As believers in Christ, we have been grafted into Him; we simply need to abide in the Lord and produce soothing oil and invigorating wine to comfort and cheer God and man.
In order for us to partake of Christ with His riches, we need to be cut off from our old background, history, life, habits, and customs by pray-reading the word and calling on the name of the Lord.
We need to simply abide in the Lord and be one with Him to bring forth soothing oil and invigorating wine for others to be soothed and cheered up. Amen!
On one hand, the Lord is the vine and we are the branches; He is the vine, we are the branches, and we need to abide in Him to enjoy the riches of His life and bear much fruit for His glorification (John 15:1, 4-5).
On the other hand, Christ is the cultivated olive tree and we, who once were branches of the wild olive tree, were cut off and grafted into Him to partake of the root of the fatness and bear olives as fruit.
We simply need to abide in the Lord and enjoy the riches of Christ by coming to Him, again and again, to call on His name and pray-read His word by saying Amen to His speaking.
When we contact the Lord, when we remain in the contact with the Lord, we abide in Him and He abides in us, He dispenses His riches into us, and we bear much fruit.
May we be those who exercise our spirit all the time to contact the Lord, enjoy Him, and partake of the all-inclusive Spirit as the fatness.
When we read the Word, we need to lift our hands to God’s word and simply say Amen. To lift up our hands to God’s word is to receive it warmly, to welcome it.
When we see someone from afar and we are happy to greet them, we lift our hands to him. When the word of the Lord comes to us, we simply need to welcome God’s word.
Sometimes we may not agree with God’s word, for the word exposes us and cuts us, showing how much we are in the flesh and what aspects of the self we still express.
But we still need to take the Lord’s grace to welcome His word.
There may be some words or portions in the Bible that society today may say they are old-fashioned or out-of-date; we still need to say Amen to God’s word, for His word is living, operative, and eternal.
Society today may agree with certain aspects of God’s word but may reject other aspects; there should be no hesitation in us toward God’s word, for His word is eternal, and we can take grace to simply say Amen to His word.
When we welcome the word of God, when we say Amen to His word, the Spirit will flow in and supply our entire tripartite being.
Being Cut off from the Old Manner of Life by Pray-reading the Word to Partake of Christ with His Riches
![For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree and were grafted contrary to nature into the cultivated olive tree...Rom. 11:24 That you put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man, which is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit, And [that] you be renewed in the spirit of your mind And put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality. Eph. 4:22-24](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/For-if-you-were-cut-off-from-what-is-by-nature-a-wild-olive-tree-and-were-grafted-contrary-to-nature-into-the-cultivated-olive-tree-683x1024.webp?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree and were grafted contrary to nature into the cultivated olive tree...Rom. 11:24 That you put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man, which is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit, And [that] you be renewed in the spirit of your mind And put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality. Eph. 4:22-24")
In order for us to partake of the riches of Christ in full, we need to be cut off from our old background, our old history, our old life, our old habits, and our old customs as wild branches (Rom. 11:24; Eph. 4:22-24).
We may not even realize how much we still live in our old ways. Simply because we received the life of God and are learning to contact the Lord doesn’t mean that we live by the divine life.
We need to keep turning to the Lord and coming to Him in His word to pray-read His word and call on His name so that we may be cut off from anything of the old.
We need to put off, as regards our manner of life, anything that is of the old man. We were baptized into Christ, but in reality, some of the oldness still lingers.
To partake of Christ as the olive tree with His riches, we need to be fully cut off from our old background, history, life, habits, and customs.
How can this happen? To experience being cut off from our old manner of life and to enjoy the experience of being grafted into Christ, we need to exercise our spirit to call on His name and pray-read His word (Rom. 10:6-8; Eph. 6:17-18).
We should not try by our self-effort to cut off our past or change the way we are. We simply need to enjoy the Lord in His word and call on His name.
When we try to change ourselves, this does not last; it may last for a few days, but it is not real, for it is not of Christ.
We need to be washed by the water in the word (Eph. 5:26-27) so that all the spots and wrinkles may be removed for good.
It is the word of God that washes us from anything of the old manner of life.
We need to simply be in the Word and allow the Word to operate in us and on us.
May the Lord shine on us and cause us to realize that, although we have been grafted into Christ, we are still somehow still bound to our old ways, our old background, and our old habits.
Because we’re bound by our old manner of life in this way, we cannot fully partake of the riches of Christ.
Oh, may we just breathe in Christ and partake of His riches!
![And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which [Spirit] is the word of God, By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints. Eph. 6:17-18 That He might sanctify her, cleansing [her] by the washing of the water in the word, That He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish. Eph. 5:26-27](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/And-receive-the-helmet-of-salvation-and-the-sword-of-the-Spirit-which-Spirit-is-the-word-of-God-683x1024.webp?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which [Spirit] is the word of God, By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints. Eph. 6:17-18 That He might sanctify her, cleansing [her] by the washing of the water in the word, That He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish. Eph. 5:26-27")
May we be those who daily partake of the Lord in His word by having set times to pray over His word and call on His name!
The more we pray-read the Word of God, the more we are filled with Christ, and the more we are cut off from our old background and our old manner of life.
We should not radically change the way we dress, behave, and speak, simply because we want to be more “Christ-like”.
Rather, we should call on the name of the Lord and pray-read His word, and there will be a change taking place from inside out in which, because we’re filled with the riches of Christ, we put off our old manner of life and simply express Christ.
This needs to be our experience day by day. We can never graduate from coming to the Lord in His word to enjoy His riches by praying over His word.
This is our way of life, taking in the word with a welcoming heart and by saying Amen to the Lord’s speaking.
The word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Heb. 4:12).
As we take the Word of God into us by means of all prayer and petition, the soul is divided from the spirit, and we are supplied with the riches of Christ to live Him and express Him.
Lord Jesus, we want to fully partake of Your riches so that we may express You and flow You out to others. We come to You in Your word, dear Lord, and we say Amen to Your word. Keep us praying over the word and welcoming the word into our being so that the living word would operate in us. Grant us to have the experience of being grafted into Christ to enjoy all His riches by pray-reading the Word and calling on the name of the Lord. Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit and we come to Your word; speak to us, divide the spirit from the soul, and work Yourself with all Your riches into our being. Fill us, Lord Jesus, with all that You are! Fill us to overflowing!
Abide in the Lord to bring forth Soothing Oil and Invigorating Wine for others’ Comforting and Cheering up
Rom. 11 shows us that we are branches of Christ as the olive tree (vv. 17, 24) to bear olives and produce soothing oil, signifying the Holy Spirit.
John 15 shows us that we are the branches of Christ as the vine tree (v. 5) to bear grapes to produce invigorating wine, signifying the divine life that cheers others up.
We see both of these put together in Luke 10 where the good Samaritan poured oil and wine on the wounds of the dying one (vv. 33-34).
The good Samaritan came to the man that was wounded and beaten, and he was moved with compassion; he bound his wounds and poured oil and wine on them.
How can we be one with Christ as the good Samaritan and pour oil and wine on the wounds of those who are hurt around us? It is by abiding in Christ as the vine tree and as the olive tree.
The Lord Jesus is the Good Samaritan who came to us, His neighbour that was beaten and wounded by religion in all its aspects; He came to us to pour oil and wine on our wounds and hurts.
Gal. 5:14-15 says that the whole law is fulfilled in one word: love God and love your neighbour as yourself.
But if we bite and devour one another, this is very damaging; however, if we love one another and pour out soothing oil and invigorating wine, others will be comforted, soothed, and cheered up.
When we see others who are wounded, hurt, and down, are we full of compassion toward them? Or are we biting and devouring them with our criticism? Oh, Lord!
May we allow the Lord to work Himself with His heart of love, care, and compassion into us so that we would not wag our heads when we see someone who is wounded or disappointed with them.
As Paul said in Acts 20:35 in his final fellowship with the elders in Ephesus, we need to support the weak.
We need to console the fainthearted and sustain the weak (1 Thes. 5:14). May the Lord make us such ones.
May we abide in the Lord by pray-reading His word and calling on His name so that we may be filled with soothing oil and invigorating wine to pour out for others’ soothing, comforting, invigorating, and cheering.
We should not think that others are weak and we are not.
Especially as we went through these past two years with the pandemic, we all realized how weak we are both in our body and our soul and spirit.
When we see others who are weak, we need to sustain them and not criticize them. Oil and wine together become healing to people.
The more we abide in the Lord by calling on His name and pray-reading His word, the more we will bear “olives” and “grapes” to produce oil and wine to pour into people who have been inwardly wounded and have become depressed and disappointed.
We may have been such ones; we may have been those disappointed and hurt and depressed, and the Lord shepherded us by others coming to us to pour soothing oil and invigorating wine into us.
We can be such ones. We can abide in the Lord by pray-reading His word and by calling on His name, and something in us is produced for others’ soothing, invigorating, and cheering up.
The oil of the olive tree was used to honour God and man (Judg. 9:8-9), signifying that those who walk by the Spirit honour God (Gal. 5:16, 25), and those who minister the Spirit honour man (2 Cor. 3:6, 8; Phil. 3:3).
In Judges 9 we see the story of the trees going to anoint a king over themselves, and they approached the olive tree who said he will not leave his fatness because of which God and men are honoured and go wave over the trees.
We should not leave the enjoyment of Christ by abiding in Him and living in the mingled spirit because it is in this way that we honour God and honour man.
We can honour God simply by living in the mingled spirit, and we can honour man to live in spirit.
Before we visit someone, before we contact someone, we should simply contact the Lord, pray, pray-read His word, and call on His name so that we may be filled in spirit.
Then, we will be filled with soothing oil and invigorating wine to pour out into the one who has been wounded, hurt, depressed, and disappointed.
The wine of the vine tree was used to cheer God and man (Judg. 9:12-13), signifying that those who enjoy Christ as their sacrificing and invigorating life cheer God (Matt. 9:17) and those who minister Christ as such a One cheer man (2 Cor. 3:6; Phil. 2:17; 2 Tim. 4:6).
When we abide in the Lord by living in the mingled spirit, we honour God and man, and we cheer God and cheer man.
Wow, when we experience Christ by abiding in Him, our experience of Christ cheers God and man!
Sooner or later, we may also have disappointment and we may even be depressed.
We may be disappointed with our work, with the saints, and with those around us.
At such times, we need to know how to send our roots downward to get the supply, and the Lord will invigorate us, soothe us, and comfort us.
Lord Jesus, keep us abiding in You as the vine tree to bear “grapes” to produce wine, the rich and sweet divine life that invigorates and cheers us and others. Keep us abiding in You as the olive tree to bear “olives” and produce soothing oil, the Holy Spirit! Amen, Lord, how much we need You. You are the real soothing oil that comforts, soothes, and calms us in our disappointment and hurts. You are the real invigorating wine that cheers us, invigorates us, and makes us happy when we’re down or depressed. Make us one with You as the good Samaritan who is full of compassion on the one who is hurt, depressed, and disappointed. Keep us abiding in You as the olive tree and as the vine to produce invigorating wine and soothing oil for the comfort and cheering of those around us who are hurt and disappointed!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ricky Acosta in the message, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1968, vol. 1, “Life Messages, vol. 2,” ch. 58, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Kings (2022 summer training), week 7, entitled, The Intrinsic Significance of the Materials of the Temple.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Olives that have known no pressure / No oil can bestow; / If the grapes escape the winepress, / Cheering wine can never flow; / Spikenard only through the crushing, / Fragrance can diffuse. / Shall I then, Lord, shrink from suff’ring / Which Thy love for me would choose? (Hymns #626 by Watchman Nee, stanza 1)
– He washed the bleeding sin-wounds, / And poured in oil and wine; / He whispered to assure me, / “I’ve found thee, thou art Mine:” / I never heard a sweeter voice, / It made my aching heart rejoice. / Oh, the love that sought me! / Oh, the blood that bought me! / Oh, the grace that brought me to the flock, / Wondrous grace that brought me to the flock! (Hymns #1068 stanza 2)
– He’s the vine and we’re the branches, / We should e’er abide in Him, / And let Him abide within us / As the flow of life within. / As we hear His instant speaking, / He’s the rich indwelling Word; / To abide we must be faithful / To the speaking that we’ve heard. (Hymns #1163)
About aGodMan
The olive tree signifies Christ (cf. Rom. 11:17; Zech. 4:11-14; Rev. 11:4a) as the One who is full of the Holy Spirit and anointed with the Spirit (Luke 4:1a, 18a ; Heb. 1:9), signified by the olive oil. The oil of the olive tree was used to honor God and man (Judg. 9:9), signifying that those who walk by the Spirit honor God (Gal. 5: 16, 25), and those who minister the Spirit honor man (2 Cor. 3:6, 8). Judg. 9:8, footnote 1, Recovery Version Bible
John 15 and Romans 11 speak of the branches of two kinds of trees—a grape vine and an olive tree. A vine produces grapes for making wine, and an olive tree produces olives for making oil… Oil has the effect of soothing, and wine has the effect of invigorating, of stirring up. The Lord is the olive tree that produces soothing oil, and He is also the vine that produces invigorating wine. Through all the generations many people have been inwardly wounded and have become depressed and disappointed. They need oil to soothe their wounds, and they need wine to stir them up. We are the branches of the vine and of the olive tree… that produce soothing oil and invigorating wine. Oil andwine put together become a healing to people. We can produce the soothing oil and the stirring wine by abiding in the Lord, and we can abide in the Lord by pray-reading His Word. The more we pray-read, the more we will abide in the Lord, the more we will enjoy the Lord, and the more we will bear “olives” and “grapes” to produce oil to soothe others’ wounds and wine to stir people up. Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1968, vol. 1, pp. 52-56
We need to abide in the Lord by pray reading His word and calling on His name.
We need to abide in Him as the vine tree to bear grapes to produce cheering wine to cheer God and man.
We need to abide in Him as the olive tree to bear olives to produce soothing oil to honor God and man.
Amen brother. More oil, more wine, more root, more branches
Ameeeen brother!
We need Christ as the tree with the fatness of its root, and we also need our fellow branches.
Each of us is only one of the branches, and the branches coordinated together become the Body.
Hallelujah!
Amen May we be those who honour God by walking in the Spirit and also those who honour man by ministering the Spirit to man, to soothe, comfort and stir up man with the soothing oil and invigorating wine
Amen brother we see as branches of the Olive tree and the vine have to be those who are bearing fruit for others.
if we want those pour oil to soothe others wounds and be cheering invigorating wine towards we have to be those who abide in the Lord, those who enjoy the Lord by calling O Lord and pray-reading the word so that we can be filled to pour out to others
Oh Amen! Lord keep us breathing you in your word!
Amen brother. To become good material, we need to pray-read and call on the Lord.
Only pray-reading and calling on the name of the Lord can free us from our old ways, habits & background.
And only these life practices can make us into those who can soothe & invigorate people.
As we abide in the Lord by pray-reading and calling on Him, the Spirit works inwardly to make us branches full of cheering wine & soothing oil, and coordinated with all the other branches to be the one Body.
Yes Lord, keep us abiding in You, praying over Your word and calling on your name! Make us lovers of Christ.
Amen! O keep us abiding in You for the Body!
The more we breathe Christ, the more we partake of and enjoy His riches…The eventual result is that the more we pray-read the Word, the more we are filled with Christ, and the more we are cut off from our old background.
There is no need for us to try to cut ourselves off of old things or do self improvement! The more we pray-read, the more our pray-reading will do the work of cutting us off from the old things…
Then we spontaneously are filled with the Spirit and we spontaneously honour God and men!
Amen Lord! Have mercy on us to keep us in this principle of pray-reading Your word and calling Your name daily, abiding in You and enjoying You to produce oil and wine to comfort and cheer the wounded Saints among us! We want to be filled with the Spirit and walk by the Spirit to honor God, and minister the Spirit to honor man!
AMEN
(Fn.”bound”,cf.- Isa. 1:6)
In vv. 34-35 all the aspects of the good Samaritan’s care for the dying one portray the Man-Savior in His merciful, tender, and bountiful care, in His humanity with His divinity, for a sinner condemned under law, showing to the uttermost His high standard of morality in His saving grace: (1) He bound up his wounds — healing him; (2) He poured oil and wine on his wounds — giving him the Holy Spirit and the divine life (Matt. 9:17 and note 1; John 2:9 and note 1); (3) He placed him on his own beast (a donkey) — carrying him by lowly means in a lowly way (Zech. 9:9); (4) He brought him to an inn — bringing him to the church; (5) He took care of him — taking care of him through the church; (6) He paid the inn for him — blessing the church on his behalf; (7) He said that he would repay at his return whatever the inn spent — declaring that whatever the church spends in this age on one who is saved by the Lord will be repaid at the Savior’s coming back.