The Anointing!

In this message I want to talk about God’s anointing which is defined as God’s presence in a situation to bring about His change. In Leviticus Chapter 8 God instructed Moses to put upon Aaron and his sons the priestly garments: the coat, the robe, the girdle, the ephod and the girdle of the ephod. (v. 7) He also instructed him to put the breastplate, the MITRE and the golden plate (crown). He also put the blood of a ram on the tip of their right ear, upon the thumb of their right hand and upon the great toe of their right foot. The key thing to remember concerning what Moses was instructed to do concerning Aaron and his sons was everything was placed on the outside of the bodies. What Moses did was a type of the anointing. In the time period of the Old Testament, the anointing of God could only come on the outside of the person for God’s use. The anointing of God could only come on them, not in them! In Judges 13 v. 7 the word says Samson was to be consecrated to God as a Nazarite. In v. 25 the word says that the Spirit of God or the anointing came on Samson at times. In Chapter 14 v. 6 the Spirit of God came upon him again and he killed a lion with his own hands. H also killed 30 men with his bare hands (v.19) and slew 1,000 men with the jawbone of an ass (Chapter 15 v. 15). In each situation the Spirit of God came on him when he needed Him. Because he had consecrated himself to God and not cutting his hair was a symbol of this consecration, the anointing of God would come on him when he needed it. However, he allowed Delilah to seduce him to give the secret of his strength away. He then expected the anointing of God to come on him as before but it never happened and he was taken prisoner and his eyes plucked out.

In John 7 v. 37-39, Jesus talks about the Holy Ghost which couldn’t come into anyone until Jesus paid the price and was glorified. You see, once Jesus did pay the price, the anointing of God could now come in man, not just upon man. The anointing of God could now come in us to conform us into the image of Jesus (Romans. 8 v. 29) You see the main work of God’s anointing in our lives is not to only do great exploits of seeing people get healed or delivered but to crucify the flesh with the lusts thereof. Paul realized that he had a battle with his flesh that could only be won by allowing the Spirit of God to mortify the deeds of the flesh (Romans 8 v. 13). He said in Chapter 7 v.23 that sin was warring in his members and wanted to capture him and make him a slave. Paul knew that the most important thing that he wanted God to do was to conform him into the image of like Jesus.(Romans 8 v. 29)

You see, Christianity for the most part has gotten the purpose of God’s anointing all wrong. They feel that just because God is using them in healing, deliverance and preaching a great sermon where many get saved that everything is O.K. with God. You see, God is more interested in us "being" not "doing." He anointed a jackass to warn Balaam, a rooster to crow 3 times to Peter, anointed a whale to deliver a sermon (Jonah) to Nineveh and anointed a bush to burn and not consume for Moses. You see, God can anoint anything on the outside to do His will. The main purpose of the anointing is to sanctify us and get us ready for heaven. He wants to point out weaknesses that we have in our flesh and burn them out of us by the fire of His Spirit inside of us.

So many Christians are justifying their relationship with God by what He is doing through them, not what He wants to do on the inside! So many are going to be concerned when Christ comes back to take His people home in the Rapture and they are still left here to deal with the Antichrist and the Tribulation period. They believe that because God is still using them even though they are "shacking up" or committing adultery that God overlooks their sin. No where in the word does God say that the anointing gets us to heaven. It can only come by and through the blood of Jesus! We still have to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. God wants to work in us to sanctify us and prepare us for heaven by conforming us to the image of Jesus. This sanctification is a process that starts when we become" born again."

In the book of Lamentations, there is a picture of people who love Jesus who are left here after the Rapture and are exposed to the Antichrist. In Chapter 1 v. 2, the word says that their friends are against them, becoming enemies. In v. 4 the word says that their priests (pastors) are sighing. Imagine the pressure on Pastors when they and their congregation are left here after the Rapture of the Church. The congregation will get so angry at him/her for not preaching "repentance." The first message that John the Baptist preached was to "repent." The first message of Jesus when He moved out in His ministry was to "repent." The first message on the day of Pentecost at Jerusalem by Peter was to" repent." So many preachers are preaching that you can do whatever you want and still get to heaven after you get saved. They are forgetting about "without holiness no man shall see the LORD!" In v. 14 of Lamentations the word says that God turned them over to their enemies and in v. 16 the word says that the enemies "prevailed." In Chapter 2 v. 1 the word says that God is showing His anger by allowing them to go through the Tribulation. It is so sad that God is going to become their enemy now because they weren’t ready when He returned! Please repent and allow God to conform you to the image of Jesus by allowing the fire of the Holy Spirit (the anointing) to burn out the chaff in your flesh! As you go through the epistles of Paul, for example allow God to point out scriptures to you that you need to apply to your life to help cleanse you. It is truly worth the effort. Don’t be fooled by the power of the anointing of God that comes on you and neglect the anointing on the inside!