Ⅳ
In order to live according to the principle of life, we need to follow the inner sense of life—Rom. 8:6; Eph. 4:18-19; Isa. 40:31:
A
The sense of life is subjective, personal, and practical:
１
The sense of life on the negative side is the feeling of death—Rom. 8:6a.
２
The sense of life on the positive side is the feeling of life and peace, with a consciousness of strength, satisfaction, rest, brightness, and comfort—v. 6b.
B
The source of the sense of life is the divine life (Eph. 4:18-19), the law of life (Rom. 8:2), the Holy Spirit (v. 11; 1 John 2:27), Christ abiding in us (John 15:4-5), and God operating in us (Phil. 2:13).
C
The function of the sense of life is to make us know whether we are living in the natural life or in the divine life and whether we are living in the flesh or in the Spirit—1 Cor. 2:14-15; Rom. 8:8-9; Gal. 5:16-17.
D
A believer's growth in life depends on how he deals with the inner sense of life—Eph. 4:15; Col. 2:19; 1 Cor. 3:6-7.
E
We need to pray ourselves into the sense of life and live under its controlling, guiding, and directing element day by day—Rom. 8:6; Eph. 4:18-19; 1 John 2:27.
F
The more we walk according to the spirit and follow the sense of life, the more we will live according to the principle of life—Rom. 8:4, 6.
Morning Nourishment
Rom. 8:6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.Eph. 4:18-19 Being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God…, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lasciviousness to work all uncleanness in greediness.
The sense of life on the negative side is the feeling of death, a kind of negative feeling. This is definitely revealed in Romans 8:6. We have to realize that Romans 8:6 is altogether a verse of sensation because it says that the mind set on the flesh is death. This is not only a fact, but it is also a matter of feeling, a matter of consciousness. When you set your mind on the flesh, you have the sense of death. You feel that death is there.
The feeling of death is the inner… sense that you are weak, empty, uneasy, restless, depressed, dried up, darkened, and in pain within; this indicates that death is there. When death is present, this means that you have set your mind on the flesh…This is the negative function of the sense of life.
On the positive side the sense of life functions to give us a consciousness of the following positive things—strength, satisfaction, peace, rest, release, liveliness, watering, brightness, comfort, etc. (v. 6b). Instead of being weak, we are strong. Instead of being empty, we are satisfied. Instead of uneasiness and restlessness, we have peace and rest. Instead of depression, we have release and liveliness…We have a sense of watering versus dryness, brightness versus darkness, and comfort versus pain. All these are the positive feelings we have from the function of the sense of life. When we have these kinds of feelings, we have to realize that this is the working of the sense of life. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 1, “Basic Lessons on Life,” pp. 544-545)
Today’s Reading
Any kind of life has its feeling… A stone does not have any feeling, but anything that has life has feeling. The higher the life is, the stronger the feeling is. The divine life is the strongest and highest life, so it has the richest, strongest, and keenest feeling (Eph. 4:18). The divine life is the first item of the source of the sense of life… The unbelievers are past feeling because they are alienated from the life of God. If we are one with the life of God, we will have the richest, strongest, and keenest feeling.If we are living in the natural life, the sense is of death and is entirely on the negative side… If we are living in the divine life, the sense is of life and is entirely on the positive side. Then we have the feeling of life and peace with all of its positive points. The sense of life makes us know whether we are living in the natural life or in the divine life. The sense of life guides us, governs us, controls us, and directs us. This truth has been altogether lost in today’s Christianity. Most of the teachings of today’s Christianity are focused on morality and good behavior. They do not care for this inner sense of life functioning to make us know whether we are living in the natural life or in the divine life. Since we are seeking after Christ as our life, we must take care of this sense of life. If we do not have the positive sensations of strength, satisfaction, peace, rest, release, liveliness, watering, brightness, comfort, etc., we must realize that we are not living in the divine life; it must be that we are living in the natural life.
This lesson should not be a mere doctrine of knowledge according to the letter. It must be something of life from our experience. We need much prayer to pray ourselves into the sense of life. Then we can give a word not merely in teaching but practically in fellowship. Our message will be a kind of fellowship, telling people how we have experienced these things, how the sense of life is so real and practical to us, and how we are under this kind of controlling, guiding, directing element within us day by day. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 1, “Basic Lessons on Life,” pp. 546, 548-549)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1979, vol. 1, “Basic Lessons on Life,” lsn. 11; CWWL, 1955, vol. 4, “Further Talks on the Knowledge of Life,” chs. 9-10