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Date: February 10, 1972
Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 12:13; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30
There are four verses in the Bible that contain four unique symbols of the Spirit, all of which are related to our experience of the Spirit. The first symbol is water. First Corinthians 12:13 says, “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit.” We have all been given to drink of the Spirit. The Spirit is water to us, and we need to drink Him. Hence, water is the first symbol that speaks of our realization of the Spirit in our experience. The second symbol is ointment, the anointing oil. Second Corinthians 1:21 and 22 speak of our being firmly attached unto Christ and being anointed. The word anointed indicates that the Spirit is like ointment, the anointing oil, and that God has anointed us with the Spirit, having sealed us and having given us the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts. Verse 22, which says, “He who has also sealed us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge,” also points to the third and fourth symbols, which are the Spirit as a seal and as a pledge. God has sealed us with the Spirit. The Spirit is not only like ointment but also like a seal. The Chinese usually have a seal that represents who they are as a person. Similarly, God has a seal, which is the Spirit, and He sealed us with His Spirit. The fourth symbol, the pledge, is also spoken of in verse 5 of chapter 5. This verse says, “Now He who has wrought us for this very thing is God, who has given to us the Spirit as a pledge.” A pledge is a security, a guarantee. The Spirit is in us as a guarantee that God is our portion. Therefore, the Spirit we have received is like water, ointment, a seal, and a pledge.
Verse 21 of chapter 1 says, “The One who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God.” This refers to the attaching of the apostles with the believers unto Christ, the anointed One. The word Christ in Greek has the same meaning as Messiah in Hebrew. In John 1:41 Andrew found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah (which translated means Christ).” Messiah in Hebrew is translated as “Christ” in Greek, and it means “the anointed,” the One appointed by God to accomplish God’s purpose, God’s eternal plan. Hence, both Messiah and Christ mean “the anointed.” The anointed One is the Lord Jesus whom God has anointed with the Spirit. In Luke 4:18 the Lord said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me.” The Lord Jesus is God’s Anointed. God has poured out His Spirit upon the Lord, anointing Him with the Spirit; therefore, the Lord Jesus is the Anointed.
God has firmly attached the apostles with the believers unto Christ, the anointed One. God’s anointing oil is altogether on Him, and this anointing oil has further been poured out upon the apostles and the believers. God’s anointing oil has been poured out on Christ, and He has firmly attached the believers to Christ so that the anointing oil on Him now flows onto us.
Galatians 3:27 says, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” This verse can also be translated, “As many of you as were baptized into the anointed One have put on the anointed One.” God has baptized us into Christ, which equals baptizing us into the anointed One. Consequently, we have put on the anointed One. God has firmly attached the apostles with the believers unto the anointed One; thus, all the anointing oil on Him flows onto the apostles and the believers.
Although the Bible says that we have been firmly attached to the anointed One, it often does not seem as if there is any anointing oil upon us. At such times, it is easy to have little or no faith. Nevertheless, the Bible says that those who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Consequently, those who have been baptized into the anointed One have put on the anointed One. God has firmly attached us to the anointed One; therefore, God’s anointing is our portion. This is clearly experiential.
Now we need to see how to enjoy the riches of the Spirit. Since the Spirit is likened to water, we need to drink of this Spirit and even drink in this Spirit. We have received an all-inclusive Spirit. This Spirit is likened to water, and we have all been given to drink of this one Spirit. For many years I knew that I needed to drink the Spirit, but I did not know how to drink. Now I know that the only way to drink is to breathe in the Lord by calling, “O Lord Jesus!” When we call on the Lord, we are breathing in the Lord, and our breathing is our drinking.
Hymns, #73 speaks of breathing the name of Jesus and of drinking of life. Watchman Nee received great help from the author of this hymn, Miss M. E. Barber. The second stanza of the hymn says, “Blessed Jesus! Mighty Savior! / In Thy Name is all I need; / Just to breathe the Name of Jesus, / Is to drink of Life indeed.” Miss Barber was quite experienced in the Lord, and she discovered that to breathe the name of the Lord is to drink of the Lord’s life. Just to breathe the name of Jesus is to drink of life indeed. When we call, “O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus!” we are breathing, and our breathing is our drinking. Hence, we can drink the Lord by calling on His name.
Hymns, #255, which was written by A. B. Simpson, who founded the Christian and Missionary Alliance in America, also speaks of breathing the Lord. Brother Simpson was raised up by the Lord in the mid-nineteenth century and served the Lord first in Canada and later in the United States. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Pentecostal movement was quite prevailing in the United States, and Brother Simpson was also involved in it. However, when the Pentecostals went to the extreme of saying that speaking in tongues was a requirement for receiving the Holy Spirit, Brother Simpson did not approve.
We have at least ten hymns in our hymnal that were written by A. B. Simpson, such as, “I am crucified with Christ” (Hymns, #482), “Once it was the blessing, / Now it is the Lord” (Hymns, #513), and “Jesus only is our message” (Hymns, #511). Hymns, #255 speaks of breathing the Lord in stanza 7, saying, “I am breathing every moment, / Drawing all my life from Thee; / Breath by breath I live upon Thee, / Lord, Thy Spirit breathe in me.” The experience of this hymn is very rich; the author was breathing continuously, drawing his life from the Lord. Although many of God’s children have gone astray, there is a practical, simple, convenient, and proper way to breathe in and receive the Lord’s life every moment.
If the sisters would continually call on the Lord as they are taking care of household duties, they would breathe out their temper and concerns and breathe in the heavenly air. This heavenly air is the Lord Jesus. Brother Simpson was full of experience. He said, “I am breathing out my sin.” When he called “O Lord!” sin was breathed out from within him. Then he would breathe in more of the Lord’s riches so that breath by breath the Lord was manifested through him. This is truly a good hymn. I once introduced it to an American preacher who had been preaching for twenty-five years. When I introduced this hymn to him, he did not approve of it; he believed that it was quite strange. Several years later, however, he told me that this hymn was the best and most spiritual hymn, because it is not doctrinal. It was written by a person who was involved in the Pentecostal movement but who also was concerned that speaking in tongues was being overemphasized. Even though we emphasize the experience of the Spirit, we should not take the way of speaking in tongues or of foretelling but the way of breathing in the Lord by calling on His name. This is the proper way.
Recently, some opposers said that calling on the Lord is good for new believers but that there is no need to call once a believer has grown. This is indeed nonsense. If my parents were alive today, I would still address them as father and mother. There is no graduation from calling on the Lord, because we always need to breathe. Since calling on the name of the Lord is breathing, we should not say that there is no need to breathe simply because we are grown up. No matter how old a person is, he still needs to breathe in order to live. We can graduate from many things, but we cannot graduate from breathing. Hence, we should not say that breathing is something only for “children” but not for “adults.” We will call upon the name of the Lord for eternity. Even in the New Jerusalem in eternity future, we will be calling upon the Lord Jesus.
First Corinthians 13:11 says, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought as a child, I reasoned as a child; since I have become a man, I have done away with childish things.” Speaking in tongues keeps us in a childish stage, but in the coming age the matured believers will grow up, and these childish gifts, especially the lesser gifts, such as prophecies and speaking in tongues, will be rendered useless and cease (v. 8). However, calling on the name of the Lord is a matter for eternity. The way for us to enjoy the Lord is to call upon His name; therefore, we should never forsake calling upon His name. Many of us can testify that if we were not allowed to call upon the name of the Lord, it would be very distressing to us. Calling upon the name of the Lord is a spontaneous life practice in our Christian living. I call upon Him every day, even when I am getting dressed, tying my tie, combing my hair, and walking or riding in a car. I call, “O Lord!” and it is so sweet.
God also has anointed us with the Spirit as ointment. This ointment, which is God Himself, anoints God’s element and essence into us. Consider the application of paint. When I paint a wooden table, I spread the element of paint onto the table, and the element of paint is manifested. When God anoints us, He anoints us with Himself as the anointing oil. The more He anoints and paints us, the more He anoints His element and essence into us. With each application of paint on the table, the table gains an additional element of the paint. Hence, calling “O Lord Jesus!” is not a small matter. We need to realize that when we call, we are not only breathing and drinking in the Lord, but we are also letting the Lord anoint us and paint us. This anointing anoints the essence and element of God into us. Once an unbeliever is saved and begins to call, “O Lord!” the element and essence of God will be anointed into him, and after a few years he will be a different person.
Because we have all called upon the name of the Lord, I believe that we have the full assurance that the element and essence of God have been anointed into us. Additionally, because we call on the Lord every day, the element of God that has been anointed into us far exceeds our previous experience of touching and receiving the Lord. The more we call on the Lord, the more the element of God will increase in us.
God has anointed us. This is not a theological teaching. Theology usually stresses that God is unique, that He created the heavens and the earth, that we need to repent for our sins, and that we should fear God and honor our parents. Learning these theological teachings, however, does not mean that we have been anointed inwardly with the element and essence of God. We may have learned a doctrine about fearing God and honoring our parents, but we still have a desire to watch movies in the theater. If we call on the Lord Jesus but still go to a movie from time to time, something within us will not be peaceful, and there will even be a sense of regret within us. This sense is not related to doctrinal knowledge in our mind but to the living element of our Lord that has been anointed into our being. This element cannot be reconciled with the environment of a movie theater; this element is holy and separate. This is the reason that we have no inward peace when we are watching a movie; we may even feel inwardly unclean. We may not like to hear a word such as this, but God does, and so do those who love the Lord. We have an anointing within us that anoints us with the element and essence of God.
God has also sealed us with the Spirit as a seal. This seal is not only an imprint; it is God Himself. My Bible is stamped with a seal bearing my name, and this imprint proves that the Bible is mine. Anyone who picks up my Bible cannot keep it as his own. Furthermore, the image of the seal on my Bible is the same shape of the imprinting seal in my pouch. God has sealed us with the Spirit so that we not only belong to Him, but we also bear His image. God has stamped us with the Holy Spirit, and now we bear His image. We belong to the Lord; we have the image of God. Although we dare not claim to be absolutely different from worldly people, there is something different about us, whether we are at a train station, at our work place, at our school, or at any other place. This is because the Lord is being manifested through us. Once our inward parts are filled with the Lord, it is difficult not to express the Lord outwardly. When our whole being bears the Lord’s seal, we do not need to wear a sign that says we are Christians. Simply by calling, “O Lord,” our difference is manifested.
I often welcome visiting saints at airports or at train stations, many of whom I do not know. However, it is not difficult for me to tell them apart from other passengers. We truly are different from the worldly people. When we call upon the Lord daily and hourly, the Spirit as the divine seal is stamped upon us. When the Spirit is applied to us as a seal, our expression of God’s image proves that we belong to God.
In addition, the Spirit is a pledge to us. The word pledge implies many things in Greek, including the thought of security, guarantee, warranty, foretaste, and sample. When a person buys oranges at a fruit market, he is often given an orange slice to prove their sweetness. This slice is a sample and a guarantee that all the oranges he buys will be as sweet. Hence, the slice is a guarantee, a warranty. The Spirit being in us is a foretaste, sample, guarantee, and pledge that the God whom we will enjoy in the future is the One we are tasting today. Therefore, the Spirit is a foretaste. Every cook in a kitchen has the advantage of tasting every savory dish that is being prepared. The enjoyment in the kitchen is a foretaste; the eating at the table is the full enjoyment. We have been given the Lord as a foretaste, which assures us that the coming full taste will not only be the same but also fuller. This pledge is not only meant to assure and guarantee our coming full taste; it is also for our enjoyment today.
Today we can drink of the Spirit. Today we can be anointed with the element of God. Today we can be sealed with God and bear the image of God, and today we can enjoy God as a sample, a foretaste, and a guarantee. These experiences are not doctrines. When we experience drinking of this Spirit, being anointed with this Spirit, being sealed with this Spirit, and receiving this Spirit as a pledge, we will realize that God has firmly attached us to the anointed One — Jesus Christ. He is God’s anointed One, in whom are all the spiritual riches. He is everything, and we are firmly attached to Him.
We should never be distracted to think that we need to speak in tongues, using sounds like “di di da da.” When we simply open our being to Him from deep within, contact Him, and call, “O Lord,” He will be real and living in us. We need to give Him a thoroughfare in our being and not say, “This is a dead end.” No matter how He operates, we need to give Him a thoroughfare in our being. He wants to enter into our thoughts, so we should say, “Welcome, Lord.” We should not shut off His entrance into our thoughts. He wants to enter our emotions, so we should say, “Welcome, Lord.” He wants to examine our conscience, so we should say, “You are even more welcome.” If He says that something is not right, we should say Amen. If He says that we need to deal with something, we should say, “This is wonderful.” We need to cooperate with Him and let Him occupy us from within and saturate our entire being. Then we will be full of living water and covered with the anointing oil, and we will have a seal and a pledge of full enjoyment in our being. By being firmly attached to the anointed One in our spirit, we will enjoy all that He is.
There is no need to seek for extraordinary experiences, even though God may give us some. I had several dreams in 1934 involving threatening circumstances. Later I went through an exceedingly great trial. During this trial I was reminded of my dreams, and then I understood that God had given me these dreams so that I would be comforted with the realization that my life would be preserved during my trial. Even if we have some extraordinary experiences, we should not seek for them. We should not seek odd things but take the proper way to live a normal life by knowing the Lord as the life-giving Spirit, who is water, ointment, a seal, and a pledge to us. We have a spirit to contact Him. We can enjoy Him when we open our whole being to contact Him moment by moment, call on His name, and pray-read His Word. If we provide Him with a thoroughfare in our being, He will be able to spread, saturate, and gain our whole being, and we will grow in Him and enjoy His riches. Then we will live in the church life. The Lord’s leading in His recovery is for the churches to take the proper way of life.
