Would you turn with me to Exodus
chapter 30? I thought the scripture reading
was very appropriate, where the Lord instructed us to pray for
the Holy Spirit. And we're going to consider the
anointing of oil from the Old Testament, which represents the
anointing of the Holy Spirit. Let's begin reading in verse
22 of Exodus chapter 30. Moreover, the Lord spake unto
Moses, saying, Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of
pure myrrh, five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon, half so
much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus,
two hundred and fifty shekels, and of cassia, five hundred 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 all the table,
and all his vessels, and the candlestick in his vessels, and
the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with
all his vessels, and the laver in his foot, and thou shalt sanctify
them that they may be most holy. Whatsoever toucheth them shall
be holy. And thou shalt anoint Aaron and
his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me
in the priest's office. 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 is holy, and it shall be
holy unto you. Whosoever compoundeth any like
it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall
even be cut off from his people." The anointing oil. Now not only were the pieces
of the furniture of the tabernacle to be sprinkled with blood, as
we saw they always were. They were to be sprinkled with
blood, but they were also anointed with this oil, called a holy
anointing oil. The composition was very exact,
made of four different spices, myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and
cassia, mixed with olive oil, and thus it was called a holy
anointing oil. Now the tabernacle and all the
furniture of the tabernacle was anointed with this oil. And look
once again in verse 29. This oil was such that whatever
it anointed did this. Verse 29. And thou shalt sanctify
them. This oil is going to sanctify
these pieces of furniture. And thou shalt sanctify them
through the anointing of this oil that they may be most holy. Whatsoever toucheth them shall
be holy. If you come into contact with
this, it'd make you holy before the law, representatively. You know that's not talking about
true holiness, but it's talking about what the law did. Look at verse 30. And thou shalt
anoint Aaron and his sons with this holy anointing oil, and
consecrate them, that they may be ministers unto me in the priest's
office. They could not be priests without this anointing oil. Now, when Something or someone,
what this represents is the anointing of the Holy Spirit. You just
read that passage of Scripture at the first of this service
where he said, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he hath
anointed me. When something or someone is
anointed by God, that means God's hand is upon them. The anointing of oil represents
being anointed by the Spirit of God. God's hand is on you
for a special purpose. It's not a meaningless, unintelligible
religious ritual. It has a special purpose. God
says, I've anointed this. This is the spirit of God laying
his hand on someone or something and saying, it's special. I've
anointed this. You know, Christ, Jesus, is the
anointed of God. That's what Christ means. Messiah
in the Old Testament and Christ in the New Testament, that's
the Greek word, they both mean the same thing, the anointed
one. Now in the Old Testament, the
prophet was anointed with this oil and God said by that, this
is my prophet, this is my spokesman. The priest was anointed by oil
and God said by that, this is my priest, this is the one who
represents men before me. And the king was anointed with
oil. And God said by that, this is
my king. The Lord Jesus is God's anointed
prophet, priest, and king. Now this anointing is especially
the work of God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's work is pictured
by anointing oil. Christ was especially anointed
by God. God put his hand on Christ. in
an unusual way and every believer is anointed by the Spirit of
God. Remember that scripture in 1
John chapter 2 where John says you have an unction. That's literally an anointing.
You have an anointing from the Holy One and through that anointing
you understand all things. Now I think these laws concerning
the anointing oil are very interesting. He gave, it had to be an exact
mixture, 50 or 500 shekels of two of them, 250 of the other
two, exactly according to the shekel of the sanctuary, an exact
mixture, a hen of olive oil. You couldn't, it had to be exact. And did you notice how it could
not be poured on man's flesh? Look in verse 32 again. Upon
man's flesh shall it not be poured. You see, the Holy Spirit has
nothing to do with the flesh. Now let me repeat that. The Holy
Spirit has nothing to do with your flesh. Your flesh is what
it is. It's flesh and it will never be holy. He gives a new
heart. He doesn't take the flesh and
make it better. He doesn't take the flesh and
improve it. The flesh never gets better.
The flesh is flesh. He gives a new heart. You remember
that parable of our Lord where he said you don't take new wine
and put it in old wine skins? If you do, Through the process
of fermentation, it'll burst and you'll lose all the wine.
No, you put new wine in new wineskins. God doesn't pour his spirit in
these old hearts of ours. We couldn't hold them. He gives
us a new heart. And he pours his spirit within
this new heart that he gives. You are also forbidden to make
an imitation. Look in verse 33. Whosoever compoundeth any like
it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, should
be cut off from his people. You weren't to make any like
it." Boy, there's so many imitations of the Holy Spirit right now.
I think of the entire charismatic movement as an imitation of the
Holy Spirit. It's just, it's phony. But he
said, you will not make any imitations of this oil. Now, the Lord Jesus
Christ was anointed by the Spirit of God in an unusual, unusual
way, that's like nobody else is the way to say it. The Lord
Jesus was anointed by the Spirit of God like nobody else. We read
in John chapter 3 verse 34, For he whom God hath sent speaketh
the words of God, for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto
him. You see, everything, I have a
measure of the Spirit. I preach the gospel, God blesses
it by Spirit. I've got a measure of the Spirit.
But when I speak, it's not like the Lord Jesus Christ speaking.
Everything he said recommended itself as God's Word. I repeat God's Word. When he
said it, it was God's Word. All the difference in the world.
He had not the Spirit by measure. He was anointed for this purpose.
Turn to Acts chapter 4. Acts chapter 4. This is the church,
the early church, their confession. Beginning in verse 27, For the truth against thy holy
child, Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius
Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered
together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. He was anointed. to do whatsoever
God's hand and counsel had determined before to be done. Look what
Peter says in Acts chapter 10, verse 38. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Ghost, the third person of the blessed Trinity.
Now, this is something we just believe. We don't understand
it, we believe it. God is God the Father. God is God the Son. God is God the Holy Spirit. And
as man, the Lord Jesus Christ, as God the God-man, he had to
be anointed and empowered by God the Holy Spirit. Acts 1038,
have God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with
power, who went about doing good, healing all that were oppressed
of the devil, for God was with him. Now turn back to Luke chapter
4. I read this Scripture at the opening of this service, Luke
chapter 4. And this tells us exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ
was anointed by God the Holy Spirit for. And this passage
of Scripture is such a blessing. Verse 16. And he came to Nazareth
where he'd been brought up. Now remember, he was raised in
Nazareth and he'd gone off and he was doing miracles He comes
back into town and people, this small town boy here, he's come
home. Let's hear what he's got to say. They were excited about
hearing what he had to say. So he comes to Nazareth, where
he'd been brought up. And as his custom was, he went
into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read.
And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah.
And when he had opened the book, he found the place. It's actually
Isaiah chapter 61, verses 1 through 3. He found the place where it
was written, 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, to preach, to declare the acceptable year. And that's a reference to the
year of Jubilee. He came to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Now, the Spirit of God anointed
him, filled him, and was upon him for this special purpose.
He tells us, first of all, to preach the gospel to the poor. Now, who is it he preaches the
gospel to? the poor. Poor people are people who have
nothing to pay for their sins with. They have no way of paying. They're bankrupt. They're poverty
stricken. There's nothing they can do to
pay for their sins. They have nothing. They are nothing.
They can do nothing. They're poor. That's what a poor
person is, a beggar, one totally dependent upon charity. This
is the person Christ was sent to preach the gospel. The Spirit
of the Lord is upon me. He's anointed me, our Lord said,
to preach the gospel to the poor. You see, if all we hear is my words, what
good does it do us? Not a bit. The Lord must preach the gospel. If all we hear is taught, we've
met in vain. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me. He hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor. Do you know when you hear the
gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, when you hear an anointed
word from God, when it's not just words, but it's anointed
by God the Holy Spirit, You hear the gospel in the power of the
Holy Spirit when what you hear comes as good news. It comes as gospel, exactly what
you need. And if you're poor, I know the
only thing that you need and the only thing that I need is
the gospel of this free and sovereign grace. Now when that comes as
gospel, when it comes as good news, it has been anointed by
the Spirit of God. If it just comes as words, you
didn't hear. I didn't hear. But when it comes
as good news, the Spirit of the Lord is in that. And any true
preacher is anointed by God to preach the gospel. You know,
the Lord said, He said to His disciples, He said, He that heareth
you, who's he here? Me. He that heareth you, heareth
me. And he that despiseth you, what's
he do? He despises me. And he that despises
me despises him that sent me. You see, this thing of gospel
preaching is a supernatural thing. And if all we hear is man's words,
it won't do us any good. But our Lord said, the Spirit
of the Lord is upon me. He hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor. Look what it says next in verse
18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed
me. for these six different things. First of all, to preach the gospel
to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted. Now, who are the broken hearted?
I guarantee you, everybody at some time or the other has had
their heart broke by some boy or girl. That's not what he's
talking about. You know that. When he's talking
about the broken hearted, he sent me to heal the broken hearted. He's talking about somebody who
has been broken of all hope of self-salvation. Their heart's
no good. It's broke. It doesn't work.
I can't believe. I can't repent. I can't do any
of those. I'm broken. What is something
that's broke? It doesn't work. It's no good. And our Lord announces,
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. If you're somebody who's broken,
You know, if somebody's broken, it's somebody who cannot not
sin. That's about as good a description as I can give of somebody who's
broken. All they do is sin. They're no
good. He has sent me, our Lord said, to heal the brokenhearted. Now, how does he heal the brokenhearted? I love this scripture in 1 Peter
chapter 2, verse 24. By whose stripes you were healed. And I love the way he says, by
whose stripes not you will be healed, but by whose stripes
you were healed. Now listen, brokenhearted person,
you were healed. I could say that to every brokenhearted
sinner. You were healed. When Christ said, it is finished, I was healed. Whether I feel
it or not, I was healed. I was healed by the stripes,
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, by whose stripes you
were healed. Now, he was anointed for this
purpose, to heal by his blood. Did he do it? Isn't that wonderful
to think of that? Well, thirdly, look what it says
next, verse 18. He's anointed, first of all, to preach the gospel.
He's anointed to heal the brokenhearted. And He's anointed to preach deliverance
to the captives. He's especially anointed to preach
or proclaim deliverance to the captives. Now, notice it doesn't
say He offers deliverance. It doesn't say He's offered you
deliverance. He'll open the door if you'll
let Him. It's here for you. He doesn't say anything like
that. but to proclaim deliverance to everybody that is a captive,
in bondage to sin, to all who are completely unable to not
sin. He says, you are set free. Not, here's an offer, you can
take it or leave it. He says to everybody who's a
captive, You know what it is to be a captive? You can't get
out. You can't get free. You're in
jail. You're imprisoned. And you can't
get your shackles off. You are captive. He says to every
captive. See, most folks don't believe
they're captives. Most folks think they've got a free will,
and they can do this any time they want. I can just decide to be good
and be righteous, and whenever I get around to it, I intend
on one of these days to straighten things out. That person's not
captive. The person who is captive is that person who is in chains. Oh, the Lord heareth the sighing
of the prisoner, the scripture says. The sighing, the groaning
of the prisoner. And the message to that one who
is captive, deliverance. You know that word, deliverance,
is the same word in the New Testament that's usually translated forgiveness. Ephesians 1 7 says, in whom we
have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. You see the gospel, the good
news, is a declaration of forgiveness. You say to that one who's captive,
who can't do anything to save himself, you're forgiven. Not
you will be if you've been forgiven. That's the declaration of the
gospel. That's what sets people free. The gospel does not end
with the forgiveness of sins. If you do this, this, and this,
and quit doing that, and start doing this, and reform this,
and you'll have the forgiveness of sins. No, not at all. The
gospel begins with the declaration of the full, free, frank forgiveness
of sins. Now, to every captive sinner,
that's the only person that's going to be interested in this
message, a captive sinner. This comes as good news to proclaim
deliverance to the captives. The Son be of good cheer, thy
sins be forgiven. That is good cheer, isn't it? And look what he says next in
verse 18. The Spirit of the Lord has anointed me. He's anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor. He's anointed me to heal
the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance, forgiveness to the
captives, and recovering of sight to the blind. Now, who are the
blind? Blind people, spiritually blind
people. I know every man by nature is
spiritually blind, but this is the spiritually blind person
he's talking about. He's not talking about all men, because you understand
that. The blind person is that person
who truly cannot see anything in themselves that would recommend
them to God. They can't see why God would
have mercy on them. They can't see why God would
save them. They don't charge with God injustice
if He passed them by. That blind person can't see why
He would save them. Now to everybody who sees themselves
in that light, He gives sight to. He reveals Himself to. He reveals the way of salvation
by grace, salvation by Christ. He came to recover the sight
of the blind. Next it says, He came to set
at liberty them that are bruised or crushed. Set free. Now here's
the way you're liberated. Here's the way you're liberated.
Number one, all your debts are paid. Can you imagine if you
owe any money, all of a sudden find out you don't owe it anymore.
It's gone. All your debts are paid and you
get to do what you want to do. You don't have to do anything
by constraint. You get to do what you want to do. And is that,
I could say this to every believer, what do you want? You want to
obey Christ. You want to be like Him. You
want to be found in Him. That's what you want. You want
to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to set at liberty
them that are bruised. And then it says in verse 19,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Now that acceptable
year of the Lord is the of Jubilee. It's a wonderful law in the Old
Testament. It took place every 50 years.
Every 50 years, four things would take place. And I want you to
put yourself in this person's shoes. Let's say you were a slave.
On this year of Jubilee, a silver trumpet would sound, ushering
in the year, and if you were a slave, all of a sudden, you
were set free. You were no longer a slave. Whatever you had lost, you can
read about this in Leviticus chapter 25. Whatever you had
lost through inability to pay, it was restored to you. It was
just given back to you. And every debt you had was canceled. It was wiped out. And the land
was given a year's rest. You were given year's vacation. Now you think of this, the year
of Jubilee, and our Lord said, I've come to proclaim this acceptable
year of the Lord. Now I think this is, this is
very interesting. The Lord said, remember they
were, you know, who is this? And he said, this day is this
scripture fulfilled in years. You know something that I think
is real interesting, is that with all the references to the
year of Jubilee in the Old Testament, we don't have one instance where
it was ever kept. Not even once. And I would imagine
that the folks who had money coming to them, and who were
the losers by it, somehow they would make sure that this never
took place. And I can understand that. I mean, if you owe me money,
I want you to pay me back. I don't want my debts to be,
I mean, I don't want everything, what you owe me to be canceled.
I can understand them acting that way. However, the year of Jubilee was fulfilled
in the Lord Jesus Christ. This day is this scripture, this
acceptable year of the Lord, the year of jubilee. It's fulfilled
in your ears. I've been set free. My debts
to God's law have been cancelled. I stand perfect before God. What
I lost was restored. I'm resting. A year's rest. I'm
on vacation. Not only is our Lord anointed
like nobody else with the Spirit of God. Every believer is also
anointed by the Holy Spirit. He is called the Spirit of Promise.
Turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 1. 2 Corinthians chapter 1. Verse 20, For all the promises
of God in Him, in the Lord Jesus Christ, are yea, and in Him,
Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now, He which establisheth
us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God. He's anointed us. Every believer
is anointed by God the Holy Spirit. Look what it says in verse 22.
Who hath also sealed us, and given us the earnest of the Spirit
in our hearts. And this is who the Holy Spirit
is to every believer. He's the earnest money, and He's
the sealing. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1.
Same thing is said here. Ephesians chapter 1. Verse 13. in whom you also trusted
after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation, in whom also after that you believed, or having
believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,
which is the earnest of our inheritance into the redemption of the purchased
possession under the praise of His glory." You see, God, the
Holy Spirit, and His sealing and His earnest. Now, earnest
means earnest money. You know what earnest money is?
If you're going to buy something, you put down that earnest money.
It's yours. Nobody else can buy it. You know
what it is to be sealed? I think that means to be preserved. When you're canning something
and you seal it and it pops, it's preserved. God the Holy
Spirit is the earnest money of heaven. If I have the Holy Spirit,
I'm going to be in heaven. I'm sealed by the Holy Spirit
of promise. And understand this regarding
the Holy Spirit. He's the Holy Spirit of promise. You know what
that means? You are given the Holy Spirit because Christ died
for you and God promised you'd have it. That's why you have
the Holy Spirit. That's why you're given this
nature. He is the Holy Spirit of promise. And every believer possesses
this anointing of God the Holy Spirit. Turn to 1 John chapter
2. Verse 20, but you have an unction, an anointing
is what the word is. As a matter of fact, the same
word later on in this chapter is translated anointing, but
you have an unction from the Holy One and you know all things. Look up verse 19. They went out
from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us,
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.
But you have an unction from the Holy One, and you know all
things. Now, the reason I don't do what
these fellas did in verse 19, the reason I continue, the reason
I don't leave the gospel, is because I have the Holy Spirit.
I have this unction, this anointing of the Holy One, and it says
regarding every believer, because we have this anointing, we know
all things. You're looking at a know-it-all.
I know it all. I know all things. Now how is
that? I mean there's all kinds of stuff
I don't know. There's a whole lot more stuff I don't know than
I do. I guarantee you that. I mean my ignorance is a long
list. Scripture says if I've got the
Holy Spirit, if I have this anointing of the Holy Spirit, I know all
things. Well, that's easy to answer how this could be. Colossians
chapter 3 verse 11 says Christ is all. He's all of God. He's all in the Scriptures. I
know what everything in the Bible means. It means Him. Everything
there. He's all of God. He's all in salvation. He's all in doctrine. He's all
in preaching, He's all to me. I know all things. I know everything. I am a know-it-all. And I'm very
grateful to be one. Because knowing Christ as all,
I know all things. There's nothing that I don't
know. Because I know Him. He is all. And with the unction of knowing
Him, I know all things. Look in verse 24. Let that therefore abide in you,
which you've heard from the beginning. If that which you've heard from
the beginning shall remain in you, you also shall continue
in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that
He had promised us, even eternal life. Now, these things have
I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. Now, you
have those who will attempt to seduce you, and that means to
draw you away from the faith. It's always there. But John says,
these things have I written concerning them that seduce you. But look
what he says next. But the anointing which you have received of him
abideth in you. That's why you won't be seduced.
You know, our Lord said that there would arise false Christs
and false prophets and they'd show great signs and wonders.
And he said, if it's possible, they deceived the very elect.
You know what? It's not possible. He says, the anointing which
you've received of him abideth in you, and you need not that
any man teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth you of
all things, and is truth, and is no lie. God the Holy Spirit
never teaches error. He never teaches a lie. He's
truth. It hath taught you, and you shall
abide in him. Now if I have the anointing of
the Holy Spirit. That means I'm taught of God.
Now, He uses instrumentality to teach, but anything I truly
know, anything that I truly know, that I've got a hold of, that
I believe in my heart and in my soul, it's because God has
taught me. It's not because some man has taught me. Now, the man
might have been the instrument, but it's not the man who taught me.
God taught me. If you believe the gospel, it's because God's
your teacher. Not because a man's your teacher, but because God's
your teacher. And He's a teacher who His teaching is always effectual.
When He teaches, you're taught. I've heard people say, God's
trying to teach me something. No, He's not. He never tries
to do anything. If He teaches you, you're taught. Taught effectually. Taught who
He is. Taught who you are. Taught the
way of salvation by grace. And you can't drive, you can't
be driven away from that. It's the only hope you have,
and you're glory in it. This is what happens when somebody
has the Holy Spirit. They're taught of God, but the
anointing, verse 27, which you've received of Him, abides in you.
You need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing
teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, even
as it hath taught you, you shall abide in Him. Now here's what
happens when somebody's taught by God. They abide in the Lord
Jesus Christ. The very desire of their heart
is that I might simply be found in Him. Now I want to close with
this thought. Turn to Exodus chapter 30 once
again. Now in anointing these different
pieces of furniture with this holy anointing oil which represents
the Lord Jesus Christ, verse 29. And here's what this does. Thou shalt sanctify them that
they may be most holy. Whatsoever toucheth them shall
be holy. If by the grace of God I come
into contact with this oil of the Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ,
I'll be holy. Now turn to Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter 5. Verse 24, and Jesus went with him, and
much people followed him and thronged him. They pressed on
him. They touched him. Verse 25, and a certain woman, which had an issue of blood,
12 years. She had some kind of menstrual
disease that just zapped her of all of her strength. And she
had suffered many things of many physicians. And she spent all
that she had and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. human religion and all of its
trappings. Verse 27, when she'd heard of
Jesus, she came and depressed behind and touched his garment. For she said, if I may but touch
his clothes, I shall behold that this woman believed Jesus Christ. She said, if I come into contact
with him, if I simply touch his clothes, I'll be whole. This woman had great faith, didn't
she? Verse 29, and immediately upon
touching him, the fountain of her blood was dried up. And she felt in her body that
she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing
in himself that virtue, power, had gone out of him, turned him
about in the press and said, who touched my clothes? He knew
who touched his clothes. But he's going to have this woman
confess it. And his disciples said unto him,
Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou who touched
me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this
thing. Can you imagine the Lord looking
at her? He knew who had touched him, and she knew he knew. But the woman, fearing and trembling,
knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him
and told him all the truth. That's what happens when people
come into contact with Christ. And he said unto her, Daughter,
thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace and be whole of thy
plague. Whoever comes into contact with
him, just touching the hem of his garment, and that's what
faith is. You know, the hem of his garment's down at the bottom.
You come on your face, crawling, diseased. Oh, if I can just touch
him, I'll be whole. And she was made whole. He is
anointed with the Spirit of God. to do all these things for poor
sinners. May God give us the grace to
be just like this woman, to come to him in the press and touch
the hem of his garment. Let's pray.