第三週■週六

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晨興餧養

帖後三5『願主修直你們心中的途徑，引導你們的心，進入神的愛以愛神，並進入基督的忍耐以忍耐。』

弗三16 ～ 17『願祂照着祂榮耀的豐富，藉着祂的靈，用大能使你們得以加強到裏面的人裏，使基督藉着信，安家在你們心裏，叫你們在愛裏生根立基。』

一個反常的基督徒，…他的心思、意志、情感，和他裏面的靈配不起來，甚至是相反的。…你所想作的這些事，若是出於你的頭腦，…不過是宗教的事業而已，並不能叫人看見基督、得着基督。因爲…不是基督從你靈裏活出來的見證。…雖然我們裏面有基督的生命，但因着我們的思想、行事沒有與基督的生命配合，這生命就活不出來了。這是我們心思的難處。（李常受文集一九五三年第一册，一八九、一九一至一九二頁。）

信息選讀

我們再來看意志的難處。許多時候，我們的心思領會靈裏的意思，也明白神的旨意，但我們的意志不肯降服，不肯順從。比方那位弟兄，他定規要傳福音，這是他心思裏的意思。當他禱告時，主在他靈裏給他一個感覺，要他去向妻子認罪。他的心思領會了這一個感覺，但他的意志卻相當頑強，不肯折服。…不要說是在妻子面前，卽使是在主面前，他也不肯折服。所以，…我們的意志也是個大問題。許多時候，我們懂得、明白、也領會了，我們深深感覺到，主要我們作一件事，但我們的意志不肯折服，不肯降服。…人的意志無論硬或輭，都是神生命的難處。一個受過對付的意志，乃是剛柔相濟的。這個柔…是不堅持、不頑固；但是當需要來時，他乃是剛強、壯膽的，卽使犧牲性命也在所不惜。乃是這樣的意志，纔能執行主的命令，纔能實行主的引導。在這樣的意志裏，主的靈就能從他裏面出來，成爲生命。所以，我們要看見，能與神配合的意志，是何等的重要。

此外，人的情感也是神的一個大難處。新約裏不僅題到基督怎樣作我們的生命，神怎樣進到我們裏面，使我們藉着聖靈，活出基督的生命；並且題到我們的心思需要更新，有基督的心思，我們裏面的定意，該是神在裏面的運行。〔弗四23，羅十二2，林前二16，腓二5，13。〕寫新約的使徒知道聖靈的意思，知道人…若是心思沒有更新，意志沒有受對付，神的生命…無法從人裏面運行出來。爲這緣故，新約聖經裏，有許多處講到我們的心思，講到我們的意志，並且講到我們的情感。

帖後三章五節說，『願主修直你們心中的途徑，引導你們的心，進入神的愛以愛神。』這意思是，我們的情感，必須有神的情感，我們必須完全進到神的情感裏。神愛甚麼，我們也愛甚麼；神喜歡甚麼，我們也喜歡甚麼；神所厭惡的，我們也厭惡。我們的喜、怒、哀、樂，就是神的喜、怒、哀、樂；我們的愛好、厭惡，就是神的愛好、厭惡。神的這一切都是我們的，祂的性情已經被作到我們的性情裏。我們的情感，就在祂的情感裏；我們的情感和祂的情感，成了一個情感。

我們要看見一個很大的原則，就是要讓神的生命有出路，我們就必須從情感裏出來，有剛柔相濟的意志，並且心思得更新。…我們魂裏的各部分，無論是心思、意志或情感，都能配合聖靈在裏面的運行，配合主的感覺。結果神在我們身上，就能活出祂自己。（李常受文集一九五三年第一册，一九二至一九七頁。）

參讀：神的經營，第九章。

WEEK 3 — DAY 6

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Morning Nourishment

2 Thes. 3:5 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the endurance of Christ.

Eph. 3:16-17 That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man, that Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love.

An abnormal Christian is one whose mind, emotion, and will cannot cooperate [with] and even contradict his spirit. If the things you want to do originate from your thoughts, then they…will not help people see and gain Christ, because they are merely religious activities…; they are not a testimony of Christ being lived out from your spirit…Although we have the life of Christ within, we do not cooperate with Christ’s life in our thoughts and in our actions, and so this life cannot be lived out from us. This is the problem of our mind. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” pp. 145-147)

Today’s Reading

There is also the problem of our will. Even though our mind often understands the intention in our spirit and we know the will of God, we are unwilling to submit and obey. For example, consider the brother who decides to preach the gospel according to the concept in his mind. When he prays and the Lord gives him a feeling in his spirit to apologize to his wife, his mind has no difficulty in understanding this feeling, but his will is stubborn and unwilling to submit…Such a brother is not able to submit even to the Lord, much less to his wife. Thus, our will is another great obstacle. We may understand, know, apprehend, and deeply sense that the Lord wants us to do a certain thing, but our will refuses to submit and surrender. Both a strong will and a weak will are hindrances to God’s life. A will that has been dealt with is both strong and  pliable…Being pliable means that one is not insistent or stubborn. However,
when a need arises, one can be strong and bold; such a one is not afraid to give up his own life. Only a person with such a will can carry out the Lord’s command and act according to the Lord’s leading. A person with this kind of will allows the Lord’s Spirit to come out of him as life. Having a will that can cooperate with God is a great matter.

Furthermore, our emotion is also a big problem to God. The New Testament does not speak only of Christ being our life and of God coming into us so that we can live out Christ through the Spirit. The Bible speaks also of the need for our mind to be renewed so that we have the mind of Christ and so that God can operate in our decisions (Eph. 4:23; Rom. 12:2; 1 Cor. 2:16; Phil. 2:5, 13); the apostles who wrote the New Testament knew the intention of the Holy Spirit. They realized that without the renewing of our mind and the dealing with our will, God’s life could not be expressed through us. This is the reason the New Testament speaks so much about our mind, emotion, and will.

“The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God” (2 Thes. 3:5). This means that our emotion needs to have God’s emotion and that we need to fully enter into God’s emotion. We should love whatever God loves, like whatever God likes, and hate whatever God hates. Our feelings of love, anger, sorrow, and joy should be God’s feelings of love, anger, sorrow, and joy. Our likes and dislikes should be God’s likes and dislikes. Everything of God is ours because His nature has been wrought into us. Our emotion and His emotion have become one emotion.

We need to see a great principle: In order for God’s life to have a way in us, we need to turn from our emotion, have a strong and pliable will, and be renewed in our mind…Each and every part of our soul—our mind, emotion, and will—must cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s operation in us and with the Lord’s feeling. Then God Himself will be lived out of us. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” pp. 147-150)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1964, vol. 3, “The Economy of God,” ch. 9