Anointing Makes The Difference

Opening illustration: The story is told of a man who once went to Alexander the Great and asked for some financial help. Alexander told the man to go to his treasurer and ask for whatever he needed. A little later, the treasurer came to Alexander and told him he was hesitant to give the man what he asked for because he asked for an enormous amount. Alexander replied, “Give him what he asks for, he has treated me like a KING in his asking, and I shall be like a king in my giving.”

That is exactly how our heavenly father is. He is willing to pour out His anointing upon us but are we at that place where we surrender all and exalt Him as our King of kings and Lord of lords?

Introduction: There is a difference between worship and anointed worship, between singing and anointed singing, between having a church and anointed church service, between preaching and anointed preaching. This is what is going to make the difference in your life. Sometimes we think that the anointing is only for the people in ministry, but it is not so. The anointing makes the difference in the market place. The anointing will make your gifts and the call of God upon your life become profoundly powerful and fruitful. What makes us effective is the anointing not what we possess physically or our charm, or if we have put all our ducks in the row to have church this morning or even any event, we do. Those things may be important, but the anointing is what separates us from everything else.

1 John 2:20 says, “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.” This is the unction that is given to us by the Holy Spirit and abides in us. It is something about the anointing that gives us the unction … it quickens us. Paul talks about the ability to do something. To anoint means to smear on or to rub on which has a fragrance that we talked about last Sunday. In the OT they would pour a hin (6 quarts) of oil on a person to anoint them. What the text is getting at is that we must be drenched or saturated in the anointing. We don’t need mercy drops but a manifested outpouring of God’s Spirit upon our lives.

Today we are fighting bigger things than before. The prophet Joel said that in the last days God will pour out His Spirit. He is not just going to touch you or momentarily bless you. He wants His Spirit to be saturated in us. He wants us to be drenched in the anointing. He desires everyone in the body of Christ to have the anointing. It is not just for the Christian leadership but for every believer. The anointing comes out of the breaking, the crushing; the anointing comes out of that which is pounded that which has gone through something. Some of you can’t do anything because you have not been through anything. And when you go through something, you quit half way through. You must hold on because when you come out, you will come out with something in your hand that is called the anointing. And it is not about you or for you. It is for the edification of the body of Christ and God’s glory. It will help other people to get free.

How does the anointing make the difference in our lives?

1. COMPLETE CONSECRATION (vs. 26-31)

This signifies that which is communicative to all who receive in love and faith, is evident from the signification of "touching," as being communication; and from the signification of "being made holy," as being the influx and presence of the Lord; and as the influx and presence of the Lord are in love and faith, thus are with those who receive Him in love and faith, these are they who are here said to be "made holy" but it is the Divine with them, which alone is holy, and not at all what is their own.

That this signifies inauguration to represent the Lord in both kingdoms, is evident from the signification of "anointing," as being to induce a representation; from the representation of Aaron, as being the Lord in respect to Divine good celestial, thus in the celestial kingdom; and from the representation of the sons of Aaron, as being the Lord in respect to spiritual good, thus in the spiritual kingdom.

That this signifies in all things of the church, is evident from the signification of "generations," when said of the sons of Israel, by whom is signified the church, as being those who are of the church; thus, abstractedly from persons, the things which are of the church. It is said "abstractedly from persons," because the Divine things which proceed from the Lord make the church, and nothing whatever man does so: these Divine things do indeed flow in with man, but still they do not become man‘s, but are the Lord’s with man. This being the case, when the angels are speaking together, they speak abstractedly from persons; and for the same reason, neither does the name of any person enters heaven of whom mention is made in the Word, but the thing which is there signified by the person. That all names of persons and of places in the Word signify actual things; and that names do not enter heaven.