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Sermon #57 — 1st John Series
Title: Do you have The Anointing?
Text: 1 John 2:20-27 Subject: The Unction — God’s Holy Anointing Date: Tuesday Evening — March 25, 2014 Readings: Larry Brown and Rex Bartley Introduction:
There is much talk in today’s religious world about the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit and the anointing of the Spirit. When some deluded charismatic comes up to you and asks, with a pretentiously sweet, almost angelic glow, “Do you have the anointing?” do you feel a little bit dirty, a little lacking? Does that question make you uncomfortable? That’s the reason the question is asked. It is intended to make you so uncomfortable that you will begin to seek the anointing.
Yet, as you and I know, the Bible does speak about an anointing. Doesn’t it? There is an anointing without which we are dirty, without which we are lacking, without which we are ignorant, without which we should be very uncomfortable; for it is an unction, an anointing without which we are lost. — Do you have the anointing? — That is my subject. If you don’t have it, you should feel dirty, lacking, ignorant, and uncomfortable. — Do you have the anointing? — That is the title of my message tonight. — Do you have the anointing? — Open your Bibles to 1st John 2. Our text will be verses 20-27. I am spending more time on this subject and this passage than I have on other parts of John’s Epistle because the charismatic heresy that plagues our generation is rampant everywhere, carrying multitudes to hell with its vain delusions. Do you have the anointing? — Have you found 1st John 2? Our text is verses 20-27. — 1 John 2:20-27.
(1 John 2:20-27) “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. (21) I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. (22) Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. (23) Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. (24) Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. (25) And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. (26) These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.[1] (27) But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”
The Words
Remember, the word “unction” in verse twenty and the word “anointing” in verse twenty-seven are translated from the very same word (xrisma). In verse twenty it is translated “unction” because it refers to the thing we have. In verse twenty-seven it is translated “anointing” because it refers to the experience of it.
The “Unction” we have from the Holy One is God the Holy Spirit given to us by Christ our Redeemer, the Holy One. The forming of Chtist in us by the Holy Spirit of God in the new birth is the anointing we experience in saving grace.
Exodus 30
Inspired by God the Holy Spirit, the Apostle John here refers us the significance of the Mosaic law concerning the anointing of God’s priests, the Tabernacle, and all the instruments of worship in the Tabernacle. In the Old Testament, everyone and everything employed in the worship and service of Jehovah was anointed with the Holy Anointing Oil.
Let’s go back to the Book of Exodus and look at the law to which John has reference. — Exodus 30.
Let’s see what that blessed, holy anointing is that we must have, that anointing without which we are in our consciences dirty and lacking before God. Time will not permit us to read Exodus 25-30; but the first mention of anointing oil is found in Exodus 25:6. The law of God concerning his worship, his altar, his sacrifices, his ark, and his priests begins in Exodus 25 and continues right through the rest of the Book of Exodus. For now, let’s just look at Exodus 30:22-38.
Holy Perfume and Holy Oil
Exodus 30:22-38, describes two things essential to the worship of God in the Tabernacle: Holy Oil and Holy Perfume. These two things were as essential to the worship of God as the blood of the paschal lamb and the Ark of the Covenant; and that which was represented by the Holy Oil and the Holy Perfume is just as necessary to the saving of our souls as the obedience and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Proposition: The sanctifying work of God the Holy Ghost in us in regeneration, making us new creatures in Christ, making us partakers of the Divine nature, forming Christ in us, is just as necessary to the everlasting salvation of our souls as the work of Christ for us in his obedience unto death as our Substitute. —— The righteousness of God imparted to us in the new birth is just as necessary and blessed as the righteousness of God imputed to us in free justification.
(Exodus 30:22-33) “Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, (23) Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, (24) And of cassia (catcha) five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: (25) And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. (26) And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, (27) And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, (28) And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. (29) And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. (30) And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office. (31) And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. (32) Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. (33) Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.”
(Exodus 30:34-38) “And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha (onicka), and gal-ba-num; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: (35) And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy: (36) And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy. (37) And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD. (38) Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.”
The Tabernacle, the Sanctuary of the Lord would have been utterly unacceptable without the Holy Anointing Oil and fragrant Holy Incense described in this passage. Without the Holy Oil and the Holy Incense, the blood of the Paschal Lamb would have been meaningless.
The Holy Oil
First, in verses 22-33, the Lord God commands Moses to make a special Holy Oil, “an oil of holy ointment,” by which everything connected with the worship of God, including Aaron and his sons, had to be anointed. This oil is specifically distinguished as “Holy Anointing Oil” (v. 31) because its chief purpose was to sanctify the Tabernacle and its furnishings and Aaron and his sons and set them apart for the service of God.
This Holy Oil typified God the Holy Ghost. God the Spirit is constantly spoken of as “Holy,” “the Comforter” who is the “Holy Ghost.” The Spirit is not more holy than the Father or the Son, but his great mission is to make chosen, redeemed sinners holy by making us new creatures in Christ. Thus, by the work of the Holy Spirit we are created and consecrated to God “in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). The Lord God who commands, “Be ye holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 20. 26), is himself the One who makes chosen sinners holy. It is this work of God the Holy Ghost that is portrayed and typified in this “Holy Anointing Oil.” · Christ made us righteous in justification by his obedience unto death as our Surety. · The Holy Spirit makes us holy in Sanctification by forming Christ in us in regeneration, making us “partakers of the Divine nature.” — “Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord!”
Four Spices
Four spices had to be added to a hin of olive oil, to make the “Holy Ointment:” myrrh, cinnamon, sweet calamus, and cassia (catcha).
(Isaiah 11:1-5) “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: (2) 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; (3) And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: (4) But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. (5) And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.”
(Isaiah 61:1-3) “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; (2) To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; (3) To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”
The Spirit, pictured by the Holy Anointing Oil, always brings all the excellent virtues of our Savior into focus (John 16:13-14). — This is what John refers to in 1st John 2:20-27. The Holy Ghost is the Unction we have from Christ; and receiving him in the experience of grace and salvation, in the gift of life, is the Anointing. The work of God the Holy Ghost in us in the sweet experience of salvation and grace, in the sweet experience of knowing Christ, is “the anointing which we have received of him.”
(John 16:13-14) Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. (14) He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.
That which does not glorify Christ, — a sermon, a prayer, a song, a good deed, a gift, or whatever, — is not of the Holy Spirit. No matter how good it looks or sounds, if it does not glorify Christ, the Holy Spirit has no hand in it. That which truly exalts our Lord Jesus and calls attention to him is of the Holy Spirit. The aroma of the anointing oil was the smell of the spices, diffused by the olive oil. He shall glorify me, our Savior said, for he is a sweet-smelling savor to the Father.
Let’s look at those four spices.
1. Pure Myrrh — Myrrh is the gum or sap of a tree obtained by incisions made in the tree. It was sweet to the smell but bitter to the taste. In fact the word comes from a word that means “bitterness.” Myrrh speaks beautifully of our Lord Jesus Christ (Psalm 45:8; Song of Solomon 1:13; 3:6; 5:2-5, 13).
(Song of Songs 1:13) “A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.”
(Psalms 45:8) “All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia (catcha), out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.”
(Song of Songs 3:6) “Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?”
(Song of Songs 5:2-5) “I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my Beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. (3) I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? (4) My Beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him. (5) I rose up to open to my Beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.”
(Song of Songs 5:13) “His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.”
The sweet smell of myrrh speaks of love, immense, eternal, everlasting, infinite love poured out in a bitter but fragrant death for us! That is what is prefigured in the myrrh. The bitterness of the myrrh tells of the reality of the sufferings which our Lord endured. It was not physical pain, not even death, which gave intensity to his sufferings. What was it then? — He who is holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sin, he who knew no sin and did no sin, was made sin for us! When the Lord Jesus was made sin for us, he drank all the bitter the dregs of the bitter cup of God’s bitter wrath against sin. — And from him comes the sweet smell of sin put away!
2. Sweet Cinnamon — This sweet cinnamon was probably the same spice you ladies use to make cinnamon toast or cinnamon rolls today. It is used four times in Scripture. The word “cinnamon” comes from a word which means “to erect or build.” — It is Christ who builds his church. He is our mighty Zerubbabel. He will finish the work! That is sweet cinnamon to all who know him!
Cinnamon is attributed to the Church by the Lord Jesus as the gift of his grace (Song of Solomon 4:12-14). He attributes to us all that he is and all that he has done because he has made us all that he is and all that he has done!
But in Proverbs 7:17 and in Revelation 18:13 the harlot church of freewill works religion, Babylon pretends that she has the cinnamon that sinners need. Thus, with a hypocritical love for their souls, fools are enticed to her bed.
3. Sweet Calamus — Calamus comes from sweet cane, which usually grows in miry soil. The fragrance is obtained by crushing the plant. Our Lord Jesus came into all the mire of this world and grew erect and fragrant for God. He came to the mire of earth for a special work. · Wicked men took him and bound and bruised him, but what fragrance has filled Heaven and earth through that bruising (Isaiah 53:5)! · Wherever he finds a “bruised reed” he lifts it from the mire (John 8:11). That is his sweet smelling purpose.
4. Cassia (catcha) — The word “cassia” comes from a root word meaning “to stoop or bow down” as in worship. What was foreshadowed here was the perfect Man’s submission to and worship of God (Luke 4:16). — What an example for us!
The only other mention of “cassia” (catcha) is (Ezekiel 27:19). What we learn there is that this was one of the articles in which Tyre, the great merchant nation of the world, traded (Ezekiel 27:2). Like Egypt, Tyre stands for the world. This tells us that the world itself traffics in the excellencies of Christ in order to further its own ends. In the next chapter of Ezekiel (28:12-19), Satan is presented as the “King of Tyre.” The archenemy of God is always seeking to rob Christ of that adoration and worship which belongs to Him.
When God the Holy Ghost comes in the saving operations of his grace he reveals the Lord Jesus in the glory of his Person and work, spoken of here as myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia (catcha), as a sweet-smelling savor, a sacrifice accepted and well-pleasing to God. — And He causes believing sinners to know that in Christ, we are a sweet-smelling savor (2 Corinthians 2:15)!
Jehovah’s Claim
“This shall be an holy anointing oil unto Me” (Exodus 30:31). — The oil upon the Tabernacle, upon all its furnishings, and upon Aaron and his sons, was God’s claim of them as his own. The oil was Jehovah’s claim of all as his own! It was the Lord’s seal. Everything it touched it sanctified. It was the voice of God asserting his ownership, approval, and acceptance. Everything the oil touched was, by that Holy Anointing Oil, made holy.
That is exactly what God the Holy Spirit is to the regenerate soul. When God pours out his Spirit upon the blood bought sinner, he claims the sinner for himself, and tells the sinner that he belongs to God, and makes him holy (Galatians 4:4-6; Romans 8:16).
(Galatians 4:4-6) “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (5) To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (6) And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”
(Romans 8:16) “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”
(1 John 2:20) “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.”
(1 John 2:27) “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”
For God’s Priests Alone
This holy anointing oil was put upon no one except Aaron and his sons, God’s chosen priests (v. 30). Until they had the anointing, they were not qualified, or worthy, to minister in the priest’s office. It was the anointing that consecrated them for the work.
(Exodus 30:30) “And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office.”
Even so, no sinner is allowed to approach or worship God until he is sanctified by the Spirit, until Christ is created in him. Then the sinner is worthy and serves God in the priest’s office, as a part of that royal priesthood who worship and serve him.
Not only was this holy oil for Aaron and his sons, the Lord God specifically forbids any others to have it upon them (vv. 32-33). It could not be poured upon any except those who wore the pure, white miter of the blood bought, righteous priest! Yet, every chosen, redeemed priest is given the anointing. Did you hear that? — Every chosen, redeemed priest is given the anointing; and it is by the anointing that we are made to know we are God’s (1 John 2:20-27).
(1 John 2:20-27) “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. (21) I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. (22) Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. (23) Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. (24) Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. (25) And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. (26) These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. (27) But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”
Imitations Deadly
No imitations of the holy anointing were to be tolerated among God’s ancient people. — “Whosoever compoundeth any like it shall be cut off’’ (v. 33). Any who dared presume to imitate God’s holy anointing were to be put to death. What multitudes there are who today try to imitate the work of God’s Holy Spirit in regeneration!
All the churches and religious movements of the world are endeavoring to put the anointing upon proud man. But man’s nature is a barren soil; and the fruit of the Spirit will never spring from that desert land. A miracle must happen! The sweet spices of Christ’s Person must be brought by the olive oil, the blessed, omnipotent Holy Spirit. (John 3:6-7); and that is his own sovereign work of omnipotent mercy (John 3:8).
No strange fire could be used at God’s altar (Leviticus 10:1-2). The fire had to come from the golden altar of incense. So, no imitation of this Holy Anointing Oil was to be made. How this word condemns the imitations of Divine worship, imitations of the Spirit’s operations, and imitations of the fragrance of Christ in present day religion. Satan is a master imitator. It is absolutely frightening to think of the strange compositions of religion all around us. We must be careful (1 John 4:1-3).
(1 John 4:1-3) Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. (2) Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: (3) And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
Christ came and did all he came to do. If that spirit you are listening to does not glorify the incarnate Christ, the crucified and risen Christ, the interceding Christ, as the all-sufficient effectual Savior of his people, it is imitation oil, a fake anointing.
Holy Perfume
In verses 34-38 the Lord God commanded Moses to make a holy perfume with which the anointed priests were to enter into the holy of holies with the blood of the paschal lamb. This perfume was used in the censer they carried into that holy place before the Lord. It was a perfume made by mixing equal parts of three sweet spices: stacte (stack-tee), onycha (o-nick-a), and galbanum (gal-ba-num). Though some guesses have been made, no one has any idea what these three things were. But they were to be mixed with frankincense (whiteness) tempered together, and beaten very small. Then, they were put in the fire from off the altar and carried with the blood of the paschal lamb to the mercy-seat, “where” the holy Lord God says, “I will meet with thee.”
I have no idea what the spices were; but I know exactly what they represented and what they are intended to teach. In Christ three things are tempered together: God, Man, and Merit (atonement, righteousness). And these three things mixed with the whiteness of God’s holiness, justice and truth, form the incense of our Savior’s intercession for us, the sweet perfume by which we draw near to God! — It is a composition to which nothing can be added. Any attempts to add anything to this composition will end in being everlastingly cut off from God and His people (vv. 37-38).
(Exodus 30:37-38) “And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD. (38) Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.”
Application
This is the holy anointing and the holy perfume by which we must come to and worship God. · The Anointing is Christ in you. — The New Birth! · The Perfume is Christ’s for you. — Satisfaction!
(1 John 2:20-27) “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and…the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you…as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”
Do you have the Anointing? — I wouldn’t go to bed without it. If I were you, I wouldn’t give rest to my eyes without Christ.
Gracious Lord, incline Your ear; My request for mercy to hear; Hear my never-ceasing cry; — Give me Christ, or else I die.
All unholy and unclean, I am full of guilt and sin! On Your mercy I rely; Give me Christ, or else I die
Unction of Life to make me whole, Holy Anointing, heal my soul! For grace, my God, for grace I cry. — Give me Christ, or else I die!
Amen.
Don Fortner
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Pastor Fortner’s
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[1] “Them that seduce you” are those who would turn you away from Christ — antichrists! — “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” (1 John 2:18-19)