This is a guest article by my good friend Josh Roman.  We attended the same church for many years and he is a student of the word!  Hopefully I can convince him to do more of these in the future.  Thanks Josh!

One of the scariest revelations I’ve ever come to understand is this: I can potentially be completely full of the anointing of God and still carry around the stench of sin and death. I can do MANY great works under the anointing of God and still be called a worker of iniquity come judgement day. Paul draws us a clear picture that one can be full of the Spirit accompanied with works and it all be nothing to both God and man.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
(1Co 13:1-3)

The heavy implication given by Paul is that he could achieve the greatest heights of accomplishments in anointing, but it would all just be white noise which profits nothing without love. If I have not love, let me think not that I have God. According to 1 John 4:7-8, if I do not love, I neither know God nor have part in him. Rest assured, nothing in this world makes God’s anointed stink worse than an unloving “Christian”. Paul wasn’t the only one to indicate that I can work in the gifts of the anointing and still be counted as nothing. Even Jesus gives me the same warning on an even greater scale: Judgement day.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doest the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
(Mat 7:21-23)

This passage has always been one of the most terrifying reads in the culmination of my studies. In all assurance, nearly all of those described in this passage were proclaimed Christians. Their friends undoubtedly gave great accolades of their lives not knowing the seat of judgment their beloved was sitting in. In reality, they used the anointing against the will of the Father and worked in disobedience. May I suggest, in this short write, that we as a body of believers have for too long been so concerned with getting the anointing that we have neglected the one thing that is the prerequisite to using the anointing in ministry as intended by God: purity.

Purity

I have found myself guilty of pleading for the anointing of God while putting little to no effort in positioning myself where he can first purify an otherwise filthy earthen vessel. The results have left me with an anointing that quickly stagnates and stinks. Even the smallest of impure things allowed into my life have quickly soiled the oil and caused it to stink in the nostrils of both God and my fellow man. Without a doubt, there is nothing more detrimental to how others view the anointing of God than carrying around a full bucket of oil clouded by flies that smells like death.

Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor.
(Ecc 10:1)

The first compounding of the anointing oil was given to Moses in Exodus 30:22-33. Along with its specific recipe were tied instructions and warnings for those who would handle it. In this passage, we are given a physical representation of what we experience spiritually in the outpouring of God’s spirit upon man today (Joel 2:28). While there is major significance in what was within the composition of the oil, that is a write for a later date. Rather, let’s take a look at it’s purpose and how it was to be handled.

And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office.
(Exodus 30:25-30)

The first thing to take notice of is that this holy anointing oil was given wholly for the anointing of the tabernacle and the priesthood, Aaron and his sons, by MOSES. It is key to note that Moses, being a perfect type of Christ, was the one who did the anointing (Proverbs 20:9). We must first realize that the only source of the anointing is our Lord Jesus Christ. All of the furniture, instruments, vessels, and ministers were anointed by Moses for a singular purpose. That purpose was sanctification. Sanctification is the process in which something or someone is made pure. This process, however, was different between the priesthood and the the furniture, vessels, and tools. Rather than just being anointed with oil and calling it a day, the priesthood was given the command of consecration and atonement of sins. Consequently, if I stop at the anointing and don’t move into consecration and atonement, I’m nothing more than a tool. God has called us all to be a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), not a bunch of royal tools. That being said, let’s move on to consecration together.

The Hebrew word for consecrate/sanctify [qadash קָדֵשׁ] is often used synonymously with the sanctification process in which the ministry’s hands are made full for the work of the tabernacle.

And thou shalt put [the clothes] upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them [מלאת את יד—literally to fill the hand], and sanctify them [qadash קָדֵשׁ], that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office.
(Exodus 28:41)

When we turn to Leviticus 8:33-35, the command given to Moses of God was for the ministry to stay within the doors of the tabernacle for seven days and to keep charge of the LORD, that they die not. They were to keep watch over and protect the house of God from within while God filled them. Once the days of consecration was fulfilled, there was a final sin and burnt offering made for their atonement. Only after atonement was made could they begin their ministry in the tabernacle (Lev 9).

We learn here the importance of staying in the house of God and watching over it while he fills our hands. The very nature of the command for them to stay in the house and watch over it was so they die not. For this reason, I have a hard time believing that one who can’t stay in the house of God or gives less priority to it is living a life pure and obedient unto God. As a royal priesthood, we are given the obligation to keep charge in the house of God and watch out for it. Watch for the flies that would taint the anointing given to you.

Finally, we come to atonement. Atonement is the complete cleansing from the sins that make residence in my earthen vessel. While the anointing given for sanctification is the beginning of the process of purity, we are not yet fully cleansed until we walk through the sanctification process in consecration and bring that final sacrifice to God which is an atonement for us (Lev 9:7). What is that sacrifice? Romans 12:1 tells us that we are that sacrifice. It is the point where we fully surrender ourselves to his work and deny our own.

In Leviticus 8, we see Moses obeying the commandments given to him in Exodus 30 concerning the anointing of Aaron and his sons. However, if we go just two chapters ahead to the 10th chapter of Leviticus, we see that two of the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, thought themselves high enough to step beyond God’s commands. Immediately, God struck them down despite them being anointed. The first anointed king of Israel also let pride sway him to misuse the anointing placed upon him by acting in a role that was not given him. In his death, we read that he died as one who had never been anointed of God (2 Samuel 1:21). I believe they did this because they failed to see that the sacrifice of atonement was the sacrifice of their flesh and its will with it. We MUST have the anointing, but we MUST use in according to the will of the Father and not let our careless attitude for the house give place for flies to corrupt our thinking and actions.

So, pray for purity, brethren. Desire to be as David was and pray for clean hands and a pure heart along with me. Pray for a pure heart, for only those with it shall see God (Mat 5:8). I must be aware that my heart is desperately wicked without God (Jeremiah 17:9) and is in need of purification. I must pray for clean hands so that I don’t soil the gifts and blessings God puts in them. I need to pray for a pure mind to think on pure things (Phil 4:8). I know that a my ways are exactly as the ways that I think (Pro 23:7). Why must I pray for purity? Because I am the tabernacle, and I must keep watch over it in prayer as God fills me.

Knowing that I can cast out devils, feed the poor, and do many great works yet still be a stench in the nostrils of God has drove me to my knees a great many times this past week. I have found myself begging God, less for His anointing, and more for Him to make me completely pure as I stay vigilant. I don’t want to be guilty of tainting the precious anointing that He pours into me. I want to keep charge over the house of God and protect the anointing oil in my life and that can only be done if I remain in the house and keep a watchful eye on the flies of this world trying to soil the oil.