Taken from The Oil That Makes Glad by A. B. Saint
1 John chapter 2: 20 – “But you have an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things.”
I would say that it was no more than a handful of years ago that I switched on a Christian television programme, which at the end of it, left me, I must say, slightly confused. Two men were being interviewed about an item which they had brought on the show.
It was a bible which was owned by one of the two men, and which had been placed in what I remember seeing as a plastic container and when the camera zoomed in, it appeared to be sitting in oil. Not only was the bible sitting in this oil, but the studio audience was told that it was the Bible itself which was miraculously producing the oil. Even though we were told that this copy of the Word of God was quite a few years old, from all outward appearance it didn’t appear that it was being compromised in any way by the oozing oil.
It is difficult now to recollect everything that was discussed on the programme, excepting that it would appear that this bible was supposed of itself to have churned out several hundred thousand litres of anointed miracle oil which the men would proceed to take up and pour into a vast quantity of vials which were then offered to interested parties who were seeking healing of any sort.
Amazingly, there were many testimonials of people who believed they were healed through anointing themselves or being anointed with the oil supposedly manufactured by this bible. After the programme had aired I honestly did not know what to think. I did not know what to believe.
Our God is the God of miracles and I wondered had He chosen an unusual way to reveal Himself to His people, or could it be that people were being unwittingly misled. As I honestly didn’t know I chose to just bear it in mind. I didn’t want to discredit something which could have been of God, yet at the same time I had some niggling doubts.
It wasn’t until several years later that this very subject was brought to my notice again by someone else and it was at this time that I found out more of the story’s earliest beginnings. It seems that it all began in a small informal prayer meeting held in a Christian gift shop in the State of Georgia in the south – eastern region of the United States. We were told that it was there that the miracle of the dripping oil first began.
On the night it first took place, one of the two gentlemen opened his bible to discover that from nowhere, a small droplet of oil had hit the page, and in time, whenever he opened his bible he would see that more oil had appeared. He now couldn’t carry his bible in the usual way but had to transfer it into a sealed, plastic bag which he put into a plastic container.
News got around fast, and not unexpectedly more and more people began to join this prayer meeting. From just a small handful it grew to hundreds of believing saints in attendance. Some folks even moved to that area to be nearer the blessing, nearer to what they understood to be the moving of God in these end times. Some were even calling it a Revival.
There were testimonies given of the effects of healing even upon people who were suffering from cancer and people overtaken by various addictions. No one at these meetings ever made the suggestion that the oil itself produced the healings, rather they pointed to God alone being the Healer. It was a time of great blessing and it seemed to bring more and more people together all rejoicing in the Lord and what He was doing.
Then something unexpectedly happened, and people were told that this bible had suddenly stopped producing the oil with the result that these special meetings quickly came to a close. At the same time, word had also got around that someone had witnessed one of the men purchasing some machinery oil from the local tractor shop.
Of course, denials were made by the man in question and if these denials were true, in the end the Work of God had been brought into disrepute by a false witness, but if these allegations were true the whole thing hinged on nothing else but fraud. Later it came to light that it was true that one of the men had been into the tractor shop and had indeed bought some machinery oil, but this was only on one occasion when he had begun to notice that the bible was not producing the oil anymore.
He told how that the Lord had rebuked him for this and so he never used the oil but left it untouched on the garage floor. At the end of it all, only God Himself really knows the whole truth and this is where we honestly have to leave this narrative.
QUICKENED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
The reason I have shared this with you is because it links up in a way with a bible verse that only a few days ago caught my eye. I have read it many times before but this time a little word within the text seemed to come alive and take hold of me. The word of which I speak is found in the First Epistle of John, chapter 2, and verse 20.
Here, John the beloved disciple is writing a letter to those of the early church and yet this letter is just as important for the church living in this current age as was then. It is for saints both ancient and modern. In his letter to them the Apostle John wrote, “But you have unction from the Holy One, and you know all things.” In other words, he was telling them that they were spiritually blessed in that in a wonderful way, spiritual truths had been revealed to them; indeed they had been given spiritual insight.
I stopped when I re-read the word unction. It is rather an old-fashioned word which will be known and understood by some yet completely unknown to others. What does it mean? A verse later on in the same chapter gives us a clue; in fact it gives us the meaning and lets us know in verse 27 that it refers to the quickening or the anointing by the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit upon the individual life after salvation has taken place.
If you remember, this was a promised anointing, given by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself to His early followers before His ascension into heaven. It matters not what day or age in which we as believers in Christ live, the relevance of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling and anointing upon the life is a must for every believer whether they be in pulpit or pew. All those who are truly born again of the Spirit of God have the Spirit within.
THE WORK OF THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT
The bible tells us that old things are passed away and behold, for us, all things are become new. Through the Work of the Spirit within the life, the essentials of faith and those spiritual truths of great consequence to our souls have been made known to us. Jesus has been made real unto us by the power of the Holy Ghost. The world may not know, the world may not understand, but thank God through Him we do understand.
The Holy Spirit is the One who imparts spiritual knowledge unto us, and He is the One who helps us always stay in the Truth. I remember that John Wesley refers to this unction, as an inward teaching. The Holy Spirit teaches everything necessary for our salvation and if we allow Him He will keep us at all times from error.
Indeed, we see Him at work early on in the beginning at the time of Creation, where after the Word of God had been spoken, He moved upon the face of the waters bringing about new life. Some bibles do not use the word moved as does mine, but rather prefers the word hovered or brooded as would a little bird hover over its nest to protect and defend it, or a mother hen brooding over her eggs in order to hatch them, and so the Holy Spirit moves in our lives in the work of re-creation. He is making us more like Jesus.
J. L. Packer once said: “The Christian’s life in all its aspects – intellectual and ethical, devotional, and relational, up surging in worship and outgoing in witness – is supernatural; only the Spirit can initiate and sustain it. So apart from Him, not only will there be no lively believers and no lively congregations there will be no believers and no congregations at all.”
What did Jesus say over in the Gospel of John 6: 63, “It is the Spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you they are Spirit, and they are life.” Jesus was so anointed, so filled with the Spirit of God that the words He spoke were charged with life. Therefore, the life given to us by the Spirit of God is the life of Jesus Christ the Son. The Holy Spirit here brings the understanding.
Thank God for the Word of Life and for the Spirit of God as He draws us nearer to Him. It is essential therefore that as we live our day to day lives that we remain under the anointing of our wonderful, energising Holy Spirit for He is indeed the life-changing force within.
In Romans 10: 14 we have these well-known words: “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”
I am reminded of a gentleman for whom the Scriptures were well known. He was a man familiar to others, including me. He was always very straight and to the point in making his opinions known whether they were asked for or not. These opinions also made themselves known when it came to the Sunday sermons preached that day. If there was any teaching which he did not enjoy, he would stand clearly in the knowledge that the Word of God is often referred to as being ‘bread’ or ‘manna from heaven,’ and would comment on any sermons that did not sit well with him as being ‘dry bread.’
Nonetheless, it has to be said and must be taken into consideration that when the Word of God is either read in private or propounded from pulpit, it’s effect should be that of energising, convicting, awakening, and inspiring us. In other words, anything but dry.
I have a daily reading before me which includes a quote from the eloquent preacher Dr Lloyd Jones, who very rightly in speaking of this Holy Ghost unction said: “You can have knowledge, and you can be meticulous in your preparation; but without the unction of the Holy Spirit, you will have no power, and your preaching will not be effective.”
In the bible we know that the Holy Spirit is seen symbolically in different ways. He is sometimes seen in Scripture as fire, as water, as a seal, as a dove, as a mighty wind or the gentle zephyr, even as the still small voice. He is also represented figuratively as oil. When the Word of God is proclaimed, the Oil of the Holy Spirit must be pouring not only from the Word of God itself, but also through the one who ministers that Word. And again, not only upon the speaker, but also upon the hearers too. If there is no impartation of life then our souls will remain parched and dry. Remember that Jesus is the Living Word, and the Holy Spirit is the River of Life!
Whether the facts of the report of the ‘oily bible’ were real or just a ruse, it is not for me to say for I do not know. I leave it all with God. However, the story is very telling, and it does sound out a message for all who will listen. There is certainly a connection in spiritual terms between the Bible, which is the Word of God and the Oil represented by the Holy Spirit. One cannot work without the other whether the requirement is for teaching or healing or guidance, or anything else that is needed, they work in sync, and they work in harmony with each other.
I feel we can do no better than finish with this ‘meat on the bone’ article written by Charles Haddon Spurgeon on the subject of Preaching and Unction. This is what he had to say:
“I always find that I can preach best when I can manage to lie a-soak in my text. I like to get a text, and find out its meaning and bearings, and so on; and then, after I have bathed in it, I delight to lie down in it and let it soak into me. It softens me, or hardens me, or does whatever it ought to do with me, and then I can talk about it.
You need not be very particular about the words and phrases if the spirit of the text has filled you; thoughts will leap out and find raiment for themselves. Become saturated with spices, and you will smell of them; a sweet perfume will distil from you and spread itself in every direction; – we call it unction.
Do you not love to listen to a brother who abides in fellowship with the Lord Jesus? Even a few minutes with such a man is refreshing, for, like his Master, his paths drop fatness. Dwell in the truth and let the truth dwell in you. Be baptised into its spirit and influence that you may impart thereof to others.
If you do not believe the Gospel, do not preach it, for you lack an essential qualification; but even if you do believe it do not preach it until you have taken it up into yourself as the wick takes up the oil. So only can you be a burning and a shining light.”
Amen and Amen.
LIFE ON THE ALTAR 