Dr Paul Allen

  It is absolutely necessary to understand that the Holy Spirit is He, not “it.” The Spirit is not an impersonal force, a sort of spiritual electricity. The anointing of God is not just power or gifts but the Holy Spirit Himself. When people first stepped into modern history, speaking with tongues, they were called “the tongues people.” 2 In fact, the memory of those people is still among us, and they carried an impressive godliness whose motive was service, not sensation; the Giver, not the gifts.  They longed to know Jesus better and to be more Christlike, not simply to have power for its own sake. Their daily desire was to “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who … made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant … and became obedient” (Phil. 2:5–8). Many laid down their lives for God. When Jesus healed the sick, it was not just sheer voltage power He wielded, but it was also the power of His conquering love. He healed the sick by His str...

We should particularly remember that anointing is likened to perfume. Psalm 45:8 is often quoted to refer to Christ: “All your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia.” Cassia came from the distant Far East. Israel probably obtained it in the wilderness from passing traders. It provided a distinctive fragrance associated only with the dwelling place of God and its priests—it evoked thoughts of God. Scripture calls Jesus “the anointed One”: “Peter answered and said ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’” (Matt. 16:16). Jesus is the Christ, the anointed One. He is as exclusively anointed as He was exclusively the Son of God. Christ is from the Greek word christos , which has the same meaning as the Hebrew word for Messiah . Everything denoted by the anointing of the tabernacle, priests, and kings is fulfilled in Jesus. Christ is our Priest-King. “Your robes are fragrant …” (Ps. 45:8, NIV ). He carried the purity and odour of heaven, that evocative and subtle beauty...

HOLY SPIRIT ANOINTING is fully scriptural. In the Old Testament, all who served God had to be anointed. This is replaced in the New Testament by the Holy Spirit for all believers. The first thing to learn is that “anointing” is just one of the synonyms of the baptism in the Spirit; there are others. For years we have sung Psalm 23, “My head Thou dost with oil anoint,” which actually refers to the practice of oiling the head of sheep for their protection; but the anointing of the Spirit, or the baptism with the Spirit, is more than merely a protective health measure.1 Let us see what we can learn in the house of Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36–50). Jesus is making a complaint using language similar to that of Psalm 23. He is saying to His host, “You did not anoint My head with oil.” He was comparing Simon and an unknown woman. She had poured perfumed oil upon His feet and had continued kissing them, but Simon had done nothing. It was the social welcome for guests to anoint them with frag...

Essentially, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a doorway leading from a natural realm into a supernatural realm of life and experience. The average Christian, although truly professing Christ, operates largely on his own power, making his own decisions, living by his own strength, and controlling his own life.  But through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, the Christian steps out of this natural realm into a realm where he can begin to experience the supernatural gifts and powers of God’s Holy Spirit. The initial evidence of entering this supernatural realm is the ability to speak in other tongues. (See Part II for a discussion of tongues.) But that is just the beginning. If all that happened to the 120 people at Pentecost had been that they began to speak in tongues, their experience would soon have been forgotten.  The same is true today. If all that happens to one receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit is that he speaks in tongues, then he is not forging ahead in faith into...