“LEARNING UNDER THE ANOINTING”

Scripture Reading:-

Matt.11:29 - “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.”

John 1:51 - “And He said to him, ‘truly, truly I say to you, you shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man’.”

Matt.3:16 - “And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a Dove, and coming upon Him;...”

John 1:4 - “In Him was Life; and the Life was the Light of men.”

Rom. 8:2 - “For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”

2.Cor.3:16-18 - “But whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the Glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same Image from Glory to Glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

In ‘the School of Christ’; i.e., in ‘the School’ where ‘Christ’ is the great ‘Lesson’ and ‘the Holy Spirit’ the great ‘Teacher’; - in the ‘School’ where ‘the Teaching’ is not ‘objective’ but ‘subjective’, where ‘the Teaching’ is not of ‘things’ but an inward making of ‘Christ’ a part of us by ‘experience’ - that is the nature of this ‘School’. 

“The Meaning of the Anointing” 

“You shall see the Heaven opened”. (John 1: 51)

“He saw the Heavens opened and the Spirit of God descending upon Him”. (Matt. 3:16)

Let me ask, what is ‘the meaning’ of ‘the Anointing of the Holy Spirit’?

It is nothing less and nothing other than ‘the Holy Spirit’ taking ‘His Place’ as absolute ‘Lord’.

‘The Anointing’ carries with it ‘the absolute Lordship of the Holy Spirit’, - ‘the Spirit as Lord’. 

That means that all other ‘lordships’ have been deposed and set aside; - the lordship of our own lives; - the lordship of our own minds, our own wills, our own desires; - the lordship of others.

The lordship of every interest and every influence is regarded as having given place to the undivided and unreserved  ‘Lordship of the Holy Spirit’, and ‘the Anointing’ can never be known and enjoyed, unless that has taken place.

That is why ‘the Lord Jesus’ went down into ‘Jordan’s waters’, into Death and Burial, in type, taking the place of man in representation, from that moment not to be under the government of ‘His own Life’ in any respect as ‘He’ worked out ‘the Will of God’, but to be wholly and utterly subject to ‘the Spirit of God’ in every detail. 

‘Jordan’s grave’ set forth the setting aside of every independent lordship, every other lordship, every other influence, and if you will read ‘the Spiritual Life of Christ’ in ‘the Gospels’ you will see that it was to that position that ‘He’ was every moment adhering.

Many and powerful were the influences which were brought to bear upon ‘Him’ to affect ‘Him’ and govern ‘His movements’.

Sometimes it was ‘the full force of Satan’s open assault’, to the effect that it was necessary that ‘He’ should do certain things for ‘His cause’ or for ‘His very continuance in Life’, physically. 

Sometimes it was ‘Satan clothing himself’ with the arguments and suasions of beloved associates, in their seeking to hold ‘Him’ back from certain causes, or to influence ‘Him’ to prolong ‘His Life’ by sparing ‘Himself’ certain sufferings.  

In various ways influences were brought to bear upon ‘Him’ from all directions, and many of the counsels were seemingly so wise and good.  
 
For example, with regard to ‘His’ going up to the feast, it was urged, in effect: it is the thing that everybody is doing: if you do not go up you will prejudice your cause. (John 7)

If you really want to further this cause, you must fall into line with the accepted thing religiously, and you only stand to lose if you do not do that; you will curtail your influence, you will narrow your sphere of usefulness! 

And what an appeal that is if you have something very much at heart, some cause for ’God’ at heart, ‘the success’ of which is of ‘the greatest importance’.

Such then were ‘the influences’ that were beating upon ‘Him’.

But whether it be Satan coming in all the directness of his cunning, his wit, his insinuation, or whether it be through beloved and most intimate Disciples and Associates, whatever  the kind of argument, that ‘Man’ cannot be caused to deflect a hair’s-breadth from ‘His principle’. 

‘I’ am under ‘the Anointing’; ‘I’ am committed to ‘the absolute Sovereignty of the Holy Spirit’, and ‘I’ cannot move, whatever it costs. 

Cost it ‘My Life’, cost it ‘My Influence’, cost it ‘My Reputation’, cost it everything that ‘I’ hold dear, ‘I’ cannot move unless ‘I’ know from ‘the Holy Spirit’ that that is ‘God’s Mind’ and not another mind, ‘God’s Will’ and not another will, that this thing comes from ‘God’. 

And so ‘He’ put back everything until ‘He’ knew in ‘His Spirit’ what ‘the Spirit of God’ witnessed. 

‘He’ lived up to this ‘Law’, this ‘Principle’, of ‘the absolute Authority’, ‘Government’, ‘Lordship of the Anointing’, and it was for that that ‘the Anointing’ had come. 

Notice: that is ‘the meaning’ of ‘the Anointing’. 

Do you ask for ‘the Anointing of the Holy Spirit’?   

Why do you ask for ‘the Anointing of the Holy Spirit’?  
 
Is ‘the Anointing’ something that you crave? 

To what end do you crave it? 

That you may be used, may have power, may have influence, may be able to do a lot of wonderful things?  

Listen, the first and pre-eminent thing ‘the Anointing’ means is that we can do nothing but what ‘the Anointing’ teaches and leads to do. 

‘The Anointing’ takes everything out of our hands.  
 
‘The Anointing’ takes charge of ‘the reputation’. 

‘The Anointing’ takes charge of ‘the very Purpose of God’.  
 
‘The Anointing’ takes complete control of everything and all is from that moment in ‘the Hands of the Holy Spirit’, and we must remember that if we are going to ‘learn Christ’, that ‘learning Christ’ is by ‘the Holy Spirit’s dealing’ with us, and that means that we have to go exactly the same way as ‘Christ’ went ‘in Principle’ and ‘in Law’. 

And so we find we are not far into ‘the Gospel of John’, which is particularly ‘the Gospel’ of ‘the Spiritual School of Christ’, before we hear even such as ‘He’ saying, “the Son can do nothing of Himself”. (John 5:19)

“The words that I say unto you I speak not from Myself”. (John 14:10)

The works that ‘I’ do are not ‘Mine’; ”The Father abiding in Me does His works”. (John14:10)

“The Son can do nothing out from Himself”. (John 5:19)

You see, there is ‘the negative side’ of ‘the Anointing’; while ‘the positive side’ can be summed up in one word, - ‘The Father’ only. 

Perhaps that is an altogether different idea of ‘the Anointing’ from what we have been taught.

Oh, to be ‘anointed’ of ‘the Holy Sprit’!

What wonders will follow; how wonderful that life will be!

The first and abiding thing about ‘the Anointing’ is that we are imprisoned into ‘the Lordship of the Spirit of God’, so that there can be nothing if ‘He’ does not do it, - Nothing! 
I said.

Listen, that is not a ‘pleasant experience’, especially if ‘the natural life’ is strong and in any way in the ascendant.

Therefore ‘Jordan’ must be there before there can be an ‘Anointing’.

The putting aside of that ‘natural strength’ and ‘self-life’ is a necessity, for ‘the Anointing’ does carry with it essentially ‘the absolute Lordship of the Holy Spirit’.

You notice, ‘the issue’ of that in 2.Cor.3:16.

“When a man shall turn to the Lord”, when ‘the Lord’ is ‘the Object’ in view, “The veil is taken away, and we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the Glory of the Lord are transformed into the same image...even as from the Lord the Spirit”, or “the Spirit who is the Lord”.

You are in ‘the School’ and you can ‘see Christ’ and ‘learn Christ’; which is being transformed into ‘the Image of Christ’ under ‘the Lordship of the Spirit of God’. 

“When a man shall turn to the Lord”, when ‘the Lord’ is our ‘Object’ in view!  
 
But with us, with us ‘Christians’, with us very devoted, very earnest ‘Christians’, what a long time it takes to get ‘the Lord’ as ‘the sole Object’. 

Now, is that saying a terrible thing? 

You see, we say we love ‘the Lord’; Yes, but we do love to have our own way as well, and we do not love to have our way frustrated.  
 
Let me ask you, have any of us yet reached the point of ‘Spiritual Attainment’ where we never have a bad time at all with ‘the Lord’? 

Oh no, we are still found at the place where we so often think it is in the interests of ‘the Lord’ that our hearts go out in a certain direction, and ‘the Lord’ does not let us do it, and we have a bad time; and that has betrayed us  absolutely.  

Our hearts were in it. 

Listen, it was not easy, absolutely easy and simple for us to say, ‘Very well, Lord, I am just as pleased as though you let me do it, I delight always to do Your Will’!  

We are disappointed ‘the Lord’ does not let us do it; or if ‘the Lord’ delays it, what a time we go through.

Oh, if we could only get at it and do it! 

The time is finding us out.  
 
Is that not true of most of us?  
 
We do come into this picture, and that just does mean that, after all, ‘the Lord’ is not as truely ‘our Object’ as we thought ‘He’ was. 

We have ‘another object’ alongside and associated with ‘the Lord’; that is, something that we want to be or do, somewhere we want to go, something we want to have.  

It is all there, and ‘the Holy Spirit’ knows all about it. 

In this ‘School of Christ’, where ‘God’s Object’ is ‘Christ’, only ‘Christ’, utterly ‘Christ’, the very ‘Anointing’ means that it has to be ‘Christ as Lord’ by ‘the Holy Spirit’. 

‘The Anointing’ takes that position. 

Well, so much for the moment for ‘the meaning’ of ‘the Anointing’. 

It was true in ‘Him’, and it has to be true of ‘us’.

“Lordship” and “Subjection” 	

If we are going to graduate in this ‘School’, graduate to ‘the Glory’, ‘the ultimate full Glory of Christ’, to be the competent instrument in ‘His Kingdom’ for ‘Government’, the one way of learning that Spiritual, Divine, Heavenly Government which is ‘His Destiny’ for ‘the Saints’, is ‘subjection’ to ‘the Holy Spirit’.	

That is a very interesting word, that word ‘subjection’, in ‘the New Testament’. 

I think it has been rather mishandled and given a wrong and unpleasant meaning. 

The idea of subjection is usually that of being crushed down underneath, being put under all the time, ‘suppression’.  

“Wives’ be in subjection to your own husbands.” (Eph.5:22)

That is now interpreted as, you have to get down underneath; and actually the word does not mean that at all. 

But how shall we seek to best convey what the Greek word for ‘subjection’ or ‘submission’ really implies?  

Perhaps, if you write down the number 1; and then you are going to write ‘subjection’ or ‘submission’. 

How are you going to write it? - Certainly not by putting another 1 underneath.  

You see, the word means putting ‘alongside it’ or ‘after it’. 

Number 1 is ‘the primary number’, it stands in front of all that comes after, and governs and gives value to all the rest.  

‘Subjection’ means that “He in all things has the pre- eminence”. (Col.1:18)

We come after and take our value from ‘Him’. 

It is not being crushed down, but deriving everything from ‘Him’ as ‘the first one’: and we never derive ‘the benefits’ until we know ‘subjection’ to ‘Christ’. 

That is to say, we come after, we take ‘second place’, we take that place by which we derive all ‘the benefits’; we get ‘the value’ by taking a certain place. 

‘The Church’ is not subject to ‘Christ’ in that ‘repressive sense’, not down under ‘His heel’ or ‘His thumb’, but just coming after, alongside, ‘He’ having ‘the Pre-eminence’, and ‘the Church’, ‘His Bride’, deriving all the good from ‘His Pre- eminence’, from ‘His’ having ‘the First Place’. 

‘The Church’ second, Yes; but who minds a ‘second place’ if we are going to get all ‘the values’ of ‘the first’ by having ‘second place’? 

Now that is ‘Subjection’! 

‘The Lord’s idea’ for ‘the Church’ is that she should have everything. 

But how will she get it? 

Not by taking ‘the first place’, but by coming alongside ‘the Lord’ and in all things letting ‘Him’ have ‘the Pre-eminence’.  
 
That is ‘submission’, ‘subjection’. 

‘The Lordship of the Holy Spirit’ is not something hard that strips us, takes everything from us, and keeps us down there all the time so that we dare not move.  

‘The Lordship of the Holy Spirit’ is to bring us into all ‘the Fulness of that Headship’.  
 
But we do have to learn what that ‘Lordship’ is before we can come into that ‘Fulness’. 

It is of ‘His Fulness’ we receive. (John1:16)

The trouble ever was, from ‘Adam’s day’ until ‘ours’, that it is not someone else’s fulness that man wants, it is his own;
to have it in himself and not in another. 

‘The Holy Spirit’ cuts that ground from under our feet and says, it is ‘His Fulness’, it is ‘in Him’.  

‘He’ must have ‘His Place’ of ‘absolute Lordship’ before we can know of ‘His Fulness’.  

Well, that is enough, I think, for the moment, on ‘the meaning’ of ‘the Anointing’.  
 
‘The Lord’ give us ‘Grace’ to accept ‘the meaning’ of ‘Jordan’ in order that we may have ‘the open Heaven’ and, by ‘the open Heaven’, ‘the Anointing’ which brings in all ‘Heaven’s Fulnes’ for us.  

But it does mean ‘the absolute Lordship of the Holy Spirit’. 

Lesson #1 in ‘the School’ - that is not lesson #1, that is the very ground of coming into ‘the School’, that is a ‘preliminary’, an ‘entrance examination’! 

We never get into ‘School’ until we accept ‘the Lordship of the Holy Spirit’. 

You know, that is why so many do not get on very far in ‘the Knowledge of the Lord’.  
 
They have never accepted the implications of ‘the Anointing’, never really come down into ‘Jordan’. 

Their progress, their learning, is very slow, very poor.   

But find a person who really knows ‘the meaning of the Cross’, of ‘Jordan’, in the clearing of the way for ‘the Lordship of the Holy Spirit’, and you will find quick growth,  you will find ‘spiritual development’ far ahead of all others. 

It is very true! 

Actually, that is only ‘the entrance examination’ so to speak. 

We shall continue next week, Lord willing!  

Last Sunday we started to consider the matter of “Learning under the Anointing” 

We saw that ‘the meaning’ of ‘the Anointing’ is nothing less and nothing other than ‘the Holy Spirit’ taking ‘His Place’ as absolute ‘Lord’. 

Among other things, we stated that ‘the Anointing’ can never be known or enjoyed unless that has taken place in our lives. 

‘The Anointing’ takes everything out of ‘our hands’ and from that moment on all and everything is in ‘the Hands of the Holy Spirit’. 

The first thing about ‘the Anointing’ is that we are imprisoned into ‘the Lordship of the Spirit of God’! 

There can be nothing if ‘He’ does not do it! 

We concluded last week by stating that we never get into ‘the School of Christ’ until we have accepted the implications of ‘the Anointing’, ‘the Lordship of the Holy Spirit’ and actually, 
that is only ‘the preliminary’, ‘the entrance examination’ so to speak.

“The First Lesson in The School of Christ”

But when we are in, ‘lesson #1’ begins here. 

It is only a reiteration of what has been said in earlier meditations.

‘The first lesson’ in ‘the School of Christ’ which ‘the Holy Spirit’ takes up to teach us is what we have called the altogether ‘Otherness of Christ’ from ‘ourselves’.

This may be not only ‘the first lesson’ but a ‘continous lesson’ throughout life.

But this is ‘the one thing’ with which ‘the Holy Spirit’ begins, the altogether ‘Otherness of Christ’ from what we are.

Let me encourage you to take up ‘the Gospel of John’ with that one ‘thought’ in mind and read it again, quietly and steadily.

How different ‘Christ’ is from other people, even from ‘His disciples’.

We can expand from ‘John’s Gospel’ to all ‘the Gospels’ with that one ‘thought’.

It will be an ‘Education’ to us if ‘the Holy Spirit’ is with us as we read.

How utterly different ‘He’ is!

That difference is again and again affirmed. (John 8:23)

That is the difference, and that difference becomes a ‘clash’ all the way along; a clash of judgments, a clash of mentalities, a clash of minds, a clash of ideas, a clash of values; a clash in everything between ‘Him’ and others, even with ‘His disciples’ who are with ‘Him’ in ‘the School’.

‘His Nature’ is different.

‘He’ has a ‘Heavenly Nature’, a ‘Divine Nature’.

No one else has that.

‘He’ has a ‘Heavenly Mind’, a ‘Heavenly Mentality’.

They have an ‘earthly Mentality’, and the two cannot meet, at any point.

When the last word has been said, there is a big, big gap between ‘the two’.

‘He’ is so utterly other.

Now, you say, that being so, we are at a ‘great disadvantage’.

‘He’ is one thing, and we are another.

But that is just ‘the nature’ and ‘meaning’ of this ‘School’.

How is that problem going to be solved?

Well, it is just resolved like this, that ‘He’ is all the time speaking about a time when ‘He’ will be in them, and they will be in ‘Him’, and when that time comes, in the innermost and  deepest reality of their being, they will be altogether other than what they are in every other part of their being.

That is to say, there will be in them that which is ‘Christ’, that which is ‘Christ’ in all that ‘He’ is as absolutely other, in their very person.

In their souls, in their bodies, they will be altogether other than what ‘He’ is there at the center of ‘their spirit’.

Sometimes they will think that the best thing to do is this, but that ‘altogether other’ inside will not let them do it.

Sometimes they will think that the wise thing is not to do this, and that ‘altogether other’ inside keeps saying, in effect, get on with it!

‘The outer man’ says, ‘it is madness’!

I am only courting disaster!

‘The inner man’ says, ‘you are to do it’!

Notice: these two cannot be reconciled.

‘He’ is within and ‘He’ is altogether other, and ‘our Education’
is to learn to follow ‘Him’, to go ‘His way’.

“If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself...and follow Me”.

Deny himself: our arguments, our judgments, our common sense sometimes. 

“Follow Me”! - and ‘Christ’ is vindicated every time.   

‘Men’ have done the maddest things from this world’s standpoint and have been vindicated. 

Of course, this is not a suggestion that you should go and begin to do mad things. 

I am talking about ‘the Authority of Christ’ within, ‘the difference of Christ’ from ‘ourselves’, and this is ‘the first lesson’ ‘the Holy Spirit’ would teach anyone coming into ‘the School of Christ’, that there is this ‘great difference’, this ‘great cleavage’, that ‘He’ is ‘one thing’ and we, even in all our ‘religious aspirations’, are quiet ‘another’; and we can never be sure that we are on ‘the right line’ except as we submit everything to ‘Him’.  
 
This is why ‘Prayer’ has to have such a large place in ‘the Life of a Child of God’, and this is why ‘Prayer’ had such a large place in ‘His Life’ when ‘He’ was here. 

‘The Prayer-Life of the Lord Jesus’ is, in a certain realm and sense, ‘the biggest problem’ that we can face. 

‘He’ is ‘Christ’, ‘He is ‘the Son of God’, ‘He’ is under ‘the Anointing of the Holy Spirit’, and ‘He’ is without ‘sin’ in ‘His Person’, and yet, and yet, ‘He’ must spend all the night ‘in Prayer’ after a heavy and long day’s work. 

Again and again you come upon ‘Him’ in ‘Prayer’. 

Why must we pray? 

Because there are so many other influences at work, there are so many other things which are seeking to call for consideration and response and obedience, and ‘He’ must keep all the time in line with ‘the Anointing’, in harmony with ‘the Holy Spirit’ under whose ‘Government’ ‘He’ has placed ‘Himself’, because ‘He’ can decide nothing out from ‘Himself’. 

Now if ‘He’ must do that, what of ‘us’? 

We are not even on ‘His’ sinless level. 

We have all that in our very natures which works violently  against ‘God’, ‘God’s Mind’, ‘God’s Will’. 

And so, how much the more necessary then is it for us to have a ‘Prayer-Life’, by which ‘the Holy Spirit’ is given an opportunity of keeping us straight, keeping us ‘on the line’ of ‘Divine Purpose’, keeping us in ‘the Ways of the Lord’, and in ‘the Times of the Lord’.  

Oh, listen, if there is one ‘thing’ that a ‘Child of God’ will learn under ‘the Holy Spirit’s Lordship’, it is this thing, namely, how different ‘He’ is from ‘us’, how different ‘we’ are from ‘Him’, how altogether ‘other’.  
 
But Thank God!, - now in this ‘Dispensation’, if we are truly ‘Children of God’, ‘the altogether Otherness’ is not merely ‘objective’ but, within. 

That is ‘the second phase’ of this matter of ‘the Otherness’.  

‘The first phase’ is the fact of ‘the difference’.  

Will you accept this? - Will you now, at this very point, this very moment, just settle this? 

‘The Lord Jesus’ is altogether other than I am: even when I think I am most perfectly right, ‘He’ may still be altogether other, and I can never, never rely upon my own sense of rightness until I have submitted my rightness to ‘Him’! 

That is very utter, but it is very necessary. 

Many of us have learned these ‘lessons’.  

And we are speaking out of ‘experience’.

You see, we have been quiet sure at times that we were right and we have gone forward to follow out our rightness in that judgment, and we have come to grief, and we have got into an awful fog of perplexity and bewilderment. 

We were quite sure we were right, but look where we have been landed! 

And when we come to think about it, and put it before ‘the Lord’, we have to ask ourselves, how much did I wait on ‘the Lord’ and wait for ‘the Lord’ about that thing.  

Were we not somewhat precipitate, hasty, premature, with ‘our own sense of rightness’?  

And that is ‘David’ and ‘the Ark’ all over again. 

‘David’s motive’ was alright and ‘David’s sense’ of ‘God’s Purpose’ was alright. 

That ‘God’ wanted ‘the Ark’ in ‘Jerusalem’ was right enough, but ‘David’ got the thing into his soul as an idea, and it worked itself up as a great enthusiasm within him, and so he made the cart. 

The motive, the good motive, the good idea, the devout spirit, got him into most awful trouble. 

‘The Lord’ smote ‘Uzzah’, and he died before ‘the Lord’, and ‘the Ark’ went into ‘the house of Obed-Edom’, and tarried there, all because ‘man’ had a good and right idea, but had not waited on ‘the Lord’. (1.Chron.13) 
 
I am sure, you know ‘the sequel’.  
 
Later on, ‘David’ said to ‘the heads of the Levites’, “Sanctify yourselves, both you and your brethren, that you may bring up the Ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, unto the place that I have prepared for it. For because you bear it not at the first, the Lord our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought Him not according to the ordinance”. (1.Chron.15:12-13)

Notice: the instruction was there all the time, but he had not waited on ‘the Lord’.  
 
If ‘David’ had brought his devout enthusiasm quietly before ‘the Lord’, ‘He’ would have directed him to the instructions ‘He’ had given to ‘Moses’, and said, in effect, Yes, alright, but, remember, this is how it is to be carried. 

There would have been no death, no delay, things would have gone right through. 

Yes, we may get a very good idea for ‘the Lord’, but we have to submit it to ‘the Lord’, to be quite sure it is not our idea for ‘the Lord’, but ‘the Lord’s Mind’ being born in us. 

It is very important to ‘learn Christ’; ‘He’ is so other. 

You see, this divides ‘Christians’ very largely into ‘two classes’. 

‘Christians’ can be, in the main, divided into these ‘two classes’.  

There is that very large ‘class of Christians’ whose ‘Christianity’ is objective, is outward. 

It is a matter of having adopted a ‘Christian Life’, that now they do a lot of things which they once would not do. 

They go to ‘Meetings’, they go to ‘Church’, they read ‘the Bible’, they do lots of things that they formerly did not do; and they now do not do quite a lot of things they once did.  

That is what holds good more or less in that ‘class’. 

It is now a matter of not doing and doing, not going and going, being a good ‘Christian’ outwardly. 

That is a ‘big class’ with its various degrees of ‘light’ and ‘shade’ a very ‘big class’ of ‘Christians’.  

There are others who are in this ‘School of Christ’, for whom the ‘Christian Life’ is an inward thing of walking with ‘the Lord’ and knowing ‘the Lord’ in ‘the heart’, in greater or lesser degree. 

That is the nature of it, a real inward walk with a ‘Living Lord’ in ‘their own heart’. 

Listen, there is a great deal of difference between those ‘two classes’. 

“The Spirit’s Law or Instrument of Instruction”

The altogether ‘Otherness’; by what means does ‘the Holy Spirit’ make that ‘Otherness’ known to us? - For ‘the Holy Spirit’ does not speak to us in ‘audible language and words’.  
 
We do not hear an ‘outside voice’ saying, “this is the way, walk you in it”! 

Then how are we to know?  
 
Well, it is in what ‘the Apostle Paul’ calls “The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus”. (Rom.8:2)

“In Him was Life; and the Life was the Light”. 

How are we to know, by what means are we to be enlightened on this matter, on the difference between our ways, our thoughts, our feelings, and ‘the Lord’s’?  
 
How are we to have ‘Light’? 

“The Life was the Light”. 

“He that follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the Light of Life”. (John 8:12)

“The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus made you free from the law of sin and death”. 

And so, ‘the Spirit’s Instrument’, if I may call it that, of ‘our Education’ is ‘Life in Christ’. 

That is to say, we know ‘the Mind of the Holy Spirit’ on matters by quickening, by sensing, by discerning ‘Life’, ‘Divine Life’, ‘the Spirit of Life’. 

Or, on the other hand, if we are alive to ‘the Lord’, we know when ‘the Holy Spirit’ is not in agreement with anything by a sense of death, death in that direction. 

No, that is the thing that no one can teach us by ‘words’, by giving us a ‘lesson’. 

But it is a thing we can ‘know’. 

We know it by ‘reactions’, ‘violent reactions’ often.  

We have taken some course, and we get a ‘bad reaction’. 

We strive in a certain direction to realize a certain thing, and if only we would stop for a moment and look at it, we know that we are trying to bring that about.
 
We know quite well that this thing is not spontaneous, that this lacks ‘the spontaneity’ which is a mark of ‘the Lord’. 

We know ‘the Lord’ is not coming through there.  

We know quite well that we have no ‘sense of spontaneity’  and ‘Peace’. 

It has to be forced, to be driven, to be made to happen. 

More or less, I think everyone of you who is a ‘true Child of God’ knows what I am saying. 

But remember, this is ‘the Holy Spirit’s Instrument’ in ‘the School’ for teaching ‘the Christ-Life’. 

The mark of a Spirit-governed, Spirit-anointed man or woman is that they move in ‘Life’, and that they minister ‘Life’, and that what comes from them means ‘Life’, and they know by that very ‘Law of Life’ where ‘the Lord’ is, what ‘the Lord’ is in, what ‘the Lord’ is after, what ‘the Lord’ wants.

That is how they know. 

No voice is heard, no objective vision is seen, but deep in ‘the Spirit’ ‘Life’ arbitrates, ‘the Spirit of Life’. 

How necessary it is for us to be alive unto ‘God in Christ Jesus’. 

How necessary it is for us to be all ‘the time’ laying hold on ‘Life’. 

If Satan can only bring his ‘spirits of death’ to bear upon us and bring ‘our spirit’ under ‘the wrappings of death’, he will cut off ‘the Light’ at once and leave us floundering; - we do not know where we are, what to do. 
 
He is always seeking to do that! 

But notice, everything for ‘the Realization of God’s Purpose’ is bound up with this ‘Life’.  

This ‘Life’ is potentially the sum of all ‘Divine Purpose’. 

Just as in ‘the seed’ there is ‘the life’, not only of ‘the seed’, but of a ‘great tree’, and that ‘life’, if but released, will eventuate in that ‘great tree’, so in the ‘Life’ given to us in our ‘spiritual infancy’, our ‘New Birth, there is all ‘the Power of God’s full and final and consummate thought’, and Satan is out, not just to cut off ‘our Life’, but to prevent ‘God’s final Interests and Concerns’ in ‘the full Display’ which is in that ‘Life’ which is given to us, that ‘Eternal Life’ given to us now. 

‘The Holy Spirit’ is always concerned with that ‘Life’ and ‘He’ would say to us, ‘Guard that Life’: do not allow anything to come to interfere with that ‘Life’: see that whenever there is something that grieves ‘the Holy Spirit’ and arrests the operation of that ‘Life’, you immediately resort to ‘the Precious Blood’ which stands as a ‘Witness’ against all ‘the death’, that ‘Precious Blood of Jesus’, ‘the Incorruptible Life’, ‘the Witness in Heaven’ to ‘Victory over sin and death’, by which we can be delivered from that arresting hand of the enemy. 

That ‘Precious Blood’ is the ground upon which we must stand to deal with everything that grieves ‘the Holy Spirit’ and checks ‘the operation of Life’, by which we come to know, and know in this ‘Living Way’, ‘Christ’ in ever-growing ‘Fulness’. 

‘The Lord’ help us!