Realities of Revival VI: Sermon from Daniel Rowland - Hebrews 1:9

Welcome to the Whole Council Podcast, I'm Jon Snyder, and we have another special episode with Andrew Davis.

Andrew Davis is a minister who is now retired, he lives in Wales, and if you did the first Behold Your God study, you might remember him from that study.

He is such a gracious and Christ -like man, a very gentle but very clear and theologically firm minister, and Andrew just has one of the greatest voices.

And we, years ago, had Andrew read for Media Gratia, sermons by pastors who, you know, have passed away, and we wanted you to be able to hear

Andrew read these. Now this week, you're going to listen to Andrew read a sermon from Daniel Rowland.

And the reason we picked Rowland is because he's not as well known as Spurgeon and others. Daniel Rowland was a minister in Wales in the 18th century.

He was converted within weeks of a co -worker of his named Hal Harris, who he did not meet until years later, and another co -worker of his, much more famous,

George Whitefield. They were converted within weeks of each other, all basically the same age, 21, 22, and all began preaching the same doctrines, reading the same

Puritans, and preaching in the same way, out in the fields, because the churches couldn't hold the numbers that were coming to hear them, extraordinarily used by God.

And yet, they did not know each other until years later, 1739, four years after Whitefield began to preach, he met

Hal Harris, and then after that, Daniel Rowland. When Hal Harris met Rowland, he said, I went to a church today and heard a

Welshman preaching. And normally, Hal Harris, when he went to the church, he might hear the

Methodist movement, which at that time was not just John Wesley's group, but anybody that was very earnest about the evangelical revival.

So that nickname applied widely then. He said,

I would go and I would hear the preacher preach against the revivals, or those

Methodists who are always preaching and always praying. So he went and he said he was wonderfully surprised, because the man in the pulpit was like a second

Apostle Paul. He had never heard anyone preach like that, with such power and clarity.

Daniel Rowland was saved and began to preach the great doctrines of Christ, and he did that until late in that century.

And in many ways, he is a unique individual, because he didn't travel nearly as much as the other men like Wesley or Hal Harris or George Whitefield.

He pretty much stayed in place in this little farming village called Llangeitho. He did go sometimes to other places, but he stayed there most of the time.

And what happened was that those believers in Wales that wanted to hear Rowland preach would travel.

Sometimes it would be a three -day round trip for them to come from North Wales all the way down to Mid Wales to hear

Rowland and then all the way back. And we have firsthand accounts. You can read them yourself, of elderly ladies wanting to hear

Rowland preach. And as they walked slowly all those miles through the

Welsh mountains, and they would pass through towns where young men would see them, and they knew that they were going to hear

Rowlands, and they would pick up rotten fruit and hit the women and call them Methodists and Craddockites, which means

Craddockites, which Walter Craddock was a Welsh Puritan. So they're saying, you bunch of Puritans, you bunch of Methodists, amazing ministry.

Daniel Rowlands will be preaching on Hebrews 1 and verse 9. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than all your companions, speaking of Christ, Old Testament prophecy, and here mentioned again in Hebrews.

I hope you find it very beneficial. The text is from Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 9.

Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions.

Let me begin by explaining what these words mean. By the phrase,

God, your God, we are to understand God the Father. Scripture often speaks of the

Father in this way. The Lord said to my Lord, and again, the

Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of the heavens.

The oil of gladness here means the Holy Spirit. The Old Testament prophesied this, and the

New Testament confirmed it. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the

Lord. Sometimes the activity of the Holy Spirit is compared to water that cleanses or to fire which purifies, here to oil which softens the heart and makes our yoke easy.

By gladness is meant the fruit of the Spirit, such as love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, and faith.

It is a foretaste of greater things to come. Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your

Lord. In your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Your companions refers to all those true Christians who have been made kings and priests unto

God, partakers of the same Spirit, recipients of the same joy, in nature the same, but to a lesser extent than the sun.

He has all fullness, they a measure. He was equal with the

Father in his divine nature. Awake, O sword against my shepherd, against the man who is my fellow, says the

Lord of hosts. At the same time, he was truly man in his human nature.

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same.

A wonderful union of blessed trinity. God the Father has anointed you,

God the Son, with the oil of gladness, God the Holy Spirit, more than your companions.

This is Christ's church. We shall look at three things.

One, what does this anointing mean? Two, why was our

Lord anointed? Three, what is the lesson we may learn and what are the blessings we receive?

Firstly, what does this anointing mean? Under the law, the ceremony of anointing consisted of three essentials.

One, being set apart by God. Two, a suitability for the office.

Three, having holy oil actually poured on the head. Firstly then, our blessed

Savior was set apart for the great work of redemption. He had been chosen from all eternity by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God to effect the salvation of man.

He did not thrust himself into the office as a new serpent, but assumed it according to the

Father's appointment. No man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God just as Aaron was.

So also, Christ did not glorify himself to become high priest, but it was he who said to him,

You are my son, today I have begotten you. He did not take it by force, but assumed its sacred functions in accordance with the divine will.

Christ himself said, I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true whom you do not know.

In the same way, soon after the Lord's death, Peter declares, Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this same

Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. If Christ the

Lord did not undertake so important a charge, so great and necessary a work as the salvation of lost souls until he had been commissioned by the

Father, we should be very careful about engaging in Christian service unless also directed by the

Father. In one place we read of a person who came to Christ asking him to divide the inheritance between him and his brother, and he said to him,

Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you? He could have discharged the office of a judge as well as that of a physician.

He could just as easily decide cases of law as to remove diseases of the body.

But this was not his commission. No one could taunt him insolently asking,

Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? He kept within his allotted sphere and did not exceed the limits of his own province.

With a gentle reproof, he condemns this spirit in others, saying, What is that to you?

You follow me. Stop prying into the concerns of others. Follow your own calling.

When a river gently glides along in its own channels, its waters are clear and wholesome, but when it overflows its banks it often does great damage.

When we keep within the limits assigned to us, we prosper and succeed, but when we stray from the path of duty and exceed the bounds of our own calling, we generally go wrong and cause much trouble.

It would be well if we were to follow our blessed Savior as our example as well as our teacher, to be satisfied with our lot and useful in our callings.

God's people of old, whose deeds are recorded to their honor and whose efforts were everywhere crowned with success, would never engage in any undertaking unless they were first truly convinced of their calling by God.

If this was the explanation of their great success, its absence also explains our failures.

God said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the

God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you.

David was assured that God had made him the head of the nations. Jeremiah, speaking of himself, declares,

As for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd who follows you.

Amos is not ashamed to own before the king, I was no prophet, nor was

I the son of a prophet, but I was a sheep breeder and a tenderer of sycamore fruit.

Then the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said to me, Go and prophesy to my people

Israel. This plain shepherd was far more successful in his ministry than all the priests of Bethel.

And why? Because he had been sent by God. So our

Savior was set apart by God. His anointing means that. But secondly, he was also eminently suitable for his office.

The anointing under the law signified that the people so anointed were worthy and fit for the office and endowed with every gift and grace to discharge their duties thoroughly and effectively.

So Jesus is called Christ the Anointed. The gifts and graces of the

Spirit were poured out upon him without measure. He was mighty to save.

In Isaiah, someone is approached about becoming a ruler and answers, Do not make me a ruler of the people, because in my house is neither food nor clothing.

Princes should be rich. If they are poor, they will oppress their subjects and deprive them of their possessions.

Our help did not come from one who was faint with toil or weary with fatigue, but from one in whom all fullness dwelt, irresistible in power, triumphant in victory, and more than a conqueror.

As Samson rose at midnight and carried the gates of Gaza to the top of a high hill, even so our victorious

Redeemer arose from the grave, and having spoiled the territories of death and hell, he ascended in triumph into heaven.

Therefore he is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Our great High Priest is not like the high priests of old. Although he sympathizes with our weaknesses, he has no infirmity of his own.

His word is faithfulness and truth. Before him the powers of darkness flee in terror.

Sin and destruction are conquered foes. What a source of joy to every believer that his

Savior, who is Christ the Lord, can accomplish what he has undertaken and finish what he has begun.

The leper's comfort sprang from Christ's power. If you are willing, you can make me clean.

Soul, you have a God who is worthy of your trust. His willingness to help you is as great as his power to save you.

Seeing he is almighty, rest on his all -sufficiency and put your whole trust in his mercy.

Let men run here and there for support in their trials and comforts in their disappointments, but let true

Christians trust in Christ, bow with cheerful resignation to his will, rest with implicit confidence on his merits, and show to the outward world the true source of their inward joy.

In every trial, trust in him. He can preserve

Moses in an ark of bulrushes, as well as save Noah in an ark of gopher wood.

He can deliver by means, without means, and against means.

If he is for us, who can be against us?

Our salvation is in his hand. We are kept by his power.

Before man fell, Adam's happiness was entrusted to his own charge, but he forfeited the charge and lost the privilege.

Now, our salvation is placed in one who is mighty, yes, almighty to save.

And who can pluck it out of his hands? Believer, all your enemies who disturb your peace and distress your soul will be destroyed forever.

They will be broken with a rod of iron and be dashed in pieces like a potter's vessel, and your refuge is beyond the reach of their darts.

So our Savior was eminently suitable for his office. His anointing means that.

Also, thirdly, when a man was anointed, holy oil was actually poured on his head.

Under the law, it was customary to anoint with material oil. Samuel took a phial of oil and poured it on the head of Saul.

The young prophet poured oil on the head of Jehu. The young prophet poured oil on the head of Jehu.

But the captain of our salvation was not anointed with material oil, but with the

Holy Spirit, the oil of gladness, of which material oil was only a type and shadow.

This is the true oil, which humbles our pride, subdues our spirits, and stamps divine impressions on the heart.

When this oil is poured on our consciences, it awakens our souls and quickens our deadness, making us fervent in spirit serving the

Lord. Of Samson it is said that when the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, he performed some wonderful deeds.

Of the disciples we read that when the Spirit appeared to them like divided tongues as of fire and sat on each of them, they were instantly proclaiming the wonderful works of God in other tongues as the

Spirit gave them utterance. You who are slow of heart, who cannot bear this fire of conviction nor escape the force of its truth, pray

God that his Spirit's influence may touch your hearts, and your souls will be as the chariots of my noble people.

This oil cheers the soul more than anything else under the sun. The man of the world may rejoice in his gains, and men of the flesh may revel in their lusts, but the pleasures of both are momentary and are often accompanied with sorrow and shame.

But the one who receives this oil experiences that inward joy and gladness of heart which excels all earthly pleasures.

When the Ethiopian eunuch had tasted this oil, he went on his way rejoicing.

When Samaria had received it, the city was glad. Paul and Silas, having richly partaken of this oil of gladness, sang praises at midnight in the dungeon.

You who are merry and rejoice at the public house, but downcast and drowsy in the house of prayer, come and partake of this

Spirit that your lives may be changed and your souls may be saved. We have looked at what this anointing means.

Now the second thing. Why was our Lord anointed?

The Lord was anointed for his threefold office as mediator of the new covenant.

Under the law, prophets, priests, and kings were anointed with oil. Some fulfilled two offices, like Melchizedek, who was both king and priest.

David was a prophet and a king. Jeremiah was a priest and a prophet.

But he who was anointed with the oil of gladness more than his companions was invested with the three offices of prophet, priest, and king, a prophet to teach us, a priest to intercede for us, and a king to rule over us.

As a prophet, he was to teach us his Father's will. This had been early foretold of him by Moses.

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren, him you shall hear in all things whatever he says to you.

Other prophets taught the will of God only partially, but he has declared all the counsel of God.

That is why he is called the great prophet of his church, mighty in word and in deed.

Attend then to his instructions. Treasure them up in your hearts, for the soul that will not hear him will be destroyed from among the people.

We are to give the more earnest heed to him. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

He is the way, the truth, and the life. Walk in this way and be saved.

Jesus was also anointed to be a priest. The Lord has sworn and will not relent, you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

As a high priest, his office consisted of two things, making atonement for sin and making intercession for man.

Under the law, when anyone sinned, he was to bring an offering to the priest who was to offer it for him.

When we have sinned against heaven and earth, our sins can only be expiated by the sacrifice which

Jesus offered for sinners. By one offering, he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

And if our sins are not cleansed in his blood, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.

The priests of old would not part with one drop of their own blood for the best of the people, but he shed the blood of his heart for the vilest of men.

The other part of the priestly office consisted in making intercession. He is well qualified to do this because he ever lives to make intercession for us.

We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Many are unfaithful to their trust because they are not righteous in their ways.

But he who is our great high priest is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all his promises.

All creatures are tender to their own. The bear will not be easily robbed of her young.

Our great high priest took upon him our nature that he might be touched with a feeling of our infirmities.

He loved his own and loves them to the end. They are one with him, and he with them, members of his body, children of his

Father, co -heirs and joint heirs with himself. For their sake he endured the penalties of sin, the pains of sin, and the agony of the cross.

Though now exalted on high, yet he has eyes upon his people, and his ears are open to their prayers.

He sympathizes with the weary and feels for the heavy laden.

Of his kingly office there can be no doubt. God declares of him, I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

The angels announced this explicitly at his birth. He will be great and will be called the son of the highest, and the

Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.

His kingdom was not of this world. In this world there must be subjects before there can be a sovereign, but in the kingdom of Christ it is quite different.

He chooses his people, and not the people their king. He has not one subject who is not drawn by the power of his grace.

Other sheep I have who are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

Were we to find a kingdom without troubles and full of blessings, would we not force our way in to enjoy its privileges?

We know that the kingdom of Christ is full of blessings for our lives here on earth and for the world to come, yet years pass before we enter the true fold.

The Lord waits to be gracious. With long -suffering, tenderness, and compassion, he yearns for us to come to him.

Although he finds us asleep, he comes to us and awakens us. He leads us through the iron gates of difficulties, delivers us from a thousand dangers, and never rests until through him we reach the eternal city, his kingdom in heaven.

We are often subject to fear, but as long as he reigns, everything will work together for our good, and in dominion, power, extent, or duration of his kingdom there will be no end.

In a clock there are several wheels which run counter to one another.

Some move slowly, others whirl about with great speed, yet they all combine to keep the clock working and contribute their part to the keeping of time.

In the same way, every event, however opposite it may seem, is disposed by the secret impelling hand of God and promotes his glory and furthers the salvation of his people.

Scripture illustrates this wonderfully. When the disciples found themselves in the great storm at sea, they were terrified, but the

Lord was with them. He rebuked the wind and the waves, and there was a great calm.

They marveled at his authority. Jacob thought that Joseph was dead and that he would lose

Simeon and Benjamin as well, but he saw them all again in comfort and prosperity and rejoiced.

Our blessed Savior is a King who protects his people and fights for his subjects.

Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one. In the book of Revelation he is described as clothed with a robe dipped in blood.

The angels are astonished at the sight, but he wears these dyed garments as a badge for his people.

When they rest, he fights. When they mourn, he conquers principalities on their behalf.

He not only fights with them but also for them. Do not be afraid.

Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, for he fights for you. This is a great comfort to the godly, but it should strike terror into the heart of the wicked.

If sinners resist his will and say, We will not have this man to reign over us, they will suddenly be destroyed without remedy.

If they continue their cry, let us break his bonds in pieces and cast away his cords from us.

There will come a day when he will break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry. Bow the knee to the scepter of his grace, lest you are consumed in the midst of your sins.

When we through sin were cut off from God's favor, he took our nature so that he might reconcile us to himself, and now by his

Spirit he applies that reconciliation to our souls. The triune

God comes to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the same

God, rich in mercy and infinite in love. This is one of the deep mysteries of the

Gospel. The divine essence can no more be separated than heat, light, and air, the three ingredients of fire.

Human wisdom can never grasp this truth, yet human beings believe through faith in the

Eternal I AM who has revealed it. It is of the greatest importance for our eternal salvation to maintain this doctrine in all its essentials.

We insist on this grand, distinguishing truth of the Christian religion because it is the foundation of all our hopes.

Let others believe in their superior knowledge. We will simply adhere to the doctrines of the

Bible and not presume to be wise beyond what is written. Let our sole aim be to be like the triune

God. Nothing can make us resemble God more than by having his grace, loving our enemies, blessing those who curse us, and doing good to those who hate us.

A mother will leave for a moment her dying child to rescue a beast from perishing. God, who prefers mercy before sacrifice, will dispense with his own worship while a sheep, fallen into a pit, is lifted out.

Now let us consider the third thing concerning this anointing. What is the lesson we may learn and what are the blessings we receive?

Consider what inestimable blessings and high privileges Christians receive from this anointing.

They assume Christ's name and, through him, become partakers of the same blessings.

They, too, are anointed. Like the precious oil upon the head running down on the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garment, even so the oil of gladness with which our

Lord Jesus was anointed ran, and still continues to run down to bless and enrich the lowliest of his people.

May we be so united by faith to our living head that, as his companions, we may not only be called by his name, but be made partakers of his grace.

May the oil of gladness distilling from his anointed head, drop by drop, be poured into our souls until, having received of his fullness and grace for grace, we may not merely profess his name, but bear his image.

Since the Father has anointed the Son, we should also anoint him.

We may anoint his feet with our tears. It is said of one that she washed his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.

Tears of true penitence are precious in God's sight, so precious indeed that it is said of him,

You put my tears in your bottle. Many complain of hard times.

Few complain of hard hearts. Many weep for the losses they sustain.

Few mourn for the souls which perish. Christ shed the blood of his heart for the sins of others.

Will you not weep for your own? Tears which spring from a broken and a contrite heart procure peace, which the world cannot give and inherit a blessing the world cannot bestow.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

We may anoint his head with the affection of true love. Love is the fulfilling of the law.

It is the richest treasure which God bestows, and the sweetest grace which we can possess.

Other people and things we may love too much, but he who is anointed of the

Father may love too little. Mary loved much, but not too much.

Angels cannot sufficiently love him who is love. The church, unable to recount his manifold excellencies, sums it all up in this brief word.

He is altogether lovely. The more we love him, the more we shall continue to love him.

It is the essence of the Godhead, for God is love.

May this love be shed abroad in our hearts, and transform us into the likeness of his

Son. May it kindle in our souls a flame, that we may love him who is the chief among ten thousand, with an ardour which many waters cannot quench, and the floods of persecution cannot drown.

When we truly love him who is anointed of the Father, we shall also love those who are anointed by him, and be full of kindly affection.

We should also, like Nicodemus, anoint his body. This is done by compassion, pity, and tenderness toward those who are his companions, true

Christians. This is the most fragrant ointment that can be poured on him.

They are flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone. Neither distance, poverty, nor time can dissolve the union cemented by love centred in him, still subsisting between him and his people.

He weeps with those who weep. He rejoices with those who rejoice. Every wrong done to them he regards as an injury to himself.

Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Inasmuch as you have not done it to them, you have not done it to me.

To the extent that God has blessed us, we should prove a blessing to others. Although without faith no work can be pleasing in his sight yet, our faith must be seen by our works.

It must appear in our life and conversation. The woman who poured ointment on his head will have her deed proclaimed as a memorial of her wherever the gospel is preached.

He who counts up your tears also reckons in his book your good works and godly deeds.

On that great and awful theatre of the last day, he will proclaim to a whole universe all the secrets of your hearts, every might you have given to his service, every journey you have taken to his house, every back you have clothed, every need you have supplied, every tear you have shed, and every prayer you have offered.

If you have tasted of the oil of gladness in your souls, you will honor the

Lord with your substance and anoint his body, his members in need, with the first fruit of your increase.

May it please him who was anointed of the Father through his Holy Spirit to bless your life and save your souls.

Amen. Well, we're grateful for Andrew Davis reading that to us.

Again, that was a sermon by Daniel Rowland, 18th century Welsh preacher, considered by many to be the greatest preacher

Wales has ever had. I hope you can take Hebrews 1 -9 and take those words and spend time with that sermon and ask the

Father, how do I apply this? I want to do all with this verse that you want me to do.