Fresh Grace Confidently Expected

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JULY 20, 1873,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"I shall be anointed with fresh oil." Psalm 92:10.

DAVID IS very positive. He does not say, "I hope I shall be anointed
with fresh oil and I have a pleasing expectation that it may be so."
But he speaks of his future as absolutely certain–"I shall be anointed
with fresh oil." Nor will it appear at all wonderful that he should be
so positive if you read the Psalm, for his subject there is the
ever-living and all-sufficient God. And when we get near to God we get
into the region of positive certainty. While we depend upon man we are
in the realm of, "maybe," and, "hope," and, "perhaps"–but when we come
to rest in God we are far removed from everything that is of chance and
conjecture. Our God is the God of Truth and Righteousness. "He is my
rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him."

Man is but a treacherous quicksand where confidence is shipwrecked, but
the Lord is a haven of security. We do well neither to boast in
ourselves nor to place our reliance on the promises of our fellow
creatures. But we may wisely boast in the great "I AM," and rest our
souls securely upon His Word and His love. He can neither change nor
fail. "He is not a man that He should lie, nor the son of man that He
should repent." David, therefore, felt quite at his ease about the
future. He felt certain that God, who had given him a measure of Grace,
would give him more Grace. He entertained no suspicion that God's great
resources would run out, or that God would withhold them from His own.
He says, "I shall be anointed with fresh oil."

Beloved, let us draw near to God and so let us drink at the wellhead
which can never be dried up. Let us give up looking to the broken
cisterns which do but mock us and let us turn to the inexhaustible deep
which lies under, which is always ready to overflow for our need. Let
us think, at this time of the confidence of David and we shall remark
upon it thus. First, it was a confidence full of meaning–"I shall be
anointed with fresh oil," is a most expressive utterance. Secondly, it
was a confidence exceedingly well-grounded. Thirdly, it was a
confidence which calmed his fear. And fourthly, it excited his hopes.
And in the last place, if we possess it, it is a confidence which will
lead us to pity those who are destitute of it.

I. THE CONFIDENCE HERE EXPRESSED IS FULL OF MEANING. What did he intend
by saying, "I shall be anointed with fresh oil"? He meant, first, that
his strength should be renewed. It was a common belief among the
Orientals that anointing with oil added to a man's vigor. They regarded
it as the symbol of renewed strength. So David felt and knew that God
would, whenever it was required, renew his strength. Times of weakness
will happen to us all. A great strain may be put upon us and we may
become exhausted. Or, under severe depression of spirit, we may imagine
ourselves to be ready to die. But at all such times God will supply
strength to us–our extremity will be His opportunity–our time of
famine will be His hour of plenty.

Is not His strength made perfect in weakness? Is it not written that
"He gives power to the faint, and to them that have no might He
increases strength"? David sung in the 103rd Psalm, "He satisfies my
mouth with good things; so that my youth is renewed like the eagle's,"
and he expected it always to be so. "He restores my soul," he says in
the 23rd Psalm. Often do his Psalms, which commence in painful
depression, conclude with exultation because heavenly love had poured
fresh life into his swooning soul. From many a soul-sickness had the
son of Jesse been recovered. From many a sinking had he been lifted up
into holy joy. He here expresses his conviction that the Lord would
always deal thus graciously with him. Expect this, then, my Brothers
and Sisters, that God will give you new strength as you shall require
it. "As your days, so shall your strength be." "He gives more Grace."
Go to Him in the time of your weakness, in the confidence of this
text–"I shall be anointed with fresh oil."

David meant, in the second place, that he should be afresh assured of
the Divine favor. To anoint a man with oil was a token of his welcome
to your house. His feet were washed that he might be refreshed and then
the notable guest, worthy of special honor, was anointed with perfumed
nard. So David says that as he had received tokens of Divine favor
before, he should receive them yet again. O Beloved, you know what it
is to revel in the smiles of God and find a Heaven in His manifested
love! You have basked in the sunlight of your Father's love many a time
and felt an ecstasy such as worldlings cannot imagine! Has not the Lord
been pleased to make the name of Jesus to your souls "like ointment
poured forth"? Oftentimes has He brought you into His banqueting house
and His banner over you has been love. He has made for you a feast of
fat things, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees
well-refined.

You look back upon these seasons with inexpressible delight and perhaps
at this moment you are saying, "Oh, that it were with me as in months
past." Pluck up courage, my Brothers and Sisters–you shall be
"anointed with fresh oil." There are more tokens of love awaiting you.
Further signs of your Master's love shall be afforded you. You need not
cry with Esau, "Have you but one blessing? Bless me, even me, O my
Father," for the Lord abounds in blessings and He delights to bestow
them upon His Beloved. Yes, there are even richer mercies yet to come!
The past, though full of blessedness, shall be eclipsed by the happy
future. David had the favor of God as a shepherd boy. He found it anew
as a warrior and he had yet other tokens when he became king in Israel.
Every favor received is a pledge of more to follow.

Dawn is the earnest of noon. Within the sacred circle of fellowship to
which you have already penetrated, there is a holy of holies of yet
closer communion and there you shall soon enter. "Friend, come up
higher," is your Lord's sweet invitation. Have faith and be of good
cheer, for you shall see greater things than these. You shall be
baptized again into the Holy Spirit. You shall receive anew the spirit
of adoption and your joy shall be full. Therefore lift up your head.

But again, David meant that he should be confirmed in his estate. It is
noteworthy that David was anointed three times. First of all by Samuel,
in prospect of his ultimately becoming king. A second time by the men
of Judah, when he reigned over a part of the nation. And a third time
at Hebron, when the whole Israelite nation came together and David was
solemnly elected to be their king. Perhaps he remembered this, and
looking upon those various anointings as confirmations of his kingly
state, he felt that God would yet further confirm him upon his throne
all his days. Many were the rebellions against David's authority, but
they were all futile. When his throne was shaken by his rebellious son,
Absalom, and his government almost annihilated, yet God restored him to
the throne again, and in fact, anointed him once more.

Now this day, Beloved, you and I, who are Believers in Jesus, are kings
and priests unto God. But if Satan could do it, he would soon bring our
kingdom and priesthood to an end. He is plotting and devising by all
manner of means to work our destruction. But it is written, "You
maintain My lot." The great Keeper of our Head is one who can never be
overcome. The Lord, who has set us on the throne with His Son, will
neither suffer His Son nor us to be driven from it. The Lord reigns and
while the Lord reigns His people shall also reign. "Because I live, you
shall live, also," is the Word of Jesus, and upon that Word He has
caused our souls to hope. He will confirm you again, my Brothers and
Sisters, in your sonship. He will make you again to say, "Abba,
Father," with an unfaltering tongue. He will confirm you in your
position as a member of His body. He will make you feel that the
anointing of the Head is still descending upon you and you shall thus
rejoice again and again in full assurance that what God has made you,
you shall be even to the end. Thus, again, you see, the Lord anoints
His people with fresh oil, by confirming them in their estate.

Furthermore, David meant that he should be qualified for his office by
the bestowal of fresh Grace. This was, no doubt, the meaning of the
anointing of a king. It was the type and token of his receiving royal
wisdom and authority. So, too, in the anointing of a priest, it was the
symbol of the Spirit of God being given to him that he might discharge
his sacred office. David felt that he should frequently need to be
taught of God, guided, enlightened and instructed, so that he might, as
king and leader in Israel, act rightly. Therefore he says, "I shall be
anointed with fresh oil." Beloved, this is a very sweet confidence for
us. If you are a minister of the Gospel you will have a thousand times
for feeling yourself to be incompetent. And you might well throw down
the staff of your pastorate and leave work if you were not sure that
your sufficiency is of God.

In such work as the instruction of the young, the visitation of the
sick and the reclaiming of the fallen, or whatever it is that God has
called you to, you will frequently tremble as you discover, more and
more, your own unfitness to be used of God. But this will be
counterbalanced by learning more and more the Divine faithfulness. Do
not relinquish your

work because of your feebleness, for you shall be anointed with fresh
oil! Do you need wisdom? Ask it of the Lord, for He gives liberally. Do
you need a warm and zealous spirit? Are you conscious of growing cold?
Some drops of His dear love falling into your heart will set it on a
blaze and make you as earnest as you would desire. Do you need more
power in prayer? Go to Him who understood the art of wrestling on the
mountainside at midnight and He will teach you how to pray. Is there
anything you lack in order to the full discharge of the ministry to
which God has called you? Wait upon the Lord for it with unwavering
faith and He will grant it to you, and you "shall be anointed with
fresh oil."

Once more, I think David meant that he should also have new cause for
delight. Anointing with oil was intended to give pleasure. The element
of joy in religion is looked upon with indifference by some, but they
are unwise. There are some, nowadays, who would like to strike out
everything from mortal life which gives pleasure. We have societies,
now, which are anti to every mortal thing that is pleasant and
agreeable. And if there remains one solitary enjoyment to mortal men in
this vale of tears which has not some society opposed to it, I have no
doubt some genius will commence a crusade against it tomorrow. The
theory is that all wholesome things are nasty and that all
gratifications are deadly. I wonder they do not make the parish pump
run with wormwood tea and paint the meadows a dun color.

Then, when we have abstained from all that is either beautiful or
agreeable and reduced ourselves to the condition of the savage who eats
acorns and lives in a cave, we shall have climbed somewhat near
perfection. Now I do not believe in this theory for ordinary life, much
less for spiritual life. Men used, of old, to anoint the heads of their
guests to give them pleasure and they were never blamed for it. And the
Lord intends that His people should have the richest pleasures in their
souls. He is the happy God and would have those round about Him happy.
He never intended this world to be a great workhouse, a vast
drill-shed, or a convict settlement so arranged that labor should
banish joy and a crushing sense of subjection should chase away love.
He has made this world to be a happy lodging for His dear children till
He shall call them Home. And He has provided for their delight many
enjoyments, lawful and commendable, beneficial and spiritual.

I believe the Lord intended His people to be the happiest people under
the sun. When I see certain of them repining, complaining, fretting,
worrying and calling that state of mind, "experience," I pray, "Lord,
save me from that experience, and give me to have Your joy fulfilled in
me." Our Lord Jesus was sorrowful, not as our example, but as our
Substitute. He was put to grief that we might be joyous. He bore our
load that we might have no load to carry. He was full of cares for us,
that we might have no care but might rejoice in Him all our days. "Let
the children of Zion be joyful in their King." "Rejoice in the Lord
always, and again I say, Rejoice." The atmosphere we breathe should be
fragrant with thankful joy. Like flowers, we ought to load each breeze
with the sweet perfume of holy gratitude.

We which have believed do enter into rest, and in that rest we discover
new joys each day. The banks of the river, the streams which make glad
the city of God are not dark with weeping willows, or dreary with a
jungle of thorns and thistles, but they are lovely with the rose of
Sharon and the lilies of the valley! And among their shady groves the
righteous lie down at peace and sing their song of loves touching their
Well-Beloved. Yes, we did rejoice, we have rejoiced, and we mean to
rejoice again! "I shall be anointed with fresh oil."

Put all those five thoughts together and you have a great text before
you, too big for me to preach from, but it may furnish you with many a
theme for thought. It is a bough with many clusters–eat thereof and be
glad!

II. THE CONFIDENCE OF OUR TEXT IS WELL-GROUNDED because it is grounded
upon God. We could not

reckon upon having supplies all our lives if we depended upon the
granaries of Egypt, or upon the storehouses of the wealthiest of the
land. But when we rest in God we may boast ourselves as we may. I stood
the other day, as you have often done, by a spring, pleased to see it
constantly bubble up with cool, refreshing water. One who came there to
fetch water for her house, said to me, "It is always the same, Sir,
always the same. I never knew the sharpest frost to freeze it, or the
most burning summer to dry it. The stream is equally full at all times
in the year."

This was very different from a fountain which I often pass, which more
than half the year bears the notice, "This drinking fountain is closed
during the winter." And very different from those brooks in our own and
other lands which live upon the rains and therefore do not contain a
drop of water in time of drought. Why does the spring always remain the
same? Because it has tapped the great fountains. There is a deep that
couches beneath. There are vast secret reservoirs in the heart of the
earth and if you can set these abroach you are sure of a perpetual
supply. Many a man has his water laid on, as it were, from the water
company–his dependence is on man–and therefore it fails him. Or he
depends on the circumstances which surround him and therefore he finds
his confidence to be as a deceitful brook. But if you live upon

God and say, "All my fresh springs are in You," you have tapped the
eternal deep, and you never need be afraid of drought. You shall drink
draughts of living water–you shall be anointed with oil.

Beloved, it is a grand thing to be thrown flat on God, however hard the
fall! It is a glorious thing to hang upon the eternal arm with nothing
else to hold you up. Just as yon unpillared arch of Heaven never starts
or quivers, notwithstanding that it is without a buttress, so does
faith, when it is built on God, stand gloriously serene in its mighty
strength. "Trust you in the Lord, and do good; so shall you dwell in
the land, and verily you shall be fed." We are quite sure of fresh
supplies because of our union to Christ. Every Christian is a part of
Christ, for we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.
Now there can be no fear that my little finger will not be supplied so
long as the head is nourished. If the head shall have sufficient
nutriment, so shall the meanest member of the body and because we are
one with Christ we shall therefore receive daily Grace.

Christ was anointed with the Holy Spirit above measure and the sacred
oil descends to the very skirts of His garments. And because, without
measure, the Spirit rests upon Him, therefore every one of us who
belong to Him shall be anointed with fresh oil. Why does the branch of
the tree expect to live? It sends out no roots into the earth. It makes
no search for nourishment among the rocks and stones. No, but the
branch expects to live because the sap flows into the stem and from the
stem to itself. And we expect Grace because it pleased the Father that
in Him should all fullness dwell. Oh, if we had a pinched and
starveling Christ, we might expect to run short! But with One in whom
dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, bodily we can have no cause for
fear. If I have such a Christ as this, I must be anointed with fresh
oil!

Again, we have another reason. We must have fresh Grace because the
Holy Spirit dwells in us. It was a good day for the poor widow of
Zarephath upon which Elijah came to live with her. If I had been in her
place I should have felt that I was safe enough, for if God did not
think of me He would think of Elijah, and if Elijah lived in my house
and went shares with me, I should not need to cry over that little meal
in the barrel or that drop of oil in the cruse. I should feel, "Since
Elijah lives with me, I shall share with Elijah. Elijah's God will take
care of him, and I shall be taken care of also." O child of God, who is
it that lives in your body along with you? Know you not that your
bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit? And while the Holy Spirit
lives within shall there ever be famine in the soul? Shall the cruse of
oil fail? Shall the barrel of meal be entirely empty while the Holy
Spirit is in us? It cannot be! Beloved, how many forget that precious
doctrine of the indwelling of the Spirit in every Believer. And yet, if
we did but realize it, we should feel that while He who is the
anointing oil dwells in our hearts, we must be anointed with fresh oil.
There can be no fear about that.

Moreover, look at the promises of God's Word and they will, at once,
assure us that we shall have fresh supplies of Grace according to our
need. You do not need that I quote them to you this morning–they are
legion–but I will tell you what I experienced, myself, in reference to
those promises. They are to me a gradual Revelation. Not but what they
are all in the Book, now, but I cannot realize and grasp, and
understand them except by degrees. I find a promise exactly suitable
for me today, but there is another. I love it and bless God for it
already, but I cannot get the sweetness of it today, it is reserved for
days to come. I shall find it open to me tomorrow. Another is laid up
for me in six months' time and another in five years' time. The
promises are fruits laid up to ripen in time to come and as most fruits
become ripest and sweetest in the winter, so have we found that God's
promises have a peculiar mellowness in our times of distress and
affliction, such a sweetness as we did not perceive in the summer days
of our prosperity.

The train which starts from London to go to the North continues to
traverse the distance day by day–how is it supplied with water? Why,
there are trenches between the rails in several different places and
from these the engine drinks as it rushes along its iron pathway. It is
supplied as it runs! That is just what our heavenly Father has done for
you. You are just like an engine on the road to Heaven and between here
and Heaven there are many stores of Grace awaiting you. You will take
up fresh water without slacking your speed and so will be able to keep
on to your journey's end. To use another illustration, when the Eastern
nations used to trade across the desert in the olden times, in
Solomon's days for instance, there were stations built, wells sunk and
provisions stored at convenient halting places, so that the caravans
might pause and take in fresh provisions. The caravans reached their
journey's end because the long way was broken up by a series of resting
places. Now, the promises are resting places for us between here and
Heaven. There is a long line of them at well-ordered intervals and as
we journey through this desert world we shall be constantly coming,
first to one, and then to another, and then another, and another, and
so we shall find fresh provision stored up that we may not fail.

The manna will fall daily till we come to Canaan. The promises of God
are so numerous that we are sure we "shall be anointed with fresh oil."

Once more, Beloved, up till now our experience has proved that we shall
be anointed with fresh oil because we have been so anointed many a time
already. I appeal to you who have gone for many years forward in the
pathway where Jesus leads you. Have you not known many times of
refreshing from the Presence of the Lord? You have had times of great
depression, for changes are appointed us as long as we are here. Men
may promise themselves they shall never see a change, but they are
greatly mistaken. David said, "My mountain stands firm. I shall never
be moved," but in a very little time he sang another hymn. When I hear
Brothers and Sisters so very confident that they shall never doubt
again, I am reminded of a story I have heard of the olden times, when a
young gentleman who had never traveled before went over Hounslow Heath
and was accosted by another gentleman who rode by his side, and joined
in an interesting conversation.

Our friend said at last, "I have always been told by my father that
this is a very dangerous heath, but the old gentleman, I think, was
exceedingly nervous, for we have come all this way without being
molested by highwaymen." "Yes," said the other, "but now is the time
for you to stop and deliver." And he clapped his pistol to his ear. It
often happens, when we say, "I shall have no more temptations," that
our very confidence is, in itself, a temptation! O yes, there have been
times of sore trial, but the Lord has appeared for us. Up to this
moment not one good thing has failed of all that the Lord God has
promised–

"Thus far we prove the promise good Which Jesus ratified with blood."

We have no fault to find with our God. Jehovah Jireh, the Lord has
provided to this day. In the mount of the Lord shall it be seen. Up to
now, the Lord has helped us. Well, then, if He has done so up till now,
so will He, for He is an unchangeable God. Therefore let us be assured
that we "shall be anointed with fresh oil."

III. THIS CONFIDENCE CALMS ALL OUR FEARS. Sometimes, when we are not
quite as we should be, we are

filled with fear on account of our soul poverty. What a poor thing I
am. How little Grace I have. How weak in prayer. How slow in service.
How frequently depressed. How easily tossed to and fro. How shall I
hope to hold on to the end? Where is the answer to it–"I shall be
anointed with fresh oil." I am poor, but I shall receive my daily
pension. I am weak and I have no strength in reserve, but my strength
is laid up in God!

Imagine two Israelites talking together one day, and one of them says
to the other, "Your cupboard seems to be very empty, I fear you are
imprudent." "But," says the other, "do you know we gathered this
morning an omer full of manna and it exactly supplied my family. I have
a wife and a troop of boys with mighty appetites and very soon the omer
which had been full was empty, but we look for more tomorrow." "Nothing
in the house?" said the other. "Do you not feel distressed?" "No, not
at all." "Why not?" "Because I believe the manna will fall tomorrow
morning and that there will be just as much as I shall need, so that I
have no need to lay by any in store."

"Very imprudent," said the other. "I believe we ought to make hay while
the sun shines. If you will come to my house, I will show you the good
stock of manna which I have carefully laid by." "No," said the other,
"I do not care to see it just now. But I will tell you what I will do,
I will come down tomorrow at dinner time and see it." So the man
gathered in the morning his own fresh manna and his family was
satisfied with it and delighted. And after they had eaten, he said, "I
will go down and see my rich friend's manna. He was much better off
last night than I was." He goes to his friend's door, but his friend
does not seem pleased to see him. "I have come to see your manna that
you stored up so carefully."

But the other blushes and admits that he has none to show. "Why not?"
his friend enquires. "Well, the fact is, I do not want you to come into
my tent at all. I must come forth from it myself. There is a most
detestable smell all through the tent. I had to take away the manna and
bury it, for it bred worms and stank." "Ah," said the other, "then,
after all, I did well to live upon daily manna and to have no stock in
hand. And you did foolishly to lay by a store." Now there may be some
professors here who want to feel that they are strong enough for
tomorrow, or that they have Grace enough for next week–they want to
have such a proportion of Divine strength given them that they shall
feel confident about themselves for years to come. All that will breed
worms and stink–all human confidence, glory and pride must rot!

But if you remain a poor sinner and nothing at all, daily depending on
the bounty of God, you will have Grace from Heaven fresh and fresh,
smelling of the hand which gives it every morning. Beloved, it calms
our fears about our poverty

when we remember that the granary of Heaven is not exhausted and that
as each morning breaks we shall find the dew of Grace lying about our
tent. This also removes our fears concerning violent temptations. We
must, all of us, have felt afraid of being tempted. We are taught to
pray, "Lead us not into temptation." Sometimes our unbelief says, "If I
am tempted in a certain way I shall certainly perish."

My Brothers and Sisters, you should remember that you will be anointed
with fresh oil! When the temptation comes there will be a way of escape
for you. What a happy circumstance it is for Christians that it is not
often that the temptation and the opportunity come together. Have not
you noticed that when wrong desires stir in your mind, they come to you
at times when you cannot carry them out? And at other times when you
have the opportunity to sin fairly before you, you have no desire for
it whatever! That is often a way of escape for God's people. Do not be
distressed about temptations. There will be such in this world. Lay
hold on the shield of your faith and you shall be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the Wicked One.

But it may be you are afraid not merely of temptation, but of
backsliding, and that is a very blessed fear, but do not let it depress
you, for you will be anointed with fresh oil. If you had to keep
yourself, you would certainly perish. If you had to sustain your own
spiritual vigor, it would not be long before you would faint. But since
you depend upon God and He has to preserve you, He will not suffer you
to leave Him. Or if for a while you should depart from His way, He will
bring your wandering heart back and set you in the King's highway once
more. Or it is possible you are afraid of some great and grievous
affliction. I know dear Sisters who are aware that a certain disease is
upon them which will one day come to such a point that either there
will be a painful operation or else they may die.

Dear Sisters, do not fret about it. You have not sufficient strength
for what is coming, but you will be anointed with fresh oil! Nobody
needs tomorrow's Grace today. When you are only up to your ankles in
trouble you do not require the Grace which you will have when you are
up to your neck in it. You shall have Grace in proportion. You shall
have ballast for your sail, and sail for your ballast, for He is a good
Captain who intends to steer you into port. Do not be cast down,
therefore. Some of us, it may be, have been troubled about the future
death of some dear one upon whom we depend, or whose life is very
precious to us. We have buried them a hundred times over in our fears.
Let us remember that when the trouble comes it will be time enough for
us to be cast down by it–no, we shall not be cast down–for God, who
helps those who are cast down, will comfort us. "I shall be anointed
with fresh oil."

And perhaps, dear Brothers or Sisters, you have entered upon a new
state of sorrow. You wear today the name of widow, which you never wore
before. Or, you are now called an orphan for the first time. In this
new state resort to God to be anointed with fresh oil! He who made you
a good wife will help you to bear well the trial of losing your
husband. He who made you a dutiful child will be a Father to you and
help you to sustain the position of an orphan well. You shall be
anointed with fresh oil whenever affliction comes. I feel as if I could
sit down now and say to myself, "Cheer up, Heart, cheer up. Whatever
ails you, you shall be anointed with fresh oil. Look into the
future–no, do not care to look into it–do not wish to look into the
book of fate and see–

'What gloomy lines wait for you, Or what bright scenes arise.'

You shall be anointed with fresh oil." This is a heavenly forecast of
our nativity. We shall be anointed with fresh oil right to the end of
our journey and when death comes, if come it ever shall–for Christ may
come and we may not die–we shall be anointed with fresh oil!

Very wonderful is the way in which God takes His people to Himself! Two
good men have lately gone to Heaven in a manner which rebuked their own
prayers. They were taught in their Church to say, and did say twice
every Sunday for more than 50 years, "Lord, deliver us from sudden
death." Dear good men, the Lord knew it was a stupid prayer and Mr.
Robert Aitken, who had for many years served his Lord, fell down dead
on the railway platform and Mr. Pennefather dropped from his chair into
Heaven! The Lord seemed to say to them, "Why did you ask Me to save you
from sudden death? It was the best for you and I gave it to you."

To die in the pulpit preaching–to go straight from testifying about
Christ below to seeing Him above–what better thing could be desired?!
Do not be afraid of dying–either you will be taken away gently,
perhaps in your very sleep, and will never know you died at all–or, if
you have to lie a little while and linger, you will be anointed with
fresh oil and you will turn your dying bed into a chariot of fire! You
will be transfigured there in the presence of your family

and they will wonder that the Grace of God could do such great things
for a poor, weak, trembling mortal. "I shall be anointed with fresh
oil."

IV. Now I must pass over the next point very briefly–THIS ASSURANCE
TENDS TO RAISE OUR HOPES. We

tremble lest we should not hold on to the end, but now we know we shall
be anointed with fresh oil we are filled with hope. Sometimes, when we
meet with Believers who are full of Grace, full of patience, full of
courage, full of zeal, full of love, we say, "I can never get where
they are." Yes, we can, for we shall be anointed with fresh oil and if
we obtain fresh Grace there is no place of eminence we cannot reach.
What Abraham was, what David was, what Isaiah was, what Paul was, we
may be. There is nothing in the whole range of Christian attainment
from which we are debarred.

This raises our hope for useful service. Perhaps we have not done much
for the Lord yet, or, having done something in our youth, are growing
dull now and do not honor Him as we once did. Come, we won't give up
and say, "I shall never serve the Lord," but we will rejoice that we
shall be anointed with fresh oil! We have seen trees bear very little
fruit for years, but they will have a splendid year, by-and-by, and
then they will be loaded with fruit. Sometimes an old tree feels dead
and yet at the scent of water it does bud and bring forth fruit once
more. So some of you may be like a dry, barren tree, but the Lord means
to visit you and you shall bring forth fruit to His name. I would say
to every Brother here who is conscious that he has neglected a great
deal of what he ought to have done and has not been as useful as he
should, "Come, Brother, mend your ways and have good hope of brighter
times to come for you shall be anointed with fresh oil."

Once more, this gives us hope of the fullest fellowship with Christ.
Where John was when he leaned his head on His Master's bosom, I may be.
Where Mary was when she sat at the Master's feet, I may be, if "I shall
be anointed with fresh oil." Come, lift up your heads, you birds of
Heaven! Do not sit moping! Lift up your heads, I say, and look the sun
in the face, the glorious Sun of Righteousness, and rise with all your
wings towards Him. He will bear you up! He will draw you to Himself!
Does He not even now attract you by His own superlative beauties? "Come
with Me from Lebanon, My Spouse," says He, "with Me from Lebanon: look
from the top of Amana." Up, up Christian! Higher, higher, higher! The
Lord will help you, He will give you new strength and the highest place
of devotion, the loftiest elevation of piety shall be attained by you.

V. Lastly, THIS MAKES US FEEL GREAT PITY FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT HOPE TO
BE ANOINTED

WITH FRESH OIL. And such are all who are destitute of faith. You have
your choice. You who do not believe in the unseen, you have your choice
in the seen things which you can see and hear. They are before you and
you are very fond of them, and you think they fill your spirit. So they
may for the present, but there are evil times coming. The young man's
youth will not last forever. Eyes grow dim, as every old man will tell
you. The joys of youth will not come to your rescue then! The
remembrance of those early joys, as past and gone forever, will only
make your cup more bitter.

And going down gradually to your grave, discontented and fretful,
striving, still, to gratify passions for which you have no strength.
Looking again to broken cisterns and finding only a little mud at the
bottom where once you found what you thought crystal waters, you will
begin to cry out for fresh comforts. But you will not find them. It is
a blessed thing to be so rich that there is no end to your wealth and
nobody can say that but a Christian! It is a blessed thing to have a
stream at your feet which will never fail–and nobody has such a river
but a Christian!

If you believe in God, God is yours and all that your soul can ever
need is treasured up in the Infinite God, for life, for death, for
judgment, for eternity. Without God you are naked, poor and miserable
already in the highest sense, but what will you be hereafter? Oh, the
poverty of a man who lives without Christ! But oh, the poverty of the
man who dies without Christ! Oh, the utter, utter poverty of a man who
will live throughout eternity without Christ! He is a naked soul and
the blasts of wrath shall smite upon him without pause. He is a thirsty
soul–oh, how he thirsts! But no drop of consolation will ever come to
him.

He is a crushed and broken soul, but there is no one to heal his broken
heart, nor stanch his ghastly wounds. He is forever destroyed and
banished from the Presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.
And to that destruction no restoration can ever come! To that agony no
relief! To that death no resurrection! Today Christ is to be had! Today
all that your soul needs is to be had! And to be had for nothing! To be
had for the asking! To be had for the accepting, for whoever believes
in Him receives Him, and so is saved–

"But if your ears refuse

The language of His Grace, And hearts grow hard like stubborn Jews,
That unbelieving race. The Lord in vengeance dressed, Will lift His
hand and swear, You that despised My promised rest Shall have no
portion there!" God grant it may not be so, for Jesus' sake. Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–Isaiah 40.
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A Welcome Discovery