Our spirit is the most living part of our being, and its feeling can be considered the most sensitive. The feeling that we are speaking of here is the feeling of the mingled spirit that comes from the mingling of the two spirits. This spirit is not only our spirit, but is also the Spirit of God; the Spirit of God and our spirit have been mingled together. Therefore, the feeling of this spirit is very keen and very delicate. Our regenerated spirit has become very delicate and meek because of the mingling of God and man. On the one hand, the Spirit of God is the Spirit of power, and on the other hand, He is the Spirit of life. He is the Spirit of power without and the Spirit of life within. Therefore, the Bible uses two symbols to speak about these two aspects of the Holy Spirit. It uses the eagle as the symbol of the Spirit when it speaks about the Spirit of power, and it uses the dove as the symbol when it speaks about the Spirit of life. In the Old Testament, when the Israelites were coming out of Egypt, God said that He would be like a large eagle carrying them on His wings out of the land of bondage (Exo. 19:4). This refers to the power aspect of the Spirit of God. In the New Testament, when the Lord Jesus was baptized and came out of the water, the Spirit of God descended upon Him as a dove (Matt. 3:16). This refers to the life aspect of the Spirit of God. As such, the Spirit of God is very delicate, meek, and calm. He does not shout, make noise, cry out, or yell. Because He is so delicate, meek, and calm within us, we usually neglect His presence.
I believe that all of you are saved and know that the Holy Spirit is within you. But how do you know? Is it in doctrine or by experience? If you say, “The Bible tells me so,” then it is according to doctrine. But if it is according to our experience, we will say, “We have the feeling of the spirit.” Before one is saved, he already has a little feeling in his spirit. If a child steals some candy from his mother, he does not feel peaceful and will hide from his mother. This shows that he has a feeling in his conscience. However, as he advances in age, the feeling of his conscience may be ignored and may gradually become dull. Some even go to the extreme and would even dare to rob and kill. Still at that stage, these ones will feel unpeaceful within.
When we were saved, our spirit was regenerated and the feeling was recovered. Now the Holy Spirit is reinforcing the feeling of our spirit within. However, the principle of the New Testament is that of incarnation, that is, the mingling of God and man; therefore, when we were saved, even though the feeling of our spirit was strengthened, it was not strengthened to a great extent. One may have had a strong, keen feeling at the moment he was saved. He may have repented and confessed thoroughly before God. But this feeling was maintained for only one or two days, or perhaps even one or two weeks. Eventually this feeling decreased. Sometimes this feeling can decrease so much that some may wonder whether they are saved at all. Nonetheless, if you are saved you will discover that you have more feeling in your spirit than before. You can say from your experience that no matter how delicate, meek, and calm it is, your spiritual feeling within has become much stronger than before. Within this little, feeble feeling, you have the presence of God.
Before we were saved, though we had some feeling, it was different from the feeling after salvation. For example, everyone loves to be proud; everyone wants to show off. To glorify oneself makes a person feel wonderful. But sometimes one’s conscience may convict him that being proud is wrong. After we are saved, however, not only do we feel that to be proud is wrong, but in our deepest being we have the sense of shame. Before being saved, we may have known that to be proud is wrong, but we did not have the sense of shame. After being saved, not only do we feel that to be proud is wrong; we also feel shameful about it. This proves that we are saved ones. In many matters, we can use this principle as a test.
This feeling is not something that is taught to us, but is innate. It was born into us when we were born again. When we are saved, we surely have an added ingredient within which cannot be discarded. This ingredient is God Himself. He is added into us. Once we have this ingredient within, the feeling inside will be different than before. This can be likened to a cup of bitter tea. Before sugar is added into it, it is bitter; but after sugar is added into it, it has a little sweetness. As long as there is some sweetness in the tea, this is proof that the ingredient of sugar is within. Similarly, prior to salvation, our life was a bitter one. But now that we are saved, though some bitterness remains, there is sweetness in the bitterness. This proves that another ingredient has been added into us. The ingredient of God has been added into our spirit, and this ingredient has produced a feeling, the feeling of the spirit. This is what we are talking about here.