第五週•週二

w05d02-ch

晨興餧養

羅十二1『所以弟兄們，我藉着神的憐恤勸你們，將身體獻上，當作聖別並討神喜悅的活祭，這是你們合理的事奉。』

弗五2『也要在愛裏行事爲人，正如基督愛我們，爲我們捨了自己，作供物和祭物獻與神，成爲馨香之氣。』

最快樂的人乃是最不自私的人。最自私的人都是最痛苦的人。…我們沒有力量犧牲，因爲我們的生命是天然的生命、自私的生命。只有基督的生命纔是犧牲的生命。你若是接觸這位基督，經歷祂犧牲的生命，祂就要加給你力量，剛強你，使你爲神爲人而犧牲。你就要成爲最快樂的人；你要被喜樂灌醉了。這就是經歷基督作葡萄樹。因着這經歷，對別人你就變成了一棵葡萄樹，所有和你接觸的人都要因你覺得快樂，你也要將喜樂帶給神。

〔葡萄要變成酒，〕必須經過壓。爲要使神和人快樂，你必須經過壓。你喜樂的學習基督是大麥，是在你裏面復活的基督，祂能應付每個處境。…不要太快說阿利路亞，因爲緊接着大麥而來的就是葡萄樹。葡萄必須經過壓，纔能將喜樂帶給神和人。…你必須〔經過壓而〕被破碎，纔能在神的家中產出東西來，使人快樂。…〔小麥、大麥和葡萄樹〕都是路，叫你能在各方面並在日常生活中應用基督。（李常受文集一九六一至一九六二年第四册，三一六至三一七頁。）

信息選讀

基督的信徒作爲葡萄樹上的許多枝子，乃是神的基督的肢體，在神聖的分賜裏形成三一神的生機體。主耶穌在約翰十五章五節宣告說，『我是葡萄樹，你們是枝子。』這樣的陳述含示基督同祂的信徒是一棵樹。基督和信徒，就是葡萄樹同枝子，在神聖的分賜裏形成三一神的生機體。所以，十五章的葡萄樹，是宇宙的葡萄樹，包含基督和祂作枝子的信徒。在這葡萄樹，這生機體裏，三一神活祂自己，彰顯祂自己，並分賜祂自己到極點。

當我們相信主耶穌的時候，祂就分枝到我們裏面。…基督的分枝使我們成爲基督這葡萄樹的枝子。現今我們這些枝子，被基督這生命所充滿；因爲作葡萄樹上的枝子，意思就是基督成了我們的生命。不要說，我們不覺得被基督充滿。主說，『我是葡萄樹，你們是枝子。』我們就必須大聲說，阿們。只要不住的說，『阿利路亞，我是枝子，』我們這葡萄樹的枝子就會被基督充滿。

除了葡萄樹，沒有植物能充分說明信徒與基督之間活的關係。葡萄樹與一般的樹不同，它實際上沒有榦。你若砍去葡萄樹的枝子，實際上就一無所剩，只留下根。所以，主耶穌說，『我是葡萄樹，你們是枝子，』是非常有意義的。葡萄樹對枝子乃是一切。在葡萄樹裏的一切，也在枝子裏。這指明基督這葡萄樹，對我們這些枝子是很大的享受。我們從葡萄樹，並藉葡萄樹，接受過枝子生活所需要的一切。

我們信徒是葡萄樹的枝子，不適合作別的，只適合彰顯葡萄樹。凡葡萄樹的所是和所有，都藉着枝子得着彰顯。就個別說，枝子是蒙重生的人；就團體說，枝子是召會，基督的身體。枝子，就是在子基督裏的信徒，要藉着結果子，使子同着父得着彰顯。（新約總論第九册，二○六至二○八頁。）

參讀：新約總論，第二百八十六篇。

WEEK 5 — DAY 2

Morning Nourishment

Rom. 12:1 I exhort you therefore, brothers, through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.

Eph. 5:2 And walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.

The most happy person is the most unselfish one. The most selfish people are always the most miserable…We have no energy to sacrifice, for our life is a natural life, a selfish life. Only the life of Christ is a life of sacrifice. If you contact this Christ and experience His sacrificing life, He will energize you; He will strengthen you to sacrifice for God and for others. Then you will be the most happy person; you will be drunk with happiness. This is the experience of Christ as the vine tree. By this experience you will become a vine to others. All of those who contact you will be happy with you, and you will bring cheer to God.

[To make grapes into wine], they must be pressed. To make God and others happy, you must be pressed. You rejoice to learn that Christ is the barley, the resurrected Christ within you, and that He is enough to meet every situation…Do not say Hallelujah too easily, for immediately following the barley is the vine. The grapes must be pressed to bring cheer to God and man…You must be [pressed] broken in order to produce something in the house of the Lord to make others happy…[The wheat, barley, and vine are] the ways…you may realize Christ in different aspects and apply Christ in your daily living. (CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 4, “The Allinclusive Christ,” p. 240)

Today’s Reading

As the many branches of the vine, the believers of Christ are members of the Christ of God to form the organism of the Triune God in the divine dispensing. In John 15:5 the Lord Jesus declared, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” Such a statement implies that Christ and His believers are one tree. Christ and the believers, the vine with the branches, form the organism of the Triune God in the divine dispensing. The vine in John 15, therefore, is a universal vine comprising Christ and His believers as the branches. In this vine, this organism, the Triune God lives, expresses Himself, and dispenses Himself to the uttermost.

When we believed in the Lord Jesus, He branched out into us…Christ’s branching out has made us branches of Christ as the vine. Now as branches we are filled with Christ as life, for to be a branch in the vine means that Christ has become our life. We should not say that we do not feel that we are filled with Christ. When the Lord says, “I am the vine; you are the branches,” we have to say a strong Amen. Just keep saying, “Hallelujah, I am a branch!” We as branches of the vine will be filled with Christ.

No plant other than the vine can illustrate adequately the living relationship between the believers and Christ. A vine differs from a tree in that it has virtually no trunk. If you cut off the branches of a vine, there is practically nothing left, only the root. It is very significant, therefore, that the Lord Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” The vine is everything to the branches. Whatever is in the vine is also in the branches. This indicates that as the vine Christ is a great enjoyment for us, the branches. From the vine and through the vine, we receive everything we need to live as branches.

As believers, we are branches of the vine and are good for nothing except to express the vine. All that the vine is and has is expressed through the branches. Individually, the branches are the regenerated ones. Corporately, they are the church, the Body of Christ. The branches, the believers in Christ the Son, are for the expression of the Son with the Father through fruitbearing. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2930-2931)

Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 286