It is to this striking emblem—the anointing oil—rather than to
the truth it illustrates, the present chapter especially relates. The truth
illustrated in this beautiful passage, we admit, is a great and holy
one—brotherly love. "Behold, how good, how pleasant it is for brethren to
dwell together in unity!" Would that we saw more of it in the professing Church
of God! Then would the disciples of Christ be more marked and distinguished as
such. "For by this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have
love one to another." But it is the holy and precious anointing itself to
which we especially direct the reader's attention. The subject is of essential
importance. It is the personal possession of this anointing that constitutes our
true Christianity. The religion of vast numbers is but the religion of
sentiment, the religion of form, the religion of ritualism—a religion utterly
destitute of one particle of this divine and precious anointing. It is therefore
of the greatest importance that each reader of this work should institute the
most rigid self-scrutiny to ascertain his real possession of the Holy Spirit,
the Anointer and the anointing, without an interest in which we possess but "a
name to live while we are dead;" "having a form of godliness, without the power
thereof." To aid the devout reader in his inquiry into this subject, it will be
our object to illustrate the precious nature of this divine anointing, its
application to Christ, the true spiritual Aaron and Head of the royal
priesthood,—and its communication through Him to all who form a part of the one
Anointed Priesthood. Oh that as we meditate upon this soul-reviving truth, the
"oil of gladness" may diffuse its influence and fragrance through our souls,
endearing Him to our hearts whose precious "name is as ointment poured forth" to
those who know and love it.
The office of the priesthood under the Levitical dispensation
was regarded as one of the highest designations of God in His Church. The priest
stood, as it were, in God's place. He was Jehovah's viceregent—the medium of
communication from God to the people, and from the people to God. He was to
receive the word from the mouth of God, and communicate it to the people; and,
on their part, he was to make sacrifice, take of their offerings, and present
them to the Lord. It will thus be seen that the priesthood was one of the
highest and holiest offices in the Church of God. It was in fact associated with
royalty. Melchisedek was both a priest and a king—a royal priest.
In this respect he was a remarkable type of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, by one
of the prophets, is designated a "Priest upon His throne," and who stands to His
Church in the twofold relation of King and Priest. Such is the dignity to which
their union with Christ raises His people. They are, in virtue of that union, a
"royal priesthood," "offering up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through
Christ."
We have remarked, respecting the priesthood under the old
economy, that, so important was the institution, the instructions God gave for
the selection of the priests, and their designation to the office, were of the
most minute and significant character. Our present subject limits us to a single
and specific one—the anointing. The directions of God touching the
composition of the unguent—the precious oil—by which Aaron and the priests were
set apart to their holy office, are minute and instructive:—"Moreover the Lord
spoke unto Moses, saying, Take you also unto you principal spices, of pure myrrh
five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and
fifty; and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, and of cassia five
hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: and
you shall make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the are of
the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. And you shall anoint Aaron
and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the
priest's office." (Exod. 30:22-25, 30.) How deep and precious the spiritual
significance of all this! The great truth it is designed to illustrate is the
nature and preciousness of that holy anointing of which all the "royal
priesthood" of Christ are partakers, and apart from which all religion, the most
intellectual, poetical, and strictly ritual, is vain and dead, spurious and
worthless. One drop of this holy oil, this divine anointing, has in it more of
God, more of Christ, more of the Holy Spirit, and more substance, sweetness, and
preciousness, than all the religions of man, the most costly, splendid, and
imposing, combined.
In one sentence we define the divine nature and the essential
value of this precious anointing—it consists in the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit in the soul. We marvel not, then, that in the typal unfolding of this
truth, there should be such an accumulation of precious, fragrant, and costly
things. And yet how far below the Antitype does it fall! What earthly things,
the most rare and precious, can convey any adequate idea of the divine nature
and the essential worth of the Holy Spirit? Who is He? There are those who would
reduce Him to a mere attribute of God—an influence of the Most High—an emanation
of the Deity—a divine principle! Alas! how many, even of the Lord's own people,
have but the most dim and imperfect views of the personal dignity and official
work of the Holy Spirit, who yet would recoil with abhorrence at the thought of
holding a sentiment in the slightest degree derogatory to His glory. And among
those who utterly and openly impugn the divine dignity of the Spirit, denying
totally His personal oneness with the Godhead, to what subtle distinctions and
hollow sophisms, in the enmity of the carnal mind to God's revealed truth, will
they resort, rather than accept the plain and simple declarations of the Bible?
But who is the Holy Spirit? Our mind is filled with sacred and solemn awe as we
inscribe the words—THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE THIRD PERSON IN THE GODHEAD. When we
open the revealed Word and read the words which compose the formulary of
baptism, and the apostolic benediction, who can doubt this truth? Touching the
former we read, "Go you therefore and teach all nations (make disciples),
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit." (Matt. 28:19.) Touching the latter it is written, "The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be
with you all. Amen." (2 Cor. 13:14.) What shall we say to these distinct,
emphatic declarations? Doubt them? Cavil at them? Reduce them to figures of
speech? Deny and reject them? God forbid! Beloved reader, is there no secret
thought in your mind derogatory to the Divine Personality of the Holy Spirit?—no
lurking suspicion of His claims to your love, worship, and obedience? Do you
cherish towards Him like feelings of holy awe, filial reverence, and implicit
faith with those with which you regard the Father and the Son? In a word, do you
honor, and love, and pray to the Holy Spirit even as you love, honor, and pray
to the first and second Persons of the ever-blessed Trinity? Oh, do not forget
that the debt of love, confidence, and obedience which you owe to the Spirit is
the same! As you could not be redeemed and saved without the blood-shedding of
the Son, so you could not be regenerated and sanctified but by the divine power
of the Holy Spirit. Such, then, is the sacred anointing of the royal priesthood!
The possession of the Holy Spirit, in all His divine perfections and official
relations, by each believer in Jesus, is the precious anointing by which he is
set apart as a priest of the Most High God. Can we conceive of any blessing more
costly and precious? Of this blessing you are the recipient if you are a
believer in the Lord Jesus. And the Word of God declares it:—"You have received
the Spirit of adoption." "He has given you the earnest of the Spirit." "The
Spirit of God dwells in you." How easy were it to multiply these proofs!
Passing from the person of the Spirit, we advert for a moment
to the work of the Spirit. How precious is that work!—so precious
that all language, all imagery, fails adequately to express it. If, beloved, you
are a temple, a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, there is more of God, more of
divine glory, dwelling within your soul, than in all the worlds that God has
made, known and unknown. Oh, how imperfectly we estimate the value and high
calling of a saint of God! But as we are to speak of this in a distinct chapter
of the present work, we but refer to it now as illustrating the costliness of
this anointing. The glory of a believer in Christ—like the glory of Him whose
son he is—is a concealed glory. "The King's daughter is all glorious within."
Where her dark corruption dwells, where the great conflict is passing, even
there, amid so much that is opposite in nature and hostile in spirit, the great
glory of the child of God dwells, and all that hidden glory consists of the work
of the Holy Spirit in the soul. A broken heart for sin, the spirit of
self-abhorrence, the trembling faith in Christ, the thirst for sanctification,
the breathings after God, are component parts of that divine and precious
anointing which has sanctified you as a priest of the Most High God.
The influences of the Holy Spirit enter essentially into
the precious anointing of the believer. What progress in the divine life can
there be apart from these? This sacred anointing needs perpetual care and
replenishing. The spirit of prayer in our souls—how restrained! The spirit of
adoption—how it droops! The spirit of love—how it languishes! The spirit of
faith—how it fluctuates! The spirit of Christ—how it wanes! But the Holy Spirit
quickens, revives, and restores by fresh inspirations of His influence. A gale
from Him bears on its wings life, fruitfulness, and fragrance. When the 'south
wind' blows upon the soul, the spices thereof flow out, and Christ comes into
His garden, eats His pleasant fruit, and gathers His myrrh and His spice. And
then, thus revived and refreshed by a renewed emanation of the Spirit's grace,
the moral atmosphere in which the Christian walks is all permeated and perfumed
with the fragrance of this precious anointing. Can you, then, estimate its
worth? That heart-outpouring, that soul-breathing, that glimpse of Jesus, that
hour of nearness to God, that moment's enjoyment of the Divine presence—oh!
would you have bartered it for earth's choicest, costliest, fondest joys!
Beloved, live not, as a priest of God, without the sensible indwelling of
the Holy Spirit. Live in conscious union and communion with Him—seek to be
filled with His influences. If prayer languishes—if grace decays—if affection
chills—if there is any discovered relapse of your soul in the divine life, seek
at once and earnestly the fresh communication of this divine anointing. "Let
your garments always be white, and your head lack no ointment."
The indestructibleness of this anointing is the last
element of its preciousness to which we allude. It is no small mercy to a child
of God, that amid the evanescence of spiritual feeling, the ebb and flow of
Christian experience, nothing affects the imperishable nature of that divine
anointing by which he was once and forever consecrated to an unchangeable
priesthood. All earth's perfumes evaporate and die; the blight is upon every
flower, the curse is in every sweet; but here is that which can never be
destroyed. Once the Holy Spirit quickens the soul with the breath of life, once
He enkindles a spark of love to God in the heart, once He breathes upon the
believer this celestial perfume, he possesses a blessing which no age can
impair, and which no circumstance can change. Hostile influences there may be
which would seem to peril its existence—the indwelling taint of sin would
threaten its purity and sweetness—yet nothing shall ever prevail to destroy the
work of the Spirit in the heart of the regenerate. It is an anointing
incorruptible—it has a fragrance imperishable. The power and perfume thereof
shall go down with the believer into the grave, shall embalm and preserve the
slumbering dust of God's elect, until, in the morning of the first resurrection,
the trumpet of the archangel bids them rise to meet their Lord in the air. What
behold I in that narrow house? What see I reposing in that clay-cold bed? A
ruined temple of the Holy Spirit! Will it ever be restored again? Oh, yes! "We
look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that
it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working
whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself." (Phil. 3:20, 21.)
Thus precious is this holy oil, the divine anointing of the believer in Jesus.
It imparts dignity to his person, for it constitutes him a priest-royal. It
imparts fragrance to his sacrifices, for it makes them "an odor of a sweet
smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God." His prayers are precious,
his praises are precious, his labors are precious, his every lowly act of love,
obedience, and service is inconceivably precious to God, touched with this
divine and holy oil. And as the perfume of the rose still lingers upon the
broken and crumbled ruins of the shattered vase, so the divine perfume of the
Holy Spirit's indwelling, regenerating, sanctifying grace shall cling to the
believer, his works and labor and memory, long after death shall have ruined the
material structure, and it shall have returned to the dust from whence it came.
"The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance." "The memory of the just
is blessed."
But while we thus maintain the essential indestructibility of
this precious anointing, we would by no means fail to caution the believer
against that which yet may seriously impair its vigor, obscure its beauty, and
lessen its fragrance. Essentially it may not perish, influentially it may.
Intrinsically it cannot be destroyed, efficiently it can. A noxious element may
insinuate itself into this divine unguent, and blend with it a mixed and
ungenial redolence. "Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send
forth an ill savor: so does a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom
and honor." (Eccles. 10:1.) An uneven walk, an unwatchful spirit, an
unChrist-like deportment may blend with this precious anointing, and thus
destroy its fragrance, and impair its power. The moral influence of the Church
in the world is in proportion to her spiritual separation from the
world. The light she emits throughout the earth will be graduated by her holy
elevation above the earth. The chandelier which illumines an apartment is
suspended from its center. The Church of God is the world's moral chandelier.
The Divine Sun from whom she receives her holy luster, has
condescendingly, but emphatically, pronounced her the "light of the world." It
follows, then, that the spiritual influence which the Church is to exert in the
world as a conservator of the truth, as a witness for Christ, and as an
instrument to guide men to the Savior, will be potent and successful, healthy
and powerful, in proportion to her own moral elevation, holiness, and
spirituality. What applies to the Church as a corporate body, equally applies to
the individual Christian. Oh, what a blessing in the sphere in which he moves is
a man of God, living under the rich anointing of the Holy Spirit! It is
impossible he can be hid. "The ointment of his right hand betrays itself." And
the moral savor of that ointment—the holy, heavenly fragrance that floats around
him—testifies to all who are brought within its influence, of God, of Christ, of
eternity. See, then, that your religion is not half Christian, half Infidel—half
Protestant, half Popish—half sincere, half compromising. Beware of the "dead fly
in the ointment." Worldliness of living—covetousness of heart—an unforgiving
temper—an earthly, groveling mind—an uncharitable, censorious spirit—a want of
integrity and uprightness of principle in your dealings with men—a secret
rebellion of will against the government, the providence, the disposal of God,
may just be that "dead fly." These may be the things, or others of a like
character, which lessen your heavenliness of mind, impair your spiritual vigor,
shade your divine light, veil your precious anointing, and render your moral
influence as a laborer for Christ so little useful to man, and your walk as a
believer in Jesus so little honoring to God.
A vital part of our subject remains to be considered—the
confluence of this precious oil in the Lord Jesus Christ, the true spiritual
Aaron of the "Royal Priesthood." We term this a vital truth, and justly so,
because it is the source of all spiritual life to the believer. We are Christian
in truth only as we are one with Christ. We are living branches in reality only
as we have union with Jesus the Living Vine. We are an anointed priesthood only
in virtue of our sacerdotal relation to Him, the Great High Priest of His
Church. Here is—union; and this union is—life. Now, our blessed
Lord Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit. His human nature was filled with
the Spirit, and in this consisted His divine anointing, and in this anointing
His consecration as the Royal Sacerdotal Head of a succession of royal priests.
How clear and beautiful are the inspired testimonies to this truth! For example,
in the Old Testament we read, "I have found David my servant; with my holy oil
have I anointed him." (Ps. 89:20.) "You loves righteousness, and hate
wickedness: therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of
gladness above your fellows." (Ps. 45:7). "Behold, O God, our shield, and look
upon the face of your anointed." Now, in what did this anointing of
Christ consist but the fullness of the Holy Spirit? So we read, "God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 10:38.) So the
indwelling fullness of the Spirit, "For God gives not the Spirit by measure unto
him." His humanity was indebted for the wisdom with which it spoke, for the
understanding by which it discerned, which made Him of "quick understanding in
the fear of the Lord," for the power with which it wrought, and for the beauty
which, amid its humiliation and woe, made it so transcendently glorious, to the
indwelling fullness of the Holy Spirit. Oh, what would our humanity be
were it filled, as was the Son of God's, with the fullness of the Spirit! And
if, in our Christian character, we would approximate to this model—in a word, if
we would be Christ-like—we must be more richly replenished with the Holy Spirit.
"Hereby we know that He (Christ) abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given
us." (1 John 3:24.) We shall be assured of our union to Christ, of His home in
our hearts, of our relation to the seed-royal, the true priesthood, by the
inhabitation of the Spirit. O Divine and Holy Spirit! enter us, unworthy though
we are; make Your home in our hearts, vile though they be; breathe life and
love, peace and joy, into our souls; quicken us, seal us, teach us, sanctify us,
and make us divine, by making us Christ-like—happy, by making us holy,—and so
fill and occupy us with Yourself that there may be no room for the reign of sin,
the power of the world, and the love of self. Beloved, you cannot besiege the
throne of grace for a more needed and a greater blessing than the fullness of
the Holy Spirit. Do not think that we employ an expression too strong when we
speak of the fullness of the Spirit. It is recorded of Stephen that he
was "full of faith, and of the Holy Spirit." And that this was not
a peculiar or privileged case, the apostle exhorts all believers to be
"filled with the Spirit." Seek, then, beloved, for your own soul this
divine anointing. Be not satisfied with a measured bestowment of the precious
blessing, but in earnest and importunate supplication open your mouth wide, that
He may fill it! Oh the readiness of the Spirit to impart the boon! Oh the
willingness of Christ, the Anointed, to satiate every longing soul, and to
replenish every hungry soul from His own overflowing fullness! The straitness is
in us, not in Jesus. Seek, then, with a seeking that will take no denial, the
fullness of the Spirit!
The holy oil was poured upon the head of Aaron. This is
most significant. The Lord Jesus—our Aaron—was anointed with the Spirit, as the
HEAD of His Church. "He is the Head of the body, the Church." And the
fullness of the Spirit that dwelt in Him was not for Himself alone, but to be
communicated to all the members of His mystical Body. Trace the course of
this holy oil thus poured upon the head of Aaron. It "went down to the skirts of
his garment." How expressive and instructive the type! In virtue of our union
with Christ, we become partakers of His precious anointing. So clearly and
indissolubly are we one with Jesus, the Great High Priest, we share in all that
He is, and partake of all that He possesses. He imparts to us His life, clothes
us with His righteousness, washes us in His blood, replenishes us from His
fullness, and will finally raise us to His glory, share with us His throne, and
we shall reign with Him forever.
This anointing that flows from Christ is received by us
through faith. The life we live amid daily conflict, trial, and toil, we
live by the faith of the Son of God. This is the channel through which the
sacred anointing flows down to us. What a mighty principle is this! When, at the
close of the day, we throw our head upon our pillow, and in silent reflection
review its brief history, we often marvel how we traveled through it. We look
back upon the pressure, the temptation, the trial, the sorrow, and we are a
wonder to ourselves. What was it that bore up and brought us triumphantly
through? Oh, it was the power of faith conveying into our souls the fullness of
Christ! It was the downflowing of this holy oil of grace and strength, of
gladness and joy, from our enthroned and glorified Head that imparted wisdom in
the perplexity, clearness in the judgment, strength in the temptation, fortitude
in endurance, meekness in provocation, patience in suffering, and calmness,
peace, and quietness amid the keenness of sorrow and the surgings of grief.
Faith leaning upon, and drawing from, Christ, is the secret of it all.
But not merely in virtue of union to Christ, or through the
medium of faith, are we the recipients of this precious anointing. It flows from
the loving heart of Christ, and is the free, spontaneous bestowment of His
grace. There is not a being in the universe that Christ loves as He loves the
saints. He is constantly ordering, and arranging, and disposing all events and
circumstances for the promotion of their well-being. He would have His
joy remain in us, and our joy to be full. And every feeling of holy
gladness that thrills us, every spring of sacred joy that refreshes us, every
gleam of divine sunshine that falls upon our path, is an emanation from the
Divine anointing that distills from Christ upon our souls. Love is the source of
it all, love is the conveyancer of it all, love is the end of it all. Light
pours not more freely from the sun, nor water from the fountain, than does the
"oil of gladness" flow from the heart of Jesus into the hearts of His saints.
See how freely the precious anointing flows—"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon
me; because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He
has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 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." O wonderful words!
O precious announcements! Come, my soul, and listen! Jesus' anointing was not
for Himself, but for others. It was for the "meek," it was for the
"broken-hearted," it was for the "mourners in Zion," it was for the "captive,"
it was for "those who are bound," it was for those who are bowed down to the
dust with the "spirit of heaviness." It was for poor, empty sinners—souls that
hunger and thirst for righteousness—who feel their vileness, necessity, and
nothingness; who come to Him as empty sinners to a full Savior.
Who lowers a full bucket into the well? Who carries a full pitcher to the
spring? It is emptiness that travels to fullness. So must you come to, deal
with, live upon, and receive from, Jesus. A full Christ and an empty sinner
travel the same road, side by side, step by step, hand in hand, to glory. With
no other will Christ walk. The proud, the self-sufficient, He knows afar off;
and they know Him afar off. But the spiritual mourner, the brokenhearted, the
poor in spirit, these are they upon whom Jesus delights to pour the oil of joy
and gladness, which causes their hearts to glow, their faces to shine, their
lips to praise. "Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart." One drop of this
precious anointing will turn your sorrow into joy, your mourning into dancing,
your complaining into singing; make the name, the work, and sympathy of Jesus
more fragrant and precious, and cause the lamp of love and holiness to burn more
freely and more brightly than ever. Such are some of the precious privileges and
blessings of a vital, inseparable union of a believing sinner with the Lord
Jesus.
One instructive point yet remains to be considered. The
precious ointment that was on the head of Aaron went down to the skirts of his
garments: it reached to the extremity of his sacred person. The spiritual
significance of this is peculiarly precious and encouraging to the "poor in
spirit,"—to those whose self-acquaintance leads them to walk humbly with God.
The humble, believing soul, that lies the nearest and the lowest at Christ's
feet, receives the most abundantly of this overflowing and downflowing grace.
There is no spot in the universe which concentrates upon itself so much
blessedness—where meet and cluster, in focal power, so many holy, precious
privileges, as the feet of Jesus. There we learn, there we receive, there
we shelter. We are safe, because we are low—we are happy, because we are
near. "He gives grace to the lowly," and the lowliest, the most near,
receive the most grace. Is this your place, O believer? Do not think meanly of
it. There is but one that surpasses it—it is the foot of the throne in glory!
And no soul will find itself at the foot of the throne in heaven, that does not
find itself at the feet of the Savior on earth. The lowliness of the posture may
possibly blind the eye to its peculiar blessedness: a bolder and more confident
one may be considered preferable. But let us not be deceived; give me Mary's
tears rather than Peter's boasting. Let me sit with her at the feet of Jesus,
rather than stand with the self-confident apostle in the judgment-hall. In
pleading for this lowly posture, we plead not for a state of mind that excludes
holy joy, and an assured hope, as elements foreign to this condition. Far from
it. The anointing of Christ—is it not the "oil of gladness?" and does He
not give "the oil of joy?" Most assuredly. Then, the believing soul that
lies prostrate at His feet—close to the Fountain of all grace, sympathy, and
love—partakes the most largely of the "joy of the Lord, which is the strength of
their soul;" for "the meek shall increase their joy in the Lord." There,
too, hope sheds her brightest beams. For if ever the "good hope through grace"
which the gospel unveils, shines the most resplendent upon the soul, it is when,
reclining at Jesus' feet, it clings in faith, glows in love, and melts in
contrition.
Be exhorted, beloved reader, not to be content without the
consciousness of this precious anointing. Rest not satisfied with but a "name to
live." Do not surmise or trust that you are Christ's disciple, or child of God,
but seek this inward, divine testimony. Plead with God the Holy Spirit to
communicate to your soul freely and daily of this precious anointing. This holy
oil will impart clearness to your mind, so that you shall have a "right judgment
in all things;" it will impart sweetness to your temper, gentleness to your
spirit, and will give you a lowly, loving, self-condemning heart. It will make
more Christ-like your carriage towards others. Vacating the judgment-seat, and
ceasing to be censorious, fault-finding, and condemning, you will be filled with
charity and love: the grace of kindness will be in your heart, and the law of
kindness on your lip. This precious anointing is so soul-transforming, so
Christ-assimilating in its influence, that it is impossible to partake of it in
any degree and not be like Jesus. When you see a religious professor
proud in heart—lofty in spirit—covetous in his aims—condemning others,
justifying himself—detracting, unsympathizing, harsh,—you see one lacking this
anointing. He is not sitting at the feet of Jesus. It is only there that
the believer sees so much to censure, to loathe, and to condemn in himself, that
he has not an eye to discover, nor a tongue to revile, nor a hand to unveil the
faults and imperfections of a brother. The holy oil empties and lays low. If in
faithfulness it prompts to admonish and to rebuke, it will impart such
tenderness, gentleness, and kindness of spirit, of tone, and of words, as shall
be an "excellent oil" upon a Christian brother's head, winning him back to
Christ by the irresistible law of love. And, oh, if your soul thirsts to know
more of Jesus, seek more abundantly the influence of the Holy Spirit. Rest not
until He reveals Christ to you. As a royal priest, anointed of God, you possess
that indwelling Spirit, who is pledged to instruct, sanctify, and comfort you,
until the Master comes and takes you home. "This anointing which you have
received of him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as
the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and
even as it has taught you, you shall abide in him." Living beneath this
anointing that flows from the Head of His Church, down to the lowest, lowest,
poorest, obscurest, feeblest member of His body, your heart will often sigh and
long for his appearing, and will pray—"Come, Lord Jesus; come
quickly."
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