Impartation and Laying on of Hands

by Fred Kelly

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND CONTRIBUTING RESOURCES
Author: Fred Kelly
Editors: Teresa Seputis, Al Vesper

1. Introduction (by Teresa)

2. Healing the Sick by the Laying on of Hands

3. The Impartation of the Holy Spirit

4. The Impartation of the Spiritual Gifts

5. The Practice of Commissioning for the Ministry

Introduction

by Teresa Seputis

We are beginning to move into practical aspects of prophetic ministry. The lessons in the next two series will deal with some of the less obvious but very practical aspects of prophetic ministry.. this first series on impartation through the laying on of hands and the next series on healing. I would like to give a brief introduction about why these topics are relevant to a prophetic school...

Obvious Prophetic Ministry

When I first began to move in the prophetic, I thought that prophetic ministry was the "end" in itself, for the encouragement and edification of the body. It brought so much life to people. Sometimes God would confirm things that He had been speaking to someone in such a wonderful way that .. so that would become alive and animated, full of vigor and excitement. Sometimes prophetic ministry would explain to someone what had been going on in their life and it would be such a relief to them to understand. Occasionally the prophetic ministry would give the person a new vision to pray into and steer towards.. or perhaps simply confirm to the person that they were on the right track and should simply continue with what they are doing. All of these types of ministry were so life-giving, so wonderful. And for a season I thought that was the extent of prophetic ministry.

Then I discovered the wonderful world of gentle prophetic correction.. which was still "obviously" in the realm of the prophetic. This correction can be extremely life-giving and refreshing. Correction was not a thing to fear/dread.. instead it was like my old ice skating coach correcting a move I was doing wrong... my coach was never mad at me and he never made me feel stupid or evil, he simply showed me what I was doing wrong and how to fix it, so that I could improve my skating.. to move closer towards my goal of excellence. I still remember the first corrective word I ever received.. a prophet I did not know telephoned me and we chatted for a while. Then she began exhorting me to settle within myself that God had called and gifted me so that I would stop disqualifying myself. She explained that I could get no further along in my calling until I settled this and then went on to spell out for me what God had in store for me.. so that I would be motivated to get past this "hump". Goodness, I felt so alive and enthused.. and the Holy Spirit was all over me bearing witness to me about what was being said. It was such a positive experience that it took me a good 15 minutes to figure out I'd been corrected. The result of this prophetic correction was life-changing and I have moved much further along in the ministry that God has for me.

So I came to view "prophetic ministry" as encouraging, confirming, explaining, imparting vision, warning, and even loving correction. All of it was so good, and produces life in those who truly have a heart after God and desire His will for their lives. This is good stuff!!

Healing and the Prophetic

I came from a Vineyard background and praying for healing (and seeing results) is as natural for those in the Vineyard as prophesying is for those in CI. Some of the healing prayer is almost mechanical in nature.. but there is an aspect of it that ties closely to the prophetic.. words of knowledge. Sometimes when God wants to minister to a person's physical condition, He gives words of knowledge or supernatural revelation about that condition or about things causing it. These words can come in many different ways.. some people see the body part, some briefly feel the condition in their own bodies, some may get a picture of a medical book and be able to read the text describing the condition, some get a deep knowing or impression, etc.

I will never forget how I first learned about words of knowledge. I had been a Christian for years, but had only discovered that Jesus is to be Lord of every area of my life one year before. I was in the process of learning to walk out His Lordship. I ended up attending a course that Peter Wagner taught at Fuller Seminary on Healing. One of the things he did there was to pray for people with various conditions.. such as chronic backaches, etc. I remember one time on the first day of class.. he prayed for someone with a chronic (almost crippling backache). The person was healed, but while he was praying for them, I seemed to "catch" their backache.. it lasted for about 1/2 hour and I was miserable. The next person he prayed for had migraines.. and sure enough, as he began to pray for that person, I got a severe headache.... I was not sure if I was being suggestionable or if something demonic was going on. So I purposely left the room while the next person was describing their condition.. I came back in before the prayer was over and suddenly I had terrible stomach pain.. so I asked a classmate what they were praying for.. and sure enough, it was a stomach problem. Yikes!! I became convinced that somehow the illnesses had been caused by demons and as the demons were being cast out of the sick people, they were all coming to visit me. I had never even heard of the term "word of knowledge" at that point.

After class was over, I stood in line to talk to Peter.. to ask him for deliverance ministry since I was catching all the demons of all the folks getting healed. Peter began to laugh at me .. he says he was actually laughing with me... but at the time my back hurt, my head hurt and my stomach hurt.. so I did not think it was funny. Then Peter told me about physical words of knowledge. My "condition" cleared up as soon as I left campus and I spent the rest of the evening pondering how God could be so mean to "invent" physical words of knowledge.. of feeling the condition that He wanted to heal in my own body. Yikes!

At class on the second day, Peter began to pray for people and I began to feel their condition in my body again. Peter stopped and caught my eye, and asked me if I was feeling the condition. I said yes. He told me to stretch out my hand towards the person and pray for them to be healed.. as soon as I began to pray, the pain went away.. Wow!!! (I tell you, that type of word of knowledge really motivates one to pray for healing!)

That evening I was having dinner with someone and got a physical word of knowledge.. so I asked the person and sure enough.. they needed a healing.. so I prayed for them and two important things happened.. my pain went away the instant I started to pray and the person was healed. Wow.. I had a praise report for class the next day.

Before the course was over, I had prayed for a dozen people and seen 8 of them totally healed and another two partially healed.

That was my first introduction to healing and to words of knowledge. At the time, no one told me that words of knowledge were part of the prophetic.. I just thought it was part of healing. It became very normal for me to pray for the sick and frequently see them get healed. And words of knowledge were common place... a part of healing. Imagine my surprise when I learned that I was moving in the prophetic to get the words of knowledge! The prophetic and healing really are very closely tied together.

I saw healing manifest as a part of prophetic ministry earlier this month (April 1999). Donna Cox and I were just back from ministering in South Africa, and we were sharing/ministering together at a church in San Jose. There was a visitor there, a sister of one of the church members, who felt leery and had never seen the gifts of the spirit operate before. We had been prophesying to each person in the room.. when we got to her, Donna said, "The Lord shows me that you have some health problems that keep you from being able to do normal day to day things and you've been crying out to God about them." Then she prayed for the woman.. and she was healed. The lady had been unable to raise her arm above shoulder level. Suddenly she could raise it up all the way. Then I had a word for her about having been falsely accused (and the emotional pain it caused her). That opened her up to receive healing from the Lord and release bitterness. She went home a totally different person. Now, she would have never received the word about being falsely accused if the Lord had not demonstrated it was Him by healing her first. So we saw the prophetic used to minister both physical and inner healing.

Setting Prisoners Free

One of the things that God loves to do via the prophetic is to set the captives free, to break oppression off people. This was a big part of Jesus' personal mission statement.. see Luke 4:16-22. The Lord began to quicken Luke 4:16-22 to me even before I moved in the prophetic.. about preaching good news to the poor, proclaiming freedom to prisoners, sight to the blind and breaking oppression off people. Later, he began to show me how the prophetic was used in this. Suddenly a whole new dimension of inner healing opened up.. how the right revelation would cause a rapid major breakthrough for the person.. how oppression would fall off them and they would be freed up in an area that had been dragging them back.. and they would be able to step up into the fullness of what God had for them.

I began to see how words of knowledge (as well as discerning of spirits) were useful in deliverance. But I had my first exposure to what I call "prophetic deliverance" in South Africa.. it was keen and precise and very fast and effective.. doing in 10 to 15 minutes what used to take 2 to 3 hours. My very first exposure was at one of the prophetic conference meetings in Capetown South Africa on Easter Sunday. An alcoholic (who was quite drunk at the time) wandered into the meeting and came up front for ministry, standing right in front of Steve Lincoln. Steve backed up for a second and looked (in the spirit) at this man.. seeing the demon on him... then he asked the man if he wanted to be free from this thing. The man got out a very drunken "yes." Steve grabbed the demon, that he was seeing in the spirit, and pulled it off the man.. and the man was instantly sober and coherent and in his right mind.. the change in the man was staggering. He committed his life to the Lord. It was very powerful and very quick work... I believe this is a foretaste (or leading edge) of what might become common-place ministry in the future. As the week progressed in South Africa, both Steve and Donna were able to do very quick and powerful deliverance ministry via a combination of prophetic revelation and discerning of spirits.. and the resulting changes in people's lives were staggering. I believe that we will be seeing this "prophetic deliverance" become more and more common in the future, because God is in the business of setting His people free and breaking oppression off them so that they can rise up and step into the calling and destiny He has put on their lives.

But There Is More

There are other activities that those in the office of prophet participate in. This includes impartation/activation of gifts and installing people in their office/calling.

Moses imparted his giftings and authority into Joshua (Deut 31:1-9, Josh 1:5-9), Samuel installed Saul as king (1 Sam 10:17-24) and later anointed David as Saul's replacement (1 Sam 16:1-16). Elijah anointed Hazael as king over Syria (1 Kings 19:15), Jehu as king over Israel (1 Kings 19:16) and anointed Elijah as a prophet (1 Kings 19:16).

I personally got to experience this in Sept of 1997, when a prophet prayed for me and identified my calling and called forth the gifts the Lord had put into me. I can't explain it, but something was activated in me at that time and I began to move in a noticeably greater level of gifting and anointing than I had before that prayer.

Since then, there have been times where the Lord has told me to impart a part (or sometimes all) of my giftings/anointings into another person. The times I have done this at His direction, there has been a noticeable change in the person's life and ministry. There is really something that goes out in the impartation.. I cannot explain it, but I know it is real.

I have seen the Lord use prophets to anoint and install people into one of the 5-fold offices... I have seen a change come over people when this occurs, where the level of gifting and anointing increased drastically.

I have also seen prophets impart various spiritual gifts into people, and again, there has been a change in the lives of those prayed for. The prophet may also be used to call forth and awaken spiritual gifts that God had given to people, but that have gone unused.

Impartation and setting people in their God-appointed place/calling seems to be a part of the prophet's role.

Looking Forward

We have just seen that there are many areas that a prophetic person operates it.. it is not limited to simply speaking forth the words of the Lord. God uses his prophets in physical and inner healing, to set captives free and break off oppression, to do deliverance, to impart giftings and to install people in the roles God has called them to.

Much of the prophetic impartation is done by touch.. by the laying on of hands. This includes impartation of physical healing, impartation of spiritual gifts and commissioning for ministry.

The following teaching series, by Fred Kelly (on impartation through the laying on of hands) will cover these areas, as will the following series by Keith Gerner (on healing).

I believe that we need to be well rounded, understanding more than just our prophetic gifting, and these next two series will help bring some understanding/knowledge in some of the areas where God frequently uses His prophets. I hope these next two teaching series will bless and inspire you.

Discussion Questions


Healing the Sick by the Laying on of Hands

by Fred Kelly

2 Timothy 1:6 "For which cause I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee through the laying on of my hands."

Romans 1:11 "For I greatly desire to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to establish you;"

The laying on of hands includes three principal areas: 1, The healing of the sick. 2, The impartation of the Holy Spirit (this includes the gifts of the Holy Spirit as seen in 1 Cor. 12). 3, Practices of commissioning for the ministry. We will look at: The prophet and the laying on of hands in each lesson.

In this lesson we will look at healing and the laying on of hands. Please note that this is ONLY one of many ways that healing comes. There is anointing with oil as in Mark 6:13 "And they drove out many unclean spirits and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them." And there is prayer for healing by the elders, as per James 5:14-15 "call the elders and have them anoint with oil and pray." Also we can just speak the healing word as Jesus did.

In this lesson, we are going to look at just one of these methods, healing through the laying on of hands. Jesus Himself told us that the believers will lay hand on the sick. Mark 16:18b: "they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." Jesus did this as He walked here on the earth. The New Testament has numerous accounts of Jesus laying hands on people to heal them. Jesus walked in the office of a prophet (we also see that Jesus walked in all of the offices of Eph. 4:11) so all that he did is an example for us to follow. We read this account from the early season of His ministry: Luke 4:40 "Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them."

One might ask "what is so important about the laying on of hands?" As Christianity evolved from the days of the early church, laying on of hands was considered an extension or adaptation of a natural human action. However, it was also an act of impartaoni. The act of laying on of hands shows one of three things:

1st
The person laying on hands may be imparting spiritual blessings or gifts or authority to the one whom hands are laid on.
2nd
The person laying on hands may be acknowledging publicly some spiritual gift or authority that has already been received from God by the person on whom hands are laid.
3rd
The person laying on hands may be publicly committing to God the person to whom some special task or ministry is given by the laying on of hands.

Some times, all three purposes are combined in the same act of laying on of hands. Let us take a short journey through the Old Testament to see the importance of this...

Laying on of hands in these contexts is first mentioned in Genesis 48:14 "And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the first-born." (ASV)

In this passage we see that it was an accepted practice that Jacob's blessings should be imparted to his two grandsons by the laying on of his hands upon their heads; the greater blessing was imparted through Jacob's right hand, lesser with the left hand.

In Numbers 27 we see that Moses a prophet of God at the end of his ministry laid hands on Joshua to appoint a new leader, we read:

18 "And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom [is] the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him; 19 And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight. 20 And thou shalt put [some] of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient."

Now we can see the result of this in Deuteronomy 34:9 "And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses."

These passages give us an understanding of the importance of laying on of hands. This was of great significance both for Joshua himself individually and for the congregation of Israel. Moses a prophet of God accomplished two things by this spiritual act ordained of God: 1st Moses imparted to Joshua a measure of the spiritual wisdom and honor which he Moses had received from God. 2nd Moses publicly acknowledged to the children of Israel God's appointment of Joshua to succeed him. We can see that Paul in Romans 1:11 speaks of the same act (impartation of spiritual gifts)

Romans 1:11
For I greatly desire to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to establish you;

Elisha a prophet of God used his hands to impart healing as part of what he did to bring life to the dead boy. This shows we need to do as God tells us to do in his word. Let us look at what happened:

2 Kings 4:33
He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD. 34 And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. 35 Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.

Now let us look at the NT: Jesus Himself in His commission to His disciples said:

Mark 16:17
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Here we see five supernatural signs which follow the preaching of the gospel and may be claimed by all believers through faith in Jesus name. The laying on of hands in the name of Jesus is a way whereby physical healing may be ministered to the sick.

The laying on of hands is one of the conduits through which the healing power of God flows. When the prophet or any believer lays hands on some one in this context of healing it imparts the supernatural healing power of God to the person on whom hands are laid. Very often this person will feel within his/her own body supernatural (dunamis {doo'-nam-is}) power of God at work. At times there will not be a feeling of the power supernaturally even though there was an impartation of healing, this is where faith will result in a healing. 2 Cor. 5:7 "for through faith we walk, not through sight" (YLT)

Walk in your anointing which God has given to you, and using it in obedience to God, and to bless others. This is one of the keys to seeing the dunamis power being imparted to those who need a healing.

Walk in your calling, your anointing, (1 John 2:20) "And ye have an anointing from the Holy One. 27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you"). Walk as the Master Prophet Jesus did, for He has shown us the way.

The following are some scriptures to show Jesus working under and in the anointing:

First let us look at Luke 4:18
18 The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Mark 8:23-25
23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. 24 And he looked up, and said, "I see men as trees, walking." 25 After that he put [his] hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

Luke 4:40
Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.

Luke 13:11-13
11 And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up [herself]. 12 And when Jesus saw her, he called [her to him], and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. 13 And he laid [his] hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

Acts 9:17-18
17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, [even] Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.

Acts 28:8
And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him.

It is important to give scriptural instruction to all who ask to have hands laid on them for healing. They should be told of the necessity of holding on in active faith until the healing comes and is complete.

One word of caution must be given here: Laying on of hands can be a powerful experience, a temporary interaction between two spirits through which supernatural power is released. Normally the power flows from the one laying on hands to the one on whom hands are laid, but at times it can flow the opposite way. This could come from a demon, depending on the one who has hands laid on them. This is why Paul said in 1 Timothy 5:22 "Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure." So we need to be prayed up and walking in a fresh anointing, today's anointing, not yesterday's anointing, and covered by the blood of Jesus; also binding the powers of darkness and loosing the power of the Holy Spirit and having a believer agree and pray with us. This can be done as an ongoing thing for we never know when we will be used of God. When we do this there need not be any alarm about laying on of hands.

Now, you ask, how does this relate to the prophetic? It relates because the Holy Spirit is the one who gives us the gifts we need to minister. The Lord often ties the prophetic closely to the realm of physical healing. For instance, God frequently gives words of knowledge about conditions that He desires to heal. Or He releases a supernatural wisdom or discerning of spirits to be used in this type of ministry. See 1 Cor. 12:8,9,10.

Those of us who operate in a prophetic gifting need to be open to be used in many different ways, including healing. Some of you have already experienced this. Others of you have not.. but those who have not must not assume that God will move today precisely like he moved yesterday. We must continue to seek Him for a fresh anointing, for today's anointing instead of relying on yesterday's anointing. We must be open to however God wants to use us. We must draw close to Him and prepare ourselves, and we must be careful not to forsake gathering together to pray and seek Him for direction and for anointing.. there is much anointing in unity (see Psalms 133:1-3). Personally, God uses me in healing as well as in prophetic ministry. I meet each Monday with four others who are in prophetic ministry. We discuss the prophetic words which have come in the church service. We also pray for each other, the church, and gather to ask what God is saying to the church today. We desire to stay sharp and alert to what God is doing now.. so we won't miss anything and so that we can minister effectively with Him in whatever He is doing.

Discussion Questions:

The next lesson is on the impartation of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (this includes the gifts of the Holy Spirit as seen in 1 Cor. 12).


The Impartation of the Holy Spirit

by Fred Kelly

Romans 1:11
For I greatly desire to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to establish you;

2 Timothy 1:6
For which cause I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee through the laying on of my hands.

In this lesson we will look at the importance of receiving the Holy Spirit (baptism in the Holy Spirit), and receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit, receiving through the impartation of laying on of hands.

In order for one to be used to the fullest by God we must have the baptism in the Holy Spirit and we must be filled with the Holy Spirit each day. Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, in which is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit (DBY). Filled in the Greek is pleroo (play-ro-o) present passive imperative--- carries the meaning in the Greek of "repeatedly being filled".

Once we have been baptized in the Holy Spirit we need to be filled each day. Let us look at the book of Acts to start with. Here we find five records of people receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We will look at four.

First:

The disciples in the upper room:
Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was 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 all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

In this instance no person laid hands on these disciples. They were so hungry for more of God that they gave theirselves to prayer in one accord. Then God touched them with His supernatural power. You also can go after God in this way and He will touch you.

Second:

Those that were converted in Samaria:
Acts 8:14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: 15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: 16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 Then laid they [their] hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. 18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, 19 Saying, "Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost". 20 But Peter said unto him, "Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money."

Here we see in this passage that the Holy Spirit was imparted by the laying on of hands. Peter and John apostles flowing in the anointing were faithful to use the anointing that they had. In doing so it caused growth in the church. We need to be bold, for God has placed an anointing in each one who has received Jesus, baptized in the Holy Spirit, and filled each day. For it is today's anointing that has the power. We can not live in yesterday's anointing or we will become yesterday's man or woman then some one new will be raised up in our place to flow in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Do you need some one to lay hands on you to impart this gift of God? Could it be you need to be a good steward of the gift of God and lay hands on some one to impart the Holy Spirit?

1 Peter 4:10-11
10 according as each hath received a gift, ministering it among yourselves, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God; 11 if any man speaketh, [speaking] as it were oracles of God; if any man ministereth, [ministering] as of the strength which God supplieth: that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, whose is the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Third:

The apostle Paul who was called Saul at the time, had hands laid on him by Ananias so let us look at what happened:

Acts 9:17 And Ananias departed, and entered into the house; and laying his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, [even] Jesus, who appeared unto thee in the way which thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mayest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. (ASV)

Ananias a disciple of Christ and a good steward of the manifold grace of God; gifting of God in the prophetic arena. He was given a vision. Now he questioned God about this vision and what God asked him to do. He had reasons to. Let us look at this passage and see what happened:

Acts 9:10 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and the Lord said unto him in a vision, Ananias. And he said, "Behold, I [am here], Lord."

Ananias answered the Lord right away. If we are His sheep we will know His voice and we need to answer Him when He calls.

11 And the Lord [said] unto him, Arise, and go to the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one named Saul, a man of Tarsus: for behold, he prayeth; 12 and has seen [in a vision] a man by name Ananias coming in and putting his hands on him, so that he should see.

Saul a new believer in Jesus had a vision of Ananias laying hands on him so he could see. Not only was that to happen, Saul was to be baptized in the Holy Spirit by impartation through a believer laying on hands.

13 But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many of this man, how much evil he did to thy saints at Jerusalem: 14 and here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call upon thy name.

There was some apprehension on the part of Ananias, but he chose to obey the Lord. In his obedience great thing happened. Just as true if we are obedient to the Lord in what He wants us to do great things will happen.

15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel: 16 for I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake.

Fourth:

Acts 19:1-6
1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples: 2 and he said unto them, "Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed?" And they [said] unto him, "Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit was [given]." 3 And he said, "Into what then were ye baptized?" And they said, "Into John's baptism." 4 And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him that should come after him, that is, on Jesus." 5 And when they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

Here in this passage we see Paul imparting by the laying on of hands the baptism of the Holy Spirit for the people spoke in tongues, also one of one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit was given, prophecy 1 Cor. 12:10.

Fifth:

Here is the scripture for the fifth:
Acts 10:44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. 45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.

Out of the five passages we find in three a believer ministering through impartation to those receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit. In the two others, we see the apostles doing the impartation.

Discussion Questions

The next lesson is on the gifts of the spirit that are imparted through the laying on of hands.


The Impartation of the Spiritual Gifts

by Fred Kelly

Romans 1:11-12
11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; 12 that is, that I with you may be comforted in you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine.

Here we see that Paul is telling us something very important; by imparting Spiritual Gifts we can see a comfort coming to all. Those who move in the prophetic or preaching need comfort just as much as those who we minister to. The free operation of spiritual gifts in the congregation enables the various members of the body to comfort, to encourage, and to strengthen each other. This allows all to minister to each other.

1 Corinthians 12:7
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

1 Corinthians 14:4b
he that prophesieth edifieth the church.

Paul speaks of imparting spiritual gifts in Rome when he sees the believer. This can be done in this day and age through laying on of hands, imparting the gift and speaking a prophetic word calling forth the gift.

1 Timothy 4:14
Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

God wants the operation of, and the effect of, the gifts given by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ. These are to be used so the total of all that God has for His people can help bring about the victorious Church. To put the Church on the offensive, we must move forward in the anointing, the power of God. God want us not to come behind in any gift.

Here are a few more scriptures:

Romans 1:4-8
4 I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus; 5 that in everything ye were enriched in him, in all utterance and all knowledge; 6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7 so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ; 8 who shall also confirm you unto the end, [that ye be] unreproveable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now God wants us to use that which has been given to each one of us.

1 Peter 4:10-11
10 according as each hath received a gift, ministering it among yourselves, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God; 11 if any man speaketh, [speaking] as it were oracles of God; if any man ministereth, [ministering] as of the strength which God supplieth: that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, whose is the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

This is why Paul tells Timothy two times:

1 Timothy 4:14-15
14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. 15 Be diligent in these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy progress may be manifest unto all.

Also in:

2 Timothy 1:6-9
6 For which cause I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline. 8 Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of God; 9 who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal,

What do we see here?

  1. Each has received, if not you can. Get someone full of the Holy Spirit to pray for you and lay hands on you.
  2. We are to be diligent in using the gift., it must be used in order for it to grow.
  3. Do it in Gods strength not our own.
  4. Remember you have a holy calling.

So what is taking place?

  1. We receive the gift or gifts.
  2. We use the gift or gifts.
  3. We grow spiritually.
  4. We must use it for Gods glory not ours, and it must be used in love.

These gifts can be used in and out of the church. Jesus has sent us to carry His word to the world and the prophetic gift along with others show the world the power of the gospel.

Here are some examples: We were in North Wales in Penmaenmawr holding evening tent meetings. During the afternoon we would go to the beach area where we spoke to the people on the beach. There were many young people there. One group of young men drinking alcoholic beverages were watching us. My son received a prophetic word for one of these men. The word was that he was going to give his life to Jesus and become a preacher of the gospel. Two days later he received the Lord at tent meeting.

We, my wife and I, were in India ministering. One evening we were walking down a narrow street to hold a meeting in a believers home. As we were walking a woman called to us and asked if we would come and pray for her son who had been injured in an auto accident. For six months he had not talked nor taken food by mouth, he was fed through a tube. These were Hindu people. We laid hands on him and spoke and imparted healing in the name of Jesus. The man spoke for the first time in six months.

Many prophetic words were spoken over people, one example is a young man that had a word that he was going to pastor a church soon. He was praising God for this was what God had spoken to him. It happened that very year.

We must use what God has given to us. Remember one thing, after Jesus spoke to the disciples Mark 16:17,18,19; it said this in verse 20: And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with [them], and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

A friend or someone you just meet anywhere may need a word from God. So let the prophetic gift rise up and be used.

The Lord will work with you, and the Holy Spirit will give you the anointing to carry out the special purpose of using the gifts given to you.

Discussion Questions

Things to Consider:

  1. Laying on of hands for the impartation of the gifts should always be in a spirit of humility and prayer, it's not a light thing. Don't be careless.
  2. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you; Who, When, How to Pray?
  3. Continually claim on behalf of yourself the continual purifying, protecting power of the blood of Jesus Christ.
  4. As a believer who lays on hands you must be full of the power of the Holy Spirit to be able to overcome anything the evil spiritual influences that may be seeking to work through the one you are laying hands on.


The Practice of Commissioning for the Ministry

by Fred Kelly

Romans 1:11
For I greatly desire to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to establish you;

2 Timothy 1:6
For which cause I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee through the laying on of my hands.

In this lesson we will see what takes place in this area of ministry; impartation of the anointing for ministry; flowing in the anointing and accepting it, just what God has given us.

To receive the anointing we must recognize the Holy Spirit as a person and desire to know Him intimately, also we must come to Him with honesty of heart.

There is power in the anointing: Isaiah 10:27 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. {be taken...: Heb. remove}

Jesus stood up to read in the synagogue, from the scroll of Isaiah He read this: The Spirit of the Lord GOD [is] upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to [them that are] bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; Isaiah 61:1,2.

Here we see that Jesus states the Lord has anointed Him. The anointing we have comes from the Lord. The anointing is connected to the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in water he also received the Holy Spirit. Let us read in the AMP Bible Mark 1:10 And when He came out of the water, at once he[John] saw the heavens torn open and the [Holy] Spirit like a dove coming down [to enter] into Him.

The anointing gives the courage to walk out the calling that has been put on you by the Lord. Just as Jesus needed the anointing, we need it. He used it and it increased soon after receiving the Holy Spirit. Jesus was driven of the Holy Spirit into the wilderness it tells us in Mark 1:12: And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. 13 And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.

Using the anointing will increase the power of the Spirit in your life as a Christian. Luke tell us this about Jesus, after He was tempted and He used the anointing and the Word in the spiritual warfare that He was in: It said in Luke 4:14a And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: It was after this that Jesus speaks the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me in verse 18. This anointing was an increase over what He had before the wilderness trip.

We as prophets need to be walking in a strong anointing. Jesus was the Master Prophet and He is our example. The prophets are said to be anointed. Let us look at Psalms 105:15(NIV) Do not touch My anointed ones; do My prophets no harm. So as people called of God we need to be faithful to all He tells us to do.

A question one could ask is: Do I have an anointing?

1 John 2:20a
And ye have an anointing from the Holy One,

We all have an anointing, God has something for all to do in His kingdom and we will not be ill-equipped for this task.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14:1 Follow after love; yet desire earnestly spiritual [gifts], but rather that ye may prophesy. (ASV) We must have a desire to have the gifts flowing in our life. Seek to be used for the Spirit is looking for willing people. There can be an impartation of the gifts. We saw in lesson two Paul laid hands on the people of Ephesus and they prophesied Acts 19:6. Ask someone full of the Holy Spirit who is walking close to God to lay hands on you to impart an anointed gift to you. You will know when the anointing is on you.

A person who has the anointing is a person who is filled with the Holy Spirit and is able to do extraordinary things, but to do them seems quite natural. It is easy, when it is working. When the anointing is working it is natural and easy for our gift/gifts to function and enjoyable. The gift/gifts are always there, but it may not always function easily. One can not turn it on or off. This does not mean a prophet loses control when the anointing comes unexpectedly. 1 Corinthians 14:32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

We must live within our anointing:

Commission for ministry OT in Numbers 27:15 And Moses spake unto the LORD, saying, 16 Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, 17 Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd." 18 And the LORD said unto Moses, "Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom [is] the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him; 19 And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight. 20 And thou shalt put [some] of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient.

What we see here is:

Commissioning and being sent out from the local church, NT. Let us look at Acts 13:1-41: Now there were in Antioch, in the assembly which was [there], prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen, foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

We see here the prophets and teachers gathering to fast and pray and minister to the Lord, to allow the Holy Spirit to speak and give guidance.

Acts 13:2
And as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Separate me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.'

As they fasted and prayed as a group a prophetic word came forth: separate Barnabas and Saul [soon to be called Paul] for the work of the ministry which the Lord had called them to do.

3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and having laid [their] hands on them, they let [them] go.

Now they lay their hands on them, the impartation of the anointing for ministry is given, and now they are sent.

4 They therefore, having been sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and thence sailed away to Cyprus.

Question: Who called and sent them? Notice that it was the Holy Spirit. This was a God calling (spiritual), not a man calling (flesh). What we see here is what Paul said to do in 1 Timothy 5:22 Lay hands hastily on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure. (ASV)

In Ephesians 4 we are told in verse 11 that Jesus gave to some to be apostles; some to be prophets; some to be evangelists; some to be pastors and teachers. These people are the gift to the church for the perfecting of the saints. All will not walk in these offices. We must be called by Jesus and not by man. We need God's anointing not man's anointing.

We also see the laying on of hands to commission deacons:

Acts 6:1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. 2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples [unto them], and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. 3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. 4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. 5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: 6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid [their] hands on them.

The apostles called for seven men who were:

  1. Honest
  2. Full of the Holy Spirit
  3. Full of wisdom

Then the apostles prayed and laid hands on them to show:

1st. Publicly acknowledge them.
2nd. Publicly commission them to the work of this ministry.
3rd. To impart some of the grace and wisdom that the apostles had for the work of the ministry.

All these points are very important in laying on of hands for any ministry. We must learn to expect the anointing we are walking in today. Know the limits of it and be obedient to what God has us doing. Sometimes it is hard to admit one does have an anointing. But God cannot use us fully as long as we doubt. It may also be hard sometimes to admit our limitations. If we are faithful to use what God has given us, He then will give us more and use us in a greater way.

Two of these deacons, Stephen and Philip went on to move in other ministries such as evangelists. God gave them more and used them in a greater way. We as handlers of the prophetic word need to have a fresh anointing as all believers do. But as we flow in the prophetic we have a responsibility to have today's anointing [fresh] and not yesterday's. Yesterday's may have been moving in all the power of what God was doing in that hour, but God is doing a new thing. Let us move with Him.

Isaiah 43:19 AMP
Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Discussion Questions

God anointed us to bring His Word to the people to teach them His ways. His anointing unites us in a kingship, it gives a supernatural power to the prophets, all ministries, all believers in His kingdom here on earth. Freely you have received, freely give to others. Impart to them through the leading of the Holy Spirit the anointing, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. If you are in the place to commission some one to be sent, do it at the leading of the Holy Spirit. Be not afraid to act on what God is speaking to you. Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers and all believers rise up and be all God has called you to be. Use the anointing He has given you. This will bless someone, and He will bless you.

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