We need to Live by the Sense of Life and be Victorious over Satan’s Attack of Death

We need to live by the sense of life – the consciousness and feeling of the divine life within us – and be victorious over the attack of death upon the church, building up the Body of Christ in the resurrection life of Christ and rejecting any death. Amen!

Today we all have a choice: life or death, the tree of life or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The tree of life is so simple: it is just life; the tree of the knowledge is very complicated and complicating, for it involves knowledge, good, evil, and death.

In the church life we need to enter through the narrow gate and walk on the constricted way, the way of life, the way that leads to life.

The Lord Jesus took the lead to walk on this way, and He denied Himself, took up His cross, and did the Father’s will.

We have this One living in us, and He always chooses to take the constricted way. In ourselves, we would like to take the broad way, the way of the world or the general way of Christianity, but there is another way – the way of life, the way that leads to life.

First, we need to enter in through the narrow gate by consecrating ourselves to the Lord, and then we need to walk on the constricted way, a way that is lifelong and that leads to life.

Hallelujah, we are on the way that leads to life, and when we walk according to the spirit and live in spirit, we remain on this way and are led to more life!

Even though this way is more and more limiting and constraining, we get more life.

The broad way is according to the worldly system, appealing to a great crowd, and maintaining the career of man; the broad way satisfies man’s natural taste and is to achieve man’s enterprise. But the constricted way leads to life.

It is only the Lord that really knows who takes the constricted way, but many are those who walk on the broad way.

We may think we are pursuing a career, for we want to get more money, more education, and a higher position in society; we may think that there’s nothing wrong with that.

And you know what, the Lord may allow you to do this. But if we look at Daniel, he had such a high status at the court of several kings, but he didn’t live for his career; rather, he was joined to God in prayer to release on earth what was released in the heaven.

We are not here for our career; we are not here for us to get more money and a better position in society or a bigger house.

We are here for God’s interest, and we want to take the constricted way that leads to life so that we may receive the reward of life in the manifestation of the kingdom.

We need to Live by the Sense of Life, the Feeling and Consciousness of the Divine Life within us

A basic truth concerning the experience of life and the knowledge of life is that we need to live by the sense of the divine life within us.

When we set our mind on our spirit, we enjoy life and peace, but when our mind is set on the flesh, we sense death (Rom. 8:6).

We need to live by the sense of life; our actual living needs to be according to the feeling, the consciousness of the divine life within us.

How much of our daily living is according to the sense of life within? Are we inwardly clear concerning the difference between the sense of life in our spirit, the feelings in our emotion, and the thoughts in our mind? Are we clear, or are we becoming clear concerning this?

We need to learn to set our mind on our spirit, and especially when we feel the sense of death, we need to turn to our spirit.

We shouldn’t be misled to think that our feelings must be from the Lord; we shouldn’t have the confidence in what we feel but rather turn to the Lord and allow Him to give us a sense concerning things.

We may have a feeling and we may express it, but the Body may keep silent, for the members of the Body sense that it was our natural life that was expressed.

The Body doesn’t judge us; the Head is the One who directs the members in a certain direction.

We shouldn’t be so confident that our feeling is from the Lord but rather, we should keep turning to Him and setting our mind on the spirit so that we may live not by our natural life but by the sense of life within us.

The source of the sense of life is the divine life, the law of life, the Holy Spirit, Christ abiding in us, and God operating in us (Rom. 8:2, 10-11; Phil. 2:13).

For us to say that, The Lord showed me this, or, The Lord told me that, shows that we didn’t really see something of what the Lord is speaking to us. Such persons cannot be helped.

The Lord is working to break us and humble us, and He is also shepherding us; He is working in us and operating both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.

We learn to live by the sense of life not by analyzing things or being introspective but by turning to the Lord and being open to the Spirit to apply the cross to what we are feeling so that what comes out would flow out in resurrection, full of life.

The divine life in our spirit is the highest life; this life has the richest, strongest, and keenest feeling, and this feeling is the sense of life (Eph. 4:18).

We need to learn to live by the sense of life, the feeling and consciousness of the divine life within us.

The sense of life guides us, governs us, controls us, and directs us; the sense of life causes us to know whether we are living in the divine life or in the natural life.

As we live by the sense of life, we know whether we are living in the flesh or in the spirit.

Many times we have a feeling that we should stop saying what we are saying, for it is not from the Lord; many times there’s an inward, No, stop, don’t say this, for this is you and not the Lord.

The more we listen to this inner sense of life, the more we turn to the Lord, the more we have such an experience, such an inward speaking, and this will cause us to live according to life and not according to right or wrong.

It’s not about who is right or who is wrong; it is not about doing the right thing and not doing the wrong thing; it is not about doing good versus doing evil.

It’s all about living by the sense of life in our spirit so that we may experience life and peace, and the Lord will be expressed through us.

Lord Jesus, we want to live by the sense of life within us. May our daily living be governed not by doing the right thing but by the feeling, the consciousness of the divine life within us. Amen, Lord, save us from doing what is right in our own eyes. Save us from thinking we know what to do for this is the right thing to do. Keep us turning to You. Keep us learning to live according to the sense of life so that the law of life may operate in us, the Spirit may work in us, and we would abide in the Lord moment-by-moment. May the sense of life guide us, govern us, control us, and direct us, causing us to know whether we’re living in the divine life or in the natural life. Amen, Lord, do this in us.

We need to be Victorious over the Attack of Death upon the Church and Build up the Body in the Resurrection Life of Christ

In Matt. 16:18 the Lord Jesus spoke concerning the church, which He Himself will build; right after mentioning the church, He said that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

This means that the enemy attacks the church mainly with death, the gates of Hades.

We need to be victorious over the attack of death upon the church and build up the Body of Christ in the resurrection life of Christ (Matt. 16:18; John 11:25; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:16).

Christ came so that we may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10); He Himself is life, and He came so that we may receive the divine life, be filled with life, grow in life, mature in life, and overflow with the divine life so that we may minister life to others.

The church is a product of Christ’s death and resurrection, and it is an entity fully in the divine life.

Satan, however, wants to bring death into the church; his main attack is by bringing in death into the church.

We may be in a prayer meeting and, as we pray, we sense that someone is spreading death by his or her prayer.

When we live according to the sense of life, we will sense when death is present in the church.

Sometimes our fellowship with others is in death, and the result is not more enjoyment of life but more death being spread. Oh, Lord!

We need to take the way of life in all the gatherings of the church and, at any time we are with the saints, we need to be victorious over the attack of death.

By the resurrection life of Christ in our spirit, we can be victorious over the attack of death upon the church (Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:24; 2 Tim. 1:10).

From Eden onward, God’s controversy with Satan has been on the issue of death and life (Rom. 8:6, 10-11; Heb. 2:15); God imparts life and nurtures life, but Satan brings in death.

Matt. 16:18 shows from what source the attack upon the church will come – “the gates of Hades”, that is, death. Satan’s special object is to spread death within the church, and his greatest fear to the church is her resistance to his power of death (Rev. 2:8, 10-11).

The world, sin, entertainment, pleasures, lusts, and many other such things are used by Satan to bring in death, but they are quite obvious.

However, it is not that obvious how Satan brings in death. He uses many refined and moral things to bring in death.

We can conquer death by the power of Christ’s resurrection.

When we exercise our spirit, set our mind on the spirit, and live by the sense of life, we enjoy and experience the resurrection life of Christ, and this life overcomes any kind of attack of death.

We should exercise our spirit to live by the sense of life and build up the Body of Christ in the resurrection life of Christ (Eph. 2:6, 21-22; 4:16; Rev. 1:18; 2:8; Phil. 3:10).

The nature of the church as the Body of Christ is resurrection; the reality of resurrection is Christ as the life-giving Spirit (John 11:25; Acts 2:24; Eph. 1:19-23; 1 Cor. 15:45b).

The gates of Hades, the power of death, is the most powerful thing in the universe apart from God; how can the gates of Hades not prevail against the church? It is only by the church being in resurrection.

When we meet, serve, and live our daily life in and by resurrection, exercising our spirit to experience the resurrection life of Christ, we overcome death.

We should not meet, serve, or prophesy in our natural life with our natural ability, but in the resurrection life in our spirit.

May our whole being be in resurrection.

When we live by the divine life within us, we are living a life in resurrection for the building up of the Body of Christ.

This is the secret: living by another life, the divine life, for this life is resurrection life, and this life overcomers any attack of death.

May we open to the Lord concerning this matter and tell Him in all honesty,

Lord Jesus, bring our whole being and our entire daily living in the realm of the divine life, the resurrection life. Save us from living, serving, or speaking in our natural man with our natural ability. May we live by the divine life within us so that we may live a life in resurrection for the building up of the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, we choose to turn to our spirit and live according to the mingled spirit so that we may live a life in resurrection! May we be victorious over the attack of death upon the church and build up the Body of Christ in the resurrection life of Christ! May we and may all the saints live by the divine life so that we all may be victorious over the attack of death upon the church and build up the Body of Christ.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 44, pp. 882-885, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (2021 summer training), week 12, Taking the Way of Life in the Lord’s Recovery.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Th’ anointing’s here! It teaches us in everything; / The sense of life we always have within. / Obey this sense, and you will know what you must do, / And live by Life—Yes, clear in everything. (Hymns #1118)
  – There is a certain sense of life / With life of every kind; / And in th’ eternal life in us / It is a sense divine. / The higher any life may be, / The better is its sense; / The life divine the highest is / And has the highest sense. (Hymns #738)
  – Though the gates of hades frustrate, / Yet the Church still stands for God, / Overcoming evil spirits / By her Lord’s victorious blood; / And at Christ’s return in triumph / All her foes will then be trod. (Hymns #836)