Acts 2:1-4 “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. (2) And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. (3) Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. (4) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
We saw in the previous section that the disciples experienced the tangible power of God flowing into their hands when our Lord gave them power to heal the sick and cast out demons. And so in this section we want to discuss the very clear biblical truth, which is the transference of God’s anointing or power if you will. Very often the impartation of God’s power is done through physical contact, i.e. the laying on of hands. This is not always the case however, because there are numerous accounts in scripture that describe the Lord imparting His blessing to people directly from heaven. The above quoted passage of scripture is just such an account, for in this passage we see that our Lord Jesus received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father and He then poured out the Holy Spirit from heaven directly onto the saints on the day of Pentecost.
Acts 8:14-17 “Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, (15) who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. (16) For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (17) Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.”
In the above quoted account in scripture we have the record of the saints in Samaria being filled with the Holy Spirit via a different method, for we see that they were filled with the Holy Spirit through the laying on of the apostle’s hands. In other words the anointing of the Holy Spirit that was on the inside of Peter and John flowed through their hands into the saints, when they prayed for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Clearly there was a transference of anointing that took place on this occasion. In fact in all the accounts in the book of Acts of the saints being filled with the Holy Spirit, the most common method used was through the laying on of hands.
Luke 22:43 “Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.”
God’s angels operate in a similar manner to the saints in the area of the transferring of the anointing, for they also impart power through the laying on of hands. The above passage of scripture refers to the account in the garden of Gethsemane when our Lord was praying as He was about to undergo the suffering on the cross. At that time God the Father sent an angel to Him, who when he had come, placed his hands on Jesus and imparted strength to Him. Clearly there was a transference of anointing that took place on this occasion as well.
Michael E.B. Maher
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