Life also demands that we be served and supplied by others. This is very natural. The reason we come to break bread, pray, fellowship, or even listen to a message is because the life in us has a requirement of needing to be supplied. If we go to a meeting or listen to a message, and if the meeting is full of supply and the Lord’s presence, we sense satisfaction, sweetness, and the inward presence of the Lord. This is the life in us that requires us to be supplied.
When we come to the bread-breaking meeting, sing hymns, or listen to prayers, we become inwardly satisfied. There was a gospel friend who attended our bread-breaking meeting, and he was quite puzzled by what he observed. He knew almost all the people in the meeting—some were university professors and some were college students. The meeting lasted for one and a half hours, but there was no message, no exhortation, and no story-telling. Instead, the people only sang hymns and prayed prayers. Consequently, he could not understand why everyone seemed happy and joyful by the time it was over. Were they truly satisfied or only superstitious? He had many questions because he knew most of the saints, many of whom studied science and had doctorate degrees in chemistry, but he could not understand the situation.
This is similar to eating at a well-known restaurant in Taipei. Whenever people go there to eat, they wait in line. Even managers and chief executives wait in line, but they are willing to do this because the life in them has a need to be supplied. When we attend the bread-breaking meeting, we may only sing a few hymns or pray some prayers, but inwardly we feel that we are in the heavenlies; we feel satisfied and happy. This shows that life requires a supply.
Furthermore, the life in each saint requires us to be spiritual. When we are in the spirit, we feel comfortable within. In other words, when we follow the inward requirements to forsake the world, reject the flesh, and deal with our self, we immediately feel inwardly pleasant. However, if we indulge our flesh, love the world, and try to preserve our self, we feel inwardly uncomfortable. This proves that the life in us requires us to be spiritual. This requirement, however, does not only apply to us; it also applies to others.
When a person acts in his flesh and self in our meetings, there is no need to say anything because the life in the saints feels very uncomfortable about this fleshly activity. Similarly, when a saint moves according to the Holy Spirit when he prays, speaks, or chooses a hymn, all the saints sense that they are touching the Spirit inwardly. This is a definite fact. If anyone has been shown mercy, he has had this experience to some degree.
The life in us requires us to always exalt Christ and uplift Jesus. If we meet a saint in our daily life who lives before God, who exalts Christ, who has been broken in the self, and who allows the Lord to flourish, we feel glorious, bright, joyful, and sweet. We also feel pleasant in our spirit. However, if we meet a saint who boasts in himself and who expresses himself and his flesh, we feel uncomfortable. This relates to a requirement of life.
Life also requires us to do God’s will. When we follow God’s will and desire to do God’s will, the life in us feels sweet and pleasant. Sometimes we may disobey and oppose God’s will, but the life in us still requires us to follow God’s will. This requirement is so strong that even if we fail and do not follow God’s will, we still feel sad and depressed in our spirit when we see others not following God’s will. This is a requirement of life in us.
The highest requirement of life is that we live out Christ, let the Holy Spirit operate in us, and allow Christ to rule in us in the Holy Spirit. All the requirements of life are related to the church. If we care for these requirements, it will not be difficult to touch the way of the church and see the genuine condition of the church. If we care for the sense of life, we will be able to easily discern whether a Christian group is truly in the reality of the church; this is a crucial matter.