The Christian Life
Message Four
Abiding in Christ as the True Vine
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
John 15:7 If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.
1 John 2:27 And as for you, the anointing which ye received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as his anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in him.
Word of Appetizer
How do we abide in Christ, so that He may also abide in us?
We abide in Christ, and He abides in us, through the inward teaching of the all-inclusive anointing oil. By experiencing the cleansing of the Lord’s blood and applying the anointing Spirit to our inner being, we abide in divine fellowship with Christ; the anointing oil is the operation and work of the compound Spirit within us, anointing God into us, saturating us with God, possessing God, and understanding God’s mind; the anointing oil communicates the mind of Christ, the Head of the Body, to His members through the inner sense of life, the inner perception.
Spiritual Burden
Our abiding in Christ, the vine, lies in seeing a clear vision, that we are branches of the vine; once we see that we are branches of the vine, we need to maintain our fellowship with the Lord.
Abiding in the Lord is being one spirit with the Lord, and effective prayer is the result of our abiding in the Lord and His word abiding in us.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The Lord Jesus said, “I am the true vine”; as branches of the vine, we need to abide in the vine.
We abide in Christ, and He abides in us, through the inward teaching of the all-inclusive anointing oil.
Abiding in the Lord is being one spirit with the Lord, which is to live in the harmonizing Spirit.
Effective prayer is the result of our abiding in the Lord and His word abiding in us.
When we abide in Christ and allow Christ to abide in us, we can have church life.
The Experience of Life
The anointing oil is the operation and work of the compound Spirit within us, anointing God into us, saturating us with God, possessing God, and understanding God’s mind.
When we abide in Christ and allow Christ to abide in us, we can have church life; when we abide in Christ, the vine, we partake in the beautiful fellowship among fellow branches.
Practice and Application
Effective prayer is the result of our abiding in the Lord and His word abiding in us; we need that kind of prayer that brings us into contact with the Lord, the kind of prayer that brings us into unity with Him in our spirit.
We can only have genuine church life by living in the harmonizing Spirit; we should remain in this harmonizing Spirit for the sake of church life.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 We are branches of the vine (John 15:5)
(Please illustrate that if we are to abide in the vine, we must see the fact that we are branches of the vine.)
T2 The Lord yearns to expand His indwelling in us (John 15:4-5)
(Why do so many saints have little or no spiritual progress?)
Day 2
T1 We Abide in Christ and Enjoy the Divine Anointing (1 John 2:27)
(Please illustrate that this anointing is a wonderful Person, the Spirit who operates and works within us.)
T2 God’s Will is to Incorporate Himself into Us to Be Our Life and All (2 Cor. 1:21)
(Please illustrate that for God to accomplish this, He must go through the process of becoming flesh, living as a man, being crucified, and resurrected.)
Day 3
T1 The Mutual Indwelling of the Branch and the Vine Takes Place in Our Regenerated Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17, 1 Cor. 6:17)
(Please illustrate with experiences that how we can hardly know when we abide in Christ, but it is very easy to know when we do not abide in Him.)
T2 Our Sensation Toward the Lord’s Indwelling Must Become Acute (1 Cor. 6:17, Rom. 8:4)
(Please illustrate that our way of abiding is related to the prayer of not abiding.)
Day 4
T1 The Essence of the New Covenant is These Two Spirits (1 John 3:24, 4:13)
(Please illustrate that these two spirits, the divine Spirit and the human spirit, are blended together to become one spirit.)
T2 Regeneration is Accomplished in the Human Spirit by the Divine Spirit (John 3:6, 4:24)
(Please illustrate that how divine birth is related to the two spirits; similarly, true worship is related to the two spirits.)
Day 5
T1 Prayer is Not Only Man Reaching Out to God, but Also God Reaching Out to Man (Rom. 8:26-27)
(Please illustrate that the highest and most accurate definition of prayer is the mutual contact between God and man.)
T2 The Spirit Intercedes Within Us According to God (Rom. 8:26-27)
(Please illustrate that if we truly learn the secret of prayer, what result will naturally arise?)
Day 6
T1 If You Abide in Me, My Words Abide in You (John 15:7)
(Please illustrate that how John 15:7 can be divided into four points.)
T2 When a Person Abides in the Lord, He Naturally Touches the Lord’s Feeling (1 John 5:14-15)
(Please illustrate with experiences that all powerful prayers before the Lord are certainly produced because we abide in the Lord and let the Lord’s words abide in us. )
