THE ANOINTING OF THE PRIESTHOOD

Rees Howells, the mighty intercessor of another generation, once stated that "no event in history, even though prophesied beforehand in the Scriptures, comes to pass unless God finds human channels of faith and obedience. Prophecies must be believed into manifestation as well as foretold." As the nations are being prepared everywhere for the appearance of God's Royal Priesthood, we are now in the place where God is choosing, just as surely as He chose Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, John the Baptist or, finally, the greatest of all, Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the world. Just as surely as God chose Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, John Alexander Dowie, Billy Sunday, Billy Graham, William Branham, Oral Roberts and others years and centuries ago to be used by Him specially, we are in a new hour of Divine Choice; just as surely as God chose Paul and Peter, Andrew and James and John, God is now again CHOOSING MEN.

Today, God is again choosing His people, His channel, His instrument. He is choosing the final members of His Royal Priesthood company. Many are called, but few are chosen. We are not choosing Him, He is choosing us. God is making choice of those through whom there will come the complete, the full, the total revelation and manifestation of Jesus Christ, in all of its glory, all of its wisdom, all of its power, all of its authority, all of its might, and all of its salvation, so that all flesh can see the salvation of God and all the ends of the earth the glory of God!

God has been using people in every generation and in every nation and place to whatever degree He has prepared the vessel as a revelation of Himself. There has been that unfolding of His purpose, that flowing of His life, that manifestation of Himself. Great and wonderful beyond description has been the moving of God from age to age and from generation to generation. God has been using preachers and people in every denomination everywhere to whatever degree He has prepared that vessel for that revelation. But there shall come the ultimate, and total, and complete revelation of Jesus Christ - not a narrow, limited thing, not to get a number of people saved and blessed and healed and filled with the Spirit and used, but the Kingdom of God coming with power and with glory, as an expression and a manifestation of God in its total capacity with no limitations, with all the glory, all the power, all the might, all the majesty, all the authority, so that nations will be swept into the Kingdom of God, and the whole creation delivered.

Jesus said: "Go and declare that the Kingdom of God is come nigh and when you come to a town, heal the sick that are therein, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out devils." We have made such qualifications as "being ready to be healed", and it was necessary in the past, but now such an expression of God is coming that God will send you into a city to heal everybody, saint and sinner, good and bad, to raise the dead and cast out the devils. When the Kingdom net is thrust out, it pulls in fishes good and bad, it brings-in everything. After that it is up to God to screen the draught, the good is taken in the vessels and the bad cast aside to serve another purpose. But first they are all apprehended. I believe that the Kingdom of God must come with power, the glory of God commanding men everywhere to repent. O Father! Let there be that demonstration of the fullness of power.

Who can God use in such a measure? Who is God preparing to use at such a time? Anyone who has anything to lose or anything to gain, either reputation, name, friends, money, security, power, place or position, God cannot use in this full revelation. Oh, He uses them to the full ability that He can use them in the dimension in which He desires, and they are being prepared for this and we give God thanks for the "in part" ministry, but this has not been sufficient. God must have a people, scattered over the earth, through whom the full revelation of His wisdom will be made manifest, where the full capacity of His strength can be made perfect and displayed. God is preparing a people through whom there will come such a revelation of Himself that it will be said: "God is in you of a truth," and God will be glorified in them. There will be the recognition by the ditch digger, by the bag lady, by the Mayor and by the President that GOD IS IN THE MIDST OF HIS PEOPLE. That people must come to a place of total nothingness, that God may become ALL IN ALL!

It is my conviction that all who prize the beautiful hope of sonship will agree that the manifestation of the sons of God, the next great move of God in the earth, must be ONE HUNDRED PERCENT THE WORK OF GOD. But it cannot be one hundred percent God's work whet there is still ninety percent of us, or eighty, forty, ten, one percent of us. If the expression of God that is coming will be "Jesus and me", then you will also give the glory to "Jesus and me." But if it is Jesus alone, I may be the vessel, you may be the vessel, but the manifestation and the excellency of the power shall be of God and not of us. So much manifestation has been "God and us." Our drive, our holiness, our spirituality, our faith, our commitment, our dedication, our prayer, our fasting, our ability, our wisdom, our strength, has been mingled with SELF. But today the Spirit is saying: "We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power, the glory, the authority and the majesty may be of God" - Christ in us become the totality of wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, power and glory - and not of us. How can it be of us, when we have become nothing? God shall now be glorified in and through us, by Jesus Christ. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to enable us to make the ultimate commitment to be totally nothing, that HIS FULLNESS be found in us.

The Spirit has been poured out in the denominations for a number of years now, but it cannot last much longer. Everything is coming to a climax, culminating. The ending of the age is upon us. What more does God need to tell us? Not that there will not be a fresh opening up of the Word, not that the spirit of revelation will not increase, but is it not time that that expression and manifestation of the fullness of God's glory that we have so long looked forward to, should come? I feel it in my spirit and we are seeking God and praying, crying out mightily unto Him, and waiting on God until that full manifestation of all that God has purposed will come. All over the world there are people who are seeking God like this. Many have been drawn away and separated from all their former involvement's and religious exercises, the church system, and the old ways of doing things, to wait for His NEW ORDERS. God is making choice among us and among the nations of the world, among the churches of the world, reaching down in this hour and choosing those whom He has brought to weakness, predestined for this hour.

Ah, He does not have to use us. We have heard His call and now present ourselves before Him for His choosing. But let us leave the choosing to God. And if God is pleased to choose us, we will give Him all the glory. And if He is pleased to bypass us and choose others, there will be no recrimination in our spirit. We will say, "Lord, Thou art altogether righteous in all things." In previous moves of the Spirit God picked me up and used me and He said, "I am not using you because of anything in yourself, but out of sovereign choice." I saw other people that were more ready to be used than I was, not used, and I asked God why, and He answered, "Out of My sovereign purposes I am not using them." That is why I do not criticize anybody who was not in the previous visitations, or in the word God is giving us today. I know it was God who kept many people out, who shut them up and hedged them in to a lesser thing in God, and God brought other people in. God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts. But He is going to use people. People like you and me. This is not daydreaming or wishful thinking, neither are we deluded. God is ready to manifest Himself through all the earth, so let us say: "Lord, let us be among those. We are available."

TAKE NOT THIS HONOR UNTO YOURSELF

Under the typical arrangement of the Old Testament the first divine essential for priesthood was DIVINE APPOINTMENT. The honor of being priest was not open to man's ambition. No man could take it for himself. No man could volunteer for the office, or assume it out of his own fancy or self-will. The priest ministers in such holy matters that only God can appoint him. Thus it was that Aaron was called of God to this task. He did not take it to himself; nor did Moses make him High Priest. God called him to this work, and no one else could have done so. And so we read, "And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not Himself to be made an High Priest; but He that said unto Him, Thou art My Son, to day have I begotten Thee...Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek" (Heb. 5:4-6).

And what was true of Aaron was also true of his sons, they also were "taken" or called unto the priesthood. And what is true of Christ as the High Priest, is also true of His priestly house - they are called of God. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are THE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified" (Rom. 8:28-30). "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus" (Heb. 63:1). "THOU...HAST MADE US unto our God kings and priests..." (Rev. 5:9-10).

A brother in Christ has written: "There is a widespread tradition among Christians that is freighted with fatal error. How often we have been told that God is looking for VOLUNTEERS for His service. I wish to inform you that this is one of the biggest lies that ever sprang from the deceptive mind of Satan. GOD DOES NOT WANT VOLUNTEERS. God ONLY ACCEPTS CONSCRIPTS. Search the Scripture from cover to cover and you will find without one exception that every ministry from Genesis to Revelation was CALLED AND CHOSEN of God and conscripted to do God's bidding, and we may further add, that many of these men were chosen against their own will and in spite of their own protestations and objections. Did Moses volunteer for service? Certainly not! He argued that he was not able to speak, that the people would not listen; but he was conscripted. Did Gideon volunteer for service? Not He was conscripted, too. Can you not hear Jeremiah saying, 'Ah, Lord God, I cannot speak, for I am a child' (Jer. 1:6). Did any of the apostles volunteer for service? Not one! They were all especially called and conscripted by Jesus Himself. Did Saul of Tarsus volunteer for service when he was on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christians? This was the last thing in his mind; but Jesus said, 'He is a CHOSEN VESSEL unto Me to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: for I will show him how great things he must suffer for My name's sake.'

"Perhaps the greatest single curse of the centuries has been the presumptions tradition that men and women should VOLUNTEER for the ministry of the Lord. Nothing could be farther from the truth, and nothing can be more detrimental to the true work of God than to have the Church cluttered up with men and women who have themselves chosen the ministry as a vocation. They are not tried. They are not tested. They have not God's burden upon their hearts. They have no real love for the flock; and worst of all, they have NO COMMISSION from God. Therefore, they lack His blessing and anointing. Well did the Holy Ghost say by Jeremiah the prophet, 'In the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I HAVE NOT SENT THESE PROPHETS, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, YET THEY PROPHESIED. But if they had stood in My counsel, and had caused My people to hear My words, then they should have turned them from the evil of their doings' (Jer. 23:20-22). If you are thinking of entering the ministry, FORGET IT and just go right on picking cotton, or whatever your hand finds to do, until He comes and conscripts you. It will be THIS VOLUNTEER CROWD who will come at the last, saying, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name cast out devils, and in Thy name done many wonderful works.' And it will be to them that the Lord will say, 'I never knew you; depart from Me ye that work iniquity (rebellion).' God does not know nor accept the ministry of anybody except those whom He calls and commissions Himself".

To the above counsel I would add this word of admonition: No one has to strive to make himself one of the priestly calling, for this calling was determined before the foundation of the world when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. It is not a matter of trying to press your way into something, but of yielding to the sovereign dealings and the divine inworkings of the Father and fitting by HIS CHOICE into His glorious scheme. We are priests by the same oath that made our blessed Forerunner a priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek. The process has been long the dealings have been severe, the disciplining has been rigorous, but soon, O soon shall the day for the showing dawn in all its glory and the Royal Priesthood shall be set in order with the great manifestation of HIS LIFE flowing in them, through them and out of them!

There are no counterfeits in this realm, when God manifests reality. When the Royal Priesthood arises to bless the nations either you will "have it" or you won't "have it". As long as we remain in the preparatory stage, experiencing the deep INWARD processings of the Lord, while this condition remains, I say, there is opportunity for men to proclaim themselves, to jump on the bandwagon, to mouth all the right words, to use the same terminology the Spirit has inspired among the apprehended ones, and appear as those chosen to priesthood. These "clouds without water" (Jude 12) "profess themselves to be wise' (Rom. 1:22), and some even lay claim to already being manifested as the fulfillment of their message. Carried about by every wind of doctrine, presumptuously claiming that which they do not possess, they make their boasts, and many are deceived by their "great swelling words of vanity" (II Pet. 2:18).

But the day of manifestation approaches! There is a priestly people, a remnant in whom the Spirit of God is working a transformation. In due time God shall manifest this priesthood and their NEW STATE OF BEING shall utterly silence all the false claims of carnal men. Conformed to HIS IMAGE, filled with His Spirit, the embodiment and personification of His wisdom, nature, grace and power - no man will be able to counterfeit the reality of this new state of being, and these shall redound to the glory of God. Obviously "no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God." It is an inworking transformation that is GOD-WROUGHT, for God starts it, God works it out, and God brings it to its conclusion, it is ALL OF HIM and that is why the flesh cannot duplicate such glorious, divine handiwork.

The vision of priesthood is not fulfilled through self-effort. Many people try to place themselves in certain positions, claiming to be this son, that angel, or the other prophet, etc. In this century "Elijah" has appeared on the scene at least three or four times, I have personally seen two of these Elijahs, and have a photograph of the third, complete with his ceremonial robes. The "two witnesses" have manifested on more than one occasion, I met them, a man and his wife, in Las Cruces, New Mexico in the year 1972. The other set of "witnesses" has now split up, the first witness excommunicated the second witness from his church, and the dismissed witness has now founded his own organization. Incidentally, neither is clothed with sackcloth, they both wear the finest clothes, eat the finest food and fly around the country in their own jet airplanes!

In 1962 I visited a home where John the Revelator had taken up residence upon his return to earth, and with him was king David and a few other of the sons of God who had already "by-passed the grave", they had their glorified bodies and were shortly to take over the world. In 1966 I passed through their area again and it occurred to me to stop and see how the "kingdom" was progressing. I discovered that the immortal king David had died, the sons had dispersed, and king David's wife whispered furtively in my ear that the lady in the other room was "a devil". One sister I know, who previously had a beautiful ministry, and with whom we had precious fellowship, tried to take the honor to herself, declared herself a High Priestess, clothed herself in robes and expensive furs and diamonds, fell into even grosser delusions and became in the end another cheap religious racketeer. What a contrast to the Christ who glorified not Himself - but "made Himself of no reputation...He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also bath highly exalted Him..." (Phil. 2:7-9). It was by that direct oath of God that He was exalted and lifted up to fill this place -for, He that said unto Him, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee, the same said also unto Him, Thou art a priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek.

As one has written: "In many of its aspects 'haste' is a mark of immaturity. To those who are now becoming spiritually mature, there is an undergirding of knowledge that 'to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose...' (Eccl. 3:1), and they desire to only move in GOD'S TIMING, not to rush ahead in a final outburst of 'self-promotion' to claim to be this, or that. When the vision seems to tarry, we can well afford to 'wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry' (Hab. 2:3). At the Father's appointed time He will fully manifest His own - placing them in the position for which He has been preparing them. Yes, in the making of kings and priests through whom God shall administer the affairs of His Kingdom, HE has carefully selected His vessels, and is now processing them by means that stagger the imagination with their intensity and scope. But God shall not be satisfied with an 'inferior product,' hence the transformation must penetrate into every fiber of our being until the whole becomes A NEW CREATION in Christ Jesus" - end quote.

In any ministry, to receive a divine call is a matter of first importance. If such a calling was necessary for the carnal priesthood of the old order and if Christ was called of God, how much more should the ministry of this age and that of the ages to come assure themselves that they are there because of a divine call. The great apostle Paul said, "For I take no special pride in the fact that I preach the gospel. I feel compelled to do so; I should be utterly miserable if I failed to preach it. If I do this work because I choose to do so then I am entitled to a reward. But if it is no choice of mine, but a sacred responsibility put upon me, what can I expect in a way of reward?" (I Cor. 9:16-18, Phillips). It becomes clear, Paul did not volunteer his services of his own free will, so he was not entitled to any reward as such for preaching. He had no choice, he was conscripted by God and given the responsibility from above. Let it be known in this day of Babylon's religious institutions and hirelings - God does not use volunteers in the work of His Kingdom. Ministry is not something one chooses as a vocation, a profession, an easy way to earn a living. All such are HIRELINGS, and hirelings are the ministers of Babylon, and will fall with the system.

Many years ago, when I was but a boy preacher, an old bishop in the denomination with which I was affiliated gave wise counsel to the young candidates for ordination, and his words have remained imbedded deep within my spirit through all these years. He said that entering the ministry can be likened to getting married. Stay single as long as you can. But when you fall so completely, so totally, so fiercely, so hopelessly in love until you are PERFECTLY MISERABLE and cannot stand for one day longer to be apart -then get married! GOD CHOOSES WHOM HE WILLS, AND SO LAYS THE CALL ON YOU THAT YOU ARE MISERABLE UNTIL YOU GIVE OBEDIENCE. Those who take it upon themselves, verily they have their reward - they can build reputations, receive the praise of men, make a name for themselves, gain power and prestige, earn good salaries, and enjoy all the amenities THIS WORLD has to offer, but it becomes merely an earthly call, and they miss forever the HEAVENLY CALL.

I do not hesitate to add that only those who receive the call, who come to realize that they ARE, beyond any shadow of doubt, apprehended to the Melchizedekian Order, will be FULLY PROCESSED AND POSITIONED AND BIRTHED INTO THE ORDER OF THE NEW AGE. Many come to this realization through a personal encounter with the Lord. Each son must receive the call and each must KNOW HIM for themselves. In order to be a king-priest after the Order of Melchizedek our existence must spring from our heavenly origin and not from our earthly one. The New Creation Life we have in Him becomes a super-charged power that lifts us above the law of sin and death into the power of HIS ENDLESS LIFE.

THE ANOINTING OF THE PRIESTHOOD

There is a vivid illustration in the Old Testament of men who sought to grasp the ministry of the priesthood for themselves. This was the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. These men rose up against Moses and Aaron along with two hundred and fifty princes of the congregation and protested their leadership, saying, "Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?" Moses and Aaron were the GOD-APPOINTED leadership of Israel, therefore, the rebellion of this mutinous mob was a sin against God's divine order. In their rebellion, Korah, Dathan and Abiram sought to enter into the office of the priesthood (Num. 16:10), and this intrusion into the priest" office is that which "no man taketh...unto himself." There is neither time nor space to recount the entire story of this rebellion, but their end was tragic, the judgment of God swift and sure, and "the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them and their households, and Korah and all his men, and all their possessions. They and all that belonged to them, went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed upon them; and they perished from among the assembly. And fire came forth from the Lord and devoured the 250 men who offered incense (as priests)" (Num. 16:32-33,35, Amplified).

There were three entrances into the Tabernacle in the wilderness, the realm of priestly ministry: the gate into the Outer Court, the door into the Holy Place, and the veil into the Holiest of All. But these were more than entrances, they were also barriers preventing one from entering in without approval into the fullness of God and priestly ministry. Only the chosen ones were permitted entrance, and only the anointed High Priest into the Holiest Place. Ah, many have been made partakers of the eternal life provided by Christ at the Tabernacle gate who will never be priests, in all that priesthood means. The truth is, there are multitudes that are saved by grace, but will never be priests. They are neither called nor chosen to this ministry, nor do they aspire to meet its qualifications. There would be no point in pressing on, going on to perfection, growing up into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, laying down our lives, yielding unto God, being dealt with, purged, pruned, processed, disciplined, changed and transformed into HIS LIKENESS if the man who has a good time, ignores God, dissipates his life, repents on his death bed and dies and goes to heaven, saved by grace, then receives the same as you.

After the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, seeing that the people had questioned the authority of Aaron, the Lord instructed Moses to take a rod for each of the twelve princes of Israel, including Aaron for the house of Levi, and were told to lay them up in the Ark of the Covenant with their names thereon. The next day, Moses went into the Tabernacle and saw that Aaron's rod had budded and brought forth blossoms and almonds, but none of the other rods had budded. All the rods were then brought out for the people to witness, and Aaron's rod was later returned to the Ark of the Covenant where it remained. Thus, the rebellion against Aaron's priesthood was answered, and Aaron's calling established by the Lord "by reason of the anointing" (Num. 18:8). Henceforth, the priesthood was to remain within the house of Levi. This example also shows that the New Covenant ministry of priesthood is to be executed by only those chosen of the Lord "BY REASON OF THE ANOINTING", and not through devious political-religious craftiness or the, will of the people. Aaron's rod that budded has been within the Ark of the Covenant all through Israel's history as a MEMORIAL to the fact that God alone chooses His priesthood and ANOINTS WHOM HE WILL for the propagation of His Kingdom in the earth. And those whom the Lord calls are blessed with THE LIFE OF HIS SPIRIT as illustrated by the budding rod of Aaron in contrast with the rods of the other eleven princes of Israel whose rods did not bring forth.

This brings us to the anointing of the priesthood. "And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation...then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him. And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto Me in the priest's office" (Ex. 29:4,7; 30:30).

Under the law, the anointing was the ceremony by which the priests were installed in their service. They were anointed to their office with a peculiar ointment, called the "Holy Anointing Oil". Of old, three classes were anointed with the Holy Anointing Oil -prophets, priests and kings. With it Moses anointed Aaron and his sons and all the priests who came after them With it Samuel anointed Saul to be the leader in Israel, and David to be their king. In fact, David was anointed three times, first in the midst of his brethren in the hidden obscurity of his home in Bethlehem (I Sam. 16:3,13), then by the men of Judah, over the house of Judah (II Sam. 2:4,7), and, seven years and six months later, over all Israel, by the elders of Israel (II Sam. 5:3,17). The classic example of the anointing of a prophet is Elisha, who received a double portion of Elijah's spirit (anointing) when he was parted from him in a chariot of fire.

Because of being anointed with the Holy Anointing Oil, the High Priest was called "the anointed" (Lev. 4:3,5,16; 6:22), the same as later for the anointed kings of Israel (I Sam. 24:6,10; 26:9-11; Lam. 4:20). Christ (meaning "the anointed") was anointed with the Holy Spirit and power (Acts 10:38) and fulfills all three functions. He is the prophet like unto Moses. He is the promised Son of David, the King of Israel. He is a High Priest for the ages according to the Order of Melchizedek.

When Jesus was baptized in Jordan, we read that the heavens were opened unto Him. All power and authority of the whole heavenly realm came upon Him. To me that was one of the main purposes of His baptism, to not only open the heavens to Him, but also TO REVEAL WHO HE WAS. This was not His anointing as our great High Priest, but His anointing as the Son of God with power - the Messiah. In the synagogue in Nazareth, He stood up to read, and read from the prophet Isaiah, saying, "The Spirit of the Lord IS upon Me because He HATH anointed Me to preach the gospel..." Then He sat down, and looked around, and made the simple yet almost incomprehensible statement, "THIS DAY is this Scripture fulfilled in your hearing." What a wonderful statement! The word "day" does not refer to a twenty-four hour day or to that particular day of the week. It bespeaks of the DAY OF THE ANOINTING, the manifestation of His power and glory on the earth realm, three years and a half of glorious sonship ministry, and, of course, Jesus was the first of the New Creation to experience such a thing. It is not as though Jesus had just that day received His anointing, for He said that God had already anointed Him. We must also be a sharer of this. Actually, the anointing is what joined Jesus to the Father, and it must be so in us. APART FROM THE ANOINTING WE CAN DO NOTHING. The Holy Anointing Oil typifies the Holy Spirit of adoption whereby we, the Royal Priesthood, are sealed as sons of God. Only the consecrated ones, the priests, are to ever be thus anointed.

THE ANOINTING! We are told in Judges 9:8-9 that the olive oil is used to honor God and honor man. "One time the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, Reign over us. But the olive tree said to them, Should I leave my fatness (oil), by which God and man are honored, and go to wave over the trees?" If we would honor God or man, we must do it by the olive oil. This simply means that if we would fulfill the will of God and the ministry of God, if we would honor God and touch and bless men, we must do it by the Holy Spirit. We must be a man filled with the Spirit, an olive tree, a son of oil. We can never minister as the Lord's priest apart from the life of the Holy Spirit. The soundest advise I can give anyone is: MAKE SURE YOU ARE ANOINTED! You will never stand and speak with authority in the name of Jesus, or do the works of God, unless you are anointed. Men rant and rave and stomp and clap and shout and dance and say that that is the anointing. Not so! The anointing has nothing whatever to do with physical motions or volume. It has to do with authority by the presence of God in our lives. There is a great difference between noise and the power of God. We can put on an empty clap, sing an empty song, march the Jericho March, and go through endless religious exercises, and never be touched by the anointing. Many do these things thinking they will bring the blessing. Believe me, precious friend of mine, THEY WON'T! Oh, yes, there is a place for shouting, for music, for dancing, for making a joyful noise or a noise full of joy - but THIS IS NOT THE ANOINTING. We must never forget that!

Let us look even deeper into what this anointing means. The oil was POURED upon the head of the High Priest. I Jn. 2:27 says, "The anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man should teach you: but...the same anointing teacheth you all things, and is truth..." In this passage the anointing in the Greek is not a noun, but a verb pertaining to a certain kind of motion. It does not bespeak an oil in a motionless state, inactive, passive, standing still; but an oil IN A STATE OF MOTION AND ACTIVITY. If you only have the oil in a vessel you do not have "the anointing"; but when the oil is POURED OUT and APPLIED it then BECOMES "the anointing". In the vessel it is merely oil; poured out it is anointing and separates and sanctifies and quickens that upon which it is poured! Thus, in this day of reality, the anointing is not the Holy Spirit, but the MOVEMENT AND ENERGIZING AND ACTION of the Holy Spirit within us! You say, "I have the Holy Spirit, therefore I have the anointing." Not so! The Holy Spirit in the vessel IS NOT THE ANOINTING - only as the Spirit MOVES and ACTS upon, within, and through you do you have the anointing. The Spirit must not be motionless within us, He must be active and energizing - speaking, stirring, dealing, quickening, changing, transforming, acting, manifesting the glory of God in our lives.

When the firstborn Son received the Holy Spirit at His baptism, from that moment the Spirit MOVED THROUGH HIM, His whole life became the revelation of His Father as the nature mind, wisdom, will, words, power and glory of God were manifested through Him, climaxing with His triumphant resurrection from the dead. And now - a company of "many brethren" are receiving of that same anointing, so that MANY SONS may be brought to the same glory in which the Christ now dwells. Yes, beloved, we also are called to be separated ones, anointed ones, that the name of the Father may be called upon us, creating this bond of union between the High Priest and the priests, transforming into His image, that as He is, SO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD. God is ANOINTING - MOVING IN US - to accomplish this divine work, blessed be His wonderful name!

It would be strange to speak about the anointing without referring to Ps. 133, which is such a beautiful Psalm. "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, like the dew of Herman, and like the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore." How wonderful and sure are these words proceeding from the Psalmist's heart. Obviously, Moses was very generous with the oil as this passage declares that it ran down his beard and down the full extent of his robe. You will find in studying the various instances of the anointing of kings and so forth that at such times they poured the oil from a horn or vial or similar vessel. It is not that the amount of oil would be so significant, but it is a type of the Spirit or anointing which flows, moves, enveloping the whole person, quickening every faculty, effecting a total and complete revelation of HIS LIFE. It is to be observed that the oil was not poured over the entire body, but upon the head alone. From thence it FLOWED DOWN over the body, covering the whole. The anointing of the Melchizedek Priesthood was first upon the Head, the great High Priest, Jesus Christ, and from Him to the members of His body as the Scripture affirms: "The anointing which ye have received OF (from) HIM abideth in you."

Let the fact be imprinted indelibly on our minds that the priestly anointing is not to be equated with the anointing our blessed Lord received when the Spirit descended as a dove upon Him at Jordan and the Voice from heaven witnessed, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Wonderful and glorious as was that anointing, it is not to even be compared with the glory that the Christ has now received as the great High Priest of the heavens. Shortly after being anointed with the Holy Spirit Jesus performed His first miracle at Cana of Galilee when He turned the vessels of pure water into the finest of wine. John tells us, "This beginning of miracles did Jesus at Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth HIS GLORY; and His disciples believed on Him" (Jn. 2:1). The glory of Jesus Christ when He walked on earth was marvelous beyond description, as He went about doing good, healing all who were oppressed of the devil, casting out devils, controlling the elements, speaking as never man spake, and raising even the dead to life again. Yet in my heart I know for certain that the glory of Christ on earth was only a flickering shadow of that glory He has now as the exalted and glorified High Priest of the Melchisedekian Order. Marvelous as was His ministry and the glory of it, when He came to the end of that order He prayed to His Father in heaven, saying, "I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gayest Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me WITH THINK OWN SELF with the GLORY WHICH I HAD WITH THEE BEFORE THE WORLD WAS" (Jn. 17:4-5).

It should not be difficult in the least for us to understand that Jesus was not a priest prior to His death, resurrection and ascension. Jesus was not the High Priest of the Melchizedekian Order at any time during His thirty-three and a half years on earth. He could not at that time have been a priest after the Order of Melchizedek because HE WAS NOT YET THE AUTHOR OF ETERNAL SALVATION. This is made very plain in Heb. 5:9-10. "And having been MADE PERFECT, He BECAME to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation; BEING DESIGNATED by God as a High Priest according to the Order of Melchizedek." His designation as High Priest coincides with His becoming the author of eternal salvation, and it could not be otherwise, for His priesthood unto salvation is rooted in the accomplishment of His death and resurrection.

Again, Jesus Christ could not have been a High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek during His life in the flesh because HE WAS NOT YET LIVING IN THE POWER OF AN INDESTRUCTIBLE LIFE. "And this becomes more plainly evident when another Priest arises Who bears the likeness of Melchizedek, Who has been constituted a Priest, not on the basis of...His physical ancestry, but on the basis of an endless and indestructible Life. For it is witnessed of Him, You are a Priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek" (Heb. 7:15-17, Amplified). It goes without saying that before He died His life was not indestructible! In Rev. 1:18 Jesus says, "I am...the Living One; I WAS DEAD, and behold, I AM ALIVE FOREVERMORE." If He is a priest forever (through all ages), then He CANNOT DIE! It should be clear - He did not begin His Melchizedekian Priesthood until AFTER His death and resurrection!

Furthermore, Jesus was not a High Priest of the Melchizedekian Order before His sacrifice at Calvary because HE HAD NOTHING TO OFFER AS A PRIEST beyond the same blood of bulls and goats offered by the Levitical priesthood. "For every High Priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary that this High Priest also HAVE SOMETHING TO OFFER" (Heb. 8:3). During Jesus' earthly ministry He lacked a very essential item necessary for the priesthood: HE HAD NO BLOOD! He had not yet become the sacrifice, had not yet shed His blood as an offering for sin. Heb. 9:12 says, "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but BY HIS OWN BLOOD He entered in once into the Holy Place, HAVING OBTAINED eternal redemption for us." He did not enter that Holy Place to function as a High Priest except with His OWN BLOOD. But He did not have any of His own blood to offer until He had died and shed it for the remission of sins. Heb. 9:22 tells us that only SHED blood is acceptable, that is, blood that indicated the DEATH of its source. "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without the SHEDDING OF BLOOD is no remission." Can we not see by this that He could only use His blood AFTER HE HAD DIED!

In addition to all this, Jesus could not have been a High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek while on earth because HE WAS NOT YET SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD. Notice Ps. 110:1 and 4: "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. The Lord bath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the Order of Melchizedek." Jesus is not declared a priest after the Order of Melchizedek until after the invitation to sit at the right hand of God. This divine arrangement is confirmed by the writer to the Hebrews: "Now of the things we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an High Priest, WHO IS SET AT THE RIGHT HAND of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the TRUE TABERNACLE, which the Lord pitched, and not man."

The word "Christ" means "anointed" and Jesus became the ANOINTED HIGH PRIEST after His ascension into the celestial realm. He was "Christ" or "the anointed" Son of God while He walked among men, but I must emphasize most emphatically that He was not then the ANOINTED HIGH PRIEST, neither was He the ANOINTED KING. The two-fold anointing of King-Priest was conferred upon Him after His resurrection and ascension into heaven as Peter shows: "Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would RAISE UP CHRIST TO SIT UPON HIS THRONE; this Jesus bath God RAISED UP, whereof we all are witnesses. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, until I make Thy foes Thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God HATH MADE that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, BOTH LORD AND CHRIST" (Acts 2:30,32,34-36). The message is clear - Jesus was MADE CHRIST - He was MADE the ANOINTED KING-PRIEST WHEN HE ASCENDED THE THRONE OF HIS FATHER! He is now and forevermore a priest upon His throne, bless His name!

The Royal Priesthood, of which Christ is the Head, receive their priestly anointing from the High Priest upon the throne. "Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He bath shed forth this which ye now see and hear" (Acts 2:33).

Under the Old Covenant Moses was commissioned by God to anoint the priests. "Moreover the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, and of cassia five hundred shekels...and of oil olive and bin: 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 Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto Me in the priest's office" (Ex. 30:22-25,30). Moses anointed Aaron and his sons. Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant (Gal. 3:19). The mediator of the New Covenant is Jesus, so when you read of all that Moses performed on behalf of the Levitical priests in the books of Exodus and Leviticus, put Jesus in Moses' place and you will receive understanding of what Jesus is doing in our lives to bring us to the Melchizedek Priesthood It was Moses who anointed the priests of the Old Covenant, and it is Jesus who anoints the priests of the New Covenant!

In order that we may be clearer concerning the divine process of the anointing of the Royal Priesthood, we will now consider three steps of God's work in bringing about this anointing. His first step was that of the Word becoming flesh. The Word was God (Jn. 1:1), and flesh denotes man; therefore, when the Word became flesh, it means that God became man and joined Himself with man (Jn. 1:14). The incarnated Jesus of Nazareth is the first and master product in this universe of God being mingled with man. When He was born on this earth, God obtained in this universe a specimen and model of His union with man - the first GOD-MAN. From this time forth, God intended to mingle Himself with humanity according to and by Jesus Christ, producing a species of beings which are God manifested in the flesh and man in the image of God - GOD-MEN.

The second step which achieved God's purpose was the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The Lord's death released Him from the flesh, and His resurrection transferred Him into the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus made it possible for Him to have another form, namely, the Holy Spirit. Before the incarnation, in eternity, He was the Father ~ Jehovah (Isa. 64:8; 63:16; 9:6). When He was incarnated on this earth and lived among men, He was the Son (Mat. 1:23; Isa. 9:6). After He passed through death and resurrection, ascended to heaven, descended to earth again and entered into man, He is the Spirit (Jn. 14:16-18; II Cor. 3:17). As the Father expressed Himself in the Son through the incarnation, so the Son expressed Himself as the Spirit through death and resurrection and ascension. "He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, THAT HE MIGHT FILL ALL THINGS" (Eph. 4:10). The Father came unto men as the Son, and the Son entered into man as the Spirit. This is the God that mingles Himself with man through the anointing.

The third step which God used to achieve the anointing was the entering of the Holy Spirit into mar. When the Holy Spirit enters into man, the Son enters into him, and the Father also enters into him. "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and WE will come unto him, and make OUR abode with him" (Jn. 14:23). Both the Father and the Son enter into us by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Holy Spirit entering into man is the same as Christ entering into man, and the same as God entering into man. The Bible gives several references concerning this matter. Rom. 8:9-11 mentions that the Spirit which dwells in us is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and Christ Himself. When we put these various expressions together, we see that the Spirit of God being in us means that both Christ and God are in us. Another reference is I Jn. 4:13, "Hereby we know that...HE (dwells) in us, because He bath given us of HIS SPIRIT." This shows that for the Holy Spirit to be in us means that God is in us.

When God came into us by the Holy Spirit, He became mingled with us, He in us, and we in Him. However, the work of God to mingle and unite Himself with man is not an instantaneous process. Since we were regenerated and the life of God entered into us, our spirit quickened by His Spirit, this mingling has been going on continuously. The process is ever from glory to glory, from measure to measure, from experience to experience, until there is that perfect unity, union, and mingling - so co-mingled that you cannot tell where God ends and we begin, or where we end and God begins. This is the NEW CREATION - MAN IN THE IMAGE OF GOD, and GOD INCARNATED IN MAN. Those who, with our blessed Lord, are next to arrive at this wonderful stature are the sons of God, the firstfruits of His redemption, kings and priests upon HIS THRONE.

The anointing which we have received of Him at this present time is not the FULL ANOINTING, merely a foretaste, the down payment, the pledge and token of greater glory still to come. "And not only the creation, but we ourselves too, who have and enjoy the FIRSTFRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT - a foretaste of the blissful things to come - groan inwardly as we wait for the redemption of our bodies from sensuality and the grave, which will reveal our adoption, our manifestation as God's sons" (Rom. 8:23, Amplified).

I would not for one moment minimize this foretaste, this firstfruit of the Holy Spirit which we have received in the baptism in the Spirit. I would not for one moment depreciate the great outpouring of the Spirit which began at the turn of the century, in which millions came to Christ and were transformed. Neither do I belittle in the least the glorious moving of the Holy Spirit which swept across the land and around the world beginning in 1948.

I do not speak in derogatory terms of the speaking in tongues, prophecy, gifts of healing, laying on of hands, five-fold ministry and the mighty manifestations that accompanied the restoration of these gifts and ministries to the body of Christ. I myself have been a glad partaker of its glory. I would not deny it in life or in death. Since the day the Holy Spirit swept with indescribable bliss and glory into my life at the altar of a Pentecostal Camp Meeting, at the tender age of twelve, I have seen hundreds, yea, thousands, receive the power of the Spirit. Yet in my heart I know for certain that all the glory we have seen is but a faint shadow of the glory that shall be revealed at the manifestation of the sons of God, for which all creation has groaned for six thousand years. Then the glory of the Lord will fill the whole body of the Royal Priesthood in the fullness thus far known only by our glorious Forerunner and Head. His glory shall flow and flow and fill the earth. Then shall be fulfilled the words of the Saviour, "The works that I do shall ye do also, and GREATER WORKS THAN THESE SHALL YE DO." The power of God shall at last conquer the nations, and sin, and sorrow and death shall be swallowed up in victory.

The coming of the Lord in power and great glory is at hand. The Royal House of King-Priests is about to be revealed. In that day the lame man shall leap as the hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. The eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped. The desert and the solitary place shall blossom as the rose. Men will learn war no more. Heaven and earth shall kiss and all things shall be reconciled unto God. It will be the time of the manifestation of the manifested sons of God when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

Other writings of J. Preston Eby: Writings of J. Preston Eby

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