Experience the Anointing Spirit, the Sealing Spirit, and the Spirit as a Pledge

In order for us believers in Christ to be constituted as ministers of the new covenant for the building up of the Body of Christ, we need to experience all the wonderful aspects of Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit in 2 Corinthians; in particular, we need to experience the anointing Spirit, the sealing Spirit, and the pledging Spirit.

What a Spirit we have! In 2 Corinthians, Paul simply presents an autobiography of a person in the spirit, a person who is fully mingled with the Triune God in Christ as the Spirit to function and live as a minister of the new covenant.

We believers in Christ have been saved by grace, and now we stand in grace by faith. Thank the Lord for His grace; God in Christ is grace to us for our enjoyment and experience today so that we may live the Christian life and serve the Lord as ministers of a new covenant.

Our living today as believers in Christ should be a living of grace. We started by grace, for by grace we are saved, through faith, not of works, so that no one would boast.

Now Christ as grace is with our spirit, and whenever we turn to our spirit, we enjoy the Lord at the throne of grace. Wow, in our spirit we have the throne of grace, for when we’re in our spirit, we touch the gate of heaven – Christ as the heavenly ladder set up in our spirit! How about that!

How wonderful it is to know and experience being one spirit with the Lord today. He came into us as our life and our everything, and He has mingled Himself with us.

Now we can live in this mingled spirit, always checking with the Lord and being open to Him so that we remain under the divine dispensing in a constant way.

As we love the Lord and pursue Him, grace is with us. We enjoy Christ as grace to such an extent that we even speak words of grace to others, imparting grace to those who hear us.

Outwardly, the situation may not be that positive, for we may suffer, we may be persecuted, or we may be in a lot of limitations; however, inwardly we are supplied by the Lord’s all-sufficient grace. His grace is sufficient for us.

When we’re suffering, His grace is sufficient. As we serve the Lord under a lot of restrictions and limitations, His grace is sufficient.

May we be good stewards of the varied grace of God, and may we enjoy the grace of life with all the saints in the church life so that we may keep ourselves in the genuine oneness.

In this article, we want to start looking at how we believers in Christ can be constituted ministers of the new covenant for the building up of the Body of Christ – it is through our experience of the many wonderful aspects of Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit, as seen in 2 Corinthians.

Being Constituted as Ministers of the New Covenant by experiencing the Anointing Spirit

How can we believers in Christ be constituted as ministers of the new covenant? It is by enjoying and experiencing the all-inclusive Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit in all His aspects as seen in 2 Corinthians.

In 2 Cor. 1:21 we see that God firmly attached us together in the Body and He has anointed us; this refers to the anointing Spirit.

The anointing Spirit is the indwelling, compound Spirit moving and working within us to impart all of God’s divine ingredients and constituents into us (2 Cor. 1:21; Phil. 1:19; Exo. 30:23-25; Rom. 10:12-13).

We have been attached to Christ and the Spirit has anointed us; we need to experience the anointing Spirit today. Since we have been attached to Christ, the anointed One, we are spontaneously anointed with Him by God. God has anointed Christ with the oil of exultant joy above His partners (Psa. 45:7; Heb. 1:9).

Since we’re attached to Christ, we share in this anointing.

The ointment with which Christ and we are anointed is God Himself, but not the raw God but the processed and consummated Triune God to be the all-inclusive, life-giving, compound Spirit.

In the Old Testament, the holy anointing oil was compounded of olive oil and some spices; these are types of the compound Spirit who anoints us today.

Today we have the anointing from the Holy One, and each one of us knows. The more we’re anointed by God, the more He adds Himself to our being, and we receive more of the element of God’s divine nature.

The reaching of the anointing accomplishes the central purpose of God’s salvation to anoint the compounded God into us so that we may be united, mingled, and incorporated with Him (1 Cor. 15:45b; 1 John 2:20, 27).

God anoints us not only for work outwardly; His anointing is continual, day by day, and we need to follow the inner anointing to experience the anointing Spirit.

We have been attached to Christ initially, but now we need to continue to remain under the teaching of the anointing so that we may receive more of God’s element into our being.

This means that, day by day, as we do this and that, we need to follow the teaching of the inner anointing. We need to check with the Lord within us about all things.

We may go shopping and, as we look at this and that product, as we walk past this or that store, we may be tempted to buy this or that.

In a very practical way, we need to ask the Lord to deliver us from the satanic system in the department store in the shopping centre.

Similarly, as we browse the internet, shop online, or view things on the social media websites, we need to check with the Lord and seek to have His instant anointing.

If he says no to something, we also say no, and when He says yes, we also say yes. In all things, in all situations, and at every time, we need to walk in a spirit of prayer so that we may behave and live according to the inner anointing.

In this way, we experience the anointing and the anointing Spirit operates in us. The more we listen to the inner anointing, the more we are constituted with the elements of God, the ingredients of God, and we simply know Him and His will.

God is adding Himself to us more and more day by day as we follow the teaching of the anointing in our daily living.

The teaching of the anointing is the inward feeling generated by the moving of the Spirit within us, enabling us to know God’s mind and live in Him, teaching us the things concerning the Triune God and His activities (1 John 2:27; Acts 16:6-7).

The anointing Spirit is in us and He teaches us all things by means of the anointing.

Lord Jesus, we want to experience the anointing Spirit in our daily life so that we may be constituted ministers of the new covenant. Hallelujah, God has attached us to Christ, the anointed One, and in Him we are anointed by God! Praise the Lord, we all have the anointing, and we can know God subjectively and intimately! Amen, Lord, we want to heed the inner anointing today. Keep us checking with You concerning all things. We don’t want to do anything apart from You; we want to do all things in the organic union with You. May we walk in a spirit of prayer throughout the day, living, acting, and behaving according to the inner anointing! Amen, Lord, add more of Yourself to our being so that we may gain more of God with His elements! Praise the Lord, God is doing a work of continually anointing us with Himself, and as He anoints us, we gain more of God!

The Sealing Spirit Forms the Divine Elements into an Impression to Express God’s Image

In order for us believers in Christ to be constituted ministers of the new covenant, we need to experience and enjoy the anointing Spirit and the sealing Spirit. In 1 Cor. 1:22 we are told that God has sealed us and has given us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

Eph. 1:13 further confirms this by saying that, as we believed into the Lord Jesus, we were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise.

On the one hand, God has anointed us and we continually enjoy and experience the anointing Spirit by living one with Him and heeding the inner anointing. On the other hand, as the elements of God are added into our being through our obeying the inner anointing, the sealing Spirit seals us.

The sealing Spirit imprints the image of Christ onto our being. The sealing Spirit forms the divine elements infused into our being into an impression to express God’s image. Amen!

Just as in the old days, there was a seal which was imprinted or pressed onto a piece of paper to imprint the image of that seal there, so today God seals us with the Spirit. He presses the sealing Spirit onto us to imprint the image of God on our being.

However, this is not something outward; the image of God in us is formed by the sealing Spirit with the elements of God wrought into us by the anointing Spirit.

The sealing Spirit saturates us the believers in Christ continuously unto the redemption of our body (Eph. 4:30).

In other words, we believers in Christ are being “sealed” or “stamped” with Christ day by day until one day not only our spirit and soul will bear His image but even more, our body will be transfigured into the body of His glory! How about that!

As we daily heed the inner anointing and experience the anointing Spirit, as we daily walk and behave according to the inner anointing, the divine elements of God are wrought into us.

Furthermore, the sealing Spirit forms the divine elements onto our being and something of God is formed into us. This is why many times as we meet the saints, especially after a period of time, we realize that there’s more of the image of Christ in them, for Christ is being formed in the saints (Gal. 4:19).

How encouraging it is to see Christ being formed in the saints! When others see is, they see the image of Christ, not our own image.

Even those in the world can see that there’s another Person living in us, for we are not expressing ourselves but Christ, the One who is the sealing Spirit, constantly sealing us.

We need the Lord’s sealing as the Spirit in the way we think, the way we speak, the way we behave ourselves, and in the way we react to things.

Day by day we need to have the sealing Spirit seal us with the image of God. Adam’s nature needs to be effaced and Christ needs to stamp His image in its place.

We have been sealed in our spirit through regeneration; we are daily being sealed in our soul through renewing and transformation; and one day we will be sealed even in our body! Hallelujah!

May we realize that the sealing Spirit transforms us believers in Christ into a treasure to God as His inheritance (Eph. 1:11).

He not only regenerates us in our spirit, transforms us in our soul, and transfigures our body, but the sealing Spirit also makes us into a treasure for God as His inheritance! Hallelujah!

The more we believers in Christ are sealed, the more we bear the image of God to be constituted into the masterpiece of God (see 2 Cor. 3:18b; Eph. 2:10).

Lord Jesus, we open to You as the sealing Spirit today: seal more in our spirit, soul, and body. Hallelujah, God has sealed us in our spirit with His Spirit, and now we bear the image of God in our spirit. Praise the Lord, we are daily under the sealing of the Spirit so that we may be transformed in our soul and be conformed to the image of Christ. Amen, Lord, we open to Your sealing today. Imprint Your image on us so that Christ may be formed in us. May we daily experience the sealing Spirit as we turn to the Lord so that we may bear God’s image and not our own image. Praise the Lord, the sealing Spirit saturates us believers in Christ continuously unto the redemption of our body! Amen, Lord, we believe that one day You will even saturate our body with Your life so that we may be transfigured and have the body of Your glory to express You in our spirit, soul, and body! Praise the Lord, the sealing Spirit transforms us into a treasure to God as His inheritance!

Experience the Pledging Spirit to have a Foretaste as a Sample and Guarantee of the Full Taste of God

Not only does the Spirit anoint us and seal us, but even more, He is our pledge; we can experience the pledging Spirit (2 Cor. 1:22).

God has wrought us for this very thing, and He has given to us the Spirit as a pledge. A pledge is a foretaste.

In the old days people used to offer a pledge of the soil from the field that they were about to sell, so that the buyer would have a foretaste of what the soil looks like.

Today, there are samples, when you go to the store, of different products; you can taste the sample, and you have a taste of how the full product tastes or looks like.

On one hand, we can experience the anointing Spirit and the sealing Spirit; on the other hand, God has given us the Spirit as a pledge (5:5).

Today we can have a foretaste of the full taste of God. We can exercise our spirit and have a foretaste of how God is.

We can testify that, as we turn to our spirit and contact the Lord, we have a taste of God. He is so rich, so full, and so sweet!

And this is just a foretaste. As we come together to enjoy the Lord with the saints, we have a foretaste of the New Jerusalem as the eternal dwelling place of God and man, the full mingling of God and man. God has given to us the Spirit as the pledge, a sample, of the full taste.

He is so sweet to our spiritual taste. As we exercise our spirit and touch the Lord, we have a foretaste of our full inheritance; we have a foretaste of God.

The Spirit’s pledging guarantees that God is our inheritance (Eph. 1:14). We don’t know what God will be to us and will give us when we meet Him, but today we can have a foretaste; as we taste His sweetness, we are filled with encouragement for our future.

We taste and see that the Lord is good (Psa. 34:8); we take refuge in Him and taste His goodness. As we come to the Lord in His word, we taste and see how sweet He is (1 Pet. 2:3).

We all can testify that we have tasted that the Lord is good. Thanks be given to the Father, who has qualified us for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light (Col. 1:12).

Christ today is the pledging Spirit in us for our foretaste, for our enjoyment of God as our divine inheritance. God is now our allotted portion through the exercise of our spirit.

The more we read and pray over His word, the more we contact the Lord day by day by calling on His name, the more we taste His sweetness and enjoy Him as a foretaste.

On the one hand, He operates in us as the anointing Spirit to infuse all that God is into us and as the sealing Spirit to impress the image of God on us.

On the other hand, Christ as the pledging Spirit is in us to be the foretaste for our enjoyment of Christ as our divine inheritance.

May we give ourselves to enjoy Christ as the pledging Spirit so that we may have a sweet foretaste of the full taste of God as our enjoyment!

Lord Jesus, thank You for being given to us as the pledging Spirit – the Spirit as a pledge, a foretaste! Hallelujah, the pledging Spirit gives us a foretaste as a sample and guarantee of the full taste of God! Thank You, dear Lord, for coming to us not only to renew us, anoint us, transform us, and conform us to the image of Christ but also to be our allotted portion! Father God, we thank You, for You qualified us for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light! Hallelujah, we are qualified for a share of the enjoyment of Christ, for Christ has become our portion! Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit to taste and see that the Lord is good! Oh Lord, You are so good and so sweet! We love to come to You in Your word to taste You! Thank You for the Spirit’s pledging, which guarantees that God is our inheritance. Keep us enjoying You today as a foretaste until we enter into the full enjoyment and possession of God as our inheritance! Praise the Lord!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1969, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ as Life for the Building Up of the Church, ch. 8, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2) (2024 December Training), week 18 (msg. 6), The Grace of God and the All-inclusive Spirit.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – The anointing, the sealing, and the pledge of the Spirit, a portion from, Autobiography of a Person in the Spirit, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
  – The compound Spirit, article by Ed Marks in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – The pledge of our inheritance, a portion from, Life-Study of Ephesians, Chapter 13.
  – Experiencing the Anointing by Knowing Christ, and the Principle of Antichrist, via, Christian students.
  – The sealing spirit and the pledging Spirit, a portion from, The Experience of Christ as Life for the Building Up of the Church, Chapter 8, by Witness Lee.
  – The Indwelling Christ – the Secret of the Christian Life, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Christ Himself as the All-inclusive Life-giving Spirit Being the Reality and Content of the New Covenant Ministry and the Constitution of the New Covenant Ministers, outline via, Church in New York City.
  – The Son’s dispensing to make the believers God’s inheritance unto the economy of the fullness of the times to head up all things in Christ, a portion from, The Issue of the Dispensing of the Processed Trinity and the Transmitting of the Transcending Christ, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
  – Ephesians (Program #12) – Sealed with the Holy Spirit, via, Bible study radio.
  – Indwelt by the Spirit and drinking the Spirit, a portion from, The Basic Revelation in the Holy Scriptures, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Divine anointing in me dwelleth, / And it teaches me all things; / It ever leads me in the Lord to live / And to me His presence brings. / In my spirit the anointing dwells, / O the anointing dwells and / teaches everything; / In my spirit the anointing dwells / And ever teaches everything. (Hymns #266 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – The Holy Spirit is the seal, / The foretaste, earnest, and the pledge. / He designates us as God’s own / And guarantees our heritage. / ’Twas after we believed in Christ, / The word of truth, the gospel, heard, / The Holy Spirit us did seal / To show that we belong to God. (Hymns #1120 stanzas 1-2)
  – We’re the Lord’s peculiar treasure, / Purchased by His precious blood. / He has put His seal upon us, / We are those marked out by God. / Day by day we’re under sealing, / That we may His likeness share. / By the impress of His Person / We will Jesus’ image bear. (Hymns #1121 stanzas 4-5)