Bought By Blood, Washed By Grace // Exodus 30:11–33

In this sermon from Exodus 30:11–33, Pastor Josh Thompson explores how the tabernacle points directly to Jesus Christ. Through the ransom money, the bronze laver, and the holy anointing oil, we see that God redeems His people, cleanses them daily by grace, and sets them apart for holy living.

This message is a powerful reminder that believers were bought with the blood of Christ, continually washed through His grace, and anointed by the Holy Spirit to live lives fully devoted to God.

Series - Exodus: Leaving the Darkness

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

We're going to be in Exodus chapter 30 in our Bibles. If you want to turn there, Exodus chapter 30. We're going to cover verses 11 to 33 in the text. This is sermon number 77 through the book of Exodus. Title of the message is Bought by Blood, Washed by Grace. Have you ever picked up something at a store? You look at the price tag and then you quietly put that thing back. You know, you did not need to pray about it. You didn't need any discernments. You saw that price and thought, the Lord's leading me away from that thing. You know, price ultimately tells you value, doesn't it? It tells you what someone is willing to pay. We see here in Exodus 30, uh, we see three holy objects. We see this ransom money, we see the bronze labor, and we see the sacred anointing oil. Underneath these three things, there is one truth that God puts his claim on his people. Uh we we will see him uh say that you have been bought through the giving of the half shekel, that you must be washed through the washing of their hands in the bronze labor, and then that you are set apart with the holy anointing oil. The gospel, of course, takes us deeper that we are not bought with silver, but we were bought with the blood of Jesus. And we are not washed by effort, but we have been washed by the grace of God. And so that is the title of the sermon today, Bought by Blood, Washed by Grace. We're going to read Exodus chapter 30, verse 11 to 33. Can we stand for the reading of God's word? We always stand for the reading of God's word to pay honor to him, to bless him, to remember whose word we're reading. Not my words truly belong to him. And as Charlotte said, that's right. It's not my fault, that's what God said. It's a you can get mad at God if you want to. I'm just trying to say what he says over and over and over again. Take a look at verse 11 in our text. Yahweh also spoke to Moses, saying, When you take a census of the sons of Israel to number them, then each one of them shall give a price of atonement for himself to Yahweh when you number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you number them. This is what everyone who is numbered shall give, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary. The shekel is twenty garas. Half a shekel as a contribution to Yahweh. Everyone who is numbered from twenty years old and older shall give the contribution to Yahweh. The rich shall not pay more than the poor, and the poor shall not pay less than half a shekel when you give the contribution to Yahweh to make atonement for your souls. You shall take the atonement money for from the sons of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may be a remembrance for the sons of Israel before Yahweh to make atonement for your souls. Verse 17. And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, You shall also make a bronze, a labor of bronze, with it stands of bronze for washing, you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. And the sons shall wash their hands from uh and their feet from it. When they come into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. And when they approach the altar to minister by offering up the smoke of fire to Yahweh, the smoke of sacrifice to Yahweh. So they shall wash their hands and their feet so that they will not die, and it shall be a perpetual statue for them for Aaron and his seed throughout their generations. Moreover, Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, But as for you, take for yourself the finest spices of flowing myrrh, five hundred shekels, of fragrant cinnamon of half as much, two fifty, and of fragrant crane, two fifty, and of uh cacia five hundred, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, uh, and of olive oil a hen. You shall make of these whole holy anointing oil a perfume mixture, the work of a perfumer, and it shall be a holy anointing oil. And with it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony, and the table, and all its utensils, and the lampstand, and its utensils, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering, and all the utensils, and the laver in its stands, you shall also set them apart as holy, that they may be most holy, whatever touches them shall be holy. Then you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, you shall set them apart as holy, that they may minister as priests to me. You shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, This shall be an anointing oil to me throughout your generations. It shall not be poured on anyone's body, nor shall you make any like it in the same specifications. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. Whoever shall mix any like it, or whoever puts any of it on a layman shall be cut off from his people. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for these pictures at the tabernacle once again, and we ask God now, please, by the power of your Holy Spirit, that you would minister to our lives. You would take these ancient things, and that we would see its meaning, what you were saying back then. We'd be able to bring it into today and apply it to our lives and live these truths out for your glory. Bless us as we worship you through your word now. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. You can be seated. If you're just joining us, we've been working through the tabernacle. We're going to give you a wide shot here on the screen of the tabernacle. And uh this is um again something I discovered in the south of Israel uh years ago. Took a picture of this and a lot of pictures of the inside, but here's the overview wide shot of the tabernacle. And uh you see the bron the uh the burnt offering, the square box there. That's where they uh they sacrifice the animals there, and then they would wash their hands in the bronze laver, that that little basin, that circular thing. And then this tent is the tent of meeting. It is the holy place and the holy of holies where the high priest would go in to meet with God. We've been looking at each stage of this thing carefully, working and scraping through the book of Exodus. We're still at uh Mount Sinai in the text, and God is giving Moses instruction now for the tabernacle, the place where a holy God would dwell amongst his people. And Israel has already been delivered from Egypt. They walked through the Red Sea, they have seen the power of God, but now they are learning how a redeemed people live near to God. This tent was in the center of their encampment, and uh it is the place where they would meet with God. We got to remember that God, though he is gracious, uh he's not common. Though God is near, uh sorry, though he is gracious, he's not casual. Though God is near, he's not common. And uh he welcomes sinners into his presence, but he does not welcome and affirm sin. He brings his people close, but he desires them to be clean. This is important. Uh grace always comes before uh obedience. Redemption always comes before consecration. Uh notice the order of this passage. God does not begin with anointing oil, he begins with ransom first. He does not say, serve me, clean yourself up, prove yourself, then maybe I'll claim you. No, he says, You're mine, you have been bought with a price, now wash, now serve, now live as holy. And that's the beauty. God does not say, clean up your life, then come to me. He says, Come to me, and I will clean up your life. Uh grace, again, always comes before obedience. Many people try to live the Christian life backwards. They try to be holy so God will love them. They try to serve God so he will accept them. They try to clean themselves up so God will let them come nearer, but that's the opposite. That's not how it works. He says, Come near, and I will clean you up. Exodus 30 gives us this right order, bought by blood, washed by grace, and set apart for God. Point number one, if you're taking notes, bought by blood. We see this in verse 11 and 12. The Lord tells Moses that whatever Israel takes a census, every man twenty years old and upward must give half a shekel as a price of atonement. The rich couldn't pay more and the poor couldn't pay less. Everyone gave the same amount. We see in verse 15. Why? Because this was not really about fundraising. This was about ultimately remembering that God had purchased and bought his people. We know that he had uh really taken them out, purchased them out of slavery, did he not? Out of the hand of Pharaoh, out of Egypt, he had brought them out, and now they belong to him. Um and when Israel numbered the people, they were handling something that belonged to God. Uh, this is kind of a dangerous thing of a census in the Old Testament. And we see um God dealing very difficultly with David. Uh he, if you remember, David counts the people, and and God really causes great problems on the people because of a census. David was doing it because he wanted to test to see how many men he had in the army. And even his general was like, I don't know if you should do this. Really, you should just go to God. You don't need to count your men to make sure you can win the war. Just go to God. And he's like, No, I gotta count the men. He counts the men, creates a huge problem with God. A census can be useful, but it can also become dangerous. Counting can quietly turn into boasting. And we know. Look how many soldiers we have, look at how strong we are, look what we've built, look how impressive we have become. Numbers can become a mirror, and before long we are admiring ourselves instead of worshiping God. So the Lord says, When you count them, they must give a ransom. They're gonna give the same amount, and they're gonna remember in the counting that they were bought by God. And it would be half a shekel. Um, and it's declaring, My life is not mine, I ultimately belong to Yahweh. Verse 16 says, You shall take the atonement money from the sons of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting. So the money was used for service of the tent of meeting. So every time Israel saw the tabernacle, they were reminded, a price has been paid for us. So they would take the half a shekel of all the men, twenty and overcounted, they would take all that money and they would repair and furnish and take care of the tabernacle with it. The New Testament brings this truth all the way to the cross ultimately. First Corinthians six nineteen says, Do you not know that your body is the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you? Whom you have from God and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body. First Peter 118 says, Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your futile conduct inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. Israel brought half a shekel, but we know Jesus, the Lamb of God, gave his whole life. But in the giving of the half a shekel, they were remembering that they were purchased. In the census, there was a giving. And notice the equal the uh notice the equality of the ransom. The rich could not pay more. This equality of the ransom was telling the rich, you can't give more money, and the poor, you can't give less money. Everybody will give the exact same amount, a leveling. The poor, again, could not pay less. At the tabernacle, everybody stood on level ground. At the cross, the same is true. No one comes to the crossing, they paid more or they paid less. Everyone comes on the exact level playing ground, the wealthy man and the poor man, the scholar and the child, the lifelong church member and the prodigal who just came home to the Lord. No one is saved by premium grace. No one receives a discounted version of mercy. The same blood redeems every sinner who comes to Christ exactly the same. Isn't that amazing? The blood of Jesus pays the same amount for the person who goes to church their whole life. The same purchase is the thief on the cross who in the last moment he looked at Jesus and said, please help me, save me. And Christ says, Today you will be with me in paradise. Amazing. He made the same amount as me. Yes, he did. Interesting. You know, we gotta stop measuring our worth by numbers. We count everything, huh? Our money, followers, attendance, our square footage, our sales, our savings, our grades, our achievements, our likes. Numbers are useful servants, but terrible masters. You know what I mean? When the numbers go up, we get proud, huh? Yeah, man. When the numbers go down, we panic, huh? But God says your worth is not determined by what you count. Your worth is determined by what I paid for you. And he paid the highest price, didn't he? I think he overpaid. For me. I think he overpaid. He wrote a song a long time ago. The lyrics say something like this: I know I'm not worth much, but I'll give you all I have. I'm not the most faithful. I'll try with all I have. Help me, O Father. With you, I know I can. Empower me, master. I want to show the world your hands. He paid the highest price. I think he overpaid. Yeah, we gotta stop living like we own ourselves, huh? We belong to God. Your body belongs to God. Your calendar belongs to God. Your marriage belongs to God. Your singleness belongs to God. Your children belong to God. Your bank account belongs to God. Your future belongs to God. You're not your own. You were bought with a price. You live like your life is not your own, but you truly belong to God. You have a master who purchased you. And it's not you. You couldn't purchase your freedom. You were stuck in Egypt. Spiritual slavery. Me too. God paid the highest price, a ransom for me. We're going to let redemption humble us and heal us. It humbles you because you had to be bought. You could not save yourself. Don't forget where you came from. You could not save yourself. Our Father stepped in. We're going to let redemption humble us. The thought of redemption also heals us because God considered you worth the blood of his own son. And when you feel worthless, you feel like you're not worth much, you feel like you don't matter, look to the cross. That is the price God paid for you. You have great value. The highest value in God's eyes, in God's mind. Romans 14 8 says, For if we live, we live for the Lord. If we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. 2 Corinthians 5.15, he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again. You know, when a family goes to adopt a child, they fill out paperwork. They wait and they pray and they travel and they pay costs they can hardly afford. The child did not pay the adoption fee. The child did not arrange the court date. The child did not earn the family name. The parents paid the cost because they wanted the child to come home. And once adoption is complete, that child no longer belongs to the orphanage, he belongs to the family. And that is what redemption does. Christ pays the price, and God brings us into his family, praise God. And we are no longer orphans, praise God. We are part of his family, and that's the gospel. We were bound in sin, we could not purchase ourselves, but Christ came with the ransom in his own hands. The ransom was his blood. Bought with blood. Martin Luther said, one drop of Christ's blood is worth more than heaven and earth. Wow. One drop. Spurgeon said, I have a great need for Christ. And I have a great Christ for my need. Praise God. We were bought by the blood. Point number two, if you're taking notes, we are washed by grace. Verse 20, when they come into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water so they will not die. Or when they approach the altar to minister by offering up the smoke of fire sacrifice to Yahweh, so they will wash their hands and their feet, so they will not die. And that shall be a perpetual state for them for Aaron and his seed throughout the generations. We're going to show the bronze labor here. This next slide here. Here it is, right before the tent. You see the this giant dish, this giant bowl. They would fill that with water. We'll go next slide there. You can see a little bit better there. There you go. And you would walk up, and they would wash their hands and feet in this. The priest, before entering into the tent, they had to be washed. Every single time they had to wash. The Lord commands Moses to make this bronze labor and place it between the altar and the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet before entering the tent or approaching the altar. And twice the warning is repeated: wash so that they will not die. That sounds severe until we remember where they were. They were serving the house of a holy God. The priests handled sacrifices. They walked through dust. Their hands and their feet bore the evidence of daily life and bloody ministry. They were sacrificing animals, they had blood all over them. Before they drew near, they had to wash. The altar, when they did the burnt sacrifice, dealt with their guilt. But the washing said, uh, it dealt with defilement. The sacrifice said, You are forgiven. The washing said, now be clean as you serve. This is a picture of the Christian life. When we come to Christ, we're fully forgiven, right? The guilt of sin is completely removed. Praise God, I've been forgiven yesterday, today, and forever. By the blood of Jesus, I've been forgiven by God. I can't even believe it. It sounds too good to be true that he would do that. We are fully forgiven. The guilt of sin is removed. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, Romans 8. But forgiveness does not mean we never need cleansing again. We still walk through a dirty world. We still pick up pride and bitterness and jealousy and lust and fear and impatience and selfishness. And we can be truly saved and still need daily washing. Jesus taught this in John 13 when he washed his disciples' feet. Remember? Peter first refused it, then in typical fashion, he over, remember? Jesus says, I'm going to wash your feet. He said, You can't wash my feet. And Jesus says, If I don't wash your feet, you're going to have no part in my kingdom. He says, Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. Give me a whole bath. And Jesus answered, He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. There is a once and for all cleansing of salvation, and there is an on-glowing cleansing of fellowship. Watch this. We are saved once, but we need washing daily. First, do not confuse being forgiven with being finished. God accepts you in Christ, but He is still sanctifying you every single day. He loves you as you are, but He loves you too much to leave you as you are. He's making you clean, making you holy, sanctifying, sanctification process, becoming more like Christ. We should build repentance into our daily walk. Not dramatic repentance, not theatrical repentance, a quiet repentance, an honest repentance before the Lord. Start your day saying, Lord, forgive me. Forgive me of my sins from yesterday. Make me clean, make me whole. Wash these hands, wash these feet. Wash me, Lord. Wash your servant. I'm about to enter into your presence today. I'm about to walk into the tent. Thank you for your sacrifice. Now, Lord, wash my hands. Lord, cleanse my hands. I've touched what I should not have touched. Cleanse my feet. I've walked where I should not have walked. Cleanse my heart. I have wanted what I should not have wanted. Cleanse my mind. I have thought what I should not have thought. Again, what's the point of 1 John 1 9? If we confess our sins, he hath faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Yes, our sins are forgiven, but there is a purification process that's taking place over a lifetime. And it's amazing. You look at when you first came to know the Lord, the sins you used to deal with and struggle with. And the sins you struggle with now are completely different, completely opposite, but there's still a needing. And you mature believers know better than anyone. Yeah, Lord, cleanse me. I know I'm forgiven, but man, I need your purification, I need your cleansing over and over in my life. Let the word of God wash you. Ephesians 5.26 says, Christ cleanses his church by the washing of water with the word. It's actually in the context of instructing the married couple. But man, it is beautiful. Cleansing his church by the washing of water with the word. This is the basin right here that you wash your hands in, that you wash your feet in, that you wash your face in, that you wash your heart in, that you wash your mind in. The water of the word, the cleansing of the mind and the heart. The Bible is not merely information, it is water for the soul. Some of us are spiritually dusty because we are not being washed with the water of the word. We're dirty spiritually. We return back to the atonement over and over again. We thank you that the work is finished. I thank you that my standing is right with you, oh God, that my debt has been paid and the righteousness of my account has been filled. But God, how can it be? I've been walking with you for 10 years or 15 years, I feel dirty today. Wash me, Lord. Cleanse me, make me new. How could David say, after all these years of walking with his God, writing all these Psalms, becoming the king, slaying the giant, create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away, please. How? He's not a new believer. There is a cleansing, a washing that we need. The priest doesn't say I already washed. He washes multiple times a day before he enters in. Serve from cleanliness, not performance. The priest did not wash to impress God, they washed to approach the Almighty. Ministry is not a stage for our talent, it's a holy place of service before we sing, teach, preach, lead, counsel, parent, or serve. We need a basin. We need to be washed and cleansed. How often do we wash our hands before making a meal for the family? I mean, I was working with meat last night. I was trying to do some brisket work yesterday. It was great. I've probably washed my hands like 10 times before smoking that thing, you know? But but when you're making a meal for the family, so did you wash your hands? Oh yeah, last week. What? We need washing often, daily, multiple times a day, amen. 2 Corinthians 7.1, therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all definement of fashion spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. You ever seen a child run into the house after playing outside? Dirt on the hands, mud on the shoes, something sticky on the face. What does mom say? I'm glad you're home. Now go wash up. Right? She does not say you're not my child anymore because you're dirty. Some of you moms want to say that, I know. No, she doesn't say that. She says, Because you are my child, wash your hands and wash your face. And this is sanctification. God is not kicking his children out of the house. No, no. He is washing his children so they can enjoy the house. Come on in. We are washed by the grace of God over and over and over and over and over and over again. You can pound people with the law, you can pound people with your expectation, with your legalism, but I am telling you, grace will find you because you will fall on your own sword of the law and your own sword of legalism. You cannot keep your own law, and you will need grace again and again and again and again and again. And it will find you and it will catch up to you and it will win your heart in the end. It is amazing. I've watched God's grace crush me over and over again. I'm in awe of it. Because just when I think I've done everything right, I fail greatly. And then I need his grace again. He's not slamming the door in my face. He says the door is wide open. You're not getting it. My grace is forever. You can't exhaust it.

unknown 28:03

Right?

SPEAKER_00 28:04

Spurgeon said it's like a minnow, a small fish trying to use up the water of the ocean. You can't exhaust God's grace. Even if you take advantage of it, it will be sitting on the other side saying, See, I told you not to take advantage of it, and here I am ready to receive you again. Unbelievable. Proverbs 28, 13, he who conceals his sin will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy. It's amazing how freeing it is to confess sin over and over again. I've already confessed those sins, but why is it freeing? Why is it healing to vocalize that to a brother, to confess to someone else, to confess to God in the secret place, it is healing to your soul. James 4, 6, but he gives more grace. Therefore it says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. The proud says, I don't need grace. I'm good. Oh no, you're not. The second you say you're good, you are the worst of all sinners. You have lowered yourself to the lowest. That's called self-righteousness. We become the Pharisee of all Pharisees. Paul would say the opposite. He was the Pharisee of all Pharisees. Mentored by Gamelio. He was the top of the food chain, and he says, I am the chief of all sinners. He lowered himself to the lowest. God gives grace to the humble. John 1 16, from his fullness we have received grace upon grace. Romans 5 20, the law came in so that the trespasses would increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more. Praise God. I am not what I might be. This is uh this is John John Newton. He said, I am not, I am not what I might be. I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I wish to be. I am not what I hope to be, but thank God I am not what I once was. And I can say with the great apostle, by the grace of God, I am what I am. Diel Moody said, God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves. Robert Robertson, you know it. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Why? I don't want to be prone to do that. I try to fix this in myself. Who will save me from this body of sin and death? Prone to wander. Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. I need to be washed. I gotta wash my hands again. Lord, wash my feet again. Don't wash my feet. You can't wash my Lord. Give me a bath. The labor brings us low. It teaches us to say, Lord, I need cleansing again today. We never get to go up to the to the bowl and say, I don't need to dip my hands in there. I don't need to dip my feet. And yes, we do. And we will do it until we get to heaven. God keeps washing us and he doesn't leave his kids dirty. Praise God. He cleans his kids up. We are washed by grace. Amen. Point number three, set apart for God. Set apart for God. Verses 25. It says, You shall make these a holy anointing oil, perfume mixture, the work of a perfumery. It shall be a holy anointing oil. Verse 26, and with it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony. So anoint all the furniture in there. And then verse 30, you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and you shall set them apart as holy, and they may minister as priest to me. Verse 33, though, warning, whoever shall mix any like it, or whoever puts any of it on Laman shall be cut off from the people. So the Lord gives Moses the recipe for the holy anointing oil. It was made from the finest spices, myrrh, cinnamon, fragrant cane, I don't know what this acacia is, and then olive oil. It was blended together by a skillful perfumer. This isn't somebody just like mixing up a potion over in the corner. They say, Who's the perfumer in the uh in the camp? Let's bring it to them. They're gonna make it, it's gonna be beautiful. And then it was used to anoint the tabernacle, the art, the table, the lampstand, the altar of incense, the uh altar of burnt offering, the labor, and Aaron and his son. So everything touched by that oil was marked as holy and uh not ordinary or not common, not for personal use, holy to the Lord. Um sometimes, you know, our Pentecostal friends, you know, I grew up in a Pentecostal church, you know, I like to anoint everything with oil, you know what I mean? We had this lady Lydia in our in my little church of 30 people growing up. My dad's the worship leader, and I'm this little kid running around, you know, and Lydia would be anointing everything with this oil, just walk around, you know, every single door and every single chair, you know. And if you got in the way, you got anointed too, you know what I mean? Like she's just anointing everything with oil. Now, the text doesn't instruct us to do that in the New Testament. Uh the way where we do see it instructed, though, is in the book of James, whereas the work of the elders is that is anyone sick among you, let them come before the elders and anoint them with oil. A prayer to offer it in faith will heal the sick, it says. And so we will anoint with oil, believing in the work of God. What's the point of the oil? It is again, it's it's a focus not on me, it's a focus on God. It is taking the focus off of man and pointing it to God, that his anointing, his work outside of man is what brings forth healing, what's bringing forth holiness. Um and so, yeah, we we won't be anointing every chair in the stage and all the every single week. I got olive oil, I'm just like throwing it around in here. You know, we're not going to do that. Uh, we don't see that in the New Testament, but uh where we do see it in the New Testament, we do take steps to do so. Um But again, this was not ordinary, it was not common, it was not for personal use, it was holy to the Lord, and God gave a strong warning that no one was to copy the recipe. This is fragrance by Yahweh, and and you are not to be making it for personal use. God gave a strong warning that uh no one was to copy the recipe, and no one was to pour it on any ordinary person, no one was to use it casually. The oil was not a personal fragrance, it was not a souvenir, it belonged to God. And they would be cut off from the community if they used it uh in any other way or tried to sell it. And maybe they're just like, oh my gosh, this smells like nothing I've ever smelled. Yeah, because it's a recipe from God. Can you imagine if God just started sending food recipes down from heaven? Like, oh my like I can't, I'm telling you, like LA has amazing food. When we get to heaven, like it's gonna be LA on steroids. Like it's just gonna be un the spices, man, are just gonna blow your mind for all of eternity, you know? And and so you can imagine when God sends a recipe down from heaven and they make it, somebody would want to capitalize on uh fragrance by Yahweh, right? They would want to take that and sell. Is that too far? Sorry. It's I can't help myself, it's so good. Sounds right in everything. Don't please do not take that and make a fragrance by Yahweh. That'd be so bad. Pastor Josh preached it and I made it, and now I made a million bucks on it, but I'm gonna give it back to the church. Don't do that. The Old Testament prophets, kings, uh, priests, and sacred objects were anointed for special service. The New Testament, Jesus is the anointed one. He is called the anointed one. The word Christ, Messiah, Christ means Messiah, it's not Jesus' last name, right? Christ, Jesus the Christ, Jesus Messiah. Um the word Messiah means anointed one. And uh he is the true prophet, priest, and king. He has been anointed as prophet, anointed as priest, anointed as king. The oil was dumped on his head. It says in the New Testament the oil of gladness was dumped upon his head. Isn't that beautiful? Above all men, it says the oil of gladness was dumped upon him. And those who belong to Christ also are anointed by the Spirit. Did you know that? You were just anointed as you walked into this place under Christ. 2 Corinthians 1.21 says that now he who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us in God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. 1 John 2.20, but you have been, you have an anointing from the Holy One. 1 John 2.20, you have an anointing from the Holy One. That means every believer has been set apart for God. Not just pastors, not just missionaries, not just worship leaders, but every Christian, you are in Christ. The Spirit of God has marked your life as belonging to Him. You are anointed by the Spirit of God. And if you have been anointed by God, we should live as if we are anointed by God. You are the priesthood, you are the prophets. You are speaking the truth of God in this culture, in this city, to the kings, to the queens, to the average person on the street, you are calling them to God. And so we must stop dividing our lives into sacred and secular. If you belong to Christ, all of life is sacred, your work is sacred, your parenting is sacred, your friendships are sacred, your money is sacred, your home is sacred, even your rest should be sacred when it's received with gratitude and used for God's glory. You were anointed. Everything in your life is sacred. Did you know that? My buddy Pat Barrett wrote a song called Everything is Sacred. It's so good. Everything is sacred. The earth is the Lord's in the fullness of it. Did you know that? The psalm says the earth is the Lord's. It all belongs to him, and everything is sacred. If it looks evil, that's because humans have taken it and drug it into the mud of sin and darkness. And we got to take it all back and use it for his glory. We are not to use holy things for selfish purposes. Israel could not imitate the oil for personal fragrance in the same way we must not use the things of God to make ourselves impressive. We don't want to use ministry to build our name. Do not use scripture to win arguments while losing your soul. Do not use worship as a platform for ego. The holy things belong to God. It is wild to watch people use holy things for their own personal fragrance. How do I smell? Let it not be so. We want to give God our best ultimately and not our leftovers. The oil was made from the finest spices, not cheap scraps, not whatever was lying around. The Lord is worthy of our best attention, our best energy, our best affection, our best obedience, our best years of our lives. Give your first and your best to the Almighty. And finally, we should live with the fragrance of Christ. Not using his fragrance, but live with the fragrance of Christ. 2 Corinthians 2.15, for we did you don't miss this. 2 Corinthians 2.15, for we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. Wow. When a life is set apart for God, people may not always understand it, but they should sense something different about you. The aroma of grace is upon you, the aroma of humility, the aroma of holiness, the aroma of Christ, the perfume of Christ coming from your life. Romans 12:1. Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, present your bodies as a sacrifice, living holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. A.W. Tozer said, the man or woman who is holy and joylessly surrendered to Christ can't make a wrong choice. Any choice will be the right one. Augustine said, Love God and do whatever you want. As long as you're loving God with all of your heart, with all of your being, you can truly make decisions in Him. That's the point. We are set apart for God. Our whole lives. There is no breaking apart of our lives. Our entire lives are for Him. So what does God do with people He has redeemed? He buys them. He sets them apart. Half a shekel says you are not your own. The bronze labor says, Come clean before you can come close. Let me clean you. Let me wash you. Come close. The oil says you're holy to the Lord. You were anointed by God. All three we know ultimately point to Jesus. That his ransom was greater than a silver shekel. Mark 10, 45, for even the Son of Man did not come to serve, but to be served and to give his life a ransom for many. Jesus is the cleanser greater than the bronze labor. Jesus is the anointed one, greater than the oil of Exodus. The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and through him the Spirit now rests upon us in this day. The question is not merely, are you forgiven? Praise God. If you are in Christ, you definitely are. The deeper question is, are you living like someone who has been bought by blood and washed by his grace? Good reminders today. Maybe something we need to reflect on. Maybe we need a washing today. We need to stand up to the bronze labor, to put our hands in, to wash our feet, to come before the Lord and say, Lord, cleanse me today, make me whole. Let him pour the oil of gladness upon your head. Not the oil of depression or gloominess, but the oil of gladness. Anointing you for his service. To go and be a fragrance for his glory. Impact the world around you. Let's go before the Lord in prayer. We worship you today, Lord. We thank you for the gift of Jesus. Lord, we reflect and we realize you have truly purchased us by your blood, and we belong to you. Our lives belong to you, and we want to say thank you for forgiving us of our sins. Thank you for the work of the cross. Thank you for your death, burial, and resurrection. And we do, Lord, we turn to you with all of our hearts in this moment. We ask for repentance in our hearts and minds. Lord, I want to take it a step further. Further, Lord, for our entire church, that we as your people would come up to the bronze labor, that we would stand at it, and that we would dip our hands in the water. We would wash our face. We would wash our minds. We would wash our hearts. That our feet would be washed. Lord, you know where we've gone, you know what we've touched, you know what we've thought, you know what we've had in the depths of our hearts, and we pray, God, that you would cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls to another. Lord, we yield to you now. And now that each one has been cleansed, Father, would you anoint us with the oil of gladness? Lord, would you pour your oil from heaven upon your church, upon our heads, upon our hearts, and we cause our lives to be set apart, sacred and holy for your glory. Thank you for the work that you're doing in us. Now let the perfume of Christ move the room around us, change the environments we step into. Use us for your glory. Pray in Jesus' name. Amen.