Our Anointing – The Full Operation

[00:00:00] First we'll read this passage that we have turned to for two weeks already. In one John, chapter two. [00:00:09] One John and chapter two. From verse 18. [00:00:18] One John, chapter two, verse 18. [00:00:23] Little children, it is the last hour. [00:00:28] And as ye heard that Antichrist cometh, even now have there arisen many antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last hour. [00:00:40] They went out, Thamuz, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that they all are not of us. [00:00:59] And ye have an anointing from the holy one, and ye know all things. [00:01:08] I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it. And because no lie is of the truth. [00:01:20] Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, even he that denieth the father and the son, whosoever denieth the son the same hath not the father. He that confesseth the son hath the father also. [00:01:41] As for you, let that abide in you which he heard from the beginning. [00:01:48] If that which ye heard from the beginning abide in you, ye also shall abide in the son and in the father. [00:01:58] And this is the promise which he promised us, even the life eternal. [00:02:06] These things have I written unto you concerning them that would lead you astray. [00:02:15] And as for you, the anointing which ye received of him abideth in you. And ye need not that anyone teach you, but as his anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is true and is no lie, and even as it taught you, so ye abide in him. [00:02:41] And now, my little children, abide in him, that if he shall be manifested, we may have boldness and not be ashamed before him at his coming. [00:02:57] If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one also that doeth righteousness is begotten of him. [00:03:09] Psalm 133 aho, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. [00:03:28] It is like the precious oil upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aeron's beard that came down upon the skirt of his garments, like the dew of Hermon that cometh down upon the mountains of Zion. [00:03:50] For there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. [00:04:01] In these studies that we have taken on this matter of knowing what is right and what is wrong, what is of God and what is not, what is truly the Holy spirit and what is not the spirit of God, we have covered quite a number of aspects and I can really only suggest that although we just very briefly touch on them in connection with our time this evening, that you hear the study of those tales, we have underlined one or two quite important points. [00:04:52] And the first is this, that perhaps the greatest and most fundamental need is to prove or to try all things. [00:05:06] Not just the things that you consider suspicious, but to try and prove all things. That is the word of God. [00:05:17] Try every spirit. [00:05:22] Take nothing for granted. [00:05:26] In every single case in which I have known any matter of deception or being led astray, it has started with someone gullible or spiritually naive, who has somehow swallowed something that they thought to be absolutely good and scriptural and right. [00:05:47] And then they look at you in a kind of bewildered perplexity. What else could they do? Sort of thing. If I was faced with the same problem again, I'd probably do it all over again. [00:05:58] But God has not left us in such a condition. [00:06:01] He has not left us without the equipment or the ability simply to detect what is of God and what isn't. [00:06:13] We have secondly underlined how this anointing works. Now, one of our problems, as I said, I think it was last week, is the simple fact that we all are looking for something complex, tremendously complex and intricate. That's really beyond simple believers, especially young believers. [00:06:38] Whereas the way the anointing works is simplicity itself. [00:06:44] And indeed, it is very interesting to note that amongst younger believers, there is often a greater awareness to start with of what's right and wrong. [00:06:56] It's when we get older, our mind, our brain takes over from our spirit, and we tend to sort of judge and rationalize and argue with ourselves and talk ourselves into something. [00:07:13] And the way the anointing works is simply by a sense of something wrong. [00:07:23] That's all. [00:07:25] Something wrong. A kind of disturbance, a kind of unrest, a kind of unhappiness, a kind of troubledness. [00:07:34] In the old days, according to the rabbis, when people used to go to the high priest to ask in the temple about whether they should do this or whether they should do that, he inquired of the law. And there were two great stones set in the breastplate, the urim and the thurmim. [00:07:57] And the old rabbinical explanation of how God spoke was that one would all, both of them would always cloud when it was not the way. And when it was the way, there would be the most magnificent radiancy. [00:08:20] Now, whether thats true or not, the fact is that spiritually it is, for that's just how the anointing works. There's a cloud there's a kind of confusion, there's a disturbance, there's a kind of feeling of storm. There's something. Something wrong. Something wrong. I can't understand it. It sounds so good. [00:08:39] The man seems to have so many miracles behind him, or it seems that it's so scriptural and true. Why? Who am I? Am I to judge? But you've got something inside that sort of says, be careful, be careful. There's something wrong here. There's something wrong here. And so you argue with yourself and you sort of say, how can there be something wrong here? I'm not ready to surrender. That's what it is. And the enemy sort of whispers in your ear and sort of says, you know, now then, now then, you're not ready to go right through. You're not ready to go right on. That's your problem. [00:09:18] And you're going to miss out on this if you don't commit yourself, lock, stock and barrel. [00:09:24] But the anointing, the way it works, is so simple. It's just a sense of disturbance, just a sense of something wrong, just a sense of unrest. [00:09:39] The third thing we have underlined is the importance of heeding the anointing. [00:09:48] There is nothing more vitally important than heeding the anointing. Of course, you must not just simply straight off obey what could be an impulse. But when you have that sense of disturbance and rest, the thing to do is to halt. Don't commit yourself. Ask the Lord. Ask the Lord. [00:10:11] Turn to the Lord. Say, now, Lord, I've got this funny feeling. Is it you or is it not? You never commit yourself when you have that said, always take heed of that anointing. Why? Because the scripture says that as ye are taught by the anointing, so ye abide in him. [00:10:40] Now, the opposite is true. [00:10:44] If you do not heed the instruction of the anointing, you go out from covering, you are uncovered. You go out from the protection of the Lord. You step out, as it were, of the umbrella of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that is why it is so vitally important to heed the anointing. [00:11:12] Because if the enemy can only get a believer out of Christ, if he can only get them to step out onto their self life or to something else which seems to be truth, but is a lie or mixed, then he can come and can deceive and delude. And the end, the beginning is always glory. And it seems to be marvellous and release. But the end, darkness, division, disintegration. And these things always. [00:11:42] You see them everywhere you go. They are the mark of the lie. Darkness, division, disintegration, death. [00:11:55] It all started with a deception. [00:11:59] It all started with listening to a lie, which of course didn't seem to be a lie. [00:12:06] And so coming out of our covering in him now, there's no need for us to be afraid. Why the Lord Jesus put it in John ten, as we pointed out, I think at least the. On the previous two evenings, my sheep hear my voice, they know not the voice of a stranger, but will flee from him. [00:12:32] That's how simple the whole thing really is. [00:12:37] Now don't blame your complex circumstances or the complexity of the thing, as if you've got some excuses. What we all do, we say, oh, but it's so, it's so difficult, we say, I mean, anyone could be hoodwinked, anyone. It's so difficult to know what's right and what's wrong. It's not difficult. [00:13:01] It's not difficult. I mean that I'm not just sort of laying down the law. The word of God says you don't need anyone to teach you. What you're saying is the word of God is not true. You need an awful lot of instruction. You need to go to a kind of theological seminary and have an instruction course on what is counterfeit and mixed so that you can spot it a mile on. But the scriptures. You don't need any theological course. You don't need any Bible training in this matter. Bible training course in this matter. The anointing will teach you this simple provision by God to the youngest of us will teach us how we can keep abiding in him. [00:13:45] So let's be very careful of this kind of talk, which I'm afraid perhaps a little old with the truth, I don't know. But now whenever I hear it I immediately become suspicious because people are covering up, that's all. They sort of say, oh, but it's so difficult, it's so difficult. But what they're doing is covering up. [00:14:07] They don't want to admit that they have gone wrong, they've been taken in, it's quite simple, they just don't want to admit it. So they say, oh, you see, it's so difficult. I mean, I think even the majority of christians in my circumstances would go astray as well. [00:14:26] You see, it's so, so difficult to tell. [00:14:30] But in actual fact this is not true. We must face these facts because theyre very, very important. Weve also spoken about soul and spirit because this has a tremendous amount to do with this matter. [00:14:48] When the soul and the spirit are mixed up together. [00:14:52] And when people mistake the soul for the spirit, then you get a tremendous amount of trouble. [00:15:01] And that's one of the reasons why we do, in fact, get deceived, because we have never understood that what we think is the spirit is, in fact, our own soul. [00:15:17] Therefore, there is this tremendous need of spiritual surgery to divide between soul and spirit so that we know what is ourselves and we get to know our own reactions and responses. And we can almost immediately say, that's me, and we don't. Now that's the Lord. [00:15:41] I'm sure that's the Lord saying something. [00:15:45] Well, now, that's just a little brief touching upon the last two weeks. [00:15:53] Now, this evening, this whole matter of the anointing, how we may know its full operation. [00:16:02] Now, I must tell you straight away, I find this whole subject theologically quite difficult. [00:16:13] There are those who make it so simple, I envy them. [00:16:19] To them, it seems that the scripture says just one thing, and there are others who say it says the exact opposite. [00:16:27] And really, after a while, you just wonder what is true. [00:16:34] Let's put aside all our preconceptions on this matter and take just a look at the word of God and what it does say on this. [00:16:45] How may I know the full operation of the anointing? Because it is obviously tremendously important, not only in keeping me from being led astray, but for keeping me abiding in Christ and keeping me in communion with him so that I am instructed all the time I am being instructed. Those who are led with the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. In other words, they are growing up. Theyre not just babes. Theyre growing up into sonship. [00:17:22] You may have a baby whos a son, but the baby cant take over the business. [00:17:29] Later on, the baby grows up, and as a son, he can take over the business. Those who are led with the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. They can enter into the work of God, take responsibility in the things of God. How may we know the full operation of the anointing? Well, now let's look at two scriptures in one John, chapter two, that we have turned back to a number of times, verse 20 and ye have an anointing from the holy one, and ye know all things. [00:18:09] Verse 27. And as for you, the anointing which ye received of him abideth in you. Now, will you please note that the apostle John says, here ye have an anointing. Will you please note that I like the way he puts it. Very, very simply, ye have an anointing. [00:18:37] Did he mean that everyone to whom this letter was written had the anointing? [00:18:42] He puts it so simply and so clearly. Ye have an anointing from the holy one, and you know all things. [00:18:55] Then you will see, if you look at verse 27, the anointing which he received from him. [00:19:06] The anointing which he received from him. [00:19:12] Now, if you will turn to the only other reference we have to the anointing in this connection in the word of God is two corinthians and chapter one and verse 21, two corinthians 121. Now, he that establisheth us with you in Christ, note the tense, establisheth us with you in Christ, and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the earnest of the spirit in our hearts. [00:19:56] Now bring these three together. Ye have an anointing. [00:20:01] The anointing which ye received from him and anointed us is God. [00:20:15] One thing that will unite all of us? [00:20:19] Surely from these scriptures is this simple fact. [00:20:24] It is absolutely clear that there is a provision of an anointing for every single member of Christ. [00:20:39] The apostle doesn't go into sort of all the difficulties we might face today on this matter. He simply states, the fact that there's an anointing for every one of us takes it for granted. You have an anointing from the holy one. [00:20:57] The anointing which you receive from him abideth in you. [00:21:02] And anointed us is God. [00:21:06] In other words, there is an anointing for every believer. There is not an anointing just for the apostle or the apostle John or the apostle Peter. There's not just an anointing for people like Martin Luther or Wycliffe or Calvin or the Wesley brothers or Hudson Taylor or watchman nee. Or perhaps we come today, we think of Campbell Morgan or Arthur Wallace in this country. Or we think of our dear brother now in the glory, brother Sparks. We might think there was an anointing. Yes, there are anointings, but we are speaking of an anointing which is for every single person. [00:21:50] Every single person. [00:21:53] Will you notice very carefully, turn back to one John, chapter two, verse 13. I write unto you, father, because ye know him who is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the evil one. I have written unto you, little children, because ye know the father. So the apostle is writing to those who are adults are actually reproducing themselves, young men who are just coming up, as it were, out of adolescence into adulthood, and to little children, those who've just been born. In other words, the apostle is writing to the whole circle of the family, from little babies to fathers. The whole circle of the family he's writing to now, isn't it beautiful that when he comes to speak, he takes the lowest denominator and starts in verse 18, little children. [00:22:56] He could have easily taken it, as I think I would have done, and said, fathers, this matter of the anointing is for fathers. [00:23:04] This matter of the anointing is for those of you. The little ones are going to be led astray. But you, fathers, shouldnt be led astray. You grown up spiritually, youre able to reproduce. Youre able to lead others to Christ. [00:23:18] But no the apostles as little children. And again, after he's talked about all this matter in verse 28, and now my little children abide in him, he's given us the secret, and he says, look here, I'm not going to talk about the fathers or the young men, because that might cut some of you out. You might get the idea. The anointing is only for fathers or for the young men who are growing up in the Lord. The anointing is for every one of us, from the littlest, the youngest, the most newborn babe. The anointing is for every single one ye have an anointing from the Holy one, the anointing which ye receive. [00:24:06] Well, we could point this also out from two corinthians in chapter one, because again, it is all to do with the promises. Verse 20, how many soever be the promises of God in Christ is the yea, wherefore also through him is the amen unto the glory of God through us. Then he goes up and says, now, he that establisheth us with you and anointed us is God. [00:24:42] So we come to this wonderful and basic, this foundational point that there is an anointing for every single believer. [00:24:56] There is an anointing from the Holy one. For every single child of God, there is an anointing from the Holy one. For every single member of God's family, every truly born again person, there is an anointing for them. [00:25:19] Now we ask the question, which I think is all important. Where is the anointing then? [00:25:27] Where is the anointing? Now we will start at the other end to which most people begin. [00:25:38] Where is the anointing? [00:25:40] Where did you always anoint people in the Old Testament? On the head. [00:25:46] You didn't anoint their feet first or their hands. It's true that blood was, they were touched with blood, but it was their head that was anointed. [00:25:58] And the Hebrew just means smear, you smear oil, sort of rub it in, you anoint. [00:26:11] So where is the anointing? Get it. It's on the head. Who is the head? The Lord Jesus. [00:26:19] Now this is exactly what we have. Ye have an anointing. Where from? [00:26:24] From the holy one. [00:26:30] The anointing which he received from him. [00:26:34] Where does it come to us? It comes from him. It's not just in him, it comes from him. It's flowing out of him. [00:26:43] The head. It's on the head. The anointing. And it's pouring down. [00:26:49] Have you got it? Now let's just look at one or two scriptures that speak of the Lord Jesus in this way. [00:26:56] Acts, chapter two and verse 23, 33. [00:27:10] Acts, chapter two, verse 33. [00:27:16] Being therefore by the right hand of God, exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this which ye see and hear. Could there be anything more wonderful? The Lord Jesus has received the promise of the father and has poured forth this which ye see in here. In other words, theres the anointing from the Holy one. [00:27:45] There is the anointing which he received from him. [00:27:51] He has got it. He has got it. [00:27:55] Do you understand? [00:27:57] Its not that the Holy Spirit works independently of Christ. Far, far from it. [00:28:04] The Holy Spirit comes to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. [00:28:11] The Holy Spirit comes to us through him. He is the one who, being exalted at the right hand of God the Father, made king of kings and Lord of lords, ruler of the kings of the earth, who has been made Lord of all, far above all principality and power, who has been told, sit at my right hand till I make thine enemies, the footstool of thy feet. This one who has taken the throne of God, has received the promise of the Holy Spirit and poured forth this which ye see and hear. Where is the anointing? The anointing's on the head. [00:28:56] It's its on Christ that the anointing supremely rests. [00:29:05] Now, of course, you think immediately of some of the scriptures concerning the Lord Jesus. I think of Isaiah and chapter 61. [00:29:23] And it says, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me. Because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meat. He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that abound, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour and the day of the vengeance of vengeance of our God, to comfort all but mourn to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give unto them a garland, ashes, the oil of joy, fore mourning, the garment of praise, of the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. Now everyone says, well, of course that's the Lord Jesus. Of course it's the Lord Jesus, but just wait. And they, not he, and they shall build the old wastes. They shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities and the desolations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks. Foreigners shall be your ploughmen and your vinders. But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord. [00:30:35] Men shall call you the ministers of our God. Now, what is it all about? [00:30:43] Well, it's this. That the head has been anointed. [00:30:47] And in that great anointing of the head, the whole body is included. [00:30:54] The whole church is included. [00:30:58] Turn again to Isaiah, chapter eleven. [00:31:06] Isaiah, chapter eleven. [00:31:11] Remember, we read this last week. [00:31:13] And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. And his breathing in or his scenting, his delight, it says in the old version, shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge after the sight of his eyes nor after the hearing of his ears. [00:31:54] In other words, he won't just look and judge on what he sees and hear and judge on what he hears, but he will go by his sending of things. Who is this one? It is the head. [00:32:08] It is the head who has been anointed. It is the Lord Jesus Christ. [00:32:14] Now you know that the Lord Jesus said in Luke, chapter four about the passage in Isaiah 61 that this day this scripture has been fulfilled. [00:32:31] Chapter four, verse 18. [00:32:34] The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. [00:32:52] 21 21. He began to say unto them, today, hath this scripture been fulfilled in this place? [00:33:00] Now, in other words, what the Lord Jesus really is saying is that this whole scripture about the spirit of the Lord being upon him was fulfilled in him. [00:33:12] Now how does that have anything to do with us? Surely he was unique in this sense. Yes, because the spirit of the Lord could rest upon no one else but the Lord Jesus Christ. I cannot obtain the Holy Spirit. And this is why many people with all the seeking in the world and all the zeal in the world never come into a real experience of the fullness of the Holy Spirit, because they somehow think that it's going to be based on their own righteousness or their own works or something that they are going to present to God, and God's going to say, oh, well, now look here, I'll fill them with the spirit because of that. [00:33:51] But that's not the point. [00:33:54] The point is this. Theres only one in the whole universe whos worthy enough to obtain the Holy Spirit, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. [00:34:02] And he has obtained the promise of the Holy Spirit. And then in abundant and infinite grace poured forth the Holy Spirit upon the church. [00:34:19] Now, if you look to acts and chapter one and verse one, we read here the former treaties I made, o Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus both began, began both to do and to teach. Now this is a point that so many christians overlook. Have you noticed how Luke begins this great story? [00:34:50] He says, the former treatise, that's the gospel according to Luke I wrote of all that Jesus began both to do and to preach. Now he's going on, but just wait. The Lord Jesus is dead. No, he's risen, but he's at the right hand of God the father. But the book of acts is all that the Lord Jesus continued to do and teach, only this time through his body, through his members, through the believers. [00:35:27] Now, what does it all mean? [00:35:34] It means this very, very simply. [00:35:38] The anointing is ours in Christ. [00:35:43] And I am very, very interested that the scripture nowhere says, now look here, all of you. [00:35:50] You must wait two months or a year or five years or ten years, and then you can have a second experience. [00:35:59] There are people who say, you must have a second experience. You must absolutely have a second experience. Now, I can only say this. I myself had a second experience. I know, I suppose I know hundreds and hundreds of others who have had a second experience. [00:36:15] Praise God. [00:36:19] But the scripture doesn't say, now look here, all of you, you've got to have a second experience. What the scripture just simply says, ignores all that and says, you have an anointing. [00:36:31] But have you? [00:36:35] Ye have an anointing from the holy one who takes it for granted. You've all got it. And that's why, unfortunately, in christian circles, you get a whole lot of christian people sitting on their behinds and saying, oh, we've got it. We've got it. We've got it. [00:36:50] And they haven't. [00:36:55] They see, yes, we're filled with the spirit, and they are not filled with the spirit. [00:37:06] I remember going to hear a brother preach, I will not give any names or places. [00:37:14] And he got very worked up on the question of revival and finally said, and if the spirit of God fell upon our church members, what would we do with them? And I had to almost hold myself at home, hold onto the chair, because I wanted to shout out, put them out. [00:37:31] That's what you normally do. Because this brother had put out two or three people who've been filled with the spirit. [00:37:38] Isn't it incredible? [00:37:44] You can talk about being filled with the spirit, of what you mean by it, I have no idea. [00:37:50] Now, there are other people who think that as soon as you talk about being filled with the spirit, you must mean that you roll on the floor, that you make noise, that you sort of dance and jump or you clap, and then if you do that, you're filled with the spirit. Of course, if you don't, you're not filled with the spirit. [00:38:09] Isn't it nonsensical? [00:38:13] Really nonsensical. [00:38:16] What does it mean to be filled with? The scripture in simplicity, just takes it for granted that we should all, every one of us know and experience in full operation, uniting. [00:38:32] Why? Because the Lord Jesus Christ died that every single child of God should have that anointing. [00:38:43] And if a person doesn't know the anointing in their life, the Lord Jesus must look upon them with sadness. [00:38:52] He must say, oh, my dear child, if you only understood. Don't you realize what I died to give you? [00:39:02] You despise. [00:39:04] You ignore what cost me blood and body. [00:39:11] If we saw it like that, we would wake up, we would start to say, oh, is that it? [00:39:20] He died that we might have an anointing from him. [00:39:25] He died that we might be filled with him. [00:39:31] He didn't just die that we might be forgiven from our sins. Marvelous as it is, he didn't just die that we might be justified. Tremendous as that is, it's magnificent, the whole concept and experience of justification. [00:39:50] But that was only the beginning. If you like the initiation, what he died was that we might be one with him, that we might be filled with him, that he might manifest himself in us, that something of his love, his beauty, his grace, his gifts might be seen in us and through us. [00:40:13] How sad the Lord Jesus must be then when he sees me, there's my dear child. [00:40:21] Oh, how I love that one. [00:40:25] What I've given to that one my life laid down they sing these hymns. [00:40:34] Love divine all object selling joy of heaven to earth come down things in me thy humble dwellings breathe, o breathe thy love loving spirit into every troubled breath let us all indeed inherit and so on. [00:41:20] The fact of the matter is, Lord Jesus has died for that. He sees us singing these things. We have possession. [00:41:33] You see, we all get absolutely bogged down on this whole question of whether we have everything when we start or whether we should have a second experience. It's so much rot. [00:41:48] I'm sure it's one of the enemy's great weapons. [00:41:58] One of the enemy's great weapons to sort of just absolutely hold back the church. Get them all yapping backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards. Have we all got it? Have we got it? Of course we've got it. Look, it says here ye have an anointing, so we must have it. [00:42:15] So they blinkers over. Don't know the first thing about the. And idea and experience, but they said, we've got it, we've got it, we've got it. [00:42:23] And the others will say, you haven't. You haven't, you haven't. [00:42:28] Unless you speak in tongues, or unless you do this, or unless you do that, unless you do the other. You haven't got it. You must have this, you must have that, you must have the other. [00:42:39] Now, the whole point is this. [00:42:42] There are on both sides of triple. There is a tremendous amount of truth. [00:42:47] The fact is that the scripture is deliberately, in one sense, vague, and yet on the other side, absolutely dogmatic, concrete in its definition. What it says is, you've all got an anointing, little children, ye have an anointing from the holy one. [00:43:09] Now tell me, don't you think if you got an anointing from the holy one, not just salvation, but if you got an anointing from the holy one, that anointing which came upon priests, that they might stand before the face of God, that anointing that came upon kings, that they might execute the will of God, that anointing that came upon prophets, that they might speak the word of God. Don't you think that if you've got an anointing, there'll be a manifestation that somehow or other you'll see in life something of Christ? [00:43:45] I know people who are in quite conservative groups, and when I look at them, I can see in them the Lord Jesus Christ. There's life, there's power, there's a release. [00:44:06] They've got an anointing. [00:44:09] It doesn't bother me that they haven't come the same way as I. [00:44:19] Does it really matter so long as we're in the good? [00:44:26] Thank God for everyone who's been used by the spirit of God. To bring us into some real experience of what is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ. But, dear child of God, there are many, many ways that God leads his own into the fullness. [00:44:46] They are all channeled in two ways. [00:44:52] First, through the Lord Jesus Christ. And secondly, by the spirit. [00:44:59] Doesn't matter how you. Where you. [00:45:04] The anointing is ours in Christ. Let's look at that. Psalm 133. What an amazing little psalm it is. Three verses. [00:45:17] Some people can't quite understand it. It seems to them to be a bit of a jumble. [00:45:22] Something about oil running down someone's beard. [00:45:27] And then going to the skirts. What? First of all, what is a gentleman doing with a skirt? [00:45:36] And secondly, what is the oil doing running down beard and down to the skirt? And then I know when I first read this, as a young believer. Having never really read the Bible in my life, to me, I couldn't make head a tail of it. Then it went on and said, like the Jew of Herman. What the Jew of Herman, in my simple outlook, had to do with oil running down someone's beard. I couldn't work out. But I've come to see that this little psalm. Is one of the most extraordinary gems in the whole psalter. [00:46:13] Look at it again. [00:46:15] Behold. And behold how good and how pleasant or lovely it is. For brothers to dwell together in unity. [00:46:33] There's the first thing. [00:46:36] So it's talking about brothers who are dwelling together in unity. Now, I like the way it's put. Dwelling together in unity. It doesn't say how pleasant it is that brothers are one. [00:46:55] It could be true. But it doesn't say. It says, dwelling together in unity. [00:47:01] Then will you notice that it goes on? It's like the precious oil upon the head that ran down upon the beard. Even Aaron's beard that came down upon the skirt of his gun. [00:47:19] It's speaking of the anointing of the high priest. [00:47:23] It's speaking of the oil that came on the head, ran down the beard. [00:47:29] And went right down those high priestly garments right to the bottom. [00:47:39] Well, what is this all about? [00:47:43] What is it all about? [00:47:45] We know who our head is. It's the Lord Jesus. We know who our unity is. It is the Lord Jesus. Where are we one? Who is our oneness? The Lord Jesus. We are one when we dwell together in him. If we abide in him, we must be one. [00:48:05] Where then, is the anointing? The anointing is not in the members firstly, but on the head. And it comes down the beard and comes upon the whole body. [00:48:18] Includes every single member of the body. The whole are included in this anointing. [00:48:28] Then it goes on and talks about the dew of Hermon that comes down upon the mount of Zion, speaking of the way that the cold air of the high mountains provides Jerusalem with its only means of sustenance, the dew which keeps nearly all the vegetation in Jerusalem alive every single night, even in the summer. Youve got the dew in Jerusalem. [00:49:04] And what is it all about there? The Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. This is exactly what John says, doesnt he? In one, John two, he says if we abide in him, the promise of the Father is the life eternal. It's exactly the same thing. So now what are we getting learning from this? We shall have to draw this to a conclusion. The anointing is on the head. Our Lord Jesus. It runs down upon the whole body. That's exactly what happened in acts, chapter two. Being exalted at the right hand of God, he had obtained the promise of the Holy Spirit and poured forth this which he see and hear. In other words, this, the Holy Spirit. The fullness and power of the Holy Spirit poured out upon the whole body, running down the beer of our great high priest, right down the garments to the very skirt. [00:50:12] There were 120 on that day. And do you know something very, very wonderful? Not one single one of them was missed out. [00:50:21] When the holy spirit was poured out by the Lord Jesus, it was as fire that came from heaven. And then it divided a tongue, flame on everyone, same fire, but there was a portion for everyone. And isn't it marvellous? There was Peter the apostle, there was John the apostle. And they didn't have a great big flame of fire, but it was just the same as the others. [00:50:51] Just the same. [00:50:54] I suppose there were some dear little old saints there. Probably some dear little old widow amongst a 120. [00:51:03] Wasn't great like Peter or like John like some of the others. But she had exactly the same anointing as the others. [00:51:13] Think of that. She'd have died thinking about that. Oh, wasn't it wonderful? On that day when the Holy Spirit was given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, I had as much fire on me as the apostle himself. [00:51:31] That's grace pets grace. [00:51:38] In all probability there were two there called ananias and Sapphira. [00:51:44] They were to die under the hand of God. A little later, perhaps it's speculation to say they were there, but they could have been, and the fire came on them too. [00:51:57] You see, it's not a question of worth. [00:52:00] It is a question of his finished work. [00:52:04] His finished work. He's the one who's obtained it. [00:52:07] Now we must draw this, I think, to its conclusion. [00:52:14] If, therefore, there is an anointing for every member of the body of Christ, every single one who is in Christ, there is an anointing provided by God. [00:52:30] We must claim, we must possess what is ours in the name of the head. [00:52:42] Do you understand? [00:52:44] That's what it means when it speaks of the Lord Jesus as the baptizer with the Holy Spirit. Some people are frightened of what is there to be frightened of? It's just what I've said. [00:52:56] People speak of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but the scripture always speaks of the baptizer with the Holy Spirit. The baptizer with the Holy Spirit. In other words, the emphasis is upon the head from whom you receive the anointing. [00:53:19] You've only got to claim. [00:53:23] Got to claim. Of course, some people can hear. [00:53:29] Others will say, well, I don't know. [00:53:32] I can think of such a scripture, such and such a scripture. How does that fit in, other than it comes home to by revelation? [00:53:40] Oh, just like a word from heaven. You mean that there's an anointing for me? [00:53:51] That all I've got to do is to say thank you for me? [00:54:01] And don't delay. Claim your anointing. [00:54:07] Claim your anointing. Ye have an anointing from the holy one, the youngest. [00:54:20] I don't believe that we can really know the anointing. I believe that even the youngest believer who has had no. Doesn't know what it is to be filled with. The spirit can yet know the promptings of the spirit of God in the way that we've read in one John two. But for the full operation of the anointing, we must claim the full, the fullness of the spirit. [00:54:49] What makes me so sad is that sometimes I find that the very people who speak most about this subject of the spirit. Fullness of the spirit. The baptisms will show on the people who are most led astray. [00:55:11] It is the Holy Spirit who keeps us. [00:55:17] He is the spirit of truth, not mixture nor lies. [00:55:23] He keeps us. [00:55:25] So then what can we say? We can say this, that this anointing must never come on the flesh. [00:55:34] It says so in Exodus 30 and verse 32. If some of you want to put it down and look it up, it will never come on the flesh. [00:55:45] Thats why? It says it was on the head. It came on the beard, not the flesh. [00:55:57] It must never touch the flesh. [00:56:02] Or then we need the anointing that we might know the work of the cross. [00:56:12] That is, all our energies, all our resources, all that we are crucified. With Christ, we might know what it is to have a division between soul and spirit. By the work of the cross, through the Holy Spirit, that we might know brokenness. [00:56:44] Jacob became Israel when he met with God. It was his anointing. [00:56:52] He received an anointing from the holy one. [00:56:57] You shall no longer be called JaCob. Supplanter, deceiver. [00:57:04] You shall be called Israel, prince with God. [00:57:17] An anointing. [00:57:21] Brokenness was his experience. [00:57:24] He limped. He limped for the rest of his day. [00:57:30] Something in his thigh shriveled, the strongest point in him physically. [00:57:40] From that day to the end, he limped. [00:57:46] But he was an anointed man. [00:57:49] And the prophet Isaiah says, the lame shall take the prey, not the sound, but the lame shall take the prey, because they are anointed. [00:58:10] So what can I say? [00:58:14] Do you know the anointing? [00:58:18] I think all of you, without exception, have known. If you look back the promptings of the Holy Spirit, you've had experience. This is where you felt the stones. Some sense something wrong. [00:58:34] Perhaps you've not heeded it. [00:58:39] But tell me, have you really? Are you living in the good of the anointing which the Lord Jesus has obtained for you? [00:58:51] Then you say to me, I do think I really am. [00:58:57] What shall I do? [00:58:59] I will tell you. [00:59:02] Do not rest any more upon yourself, upon your zeal, upon turning over a new leaf in your own strength, upon somehow presenting yourself to God as acceptable, but come as you should at the very beginning with the lamb of God as your only being, come to take what he has died to give you. [00:59:35] And it will be all. [00:59:42] It will be all. [00:59:45] You will never release. [00:59:47] You will know an anointing. [00:59:49] You will know a fullness. Don't think, of course, that it means that. Well, now you have such a tremendous experience, you never need anything more coarseness. It has been filled every day, every week, through each circumstance. You've got to drink and take, stand into, possess. [01:00:16] But have you got that anointing? [01:00:20] Well, you say, I don't know. [01:00:24] I want to tell you. You have. [01:00:29] You have. [01:00:31] If you'll only take it. [01:00:35] It seems a paradox, doesn't it? But you have. [01:00:39] If you'll only take what is yours, may God help everyone else to take. [01:00:49] Say, thank you, Lord, you are the anointed. One. There's an anointing for me, I take. [01:01:01] Shall we bow together? [01:01:05] We were bowed together. In a moment or two of quietness. [01:01:32] Maybe there are many. [01:01:35] You feel that somehow the anointing is not working as it ought to. [01:01:42] Now then, in the quietness. [01:01:46] The Lord Jesus, who has saved you and who loves you. [01:01:53] And in whom God has placed you, if you're a child of God. [01:02:00] Has one for you. [01:02:04] An anointing. [01:02:08] Thank you, Father. [01:02:12] Open your heart and say, lord, here I am nothing to offer. [01:02:21] Utterly unworthy, worthy. [01:02:23] But the father has put me in you. [01:02:31] In thee. [01:02:35] And thou hast an anointing for me. [01:03:18] O Father, thou hast warned us of the days that are coming upon the earth. [01:03:31] Thou hast warned us, Lord, of so many things that would lead us astray as spoken or the love of many wexing cold. [01:03:46] O Father, we thank thee. That thou has not left us to the mercies of the enemy. [01:03:56] But thou hast wonderfully provided for us now, Father, by thy spirit. Open us. Open our eyes. Open our eyes to see that it doesnt rest on what weve done. Or even what we are as christians. But upon the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. And upon his glorious position at thy right hand. As the one who has been absolutely accepted for us. [01:04:30] And who has obtained for thy the promise of the spirit. [01:04:36] And poured forth upon the body. [01:04:40] O Father, we are members of that body. [01:04:43] The body of thy son. Help every one of us to claim what is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ. [01:04:52] And to know the most marvelous filling of the spirit of God. [01:05:00] Than manifesting of himself within us. [01:05:05] So that, lord, we know what it is to be clothed with power from on high. [01:05:15] We ask it in his name. [01:05:18] Amen.