第五週■週六

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晨興餧養

提後一6 ～ 7『爲這緣故，我題醒你，將那藉我按手，在你裏面神的恩賜，再如火挑旺起來。因爲神賜給我們的，不是膽怯的靈，乃是能力、愛、並清明自守的靈。』

我們棄絕那世俗的言語，和老婦的虛構無稽之事，應當操練以至於敬虔。這樣的操練，就像體操。以至於敬虔，意卽以敬虔爲目的。敬虔就是基督從我們身上活出，成爲神在肉體的顯現。今天這位基督就是那靈，住在我們靈裏。（林後三17，羅八9 ～ 10，提後四22。）因此，操練自己以至於敬虔，就是操練我們的靈，在日常生活中活出基督。

在提前四章七節，保羅用一個指體操運動的希臘字，說到操練以至於敬虔。我們從三章十六節知道，敬虔的奧祕，神顯現於肉體，是極大的。我們必須藉着我們的靈同內住的靈，操練自己達到這目標，以至於神得着彰顯。…我們操練以至於敬虔，是非常重要的。我們裏面需要餧養，外面該有敬虔。我們該從裏面得着基督的餧養，然後我們該有彰顯神的生活。（提摩太前書生命讀經，八九至九○頁。）

信息選讀

你若要將你的靈挑旺起來，就必須敞開口，敞開心，敞開靈。…保羅是照着他的經歷寫提後一章六至七節。他題醒提摩太要將神在他裏面的恩賜挑旺起來。然後他說，神賜給我們的，不是膽怯的靈。神所賜給我們的靈是在我們人的中心，被我們魂的三部分—意志、情感、心思—圍繞。神所賜給我們的靈乃是能力、愛、並清明自守的靈。能力屬於我們的意志，愛屬於我們的情感，清明自守屬於我們的心思。神賜給我們的靈屬於這三件事。我們的意志應當剛強，滿了能力；我們的情感應當愛人，滿了愛；我們的心思應當清明，滿了清明自守。

按照神聖的啓示來看，神賜給我們的，不是膽怯的靈，而是能力的靈。這就是說，你的靈聯於你的意志，這意志是有能力的。所以每當你操練靈的時候，你必須看見，你的意志在其中有分。我們的靈不僅被有能力的意志圍繞，也被愛的情感和清明的心思圍繞。這就是說，你的心思不應當是糢糊不清的，乃該是非常清楚、清明的。

保羅有這啓示，也有經歷。…六至七節給我們看見，我們得救的人有本錢過基督徒生活和召會生活。這本錢乃是神所賜的靈。按照神的命定，神所賜的這靈是被我們意志的能力、我們情感的愛、以及我們心思的清明自守所圍繞。這三個助手圍繞着我們的靈，…來提高我們，並幫助我們。

我們必須操練這樣一個神所賜的靈。…沒有神給你造的雙腿，你怎能跑？…照樣，如果神不給我們靈，我們就沒有本錢跑基督徒的賽程。但今天我們有一個大的賬戶，在銀行裏我們有一大筆存款；我們有神所賜的靈。只要我們有神所賜的靈，我們就有能力、愛、和清明的心思，我們的天是晴朗的。

我們該一直相信、宣告並聲明，我們是剛強的。我們是滿了愛的，我們能愛我們的仇敵，我們能愛每一個人。我們是非常清明的，我們的天明亮如水晶。你必須信，因爲你有這個本錢，這是你的性能。你應當聲明並宣告說，『我是剛強的！我是愛人的！我是清明的！』你若這麼說，你就有福了。這是操練你的靈的路，這就是將你的靈如火挑旺起來。然後你會禱告。你越禱告，你就越挑旺，你裏面就越焚燒起來。（李常受文集一九九三年第二册，二四四至二四五、二四七頁。）

參讀：那靈同我們的靈，第八章；書信中神的靈同人的靈，第十章。

WEEK 5 — DAY 6

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Morning Nourishment

2 Tim. 1:6-7 For which cause I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power and of love and of sobermindedness.

Refusing the profane and old-womanish myths, we should exercise unto godliness. Such exercise is like gymnastics. The words unto godliness mean “with a view to godliness.” Godliness is Christ lived out of us to be the manifestation of God. Today this very Christ is the Spirit dwelling in our spirit (2 Cor. 3:17; Rom. 8:9-10; 2 Tim. 4:22). Hence, to exercise ourselves unto godliness is to exercise our spirit to live Christ in our daily life.

In 1 Timothy 4:7 Paul uses a Greek term referring to gymnastic exercise with respect to exercise unto godliness. We know from 3:16 that the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh, is great. By our spirit with the indwelling Spirit, we must exercise ourselves unto this goal, unto the expression of God. It is of crucial importance that we exercise unto godliness. Inwardly, we need nourishment, and outwardly, we should have godliness. From within we should be nourished with Christ, and then we should have a living that is the expression of God. (Life-study of 1 Timothy, second edition, pp. 73-74)

Today’s Reading

If you want to fan your spirit into flame, you need to open up your mouth, open up your heart, and open up your spirit. Paul wrote 2 Timothy 1:6-7 according to his experience. He reminded Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God within him. Then he said that God has not given us a spirit of cowardice. Instead, God has given us a spirit in the center of our being surrounded by the three parts of the soul—the will, the emotion, and the mind. The spirit given to us by God is of power, of love, and of sobermindedness. Power belongs to our will. Love belongs to our emotion. Sobermindedness belongs to our mind. God has given us a spirit of these three things. Our will should be strong, full of power; our emotion should be loving, full of love; and our mind should be sober, full of sobermindedness.

According to the divine revelation, God does not give us a spirit of cowardice but a spirit of power. That means our spirit is connected to our will, which is powerful. So whenever we exercise our spirit, we have to realize that our will is involved. Our spirit is surrounded not only by the powerful will but also by the loving emotion and by the sober mind. That means that our mind should not be cloudy or foggy but very clear, very sober.

Paul had the revelation of this and also the experience...Verses 6 and 7...show us that we saved ones have the capital to live the Christian life and the church life. This capital is the God-given spirit. This God-given spirit, according to God’s ordination, is surrounded by the power of our will, by the love of our emotion, and by the sobermindedness of our mind. These three helpers are surrounding our spirit...to uplift us and help us.

We have to exercise such a God-given spirit...Without God creating two legs for you, how could you run?...In like manner, if God did not give us a spirit, we would not have the capital to run the Christian race. But today we have a great account, a great deposit in the bank. We have a God-given spirit. As long as we have the God-given spirit, we have power, love, and sobermindedness with a clear sky.

We should always believe and declare and claim that we are strong. We are full of love. We can love our enemies. We are well able to love everyone. We are very clear. Our sky is crystal clear. We have to believe because we have this capital. This is our capacity. We should claim and declare, “I am strong! I am loving! I am clear!” We are blessed if we say this. This is the way to exercise our spirit. This is to fan our spirit into flame. Then we will pray. The more we pray, the more we are fanning, and the more burning there will be within us. (CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Spirit with Our Spirit,” pp. 183-185)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Spirit with Our Spirit,” ch. 8; CWWL, 1966, vol. 2, “The Divine Spirit with the Human Spirit in the Epistles,” ch. 10