OIL AS A TYPE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

W.Dickson

Matthew 25: 1-13; Deuteronomy 33: 24-25; Psalm 133

It would be accepted that what we have freely spoken together about this afternoon would depend upon the blessed Spirit of God having a very real place with us. In the matter of the presence of the Spirit, our dispensation is of course different from the dispensation that we read of together in Revelation. I am increasingly impressed, beloved brethren, that we need to consider and, if I may use the word, exploit the great resources there are in the Spirit, if we are to be in the full enjoyment of God's thoughts for us. A Christianity which does not carry with it joy is not according to the mind of God. The matter of joy enters into the glad tidings, enters into every feature of assembly life and assembly service. Joy in the Holy Spirit is a characteristic feature of all these. The presence of the Spirit also involves reality with persons, to offset the tendency with, I dare say, every person to accumulate things mentally, to be well-versed in the terms of Scripture and of the ministry that God gives His people; but what we have to come back to is that the Holy Spirit imparts reality to us in relation to these things. Perhaps the youngest one amongst us will be aware that oil in Scripture is one of the types of the Holy Spirit. There are many types of the Spirit in Scripture, such as water, wine, and fire, and yet this type of the oil is something very attractive and something that I feel is spiritually appropriate at the present time. The oil spoken of is olive oil. It is not the oil that man exploits from underground or undersea resources, and which is the cause of the current crisis in this world - though God put that oil there - but this is the oil of the olive-tree. In other words it is a product of a growth full of spiritual meaning.

In this passage in Matthew 25, the issue is the possession of the oil. There were five foolish virgins and five prudent virgins, and it was the possession of the oil that was the determining factor. I want to ask myself, as I would lay the challenge on every heart here, have you got oil in your vessels? Has everybody in this room at this time, got oil in their vessels? If not, this scripture teaches us that to be without oil is just profession. You say, 'How can I be in fellowship and be just a professor? The thing is unthinkable’. But it is not unthinkable. The Spirit of God or the Lord Jesus Himself is raising the question with every one of us, 'Have you got oil in your vessel?' You say, 'Well, I'm rightly and happily in fellowship; I subscribe without qualification to what is held amongst the brethren; I accept the ministry regarding the addressing of the Holy Spirit. I'm fully with the issues that were raised in regard to associations'. Beloved brethren, have we got oil in our vessels? That is the point. Have we got oil in our vessels?

I just turn to Galatians. This shows what, I think, the oil means. In chapter 5, verse 22, it says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, selfcontrol". Beloved brethren, have we got oil in our vessels? The fruit of the Spirit is the oil that keeps the light of our torch burning brightly, otherwise we are just professors. The Spirit of God, time after time, comes in with a vitalising touch, and we have experienced it. We can look back on recent history, perhaps, and there has been a demonstration of that, but, as in this case, it is the continued absence of Christ that tests us, and we may slumber and sleep. We can go on with a profession, can go on outwardly in fellowship, and yet not have the oil in our vessels. These virgins apparently allowed their supply to run out. They had some to start with. I suppose we all had some to start with. I think every true believer in his or her time, had a supply of oil, but the supply has perhaps run out. Have we replenished the oil supply for our vessels - these things that Galatians speaks of - fidelity, love, long-suffering, such things? Beloved brethren, that is what Christianity means. That is what being in fellowship means, and I use that word 'fellowship' intentionally, because it means that you have oil in your vessel and you are not just a professor, but are in the thing livingly. Persons with oil in their vessels go in to the wedding feast with the bridegroom. What joy! These five foolish virgins were sorely tested when their lamps went out. Has your lamp ever gone out? Is it because of any deficiency in the Spirit that your lamp goes out? Surely not! Dear young people, are you as bright today as you were a year ago, or has the lamp gone out? If you draw upon the inexhaustible resources of the blessed Spirit of God, your lamp will not go out. These things - the fruit of the Spirit as Galatians speaks of it - draw upon these resources and prove that Christianity is not a profession but is a practical expression of the features of Christ in a company of God's people down here upon earth.

As to Deuteronomy, we cannot read chapter 33 but what we think and speak of Anna in the beginning of Luke's gospel. Anna was a remarkable woman. There is one thing I notice about her, that she shares a distinction with the Lord and the apostle Paul that nobody else shares. It says of the Lord that He was of the tribe of Judah and it says of Paul that he was of the tribe of Benjamin and it says of Anna that she was of the tribe of Asher. In the whole of the New Testament no other persons are signalised by the Spirit of God calling attention to the tribe that they came from. Judah, Benjamin and Asher, the Lord, Paul and Anna. I have no doubt the Spirit of God has in mind this wonderful passage in the 33rd chapter of Deuteronomy. It has a bearing, beloved brethren, on our local conditions. Through God's grace we are experiencing much in the way of fellowship and happiness at the present time, but how is it to be preserved? The oil is the great preservative. How are we going to be blessed with sons? How are we going to get increase? The oil is the answer to it. It says of Asher "let him dip his foot in oil". I understand that the allusion is to the fact that his inheritance was so fertile, that everywhere he put his foot down, it landed in a patch of oil. Is that Edinburgh? Is that Grangemouth? Does the Spirit of Christ flow to such an extent that no matter where you put your foot down, you put it in oil? How blessed, beloved brethren, to have fertile conditions in our localities where the olive tree can grow. We do not want our localities like arid deserts, where every time you put your foot down you put it into the sand. Asher dipped his foot in oil. I think Philippi was like that. Paul speaks of these lovely conditions at Philippi. I think that in Philippi they dipped their foot in oil. That blessed expression of the Spirit of Jesus manifested itself at Philippi. When Paul spoke in the Philippian epistle about these sisters, Euodia and Syntyche, he brought in the oil. I understand that when you are pressing olives for oil, you must do it softly and gently. Oh what a word that is, beloved brethren, in our localities! If you want the oil, you have to proceed softly and gently in the Spirit of Jesus. That was what Paul did at Philippi. The tribe of Asher, so to speak, was in that local company and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ was flowing amongst the brethren.

It also says, "Iron and brass shall be thy bolts". Oh, you say, that is not softly and gently! Beloved brethren, right conditions are the surest way of strengthening the position regarding the principles of administration. The surest way to see that the Lord's rights are maintained, and that divine principles in administration are maintained, is to ensure the fertility of the inheritance and the flow of oil amongst the brethren. It says "Iron and brass shall be thy bolts"; in other words, the gates are protected. It means that the power of the Spirit of God is so affecting the brethren that the whole position is protected. And we need this principle of protection these days. We want to see that the inheritance of God is protected. It says "Iron and brass shall be thy bolts". In other words the gates are protected against the intrusion of everything that militates against the enjoyment of the inheritance. It also says "And thy rest as thy days". Anna proved this. She lived till she was over 100 years old (J.T. N.S. Vol.56 page 4). It just proves that the oil spiritually is the greatest life-giving factor that you can get. Do you want to see healthy brethren, do you want to see brethren enjoying the service of God? Well, let us see to the fertility, the growth of the olive-tree and the abundance of the oil amongst us that makes the inheritance, so to speak, a delightful place to live in. Asher's name means 'happiness'. The assembly is a wonderful place. These meetings here this afternoon are wonderful in that it is a relief to get away from the gloom outside. Do you not feel that way? There is a world of gloom outside - and to come into the assembly is to find a place flowing with oil. You dip your feet in it and have a sense that you are in the sphere of eternal life. It lifts your heart, lifts your spirit, and gives you to prove that God has brought you into something by faith in the Person of Christ which is greater than what this poor world has to offer. Oh, if we could get our young people touched by these things! The world is a poor empty place but the assembly is a place of divine joy, happiness, and peace.

So in Psalm 133, we have one of the Songs of degrees - in the ascent and it says, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" That is the territory of Asher. "Together in unity". It is like "the precious oil upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, upon Aaron's beard, that ran down to the hem of his garments". I think, beloved brethren, that that is an allusion to the general situation amongst the brethren at the present time. That is how it lies in my mind. In the old economy in which the high priest functioned it would mean that his head was saturated with the oil. It was saturated. And then as being saturated, it flowed down over his beard and right down to the hem of his garments. My simple impression of these verses is of what the Lord is doing at the present time generally although we would be marked by humility on account of the breakdown. The oil is flowing from that blessed Man on high, and the effect of it is reaching down to every place. The oil is flowing, the saturation is coming down from Christ, saturating the whole position right down to the hem of His garments. "How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" Let us be thankful not only for local unity, but thankful for general unity at the present time, amongst the brethren with whom we walk, through grace. The responsibility is on us, beloved brethren, to see that our feet are dipped in oil all the time, facilitating grace of movement amongst the brethren and defeating any attempt by the enemy to spoil the inheritance and what is for the pleasure of God.

It then reads "As the dew of Hermon that descendeth on the mountains of Zion". The dew is a gentle touch. I would plead with the brethren to understand the force of gentleness in Christianity, whether in personal matters with one another or in what stands related to the administration of divine principles when the Lord's rights have to be maintained. The assembly is a great sphere of salvation, "life for evermore". Moral death reigns in this world, but our young people should increasingly feel the warmth of affection in the Christian circle, and see the difference between the world they face day by day and what they come into as they come to the gatherings of the saints.

"There Jehovah commanded the blessing, life for evermore". I like that word "commanded". God says that this is the due reward of brethren who are exercised before God to keep the unity of the Spirit. Let us be exercised to do it. Let us prove what the power of the Spirit is as it flows from Christ down to the hem of the garments. Let us know something of the gentleness of the dew, the softness of it affecting our spirits and then Jehovah commands the blessing as much as to say, 'I love that land; I love the people that are in that land; My appreciation of it is that I command the blessing, life for evermore'. We have had a touch of that today, beloved brethren, a touch of eternal life. That is a great compensation, to leave the world outside and get a touch of eternal life. May God prosper us in His service for His own pleasure on the coming day, Amen.

GRANGEMOUTH

15 December 1973