My soul, how desperately you need this oil! Your lamp will not burn long without it. Your wick will smoke and stink when the light goes out—and it will go out without oil.

You have no oil well bubbling up from your human nature. None! So you must go to those who sell and buy for yourself, or you'll end up like the foolish virgins crying, "My lamp has gone out!"

Even the holy lamps in God's tabernacle could not shine without oil. Though they stood in that sacred place, they still needed to be fed. Though no harsh winds threatened them, they still needed trimming. And your need is just as great. Listen to me: even in the best circumstances, you cannot give light for one more hour unless fresh oil of grace is given to you.

And not just any oil would do for the Lord's service! Not the petroleum that seeps from the earth. Not oil from fish. Not oil pressed from nuts. Only one oil was acceptable: the finest olive oil.

So it is with you. Pretended grace from natural goodness? Worthless! Fancied grace from priestly hands? Imaginary grace from outward ceremonies? The true saint of God knows the Lord would not be pleased with rivers of such oil! Where does he go? He goes to the olive press of Gethsemane and draws his supply from the One who was crushed there.

The oil of gospel grace is pure—free from lees and dregs. And so the light it feeds burns clear and bright.

Our churches are the Savior's golden candelabra. And if they are going to be lights in this dark world, they must have much holy oil. Let us pray earnestly for ourselves, our ministers, our churches—that they may never lack oil for the light.

Truth, holiness, joy, knowledge, love—these are all beams of the sacred light. But we cannot shine them forth unless in private we receive oil from God the Holy Spirit.