being anointed and graced as we remain the church life on the ground of oneness

The oneness which the believers have in the Body of Christ is not a man-made oneness and is not produced by adding the believers together for a common purpose. Rather, the oneness the believers have in the Body is the processed Triune God as the Spirit applied to their being.

Such a oneness is organic and intrinsic – it cannot be broken or taken away, since it is part of our being. Satan has been fighting for centuries to divide the believers, and to some extent he has succeeded. But today the Lord wants to recover our enjoyment of the anointing of the Spirit as we dwell in oneness (Psa. 133).

The oneness is real in the anointing

The United Nations are not in oneness, no matter how many common issues they find to be one in. Man cannot be one even in himself – he is divided when it comes to so many persons, things, situations, and matters. The only way we can be one in a real and practical way – both with ourselves and with the other believers in the Body of Christ – is by staying in the Body and enjoying the anointing upon the Body.

The all-inclusive compound life-giving Spirit is the ointment which has been poured upon the Head, Christ, and is now spreading continually upon the Body of Christ to bring the whole Body in oneness.

We cannot experience the anointing unless we are in the Body, living in the Body life. The anointing of the compound ointment is on the Body and for the Body – not on individuals and not for super-spiritual believers. Yes, it is true that we can enjoy the Lord at home and we can contact Him in our private room, but for us to experience the ointment upon the Body, we need to be in the church life.

If we are one with the church, we enjoy the blessing of the ointment which sanctifies us, anoints us, saturates us, transforms us, and even conforms us to the image of Christ Himself. This Spirit is an all-inclusive Spirit. 2 Cor. 3:18 with the note on this says,

2 Cor. 3:18 But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.

The Lord Spirit may be considered a compound title like the Father God and the Lord Christ. Again, this expression strongly proves and confirms that the Lord Christ is the Spirit and the Spirit is the Lord Christ. In this chapter, this Spirit is revealed as the inscribing Spirit (v. 3), the Spirit who gives life (v. 6), the ministering Spirit (v. 8), the freeing Spirit (v. 17), and the transforming Spirit (v. 18). Such an all-inclusive Spirit is crucial to the ministers of Christ and to their ministry for God’s new covenant economy. (note 1 part 1 on, Lord Spirit).

The grace of life is all-sufficient

On the one hand we are one under the divine anointing, and on the other hand we are one under the descending dew upon the mountains of Zion (see Psa. 133:3). The dew signifies the grace of life (see 1 Pet. 3:7), the supply of life, which is inward. Outwardly we have the compound Spirit as the anointing, and inwardly we have the processed Triune God to be our supply.

The Triune God has been processed and consummated to become grace to us – God is for our enjoyment – to meet all our needs. His grace is all-sufficient, and all we need is to just enjoy Him as grace. As we are anointed with the Spirit, we are also graced with God Himself.

The apostle Paul prayed three times that God would remove the thorn in his flesh (2 Cor. 12:7-10), but the Lord replied to him that His grace was sufficient. No matter what situations we go through or what happens to us or around us, His grace is sufficient for us. God is not in the “thorn-removing business” (as we would love Him to) but in the “level of grace increasing business”.

As we see in 2 Cor. 13:14, the entire Triune God is for our enjoyment – God the Father as the love is the source, God the Son as the grace is the course, and God the Spirit as the fellowship flows into us to bring us into the full enjoyment of the Triune God!

In the church life we’re anointed and graced

Hallelujah, as long as we remain in the church life dwelling with the saints in oneness, we are being daily anointed by the compound Spirit and we are also graced with the processed Triune God. Don’t you enjoy the painting of the Spirit into your being every time you meet with the saints? After a prayer meeting or a small group meeting, you have another coat or two of the Spirit added to your being.

Also, inwardly – both personally and corporately – we enjoy the processed God as our life supply in a fresh way, especially in the morning. Under the anointing oil and the watering dew we experience the blessing of life on the ground of the oneness in the Body of Christ!

Lord, continue to unveil us to see what oneness is according to the Bible. Save us from anything outward and turn us to You all the time to enjoy Your painting and Your grace! Lord, may every meeting with the saints would result in more anointing and more painting of God onto our being. Also, Lord, increase the level of grace – increase our enjoyment of You! Anoint us and grace us as we remain on the ground of the oneness in the Body!

References and Further Reading

• Sharing inspired from chapter 7 in, The Genuine Ground of Oneness (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on the Crystallization-Study of Psalms (2), week 22.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Behold how good and how pleasant it is, / For brethren to dwell together in unity!
  # First the blood, and then the ointment, / Cleansing, then anointing comes;
  # Jesus Christ, the Spirit, / All-inclusive cure, / Is a compound ointment, / Life-giving and pure; / By His sweet anointing / All are sanctified; / For the church, the Spirit / Is intensified.
  # Divine anointing in me dwelleth, / And it teaches me all things; / It ever leads me in the Lord to live / And to me His presence brings.
• Picture source: My Grace is Sufficient for You.