THE ANOINTING OIL
We also need the reality, which according to Psalm 133 includes the oil, the dew, and the life. Do we have the oil in our meetings? The anointing oil is nothing less than the all-inclusive Spirit of Christ. Whenever we come together, we must have the all-inclusive Christ as the Spirit moving and working through us and among us. In the meetings of the churches, there must be the flow of the Spirit. There must be the anointing, which is the working, the moving, the flowing, of the Spirit among the saints. This needs our daily practice of experiencing Christ.
Psalm 133 tells us that the anointing oil was on the head of Aaron, the high priest, and that it ran down upon his beard to the hem of his garments. That means the anointing oil flows down to the whole body. This is the stream, the current, the flow, of the Spirit. This signifies simply that whenever we have the expression of the Body of Christ, there must be a flow of the Holy Spirit upon all the members, upon the whole Body.
Many times at the Lord’s table, I had the sense that the flow of the Spirit started from a certain brother and flowed through another brother, but was not able to pass through a third brother. This is because the third one was not in the spirit. The meetings will expose where you are as a Christian. Suppose a brother is worldly, carnal, and not loving the Lord, yet he comes to the meeting. There is something within him as a hindrance to the flow of the Spirit. This proves that this member is not much in the spirit. If all the attendants of the meeting are in such a condition, the Spirit cannot get through, and there is no flow, no anointing, in the meeting. Then the meeting becomes very dry.
When we live in Christ throughout our daily living, we come to the meetings with part of Christ, and that part of Christ is a part of the anointing oil. I come with a part of Christ, with some experience of Christ, and this experience of Christ is a part of the anointing oil. If we all come in this way, we will have the flow of the Spirit. This flow proves that we are in the proper practice of the church life. Sometimes a number of brothers and sisters will be convicted by this flow. This flow of the Spirit is the reality of the practice of the church life.
THE DEW AS THE REFRESHING GRACE
The dew in Psalm 133 is a type of grace. In Proverbs we are told that the king’s favor, or grace, is as dew upon the grass (19:12b). Where you have the morning dew, you have the refreshing and the newness. This is the refreshing grace of God, which in our experience is the presence of God. Whenever the saints come to meet together to practice the church life, there should be the freshness, the newness, and the refreshing of the Lord’s presence. Most of our meetings are held in the evening, yet when we are in the meetings, we feel as if it were morning. We have the newness and sense that the Lord’s presence is so refreshing. That is the dew—the refreshing of the grace of the Lord’s presence.
When we come together, a young sister who was baptized only two weeks ago may give a short prayer. That short prayer is at least a drop of dew that refreshes and brings in the newness. Many times before I went to the meeting, I was really tired. But after a short prayer by a sister, I immediately was refreshed. That is the presence of the Lord as the dew of grace to us.
Sometimes, however, when we come to a meeting, we sense the dryness. There is no anointing, no oil, and no refreshing, no dew. The anointing and the refreshing are the Lord Himself. Therefore, the content of our meeting life depends on the saints’ experience of Christ in their daily life. It does not depend merely on a few responsible brothers, but on the whole congregation, on every brother and sister. By this anointing and this dew we have the blessing commanded by the Lord (Psa. 133:3b). This blessing is life—life forever, life eternal.
Brothers and sisters, I would beg you to try your best to forget about the doctrines. The Christian meetings are not for doctrines but for the vision of Christ. Some have asked me, "Brother Lee, if you do not have the doctrines, how could you have the meetings?" This depends on what kind of doctrines you have. If you have some doctrines or teachings ministering Christ, this is right. However, we should never have a meeting for any kind of doctrine other than Christ Himself. If you come to the meeting and bring the doctrine of predestination without ministering Christ to others, this is wrong. We should always keep in mind that the church meetings are not for anything else but for the exhibition of Christ. If you have something of the Spirit and of Christ to minister to others, that is right and you have to do it. But never bring something simply as a doctrine to discuss, argue, or debate about. This will bring death to the meeting. You will not have the anointing, the dew, and the life. I hope that all the meetings of the local churches will be meetings full of Christ, full of the Spirit, full of the flow of the anointing, full of the dew, and full of life.
I say again that all this depends on our daily life, our daily experience of Christ and of the Spirit. When we come to the meetings, we must have our hands full of Christ to share with others, to contribute to others, and to minister to others, while at the same time, we hope to receive some help from others as our food supply in the Spirit.
(The Life and Way for the Practice of the Church Life, Chapter 16, by Witness Lee)
