For us to learn the secret of being in Christ as the empowering One (Phil. 4:12-13) is for us to learn the secret of abiding in Christ; to abide in Christ is for us to dwell in Him so that we may experience and enjoy His abiding in us.
Paul learned the secret of being content in whatever the circumstance was; whether it was a good or not so good circumstance, whether he was hungry or full, whether he lacked or abounded, whether he was received or rejected, he learned Christ as the secret of his sufficiency.
For Paul to live was Christ, and he could do all things in Him who empowered him.
We also need to learn the secret of being in Christ as the empowering One, and practically this means that we need to learn the secret of abiding in Christ.
What does it mean to abide in Christ? Just as a branch abides in the vine, so we also need to abide in Christ. The Lord told us in John 15:4-5 to abide in Him and He will abide in us; for the Lord to abide in us, there’s a condition: we have to abide in Him first.
If we exercise our spirit and our turned heart toward Him to abide in Him, He will abide in us. First we abide in the Lord, and then He abides in us.
When we abide in the Lord, we live in the Divine Trinity, taking Christ as our dwelling place. When Christ abides in us, we live with the Divine Trinity, enjoying all that the Triune God has and is.
Just as a branch cannot bear fruit or even exist without abiding in the vine, so we cannot bear fruit or have our Christian living without abiding in the Lord.
We cannot bear fruit of ourselves; we need to abide in Christ and let Him abide in us, and then we will bear much fruit, for apart from Him we can do nothing.
It is a great thing for us to see that we are branches of Christ; through regeneration we have been cut off from the old source and plugged in, connected, and organically joined to Christ.
Now we and Christ, the Body and the Head, are one great universal vine-tree spreading all over the earth to bear fruit for God’s manifestation and glorification. We share one life and have one expression, and this life grows in us, spreads in us, and increases and multiplies through us.
When we bear fruit by abiding in Christ, this is not “my fruit” but the fruit of the vine, a corporate fruit.
Just as the vine bears fruit through the branches, and it is the fruit of the vine, so Christ bears fruit in us and through us, and it is the fruit of Christ, a corporate fruit; bearing fruit is a corporate matter.
To Abide in Christ is to Live in the Divine Trinity, taking Christ as our Dwelling Place
For us to abide in Christ is for us to live in the Divine Trinity, taking Christ as our dwelling place (see 1 John 2:6, 24, 27-28; 3:6, 24; 4:13). To abide in Christ (John 15:4-5) is for us to abide in the Son and in the Father (1 John 2:24); this is to remain and to dwell in the Lord.
To abide in Christ as the empowering One, we need to have an aspiration within us that there would be nothing between us and the Lord; there has to be no obstacle, no problem, and no insulation between us and Him.
We need to abide in the Lord so that He may abide in us, and in this way Christ can dispense all His riches into us for the building up of His Body. The Greek word for “abide” means not only to remain or to stay but also to have our home, to make our home.
To abide in Christ is to make our home in Christ; to live in Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God means that we take Christ as our dwelling place for our daily life.
Just as the branches take the vine as their dwelling place and unique source and life, so we as branches in Christ take Christ as our dwelling place daily, and we have Him as our source and our life.
To live in the Triune God is to abide in Christ as God’s organism. What a wonderful fact that we can take God as our dwelling place, we can abide in Him, and we can enjoy Him!
To abide in Christ is to live in the Divine Trinity, which is to have a daily life in Christ as the organism of the Triune God, in the Lord with His headship, with His lordship, in the Son with His sonship, in the Father with His fatherhood, and in God with His commandments of believing in His Son and of loving all His other sons. Hallelujah!
We abide in Christ by the Spirit of God; when we exercise our spirit and turn our heart to the Lord, we abide in Christ.
Also, to abide in Christ is to abide in the fellowship of the divine life (1 John 1:2-3; 2:10) and to walk in the divine light (1:6-7), that is, to abide in the divine light.
The fellowship of the divine light is the flow of the divine light. For example, there’s the flow of electricity in a room, and all the lamps are in this flow, which enables them to shine; if they are disconnected from this flow, they stop shining.
If we abide in Christ, we abide in the divine life and walk in the divine light; when we abide in Christ, we spontaneously shine with Christ. Especially after we spend time with the Lord, when we meet with the saints, and when we go to the prayer meeting, we shine!
When we see Christ, we beam with Christ (Isa. 60:5); we need to be those who remain in the flow of the divine life and walk in the divine light, and we will beam Christ, shining Him forth into people.
When we abide in Christ, we will beam Christ into people by walking in the divine light and abiding in the divine light.
Lord Jesus, we want to abide in You so that You may abide in us. We pray that there would be nothing between us and You; may there be no insulation or obstacles in our being. We want to abide in You and You in us so that You can dispense all Your riches into us for the building up of the Body, the preparation of the Bride, and the ushering in of Your kingdom. We want to abide in the fellowship of the divine life and walk in the divine light, that is, abide in the divine light. May our daily life with all its daily activities be in the divine light as we allow the divine life to flow in us and through us.
To have Christ Abiding in us is to Live with the Divine Trinity, having Christ’s Presence as our Enjoyment
When we abide in Christ, He abides in us; to abide in Christ is to live in the Divine Trinity by taking Christ as our dwelling place and everything to us, and to have Christ abiding in us is to live with the Divine Trinity.
To have Christ abiding in us is to live with the Divine Trinity, having Christ’s presence as our enjoyment for Him to be one with us and to be with every part of our being and every aspect of our living (see Matt. 1:23; 18:20; 28:20; 2 Tim. 4:22; 2 Cor. 2:10; 1 Cor. 7:24).
All we have to do is make sure we abide in Christ, and we will enjoy all that God is in all the parts of our being.
When we have Christ abiding in us, we have Christ’s presence as our enjoyment. Christ’s presence with us is what makes us distinct from all the other people on this earth.
If the Lord’s presence is not with us, we are like the other people, but when we have His presence, He will give us rest, and we enjoy all that He is (see Exo. 33:14).
For us to live with the divine Trinity is for us to enjoy the Divine Trinity; to live with a person is to enjoy that person, so to live with the Triune God is to enjoy the Triune God.
Most of the New Testament speaks of enjoying the Triune God, and when we abide in Christ and have Christ abide in us, we have Him with us for our enjoyment.
Christ is with us; the Spirit is in us, and we should not grieve the Spirit or quench the Spirit. We don’t want to make the Spirit unhappy; we want to have the Lord’s smile and not lose it in this age so that we don’t lose Him as our reward in the next age.
Christ has given us His joy; now His joy needs to be made full in us (John 15:11). He is with us as Emmanuel, God with us; Christ is with us until the consummation of the age (Matt. 1:23; 28:20).
Hallelujah, the Lord is with our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22), and we can do all things in the index of the Lord’s eyes, in His face, in His very presence (2 Cor. 2:10).
To have Christ abiding in us is to have the words of Christ abiding in us for the bearing of remaining fruit to glorify the Father (see Jon 15:7-8, 16).
Christ abiding in us is His words abiding in us; when we abide in Christ and His words abide in us, we can ask whatever we will, and He will do it for us – He will give us the fruit, the increase! Amen!
Our asking related to fruit-bearing will surely be fulfilled by the Lord. So we must be those who have the living word of God dwell in them, those filled with the word of life, so that we may bear fruit.
To have Christ abiding in us is to have the Spirit of reality as the presence of the Triune God abiding in us (John 14:17).
Actually, Christ’s words and the Spirit of reality are one; as seen in John 6:63, the words that He speaks to us are spirit and are life.
When the Lord speaks to us, He speaks words into us, and these words are His breath, His Spirit; when this breath comes out of us through our speaking, it becomes the word. Amen, may we have Christ abiding in us as we live with the Divine Trinity, having Christ’s presence as our enjoyment!
Lord, we want to abide in You so that You may abide in us day-by-day; may we live with the Divine Trinity so that we may have Christ’s presence as our enjoyment! Amen, Lord, may You be one with us and with every part of our being and every aspect of our living. May Your presence be with You wherever we go. May Your joy increase in us, and may we have Your smile. Lord, we love You and we love Your words; may Your words abide in us for the bearing of remaining fruit to glorify the Father. May the Spirit of reality as the presence of the Triune God abide in us today.
This article can also be read in the Romanian language / Citiți acest articol în limba română vizitând următorul link, Rămânem în Cristos și Cristos rămâne în noi pe măsură ce trăim în și împreună cu Trinitatea divină.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Living in and with the Divine Trinity, chs. 4, 8-10 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Experience of Christ (2019 Memorial Day Conference), week 4, Abiding in Christ as the Empowering One—the Secret of Experiencing Christ.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Now in the life-flow we’re living, / O how the light in us shines! / Both God and man are at home now / By the mutual abiding in the vine. (Hymns #1162)
# I’m abiding in the Lord / And confiding in His word; / I am hiding in the bosom of His love. / Yes, abiding in the Lord / And confiding in His word, / I am hiding in the bosom of His love. (Hymns #564)
# If you abide in Me and my words abide in you / Ask whatever you will and it will be done for you. / When we abide in the Lord and let His words abide in us, / We actually are one with Him as He works within us. / Then when we ask in prayer for whatever we will / It is not only we who are praying. (Song on, Abide in Me, and I in you)
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