The Anointing - Set Apart

1 The Anointing Set Apart 11/13/2011

1Jn 2:20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all

things.

We must depend on God. Zechariah 4:6 – “It’s not by might, nor by

power, but by my Spirit says the Lord.” We must minister in the power of

God - under this "anointing" of the Holy Spirit. But let me ask you, what is

"the anointing". We talk about it all the time. We desire it. We pray for it.

But what is it exactly?

The most simple understanding of the anointing is to think of it as a

"setting apart". When God anoints something He sets it apart - it’s "holy"

- separated for His use.

When a new king was anointed in Israel the prophet would take a horn

full of oil and pour it over his head, and it would run right down his

clothes. They would do the same thing when there was a new High Priest.

The symbolism was that this person was "set apart" - to be God’s man;

God’s instrument.

When we say someone "preached under a real anointing", or "that was

an anointed song", or "an anointed moment" - it means it was set apart.

God had His hand on the preacher or the song or the place and was

moving.

In the Old Testament the Tabernacle, and all the furniture and utensils

used for worship in the Tabernacle, had to be anointed before they could

be used. They didn’t anoint with just any old oil - they had special oil for

this anointing, made from a recipe that God gave them ... We read about

it in:

READ: Exodus 30:22-30

You see God prescribed the ingredients that were to be used, and how it

was to be made. And in fact it was a capital offence in Israel to make this

oil and use it for any other purpose - punishable by death!

The recipe for this oil gives a picture of what we need in our lives to know

God’s anointing. So look with me for a few minutes at the special

ingredients mentioned here in Exodus 30.

2 The Anointing Set Apart 11/13/2011

The first ingredient was …

1. Liquid Myrrh. Myrrh was used to prepare bodies for burial. To get its

beautiful sweetness you had to crush it.

Myrrh speaks of death. There is no anointing without death. If we want

to know God’s anointing we have to die to ourselves. Die to the old

person that we once were. Die to our own agenda - our own desires and

dreams, not born of God. If we’re going to depend on God we have to

die to our own abilities and resources. DEATH!

And if we don’t come to this place of dying to ourselves on our own, then

God may have to bring "crushing" circumstances into our lives to bring us

to the place where we will die to ourselves.

Don’t despise those crushings God allows into your life. Sometimes we’re

really quick to say it’s the devil’s work - it may just be the Lord dealing

with us because He wants to bring us to a place of anointing so we can be

used by Him.

There’s that beautiful picture in Matthew 26 of the woman who brought

an alabaster box of precious, expensive perfume and anointed the feet

and head of Jesus. And the fragrance filled the room. The kind of box you

wouldn’t want to break – the box itself seemed so precious. But unless

the outer box is broken, there can be no fragrance. The perfume is locked

up to itself, never to fulfill it’s purpose.

Unless there is a breaking in our lives, the fragrance of Christ in us will

never be released. Sometimes we hold our lives, and control of lives, as

so precious to us. We treasure it more than anything. But those things

need to be broken. We are not called to be Ming vases, but clay pots. 1

Corinthians says that we hold this treasure (the glory of Christ) is

earthenware vessels – clay pots. That all the glory may be His not ours.

We need to come to the place of brokenness.

The second ingredient was …

2. Sweet Cinnamon. Cinnamon was used for flavouring, and it gave off a

very pleasant smell. Its fragrance was beautiful in the Tabernacle because

it counteracted the stench of the animal sacrifices.

3 The Anointing Set Apart 11/13/2011

Cinnamon speaks of sweetness. If you want God to take you up and

anoint you to use you, there has to be a sweetness about your life.

This is what the fruit of the Spirit is all about. Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the

Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,