第二週   跑盡當跑的賽程

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詩歌：補 424

讀 經：提後四7中，徒二十24，林前九24～26，來十二1～2 上

【週一】

壹 『當跑的賽程我已經跑盡了』——提後四 7 中：

一 保羅被主得着後，就開始奔跑屬天的賽程，並且不停的奔跑，（林前九 24 ～ 26，腓三 12 ～14，）爲要跑完這賽程。（徒二十 24。）

二 現今他終於得勝的宣告說，『當跑的賽程我已經跑盡了；』（提後四 7 中；）爲此，他要從主得着賞賜，就是公義的冠冕。（8。）

貳 正確的基督徒生活包括爲着照神永遠的定旨完成神的經綸，奔跑賽程—林前九24，弗一11，三11：

一 我們要尋找主爲我們所命定的路程，並忠信的行走在其中，出一切代價，一心一意的行走在其中，直至達到路終—提後四 7 中。

二 主爲我們所命定的路程乃是一個賽程，我們都必須奔跑—來十二 1。

三 我們要『憑着忍耐奔那擺在我們前頭的賽程』—1 節：

1 所有的基督徒都必須像使徒保羅一樣奔跑這賽程，好贏得獎賞；這獎賞不是指一般的救恩，乃是指特別的賞賜—十 35，林前三 14 ～ 15，九 26 ～ 27，腓三 13 ～ 14。

2 我們必須憑着忍耐奔跑賽程，憑着忍耐忍受反對—來十二 2 ～ 3。

【週二、週三】

四 我們乃是藉着『望斷以及於耶穌，就是我們信心的創始者與成終者』，而奔跑基督徒的賽程—2 節上：

1 耶穌是信心的創始者，是信心的發起者、開創者、源頭和因由——2 節：

a 信徒的信實際上不是他們自己的信，乃是基督進到他們裏面作他們的信—羅三 22，加二 16。

b 我們的信是我們對基督的珍賞，作爲我們對祂吸引所起的反應——羅十 17。

c 我們必須轉離其他各種目標，以專一的注意力望斷以及於耶穌—來十二 1 ～ 2 上，歌一 4，詩二七 4。

d 當我們望斷以及於耶穌，祂這賜生命的靈（林前十五45 下）就將祂自己，將祂信的成分，灌輸到我們裏面。

【週四】

2 信是一種質實的能力，我們乃是憑這能力，把未見之事或所望之事質實出來，就是把這些事的本質，質成現實—來十一 1：

a 我們必須運用我們信心的靈，就是我們調和的靈，信並且說我們所經歷於主的事—林後四 13。

b 信心是在我們那與聖靈調和的靈裏—林前六 17。

3 我們不是顧念、注視所見的，乃是顧念、注視所不見的，因爲所見的是暫時的，所不見的纔是永遠的—林後四 18：

a 基督徒的生活是一種未見之事的生活—羅八 24 ～25，來十一 27，彼前一 8，加六 10。

b 召會的墮落是從所不見的事墮落到所見的事；主的恢復是要將祂的召會從所見的事恢復到所不見的事—約二十 25，林後五 7，羅八 24 ～ 25，彼前一 8。

【週五】

4 耶穌是信心的成終者，信心的完成者和完全者—來十二 2：

a 主耶穌這信心的完全者，不斷的將祂自己這信的成分和能力，灌注到我們裏面。

b 我們望斷以及於祂，祂就把天、生命、和力量供應我們，將祂的所是傳輸並灌注到我們裏面，使我們能奔跑屬天的賽程，在地上過屬天的生活—林後三 18。

c 我們不斷的望斷以及於祂，祂就要完成並完全我們奔跑屬天賽程所需要的信心—來十二1～2 上。

五 我們需要受以色列人的豫表所鼓勵並警戒，他們走向美地的旅程豫表基督徒向着美地（包羅萬有之基督）的賽程—林前十 1 ～ 13：

1 我們藉着基督蒙了救贖，脫離了撒但的轄制，也被帶進神經綸的啓示中。

2 我們仍可能無法達到神呼召我們的目標，就是進入並據有我們的美地——基督，爲着神的國享受祂的豐富，使我們能在今世成爲祂的彰顯，並在國度時代有分於對基督最完滿的享受—腓三 12 ～ 14，太二五 21，23。

【週六】

六 神爲我們每一個人所命定末了一段的道路，是最艱難的—參可六 45 ～ 51：

1 基督徒一生一件要緊的事，就是尋找主所命定的道路，並忠信的行走在其中。

2 我們在正當的程途中，固然可喜；然而，我們如何奔跑，並如何結局，仍是一個問題。

七 我們不該因任何緣故疲倦灰心，（來十二 3，）乃該奔跑賽程直到路終：

1 疲倦灰心，意思就是魂沒有力量；甚麼好像都是空的。

2 跌倒了再起來跑，是最好的：『我的仇敵阿，不要向我誇耀；我雖跌倒，卻要起來；我雖坐在黑暗裏，耶和華卻是我的光』—彌七 8。

3 我們不必自暴自棄，疲倦灰心，乃要望斷以及於耶穌，奔那擺在我們前頭的賽程—來十二 2 上。

Week Two

Finishing the Course

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Hymns: 1206

Scripture Reading: 2 Tim. 4:7b; Acts 20:24; 1 Cor. 9:24-26; Heb.

12:1-2a

§ Day 1

I. “I have finished the course”—2 Tim. 4:7b:

A. Paul began to run the heavenly race after the Lord took possession of him, and he continually ran (1 Cor. 9:24-26; Phil. 3:12-14) that he might finish it (Acts 20:24).

B. Now at the end he triumphantly proclaimed, “I have finished the course” (2 Tim. 4:7b); for this he will receive from the Lord a reward—the crown of righteousness (v. 8).

II. A proper Christian life involves running the course, running the race, for the carrying out of Gods economy according to His eternal purpose—1 Cor. 9:24; Eph. 1:11; 3:11:

A. We need to seek out the journey that the Lord has ordained for us and faithfully walk on it, paying any price to wholeheartedly continue on our journey until we reach the end—2 Tim. 4:7b.

B. The journey that the Lord has ordained for us is the race that we all run— Heb. 12:1.

C. We need to “run with endurance the race which is set before us”—v. 1:

1. Like the apostle Paul, all Christians must run the race to win the prize, not salvation in the common sense but a reward in a special sense—10:35; 1 Cor. 3:14-15; 9:26-27; Phil. 3:13-14.

2. We need to run the race with endurance, suffering the opposition with endurance—Heb. 12:2-3.

§ Day 2 & Day 3

D. We run the Christian race by “looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith”—v. 2a:

1. Jesus is the Author of faith, the Originator, the Inaugurator, the source, and the cause of faith—v. 2:

a. The faith of the believers is actually not their own faith but Christ entering into them to be their faith—Rom. 3:22; Gal. 2:16.

b. Our believing is our appreciation of Christ as a reaction to His attraction—Rom. 10:17.

c. We need to look away unto Jesus with undivided attention by turning away from every other object—Heb. 12:1-2a; S. S. 1:4; Psa. 27:4.

d. When we look away unto Jesus, He as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b) transfuses us with Himself, with His believing element.

§ Day 4

2. Faith is a substantiating ability, the ability by which we substantiate, give substance to, the things unseen or hoped for—Heb. 11:1:

a. We must exercise our spirit of faith, our mingled spirit, to believe and to speak the things that we have experienced of the Lord—2 Cor. 4:13.

b. Faith is in our spirit, which is mingled with the Holy Spirit—1 Cor. 6:17.

3. We do not regard, look at, the things that are seen but the things that are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal—2 Cor. 4:18:

a. The Christian life is a life of things not seen—Rom. 8:24-25; Heb.  11:27; 1 Pet. 1:8; Gal. 6:10.

b. The degradation of the church is the degradation from the unseen things to the seen things; the Lords recovery is to recover His church from the things seen to the things not seen—John 20:25; 2 Cor. 5:7; Rom. 8:24-25; 1 Pet. 1:8.

§ Day 5

4. Jesus is the Perfecter of faith, the Finisher and Completer of faith— Heb. 12:2:

a. As the Completer of faith, the Lord Jesus continually infuses Himself into us as the believing element and ability.

b. When we look away unto Him, He ministers heaven, life, and strength to us, transfusing and infusing us with all that He is, so that we may be able to run the heavenly race and live the heavenly life on earth—2 Cor. 3:18.

c. As we look away unto Him continually, He will finish and complete the faith that we need to run the heavenly race—Heb. 12:1-2a.

E. We need to be encouraged and warned by the type of the children of Israel, whose journey toward the good land typifies the Christian race toward our good land, the all-inclusive Christ—1 Cor. 10:1-13:

1. We have been redeemed through Christ, delivered out of Satans bondage, and brought into the revelation of Gods economy.

2. We may yet fail to reach the goal of Gods calling, that is, to enter into the possession of our good land, Christ, and enjoy His riches for the kingdom of God that we may be His expression in the present age and participate in the fullest enjoyment of Christ in the kingdom age— Phil. 3:12-14; Matt. 25:21, 23.

§ Day 6

F. The last part of the journey ordained by God for each one of us is the most difficult part of the journey—cf. Mark 6:45-51:

1. An important thing in the Christian life is to seek out the journey that the Lord has ordained and faithfully walk in it.

2. We may be delighted to be on the right course, but how we run and end it is still a question.

G. We should not grow weary, fainting in our soul for any reason (Heb. 12:3); rather, we should be those who run the race to the end:

1. To be weary is to be without strength in the soul; everything seems to be in vain.

2. The one who falls down and rises again is the best runner: “Do not rejoice against me, O my enemy; / When I fall, I will rise up; / When I sit in the darkness, / Jehovah will be a light to me”—Micah 7:8.

3. We should not give up, become weary, or faint in our soul but look away unto Jesus and run the race set before us—Heb. 12:2a.