THE SECRET OF ABIDING IN CHRIST
The first secret in this message is that in order to do all things we need to be in Christ; the second secret is that to be in Christ we must abide in Him. For us to be in Him is to abide, remain, stay, in Him. Now we need to learn the secret of how to abide in Him. To be in Him is a secret, to abide in Him is a secret, and to know how to abide in Him is still another secret. Concerning this matter of abiding in Christ, the New Testament does not leave us in darkness. The same Apostle who wrote about abiding in Christ in his Gospel also spoke about this in his first Epistle. According to 1 John 2:27, the way to abide in Christ is to take care of the anointing, for the anointing teaches us to abide in Him. Therefore, the secret of abiding in Christ is to care for the anointing. We must abide in Him according to the anointing.
I assume that we all know that the anointing is the moving and the working of the all-inclusive Spirit within us. The all-inclusive Spirit is the compound Spirit typified by the compound ointment in Exodus 30:22-33. The compound ointment described there pictures the contents of the all-inclusive Spirit. One of these ingredients pictures the all-inclusive death of Christ, and another portrays the resurrection. This compound Spirit is very active within us; He is moving, operating, working. His moving within us is a kind of teaching, and this teaching is like a sign or indicator. For example, as you drive your car, you see red and green lights, as well as many other road signs. These signs show you when and how to drive. Likewise, the teaching of the compound Spirit within us shows us how to abide in Christ. We abide in Him by the teaching of the inner anointing.
THE SECRET OF CARING FOR THE ANOINTING
We have seen that the secret of doing all things is to be in Him, that the secret of being in Him is to abide, and that the secret of abiding is to take care of the inner anointing. But now we must learn the secret of how to take care of the anointing. Every saved person has the anointing within. But day by day and hour by hour, most do not take care of it. Before I go on, let me give an example of not taking care of the anointing. Suppose the brothers living in a brothers’ house are all very natural and talk with one another in a natural way. There is no need for them to exercise their will to talk, for the words simply pour out of their mouths. Early in the morning, one brother may ask another about his roommate. The two begin to talk, and this talk opens the gates of Hades. As these brothers are talking, something within them is saying, "Don’t talk." That brief word is the teaching of the anointing, which is nothing less than the living and the working of the indwelling Christ. However, the brothers may keep on talking and thus disobey the anointing.
Although the indwelling Christ is living in us, too often we do not live with Him. He lives His way, but we live our way. When we rise up in the morning, He desires to live His life, but we live our life. This causes a discrepancy, and this discrepancy is abnormal. Normally, Christ should live in us, and we should live according to His living. In this way, we live by Him. This, however, should not be mere doctrine; it must be our daily living. For example, instead of talking in a natural way, we should talk when He talks. He speaks within, and we express His speaking. If He does not talk, then we should not talk either. In this way He talks in our talking. This is one life coming from two persons. We as the first person are the expression of the inner person, who is Christ.
(The Experience of Christ, Chapter 23, by Witness Lee)
