第三週■週四

w03d04-ch

晨興餧養

提後二5『競賽的人，非按規矩競賽，就不能得華冠。』

林前九25 ～ 26『凡較力爭勝的，諸事都有節制；他們不過是要得能壞的華冠，我們卻是要得不能壞的華冠。所以我這樣奔跑，不像無定向的…。』

在提後二章五節保羅把提摩太比作競賽中的運動員。…提摩太同時要作教師和精兵，也要作運動員。…賽跑中的跑者跑得快是很重要的。那不是他運用忍耐的時候。〔在別的信息裏〕我鼓勵你們要等候、禱告。但賽跑要贏得華冠時，我們就不該等候。反之，我們該奔跑以達到目標（提摩太後書生命讀經，二八至二九頁）。

牧長基督一直在顧到對祂召會的牧養〔彼前五4〕。當祂回來的時候，祂要賞賜那些與祂合作的忠信者（李常受文集一九九四至一九九七年第五册，一六○頁）。

信息選讀

我們要有掌權的經歷，就必須先解決地位的問題。我們要認識並守住升天的地位，也要認識並守住等次的地位。這認識升天的地位，就是…認識升天的經歷；這認識等次的地位，就是…認識身體的經歷。…我們必須認識主在祂的救恩裏，所叫我們得着的升天地位，並祂在祂的身體上，所安排給我們的等次地位，我們纔能運用祂的權柄，而爲神掌權。

第二，要掌權。要掌權的意思，就是要積極的、主動的，來爲神掌權，管治一切。…有的弟兄姊妹，…不想掌權，也不要掌權；他們的靈是鬆懈的。召會中發生了難處，他們不管；工作上出了事情，他們也不問；任憑撒但作祟破壞。這樣，雖然就着他們生命的光景說，可以掌權了，但實際上卻因着他們鬆懈，不肯起來掌權，就還不能有掌權的經歷。所以一個要掌權的人，他的靈必須不鬆懈、不畏縮，肯積極而主動的運用神的權柄，來對付仇敵一切的作爲。這樣，神的權柄立卽就能在召會中顯出來，召會中許多不服不法的事，就可治服了。

今天召會中就是缺少這樣要掌權的人。因此常有許多不該有的情形產生出來。比方我們常看見有些交通聚會和擘餅聚會，是輭弱紊亂的。有人該禱告，卻不禱告；有人該說話，卻不說話。反而許多無所謂的禱告，和散漫無章的話語，倒釋放出來，使聚會受了攪擾，叫眾弟兄姊妹不得造就，而失去聚會的心情。這種光景，大半就是由於該掌權的人不掌權。他們袖手旁觀，任憑人在聚會中隨便活動，還以爲這樣很屬靈，不動人工，只憑靈感，結果就叫召會受到莫大的虧損。

我們常說某次聚會很發死、很下沉。…何時聚會發死、下沉，那就是撒但在那裏掌權…作王了。那時，就該有人起來，要爲神掌權，或用話語，或用詩歌，或用禱告，來管住那個聚會，轉換那種空氣，釋放神的生命，而吞滅撒但的死亡（李常受文集一九五三年第三册，六九三至六九五頁）。

參讀：雅歌中所描繪的生命與建造，第六章；神殿與神城的恢復，第六、八章。

WEEK 3 — DAY 4

Morning Nourishment

2 Tim. 2:5 And also if anyone contends in the games, he is not crowned unless he contends lawfully.

1 Cor. 9:25-26 And everyone who contends exercises self-control in all things; they then, that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we, an incorruptible. I therefore run in this way, not as though without a clear aim…

In 2 Timothy 2:5 Paul likens Timothy to an athlete contending in the games…At the same time that Timothy was to be a teacher and a soldier, he was also to be an athlete. It is important for a runner in a race to run fast. That is not the time for him to exercise patience. In a foregoing message I encouraged you to wait and pray. But when it comes to running the race to win the crown, we should not wait. On the contrary, we should run to reach the goal. (Life-study of 2 Timothy, 2nd ed., p. 24)

Christ as the Chief Shepherd is taking care of the shepherding of His churches [1 Pet. 5:4]. When He comes back, He will reward the faithful ones who cooperated with Him. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” p. 118)

Todays Reading

To gain the experience of reigning, we must first solve the problem of position. We must know and keep the position of ascension, and we must also know and keep the position of order. Knowing the position of ascension is the experience of knowing the ascension…Knowing the position of order is the experience of knowing the Body…We must know the position of ascension, which He has caused us to obtain in His salvation, and the position of order, which He has arranged for us in His Body, before we can exercise His authority and reign for God.

Second, we must have the desire to reign. This means that we must positively and actively reign for God, ruling over all things…Some brothers and sisters, however, have neither the thought nor the desire to reign. Their spirits are loose and lazy. They neither care for the difficulties arising in the church nor inquire about the problems springing up in the Lord’s work. They simply allow Satan to work and destroy at will. Hence, according to their growth of life, they are able to reign, yet in reality, due to their laxity and unwillingness to reign, they still cannot obtain the experience of reigning. Therefore, if one desires to reign, his spirit must not be lax or timid but willing to exercise God’s authority and positively and actively deal with all the works of the enemy. Thus, God’s authority will immediately be manifested in the church, and many rebellious and unlawful matters in the church will be subdued.

In the church today we lack the kind of people who desire to reign. Therefore, many situations that should not exist often arise. For example, some of the fellowship and breaking of bread meetings are weak and confused. Some of the brothers and sisters should have prayed, but they did not; some should have spoken, but they withheld from speaking. On the contrary, many unnecessary prayers and meaningless testimonies were released. The meetings thus are disturbed, and the brothers and sisters are not edified and lose heart toward the meetings. This condition is mainly caused by those who should have reigned but did not reign. They have just behaved
like bystanders, allowing others to act in the meetings in whatever manner they chose. They even regard such a way as being very spiritual, not by man’s doing but by the Spirit’s move. As a result, they cause the church to suffer great loss.

We often say that certain meetings are very dead and depressed…Whenever a meeting is dead and depressed, it means that Satan is reigning there as king. At that time, someone should rise up to reign for God, either by a word, a hymn, or a prayer to control the meeting, change the atmosphere, and release the life of God, thereby swallowing up Satan’s death. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 3, “The Experience of Life,” pp. 510-512)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1972, vol. 1, “Life and Building as Portrayed in the Song of Songs,” ch. 6; CWWL, 1969, vol. 2, “The Recovery of God’s House and God’s City,” chs. 6, 8