If someone desires to look into the Christian life, he must realize that the Christian life is basically a matter of life. All other matters, such as reading the Bible, preaching the gospel, and serving, are also wrapped up with life. Once this matter of life has been dealt with, all other matters are resolved. Life is the origin and foundation of everything. It is our way, our power, and our light. Life is everything to us. Since life is such a crucial matter, our most urgent need is to learn how to touch the way of life so that we may grow in life. Hence, the following items are the most important matters concerning the way of life.
First of all, every brother and sister should have a clear understanding that at the time they prayed and called on the Lord, the Lord’s life entered into them. This is not a doctrine but a reality. When a person calls on the Lord, the Lord’s life will enter into him.
Second, God’s intention is not only that a person would receive the life of the Lord, but that after a person is saved, he also would live in such a life in an absolute way. It is not God’s intention that man would go to a heavenly mansion or to the heavens after he has received God’s life; rather, God wants man to live in such a life.
Third, what should man do to live in God’s life since it is God’s desire for us to do so? The essential, indispensable thing to do is to love the Lord. Even though all the saved ones have received the Lord’s life, those who do not love the Lord will not live in His life. The more a person loves the Lord, the more he will live in the Lord’s life. If a person does not love the Lord, he will not be able to live in the Lord’s life. John 15 says that the Lord is the vine and that we are the branches. It also says that we have to abide in Him. John chapters fifteen and sixteen speak about abiding (15:4-7) on the one hand, and about loving the Lord (16:27) on the other hand. Only when we love the Lord will we allow Him to abide in us. The degree to which we love the Lord determines the degree to which we will live by His life.
The epistle that the Lord wrote to the messenger of the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2 says that the Lord had one thing against the church in Ephesus-she had left her first love (v. 4). She was irreproachable in her works, but she was short of love. Eventually the Lord said that unless she repented, He would remove her lampstand out of its place (v. 5). As a result, she would not be given to partake of the fruit of the tree of life (v. 7). The lampstand is a matter of light, and the tree of life is something related to life. Every time we leave our love for the Lord, we lose light and life. If a brother in the church in Ephesus had risen up to love the Lord in order to gain the Lord’s life, he would have received the light of life to maintain the testimony of life. Once we leave our love for the Lord, we lose life and light. We are here not to preach a doctrine to people but to guide them to the path of life. Doctrine cannot enable people to live in the Lord’s life. Only walking on the path of life can help people to live in the Lord’s life.
Everyone who wants to live in the Lord’s life has to love the Lord. This love is not a love of adoration but a love of romance like the love that is spoken of in the Song of Songs. Without such a love, we will have nothing to do with the path of life. For us to live in the Lord’s life, we have to love the Lord and even be deeply in love with Him. Our love for the Lord enables us to receive His life and light. If we find that we do not love the Lord, we have to pray, “Lord, up to this moment I still do not love You. Although I know that I have Your life, I do not have any love for You. I do adore You, but I do not love You. I cannot sense Your freshness, Your beauty, and Your loveliness. O Lord, save me and grant me Your love.”
No one can serve the Lord without loving Him. Madame Guyon’s most precious trait was that she loved the Lord. If you want to live in the life and nature of another person, you have to live in love. Then that person’s nature will become your nature because you love him, and your nature will become his nature because that person loves you. The two natures not only interact, but they also are interchanged. It is the same with us in regard to the Lord. If we want to live in the life and nature of the Lord, we have to love Him. I can show you the way and the principle, but I am not able to fill up your lack. You must go and pray by yourself. If we do not love the Lord, there is no way for us to grow in life. When we were saved, we received the Lord’s life, but if we do not love the Lord, desire the Lord, and pursue the Lord, then in the end we will at most be like an elderly child. We will be able to pray, read the Bible, and meet with the saints, but we will have no way to live in the Lord’s life. The principle here is that only those who love the Lord can live in His life.
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