As we saw in the previous chapters, in order to be a proper, typical, normal Christian, walking in the spirit and following the Lord all the way, we must take care of the inner life. The way to do this is in three aspects: We must know the fellowship of life, the sense of life, and the law of life. I say again, these important matters concerning the Lord Himself, the indwelling Spirit, and the inner life have been very much neglected by today’s Christianity. There are not many messages in Christianity on the fellowship of life, the sense of life, and the law of life. These three items are all related to the inner life, and this inner life is nothing other than the Lord Himself.
God’s economy is to dispense Himself into us. This is why the one, unique God is in three persons. The Trinity is not a mere theology. The Trinity is for our experience of God’s economy, God’s dispensing. In God’s economy He dispenses Himself into us. What we mean by God’s economy is that God the Father works in the Son, and the Son comes into us as the Spirit. When we say that the Spirit dwells in us today, we mean that the three persons of the one Godhead work together within us as life. God mingles with us by being our life. He must be our inner life, and this inner life is nothing less than God Himself.
As we have seen, this life within us is in three main aspects. If we do not know the fellowship of life, the sense of life, and the law of life, the inner life is merely a term to us; we do not know how to deal with the inner life. One brother among us studied and worked in the United States. After he was saved, he sought the Lord very much. When he heard about the Lord’s move in Taiwan, he went there purposely to get the help. After he arrived there, however, he was very bothered. So many of the messages he heard among us stressed the matter of life. He had never heard or spoken much concerning life. But after he stayed with us for a period of time, the Lord helped him to realize that our real need today is life.
In the beginning of the Scriptures there is the tree of life. Immediately after God created man, He put him in front of the tree of life (Gen. 2:7-9). At the end of the Scriptures there is the tree of life again (Rev. 22:2). The tree of life is the beginning, and it is also the end. God has only this one intention: to work Himself into us as life. Now in order to know this inner life, we must realize that life is God Himself in three persons, mainly in the fellowship of life, the sense of life, and the law of life.
God is life to us in our human spirit, and in our spirit there are three functions: the fellowship, the intuition, and the conscience. The fellowship of life corresponds to the fellowship in our spirit; the sense of life corresponds with the intuition of the spirit, because the intuition is the function that gives us a direct sense; and the law of life corresponds to the conscience. The law tells us what to do and what not to do, and the conscience checks us concerning what is right and what is wrong. To deal with these matters in detail will take years. In addition, we must also put them into practice in our daily life.
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