Significance of the Holy Spirit

It is the shed Blood of Christ that made it possible for the Holy Spirit to descend.

On the Day of Pentecost Peter spoke of the Lord's death and resurrection. He said: "Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear" (Acts 2:33, NKJV).

Remember that the Lord purchased man's redemption by His atoning death and resurrection, then ascended to His Father and there presented the blood which was the evidence of redemption.

"But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all having obtained eternal redemption" (Heb. 9:11, 12).

When the Father accepted the blood, I believe Christ Jesus received from the Father the gift of the Holy Spirit to pour out upon those who believed in Him. And now the Holy Spirit is on earth to enable us to live the Christian life, for God speaking through Ezekiel said:

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgment and do them" (Ezek. 36:26, 27).

The Holy Spirit not only enables us to live the Christian life but will also make God's presence very real to us.

"'And I will not hide My face from them any more; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,' says the Lord God" (Ezek. 39:29).

I should not have been surprised when my life was completely transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is exactly what happens when you meet the Spirit of God. The prophet Samuel described it to Saul this way:

"Then the Sprit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man" (1 Sam. 10:6).

Mighty power of the Holy Spirit

Is it really possible that the Holy Spirit can change us totally? Absolutely. If the Lord could turn mud into man by His breath, think what He can do by breathing on us again! Tat is what happened at Pentecost.

"And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting" (Acts 2:2).

Those who gathered in the upper room felt the breath of almight God. and they were tranformed.

When the Holy Spirit empowers your life, you can expect three things to happen:

1. The Lord will become very close to you.

2. Because of that relationship, your ultimate desire will be to walk in the ways of God.

3. You will be miraculously transformed into a new person.

I am convinced that the Holy Spirit, alive and present on the earth today, is the sign of the covenant God has made with us through the blood of His Son Jesus.

"In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" (Eph. 1:3).

I have met many Christians who pray, "Lord, send the Holy Spirit into my life! Fill me with Your power!" The Holy Spirit will come when we honor the death of Jesus Christ and His blood.

For example, in the Old Covenant when blood was offered, God sent fire, and His glory descended. Do you remember what occured at the dedication of Solomon's great temple?

"When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple" (2 Chron. 7:1).

What was the sign of the Holy Spirit? In the Old Testament it was often fire (Lev. 9:23, 24; 1 Kings 18:38; 2 Chron. 7:1).

John the Baptist also prophesied: "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Luke 3:16).

After Jesus shed His blood at Calvary, the Holy Spirit came as fire again. The disciples were gather together in Jerusalem, as Jesus had commanded:

"Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and on sat upon each of them. and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:3, 4).

God will fill your life with the fire and glory of His Holy Spirit when you come to Him through the blood.

The Anointing of the Holy Spirit

The Word of God declares that it is the anointing of the Holy Spirit that enables us to serve God. God told Moses:

"You shall anoint them ... that they may minister to Me as priests" (Ex. 40:15).

Every Christian should always be aware of the fact that what God is doing He is doing because of His anointing. Without it any Christian would be spiritually bankrupt.

The life of Saul contains a great lesson. Saul had been selected by God, and his life had been transformed. But the day came when Saul chose to break the sacrificial laws God had given to the Israelits, Samuel told Saul: "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever (1 Sam 13:13).

Not only did the anointing leave King Saul, but something happened that was far worse.

"But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him" (1 Sam. 16:14, KJV).

The story of Samson is another example. When the Holy Spirit left his life, he became a prinsoner and slave to the Philistines and lost his sight. The Bible states that while he slept he lost his anointing (Judge. 16:18 - 20).

Sleeping is symbolic of prayerlessness. Christians, let's not neglect prayer nor reject His precious Word, lest be should lose His anointing on our lives. There is nothing more I desire in this life than to have His anointing, and I know that is your greatest desire also.

Remember that as you walk in obedience to Go, you don't have to fear losing the anointing. You can look forward to God's blessings instead. That's what we'll see in the next step of the cleansing of the leper.

Empowered by the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit

When we are empower by the oil of the Holy Spirit, we are freed from the chains of bondage.

Prophet Isaiah wrote: "It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil" (Is. 10:27).

Every time I am touched by the power of God I feel like the psalmist who declared, "Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered" (Ps. 68:1).

The leper who is anointed

Referring back to my previous message - "Significance of the Blood" I mentioned that the leper symbolized a sinful man and thus alienated from the camp. The leper is allowed back into the camp if he is anointed (read Lev. 14).

You will notice that the man (the leper) offered more sacrifices even after he was considered cleansed and allowed back into the camp.

In the same way, the Lord Jesus shed His blood once for the remission of our sin, but we continue to ask for the cleansing and protection that His blood provides. The Lord Jesus even taught His disciples to say in prayer: "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (Matt. 6:12, 13).

Three applications of the blood

The priest applied blood to the leper in three places - ear, hand and foot.

"The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him (the leper) who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot" (Lev. 14:14).

Our ear (hearing) - When the blood is applied to our hearing we are shielded from the voice of our enemies (read Ps. 55:2, 3).

As believers we have power over verbal attacks of the enemy:

"No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which arises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord" (Isaiah 54:17).

Whose tongues arise against us? The lying tongues of the Lord's enemies. But we can condemn those through the blood of Christ and the authority of His Word.

Our hand - The priest then reached out to the leper and place the blood "on the thumb of his right hand" (Lev. 14:14).

Our hands represent the work that we do. It is wonderful to know that the Lord give guidance and protection to our work.

David, the psalmist said: "And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hand for us; yes, establish the work of our hands" (Ps. 90:17).

Our foot - The priest applied blood to the leper "on the big toe of his right foot" (Lev. 14:14).

Our feet are symbolic of our walk with the Lord: "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

The blood and the anointing

It is important to realize that before the anointing the leper must be cleansed by the blood. The blood makes it possible for him to be anointed.

After the priest applied blood to the leper's ear, hand and foot, it is time for the anointing.

Here is what happened. The priest was instructed to take "some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. Then the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord" (Lev. 14:15, 16).

The anointing oil througout Scripture represents the work of the Holy Spirit in consecrating and empowering for service.

It is essential to understand that God anoints what the blood has covered. The anointing of the Holy Spirit follows the blood. The anointing oil was sprinkled seven times - God's number of completion - to represent the reception of a total anointing.

I believe the anointing expands the following benefits of the blood:

1. When the blood is applied to our hearing, we will not hear the enemy's voice; then God brings the anointing so we can hear His voice.

2. When the blood is applied to our hand, the devil cannot touch our work for God; then the anointing multiplies our effort.

3. When the blood is applied to our walk, then God anoints our steps so that we can walk with Him.

Our walk also needs to be washed with His Word:

Jesus said: "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet" (John 13:10).

We have been redeemed and washed by the blood, but our walk needs to be cleansed by His Word every day (Eph. 5:26). Why? Because our lives constantly touch the dirt of the world.

In the Old Covenant, when God told Moses to build the tabernacle, He gave him precise details regarding every aspect, including the clothing required for the priests. But they were given no instructions regarding shoe (see Ex. 39), To remind them that they still touching the dust of the earth, they were to walk with bare feet.

As Christians we are touching the world every day. That's why we need to come back to the Lord daily and say, "Cleanse me anew and wash me again.

Completely covered - from head to toe

What did God command the priest to do with the remaining oil?

"The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord" (Lev. 14:18).

God wants to cover us totally from head to toe with the oil of His Spirit - our thoughts, our sight, our words and our entire lives. Not only do we have the atonement of the blood, but we have the anointing of the Holy Spirit.