Every human being lives exactly
as long as God Almighty ordained before the world was made and
fulfills exactly the purpose for which God created them. Every
human being, both the righteous and the wicked, both those who
are taken out of this world in infancy or even taken from their
mother's wombs, and those who live to old age, each one fulfills
precisely God's purpose. That's true of you, and that's
true of me. And the same is true with regard
to God's servants, gospel preachers. Some of God's servants are here
for just a very, very short time, it seems. Robert Murray McShane,
who pastored in Dundee, Scotland, 250 years ago, lived only 29
years. But McShane's ministry continues
to bear fruit to this day, and a remarkable ministry God gave
him. There was a fellow by the name of Henry Scroggill who lived
just 27 years, but he lived long enough to publish a little pamphlet
called The Life of God and the Soul of Man in 1677. Just 27 years. A hundred years
later, God used that pamphlet to call George Whitefield to
life and faith in Christ. He fulfilled his purpose and
God took him. And then Whitefield came and
fulfilled his purpose and God took him. Others of God's servants
are preserved in their life of service to Christ to their old
age. The Apostle John was one of those.
John lived to be an old, old man, faithfully serving God into
his 90s. Remarkable. Faithfully serving
God into his 90s. He was over 90 years old, 94,
95, 96, somewhere in there when his labors ended. In his great
wisdom and goodness, God preserved John the Apostle all those years
that he might be a standing bulwark against the overflowing tide
of error and heresy that arose against the early church. When
our Lord Jesus walked upon this earth, Satan's arrows were all
directed at him. Satan's Anger and rage was bent against
him, but when the Lord Jesus had finished his work When he
had brought in everlasting righteousness When he had by the sacrifice
of himself put away our sins when he had obtained eternal
Redemption for us and entered into his glory having obtained
that redemption no sooner did the Lord of glory pour out his
spirit upon his church and until Satan turned all his anger and
rage against his disciples, his church. And there it has been
ever since. He can't reach the head, so he
attempts to reach us. John tells us in Revelation 12,
12, he knows that he has but a short time, so he's in a rage. Satan is in a rage because he
knows he has but a short time nothing changes him. Nothing
alters his vile hatred of God and his people but he knows he
has a short time a short time until he's cast at last into
hell a short time until the last all his influences forever over
and so he's in a rage a rage against God's Church and God's
people and it never ceases and And in that rage, he raises up
horrible error and heresy by which he attempts to delude and
deceive the souls of men. So great is that error and heresy
that the Lord Jesus says, were it possible, were it possible,
he would deceive the very elect of God. Now don't misunderstand
those facts. These things too are brought
to pass according to the wise and good and holy purpose of
God toward his elect. The apostle tells us in 1 Corinthians
11, 19, heresies also must come that they which are perfect,
they which are approved may be made manifest among you by the
kind providence of God. John's life was preserved to
bear testimony against and to stand as a board against these
heresies. I find it interesting as you
read through John's writings, the gospel of John and first,
second and third, John and the book of revelation. This man
who is known both among believers and in the religious world. as
the kindest, gentlest, most loving of the disciples. What do you
think of when you think about John? John, whom Jesus loved. John, who leaned upon the Savior's
breast. John, kind and loving and tender
and sympathetic. John, who constantly says, brethren,
love one another. Love one another. Love one another.
Love is of God. God is love. This is the man. This is the man. who stands out
preeminently as a bulwark against heresy. This man, John, if you
read his epistles and read the Gospel of John, you'll understand
this man was unbendingly dogmatic. And he wrote with decisive clarity
against evil, the evil particularly of false religion, the heresy
and the error of false religion. He was, to the end of his long
ministry, a standing testimony against that flood which by Satan
would have destroyed God's church, had he his way. In the midst
of darkness, in the midst of heresy, with all the influence
of Antichrist prevailing on every side, how are God's elect preserved
in faith? What keeps God's saints believing
the gospel? What keeps you holding fast to
the gospel of God's free grace? What keeps me in this reprobate
age from abandoning Christ for something else? The answer is
my title of my message tonight. The auction. The auction. Turn with me, if you will, to
first John chapter two. Hold your Bibles open at verses
20 through 27. The auction. That's my subject. The unction
we have from the Holy One, that is the unction we have from Jesus
Christ, the Holy One, is that which preserves God's elect in
every age from the overwhelming, powerful, hellish influence of
Antichrist. That which preserves God's elect
in every age, every generation of the church. from the overwhelming
hellish influence of Antichrist is the unction we have from the
Holy One. It is the unction that God gives
us that keeps us from falling away from the gospel and abandoning
it for the lie of Satan. While the world is engulfed in
legalism, you have an unction from the Holy One and you know
all things. While the world is engulfed in
the darkness and false teaching of ritualism, you have an unction
from the Holy One and you know all things. While the world is
overwhelmed and overcome with the religious self-righteousness,
you have an unction from the Holy One. While the world is
overwhelmed and engulfed with antichrist religion of will-worship,
you have an unction from the Holy One. While the world, the
whole world is engulfed with the idea of their righteous works
by which they hope to make themselves accepted with God, you who are
gods have an unction from the Holy One. Have you found our
text here? First John chapter 2 verse 20.
But I want you to read the text in its context. Let's see what
John's talking about. Back up to verse 18. Little children,
it is the last time. It is the last time. People always asking, are these
the last days? The last day started when the
Lord Jesus ascended to glory. This is the last day. It's the
last time. Don't be fooled. Don't be fooled. Don't be led away and don't don't
allow your mind and your thoughts to be Drawn away with the enticing
foolishness of this prophecy mania of the religious world
around us Don't don't pay any case of what's going on in Russia
and what's going on in Israel what's going on there? Oh, this
must be the last the oil crisis must be the last time This stuff
been going on for as long as I can remember One of the first
things I remember hearing somebody say when I was first converted
I just just kid said 16 years old when the first thing remember
says it they said they said they've Already got the rocks in Israel
to rebuild that Jewish temple Already got him there. Anybody
so If God ever returned to being worshipped on a Jewish temple,
at a Jewish temple with a Jewish altar, with a Jewish priesthood,
then Jesus is not the Christ. And you're yet in your sins.
Now, this is the last time. It began with the finished work
of our Redeemer and will continue until He comes again. How do
you know it's the last time? Watch this. Watch what it says.
As you have heard that Antichrist shall come, Oh, I wonder if Antichrist
is... I wonder if he's here. He's been
here for 2,000 years. He's been here for 2,000 years.
Look at it. Even now, are there many Antichrist? Many of them. Many of them. Antichrist is not
some singular person. Not just the Pope in Rome. Not
just some political figure. Antichrist is a whole religious
system. with hellish darkness against
the gospel of Christ. Read on. Whereby we know it's
the last time. Now watch what it says next.
Where do these Antichrists come from? Where did they come from? Have you got it? They went out
from us. They went out from us. They were
once here with me, Demas, Hymenaeus, Philetus, Deocraphes. They once walked with us. They
went out from us, but they were not of us. They never really
were part of us. They were among us by profession.
They were among us by name. They were among us because we
thought they were part of us, but they went out from us because
they were not of us. For if they had been of us, if
they had really been born of God, if they had really been
taught of God, hell couldn't get them. If they had been of
us, they would have remained with us. Watch it now. They would
no doubt have continued with us, but they went out that they
might be made manifest that they were not all of us. Now, what's preserved you? What keeps you from going out?
What keeps you from following whatever religious fad there
is today? What keeps you from it? What
keeps you from following the trends of the day? And I've got
to pause to say this because it needs saying. I get letters,
calls, and I see folks all over the world and raise questions.
You know, they see something on the internet, or they see
something on television, or read something in the paper, or talk
to a neighbor about some kind of religious stuff. Why? Why do you bother with that stuff?
Why do you bother with it when there's good stuff to read, and
good stuff to hear, and good things to listen to? Why don't
don't do that don't for your soul sake don't do that. Don't
do that But what is it that preserves you from the influence of Armenian? Freewill legalistic works religion. What is it? What is it? What's
the next line? But ye have an auction Larry Brown, the only reason
you're sitting here now rejoicing in the gospel after all these
years is because you have an unction. You have an unction. You have an unction. That's the
only reason. You have an unction from the Holy One. An unction
from Jesus Christ, the Holy One who said, I'll pray the Father
and He will send you another comforter. You have an unction
and you know all things. Antichrist can't get you with
his lie. It doesn't matter how sneaky
it sells it, doesn't matter how popular it becomes, it can't
get you. You know all things. Read on. I have not written unto
you because you know not the truth, but because you know it,
and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar? Who is this Antichrist? But he that denieth that Jesus
is the Christ. Who's Antichrist? Every preacher. Every religion, every system,
every doctrine that denies that Jesus of Nazareth, who died at
Calvary 2,000 years ago and rose again and is seated in glory
now, actually accomplished everything that Christ was prophesied to
accomplish. And the whole religious world
denies that. The whole... I say this to you all the time,
and I know folks think I overstate things. Pick up your phone and
call and talk to preachers. Just pick up your phone and call
them. Find one who will tell you that Christ actually did
redeem all his people, and there's no possibility in him going to
hell. Find me one. Find me one. Find one who will
dare tell you Sunday morning you hear me preaching. Find me
one. Who is anti-Christ? Everybody who denies that. Everybody
who denies that find me one who will tell you there's absolutely
no Righteousness to be made up by you Christ did it all his
obedience is perfect righteousness Find one find one who is antichrist. Who's the liar? He that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ read on read on He is antichrist that denieth
the father and the son Whosoever denieth the son the same hath
not the father, but he that acknowledgeth the son hath the father also.
Let that therefore abide in you, which you have heard from the
beginning. What is that? Well, that's the gospel. That's
the truth. That's the word of God. That's
the revelation of God. Let that abide in you, this word of life,
which you heard from the beginning. If that which you have heard
from the beginning shall remain in you, He also shall continue
in the son and in the father and this is the result This is
the promise that he's promised us even eternal life Hold on
to Christ. He is life eternal and God's
promised you life eternal in him These things have a written
to you concerning them that seduce you in the seduce you The great
whore is a seductress, a master seductress. She knows what she's
doing. They seduce your souls with flattering
words that you love to hear, but contrary to truth, we don't.
But the anointing, the anointing which you have received of him
abideth in you. The anointing stays with you.
And you need not that any man should teach you. But as the
same anointing teacheth you of all things and is truth, and
is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in
him. Now, the title of my message
is the unction. The word unction in verse 20
and the word anointing in verse 27 are translated from the same
word. That's a bit puzzling, isn't
it? They're exactly the same word in the Greek text, not even
a change of character. They're exactly the same word.
But the translated here in verse 20, unction, and in verse 27,
anointing. Why is that? The word unction
in verse 20 and the word anointing in verse 27 have to do with the
blessed work of God the Holy Spirit. And the reason the translations
differ should be obvious in the text. In verse 20, the word unction
refers to the thing we have, the unction. In verse 27, the
word anointing refers to the experience of it. Unction refers
to the anointing oil of the Old Testament. If you want to hold
your hands here and turn back to Exodus chapter 30. Unction
refers to the anointing oil of the Old Testament Scriptures,
that which was prescribed by God under law to Moses, by which
Moses was required under law. to anoint the tabernacle, and
the altar, and the mercy seat, and the priest, and the service
utensils used in the sacrifices in the tabernacle. It is that
all by which God anointed kings, and priests, and prophets in
the Old Testament. In other words, everything that
was consecrated to the service of God identified as belonging
to God and serving God, was anointed with this holy oil. The word
unction refers to that oil. The anointing, the anointing
refers to the act itself. The high priest takes the oil
and anoints. The oil is the unction, the anointing
is the act, the experience, the receiving of this anointing.
The unction we have from the Holy One is God the Holy Spirit,
given to us by God the Son, our Redeemer, our crucified Savior. When John says you have an unction
from the Holy One, he is saying this. You are God's anointed
ones. You are Christians. You are Christians. The disciples were called Christians
first at Antioch. How come? The world observed
that they were followers of Christ and called them Christians. It's
not something that they would say, look here, I'm a Christian.
Oh, you ought to be proud of me as I am of myself. I'm a Christian.
No, no, no. This is what the world called
the disciples. And this is what God calls his
disciples, anointed ones. You are God's anointed. You are those who are called
and born of God's spirit. You are true believers. Like
the wise virgins described in Matthew 25, you have more than
just a profession, a lamp of profession. You have oil in your
vessels. You have the unction in your
vessels. This unction in verse 20 refers
to the spirit of God typified in this ointment here in Exodus
chapter 30. Let's read a few verses. Look at verse 22. Verse
22. Moreover, the Lord spake unto
Moses, saying, Take thou also unto thee principal spices of
pure myrrh, 500 shekels, and of sweet cinnamon, half so much,
even 250 shekels of sweet calamus, 250 shekels, and of cassia, 500
shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil, olive,
and hen. 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 anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith.
and the ark of the testimony, and the table, and all his vessels,
and the candlestick, and his vessels, and the altar of incense,
and the altar of burnt offering, with all his vessels, and the
laver, and his foot. And thou shalt sanctify them,
that they may be most holy, whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.
Thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons the priest and consecrate
them that they may minister unto me in the priest office verse
31 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 This is not for ordinary
use Neither shall you make any other like it no imitation after
the composition of it. It is holy, and it shall be holy
unto you. But what happens if somebody
does? If somebody decides to use it
for common things, if somebody decides to make something that's
sort of like it? Whosoever compoundeth any like
it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall
even be cut off from his people. That's serious. That's serious. The tabernacle, the sanctuary
would have been utterly unacceptable without the holy anointing. Completely unacceptable. Now
you read the book of Exodus and God describes and gives in great
detail his requirements of building that tabernacle. Everything about
it. I mean it it was down to the last Peg to hold the cords
they have the tabernacle up God gave orders concerning it all
and this is the place where God establishes his worship This
is the place representing the whole of man being brought to
God by the obedience and death of his son But Lindsay the whole
thing was meaningless without the holy oil utterly meaningless. The sacrifice, the Passover lamb,
the mercy seat, meaningless without the holy anointing. The priesthood,
his service, meaningless without the anointing. In other words,
the message of the holy anointing oil, the doctrine of the unction
is this, the sanctifying work of God the Holy Spirit in us,
in regeneration. making us new creatures in Christ,
making us partakers of the divine nature, forming Christ in us
is just as necessary for the everlasting salvation of our
souls as God's election and Christ's redemption. God imparting righteousness
to us in regeneration, in sanctification, in the new birth is as necessary
for our salvation as God imputing righteousness to us in free justification. In other words, you must be born
again. The unction you have from Christ,
this is that which seals to us all the blessings of God, all
the blessings of grace, all the blessings of the covenant. Turn
to Ephesians chapter one, this very familiar text of scripture.
Paul speaks about these blessings of grace. We'll skip down to
verse 12. He said, God did all of this.
That you should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted
in Christ He trusted Christ as our mediator and he's ordained
that we trust Christ for his glory now Watch this in whom
he also trusted verse 13 After that you heard the word of truth
the gospel of your salvation In whom also after that you believed
you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise sealed sealed
which is the earnest, the pledge of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of his glory.
In the Old Testament, priests and kings, the tabernacle, vessels
of the sanctuary, prophets, all were anointed with this holy
oil. And this anointing was a matter of great honor and dignity. For it identified a person or
an instrument of service as that which distinctly belonged to
God. When God said concerning the
Ark of the Covenant, that's holy. What made that piece of furniture
any more holy than the coffer table you got in your house?
What made it any more holy? It was just a piece of wherever
they would go. What made it holy? God said,
that's mine. That's mine. You don't touch
it. That's mine. You don't dabble
with it. That's mine. That's mine. Remember
when fellas just looked inside that thing? God killed thousands
of them. How come? Because it's holy.
God said, that's mine. It's under my special care, under
my special protection. It belongs to me. and you're
not to touch it or harm it in any way. The anointing of the
Old Testament was typical of the gift of God the Holy Spirit
in regeneration by which God Almighty identifies His elect
as His and says, this is mine. This man's mine. This woman's
mine. This is mine. If any man have
not the Spirit of Christ, that's the unction. He is none of his. So the unction of the Holy One,
the unction of Christ, is the gift of His quickening, life-giving
Spirit in the new birth. The unction bestowed on us by
Christ, the anointing of His Spirit, is the beginning of new
life in Christ. You have an unction from the
Holy One. It is God sending his spirit,
giving life to heaven, heaven, chosen soul to the heaven redeemed.
So now the heaven born. So it is that by which the heaven
born soul is given faith in Christ and God's elect are made prophets,
priest, and Kings, prophets, priest, and Kings, every woman
and every man, every older believer and every younger believer. every
learned believer and every illiterate believer, all who are gods, all
who are gods, those who are just now born again and those who've
walked with God for years and years and years. They're prophets
and priests and kings. How can that be? Merle Harder Prophet is a man
who has God's revelation in him. You have God's revelation in
you. God's revealed his son in you. In you. So that you know all
things. Know all that's needful for your
soul's everlasting good. You have the mind of Christ so
that you discern the things of God and you discern that which
is not of God. God's people, every one of them,
are priests. Priest. Thou hast made us kings
and priests unto God. Priest. But we don't like the idea of
those priestly garments, those priestly things that the religious
world wears. No, no way. I don't like that.
Don't ever get there. Don't ever get those. You don't
have those things. No, no. Dressing like a priest doesn't make you
a priest. God's people are priests. Priests are men and women who
do business with God in the holy place all the time. They live
to serve God. They serve God living. So that
the apostle or the prophet says, go now and nothing better under
the sun than you should eat and drink and be merry and rejoice
with the life, wife of your youth because God now accepts your
works. Isn't that amazing? We who are gods are his priest. in the totality of our lives,
in the totality of our lives, serving God, offering sacrifices
well-pleasing to God, sacrifices of faith in Christ Jesus the
Lord. And God's people, every one of
them, the smallest to the greatest, the youngest to the oldest, male
and female, are kings. Kings who rule over Satan and
over the world. and over their flesh by the power
of the unction that's in them. By the power of God, the Holy
Spirit that's in us, we are men and women consecrated to God. Those priests in the Old Testament,
those instruments of service in the Old Testament having the
holy anointing oil on them, their only reason for existence was
the service of God His house and His people. So it is with you and me. So it is with you and me if we're
gods. The only reason for our existence
is to serve God, His house, and His people. And those who had
this unction, this anointing upon them, were under God's distinct
care, and peculiar protection. So it is with all who are gods,
you who have the unction. This is what God says concerning
his elect. This is what God says. He says
it to every angel in heaven, to every demon in hell, and to
every event of time, and every creature on the earth. This is
what he says. Touch not mine anointed. Touch not mine anointed. You mean God's, as it were, made
a covenant with us, or for us, even with the beast of the field?
Read Hosea chapter 2. That's exactly what it says.
That's exactly what it says. He told the children of Israel,
not a dog shall bark against you. Nothing. Nothing. The Asuncion. The Asuncion from the Holy One
is enlightening, quickening, consecrating, sealing. And the
Asuncion gives us the mind of Christ, making us partakers of
the divine nature so that we who are born of God are taught
of God, understanding the things of God. Ye know all things. You know all things concerning
the person and work of our Redeemer, all things necessary for your
salvation, all things spiritual. You know, you who are gods, you
know the mystery of God. You know the mystery of God.
You know God. You know God, for you know His
Son. and you know what his son's accomplished,
who his son is, where his son is, how he saves his people.
You have the mind of Christ to discern the things of God. You're
given spiritual discernment that the world can never have. Now,
let me give you four qualities about this unction, four qualities
about this holy oil. In our Lord's parable of the
foolish and wise virgins in Matthew 25, The foolish virgins were
content with a lamp of religious profession. God save you from that. God save
me from that. I meet a lot of people who are
very concerned about protecting their profession. Your profession is meaningless.
It's meaningless. Unless you've got something more
than a profession. Your profession is meaningless. Well, I know
I'm a Christian cause. Hogwash. What's the cause? Well, this is what I felt, this
is what I experienced, this is where I was raised. No, no, no,
no. Your profession is meaningless. The sooner you have it shattered
by God, the better. It's a refuge of lies. The foolish
virgins are always happy to have just a profession with no oil
in their vessel until the bridegroom comes, and then it's too late.
The wise virgins are more concerned about the oil than they are with
the appearance of the lamp. They want more than a profession.
They want oil in their vessel, the oil of life, an unction from
the Holy One. Now let me give you some qualities
of the oil, the anointing oil. Just tell you four things about
oil and I'll send you home. Oil sinks in. Oil sinks in. Now I'm not one
of those men who have joined the modern age of things. I don't,
and you fellas who have, it's all right, I'm not fussing at
you. I don't, I can't stand the oil on my skin. I just can't
stand the feel of it. I'd rather have dry skin and
chapped skin. Sometimes I'll get in the shower behind my wife
and get hold of something she's had some oil on and man, it feels
like it's just gonna slide off of me. But I'll tell you what
I've discovered. Tell you what I've discovered.
When she talks me into letting her rub some oil on some dry
spot, pretty soon it's gone. It just
sinks in. It just sinks in. So it is with
the unction from the Holy One. With the heart, men believeth
unto righteousness. The religion of the hypocrite
is all outward and on the surface. The believer's religion, if you
choose such a word, is inward, not outward. It arises from and
is found in the heart. Number two, oil softens. The oil of the spirit makes the
conscience tender. Wherever that unction comes,
it takes away the heart of stone and gives a heart of flesh. Number
three, oil is soothing. Rub it on dry, itchy skin and
it soothes and takes away the itch. Spiritually, the unction
of God, the oil of His grace, the sprinkling of the blood of
Christ upon the heart soothes and heals the brokenhearted sinner.
It soothes and quietens the guilty screaming conscience. And that's
peace that passeth understanding. And one more thing. Oil spreads. Oil spreads. You just Just drop
a little bit right there on a perfectly flat surface, and it's going
to run. It runs. That's the nature of
oil. It spreads. So it is with the unction of
God you have from the Holy One. It spreads through the whole
of your life. It spreads through the whole
of your life. It spreads through the whole
of your life. Back in Exodus 28, when the high
priest and his sons were set apart for service to God. They
were required to take the blood of consecration, the ram that
was sacrificed for their consecration offering. And they'd take that
blood and put some on the tip of each man's right ear, and
on the thumb of each man's right hand, and on the great toe of
each man's right foot. Because by this blood, They declared
we are consecrated to God, we belong to Him. All of our lives,
the totality of our lives, we belong to Him where He is. Being
bought with the price of Christ's precious blood, we belong to
Him. And so it is with the anointing
oil poured upon Aaron's head. Psalm 133 verse 2. It ran down
across the beard. and his garments and his skirts
and covers everything. The anointing oil spreads through
the totality of our lives so that the believer, the man, the
woman born of God is in the totality of his life, the servant of Jesus
Christ, the Lord. Oh, spirit of God, Spread your
influence through the totality of our lives, day by day, and
by this blessed unction that you've given, make us day by
day consecrated servants of God our Savior. Amen.