It's the Oil: God's Continuous Supply for an Impossible Assignment

I want to thank you for coming to church on this January. Does it feel like winter outside? Uh so pick up a sweatshirt in June. Uh we got the June gloom going on. Uh most importantly, before we get in the word, I want to just thank Jesus for what he's doing today. Uh in our weakness, he is made strong. Hey, this is our time. We want to hear a word from the Lord. Are you ready to receive a word from the Lord today? Uh if you brought a Bible, would you get it out with me? This is where we're going to go today. If you brought a Bible, hold in the air like you care. Uh, even if it's digital, I don't care where you get your word. Uh, even if you didn't bring your Bible, I want every voice to join with me. On the count of three, would you shout word? Here we go. One, two, three. Word. We're getting into God's word. So, God's word gets into us. What if the greatest obstacle

in your life is you? What if it's not the devil? It's not your enemies. It's not your lack of resources. It's not the obstacles that you face in your life. What if the greatest obstacle in your life was actually you? Because somewhere along the lines, we we somehow think that God either owes us a favor or he's going to make it easy or that somehow something's going to be accomplished in this world because of you. But we find ourselves today in the book of Zechariah. Everyone say Zechariah. Zechariah. It's the second to the last book of the Old Testament. If you want to make your way there right now, Zachchariah, we stood in Zechariah 4 verse one last week. When an angel

woke Zachariah up before Zachchariah could see God's vision, he first needed to be awakened. God God was giving Zachchariah visions, but God was about to do a new thing. He's the God of new beginnings. He's the God of new vision. But before he could see the new vision, he first must be awakened. And we we learned this last week. It's the rally cry of our generation, for every single one of us, for the church to wake up and see. Wake up and see. Come on. Would you say it with me? Wake up and see. God awakens people. Because before you can see what God is doing, you first have to wake up to what God is saying. You have to hear the voice of the Lord.

You you have to realize that some of you are asking for God's vision in your life while you're still spiritually sleeping. Some of us want God's direction. What are you doing? Where where are you taking me? But first, we have to listen to his voice. The title of today's sermon is really simple and it's the secret sauce to allowing God to work in your life. The title is it's the oil. It's the oil. It's the oil. Would you say it with me? Even if you don't know what it means yet, it's the oil. Zechariah chapter 4 is where we pick up today. Zechariah is going to discover the only way to accomplish God's vision in your life is actually to have the oil from heaven in your life.

And what was true for Zachariah is true for you as well. It's the oil. If you're able to today, would you stand for the reading of God's word? We find ourselves in Zechariah 4:es 2-6. And he, that's the angel, said to me, that's Zechariah, and he said to me, "What do you see?" I said, "I see and behold a lampstand all of gold with a bowl on the top of it and seven lamps on it with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left. And I said to the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?" Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, "Do you not know what these

are?" I said, "No, my lord." Then he said to me, "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubabel, not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts." This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. Here's one thing I've learned in this world is I need oil. I need oil. I need oil. Would you say that with me? I need oil. If you're not sure what that means, I pray today before you leave, you you understand the seriousness of that statement. I need oil. To better understand the text today, we must understand the historical context.

Zechariah is a prophet around the year 520 BC. So, some 500 years before Jesus was born, Zachchariah is a prophet, which means he gives forth God's word. Well, it wasn't it was not an easy day to be a prophet. These were difficult days. It it's been about 70 years since the exile of the Jewish people from Jerusalem to Babylon. You see, God allowed about 70 years earlier for the Israelites to be ransacked by the Babylonians because they had been unfaithful to God. And in his sovereignty, he allowed these things to happen because there is always a consequence to sin. So the city of Jerusalem was destroyed.

The temple was in ruins and rubble. And anyone who had any strength or was smart was taken from their land to this foreign land of Babylon. And here they were in exile. The Bible just reminds us that all of us will find ourselves at different times in places we don't want to be. We end up in exile. Sometimes it's because of your own dumb decisions. And for those that were born during that 70-year period in exile, it's because of your parents or your grandparents, but you end up in a place where you don't want to be. They're in Babylon, and God gave them a message while they were in Babylon. You still have a future, and you have a hope.

If you seek me, if you seek me with all your heart, I'm yours. you'll have hope. A powerful message. 70 years go by just as God promises and the Babylonians are no longer ruling this land. The Persians have taken over and there's a new king of Persia who who allows the Israelites to head back home. So this remnant of God's people, they head back home, but they find the city of Jerusalem in ruins. The temple is still just a mountain of rubble. So, they're back home, but it doesn't feel like home.

You've been in this place before where you've got a family, but things aren't the way that you want them to be in your family. They're broken. Maybe it's not your family, it's your finances. You aren't where you want to be at this age in life. You've got this mountain of debt. Maybe it's not your family. Maybe it's not your finances. Maybe it's your faith. For some of you here today, you you know God is real. You've you've heard of what God has done. You you've heard of what God says he'll do, but you just can't see it. If you've ever been in that place that that's where Zachchariah is in chapter 4. He's in a place where the temple is a just a mountain of rubble. This is a place where people are discouraged. They they lack their resources. They lack the strength to to do what needs to be done. And God comes

and he gives a message to to the prophet. But first, he must awaken him. First, he must to give him a clear vision. And if you've ever wondered, God, I I know you've said something. I I know you've done something, but what are you going to do in my life? Well, that that's exactly what was happening for those during the days of Zachariah. Zerubabel is the the governor over the people. So God's going to give a word to the prophet to give to the governor of how these things are actually going to happen. Because we all wonder h how God's going to do what he's going to do in our life. And it often does not happen the way that we think it's going to happen. God gives Zachchariah a vision. He's going to answer this question. How does God get something done that we can't do?

How is God going to get something accomplished in your life when you don't seem to have the strength, the strategy, or the ability to get it done? And we find that answer in today's text. We've already discovered it's the oil. So, let's let's look deeper at this vision. First, we see after Zechariah is awakened, he said to me, "What do you see?" God wants you to see today. He wants you to have ears that are open to hear. He wants you to have eyes that can see. What do you see? And Zachchariah said, "I see, behold, a lampstand of all gold." The centerpiece of this vision is a lampstand. So, we start with point number one today. The lampstand represents God's purpose. The lampstand represents God's purpose. I have said it

before and I'll say it until the day I'm with God in glory. You have a purpose for your life. You're not meant just to exist in this world no matter how difficult the days are. You have a purpose. And the purpose is understanding who God is. And when you understand who God is, you'll understand who you who you are. The lampstand represents God's purpose. Now, for the Jewish listener, if they were to read this text or to hear this word, immediately the description of this lamp points us to a manora. Have you seen a manora before? Uh any Jewish family will have a manora in their home. If you go to Israel, you find manoras everywhere. They're in every shop. They're in windows. They're in homes. They're in businesses. They're in workplaces. A manora just looks simply like this. It's the description of what Zachchariah sees in his vision. It's a

lampstand that that does not just have one lamp at the top. It has seven. Seven is the number of of perfection, completion. It's it's the perfect picture of who who God is. He's perfect and whole in in every sense. So, so we have this image here of this this golden lampstand which is reminiscent of the lampstand that would have been found in the tabernacle and eventually found in the permanent dwelling place of God, the temple. God had instructed for his people to to put things in place to remind his people who he is. And then when they're reminded who he is, they'll better understand who they are. But the moment you take your eyes off of God and his promises, you'll look to the ways of this world.

Instead of the kingdom of God, you'll look at the kingdom of this world. The lampstand represents God's presence. How does it represent God's presence? It represents God's light. And when you understand that God is light, you understand that his people are meant to represent his light. This is God's plan. He has a purpose and God's people were meant to fulfill this plan and purpose. In fact, if we go to the Torah, which is the instructions of God and the laws of God, he tells us how this lampstand's going to burn. Let's look at Leviticus. This is what the Lord spoke to Moses. Leviticus 24:1. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, "Command the people of Israel, this is a commandment, to bring your

pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp that a light, everyone shout light, a light may may be kept burning regularly." So the people are to bring enough oil all the time. So the lamp burns all the time to remind us that God is always light. This was not to be a lamp that was turned on sometimes or every once in a while. This lamp was to burn continually, but the people would bring the oil. It was so significant that David, even when he writes songs about who God is, he would say in Psalm 27:1, "The Lord is my what? Light. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I

fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. of whom shall I be afraid? So if I understand God is light and God is with me and for me, the Lord then tells his people, you're going to reflect this light. Let me give you an example. In in the book of Isaiah, the prophet speaks on behalf of God. Isaiah 42:5, "Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, and who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk in it." It's a timeout. Let's leave that verse there for a second. This is who God is. He's the Lord God who's not only created the heavens, he created you.

Are you still with me? The Holy Spirit created you with the spirit. This God says this message in verse six, I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness. This is the kingdom here. I will take you by the hand and keep you. I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations. I love this imagery of God. Don't you? He grabs you by the hand. The light does. The light grabs you by the hand and says, "Now you're going to go be a light." Not for some people, but for the nations.

Why do we need to be a light for the nations? Because people are in darkness. Look at verse seven. To open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison, those who sit in darkness. My friends, this is what the city of Ben needs. This is what central Oregon needs. This is what our nation needs. We don't need the legislation of our government to try to tell us what we need. We need some light in the darkness. We need some people that understand that God is the light and he illuminates. And if God is the light, we need some more of God's presence. We need some more of God. Because once you have that, he doesn't just say, "Well, I'm glad you got it." No, now he says, "Now you go give it.

You go give that light away. If I set you free from the prison of sin, you go set other people free from the prison of sin." So the lampstand's purpose was to show us that our God illuminates that. That's the whole purpose of of this lamp is to to be a light. God's people were never called to just merely exist. They were called to shine. When Jesus stepped into the story of humanity, it changed everything. God, the creator that we read about in Isaiah became the created. John chapter 1 says, God wrapped himself in flesh. As John describes Jesus, in him was life and the life was the light of men.

The light, John says, shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. No matter how dark the world looks, God is greater. Jesus said of himself in John chapter 3, speaking to a religious man that just really wasn't getting it. He says, "You got to get this. This is the judgment. The light has come into the world." Jesus speaking of himself. And the people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. Jesus would later say in John chapter 8 verse12 again Jesus spoke to them saying listen carefully I am the light of the world. So what was that lamp to represent? Jesus. I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk

in darkness, but will have the light of life. So, let's put that that lamp back up here for just one moment again. Let's see this this lamp again. This represents who? Come on, shout it out. Jesus. We can fast forward to the New Testament and we will actually see glimpses of the same lamp this time in the New Testament, but the lampstand represents the church. For the church is meant to represent Jesus. Let's come back to this vision of Zachchariah verse three. There's there's more than just the lamp. And there are two olive trees by it. One on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.

So there's not just a lamp with this vision. there's a supply to the lamp and not an ordinary supply. Instead of people bringing the pure oil, we have here two olive trees. And so we're going to see today the source is no longer the people, which is what the Torah said. The people bring the pure oil. The source is the oil. I'm going to explain this more in just a moment. The source is the oil. For the lamp will not produce light without the source. And the source is what? Oil. God says, "I'm going to give you a source." And it's going to come directly from me.

The people aren't going to be bringing the oil. I'm going to give you the source so that the lamp can do what it's intended to do, which is to be a light. Because without the oil, the lampstand it it it's just a decoration. It's just a piece of furniture. Without the oil, the lampstand is just a fixture. Church, without the oil, we're just a building. We're just a museum. Worship without the oil is just a concert. A sermon without the oil is just a TED talk. A preacher without the oil is just a lecturer.

A person who calls himself a Christian without the oil is just a religious person. The source is the oil. Now, now let me just pause for just a moment. I don't know where you are in your journey of faith, but there there's going to come moments in life that you don't get it. Got it. Zachcharias sees something remarkable. A lamp with this bowl that collects the oil, these olive trees on either side. And look at verse five. The angel who talked with me said to me, "Do you know what these are?" Now, Zachariah is a prophet. A lot of people think preachers know more than they do. And Zachariah's answer simply is no.

I'll testify as a preacher. There are times in my life I don't have a clue what God's doing. There are times that I see something, but I don't know something. There are times that that I believe something, but I don't really know what it means in my life. This is really important that you get this because Zachariah identified what God had given him, the vision, but he did not know at this point what it means. And we talked about this last week. God is doing more than we recognize. So just because you don't know it doesn't mean God's not doing it. We just sang it in a song. Even when I don't see it, you're moving. Even when I can't feel it, even when you can't see it, even when you can't feel it, I'm going to go so far as to say, even when you can see it and you still don't know it, do not deny who God is, who he's always been, and what he's doing.

So, so the question asks is, do you know what this is? I love that the Bible is so honest that a man of God would say, "No clue." I see the two olive trees, but I think we all know olive trees do not produce oil. It's the olives. And the only way to get the oil out of the olives is crushing. But this is just a vision from God. This is meant to be symbolic. And sometimes God will give you a symbolism so that you would understand. And in this particular case, he's going to show the symbol of this continuous supply of oil. And if anything out of this vision, you got to understand it's supernatural. Which means there's times God's going to do something in your life you can't make sense of. It can't be explained. You'll never learn it in a university. You'll

never get it in a seminary class. You'll never get it from understanding through through through the basic scientific matters of this world. It will be God that gives it to you. And some of us are trying to manufacture what only God can supply. You want the fulfillment of God's vision in your life. But you got to understand what the vision is about. See, Jesus says something remarkable in John 8. We heard just a moment ago. Jesus says, "I am the light of the world." But then in Matthew chapter 5, Jesus is recorded as saying, "You are the light of the world." I don't know about you, but that's a lot of pressure.

And what? Let's just clarify what Jesus is not saying. He's not saying it's up to you to go save the world. It's up to you to go fix the world. I'm hoping you understand. I need you to work a little harder, try a little more to produce that light in this world. G Jesus puts it this way in Matthew 5:16. In the same way, as he is the light of the world, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to who? Your father who is in heaven. It's not about you. It's about the oil. Church, we're meant to shine. We're not just meant to be a lampstand. We are meant to be a lampstand that represents the source, the oil. You're meant to shine in the same way that Jesus shines.

And when you have that oil, you're actually meant to be a light. That too many Christians say they have the light, but then they put a basket on top of the lamp. And Jesus said, "Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket or but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house. The church is not meant to be us for and no more. We got the light. We go give it away. That's right. And we give it away. You're meant to bear witness to the true light, Jesus Christ. How can you bear witness to that light? Through the oil, the Holy Spirit. Too many times we limit believing in Jesus to getting a a ticket to heaven. That is the free gift of eternal life, which is true. Hallelujah. When you believe in Jesus, you're forgiven of all your sins and you get the free gift of

eternal life, spending forever with a glorious, great God. and it's going to be so good. But it doesn't stop there. You're meant to operate with the oil. Believing in Jesus is meant to bring his kingdom come and his will to be done on earth as is in heaven. What is heaven like? It's filled with his presence. His presence is the oil. So let's just be really clear what this is symbolizing not just for Zachariah but for us as well. Oil is the symbol of anointing. I'm going to define anointing in just a moment. But less anybody is still not clear what I mean by oil. Oil represents the Holy Spirit. This is symbolic. It's it's a use of imagery.

So oil is representation of the anointing. I'm going to explain anointing in a moment. But oil is clearly the imagery here of the Holy Spirit. Now, oil in the scriptures is consistently used with consecration and empowerment. The word consecration means that you you're setting something apart for a special use. For example, you can have multiple bowls, but you're going to consecrate one bowl for a special use. That it's not going to be an ordinary bowl. This one's going to be used for something special. Maybe a candy bowl or something. You know, this it's consecrated, set apart. Okay, I'm the only one that likes candy around here. Just telling you what's on my mind. Consecration means you're set apart for a special purpose. So the use of oil was a consecration and an empowerment that

someone is no longer going to do the same thing they've done. They're set apart for a special purpose. Three examples. Priests. Aaron when he became high priest was anointed with oil. We see in Psalm 133 this imagery of unity. It's like oil. dripping down. It's it's it's it's the appointment of a priest that you're not an ordinary person. You're going to be set apart. You're going to dress differently. You're going to live differently. And you're going to point people to the person of who God is. But before you do that, you're anointed with oil. Kings. When the second king of Israel was chosen, David, he wasn't just called up one day and said, "You're going to be the next king. Now, we're going to have

a coronation process." God told Samuel, "You need to go to the house of Jesse. One of his sons will be the next king." When Samuel went to Jesse's house, Jesse brought forth seven sons. It was assumed it would be the first son. Let me just tell you, your assumption about God normally the first time is not right. Nor is the next six after that. And eventually Samuel asks Jesse, "Do you have any other sons?" And Jesse says, "Yeah, but he's out with the sheep." He was overlooked by his own father and God gives us a glimpse of how he works. Man looks at the outward appearance. God looks at the heart. And when David comes before his family, Samuel says, "This is the one." And in front of all those other brothers, he

was anointed with oil. And the Bible says, and you should read this story, the Bible says when he was anointed with oil, the Holy Spirit empowered him. It was a picture of what's to come with each of us. That when you have the Holy Spirit, you're not just consecrated, anointed, and set apart. You have power. It's not just priests. It's not just kings, but prophets as well. Elisha was a prophet that wanted a double portion of what he saw in Elijah. He said, "I I want double of what you have." And Elisha was anointed with oil. When we have a prayer team up front, they often have little vials of oil.

It's oil that we've gotten from Israel, from the actual olive trees and Israel. And when someone is sick or they say they have an ailment or something is greater than what we could do on our own, we often anoint a person with oil. And let me just be clear about the priests, the kings, the prophets, and those that get anointed here. There's nothing magical about the oil. It's not the oil that has power. It's what it symbolizes, the Holy Spirit. We are taking God at his word, believing that God symbolically is this image of oil. And we are connecting the promises of God with our prayers as we anoint someone with oil. Oil. It's the anointing. Let me give you my description of anointing. Anointing is holy power.

Anointing is holy power. So when we talk about anointing, we're not just simply saying you're consecrated, you're set apart. What we're saying is that with the Holy Spirit's help, you're going to do what you can never do on your own. That's where some of you, you come into church for the first time. Some of you have even been to church for decades or a lifetime, but you've never operated with anointing. And anointing is when you would do that which is different than you would do on your own. Someone would say, "I would never do this." That's usually where God steps in and says, "Oh, that's because you need the oil. You can't do that on your own. I would never give that much. I would never serve in this particular place. I would never share this." With the oil, you can do what you couldn't do on your own because there's anointing. It represents the empowerment of God's presence in your life, the Holy Spirit.

And the assignment is impossible without the oil. If you don't have the anointing of God, I'll tell you it is too great for you. When I make the proclamation, Central Oregon shall be saved, I believe it until usually a religious spirit, someone who calls himself a Christian, says, "And how?" And all of a sudden, those little lies of the enemy will come into my mind. It's like, "Oh, yeah, they're right. How are we going to do this? There's more pot shops on Third Street than there are churches. How's Central Oregon going to be saved?" Well, my God is greater than any pot shop. He's greater than any cannabis oil, somebody. Hallelujah. The difference maker is the anointing. It's the oil.

It's the oil. It's the oil. It's the oil. It's the oil. And can I tell you what scares me? I mean, really, I we started Journey Church 16 years ago. I've been in full-time ministry for 28 years of my life. You know what scares me? I've seen this. This this should haunt you as well. That you would have a church without oil. And no one can pretend they don't know what I'm talking about because we've all seen it. You see the church, you drive by it, but you don't hear anything about it. There's no power. There's no changed lives. There's no stories of transformation. There's there's no picture of what what the love of God is.

I brought up here today a flashlight with me. I got this flashlight at Costco. Actually, I think someone got it for me. It's it's you go out there at night. This thing will it'll go out like three universes. The the light, it's pretty powerful. You can't see it now because it's dark, but you can you see that lights on? I don't mean to blind you with it, but I'm being blinded by light. So, let's just join together here. All right. So you see this light is on. The flashlight is not what produces the light. It has to have a source. And inside this light, I'm not even kidding you. Here, let me see if I could open it up. There's like 300 batteries. And they're like the big ones. No, I can't open Oh, I can look at it. There's like 3,000 batteries. I I I thought it was 300. Do you guys see all those?

Maybe the camera. Can we zoom in on that? Like if I take if I take these batteries out, it still is a flashlight. Do you hear me? If I take these out, if I take the batteries out, it's still a flashlight, but it no longer produces light. There are a lot of churches that still call themselves church, but they're missing the source. And the source, just to be really clear, it's the oil. And in this imagery of the two olive trees, the Holy Spirit is God's continuous supply of oil.

Limitless, constant, continuing. Not Notice the vision. The oil is meant to never ever run out. No shortage, no emergency refill. God intends for his people to have a holy dependence on who he is. That the oil is continually coming. But the problem for many of us and and listen carefully here is we will know that God is real. We will know that God is the Holy Spirit, one person of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But we're going off of yesterday's oil. That when you believe in Jesus, you're sealed with the Holy Spirit. But the Bible doesn't say, "Well, stop there. Now you're saved. you can go ahead and be okay the rest of your life. No. The Bible says now you're led by the spirit. You walk by the spirit. You're filled by the spirit.

You're baptized in the spirit. You got to keep coming back to the oil. Too many believers are living on yesterday's testimonies, yesterday's encounters, who God was yesterday. We used to be a part of a denomination that we're no longer a part of. A dying denomination. I don't even mean that jokingly. It's it's a dying denomination. More churches are closing than starting. They're small little churches. And my wife and I would have to go to these denominational meetings. You remember those, Kara? I would drag her to these. It was like going to a funeral every time we went to one. And we'd go to these denominational meetings. And I'm I kid you not, these pastors would get up and they would tell stories of encounters from the 1950s

of churches who had encounters of the Holy Spirit in Portland, Oregon in the 1950s. And they they would say it and there'd be booming shouts of grown older men saying, "Amen." And then there'd be frustrations in between the sessions of how today's people aren't allowing the old encounters. What they're saying is they're going off of yesterday's oil instead of a fresh oil. Fresh encounters, a fresh move of the Holy Spirit. And do not be mistaken here. It doesn't matter how old you are. God will use anyone who wants to be used. Psalm 92 says, "You have poured over me fresh oil." Fresh oil. I'm talking fresh mercy. When you wake up, his mercies are new every morning. No excuse. Holy Spirit's ready to use you

every day. I'm talking you wake up fresh grace. Grace upon grace upon grace. You just shout grace to it. I'm talking about fresh power, fresh vision. This is a fresh anointing because it's the oil. And the life of following Jesus must be dependent on the oil that when you wake up, you say, "Lord, I need the oil. I need it again, Lord." The Lord will never tell you, "I gave you a bunch yesterday. You need more today." Holy Spirit's ready to say, "Now you're talking." When you go to work, before you walk into wherever you work, I need fresh oil. Fresh oil. You're a student. Your whole summer should be saying, "I need oil." Because when I step into the schools, I want fresh oil in this

school. I don't want the what the devil wants. I want what the Holy Spirit wants. I don't want what I had last year. I want some fresh oil this year. When you come into your home, don't you let that home be empty. You say, "I want some fresh oil in my home. I want oil in this home. I want oil in this home." If you want to symbolize it, right, go ahead and get some oil. Slap it on every single door frame, every single window frame. I'm not even joking. You slap it on your bed frame. The marriage bed is meant to be pure. You slap some oil on that. Just watch what happens to your sex life if you're married in Jesus name. I tell you, put some oil in your life. There there's no place that's off limits where you don't invite the oil. The moment you got some sacred caverns of your heart where you're like, I'm not

giving that to the oil. That means it's not set apart for God's purpose and you're missing God's power. When you come into church, you ought to be say, "God, give me some oil today. I want some oil in that sermon. If I don't see oil in that pastor, I'm praying some oil over that pastor. I'm praying some oil over every situation." Because if you don't have the oil, you don't have the source. And you're trying to do it on your own. And my friends, I'll tell you, I've done it before. You know what happens? You get burned out. Your light starts to go out. People might even still call you a lamp and you'll start to believe it. You might be a lamp, but you need the source to burn the oil. It's the oil. It's the oil. It's the oil. I want to bring this to a close. We're going to come to the climax. The problem is never the size of the assignment. It's never

the size of the assignment. You know, when I lived in uh central Oregon six years ago, when the pandemic hit and people started leaving Central Oregon, it's just like, yeah, this is this place is crazy. Uh our governor is crazy. It's a different governor now than it was then, but it still it just seemed crazy, you know? It's like what's going on? Like this is crazy. And I wasn't praying for the governor. I was just like getting discouraged. My oil was going down, right? It it was going down because the size of the assignment seemed to get greater. A worldwide pandemic. Is that too big for God? You know what the church should have been saying the whole time in a pandemic? Give us some oil. We need some oil. Doesn't matter where you are. Doesn't matter what you do for a living. You could be single, widowed, married, divorced 10 times. Your prayer should

be, "I need oil." Because it's not the assignment that's too big. You need the oil. Here's the climax here. The angel asked Zachchariah, "Do you understand the vision?" He says, "What? No, I don't understand." So, he says to me, "This is the word of the Lord. But by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. What do the olive trees represent? Oil. It's the Holy Spirit. This is one of the greatest declarations of scripture. It will not come through military might. It will not come through political intelligence. It won't come through talent or programs or any people this time. It will be God that does it. This was true for Zachchariah and it's true for you. Zerubabel was governing the people. I don't know what you're governing in your life, but you're still living. So, you're governing your own life.

If you're a parent, this is true for you. It's not by might. Parenting is not for sissies. You need the Holy Spirit. If you're married, it's not by might. You need some oil in your marriage. In your work, in your dreams, in the church. When we say Central Oregon shall be saved, this will not be some clever cute marketing propaganda. that this will not be some program that does it. It will not be by might. It will not be by power, but by the spirit of the Lord. We need to make no mistake about the source of every movement of God. It's always been and will always be the Holy Spirit. And I declare to you, the last point today is the same spirit now lives in us. Here's the connection to what was written long ago in Zachchariah to you today.

The same spirit that rose Jesus from the grave is the same spirit that lives in us when you believe in Jesus. You see, you got to understand the same spirit that casts out demons, heals the sick, and accomplishes that which is impossible. When you believe in Jesus, he said, "It is greater that I go." So you would have the helper, the counselor, the Holy Spirit. Let me put it this way. It's the oil that when you believe in Jesus, you understand the source of every power, every good gifts. Your heavenly father through Jesus gives you the Holy Spirit. And the spirit is not limited to to to a consecration or an anointing like the Old Testament. Jesus said in Acts 1:8,

here's the promise before he ascends into heaven. He says you you will you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. That Greek word power, you you should know this. It's the Greek word dunamis. It's where we get our descriptive word dynamic. It's where we get the word dynamite. This is explosive power. What Jesus is saying, when you have the Holy Spirit, you will do things you could never do on your own. Now, we've studied this today. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. He goes on to say, "You will be my witnesses." If we

were to exedute this really well, the light of the world says you'll receive power from the Holy Spirit. I'm going to put it this way. Oil so that you would be a light to the world. Are you all still there? Because we're we're coming to a close here. That Holy Spirit is not for some people. In Acts chapter 2, it's fulfilled. The promise of God that when you believe in Jesus, the spirit of God will be poured out on all flesh. The only thing hindering you from this oil is you. It's not the devil. It's not your parents. It's not the church you attend. It's not the city you live in. It's not the sins you committed long ago.

The only thing stopping you from this oil is you. God gives you a limitless, continuous supply if you ask for it. For some of you today, you need to do that for the first time. is the most important decision you could ever make to say, "I believe in Jesus, which means he died on the cross for every single one of my sins. But he is not dead. He was buried in a tomb. So, he did die. But on the third day, he rose from the grave by the power of the Holy Spirit." And when you believe that in your heart and you're willing to be so bold as to confess it with your mouth, I do believe in Jesus. Even if the whole world chooses darkness, I choose light. The Bible says you are saved. And what that means is you're sealed by the Holy Spirit. Your name is written in the the Lamb's Book of Life, which means you get

the the great gift of eternity. But from this day forward, it doesn't get easier. Now, you have to have a holy dependence on the Holy Spirit. [laughter] You have to keep coming back no matter what your age is, no matter how young, no matter how old. That's why we pray even our Journey Kids Church would be a spiritfilled Journey Kids church that they would believe the full word of God. And today, if you've never done that, you can do it right now. The Bible's really clear. You don't have to go get your life right first to be right with God. Jesus made you right on the cross. He said, "It is finished." And by believing in him, you're now a child of God, filled with the spirit, continually asking, "Fill me with more oil. Fill me with more oil." I'm referring to the presence of God. Bring the presence of God with you. Bring heaven with you wherever you go.

If you want that today, it's yours. So, the first person I'm speaking to is you need to do that for the first time. The second person I want to speak to before we leave today is someone that has believed in Jesus maybe for many, many years, but you just need a fresh anointing. You need the source, the oil. It is never too late with God, my friend. It's never too late. With friendship with God, intimacy with God, his provision, his power, so it was for the Israelites as they went to exile. It looked like it was over. But not in God's eyes. I declare if you're 70 or older, God's just getting started. Don't you believe any lies of culture or society or even your own head. God's not finished with you. So I say, would you just close your eyes for just a moment?

Let me talk to that first person. If you need Jesus today and you want to receive this free gift, can I ask you just in a posture of surrender, would you raise one or both hands high in the air just saying, "Yes, Lord. I need you. I want you. I believe in you, Holy Spirit. Praise be to God. Yes. Praise be to God. Yes. Praise God. Praise God. Yes. Yes. Never be ashamed of saying yes to Jesus. He is He is so worthy of it all. We sang it earlier, but it's not a song. It's a reality. He is worthy. He's worthy. Anybody else? I I see these hands today. Just want to make sure that we don't miss this. Is there anyone else today?

Those of you who have your hands raised or even if you just raised it, I I want to just make sure today, you know, here's the the secret sauce to receiving this oil. It's it's prayer. The Bible says pray without ceasing. That just means you're going to talk to God anywhere, everywhere, all the time. You don't need to have eloquent words or the right words. What you really need is just a real heart to God. You David's heart. Just keep coming back to him. So, let's just start with a simple prayer for those who said yes today. And then I want to pray for those who need a fresh anointing, a fresh oil. That's you and you want to believe for the first time. Let's join those who have already believed. Let's pray this out loud together. Lord Jesus, I believe in you.

I believe you. Forgive me of my sins. I receive the Holy Spirit. Help me to follow you. And fill me up. With your power, your anointing to accomplish your will accomplish your will in my life as in heaven. Now, I just want to just ask for the boldness of those who came to church today. You you've believed in Jesus before, but you just want some fresh oil. Maybe it's for your family. Maybe it's for your finances. Maybe it's for your faith today. If that's you, just by a show of surrender to the Lord today, would you just lift your hands up in the air right now? Just lift your hands and just keep it there right now. Lord, I just ask that you would receive this request that you would pour out your spirit on all flesh. that God, you would give young men visions, that you would give old men dreams, that God, you would

renew what you've begun already. Revival is already here. So, we thank you for those who surrender to you right now. And I just say, Lord, would you protect what you've started here today, God? Would you take your word and would you take some deep roots to your kingdom word [music] and would you establish it right right in the hearts in this room or those who are listening right now? And God, I'm asking that your oil would be so great that there would be a flame that burns so bright that the world would see an unshakable kingdom of the all-consuming fire. So I say, Lord, you are the light of the world. And I'm asking for an unleashing of your church for such a time as this, to be the light of the world. That God, people would see [music] our good deeds and glorify you, our father in heaven. Thank you, God, that there's no sin so great that's going to hinder us from being your testimony, your story. Our lives are yours. So we just surrender them now and say, "Lord, we need some oil, some fresh

oil, some fresh oil poured out on this church. And I thank you for the testimonies that are to come. Thank you for the financial miracles that are coming. Thank you for the healings that are coming. Thank you for the equipping and the unleashing of your gifts upon your church for such a time as this in Jesus name." If you're in agreement, would you shout amen today? Amen. Amen. Amen. Praise God. Pastor Noah is going to lead us today as we get ready to dismiss. And now for those who who who said yes to Jesus, it it says that there's more joy in heaven over one person who comes home, over one person who repents, over the 99, he need no repenting. Amen. So I think that deserves a stand and a shout and applause. You say, "Jesus, hallelujah. Lord, someone has come home. We need some oil in this place." Hallelujah. Amen.

We have joy because of those who come home. Now, that being said, if you said yes to Jesus [music] today, we're going to have a prayer team right up front in the stage. Make sure you come. Make sure you get some prayer because we're believing some oil is flowing through the house and you shall walk out wherever you're going to your house, to your work, whatever it is, walk in in the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I want I have one testimony. Last night we were [music] in Deer Ridge, our our community in Deer Ridge uh Deer Ridge uh journey and what was so [music] powerful is that we have three people who came to faith in Jesus. Amen. But that's not it. We actually got to do something very special and we walked out to the back of the chapel area and what I see is I actually see this there's [music] this demonic altar back there.

Remember this? It's not just us happening. It's not just Jesus [music] happening in the prison. There's other things going on spiritually. Right at the feet of this altar, we got to baptize eight men. There are eight men who said, "Yes, I've forsaken everything and I am following Jesus." This is the oil of Jesus Christ. This is kingdom come. Amen. So that being [music] said, the kingdom's never stopped advancing. So we will never stop pursuing. We will never stop pursuing in love. So, that being said, if I want to offer this opportunity if you throw the QR code up, we're believing that God's kingdom come and his will be done here on earth in Central Oregon. We're believing that God's not just starting in here in Ben through Journey Church, but he's going all throughout. And it's by giving and

[music] it's by generosity that funds and it fuels the mission. It funds and fuels and allows us to go into places like Dear Ridge to spread the hope of humanity and his name is Jesus. So, I want to encourage you, sew a seed, partner in this. It's one of the best ways to do this. So, you can scan the QR code. You can give online. You can also give at to some of the boxes in the back of the room. But that being said, make sure you're able to partner. Continue to walk in the oil. Walk in the oil of generosity. Wherever it is, start speaking life today. So, that being said, Journey, have a great week. God bless. We'll see you next time.