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Nike Man
A message on the anointing
by Tom Brown
 For everyone born of God overcomes the
world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our
faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes
that Jesus is the Son of God.
—I John 5:4-5
The key word in this book of the Bible is overcome. It
is not only used three times in the preceding passage but it is
also used in 1 John 2:13; 2:14; and 4:4.
God has made total provision for you to overcome the world.
What does it mean to overcome the world? The word
"world" refers to all that is bad and evil, including
sin, worry, sickness, poverty, and other such things. God says to
you that you have overcome the world.
The Greek word for "overcome" is nikeo. It
originally comes from the famous legendary Greek god named Nike
of Samothrace who was the messenger of Zeus and Athena. You can
view his statue at the Louvre Museum in Paris. As you might
notice, the shoe company Nike took their name from this god.
He was famous for one thing: he never lost a battle. It is
this word that John uses to describe the believer in Christ. He
says that the believer, like Nike, will never lose a battle. God
wants you to win, always!
God guarantees to make you a winner. You are "Nike
Man"! Say that out loud, "I’m Nike Man!"
Faith is the Key
If God says that we are overcomers then why are so many
believers not overcoming. Notice carefully who John says is the
overcomer: Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who
believes that Jesus is the Son of God. John does not say that
everyone overcomes the world. He says that This is the victory
that has overcome the world, even our faith.
You cannot overcome without faith. Faith is the key to
victory. So what does faith mean?
Faith is only as good as the object it believes in. If you
have faith in a liar, then you will be let down. No amount of
faith is going to help you in that case.
The important thing about faith is not faith itself, but the
object of it. We hear much about faith, yet most people associate
faith with optimism and positive thinking. However, the faith
that John talks about is faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of
God.
Notice that there are two things that you must believe about
Jesus: first that He is the Christ and second that He is the Son
of God. Let’s take these two facts about Jesus and discover
what they mean; after all, if you don’t know what they mean,
then you will not overcome!
Peter’s Faith
Jesus asked Peter, "Who do you say that I am?"
Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God." (see Matt. 16:15-19)
What was Jesus’ answer to Peter’s declaration of
faith? He told him that because of his faith he would have the
keys of the kingdom to bind the devil, and that the gates of hell
will never overcome the church.
The thing that made Peter an overcomer is the fact that he
believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Notice that Peter believed both realities about Jesus—that
He’s the Christ and the Son of God. It’s not
good enough to believe one without the other. You must believe
both.
Christ is Not His Last Name
If you asked the average person what "Christ" means,
most will tell you that this is Jesus last name. They’re
wrong. Christ is not a name, but a title.
Christ comes from the Hebrew word Messiah. It means anointed
One and His anointing. It refers to both the person who’s
anointed and the power he is anointed with.
What I’m saying is this: it’s not enough to believe
that Jesus is good and loves people unless you also believe that
He has power to do good and help people. So the title, Christ,
represents His available power, not His love.
So many people are defeated, and yet they believe that Jesus
loves them. Good! But that’s not sufficient, you must
believe that He is anointed with power to help you. Not only is
Jesus anointed but so are you.
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles
the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you,
the hope of glory. (Col 1:27)
Wow! Did you get the meaning of this passage. The glorious
riches of this mystery is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Who’s in you? Not simply the person Jesus, but Christ! His
power, His ability, His strength. When you believe this and act
like it’s true, then you start to overcome.
You hear altar calls given, "Ask Jesus to come into your
heart." You will not find this phrase in the Bible.
It’s not simply Jesus as a person that comes into your
heart, but it is also His anointing power!
You Are Anointed
As for you, the anointing you received from him remains
in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. (I Jn 2:27)
You are anointed, so quit acting like you don’t have
power. You do! Many believers look at Benny Hinn or some other
great evangelist, and put their trust in their anointing, but
they never have received a revelation that they are also
anointed.
Of course there are special gifts that people have, and one of
Benny’s is healing. You should take advantage of any gifts
that others have. However, your faith should be in the anointing
that you have!
The mystery is not that Christ lives in some television
evangelist, but that His anointing is in all believers. Believe
that, and you’ll overcome.
To Rub
The word "anoint" originally comes from the word
meaning to "rub." A person under the Old Covenant was
anointed when the elders rubbed anointing oil on him, hence, the
word rub.
When someone resembles another person, we sometimes say,
"That person is rubbing off on him." The same is true
with the anointing. Christ starts to rub off on you through the
anointing working in you. You start to resemble Christ because of
the anointing.
How did Christ react when He saw a need? He met the need. He
healed, cast out demons, calmed storms, multiplied bread, and
even raised the dead. Listen: His anointing is in you to do those
things as well.
Say, "I’m anointed to heal the sick, I’m
anointed to cast out demons, and I’m anointed to raise the
dead!" Believe that, act like it’s so, and you’ll
see God’s anointing in you work.
Recipe for the Anointing Oil
Many people do not know what the anointing in like. I found a
passage that describes three characteristics of the anointing.
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take the following
fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much (that
is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of
fragrant cane, 500 shekels of cassia—all according to
the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil...Say to the
Israelites, 'This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the
generations to come. Do not pour it on men's bodies and do
not make any oil with the same formula. It is sacred, and you
are to consider it sacred. (Exod 30:22-24 and 31-32)
At first glance this passage seems rather odd. It doesn’t
seem to fit into the main teaching of the Bible. However,
everything in the Bible is there to teach us.
God gives the recipe for the anointing oil, because through
the recipe we discover several important truths about the
anointing.
The main ingredient mentioned is olive oil. Not simply any
kind of oil. It must be olive oil. Why olive oil?
Olive oil is made by pressing olives through stone wheels.
Once the olives are firmly pressed, oil flows. The lesson we
learn is this: the more pressure we are put under, the more the
anointing flows.
I don’t know about you, but God works greater in me when
I’m under pressure.
Pressure should make us into better saints. If you find
yourself getting worse under pressure, it’s because you are
depending on yourself and not the anointed One and His anointing
in you. This goes along with what Paul said about him and his
companions:
...We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability
to endure so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our
hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that
we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the
dead. (2 Cor 1:8-9)
The best in all of us will never be detected when things are
going well, but only when tests and trials come our way. The
anointing works best under pressure.
Myrrh
The second main ingredient to the anointing oil is myrrh.
Myrrh is a sticky, gummy substance that is hard to remove. The
lesson is simple: God’s anointing is permanent.
If God would have skipped myrrh, then the only liquid element
would have been oil, and oil is slippery. It would have given the
impression that the anointing slides off of us easily. Many
believers think this way.
If they mess up, then they believe they are not anointed. They
feel that God is looking for reasons to take away His power that
He gave them. He’s not.
Jesus said about the Holy Spirit that He will abide with you
forever (John 14:16). Concerning Himself, Jesus said, "I
will never leave you or forsake you." Like glue, the
anointing sticks on you.
Sweet
The final ingredients were sweet smelling fragrances. God is
showing that His anointing is sweet, not sour or bitter.
I’ve noticed that when a preacher preaches constantly
with anger, people will comment, "Oh, he’s really
anointed!" Yet another may preach with kindness and love,
and people say, "He’s sweet!" But then don’t
see him as anointed.
The truth is, the second preacher was anointed, while the
first was not. Don’t associate meanness or harshness with
the anointing.
It takes the anointing to constantly preach with love and
patience. It’s human nature to get angry at people when they
don’t seem to obey the Lord.
The anointing works best when you walk in love towards people.
Don’t Sweat
An important commandment that God gave ministers under the
previous covenant was to not sweat.
They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen
undergarments around their waists. They must not wear
anything that makes them perspire. (Ezek 44:18)
Sweat stinks. This is why we wear perfume and cologne. The
anointing oil contained sweet perfume, so that the sweat could
not be smelt on the minister.
It is so important that you don’t depend on the sweat of
the brow to overcome, but instead, depend on the sweet, smelling
anointing oil. Through faith in the Anointed One and His
anointing, you can be Nike Man!
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