Jentezen Franklin - The Anointing Makes The Difference
Exodus 30:23. "Moreover, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Take for yourselves quality spices...'", some Bible's translations say principal spices. One translation says the best spices. And, then he lists five different kinds. And then, in Exodus 30:24, he gives the quantity of how much. He says: "You are to take a hin of olive oil". That is five quartz of olive oil, and put five ingredients into it. And it will become the anointing oil.
Exodus 30:29. "You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them must be holy. And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them", Exodus 30:31: "And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying", listen, you may think, well, that was back them and there. "Saying, 'This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me'", that's God speaking: "Throughout your generations". I want you to do this from generation to generation. "It shall not be poured on man's flesh, nor shall you make any other like it", I don't want it substituted, I want it to be the real thing. "According to its composition. It's holy, and it shall be holy to you. Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on an outsider", some translations say a stranger: "Shall be cut off from his people".
I remembered a message that impacted my life. I don't remember every detail or even specific points of the sermon, but the title that this particular preacher, a famous preacher of days gone by, who has gone on to be with the Lord. His name was Ray H. Hughes. Dr. Ray H. Hughes. He preached a sermon that became very famous to a generation of preachers before my generation, like my dad and others. And that sermon was called, "The Anointing Makes The Difference". "The Anointing Makes The Difference".
How many of you know there's a difference between singing and anointed singing? There's a difference between preaching and anointed preaching. There's a difference between having church and having an anointed church service. Because the anointing makes the difference, and I wanna steal his title, because I believe that is what will make the difference in your life. You know, if you're a business person, we think the anointing is just for people in the ministry, but the anointing makes the difference in the marketplace. The anointing will make your gift and the call of God and the gifts of God on your life become powerful and fruitful. What makes us effective is the anointing.
1 John 2:20 says, "But you have an unction from the Holy One", and that unction that you have received of Him, that anointing, abides within you. When the anointing is upon someone, there is an unction behind you. I used to preach a sermon when I was an evangelist, and I called it, "The Unction to Function". Amen. And there's something about the anointing that gives you the unction, it quickens you. It causes you to have the ability to do something. It graces you. The anointing, the word anoint means to smear on, or to rub on. That's what we will do. We will take the anointing oil and touch and smear on or rub on, and that anointing will have a fragrance and a smell.
It's amazing, to me, that He said, "You are to take a hin of oil", which is five quartz of oil, or six quartz. Six quartz of oil. There's a symbolic message, that when they would anoint in the Bible days, they would pour six quartz of this anointing oil. And it wasn't just a little mercy drop from Heaven, it wasn't just a little dab will do you, it wasn't just a little smear, and maybe put a little dot on their head, or a cross with oil. But they poured six quartz of oil, read Psalms 133, the Bible said the oil flowed down Aaron's hair, down past his beard, onto his garment, down to his feet. He was drenched in the anointing. And I believe that there is a need today in the church for that kind of anointing. We don't need little mercy drops, we don't need, we're not fighting smaller things, we're fighting bigger things than we've ever fought before, and there's an anointing that the Bible talks about in Joel that said, "In the last days, I will pour out My Spirit".
I'm not gonna just touch you, or momentarily bless you. I want there to be a saturation of the anointing. I want you to be drenched in the anointing. I want you to have an anointing upon your life. It's not just for preachers and prophets, it's for every one of you. And He said, "You can be anointed". He said, "You are to take these five spices, and you are to crush them", because the anointing comes out of crushing. The anointing comes out of breaking, the anointing comes out of that which is pounded, and it's been through something. The reason some of you can't do nothing is you hadn't been through nothing. And if you go through something you quit halfway through. You have to hold on, because when you come out, you'll come out with something in your hand that's called the anointing that God will use to help other people get free.
I love the fact that he said "These are principal spices", quality spices. There's something about the anointing that when it comes on you, it will bring the best out of you. That's what the anointing does. It takes the gifts and the abilities that you have and you can have them in you, but they're lying dormant. But when God freshly anoints you, whatever He put in you, He'll bring the best out of you. The anointing brings the best worship out of you. The anointing brings the best ability and gifting that you have. Whatever it is that you're gifted to do, it needs the anointing on it, and when the anointing is on you it's principal, or quality, or the best spices. God deserves our best, and He wants the best out of you. I love the fact that He said that when you anoint, you are to have fresh oil.
Listen to this verse, Psalms 92:10. He said: "I shall be anointed with fresh oil". There's a lot of people in the church today who are stale in their anointing. They're stale in what God is doing in their life, because it's an old anointing. It was something that happened way back there, in some service a long time ago. And you know, that's when the Bible talks about that there are flies in the ointment. There's a verse that actually says that if you don't have fresh oil, the flies are attracted to that ointment that you have in you. And we have to have a fresh anointing from the Holy Spirit.
I love the fact that we don't have to be repulsive, we don't have to come, there's that old smell of religion that gets on us sometimes, and we're just doing church, and the old machine clanks on, and it's just another Sunday, and it's just another church, and it's just another singing, and it's just another sermon. But when the freshness of the anointing comes, when the touch of the anointing comes, when the power of the Holy Spirit comes, there's a freshness to it. There's a quickening to it. There's an anointing on it. I love that He said, "The anointing can do what other things cannot do".
When the anointing is there, it begins to permeate the atmosphere. When the woman broke open the alabaster box and anointed Jesus' feet, the aroma of that anointing permeated the atmosphere. There's something about the anointing that when it fills a room, there is the odor of the anointing, and I don't mean a physical smell, but spiritually, the atmosphere, the aroma of the anointing, when it fills, when somebody gets up and sings a song, the atmosphere changes. When that word is anointed, it begins to change the atmosphere. There's a sweetness there.
Psalms 72:11 said, "He shall come down as rain on mowed down, fresh grass". You ever walked outside after it rained, and the grass had just been cut? There is an aroma, that's what the anointing is like. When it comes, you can smell the rose of Sharon. You can smell the lily of the valley. There's a sweetness, there's something about, there's something that comes on us when we sense and feel the anointing. Psalms 45:8 said, "Your garments do smell of myrrh and cassia, in the ivory palaces, and it makes us glad".
I believe that when that high priest after being poured six quartz of oil walked home, and he had to go home in that same outfit, can you imagine? And he's sloshing, walking through the camp, and somebody's sitting over in a tent. And probably watching TV, and suddenly, the anointed man of God walks by, and they don't see him, but somebody turns in the tent and says, "What's that smell"? And they walk, look outside, and they say, "That's the anointed man of God".
There's an anointing on his life. He's leaving anointed footprints. We need oily footprints. We need an anointing on our life. And it's not that we have to go around, say, "I'm anointed, I'm anointed. Look at me". But I'm telling you, when we leave this sanctuary today, God can so anoint us that when you go back on the job, when your kids go into school, when they go off to universities, people, they don't know what to call it, but they say there's something different about you. There's something unusual about you. What is it about you? What do you do yoga? What is it about you? You have a peace about you. You have a contentment about you. You have an authority about you. It's called the anointing, hallelujah, and I'm thankful that it's available to us today. The anointing.
He said in Exodus 30:32 that, "The anointing", don't you know there's a difference when you get in an anointed service? Moses got anointed and he had to put a veil over his face, 'cause he was shining with the glory of God. Stephen got so anointed that the Bible said that when he stood to preach, they couldn't resist the Spirit by which he spoke, because his face was lit up like an angel. Lot of people getting lit in the church, but we need to get lit up by the power of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Clap your hands and thank God. The anointing makes the difference. You're not fighting your battles on your own strength, the anointing makes the difference on your prayers. On your praise. On your spirit, on your house.
Notice, the qualifications. He said in Exodus 30:32: "Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured". What's that about? Romans 8 said, "They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life". And then, it ends by saying, "They that are after the flesh cannot please God". Galatians 3:3 said, "Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh"?
What happens to people is when they get a little age and a little maturity, and they get a little experience in attending church, they began in the Spirit, they began leaning and depending upon the anointing of the Holy Spirit. But as you get older, you just learn how to do things, and He said, "Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh"? There's a lot of people listening to me that started in the Spirit, but now, you're just doing your stuff in the flesh. When you started that ministry, you started that business, you started that career, you were connected to the anointing. You were connected to the Spirit. But now, have you gone so far that you're now leaning on the arm of the flesh?
The scripture said, "Cursed is the man who leans to the arm of the flesh". John 6:63 said, "The flesh profits nothing". It is the Spirit that quickens. It quickens you. That's called the anointing. I love the story, the Bible said in 1 Samuel 16 that when Samuel was told by God, "Stop mourning over Saul. I'm gonna anoint a new king". And He said, "Go down to Jesse's house, take a bottle of oil, take six quartz of oil, and go anoint somebody, one of his sons. I'll show you who he is". And he goes down to Jesse's house, and the Bible said that they brought in seven of the boys, and left one of 'em out in the field named David.
And the scripture said, and I love this, it said that Samuel, when he saw Eliab, Eliab had a stature, he had a look to him that he was presidential. He had something about him that anybody looking at him, and even the scripture said this about him, the scripture said that his personal preference was surely the Lord will anoint him. This is the prophet, but he's going by what you can see. And that's where that famous verse comes in, God's Spirit quickened him and said, "Don't pour the oil on him, 'cause he looks like and he's waiting on a promotion". For man looks on the outward appearance, but God sees the heart. And that's not the one, and he starts to pour the oil, and the Holy Spirit says, "Don't pour the oil on him". And they bring seven of 'em in, and he won't pour the oil on any of 'em.
Now, if that had been me, I'd have felt bad. I would've put a little dab or something, but he said, "I'm not gonna", and I like his wording in King James. He said, "I won't anoint this". I don't know what this is, but I'm not gonna put my anointing on it. It looks good on the outside, but the heart isn't pure, the heart isn't right, the heart isn't clean. God looks at our heart. And he said, "Is there not anybody else in your house, Jesse"? And Jesse said, "Well, I do have one other boy, but I don't think he's going to amount to much. He's out in the field".
Now, watch. What was he out in the field doing? He was out in the field, singing songs. He was out in the field, playing his harp and writing, and I could see it in my mind, as one of the boys goes to retrieve him from tending the sheep, and he's jotting down, you know, he wrote the 23rd Psalm? "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh", nobody out there, he's just worshiping in private. This is how you get anointed. He just worships God when nobody's looking, and sure enough, he calls him in, and when Samuel sees him, he gets quickened. And he pours the oil on him, and he says, "You're gonna be the next king of Israel". And the Bible said the anointing came on David from that day forward.
There's something powerful that can happen. Wouldn't you like to leave this service and say, "From that day forward, I never fight without the anointing"? See, all of us have different gifts. All of us have different, I love the fact that when Saul said, "Hey, if you're gonna go fight that giant, take my brass shield, and take my armor, and take all my sword, and all that". He said, "No, thank you. I'll just take this little slingshot, and these five little rocks that I've got, because I've got the anointing on it". I'd rather have the anointing on a little, than a whole lot without the anointing.
And you may not have the ability somebody else has, you may not have the gifting that somebody else has, but if you'll just say, "God, here's what I've got. Would You anoint it, and would You use it"? You would be amazed that there's no giant you'll won't face that won't fall when you come at him in the name of the Lord with the anointing, because the anointing makes the difference. Clap your hands, and praise the Lord. Oh, I'm feeling a little bit of my anointing now. Hallelujah. There is a difference when the anointing comes. There is a freedom when the anointing comes. There is an unction when the anointing comes. Man may be mad and cross their arms and sucking their teeth, but they'll be looking crazy in a minute when the anointing comes on you, because they can't stop you when you're anointed. They can't hold you down when you're anointed. The devil is afraid of you when you're anointed.
Somebody raise your hands and say, "Anoint me with fresh oil". Fresh oil. We need a fresh anointing. He said in Ecclesiastes 9:8, "Let their garments always be white. Let their head lack no oil". He said, "I want you to have white garments", speaking of purity, and because you're separated, because you're consecrated, because you're sanctified, because you have white garments, you'll have anointed oils. Purity always produces power. We've come to a time in this generation where the word sanctification makes people gag. They don't wanna have nothing to do with being separate. They don't wanna have nothing to do with being different from the world. But one thing that the anointing is attracted to is a person who is sanctified, set apart, consecrated.
Says, "My life is for Jesus Christ, and I don't care what everybody else can do. If it's gonna hinder my anointing, I don't need it, I don't want it, it's not enough. For me, I want the anointing more than anything". Come on, somebody. Lean in and listen carefully. He said, "And there will be a great penalty for anyone who tries to substitute the ingredients that I said had to be in the anointing". He said, "Don't substitute", did you read that verse? He said, "You shall not make another one like it, and pretend that's the real thing".
I don't want substitutes. We're living in an hour of substitutes in the Body of Christ. And we think we can substitute the anointing of the Holy Spirit for other things, when there is nothing that will get the job done like the anointing. In 2 Chronicles 12, the Bible said Rehoboam, when he had gold shields, they were stolen, 300 of them, and he put 'em outside the temple, and the Bible said when they got stolen, because they had backslidden, and the enemies came and stole them, he was afraid of the morale, of what would happen to the people.
And so, he commanded that they bring brass shields, that they put guards out there, so the people couldn't get too close to inspect, and then he said, "Polish the brass shields real good, so that when the sun hits them from a distance, they'll still think that it's the gold, but it'll really be brass". I wonder how much of what we have in the church is brass shields. And we're just trying our best to imitate the real thing, which is the anointing of the Holy Spirit. But there's no imitation that can compare to the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and it's here right now. For the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to preach the gospel, to heal the broken hearted, to set at liberty them that are bound. Acts 10 said God anointed Jesus with the Holy Ghost: "And He went about doing good, healing all who were oppressed of the devil".
When you get anointed, you'll go about. When you get anointed, God will open doors for you. When you get anointed, they can't hold you down. You'll go about. You get the anointing on you, and the anointing will make things happen that you can't make happen. And God wants to anoint every person under the sound of my voice.
You know, I gotta close with this little story. But I heard this week a man by the name of Raymond Culpepper, I heard him give this testimony. He's a powerful preacher and pastor down in Birmingham, Alabama. This happened many years ago. His daughter was 14-years-old, and she got in the car with a 16-year-old, they were just gonna run down the road, and get something to eat, and come back. And they got in the car, and something happened to the car, and it broke down on the side of the road, middle of the night.
And a stranger pulled up, got out of the car, forced the girls to get into his car, put the Pastor Culpepper's daughter in the backseat, and the other girl in the front seat, and sped away. He started cursing, he started saying mean things, hateful things, to them, and the pastor's daughter noticed that over in a box on the side was a knife, and was tape, and was ropes. And she began to tremble, and she said, "Daddy, the Holy Spirit came upon me, and I began to pray in the Holy Spirit as the anointing came on me".
And that girl began to pray in the Holy Ghost, pray under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. She said that man driving that car that was taking them off to do only God knows what he was gonna do to 'em, said, "What's wrong with her? What's wrong with her"? And the girl next to her said, "That's the Holy Ghost. That's the anointing of God on her life". What's wrong with you? And then she started, and the man started saying, "Well, I can't stand this". Pulled the car over, said, "Get out of my car. I ain't gonna"...
I believe in the anointing. I believe that no weapon formed against us can prosper, when we are anointed. We need the anointing in our schools. We need the anointing on our teachers. We need the anointing on our students. We need the anointing on our lives. Stand up on your feet, and say, "The anointing makes the difference".