The Hebrew Bible is turning me
to Exodus the 30th chapter. I'm going to read verses 22 through
33. In Exodus chapter 30, Moreover
the Lord spoke, or spake to Moses, saying, Take thou also of the
principal spices of pure myrrh, five hundred shekels, and of
sweet cinnamon, half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels,
and sweet calamus, 250 shekels, and of cassia 500 shekels after
the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil, and of all
of 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 a holy anointing
oil. Thou shalt anoint the tabernacle
of the congregation therein, and the ark of the testimony,
the table, and all the 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 in his foot. Now shall
sanctify them that they may be most holy. Whatsoever touches
them shall be holy. And now shall anoint Aaron and
his sons, and consecrate them, and they may minister to me in
the priest's office. And so speaking to the children
of Israel, saying, This shall be a holy anointing all unto
me throughout your generations. Upon man's flesh shall it not
be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it after the composition
of it. It is holy, and it shall be holy
unto you. Whosoever compoundeth any like
it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, will even
be cut off from his people. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven,
most gracious Lord, high and lifted up, holy and good, tender in mercy, keeping mercy for thousands,
yet in no wise clearing the guilty. We are thankful that you have
been merciful and gracious to us, that you, by the blood of
Jesus Christ, have cleansed us from all iniquity, and that you
will never charge your people with sin. It is almost too much to imagine
for a poor, wretched sinner to think such things, but we know
we have your word, and your word is true, and you have given us
faith to believe it. Father, we pray for those who
are sick. This lady, Ms. Wilson, who has the pancreatic
cancer, we pray for her, Lord. She might be with those doctors.
We know it's a scary diagnosis. We pray you'd be with her and
the doctors, and we pray you'd tenderize her heart toward Christ.
We pray also, Father, for her sister Dana James, as she's struggling
with these things after this operation. We pray for her healing.
We pray for a good diagnosis after the vopsis. Pray for the
others who requested prayer, for those who have lost loved
ones and lost family members. We ask, Lord, your help for them.
And Father, we ask for your help tonight, that you would open
your word to us and teach us your word. May your Holy Spirit
take the things of Christ and show them unto us. May he glorify
our Lord in our midst, that we might worship him as he ought
to be worshiped. to ascribe greatness to Him, all glory to Him, power,
wisdom, and honor to Him. Help us, Lord, we pray, even
now, in Christ's name, amen. Now this passage sets forth the
manufacture of a holy anointing oil. This oil was made with exacting
ingredients and precise measures. Its employment was specific and
for a singular purpose, It was used to anoint the furniture
of the tabernacle and the priesthood and designate them, after anointing,
as being most holy. Now when a thing is declared
most holy, it is sanctified or set apart for the Lord's use
only. In other words, if the Lord declares
a thing holy, it belongs to Him alone. The specifics as to the
ingredients are found in verses 23 through 25. It reads here,
it says this, take thou also the principal spices of pure
myrrh, which is a fragrant spice, 500 shekels, and of sweet cinnamon,
half so much, even 250 shekels, and sweet calamus, 250 shekels,
and of cassia, 500 shekels after the shekel of the sanctuary,
and an olive oil, a hen, which I
should have looked up, I didn't find out how much that is, but
uh... to wanted to whom it is applied
is found in verses twenty six is to plan all twenty six thirty
supplied to all the elements there in the tabernacle from
the bernal for the bird uh... brazen alter with the ball burn
offers made brazen labor it's foot lapsed and golden alter
even the ark of the cup and the table should be all that was
annoyed with this whole Now how it was anointed and to what extent
it was anointed, whether it was just marked with it or doused
with it, I don't know, but it was used for that purpose. Then in verses 32 and 33, it
says, force the restrictions and prohibitions concerning the
use of this oil or the making of this oil. And this pageant
itself is pretty self-explanatory. The spiritual truth it declares
are manifold, however, certain key words and phrases and restrictions
and declarations excite and entice those who have been given faith
to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we know, as we have
studied for many, many years, all of Scripture is about Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. It is about His effectual work
of salvation and those for whom that work was made. In John chapter
5, verse 39 and 40, our Lord said to the Pharisees who studied
the Scriptures often, and could quote them and carry them in
the phylacteries upon their bodies they love the scriptures he says
you do search the scriptures for in them you think you find
eternal life but they are they which testify of me and you will
not come to me that you might have life all this scripture
is about the Lord Jesus Christ so this is about the Lord Jesus
Christ this holy anointing oil This is first made clear in that
all was for anointing. It was for anointing. This immediately
draws our minds to the Lord Jesus Christ. The word Messiah means
the anointed. The Greek word for the anointed
is Christ. In Psalm chapter 2 and verse
2, the Lord talks about the kings of earth being against the Lord
and His anointed. that is quoted in Acts chapter
four is against the Lord and His Christ. So these words are
interchangeable, anointed, Christ, Messiah. all these interchangeable. When it's talking about the anointed,
it's talking about Jesus Christ. Christ was anointed for the task
of saving his people for their sins. The singularity of the
all declares that salvation is in no other. Our Lord said don't
try to duplicate this, don't make it any other way than this,
don't use it for anything but what I say is to be used, Lord.
speaks of Christ in the singularity in all salvation. Christ is the
anointed because he was anointed not as God but as a man. He was
anointed as a man. As the Word made flesh, he was
anointed as a human being to save his elect human beings.
You see, God cannot die. God cannot die. And death is
the only payment for sin. So in order for sin to be paid
for, God had to become a man. and God took upon Himself the
form of human flesh. So God, in the person of His
Son, He was born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem
them that are under the law by dying in the womb instead of
His elect. Now, when anointing is referred to in Scripture,
it refers often to the Holy Spirit. to the Holy Spirit. We just sing
a song, May the Holy Spirit help us in preaching the gospel. That's
what our song says. And all is most often applied
to the Holy Spirit. Christ was anointed at His conception
and His birth. Let's look at a few passages
of Scripture. He was anointed. Matthew chapter 1 Matthew chapter 1 and verse 20 says but while he thought on
these things that is joseph thought on these things uh... behold
the angel of the lord appeared on him in a dream saying joseph
thou son of david fear not taken thee marry thy wife for that
which is conceived of her is of the holy ghost so the holy
ghost so he was anointed in his birth in luke chapter one verse
thirty five it says The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and
that which shall be born of you shall be the Son of God. So the
Lord, as a man, was given the Holy Ghost without measure. That
is the language of Scripture. He was also anointed as Baptism
in Matthew Chapter 3. When he came to John for Baptism,
it says in Matthew Chapter 3 in verse 13, Then cometh Jesus from
Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. And John
forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and thou
comest to me. and jesus and said severed to be so for become with
us to fulfill all righteous that's another picture substitution
to come with us to fulfill all righteousness any severed him
in jesus when he was baptized went up straight way out of the
water and lo the heavens were open and he saw the spirit of
god descending like a dove and lighting upon him this is his
anointing for what for the ministry that he's about to begin he was
now thirty years old he was under the hebrew law he was qualified
to be a priest and he's the high priest and so he now begins his
ministry and he's anointed for that. He's anointed for that.
As a man he was given the Holy Ghost without measure and that's
important. Look over to Acts chapter 10.
Peter talking about the Lord Jesus Christ and who he is and
what God has done for him especially who he is in Acts chapter 10
and verse 38 verse 38 says, ìHow God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power who went
about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the
devil, for God was with Him.î Now this is an interesting passage
of Scripture in that it says, ìJesus Christ, when He cast out
devils, and when He healed the sick, and when He raised the
dead, He didnít do it as God he did it as a man empowered
with the Holy Ghost. Because he, like nobody else
ever living, was given the Holy Ghost without measure. We have
it by measure. We have the Holy Ghost by measure.
He had the Holy Ghost without measure. So what he was able
to do as a human being, believing God, as one who is righteous
and holy and filled with the Holy Ghost, he could do these
things. No man has ever done it but him,
but he did it. Now, that's not true. Some of
the apostles were given this gift also. This is poetically
pictured in Psalm 45 when it says, This of Jesus Christ, all
thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of ivy palaces
whereby they have made thee glad. This is a picture of the Lord
in Psalm 45. Now, part and parcel with the
concept of the anointing of the Spirit, Spirit is the mystery
of the godliness itself. There are three that bear witness
in seven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, it says in
1 John chapter 3. And the Holy Spirit that anointed
Christ is Christ's Spirit. It's His own Spirit. Look over
at John chapter 14. The Trinity is a wondrous thing.
I know some people try to explain it, but it can't be explained,
and don't waste your time doing it. We know that there's the
Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and they're all one, and they're
all in Christ. For in Him dwell the fullness of the Godhead bodily. But in John chapter 14, it speaks
of Christ sending the Holy Spirit to His disciples when He goes
on to glory, when He ascends to glory after suffering for
them in the resurrection. In verses 16 through 18 it says
this, and I will pray the Father and He shall give you another
comforter. That's the word paraclete, one to come alongside you. that
he may give you even the Spirit of truth, whom you cannot receive,
whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither
knoweth him, but ye know him, for he dwelleth in you. And I
will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you." So the Lord
says the Spirit, the Holy Spirit is actually the Spirit of the
Lord Jesus Christ. One fellow says it's Christ's
other self. Anyone who touches the anointed
or upon whom the anointed is applied, our Lord said, when
you apply this to the brazen altar or apply it to the table
of showbread and dry it to the lampstand, then that thing is
most holy. And it says, whoever touches
the holy thing, whoever touches the anointed thing, they are
made holy. They are made holy. When I thought
about that, I thought about that woman with the issue of blood.
been to all the doctors and she was none better for it. She said,
if I can just touch him, if I can reach out and just touch the
hem of his garment, I will be healed. And she did. She reached
out and touched the hem of his garment and immediately her blood
was stanched. Immediately she was healed in
virtue because our Lord turned and said, who's touched me? And
the disciple said, there's a whole bunch of people touching you
right now. He said, no, but virtue's gone out of me. Someone has touched
me in faith, believing, and that person is this woman, this woman,
and she confessed all that she was and all she had done. But
it says in this very passage of scripture in our text, it
says that whoever touches this thing will be made holy. If you ever touch Jesus Christ,
you know what's going to happen to you? You're going to be made
holy. You're going to be set apart for God's use. You're going
to be declared to be holy and regarded as holy. for our Lord
said, Be ye holy, for I am holy. It is the same spirit that with
whom he was anointed, he has anointed his church. His church
is anointed. They've touched the Holy One.
And this anointing made them most holy. The anointing of Christ
being made their sanctification. That's what holiness is, it's
sanctification. Our Lord said to Moses, sanctify
me before the Lord. What does that mean? Set me apart
as holy. In your speech, in your talking,
in your preaching, you set me apart, lift me up. If you are
a child of God, you are sanctified. you're sanctified. Now that's
not something that's progressive. It's not something that continues
and gets bigger and better. You don't get more holy as you
get older. In fact, those of us who have the gray hairs upon
our head know now the struggle of sin, the struggle with sin,
is much greater than it's ever been before. We might not be
outwardly going out here and debauchery and everything else.
The things that goes on in our heads and hearts drives us down
sometimes. But we are sanctified. for god
has made him to be sanctification for us it says in first corinthians
chapter one god has made him to be wisdom righteousness sanctification
and redemption it does not say now it says in other places we're
sanctified but there again he uses the essential wisdom righteousness
sanctification and redemption we are by christ made sanctification
that's holiness that's holiness Why? Because we touched the Lord. Anointing in this day's religion
erroneously has to do with emotions and hyper-sentimentality. I don't
know whether you've been watching the news lately, but several
campuses across the South have had what they call revivals.
different news stations talking about these revivals in different
campuses and you see them and they talk about them and when
they talk about them and talk with the news people and say
what's going on there, they talk a great deal about the Holy Ghost.
They say Holy Ghost has come down, the Holy Spirit is empowering
us, Holy Spirit this, Holy Spirit that. Do you know the person
who knows Christ doesn't talk about the Holy Spirit like that.
when he talks about the Holy Spirit he says the Holy Spirit
draws me to Christ the Holy Spirit moves me to Christ and that's
the thing that's erroneous in all this thing hundreds of people
being baptized and jumping up and down waving their hands and
singing gospel so-called gospel choruses and the only thing missing
is mention of Christ and I was listening to a whole interview
the other day with two or three of these college students never
once they talk about Christ, never mention the Lord Jesus
Christ, now they talk about the Holy Ghost, they talk about the
Holy Spirit, and they was carried on, never mention Jesus Christ,
but I'm going to tell you this, you can be assured of this fact,
the Holy Spirit is not involved in those sacred shenanigans,
He is not involved in them, for our Lord says in John chapter
15 about the Holy Spirit, And when the gift of the Holy
Spirit came to the apostles in the apostolic age, and they were
able to do things, those things they were able to do was only
so men would stop and pay attention and listen to them as they spoke
about the Lord Jesus Christ. For they went forward preaching
Christ into this world. verse 26 it says, And when the
Comforter is come, whom I will send you from the Father, even
the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify
of me. And ye shall also bear witness,
because ye have been with me from the beginning. Then if you
look at the next chapter, in chapter 16, verse 13, it says
this, Albeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide
you into all truth for he shall not speak of himself in other
words if he spoke of himself he wouldn't be guiding you into
the truth he shall guide you into truth because he will not
speak of himself whatever he shall hear that shall he speak
and he will show you things to come he shall glorify me glorify
me for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you all
things of the Father, and he'll receive the Father, and he'll
show it unto you. What is the Holy Spirit's function
in this world? It's to point men to Jesus Christ. It's to tell men the truth about
Jesus Christ. It's to draw men to the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's all about Christ, all about
Christ. The anointing of the Church is
for a singular purpose in this world, the preaching of the Gospel. It's the most holy thing. our
Lord talked about His anointing in Isaiah 60 or 61 and then again
in Luke chapter 4 He said, the Lord has anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to deliver
them to captains, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
He's anointed me. He's anointed me. And so it is
with the church. So it is with the church. Back
in Acts chapter 10 in Acts chapter 10 verse 44 says
this, While Peter yet spake, these words, The Holy Ghost fell
on him. The Holy Ghost fell on them which
heard the word, 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. They were
anointed because of the preaching of the gospel. over in First
Peter, Chapter 1, when it talks about the preaching of the Gospel.
It says this in verse 12, To whom
it was revealed, speaking of Jesus Christ, the sufferings
of Christ, the glory which should follow, unto whom it was revealed
that unto them, not unto themselves, But unto us they did minister
the things which are now reported unto you by them which have preached
the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost, sent down from heaven,
which things the angels desire to look into." This is how it
happens. It only happens if the truth is preached, if Christ
is preached. You can rest assured that's the
only time it takes place. We don't wait on the Holy Ghost.
We preach the truth. we preach the truth, the Holy
Ghost will honor it, the Holy Ghost will use it and employ
it for the salvation of the Lord's people. The only way that the
Word of God is preached, the only way that the Word of God
is preached is if the Gospel is preached. That's the only
way it's preached. Now, a man can take this Word
and come up with sermons about all kinds of things. he can preach
about adultery, he can preach about this, but if he doesn't
preach Christ, he's not preached the word of God. Paul said that. He said, you are redeemed, not
with corruptible things, but incorruptible seed, even the
word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. And this is
the word of God, which by the gospel is preached unto you. This is how it happens. We preach
the gospel. When we preach the gospel, we
have preached the word of God, no matter where we start. Even
in Exodus chapter 30, when he's talking about anointing oil,
if we don't get to christ we haven't preached the gospel because
that is about the lord jesus christ there is only there there
there alone in the gospel is the righteousness of god revealed
from faith to faith according to romans sixteen uh... romans
one sixteen seventeen and this is set forth in the fact that
the normal was never to be duplicated men try a lot to come up with
different ideas about the gospel I heard one famous singer say
yesterday that she was a Christian and you couldn't be a Christian
unless you was for abortion. Another said that the gospel
was all about global warming. You know, I'm kind of like B.B.
Caldwell on things like, scripture please, show me where you come
up with that, because it's not in the word of God, not in the
word of God. this all was said back in our
text not to be duplicated not to be made of different materials
it was very important that it was made exactly as the Lord
said it because it was singular by this formula for this adorning
all that tabernacle and the priesthood was made holy most holy before
God in verse chapter thirty-two And the second phrase, it says
this, neither shall you make any other like it after the composition
of it. It's holy. God says it's holy
to me and it shall be holy unto you. That means you don't mess
with it. you don't mess with it people
mess with what they will but uh... don't mess with the gospel
then in verse thirty three says whosoever compounded anything
any like it whosoever put it any upon any of it upon a stranger
shall even be cut off from the people who is a stranger it doesn't
speak of the gentiles here it speaks of those who are evil
among the congregation and the final prohibition is found in
verses uh... chapter uh... in verse thirty
two in verse uh... the first part upon man's flesh
it shall not be poured it shall not be poured now this is the
absolute distinction between the flesh and the spirit this
oil was not to be poured on the flesh that's symbolic that's
typical that's pictorial the gospel does not address the flesh
it does not address the flesh it does not apply to the flesh
in any way and the flesh can never be applied to with the
gospel. The flesh don't get the gospel.
It can't get the gospel. First Corinthians 2.14 says a
natural man, a man who's flesh, not physical flesh, but carnality
in his nature, a natural man receiveth not the things of the
spirit, their foolishness to him, neither can he know them
for discernment, because they're spiritually discerned, their
foolishness to him. He just thinks it's crazy. this thing we do
we gather to do three times a week the world thinks it's crazy the
car messes this this that's foolish because this oil is never poured
on the flesh it's never poured on the spirit it does not deal
in nature spirit deals in a whole different realm it doesn't deal
in nature Romans 8 5-9 says they that are of the spirit do mind
the things of the spirit, and they that are of the flesh do
mind the things of the flesh. The carnal mind is enmity against
God, is not subject to the law of God, and neither indeed can
be. So they that are in the flesh cannot please God. And thank
God, he says to the Roman church, but you're not in the flesh,
you're in the spirit. You're in the spirit. The false
gospel relies on the flesh. It lives on the flesh. to walk,
to choose, to decide, to exercise the will, to accept or invite
Jesus into your heart. The gospel is not about that.
The gospel is from faith to faith and only resides in the realm
of the Spirit. Nothing of the Spirit of God
is ever accomplished in the flesh. That's what Paul said to the
Galatians. Old foolish, and the word there is pharmakon, old
drugged Galatians, are you so foolish to think that what you
began in the spirit you can finish in the flesh, you can accomplish
in the flesh? And he goes on to say in Galatians chapter 5,
the flesh is contrary to the spirit. And he says they that
walk in the spirit do not do the deeds of the flesh, not by
the spirit. Now that don't mean they aren't
fleshly. It means they do not do the deeds of the flesh. and
accounted as spiritual. Psalm 133 verses 1 and 2, this
glorious anointing of Aaron in verse 30 back in our text, it
says, And Aaron and his sons consecrated him that they may
minister unto me and the priests of it. This anointing oil was
put on them, not on their flesh, but on them. It was actually
poured on their garments, as we'll see in another verse of
Scripture. and this reveals the Holy Spirit
anointing Christ and flowing down on His entire body. Over
in Psalm 133 it says, Behold how good and how pleasant it
is for brethren to dwell in unity. It's like the precious ointment
upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard,
that went down to the skirts of his garment. That's talking
about, what's that talking about? Our head was anointed. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the head of the church. he was anointed without
measure. He was given the power of the
Holy Spirit. He was endued with the Holy Spirit
and with power. And that came down to us. It
poured on his head, our head, the head of the church, and it
rubbed all the way down to the hems of his garment. That's his
body, the church. This is what this passage is
about. And the Lord said, And thou shalt sanctify them that
they may be most holy, and whatsoever touches them shall be holy. Father, bless us to understanding,
we pray in Christ's name, amen.