“The Price Of Oil.”

I. Introduction

A key economic indicator across the world is the price of oil.

How much per barrel?

And the answer to that question affects all of us in one way or another.

There are three major factors that drive the price of oil: Supply, Demand and Geopolitics.

All things that you and I have zero control over! And yet, we need petroleum products in order to work and function in this busy world!

What is the price of oil?

This is a question that must be answered every single day.

This morning, I’d like to talk to you about that.

About the price of oil, But not that thick, black crude oil that is pumped from the earth beneath Saudi or Venezuela.

The oil I speak of is the oil of anointing.

God’s anointing!

There is a word we hear a lot around church and that word is anointing.

What is Anointing exactly and how does it work?

Well, Anointing was a process that was used to identify and separate specific men for a special purpose.

God used oil to choose Aaron and his house to serve him in Holy service.

What did that look like?

Here’s the visual:

It was special oil, poured on his head in enough quantity the book of Psalms tells us, to flow down his face and beard, on to his robe and down to the very hem of his robe.

“You’re a priest now Aaron!”

Later on, when God selected a King to serve his people, that king was not chosen, until the prophet poured the oil upon him.

So it is that oil is symbolic and a type of the power and authority and activity of God.

We see it all through the Bible.

That’s why James says:

James 5:14 KJV 1900

Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

We still pray for the sick, by anointing them with oil!

We don’t drop a gallon on you, because we know it is symbolic.

The oil signifies that it is not the power of the man praying for you that does the work.

But always, it is the power of God!

We have faith in the power of the one who was whipped and torn for the healing of our bodies!

I can pray for you, but I can’t heal you!

But I know who can!!!

It is the Holy Spirit! God in his role of activity toward man!

Trust me, He can do it!

1) The Anointing Flows Down!

The first thing I can tell you about the anointing is that it flows down!

Psalms 133:1-3 describes the anointing flowing down.

Let’s read it together!

Who here has ever been to Yosemite and seen the waterfalls at the bottom of the mountain?

That water comes from somewhere!

It begins as snow or dew, but then it grows!

Think of it this way, The dew on the top of the mountain gathers into pools and little streams until by the time it reaches the bottom of the mountain, it is a river!

Psalm 133:1–3 KJV 1900

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, That ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: That went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: For there the Lord commanded the blessing, Even life for evermore.

The men and women of God that have loved you and invested in you and taught you are like those mountain streams.

They were aligned with their source, which is God.

And when you come into alignment with them, the lessons they have learned and the holy anointing in their life, flows down to you!

Always It flows down!

This is one reason for you to value very highly the ministry of those who have served you and led you and taught you!

Many of you wonderful people here today, have been serving God for a long time, and years before God allowed our paths to cross.

I can tell you that as a pastor, I am very grateful for the ministry that has served and led you in times past.

They taught you things!

Showed you things!

You learned from them and their Godly influence is part of who you are!

I honor those ministers who have invested in you!

And we know that this is God’s economy and it is good.

The anointing, the oil flows down!

And so it is vital, that we do not cut ourselves off from that flow!

Sometimes in christianity, we see people who want to preach and teach and lead others.

But they are a law unto themself!

They do not align under any other leaders!

They don’t allow anyone else to speak or have authority in their life.

That ought to be a red flag warning!

Don’t be surprised when such become harsh and difficult to deal with and even spiritually dangerous!

I’m trying to help you today! These are things to remember!

Now, you take that same man or woman of God, let them pray through and get back into the flow, and the blessing of God can rest on them once more!

It’s a principle!

I have yet to see a stream flow against gravity!

It’s simple!

The anointing always flows down!

Sometimes we joke and say:

“I wanna be under the spout, where the glory comes out!”

Okay, so we know that the anointing flows down!

And here’s another thing:

#2) The Anointing begins with crushing.

When God sent Samuel to anoint Saul, and David, that prophet had to use oil.

The ingredients included cinnamon and myrrh as well as Olives.

All of the ingredients would be brought together and then crushed!

It had to be ground down and crushed in order to become oil.

The anointing must begin with a crushing.

Always, there must be a crushing.

Why is it that those who God would use, find themselves in situations that seem to crush them?

God is not being mean and unkind!

He’s not trying to make you suffer!

Sometimes we have to go through a season of crushing!

And that’s the best way that I can describe it!

If God is the source of your season of crushing, know that He is refining you!

Encourage yourself and realize: He’s preparing you for work in the Kingdom!

If the Olives and the Myrrh and Cinnamon and other ingredients are left whole, there can be no anointing!

Now, If you are being crushed as a result of your own actions or lack of wisdom, that’s your fault.

But if you are being crushed and you know it is not because of anything you’ve done, consider that maybe God is behind the crushing!

And if He is, thank Him for it!

There is a purpose for it!

A plan!

He wants to bless you and use you!

If you’ll just trust him, everything will turn out alright!

Sometimes it is your scars that qualify your Christian ministry!

And somewhere down the road, because of what you experienced, God can use you to meet a need and the experience that hurt so long ago, now makes all the difference!

3) The Anointing Has A Purpose.

So yeah, The anointing always flows down.

The anointing always requires a crushing.

But the good news is, the anointing has a purpose!

And that brings us to our text today: Luk 4:18-19.

What do ya know? We’re right back where we were last week:

Jesus has just launched his ministry, and He is invited to read in the synagogue.

He reads from the book of Isaiah.

Everything went great until he finishes by saying, in effect:

“I’m the one Isaiah is talking about and now because of me, this prophecy is prophecy no longer!

I am He and this is it!

Okay, let’s read:

Luke 4:18–19 KJV 1900

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.

Jesus has been anointed and that anointing has a purpose!

Here is the list in order!

“Preach the Gospel to the poor.”

The first thing on Jesus’ list was preaching the Gospel to the poor!

Proclaiming the good news!

Listen, I’ve known poor people who had a lot of money and a lot of influence!

But they were poor in faith! Poor in love and poor in spirit!

Now, those people might be hard to get along with, but don’t count them out!

Jesus put them first on the list!

When you share the Good news of salvation, you are aligned with God’s priorities and you should feel good about yourself!

When you have that conversation, the one where you share the reason for the hope that is within you, maybe on lunch break or some other setting, realize that that was probably the most important interaction of your week!

And as you share, you feel that Holy flow don’t you?

And it feels great!

And you know: “At this moment, I am absolutely in the will of God!”

This is a purpose of anointing!

The next thing on the list, the next task for the anointed one is to heal the brokenhearted.

Heal the brokenhearted.

I have never seen so many broken people in all my life!

People are learning that health and wealth come and go.

Friends come and go.

Influence and power come and go.

And the world leaves them used up and worn out!

Brokenhearted!

But friend, I have learned: When everyone else forgets you and moves on, when others turn their back on you, Jesus never does!

Jesus loves people!

And one purpose of the anointing is to heal them!

The love of God specializes in healing broken hearts!

If God puts someone like that across your path, don’t hurt them!

Heal them!

Let the anointing of the HG flow through you and love them!

Feed faith and hope to them!

Show them a God who truly cares!

Then Jesus said, “I am anointed to preach deliverance!”

Preach deliverance.

It is not God’s will for people to be addicted to substances or chemicals or destructive behaviors!

I know a man that was drunk for more than 20 years.

There wasn’t a day in that 20 years that he was not drunk or buzzed!

Give Bro Mike’s testimony!

But God took His addiction to spirits and gave him The Holy Spirit!

Now that man is a powerful teacher of the Word doing a great job, serving under his pastor (Because he knows, the anointing flows down) and blessing the Kingdom of God!

Thank God for the anointing!

Recovering of sight to the blind

Hey, don’t stop praying for the hard cases!

Whether it’s a family member or a spouse or friend, sometimes you get so frustrated!

You love them! And rightly so!

But they just don’t want to budge!

Its as though a spiritual blindness has oppressed them and they simply cannot see!

Here’s my advice: Love them all the more!

Be patient and kind. Pray for them and let the fruit of the Spirit govern you interactions with them.

Show them the love of God!

Show them what peace looks like!

Joy, faith, meekness, temperance, self control!

Live the Bible so that they can see it and whatever you do, don’t stop praying!!!!

And when you pray for them, pray with great anointing!

These are often memorial prayers!

Bro Verbal Bean taught the difference between current prayers (Utility bill.) and Memorial prayers. (Cornelius.)

( Tell the Bro Bean story of the mocking husband who received the Spirit after 30 years.)

I guarantee you, that man had a wife who prayed under the anointing of the Holy Ghost!

This is a purpose of the anointing!

Don’t ever stop praying for the hard cases!

Don’t stop praying for the spiritually blind!

And you know, Sometimes the hardest ones to win for Christ are those that already have a measure of truth, but reject its fullness.

Religious, devout people with half a truth can sound and act like the blind!

But friend, keep on praying for them! Show them the love of God!

And you’ll see that when they finally come through, they make some of the best Apostolics you’ll ever meet!

When they finally get it, watch out!

You're about to see the anointing flow through them!

And then, Jesus said “I’ve come to set at liberty them that are bruised!”

To set at liberty them that are bruised.

You know what a bruise is?

A bruise is proof that that person is bleeding on the inside…

Folks, the worst wounds are the ones you don’t see.

It’s the memories and the pain and a past that sucks all the joy out of life!

How many people in your life are bleeding on the inside?

Jesus has come to set them free!

And if you’ll align yourself, He’ll use you to do the same!

II. Application.

The anointing of God is not a cheap thing.

He uses it sparingly.

He invests it on people that others don’t notice, like a shepherd boy.

David wasn’t a second son. He was a last son! The last one to get any attention!

He was an embarrassment to His Father, who most likely fathered him outside of marriage.

“Don’t bring him to see Samuel.” Keep him in the fields.’

But When others look at you and see nothing, Jesus sees the heart!

He tries the reins, he knows that He has put greatness inside of you!

And it’s there!

I am praying that somebody here, would begin to trust God for more!

Oh, you can be so great for God!

Oh the prayers that you can pray!

The connections that you can make with people and help them!

There are treasures inside of you!!!

A future of Holy anointing!

Don’t let anyone tell you that God cannot use you!

Don’t let the devil tell you that you’re unworthy!

It was God that found you!

It was He that chose you!

With all your scars, He chose you for a reason!

Let God do a great work in you!

Open yourself to His process!

Conclusion.

Listen, the crushing that you go through has a purpose!

Don’t fight it! Submit yourself to the process!

Make sure you are aligned and submitted to Godly leadership.

These are the things that will pull you into a flow of divine energy and Christian ministry!

Oil has a price.

Anointing has a price!

God does not trust his economy to those who cannot value Divine principles!

Pay that price and watch what God will do through you!

I tell you there is no living like living for Jesus!

When His anointing flows into your life and through your words and actions, you will be happier than you have ever been!

You will be more fulfilled than ever before!

So whatever you do, get the anointing of God in your life and don’t ever let it go!

Consecrate yourself unto God!

Take inventory of your behaviors and norms.

If you have to let some friends go, let them go!

If you have to sell houses or lands to follow the will of God, do what you gotta do, but don’t ever lose the anointing!

When you pray each day, ask God for His anointing!

Remember we said that oil is a type of the Holy Ghost?

It is symbolic of his presence and activity?

Often times, people will keep a little bottle of anointing oil and use it from time to time.

You can anoint a prayer cloth with oil and send it to someone.

You can anoint the doors of your home, you kids school backpack, anything you want to as you pray for the Hand of God to be active in the life of the person yo are praying for.

Everytime we have rented a space for services, I like to anoint the doors and the chairs as I pray and consecrate that space to God’s service.

Now, as we close, I have a question: Would you like some oil?

I have three bottles of oil here, who wants one?

First come first serve!

These first three took me at my word, and recieved something I freely offered and want them to have!

So it is with God!

He offers great anointing to His people!

He offers it today.

Do you want it?

Wanna come and get it?

He’ll give it to you...