第十二週•週一

w12d01-ch

晨興餧養

林前十五10『然而因着神的恩，我成了我今天這個人，並且神的恩臨到我，不是徒然的；反而我比眾使徒格外勞苦，但這不是我，乃是神的恩與我同在。』

林後六1『而且我們旣與神同工，也就勸你們不可徒受祂的恩典。』

林前十五章十節的『這不是我，乃是神的恩』，等於加拉太二章二十節所說的『不再是我，乃是基督』。那推動使徒並在他裏面運行的恩，不是任何事物，乃是一位活的人位，復活的基督，父神的具體化身，成了包羅萬有賜生命的靈，住在使徒裏面，作他的一切。（聖經恢復本，林前十五10 註2。）

新約的執事…是靠着生命（不是任何恩賜）與神同工，這生命是全豐全足、全然成熟的，能適應一切處境，就是能忍受任何對待，接受各樣環境，在各種情形裏作工，並把握各種機會，好完成他們的職事。（林後六1 註1。）

信息選讀

聖經裏有三個主要的豫表，描繪神藉以完成祂定旨的路。這些豫表就是迦南美地、聖殿和新婦。…基督包羅萬有的豫表〔乃是〕美地。我們必須看見基督作神的恩典，如何就是那給我們進入、享受、經歷、有分、並據有的美地。

在哥林多前書，保羅將哥林多人比作以色列人。他們藉着經歷基督作逾越節，離開了埃及，（五7，）並且他們在曠野飄流，經歷了基督作屬天的嗎哪，並作流出活水的靈磐石。（十3 ～ 4。）但在哥林多前書裏，沒有題到以色列人最終進入並據有的迦南美地。進入美地的記載在那裏？乃在哥林多後書。雖然該書沒有使用美地這辭，但就屬靈一面說，我們能看見哥林多後書裏的美地。在這卷書裏，美地就是那作經過過程之三一神具體化身的基督自己，賜給我們作神聖的恩典，給我們享受。我們在這卷書裏，看見一些人享有基督作神給他們的分；這些人進入神所應許並賜給的美地，且在享受這地，就是基督自己。

在這卷書裏，基督乃是恩典。保羅在十三章十四節說，『願主耶穌基督的恩，神的愛，聖靈的交通，與你們眾人同在。』按照正確的次序，應當先說神的愛；這裏先說主的恩，因爲哥林多後書是着重基督的恩。（ 一12， 四15， 六1， 八1，9， 九8，14，十二9。）主的恩是這卷書的中心思想和主題。主在十二章九節告訴保羅，祂的恩典是彀他用的。

我們對恩典這辭也許相當熟悉，但我們對這辭的領會也許非常膚淺。許多基督徒以爲恩典是不配得的恩惠，是主白白賜給的東西。…但我們〔也〕必須看見，新約告訴我們，恩典主要的就是基督自己，（林前十五10，參加二20，）作經過過程之三一神的具體化身，給我們享受。…基督工作的目的，乃是使祂能進到我們裏面。祂死在十字架上不是目的，乃是憑藉，好達成祂的目的，就是進到我們裏面作我們的享受，使我們能享受祂作我們的生命、我們生命的供應、我們的力量、並我們的一切。恩典乃是基督進到我們裏面，作我們完滿的享受。…最大的恩典不是你接受甚麼東西，乃是有一位在你裏面，加給你力量，使你能彀把東西給人。恩典不是外面所接受的東西，乃是有一位在裏面，加我們力量，加強我們，使我們能爲主作事。（李常受文集一九六七年第二册，二四七至二五○頁。）

參讀：一個在靈裏之人的自傳，第十章。

WEEK 12 — DAY 1

Morning Nourishment

1 Cor. 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace unto me did not turn out to be in vain;…I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I but the grace of God which is with me.

2 Cor. 6:1 And working together with Him, we also entreat you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

Not I but the grace of God equals no longer I…but…Christ in Galatians 2:20. The grace that motivated the apostle and operated in him was not some matter or some thing but a living person, the resurrected Christ, the embodiment of God the Father who became the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, who dwelt in the apostle as his everything. (1 Cor. 15:10, footnote 2)

The ministers of the new covenant…worked together with God by a life (not by any gift) that was all-sufficient and all-mature, able to fit all situations, that is, able to endure any kind of treatment, to accept any kind of environment, to work in any kind of condition, and to take any kind of opportunity, for the carrying out of their ministry. (2 Cor. 6:1, footnote 1)

Today’s Reading

There are three major types in the Bible portraying the way by which God fulfills His purpose. These types are the good land of Canaan, the temple, and the bride…The all-inclusive type of Christ [is] the good land. We have to see how Christ as the grace of God is the very good land for us to enter into, to enjoy, to experience, to partake of, and to possess.

In 1 Corinthians Paul likened the Corinthians to the children of Israel. They had left Egypt by experiencing Christ as the Passover (5:7), and they were wandering in the wilderness, experiencing Christ as the heavenly manna and as the spiritual rock that flowed out the living water (10:3-4). But is no reference in 1 Corinthians to the good land of Canaan, which the children of Israel eventually entered into and possessed. Where is the record of entering into the good land? It is in 2 Corinthians. Although the term of the good land is not used in this book, spiritually speaking, we can see the good land in 2 Corinthians. The good land in this book is Christ Himself as the very embodiment of the processed Triune God given to us as the divine grace for
our enjoyment. In this book we see some persons who possessed Christ as their God-given portion. These persons entered into the land promised and given by God, and they were enjoying this land, which is Christ Himself.

In this book Christ is the grace. In 13:14 Paul says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” According to the proper sequence, the love of God should be first. Here the grace of the Lord is mentioned first because 2 Corinthians is on the grace of Christ (1:12; 4:15; 6:1; 8:1, 9; 9:8, 14; 12:9). The grace of the Lord is the central thought, the subject, of this book. In 12:9 the Lord told Paul that His grace was sufficient for him.

The term grace is quite familiar to us, but we may have a very shallow understanding of this term. Many Christians consider that grace is unmerited favor, something given to us by the Lord freely…But we must [also] see that the New Testament shows us that grace is nothing less than Christ Himself (1 Cor. 15:10; cf. Gal. 2:20-21) as the very embodiment of the processed Triune God for our enjoyment…The purpose of the work of Christ was so that He could come into us. His dying on the cross was not the purpose but the means to fulfill the purpose of Him coming into us for our enjoyment in order that we may enjoy Him as our life, our life supply, our strength, and our everything. Grace is Christ coming into us as our full enjoyment. The greatest grace is not that we receive something but that there is Someone within us energizing us and enabling us to give something to others. Grace is not something received outwardly but Someone within, energizing, enabling, and strengthening us to do something for the Lord. (CWWL, 1967, vol. 2, “An Autobiography of a Person in the Spirit,” pp. 197-199)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1967, vol. 2, “An Autobiography of a Person in the Spirit,” ch. 10