Sunday August 12, 2007

The Anointing of the Holy Spirit
Isaiah 61:1-4

I. Introduction

Over the last couple of months we have been talking about the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.

But my heart is not to simply talk about the Holy Spirit, but that we fully experience the presence, power and gifts of the Spirit in our day-to-day lives.

I think many of us are like Ira Yates who lived in West Texas during the Depression. Now Mr. Yates was like many other ranchers and farmers. He had a lot of land, and a lot of debt. He wasn't able to make enough on his ranching operation to pay the principal and interest on the mortgage, so he was in danger of losing his ranch. With little money for clothes or
food, his family (like many others) had to live on a government subsidy.

Day after day, as he grazed his sheep over those rolling West Texas hills, he was no doubt greatly troubled about how he would pay his bills. Then a seismographic crew from an oil company came into the area and told him there might be oil on his land. They asked permission to drill a wildcat well, and he signed a lease contract.

At 1,115 feet they struck a huge oil reserve. The first well came in at 80,000 barrels a day. Many subsequent wells were more than twice as large. In fact, 30 years after the discovery, a government test of one of the wells showed it still had the potential flow of 125,000 barrels of oil a day.

And Mr. Yates owned it all. The day he purchased the land he had received the oil and mineral rights. Yet, he'd been living on relief – a multimillionaire living in poverty. The problem? He didn't know the oil was there even though he owned it.

It is fair to say that you and I are a lot like Mr. Yates at times. We are heirs of a vast treasure and yet we live in spiritual poverty. We are entitled to the gifts of the Holy Spirit and his energizing power, and yet we live unaware of our birthright.
It is my prayer today that you will come to know and experience just how rich you really are.

Rev. Dan Rondeau "Come, Holy Spirit"

II. The Anointing of the Holy Spirit

So what is this vast inheritance we have in the Holy Spirit? To gain at least some understanding of our inheritance we are going to look at what it means to be anointed by the Holy Spirit.

First of all, the Biblical definition of anointing is “to authorize, or set apart, a person for a particular work or service.” (Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)

So the anointing confers authority and/or sets someone apart (consecrates them) for a particular work or service.
In the Old Testament we have a number of instances of both people and things being anointed.

When a thing was anointed it meant that place or tool was set apart for the Lord’s service.

An example of this is found in Exodus 40:10 when the Lord says: “You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering
and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, so that the altar shall be most holy.” (NRSV)

The practical application of this in our lives may be found in the need for us to create sacred places – like our church facility, library or a place at home where we go for devotional time with the Lord.

In truth, we should seek to make everywhere we are a sacred place – our work area, our homes, even our cars.

But it is not only things and places that are anointed or set apart to the Lord. God also anoints people. Let us continue looking at the Old Testament.

A. God anointed people to fulfill specific tasks – an anointing for service.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Look, I have specifically chosen Bezalel son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3 I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts. 4 He is a master craftsman, expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze.’” (Exodus 31:1-4, NLT)

What task has God anointed you to do?

B. God anointed people for certain offices.

1. Priests

In regards to Aaron and his sons when the Lord set them apart to be priests He said: “You shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head and anoint him.” (Exodus 29:7, NRSV)

2. Kings

“Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him, saying, ‘Has not the Lord anointed you leader over his inheritance?’” (1 Samuel 10:1, NIV)

3. Prophets

“Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of
Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.” (1 Kings 19:16, NRSV)

So we see in the Old Testament that God anointed only certain people to fulfill specific roles and tasks: The priest was empowered to mediate between God and the people, the king was given authority and empowered to lead the people,
and the prophet was empowered to speak truth to the people.

Unfortunately, I believe there are a majority of people who still believe that God only anoints certain people
for certain tasks.

In other words, there are the pastors, superintendents and bishops and then there are the rest of us – the
common Christians.

I believe it is this kind of thinking that lends itself to a poverty mentality when it comes to our spiritual inheritance.

We might not say this exactly, but the reality of our experience says that victory over sin, physical, emotional and mental healing, and all the fruit of the Spirit are nice things to hope for, but will never be a part of our daily reality.

Perhaps these things come more easily to those who are super spiritual, but I am just a common Christian and so I will
just continue to suffer through this dreary life and hope that one day when I go to heaven I will be free of all this stuff that weighs me down.

But I have good news for you today that comes through the words of Isaiah the prophet.

In fact, I believe this passage is vital to understanding the transition from the Old Testament understanding of the
anointing (only for a select few) to the New Testament understanding and experience of the anointing.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the
oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. 4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.” (Isaiah 61:1-4, NIV)

Why is this passage transitional? Because Jesus quotes these words in Luke 4 and applies them to His life and ministry!

I don’t have the time to look at this too closely, but I believe you can find the role of the prophet, priest and king
in Isaiah 61.

Jesus fulfills all three roles – He is our prophet, speaking the truth, He is our priest mediating between us and God, and He is our king having authority to lead us.

III. Application

But you may still ask how this all applies to you. Let me share one way this applies to you today and then I will speak of another way this applies to you the next time I preach.

First, Jesus comes to you today with the authority and power (the anointing) to heal your broken heart, set you free from your bondage, speak the truth into your life, give you beauty for ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning and a garment
of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness (depression)!

All of this and more is yours. You are sitting on a vast oil field that probably remains mostly untapped – dig your wells deep and find all the riches that Christ has for you – the physical, emotional and spiritual riches that are your inheritance in Christ.

Now, there is one final point I would like to make today and that is about the use and symbolism of oil in the context of being anointed.

The anointing oil, which was prepared in the Old Testament according to divine instructions, was a symbol of the Spirit of God filling us with the powers of the divine life.

So when we anoint with oil, we are symbolizing the reality that the Spirit of God is enduing us with divine power for the duties of the office and task that we have been set apart for (Leviticus 8:12; 1 Samuel 10:1,6; 16:13-14; Isaiah 61:1).

We will look more closely at this the next time I preach.

But what I want to highlight in closing today is that oil was and is symbolic of abundance
(Deuteronomy 8:8; Ezekiel 16:13).

A lack of oil was a figure for want and poverty (Deuteronomy 28:40; Joel 1:10).

So, what will it be? Abundance or poverty? Jesus has been anointed to bring to you prosperity and life – not necessarily material prosperity (although that may be included) – but a prosperity expressed in the fruit of the Spirit and all that is promised through Christ to us in Isaiah 61.

Today, I invite you to come forward to be anointed with oil and have one of us pray for you that you will experience the realities of Isaiah 61 in your life.

James 5:14 says, “Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray
over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.” (NRSV)