from Dan Bowen's transcription post
The final session from: "Grace and Glory Conference - the Philippines" 2011.
Open your Bibles please to Acts chapter 19.
An
apostle has a government over their life to set the church in order -
to bring a grace government to liberate and work with pastors and to
help pastors coming alongside them. To lay foundations for churches.
The Bible says in Ephesians 2 that the church is built on the foundation
of apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone.
Jesus
is a living Saviour, a living Lord - and the church is built on the
foundation of a living Head but also on the foundation of living
apostles and living prophets. It is not built on the foundation of
apostles who lived and then died and prophets who lived long ago and
then died. These living apostles and prophets need to get into churches
and lay foundations of a living Christ and a foundation of what the
church is in Christ and the foundation of grace.
This
is the last session here and I was hoping to speak on the "Seven Ugly
Faces of the Grace-Hating Spirit" - we will not have time to do that and
I feel that is for another time. I want to talk about the transference
of the anointing. I was in the faith group and Kenneth Hagin was the
man that God used to bring me into encounter with the power of God in
1981. I want to talk about this because the anointing is the grace of
God - the anointing carries grace and we want to speak about how the
anointing is carried in your words. I want to talk about how the
anointing is transferred through the laying on of hands and other ways.
When
you leave here I believe God wants to spread the supernatural aroma and
flavour and perfume of grace wherever you go. He wants us to see that
the anointing can be transferred. The anointing is transferable,
transmittable and tangible. The anointing of God is like supernatural
electricity. The anointing of God is like heavenly materiality - it is
real. You can feel the anointing. You can feel it on your hands and
you can feel it on your face. You can feel it leaving your body and
going into someone else's body.
I was in
Holland just a few weeks ago and we taught on the transfer of the
anointing. I said; "Any five people who are sick - I don't care how
sick you are - I want to show you the transfer of the anointing and I
will pray for you". So five people came out and within a minute or two
three of them were completely healed. The fourth had to go for a
checkup and a few weeks later we got the email saying they were healed.
The fifth one I don't know about - but four were healed about them
understanding how to receive the transfer of the anointing!
How
many want to know how to give the anointing into people's lives after
receiving it? We are all called to be competent ministers of the Spirit
that gives life. When we walk in the gift of righteousness and speak
about the gift of grace we should be able to back that up with the
transfer of the ministry of the Spirit of life.
We
should be able to give away the Spirit of life. Some years ago a man
invited me to go to the United Kingdom and preach to a big outreach in
London. The network was called "Pioneer Ministries" and they were doing
an amazing work with people suffering with HIV/AIDS and they were
ministering to them. So they knew many many precious homosexual folk -
people who were lesbians and homosexuals. I want to tell you that God
loves homosexuals and lesbians the way He loves adulterers and murderers
and every unsaved person. Jesus has died for the whole world! Somehow
Christians have put homosexuality in a different category and said
their sin is worse. I don't know - everything is bad! Under the Law
everyone falls short and everyone has missed the glory of God!
The
church has not been successful in reaching homosexual people or gay
people. In the Western world the church has not had a good result with
the gay community. Much of the church has bashed the gays and marched
with big "anti-gay" slogans. That doesn't represent Jesus! I really
believe Jesus walks amongst the gay people and wants to love them into
the freedom of the Kingdom! So I was going to minister to hundreds and
hundreds of people who hated church - hated Christianity and didn't go
to church and certainly didn't trust Christians and are in the gay
community.
Now I had never preached to hundreds
of gay people at once - so I went to the United Kingdom and went out to
the forest to pray and wait on God. I began to pray and wait on God
for 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours until I got the breakthrough in
prayer. Now the breakthrough came at the Cross but I was praying the
victory of the Cross into this community. While I was in the forest, I
felt the breakthrough of God. I had a white T-shirt, white running
shorts on and was so happy when the breakthrough came and knew the
victory had been released and I was running and jumping in the forest
and even rolled down the hill and rolled down into a big pile of cow
dung and my T-shirt was covered in cow dung but I was so happy I kept
running and knew tonight there would be blessing and liberty and people
saved tonight!
I heard God say to me; "Son,
the anointing of blessing is all over your white T-shirt which was now
the colour of green cow dung. Tonight I don't want you to preach for
more than 10 minutes - I just want you to go to the meeting and wave it
over the crowd and I'll do the rest". So I said; "Jesus please don't
ask me to do this! These are British people with stiff upper lips and
won't appreciate this!". He said; "Okay Rob - don't worry but you will
be preaching on your own". I said; "No Lord don't leave me on my own!".
But you see - sometimes to do the miraculous we have to do the
ridiculous. That is why grace liberates us to become bold and
adventurous. We can step out in faith when we hear the voice of God.
We do things people are too afraid to do but we do them because we are
walking in the grace of God.
So that night I
went to the meeting and there were 100s of people there. Someone was
trying to lead them in worship but they were not interested. They were
angry and mad and upset. I came out and began to speak and spoke for 10
minutes. Everything was so tight and unfriendly and hostile and
terrible that I wanted to run out the meeting. I thought; "Lord I will
just preach for a little longer to get their faith up". The Lord kept
saying; "Son I am telling you - just wave the T-shirt over the crowd". I
had the T-shirt in a plastic bag and hidden it under the pulpit and was
dressed in a clean shirt and trousers. But nothing was happening - it
was getting worse. So finally I said; "Ladies and gentlemen - I just
want to say to you that I have been disobeying God for the last 20
minutes". As soon as I said I had been disobeying God all these unsaved
people - I had their attention. I said; "The Lord told me to only
speak for 10 minutes and then He told me to do .... this".
I
was feeling embarrassed and nervous and felt no great faith. I pulled
the T-shirt out which was green and yellow from cow dung. And I said;
"The Lord told me to do ... this" and as I waved the T-shirt over the
crowd the power of God was released across that room and hundreds of
people fell from their chairs. Demons began to come out. People began
to scream and repent. Then I said; "He told me to do THIS!" and then
they went hysterical. When God told the disciples to feed the masses
with fish, don't think Thomas was breaking the loaves in half and
throwing them out. They were taking little crumbs! When they saw the
bread and fish was not running out - then they got bolder. And I began
to get bolder and bolder. Literally 100's of people - I have a video
recording of this - 100's of these people without me asking them to do
it, got up off the floor, fell on their knees at the front, taking their
lovers rings off and throwing them onto the pulpit and repenting and
calling out on God.
I was amazed! But I saw
one man standing in a pin-striped suit standing by himself. Everyone
was on the floor kneeling and weeping and repenting. I ran up to this
very British man with the white T-shirt and went pow in his stomach! He
fell and began to cry out and weep before God! I didn't realise that
man worked at Buckingham Palace and was the legal advisor to the Royal
Family. God got him! I wanted to give him my white T-shirt and ask him
to take it and wave it over Prince Charles!
There
is an anointing that flows out of grace that will radiate out of our
lives and through our churches. We just have to learn how to release it
and many Christians have to learn how to receive it. So let's have a
look at Acts chapter 19. You remember Elisha had the double anointing
of Elijah. When Elisha died in an open grave and his flesh rotted away
until it was only bones left - when a dead person was dropped into his
grave, the dead body touched the bones of Elisha and the dead person
came to life. In the bones of Elisha there was still enough anointing
resident or present in his bones enough to raise a dead person.
If
the bones of a dead prophet can raise someone from the dead - how much
more the anointing of Jesus Christ in the church of the living God
moving in resurrection power in supernatural signs and wonders?!
Many
people have misunderstood 1 Corinthians 12 and the gifts of the Spirit.
They feel like some people have special gifts and other people do not
have those gifts.
Apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors and teachers have a mantle of Christ to equip God's
people to do the works Jesus did and to come to the full stature and
measure of Christ.
Ephesians 4
Ministries are not superior - they just have a mantle of Christ and
their job is to serve and equip the church and become full in the
operation of the works that Jesus did! Every believer has the Holy
Spirit inside of them! I do not have any gifts of healing. Rob Rufus
does not have one gift of healing, working of miracles, gift of tongues,
speaking in tongues, prophecy - I don't have any of those gifts but I
have the Person inside of me who has all nine gifts of the Spirit and
whenever they need to be manifested, He will manifest them inside of me.
You can do the works Jesus did and greater works because you are a son
and daughter of God! Life gets exciting when you are living secure on a
foundation of grace - you don't have to prove your sonship with
miracles or turn stones into bread to prove you are a son. You don't
have to jump off a building to prove you are a son. You don't have to do
anything to prove you are a son! When you are secure in acceptance
grace, there is an adventure to step out and go for it.
In
Matthew chapter 10 Jesus said; "Go and preach the Kingdom - raise the
dead, cast out devils, heal the sick and tell them that the Kingdom of
heaven is near".
So how are we going to raise the dead if we don't pray for some dead people?
Lord
give me the power to raise the dead! He already has! You have to give
it a go - maybe you will pray for 10 people and they don't come alive
but maybe the 11th will and then a whole village will hear about the
power of Jesus Christ! Sometimes you have to do the ridiculous in order
to see the miraculous. How many blind people have you prayed for? How
many deaf people have you prayed for? We have got to step out and just
go for it! Acts chapter 19:11;
"And God did
extraordinary miracles through Paul so that even handkerchiefs and
aprons that touched him were taken to the sick and the illnesses were
cured and the evil spirits left them".
Handkerchiefs
and aprons became like supercharged batteries with the anointing and
carried miles to a distant city and placed on the sick and they were so
full of the anointing that they would drive out demons and heal the
sick. This is a New Testament practice - driving out demons and healing
the sick with hankies or the laying on of hands. I want you to look at
Mark chapter 5 - the famous Scripture. The doctrine of the laying on
of hands (and we are not talking about Hebrews 6 - that's another story
and we can't go there) but there is a New Testament ministry of the
laying on of hands. Now in religious circles it is empty hands on empty
heads.
If you don't give something away through the laying on of hands it is just a ceremony. It is just an empty ceremony.
When
we lay hands on people there is meant to be the currents of heavenly
electricity that supernaturally comes out of our hands and flows into
someone or flows into a handkerchief or an apron and into someone's body
and they receive it.
I want to
encourage you to listen to how to receive and how to give the anointing.
When Peter was walking past the Gate Beautiful and a man begged him
for money he said "Silver and gold we don't have right now" but in the
next chapter they will be throwing piles of money at our feet - but
right now we don't have silver and gold but such as we have we give to
you. "In the Name of Jesus Christ rise up and walk" and the man stood
up and went leaping and praising God. Peter said; "Look at us - such as
we have - we give you!". You have got to know that you are loaded with
heavenly power, you have got to know that such as I have - I give to
you! So you will hear about how you are forgiven and one with Christ!
You
have got to let go, you have got to give in and give the power out to
the world around you! "Such as I have - I give to you" - that is what
Peter and John said. So we are going to release that anointing - there
is going to be an anointing release as we end this conference. There is
going to be an anointing that will go out and be released into people's
lives here and activate people. Let's read Mark chapter 5:21;
"When
Jesus had crossed over to the other side of the lake, a large crowd
gathered around Him while He was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue
rulers came there seeing Jesus, he fell at His feet pleading earnestly
with Him; "My little daughter is dying - please come and put your hands
on her so that she will be healed and live". So Jesus went with him. A
large crowd followed and pressed around and a woman was there who had
been subject to bleeding for 12 years. She had been under the care of
many doctors and had spent all she had. Instead of getting better she
grew worse. When she heard about Jesus she came and touched His cloak.
She thought; "If I can just touch His clothes I will be healed".
Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was
freed from her suffering.
At once Jesus
realised that power had gone out from Him, He turned around to the crowd
and asked; "Who touched my clothes?". "You see the people crowding
around you - and yet You can ask 'Who touched Me?'" His disciples asked.
But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. The woman came
and fell at His feet trembling with fear and told Him the whole truth.
He said to her; "Daughter your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be
freed from your suffering". Now this is an amazing story here because
Jesus did not walk through the crowds and say; "The Father has given Me a
revelation in the crowd here somewhere there is a woman who has an
issue of blood here and it is your lucky day - your name has come up in
the computer of heaven and God is just in the mood to heal you today -
this is your lucky day - where are you lady?" and then gave her healing.
No!
That's how many people think of healing - of some kind of sovereign
mysterious thing that God does when He heals you. He gets in a good
mood when He heals you and we don't know why He doesn't heal anyone
else! Today the reporters would have said - you see, it's not God's
will to heal everybody! But Jesus healed one man and everyone else
could have jumped up and said; "Hey - me too!" and He would healed
everyone! Because over and over again it said - "He healed them all".
Jesus healed all who came to Him - and He is the perfect will of God.
He didn't pray for this woman - He didn't give her healing! He didn't
lay His hands on her - it was illegal for her to be in a public place
and she could have been stoned by Jairus the Temple ruler if they had
known she had an issue of blood. But she had heard about Jesus and she
heard that Jesus was healing everyone and she heard that power was going
out of Him and healing them all. So she sneaked up behind Him and
touched Him and her faith made a demand on the anointing.
Her
faith pulled the power out of Jesus and went into her and she felt the
power come into her and knew she was healed. What she thought was that
she could sneak away and no one would know. What she didn't realise was
that the anointing is so like electricity and you can know and feel -
she didn't realise that Jesus would feel it leaving Him and said "Who
touched Me?". Everyone was around Jesus - they were all touching Him
and all touched Him! They were all curious and hoping to get healed!
They all were curious for some kind of experience yet no power flowed to
them but one woman touched Him and pulled the power out of Him and she
was healed. What does this mean? You can have hands laid on you hoping
you will be blessed - this woman was not hoping or curious - she knew
if she touched Him she would be healed - she knew if she touched Him her
faith would make a demand and that her faith could pull the anointing
out of Jesus. You have people come and think you are the guru and they
come and stand passive in the prayer lines and are closed and think you
can do it.
Jesus wants to heal all and at the
Cross has healed all on the planet. But when He went to His home town -
He could there do no mighty works. Why? Because they didn't pull the
power of God out of Him but this woman did! She pulled it with her
faith! She wasn't pleading or praying - she didn't even ask for
healing! She sneaked up behind Him and with her faith pulled the
healing out of Him. 12 years of bleeding was finished! It amazes me
that hundreds were touching Jesus and they didn't get the same result.
This
is what I believe - if we as a Church begin to learn how the anointing
flows and if we learn how to give the anointing and start seeing the
increase in grace anointing then we more and more will see people
hearing about and know that the grace message is ministers of the Spirit
releasing the ministry of life through the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is how the disciples in Luke 17 understood it - "Lord, teach us how
to have faith - Lord give us great faith". Jesus said; "If you have
faith like a mustard seed then you will speak to mulberry trees and they
will be pulled up by the roots and thrown away". A mustard seed is a
small little seed and Jesus was using farmer's language.
You don't need a quantity of faith - you need quality of faith.
Today
I believe Jesus would say if you have faith as small as a little fuse, a
little electric fuse - then you can release resurrection power and
receive resurrection power when hands are laid on you.
An
electric fuse is a small little thing and the metal of the fuse is
chosen because it has low resistance to electricity. Electricity will
not flow through lead or through wood. There are certain metals and
substances that do not conduct electricity. Unbelief does not conduct
the anointing or receive the anointing. Copper is a good conductor so
many electric fuses are made with copper so when you switch your light
on at home and the power comes from a nuclear power station or a
hydro-electric station - it comes down the power lines and the power
lines are the Word of God. It gets to your home, comes through the
electric fuse and then lights up your house and your fridge and
television. If suddenly that electric fuse has got too much resistance
to the electric fuse then the fuse will short circuit and your house
will be plunged into darkness and your television won't work and your
fridge will die.
It would be a foolish thing to
drive to the power station and say; "Hey why have you closed down? The
power isn't flowing anymore!". No! The first thing you do is go and
look at your electric fuse to see if it's been broken. And then you
make sure that you put a new one in that has low resistance to the
electrical currents of God. I believe we all have the faith of God but
that we are not all operating in the faith that God has given us. There
is little faith, great faith, strong faith and weak faith the Bible
speaks about. I believe that as you learn to have a fuse that has no
resistance to the anointing then as soon as the anointing comes to you -
you just surrender. You don't resist it - you just receive it.
If
you have got high resistance because you are afraid of the Presence of
God or the power of God and resist and push away then your electric fuse
will break down and you will short circuit the flow of God's power.
The more people that have low resistance and receive the anointing ... you see;
The
anointing is Spirit-life and the power of God. You cannot understand
the anointing with your head. You cannot receive the anointing with
your brain. You have got to receive the anointing with your heart.
When
I lay hands on someone I can tell immediately if they are in their head
or in their spirit. If they are in their head, they are all
analytical, all tense and all trying with their head. If someone is
pulling the anointing (like this lady) from their head - then as you lay
your hands on them - BOOM! They suck it out of you and the miracle
happens so easily! Because their electric fuse has no resistance to the
anointing. Then when they lay hands on people they just release the
awesome power of God by the spirit of faith and words of faith.
I
want to close now by reading another passage. I want to show you that
once someone breaks through with faith - once a local church breaks
through with faith or a community of churches break through then you
will see that the reputation spreads and spreads. This woman was the
only one who got her healing - though hundreds were touching Jesus, they
got nothing from Him! But one woman got her healing because she
touched Him with faith. Once people see an example - they begin to
realise; "Boy I need to touch Him with faith - not hope or curiosity or
desperation but a low resistance and receive that anointing and see
miracles leap to a high level". So let's go to the next chapter - Mark
chapter 6.
This is one chapter where a whole
crowd got nothing and one woman did. Look at the difference following
this woman's example. Mark 6:53; "When they had crossed over, they
anchored there - as soon as they got out the boat people recognised
Jesus". People recognised Jesus. People recognise your church - the
priesthood of all believers in your church and it is then known as a
community that is known how to release the anointing into people's
lives. "They ran throughout the whole region and carried the sick on
mats to wherever they heard He was. Wherever He went into villages and
towns, they placed the sick in the marketplaces and begged Him to let
Him touch even the edge of His cloak and ALL who touched Him were healed".
What
is the difference here? Before hundreds touched Him and they didn't
get healed. One touched Him and got healed and now they release power
is coming out of this Man - all we have to do is touch Him with faith.
Everyone who touches Him - all were healed. God wants churches to get
to that reputation where if you can go into that atmosphere in worship -
there is a release of the anointing of God, where hands are laid on you
- it is not symbolism or screaming and shouting and nothing happens -
there is a release of heaven's voltage, a release of the currents of
God. The power station in heaven is more powerful than a nuclear power
station - the Cross has set the power station forever on and the power
lines is the Word of God. The power has been flowing ever since Jesus
said "It is finished" - ever since He said that and redeemed us from
sickness and disease - ever since the Day of Pentecost, the power has
never had to increase or be switched on. It's always on and always
flowing! Every second heaven's power station will never break down -
full voltage of heaven's life and power!
The
Word of God will never fail - Jesus is the same yesterday, today and
forever! The only difference is - you can have the nuclear power
station and the power coming to your house but if your resistance is too
high then you will short circuit and lose the power. Then you can say;
"The power station has passed away, the power station is no longer
doing miracles".
God is still doing miracles
today - the power station is as flowing today as it was 2000 years ago
when Paul's handkerchiefs and aprons were supercharged. The power is as
strong and available as when Jesus ministered and when the apostles
ministered.
The power has not decreased
and there is no problem with the power line - the problem is with the
faith fuse in the church because of lack of understanding! You cannot
stand there passively and receive something - you have got to reach in
and seize. You don't even have to ask Jesus! She just crept up behind
Jesus, grabbed His garment and pulled the power out of Him.
Jesus
can I have permission to get prosperity or a good wife or be blessed or
have a good job? You don't need permission! Everything is yes in
Christ Jesus! He has given it to you - you just need to reach in and
take it because it's yours already! Sometimes you lay hands on people
and they are in this grey matter called the brain trying to figure the
anointing out - I can't get this into them.
When
they don't receive it by impartation then you have to resort to the
authority command. I have had people healed who didn't pull the
anointing out of me, I have had to speak to the cancer and command it to
go - it was the authority command that brought the anointing not their
faith.
You can get people healed if
they are in unbelief, but if people don't get enough faith. If someone
has got their car in park - you can't push it forward. But even if it's
in neutral you can push it forward. Even if they don't have great
faith, they can receive the anointing from you. I want us to stand
please and let's demonstrate the release of the anointing and go out of
this conference full of the revelation of grace and righteousness. Full
of the revelation we have received fullness in Christ. Let's go out of
this place to give it away and release the anointing.
We - the church - want to become the garment of Jesus that the world is always trying to touch to get the anointing!
My
job is not to do the ministry but release others to do the ministry.
Ephesians 4 Ministries are to train you to do the ministry of Jesus
otherwise the pastor goes on a big ego trip because he burns out. We
had a lady come into our church 2 years ago and she was wheeled in a
wheelchair and I didn't know she had been in the chair for about 20
years. I thought; "I wonder if I will have a chance to get her out the
wheelchair". When I had finished preaching I started walking towards
the back of the hall and saw this lady out of this chair and walking!
And I saw 2 members of our church smiling because they had prayed for
her and seen her come out of the wheelchair. Almost everyone in our
church pray for the sick!
The Phillipines can
be saved by a people living at rest in the grace of God and the
acceptance - from that place of rest they can release the anointing! If
you pray for someone and they are not healed yet die - don't blame
yourself for killing them. They were on the way to the grave anyway!
Without being hard on them you have got to say "next"! I prayed for 5
people in 1981 who were blind and saw 2 healed. I have had to pray for
many people with cancer and seen many of them not healed. Now we see
many healed. We have gone on TV in Australia because we saw a lady in a
wheelchair with doctors saying she will never walk again. She was
wheeled into our church totally paralysed. I said; "In the Name of
Jesus Christ come out of her". A man's voice came out of her saying;
"I'm not coming out". I laughed and said; "You are coming out - I'm
from Africa and we see devils out". They are all coming out because of
the Name of Jesus.
The primary ministry
of an apostle is government of grace and laying foundations and the
primary sign of an apostle is signs, wonders and miracles. Apostles
equip the church for miracles as do evangelists!
Are
all apostles? No not all are. Not all are prophets or evangelists.
Their job is to equip the body of Christ but every priest can move in
signs and wonders and miracles.
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