Receiving the Supply of the Spirit by Being in the Body in Fellowship with the Saints

The element of our oneness in the church life is the anointing of the compound, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit, and this Spirit is for the Body; for us to receive the supply of the Spirit, we need to be in the Body.

In Exo. 30:23-25 we see that there was a compound ointment that was to be compounded in a particular way with some specific elements; this compound ointment was to anoint the tabernacle with all its utensils, and the priests who served in the tabernacle.

The ointment in the Old Testament is a type of the Spirit in the New Testament; the Spirit that Paul spoke of in Phil. 1:19, “the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ”, is a compounded Spirit.

The Spirit of God in the beginning of Genesis was brooding over the waters to generate life, but this Spirit has passed through many processes to become a compounded, all-inclusive life-giving Spirit to anoint the Body of Christ (the house of God) and the believers in Christ (the priests in God’s house).

The Spirit that we enjoy today when we remain in the Body is not a simple Spirit – it is a Spirit that contains the elements of God, man, divinity, humanity, human living, crucifixion, the effectiveness of the death of Christ, resurrection, the power of resurrection, and the Spirit – all these are compounded together to become an all-inclusive supply.

We have been joined to Christ, the anointed One, and in Him we are anointed by God as the Body of Christ.

As seen in the picture in Psa. 133, the anointing is on the head of Aaron, and it goes down upon the beard, reaching to the hem of his garments. The way for us to be one is not by tolerating one another and learning to accept one another with our differences, as the world teaches us, but by enjoying the anointing of the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit by remaining in the Body.

The compound Spirit is the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God with the divine attributes, the human virtues, Christ’s death with its effectiveness, and Christ’s resurrection with its power; such a Spirit anoints us when we remain in the Body and function as priests, for the building up of the Body in oneness.

We are in the oneness that is the processed Triune God who is being anointed into our being, painted into our being. Day by day in the church life all the ingredients of this divine and mystical compound ointment are being wrought into us to make us intrinsically one, for the building up of the Body of Christ.

The Compound Anointing Spirit is for the Body and for the Priestly Service that Builds up the Body

Our oneness is the Spirit, and to keep the oneness is to keep the Spirit and remain in the Spirit. The ground of oneness is simply the processed Triune God applied to our being; the anointing of the compound, all-inclusive life-giving Spirit is the element of our oneness.

For us to be one, we need to gain more God; the only element of our oneness is the processed Triune God as the Spirit. What we need is not to sign a letter of agreement with others to be one – we need to drink of the Spirit perpetually, receive the divine anointing continually, and enjoy the real oneness!

If we act apart from the Spirit – who is in our spirit – we are divisive and lose the oneness (see Eph. 4:3; cf. 1 Cor. 1:10; 2:14-15; 3:1). But if we stay in the life-giving Spirit, we keep the oneness of the Spirit (see John 4:24; 1 Cor. 6:17).

The way to keep the oneness of the Spirit and receive the supply of the Spirit is to be in spirit.

The Spirit who is the ointment that anoints us for the Body is not for those who are individualistic; the Spirit is in the Body and for the Body, and the Spirit is for the priestly service that builds up the Body of Christ (see Psa. 133:2; Exo. 30:26-31; Phil. 1:19; Rom. 15:16; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9).

If we are detached from the Body or separated from the saints, we cannot enjoy the supply of the Spirit in a rich way. According to the picture in Psa. 133, the ointment is on the head, then it spreads to the beard and goes down to the hem of the garments.

The anointing is on the Body; if we remain in the Body and are one with the church, when contact the Lord personally or corporately we enjoy the supply of the Spirit, that is, we enjoy the anointing Spirit supplying us bountifully (Phil. 1:19).

But if we separate ourselves from the church, our contact with the Lord will not be that rich. For example, the apostle Paul was in prison; he was not physically with the saints, but in spirit he was joined to the saints and was living in the Body.

He was a member of the Body of Christ who happened to be in prison, but he enjoyed the bountiful supply of the Spirit and the supply of the Body constantly, so any situation he was going through turned out to be for his salvation.

Paul even mentions the supply of the Body before the bountiful supply of the Spirit in Phil. 1:19; because he lived in the Body, he enjoyed the supply of the Spirit and the supply of the Body constantly.

The more we enjoy the Spirit, the more we are one. If we remain in the church life, enjoy the Lord with the saints, and are one with the saints in the Body, not leaving the Body, we are positioned to drink of the Spirit, and the bountiful supply of the Spirit is ours.

The Spirit is for the Body, and when we were baptised, we were put into one Spirit and one Body; now we simply need to drink and receive the Spirit in the Body and as the Body! We shouldn’t be individualistic, going on an orbit by ourselves; we should remain in the church life in the Body to enjoy the divine dispensing.

Lord Jesus, we want to remain in the Body in oneness to enjoy the supply of the Body and the bountiful supply of the Spirit. Hallelujah, we are one when we enjoy the anointing, the painting, of the compound, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit, for the Spirit is the element of our oneness! Lord, we want to stay in the church life, not being independent or separated from the saints but remaining in oneness, so that we may enjoy the supply of the Spirit bountifully and the supply of the Body constantly!

We Receive the Supply of the Spirit by the Intercession and Fellowship of the Saints

How can we receive the supply of the Spirit, the supply of the Body? It is by remaining in the Body and by the intercession and fellowship of the fellow members of the Body.

As believers we may ask others to pray for us, especially when we are in a difficult situation or a trial; however, even when others pray for us or we pray for them, not much happens because we may stand apart from the Body, we may not be in the Body.

The anointing is not on individuals or on two or three – the anointing is on the Body, and for us to enjoy the anointing, we need to remain in the Body! If we are one with the church and stay int he priestly service, we will enjoy the rich anointing of the all-inclusive Spirit, the supply of the Spirit.

Paul received the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ by the petition of the Body; he was in jail, but he was actually in the reality of the Body, so he received the supply of the Body, which is the supply of the Spirit.

The bountiful supply of the Spirit is only for those standing in the Body. When we are dry and have no way to go on, we need other brothers and sisters to intercede for us before we can get through (see Phil. 1:19; 1 Thes. 5:25; Job 42:8-10).

We are not all-inclusive members of the Body, and we are not perfect people with a perfect life and no problems; rather, sometimes we become dry and we see no way to go on, so we need the other members of the Body to pray and intercede for us to get through.

As members of the Body, we cannot live without the supply of the Body; therefore, we need to constantly avail ourselves of the fellowship of the Body, and remain in the fellowship with the saints (see 1 Thes. 3:8; 1 Cor. 10:16b; 1 John 1:3).

We all can testify that, as we fellowship with the saints, there’s the supply of the Spirit that is imparted into our being, no matter what our condition is.

If we want to see the light concerning our situation or concerning situations that puzzle us, and if we want to receive the supply for our whole being, we need to enter into the church, the sanctuary of God (see Psa. 73:16-17; Matt. 5:14; Rev. 1:20).

We may be puzzled concerning certain things, or we may be worn out and low spiritually, psychologically, and physically; in such situations, we need to come to the meeting and bring our whole being into the sanctuary of God in the church, for here we will see the light.

We all can testify that, when we come to the meeting, there’s an uplifting from within that is inexplicable; our body is strengthened, our soul is energised, and our spirit is uplifted, for we enjoy the supply in the Body, the supply of the Spirit.

When we stay in the Body, the supply of the Triune God will come to us through the members of the Body.

Lord Jesus, we need the supply of the Spirit, the supply of the Body. Keep us in the Body, in fellowship with the fellow members of the Body, so that we may receive the supply, see the light, be strengthened, and be uplifted to go on with You. Lord, we avail ourselves to the fellowship of the Body, for we cannot live without the supply of the Body, the supply of the Spirit! We need You, Lord, and we need the Body! We need the other brothers and sisters as our fellow members in the Body to intercede for us to get through, go on, and be built up together to be Your testimony on earth!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Philippians, msg. 33 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Recovery of the Church (2017 fall ITERO), week 6, Jehovah’s Commanded Blessing of Life on Brothers Who Dwell Together in Oneness.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # In our ministry and service, / From the Body, our supply; / If detached and isolated, / Out of function we will die. (Hymns #913)
  # In the Body we’ll be fitly framed / As the many members Christ supply; / Working in the measure of each part, / All by growth in love the Body edify. (Hymns #1232)
  # I want to encourage you all, / Without your supply I would fall. / Never think that your Christ is small. / Christ needs you, and so do we all. (Song on, I’m thankful that God has placed me)