Our Lord Jesus Christ was anointed to get involved in the lives of all the people of the world - people who are walking in darkness and under the bondage of sin.
Jesus proclaimed through Isaiah. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified" (Isaiah 61:1 - 3, NKJV).
The anointing of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus was more than empowering Him to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom - but also to heal the brokenhearted, to set captives free, to comfort those who mourn, so that God's Name might be glorified.
Similarly, we are anointed to get involved in God's work. The anointing of the Holy Spirit enables us to be created people of God to thouch lives on the streets of this hurting world, in businesses, in the marketplaces and homes and in the hearts of men and women who are sitting, walking and doing things in darkness. God needs men and women who do not wait until they have finished Bible School or until they get a degree or until they get an ordination or a pat on the back; He needs everyday people of God who know the anointing of God to do God's work. Today is "the acceptable year of the Lord"; today is the hour to which men and women of all background, be they ordained ministers, be they lay people who are ministering to the Lord, to come out to touch lives. We have been commissioned by Him because we are all priests and kings and servants to the world through the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
God's Creative Anointing and the Holy Anointing Oil
When we think of the anointing we must see what God has in mind concerning the anointing. We need to go back to the Old Testament to the intent and purpose of God when He anointed three groups of people - prophets, priests and kings. He anointed prophets to reveal God to men; He anointed priests to redeem men to God; He anointed kings to reign over the visible and the invisible in the Name of the Lord.
God spoke to Moses concerning the Holy Anointing Oil:
"And take for yourself quality spices - five hundred shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much sweet smelling cinnamon (two hundred and fifty shekels), two hundred and fifty shekels of sweet-smelling cane, five hundred shekels of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. And you shall make from these a holy anointing oil, an ointment compounded according to the art of the perfumer. It shall be a holy anointing oil. And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister to Me as priests" (Exodus 30:23 - 25, 30, emphasis added).
There were five ingredients (spices) that went in to make up this holy anointing oil. These were myrrh, cinnamon, cand, cassia and olive oil. All thse five ingredients were touchable, taste-able, smell-able, usable and practical in their contents.
In the same way the anointing of the Holy Spirit is not mystical, it is not fanatical, it is not foolishness, but it is practical. Unless our anointing is practical it has no reality in today's world. The anointing of the Holy Spirit has practical reality for any believer in Christ today. The five ingredients of the Old Testament 's holy anointing with their separate uses and benefits speak to us of the different types of anointing we need to receive for daily living.
The Anointing of Myrrh
Myrrh is an anesthetic, a pain killer to deaden pain. In Christ's birth the "wise men" brought myrrth, gold and frankincense as a gilf to Him (Matt. 2:11). At the end of the life of Christ they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to deaden the pain of the cross although He refused to take it (Mark 15:23).
In this sense, God, through the Holy Spirit, is saying to us that from the new birth of our life in Christ and to the crosses (sufferings) of our life, from cradle to the crosses, we need the anointing of the Holy Spirit because Myrrh is symbolic of our power to take it - power to withstand pressure of life, to cope up in difficult times. In the midst of tribulation we still have peace (John 16:33) and still be a beautiful patient loving person serving the Lord. If we are to "walk worthy of our calling" (Eph. 4:1) we cannot do it in the flesh, we need the anointing of myrrh to accomplish it. We need the Holy Spirit to search out what we need.
Paul said, "But it is written: 'Eye has not see, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of mean the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.' But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God" (1 Cor. 2:9, 10, NKJV, emphasis added).
The deep things of God
I love the deep things of God and most of messages talk about the deep things of God. This message itself is the revelation of the deep things of God althought the things I talk about are not the deep things of God. But the fact is, whether you are a preacher, ordained minister or a Pastor, most of your time you spent are dealing with people and communicating with people. Most of the time you invlove yourself with family members, with problems and pressure at work and in these areas there is no place for you to tell people about the deep things of God. Instead, the deep things of God must be in your heart so that the Holy Spirit of God in your heart (Your spirit) can touch the lives of those around you.
Many of us failed to read what is written in 1 Cor. 2:10 where it says "For the Sprit searches all things". We conveniently jumped over the "all things" into the deep things of God. My most difficult things in life is not the deep things of God. It is simple things like misplacing my car keys, spectacles and my cell phone, especially when I am late for an appointment. The Holy Spirit seems to say, "I know where your keys are because I search all things". All I need to do is to be still in His presence (Ps. 46:10) and let Him take over in a moment of praise, prayer and thanks giving.
I am reminded that the anointing of myrrh is practicla, touchable and usable. It is not for a Church Service and not for preaching a sermon only. This anointing helps you to get along and relate with your wife, with your childred, with you fellow Church members and with you colleagues at work on a daily basis. We need the creative anointing of myrrh to take the presure of life and still be the people of God in the midst of this pressurized world.
The anointing of Sweet-smelling Cinnamon
The next ingredient for the Holy Anointing Oil is the sweet cinnamon. It is a fiery condiment similar to pepper, being used to add spice and flavor to the food that we eat. Notice that cinnamon is exactly half as much as myrrh as ingredients for the Holy Anointing Oil. Cinnamon speaks to us as the enthusiasm in our testimony to the character and attributes of God. According to my message last week, the character and attributes of God in our life is the presence of God or the fruit of the Spirit in our life. As we have seen, the anointing of myrrh in our life speaks of the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit in our life. And this anointing give us the power to take it or to cope up with the pressure of life. But with the anointing of cinnamon, our entusiasm is only half as much as our power to take it. In other words, it is more important to take it as for us to speak it.
If you only have fiery enthusiasm but you don't have the power to take it, whenever the pressure is on you will go back to your old fleshly way again. Your testimony must be balanced by your power to take it. Enthusiasm will be long lasting if it is balanced with the character of God which only the anointing of cinnamon could give. So many people have enthusiasm and because they have good personality they have many friends, but their witnessing lacks power. But they still fail to lead people to the Lord without the anointing of cinnamon.
We need enthusiasm that is based on the character of God.
The anointing of Sweet-smelling Cane
Sweet-smelling cane or calamus is an appetite creator. It is to make our tastes buds come alive. The anointing of cane or calamus creates an appetite in us to do all the things in the Spirit instead of in the flesh. It is far better to do things by the power of the Holy Spirit rather than trying to do it through psychology, through socialogy, through anthropology or through other works of the flesh. The work of the flesh comes in many forms - healing seminar, Church development seminar and Church growth seminar and the like. Once you have an appetite with the things of the Spirit you will never want to go back to the flesh again; you will never go back to manipulating people or lying to them or deceiving them. You will put your flesh and self effort under the subjection of the Holy Spirit.
When the Holy Spirit moves, people are blessed and set free from the lust of the flesh and then you have an appetite to see them keep on moving, keep on blessing and keep on walking in the Spirit.
Paul said, "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16).
I want to stay in the Spirit so that I can bring self under control and let Jesus be glorified in my life.
So, the anointing of the sweet calamus is symbolic of our appetite to keep on working, keep on living and keep on moving in the Holy Spirit.
The anointing of Cassia
Cassia is quite similar to Cinnamon, but it is a purgative, a laxative or a cleansing agent. It is used as an ingredient to cleanse out the body the same way the Holy Spirit is a great agent for cleansing. He will not abide in anything that is unholy in the presence of God.
God said to Moses, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground" (Ex. 3:5; Acts 7:33).
Whenever the Holy Spirit began to work in our lives He wants to keep on working until Jesus is seen in us (Gal. 4:19), in all His beauty and perfection.
With the anointing of Cassia the Holy Spirit will purge us and cleanse us so that we can receive the truth of God's Word. Jesus Himself said He will reveal all truth to us (John 16:13). He helps us to see ourselves as we look at the truth and compare it with the untruth in our lives until we find confession, repentance and restoration.
The anointing of Olive Oil
Olive oil comes from the pit of the Olive fruit. Olive oil mixed with wine bring healing balm to the one who is wounded (Luke 10:34). Spiritually it speaks of restoration; it speaks of our yielded-ness to do the will of God.
Olive oil is symbolic of people's willingness to do the work of God according to the plan and purpose of God. It is that which takes the darken areas of our lives and causes us to say, "That is God's will, that is what I want to do, that is what I want to live and walk in".
Jesus yielded to the will of the Father at a place called Gethsemane - in Aramaic means "Oil Press". Gethsemane was situated at the Mount of Olive, a short distance east of Jerusalem. It was the place where Jesus was broken and said, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done" (Matt. 26:42).
The battle of the cross was first fought and won by Jesus in Gethsemane. Someone said, the soul anguish which Christ suffered in Gethsemane was equal to that which He suffered on the cross of Calvary! In reality, Christ "died" in Gethsemane before He ever died on the cross. He, no doubt, was "nailed" to Gethsemane's ground by prayer burden before the nails of the Roman soldiers hanged Him to the cross!
In my opinion, if the Church wants to do the will of God, she needs to seek the Gethsemane experience. She needs the anointing of the olive oil. If you want to be broken and say, "Lord your will be done" in all circumstances in life, you need the anointing of olive oil; you need to go under God's press at "Gethesemane"!
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