Genesis 35:14 also tells us that Jacob poured oil upon the pillar. He did this after he had poured the drink offering upon it. I used to think that Jacob was mistaken in doing this and that he should have poured the oil first. But Jacob was not mistaken. According to our experience, it is the pouring out of the drink offering that brings in the oil. If we are ready to be poured out as a drink offering, we are also ready to experience the outpouring of the Spirit. The more we are prepared to be poured out as a drink offering, the more of the oil we shall enjoy.
After the pillar was set up, it was sanctified by being anointed with oil. The same was true of the tabernacle. After it was erected, it was sanctified by the holy anointing oil (Exo. 40:9). The pillar was set up, the drink offering was poured upon it, and then the pillar was sanctified by the oil. The oil poured upon the pillar sealed it. This simply means that the pillar was sanctified. The pouring out of the oil caused the building of God to be absolutely holy, sanctified, and separated unto God. If a good number of us will be ready to be poured out as a drink offering upon God's building, the Holy Spirit will immediately be present to sanctify the church. This is the sealing of the Spirit. No matter how much we experience the Holy Spirit, if we are not ready to be poured out as a drink offering, we do not have a layer of sanctifying oil upon the church. But if many are ready to be poured out as a drink offering, the church will be anointed with oil, and the church life, being sealed with a layer of oil, will be sanctified.
The real experience of the Spirit is in relation to the pouring out of the drink offering. Consider the experience of the one hundred and twenty on the day of Pentecost. As we all know, on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out (Acts 2:33). Before this took place, the one hundred and twenty were ready to be poured out as a drink offering. When Peter stood up with the eleven, he was already being poured out. The result was that the oil, the Holy Spirit, came down upon them. The oil did not come before they were ready to be poured out as a drink offering. You may remark that Peter was not martyred at that time. This, of course, is true. But you must realize that he stood there like a martyr and risked his neck. Although the Jewish religionists were opposing him, he was not afraid of them. In the eyes of the angels, all the hundred and twenty were already being poured out as a drink offering. Thus, the oil was poured out to sanctify and to seal them. On that day the church at Jerusalem was anointed with a layer of heavenly oil. Unlike today's Christian organizations, the church was holy, separated, and sanctified. May all the churches in the Lord's recovery be like this. I hope that a good number of saints will be already poured out as a drink offering so that the Holy Spirit as the heavenly oil will come upon the church to seal it, sanctify it, and make it absolutely separated to God. This is the experience at Bethel.
After Jacob did all these things at Bethel, he called the name of the place Bethel (35:15), indicating that he realized that this was the house of God where God spoke to him (28:13-15). Today, the church is the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 3:6). Like Jacob at Bethel, we also must have the practical experiences for the church life. We must build an altar of consecration, we must set up a pillar for God's building, and we must be ready to be poured out as a drink offering upon God's building that the divine oil may be poured upon it to sanctify it for God. To do this is to realize the practical church life.