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Scripture Reading: Exo. 30:23-25; 1 John 2:27; 1:7; 3:20-21; Heb. 9:14; 10:22; 1 Tim. 1:19; Acts 24:16
John 15:1-8 concerns Christ as the vine and the believers as branches in the vine. However, the way for us to abide in the vine is not fully developed in the Gospel of John. Besides his Gospel, John also wrote three Epistles. In his first Epistle John continued to show the way to abide in Christ. According to 1 John 2:27, the way to abide in Christ is to take care of the anointing. The ing in the word anointing indicates that it is something moving and working. The moving of the ointment in the Bible is called the anointing. When we apply an ointment to our skin, we rub it in. Hence, there is a moving. The anointing mentioned in 1 John comes from the holy anointing oil described in Exodus 30:23-25, which was a compound ointment. This anointing oil typifies the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The anointing gives us the way to abide in the vine.
Many branches are attached to a vine. The branches are not only attached to the vine but also abiding in the vine. The life-juice within the vine flows into the branches. By this flow the branches abide in the vine. The abiding of the branches in the vine is an illustration of the fellowship mentioned in 1 John 1:7. Fellowship is abiding, and abiding is carried out by the anointing. The dictionary tells us that to abide is to remain, indicating that the branches’ abiding in the vine is simply their remaining in the vine. However, in the Bible the word abiding, especially in reference to the branches’ relationship with the vine, means something more profound than merely to remain. The secret of our abiding in Christ as the vine is the anointing. The Gospel of John mentions the abiding (15:4-7). Then the first Epistle of John mentions the anointing, which is the way to abide. Revelation contains the reaping, the harvest, of the abiding. The abiding, the way to abide, and the harvest are three stages. In this chapter we will consider mainly the second stage, the way to abide.
The way to abide is by the anointing. All believers have the Spirit within them, and this Spirit is not silent, passive, or inactive. He is very active and aggressive and is constantly moving and working within us. The moving and working of the Holy Spirit within us is the anointing. If there is nothing or no one living within us, there will be no moving or working within us. However, every saved person has received the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9, 11). Therefore, every believer has the anointing within — something living, acting, moving, and working. God’s salvation is not merely an objective matter, something outside of our being. God’s salvation is subjective; it is a person within us. This person is God Himself as the life-giving Spirit within every believer. Every one of us has this moving person living in us.
Before we were saved, we were always alone and lonely, regardless of our situation. Now that we are saved, it is altogether different. Wherever we go, Someone always goes with us, not outwardly but inwardly. We all have this experience. We love the Lord, but sometimes our love for Him wanes. Although many young brothers and sisters truly love the Lord, they may be attracted when a classmate, relative, or friend invites them to see a movie. They may pray, “Lord, should I go or not?” However, they may eventually be so attracted that they tell the Lord, “Lord, sorry, just this one time do not go with me. Lord, would You give me leave just for three hours? Let me go to see the movie alone.” A sister may see in a newspaper advertisement that a beautiful item is on sale at a department store. She may be quite attracted by the style as well as the price. She may have recently received a gift from her grandmother of the exact amount that she needs to buy the item. As a result, she may decide to go and buy it. When she considers the Lord Jesus, she may say, “Lord, excuse me just for this time. Please stay home and allow me to go to the store alone.” We have all done something like this. However, regardless of how much we ask the Lord to leave us alone, He will not. He always goes with us inwardly.
After I was saved as a young person, I sometimes told the Lord, “Lord, I loved You yesterday, and I loved You this morning. However, now I am going to a certain place, and I do not want You to come with me. Lord, please stay home.” I was bothered that the Lord would not stay home. Rather, He always went with me and in me. Moreover, He would ask me, “Do you really enjoy your going?” This question from within was the anointing — it was a living person moving and working within me. This working and moving, the anointing of the ointment, never leaves us. The ointment, which is the compound Spirit, anoints us day by day.
In certain places in the Lord’s recovery there has recently been a strange teaching that we can go anywhere because the Lord Jesus is with us wherever we go. According to this teaching, we can go to worldly places, such as movie theaters, because the Lord will go with us. The Lord goes with us to such places; however, He goes not to make us happy but to bother us. Before we were saved, no one bothered us when we went to the movies. However, now that we are saved, when we go to see a movie, the Lord Jesus will go with us to bother us. He may bother us by asking, “Are you enjoying the movie?” This inward asking is the anointing. Sometimes He says, “Do not stay here any longer. Go home.” Many of us have had this experience. A sister who is shopping in a department store may hear the anointing say, “Do not touch that item.” Eventually, she may hear, “You should go home.” After a few such experiences at a certain place, we may decide to never go back to that place. We may say, “Lord Jesus, I will not ask You to leave me. I will stay with You.” When we say this, we will immediately be filled with joy.
Christians often like to gossip. However, every time we gossip, we should sense something bothering us within. Many times when I begin to ask a brother about a certain person or matter, something within checks me, and I cannot continue. When we have this kind of experience, it is the anointing who stops us. This is a wonderful aspect of God’s salvation. We are saved from hell once for all, but our salvation in our daily life is not once for all. We need to be saved every day by the anointing. Unbelievers can gossip and talk loosely without any inward problem, but believers cannot. We are saved from gossiping by the anointing. When I begin to speak loosely to my wife, I am often stopped by the anointing. When this happens, I go to my study and kneel down to pray, “Lord, forgive me.” The Christian life is a life of being saved by the anointing.
The way to abide in the Lord is by the teaching of the anointing (1 John 2:27). The anointing is typified by the holy anointing oil, the compound ointment, described in Exodus 30:23-25. The compound ointment was made from a hin of olive oil compounded with four spices: myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia. A hin is an ancient Hebrew unit of liquid measure. In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, oil typifies the Spirit of God. In Exodus 30 the oil is no longer oil alone but is compounded with four spices to become an ointment. Oil has one essence and one element, but the compound ointment is a mixture of five elements. The anointing in the Bible is the anointing of the ointment. Myrrh, the first of the four spices added to the oil, signifies Christ’s death in a positive sense. The death of Adam, which brought us all into death (Rom. 5:12), was negative, but the death of Christ, which rescued us out of death, is positive. Cinnamon signifies the effectiveness and sweetness of the death of Christ. Calamus is a reed that shoots up in muddy places, signifying resurrection. Cassia signifies the power and the effectiveness of Christ’s resurrection. In ancient times cassia was used as a snake and insect repellent. The effectiveness of Christ’s resurrection repels the serpent, Satan, and all the negative “insects” that come to bother us.
The quantities of the spices are also significant. There were five hundred shekels of myrrh, two hundred fifty shekels of cinnamon, two hundred fifty shekels of calamus, and five hundred shekels of cassia. The two hundred fifty shekels of cinnamon and two hundred fifty shekels of calamus compose one unit of five hundred shekels split in two. Thus, there are three units of five hundred shekels each, and the middle unit is cut in half. These three units signify the three of the Triune God, and the middle unit that was split signifies Christ the Son, the second of the Godhead, who was “split” on the cross. The number of spices, four, signifies the creatures, the foremost of which is man (Ezek. 1:5; Rev. 4:6). The combining of the numbers three and four implies the mingling of the Triune God with His creature man. Three multiplied by four is twelve, which is the number of the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem has twelve gates, has twelve foundations, and measures twelve thousand stadia in all three dimensions (Rev. 21:12, 14, 16). Thus, the type of the compound ointment is the source of the number of the New Jerusalem, the ultimate mingling of God and man.
The olive oil being compounded with the four spices signifies the Spirit of God being compounded with Christ’s humanity, His death, and His resurrection. Everything Christ is and has accomplished has all been compounded into the Spirit of God. For this reason the Spirit is called the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19). Such a Spirit was not yet before Jesus was glorified, that is, before He was resurrected. The Spirit mentioned in John 7:39 is the compound Spirit. Now that Christ has died and resurrected, the Spirit of God has become a wonderful compound Spirit. This compound Spirit includes the divinity of the Triune God, the humanity of Christ, Christ’s death, the effectiveness of His death, Christ’s resurrection, and the power of His resurrection.
My burden is not that we would merely gain some biblical knowledge but that we would see that the contents of the Spirit and the word of God are the same. In the previous chapter we saw that the constituents of God’s word in the Bible are Christ, His death, and His resurrection. Every page of the Bible contains Christ, His death, and His resurrection. The word of God may be compared to a cup of tea that contains tea and several other ingredients, such as lemon, milk, and honey, compounded together into an all-inclusive drink. When we drink such a cup of tea, we receive all the ingredients. That which is in the word is in the Spirit also. Christ is a constituent of the word, and Christ has also been compounded into the Spirit. Christ’s death is in the word, and His death has also been compounded into the Spirit. Christ’s resurrection is a constituent of the word, and His resurrection has also been compounded into the Spirit. Therefore, the Spirit and the word correspond. Actually, the word is the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). The word of God in the Bible, which is outside of us, becomes the Spirit when we take it into us. When the Spirit comes out of us, He becomes the word again. The word without is the Spirit within; these two are one. Christ, His death, and His resurrection are included in both the word and the Spirit.
Many saints have learned the teaching that we have been crucified and resurrected and that we now need to reckon ourselves crucified and resurrected. I did much reckoning when I was young. However, today I have seen that the way is not to reckon but to take in the word and touch the Spirit. Because Christ’s death and the effectiveness of His death are in the word and in the Spirit, when we receive the word and touch the Spirit, we enjoy and participate in Christ’s death and its effectiveness. Being crucified with Christ is not a matter of knowledge or reckoning; it is a matter of taking in the word and touching the Spirit because within the word and within the Spirit are the death of Christ and the effectiveness of His death.
If we do not open the Bible for a month or even a week, yet we attempt to reckon ourselves dead, we will still be very alive in many sinful things. Day after day there is no killing power within us because we do not take the word into us. If we do not eat physical food for a week, we will be susceptible to many diseases. As long as we eat the proper food, we will have the killing element, the natural antibiotics, to kill the germs. If we do not eat properly for a period of time, there will be a lack of the killing element in our body. Many negative germs will begin to work, and we will become sick. We need a daily killing not only in our physical life but also in our spiritual life. As long as we are on the earth, many spiritual germs will enter into us through the things we see in the sinful environment that surrounds us. Therefore, we daily need the inward killing of the spiritual antibiotics to kill the spiritual germs within us. This killing power is in the word and in the Spirit. When we read the Bible and pray, taking in the word and touching the Spirit, we receive the killing element of the death of Christ.
If a brother does not read the Bible for one month, he may often lose his temper with his wife. It will not be necessary to ask him whether or not he has read the Bible regularly; we can simply ask his wife, “How has your husband’s temper been?” If she replies that he has frequently lost his temper, we will know that the brother has not been reading the Bible daily, because the negative things within him have become prevailing. He lacks the killing element because he does not take in the word. We need to legally spend at least ten minutes in the Bible every morning. If the brother begins to spend only ten minutes per day in the Word, perhaps after only a week his wife will say, “Praise the Lord! My husband has had a wonderful change. He did not lose his temper once this week.” Moreover, when we read the Bible, we surely will pray. No one eats and does not drink. Everyone who eats also drinks. By reading the Bible and praying, we take in the word and touch the Spirit, both of which contain Christ, His death, and His resurrection. It is in this way that we abide in the vine.
First John 2:27 says, “His anointing teaches you.” The word teaches indicates that the moving of the compound Spirit is full of meaning. However, we need the proper knowledge of the Bible to understand the meaning of the Spirit’s moving. For this reason we all need to read the Bible to accumulate the necessary knowledge. Children must be taught the meaning of certain words before they can be expected to fully understand their parents. The anointing teaches us within, but if we do not have the adequate knowledge of the Bible, we will not understand the meaning of the moving within us. The Spirit moves with meaning, with some significance, but we need the spiritual knowledge to understand it.
We need to read the Bible to receive the spiritual education necessary to become spiritually qualified to understand the teaching of the anointing. If a person speaks to us in a language we do not know, although we hear the sounds of the person’s speaking, we will not understand the meaning. Because we lack the necessary knowledge and education, we are not qualified to understand the person’s speaking. However, if we know the language, we will understand the person’s speaking. We need to spend time in the Word to accumulate biblical knowledge so that we will become spiritually qualified and prepared to understand the teaching of the anointing. A brother who was recently saved can understand only a little of the teaching of the anointing within him, but a brother who has been saved and has read the Word for many years can understand much more when the anointing moves within him. The anointing within these two brothers may be the same, but their understanding will differ greatly because their preparation differs. This is the reason that we all need to spend time in the Word.
Reading the Word is never a waste of time. I encourage the saints to be legal about their Bible reading. When Brother Watchmen Nee was young, he decided to read the New Testament once a week for one year. He was able to do this by carrying a small Bible with him everywhere he went. Whenever he was unoccupied for any amount of time, he would read a few lines. After reading the New Testament fifty-two times in such a way, a clear knowledge of the Word was surely wrought into his being. When the compound Spirit anoints such a person, he understands the full meaning of the anointing. We will never feel that we have read the Bible too much. By reading the Bible, we accumulate the knowledge we need to understand the teaching of the anointing, which enables us to abide in the Lord.
In order to enter into anything, there is the need of an entrance, a gate. The gate of our spirit is our conscience. Most people first believe when their conscience is touched through the hearing of the gospel. Proper gospel preaching leads people to repentance and confession, which are matters of the conscience. When we repent and confess our sins to the Lord, we touch and open our conscience. Then the blood of Christ cleanses our conscience. Hebrews 9:14 says, “How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” When we believe into the Lord Jesus and repent and confess to Him, we open our conscience, and the blood purifies our conscience. Therefore, the gate to our spirit is opened and cleansed. Then the Holy Spirit enters into our spirit. This shows the importance of purifying, cleansing, and dealing with our conscience. If our conscience is open and cleansed by the blood, the Spirit will enter into our spirit.
First John 3:20 says, “If our heart blames us, it is because God is greater than our heart and knows all things.” The conscience is a part of both the spirit and the heart. Therefore, for our heart to condemn us is for our conscience to condemn us. In order to contact the Lord and abide in Him, we must deal with our conscience. If we do not deal with an offense, our conscience will condemn us, and this will frustrate our abiding in the Lord. Hence, we need to diligently deal with our conscience. In 1 Timothy 1:19 Paul wrote, “Holding faith and a good conscience,” and in Acts 24:16 he testified, “I also exercise myself to always have a conscience without offense toward God and men.”
We have seen that in order to abide in Christ, we need to take in the word and touch the Spirit. We touch the Spirit with our spirit, and the gate of our spirit is our conscience. Thus, we must take care of our conscience. If we lose our temper with our spouse, when we try to touch the Spirit and take in the word the following morning, there will be an offense in our conscience, and our conscience will condemn us. If we do not deal with this offense, it will frustrate us from abiding in the Lord. Therefore, we need to pray, “Lord, I confess to You that I lost my temper with my dear spouse. Lord, forgive me and cleanse me.” The Lord will probably answer, “Go and confess to your spouse and ask for forgiveness.” If we do this, our conscience will be cleared up immediately, and the gate of our spirit will be wide open. Then the anointing will move in us, and we will abide in the vine. In this way we can have fellowship with the Lord and participate in all the riches of the life-juice of the vine. As a result, we will live the vine, grow the vine, and produce the vine.
We need to come to the Bible and pray to the Lord daily to take in the word and touch the Spirit. When we do this, our conscience will be touched and will become sensitive. When our conscience is seared, it becomes dull and loses its sensitivity. Then there is no sensation within our conscience. However, if we come to the Lord, take in His word, touch His Spirit, and ask Him to cleanse us with His precious blood, our conscience will become very sensitive. Then our conscience will immediately sense any matter in which we are wrong so that we can confess it and be cleansed by the blood. In this way we can continually abide in the vine. The way to abide in the vine is to spend time in the Bible and pray to take in the word and touch the Spirit. If we do this, our conscience will surely be touched and will function to give us a sensation when we are wrong in any matter or with any person. Then we can confess our wrongdoings to deal with our conscience. At first we may feel that we are wrong in only a few matters, but if we confess these matters, we will see that there are many more matters we need to confess.
Some may feel that the way of dealing with the conscience by thorough confession is difficult, but this is the only way, and there are no shortcuts. Many of us do not properly abide in the Lord because our conscience is covered with many offenses and has become seared and dull, losing the proper sensation. However, if we would sincerely touch the word and the Spirit — taking in the word by pray-reading, touching our spirit, and asking the Lord to cleanse us — the light will shine on our conscience and cause it to become sensitive. Then we need to continue to confess our offenses and sins according to the sensation of our conscience. Such confession will lead us to confess more and more of our offenses and wrongdoings. Eventually, our conscience will be thoroughly purified, like a washed window.
A purified conscience is a highway and an open gate for us to contact the Lord and for the Lord to come into us. It will issue in much traffic between us and the Lord, which will keep us in the proper condition of abiding in Him. Such abiding will bring us the rich supply of the life-juice of the vine for our enjoyment. Then we will surely grow the vine and produce the vine. According to my experience, this is the proper way. It is by this way that we can grow and produce Christ. Moreover, in the word and in the Spirit are the rich Christ, His effective death, and His powerful resurrection in a very subjective and experiential way for our enjoyment. I hope that we would all receive this word and put it into practice, daily coming to the Lord and the Word, pray-reading to take in the word, touching the Spirit, and dealing with our conscience to experience the cleansing of the blood. This will bring us into the proper abiding. Then we will truly live Christ, grow Christ, and produce Christ.
