第四週■週六

w04d06-ch

晨興餧養

弗四11 ～ 12『祂所賜的，…爲要成全聖徒，目的是爲着職事的工作，爲着建造基督的身體。』

     15 ～ 16『惟在愛裏持守着真實，我們就得以在一切事上長到祂，就是元首基督裏面；本於祂，全身…便叫身體漸漸長大，以致在愛裏把自己建造起來。』

保羅在林前三章九節說，聖徒乃是神的耕地。他在六節說，『我栽種了，亞波羅澆灌了，惟有神叫他生長。』…許多人藉着保羅所傳的福音和話語的職事，被栽種到基督裏。…以後，亞波羅來澆灌保羅所栽種的。雖然保羅栽種了，亞波羅澆灌了，但叫人生長的乃是神。

神乃是藉着進到我們裏面，叫我們生長。…基督身體的長大在於我們裏面神的增長，神的加添，神的增多。所以，神是以非常主觀的方式把祂自己給了我們，而叫我們生長。

神旣然藉着這種方式叫人生長，我們就需要花時間來吸取祂。…我們每天怎樣花時間喫東西，我們
也該照樣花時間吸取主，花時間吸收基督的豐富。我們與主接觸不該匆匆忙忙。如果我們匆匆忙忙，就不能吸收多少祂的豐富。我們需要有充分的時間來禱告，這使我們能更多吸取神的豐富。（歌羅西書生命讀經，五六六至五六八頁。）

信息選讀

保羅在以弗所書裏也說到長大與建造。二章二十一節說，『在祂裏面，全房聯結一起，長成在主裏的聖殿。』這一節是指宇宙的召會。在神眼中，宇宙的召會乃是一個建造。這建造是藉着吸取基督的豐富而長成的。

在四章十五至十六節保羅繼續說，『惟在愛裏持守着真實，我們就得以在一切事上長到祂，就是元首基督裏面；本於祂，全身藉着每一豐富供應的節，並藉着每一部分依其度量而有的功用，得以聯絡在一起，並結合在一起，便叫身體漸漸長大，以致在愛裏把自己建造起來。』…我們必須在愛裏持守着真實，就得以在一切事上長到元首裏面。『供應』一辭指明，我們在元首裏長大，從祂得着滋養。藉着從元首而來的供應，身體便長大，在愛裏把自己建造起來。這裏所含示的意義很豐富。十五至十六節所含示的中心點，乃是我們應當在基督裏生根，並且把祂的滋養吸取到我們裏面，成爲我們長大並被建造的元素和實質。

我們首先個別的長大，然後團體的長大。個別的長大成了團體的長大。因此，不僅肢體個別的建造起來，身體也團體的建造起來。我們肉身的身體可以說明這件事。你的身體乃是藉着個別肢體的長大而建造起來的。如果肢體沒有長大，身體就無法長大。身體上的肢體沒有長大，就不能把自己建造起來。…身體的建造在於身體上個別肢體的建造。倘若所有的肢體都個別的長大，並且把自己建造起來，身體就會團體的被建造起來。

召會在一個地方一段時期以後，聖徒們中間…可能會發生摩擦。…但在基督裏的長大會消除這一切的摩擦。所以，我們能喜樂的在一起，並且真正是一。基督的豐富補滿了我們當中的缺欠，然後我們就個別的長大，也團體的長大。這就是召會真正的建造。召會的建造乃是基於個別肢體的建造。不僅如此，肢體的建造乃是在於肢體的長大，肢體的長大又是在於在基督裏生根，並吸取基督的豐富，好成爲肢體藉以長大的元素。（歌羅西書生命讀經，五七○至五七二頁。）

參讀：歌羅西書生命讀經，第五十二、五十六篇。

WEEK 4 — DAY 6

w04d06-en

Morning Nourishment

Eph. 4:11-12 And He Himself gave some…for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.

          15-16 But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body…causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.

In 1 Corinthians 3:9 Paul says that the saints are God’s cultivated land. In verse 6 he says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.”… Through Paul’s preaching of the gospel and ministry of the word, many were planted into Christ…Later, Apollos came to water what Paul had planted. Although Paul planted and Apollos watered, it was God who caused the growth.

God causes the growth…by getting into us…The growth of the Body depends on the growth of God, the addition of God, the increase of God, within us. Therefore, God causes the growth by giving Himself to us in a very subjective way. Since God causes growth in this way, we need to take time to absorb Him…

As we daily take time to eat food, we should daily take time to absorb the Lord, take time to assimilate the riches of Christ. Our contact with the Lord should not be rushed. If we are in a hurry, we will not be able to absorb much of His riches. We need to allow adequate time for prayer. This will enable us to absorb more of the riches of our God. (Life-study of Colossians, second edition, pp. 447-448)

Today’s Reading

In Ephesians Paul also speaks of growth and building. In Ephesians 2:21 he says, “In whom all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord.” This verse refers to the universal church. In the eyes of God, the universal church is a building. This building is growing by absorbing the riches of Christ.

In 4:15 and 16 Paul goes on to say, “But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.”…We must hold to the truth in love so that we may grow into the Head in all things. Out from the Head in whom we have grown, we have nourishment, as indicated by the word supply. Through the supply that comes out from the Head, the Body grows and builds itself up in love. Much is implied here. The focal point of the implications of Ephesians 4:15 and 16 is that we should be rooted in Christ and absorb His nourishment into our being to become the element and substance with which we grow and are built up.

First, we grow individually, then corporately. Individual growth becomes corporate growth. Hence, not only are the members built up individually, but the Body is built up corporately. Our physical bodies illustrate this. Your body is built up through the growth of the individual members. If the members do not grow, the body cannot grow. Without growing, the members of the body cannot build themselves up…The building of the body depends on the building up of the individual members of the body. If all the members grow and build themselves up individually, the body will be built up corporately.

After a church has been in a locality for a certain period of time, friction may develop between the saints…The growth in Christ [cancels] out all this friction. Therefore, we can be happy together and truly one. The shortages among us are filled by the riches of Christ. Then we grow both individually and corporately. This is the genuine building of the church. The building up of the church is based upon the building up of the individual members. Furthermore, the building of the members depends on their growth, which, in turn, depends upon being rooted in Christ and absorbing the riches of Christ to become the very element with whichthe members grow. (Life-study of Colossians, second edition, pp. 450-451)

Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 52, 56