Every kind of life has sense. After a baby is born, immediately, he has the senses of human life. Although his senses may not be strong, nevertheless, he begins to have and is developing these senses such as feeling, hearing, seeing, etc.
After we are regenerated, we also have the sense of the divine life. We call that the sense of life. This sense is just the sense of the spirit. By this sense we know that we are saved. The experience of life has much to do with knowing the sense, developing the sense and living by the sense of life.
[Although the Bible does not mention explicitly the sense of life, yet it actually speaks of the matter. Romans 8:6 says, “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.’’ This verse speaks to us very clearly concerning the sense of life, for the peace mentioned here is clearly a matter of consciousness. This peace does not refer to the outward environment, but the inward condition; therefore, it is definitely a matter of feeling. Since the peace mentioned here is a matter of feeling, the death and life mentioned here are also a matter of feeling.]
The sense of death is due to our minding the flesh, while the sense of life and peace is due to our minding the spirit. When we live in the spirit, follow the spirit, and mind the spirit, we feel strong and satisfied within; at the same time we also feel lively, bright, comfortable, and at ease. For example, if the Holy Spirit gives you a feeling, and you mind and obey it, you will feel strong and satisfied within; at the same time you will feel lively, bright, comfortable, and at ease. Thus, you will have the feeling of life and peace, because you mind the spirit.
[The second place in the Scripture concerning the matter of the sense of life is in Ephesians 4:19, which says that the Gentiles “having ceased from feeling have given themselves over to lewdness to work all uncleanness in unbridled greedy lust.’’ This tells us that the reason the people in the world commit sin and do wickedness at will is that they have forsaken all feelings. When a man sins and does wickedness, we cannot say that he has no feeling, but at least we can say that he has laid aside his feelings. The more one commits sin and does wickedness, the more he must lay aside the inner consciousness. Therefore, an evil, wicked man is void of feelings, whereas a good and kind person is rich in feeling.
Now, whose inner sense is stronger, the Christian’s or the Gentile’s? We must answer that our feelings are much stronger, because, in addition to the feelings they have, we have the feelings of life within us, which they do not have. Therefore, if we sin and commit wickedness, we must have laid aside our feelings even more severely than they. For this very reason, the Scripture exhorts us not to cast aside all feelings as do the Gentiles. The Scripture thus beseeches us that we might take care of our inner sense. This of course emphasizes heeding the inner sense of life.
Furthermore, almost all the Epistles of the apostles have words of blessing and greeting in which grace and peace are mentioned. Grace is God gained by us, and peace is the feeling of having gained God. God gained by us to become our life and for us to enjoy is grace. This grace within us results in peace; it causes us to have a feeling of peacefulness within. When the apostles wished that the people might have peace, it means that they wished the people might have the peace of the inner sense, or peace within. The inner sense of peace is the sense of life. Therefore, when they expressed their wish that the people might have the feeling of peace within, they wanted them to pay attention to the inner sense of life.]
Home | First | Prev | Next