Oil - Elements Of The Holy Spirit - Pastor Matthew Anderson (Ellsworth Campus)

[00:00:00] Welcome to the C3 Church Sermon Podcast. We pray that this content uplifts you, encourages you, and challenges you to walking in a life full of belonging and becoming. Belonging to the family of God and becoming all that He has created you to be. Now let's dive into today's message together.

[00:00:21] So let's get into His Word. The Christian faith is hopeless without the Holy Spirit. I am absolutely convinced that demonic forces and the forces of darkness in this earth are so against the Holy Spirit.

[00:00:43] Because the Holy Spirit is God's person of change. He's the agent of creation. He's the agent of change. He is a presence. One of the hard things for human beings and even for Christians at that time is to understand is that the Holy Spirit is real. Amen.

[00:01:02] He is the presence of God in descriptive form. That's the Holy Spirit. That's why He is called the Holy Spirit. And Jesus said, I'm going back to heaven, but I'm sending another. I'm sending the Holy Spirit. So we today live in the age of the Holy Spirit. Would you turn to your neighbor and say, the age of the Holy Spirit? I'm going to break that down one last time in this message. This is the concluding message of our Holy Spirit series.

[00:01:31] But I'm going to break that down in clarity this morning. How that we are in the age of the Holy Spirit. His manifest presence is with us. But what has happened in many pockets of Christianity, in many denominations, and the expression of Christianity in the earth today, there's a lot of form, but no power.

[00:01:55] There's a lot of form, but there's no power. 2 Timothy 3 and verse 5 says that in the last days, there would be people that would be lovers of themselves. And then it goes on to say in verse 5, having a form of godliness, a form of the Christian faith, but denying the true power that goes with the Christian faith.

[00:02:21] Reminded of the scripture we used last week, 1 Corinthians 4.20 that says, for the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power. Not a matter of talk, but of power. And so the answer to our faith is afresh in living in constant baptisms of knowing and in fellowship and relationship with the Holy Spirit.

[00:02:52] So this morning I want to talk about the oil. We've talked about water, wind, fire, which are dimensions of the Holy Spirit that we can understand. And so the Bible put them in working language for us that the Holy Spirit is likened to wind. He's likened to water. He's likened to fire and now oil.

[00:03:16] So Luke chapter 4 and verse 18 says this, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim the captives will be released and that the blind will see.

[00:03:43] The New King James Version says this, I'll read this into your hearing as well. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. Everyone say gospel to the poor. Now when you read that, because of how the King James Version in our English many times translates, we think that church is just for poor people, like financially poor.

[00:04:12] But no, what he's meaning is he was sent to preach the gospel for people who would receive the gospel, who know that they need the gospel, who are poor in spirit. Like the Sermon on the Mount says in Matthew chapter 5. So, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me.

[00:04:36] So, we've been looking at the way scripture helps us understand the Holy Spirit through things that we can see and understand. Tangible aspects, if you will, that bring to life the personality and dynamic of the Holy Spirit. Throughout the Bible, oil, everyone say oil, is closely connected to anointing.

[00:05:03] And anointing, obviously, is closely connected to the Holy Spirit. So, let's take a brief journey back to just build this truth out on the anointing and the oil of the Holy Spirit, so to speak. In the Old Testament, oil was the outward sign of God's choosing. Oil was the outward sign of God's choosing.

[00:05:30] The word anoint literally carries the idea of smearing and pouring oil upon somebody. In the Old Testament, God instructed his people to anoint certain people and things with oil. Exodus chapter 30 and verse 30 says, You shall anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them that they may minister to me as priests. So, what the oil meant.

[00:06:00] Everybody say, what the oil meant. When the person in the Old Testament was anointed with oil, what it meant was they had been set apart for God. So, it was a distinguishing characteristic that happened to them, meaning they were set apart for God. And so, there's three main people, if you do a study in the Old Testament, groups that are associated with anointing.

[00:06:26] And it's the priests, as I just read, they were set apart to minister to God. That's all they did. They didn't do anything else. That was their full-time job. They were set apart to minister before God on behalf of the people. And then kings in the Old Testament, righteous kings, kings that God wanted put in place, priests were set apart to lead God's people. So, a king was anointed. And you remember when David was anointed king, right? You remember that story.

[00:06:55] And then also, prophets were anointed to set apart, or be set apart, to speak God's word. So, the oil was a visible declaration. The oil was a visible declaration that God had chosen this person for an assignment.

[00:07:20] It's important to note here that the oil itself, the physical oil that they were anointed with, wasn't what empowered them. But it was the oil, the symbolic gesture, act, so to speak, pointed to something greater in the Old Testament. So, for our sake of understanding

[00:07:49] and the application to our lives, we see at one point in the scripture, and this was really fascinating to me, is that the oil and the spirit started to become connected. The oil and the spirit became connected. And I think the clearest example is in the life of David. 1 Samuel 16 and verse 13 says, then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, listen, watch, hear it,

[00:08:19] and the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. Isn't that powerful? He was anointed of oil and then in the midst of his brothers and the spirit of the Lord then came upon David from that day forward. And so we see here a pattern that is developed through the Old Testament. Examples that the oil is being poured on an individual and when that oil is poured on them,

[00:08:48] then the spirit comes upon them. So it's oil on the outside and the spirit upon that person. The oil was simply the symbol and the Holy Spirit, amen, was the reality. So to understand it clearly, the oil didn't empower David, but the Holy Spirit did. The oil visibly represented what God was doing spiritually.

[00:09:17] David was being chosen, set apart, and empowered for God's purpose. One more time. David was being chosen and set apart and empowered for God's purpose. And you see this also in the same connection with the one who was anointed king before David and that was Saul. In Samuel chapter 10 and verse 1, Samuel takes oil, pours it upon Saul's head and anoints him king. Then Samuel tells him in verse 6 of that same chapter

[00:09:47] that the spirit of the Lord will come upon you. Again, anointing with oil, the spirit comes upon them and then they are empowered for a specific assignment. Now, that's the Old Testament picture. Everyone say, that's the Old Testament picture. So it's improved and fully developed in the New Testament. So we could say it like this.

[00:10:15] The Old Testament anointing was selective. In the Old Testament, the spirit coming upon people was generally connected to a particular people for particular assignments. A king, a priest, a prophet, a judge, as we've just read a few on anointed king. Someone had been chosen for a specific person. Not everyone was anointed. Not everyone was a benefit

[00:10:44] of this anointing. God was placing his spirit upon certain people to accomplish his purposes. But, I told you when I opened this message that we are in the age of the Holy Spirit. Everyone say that with me again, the age of the Holy Spirit. It's important to understand this because in Joel chapter 2 and verse 28, it says, and it shall come to pass afterward

[00:11:14] that I will pour. I will pour. Do you see the connection to oil? How, when you have an Old Testament understanding, now this starts to come together by revelation. Jesus said, through the prophet Joel, the Holy Spirit overshadowed Joel, and he said, he wrote and said, in the last days, it'll come to pass that I'm going to pour out my spirit. That is speaking of

[00:11:43] oil language, like it being poured out. The Holy Spirit was going to be poured out in a new dimension. Come on, somebody. The Holy Spirit was going to be poured out on all flesh. Something was coming. And so then, Jesus shows up and he now is this bridge, so to speak, of an anointing. I love this, where Jesus shows up and he's called Jesus the Christ. And if you don't know what that means,

[00:12:12] it's Jesus, the Anointed One. That's what that means. The Anointed One. Jesus Christ, the Anointed One. Luke chapter 4 and verse 18, it says, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me. Spirit comes upon and he's anointed. Jesus takes this Old Testament language and applies it directly to himself,

[00:12:42] which simply means the Anointed One, Jesus Christ. Messiah carries the same idea. You might not know this, but this is so profound and so phenomenal that Jesus fulfilled all roles of the Old Testament. Jesus was an anointed king, Jesus was an anointed high priest, and he's anointed prophet. Amen. He is the one of all the oil and all the anointing

[00:13:11] was pointing towards. It was and is Jesus. So Jesus then becomes anointed by the Holy Spirit. And I ask you a question, if Jesus needed to be anointed by the Holy Spirit, how many know us as New Testament believers, we need to be anointed by the Holy Spirit. Amen. Luke chapter 3, and it says in verse 20 through 21, it says, and one day when the crowds were being baptized,

[00:13:41] Jesus himself was baptized and he was praying the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit in a bodily form descended on him like a dove. So it was like this presence, I think, came on him that was like visible, descended on him and a voice from heaven, son, you are my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased and you will bring me great joy, it says. Then Jesus

[00:14:10] full of the Holy Spirit. One more time. Then Jesus full of the Holy Spirit. Wow. No wonder he was able to do miracles and was so used by God the Father as he was filled or full of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit descends on Jesus and then he is being filled with the Holy Spirit. And then Luke chapter 4 and verse 14 says, then Jesus returned in the power

[00:14:39] of the Holy Spirit. And then verse 18 of that same chapter, Jesus says, the Lord, the one we read in the opening text, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Why? Because he has anointed me. The Holy Spirit now himself does the anointing over our lives. And so, we now are in the age

[00:15:08] of the Holy Spirit. Acts chapter 1 and verse 8. That's why Jesus now, I hope you've seen the chronological order. Jesus himself was baptized in the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, people were selectively endowed, anointed by the Holy Spirit. But it's even greater in the New Testament that his whole church

[00:15:37] is going to be anointed of the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah. Acts chapter 1 and verse 8. Jesus tells his disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit. Now, some people say, well, I think it's enough just for me to believe. Yes, we believe unto salvation. We believe unto salvation. We believe that Jesus died

[00:16:05] and rose again on the third day. And when we speak that in a revelation manner, that I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, he died and he rose again for me. And you personally claim that in faith believing, the word of God is activated and come on somebody, how many know you are saved. Right? But God's not done with you. He has more. Turn to your neighbor

[00:16:35] and say he has more. He now wants to anoint you to have power to not just be a person who is saved, but a saved person that has power to do the ministry of God in the earth today. And that's why he baptizes us in the Holy Spirit. So there's really two connections here with the Holy Spirit.

[00:17:04] The Holy Spirit comes into our heart, reveals Jesus to us, but then there's a baptism of the Holy Spirit where it's like standing under Niagara Falls. The Bible says, it uses the verbiage, and the Holy Spirit fell on them. The Holy Spirit came upon them where the presence of God comes upon you. I'm going to ask you to stand with me.

[00:17:35] I remember years ago when I was a young guy in my teenage years, like 14 and 15, and I mean, all that young guys at age 14 and 15, 16, have a special sense of humor. I remember me and my buddy, I was staying overnight at his house, and I lived on a farm,

[00:18:05] and the guy had an older sister, and she was coming home that night, and we came up with the big idea that our bedroom, that bedroom window was over where she would walk into, and we decided we were going to get a gallon of water or so and be 12-year-old humorous. Well, and we were pretty crafty and the shot hit the mark,

[00:18:35] and we had someone very mad at us, and we thought it was the best joke in all the world. Come on, somebody. See, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you're going to know that the Holy Spirit came upon you. You're going to know that the Spirit of God because you understand He is real. You don't see Him,

[00:19:04] but like we talked in the first message of wind, you can sense Him. The fire, we talked about water and fire and how that the fire of the Holy Spirit gets on our life, and it does what nothing else can. You shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Now listen to this, Acts chapter 2 and verse 17. It was Peter

[00:19:34] restating what Joel said in 2 and 28, Acts chapter 2 and verse 17. Remember, the page has been turned now. The time has changed. It's a New Testament. We're in the age of the Holy Spirit now, and the Holy Spirit has been poured out. Well, who is it poured out to? Well, to who all will believe

[00:20:02] and who desire His filling. Acts chapter 2 and verse 38 talking about repenting and believing on Christ and being baptized and then receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And verse 39 says, Peter instructed those first century Christians, he said, for the promise of the Spirit is unto you and to all those that are far off. And what He was saying when He said to all those

[00:20:31] that are far off was meaning all in all the history of time coming, all those that are coming into Jesus' family and to your children and to all those that are far off, even as many as the Lord calls into salvation, they can experience the person, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is for us today. Joel's prophecy was fulfilled.

[00:21:02] In Acts chapter 2 and verse 4 after they had teared in the upper room, the Bible says, and they were all filled. Everybody say filled. Holy water, anointing, fire. Fire sat on their heads if you read the narrative, so to speak. There was something going on. It was powerful. That's why Christianity without the Holy Spirit is formless and it's not gonna work. Come on, how many know we need a fire

[00:21:31] of the Holy Spirit? We need the wind of God's presence and we need the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon us. Sons, daughters, young, old men, women, God's Spirit poured out on His Spirit. So it's like He has an eternal bucket of holy oil, so to speak, that He's willing to pour out, that's been poured out, that we just receive. It's already been poured out.

[00:22:01] We're not waiting. You know, I'm just waiting for the Holy Spirit to do something. The Holy Spirit has been given and He's been poured out. My question to us churches, are we responding to the Holy Spirit and are we open to the Holy Spirit and do we want all of the Holy Spirit? Hallelujah. Hallelujah. So what is the oil of the Holy Spirit,

[00:22:31] the anointing? It's the presence and empowerment of the Holy Spirit upon our lives for the purposes of God. It's the Holy Spirit. So our, you might say tonight, this morning, Pastor Matt, how, how am I filled

[00:23:01] with the Holy Spirit? Somebody asked me that. Thank you. Glad you asked. Christ, it's simple. He's been poured out. So He's looking for vessels to fill. He's looking for vessels to fill. We're all like clay pots this morning that came into church.

[00:23:33] Some of us are dry. Some of us are cracked. Some of us need some help. This morning, all of us need help, intervention, grace, and the Holy Spirit begins to just fill us. So here's the first prerequisite for being filled and baptized in the Holy Spirit. You have to confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You have to say, I want a new life. I want to be a born-again Christian. I don't want to be religious.

[00:24:03] I don't want to just be a church attendee. I know there's more to faith than that. I sense that in my heart and in my spirit. I know there's more than that. So if you will place your faith in Jesus and maybe you said, you know, Pastor Matt, I was raised around the church and I've heard the facts. Everyone say heard the facts. Most of the people in this room have heard the facts, but there's a whole other level in owning and believing

[00:24:32] those facts with your life where you personally say, no, I'm not just, you know, I'm not just kind of going to church or, yeah, you know, I'm just kind of trying the God thing. I understand that verbiage and I see where a heart is coming from, but the key that unlocks the door is when you personally confess that Jesus is your Lord. And you can only do that through the influence of the Holy Spirit. I can present that to you,

[00:25:02] but you're the one whose heart has got to respond to the seed of God's word and you repent. So it's a, it's a two-sided coin. It's saying yes to Jesus and no to your old life and your way. That's what repentance is. It's an about face. It's saying, hey, I was living my life. I was going a certain direction in life, but now I'm just not living my own life, but I'm following Jesus. I'm following Jesus.

[00:25:31] Jesus has become my Lord and Savior. when you've done that, you are a candidate for empowerment of the Holy Spirit. And so, to receive a baptism of the Holy Spirit, you have to earnestly desire. Would you turn to your neighbor and say, earnestly desire? So, so here's a principle in Scripture that you got to get. Everyone say, here's a principle in Scripture you got to get. There's a story in the Old Testament

[00:26:01] where the prophet of God tells this warrior, he says to him, here's an arrow and I want you to strike it on the ground three times and say that you're going to have victory as you strike the arrow on the ground. And this person was like, all right, give me the arrow. One, two, three. And the prophet of God

[00:26:31] was angry with him and said, basically you're foolish, you understand the power that was right available to you. If you would have believed and really, really owned what I was speaking to you, you would have had complete deliverance. You would have absolutely smashed the enemy if you'd have just taken the zeal of it. And this is what I've learned. The Bible says that God shows up to those who earnestly seek him. Earnestly seek him. That where you're, you're,

[00:27:01] it's like you're all in. You're, you're all the way in. I, and I, I use this illustration often because it works so well, especially this time of the year. I can't help it. Even right now, I am a Packer fan through and through. Right? And I sent the picture to some of my friends this week. It was myself, Pastor Angel, Mylon, Mason, Molly, Mackenzie. They were all little and we were at,

[00:27:30] we were at, in the sanctum of Lambeau Field. We were celebrating Family Fest or something. It was the year after they won the Super Bowl in 2010, I believe it was. But, I'm, you know, I'm not, I'm not a fair weather fan. I'm the guy that believes they're going to win this weekend. I'm the guy that, you know, my friends get, you're such a, you know, you just see through rose colored glass. You think the Packers are going to win the Super Bowl every year? It's because I'm a Packer fan, all right?

[00:28:00] I just tell you right now, I'm a Packer fan. And you're a fan of the Vikings, whoever you want to be a fan of, right? And that means that we're, that's who we're supporting, that's who we're into. And I'm just curious if there's anybody in the house this morning that says, you know what, as much, much more as into something like the Packers or the Vikings or the Bears or whoever it is, I'm really into Jesus. I'm really into following Jesus. I'm really into Jesus being Lord in my life. So much more

[00:28:30] that his conviction hits my heart and I want to be the best person that I can be. I need God's help. I want to truly walk after him and I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I want Jesus to baptize me in the Holy Spirit. And so there's this principle in the Scripture. How many know Jesus said, ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock

[00:28:59] and the door will be opened to you. And there's another parable Jesus said it was it was a lady that kept asking the judge, right? Will you have mercy? Will you, will you, will you? And then it says to those who pray and never give up. In the Jewish culture in the context of all those Scriptures I've just referenced

[00:29:29] there's a Jewish idea that if you wanted something you had to go after it. You had to keep on asking to make sure you were serious about it. That's how it is with the Holy Spirit. It's not work but it's sincerity. It's not like trying but it's coming open hearted saying Lord yes I'm all in I want you I want all of the Holy Spirit

[00:29:58] that you will give me and he knows hearts who are in that posture and when you're in that posture he baptizes you. Amen? Father right now in the name of Jesus Lord as we've talked about an anointing that gives us a special grace to be the people you desire us to be. Lord it gives us a special presence of when we go into a room. Lord it gives us a special something

[00:30:27] that activates that changes lives around us Holy Spirit. Father right now in the name of Jesus I'm praying Lord for every person under the sound of my voice Lord God that you would help us to earnestly desire your spirit desire your anointing God that you would anoint us in a way Lord Lord that you would anoint us in a way Lord thank you Jesus oh hallelujah

[00:30:57] Lord that changes our life God Lord that the Holy Spirit has been poured out Lord and all we have to do is ask so that's it desire it and then ask everybody say ask ask ask you have to learn to ask Lord fill me Lord help me Lord fill me with your Holy Spirit

[00:31:27] thank you for joining us today we pray you feel encouraged and equipped as you continue in your faith journey please like comment and subscribe and share this with somebody who you believe needs to hear this message we can't wait to connect with you again next week now let's show the world what it looks like to belong and become to the family of God God and and God Thank you.