第五週•週三

w05d03-ch

晨興餧養

約十五4 ～ 5『你們要住在我裏面，我也住在你們裏面。枝子若不住在葡萄樹上，自己就不能結果子，你們若不住在我裏面，也是這樣。我是葡萄樹，你們是枝子；住在我裏面的，我也住在他裏面，這人就多結果子；因爲離了我，你們就不能作甚麼。』

我們是葡萄樹的枝子，需要住在葡萄樹（神的基督）裏。主耶穌說，『你們要住在我裏面，我也住在你們裏面。枝子若不住在葡萄樹上，自己就不能結果子，你們若不住在我裏面，也是這樣。我是葡萄樹，你們是枝子；住在我裏面的，我也住在他裏面，這人就多結果子；因爲離了我，你們就不能作甚麼。』（約十五4 ～ 5。）惟有當枝子住在葡萄樹上，葡萄樹對枝子纔是一切。因這緣故，主說到祂自己是葡萄樹，我們是枝子：『你們要住在我裏面，我也住在你們裏面。』我們的生活和享受，就是住在葡萄樹上。我們作枝子的定命，就是留在葡萄樹上。（新約總論第九册，二○八頁。）

信息選讀

離了葡萄樹，我們這些枝子就不能作甚麼。葡萄樹上的枝子不能憑自己而活，因爲離了葡萄樹，枝子就會枯萎死去。…凡我們所是、所有、並所作的，必須是在主裏，且憑着在我們裏面的主。因此，我們住在主裏面，主也住在我們裏面，是很緊要的。…住在神的基督裏是緊要的事。結果子在於住。…我們住在祂裏面，是祂住在我們裏面的條件。因此，主說，『你們要住在我裏面，我也住在你們裏面。』我們若不住在祂裏面，就不能符合祂住在我們裏面的條件。祂的住在於我們的住。這個互住會產生果子。

基督這真葡萄樹是滿有生命的生機體，像生命樹一樣。（創二9。）…在約翰十五章二至八節我們看見，葡萄樹上的枝子是爲着結果子，以彰顯神聖分賜裏父生命的豐富。基督裏的信徒是接枝到祂這宇宙中真葡萄樹裏的許多枝子，爲祂多結果子，使祂得以在擴展中擴大，叫他們成爲彰顯三一神的生機體。

當葡萄樹結出成串葡萄，神聖生命的豐富就得着彰顯。這彰顯就是父的得榮耀，〔8，〕因爲父是神聖的生命。…沒有果子，葡萄樹的素質、本質、和生命就被隱藏、遮蔽並限制。然而，葡萄樹內裏生命的豐富，藉着纍纍的果實就得着彰顯。這樣彰顯內裏的生命，就是將神聖的素質從葡萄樹裏釋放出來。…日復一日，我們需要過結果子的生活，這樣我們就榮耀父。我們越在結果子上彰顯神聖的生命，父就越得着榮耀。

結果子也是內裏生命之豐富的洋溢。結果子乃是我們內裏生命洋溢的事。我們需要不斷享受基督作我們的一切，然後我們會有豐盛的內裏生命；從這豐盛的內裏生命，會有一道流臨及別人，而滲透他們的生命。這流會結許多果子；這樣的結果子乃是內裏生命的表顯。葡萄樹內裏的生命乃是父一切所是和所有的豐富。這要藉着葡萄樹結果子得彰顯。因此，葡萄樹結果子就是在子裏彰顯父。

父是葡萄樹的源頭，子是葡萄樹，那靈是葡萄樹的生命汁液。這偉大的葡萄樹，就是三一神的生機體。父所是的一切都在這生機體裏，都具體表現在這葡萄樹，就是神聖三一的第二者裏面。在這葡萄樹裏有那靈流通的生命之流。那靈帶着父的豐富，來供應葡萄樹及其枝子。我們被接枝其上的這葡萄樹，乃是三一神的生機體。（新約總論第九册，二○八至二一一、二一三至二一六頁。）

參讀：新約總論，第二百八十六篇。

WEEK 5 — DAY 3

Morning Nourishment

John 15:4-5 Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.

As branches of the vine, we need to abide in the vine, the Christ of God. The Lord Jesus said, “Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5). Only when the branches abide in the vine can the vine be everything to them. This is the reason the Lord said concerning Himself as the vine and us as the branches, “Abide in Me and I in you.” Our life and enjoyment are to abide in the vine. Our destiny as branches is to remain in the vine. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2931-2932)

Today’s Reading

Apart from the vine, we, the branches, can do nothing. A branch of a vine cannot live by itself, for it will wither and die apart from the vine…What we are, what we have, and what we do must be in the Lord and by the Lord in us. Therefore, it is crucial for us to abide in the Lord and for the Lord to abide in us…Abiding in the Christ of God is a crucial matter. Fruit-bearing depends on abiding…Our abiding in Him is the condition of His abiding in us. Thus, the Lord said, “Abide in Me and I in you.” If we do not abide in Him, we fail to meet the condition of His abiding in us. His abiding depends on our abiding. This mutual abiding will bring forth fruit.

Christ as the true vine is an organism full of life, like the tree of life (Gen. 2:9). In John 15:2-8 we see that the branches in the vine are for the bearing of fruit to express the riches of the Father’s life in the divine dispensing. The believers in Christ are His many branches grafted into Him, the true vine in the universe, to bear much fruit for His enlargement in His spreading, that they might express the Triune God as His organism.

When the vine tree bears clusters of grapes, the riches of the divine life are expressed. This expression is the glorification of the Father [v. 8] because the Father is the divine life…Apart from the fruit, the essence, substance, and life of the vine tree are concealed, hidden, and confined. However, the riches of the inner life of the vine are expressed in the clusters of fruit. To express the inner life in this way is to release the divine substance from within the vine. Day by day we need to live a life that bears fruit, and in this way we glorify the Father. The more we express the divine life in fruit-bearing, the more the Father is glorified.

Fruit-bearing is also the overflow of the riches of the inner life. Bearing fruit is a matter of the overflow of our inner life. We need continuously to enjoy Christ as everything to us. Then we shall have an abundance of inner life. Out of this abundance of inner life there will be a flow that will reach others, penetrating into their lives. This flow will bear much fruit. This kind of fruit-bearing is the manifestation of the inner life. The inner life of the vine is the riches of all that the Father is and has. This is to be manifested by the fruit-bearing of the vine. Hence, the vine’s fruit-bearing is to express the Father in the Son.

The Father is the source of the vine, the Son is the vine, and the Spirit is the life-juice of the vine. This great vine is the organism of the Triune God. All that the Father is, is in this organism, embodied in the vine, which is the second of the Trinity. Within the vine is the circulating life flow of the Spirit. It is the Spirit who carries the riches of the Father to sustain the vine and its branches. This vine into which we have been grafted is the organism of the Triune God. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2932-2933, 2935-2938)

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