The Spirit Of The Lord Is Upon Me!
By Raymond D. Sopp
By Raymond D. Sopp
Luke 4:17-21: "And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him (Jesus). And He opened the book, and found the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.' And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.'"
I believe the above passage of Scripture to be one of the most profound and pivotal passages in the New Testament. I can think of no other Scripture which so clearly and distinctly defines the objective of Jesus' life and ministry while He was with us. This was the reason God sent His only Son to die for us. This was the reason Jesus willingly sacrificed His life and suffered the excruciating pain of the cross. This was the reason Jesus left heaven. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were in one accord – in complete agreement, and with great tenacity, proceeded to accomplish this awe-inspiring objective.
This awe-inspiring objective was the controlling influence in Jesus' life. Everything Jesus said and did was motivated with this one objective in mind. Jesus' eyes always remained focused and fixed on this one objective. The Holy Spirit came upon Jesus, without measure -- with all power -- in order to equip Jesus to fulfill this one objective. Since this awe-inspiring objective necessitated the full attention and power of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, would it not also be wise for us to give it our full attention? Let's take a closer look at this profound passage of Scripture.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me . . ." The word "anointed" in this quote from Scripture simply means to equip -- to furnish someone with the necessary equipment for the administration of the specified objective. From this quote we are also told that it's the Holy Spirit's job to do the equipping. This is extremely important to understand, because from this Scripture we get a very clear and distinct picture of the Holy Spirit's role in God's divine and awe-inspiring plan. We are made aware that the responsibilities of Jesus and Holy Spirit differ, i.e., Jesus becomes the sacrifice and the Holy Spirit supplies the power, but the objective remains the same. Which should be no surprise to us, as we know the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have always been one. Therefore, it is reasonable for us to come to the conclusion that the anointing -- the power, you and I receive from the Holy Spirit -- should also be focused on this same objective. In other words, the only reason we should be seeking and asking for the Holy Spirit to come upon us with power is so we can accomplish this same awe-inspiring objective, the proclamation of the gospel message.
Seeking to be anointed by the Holy Spirit with another objective, or with an agenda of our own creation, would not only be foolish, but would also set us up for deception. Satan would be happy to masquerade in the Holy Spirit's place with a myriad of signs, wonders, and other displays of power to keep us deceived and rendered useless in God's objective. Therefore, it becomes imperative for us to fully understand God's awe-inspiring objective, inasmuch as, God wants us also to become one with Him. John 17:22: "And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one." Let's now begin to unveil God's awe-inspiring objective.
Join Pastor Monday thru Friday 6am and 12pm eastern on Morning Manna Conference (phone) Line 641-715-3300 conference code 499589# or listen to Pastor Harris 24 hours a 7days on our playback line 641-715-3412 code 499589# over 200 sermons archived (when the recording come on # gives most recent message or use reference 1 through 295) or email us your prayer request morningmannaministry@hotmail.com or call 617-792-0663
I believe the above passage of Scripture to be one of the most profound and pivotal passages in the New Testament. I can think of no other Scripture which so clearly and distinctly defines the objective of Jesus' life and ministry while He was with us. This was the reason God sent His only Son to die for us. This was the reason Jesus willingly sacrificed His life and suffered the excruciating pain of the cross. This was the reason Jesus left heaven. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were in one accord – in complete agreement, and with great tenacity, proceeded to accomplish this awe-inspiring objective.
This awe-inspiring objective was the controlling influence in Jesus' life. Everything Jesus said and did was motivated with this one objective in mind. Jesus' eyes always remained focused and fixed on this one objective. The Holy Spirit came upon Jesus, without measure -- with all power -- in order to equip Jesus to fulfill this one objective. Since this awe-inspiring objective necessitated the full attention and power of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, would it not also be wise for us to give it our full attention? Let's take a closer look at this profound passage of Scripture.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me . . ." The word "anointed" in this quote from Scripture simply means to equip -- to furnish someone with the necessary equipment for the administration of the specified objective. From this quote we are also told that it's the Holy Spirit's job to do the equipping. This is extremely important to understand, because from this Scripture we get a very clear and distinct picture of the Holy Spirit's role in God's divine and awe-inspiring plan. We are made aware that the responsibilities of Jesus and Holy Spirit differ, i.e., Jesus becomes the sacrifice and the Holy Spirit supplies the power, but the objective remains the same. Which should be no surprise to us, as we know the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have always been one. Therefore, it is reasonable for us to come to the conclusion that the anointing -- the power, you and I receive from the Holy Spirit -- should also be focused on this same objective. In other words, the only reason we should be seeking and asking for the Holy Spirit to come upon us with power is so we can accomplish this same awe-inspiring objective, the proclamation of the gospel message.
Seeking to be anointed by the Holy Spirit with another objective, or with an agenda of our own creation, would not only be foolish, but would also set us up for deception. Satan would be happy to masquerade in the Holy Spirit's place with a myriad of signs, wonders, and other displays of power to keep us deceived and rendered useless in God's objective. Therefore, it becomes imperative for us to fully understand God's awe-inspiring objective, inasmuch as, God wants us also to become one with Him. John 17:22: "And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one." Let's now begin to unveil God's awe-inspiring objective.
Join Pastor Monday thru Friday 6am and 12pm eastern on Morning Manna Conference (phone) Line 641-715-3300 conference code 499589# or listen to Pastor Harris 24 hours a 7days on our playback line 641-715-3412 code 499589# over 200 sermons archived (when the recording come on # gives most recent message or use reference 1 through 295) or email us your prayer request morningmannaministry@hotmail.com or call 617-792-0663
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