"FEEDING ON THE OIL OF GOLD"

March 26, 2000 pm
MF Blume

There are truths of the Word of God that need to be fed to the church.

Zechariah 4:1-14  And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth. Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? {the golden oil: Heb. the gold} And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.


In this vision, Zechariah saw a seven-branched candlestick. These were oil lamps. So he asked the angel in the vision what it was. Zechariah was also told that he started to build the temple and he will finish it. Then Zechariah asked what the two olive trees were that stood beside the candlestick. It is interesting that the oil was literally called GOLD in the original Hebrew language.

"What [be these] two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden [oil] out of themselves?"

Sons of oil. Now, when we read about oil feeding the candlesticks, we understand from the New Testament that the CHURCH is represented by candlesticks.
Revelation 1:20  The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
These two olive trees of Zechariah were Joshua the High Priest, from chapter 3 of Zechariah, and Zerubbabel of whom we read about in chapter 4. Here we read about TWO OLIVE TREES AGAIN. Notice the wording to John was identical to Zechariah.
Zechariah 4:14  Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
The two that stand before the Lord of the whole earth. God needs some people who know him in this world to LIVE A LIFE that represents Him in this world. In Zechariah, the two were feeding the candlestick with GOLD, or golden oil. THEY PROPHESIED. PREACHING TO THE CHURCH IS LIKE FEEDING THE CANDLESTICKS WITH OIL.
Luke 12:35-38  Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.
Keep your lights burning. Jesus spoke many times about our need to burn with light!
Matthew 5:14-16  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
And the words from Luke that we read moments ago, are identical to the thoughts we read in Matthew 25.
Matthew 25:1-10  Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
The foolish virgins did not have sufficient OIL. It is interesting that when Zechariah asked the angel what did the oil coming into the candlesticks mean? Just as the virgins had to make sure their LAMPS did not burn out, Paul tells us to NOT FAIL OF THE GRACE OF GOD.

Jesus wrote to Sardis and referred to the seven spirits of God, or the SEVEN flames of fire on the seven candlesticks.

Revelation 3:1  And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
Like virgins who should have oil, this church had a name that they were alive, but were dead. The OIL fed the lamps. Here we read that THE ANOINTING TEACHES US. These are not Moses and Elijah, but the spirit of ministry of Moses and Elijah. There is the idea of WITNESS and GRACE together. They are not literally Elijah and Moses returned to Earth, because the two olive trees were also JOSHUA AND ZERUBBABEL. When the anointing is upon a person, like Elijah or Moses, or Joshua or Zerubbabel, it is not MAN teaching them anything, but it is THE ANOINTING TEACHING. But the two foolish virgins were beside the wise all the time. God is feeding you GOLD tonight. Here is what having SOME OIL and not enough is like:
Matthew 13:20-21  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
Not enough receptivity of the WORD. How are you RECEIVING THE WORD PREACHED?
Job  21:17  How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.

Job  18:5  Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.

Job  8:13-14  So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web.

Proverbs 4:18-20  But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble. My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.

The PROPHESIED and PREACHED Word of God is like OIL FOR THE LAMPS. That's like saying HIS WORDS ARE OIL FOR A BURNING LAMP!

When we are FED oil, God is the God of the whole Earth.

Bro. Mean noted that he felt these words were speaking of the generation Jesus spoke to in His day.
Matthew 24:32-34  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
THIS GENERATION. It is historical fact that Jerusalem was besieged by ROME for 3.5 years!


Jesus told John in revelation:

Revelation 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Jesus referred to the Temple being destroyed in Matthew 24 when He said not one stone would be left upon another. THE TWO WITNESSES WITNESSED OF WHAT JESUS SAID WOULD OCCUR IN MATTHEW 24.

But the whole point is that the WORD and SPIRIT are God's two witnesses that FEED THE NEW TEMPLE THE CHURCH.

Buying FOOD is HEARING THE WORD. Want to know what the SURE MERCIES OF DAVID ARE?
Acts 13:34  And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.
We feed on GRACE-preaching.