Emblems of the Holy Spirit: Oil
Oil, as an emblem of the Spirit, stands for four things — consecration, comfort, healing, life (I John ii: 20). “But ye have an unction from the Hoh One and ye know all things.” An unction from the Holy One. Define it? I cannot; but I believe in it. The Spirit of God dwelling in me and making me a son of God is one thing, and the Spirit of God coming upon me and anointing me for service is another thing. This anointing for service, consecration, isn’t for preachers onh. A woman in the home or a girl in college needs it as much as the preacher. The man on Wall street or on the farm needs it as much as the man in the pulpit. On the day of Pentecost the Spirit of God came upon the whole chvrch; upon women as well as upon men, upon laymen as well as upon preachers.
I. OIL STANDS FOR CONSECRATION.
In the Bible we find that men were anointed for different things. Noah was anointed to build the ark. Moses was anointed to bring the children of Israel out of bondage. Joshua was anointed to letid the army of God. David was anointed to be king. Daniel was anointed to be a statesman — oh, that .we had more like him! Ezekiel was anointed to prophesy. Paul was anointed to preach the gospel. I don’t believe that a man or woman is fit for God’s service until he has been anointed. Christ Himself didn’t begin to work until He had been baptized with the Spirit for service. If He needed to be baptized, do not we need it? I venture to say if I should put that question, “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed9” you wouldn’t know much more about it than those men did in Ephesus. You received the Spirit when you were converted and He came to dwell with you, to make you a son or daughter of God, but you may not have received power for service. How many are after the power without the unction?
Oil was used to anoint a king. Elisha anointed kings, but Elijah anointed Elisha. Anointing is ;in inaugurating for higher service. God called Elisha to take Elijah’s place, and Elisha wanted to be qualified for his work’ by receiving a double portion of the spirit of Elijah. Only the rod of Elijah could equip him. Elijah said, “II” you see rue when 1 am taken away from you, you shall have what you ask.” Elisha wouldn’t lose sight of him after that. I have an idea he Locked arms with Elijah and walked along w th him until the whirlwind came and snatched him away. Elisha was dead in earnest, and he received what he wanted. Elisha performed twice as many miracles as Elijah. If you want this anointing, >.y friends, God won’t disappoint you. Oh, seek it with all your heart!
“The anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing tcacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him” (I John ii: 27).
Notice how Peter was taught on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Ghost enlightened the whole church. Men couldn’t resist the wisdom even of Stephen. The true wisdom for God’s work comes from God and not from books. Education is all right as far as it goes, but if that is all you have, you will be a dead failure. What you need for God’s work is an anointing of the Spirit. I know of a number of ministers who became discouraged and were going to give up the ministry, but they received this anointing, and one of them has become one of the most useful men in the pulpit to-day. When I first met F. B. Meyer, of London, he was preaching in a little Baptist church in York, England, which didn’t hold four hundred people and wasn’t half filled. But this truth dawned upon him; he surrendered his will and sought this anointing, and to-day he is one of the best read and most widely used men on this earth. He has one of the largest and most flourishing churches in the great city of London.
In Leviticus, the fourteenth chapter and twenty-eighth verse, we read:
“And the priest shall put of the oil that is in his hand 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, upon the place of the blood of the trespass offering. And the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed, to make an atonement for him before the Lord.”
I used to wonder what that could mean, oil upon the ear and upon the thumb and upon the toe of the foot. But :t is al! clear now. I believe it is only those that have that consecrated oi touch their ear that are going to hear the voce of God. It was put upon the hand that the man m’ght work for God. It is upon the foot that we may walk with God. There is no real power until we have fellowship with (iod, and we can’t have that until we are separated from the world.
Jf we receive this consecration it will separate us from the world quicker than anything else. We will not want to go where our influence niav be crippled or our testimony may be marred. I don’t know of anything that the church of (Iod in America needs to-day more than separation from the world.
I believe that theatre-going destroys your influence, even if you go to so-called good plays. I
want to tell you how I had my eyes opened:
I had an assistant superintendent ol a Sabbath school, a very promising young man. who seemed to be very happy m the work. A star actor came to the city, and he went to see him. I knew nothing of it, but the next Sunday when he came into the Sunday School, all over the building they cried out, “Hypocrite! hypocrite!”
The perspiration started out of every pore of my body, I thought they were looking at me. I said to the little newsboys: “Whom are you calling a hypocrite?” They mentioned the assistant s name. I asked the reason, and they said:
“We saw him going into the theatre.” I had never said anything about the theatre to those children, but they saw that man going in and called him a hypocrite. He lost his influence entirely, withdrew from the school, and after a while gave up Christian work altogether. He was just swept along with the tide in Chicago and was lost. Consecration means separation. If you want power, you can have it, but it may mean that you must give up a great many things. Any one can go with the world, but it takes strong character to go against the current. A disciple in the world is all right, but the world in a disciple is all wrong. A ship in the water is all right, but water in the j-hip will sink it. It is a good thing to be in the world and not of it. You can have power to lead others to Christ, every one of you, if you are only ready to be consecrated, anointed by the Holy Spirit for service.
2. OIL STANDS FOR COMFORT AND
HEALING.
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees
126 Short Talks bu D. L. Moody.
of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He migh be glorified” (Isaiah lxi: 1-3).
There is healing and comfort. We need more joyful Christians. We have plenty of long-faced Christians; they retard the cause of Christ. When Christ was on the cross He made His will. He willed His Spirit back to His Father; He willed His mother to John, the son of Zebedee; He willed His body to Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus; but to His disciples He left His peace and His joy. Nowadays the keen, sharp lawyers can break any will a man can draw up; but I challenge 3-011 to break Christ’s will. He arose to execute His own will. We need more Christians who are living witnesses of their heritage — Christians with shining faces. Some people always have a bill of complaint as long as your arm.
There is a difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is what happens to your liking. If things go all right we are happy, and if they go all wrong we are down in the dumps. Joy goes deeper; it flows right on day and night irrespective of circumstances. The larks sing in the morning, but anybody can sing in the sunshine. Joy is like the nightingale that sings in the night.
Can you sing when everything is dark around you? If 3’ou have the joy of the Lord, you can. The joy of the Lord will carry us right through the night and keep us in perpetual peace and joy.
The psalmist prayed, “Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation.” What would be the result? “Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee.” Few people have converting power because they haven’t the joy of the Lord. God seldom uses a man 01 woman who isn’t filled with joy to do His work.
Why do so many workers break down? Not from overwork, but because there has been friction of the machinery; there hasn’t been enough of the oil of the Spirit. Great engines have their machinery so arranged that where there is friction there is oil dropping on it all the time. It is a good thing for Christians to have plenty” of oil. Many people are full of vinegar instead of oil. I have been in towns where everything went wrong. There was friction over one thing and another, and there was no blessing.
In the forty-fifth psalm and seventh verse, we read: “Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.’’ My dear friends, many people are hardening others in their sins bT working without this anointing. Sunday7 school teachers are driving the children awajT from the Kingdom of God. Ministers that go into the pulpit and do not have the joy of the Lord do ten times more harm than good. Do not rest until you have this anointing. No man can give it to you. It is to come from the Lord. “Ye shall receive an unction from the Holy One.” This oil of the Spirit is healing, strengthening, beautifying, and, best of all, there is a fragrance of perfume with it like that about the broken alabaster box. Thank God for this blessed anointing for service!