Holy Ghost Restrainer of Evil

"For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." (2 Thessalonians 2:7-8). In each case above, the word letteth or will let is a Greek word meaning "restrainer."

The Biblical picture of the Holy Ghost clearly identifies Him as the restrainer of evil, as that divine member of the Godhead that pushes back the darkness, raises up God’s standard and holds evil at bay. He brooded upon the chaos of uncreated nothingness in Genesis One. He anointed King Saul who was transformed into another man in the beginning of the era of kings. Isaiah stated, "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him." (Isaiah 59:19).

In the church the Holy Ghost is the Vicar, the personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Spirit of anointing, manifesting the absolute victory of Jesus Christ in His church. When Jesus promised that the Father would send the Holy Ghost whom He called another comforter, He used very specific words. Let’s read them carefully. "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." (John 14:15-18).

When the Lord Jesus stated clearly that He was "another comforter" He then preceded to confirm that "His" coming to you would be "My" coming to you. No, He was not eliminating the sense of two personalities, but clearly affirming that the Holy Ghost would not represent Himself, but the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost never, and we must understand that this word never means never, represents or glorifies Himself. Throughout the Scripture the Holy Ghost is that obscure member of the Godhead that always finds His pleasure in being the Spirit of "God" or the Spirit of the "Lord." He never comes as the Spirit of Himself.

The Anointing Upon the Church
No wonder Jesus could say, ". . . upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18). The only times that the gates of hell have beat down what was called the church was when the foundation had shifted off the "Rock". That’s the picture we see with most of the church world today. It is sad, but it is not hopeless. I believe that the Lord is looking for a fresh generation of Bible-believing saints that will be His vessels to reclaim the high ground of Divine truth. The "Restrainer" is still in His church and is ready to anoint those Christ-crucified believers for fresh service in His kingdom.

The Anointing
We do not seek this anointing as some extra power or beyond Calvary experience that comes upon us as an emotional impartation. We seek this anointing of the Holy Ghost as the fullness of Calvary; as the very victory that Jesus accomplished by His death on the cross. The Holy Ghost anointing is none other than the Vicar of the Lord Jesus manifesting everything that His death and resurrection has made available to the church. The Holy Ghost does not take us beyond Calvary, but into the heart and substance of the finished work of that gruesome death. How different Pentecost appears when we see it in the shadow of the cross.

It is no wonder that the extremes of the Charismatic and Pentecostal fringe have produced a hyper Pentecostal movement that is more noise than substance, more emotions than maturity, and just more religion, instead of Christ-centered Christianity. When you research the beginning of the twentieth century Pentecostal movement, you will see that is not how it began. Pentecost at the beginning of the twentieth century was born primarily out of second work sanctification that mostly represented Methodism. These were Christ-centered, flesh crucifying believers who desired above all else to live a Christ-centered life. These people were holiness people before they were Pentecostal people. The holiness they reflected was not forced or contrived by legalism, but reflective of living in the Word of God and walking after its precepts. These early Pentecostals were literalists who took every Word of God as absolute truth that was to be obeyed as given in its proper context. Wild fire, undisciplined emotions, and any expression of the unsanctified flesh was utterly rejected and not tolerated when expressed in the worship services.
Much of what is considered "Pentecostal" today is represented by the fringe crowd that gets the media attention. It is unfair to the multitude of devoted pastors and laity spread across the landscape of Pentecost to put us in the same perspective as TBN, Pat Robertson, Benny Hinn, or Toronto/Pensacola. There is literally no Biblical kinship.

His Holy Anointing Does Not Rest on Flesh
One of the absolute principles of Scripture is that the Holy Anointing cannot rest on flesh. The "spirit" of man from the very breath of God is the seat of all spiritual expression in man. The Apostle Paul stated this clearly with these words. "The Spirit (Holy Ghost) itself beareth witness with our spirit (spirit of man), that we are the children of God." (Romans 8:16). Paul also stated, "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man." (1 Corinthians 2:13-15).

Every expression of the Spirit of Christ to or in man must be discerned and known in the spirit of man, or spiritually; not in his flesh or in his soul, the natural man. Please look carefully at those words, "the natural (soulish) man receiveth not . . . they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually (with the spirit) discerned." Then he triumphantly stated, "But he that is spiritual (taught by the Spirit) judgeth all things." There is absolutely no vehicle in our flesh life to make even one correct discernment.

Do not ever trust your flesh. Paul stated that we are those who have no confidence in the flesh. Again, I state that the anointing of the Holy Ghost does not rest on flesh. The first Biblical type of the Holy anointing which we call Pentecost was foreshadowed in Exodus. Moses was given the formula and principles of the holy anointing oil for the priests and the temple. This is the perfect foreshadowing of the New Testament outpouring and the present anointing in the church. The Lord stated to Moses, "Take thou also unto thee principal spices . . ." "And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil." "And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy." "And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make [any other] like it, after the composition of it: it [is] holy, [and] it shall be holy unto you." (Exodus 30:23a, 25, 29, 31-32).

Please read this entire passage, but most importantly read verse 32. "Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured . . ." The priests were carefully anointed, so that the oil ran down from their head, even upon their beard and onto their garments, but not upon their flesh. In the First Testament, the flesh was to be circumcised and in the Second Testament, it is to be sanctified or crucified. It is not to be trusted, exalted, glorified, or in any way depended upon. Remember, Apostle Paul said, "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." (Philippians 3:3).

This powerful First Testament type has within it every truth (Remember the theological law called the law of first mention.) that relates to God’s anointing on man. There can be no light treatment or carnal use of this anointing (verse 33). It is established in unchanging truth (verse 31) and cannot be altered. He cannot be received by the world, unholy persons, or manifest in the flesh (verse 32). And, an extremely important fact is that those who know this anointing are holy and are commanded to be clean and untouched by the filth of this world (verse 29).

This is a generation that has trivialized every spiritual and Biblical reality. The House of God is entered in the same casual fashion that men enter their own houses or even their barns. In fact, the world of commerce typified by the Biblical barn (place of commerce) is more sacred and treated with greater professionalism than God’s House. The laws of banking and trade are adhered to with great respect, while the laws of God are treated with impunity. The result is that most sacred institutions, ministries, and houses of worship are "Ichabod, the glory is departed." (1Samuel 4:21). Because the glory has departed, there is no anointing that sets men free. The world’s answers of psychology, entertainment, personality, and multiple fun things, have replaced the anointing of the Holy Ghost.

The worldly church gets giddy over the emotions of entertainment and television type church services and call it the Holy Spirit’s presence. It is blasphemous. The anointing does not rest on flesh under any circumstance.

The Meal and the Oil
Every great truth of Scripture saturates the Holy Bible, but there are two truths that stand at the top of the list. The Word of God and the Anointing of God are those two central truths. The miracle that Elijah performed for the widow of Zarephath is one of those high watermarks of this revelation. The meal (bread) is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Word of God, the oil (anointing) is a type of the Holy Spirit. The text reads, "And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which [belongeth] to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman [was] there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch [it], he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, [As] the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I [am] gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go [and] do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring [it] unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day [that] the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat [many] days. [And] the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah." (1 Kings 17:8-16). The life of this miracle was in the meal and the oil together. The meal by itself could not sustain her life, neither could the oil. It was the proper blending of those two substances that guaranteed her needs and victory. The Word of God is never promoted in Scripture in the absence of the anointing, but neither is the anointing represented without the presence of the Word.

For God to reveal His Word and His anointing, He needs a tabernacle or a temple where this glory can manifest. This widow had a barrel and a cruse, not a golden vessel of exquisite value. There was absolutely no glory in the containers that held this miracle. The barrel and the cruse could not produce one minute increase in the amount of meal or oil. The miracle was utterly above and apart from the containers that held the supply.

What a picture of the individual that God always chooses to use for His glory. The Lord Jesus said, ". . . there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist." (Matthew 11:11). Yet, John the Baptist wore a leather girdle and ate locust and wild honey. He would likely appear to our sophisticated church world like a wild man. Can you imagine him being invited to be the senior pastor of one of the great mega churches in America? There was no miracle in the barrel or the cruse, but in the meal and the oil. So, also, are His miracles today, not in our flesh or its personality (soul), but in the anointing manifest by the simple yielding of all to His abundant supply. No glory at all is due the barrel or the cruse. They were simply clean vessels being used for no other cause; and neither the barrel, nor the cruse felt slighted that no one praised them for the miracle.

The Bible is full of this great truth of His Word and His Spirit. The Ark (the Word) built at God’s command by Noah could not be opened until the Dove (the Spirit) had found a resting place. The tabernacle of worship had to have its offering of sacrifices (the Word) as well as its lamps of fire (the anointing). The seven feasts of Israel has as its first or foundational feast, the Passover death of a lamb and as its central or fourth feast, the Feast of Pentecost or the Feast of the Anointed Ingathering of Harvest. The entire typology of the First Testament is built on the two themes of the meal of the Word and the oil of the anointing. Even Abraham, when he met Melchisedek after returning from the slaughter of the kings, was served by this pre-incarnate personality, "the bread and the wine". If you will receive it, Abraham was the first saint to take the Lord’s Supper, pre-Calvary, if you please. But, remember, Jesus Christ was "slain from the foundation of the world." (Revelation 13:8).

The Restrainer is in His Church
The Holy Ghost, acting as the Spirit of Christ, is in Christ’s church to manifest every victory of His death and resurrection. The Bread of Life has been broken, the Oil of Anointing has been poured forth, and the enemy must retreat. If we will allow the Holy Ghost to do the works of the Lord Jesus Christ in our midst, then we will not need our own schemes and plans. He is the restrainer of evil and the standard bearer and no enemy formed against us can prosper.

The Flesh Must be Crucified
The idea of "death to the flesh" has been soundly rejected by much of today’s church. The consequence is a false anointing being poured out on unsanctified flesh and then called "revival." It is absolutely impossible for our Father to pour out His anointing on flesh. Every principle in the Holy Scripture demands Biblical order and that order prescribes how the sovereign work of God always occurs. Flesh must die.

The Apostle Paul dealt forcibly with this. Let’s read together, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members [as] instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness unto God." (Romans 6:1-13).

In that state of death that the apostle reveals above is absolute triumph in Jesus Christ. All the Holy Ghost needs for a miracle of Bread and Wine or Meal and Oil is a yielded vessel, unpretentious and utterly surrendered. You will not need to go on a spiritual mecca or seek an impartation by a super saint. God is sovereign and without respect of persons. "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of [them] whose heart [is] perfect toward him" (2 Chronicles 16:9a). He is searching the earth for the man or woman who will allow the finished work of Calvary total victory in their life.

The Flesh Must be Willing to be Silenced
The anointing of the Holy Ghost is not an anointing upon your flesh. If it were, you could use it at your will. You could walk through a hospital and command life at every bed. You could prophesy when you got ready and create your own miracles with your words. There would be nothing impossible standing before your flesh. To even dream of such an idea is to play the same game Lucifer played before the Father cast him from His presence. The flesh is hopelessly depraved and must be cast off as useless. We must die that He might live. The moment we become willing to die, He is ready to live.

The flesh is a barrier to the spirit in men. When we become willing for that flesh to be crucified with Christ, then the Spirit of Christ is free to refresh the spirit in man and to renew that spirit with the life of God. This happened immediately to a lesser degree when we were born again, but we await our total surrender for the full tide flow of power and spiritual victory.

Paul, the great apostle, testified of this experience as a growing process. "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." (Philippians 3:7-10).

As babes in Christ we receive this guarantee the very moment the Holy Ghost brings us out of darkness unto this marvelous light. Then we must proceed to walk in that light as it shines upon our pathway. To the Corinthians, Paul stated, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18). Notice that this apostle stated that this beautiful process is "by the Spirit of the Lord." As you behold Him in His Word and by faith cling to His promises, the Spirit of Christ (Holy Ghost) perfects Himself in us and we are changed into the image or reflection of Him.

Biblical Power in the Church
The Biblical order for Christ’s church is that His saints be His authority in their world. We are not compromisers, but world transformers. We do not beg or politic the world to honor the Lord Jesus Christ, but we go forth in His anointing. Such a church will be hated, but feared, "persecuted, but triumphant". Here is a picture of His perfect church. "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. [We are] troubled on every side, yet not distressed; [we are] perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh." (2 Corinthians 4:7-11).

Please notice that He said, "that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in our body (or flesh)." When we are willing to die, then His life is made manifest in our mortal (not immortal) body. The Restrainer (Holy Ghost/Spirit of Christ) is in His church and our victory was settled at Calvary. Start today living your life from the victory of the cross, instead of trying to live it unto a victory of your own making. Calvary has already won and the Holy Ghost is present to affect that victory in us.