The Fundamentals: Divine Anointing

¹ The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want ² He maketh
me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the
still waters. ³ He restoreth my soul : he leadeth me in the
paths of righteousness for his name’s sake ⁴ Yea, though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no
evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort
me. ⁵ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of
mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup
runneth over. ⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the
LORD forever.

What a journey we are taking through this great Psalm of David! Are you getting anything? Are you being challenged? Are you taking the time with the Lord to meditate on His Word? Are you getting alone with Him in the secret place? Are you believing Him to show you great and mighty things? Are you excited about what He is teaching you and showing you?

Let me emphasize something at the beginning of this lesson. What the Lord is teaching you is not just for you. His will for your life is to grow, develop and mature into the man or woman of God He wants you to be. Absolutely! However, His will for you is also entwined or wrapped up in other people. Why did He save me? To rescue me from sin, self, Satan, and a Christless grave. To enable me to glorify Him in this life and the life to come. But it is also to bring the Good News of what He has done for me to others! To live my life according to God’s will so that others may see Jesus in me. Fruit is grown to be consumed. The tree doesn’t eat the fruit, but others do. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! It is important to realize as Christians that it is not just a “me and God” relationship. It is. But it is more than that. It is not just a vertical relationship with God. It is. But it is more than that. Are there not others around us? Is there not a horizontal relationship? I mean, there are others that we engage on a daily basis. God’s will for me is not divorced from others. My walk with God will affect others. I will influence others. You will influence others. Like it or not, it just is the case. Listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 5.

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16

It is clear. It is not just an individual light for your house. It is a light for the world. A city on a hill cannot be hid. And so, with that being said, we arrive at a place in this beloved Psalm where we see His Divine Anointing. Even here, it is not just for me. It is. But it is more than that. I emphasize this because of all the misunderstanding regarding anointing that one will find from east to west and north to south! We left off last time with the Divine Provision. Why? Sheep have enemies. For one, there are snakes lurking in the holes of some of the best pastureland ever created. But snakes are not the only enemies of sheep. Listen to these words from David:

There it is. Divine Anointing! Another FUNDAMENTAL OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. Another necessity to make up the shortage in a Christian’s life. Hallelujah! Yes, a shortage. In the day in which we live, we see shortages in the flock, in the church. Many of the under-shepherds in the church are not shepherds, but hirelings. As a result, there are great shortages in the church. But Jesus our Shepherd is here to make up that lack, that shortage. I guess you can say it matters who your Shepherd is. Would you agree? Absolutely. As a result of “shepherds” that are no shepherds, the flock is not receiving what it needs. In fact, the situation is grim. Jeremiah prophesies to the shepherds/pastors of his day:

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture…you have not attended to them…and I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them…” Jeremiah 23:1-4

This Psalm is bringing us back to the only One who can make up that lack and so enable us to live a godly life in an ungodly world. Listen to it:

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.” Jeremiah 23:5

How great is this! We see in Jeremiah that THE Shepherd is coming! Well, He came, and He will come, and today He is living in my heart! Hallelujah! Is He in your heart? He is the Shepherd and Bishop of my soul. What about you? I want to remind us of the title of this series. The Shepherd, the Sheep, and the Shortage.

“The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.”

There it is! He comes to make up my lack. My want. My shortage. This is good news. How does He do this? As we read this Psalm, we find all the things He provides which make up that shortage. One of the shortages is the Anointing. No doubt you have heard this term anointing many times. Let’s take a look at this subject as it relates to the Christian and our need for the Shepherd to administer this oil so necessary for sheep life. And let us pray that the Anointing returns to the church so it can truly be the church triumphant! We will focus on three considerations.

So much has been said regarding the “anointing” that one can get somewhat confused. But the practice of anointing referred to the pouring of oil from a vessel usually upon the head of the person to be anointed. To anoint means “to smear”, “to rub” with oil. Sacred or secular. In the Greek text, anoint is connected to a word that means to furnish what is needed. To touch, to light upon, to graze. So, it is a necessity, not an accessory. Also, there is some kind of contact.

In what could be called a secular sense, the practice of anointing with oil was for medicinal reasons, for hygiene, for hospitality in the home, and for burial. In a spiritual, or sacred sense the anointing of a person or object was to signify a setting apart of that person or object to the service of God. It was used to anoint sacred things, vessels, or furniture in the house of God. Those vessels were anointed to symbolize their separation and dedication to God’s service. It was a special holy oil, not to be imitated. It was made of olive oil compounded with four spices. (Exodus 30:23,24) Priests were anointed in the Old Testament for enduement of the Spirit for ministry.

“Thou shalt anoint them and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office.” Exodus 28:41

Also, the people of God, as the people of God, were anointed. In 1 Chronicles 16:21,22 we find these words:

“He [God] suffered no man to do them wrong…saying, Touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm.”

So, in this sense, like the children of Israel, we who are washed, redeemed, and belong to the Lord our God, are His anointed. All because of Jesus, the Anointed One.

When the anointing is regarding people, it represents the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It speaks of the anointing or unction of the Holy One. (1 John 2:20) Let me ask you, is not the Holy Spirit a necessity in our lives? Has not the Holy Spirit set us apart for His service? Do we not have and need that unction from the Holy One? (Unction and anointing are translations of the same Greek word, chrisma.) It is good at this point to stretch you a little bit. In the Greek New Testament there are five verbs translated “anoint” and one noun “anointing”. Four of the verbs are used in a general way to refer to the anointing of things and people, sacred and secular. But the one mentioned above, “chrisma”, or “chrio” is a little more confined in its use. It is for the sacred anointing of people for God’s purposes. 1 John 2:20, 27 says:

The prophet Samuel anointed both King Saul and King David. The anointing was a divine necessity which gave the new king the legal right to rule over Israel. It has been said that by virtue of the anointing, the Spirit of the Lord was upon the king to help him accomplish his God-given tasks as the ruler of God’s people. When Samuel anointed David as King, the Bible says that

“…the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward…” I Samuel 16:13

Forward is a word that expresses a continuing of the anointing of the Spirit. It is not a one-time thing. As they were anointed for their task in the Old Testament, we can gain a little understanding of its use in the New Testament. As the Lord provided this anointing to fulfill their task and calling in the Old Testament, so the Spirit of the Lord will supply the necessary power to us for the accomplishment of our God given responsibility. I pray for an added dimension to be experienced in our lives. I pray that everyone reading this will ask the Lord for a fresh Baptism in the Holy Spirit! There is a definition of anointing that I want to share with you which says: “The anointing is the special presence of the Holy Spirit in the life and ministry of God’s servant which produces an inspiring awareness of the divine presence.” I like that. This anointing of the Holy Spirit will enhance the believer’s capacities or capabilities beyond the natural. It will bring to your life a greater God-awareness and Christ consciousness. It will bring Jesus into view! Hallelujah!

Who is the One in Psalm 23 who anoints the sheep? It is Jesus. The Shepherd. “Thou anointest my head with oil.” We also know that it is God who anoints us.

“He…who has anointed us, is God…”  2 Corinthians 1:21

But then, it is the Holy Spirit who anoints us. Yes, the active agent of the Godhead is the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor…” Luke 4:18

Praise the Lord! Is this not one of the greatest things you can ever imagine? Here we see the anointing upon Christ to speak and preach under the anointing and touch of God. His preaching was such that the captives were set free, the broken hearted were healed, the blind could see, and the bruised were no longer in bondage. What power! What anointing! Paul’s words sum it up like this:

“My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”  1 Corinthians 2:4

This is how it was with Jesus and with Paul. From this we must conclude that Spirit-filled believers should expect to have an underlying attribute or mark in their preaching and teaching which infuses life and spiritual power that breaks through, interrupts, and even dissolves the disinterestedness, the nonchalance or half-heartedness of those who are listening. This is the anointing of the Holy Spirit that we so earnestly desire. The anointing that breaks the yoke. The unction from above. Lord, give us preachers who are anointed with power by the Spirit of God. Give us Holy Ghost filled anointed men and women of God who know what it is to experience that verbal and instructional unction from the Holy One.

As we have stated, this is the work of the Holy Spirit. But let me be clear. Our Shepherd, the Lord Jesus, said that HE would send the Comforter to us. And the Holy Spirit did come! On the day of Pentecost there was a sound of a mighty rushing wind. John the Baptist said in the gospel of Matthew, that Jesus would “baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire.” So, we see that our Shepherd is right in the middle of all this Holy Ghost anointing.

Yes, He knows just what the sheep needs. With that in mind, let us remember that the anointing, the touch of God, the speech that is not with words of man’s wisdom but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, cannot be transferred to others at will. HE does it, not us. Neither can we anoint ourselves or say things such as “he has his grandfather’s anointing.” There is no “grandpa anointing”. It is the Holy Ghost anointing; it is the unction from the Holy One. It is the touch of God, from God. We cannot go and find it somewhere and bring it back in some sort of a spiritualized “doggie bag”. There is no channel of transference, or medium. When King Saul was rejected, and lost/forfeited his anointing, he went to a medium. That is witchcraft. We cannot buy the anointing, nor sell it, import it, or manufacture it. In the Old Testament, if a priest tried to manufacture it, pour it on man’s flesh, imitate it, put it on a stranger, or misuse it in any way, they were cut off from the community.

“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. Whosever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.” Exodus 30:32,33

Sounds like the anointing is nothing to mess with. God takes it pretty seriously. So should we. So, we are thankful that our Shepherd is faithful to anoint his sheep with this precious oil of the Holy Spirit. What is the purpose of this anointing?

Let’s be up front. The purpose of the anointing is for the sheep. We need it. Remember we are talking about necessities and not accessories. Jesus himself needed the anointing. See if you can find what this anointing was for. Make a short list from these verses. Listen to His words:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord”. Luke 4:18,19
“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” Acts 10:38

The importance of the anointing of the Holy Spirit is seen in the life of Jesus. And may we be reminded that the servant is not greater than His master. Jesus knew His preaching would need to be in power. In fact, Jesus would not begin His public ministry until the Spirit of the Lord descended upon Him as a dove at His baptism in the river Jordan. If Jesus needed the anointing of the Holy Spirit in power as that added dimension to His life, so do we. Remember the disciples of Jesus? He told them to remain in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. On the day of Pentecost, they received that infilling of the Holy Spirit, and they went and preached with a new illumination, a new insight, a new passion, and a new power, as that added dimension of anointing was upon them. These men had a success that was second to none in their day. In fact, the Bible says that they were accused of having “turned the world upside down”. WOO! Is this not the greatest thing you have ever heard? Can you imagine a church so anointed by the Holy Spirit, so endued with power from on high that we are actually accused of turning things “upside down”? So, the anointing is essential to effective preaching. We need to mention here, that every believer has an anointing for life and service, but, as one Pentecostal minister has stated: “there is also a special degree of anointing available to those who are called to full-time (special) ministry.” Let it also be emphasized that all the epistles were written to and for Spirit-filled believers.

Ephesians 4:11 gives us an overview of the gifts of Christ to the church for various functions and ministries in the body of Christ. How vital is our responsibility to function as Jesus desires to enable us.

We see that another purpose of anointing was to separate and to signify holiness unto the Lord. Moses was to anoint the vessels of the tabernacle and sanctify them or set them apart. Also, he was to do the same with Aaron and his sons. We will look at a few more:

To help us in spiritual warfare.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”  Ephesians 6:12

Roman wrestlers would anoint themselves with oil to keep their opponent from being able to grab ahold of them. How important is the touch of God upon our lives in fighting the good fight of the faith. The anointing of the Holy Spirit is powerful and necessary to our spiritual warfare. The scripture tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God to the pulling down of the strongholds of Satan. Has the accuser gotten ahold of you lately? Has he whispered in your ear that you have not measured up to the divine standard? Has the enemy told you that God has had to leave you? Listen, you have an unction/anointing from the Holy One that will remind you that no weapon formed against you shall prosper! The enemy may accuse you, but the anointing/unction of the Spirit will keep the devil from getting a grip on you. If you are a Spirit-filled believer, there is an added dimension to your arsenal! What is that? It is praying in the Spirit! Romans 8:26 tells us that when we don’t know how to pray as we ought, the Holy Spirit prays through us with groanings that cannot be uttered. Hallelujah! The need of the hour is more anointing, more of the touch of God, more of the Holy Spirit’s power, not less.

To establish and confirm us in Christ.

“Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God.” 2 Corinthians 1:21

To give us spiritual knowledge and insight.

“But you have an unction (anointing) from the Holy One, and ye know all things…but the anointing which you 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.”  I John 2:20, 27

How great is this anointing of the sheep! We are the sheep of His pasture. Besides the above purposes, the Shepherd also anoints the sheep for other reasons. You see, sheep are bothered by flies, potential sunstroke, and scab, as well as head-butting other sheep. The anointing helps with these situations as well. There are nose flies that can lay eggs and the larvae travel up the nose and attack the brain which in turn affects the mind. As I have read and understand, the sheep can begin to hit their head and roll in the dirt. Blindness and even death can take place. They become frantic with fear or stomp their feet and end up disturbed, brainsick. They refuse to eat. They run frantically and soon drop over from exhaustion. We are sheep! Are there not spiritual flies that can cause us much trouble? This oil is a constant necessity. In fact, the Shepherd would anoint their heads with this oil in order to keep the flies away from the nose. The flies were present, yet unable to gain an advantage. Jesus knows what we need and when we need it. There are flies of irritation, frustration, and distraction and a host of other things sent by the enemy of our soul. He seeks to kill and destroy. The enemy of your soul is the accuser of the brethren. You may be experiencing this right now! But do not fear! When the enemy comes in like flood, the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard against him and keep him from burrowing into your mind to make you think things that are false, untrue, and accusatory about your brother or sister in Christ, not to mention your God. If left unanointed; if we do not run to the Shepherd of our souls; if He does not anoint us with His Holy Spirit daily, it will affect my ability to function as a sheep of His pasture. It can affect my spiritual eyesight. It can affect my thinking and my decision making. It can cause me to accuse someone of something they did not do. I can become distracted and suspicious without cause, and my ability to influence others for Christ can be jeopardized. My ability to receive truth and revelation can also be hindered.

The Shepherd also used the oil on the head to aid them in head-butting. Yes, that’s a fact. The oil would help one sheep to slide off from the other sheep and prevent them from injury. How kind and gracious is the Lord. He knows you are going to have this happen once in a while. It’s just what sheep do. Paul and Barnabas had a disagreement over John Mark traveling with them on a missions trip. Yet in the end, they came together, and Paul said, “Bring Mark, He is profitable to me for the ministry.” Yes, Jesus anoints our heads with oil.

The Shepherd also anointed the sheep on the head for healing of bruises, scab, thorns, and wounds from briars. I think of the verse in James that tells us to call for the elders of the church to anoint the sick with oil. It is a symbol of the Oil of the Holy Spirit, and it speaks to the fact that He is the healer. Sometimes we need healing in our mind. Our thinking is in need of a touch. And yes, Jesus, the anointed One can heal every inch of our being. Body, mind, and soul. We sing a song in our church that says, “Look what the Lord has done, He healed my body, He touched my mind, He saved me it was just in time…” Ask Him to fill you with the Holy Ghost and fire. He will do it. Yes, He will do it! You will experience the anointing, that “Special presence of the Holy Spirit…which produces an inspiring awareness of the divine presence.” And then what? You will know what it is to say:

When you run to the Lord, admit that you are a sinner, ask for His forgiveness, and accept Him as your Lord (Ruler) and Savior of your life, then He lives (abides) in you! He begins to work and change you from the inside out. And as you grow and develop in your walk with Him, you find that those things you once longed for are replaced with a contentment – a peace in Him. No matter the circumstances that surround you, He gives to you His joy that is your strength moment by moment! A changed, joyful and freed heart will begin to praise the Lord for who He is and thank Him for His ever presence. This heart will also be able to sing “…For the Comforter abides with me.”

I’m rejoicing night and day
As I walk the narrow way,
For the hand of God in all my life I see;
And the reason of my bliss,
Yes, the secret all is this:
That the Comforter abides with me.

(Chorus)
He abides, He abides;
Hallelujah, He abides with me!
I’m rejoicing night and day
As I walk the narrow way,
For the Comforter abides with me.

Once my heart was full of sin,
Once I had no peace within,
Till I heard how Jesus died upon the tree;
Then I fell down at His feet,
And there came a peace so sweet;
Now the Comforter abides with me.

He is with me everywhere,
And He knows my every care;
I’m as happy as a bird and just as free;
For the Spirit has control;
Jesus satisfies my soul,
Since the Comforter abides with me.

There’s no thirsting for the things
Of the world-they’ve taken wings;
Long ago I gave them up, and instantly
All my night was turned to day,
All my burdens rolled away;
Now the Comforter abides with me.