[Every vessel that was anointed with that ointment, im- parted a sanctity to every thing with which it came in contact1. And thus, in like manner, every true Christian communicates to others, so far as his influence extends, the same divine principles which he himself has imbibed. As it was said of the Saviour, so may it be said of all the Lord's anointed, " Their garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia"1:" and wherever they come, they diffuse around them " the savour of the know- ledge of Christ." We cannot have a more complete idea of its efficacy, than the Corinthian Church, through the instrumen- tality of St. Paul, exhibited. In their unconverted state, many of them had been of a most abandoned character : yet, having drawn that character in all its most degraded forms, he says of them, " Such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our GWn." Only let the Spirit of God accompany the word to the hearts of men, and the day of Pentecost fully shews us what effects it will produce.]
I entreat you then, my brethren —
1. Seek the Holy Spirit for your own souls —
[There is " an unction of the Holy One," which every one of you may obtain, and which will operate upon you to your
complete salvation0 But I must guard you against
every counterfeit that may be mistaken for it. There is such a thing as enthusiasm: and it is by no means uncommon for persons to mistake some feelings or conceits of their own for the sanctifying influences of the Spirit of God. And I must warn you, that, as any person compounding for himself an ointment similar to that which was made for God was to be cut off from his people p, so a substitution of any thing in the place of God's Holy Spirit will infallibly issue in your destruction. You shall not however err, if you go to your great High- Priest, and ask for the Holy Spirit at his hands : for he has been anointed with " the Spirit without measure*1;" and the Spirit that has been poured so largely upon him shall " descend to the skirts of his garments r," and to the very meanest of all his members.]
2. Guard against every thing that may reflect dis- honour upon him —
[The high-priest under the Law was forbidden to display those feelings which were incident to common men, because " the crown of the anointing oil was upon him8." And you
1 vcr. 29. «» Ps. xlv. 8. n 1 Cor. vi. 9 — 11.
0 1 John ii. 20, 27. p ver. 32, 33. i John in. 34.
r Ps. cxxxiii. 2. s Lev. xxi. 10 — 12.