Hymns 582
Scripture Reading:
1 John 2:27 And as for you, the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone teach you; but as His anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not a lie, and even as it has taught you, abide in Him.
The anointing means the Triune God, through the moving of the Holy Spirit within us, anointing Himself into us…The teaching of the anointing comes from the anointing and is the natural result of our being anointed. When the anointing is moving within us, on the one hand, it anoints God into us, and on the other hand, it reveals God’s mind to us…Concerning the teaching of the anointing, the Holy Spirit attends to the anointing, and we take care of the obedience. If there is no obedience, it is difficult to have the experience of this lesson; therefore, we will also look into this matter of obedience.
OBEYING THE TEACHING OF THE ANOINTING AND
WALKING ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT
To follow the Lord means to follow the Spirit, which, specifically speaking, means to obey the teaching of the anointing. We are not following an objective, external Lord, but One who is subjective and lives in us. The shining of His face and the manifestation of Himself is the anointing; whereas the will He reveals in the light of His face is the teaching of the anointing. If we obey this teaching, we are obeying the Lord. If we follow this teaching, we are following the Lord.
OBEYING THE TEACHING OF THE ANOINTING
AND LIVING IN FELLOWSHIP
If we obey the teaching of the anointing, the result is constant fellowship with the Lord in a very natural way; this is living in fellowship. The practical way of entering into fellowship: Firstly, we must know that the feeling of the anointing is the teaching of the anointing. If we desire to enter into the fellowship of life, or, in other words, to enter into the anointing, we must first understand the teaching derived from the feeling of the anointing which is moving within us. Secondly, we must cease all outward activities. Our whole being should cease from all activity and movement in order to turn within and give full attention to the inner feeling. Thirdly, we must have a fixed time to practice this fellowship with the Lord. The beginner, learning how to fellowship with the Lord, should set aside several fixed times each day to practice this fellowship. Fourthly, we must practice fellowship with the Lord at all times. After we spend quite a period of time in practicing fellowship at specific times, we should practice fellowship with the Lord at all times. (The Experience of Life, pp. 129-152)
THE MOVING OF THE PERSON OF CHRIST BEING THE ANOINTING
The Bible gives the moving of this Person a special term—the anointing (1 John 2:27). This term, the anointing, is difficult to understand. The anointing which abides in us is the moving of a Person, the Person of Christ. This anointing teaches us. We all have something within us called the anointing teaching us in our very being. Thus, within us we have both the nature of Christ and the Person of Christ.
The anointing is the moving of the ointment within us. In typology, the ointment is composed of olive oil and some of the finest spices (Exo. 30:22-25). The main element in this composition is the oil, into which are added a number of ingredients. When the tabernacle, the utensils in the tabernacle, and the priests were anointed, all the components of the ointment were upon that thing or person which was being anointed. In typology, this ointment is Christ. The very Christ who is now indwelling our spirit is the ointment composed of the Spirit of God and other elements. As this ointment, He is moving and living in us day by day. This inward moving of the ointment affords us a living teaching. Christ teaches us in this way.
THE NORMAL LIVING OF THE WONDERFUL ONE
When Christ came into us, He brought His wonderful nature into our being. The function of this nature is the working of the law of life. Christ is also in us as the ointment which constantly anoints us. This anointing gives us a comfortable, soothing sense. Whenever the Lord Jesus teaches us from within, His teaching is that of His anointing which gives us this comfortable, soothing sense. As Christians, we all have the automatic, spontaneous, constant, and instant working of the law of life, the law which works according to Christ’s wonderful nature, and we have the anointing which moves in us according to Christ’s Person.
When the sisters are in a department store, many times the inner taste forbids them to purchase a particular item. This taste comes from the wonderful nature within them. Fifty years ago, I might have been able to purchase a fancy lamp. But if I did this today, I would be unable to sleep at night because of the function of the nature of life. We all have this nature with its automatic function. If you try to suppress this function, it will spring up all the more, for the more it is suppressed, the higher it rises. We all have experienced this working of the law of life.
As we have seen, we not only have this nature within us, but also a Person. Whether I should go shopping today does not depend upon the working of the nature; it depends upon the teaching of the anointing. A living Person is constantly living and moving within us. This living and moving is His teaching. If we are about to go shopping, we should open ourselves to the Lord, saying, “Lord, I’m one with You, and I know that You are one with me. Lord, do You want to go shopping this morning?” When we do this, we shall sense the anointing within. This is the moving of the living One within us. As this lovable One works in us, we sense the comforting and the soothing. How pleasant this is! Whether or not we go shopping is secondary. The primary thing is that as we look to Him and fellowship with Him, we enjoy His anointing. Whenever we are under His anointing, we know what to do. If we take a step which He does not want to take, the anointing will stop, and the soothing, comforting sense will diminish. By this we know that we should not do that particular thing. At such a time we should say, “Lord, I’m one with You. If You don’t want to go, I won’t go either.” If we do this, the anointing and its comforting sense will return.
What we are talking about here is neither a matter of teaching nor of miracles. It is the normal living of this wonderful One. I live absolutely according to the law of life, and I move, act, and behave according to the anointing. I do not need anyone to teach me. The wonderful nature of the life of Christ and the very anointing of the Person of Christ are more than adequate for us to live a normal Christian life. Here we have fellowship and here we grow in life. Here we have the spreading of the indwelling Christ into every part of our being and we undergo the process of God’s transformation. Here we also have the church life and the real building up. And here we prepare ourselves for the Lord’s coming back. (Life-study of Hebrews, pp 737-739)
Further Reading: The Experience of Life, msg. 7; Life-study of Hebrews, msg. 66; CWWL, 1963, vol. 3, “Basic Principles of the Experience of Life,” ch. 16
