View Full Transcript
Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] 133Rd psalm. We'll read it again tonight.
[00:00:06] Psalm 133.
[00:00:12] Psalm 133.
[00:00:16] Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is 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 garments. Like the dew of Hermond that cometh down upon the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord commanded the blessing even life forevermore. And then I want to read a passage in the book of Exodus.
[00:00:55] Exodus and chapter 30.
[00:00:59] And from verse 22. Exodus chapter 30 and from verse 22.
[00:01:10] Moreover the Lord spake unto Moses. Take thou also unto thee the chief spices of flowing myrrh. 500 shekels. And of sweet cinnamon half so much even. 250. And of sweet calamus. 250. And of Cassia 500. After the shekel of the sanctuary and of olive oil a hin. And thou shalt make it a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer. It shall be a holy anointing oil. And thou shalt anoint therewith the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony and the table and all the vessels thereof. And the candlestick and the vessels thereof. And the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with all the vessels thereof. And the labour and the base thereof. And thou shalt sanctify them that they may be most holy. Whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons and sanctify them that they may minister unto me in the priest's office. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, this shall be a holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. Upon the flesh of man shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any like it. According to the composition thereof. It is holy and it shall be holy unto you. Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.
[00:02:51] Now this evening I want you to turn to the 133rd psalm.
[00:02:57] And I want us to look at the second verse.
[00:03:02] It is 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 garment. We have been looking at this psalm 133 and although it is, as I've said, one of the shortest psalms in the psalter that bears no relation at all to the vital importance of the truth it expresses, this little psalm contains and expresses essential truth. Now we have already looked at the fundamental lesson last Thursday and indeed last Sunday morning we sought to complete what we had to say upon that about brethren dwelling together in unity. Now this evening I want to go on to this second verse. It is 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 garments.
[00:04:24] We are given in this little psalm, in verses two and three, two illustrations of brethren dwelling together in unity. I'm not sure that illustration is the best word to use. Perhaps it would be better to say, and would bring us far more directly to the heart of the matter, if we said that we are given two keys.
[00:04:53] In verse two and verse three, you will notice both. Begin. It is like the precious oil upon the head. It is like the dew of Hermon that cometh down upon the mountains of Zion. In Hebrew it is very simply a little word that means like or as, as.
[00:05:22] How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in oneness, as the precious oil upon the head that came down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard that came down to the skirts of his garments as the dew of Hermon that cometh down upon the mountains of Zion.
[00:05:53] Now will you take your Bible? And I'd like you to have a little closer look at the text first, and then we will seek to explain and expound it. First of all, this precious oil. It is, of course, the holy anointing oil. This is a reference to the high priest's anointing. It is not the oil that we read of, he anointeth my head with oil. That in psalm 23, which, of course, was one of the ways that you sort of made yourself feel better after a weary day, you anointed your head with oil. Sometimes one's body was anointed with oil.
[00:06:39] It was a common thing in the ancient world, in the hot countries, to bathe oneself or anoint oneself with oil. But this precious oil upon the head is the sacred holy anointing oil with which the high priest was anointed. I have already read that passage in Exodus, chapter 30 that gives us the description of the constituents of this oil and also tells us that it may not be used for secular purposes at any time.
[00:07:25] It must not touch the flesh, it must never be used for secular purposes, and it must never, ever come upon an unsaved person. In other words, a stranger, someone outside of the covenant people. They may be religious, they may be knowledgeable, they may be very zealous and all the rest of it. But if they're not born of God, if they do not belong to the covenant people, this holy anointing oil was never to touch them.
[00:08:00] There is a very serious warning contained here in the word as to what will happen to anybody who uses this sacred oil in a wrong way. Now, there are three things about this anointing oil straight away that we notice from this passage in Exodus 31st, it is specific. That is, although it was made after the art of the perfumer, it was for specific use. It wasn't just an ordinary oil that was used on other occasions for other things. This was a special oil, made in a special way. It was specific. And secondly, it was sanctifying. Anything the oil touched was sanctified or made holy or was set apart for God.
[00:08:58] And you will read all the different things that were touched by the holy oil. Nearly everything in the tabernacle was touched by this oil. Even the base of the brazen altar was touched by even all the vessels, the little snuffers, the little pots and pans, all of them were anointed with this oil. Not only was the blood sprinkled on everything, but the oil touched everything. The blood meant that it was redeemed. It was in a, as it were cleansed, and the oil meant that it was set apart, made holy. Now, that is very important, I think, for our understanding. And the third thing about this oil, this holy anointing oil that often escapes people's attention is that it was very fragrant, it was aromatic. In other words, when this oil was poured upon the high priest, the whole tent of meeting would have been filled with the fragrance of it, especially as it was not used sparingly.
[00:10:02] It was poured, as we have in this psalm, so that it really ran down his beard onto the garment. And if we understand, as we shall see in a moment, that it comes down to the hem of his garment, it really was quite a bit of oil that was used. And I suppose the whole place was filled with fragrance.
[00:10:22] So we have three very beautiful things about this holy anointing oil. It was specific.
[00:10:31] In other words, only those things that God had specific purpose for were so anointed. Secondly, it made those things holy, set apart for divine use and the divine provision. And thirdly, there was a fragrance about those things that was attractive.
[00:10:54] Now, of course, immediately we have to ask ourselves what this anointing signifies. And in the, of course, the Old Testament, the anointing oil was and is always a symbol of the Holy Spirit. But beyond that, it has also another figurative meaning. It is always to do with service.
[00:11:18] And you will find that wherever you look, whenever the holy anointing oil was used somehow or other. It was to do with the service of God. It was to do with the realization of the purpose of God. It was to do with the work of God. It was to do with getting either to do with the actual furniture, or the material things, or the people that were involved in the house and work of God.
[00:11:49] It has three meanings which may help us to understand. We all understand the third, but very few of us understand the other two. First of all, the anointing means it is sanctified or made holy. We have just made mention of that. Now, we tend to think of holiness as something terribly drab, terribly sort of colourless, dull, heavy, whereas holiness is not really like that at all. Holiness is connected with soundness and health. And it is quite the opposite of what we often think of holiness as something abnormal or almost diseased. You know, the kind of thing we think of something that's holy as all being terribly dark and terribly heavy and awfully weird somehow. Not normal, not a normal human being. But God's idea of holiness is something which is absolutely, in a right way from his point of view, normal, healthy and sound. What he means is this. It is set apart. Now we get the word saint just from this. We can't say.
[00:13:05] I don't know how you'd say it, we just can't say it. But if we could, it would be something like a.
[00:13:10] Well, I don't know how you say that. Holite, someone who's holy, a holy ite.
[00:13:18] But we do get the word sanctify, which is the same word, to be made holy and saint from sanctify. Now we know that we don't become saints at the end of a long struggle. We are made saints by a spiritual birth and by the indwelling of the Lord Jesus. We are called saints. We are sanctified. It's not just a few of the believers who are sanctified. Every born again believer is sanctified.
[00:13:48] We ought to enter into the meaning of it and the experience of it. But every single believer is in fact sanctified. Now that, I think, is very important. The second thing about anointing is that it means that whatever the holy anointing oil touches, that thing or person is under direct authority, the direct authority of God. Now, if the king was anointed, it meant under the old covenant that that king was not to be a king like the kings of the other nations, but he was to be the vicegerent of God. He was to be the very means by which God ruled not only that nation, but expressed his government and authority to the nations round about the people of God.
[00:14:41] If it was a priest, he wasn't just to be a religious figure. He was to be someone who represented God to the people and the people to God. He was under divine authority. And the prophet, oh, how many times it comes in the word, the prophet was not to speak his own words. Indeed, I've often thought we would have solved many of our problems today if the old scriptural injunction was carried out that anyone who prophesied something that did not come to pass should be stoned to death.
[00:15:14] Now, why was God so very severe on this matter? Because he would not warrant, would not have any saying of things in his name which were not really from him.
[00:15:30] In other words, the prophet wasn't just a babbler, he wasn't just a preacher. He wasn't someone with the gift of a gab, someone with an amazing capacity for eloquence and oratory.
[00:15:44] A preacher was a prophet, was someone sent by God with a burden which was inspired and conceived by the Holy Spirit. And he spoke in the name of the living God.
[00:16:00] He was under divine authority and divine government. Now that explains that extraordinary little instance in the Old Testament where you have, you remember an old man, an old man who was supposed to be a prophet and a young man who was a prophet. Do you remember? And how the old man said to him, I also have the word of the Lord. Did God say to you that you should pass through this territory and not speak to anybody? I also have the word of the Lord. Listen to me. You shall stay with me this night. And the young prophet stayed with him and he died. You remember the story.
[00:16:36] Now, why was God so severe? Because he had no business to do anything that was outside of divine authority and direction. In other words, you see this being anointed has with it a very real responsibility.
[00:16:52] It is a most wonderful thing to be under divine authority and direction under divine government, but it is also a responsibility. Now, the third thing about anointing, I think everybody here probably knows it, is that there is a provision of divine grace and divine power. Now, I think everybody knows that anointing goes with power and it goes with a special grace. If God anoints you for a particular job, he gives you both the grace and the power to do it well. Now, I find that rather marvelous. We come back to this little text. Now, it is like the precious oil upon the head that run down the beard, even Aaron's beard that came down to the skirt of his garment upon the head. It was Aaron's head. The high priest. Now, if you look at Exodus chapter 29 and verse seven, we then shalt thou take the anointing oil and pour it upon his head and anoint him. Now, this was said of Aaron. If you look at Leviticus and chapter eight and Leviticus, chapter eight and verse twelve, we read again. And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head and anointed him to sanctify him.
[00:18:27] It is a very interesting thing. Listen to this carefully. The high priest had the anointing oil poured on his head.
[00:18:36] But the priests, the sons of Aaron, had only the oil sprinkled on them.
[00:18:43] This is very interesting because the psalm, the 133rd psalm makes a big point about this. In the Hebrew, it says, it is light of precious oil upon the head, emphasizing the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard that came down upon the skirt of his. In other words, this isn't just anybody. This is a particular head and a particular beard.
[00:19:13] It was a particular office, a particular person that was being anointed. So we take note of that. That's the next thing then will you notice this ran down upon, came upon the skirts of his garments. Now, some of you got the revised standard version. You will see that it says, came down upon the collar of his robe or of his garment.
[00:19:39] Some of you have the new american standard Bible. And that says came down or descended upon the edges of his garments. Now, we have a difficulty here because in actual fact, the word in Hebrew is mouth.
[00:20:00] It says, the holy oil, the precious oil upon the head, ran down the beard, even Aaron's beard, and came upon the mouth of the garment, of his garment.
[00:20:10] Now, the mouth could be either this, this, or, well, remember, the gentleman then wore like the good Scots kilt, sort of, you know, so they didn't wear trousers. So you had holes. This was the mouth. This was the mouth. This was the mouth, and the other was a mouth.
[00:20:31] This word is translated in different ways. It's, for instance, used again and again in the Old Testament for the edge of the sword. The mouth of the sword, really, if we were to literally translate it, sometimes it's a word that's used for edge, sometimes a word used for border. In fact, it's even used from end to end of a city, from mouth to mouth, from opening to opening, from end to end of the land, from mouth to mouth, from end to end, as it were, where you come in and where you go out.
[00:21:02] So what does it mean? Why does the authorized version say the skirts of his garment? Why does my version say the skirts of his garments? It is partly because we really have a problem. If you turn to Exodus chapter 28 and we read verse 32, this is speaking about this very garment that the high priest is to wear, and it shall have a hole for the head. In the midst thereof.
[00:21:37] It shall have a binding of woven work round about the whole of it, as it were the hole of a coat of mail, that it be not rent. Now, in Hebrew, this word hole is mouth. Well, some people's mouths are holes.
[00:21:52] It's quite logical, Hebrew in this way, that hole of his garment for his head to go through. Then it goes on using another word. And upon the skirts of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue and a purple and of scarlet round about the skirts thereof. Now, we have this twice, not only here, but also in Exodus chapter 39.
[00:22:18] Now, why, therefore, does the authorized versions translate its skirt? And why does the English revised and the old standard version that I use, which are very accurate translations, why do they keep to the old version of skirts? Partly because of the Septuagint. Now, the septuagint is the oldest translation of the Hebrew Old Testament known to us. It comes from about the second century, roughly, before Christ. And sometimes when they used a greek word, they were able to use a word more specific than a hebrew word. And when it comes to this psalm in the Greek which the early church used, it uses a greek word meaning woolen border of a garment, and really the fringe of a garment, the lower fringe of a garment, meaning the skirt. So whether that befogs you confuses you, I have no idea. But if we were to read now the Hebrew as it is, it would apparently be colour.
[00:23:32] It is like the precious oil upon the head that ran down the the beard, even Aaron's beard that came down upon his collar. But then when we look at it a little more closely, it would seem as if it took in the whole. Now, whatever is meant, one matter becomes very clear.
[00:23:56] The oil upon the head runs down to the body. Now, that is the point. Whether it goes down to the hem or whether it comes to the collar, it comes to the body.
[00:24:09] And then another very interesting thing, you must remember that upon the high priests shoulders, upon that very garment, were those twelve precious onyx stones. And on each one of them engraved one name of one of the twelve tribes. And on his heart, over his whole breast here were twelve precious stones, each one engraved with one name of the one of the tribes of the names of the tribes of the children of Israel.
[00:24:42] In other words, the oil upon the head that comes down the beard comes onto the body and includes every member of the covenant people. When the high priest is anointed, it is if God is saying, I have every single one of my covenant people in mind, they are before me. I am sanctifying the whole lot in this one man. I cannot let them all come into the holy place, but only the high priest. But when the high priest comes in, they all come in in him. Do you understand?
[00:25:23] Well now, I think that transforms the whole feeling about it. And then what about this upon the beard, even Aaron's beard? I have the greatest sympathy with people who read their scriptures with an open mind and a questioning mind. And I have must have. Surely you must be terribly dumb and very, very sort of lustreless if you can read a psalm like this and not wonder what on earth's happened to it.
[00:25:55] I mean, what on earth has brethren dwelling together in unity to do with Aaron's beard?
[00:26:03] Some people don't like beards. Anyway, what is Aaron's beard doing mixed up with people dwelling together in unity?
[00:26:12] And then later, jew of herd one. Of course those of you who are older in the Lord, you all sort of look there very contentedly think, of course we understand, it's marvellous. But I mean, if you're just young in the Lord, you must wonder. This is the most extraordinary hotchpotch of a psalm I've ever read.
[00:26:29] What has some person's beard got to do with brethren dwelling together in unity? Especially someone who lived a thousand years before.
[00:26:41] Well this is so wonderful when you realize it, the anointing oil was not to touch the flesh.
[00:26:49] So the Holy Spirit inspires the psalmist to say, it is like the precious oil upon the head that ran down the beard. It never touched his flesh, but via the beard it comes to the body without touching the flesh, you understand? Comes right down to the body. In other words, it is emphasized that the oil upon the head is for the body. Now this is of tremendous importance if you and I are going to understand why it is like brethren dwelling together in unity. Why this is a key to brethren dwelling together in unity. How it becomes an illustration of brethren dwelling together in unity. We have to understand that the oil on the head has a lot to do with the members of the body.
[00:27:31] Then when we begin to understand that suddenly we have a key to brethren dwelling together in unity, the whole psalm becomes dynamic. It becomes an avenue into fresh light, new truth.
[00:27:52] Now lets take therefore, a look at this whole matter. Now, we've looked at the text. Let's just have a little look at the whole thing.
[00:28:02] First. I want just to underline the vital significance of the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
[00:28:11] The anointing oil is a symbol of the person and work of the Holy Spirit. There can be no genuine dwelling together of brethren in unity apart from the Holy Spirit. It is impossible.
[00:28:31] We need not only his indwelling making Christ a reality to us and in us, but we also need his empowering for keeping the unity.
[00:28:48] He's empowering for building up the body of the Lord Jesus.
[00:28:55] You can know doctrine on this matter, and you can recite it. You could even teach it and yet live in total division with your brothers and sisters.
[00:29:08] Only the Holy Spirit can keep us alive to the blind spots in ourselves, to those areas of darkness that sometimes are within ourselves and within our own ministry. Only he can do that. I have traveled quite a bit in the work of God and seen a lot of things and heard a lot of things. And one of the things that appalls me more than anything else, a good brethren who will pour out all kinds of things to you, but who are not aware of their own factious spirit.
[00:29:44] And always it goes back to this question of the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
[00:29:55] How can the house of God be built up?
[00:29:59] How can the body of Christ function and grow to the full grown man?
[00:30:08] How can we be perfectly into oneness apart from the person and work of the Holy Spirit? When you begin to really look at some of these scriptures, if I may just take you to them, they're very well known to you. But if I could just put my finger on a few phrases and bring it home to you in that way. For instance, here are well known verses in Ephesians two, Ephesians 221, in whom the whole building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord. Now, dear ones, how can it be fitly framed together, growing into a holy temple in the Lord, apart from the personal work of the Holy Spirit? It is impossible. You can learn a doctrine and not a thing happens. So we have to say, well, it's being done somehow or up there, because really we have no experience down here of this fish fitly framing together and growing into a holy temple in the Lord. And then look at this next verse in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
[00:31:20] Build it together for a habitation of God in the spirit. Look at Ephesians chapter four, verse three. Giving diligence to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Look at verse twelve. For the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering unto the building up of the body of Christ, till we all attain unto the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Now, how is that possible?
[00:31:50] It is impossible apart from the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Look at verse 15. Speaking truth in love may grow up in all things. Into him who is the head, even Christ, from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplies according to the working in due measure of each several part, make of the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love. Now, how can each part, the proper working of each part. You know as well as I do. You know you ought to be properly working. But apart from the personal work of the Holy Spirit, it's a doctrine you're far too self conscious, far too bound, far too tied up, far too inhibited. It's impossible. You can blame the preacher, you can blame the meeting, you can blame the saints, you can blame the teaching. But in actual fact, in the end, it comes down to ourselves, doesn't it? And we know that somewhere in us there is a bondage, there is an inhibition. We know the truth, we know what should happen. But how to break out of just a mental appreciation of truth into a living experience of it?
[00:33:16] Only the Holy Spirit can break that sound barrier.
[00:33:20] Now, I emphasize this because to me it is so important. When I turn to John, chapter 17 and hear those wonderful words of our Lord Jesus, we call it the high priestly prayer. And we read that they may all be 121 as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that thou didst send me. What a wonderful thing it is when the saints are really growing in that unity, dwelling in that, then the world knows that God sent me. Son, you know, preaching has a new quality. We dont have to be all the time trying to persuade them. Theres something in the very atmosphere by which the Holy Spirit witnesses to an unsaved heart. The Father sent the Son to be the saviour of the world.
[00:34:11] Look here again what he says in verse 22. The glory which thou hast given me, I have given unto them that they may be one, even as we are one. I and them, and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one. First we have the foundational, the fundamental unity, and then we have the being perfected into one. But, you know, theres one thing to say. Oh, were all one. Were all one.
[00:34:36] Its another thing to be perfected into one. All the dead flies out of the ointment, all the things that somehow destroy the harmony and so on. Oh, thats another thing. Thats where the nitty gritty comes, and thats where we get all upset.
[00:34:53] I think this is important. It is no coincidence that Zechariah, chapter four, speaking about the house being completed, speaking about the lampstand of pure gold, says in verse six, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. You can't just build it because you've seen it in the Bible.
[00:35:24] That's the first thing. Not only to see it in the Bible as a teaching, but to have it revealed to you by the spirit. So it comes by illumination, by enlightenment, then it gets into you. But the third thing is how to realize what you see, how to be practically involved in what you see, how to see that top stone brought forth finally with shouts of grace, grace unto it only by the spirit.
[00:35:54] No other way.
[00:35:57] Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit.
[00:36:02] The simple fact, learned from bitter experience is that without the Holy Spirit, there is an inability to overcome problems.
[00:36:18] This comes from my own bitter experience.
[00:36:22] There is an inability, you may know that Christ is Lord, and in the end you become almost sick. May he forgive me of the truth, because somehow it doesn't work.
[00:36:37] You hear people talking, talking, talking, but when it comes to you, it doesn't work.
[00:36:43] It never will work until the Holy Spirit gets you through the sound barrier.
[00:36:52] I used to say years ago when we were in Egypt, there are only two or three ways that a believer can go on. They either go back altogether into the world, or they become a hypocrite, an unwilling, unwitting hypocrite, because they begin to profess things that just do not work in their own lives or by the grace of God. The Holy Spirit brings them through into an experience of both the cross and his work, and they come into the reality, a progressive reality.
[00:37:34] Now, this is true even of a company like this. We can coast along with people. We can coast along because of the teaching, the singing, and the momentum of the life of the company. But actually, in actual fact, we may not have it inside ourselves.
[00:37:51] And in the end, it all comes down to that, that we've got to face it. It's got to be inside me. It's got to be inside.
[00:38:00] From bitter experience, one has learned that there is an inability to overcome problems, whether personal, whether family, whether local, whether national, or whether international. You just can't do it without the Holy Spirit.
[00:38:14] More than that, there is an inability to know the mind of God in practical terms. Oh, my, how I see this. When you go around in the work of God, you see, you find people who know the Lord. They love the Lord and they're serving the Lord. But to know the mind of Lord in practical terms, this is extremely difficult. And people look at you as if you're crazy. They say, but how? I mean, so mystical to get on your knees.
[00:38:39] I mean, we've got used common sense, haven't we?
[00:38:42] And we all can see what common sense has done to the work of God.
[00:38:47] It's well nigh destroyed it. Because, of course, common sense is one of the rarest of all commodities.
[00:38:54] I mean, you just don't find it common sense, frankly, as this. If you got real common sense, it would tell you that if you have a head who's enthroned at the right hand of God and the Holy Spirit given to join you to the head, who knows all things, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and who, in whom the very mind of God is personified, well, the common sense says, get on your knees and ask him for a revelation, doesn't it? I mean, common sense would, don't do anything. Wait and wait and wait until finally God reveals his mind. But you see, without the Holy Spirit, people can talk and talk, but they're at a sea. Sometimes they won't admit it, but really in their heart of hearts, they would say, if they were honest, I can't read the mind of God.
[00:39:42] I just can't read it.
[00:39:45] I don't know how to tell the will of God. I don't know how the Lord is leading. There's an inability. Now you begin, an inability to know the will of God and the mind of God. Now you understand why this is all connected with brethren dwelling together in unity. We have an enemy. You don't think he's just going to let brothers have a lovely picnic together and live together, brothers and sisters just going on? Of course not. He's going to come from within, he's going to come from without till he's destroyed the whole thing, unless we are alive all the way through to what the Lord would do, and sometimes very simple things. But God would say, do this, do that, watch this, watch that.
[00:40:24] And instantly we know.
[00:40:27] I know you've been seeking the Lord about things here in this company. I can't help feeling that part of it is just on this very thing, carelessness, just simple. Such a small thing.
[00:40:40] On the main things, everything's right. But on small things, carelessness. Carelessness over one another. Carelessness over the things of God. Carelessness over the things God has given to us and entrusts to us. So that God is saying, all right, all right. If you'll be careless, then I'll be careless.
[00:40:57] And this will wake you up to a very simple fact that we've got to know the Holy Spirit. And we can never, in one sense, let our guard down all the time. We have to watch. Why did the Lord say, watch and pray?
[00:41:15] Just this matter. There is an inability to know the mind of God in practical terms, an inability to do the will of God positively. An inability to play our part in the building up of the church. You see, you know that the church has got to be built up. You know, the Lord Jesus said, I will build the church and the gates, my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. But there's an inability to oneself be part of the building of it up.
[00:41:46] Now, we may know all the doctrine, but that does not mean that we can lay down our life when it comes to it. If brethren are going to dwell together in unity, they've got to lay down their lives one by one. They'll all fall out of the unity because they've got their own life, and it's the I.
[00:42:14] And that's why this matter of the holy anointing oil comes in. You cannot. Either you say I and everyone else got to what I say, or there comes a point where you and I have to die in order that the body of Christ be built up. That is the basis. We can't do that of ourselves. We can't even take part in prayer or exercise as a gift or any of these other things apart from the Holy Spirit. Try.
[00:42:48] It is the spirit who produces, not only the Holy Spirit, who not only brings us initially into this unity, this oneness of Christ, it is the Holy Spirit who produces our togetherness, our sense of belonging, our sense, the harmony, the flowing together, the service, the ability to really build one another up. Now, I'd like to go on to a third thing, but I'd like to ask Andy if you'd like to open that other door before everyone falls fast asleep. At least I feel there will be some value in their being here.
[00:43:29] I mean, if you've had a sleep.
[00:43:33] I'd like just to say something about the anointing upon the head for the whole body. Now, every single member of the body is included in this anointing upon the head. It is like the precious oil upon the head that ran down the beard, even Aaron beard that came down to the edge of his garments. Now, acts chapter two and verse 32 and 33 are very well known verses. I think to most of us, this Jesus did God raise up, whereof we all are witnesses, being therefore by the right hand of God, exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath poured forth this which ye see and hear.
[00:44:31] Now isn't this a marvelous word?
[00:44:35] It is borne out by the words of our Lord in Luke, the gospel of Luke, chapter 24 and verse 49. Behold, I send forth the promise of my father upon you. Behold, I send forth the promise of my father upon you. It is almost as if the Lord had in mind psalm 133. It is like the precious oil upon the head that run down the beard, even Aaron's beard that came down to the edge of his garments.
[00:45:16] You are born of God. You are in Christ.
[00:45:23] And if you are in Christ, you are in the anointed one. Whether we use the hebrew word messiah or the greek word Christ, both mean the same thing. The anointed one. Now, I find this the most helpful way to see this. If I'm in the anointed one, surely the anointing is there for me.
[00:45:45] If God by his grace has placed me in the Lord Jesus and he is the anointed one of God, the Christ of God, then somewhere there is an anointing for me. His anointing comes down to me. And this is precisely what the scripture says. He hath obtained the promise of the Father and poured forth this which ye see and hear, just as if he, the anointed one, ascended into heaven, sat down at the right hand of God the Father and took the promise of the Holy Spirit and said, here, this is for every member of my body, the precious oil upon the head running down to the edge of the garment. Now, if you look at the scripture again, it seems so. Look at two Corinthians, two Corinthians, chapter one, and verse 21 and 22. Now, he that establisheth us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the earnest of the spirit. Established, anointed, sealed, given the earnest of the Spirit, all in Christ.
[00:47:06] Established, anointed, sealed, given the earnest of the spirit, all in Christ. I find that really rather marvellous. Compare it with one John, the first letter of John, chapter two, verse 20. And ye have an anointing from the holy one, that ye might know all things, verse 27. And as for you, the anointing which ye received of him abideth in you. Now there you've got the same thought again. The head, the body, the head, the members, the precious oil upon the head running down to the edge of the garment. Christ, the head, the baptizer into the Holy Spirit.
[00:48:00] I think so many people have been afraid of that glorious word baptizer, or baptism. I know I have been in past years because one felt there was so much hogwash around the thing, so much that was wrong, so much that was somehow complex. But the fact remains that the Lord Jesus is called the one who baptizes into the Holy Spirit.
[00:48:29] Now, whatever we may feel about the time of this baptism into the spirit, the fact remains it is no small thing. Of course, if you believe in sprinkling, then okay, if you believe that baptism is a sprinkling, then I quite understand that you may just have a little bit of experience of the Holy Spirit and that's it. But if you have seen that baptism is an immersion, then my word, this is no small experience.
[00:48:57] Jesus is the immerser into the Holy Spirit. He is the one who takes a person and immerses them into the person of the Holy Spirit. Now that's no small thing. Is the Holy Spirit some impersonal agent? No, he is God, the Spirit, and the Lord Jesus takes a believer and immerses him into God, the Holy Spirit. Spirit.
[00:49:24] That's no experience to be sniffed at.
[00:49:28] That's nothing to be derided or devalued or put away somehow. No, when John the Baptist, describing his own ministry, he came to the heart of it by saying, I baptize with water unto repentance. But he that comes after me baptizes with the Holy Spirit, or into the Holy Spirit and into fire.
[00:49:53] In other words, the heart of the matter of John's baptism was repentance. And the heart of the matter of the ministry of the Lord Jesus is to bring us into the Holy Spirit. What does it mean? It means that he brings us into himself in reality, because there's no other way to know the Lord Jesus in reality and the things of the Lord Jesus in reality apart from the person of the Holy Spirit.
[00:50:19] Now I say that, oh, if we could only enter into the full meaning of that, I would be the happiest person in the world. If everyone here was in the real full meaning of this, being baptized into the Holy Spirit and into fire. I don't mean swinging on lamps and rolling on the floor and making all that noise that some go in for. I mean, maybe sometimes it has to happen. I don't know. But what I do know is this, that once the Holy Spirit really comes upon people, once the Lord Jesus takes a believer and the Holy Spirit and takes the little believer and immerses them into the Holy Spirit, something happens to that person's life, and no one can tell me that that is not so.
[00:51:05] For the first time, you have fragrance. For the first time, you sense not the person, but the Lord Jesus. For the first time, you touch the life of God. For the first time, you see they have an ability in all their problems and circumstances to glorify the Lord. For the first time, they become the means by which others find the Lord.
[00:51:26] Something has happened.
[00:51:29] No wonder if brethren are going to dwell together in unity, and the purpose of God for them is to be fulfilled. No wonder it's like the precious oil upon the head that ran down the beard.
[00:51:41] There's no doubt about it.
[00:51:44] This anointing is ours in Christ, and it is ours through Christ. Now, I make a distinction there. It is ours in Christ, and it is ours through Christ.
[00:51:55] If we are in the anointed one, and that is our position, it is ours. There must be a portion of his anointing which is ours, but it is also ours through Christ. Not my own effort. Oh, many a dear saint who's gone on with the Lord has made such a hash of things just on this point. They felt that somehow or other, if they fast for days on end and turn over new leaves and become very zealous and do this and do that, God will sort of say, oh, my word. So and so is trying so hard, I'll have to do something.
[00:52:24] But in actual fact, what we have done is we have substituted grace for works and unwittingly have barred the doors of heaven to ourselves.
[00:52:37] It is not that we should not fast, not that we should not seek, not that we should not pray, not that we should not get things cleared up as far as God enables us, but those things do not bring us into a real experience of the anointing. We had the anointing through grace simply because he died for us, and because his finished work is sufficient, sufficient for every single claim.
[00:53:04] Praise God.
[00:53:06] Nevertheless, we need to enter in by faith to what is ours in him. It is perfectly true that on the basis of his finished work of christs finished work and our position in him, he anoints us. Did you ever get that?
[00:53:27] Its not a preacher that anoints you or a teaching that anoints you, and nor do you yourselves get an anointing. In actual fact, he always anoints. Anything else is counterfeit.
[00:53:41] It is emotional, transient, pass away.
[00:53:46] But when the Lord anoints, it is something done.
[00:53:53] Now, having said that, I have to contradict it by saying this.
[00:53:58] We need to enter in by faith to what is ours in him. And if we do not, we do not experience the anointing.
[00:54:11] Now we come to the heart of the problem for many I know.
[00:54:16] When do we experience the anointing which is ours in Christ?
[00:54:21] Oh, my people get so hit up on this problem and so divided. When do we experience the anointing which is ours in Christ? I have a foolproof answer to this.
[00:54:36] Whenever by faith we enter in.
[00:54:41] It's as simple as that. If you want to enter in at conversion, you can. If you see it, I have known some, very few. I have known some who at their conversion have known an anointing, and the two things have gone together. My word, what a strong birth that's been. How glorious it has been to watch them.
[00:55:02] But generally speaking, it follows conversion with the vast majority of. And I could, of course, if we had time, I'd read to you from the life stories of all the great ones in the history of the church. You will find the same thing in all of them.
[00:55:22] Some will say, well, it's because they weren't taught properly, maybe, but the answer is, when do we experience this anointing? Whenever, by faith, we enter in to what is ours in the Lord.
[00:55:37] When I am asked, is this a distinct experience?
[00:55:42] I always answer by asking a question, are you in the good and the reality of this anointing?
[00:55:53] You see, people get, especially, I think, those who've got a more theological background, we get so tied up on these things, and our first thing is, is this a distinct experience?
[00:56:10] I mean, does it come after conversion?
[00:56:13] And then we're just waiting for someone to say, yes. Oh, I can't understand that. I just can't understand it how.
[00:56:19] And that is to miss the whole point.
[00:56:24] Oh, the angels must weep over us at times.
[00:56:28] The real question is this, okay, okay, why argue about theology? Are you in the good of the anointing? If you have to say to me, no, I'm not, then I say, well, then you've got to enter in, haven't you?
[00:56:41] It's no good sort of saying, oh, well, yes, but I think it was mine. And I say, well, you just said, you. You're not in the good of it. You're living a defeated life, an unhappy life. You're inhibited. You can't take part in prayer. You can't witness to other people. You can't lead someone else to the Lord. You've never really been involved in the building up of the church. You haven't got power over habits in your life. You can't settle issues in your life. You can't lay down your life for the brethren. And you say that you're anointed.
[00:57:08] Heaven must sit down and weep.
[00:57:12] Okay, you're anointed officially.
[00:57:19] If you want to look at it, I don't care. You're anointed officially. Does heaven go unofficial? Things you think God will say to you now, I want you to go to the Philippines or I'll send you here, I don't know where, but somewhere. And then the Lord says to you, you've got an official anointing, you know, so you say, that ought to be sufficient.
[00:57:53] And then you go out to face demons and spirits and Satan and the powers of darkness. And somehow or other you've only got an official anointing.
[00:58:03] Don't you think hell will laugh at you?
[00:58:07] Don't you think it will be a joke amongst the evil spirits? So and so has got an official anointing, says he was, of course it's true, but you're not in the good of it. So then the fact of the matter is, are you in the good of it? If someone comes to me and says, well, you know, I was converted. And at the moment I was converted, I knew a power to pray. And I've become an intercessor, I think, thank God the Lord has anointed you.
[00:58:38] But when a person comes to me and says, I can't do this and I can't do that and I can't do the other, and the Lord has called me to this and I just can't do it, and I'm just going round the bend over the whole thing, I know they have no anointing. Practically, it's theirs in Christ, their position is in Christ. What are we to do with them? Are we to play theology with them? Are we to leave them in the barrenness, a land of aridity, powerless before the powers of darkness? Or are we to say to them, dear one, be practised, something's gone wrong. You need to seek the Lord, that you may come into what is yours in him.
[00:59:26] One thing is abundantly clear. And I imagine that nearly everybody, if not every single person in this room, will agree with me on this.
[00:59:34] We all know an anointed preacher, and we all know an anointed leader, and we all know an anointed member of the body.
[00:59:46] Now, that person may not know themselves, but we all know, don't we? My goodness, we can hear someone preaching, and we think, well, marvelous words, tremendous truth, but it doesn't do anything.
[01:00:01] Just doesn't do anything. No anointing, same with leadership, is the same with being a member in the body of Christ. We can be a dear member of the body of Christ, a real member of the body of Christ. And yet, somehow or other, we're not giving. We don't bring life in. We don't exercise what is ours in the Lord. We don't share the Lord with us in the way that others are built up.
[01:00:24] But, oh, we know people who've got an anointing.
[01:00:28] We don't even perhaps have to call it technically an anointing. We just know in our spirit. We say, you know, so and so has got it.
[01:00:37] Listen to them pray. They're on the ball. There's an authority in their prayer. Listen to the way they exercise faith. That doesn't come naturally. That doesn't come through studying. That's an anointing.
[01:00:51] It's so in everything. You know, even the world. May it shame us. Even the world can tell. An anointed preacher, they will say to you, so and so that person has got something.
[01:01:07] What they mean is that something is unction from above.
[01:01:20] Certainly our Lord Jesus was born of the Spirit, but he was 30 years of age when he was anointed. The Holy Spirit, he said in the synagogue at Nazareth, this day, is this scripture fulfilled before your eyes and in your ears.
[01:01:38] The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek.
[01:01:46] And it says in acts, chapter ten and verse 37 that you know that after the baptism of John Jesus of Nazareth, anointed with the Holy Spirit, went around doing good, healing the sick, and so on. That's John 1037. It is also as clear that the prophet, priest, and king were all anointed long after being in a covenant relationship with God. They could not be sort of made covenant members, as it were, of the nation. And then immediately anointed, they were born and circumcised. They already were part of the covenant people, and then they were anointed.
[01:02:35] Now, this is not to say that under the new covenant. We have to wait a great long time between when we're born of God and when we're anointed by God. But what I am saying is there is nothing theological that stands against it. It is ours in the Lord.
[01:02:53] I think also it is true and very instructive to note Exodus 29 and verse 20 and 21. Speaking about the anointing of the priests, you will notice that first the blood is put on them and then the oil. And you had this same thing to do with leprosy. And it is very strange. It is the right ear, the right thumb and the big, the thumb and the big toe. The right big toe. But isn't that interesting? First blood, blood, here what you hear, here what you do, and here where you go.
[01:03:33] Then the oil was put on the ear, on the thumb and on the foot.
[01:03:40] Many a believer knows all about the blood, but doesnt know anything about the spirit.
[01:03:46] The two must go together.
[01:03:49] It was so with the priests. It was so even with the sinner. The picture of the sinner saved by the grace of God.
[01:03:59] Its also very clear, may I say that the Lord Jesus went to great pains to make a distinction between the indwelling of the spirit and the empowerment.
[01:04:09] When you read in John chapter 20, verses 21 and 20, you remember he breathed upon them. He stood in their midst and breathed upon them and said, receive ye the Holy Spirit. Now he knew very well the Holy Spirit was not actually given. So what happened? Well, people say, some people say, well, they actually received the Holy Spirit. Well, if they did, it was strange, because Thomas wasn't there. And he never, when Thomas came, breathed on him and said, now, Thomas, you, you've been left out of this. You must receive the Holy Spirit. No, it is quite clear to me that it was a symbolic act, at least as I see it. But what was our lord doing? He knew that on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, at the beginning of the dispensation, came within and upon at the same time. All he wanted to do was to make clear in those apostles minds that there is a distinction, not necessarily in time, but a distinction that must be made between the indwelling and the empowering of the Holy Spirit. These are two aspects of the Holy Spirit's he is inside and upon.
[01:05:08] It is interesting that having said that, receive ye the Holy Spirit. Acts, chapter one, says, after that, acts, chapter one and verse three, to whom he also showed himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing unto them by the space of 40 days, and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God and being assembled together with them. He charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which said he, ye heard from me, for John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence.
[01:05:50] In other words, the Holy Spirit he breathed into them. That was at the indwelling, at least the distinction he was making. Then he said, you shall be baptized into the Holy Spirit, something this will be all upon you immersed in him.
[01:06:05] Well, now I make all this because I think it's very, very important for us to understand this connection between this precious oil and brethren dwelling together in unity. The fact is simply, simply this. The word of God commands us to be filled with the Holy Spirit, be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now it is actually be being filled.
[01:06:29] If it is not true of me, I ought to start to wake up and seek him.
[01:06:36] Now, let me just say in closing, what is the consequence of this anointing? Just four things. I will only mention them because weve said a lot about them at other times. The first consequence is power. Acts, chapter one, verse eight. Ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Oh, that is a marvelous thing to receive, the power to do the will of God, the power to be what God wants you to be, the power to go where God wants you to go, and the power to speak what God gives you to speak, power.
[01:07:20] I would never, ever devalue that.
[01:07:26] And here is the second thing, by the way, power to be a living sacrifice underlying the whole.
[01:07:33] Here's the second thing, fullness.
[01:07:37] Ephesians 518 and this other verse. Matthew 311. Baptized into the Holy Spirit, be filled with the spirit.
[01:07:49] It is interesting that it says, when you are filled with the spirit, you will sing, making melody in your heart.
[01:07:59] Something happens. Fullness lost in his fullness.
[01:08:04] It says, all the fullness of the godhead dwells in him bodily, and ye are made full in him. Oh, to be in that reality.
[01:08:13] Fullness of resources, fullness of energy, fullness of wisdom, fullness of grace. It's all there.
[01:08:21] That's a consequence of anointing. Divine grace and divine power provided.
[01:08:27] Third thing, clothing.
[01:08:31] You remember Luke 24 49, he shall be clothed with power from on high. Better than endued with powerful on high. Clothed with power from on high. What does this mean? It means this, of course, you're clothed when you're saved, when you're justified. That's the garment of your salvation. This clothing means to be rightly clothed for the job. Now, when you're wrongly clothed for a job. You're very self conscious because all the time you're thinking about your clothing. You ladies, you wouldn't think of putting your most expensive dress on and cooking, especially if you're frying something. And can you imagine you'd be all the time back here? Sort of. You're conscious of yourself all the time. You can't be thinking of the meal you're doing. You're conscious. Of course, boys, especially if you got a little bit of self respect. Wouldn't think of getting under a car in your best suit.
[01:09:25] You think all the time of your best suit, you understand? But when you're rightly clothed, you're not self conscious.
[01:09:36] You just have no self consciousness at all. I've told you the story, most of you before you know it, on the marvelous occasion. Must be quite a few years ago now when on a Sunday evening, I sped across the bridge here for the 630 service, gospel service. Got to the brothers. No one said, noticed anything odd about me. We got down in prayer. We were praying. When I got up, I just looked down. We had about seven minutes to go before the service. And I said, oh.
[01:10:01] And everyone looked and I said, I've got my red slippers on.
[01:10:10] I remember that saying. They said, well, no one will ever notice. But I said, oh, yes, they will.
[01:10:17] I couldn't go. I could think of myself on that platform. And any brother or sister who was devotedly praying, bowing their head, I would immediately look at my feet. They're saying, red shoes, whatever next?
[01:10:35] Some kind brother had a bike, sped across the bridge home, upstairs into my room, took my shoes, fled back across the bridge, and my feet went into the shoes with about, I think a minute or two late. And in we went. And you know, I preached. I never thought about my feet.
[01:10:52] Now, if I had had those red shoes, I would have spent the whole time thinking about my feet. Especially if anyone happened to sort of look like they might have seen a fly buzzing around. But I would be sure it was my feet. I would have lost my thread, forgotten the message, because I was conscious only of myself. But I never thought of myself. All I thought about was the message that God had given me. When you're rightly clothed, you don't think about yourself. You can think about the job you've got to do. And that's the beauty of the anointing. It means that you're freed from introspection and self consciousness to do the job God's given you to do. And the fourth thing about the anointing consequence of the anointing is equipment.
[01:11:38] One corinthians, chapter twelve, verse four. There are diversities of gifts, but one spirit to each one is given the manifestation of the spirit to profit withal, earnestly desire the better gift.
[01:11:56] It says, verse 31, gifts are never to be seen in contradistinction to Christ. You can either have Christ or the gifts. I've heard people sometimes say to me very spiritually, oh, I don't want gifts, I want Christ.
[01:12:14] Well, if they mean sort of exhibitionism, I quite understand.
[01:12:18] But that's not how I see gifts. I see gifts as a gift of Christ.
[01:12:25] It is something of Christ expressed in you when it's faith. It is Christ expressing faith in you when it's a word of wisdom or knowledge. It's Christ expressing one of those treasures of wisdom and knowledge that have spilled over into you and coming out for us. What a tremendous thing it is in prayer. When a word of wisdom comes about a situation we're facing or a word of knowledge about the facts, we don't know them. That is tremendous. I think it is. Well, I'm personally very glad for that dear old lady in America who was tipped out of bed by the Lord at 02:00 a.m. in the morning, given a word of knowledge about me.
[01:13:04] I'm very thankful for it didn't happen to anybody else. I'm just thankful that the Lord got her out of bed, gave her a word of knowledge, and got her working.
[01:13:13] There was an anointing for you. Praise the Lord for it. They had consequence.
[01:13:19] So I find this matter of equipment, I mean, when people come to me, I was in a conference some year or two ago, and a brother, we were waiting, queuing up for meals, and this brother turned around to me and he said, you know, he said, I want the Lord. He said, not gifts, I want Jesus. And I said to him, oh, brother, that's beautiful. I said, so do I. I want Jesus. But I said, I don't see the gift quite like that. I see gifts as him.
[01:13:50] And he looked at me very surprised. I think he thought, oh, dear, don't tell me you're charismatic.
[01:13:57] And then he said.
[01:14:01] He muttered a bit. And then I said to him, you see, brother, I said, if I had appendicitis and was rushed into hospital, I said, I wouldn't be terribly thrilled if you told me that the surgeon operating on me had gone to such and such a medical college to be trained and had all those letters after his name. If I saw him coming at me with a tree saw and a chisel.
[01:14:30] I would say, oh, I'm not the least bit bothered about his title and where he was trained. I want to know what is his equipment?
[01:14:43] It's so stupid when you really see it. I mean, people say, we don't want gifts, we don't want gifts. We want the Lord.
[01:14:50] The point is this, we may. What do they really mean is this, we only want part of the Lord.
[01:14:56] We want the Lord without his gifts.
[01:15:01] And that means that we are the poorer that when we're facing the reality problems in the work of God, we have not got the equipment to do the job.
[01:15:12] No wonder this scripture says this matter of brethren dwelling together in unity, there are going to be problems. You dont think that the enemy will try to intrude upon the well being of the brothers and sisters, that he will not attack them mentally, he will not attack them physically. Im not saying that every sickness is enemy inspired and that every single thing has got to be healed. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is that the enemy is the master of much of it.
[01:15:41] And when the saints know how to deal with it, or other things, not just on the matter of the mental side or the physical side, but so often on other things, where the enemy perplexes, frustrates, wears out, ties up, brings in knotty problems that are so complex that no one can unravel them. What are we to do?
[01:16:01] We're worn out. That's what happens.
[01:16:06] Because we haven't got the equipment. But the anointing gives us the equipment.
[01:16:12] Well, there we are. I hope that has been of some help to you. This anointing is not to touch the flesh. What damage and harm has been done to the work of God when the flesh has entered into this realm?
[01:16:30] Gifts used in the flesh, exhibitionism, just self interest, ambition, and sometimes people's, their own will and opinion put into a thus says the Lord, what damage is done?
[01:16:52] The end when the flesh comes in is always the disintegration, division and death.
[01:17:03] When, however, there is a right division between soul and spirit, then brethren dwell together in unity and the purpose of God is realized.
[01:17:17] May the Lord help us. If youve got need in your life, seek the Lord. Let him just open you up in a very real way to himself. Its yours in him. If you will only take that step forward. Lets pray.
[01:17:43] Dear Lord, we've been talking about this holy anointing. Oil upon the head that ran down to the very hem of the garment and O Lord, we come to thee and we tell thee, Lord. Whether we've had experience of the anointing or not, we long, Lord, for that anointing. If we've had an anointing, we long for a deeper anointing, Lord. And if weve never known the anointing, we long, Lord, that we might know it not for ourselves.
[01:18:16] Not, Lord, to be misspent.
[01:18:19] But, Lord, that we might be. Those who serve thee with gladness.
[01:18:25] Thou knowest the days in which were living, Lord. Days in which the enemy is seeking to wear out the saints. But, o Lord, we praise thee for the work of thy holy spirit. Grant, Lord, we pray that we may all know the depth and the fullness of this anointing, both individually and together as thy people. And we ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus.
[01:18:58] Amen.