How then can we know the inner anointing in a practical way? Knowing the anointing is very simple—so simple, in fact, that it may seem hard to believe. If we physically anoint someone with oil, that person no doubt feels or senses the anointing. It is the same with the anointing spiritually. The Holy Spirit is anointing us all the time. As a result, we constantly have a certain deep sense or consciousness within. If we take care of this sense, we will sense it. Do not complicate this matter by asking, “Is this the mind or is this the conscience? Is this feeling from my American (or Chinese) background?” If you ask these questions, an otherwise simple situation will become very complicated. Be simple. Realize that you have Christ as the Spirit within you as the embodiment of the Triune God. Because He as the living One lives within you, He is always working, always anointing. This means that you constantly have a certain amount of inner feeling. If you simply go along with that inner feeling, that will be sufficient. The way to know the anointing is therefore very simple.
Then you may ask, “Could I be wrong in understanding this inner sense?” It is here that we encounter the problem. If your heart is wrong, everything else will be wrong as well. If your motive is impure, then everything else will be foggy and cloudy. You must love the Lord. If you love the Lord, the inner sense will be very keen. Indeed, the more you love Him, the keener your inner sense will be. For this reason we must purify our heart. Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Only when we have a pure heart will we see God. We must have a loving and pure heart with a pure motive. A pure heart that has a pure motive is a heart that seeks God and nothing else. If you seek something other than God, you will be foggy in your inner sense. If you would like to have a pure heart, simply tell the Lord, “Lord, by Your mercy I seek nothing but You. Lord, be merciful to me. Help me to be pure in my heart and pure in my motive so that I would seek just You and nothing else.” If you pray in this way, everything will be clear as crystal. Everything will be transparent. Then it will be easy to sense the Lord’s guidance and His will step by step and moment by moment. If this is your experience, there will be no need for others to teach you. You will know.
In 1944 I took a long rest to recover from a serious illness. During those two and a half years, I was kept away from my work and even my family. I consequently became quite lonely and desirous of brothers with whom I could fellowship. One brother who cared for me during this time and would often come to me and fellowship would frequently speak to me at length about his situation. Time after time, he came to me with a certain question. His question was whether or not he should do a certain thing. When he asked me, I was led by the Lord not to teach him. I could only answer him with two words: “You know.” When I told him this, he immediately responded, “Yes. I know.” Although the brother came back to me many times and asked me whether or not he should do that thing, all I could say in response was, “You know.” It is the same in our situation. Is it not true that you already know what you should do? You do. If you have a heart that loves the Lord with a pure motive, you know within yourself the Lord’s mind and will. I would say one hundred times that you really know. The way to know the anointing is very simple.
As with all matters of the divine life, the experience of the anointing is quite profound, and no one can fully understand it. Yet in another way, the anointing is very simple. Christ lives within you. On the one hand, He is life to you; as life He is the law that regulates your daily walk and your daily living. On the other hand, He is the One who is always working within you and anointing you. Regardless of what you are going to do or where you are going to go, this inner anointing gives you a sense, a deep consciousness, a deep registration. The only thing you need to do is love the Lord. Should you not have a heart loving the Lord, simply go to the Lord and pray, “Lord, be merciful to me. Grant me a heart to love You.” Pray and consecrate yourself to Him not for the work but for Him to move and work within you. In whatever you are planning on doing, you have to be purified in your motive, seeking nothing besides the Lord Himself and His glory. This is all you need in order to experience the anointing.
If you practice this all the time, you will never stop growing. Not only so, you will never cease being filled with the Holy Spirit and being saturated with Him. In this way, your whole being will be mingled thoroughly with the Triune God. Then you will have the image of God. You will be transformed into the image of the Lord from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18). You will automatically and spontaneously be built together with others. You will walk, you will work, you will live, and you will do things according to the guidance of the Lord and according to His will. This is the proper way to experience the inner life.
I urge you not to take these matters as mere teachings. Teachings do not help. This fellowship is at most a set of directions that point you toward the right way to practice and experience Christ as the inner life. If you go on taking this way, I am fully assured that you will enter into an evermore glorious experience. Regardless of what kind of situation the Lord may bring you into, it will be glorious. Thank the Lord for this simple way.