第三週•週四

w03d04-ch

晨興餧養

約六9 ～ 10『這裏有一個孩童，他有五個大麥餅、兩條魚，只是供給這麼多人，還算甚麼？耶穌說，你們叫眾人坐下。原來那地方的草多。坐下的男人，數目約有五千。』

小麥是指〔基督〕的成爲肉體、死和埋葬，而接着這個，大麥是指祂的復活，復活的基督。我們怎能證明這個呢？在迦南地大麥總是先成熟的；在所有穀物中大麥是首先的。在利未記二十三章十節主說，『你要對以色列人說，你們進了我賜給你們的地，收割莊稼的時候，要將初熟的莊稼一捆帶給祭司。』到了收割莊稼的時候，初熟的莊稼必須獻上給神，而初熟的莊稼明顯的就是大麥。現在我們必須讀林前十五章二十節：『但如今基督，就是睡了之人初熟的果子，已經從死人中復活。』所有聖經的學者都承認，初熟的莊稼乃是豫表基督作復活初熟的果子。因此我們能證明，大麥是代表復活的基督。（李常受文集一九六一至一九六二年第四册，三○五至三○六頁。）

信息選讀

〔小麥和大麥〕代表基督的兩方面，祂的來和祂的去。基督降下來是作小麥，基督升上去是作大麥。…你曾否經歷基督作小麥？你曾否經歷基督作大麥？小麥是基督的那一種經歷？大麥又是基督的那一種經歷？

當主耶穌給五千人喫飽的時候，祂是拿五個用大麥作成的餅給他們喫。…如果是小麥餅，那就有錯誤了。但這些餅不是小麥作的，乃是大麥餅。因爲是大麥餅，就能使五千人喫飽，還剩下十二籃的零碎。這就是復活。基督只有在祂的復活裏，對於我們纔是豐富的。在祂的成爲肉體裏，祂是非常的有限；但在祂的復活裏，祂是非常的豐富。作爲復活的基督，祂是沒有限制的。作爲那成爲肉體的基督，祂只是一粒麥子，一個小拿撒勒人，一個卑微的木匠。但是當祂進到復活裏，祂是無限的；時間、空間和物質都不能再限制祂。雖然是五個餅，事實上乃是無數的餅，足彀使五千人喫飽，婦女和小孩還不算在內；而且那些餘剩的—裝滿了十二籃子—比原來的五個餅更多。這就是大麥，這就是基督在復活裏；基督在祂的復活裏是永不受限制的。（李常受文集一九六一至一九六二年第四册，三○六至三○七頁。）

作爲大麥，基督是無限的。根據約翰六章，基督用五個大麥餅使五千多人喫飽。（9 ～ 10。）這五個餅剩下的零碎裝滿了十二籃子！這證明大麥是無限的。一方面，我們在生長受限制的耶穌；另一方面，我們在生長無限的基督。這位基督的豐富是追測不盡的，祂的能力是深奧的。我們能像保羅一樣說，『我在那加我能力者的裏面，凡事都能作。』（腓四13。）憑着這位無限的基督，我能容忍我的妻子、我的孩子們、以及所有的長老。

那些憑復活基督而活的姊妹們，能忍受她們的丈夫和所有的孩子。每位丈夫都給他的妻子難處。姊妹們，不要盼望嫁給一位天使。每個丈夫都是麻煩的。我們作丈夫的就是不知道如何同情妻子。那麼姊妹們怎麼辦呢？她們必須說，『我們作妻子的是得勝有餘，因爲我們有一位無限的基督。復活的基督現今在我們裏面，祂能忍受任何事情。』要學習長出受限制的耶穌和無限的基督來。我能見證，我有基督作小麥和大麥。我有大量的小麥和大麥，不但自己喫飽，也能叫別人喫飽。（李常受文集一九七七年第一册，二九五至二九六頁。）

參讀：包羅萬有的基督，第五章。

WEEK 3 — DAY 4

Morning Nourishment

John 6:9-10 There is a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are these for so many? Jesus said, Have the people recline. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men reclined, in number about five thousand.

Wheat points to [Christ’s] incarnation, death, and burial, and following this the barley points to His resurrection, the resurrected Christ. How can we prove it? In the land of Canaan the barley always ripens first; among all the grains the barley is first. In Leviticus 23:10 the Lord said, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you come into the land which I am giving you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.” When the harvest time came, the firstfruits of the harvest had to be offered to the Lord, and the firstfruits were clearly the barley. Now we must read 1 Corinthians 15:20: “Now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” All students of the Scriptures recognize that the firstfruits of the harvest typify Christ as the firstfruits of resurrection. We can prove by this that barley represents the resurrected Christ. (CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 4, “The Allinclusive Christ,” p. 233)

Today’s Reading

[Wheat and barley] represent two aspects of Christ, His coming and His going. They represent the Christ coming down to be the wheat and the Christ going up to be the barley…Have you experienced Christ as wheat? And have you ever experienced Christ as barley? What kind of experience of Christ is wheat? And what kind of experience of Christ is barley?

When Jesus fed the five thousand, he fed them with five loaves made of barley…If they were loaves of wheat, something would be wrong. But they were not wheat; they were loaves of barley. As barley loaves, they could feed five thousand people with twelve baskets of broken pieces left over. This is resurrection. Christ can only be rich to us in His resurrection. In His incarnation He is exceedingly limited, but in His resurrection He is so very rich. There is no limit to Him as the resurrected Christ. As Christ incarnated, He was just one grain, a little Nazarene, a humble carpenter. But when He came into resurrection, He was unlimited. Time and space and material things could limit Him no longer. There were five loaves, but in effect there were countless loaves. There was enough to feed five thousand, not counting the women and children, and the remains alone— twelve baskets full—were more than the original five loaves. This is barley. This is Christ in His resurrection. Christ in His resurrection can never be limited. (CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 4, “The All-inclusive  Christ,” pp. 233- 234)

As the barley, Christ is unlimited. According to John 6, Christ fed more than five thousand people with five loaves of barley (vv. 9-10), and the fragments left over from these five loaves filled twelve baskets! This proves that barley is unlimited. On the one hand, we are growing the limited Jesus; on the other hand, we are growing the unlimited Christ. The riches of this Christ are unsearchable, and His power is profound. Like Paul, we can say, “I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me” (Phil. 4:13). By this unlimited Christ I am able to bear my wife, my children, and
all the elders.

The sisters who live by the resurrected Christ can bear their husbands and all their children. Every husband gives his wife a difficult time. Sisters, do not expect to marry an angel. Every husband is troublesome. We husbands simply do not know how to sympathize with our wives. What then shall the sisters do? They must say, “We wives are more than conquerors because we have an unlimited Christ. The resurrected Christ is now in us, and He can bear anything.” Learn to grow the limited Jesus and the unlimited Christ. I can testify that I have Christ as both wheat and barley. I have an abundance of both wheat and barley on which to feed and with which to feed others. (CWWL, 1977, vol. 1, “The Kernel of the Bible,” p. 221)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 4, “The All-inclusive Christ,” ch. 5