Stay on the Line of Life by Depending on the Lord and Living by the Sense of Life

As believers in Christ, we must stay on the line of life, on the way of life, by depending on the Lord for everything and by living and serving according to the principle of life – not according to the principle of right and wrong.

Before we were saved, we were on the line of death, also called the line of knowledge of good and evil.

Most people today are on this line; some do the good while others do the evil, while some others remain in knowledge.

Even among Christians, many are still on the line of knowledge, for they are content with only having some knowledge about God, the things of God, and the things of the church, but they do not have the presence of God.

When God created man, He put man before two trees; He wants man to partake of Him as life, but He gave man freedom of choice.

Today it is the same; we have a choice.

Today we can choose to turn to the Lord and enjoy Him as life, constantly depending on the Lord and on His speaking, or we can remain in the realm of knowledge, doing good vs doing evil.

When people go to university, they learn many things and, when they graduate, they no longer need their professors, for now they are full of knowledge and think they can do so many amazing things without the need of their tutors.

Knowledge brings in independence; the more we know something and the more knowledge we have of a particular matter, the more independent we are.

But God as life indicates dependence, for every matter related to life leads to dependence.

Humanly speaking, we depend on breathing, eating, and drinking, and we can never graduate from these practices of life.

Spiritually speaking, we depend on eating the Lord, drinking the Lord, and breathing in the Lord, and we can never graduate from partaking of Christ as the tree of life.

No matter how mature we are in the Lord and how advanced we are on the Christian path, we still need to contact the Lord moment-by-moment, enjoy Him, and partake of Him as our life and life supply.

The Lord is not knowledge to us: He is life to us, and the more we spend time with Him, the more we need Him, and the more we desire to partake of Him.

In our daily Christian life, we need to depend on the Lord and not remain in the realm of knowledge of good and evil.

By default, we are in the realm of knowledge, but we are learning to exercise our spirit, turn to the Lord, and abide in Him.

Abiding in the Lord results in our dependence on Him.

Satan wants us to be independent of God and thus remain in death, being filled with death as the issue of the knowledge of good and evil.

But God wants us to be filled with life and remain in the realm of life by partaking of Him as life and depending on Him in everything.

Choosing to Stay on the Line of Life by Depending on the Lord as Life in Everything

Throughout the Bible, we see the principle of the tree of life and the principle of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

All the negative things in the Bible are on the line of the tree of knowledge; all the positive things are on the line of the tree of life.

We can actually follow these lines from Genesis all the way to Revelation, and we ourselves can be on one of these two lines.

Before man could partake of the tree of life, Satan came in and deceived man to take of the tree of knowledge; as a result, man fell.

The descendants of the fallen man didn’t depend on God at all; rather, they relied on knowledge, and some of them even created a godless culture to replace God as the only One who can meet their needs.

Some of the persons on the line of life in the Bible are Adam (who was fallen and redeemed), Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and so many Israelites.

On the line of life, we have the tent of Noah, the tent of Abraham, the tabernacle, and the temple.

In the New Testament, the line of life continues with the Lord Jesus, and then He brought His disciples on the line of life.

The church in its beginnings was fully on the line of life, but then the church became degraded.

We need to be those depending on the Lord for everything!

The overcomers are now on the line of life, and throughout the ages, the overcomers have always remained on the line of life.

Ultimately, the line of life issues in the New Jerusalem, where all the things of life can be found in their consummation (Rev. 22:1).

All the positive things in the Bible and in the universe will consummate in the New Jerusalem, where we see the river of water of life and the tree of life, and God as life is everything to those in that city.

The line of knowledge began with Cain and continued with all the ungodly people that followed; on this line we see the city of Enoch, Babel, Sodom, and the treasure cities of Pharaoh, and Babylon.

Many of the Israelites, though were part of the people of God, were on the line of knowledge, for they did not contact God nor did they depend on Him.

In the New Testament, we see the Jewish religionists who had the word of God in their hands but were not willing to come to Christ to have life; they were on the line of knowledge.

The line of knowledge continues through all the fallen Christians and consummates in the Great Babylon, ending in the lake of fire (Dan. 7:10; Rev. 20:10, 14-15; 21:8).

Today, even though many Christians are in the church and do things that seem to be quite good, the line of knowledge is prevailing among Christians.

The church is degraded, and the degradation of the church is on the line of knowledge.

We may have the knowledge that we need to reckon ourselves dead to the world and living to God, but if we merely act upon this knowledge without depending on the Lord as life, we are on the line of knowledge.

Everything that we do for God or toward God without having His living presence is on the line of the tree of knowledge.

We may even do things to worship God, work for God, and serve God, but without His living presence; all this is on the line of knowledge.

Today we need to actively choose to be on the line of life by depending on the Lord as life in everything.

We need to realize that a certain thing can be either life or knowledge to us; if we do something without the Lord’s presence, without depending on the Lord, that thing – as good as it may be – is knowledge and not life.

If we experience the presence of the living God while doing something, that is life, and we are on the line of life.

But if we do things merely because of knowledge, because it is the right thing to do, and that we think it’s OK to do it, without contacting God, that is knowledge resulting in death.

May we realize that our God is life, and He wants us to be on the line of life, living by the principle of life, and issuing in the city of life.

May we learn to depend on the Lord as life in everything so that we may stay on the way of life in our daily living.

Lord Jesus, we depend on the Lord as our life in everything. We don’t want to do anything apart from You. We come to You, again and again, dear Lord, to contact You, enjoy You, and receive Your divine dispensing. Save us from doing things for God merely according to our knowledge. Save us from merely living according to the knowledge of good and evil. Oh Lord, keep us in a living touch with You. We want to have Your living presence in everything. Your presence is our guidance and our living map. We choose to stay on the line of life in the church life by depending on the Lord in everything.

We Stay on the Way of Life by Living and Serving according to the Principle of Life, the Inner Sense of Life in our Spirit

As believers in Christ, we must stay on the way of life, the line of life, in the maintenance of life by enjoying Christ as the tree of life for God’s building in life by our growth in life (John 10:10; Rev. 22:1-2; Eph. 4:16; 2:21-22; Col. 2:19).

We need to pray this before the Lord and ask Him to keep us on the way of life, on the line of life.

Tell Him to keep us on the line of life and in the maintenance of life by enjoying the tree of life.

We need to learn to live a life of depending on the Lord as life in everything.

May He grow in us and may we decrease; may His element increase in us, and may our element decrease and be discharged.

Day by day we want to be nearer to the Lord, even in Him, being freed from sin and selfishness.

One very practical way for us to stay on the line of life is by living and serving according to the principle of life, not according to the principle of right and wrong.

What is the principle of life?

When we were regenerated, a new life came into us, the divine life of God in our spirit. The principle of life is living by the inner sense of life in our spirit, not according to right and wrong (Rom. 8:6; 2 Cor. 2:13).

Outwardly everything seems to line up in the right way for us to do this or to go there, but inwardly we may have a sense not to do this or go there.

We need to live according to the principle of life in our spirit, depending on the Lord in all things in our daily life.

There is a certain sense of life that is from the divine life in us, and the more we contact the Lord and listen to Him, the keener this sense becomes.

May we be those who care for the peace in our spirit, the sense of life in our spirit, and not live according to right and wrong.

The standard for us as Christians is to live in the presence of the indwelling Christ within us, not doing the right thing vs doing the wrong thing.

The presence of the living Christ in us is everything to us; we look into His face for all things, and we live according to the index of His eyes, caring for His presence more than anything else.

For us as Christians, it is not a question of what is right or wrong but of whether or not the divine life within us agrees with something (Matt. 17:3, 5, 8). For this, we need to pay attention to our spirit (Mal. 2:15-16).

In all things, whether in our personal life or in the church life, whether in our daily living or in the service in the church, we need to follow the Lord’s inner leading, the sense of life.

We cannot just do this or that because they seem good to us, neither should we tell people to go there or do that because that’s the right thing to do.

Rather, we need to live and serve according to the principle of life, the sense of life in our spirit.

We may have a certain feeling to do a particular thing or to move to a particular place, but the sense of life within may not give us peace about doing that or moving there.

We need to stay on the line of life by having the Lord’s presence in everything, not living according to the principle of right and wrong.

What governs us in our daily living is the sense of life, the Lord’s leading, in our spirit.

We may have an exchange of words with our spouse or our boss, and we may be right in what we say; however, being right may also mean that we are in death, so we are dead right.

May we not be those who are dead right but those remaining on the line of life by depending on the Lord in everything living according to the sense of life in our spirit!

May our conscience not operate in the realm of right and wrong but in the realm of life, for we contact the Lord as life and partake of Him as life, again and again, to depend on the Lord as our life.

In all things that we do or say, we need to check with the Lord within; we need to see if we’re in life or in death, whether we have a rich sense of life or we remain in death.

Life should govern us, and we have life by setting our mind on our spirit, that is, by taking heed to our spirit.

Lord Jesus, keep us on the way of life. We want to stay on the line of life all the days of our life by enjoying Christ as the tree of life for God’s building! Amen, Lord, we want to stay on the way of life by living and serving according to the principle of LIFE and not according to the principle of right and wrong. May our daily living be according to the inner sense of life in our spirit, the leading of life. Deliver us from the realm of right and wrong and bring us fully on the line of life in our Christian life and church life. Amen, dear Lord Jesus, may the standard of our Christian living be the presence of the indwelling Christ within us. May we be those who pay attention to the divine life within, whether it agrees or disagrees with something. Keep us on the line of life, on the way of life!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks in the message, and portions from, Life-study of Genesis (pp. 173-177), by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Taking the Way of Enjoying Christ as the Tree of Life (2022 Memorial Day Weekend Conference), week 1, entitled, Taking the Way of Enjoying Christ as the Tree of Life for the Accomplishing of God’s Eternal Economy.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Full enjoyment had David, ate the life-giving tree. / Daniel prayed to his God and lived by Him constantly. / Jesus lived by the Father to be life complete; / Now as His living Body of the life tree we’ll eat. / Oh, we’ll stay on God’s life line, never turning aside. / We don’t care for vain knowledge, which will cause us to die. / Lord, we’ll touch You by calling on Your name each day; / Living in Your appearing, in Your presence we’ll stay. (Hymns #1194)
  – Life is our God and life is Christ our Lord. / Life is the Spirit. Life’s the only way— / Till we’re transfigured and redeemed to God. / We’re waiting, looking forward to that day! (Hymns #1195)
  – We have the triune God indwelling us, / Living and acting, working all the time, / That by the inner sense we have of Him / God we may know in magnitude sublime. / This inner knowledge obviates the need / Of outward knowledge, human eloquence, / But in the spirit we must ever live / And walk according to the inner sense. (Hymns #739)