Scripture Reading: Deut. 8:8; Judg. 9:9; Zech. 4:11-12; Heb. 1:9b; 2 Cor. 1:21; 1 John 2:20a
Ⅰ
"The olive tree said to them, Shall I leave my fatness, because of which God and men are honored by me, and go to wave over the trees?"—Judg. 9:9:
A
Christ is the olive tree, the Son of oil, the man anointed with the Holy Spirit and full of the Holy Spirit—Deut. 8:8; Zech. 4:12.
B
The oil of the olive tree is used to honor God and man—Judg. 9:9:
１
We cannot serve the Lord or help others without the Holy Spirit—Acts 6:3.
２
In order to serve the Lord and help others, we must be filled with the Spirit; only when we are filled with the Spirit can we honor God and honor others.
C
If we experience Christ as the wheat, the barley, the vine, the fig tree, and the pomegranate, we will experience Him as the olive tree; we will be full of oil and become an olive tree—Deut. 8:8.
Ⅱ
"What are these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left? …What are the two olive branches that are by the side of the two golden spouts, which empty the gold from themselves?"—Zech. 4:11-12:
A
When we minister Christ to others, supplying them with oil, we are supplying them with God (gold)—v. 11:
１
We all should be olive trees emptying God from ourselves into others.
２
In this way oil will be provided to the needy ones by those who are olive trees out of which God is flowing.
B
As Christians we are olive trees, not in the sense of being separate trees but in the sense of being branches of Christ, the unique olive tree—vv. 11-12:
１
Although Christ is the unique olive tree, out from Him many branches, many shoots, have issued forth; these branches, or shoots, are the many olive trees on earth today.
２
As branches of Christ, the unique olive tree, we need to supply others with oil, that is, with the Spirit, that they may be enlivened.
Ⅲ
"God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of exultant joy above Your partners"—Heb. 1:9b:
A
The Spirit with which Christ was anointed in Isaiah 61:1 is the oil of exultant joy in Hebrews 1:9; this proves that the oil of exultant joy is the anointing Spirit.
B
God the Spirit poured out Himself as the anointing oil upon Christ, the appointed Heir, anointing Him to be the operator of God's divine operation— v. 2.
C
As the partners of Christ, we are partners in His anointing—v. 9; 3:14:
１
In God's economy Christ is the One appointed by God to accomplish God's plan, and we are Christ's partners in the divine interest.
２
Christ was anointed by God, and we share with Him this anointing for the fulfillment of God's purpose.
Ⅳ
"The One who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God"—2 Cor. 1:21:
A
God attaches the apostles together with the believers unto Christ, connecting the apostles and the believers with Christ, the anointed One.
B
The apostles and the believers are one not only with Christ, the anointed One, but also with one another, sharing together the anointing of Christ which He has received from God.
C
Because we have been attached by God to Christ, the anointed One, we are spontaneously anointed with Him by God.
D
Christ has been anointed with the divine ointment, and the ointment that is upon Him now flows in us; this is pictured in Psalm 133.
Ⅴ
"You have an anointing from the Holy One….The anointing which you have received from Him abides in you"—1 John 2:20a, 27a:
A
The anointing is the moving and working of the indwelling compound Spirit, which is fully typified by the anointing oil, the compound ointment, in Exodus 30:23-25.
B
Christ is related to the anointing—Matt. 16:16; John 1:41; 20:31; 1 John 2:20a, 27a:
１
The Greek word for Christ is Christos, which means "the anointed One," and the Greek word for anointing is chrisma.
２
Christ, the anointed One, has become the anointing—1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17a:
ａ
God has poured the ointment upon Christ; through that anointing, Christ has received an abundance of ointment, and eventually, He, the anointed One, became the anointing One.
ｂ
When Christ entered into us as the anointed One, He became the anointing One within us.
ｃ
The anointing that dwells in us (1 John 2:27a) is actually the anointed One becoming the anointing One and also the anointing.
３
As the anointed One who has become the anointing One and the anointing, Christ is within our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22a; 1 Cor. 6:17) to anoint us, to "paint" us, with the processed and consummated Triune God:
ａ
We all need to be "painted" persons, those on whom the paint is "wet," always having a fresh application of the divine paint.
ｂ
As "painted" persons, those who are saturated with the anointing, we should go forth to "paint" others with the compound, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit.