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.