In this sermon, the preacher discusses the importance of understanding and remembering the Word of God. He refers to the incident in Acts 11 where Peter preached to the Gentiles and was reminded by the Holy Spirit of the Word of the Lord. The preacher then turns to Luke chapter 10 and talks about the story of the Good Samaritan. He emphasizes the importance of showing mercy and being willing to serve others. The sermon also highlights the different meanings and symbolism associated with hands in the Bible, such as uplifted hands in prayer and the open hand of generosity. The preacher encourages the congregation to learn the joy of giving and reminds them of the promise that when they give, it will be given unto them. The sermon concludes by mentioning the example of George Mueller, a man of faith whose face reflected his close relationship with God.

Thank you very much. It is good to be here. Beautiful day, morning. My father said try the swimming pool, I can tell you it's lovely and warm. Much warmer than the air. I was reminded most yesterday was getting out rather than going in. The cool air really hit you when you came out. But it was beautiful in the pool. It's a good, clean exercise, isn't it? Have a shower a day, have a swim a day, it keeps the body clean anyway. I really appreciate such an appreciative audience. You're being really lavish with your remarks and encouragement, and we do appreciate that. Speaking about cold water, I don't know if any of you have ever been baptized on those ice. But I remember a friend up north, he got saved in the wintertime, and now he do, but he went to another friend of mine, Lou Head. He said, Lou, I want to be baptized today. No waiting. He went down to the edge of the salt water and cut a hole in the ice and baptized him. He had no illness there. Another time there was a baptism, there was a lady being baptized. She had a very long nose, and one of the deacons at that baptism, he was very much the full immersion, you know. And the nose is not on there. It goes all the way. Now, we'll repeat Leviticus chapter 14. That night we spoke on the anointing, and there's many more things we'd like to say, so we'd like to say a few more things today. I'm only speaking about the Holy Spirit, the oil, the oil of the Holy Spirit. In the Leviticus chapter 13 and 14, you have the cleansing of the leper, a wonderful picture of the sinner. Many times in the 13th chapter, particularly, you'll read, deeper than the skin, deeper than the skin, lower. That's certainly sin, isn't it? Deeper than the skin. It's deep bruising. But then the blood of Jesus Christ cleansed us from all sin. Thank God for that. It goes deeper than the skin. Leviticus 14 and verse 14. And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot. And the priest shall take some of the lot of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. And the priest shall dip his right finger in oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. And the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is cleansed, and upon the thumb of the right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering. And the remnant of the oil that is in the priest's hand, he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed, and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of this portion of his holy word. You notice the blood came first, and then the oil upon the blood. I think that's very self-explanatory. We're first redeemed with that precious blood, and we're redeemed with the blood at the same moment after that the Holy Spirit, as we said, enters and indwells the believer. The oil, the olive oil, was used to anoint the priest. We spoke about that last night. Aaron, you remember, was anointed for the holy priesthood. The kings were anointed for their position as kings, and then they were expected to act like kings afterward. And when we anointed with the oil of the Holy Spirit, we, of course, also expected to act as people that are royal citizens of heaven. And then the prophets, they too were anointed with oil. Now, oil often also speaks about joy, and there's a couple of verses I'd like to give you about just a little way of introduction that connect with the oil. You have also joy. Isaiah 61 and verse 3. Isaiah 61 and verse 3 is the verse that points that out. "...to appoint unto them that mourn and find, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for warning." That's a great context, isn't it? Oil of joy for warning. "...the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified." And that's the big purpose of the spirit of God, isn't it? That Christ may be glorified for the joy, and that Nehemiah said, that the joy of the Lord is your strength. And you'll find that. A joyful Christian, I'll tell you, is usually a victorious Christian, and he's not so easily put under. If your joy is really the joy of the Holy Spirit. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 9 is the verse quoted from Psalm 47, and it refers to the Lord Jesus out of Psalm 45 verse 7. It speaks about the Lord Jesus, "...thou hast anointed for thou's love to righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness upon thy fellows." Sometimes, you know, you never actually read about the Lord Jesus laughing in the word of God, do we? We never even read about him smiling. But here's a verse that tells us he was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows. You couldn't think of the Lord Jesus being anything else than his inner being, but having the joy of the Lord flowing through him. And, you know, the special joy of salvation. You remember in Acts chapter 3 when Peter and John came up to death, and they saw this man sitting there lame, and they said to him, look at us, and he thought he was going to get some money. They said to him, in gold have we none, but such as we have, we give unto thee in the name of the Lord Jesus. Rise up and walk. And he said, he reached, and he jumped, and he prayed to the Lord. He wasn't afraid what people thought of him, was he? Sometimes we're so afraid to express a little joy because people, uh-oh, we're going overboard now, you know? He was walking and weeping and praying, and God is just about him. So, as a result of loving righteousness and peace about the Lord Jesus, he was anointed with the oil of gladness. Tonight we'll be touching a little more of this, possibly, but one of the fruits of the Spirit is, the fruit of the Spirit is love. What's that one? Joy. Joy, right? Joy. See, a person has that inner joy that flows out through. It's a wonderful evidence of the Holy Spirit. It's a very great evidence of the filling of the Spirit because in the book of Acts, you read about the fullness of the Spirit and the great joy it sets in that city. Acts 8.8, the great joy. Again, in Acts 13.52, the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. So, the two go hand in hand. If the Spirit of God fills us, truly has been anointing oil upon us, we should be a joyful people. And we need to be anointed freshly every day. You know, David said, My cup runneth over thou, nor does my cup of my head with oil, my cup will runneth over. Well, if your cup runs over and is filling up, it has to be refilled all the time, doesn't it? And that's what you have in the Word of God. Psalm 92, and verse 10, But my horn shall thou exalt like the horn of a unicorn, I shall be anointed with fresh oil. I shall be anointed with fresh oil. Fresh oil every morning. We need to get a resupply every morning, you know. They had to fill the lamp all the time to keep the oil right burning in the lampstand, and we need that continual supply every day. Yesterday's supply will not do it. And we make a little pitch off it. You remember when Elijah was to go up to the widow of Seleuca, she had just a little oil left, didn't she? A little bit of meal. And it was quite a challenge. I could imagine if the Lord sent me to, and said, Now, the widow that's going to look after you, I would think here's a well-furnished widow with all kinds of canned goods and supplies in the basement, and all kinds of stuff laid up, you know, for many months and years to come. Boy, we're going to go up, and she's going to look after us. We got there, and here was this starving woman. And, boy, they were going to have their last meal. Pretty hopeless, isn't it? But big need make first. The Lord first. Put Him first. And every day they had to dip down into that well. If you didn't fill the well, they had to have three months of supply for you. Every day. And so every day that oil continued. And so it is. We need that daily filling, that daily supply of fresh oil in our lives. The fresh oil of the Spirit of God. There's a remarkable verse, too, that I think we'll just, or maybe I'll use this a little later, about dipping the foot in oil when we come to the various parts, the oils that we put on. Now, the first place the oil was put on, on the left, I believe, or we'll start at the top. It wasn't the order there in the book, but I want to start to keep up in the order. Oil on the head, that's in the very good book, in verse 18. Thou shalt pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed. He was to pour the oil that is in the priest's hand. He shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed. Now, you see, the head is very important. The head governs every part of the body, just like Christ is the head of the church and should govern the function of the church, the body of Christ. So, our head is the head of the body, and I believe it speaks about that mind. If a man thinks it in his mind, or in his heart, so is he. Whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are few, whatsoever things are goodly, so on and so on, think upon these things. It's very, very important. Turn to Titus, chapter 3, the book of Titus, chapter 3, verse 4. But after that, the kindness and love of God our Savior to a man appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy saved us by the washing of regeneration. Here's the blood. And renewing of the Holy Spirit, which is shed on us Jesus Christ, our Savior. The Spirit of God regenerating us, renewing our mind, that we might indeed think upon this. The Word of God, the Spirit of God was used on holy men that were moved along. 2 Peter 1.21 And they wrote that they were moved along by the Spirit of God. A verse that's very precious to me is in 2 Corinthians, chapter 10, I think it's verse 5. Oil on the head, casting down imagination, and they behind things that has faltered itself against the laws of God. And listen, and bringing into captivity every thought, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. That's a tremendous versatility. Every thought brought into the obedience, into obedience to Christ. Oil on the head. It's so important to have our mind purified and anointed with oil every day. You know, it's a great thing to have our mind occupied with Christ. Think upon Him. His loveliness, His gentleness, His graciousness, and all these things. And if our mind is full of good things, it won't be full of other things, will it? That's the best thing, is prevention. You know, if you couldn't get the disease, if you could prevent that disease, that'd be much better. And if we can prevent some of these thoughts and other things that come into our mind, how... Let the Holy Spirit truly anoint our minds that we may think pure, holy, think that are lovely, think that are Christ-exalting. Then the oil on the head, of course, also speaks about the... how that we understand and remember John's Gospel, which I'm just looking at a very few quick verses to show us what the Holy Spirit is anointing the mind. Sometimes as we get older, you know, our memory is not so good. Sometimes it's as if three things happens when you get older. One is you can't remember. And I think that's the other two. Eh? You heard that one a bit more? Well, that's very common, isn't it? Easy to get. So, we need to feel as God. John chapter 2, and verse 22, When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered. When did they remember? After he was risen from the dead. Why was that? Because that's when the Holy Spirit was given, and he would bring these things to their remembrance. We're going to see that as we turn in John's Gospel. John chapter 12, and verse 16. The anointing of the head. These things understood not his disciples at the first, but when Jesus was glorified. Remember he said when he was glorified, he was then the comforter? But when Jesus was glorified, but then remember they, that these things were written of him. Chapter 13, verse 7. Jesus answered and said unto him, There is Peter, and it connects with the walkings of his disciples, Be. What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shall know hereafter. The anointing of the head quickens the memory, quickens the mind. He helps us to understand and to remember. John 14, 26. For the comforter which is the Holy Ghost from the Father will stand in my name. He shall teach you all things, and bring not all things to your remembrance. Isn't it wonderful to have the comforter to help us as our years advance, as our minds become to live on all the comforts? Ain't it so well? We have a very pleasant health. That's the Spirit of God. John 16, verse 12. We'll look to something first. We'll bring a little bit different aspect from them. I've yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. How be it when he, the Spirit of truth, is come? He will guide you into all truth. For the understanding and quickening of the mind, he anointed my head with oil. Isn't that understanding? One more scripture, Acts 11. When Peter was preaching to the Gentiles, and verse 15 of Acts 11, he's recounting the incident, and as I began to speak the Holy Spirit to all of them, at the beginning, then remembered I the word of the Lord. Helped him to remember. He remembered. Isn't that a wonderful thing? Now, the second thing, I want you to turn now to the gospel of Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. Oil in the wounds. You know, it's all a beautiful gospel story. The story of the good Samaritan. The picture of the Lord Jesus. The Samaritan was despised, and he was despised and rejected of men. He came, remember, the good Samaritan. He found the man to be half dead, wounded and half dead. And this man, he was, you might say he had legs of mercy. He came to where he was. The Levite and the priest did pass by, but a certain man, a teacher, and he came where he was. The Lord Jesus came right to the place where we were. Then he had eyes of kindness. He saw him. The Lord Jesus saw us, and he had compassion upon us. That's what it said. Then they told him he had compassion on us of the heart of love that went with it. Then those hands to help him, and he went to him and found up his wounds and put in oil and wine, and set him on his own feet. Hands that lifted him up on his own feet. Self-denial. Supporting grace, he brought him to the inn. And then he paid the innkeeper to look after him. For he poured in the oil and the wounds, the old sin life, these many scars. For the blessed spirit of God, the oil poured into the wounds. Wonderful healing effect. Oil in the wounds. They're made new. New beginning. 1 Corinthians 6, 11 says, But ye were, and such were some of you, all kinds of various aspects of sin mentioned. For ye are washed. For ye are sanctified. You're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the spirit of all God. We're made new. Oil to the wounds. The blood has cleansed us. The spirit of God has made us new. We're a new creation in Christ Jesus. New beginning. Back in Leviticus, you remember, we read about those oils to put in the very part of a person. I want to also mention something that, you know, sometimes we say, Who owns your faith? Who owns our faith? Faith is a very important part of us, isn't it? 1 Corinthians 4, verse 15. A wonderful verse. And wine that maketh glad the heart of man. Wine speaks to that joy too. And oil to make his face to shine, and bread to strengthen man's heart. That's the word of God. But oil to make his face shine. You know, a kind face is the result of someone living close to the Lord. George Muller said his face was so gentle, and the people looked on him, and they almost said, they said, it reminded you of the 23rd Psalm. What a man of God George Muller was. A man of faith. But his face reflected he'd been in the presence of God. As we mentioned, Stephen certainly reflected that he had been in the presence of God. Moses was not that his face shone, but he certainly reflected he had been in the presence of God. And the oil will make all things to shine, And it is said there in the Psalm 104, it makes all things to shine. It's a great thing to have a shining face, full of the love of the Lord and the joy of the Lord. It should come out. It shouldn't be like the man who was standing on the sidewalk inviting people into the service, and the fellow took his invitation, and he looked up into his face, and he said, There's no thanks, I've no trouble at home. Not good advertising, that's it. But let's be sure we don't put on a false smile, a false happiness. It has to come from within. It's out of the heart, you see. And it has to come from within. The other glow must be from within the glow. Moses didn't know that his face was shining, but everybody else did. It was the real thing, wasn't it? And then in fact, in Leviticus chapter 14 verse 7, you don't have to chant, I'm just referring to it. It says there, Oil of the year. Oil of the year. And I believe that speaks of obedience. Remember Samuel in the temple, before he knew the Lord, he didn't know the Lord speaking to him. After the third time, I think it was the fourth time, the old Levi said, you go down and you lay down, and then you say, speak Lord, thy servant here. He recognized it was the voice of God. And it's so important that we are an obedient people. Oil, the blood was first on the ear, and then the oil. Oil on the ear. The word of God revealed by the Spirit of God. Exodus 15 verse 26 says this. It says that if thou will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and will do that which is right in his sight, and will give ear to his commandments, and keep all his law. This is important. The ear, remember it speaks about the Lord Jesus, how his ear was open. Early in the morning the Lord opened his ear. Great wise before day he was up to hear what the Lord had to say to him. And you know brethren, this is a great thing to get up in the morning, get into the book, and pray before we get into the book, open down my ears and my eyes, that I may behold wonders things out of thy law. Get into the word, the book, the word of the Lord. Remember there's something that the Lord was very displeased with, was disobedient. Saul started out so well as a king, didn't he? And Samuel said later to him, when you are little in your own eyes, then God could really use him. For then he became self-important. He had lifted up with pride. The Lord had to replace him. I've chosen David, a man after my own heart. I can't use Saul. Well, I'll obey the Lord, at least partially. But that was great disobedience. To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken is a better man. God wasn't pleased with Saul, and he replaced him. And what a poor miserable wretch he was for many years afterward. Disobedience is the most costly thing in the Christian life. To obey is better than sacrifice. To have that anointed ear, the ear that is open to hear what the Lord our God shall say unto us. Another lovely picture of an obedient and a willing ear in Exodus 21. You know about the master and his servants. He could have gone out free in Exodus chapter 21, but he wouldn't go out free, and he said he would love his master and his wife and so on. Verse 7. No, pardon me. Verse 2. And if thou by a Hebrew servant think'st ye that he shall serve, and in verse 7 he shall go out free from nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he was male, he and his wife shall go out with him. If his master hath given him a wife, and she hath borne him sons and daughters, a wife and her children, shall be her master, and he shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall freely say, I love my master, my wife and my children, I will not go free. Then his master, now here it is, shall bring him unto the churches, and he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the doorpost. And his master shall bore the ear true with an awe, and he shall serve him forever. The ear, the bored ear, speaking that he was his servant forever. O Lord Jesus could have gone out free, but he said, Now I bear the marks of Calvary forever. And he did. And that a devotion to love to him now, as we have oil in the ear, it should also mark us as those that have a willing ear to be obedient to him or serve him forever. What a privilege to be the Lord and to serve him forever. The ear bored out of obedience to the Lord Jesus. There's many different things about the ear. Psalm 45, verse 10. And consider and fly in thine ear, and forget not thine own people and thine house. An ear that's open to hear. In Isaiah 50, verse 4, referring to the Lord Jesus. The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak the word of Jesus, and to whom that we awaken morning by morning. He wakened mine ear to hear as the learned. He wakened my ear to hear. That open attentive ear. That ear that also hears the shepherd's voice. My sheep, they hear my voice, and they follow me. The ear that's anointed is marked by following the Lord Jesus. How do we know they belong to the shepherd and know his voice? They eat, you know, the sheep know the shepherd's voice. The orphans are flocked together, and the shepherds come along, and he'll call his sheep and they'll follow. We know the shepherd's voice too. He met them daily at the morning of the resurrection, day after day, whenever the Lord Jesus said, May we set up on high after my sheep, the anointed ear, to hear his voice. A little bit about the hand. There was oil on the hand as well. They put oil, put blood on the hand, and then they put the oil on the hand as a symbol of action. Whatever I do, do with all your might. Whatever you do, do it heartily under the Lord. The hand speaks at night and activity, and isn't it great to be a wholehearted Christian, all out for the Lord, clean cut, out to do that which is pleasing to the Lord. The hand given off to willing service. Only one life will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last. These hands be found busy. They're a symbol of activity, and that which will be brought by the hand, that which will be eternally lasting. And then, the word of God speaks about different hands, you know. Moses' hand speaks about Aaron's uplifted hands in prayer, you remember? Aaron and you, they held up Moses' hands in prayer. They speak in the Scripture, too, of the open hand of generosity, to open your hands to the poor, and so on. I'll tell you, dear friends, I remember the old Father Claude Pfeiffer said that, well, dear Christians, have you never learned the joy of giving? It's a great joy to give. More blessed to give than it is to receive the word of God said. God loved a cheerful or hilarious giver, and that that which gathered, and yet it increased it, that that which gathered, and yet it tended to poverty, spiritual poverty. Learn to have an open hand of generosity. Give and it shall be given unto you. You know what the Lord said? Good measure pressed down from running over. You can't outdo the Lord. It's like the term is, the Lord has the biggest shovel, and you can't outdo the Lord. A lot of folks have never found that wonderful thing of really giving to the Lord. There's many different hands in the Scripture. You look it up sometimes, David's hand, make sure, the man, you remember, that one of David's great men, he wanted a great victory, and the sword slayed into his hand. So, they're digging with something. Most of us would have laughed, but the Lord of the fields, they saw those people, and they wanted a great victory. The sword slayed into his hand. Do you see that? That's unmovable. All of the following is the work of the Lord. For as much as you know, the labor is not in vain in the Lord. So, we have oil in the head, heavy thoughts, the mind, blessed and helped by the blessed Spirit of God. Oil on the feet to make it shine. Oil on the ears to hear his voice. Oil on his hands, so that servants could be anointed by him, and blessed the Lord Jesus, anointed, and he went about doing good, didn't he? And then lastly, we want to mention the oil on the feet. Oil on the feet. That's quite a thing. Deuteronomy 33, verse 24, and Asher, he says, let Asher be blessed with children, let him be accepted to his brethren, let him dip his foot in oil. Let him dip his foot in oil. Now, what's the feet speaking about? The feet speak about a walk. The Christians walk. Galatians 5, verse 16 says, they then walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. If you live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5, verse 25. For this is the kingdom of God, for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Has any of you ever heard about Billy Bray? Have you heard about Billy Bray? Yes, you have. Now, that's a thrilling life to lead. There's a man that had the joy of the Lord all those years that he was saved. It never changed. He enjoyed the joy of the Lord. He'd go along, you could hear him from miles singing and praising the Lord. So, I had to practice singing and preaching one time and swung him around and praised the Lord. He just was so full of it. It was not official, but it was real. It's been impossible for us to have that blessed joy of the Lord, the oil that speaks, that makes the faith to shine, the oil that gives to be glad, the heart of men, you know. It's great to have that. And it's from the foot, or from the head, to the feet, to the walk, that we might walk in the Spirit and give blessing to God. Now, I mentioned just briefly there that the oil in the Old Testament with the prophets and the crews of oil. And there's one other thing I just mentioned in closing, and that was the oil, or the connection with Elisha. Remember, the woman that owed money. And he said, bring in all the pots you can bring. Fill them. She poured in. Remember, the oil kept on. Then she paid what she owed. We owe something too, don't we? And apart from the debt of God, we can't pay our debt. We can't pay it. We owe that our lives to the Lord we're bought with the price we're paid. We owe other Christians our love and our help and our affection and our, you know, any fellowship. And we owe the world a gospel. Paul said, I'm in debt. And he said, I'm ready to preach the gospel. We owe the gospel to the world. For the debt of God in our true life, He can make the increase so we can pay our debt in the power of the debt. We shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon us. So, the great anointing is ours. Anointed with oil. May the Lord bless these scattered thoughts to our mind. But I hope it'll be a little help to you to see how wonderful God's prediction is and how that now that He has saved us, our head, our faces, our ears, our hands, our feet, our bodies, we're all anointed after the Lord by Him. May that be our complete purpose in life. Father, we thank You for this time together. We thank You for these dear Christian friends that have gathered here. We pray, Lord, bless each one. Let us know everyone's heart and everyone's needs. And we thank that there's enough oil in the pot to supply for all our needs and the needs of others. We thank You, Lord, a God of unlimited supply. We commend ourselves to pray, and I thank God. Faith is fully shined because we've been in Thy presence. We pray in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.