The Garment Of Praise

We have been looking at Isaiah 61, where earlier we heard about the oil of joy instead of mourning. Today we will read about the garment of praise.

Isaiah 61:3
and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

The Holy Spirit gives us a garment of praise in exchange for our mourning. This passage talks repeatedly about sorrow, despair, and mourning. Why is there so much focus given to this state of man’s mind?
Adam and Eve had children after the fall. If they had children before they disobeyed God, they would have been sinless. But, it was not so. The children born after sin had the fallen nature, which is why Cain killed Abel.

The separation from God brought great sorrow and distress upon Adam and Eve. To add to their pain, they were banished from Eden which brought about humiliation, rejection and great pain in the hearts of Adam and Eve. As a consequence of their sin, they could no longer enter the paradise that God gave them, the place where they had basked in God’s glory and had communion with Him. Now a Cherub stood there with a flaming sword which turned in all directions guarding the entrance to Eden.

The sudden separation, exile, one son killing the other, all these experiences and the pain thereof, got deposited in Adam and Eve. This Is the root of man’s grief, sorrow, despair, depression, disappointment, and dejection which continues even today. Some children are born with a spirit of heaviness, negativity, sorrow, weeping, wailing which are passed onto them from their parents.
Despite all this, we have a reason to rejoice because Jesus is anointed with the oil of gladness above His companions. We receive this from Him through impartation.

Romans 14:17
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit

The heaviness, negativity, and pessimism inherited from our parents is within  us. But when the anointing of the Holy Spirit comes, we become joyful. For e.g. in the midst of worship, this joy manifests but at other times it lies dormant.
When we are born again, we receive the Holy Spirit, but it lies dormant. We must be filled with the Holy Spirit, where it overflows from our spirit to our soul and body. When it overflows to our body, that is what we call the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

In John 20, Jesus breathed on the apostles  and they received the Holy Spirit. But Jesus told them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father. On the day of Pentecost, there was an impartation of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit that was inside started overflowing outside through their mouth, as they spoke in new tongues.
In the fullness of the Holy Spirit there is joy. Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit, Peter was full of the Holy Spirit, Zechariah was full of the Holy Spirit, Mary was full of the Holy Spirit and they spoke in that fullness. We may have the Holy Spirit but it can be dormant. Fullness is when it overflows and cannot be contained.

Isaiah 61:3
A garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

When we are filled with the fullness of the Holy Spirit, we will start praising God. Praise, thanksgiving, worship are all different. We will see more about this in the next episode. Stay tuned.

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Dr. Damien Antony
Born and brought up in a Christian family, Dr. Damien Antony possessed an unquenching quest for truth right from his boyhood days and eventually his relentless search led him to the Bible. He is a Revival Preacher, Bible Teacher, Leadership Trainer, Author and a Life Coach. He moves under the anointing for Prophetic, Healing, Deliverance, Inner Healing and Financial Breakthrough. God has also blessed him with an Apostolic Mandate to take the Universal Body of Christ to the next level of revelation and anointing.