THE HEAVENLY RACE
By John Marvin Hames


FOREWORD

        In sending forth this booklet we do so with a prayer that the Holy Spirit, who blessed these
messages when delivered at camp meetings and revivals, will be pleased to put His seal on them
in printed form.

J. M. Hames
Greer, S.C.

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CONTENTS

1
The Heavenly Race

2
The Heavenly Dove

3
The Heavenly Anointing

4
God's Palm Tree Saints

5
The Sign of a Ripening Saint

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Chapter 1
THE HEAVENLY RACE

         "Wherefore seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay
aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race
that is set before us ... Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith: who for the joy that
was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
throne of God." Hebrews 12:1, 2.

        The above text is filled with some of the greatest truths to be found in the New Testament.
It gives scope to the play of the imagination; moreover, it fires the heart and stirs the emotional
nature. Here the Apostle Paul is using a familiar figure to make a spiritual application. The
Olympic games and races were well-known events to the general public. The word of God
compares the Christian life to a course -- a race to be run. You can readily see that a race suggests
intense earnestness. In walking, one may look around; in running a race, every muscle and nerve of
the body is brought into full play. The Christian life is not a mere picnic but is filled with great
zeal and earnestness.

        In this heavenly race that is set before us, there is a beginning and an end. Where is the
starting point? Since this race is for believers only the beginning must be outside the zone of sin. It
is where you and I receive divine life and are made partakers of the divine nature. Where is the
goal? The goal is at the end of the race. It is reached when we finish our course, lay aside our
armor, and take our place among the blood-washed throng on the other shore.

        Great preparations were made for Olympic races. The runner often practiced carrying
weights for days before the race came off, in order that in the race he might be light-footed, but he
never ran the race with these weights. In Paul's application of the illustration, some great facts are
stated. First, there is given to us an injunction telling us what to do: "... let us run with patience the
race that is set before us." There is also given an incentive ... seeing we also are compassed about
with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily
beset us ..." Another incentive is given us: "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith."
Run the race; rid yourself of the inward hindrance.

        In this passage there are two things which we are called upon to lay aside:

        I. We are to lay aside the sin which doth so easily beset us. That besetting sin is inbred sin.
You will hear people say that their besetting sin is a hot flashy temper; another will say his is
pride; still another thinks that his besetting sin is a weakness toward certain temptations. The
besetting sin is inbred sin -- the nest egg of all these other sins. In the twelfth chapter of Hebrews,
verse fifteen, the same writer calls this sin a root of bitterness. A tree sprouts, grows, is kept alive

from the main tap root. Just so inbred sin is the tap root of all such sins as anger, malice, pride,
jealousy, envy, and strife. Inbred sin is that sin which causes one to be unkind and say harsh things
to a child or a maid in the home. It is responsible for all the divisions in the church and home life.

        St. Paul also speaks of this besetting sin as the "body of sin." This does not refer to the
human body. If so, the Greek word "soma" would have been used. Instead we have the term "sarx"
which indicates the fleshly principle or carnal mind. On the Gulf of Mexico we are told of a
peculiar crab which, in time, will grow another leg to replace a destroyed member; however, no
more legs will grow if the body of the crab is destroyed. The "old man" is very deceitful and will
play dead only to rise up and give trouble later. "Inbred sin will not relinquish its hold on our
spiritual nature by mere hints or signs or resolutions. Do not think you can shout it out or frighten it
away by a few jumps. Carnality fastens its awful fangs on the human soul and grips the very fiber
of your being and buries its talons in the innermost part of your moral nature. It will never go until
the mighty power of God comes upon the soul and bids it to depart. If you are sanctified by the
Omnipotent energies of the Holy Ghost you will be freed from inbred sin."

        II. We are called upon to lay aside every weight. We are not only to get rid of "the sin," but
there are weights which hinder our progress in the Christian life. Let us notice some of the weights
which we are to lay aside. The spirit of discouragement is one weight. A heavy heart is its own
weight.. "There is something about the cherishing or brooding over sorrow that paralyzes all
religious power and activity. The heart freezes, the mind becomes dull, and the tongue stiffens, the
hands and feet feel like lead, and the life fairly stagnates." Let a preacher enter the pulpit with this
weight upon his soul, and he cannot be at his best for God. In spite of his efforts his spirit will
drop, and the congregation will go away unblessed and unfed. If we allow the spirit of gloom to
possess us, we will become lifeless and useless. On the other hand, if we keep filled with light,
love, and joy there will be inspiration, stimulus, push, and force in our life and message.

         Another weight is the spirit of criticism. "There is no disposition of the soul which more
quickly and completely destroys the flavor of holy love than the spirit of criticism. The critical
spirit eats out, like a burning acid, the very sweetness of spiritual life. There is a mysterious
quality of heart-gentleness and mental and soul-sweetness in a truly crucified believer, which
cannot be defined. It is a thousand times beyond mere sanctification orthodoxy. It is the breath of
Jesus in the heart, the vapor from the River of Life, the perfume of the rose of Sharon, the elixir of
prayer, the marrow in the bone of truth, which is far more in the sight of God than all the outward
hulls of religious form and teaching which only serve as the alabaster box to this divine spikenard
of heavenly love. But one hour of critical thinking, or one severe utterance in a critical spirit, will
strike through this inward purity and sweetness like a touch of gall."

        This is a weight which must be laid aside, or we will come short of the purpose and plan
of God. The spirit of fear will prove a weight to your soul. Fear clouds your mind, blurs your
vision until you see things all out of proportion. This was what led to Israel's defeat at
Kadesh-Barnea. They magnified their difficulties, talked giants and walled cities until all they
could see was giants and towering walls. Fear a fear and it will come upon you. If you entertain
the thought of failure, you will fail. Fear a crowd and you will get stage fright. Fear people and
you will get in bondage to them. The fear of failure has hindered hundreds of revivals. Ministers

and religious people are afraid to venture forth for fear that they might fail. This is a weight that
must be laid aside or it will clip your spiritual wings.

         Let us note that this race is to be run with patience. We will miss the mark, we will fail to
win the goal unless we possess our soul in patience. "Patience is necessary in our spiritual
discipline, in the education of our higher character, in overcoming habits of sin, in perfecting all
the graces of divine life." Patience is the mother of those beautiful graces which adorn the
sanctified life. Perfect love is introduced to us as long-suffering and kind. The great work of the
Holy Ghost is to cleanse the heart of all roots of bitterness and plant in us all the mind which was
in Christ Jesus. The lack of patience is what robs us of our victories and weakens our faith, clouds
our soul vision, hinders our prayer life, and steals our unction and fire. The sainted Will Huff
stated: "Believe me, friends, it is not the outstanding vulgar, vicious things that rob men and
women of their unction, power, and fire. Those are not the things that endanger us. I am speaking to
men and women today who would scorn the vulgar and smutty. It is those heartbreaks with God
that strangle the spiritual life, or kill your soul with a creeping paralysis that puts the light out of
your soul until your face is like a blown out lamp. Greater is he that can keep the citadel of his will
than he that can take a city. Greater is he that can let the other man have the last word than to have
it himself. The greatest right you can have sometimes is not to claim your right at all." Then if I am
to run this race with patience, I must have some work done in me that will take out of me that
gun-powder-like nature and put within me a lamb-like, dove-like spirit that will keep calm and
sweet under all circumstances.

        Now, the incentive: We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.          The galleries of
heaven 'are full of the heroes of faith. It fills my soul with joy to know that the   skies are filled with
the blood-washed of all ages who are watching me run. They are interested in          our successes. They
rejoice in our victories. This is enough to encourage us to buckle on the armor       a little tighter and
run the race a little swifter.

        But the keynote of the entire passage lies in these words, "Looking unto Jesus" -- the
file-leader. The file-leader is one who blazes the way through the forest. Back in the earlier days
of American history when the settlers were making their way westward to settle on the free Grant
reserve, the pioneer or the file-leader always went ahead on a swift horse, blazing the way through
the forest, finding springs of water for the oncoming multitudes in their covered wagons.

        This world was like a moral forest. Humanity had lost its way, but Jesus, our file-leader,
came and blazed the way through the wilderness and went on up to Calvary and there opened up a
highway of holiness end hung up a light on Calvary's hill which will shine and burn forever. And
while His pure body was still hanging on the Cross He descended to the regions of darkness and
figuratively speaking, walked up and hurled the prince of darkness into the ashes of hell and said,
"I am he that was dead but I am alive forever more." Then on the resurrection morning He arose
with a shout of victory, "All Hail," "All Power," ascended on high and took His place at the right
hand of God. There He sits undisturbed by the doings of men and devils. Not a devil can tempt, not
a disease can strike you without His permission. "Looking unto Jesus." It was while we were
looking to Jesus that He gloriously saved us, sweetly pardoned us, and a peace like a river broke
into our soul.

          Then at the second look for cleansing He completely sanctified us wholly and gave us the
abiding Comforter which brought heaven into the soul. Again we look to Jesus for .perfect
conformity to Him in all things. "We may have pardoned and purified hearts, and yet the outward
life is left with all its manifold features of speech and actions, looks, tones, gestures, bearings,
manners, and scores of other things that need to be corrected and changed. Sanctification means
great light but not all light as some would make it. It means perfect love, but not a perfect head by
any manner and means. It means that the sin principle is destroyed out of the soul, but does not
mean that we cannot grow in grace within or be improved in our ways and manners without. The
thing to do is to look to Jesus with the question: 'What would He say, and what would He do under
the circumstance which surrounds us?' Nor should we be discouraged in not obtaining all the light
at once. We are to keep looking and blessed will be the result to ourselves and marked will be the
improvement in the eyes of those who are proper judges of spiritual things."

         We need to look to Jesus for inward divine guidance. There are certain conditions upon
which God promises to guide His children. One is that we "acknowledge the Lord in all of our
ways." That means to put God first in business, pleasure, marriage, and all the details of life. The
next is that we "lean not to our own understanding, and he shall direct our path." Notice we are not
to lean to our own understanding. No matter how long in the experience we have been, how many
battles we have fought, we cannot fall back on past experience. Right here is where many a saint
has got out of divine order. They feel that they have done so much for the Lord that they can rely on
past experiences. They let up in prayer and become careless, quit practicing self-denial until they
lose the lighting out of their soul. This was the case with Samson and his backslidings. He began to
depend upon his former strength until he went back on his Nazarite vows which stood for
separation from the world, and trifled with a woman's affection, and, in the language of Holy Writ,
"He wist not that the Lord had departed from him."

       "Time would fail to tell of preachers and laymen who ran well for a season, and then
gradually or suddenly their triumphant career was ended. There have been a number of evangelists
who fairly blazed for awhile, and then their light began to wane, and finally, in some instances,
went out altogether. Among these names were some prominent ones. They had the ear of the
people, drew multitudes, pulled down fire from Heaven, and yet after all this went into eclipse and
darkness."

        Volumes could be written here on God's deliverance, guidance, and protecting power. The
writer is personally acquainted with three leading evangelists who had marvelous deliverance
from personal injury by obeying the checks of the Spirit.

        "Looking unto Jesus." Many years ago there lived in London, England, a master musician.
One day while walking through the slum district he came across a little street urchin playing on the
side of a bank. The musician found out where the mother of the boy lived and begged her for the
boy. He promised to be good to him and educate him. The mother finally consented, and the boy
was brought to the musician's home. He took him each day to his studio and taught him the first
principles of music. Year after year he taught him. The boy grew to be a noble young man and
became a genius in music. He made his first operatic appearance at the age of twenty-one. The
music lovers came from all parts of the country to see and bear him play. The master musician said
to the young man, "Son, do not pay any attention to the people. You keep your eyes on me." The

hour finally came when the curtains rose, and lights played on the young master. When he drew his
bow across the violin the building seemed to vibrate with heavenly music. The crowd went wild
with enthusiasm and applauded again and again, women threw bouquets at his feet; but he failed to
notice them. Finally, someone near him noticed that he was gazing at an object in the balcony. They
looked more closely and found that he had his eyes fixed on the old master who was standing in the
top gallery. Friends, three worlds are witnessing our race. Whenever we are successful and
victorious, Heaven rejoices, and hell mourns. Men may throw bouquets at us one day and stones
the next, but we are to keep our eyes on Jesus, the file-leader and author of our faith.

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Chapter 2
THE HEAVENLY DOVE

        There are several emblems of the Holy Spirit throughout the scriptures such as the gentle
dove, the gentle dew, and the still small voice.

       The very first mention of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament is under the emblem of a
dove: "And the Spirit of God brooded upon the face of the waters." -- Genesis 1:2.

        The very first emblem under which the Holy Ghost is presented in the New Testament is
also as a dove. "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him." --
St. John 1:32.

        First, we see the Holy Spirit brooding like a dove over the wrecked, chaotic earth. What a
strange picture to behold -- chaos, desolation, ruin, all discord, materials, earth and sea, mud,
rock, mire and slime, seething waters, hissing flames, wild abyss, darkness and destruction
everywhere!

       A faint picture of the heart without God is here portrayed. Yet the hovering, nestling dove
brooded over this chaotic desolation until out of the wreck and ruin came a beautiful, shining
paradise with its singing birds and blooming flowers. Christian workers may find encouragement
here. The same Holy Spirit that brought beauty and order out of a physical wreck is hovering over
human hearts to woo and win them to be the Bride of the Lamb.

       The Holy Spirit as a dove turns us into lamb-like beings until there is a softness in the eyes,
a mildness in the voice, and a heavenly manner in our whole being The Holy Spirit as a dove
reproduces within us the tempers and dispositions of Jesus.

        Let us notice some traits of the dove:

        I. The dove is an emblem of peace. There is a twofold peace: peace with God, which is the
result of a changed relationship, and the peace of God, which comes from the indwelling Christ
himself, who possesses our spirit and imparts to us the very same peace which possessed His
breast and kept Him calm in the awful hour when He stood alone in the judgment hall with His
enemies thirsting for His blood.

        The Apostle in Philippians 4:7 mentions three features of this peace:

        1. It passeth all understanding. No brain or intellect can comprehend it.

        2. It keeps the heart with its conscience, will, affections, and emotions. The heart is a little
world within itself. No one has ever been able to keep the heart, but this deep, settled peace keeps
the spirit calm and all the faculties regulated and restful.

        3. This peace, we are told, keeps the mind. Since the mind largely controls the body, it is
essential to have a quiet, peaceful, restful mind. All negative morbid thoughts disturb the nervous
system and are health destroyers; whereas, cheerful, hopeful thinking is the health builder and
sends soothing, healing waves all through the soul and body.

       When the heart fully surrenders to Him, it is then the very peace of God enters in, and the
Dove of Peace spreads His tranquil wings over the troubled sea of human strife and takes up His
abode within.

        II. Another trait of the dove is quietness and gentleness. The dove seeks a quiet, hidden
place along the river bank to build her nest. The Holy Dove shrinks from the noisy, tumultuous,
excited, and vindictive spirit and finds His home in the lowly breast of a peaceful soul.

        A great many Christians look upon gentleness as a kind of weakness. They seem to think
that the power of God consists of being loud and boisterous. As one has well said, "The ruin of
deep spirituality among professed Christians is putting noisy, fussy things ahead of a divine being
like Jesus."

        Notice God's dealings with Elijah, the old, rugged Prophet of the Wilderness. He was
hiding on a mountain crag at the entrance of a cave, discouraged and confused, waiting for God's
message. God began to speak through the voice of nature. First came the mighty earthquake, with
its heavings, tearing nature asunder. But the Prophet of Fire looked' upon the scene unmoved and
untouched. Then came the sweeping tornado, roaring and tearing rocks from their base and hurling
them into the valley below. But there was nothing in that to subdue his fiery spirit or heal his
broken heart. Next came the fire. Perhaps It was an electrical storm, with its forked tongues of
lightning playing upon the great forest, with the roar -- of thunder like ten thousand storms. But
even this did not move the man of God.

        We are told that after this there came a "still small voice," or as the New Version
expresses it, "a sound of gentle stillness, softer than the even hells, sweeter than a mother's tongue,
gentler than music's tenderest note."

        It broke his whole spirit into tenderness and awe Gathering his mantle about him, he crept
into the cave and fell upon his face at the feet of God to listen to His message. The fiery heart at
length was subdued, the mighty will was broken, and the stern prophet was as a child.

       What the fiery tempest and heaving earthquake could not do, "the voice of gentleness" had
done. God often breaks the hardest hearts and strongest wills by a touch of gentleness that is softer
than a mother's hand. The heart in which the Dove of Peace dwells will be characterized by
gentleness.

        III. The dove is the symbol of purity. The great work of the Holy Ghost is to take out all the
hatred, malice, envy, jealousy, and impurity in every form and fill the heart with perfect love.

        We are told that the dove has no gall. Just as gall stands for bitterness, so the heart that is
filled with the Spirit is free from all harshness, coldness, stiffness, biting sarcasm, and
overbearing dictatorship. A pure heart is a soft, tender, gentle, lowly, affectionate, and Christlike
heart.

       IV. The dove is noted for its loving nature. It is He who sheds abroad the love of God in
our hearts, giving us a love that is unselfish, full of longsuffering, and glad to pour itself out for the
most unworthy and unlovely being.

       Dr. S. A. Keen says: "Every child      of God has an experience of love. When the soul is born
of God, the love of God is shed abroad in     it by the Holy Ghost. How often, however, the child of
God finds mingling with this love -- even     things contradictory to love -- ill will, unforgiveness,
uncharitableness, inordinate affection, and    unholy ambition.

      "When the Holy Ghost Himself is received, He burns out everything inimical to, and out of
harmony with, love, and leaves nothing but pure love."

        V. Another trait of the dove is non-combativeness. Whenever the Holy Ghost reproduces
the lamb-like, dove-like nature within us, all fight and secret revenge is completely taken out. Such
persons receive persecution and ill usage with the meekness of a lamb. Look at Mr. Wesley's
attitude toward his enemies When dragged about, bruised, having his clothes torn to pieces by
angry mobs. He only exclaimed in a mild voice, "Friends, what harm have I done to any of you?"
Nothing will test our piety more thoroughly than our feeling toward those who wrong us.

        The Holy Ghost is now getting a bride ready for the marriage of the Lamb; and in order that
she shall appear more lovely, and be presented blameless in that day, the true bridehood saints are
being put through the furnace of trial in order to fix all the graces that they may mature and ripen
for eternity.

        "When sanctified people sour under persecution and go about fighting, scratching and
clubbing God's people, they only show that they have been cracked in the annealing furnace of
testing and are losing their place among the perfectly pure, gentle and dove-like souls who make
up the Lamb's Bride."

         Unless we are determined to be dissolved in divine love and hear all things in a lamb-like
spirit, we shall never he among that blood-washed number that shall constitute the Bride of the
Lamb. May the Heavenly Dove hover around us until Christ be formed within us the hope of glory.

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Chapter 3
THE HEAVENLY ANOINTING

        God has been pleased to represent the anointing of the Holy Spirit under the emblem of oil.
We have an account of the composition and use of the anointing oil in Exodus 30:22-33.
"Moreover the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure
myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred' and fifty
shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, And of cassia live hundred shekels,
after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: And thou shalt make it an oil of holy
ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.
And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony,
And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, And
the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. And thou shalt sanctify
them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. And thou shalt anoint
Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office. And
thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me
throughout your generations. Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any
other like It, after the composition of it: it is holy and it shall be holy unto you. Whosoever
compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even he cut off from
his people."

       These various spices set forth the manifold operations of the Spirit, which corresponds in
our souls with the operation of these spices upon our bodies.

         I. Let us notice the ingredients that went into this holy ointment which represents the Holy
Spirit in His different operations in a purified believer:

         1. The myrrh, which was noted for its healing virtues and power of extracting soreness
from a wound, typifies the anointing of the Spirit, which takes out all soreness from the soul. The
heart, in which the Comforter dwells, can receive all sorts of injuries and unkind treatment without
getting sore or sour. The Spirit acts as a lubricating oil and counteracts all soreness from the soul.

        2. The sweet cinnamon was noted for its hot, spicy, penetrating fire. How true this is of the
fiery baptism of the Spirit, which melts and mellows and produces a Divine heat through all the
interior organs.

        3. The sweet calamus, noted for its sweet, spicy perfume, is typical of the sweetness and
fragrance of the Spirit. A holiness that does not produce fragrance is lacking in something or is
pitched on the wrong key.

        4. The cassia was noted for its nourishing qualities. The Holy Spirit not only takes out all
the pangs and soreness from the inner faculties, but He nourishes and strengthens all the graces of
the soul.

        5. The olive oil was used as a medicine. It was especially excellent in loosening stiff
joints. How beautifully this typifies the Holy Spirit in softening and liberating all the mental and
spiritual faculties. It takes all the stiffness out of one's manners and voice and brings out all the
latent capabilities of the soul; it stirs up and brings out dormant gifts which we never dreamed we
had.

       (1) This holy ointment was very costly. It cost the Author of Salvation His own life's
blood-the agony of Gethsemane, the cruel mockery of the judgment hall, and five bleeding wounds
of Calvary -- to give us the Holy Ghost.

        (2) It must not be counterfeited. There are many counterfeits today for the Holy Ghost. Thus
human culture, fine music, elocution, pathos, oratory, with stirred emotions, have been used to
imitate the Holy Ghost. But all these in comparison to the Holy Ghost are like a tame candle beside
the blazing sun.

        (3) This holy oil was not to be put upon a stranger. The word "stranger" here has reference
to the unsaved who are strangers to God. Jesus said, "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you
another Comforter ... whom the world cannot receive." That means that the Holy Ghost as an
indwelling companion can be received only on the condition that one has been born again. The
Holy Ghost can only dwell in a heart that has been emptied and has a capacity for Him.

        (4) "Upon man's flesh this anointing oil shall not be poured." "Flesh" here means the carnal
mind, which the Apostle says is "not subject to the law of God." The word "flesh" in the New
Testament has a twofold meaning: sometimes it means the flesh on our bones, which we will have
as long as we live, and which is not sinful within itself. Another term in the Greek is "sarx," which
means the fleshly, fallen nature which is to be destroyed and put off. From this we learn that no one
receives the anointing of the Holy Spirit in His fullness except on the condition of cleansing and
heart purity.

        Millions are ready to receive the Spirit providing there is no smashing of idols and no
death to carnality. Tens of thousands of preachers are willing to seek and receive gifts of the Spirit
(which are external), but they are not ready to die to the self-life in order to be sanctified wholly.
Heaven's order is: first, purity; then unction and power.

       (5) This anointing, we are told, was "that they might minister unto the Lord." Even the
Master never went forth into public ministry until He received the heavenly anointing at the Jordan.
The disciples were strictly commanded not to depart until they be endued with power from on
high. Woe unto the man or woman who goes out as a missionary or preacher without first tarrying.
Oh, how easy it is to preach with the anointing. The brain works with an ease and swiftness, and
the words drip with unction and power. The mistake of the past has been the substitution of titles,
degrees, and culture for the baptism of the Holy Ghost who alone can make preachers.

       II. Now, let us consider the manner in which this anointing oil was used:

      1. The anointing of the leper. When the priest pronounced the leper clean, he was met and
welcomed back to the camp under the sprinkled blood. Then the anointing oil was applied. The

priest first touched his right ear, his right thumb, and his right toe with blood. Then the anointing
oil was placed upon the blood. The oil did not come first but the blood. Calvary comes first, then
Pentecost follows.

        There is a teaching abroad in the land which emphasizes the Spirit-filled life but denies the
destruction of the sinful nature in this life. Let us remember that all scriptural teaching on the
fullness of the Spirit is in connection with thorough cleansing as a condition for such fullness. See
Psalm 51:10; also Ezekiel 36:25-27. One has said, "Those higher revelations and deeper teachings
which discard the blood come from beneath."

         2. The anointing of the priest. This was entirely different from the anointing of the leper.
The priest was a dedicated, consecrated person. The anointing was to fit him for service and
waiting on the Lord. This is beautifully unfolded in the books of Exodus and Leviticus. You will
notice first that Aaron is anointed. Then afterwards, his sons were anointed. Aaron is typical of
Christ who was anointed on the banks of the Jordan, and then later He shed the same heavenly
anointing on His disciples. This alone will qualify us for the highest ministry known in the spiritual
realm. This alone will fit us for the priestly service of intercessory prayer. It is only as we receive
this anointing that we can really give ourselves to prayer. "Unceasing prayer is a praying spirit,
and in the heart where He dwells there is unceasing prayer. His intercession is as constant as the
fires of the sun. He constantly stirs and excites us to join Him in His intercession for ourselves and
others."

         God is calling today for vessels of prayer through which He can pour rivers of living water
to a thirsty, broken-hearted world. Oh, for men and women who will give themselves to
intercessory prayer until revival fires are kindled, cold churches quickened, and the ministry fired
and filled. Who will pay the price for Pentecost?

         3. The ancient prophets were anointed. The Old Testament prophets were God's peculiar
men. They lived in the supernatural realm. Their office was different from that of the priest. The
priest lived mostly in the temple serving and waiting on the Lord and praying for the people. But
the prophets roamed from place to place, dropping in suddenly on a wicked city, rebuking sin in
high places, hurling thunderbolts of truth at some wicked king, then suddenly disappearing.

        The more we study the Scriptures the more we are convinced that God has supplemented
this divine order in the New Testament by putting into the church pastors and evangelists. The
pastor in one sense would take the place of the Old Testament priest in that he stayed with the
people, ministering to them in the sanctuary and comforting them in their sorrows. But that of the
evangelist is more like the prophets because he has a message that startles, arouses, and awakens
the slumbering consciences of men. However, in delivering these piercing truths he must have the
anointing or it will be the mere letter that killeth. How long will it take us to learn this lesson that
preaching searching truths without the anointing oil of the Spirit will have a deadening, hardening
effect?

         There is a class of ministers who seem to take great credit to themselves that they have
stirred the devil and left the people angry; they skin, peel, knock down and drag out, and call that
radical preaching. If we are not careful we will stir up more snakes than we can kill or devils than

we can cast out. Jesus preached startling truths that wounded to the core, but He had the oil of
healing to apply to every penitent sinner. The great evangelist Sam P. Jones preached until men
were cut to the very quick. He was like a general on a battlefield hurling shot and shell among the
wicked, but the next moment he was like a kind-hearted nurse, binding up the wounds, pouring in
the oil of healing. Even Jesus never entered upon His public ministry until He could say, "The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hast anointed me." If He, the Son of God, needed
this divine anointing in order to minister to the broken-hearted and bring deliverance to men that
were bound by the fetters of sin, may God help us, ministers and missionaries, to tarry, to wait for
the promise of the Father, and not go forth until we receive this heavenly anointing.

         4. The anointing of the Tabernacle. This is the climax of all blessings. We have the account
of this in the fortieth chapter of the book of Exodus, verses 9-16. The Tabernacle had just been
completed according to the divine pattern; every curtain had been hung; the little Ark of the
Covenant had been placed in the Holy of Holies. The Tabernacle then was dedicated and laid at
the feet of Jehovah and the Holy, sacred oil was poured upon it. Then the glory that had hovered
over their camp and marched before them descended immediately, and the Shekinah glory took up
its abode behind the second veil beneath the wings of the cherubim. so when we present our
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, we too become God's temple and the sacred
abode of His indwelling presence.

       Life henceforth takes on a new meaning. We go forth like the little Ark of the Covenant
carrying the very presence of God within us. Such a life is heaven upon earth.

        5. One more thought about the anointing: We find this holy oil in use in connection with the
fine flour offered to God by the Jews as recorded in Leviticus, chapter two. This fine flour was
mixed with this holy compound oil and frankincense. This has reference to Jesus. The Virgin Mary
furnished the fine flour for His body, the Holy Ghost the oil and frankincense. Just as the oil was
blended into the fine flour until it was soft and could be made into cakes, so the Holy Ghost works
in and through us, mellowing and softening everything to the divine will and making our whole
being fragrant with love, gratitude, reverence, and gracious disposition. "No consecration is
complete without this unction and anointing of the Holy Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, and such like. These are the graces in which the Spirit manifests
His presence and operations. These are the myrrh, cinnamon, sweet calamus, cassia, and olive oil
which are to perfume and lubricate the fine flour which we bring to the altar of God."

        Beloved, if we find ourselves dry and lacking in the heavenly unction, oil, and gladness, let
us tarry at the feet of Jesus until our whole being is melted and dissolved in love and our lives
filled with fragrance, sweetness, and power.

*   *    *   *    *   *    *

Chapter 4
GOD'S PALM TREE SAINTS

        "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree." -- Psalm 92:12.

         God often compares His people to trees. But whenever He does, He selects the
fruit-bearing palm to represent the Spirit-filled believer. There is a divine reason for this. The
palm tree is full of sap. We read in Psalms 104:16, "The trees of the Lord are full of sap." This has
reference to the palm. The very life of the tree is in the sap which flows through the trunk and
branches producing fruit and beauty. In like manner every grace and fruit of the Spirit must be fed
and nourished by the heavenly sap of the Spirit. Let us notice some traits of the palm tree which
has its counterpart in the palm tree saint.

         I. The palm tree is noted for its deep roots which go down until they strike the living
springs of water. This is a type of a Spirit-filled saint, who has struck the living streams of
Pentecost and is constantly fed by the indwelling Comforter. Just as the flowing water feeds the
roots of the palm tree and sends its life-giving sap to the very top leaf, in like manner the Holy
Spirit floods the soul with the love of God until all the fruits and graces of the Spirit grow and
flourish with a living freshness the year round.

        II. The palm tree is an evergreen which characteristically typifies the constant freshness of
the Spirit-filled life. Nearly all of the fruit-bearing trees put on their beauty in the spring of the
year. Then when the cold winter approaches, they shed their foliage and the life goes down into the
roots. This is typical of a great many Christians who have religious spells during a special revival
meeting and then seem to shed their freshness and their beauty until another revival comes.

        The palm tree saint lives below the surface where the streams are constantly running over
the hidden roots of his soul. There is an eternal freshness in his inward being.

        D. L. Moody said that after he received the mighty; fiery baptism with the Holy Ghost, he
preached the same sermons and used the same illustrations, but it all seemed so new to the people,
and not a single sermon did he preach after that but that souls were saved. How blessed and
refreshing to meet those who have not lost their freshness of first love! Everything they say seems
to grip and bless the people.

         III. The palm tree is noted for its beauty. It has a green, flourishing top the year round. As it
basks in the sunlight, it is beautiful to behold. In this respect it typifies the palm tree saint that has
been clothed with the graces and tempers which grow and flourish in the bosom of Jesus. The Holy
Ghost imparts a Christly manner, a tenderness of speech, and gives one a winning disposition, a
power to draw, and a heavenly influence. There is a beauty that belongs to the life of true holiness
that is sadly neglected these days. Some people are noted for their straight, radical life. They stand
out against everything that is wrong, such as lodges, tobacco, and worldliness in every form. But
oh, how they lack the beauty and sweetness of the Spirit! God wants to beautify the saints until they
will be attractive and manifest the sweetness of Jesus to a lost world. The Holy Ghost can take the
most uncouth person that ever lived and save, sanctify, and fill him with a heavenly charm so that
he will be attractive.

        IV. The palm tree is noted for its sweet fruit. How true this is in the truly sanctified life.
All bitter roots of carnality have been burned out, and the longer the indwelling Comforter abides,
the sweeter one's life will be. The Holy Ghost wants to sweeten our dispositions so that we will
become lamb-like and Christlike in our spirits and in all our behavior. There is nothing that so

surprises and convicts the unsaved as when they see one manifest a sweet spirit while under
pressure. A holiness that does not keep sweet under all circumstances is a sham. It is said of the
mother of John Wesley that one of her children asked several times for the same privilege and was
denied with a "no." The child asked again and again. The answer was always "no." The patient
mother responded . "no" twenty times, and the last time was in the same sweet tone of voice as the
first. We are not saying that this was right. The point we are making is that the mother kept sweet
and calm under trial. We are not surprised that such a mother gave to the world two of the greatest
preachers that ever lived since the apostles' day.

        There are two little words in the English language, which, if only put into practice would
transform any life. They are the two words "keep sweet." Keep sweet when the pressure is on;
keep sweet while tongues are wagging and mud is being flung; keep sweet and win the day.

        V. The palm tree is noted for its hidden life. The life of most of the other trees is near the
surface, just under the bark. All that is needed to kill them is to girdle the tree -- just cut down to
the wood, and the sap quits flowing, and the tree dies. There is a class of professed Christians who
live near the surface. Their feelings are easily hurt, and a little persecution discourages them. They
cannot stand a long siege of opposition. You may hack, peel, and girdle the palm tree, and it
continues to live. This is true of a palm tree saint. You can peel, slander, and cut their reputations
to pieces with cruel tongues, and still they have unbroken fellowship with God.

        VI. The palm tree will grow in the desert. There is no more beautiful sight on earth to the
weary traveler in the hot sands of the Sahara Desert than to catch a glimpse of a palm tree. It not
only means shade and shelter from the hot, burning sun, but a spring of water is usually found
where the palm grows. The human heart without God is like a moral desert. God's plan in this
gospel age, which exceeds all other ages in light and privileges, is to so fill the palm tree saints
with the holy sap of divine grace that they will flourish and grow right in the midst of deadness and
formality. This is true of those saints who have martyr's material in them. They will grow
anywhere. Look at Bishop Taylor and his missionaries who made dark Africa bloom like a rose
wherever they went and planted the gospel. It was like an oasis in the desert.

         VII. One more thought about the palm tree. It will get others started. Palm trees grow better
in families than alone. How true this is of the palm tree saint. The Holy Spirit is a missionary
spirit. There is something seriously wrong with the person's experience who never has a burden
and longing to see others saved. Some holiness professors will dry up or tone down when they
move into a strange community where there is not a holiness church. But this is not true of a real
palm tree saint. They will start a prayer meeting, a mission, or something for God and holiness.

        Some years ago there lived a little woman in Kentucky who kept a toll-gate. As she stood
at the entrance of the bridge to collect fares of those who crossed in vehicles, she would greet
them by saying, "Good morning, beloved, our Heavenly Father is good to us in giving us such
wonderful rain." The people had just been complaining about the muddy roads. "May God bless
you," she would say as they passed on. Then she was ready for the next person with the same
words. She kept this up and was the talk of the whole country.

        Dr. H. C. Morrison was sent to this town near the toll-gate and became this woman's
pastor. As he went in and out among the people, everyone was talking about the little woman who
kept the toll-gate. The new pastor called on an infidel doctor in his visits, who told him that he did
not believe in religion, but said the infidel, "There is a little woman who keeps the toll-gate who
has got it." Finally a city editor sent one of his reporters to interview her. He asked her the secret
of her Christian life. She told him that she was sanctified. That was a rare experience fifty years
ago. He wrote an article stating: "Mary McAfee who keeps the toll-gate in Kentucky says she is
sanctified." This paper went over the different states.

        Rev. W. W. Hooper, a Methodist minister in the Mississippi Conference, read this account
of her marvelous experience and immediately took the train for Kentucky. He inquired for Mary
McAfee, and she taught him the more excellent way and prayed with him until he obtained the
blessing. Rev. Hooper helped Rev. B. Carradine in a revival meeting and told his experience and
made Dr. Carradine hungry for the blessing. On the morning of the third day of seeking the fire fell,
and the blessing rolled into his soul with such billows of glory until he had to ask God to stay His
hand or he would die of glory. Dr. Carradine entered the evangelistic field and preached full
salvation in every state in the Union and in Canada. It would take volumes to tell of all that
happened as the result of this great blessing for thousands point to Dr. Carradine as the one who
led them into the experience of sanctification, but it all started back with a little woman, Mary
McAfee, who kept the toll-gate. We shall never know until time is no more, and the books are
opened what one Spirit-filled life has meant to a broken-hearted world.

         May God help those who are hungry for the palm tree blessing to never stop seeking until
the fire falls, and the glory floods their soul, and others are brought into the palm tree blessing.

*   *    *   *    *   *    *

Chapter 5
SIGNS OF A RIPENING SAINT

        Whenever a vessel puts out to sea the pilot judges his speed and directions mostly by
buoys, lighthouses, and the shore lights, but when he gets out into the deep all of these things are
left behind, and he has to depend on the stars, his compass, and log for his course. There is a
similarity to be noted in this and the spiritual progress of a growing saint. In the early stages the
young Christian lives a great deal on his emotions. He judges his spiritual progress by his feelings,
but when he launches out into the ocean of God's love and into a life of unlimited faith, he depends
less on his human feelings and more on the inward hidden life.

        There are three stages in the believer's life. The first stage is the new birth. It is then that
the soul is quickened into a new life, new affections, new emotions, and love. In the second stage
is when the heart is purified from indwelling sin, and the Holy Ghost sheds abroad the love of God
in the purified soul. The third stage pertains to maturity, where the soul becomes rooted and
grounded in love, and all the graces and fruits of the Spirit ripen for the celestial world.

        We want to notice some marks of a growing soul:

        I. The soul reaches a state in the heavenly life to where it is dissolved in divine love. The
old writers of the early Holiness Movement had much to say about being "lost in God," "sunk in a
sea of divine peace," and "dissolved in love," and they uniformly spoke of this as being the place
where the soul entered after its first fervors of sanctification, and after the faith had undergone
many trials.

        What is meant by being dissolved in love? "When the tried soul is dissolved in love the
mental faculties are turned into a gentle, loving action so that judgments, opinions, and decisions
are formed slowly, discreetly, with instructive kindness. It is one thing to have a clean heart, and a
very different thing to have all the faculties so subdued and pervaded with divine; love as to have
them act as if by instinct from the heart of Christ." Furthermore, to be dissolved in love is to have
everything hard, harsh, and flinty melted out of the heart and to have the Holy Ghost flood the
affections and all the inner faculties like a warm gulf stream. Let us not forget that divine love is
the sum and substance and the very heart and marrow of the Christ-like life. Without this all of our
religious activities count for nothing.

         II. Another sign of a ripening saint is to reach a state in divine things to where the soul can
take Romans 8:28 to mean exactly what the inspired Word says: "And we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God." If God's people everywhere would only believe
this without any mental reservation, it would work miracles in their lives. But please notice that no
one in the universe of God can lay claim to this passage except on the condition of heart holiness.
"When these celestial conditions are fully met and maintained then nothing can ever occur in the
universe that will not be for our good and advancement. Every disappointment will cause us to
lean harder on the everlasting arm; every shock will make us sink deeper into the unshakable rock;
every conflict with temptation will make us hate sin more deeply; every unkind blow from our
fellowmen will render us more lowly and intent on doing the world good; every dollar we lose
will spur us to lay up treasures in heaven; every criticism of our spirit or conduct will drive us to
scrutinize our inner being before God to see if we are indeed washed in the blood of the Lamb.
Abuse only humbles us, and flattery and praise sink us to still deeper self-abasement; and death of
our loved ones only trims our lamps for the coming of the Bridegroom, and every teardrop adds
lens to the telescope of heavenly vision. If we are holy all things are ours."

        III. Another evidence of a growing saint is the ability to make a clear distinction between
true and false religion. This was St. Paul's great argument for Christian perfection in his letter to
the Hebrews. He pointed out the difference between the baby state and the fully illuminated
believer was the ability to distinguish between poison and soul food. He states in Heb. 5:14 that
solid food is for those who are perfect, and who, by use of their inner senses can make a clear
distinction between the false and the true, or good and evil. Just as a new-born baby does not know
how to use its natural senses, so an imperfect believer does not know how to make a clear
distinction in spiritual things. "When the spiritual senses are purified and strengthened, the soul is
able to discriminate the difference in the moral realm corresponding to the physical senses
discriminating the sights and sounds, the color and magnitudes, the bitter and sweet of the physical
word."

       Let us cite a few examples. There is a difference between cheerfulness and frivolity.
Cheerfulness may be a fruit of the Spirit and is to be encouraged and cultivated, but frivolity and

foolish jesting are evil and hurt the soul when too freely indulged in. There is a difference between
being sober-minded and self-denying, and being of a sour, caustic, severe sort of religion. "The
work of holiness has been greatly damaged in many places by its teachers insisting upon a rigid,
severe, butcher-knife type of religion, not knowing the difference between severity and Christian
soberness."

         We should be able to make a clear-cut distinction between impulses and being led by the
Spirit. Failing to make this distinction is the sandbar on which many a soul has run aground. One of
the tricks of the devil is to get sanctified people to where they are led by impressions. You can
always tell these impressions are from the wrong source by the wildness which is about them.
"God the Holy Ghost, in all His leadings, never leads people in an abnormal way. God does not
strain you; He does not put the thumbscrew on you and strain your muscles until they crack and
snap; but the devil does. When we are led by the Holy Spirit, there will be a subdued tranquil, and
well-regulated state of natural sensibilities." He who is led by the Spirit of God will experience a
sense of inward rest. When all the leprosy of inbred sin is burned out, and all the soul faculties are
harmonized, what hinders us from having rest?

         One more evidence of being led by the Spirit is a well-rounded Christian character. Ever
since the fall of man humanity has been more or less lopsided. We see this not only in the business
world, but in the religious world as well. Mr. Wesley stated: "Some may say that you are
sanctified but I do not if you are lacking in gentleness, goodness, meekness, longsuffering and
patience." Our holy religion is a thing of tempers, dispositions and Christlikeness. It is all right to
be uncompromising on every line, but it is wrong to become intolerant. Some stress the doctrine of
self-denial beyond scriptural teaching and become ascetics and monks. "Avoiding lightness and
frivolity they land in the middle of an Egyptian gloom of spirit and darkness of countenance."

       Dr. B. Carradine so beautifully brings out this thought on the well-balanced life in his
book, "Beulah Land," that we quote from his pen: "A fourth meaning buried in the words is the
evenly and properly balanced life, suggested in the verbal combination 'corn and wine.' It is most
blessed and profitable to have both in the soul and in the life.

         "Some Christians have strength and force as typified in the first word, but lack what is
breathed in the second. They have character, but no glow; principle but no warmth. Truth and
uprightness are seen in every line of their existence, but their faces never light up, their lips never
respond to burning gospel messages, they never seem to realize or exhibit a rush of feeling from
heaven to the soul, or from the soul to the eye and the tongue. They somehow chill you with all
their strength and steadfastness. They have corn, but no wine. And one could but wish that a dash
of the heavenly intoxication would come upon them at least once in awhile.

        "There are other Christians who seem to have the wine, but not the corn. They overflow
and bubble and laugh and shout at a moment's warning, but they also lack in the strength, power,
steadiness and endurance which belong to the Christian character. They have an abundance of
feeling, but often lack principle. They get happy, but cannot bear contradiction and persecution.
They have ecstasies but also bear grudges. They shout, but also scold. They see visions, but
likewise behold motes, beams, rafters, scantlings and whole sides of houses in their brothers' eyes.

They abound in the wine of jubilation, but are woefully lacking in the corn, or strength, faithfulness
and steadfastness of the Christian life.

        "Blessed is the man who possesses the corn and wine combination; who has character and
emotion, principle and feeling, can pray and pay, glow and grow, shout as loud as God wants him,
and yet live a life fully and truly up to the measure of his loudest shout."

         God wants to plant within us every grace and fruit that flourished in the bosom of Jesus.
"When Jesus beheld our hearts in their natural state, they were like stony, sterile, frozen fields of
the frigid zone; but when they have been broken by repentance, thawed by regeneration, and every
stump removed by sanctifying power; when they have been planted with the seed of His word,
enriched and watered with the crystal streams of His Spirit, cultured by His hand, and ripened in
the summer of His love, every inch of the soul waves the golden fruit of righteousness."

         Finally a growing soul should be making steady advancement on all spiritual lines. He
should have a deeper faith to where he will laugh at impossibilities and cries that it shall be done.
There should be an increasing sweetness of spirit so that the soul draws honey out of the rock and
sweetness from every trial. There should be a deeper joy and a well-spring of gladness to where
the heart can rejoice in the Lord always This kind of joy holds good at a funeral or a wedding.
There should be greater victories. We should not only take Jericho, but we should possess the
whole land of Canaan. We should scale the mountains of joy, penetrate its valleys of rest, drink of
its rivers of pleasure and possess the land to the going down of the sun. May God help us not to
rest satisfied with present attainments but to go on to perfection until we possess all the mind
which was in Christ Jesus and the golden graces of the sanctified life.

*   *   *    *   *    *   *

THE END

