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I. The sense of the spirit
II. Setting the mind on the spirit — the key to death or life
А. The sense of life
B. The sense of peace
C. The sense of death
III. Living in the spirit
А. Taking care of the inner sense
B. The Christian life according to the spirit
[To speak of the body is very easy, because we can see it and touch it. To speak of the soul is also not difficult, because, though the soul is abstract, we can feel it and know it by its functions and actions, such as thinking, considering, determining, decision-making, and being pleased, angry, sorrowful, and joyful. Only when we speak of the spirit is it truly difficult. Even understanding the spirit is not easy, not to mention speaking about the spirit.]
Where is our spirit located? This we are not sure of. Daniel 7:15 tells us that our spirit is in the midst of our body but does not tell us the exact location. Nevertheless, from our experience, we know that we have a spirit in us. If we want to know the spirit directly, it is somewhat difficult, but it is comparatively easy to know the spirit itself by the senses of the spirit.
[To know the spirit is to know it by the sense of the spirit. Even up until this day, no one has ever seen electricity itself. The light of a lamp is not the electricity, but an expression, a sign of electricity. We can know electricity by its signs and expressions. Also, no one has ever seen the physical life of a person's being, but we can know the physical life by its expression and by certain senses. In the same principle, the spirit is very mysterious. You can't see it, but you can sense it. You can't see electricity, but when you touch it, you can sense it. In like manner, you can know the spirit by sensing the spirit. To sense the spirit is the way to know the spirit.]
[Romans 8 speaks of the spirit. It is difficult to find another place in the Bible which speaks of our condition in the spirit as clearly as this one. Therefore, if we want to know the spirit, it is imperative that we pay attention to this passage.]
Romans 8:6 says, "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace." [To set our mind — that is, to set our self — upon the flesh is death. To set our mind, or our self, upon the spirit is life and peace. Here is the key to death or life. The mind is quite neutral: it is on the fence. It may turn toward the flesh, or it may turn toward the spirit. Again, the story of the garden of Eden must be repeated. The free will can make either of two choices. To choose the tree of knowledge means death, but to choose the tree of life means life. We are between these two; we are neutral to life and death. The issue depends on our choice, our attitude. Personified Sin, representing Satan, is in the flesh; the Triune God is in the spirit after we are saved; and the self is in the mind. The secret of life or death is dependent upon our cooperating with the spirit or with the flesh. When we cooperate with the flesh, we have death; when we cooperate with the spirit, we are partakers of God, who is life.]
[Originally our spirit was merely the spirit of man, and it was dead. Now, when the Spirit of God enters, He not only quickens our spirit, but also adds the life of God into our spirit. Now not only is our spirit alive, but it also has the life of God; and it is not only a spirit; it is the spirit of life. All the consciousness of life in this spirit enables us to know this spirit. When we walk by setting our mind on this spirit, and when our actions and deeds are according to this spirit, the life in this spirit will cause us to have the consciousness of this life. Since this life is of God, fresh and lively, strong with power, bright and holy, real and not empty, the sense of this life surely will make us sense the presence of God; thus we will feel fresh and lively, strong with power, bright and holy, real and not empty. When we have such feelings, we know we are minding the spirit, walking according to the spirit, and living in the spirit. Such feelings are the sense of life in our spirit, or the consciousness of our spirit of life, leading us from within to walk according to the spirit and live by the spirit. When we touch such feelings, we touch the spirit. When we heed such feelings, we heed the spirit. The spirit itself is relatively difficult for us to sense, but we can easily sense such feelings of life in the spirit. If we follow such feelings closely, we can then know the spirit and live in the spirit.
The life of God in our spirit can be said to be God Himself; therefore, the sense of this life surely will make us sense God Himself. If we live in the spirit and walk by minding the spirit, the sense of this life will cause us to feel that we are in touch with God, and that God is in us as our life, our power, and our all; thus we will be happy, restful, comfortable, and satisfied. When we thus touch God in the inner sense of life, we touch life; thereby we know we are living in the spirit and setting our mind upon the spirit.]
[To set the mind on the spirit is not only life but peace. The peace mentioned in Romans 8:6 is not the peace in our outward circumstances, but the peace within us.]
[This sense of peace and the sense of life go hand in hand. The sense of life is fresh and lively; the sense of peace is natural and at ease. The sense of life is satisfaction and fullness of vigor; the sense of peace is rest and comfort. If we mind the spirit and walk and live by the spirit, we will not only have the sense of life, feeling fresh, lively, satisfied and vigorous, but also have the sense of peace, feeling natural, restful, comfortable, and at ease. Such a sense is also the sense of the spirit. Once we have such a sense, we may know that we are living in the spirit. When we follow such a sense, we follow the sense of the spirit, which means that we follow the spirit. Such a sense enables us to know the spirit and recognize the spirit. The more we walk according to the spirit and live in the spirit, the richer and deeper this kind of sense within us becomes.]
[There is a contrast in Romans 8:6. The Apostle says that the result of minding the flesh is death, whereas the result of minding the spirit is life and peace. This word reveals that just as the flesh is versus the spirit, so also the result of minding the flesh, which is death, is opposite to the results of minding the spirit, which are life and peace. Thus the Apostle tells us here that death is not only the opposite of life, but also the opposite of peace. Therefore, the sense of death is not only the opposite of the sense of life, but also the opposite of the sense of peace. The sense of life makes us feel fresh, lively, satisfied and vigorous; the sense of death makes us feel the opposite of these — old, depressed, empty and powerless. The sense of peace makes us feel natural, restful, comfortable, and at ease. The consciousness of death makes us feel just the opposite of these — unnatural, unrestful, uncomfortable, and uneasy. Thus, whenever we feel inwardly desolate, depressed, empty, dry, weak and powerless, dark and dull, or uneasy, insecure, uncomfortable, out of harmony, full of conflict, unnatural, sad, and bound, we should know we are not living in the spirit; rather we are living in the opposite of the spirit, which is the flesh. Thus, by knowing the opposite of the spirit, we may know the spirit itself.]
[Don't argue with the inner sense of life and peace. Don't say that something is good, scriptural, or holy. Don't reason and don't argue that what you are doing is for the gospel or for the church. The test is — do you have the inner sense of life and peace? The more you reason with this sense, the more you argue, the more you will sense death within you. We can know the spirit just by this inner sense. If we are going to differentiate the spirit and the soul, we must deny the rational mind, emotion, and will all the time and take care of the inner sense.]
[Suppose we find something that we would like to purchase. The more we consider it, the more we feel that we would like to have it. Eventually, we make the decision to buy it. The emotion is exercised, since we like it; the mind is exercised, because we have considered it; and the will is exercised because we have made the decision to buy it. Therefore the whole soul is exercised. But when we go to buy it, something very deep within us protests. Our emotion likes it, our mind considers it, and our will chooses it, but something deeper within us protests. This is the spirit.]
[Whatever we do, regardless of whether we think it is right or wrong, spiritual or unspiritual, if deep within us we feel restless, insecure, empty, and depressed, it proves that we are walking by the flesh and not living in the spirit. Even in prayer and preaching, not to mention other things or doing things which are not good, if we feel empty and depressed within, dissatisfied or unhappy, then it is proof that we are praying or preaching by the flesh, not in the spirit.]
[The Christian walk, the Christian life, the Christian activity is not according to the standard of good or bad, but absolutely according to the spirit. If we would know this one thing and be ruled and controlled by it, the Lord would transform our inward being and our daily life.]
The human spirit can be known by the senses of the spirit. Because God Himself is in our spirit, we sense life and peace when our mind is set on the spirit and we are living in our spirit. And when we are not in our spirit, we experience the opposite — the sense of death. The Christian life is not a matter of right and wrong; it is a matter of living by the inner sense of the spirit.
