Going Deeper: The Oil And The Wine by Rev. Christie Bature: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The Oil and the Wine

In Revelation 6, among the four horsemen of the apocalypse, the third horseman was the only one given a limit. He came out holding a pair of balances, and a voice declared: "A measure of wheat for a penny, and a measure of barley for a penny." Then came the command that unlocks this message: "See to it that you do not touch the oil or the wine."

In a chaotic, confusing situation, God's word to those who carry calling is clear: whatever is happening around you, do not let anything touch your anointing. Do not let anything tamper with your calling. Do not let anything stop you from doing what God has called you to do because something or someone is not lining up.

The Oil Is Not for Convenience

The oil is not for ease. The oil is for service. And oil does not come out flowing easy.

Consider what is called "kuli-kuli" in West Africa. It is what is left after oil has been pulled out of groundnuts. They press the paste into shapes, fry it, and you get kuli-kuli. The oil is gone. It doesn't look anything like the original peanut anymore. When God pulls oil out of you, you cannot look like what you were before.

He knocks you into shape. All the rough edges are smoothed out. He brings his sandpaper and sandpapers you. He will not entertain the excuse that something was not going right, therefore you did not fulfill purpose, you did not enter destiny, you did not do the assignment. Whatever is happening, let nothing touch the oil.

Sometimes you are bleeding, yet God says go and minister to those who are bleeding. The bleeder ministers to the bleeding. You can cry and minister. You can be bleeding and still bind up the wounded. These are not mutually exclusive.

The Wine: Joy as Your Dipper

The second thing God said not to touch is the wine. Wine represents merriment, joy. Not happiness. Joy.

Isaiah 12:3 says with joy you draw water from the well of salvation. That word "salvation" is not merely born again. It encompasses everything that pertains to life and godliness. Healing, joy, promotion, greatness, whatever you need is in the well. But without a dipper, you cannot get it.

Your dipper is joy.

Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness is happenstance. Things happen nicely, so you are happy. Joy is not based on what has happened. Joy is based on the revelation that God will cause all things, good, bad, ugly, to work together for good, that he will pick the pieces of your life and bring beauty out of ashes.

There is a Japanese art called Kintsugi. When the Japanese break a clay pot, they do not throw away the pieces. They pick them up, melt gold, and use the gold to seal the pot back together. You see the cracks, but the value of the pot is more than before it broke. Where the enemy thought he broke you, he just made a bad mistake. God is going to pick the pieces and put them together and you will be better off than before you broke.

Without a dipper, you can look at the well but cannot access it. If you let something mess with your joy, you will not get the blessing. The blessing is available. It is fixed. But joy is your access key.

The name for God discovered in this season is "Jehovah Shomer Eluti" — Jehovah, the Maintainer of My Sanity. Because there are times when you feel your mind going and God holds you together.

Proximity Is Not Intimacy: The Contrast of Michal and Mary

Two women, both close to a king. One stayed close in position but far in heart. The other came close in both.

Michal had proximity, access, and opportunity for intimacy with David. 1 Samuel 18 says she loved David. 2 Samuel 6 says she despised him. What changed? She had unresolved trauma. She was given to David, taken from him, given to another man, then yanked back to David. There was no emotional closure. She became detached, confused, and developed a critical spirit.

She watched from the window as David danced before the Lord. She chose observation over participation. She misunderstood his heart. She valued image over intimacy. Contempt is one of the strongest destroyers of intimacy.

Pride resists vulnerability. And intimacy requires vulnerability. The result of Michal's posture was spiritual barrenness, lack of growth, emotional dryness.

How do people repeat Michal's pattern today?

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• They are in church but not in intimacy.
• Worship is observed, not experienced.
• Prayer is routine, not relational.
• They intellectualize God instead of encountering him.
• They carry unresolved wounds into their relationship with God.
• They watch others go deeper but stay at the window.

Mary of Bethany had the same opportunity and chose differently. She positioned herself intentionally. She chose presence over pressure, connection over activity. She did not stay at the window. She came to his feet.

She brought her pain directly to him: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." She was honest. She was vulnerable.

Mary also worshipped without self-consciousness. She broke her alabaster box and wiped his feet with her hair. This was undignified. Costly. Public. She did not care.

She ignored criticism. Judas criticized her. She did not let the voices around her interrupt her devotion.

Both women were close to the king, but only one experienced depth. Michal was close in position, far in heart. Mary was close in position and close in heart.

Depth is a choice. You do not drift into depth. You decide it. Healing happens in his presence, not in hiding. Bring your pain. God does not give the deep things of the spirit to casual inquirers.

• Sit before the Lord before you serve. Do not let doing replace being.
• Let go of your dignity when necessary.
• Where you have grown critical, become hungry instead.
• Where you have been observing, engage.