第十週•週六

w10d06-ch

晨興餧養

出三一3『我〔耶和華〕也已經以神的靈充滿他〔比撒列〕，使他有智慧，有悟性，有知識，能作各樣的工。』

西四2『你們要堅定持續的禱告，在此儆醒感恩。』

出埃及記的記載…非常強調神的靈的充滿。…帳幕…是神親自設計的，但…帳幕不是神直接建造的。帳幕乃是神的子民建造的；他們被祂所充滿，就是被祂的靈所充滿。

神的靈就是神自己。…神的靈…就是神臨及我們。當祂臨及我們，這位臨及的神就是那靈。（李常受文集一九八三年第一册，九八至九九頁。）

信息選讀

神無法獨自建造祂的居所，祂只能藉着樂意且倒空的器皿來建造。召會是不是活的、新鮮的、豐富的，就在於這件事：我們要一直被三一神充滿。親愛的弟兄，爲此我們首先需要樂意，其次需要倒空。…我們所需要的第三件事是隨時、不住的禱告。我們必須禱告。…我們需要倒空自己，因爲知道我們所能作的都不算數；這不僅是神所棄絕的，甚至也是神所定罪的。…我們必須認識這一點。然後我們就會看見我們需要神，並且會隨時、不住的禱告。

長老在召會中不是特殊階級；他們沒有特殊的地位。…長老只是正常的信徒；他們不過是建立榜樣給其餘的信徒跟隨。…因此，聖經旣告訴我們，眾信徒應該不住的禱告，（帖前五17，）長老就該作榜樣。凡是新約吩咐信徒所要作的，長老都該作。…旣然是你領頭，凡神所吩咐的，你就都該實行；信徒未必都能這麼作，你卻應當這麼作。

倘若你不樂意、不倒空、不禱告，我就無法幫助你；你也無法對別人有幫助。…〔我們應當禱告：〕『主，靠着你的憐憫，我是樂意的。因着你的恩典，我是倒空的。我完全倒空的向你敞開。我不願持守已往的經歷，我要新鮮。』你隨時、不住的禱告，被祂充滿，你就會經歷智慧、悟性、知識像潮水一般臨到你。神聖的智慧、神聖的悟性和神聖的知識會湧流到你身上。你會知道如何以神聖的性情接觸聖徒，如何以基督供應他們，如何以基督的救贖和神的審判建造他們。你也會有一種內裏的能力，在變化裏並在召會生活裏建造聖徒；不是僅僅在性格上建造他們，乃是把他們建造成爲神的居所。

無論在甚麼地方，長老們極缺乏的就是不住的禱告。你們缺少禱告，所以你們缺少那靈。乃是當你們在禱告中完全被定罪時，你們對於環境、對於人、對於召會，纔能得着主的智慧和真正的領會。…基督徒的生活乃是禱告的生活。（ 李常受文集一九八三年第一册，一○二至一○四、一○七頁。）

論到堅定持續的禱告，我盼望…說…，我們要樂意和主辦交涉，甚至向祂許願說，我們要作禱告的人。如果各召會裏的眾聖徒都和主辦這樣的交涉，主的恢復就會大大的得着豐富並拔高。不僅如此，眾聖徒也會享受主，享受主的同在和祂卽時並常時的膏油塗抹。他們會終日享受主的笑臉。我們堅定持續的禱告時，基督活的人位就成了我們的經歷和享受。（歌羅西書生命讀經，七二六頁。）

參讀：與長老們在實行一面的談話，第七章；歌羅西書生命讀經，第六十五篇。

WEEK 10 — DAY 6

Morning Nourishment

Exo. 31:3 And I [Jehovah] have filled him [Bezalel] with the Spirit of God, with wisdom and with understanding and with knowledge and with all kinds of workmanship.

Col. 4:2 Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving.

The record in Exodus stresses strongly the infilling of the Spirit of God… The tabernacle was designed by God Himself. Yet…the tabernacle was not built by Him directly. It was built by His people who were filled with Him, that is, with His Spirit.

The Spirit of God is God Himself…The Spirit of God…is God reaching us. When He reaches us, the very reaching God is the Spirit. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 1, “Practical Talks to the Elders,” pp. 71-72)

Today’s Reading

God cannot build His dwelling place by Himself; He can do it only through willing and empty vessels. Whether the church is living and fresh and enriched depends on this one thing: that we are being filled continuously with the Triune God. For this, dear brothers, we need first the willingness and second the emptiness. The third thing that we need is the instant, constant prayer. We must pray…We need to empty ourselves, knowing that whatever we can do is not counted; it is not only rejected but even condemned by God…We have to realize this. Then we will see our need of God and will pray constantly and instantly.

Elders in the church are not a special class; they do not have a special rank…Elders are just normal believers; they simply set a pattern for the rest of the believers to follow. Thus, when the Bible tells us that all believers should pray unceasingly (1 Thes. 5:17), the elders should set an example. All that the New Testament charges the believers to do, the elders should do… Since you are taking the lead, you should carry out all that is commanded by God; all believers may not be able to do this, but you should.

If you are short of willingness, short of emptiness, short of prayer, I cannot help you. Nor can you be of help to others…We should pray, “Lord, by Your mercy I am willing. In Your grace I am empty. I am open to You with utter emptiness. I do not want to hold on to anything of my past experiences. I want to be fresh.” All the time, unceasingly, pray to be filled with Him. Then you will experience wisdom, understanding, and knowledge coming to you like a tide. You will be under the flooding of divine wisdom, divine understanding, and divine knowledge. You will know how to contact the saints with the divine nature, how to supply them with Christ, how to build them up with the redemption of Christ and with God’s judgment. You will
also have an inner ability to build up the saints in transformation and in the church life; not just to build them in character but to build them up as a dwelling place for God.

The crucial lack is this continuous prayer on the part of all the elders, whatever the locality. You are short of prayer, so you are short of the Spirit. It is when you are fully condemned in your prayer that you receive wisdom and the real understanding of the Lord concerning the situation, concerning people, and concerning the church. The Christian life is a life of prayer. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 1, “Practical Talks to the Elders,” pp. 74-75, 77)

Concerning persevering in prayer, I wish to say…that we need to be willing to make a deal with the Lord, even to make a vow to Him, that we will be a praying people. If all the saints in all the churches make such a deal with the Lord, the recovery will be greatly enriched and uplifted. Furthermore, the saints will enjoy the Lord, His presence, and His instant and constant anointing. All day long, they will enjoy the smile of the Lord’s face. As we persevere in prayer, the living person of Christ becomes our experience and enjoyment. (Life-study of Colossians, second edition, pp. 573-574)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1983, vol. 1, “Practical Talks to the Elders,” ch. 7; Life-study of Colossians, msg. 65