Lesson 1 Summary
Acts 1:8 promises that we will receive power after the Holy Ghost comes upon us. This promise is essential to understanding the anointing. When the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we are in God’s presence. But God’s presence is not the same as His anointing. God’s presence is His glory and His person; His anointing is His power. In Hebrew, the word “anoint” is mashach, which means “to rub in.” The Greek word is chrism and means “to smear.” When we receive the anointing, we are, in a sense, “smeared” with His power, which means that He is not only upon us but within us, as oil would be rubbed into and absorbed by the skin. Simply put, the anointing is God’s power. It is the manifestation and the result of his presence. Without God’s glory, we will never have His power. At the same time, the power without the presence will destroy a person; it will become an enemy. So we must have the presence with the power. The glory is given as long as a person is faithful. The power is the gift we receive as a result of the gloy of God. Thus, a person can lose the glory and keep the power (for example, Sampson and Saul).
