A Recipe for the Anointing

Transcription

1 1 2 A Recipe for the Anointing Exodus 30: Moreover the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 23 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, 24 And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: 25 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. 26 And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, 27 And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, 28 And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. 29 And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. 30 And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office. 31 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. Exodus 30:23-24 (MSG) 23 "Take the best spices: twelve and a half pounds of liquid myrrh; half that much, six and a quarter pounds, of fragrant cinnamon; six and a quarter pounds of fragrant cane; 24 twelve and a half pounds of cassia using the standard Sanctuary weight for all of them and a gallon of olive oil. INTRO: -As Pentecostals we talk about "the anointing" alot. -We pray for the anointing of God on our lives, our ministries, our activities - everything. We recognize that we need the power & presence of the H G in all that we do. - If we try to do them our way they what we are saying own ideas & ways are worthy in themselves (that s idolatry); - When we do things our way rather than God s way (that s rebellion - which the Bible says is as the sin of witchcraft.) - We have to learn to have faith in & on God. Zechariah 4:6 It s not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord. -We must minister in the power of God - under the "anointing" of the H G. -But let me ask you, What Is "The Anointing". We Talk about it All the Time. We Desire It. We Pray for It. But What Is it Exactly?

2 3 4 - The most simple understanding of the anointing is to think of it, as a "setting apart". When God anoints something He sets it apart - it s "holy" - separated for His use. -When a new king was anointed in Israel the prophet would take a horn full of oil & pour it over his head, & it would run right down his clothes. -The same thing when there was a new High Priest. The symbolism was that this person was "set apart" - to be God s man; God s instrument. -When we say someone "preached under a real anointing" or "that was an anointed song", or "an anointed Service or moment" - it means it was set apart. -God had His hand on the preacher or the song or the place & was moving w/ His touch. -The anointing isn t a "force" (like electricity), & it s not just an emotion (although the anointing may produce emotion) - it s none other than the Very Presence of God. -In the O T the Tabernacle, & all the furniture & utensils used for worship, had to be anointed before they could be used. -They didn t anoint w/just any old oil - they had special oil for this anointing, Made from a Recipe That God Gave Them... READ: Exodus 30: You see God prescribed the ingredients that were to be used, & how it was to be made. & it was a capital offence in Israel to make this oil & use it for any other purpose - punishable by death! -The recipe for this oil gives a picture of what we need in our lives to know God s anointing. So lets look at the special ingredients here in Exodus 30. The first ingredient was

3 Liquid Myrrh. - Myrrh was used to prepare bodies for burial. To get its beautiful sweetness you had to crush it. -Myrrh speaks of death. There is no anointing w/out death. If we want to know God s anointing we have to die to ourselves. Die to the old person that we once were. Die to our own agenda - our own desires & dreams, not born of God. If we re going to depend on God we have to die to our own abilities & resources. When this old man dies, We become sweet -And if we don t come to this place of dying to ourselves on our own, then God may have to bring "crushing" circumstances into our lives to bring us to the place where we will die to ourselves. -Sometimes when those crushings come to our lives We are quick to say it s the devil s work - It may just be the Lord dealing w/us because He wants to bring us to a place of anointing so we can be used by Him. -But the other thing to learn is this - it s far better for you to come to a place of brokenness by yourself, seeking the Lord in prayer. Then He can anoint you, - & it s far less painful than God having to allow those crushing experiences into our lives. -That s what fasting is all about When we fast we are denying the outer man our physical appetites, & the appetites of our outer man our soul. -It s works to bring our flesh into subjection, under the rule, of our inner man our spirit that part of us where the breath of God resides where we commune w/god. -There s that beautiful picture in Matthew 26 of the woman who brought an alabaster box of precious, expensive perfume & anointed the feet & head of Jesus. & the fragrance filled the room. -The kind of box you wouldn t want to break the box itself seemed so precious. But unless the outer box is broken, there can be no fragrance. The perfume is locked up to itself, never to fulfill it s purpose.

4 7 8 -Unless there is a breaking in our lives, the fragrance of Christ in us will never be smelt. -Sometimes we hold our lives, & control of lives, as so precious to us. -We treasure it more than anything. But those things need to be broken. We are not called to be Fancy vases, but clay pots. "Just keep sweet". What that means is - keep a sweetness of demeanor about your life. It s so easy to allow life & circumstances to make you bitter. Keep sweet! Let your life develop a graciousness about you. Deal w/others w/grace, don t be a reactionary. 1Cor says that we hold this treasure (the glory of Christ) is earthenware vessels clay pots. That all the glory may be His not ours. -We need to come to the place of brokenness. The second ingredient was 2. Sweet Cinnamon. -Cinnamon was used for flavouring, & it gave off a very pleasant smell. Its fragrance was beautiful in the Tabernacle because it counteracted the stench of the animal sacrifices. -Cinnamon speaks of sweetness. If you want God to take you up & anoint you to use you, there has to be a sweetness about your life. -God will anoint you & use you if there s a sweetness about you. The sweetness of Jesus. -This is what the fruit of the Spirit is all about. Read: Gal 5: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. The third ingredient was 3. Sweet-smelling Cane (or calamus). The Calamus plant grows in miry soil. To get this plant to smell you had to beat it. The more you beat it the better it smells.

5 9 10 -Again, God s anointing is able to increase in your life the more you pass through the school of hard knocks, & God is able to fashion your character. -Anybody been through some hard knocks? Some are harder than others aren t they. But they are working in you character as long as you respond to them as God wants you to. He s fashioning you for anointing. -God is more interested in anointed character than great abilities. The fourth ingredient was 4. Cassia. Spice from Bark -This spice grows only at elevations above 8000 feet. You ve got to get up on the mountain to get it. -If you desire God s anointing - you ve got to reach up to the heights. -Get on the mountain w/ God. -There s no shortcut to the anointing - we ve got to PRAY. -Jesus lived in the anointing of the Spirit - & for that He maintained a close walk w/prayer at all times. -Finally, 4. All the ingredients were mixed w/olive oil. -And it was the mixture that was called "holy". -Over & over again in the Bible, oil symbolizes the H G. In so many ways, in so many types & pictures, oil represents the H G. -The H G is the principle character in the anointing of God. anointing is needed to do the work of the H G. When God anoints, it is the outpouring of His Spirit. -Now All these ingredients mingled together w/a hin of oil produced the anointing compound that was called holy. -Watch now the Lord will combine all the good & difficult things in your life w/the oil of His Spirit A sweet anointing will form in you, & He ll be able to use you in incredible ways. -

6 For a long time I had a very O T concept of the anointing. in the O T the H G came on (that s the phrase used) - they were anointed for a task for a job for a moment for a season. Then the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him; & the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds broke loose from his hands. He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hands and took it and killed a thousand men with it. -You see, the Spirit of the Lord came on him to do that. -That s what happened in the O T -& a lot of Christians today think of the anointing in the same way. -The anointing is not just on me when I preach I used to thing that Lord I need your anointing to come upon me for this task. And after the 40-minute preach was over I guessed that the anointing kind of lifted. -Now it s not wrong to pray for the anointing. I need God s anointing so do you. -But we ought to pray for the RELEASE of God s anointing. -The anointing which has already been formed in us. -The oil of the HG s presence, mingled w/a character That is forged in the experiences of life, daily dying to self & alive to Christ, full of grace & sweetness. -This anointing flows from within us out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water Jesus said. 1 John 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you,... 2 Tim 2:21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. Don t allow the troubles of life to make you better not bitter, seek God s face in prayer & fellowship w/the HG THEN, you won t just have an occasional anointing a hit and miss empowerment. God s anointing will cover your life, & equip you for every good work. You ll reside in that anointing, And you ll just minister out of the release of that anointing. Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2 be instant in season, out of season.