042 - Anointing To Do Good #1 - Don Gossett

[00:00:00] Galatians 6.10, As we therefore have opportunity, let's do good to all men, especially to those of the household of faith.

[00:00:09] And also I want to share with you Acts 10.38, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost in power.

[00:00:18] He went about doing good, healing all oppressed of the devil, for God is with him.

[00:00:24] I want to emphasize this importance of the anointing by the power of God to do good,

[00:00:31] which includes, of course, the healing of the sick and the casting out of evil spirits.

[00:00:38] This is what Acts 10.38 proclaims, God anointed his son Jesus.

[00:00:44] How? With the Holy Ghost in power. What did Jesus do? He went about doing good.

[00:00:50] What was that good he did? Healing the sick, all that were sick and oppressed of the devil.

[00:00:57] My challenge to you, beloved friend, is to be used by God with an anointing of the power of God to do good.

[00:01:05] To be used by God to minister healing for the sick and to break strongholds of the devil by the authority of Jesus' name. Hallelujah.

[00:01:15] Just before I get into my message today, here's a quickened word God has given me for you.

[00:01:22] Every time you confess weakness, you become weaker.

[00:01:27] Every time you confess sickness, you grow worse.

[00:01:30] Every time you tell people about your lack, you have more lack.

[00:01:35] Well, from today, step into the new ranks of the conquerors, the overcomers.

[00:01:40] Why? For you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

[00:01:45] You can possess his wisdom, his ability. Praise God.

[00:01:49] I want to thank you in Jesus' name for your generous gifts for Bold Bible Missions.

[00:01:55] And may God bless you. Bless you abundantly is my prayer.

[00:01:59] Now, as I share today about these 12 different persons with whom God has enabled me to have contact or knowledge of,

[00:02:10] I want to give you the inside of their stories.

[00:02:13] Now, six of these people whom I will be sharing are persons with whom God joined me to share in ministry.

[00:02:21] You see, by God's grace, I have been involved in ministry a very long time.

[00:02:26] When I was just a teenager, I was entered into full-time ministry,

[00:02:31] traveling with one of these great heroes of faith,

[00:02:34] and it continued for those years of different men of God, and I'm grateful for that.

[00:02:40] Well, let me share with you today about a man called Smith Wigglesworth.

[00:02:45] He was among the most prominent and respected evangelists back in the 20th century.

[00:02:51] Smith Wigglesworth. He was from Great Britain.

[00:02:53] His accomplishments as an evangelist have become legendary,

[00:02:59] and Wigglesworth remains an inspiration for all believers

[00:03:02] who seek to experience the miraculous and loving intervention of a caring God.

[00:03:09] Wigglesworth was saved at the age of eight through the prayers of his Methodist grandmother,

[00:03:14] and he proceeded to gain his first convert himself by winning his own mother to Christ.

[00:03:21] And then at the age of 16, Wigglesworth encountered William Booth and the Salvation Army.

[00:03:27] He was truly an evangelist.

[00:03:29] He brought hundreds to Christ each month,

[00:03:31] as he simply witnessed to the things of God's Word and his plan of salvation.

[00:03:37] Now, Smith Wigglesworth and his wife, Polly,

[00:03:40] whom he met while working with the Salvation Army,

[00:03:43] never considered that their ministry might extend beyond the borders of their community of Bradford, England.

[00:03:51] Polly, his wife, was given the name because her original name was Mary Jane.

[00:03:58] She preached, and Wigglesworth met new believers at the altar

[00:04:02] and led them in a confession of faith of Jesus as Savior and Lord.

[00:04:08] The story of Smith Wigglesworth is a story of a true soul winner.

[00:04:13] Now, he was baptized in the Holy Spirit there in England,

[00:04:17] and he became a part of the great Welsh revival.

[00:04:21] Now, Wigglesworth had very little education,

[00:04:24] but his aggressive approach to the gospel and its effect on men's lives

[00:04:29] made him an effective and endeared evangelist.

[00:04:33] Wigglesworth experienced a healing during those years

[00:04:37] that God would eventually use to alter his destiny.

[00:04:41] His ruptured appendix was healed,

[00:04:44] and Wigglesworth strongly believed that God had endowed him

[00:04:48] with a special gift of healing for those with appendicitis.

[00:04:52] He is credited with healing in Jesus' name for many people

[00:04:57] with all kinds of conditions.

[00:05:00] And the remarkable story are the documented accounts,

[00:05:04] very authentic, of how God used him to minister

[00:05:07] to raising the dead on different occasions.

[00:05:11] It was especially painful, however,

[00:05:13] when Wigglesworth, his beloved wife, Polly, died of a heart failure.

[00:05:20] And when Wigglesworth arrived at his deathbed,

[00:05:24] he simply commanded her to live, and she came back to life.

[00:05:29] However, as he held her in his arms,

[00:05:32] Polly told Wigglesworth that the Lord wanted to receive her,

[00:05:36] and she wanted to go home to heaven.

[00:05:39] He kissed her and released her to the Lord's presence forever.

[00:05:43] And from that time, Wigglesworth's ministry had a remarkable power.

[00:05:48] He was single-minded in the Lord's work.

[00:05:50] He visited America and stunned audiences with his sense of God's grace and love.

[00:05:57] Wigglesworth was embraced in the United States and Canada and other nations

[00:06:01] and quickly became one of the most favored evangelists

[00:06:06] that would ever travel for the Lord.

[00:06:08] And he went across many continents, many times,

[00:06:11] and he was usually accompanied by his daughter, Alice.

[00:06:14] Now, the story of Smith Wigglesworth, if you've read any of his accounts,

[00:06:19] absolutely are remarkable.

[00:06:22] He laid hands on the sick and welcomed challenges,

[00:06:25] which would demonstrate how easy the impossible was for the living God.

[00:06:31] For instance, in Sweden, where police forbade him to lay on hands,

[00:06:36] he told those in the massive crowds to simply lay their hands upon themselves

[00:06:41] and know that they'd be healed by God's grace,

[00:06:44] and hundreds were healed there in Sweden.

[00:06:47] Well, the same continued wherever Wigglesworth went

[00:06:50] and ministered what a testimony he was

[00:06:53] of one who went about doing good by God's anointing.

[00:06:57] And he continued preaching well up into his 80s,

[00:07:01] And just short of his 88th birthday,

[00:07:05] Wigglesworth achieved that home for which he had so long,

[00:07:08] and he had brought together believers of all faiths,

[00:07:11] and believers of all faiths rejoiced in knowing

[00:07:13] that Smith Wigglesworth had attained the absolute communion,

[00:07:19] which he so very dearly prized.

[00:07:21] Well, that's the story of one of these evangelists,

[00:07:25] one of these persons whom God anointed.

[00:07:28] Now, I want to emphasize again,

[00:07:30] we're talking about two verses of Scripture,

[00:07:33] Acts 10, 38, and 2 Corinthians 16.

[00:07:39] But let me tell you about another of these heroes of faith

[00:07:42] whom God used so awesome.

[00:07:44] His name was John G. Lake.

[00:07:47] He was one that was used by God in a mighty way,

[00:07:51] his full name John Graham Lake,

[00:07:53] and he was an ordained Methodist minister when he was 21 years old.

[00:07:58] However, he pursued ventures in the business world,

[00:08:02] and he was very successful.

[00:08:04] And then he entered the insurance field

[00:08:07] and found himself an entrepreneur,

[00:08:10] but a very discontented Christian.

[00:08:13] Luke had, Lachish, pardon me,

[00:08:16] had received an anointing of God.

[00:08:18] He had accepted the miraculous power of God

[00:08:22] when his own wife, Jenny, was cured of tuberculosis.

[00:08:27] Her healing was the last of four different people

[00:08:30] that God worked in the lives of the Lake family,

[00:08:34] his brother and his two sisters,

[00:08:36] as well as his own wife.

[00:08:38] Well, Lake's wife's healing came

[00:08:41] as Luke received the promise of Acts 10, 38.

[00:08:47] God anointed Jesus of Nazareth

[00:08:50] with the Holy Ghost and with power.

[00:08:53] He went about doing good,

[00:08:54] healing all oppressed of the devil,

[00:08:57] for God was with him.

[00:08:59] This verse is so awesome.

[00:09:01] I hope as you'll study it and impact your life

[00:09:04] that God anointed Jesus, the Son of God,

[00:09:08] with the Holy Spirit and with power.

[00:09:11] Jesus did what?

[00:09:12] He went about doing good.

[00:09:14] Thank God.

[00:09:15] That's what our assignment is.

[00:09:16] That's what God anoints us with power to do good.

[00:09:20] What does that good consist of?

[00:09:22] Well, it consists of many things

[00:09:23] among which the Scripture describes as healing

[00:09:27] all that were oppressed by the devil, of the devil.

[00:09:31] Why?

[00:09:32] Because God is with him.

[00:09:33] Well, John Lake's impassioned interest

[00:09:36] in this action of God of Acts 10, 38,

[00:09:40] he began working with the evangelists

[00:09:43] who had been instruments in his wife's healing,

[00:09:45] a man named John Alexander Dowey.

[00:09:49] Well, John Lake moved to Zion, Illinois

[00:09:53] and became a part of Dowey's ministry for a time,

[00:09:57] and it was a real experience for him.

[00:10:00] However, during that same time,

[00:10:04] John Lake found an opportunity to help others

[00:10:08] to be filled with the Holy Spirit,

[00:10:11] and then God called him to be a missionary in South Africa.

[00:10:15] Now, by God's grace,

[00:10:16] I've had the delight of ministering in great crusades

[00:10:20] all over South Africa, in Johannesburg,

[00:10:24] and in Cape Town, in Port Elizabeth,

[00:10:26] in Durban, in Pretoria, in Orange Free State,

[00:10:29] and other smaller places.

[00:10:31] And I was continually hearing about John G. Lake

[00:10:36] and the great work God used him to be used by the Lord.

[00:10:41] Well, his call to South Africa was amazing.

[00:10:44] With his wife, his seven children,

[00:10:47] and four other people,

[00:10:49] Luke traveled to, I'm trying to say Luke Lake,

[00:10:52] traveled to South Africa

[00:10:54] and was immediately awed by God's provision for his ministry.

[00:10:59] Although he had less than $2 when he left America,

[00:11:04] God provided the funds for each step of the journey.

[00:11:07] It's absolutely remarkable.

[00:11:09] Well, I will share with you more information

[00:11:12] about his ministry in South Africa,

[00:11:14] and also I'm going to share the ministry of other people.

[00:11:19] It's got a total of 12 different leaders of God's work,

[00:11:22] and I'm humbly grateful that by the grace and calling of God,

[00:11:27] I was permitted from the age of 19

[00:11:29] when I began to travel with these great evangelists

[00:11:33] to consider what God can do.

[00:11:35] Now, my beloved friend, let's agree together.

[00:11:39] Father, even as you've anointed

[00:11:41] all of these 12 different people

[00:11:43] whom I will share today and in these coming days,

[00:11:48] may it be an inspiration to every listening friend

[00:11:51] to covet this anointing,

[00:11:54] this anointing of power,

[00:11:56] this anointing of power to do good,

[00:11:58] to minister healing to the sick,

[00:12:00] and to break the strongholds of Satan.

[00:12:03] In Jesus' name, amen.

[00:12:06] Well, Michael Dale will give you information

[00:12:07] about a CD that you may treasure,

[00:12:10] and right now, join me.

[00:12:12] Please join me.

[00:12:14] Let's simply say,

[00:12:15] Praise the Lord.

[00:12:17] And let's say it 10 times.

[00:12:19] Praise you, Lord.

[00:12:21] Praise you, Lord.

[00:12:23] Oh, praise you, Lord.

[00:12:26] Praise you, Lord.

[00:12:28] Praise you, Lord.

[00:12:30] Praise you, Lord.

[00:12:32] Praise you, Lord.

[00:12:34] Praise you, Lord.

[00:12:37] Praise you, Lord.

[00:12:39] Praise you, Lord.

[00:12:41] Hallelujah.