Another wonderful way to receive, experience, and enjoy Christ is by abiding in the Lord according to the teaching of the divine anointing (1 John 2:27). There is a teaching within us that is not by man's speaking but by the inward anointing. The Spirit who indwells us today is moving, acting, working, and operating in us as an anointing. The anointing is the action of the Spirit's operation. In Philippians 2:13 Paul said that God operates in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure. This operating within us is an anointing, and this anointing is a teaching. While we are combing our hair, the inner moving may teach us how to do it. This is the inner teaching that is not by a spoken word but by the operation of the anointing. In order to enjoy Christ, we must abide in Him according to the inward teaching of the anointing.
Another way, which is the overcoming way, to receive, experience, and enjoy Christ is by overcoming the things that the Lord hates through the hearing of the speaking of the Spirit and the enjoyment of Christ as the tree of life and the hidden manna (Rev. 2—3). In Revelation 2:6 the Lord said, "But this you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." The Lord hates the clergy-laity system, which includes the system of one man speaking that annuls the functions of the other members of the Body of Christ. The things that the Lord hates also include even the Jewish and Christian religions. Both Judaism and organized Christianity are hateful in the eyes of Christ, and we must overcome them through the hearing of the speaking of the Spirit and the enjoyment of Christ as the tree of life and as the hidden manna. Seven times in Revelation 2—3 (2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21) the speaking One, the Lord Jesus, called for His overcomers to overcome all the negative things mentioned there, especially these two kinds of religions.
It is difficult for the members of a denomination to leave their denomination. It requires all their strength to overcome in this way. Even after leaving the denominations, to overcome the denominational things is still difficult. Some among us may still desire to keep the Lord's Day morning meetings with one speaker. They may prefer this to a meeting where many prophesy. This desire is the tendency to go back to one item of today's organized Christianity. If our eyes are opened, we will see that this is a hateful and abominable thing. It rejects the Head, kills the Body, and annuls all the functioning members. This is not a small matter.
We must overcome every item of every "ism" and every "anity." If we do, we will be qualified to eat Christ as the tree of life and the hidden manna. Christ as both the tree of life and the hidden manna is the top portion for God's elect to eat. However, many among God's elect are not overcoming. The small remnant who do overcome will enjoy this particular portion given by God.
The ever-sustaining and satisfying way to receive, experience, and enjoy Christ is by drinking the Spirit as the flowing living water and eating Christ as the supplying tree of life (Rev. 21:6b; 22:1-2, 14, 17). At the end of the Bible there is a river flowing out of the Triune God, and in this river the tree of life grows. The river signifies the Spirit of God, and the tree of life signifies Christ growing along the flow of the Spirit. These are two items of God's supply. The river is to satisfy us and quench our thirst, and the tree of life is to fill us and strengthen us constantly. The river of life is the drink, and the tree of life is the food. This is our eternal enjoyment. For eternity we will be drinking of the living water and eating of the tree of life for our eternal enjoyment of Christ.