
• The anointed Evangelist may win ten in that same setting.

Question: What is the difference between someone being asked to teach a lesson in a Sunday school class and an anointed five-fold ministry Teacher operating in His office?

• The five-fold ministry Ephesians 4:11-12 teacher has the greater anointing, the higher anointing.
• In working in the midst of stronger anointing’s, understand that when you are flowing corporately you should always yield to the higher anointing.

Call to Action:

We now understand some of the synonymous terms for power. We have looked at the ministry of Jesus and saw the role of the Holy Spirit coming upon Him in power. We know now that the same power that came upon Jesus is the same Spirit available to us in our everyday life. Is operating the way Jesus operated an important thing to you? If so, have you sought the Lord in this area?

Question: Have you received the Holy Spirit coming upon you in power Acts 1:8 style? Describe how you received the Holy Spirit. Please share your testimony below.