p. 94 | Unction | AdventAI

California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists · OAKLAND, CAL. · Dec 31, 1874

Unction.

A YOUNG man rises in the pulpit. You see nothing engaging in his person, nothing musical in his voice, nothing winning in his manner; he has no reputation for genius, or learning, or wisdom; no illustrious ancestry, or secular sources of influence or authority; he speaks, but when you come to analyze his speech you may find neither logical ability nor rhetorical charms in it; indeed, it may be wanting in connection and void of new thought, yet all listen with eager interest—the giddy are sobered, the worldling feels that he is a fool, the sinner shudders as if brought to the mouth of hell, the saint resolves to live a better life, the minister who has preached for fame turns pale, the whole crowd trembles as in the presence of God.

What is the cause? We call it unction. The man has been in his closet, has wrestled with God and prevailed; he has received his commission anew, has had a fresh anointing from the Holy One. He did not tell you this, but you found it out; you detected the odor of the divine ointment, as the smell of a field that the Lord had blessed, and therefore the words went forth into your heart with power as the words of God. Test the discourses of Whitefield, Massillon, Summerfield, by logical or rhetorical re-agents, and you will be at an utter loss to account for their results. As well test the power of lightning by analyzing the raindrops that fall from the clouds.

A few months ago we heard one who has been instrumental in the conversion of more souls, perhaps, than any one of his age in this generation. Men flock around him, and a marvelous power goes forth from him. It was so when we listened to him; and yet how little did he say! Lest we might have been inappreciative, we turned to an aged philosopher and asked him what he thought. "There is not sense enough in his discourse to fill a lady's thimble, but there is devotion enough to float the chariot of Elijah."