How can we know when we are in the presence of God? God is light (v. 5), and when we are in the presence of God, we can sense the light. We sense not only the inner flowing but also the inner shining, which comes only through the fellowship of life. This is not a doctrine but an explanation of our experience. If we cannot say Amen to these experiences, I am afraid there is something wrong with us. This is exactly what we should have experienced since the day of our salvation, although we may not have been able to explain it. Allow me to repeat: something within us is moving and flowing, and when we are in the flow, we are simply in the presence of God. Then we have the shining within us, and everything is in the light. We are clear about all things—whether a certain thing is right or wrong, whether it is the will of God or not, and whether it is something of death or of life. All things are made clear by the inner sense.
The sense of life, therefore, is very much related to the fellowship of life. The fellowship of life helps us to realize the sense of life by bringing us into the presence of God, where we can enjoy the shining of God as light. This shining makes us clear about everything. It penetrates into every corner and avenue of our being, bringing to us a very tender and keen sense. A slight mistake is immediately detected by this sense. The more we have the flowing of life, the more we are in the presence of God, and the more shining we will experience. The more we experience this shining, the more we will realize a keen and tender sense. It is by this sense that we can know God, His will, and His way. This sense searches and tests everything.
Furthermore, this inward sense of life always depends on the degree of our inward relationship with the Lord. When we set our mind on the flesh, as the apostle pointed out in Romans 8:6, we are simply setting the self on the flesh. To set the mind on the flesh means that our self is cooperating with the flesh, and if we cooperate with the flesh, our relationship with God, of course, is wrong. I would remind you again of the three concentric circles illustrating the three parts of man (see chapter 6). The flesh is the body (outer circle) changed in nature through Satan’s corrupting. The mind is in the soul (middle circle), representing our human being, the self. The Triune God dwells in the spirit (center circle). The mind, located between the flesh and the spirit, has the possibility of moving in either direction. We should never forget Romans 8:6—it is one of the most important verses in the Scriptures. In a sense it is even more important than John 3:16. If we remember only John 3:16 and forget Romans 8:6, we are a Christian with a poor salvation; we can never be a victorious Christian. John 3:16 is adequate for us to receive eternal life, but Romans 8:6 points out how to be a victorious Christian.
To set our mind—that is, to set our self—on the flesh is death. To set our mind, or our self, on the spirit is life and peace. This is the key to death or life. The mind is quite neutral; it is “on the fence.” It may turn toward the flesh, or it may turn toward the spirit. Again, the story of the garden of Eden must be repeated. Man’s free will can make either of two choices. Choosing the tree of knowledge results in death, but choosing the tree of life issues in life. We are between these two; we are neutral with respect to life and death. The issue depends on our choice, our attitude. Personified sin, representing Satan, is in the flesh, the Triune God is in the spirit after we are saved, and the self is in the mind. The secret of life or death depends on our cooperating with the spirit or with the flesh. When we cooperate with the flesh, we have death; when we cooperate with the spirit, we are partakers of God, who is life.
How do we know that we are in a condition of death? We know by sensing death. Death gives us a certain kind of inward sense. One such sense is that of emptiness. We sense death when we feel empty within. Another sense death gives us is a sense of darkness. When we sense darkness within us, we are in death. Death also gives us the feeling of uneasiness, which includes restlessness and disturbance. There is no soothing within us; rather, there is the sense that everything within is in a state of friction, with no peace, no rest, no comfort, and no calm. Another sense of death is weakness. Often we say, “I cannot bear it any longer.” This indicates that we are very weak. We have no strength, no power, no weight to stand against our frustrations. Finally, death gives us the sense of depression, oppression, or suppression. Because we are weak, it is easy for us to be depressed. The reason for our weakness and depression is that our mind is set on the flesh, which results in death. Emptiness, darkness, uneasiness, weakness, and depression—all these are the tastes of the sense of death. We know death within when we sense emptiness, darkness, uneasiness, weakness, and depression. This kind of sense proves that we are in the flesh and are standing with the flesh.
But this sense of death actually comes from the sense of life. Suppose a person is truly dead and is therefore a corpse. Such a person will not have any sense of emptiness, darkness, uneasiness, and so forth, because he does not have life. But if he has life within, though the life may be sickly and weak, he still has a certain sense of emptiness and darkness. He is able to sense all these things because he is still a living person. As a living person he is contacting death, and it is the life within him that gives him the sense of death. One of the functions and purposes of the sense of life is to sense the taste of death.
The sense of death, however, is only on the negative side. On the positive side, there is the sense of life and peace. What is the sense, the taste, of life and peace? First of all, in contrast with emptiness, there is satisfaction and fullness. We sense that we are satisfied with the Lord. We are full in His presence and are neither thirsty nor hungry. Second, we sense light, the opposite of darkness. Along with our inward satisfaction we have light shining within us. Every corner and every avenue of our being are full of light. Every part is transparent; nothing is opaque. Then, in contrast to uneasiness, we have peace, which soothes all our disturbances. Peace with rest, peace with comfort, peace with ease, is the sense within us. There is no feeling of friction or controversy. Strength, as opposed to weakness, is another taste of the sense of life. We feel the full strength and power of life. There is a living dynamo within us, and it seems as if there is not merely one motor but four motors. Sometimes we feel the horsepower of a million horses. There is a real strengthening within us that overcomes all our weakness. We do not care about the long face of our wife. If our wife speaks some unpleasant words to us, we will say Hallelujah! Her words will not upset us and cause us to lose our temper, for we are strong. We are not light and weak; we are weighty and full of power. Nothing can turn us upside down. This is the inner sense of life and peace. Finally, in contrast with depression we have liberty. Through the flowing of life, we are not only liberated but also transcendent above all oppression. Nothing can suppress us. The more depression comes, the more we are in the heavenlies.
This is the way that we perceive life and peace. We simply perceive these two things by sensing them, and we sense them because we have life. This life within us is a flowing life. Through the flowing of life we are living and in the presence of God. Therefore, we have the deep, inward sense that we are satisfied, enlightened, strengthened, comforted, uplifted, liberated, and transcendent. The more we are in the fellowship of life, the more we sense life, and the more we sense life, the more we enjoy the increased fellowship of life. These two are always experienced in cycles—the more fellowship of life, the more sense of life; the more sense of life, the more fellowship of life. This is wonderful.
The fellowship of life and the sense of life are byproducts of resurrection. The main riches of resurrection are God Himself, Christ as life, the divine nature, the law of life, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. From these riches issue two secondary but practical things: the fellowship of life and the sense of life.