The Anointed, Part 1

No, I'm not fixing a salad. As a matter of fact, when I gave this sermon, this message of my notes, for Umberto to translate, he said my writing looked a lot like his. Well, it happened to be that he gave a lot of these notes to me three years ago. And I had been working on something, so it should be easy for him to translate, being this is partly his message.

I want to make sure he gets credit for this, but I was working on something for a while on this. The title of today's sermon is, The Anointed. The Anointed. The word anoint, anointed, and anointing is in the Scriptures over 160 times. When something is mentioned over 100 times in the Bible, I was always told it's important that we go find out more. And if it was important enough for God to inspire it, put in the Scriptures over 100 times, I think we should know a little bit about that subject. As we know, love, how many times? The heart is mentioned over 500 times.

If I remember, love is mentioned over 500 times. Sin is mentioned over 500 times. And as I said, the number seven is mentioned over 700 times. So, there were things as I studied this that I found out, or that I studied even deeper, to find out a little more about the anointed, anointing. It's been a tradition in our church for a long time, which is taken from the Bible. And I want to go into some of that today. But most of the anointing that it's actually referring to in the Bible is talking about olive oil.

I don't know how many of you use olive oil. Is everybody? No, we have some that don't. No, nor you don't use olive oil. Nope. You use olive oil. Okay. This actually is from Greece, this one. And this is from the Mediterranean, so it's got somewhere. Oh, imported from Spain, so I guess so. It's organic olive oil. I want to ask you a question this morning. If anyone can answer that, I'd love to hear your answer, because frankly, I didn't know it until I started this subject.

Since it's mentioned over 160 times in the Bible, do you know or can you recall, or can you better your minister here by telling me the first time that anoint, or anointing, or anointed phrase is used in the Bible? Anybody care to venture a guess? Aaron. Aaron? Good guess. From Exodus and Leviticus. Anybody have another guess? Jacob's ladder. That ladder was anointed? It was a block. Oh, okay. So Chris did know. So if you'll go with me to the very first time that the word anoint is mentioned in the Bible. Genesis 31, verse 13. Genesis 31, verse 13. As Jacob is about to flee Laban and from Pandanarim and take all of his family with him, all the brood of kids and wives and subwives and everything else.

We find there that God talks to him. And in Genesis 31, verse 13, it says, I AM, the great I AM. I AM means I have been, I AM, I always will be. It means I'm eternal. That's what the great I AM means. I AM the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now arise, get out of this land and return to the land of your kindred or your family. So what was he talking about? Well, let's go back a couple chapters to Genesis 28. Genesis 28. We see there that that's where we had the dream of Jacob's ladder. And he's on his way to Pandanarim.

So we're talking 20 years earlier than what we just looked at. And in Genesis 28 and verse 18, Then Jacob rose early in the morning and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And as we just looked at it, it was recorded as an anointing. So he anointed a rock. Okay? Was the first mention of this in the Bible. It wasn't a person. It was about a person and his God, but never mentioned before. Abraham, Noah anointing was mentioned in Abraham, about Abraham, of Isaac, anyone in the back?

But here it is. And he called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of that city that had been Luz, previously. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on so that I come back to my Father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. Pretty presumptuous, pretty bold, pretty... Not exactly the model, I think, for most of us to tell God that we'll allow him to be our God. But then again, Jacob still had a lot to learn. Okay? Verse 22, And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be...

what does it say? God's house. God's house. And of all that you give me, I will surely give you a tenth to you. So I will tithe to you. Now, convenient. God's going to give him everything, and he's going into... I'll tell you what, I'll give you ten cents on the dollar. We even tip our... usually our waiters and waitresses 15%, but he's deciding he's ten percent is enough.

So I think this incident, the very first, sets a tone for this having a unique place in the Bible. A unique ceremony of anointing. Now, I've actually anointed many of you, many people, but I've never anointed an animal. I've never anointed an animal object. Never anointed a table. Never anointed microphone. Does that sound strange? I don't know. Let's see what the Scriptures say about it, because that's where I want to go into today, because we need to know, I think, about this anointing.

And I really feel like there's so much here, we may not even finish today, it may take a second part, because we need to see how it relates to us, and how we are actually called the anointed, not just Christ. So, in the Scriptures, I want to read something from Manner's and Custons of the Bible by Fred White, as he was doing a historical deal about this oil that they used, which was olive oil.

And I find it very interesting that it says in page 199, Olive oil was considered to be one of the greatest sources of wealth in the days of Solomon, King Solomon. Solomon gave Hiram each year in return for services rendered by his men, among other things, 20,000 baths of oil, one bath being about seven and a half gallons. Said the olive oil was also used almost exclusively to light their lamps.

And they also used it for food. It is largely took the place of butter in eating and for cooking purposes, and it was used in the place of animal fat. Ezekiel mentions three important items of diet, one of which is oil, flour and honey, or the other two. And oil was often used for anointing the body. Naomi told Ruth, wash thyself therefore and anoint thee, and put thy raiment on and go down to the floor. Then oil was used many times in various religious ceremonies.

It formed part of the meal offering, and the anointed with oil, when he took his duties, was a priest that we will go into, and also the king was anointed. So, it said, throughout the Bible, oil is often used symbolically of the Holy Spirit. And when the Apostle John speaks of the anointing which you have received in 1 John 2.27, that we will go into later, he means that by the endowment, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, this anointing has a great deal of history, and it has a great deal of symbolism, but it also has deep meaning. Because this oil was actually used in the healing, when they had problems, you will also find that when the example was given, the man who was attacked and the good Samaritan came by, he anointed or used oil on him. Now, I do want to go back to the root word, that anoint, there's actually two spellings of it, M-A-S-H-I-A-E-H and M-A-S-E-I-A-H. And the actual word in the Hebrew and Greek for anoint means to smear, means to spread. It can even mean to paint or cover, as this word says it.

We just heard about this stone. Now, it sounds rather archaic when you read about Jacob, because we haven't heard anything about this before. And we just see that he just comes and he sees this stone or this pillow. And he puts oil on it, olive oil on it. But we don't know where did that come from? Was it something that his father or his father's father told him? We don't know, do we? But we know that he used it and God brought that up in Genesis 31 as you made a vow. And you sealed that vow with an anointing, similar to a vow we all made of baptism.

Similar to us being our hands laid upon and the gift of the Holy Spirit being given to us or put upon us, as it said. So let's go to, as we make this journey, let's go to Leviticus. Let's go to Leviticus, in chapter 8. And we find in Leviticus 6 and verse 22, it actually talks about that the priests were to be anointed. For them to serve, they must be called an anointed priest. They must have hands laid upon them and there's oil laid upon their head.

When I became a minister, oil was put upon my head as hands were laid upon me, as I was asked. They asked God to grant me an extra measure of the Holy Spirit so I could do the jobs that I needed to perform as a minister. Well, let's look in chapter 8, verse 1.

Congregation, okay, what did he say? This is what the Lord commanded to be done. This is what the Lord has commanded. So God told him, this is what you're going to do to qualify these men to be priests to me, to serve. Then in verse 6, then Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water, which sounds a little particular or strange even, like they couldn't bathe themselves. But this was part of the ceremony. And as you can dig in deeper, this was before the entire congregation. So they weren't necessarily naked. They had a little cloth over them. But they were then washed by Moses, which was symbolic of what? Us being washed, us being cleansed. Our baptism, because baptism hadn't shown up in the Scriptures yet.

So we have an interesting perspective here, that this is picturing. These were symbolic of things that would go on later on as part of the New Covenant.

In verse 7, he put the tunic on him, girded him with the sash, clothed him with a robe, and put the ephod on him. And he girded him with intricately woven band of the ephod, and with it he tied the ephod on him. Then he put the breastplate on him, and he put the urem and the thumb in the breastplate. And then in verse 10, you can get to, Then Moses took the anointed oil, and anointed the tabernacle, and all that was in it, and said, sanctified them. What does sanctified mean? That's right! Set apart! Are we sanctified?

Yes! Just like this! So we see here that this is done to an object. And those objects then were set apart. They were special.

And anointed the tabernacle, and all that was in it, and he sanctified them. He sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times. What is seven times? Why did he do it seven times? Very good! You did listen to me a month ago. Very good! Seven times! And isn't it interesting that when he went in on the day of atonement, when he sprinkled the blood, how many times did he sprinkle or spread it on? Seven times.

And then he anointed the altar and all its utensils and the lather and its base to sanctify them, to set them apart as something that was holy. It means that you just didn't take them lightly. You just didn't go, Oh, I think I need to wash my hands. Let me go up to the temple and use that one. Use and put my water in there and wash my nasty, filthy hands with that. Now, there was something here that was, you know, this was special. This was dedicated to God. Just like the Sabbath day is what? Set apart. It's sanctified as holy. Who made it holy? God made it holy. Nobody else could have made it holy except for God. Okay? And then verse 12, and he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to sanctify him, to set him apart, to do what? Do we get? What? Serve as a priest, to work for God. That's going to be his full-time job, is to serve God. This is what his purpose is to be now. Now, I think it's interesting. He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head. Now, I don't know whether Courtney would let me go over there and pour this on his head. No. No, no, he didn't really. But there was a purpose for that. But I always found even one of the songs that we sing talks about the oil put on Aaron's head and beard and runs down. You might...how good and how pleasant it is. Let's go there. Psalm 133, I believe. I believe I'm right. Let's see if I pull that one out. Or whether I will have to miss that. Okay, yes. Psalm 133, verse 1. Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. We all understand that, right? That's why we're here. We're going to enjoy this food today. We're going to have some unity here. We're going to talk about the Feast of Tabernacles. We're going to be able to share food, and we care for each other. So, well, that's, you know, this hits us right between the eyes, and we're saying yes. But then it says, it...what is it? What is it? It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of its garments. Why is it...why? It is like that? How good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together? And how...and it is like...what is that picture? I mean, picture this as we go back to this original Leviticus 8, as Moses is pouring this oil over Aaron's head, and it's running...it isn't just like a little...when I annoyed the oil, it's just a little spot. But here, it's actually running down there, and he said, then it's running down his beard.

And it's such a beautiful thing, and it's good. Why?

Yes, where did this come from? You know, he's taking care of.

You know, this was a symbol that now this man has been set apart to help take care of the congregation. This congregation was over two million people, but God had said, you need this. And so here, all the people, he wanted them to see that they were all realizing that God was going to be working with them.

And God cared about them.

So, I wanted to put that forward, because we sometimes lose touch with what it was like in...way back at their time.

But it's almost like a minister coming into an area.

You're not really a we were. We weren't really sure what it was going to be like here when they moved us here. We won't know when they move us to another place what it will be like.

But we found people as a whole were very warm, and it was something that we looked forward to.

With this, the people were looking forward to being ministered to.

And that this man was dedicated to God for them, so that he could help them. He could make sacrifices for them, which pictured later, Jesus Christ being a high priest that we're even going to go into, because Jesus Christ was not of the Levitical priesthood, right?

You had to be from the tribe of Levi, right? Where was Jesus from? Judah. So he couldn't do that, but that wasn't his purpose, because the Levitical priesthood was a pattern, was a shadow, right, as the Scriptures say. It was a shadow of another priesthood that Jesus Christ was a part of. That's actually mentioned where?

Yes, Melchizedek! Let's go back there to Genesis. Thank you. I think it's Genesis 14.

After. Don't know if I wrote that down somewhere.

Okay, yes, Genesis 14, verse 18. Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God Most High.

And he blessed him and said, Bless be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth. And bless be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave him a tithe of all. And we see that priesthood of Melchizedek mentioned as we hopefully will have time later today, if not the next, going into the book of Hebrew.

As the book of Hebrews was actually written, so it would explain why the Levitical priesthood was replaced by the priesthood of Melchizedek.

And why we are all training for that priesthood. We are all part of that priesthood. Remember? I said before, even at the feast, that Peter said, You are a royal priesthood, chosen generation.

New creation. We are of a... This is more of a spiritual priesthood.

And so that is what this anointing, that symbolic of what was so important in the Old Testament for the Levitical priesthood, that this sanctified. This... You could see this. But... And we're about to go into that, because God thought it was so important to them, he even told them how to make the anointing order that we see right here. Let's go over there to Exodus. Let's go to Exodus 30. Exodus 30 in... Actually, verse 22, Moreover the Lord God spoke to Moses, saying, Also take for yourself quality spices, five hundred shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much sweet smelling cinnamon, and then sweet smelling cane.

And then he talked, And a hen of olive oil. And verse 25, And you shall make from these a holy anointing oil, an ointment compound according to the art of the perfumer.

It shall be a holy anointing oil. So, why do you think that oil had cinnamon, had cane, had all this stuff in it?

Why was this oil, when he brought everybody forward, to watch him cleanse Aaron and his sons, but also he poured oil on it?

And this oil had, as we see here, this incredible aroma. Right? And there was a lot of it. So, when he poured it, as we said, it was the whole... As we go back to how good and how pleasant, and it's like that. Okay, how many people did you have? Two million people.

Now, unless he had some stage that's 15 foot high, how are two million people going to see that?

But you could smell it, and it went out through there. And just like when the priest would sacrifice an animal, and the fat would come up, just like if you were by his steakhouse, you get that smell, even if you're 100 feet away, you can smell that burning, and that went up to God as a wonderful incense to him.

Yes, when this came in.

So here, this oil was actually symbolic, not only of the Holy Spirit, but it's also...

It lays out that you knew something special was being done. You knew this thing was sanctified.

And you would also know, because they made sure of how this was done, that when an anointing was done, everybody knew they could smell it.

If you couldn't see it, you could smell it. And you knew. And what do you think? What did he anoint? Not only them, but also what?

All the objects all around the tabernacle, the altar. So here, all those people that were in the very back that couldn't see, they would eventually make their way up to the altar. What are they going to do?

They heard it. Now they smelled it. Now they knew. They knew that this place was special.

This place, this man was sanctified and set apart. Yes, it was like that. It was that big. Now, let's go down. In 26, With it you shall anoint the tabernacle meeting and the ark of the testimony, the table and its utensils and the lampstands and its utensils and the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offerings and labor in its base.

In verse 29, You shall sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them must be what? Holy.

He's talking about that's why the priests were set apart. This was all about God because God is very, very, very holy.

And when we come before Him, we must recognize Him as such. That's why it's so important here.

That whatever touches them must be holy.

In verse 30, And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to Me as priests.

They're going to do the work of God. Do you, without going into it yet, are you beginning to get the picture of yourself?

And what we are walking through this earth, and it just dawned on me the other day as I was watching something in it, and it actually showed this old movie or TV show of Kung Fu.

And it was about this guy who was a priest, and he walked through this ungodly world or whatever.

I forget what they said, but it reminded me of this, a peaceful man in an unpeaceful world or something brought it through, as he makes his journey and travels.

And I just thought in my mind, you know, that's kind of like us, really, because we've been set apart, sanctified.

We're part of a priesthood, okay?

And that part of us, we're to represent who we represent.

Right?

And so, as we're to, people are to see, we're different because we've been sanctified and set apart.

And so, as the people knew, because you've got to tell me, they could smell a priest coming, and they knew by the clothes that they wear, all their garb everything that they were a priest.

What about the Melchizedek priest?

What about our priesthood?

Can people tell by the way we're dressed?

Can they tell by the way we smell? I hope not.

No, but they can tell by the way we would.

We live, how we live and how we act.

Because we have a different kind of oil on us and in us.

That oil that's symbolic.

The Holy Spirit.

This was symbolic of the Holy Spirit.

See, can you see how this begins to tie to us and why it's so important?

Of just who we are. We're like that.

I forget what his name was, Kwang-chow, whatever his name was in the TV series or whatever, but he walked through the... What? Oh, you know it. Oh, okay.

You watched that too growing up, I guess.

But he was so different.

He tried to be peaceful, but of course that was a TV show. But priests are to be as peaceful as you can be. Right?

We're set apart for this special purpose, special reason. And it's not always easy in this world.

Can you imagine if that were you up running for the presidency of the United States? You would never have made it that far because you follow God. Right? It's that simple.

Because of the way we live. Because we would go by this book.

It's not our world yet.

But it will be.

One day, it will be.

Now, let's go on.

You shall anoint Aaron and his sons and sanctify them that they may minister to me as priests.

And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, This shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations.

It shall not be poured on man's flesh.

Nor shall you make any other like it according to its composition.

That means don't go out and try to make your own. This is special. This is holy oil.

It is holy, and it shall be holy to you.

Whoever compounds any like it, whoever puts any of it on an outsider, shall be cut off from all the people.

Unique.

Unique as we looked at this.

See, the anointing qualified the priest to perform his duties.

It qualified him to do the work that God has laid out.

Brethren, the Holy Spirit qualifies us to walk.

What did Paul say in Hebrews? To have a walk worthy of your calling.

Are we prepared? Is this what we really want to do?

Because the priesthood was for life.

Now, there was an age where you became a priest at 30 and then at 50 because of the physical work that was done that you retired from the actual sacrificing, but you were still a priest until you died.

You never stopped being a priest.

What does Christ and God the Father promise us?

With the gift of the Holy Spirit, it's a gift of eternal life.

So can you see how important it really is to us that we see this?

Now, let's go. Let's go to 1 Samuel.

Let's go to 1 Samuel.

We see in 1 Samuel 8, you don't have to turn there, we see where God made a king. The people wanted a king. Israel wanted a king. So, of course, God told them what would happen if he got one, and he did. Instead of him being their ruler, as this nation today, we have all these lovely taxes and all this national defense, and we have all this where God says, oh, that's not necessary.

But they did, and they got it. And so God said, well, I'll appoint the first one, and he'll be somebody you'll like, because they all wanted to have a king like the others around them. So he chose somebody somewhere about 6'6", who he said was a foot taller or a head taller than most of the people men at that time, which were only 5'5", 5'6". So he was 6'6", 7', he was a big guy. Biggest round, good-looking guy.

But it didn't turn out that well, did it, as we all know. But if you'll turn me 1 Samuel 10, this had to be done. So not only now did you have a priesthood, you had prophets, but you also had kings. And they were in 1 Samuel 10, verse 1.

Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul's head, and kissed him and said, Is it not because the Lord has anointed you, commander over his inheritance? You get that? His inheritance. This was God's people. They were still God's people. They were still God's land. So he's saying, I'm anointing you, and so you are sanctified and set apart, and everybody would have seen it. You see, this was done in front of everybody. So, these kings were called anointed ones. They were appointed by the prophets, acting on God's behalf. And so we also see, if you'll turn over with me in 1 Samuel 16, most of you know the story here, that Saul disqualified himself.

He did what God told him not to, through the prophet. He did it anyway, and he was not really repentant of it. He was repentant that he got caught. He was repentant that you're going to remove this from me, but this is not what God wanted. God had set apart this man to do and to lead the people, to be that example, because he would be up before the people.

That's why a ruler or a king is so important that they act right, that they live right. And we got two running now, not the best, even if you only believe half of what television tells you. Okay? Well, that's not what God wanted. But if you're going to have a king, let's have somebody. That will look to me. So, as we go, we see in 1 Samuel 16, verse 1, Then the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul?

Seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and go, for I have provided myself a king among his sons, talking about Jesse. So, God has decided this is what he's going to do. We're going to have a king. But he's going to be the one that I choose, not because of how he looks on the outside. Because I picked the first one, because if God had gone with someone, unlike Saul, the people would have said, Well, ooh, who is this?

Ooh, we want somebody like the other. We want somebody big. We want somebody strong. We want this good-looking, you know. So, as you know the story, as we go down to 1 Samuel 16, and we go to verse 6. So, it was when they came, all the boys came, with Jesse. And Samuel looked at Eli up and said, Surely, surely the Lord's anointed is before him. Whoo! Look at this guy. He's Brad Pitt wrapped up in George Clooney, all at once. Wow! Good-looking guy. He's just going to be the one. But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance, or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him.

So, obviously, he was, may have been over close to 6 foot tall. Could have been. Right? For the Lord does not see as a man sees, for the man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. And why did he choose you? I don't see any Brad Pitt sitting out there. I don't see any Christi Brinkley sitting. Yeah. Only nameth. Only nameth. So, verse 8, So Jesse called a benedab, made him pass before Samuel, and he said, Neither has the Lord chosen this one. Then Jesse made Shema pass by, and he said, Neither had the Lord chosen this one.

Then Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not chosen these. Which had to make Jesse going, Wait a minute, I've had good looking gibbs. I have strong gibbs. I have like, Wait a minute. And you said, You're going to do this today?

And Samuel said, Did Jesse are all the young men here? And then he said, There remains yet the youngest. And there he is, keeping the sheep, way out there in the field, a little rot. And Samuel said, Did Jesse send and bring him? For we will not sit down till he comes. So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and was good looking.

And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for he is the one. Then Samuel took the horn of the oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him.

David, from that day forward, so Samuel rose and went to Ramah. Ramah. Hmm. So here it was that the Holy Spirit was in this young man of 15, 16 years old, 17 at the most, as most historians will say. But God chose him and set him apart. He was sanctified, and before all his brothers. How do you think that went around at the dinner table that night?

How about the youngest in your family being, Oh yeah, well it's all about him. Dad, it went very well. Yes? So we see that it was important that the kings were anointed, the priesthood was anointed, and we also see that even that which is being used to worship God was actually anointed. Now it was very important that the priest, as we just saw, saw, he didn't do what God told him to do. Right? He did the exact opposite and God removed him. Do you realize that he does the same things with his priests and his prophets?

Most people don't realize that. Let's go to 1 Kings 19. 1 Kings 19. We know the story of the greatest prophet, matter of fact, it's considered the greatest prophet of all of Israel, Elijah. Right? He did amazing things. And he was an anointed one. And we know that we did a great job with prophets of Baal.

We know that Jezebel said, I'm coming to get you. I'm going to kill you. And he ran like a rabbit. Took off, ran all the way down to the southern part of Judah. He'd out in the caves, as we know. And we take up in verse 11 of 1 Kings 19. And then God caught up with him. And he said, Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, and behold, the Lord passed by and a great strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks and pieces before the Lord.

But the Lord was not in the wind and after the earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, there was a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire, but a still small voice, as we all know. He got that Elijah's attention by this still small voice. Didn't need all these dramatics. Said, and Elijah listened to him. Right? Did everybody agree he listened to him? But did he really hear? Here's a problem. Here's where the problem comes in. So it was when Elijah heard it, that still small voice, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

And suddenly a voice came to him saying, What are you doing here, Elijah? What are you doing here? This great man of God, you serving God? You serving me? What are you doing here, hiding out in some cave, afraid of some woman, after you just slaughtered 450 prophets of Baal? So he said, I have been very zealous for the Lord, God of hosts, because the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars and killed your prophets with a sword.

I alone left, and they seek to take my life. Then the Lord said to him, Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. Got that? Okay, just go anoint him king over Syria. Also, you shall anoint Jehu as king over Israel, and Elisha, the son of Shaphat, you shall anoint as prophet in your place.

Did he hear God? Did he? I'm not hearing much. You say he did. The evidence says he didn't. He went and he made Elisha a prophet. He did not go to Syria. He did not appoint him king. He did not anoint Jehu. He only did one of the three things that God commanded him to do. And what did we see happen to Elijah? He said God took him, and he never finished his job. What does that tell you about the job that God has given you to do? Are you listening to God? Do you hear Him?

Are you doing what He has asked you to do through His Holy Spirit? Because many of us know. We read the Word, and then all of a sudden a situation comes up that we deal with in everyday life, and we're deciding, Ah, I don't really want to do that when you know you should be doing that. Whatever is not of faith is of sin. The Scripture ring a bell.

So, how does this tie into us? It ties into us because of the Spirit of the Lord. Jesus Christ stood up in His own hometown, and He read from Isaiah. And He said, the Spirit of the Lord is on me because He has anointed me to preach the gospel. God gave Him the anointing to preach the gospel. How about you? Are you a walking, talking billboard? A walking, talking life before all those you work with? All those who might have questions? All those that do not have answers? Are you? Wait a minute! I'm in this thing of, wait a minute, I pay my tithes and I pray. I'm paying pray. I can't find that in the Bible. Oh, I find pain, I find praying, and I also find you are a light of the world. A city set up on a hill cannot be hidden. Let your light so shine before men. For men. So that they see it. So that they may glorify your God, not you. I was at the gym yesterday morning. I was in my old machine and was watching and flipping channels again, as I have mentioned to you before. Except this one, there was a new, new religious program on. Never seen this one before. And they were talking about, and that's what got my attention, because it is about the anointing oil. And so on this table, they had right there, was this preacher, and he had this table, and on it was this big glass bowl of oil. And he called the anointing oil. And he wanted you to call in, and he had a woman sitting there answering the phone, with these little pieces of paper like this. And on it, you would call in and say what you wanted, or what you needed. And she would write it on this little card. You can see it. It's probably out there. I'm sure it's not the only time it's on. Then he would say what that card said, and then he would drop it in that oil. And pretty soon, by the ten minutes, there was all kinds of cards in that oil. And he said these have all been answered because of this special oil. So deceptive. Just it was trying to get you to call in, trying to get you to believe that there was this oil, and you could write something on it, and some of those people, I need a new car. There's one of them. You know, my car's breaking down, I need a new car. Another one was, I need better health. I need this job. I'm going for this job.

Is this what the world has turned the anointed oil into in the world today? That it's just a wish thing? She's like, oh, I can get this? How ridiculous. And when you watch it, I'm going, I can't believe this is on the air. And I can't believe, and it listed, and there were four or five people from Fort Lauderdale listed there. It didn't list their first name and then where they were from. All this kind of stuff.

Brethren, the anointed is, as hopefully we've gone over today, something very special.

It is something that is very important. This oil, as we've seen, is symbolic of the Holy Spirit.

I hope you will dwell on that during the next week or two, because I will come back and finish this in a part two. So we can go into exactly what the true anointing that you have and that I have. And we're going to prove it from the Scriptures. But I'd like you to go to 1 John as we wrap up, because that's about where we'll start from.

I'd like you to go with me today at 1 John.

1 John 2 And I'd like you to go to verse 18, because John is saying here, little children, it is the last hours you've heard the Antichrist come, and even many Antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hours. They went out from us, talking about the church. These people went out from us. Okay?

There are people who left.

But then in verse 20, But you, all those who are part of the body of Christ, but you have an anointing from the Holy One. And you know all these things.

Then verse 27.

It says, But the anointing which you have received from him abides in you.

And you do not need that anyone teaches you, but as the same anointing teaches you, as concerning all these things, it is true, it is not a lie. Just as it has been taught you, you will abide in him.

John is trying to make clear, those with his Holy Spirit have an anointing, and it's the anointing of the Holy Spirit. So as this was a symbol of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, because God was working with just so many in the Old Testament.

And he gave his Holy Spirit to some, but not to many.

And things changed with Jesus Christ and the New Covenant.

So the next time I'm here, we're going to go into your job, your responsibility as part of the Melchizedek priesthood.

It's so important in Hebrews that the writer spent a whole chapter trying to tell the people just how important it was because they didn't want to let go of the Levitical priesthood.

We'll go through that, and we'll go through our responsibility.

And see if you are ready to fulfill your obligation, your anointing, to do the job that God has laid before you in this sick and sick and sick and sick and sick and sick world.

Because it is, and it's only going to get worse.

God needs some priests.

He needs the anointed ones to be able to stand tall so that people have a light, because otherwise, rather than this world, it's going to get a lot darker.