The Lord who lives within us is the Spirit. This Spirit is the Spirit of the Lord, the Lord Spirit, and the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit is also the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). What does it mean for the Spirit to be the Spirit of life? This means that the function of the Spirit today is to make Christ real to us as life. Christ is life, and the Spirit is the Spirit of life in our spirit in order to make Christ real to us as life. In addition, this life, which is Christ Himself, has a function. To illustrate this we can consider the experience of a baby. What is the first way in which the life of a baby functions? The first function of a baby’s life is its consciousness or sense. When you speak to a baby, there is a reaction. This reaction is the consciousness, or sense, of the baby’s life. When you put something sweet into a baby’s mouth, the baby tastes it and swallows it. However, if you put something bitter into a baby’s mouth, although he has never heard of the word bitter, he will immediately spit it out. Why is this? This is the result of the function of the sense of life. We must realize that Christ is living within us as a living person and as life. Then we must realize that this life has a primary function, which is the consciousness, the sense, of life. You may say that you do not feel Christ, but I am sure that you do have some sense of the spiritual life that is within you. This sense proves that Christ is within you. You have such a sense because you have Christ within you, and because you have Christ within you, you have such a sense. The sense of life is the simple means by which we are able to apply Christ. In fact, the sense of life is just Christ Himself.
Applying Christ in this way is very delicate, yet it is very simple. We can liken this to electricity. When I was a little boy, I was amazed by electricity. Electricity was so wonderful and mysterious to me, and I simply could not understand it. However, although I could not understand it, electricity was nevertheless very real. In like manner, the Lord is the Spirit, and all spiritual matters are as real as electricity. To apply electricity all we must do is turn on a light switch. If we turn on the switch, the electricity works. Similarly, the way in which we are able to experience spiritual matters and the simple means by which we can apply Christ is the sense of life. Sometimes after we have been speaking with a brother or sister for a while, we have the sense that we have spoken enough. This sense is Christ within us. Sometimes while reading the Bible we have the sense that we should stop our reading and go to pray. If after having such a sense, we continue to read and do not go to pray, then we are not applying the cross, and from that moment on it is not Christ but we who are reading the Scriptures. We are not applying Christ to our reading of the Scriptures.
Today Christ is in our spirit as the Spirit. This Spirit is the Spirit of life, of which the primary function is the consciousness, the sense, of life. Whenever we have a sense or registration in our inner parts, we have to realize that this is Christ. When we have such a sense, we should say, “Lord, this is You. I will go along with You. I will apply You to my living and to this very thing that I am about to do. It is no longer I who do it, but it is You who are doing it.” The sense of life within us is Christ Himself, and by going along with the sense of life, we apply Christ to our living.
However, in order to go along with the sense of life there is one prerequisite—we must realize that we have been crucified and are dead, buried, and finished. We must realize that we are no longer the ones who are living, but that it is Christ who is now living within us. In order to apply Christ, we must apply the death of Christ. Each of us must realize that it is “no longer I...but...Christ” (Gal. 2:20). It is “no longer I but Christ” in the bad things and “no longer I but Christ” in the good things as well. Even in studying the Scriptures it is “no longer I but Christ.”
The way for us to apply Christ is to apply the death of Christ and go along with the sense of life. This must be very clear to us. Christ is the Spirit, the Spirit is the Spirit of life, the Spirit of life is in our spirit, the primary function of life is the sense of life, and the sense of life is Christ Himself. If we go along with this sense, applying the death of the cross to our self and old man, then we will experience and apply Christ. As a result, Christ will be our life in a very practical way.
For many of us the matters that we have been considering in this message may be quite new. As a result, when we go to have some fellowship with a certain brother or sister, we may not remember any of this. Thus, to learn to apply Christ requires us to practice. Many of you know how to drive a car. The first time you got into the driver’s seat, you probably did not know how to drive, but after a certain amount of practice, you became used to driving and were able to do it. Just as it requires practice to learn to drive a car, it also takes practice to learn to apply Christ in the way we have discussed above. We need to love the Lord, receive the revelation of God’s eternal plan that Christ is life and everything to us, and take the ground that we have been buried. When we are about to have some fellowship with one of the brothers or sisters, we have to practice all these things. We should say to the Lord, “Lord, I love You. You are everything in God’s plan. I now realize that You are my life and my everything. I know that I have been buried and am finished. Right now, it is no longer I who live, but it is You who are living in me. It is not I who am going to fellowship with this brother; it is You who are going in me. I do not trust my mind. I am through, and I have been buried. Lord, at this very moment You are my life and my everything.” This is the way that we should practice.
If we practice in this way and have such an attitude, there is no doubt that the Holy Spirit will be the reality to us, and we will experience Christ. Christ will have the ground and will take the opportunity to occupy our mind, emotion, will, mouth, and language. Through our practice in such a way, Christ will have the opportunity to gain His rightful place within us. He will be able to make His dwelling place within us, and we will be full of Christ. As a result, we will be right with God and at peace within. Then we will be a people whose mind, emotion, and will are filled with Christ. Deep in our emotion there will be the element of Christ. Christ will be in all our feelings. Christ will also be in our mind and our will to the extent that our thoughts will be full of Christ and our decisions will have the reality of Christ. If we become such people, do you think that we will have problems with sins and the world? We will not, because Christ will be the One living within us. We will be finished and Christ will be living, so we will have nothing to do with sins and the world. This is very simple. Now we realize where Christ is today. Christ is very close to us and is even one with us. Christ today is the Spirit in our spirit. Thus, we must practice to experience Him, contact Him, and apply Him as such a One within us.