第五週■週五

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晨興餧養

羅八6『因爲心思置於肉體，就是死；心思置於靈，乃是生命平安。』

來四12『因爲神的話是活的，是有功效的，比一切兩刃的劍更鋒利，能以刺入、甚至剖開魂與靈，骨節與骨髓，連心中的思念和主意都能辨明。』

心思是魂的大部分，而魂是居於我們外面的肉體和我們裏面的靈之間。…我們…必須學習將我們的心思置於靈。我們的心思非常『多話』。…我們若不控制我們的心思，就會飄盪幻想，在很短時間內徧遊地球。…所以我們必須將我們的心思引到我們的靈。我們這樣作時，就會向主歌唱，讚美主，並說出主來。

夫妻很容易犯罪，因爲他們在一起的時候，不將心思置於靈。他們在別人面前會約束自己所說的話。但是他們在一起時，就任意說別人閒話，或消極的說到召會。…我們必須學習使我們的靈如火挑旺起來，並且控制我們的心思。不要讓心思置於肉體，乃要引導心思，將心思置於靈。這個習慣必須在我們裏面建立起來。我們的心思置於肉體，就是死；我們的心思置於靈，乃是生命平安。（李常受文集一九九三年第二册，二四八頁。）

信息選讀

希伯來四章十二節用了『辨明』這個辭。那裏說，神的話能剖開我們的靈與魂，連心中的思念和主意都能『辨明』。我們的思念通常是欺騙人的。但我們若操練我們的靈，就會辨明我們的思念是邪惡的，因爲在我們的思念背後有邪惡的主意。辨明心中的思念和主意，等於剖開靈與魂。…仇敵的計謀總是要使我們的靈一直與我們的魂攙雜在一起。…甚麼時候有了這樣的攙雜，靈就失敗，魂就得勝。…一個弟兄開始要對他妻子說到另一個人時，他必須想一想：『這是出於我的靈，還是出於我的魂？』如果這是出於他的魂，他所說的就是閒話或批評。如果這是出於他的靈，他所說的必是受主的引導。這表明我們必須辨明我們的靈與魂。我們這些尋求基督的人，必須學習將我們的靈如火挑旺起來，將我們的心思置於靈，並且辨明我們的靈與魂。

我們應當一直跟隨我們的靈，並且在一切事上照着我們的靈而行，這是根據羅馬八章四節。我們應當一直保持警覺，辨明一切不是出於靈，而是出於魂的事。這樣，我們就會一直留在靈裏。這就是操練、使用、運用我們的靈。…當然，我們很容易知道甚麼是出於肉體的，甚麼是出於靈的；但在甚麼是出於魂的與甚麼是出於靈的這二者之間，通常是混淆不清的。所以我們必須辨明。

如果我們要照着靈而行，我們必須學習作事不要太快，說話也不要太快。…我在回信的事上有這樣的經歷。有時候我寫了信，等一天再寄出。第二天可能有新的想法臨到我，要包括在那封信裏，或者發現自己說了甚麼錯的話。這樣等，會幫助我們照着靈而行。

在基督徒生活中一直有爭戰。甚至在我們裏面，在靈與肉體之間也有爭戰；在靈與魂之間，更是這樣。…我們…應當一直辨明甚麼是出於靈，甚麼是出於魂。如果一件事不是出於靈，我們就不要說，也不要作。這就是運用、操練我們的靈。（李常受文集一九九三年第二册，二四八至二五○頁。）

參讀：李常受文集一九六四年第一册，操練我們的靈以實行身體生活，第三章；新約總論，第三百六十三篇。

WEEK 5 — DAY 5

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Morning Nourishment

Rom. 8:6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.

Heb. 4:12 For the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

The mind is the great part of the soul, and the soul is in between our outward flesh and our inward spirit...We must learn to set our mind on the spirit. Our mind is very “talkative.”...If we do not control our mind, we can wander in our imagination all over the globe within a short time...This is why we must direct our mind to the spirit. When we do this, we will sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, or speak forth the Lord.

It is easy for a husband and a wife to commit sins because when they are with each other, they do not set their mind on the spirit. Before other people, they will be restricted in what they say. But when they are together, they may feel free to gossip about others or speak negatively about the church...We have to learn to fan our spirit into flame and to control our mind. Do not let the mind be set on the flesh, but direct it to be set on the spirit. This habit has to be built up in us. To set our mind on the flesh is death. To set our mind on the spirit is life and peace. (CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Spirit with Our Spirit,” pp. 185-186)

Today’s Reading

In Hebrews 4:12 the word discern is used. It says that the word of God can divide our soul from our spirit and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Quite often our thoughts are deceiving. But if we exercise our spirit, there is a discernment that our thoughts are evil, because behind our thoughts there is an evil intention. To discern the thoughts and intents of the heart equals the dividing of the soul from the spirit...The enemy’s strategy is always to mix our spirit up with our soul...Whenever such mixing is there, the spirit loses and the soul wins. Before a brother begins to talk to his wife about another brother, he has to consider, “Is this of my spirit or of my soul?” If it is of his soul, what he says will be either gossip or criticism. If it is of his spirit, what he says will be something led by the Lord. This shows that we have to discern our spirit from our soul. We, the ones who are seeking after Christ, must learn to fan our spirit into flame, to set our mind on the spirit, and also to discern our spirit from our soul.

We should always follow our spirit and walk in all things according to our spirit. This is according to Romans 8:4. We should always be on the alert to discern anything that is not of the spirit but of the soul. Then we will remain in the spirit all the time. This is to exercise, to use, to employ, our spirit. Of course, it is easy to know what is of the flesh and what is of the spirit; but quite often it is a very mixed-up situation between what is of the soul and what is of the spirit. This is why we have to discern.

If we are going to walk according to our spirit, we must learn not to do things too fast or to say things too quickly...I have had this experience in writing answers to letters. Sometimes I will write a letter and then keep it for another day before I mail it. The next day a new thought might come to me to include in that letter, or I may realize that I said something wrong. To wait in this way helps us to walk according to our spirit.

The battle in the Christian life is always there. Even within us there is a battle between the spirit and the flesh and even more between the spirit and the soul...We should...always discern what is of the spirit and what is of the soul. If something is not of the spirit, we do not want to say it or do it. This is to use, to exercise, our spirit. (CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Spirit with Our Spirit,” pp. 186-187)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1964, vol. 1, “Exercising Our Spirit to Practice the Body Life,” ch. 3; The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 363