The Unction of the Spirit in the Function of Authority
Part One
There are two essential doctrines in the scriptures that are often gravely neglected or terribly abused. These two doctrines have to do with the unction of the Spirit in the function of Authority. To neglect or abuse any one of these two essential doctrines will be detrimental to the walk of a believer and the mission of the church.
The lives of Saul and David help us to see how these essential teachings of our faith are vitally connected to one another. David was mightily used of God through the Spirit as he honored God by functioning under the principle of authority in the economy of God. In contrast, Saul lost his unction to be the King because he violated God's principles of authority.
To know the unction of the Spirit we must honor the function of authority in the kingdom of God. For the next two days, we will unpack this theme by examining two key principles.
I. The unction of the Spirit in the life of the believer:
When David was anointed King by Samuel, we read in 1 Samuel 16:12-13: “And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.”
We see in this passage of scripture that David was anointed by Samuel with oil, (a type of the Spirit), to denote that he was being set apart—or designated for a specific task, namely to be the next King of Israel. The word anointing in our text is also used in the New Testament in 1 John 2:18-27 in reference to the Holy Spirit and the advantages that one receives through the Spirit’s enabling power. The word anointing in relation to the Spirit is also translated unction in the KJV.
Now, here’s what I believe is a good biblical definition for the unction or anointing of the Spirit:
The outworking of the Spirit in the life of a believer to fulfill an assignment designated by the authority of God.
We see this unction in the preaching of Paul the Apostle when he wrote: “and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men[c] but in the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:4-5).
When someone is serving, witnessing or preaching with the unction or the anointing of the Spirit, at times it ought to seem as if the person serving is not even there. In other words, when someone is serving with unction, others will encounter the presence and power of God not the wisdom or cleverness of man. You don’t walk away marveling about how clever the preacher was or how talented the musicians are on the worship team. Rather, you walk away knowing that you have been ministered to and visited by God—that you have been in the presence of God.
How many of you have experienced this, when under the preaching of God’s word, you were not seeing or hearing from the preacher anymore, but you were seeing God and hearing from Him? The same thing can be said about times when we are worshipping God in song. How many of you have experienced times when you are not as aware of the musicians, the lights, the harmonious voices, or even the people around you, as much as you are seeing and tasting the goodness of the Lord?
But let me add that there are times, and I know this from personal experience, that not everyone in the congregation has eyes to see and ears to hear when the Spirit is at work. Sometimes the reason can be that they may be hung up on extra-biblical traditions and/or preferences and as a result, our hearts are not prepared for an encounter with God. It could also be that one may have ill will towards the minister that is blinding them to the glory of God and hardening their hearts to His voice.
It’s important to note also that in addition to others encountering God, the unction of the Spirit is given to exalt Jesus Christ. In John 16:14 Jesus said concerning the coming of the Spirit: “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14). The Spirit of God does not work to exalt man but to exalt Christ through man.
I believe sometimes we seek the Spirit’s help because we don’t want to look bad; not because we want to make Jesus look good. Do you know that this was one of King Saul’s problems?
In 1 Samuel 15, Saul had not obeyed the Lord in the mission that God gave Him to defeat the Amalekites. God, through Samuel, commanded Saul to destroy everything. However, Saul kept the best of the spoils of war and kept the King of the Amalekites alive. When he was confronted about his disobedience, Saul made excuses, blamed others and would not take responsibility for his sin. As a result of his disobedience, Samuel the prophet prophesied that, because he rejected the word of the Lord, God rejected him from being King.
But after all that Samuel prophesied, Saul was more concerned with how he looked before the people, more so than how he looked before God.
“Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord.” 26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” 30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow before the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the Lord” (1 Samuel 15:24-31).
When Samuel turned away from Saul, Saul insisted that Samuel, the man of God, return with him so that he might appear to be right with God before the people of God. Similarly, Christians can be more concern with how we look before people than how we look before God or worse yet, how we are making God look. If this is the case, like Saul, the unction or anointing of the Spirit God may be withheld or withdrawn from our lives.
Let me be clear, I am not saying that a believer who is born-again can lose the indwelling of the Spirit. But because of our pride and disobedience, we can lose the enjoyment of communion with the Spirit and His anointing power that we need in the service of our King. We can quench the work of the Spirit in our lives.
Come back tomorrow from the second principle: The function of authority in the kingdom of God:
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