第一週 • 週五

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晨興餧養

耶四八11 摩押自幼年以來，常享安逸，如酒在渣滓上澄清，沒有從這器皿倒在那器皿裏，也未曾被遷徙；因此，他的原味尚存，香氣未變。

來十二11 一切的管教，當時固然不覺得喜樂，反覺得愁苦；後來卻給那藉此受過操練的人，結出平安的義果。

耶利米四十八章十一節…〔描述〕許多人在神面前沒有經過責打，沒有經過試煉。…摩押人從幼年起，常享安逸，沒有難處，沒有痛苦。這一個安逸叫他變作甚麼種情形呢？像酒在渣滓上澄清。…那些用果汁作的酒，或者是用葡萄汁作的酒，如果只是在渣滓上澄清，下面就都是葡萄的渣滓。酒在上面，渣在下面。要徹底的澄清，需要把酒從這器皿倒到那器皿。…倒了一次還不行，因總有渣滓漏過去，所以還要找器皿再倒。…一直倒，一直倒，要倒到酒裏一點渣滓都沒有。神說，摩押從小就安逸，就像在渣滓上澄清的酒，從小就沒有從這一個器皿倒到那一個器皿，所以他的渣滓老跟着他。你如果要除去渣滓，就要從這器皿倒到那器皿。一次一次的倒，倒到有一天，你下面的那些渣滓就倒光了。摩押是滿了渣滓，雖然上面是清的，下面卻從來沒有倒過。沒有經過試煉，沒有受過責打的人，就是沒有從這器皿倒到那器皿的人（倪柝聲文集第三輯第四冊，一七六至一七七頁）。

信息選讀

安逸，並不是一件好事。弟兄姊妹，神要潔淨我們，所以祂要管教我們，…所以祂要鞭打我們。千萬不要以為安逸就是好。摩押的安逸，不過叫他永遠是摩押！

這裏有八個字講得非常好：他的『原味尚存，香氣未變』。因為沒有從一個缸倒到另外一個缸，沒有從一個鍋倒到另外一個鍋，沒有從一個器皿倒到另外一個器皿，沒有受神的管教，沒有受神的對付，所以摩押的原味都在，摩押的香氣從來沒有變！

弟兄們，所以神要作事，神要把你的原味弄掉，神要把你的香氣變過，神不要你的原味和香氣。…你沒有信主的時候是這一種味道，到了今天，你信主已經十年了，還是這一種味道。你信主以前的香氣如何，現在仍舊是如何。這裏的『香氣』，在希伯來文裏，意思就是『氣味』，就是原來的味道。你在沒有得救以前，是甚麼種味道的人，到了今天，仍舊是甚麼種味道的人，並沒有改變。

神的管教是可寶貝的！祂要把我們連根拔起，從這器皿倒到那器皿。神給我們許多的管教，神給我們許多的對付，為要叫我們失去原來的味道，為要叫我們結出平安的果子，…就是義的果子。

請你們記得：果子是平安。人必須在神面前是平安的，纔能得着果子。最怕的是在管教底下埋怨，在管教底下不平，在管教底下不服。在管教底下覺得愁苦是可以的，但是埋怨、不服，是不應該的。我看見許多人的難處，就是沒有平安。所以在管教底下需要有平安的果子。你若是要結出平安的果子來，你就要先學習接受，先學習和神不爭，先學習和神不鬧意見。…有了這個平安的果子，就自然而然有義的果子。…你裏面的果子如果是平安，顯出來的情形就是義。你裏面如果有平安的果子，就自然而然有分於神的聖別。

…我們是盼望神造一個東西在我們裏面，那一個東西就是聖別的品格（倪柝聲文集第三輯第四冊，一七七至一八○頁）。

參讀：初信造就，第四十一至四十二篇。

WEEK 1—DAY 5

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Morning Nourishment

Jer. 48:11 Moab has been at ease from his youth;…and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel; nor has he gone into exile. Therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed.

Heb. 12:11 Now no discipline at the present time seems to be a matter of joy, but of grief; but afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been exercised by it.

Jeremiah 48:11 describes those who have never suffered any chastisement or sufferings before the Lord. The Moabites had been at ease from their youth. They experienced no suffering or pain. What did such ease produce? They became like wine settled on its lees. If a person brews liquor from grapes or other kinds of fruit, the wine surfaces to the top, while the lees settle to the bottom. The wine floats, while the lees sink. In order to clear the wine, it has to be poured from vessel to vessel…One pouring is not enough; some lees are bound to escape into the other vessel. This is why he has to do this again… He has to keep pouring until no lees are left in the wine. God said that Moab had been at ease from his youth and had settled on his lees. He had not been emptied from vessel to vessel, and his lees always followed him. One must be emptied from vessel to vessel if he wants to do away with the lees. He has to be poured out again and again until one day the lees at the bottom are gone. Moab was full of lees; although he was clear at the top, he was not emptied at the bottom. Those who have never gone through trials and chastisement have never been emptied from vessel to vessel. (CWWN, vol. 50, “Messages for Building Up New Believers (3),” pp. 703-704)

Today’s Reading

To be at ease is not a good thing. Brothers and sisters, God wants to purify us. This is why He disciplines and scourges us. Never consider ease and comfort to be something good. Moab’s ease caused him to remain Moab forever!

Here are some sobering words: “His taste remains in him, / And his scent is not changed.” Because Moab was not emptied from vat to vat, from pot to pot, and from vessel to vessel, and because he was never disciplined and dealt with by God, his taste remained in him and his scent never changed!

Brothers, this is why God has to work on you. He wants to take away your taste and change your scent. God does not want your own taste and scent…You had a certain kind of taste before you believed in the Lord. Today you may have been a believer for ten years, yet your taste is still the same. Your scent remains the same as it was before you believed in the Lord. The word scent in Hebrew means “smell,” which is the flavor of something in its original state. You had a certain smell before you were saved. Today you have the same smell; there is no change in you at all.

God’s discipline is indeed precious! He wants to uproot us and to empty us from vessel to vessel. God disciplines us and deals with us in many ways so that we may lose our original smell and yield the peaceable fruit…of righteousness.

Please remember that the fruit is peaceable. A man must be at peace with God in order to obtain this fruit. The worst thing one can do is to murmur, to lose his peace, and to rebel during times of discipline. One can be grieved by the discipline, but he should not murmur or rebel. The problem with many people is that they have no peace. This is why we need the peaceable fruit when we are under discipline. If you want the peaceable fruit, you must first learn to accept the discipline. You must learn not to fight with God or argue with Him…Once you have the fruit of peace, you have the fruit of righteousness…If the inward fruit is peace, the outward expression is righteousness. If you have the fruit of peace within, you will spontaneously partake of God’s holiness.

Our hope is that God would constitute us with something, something called a holy character. (CWWN, vol. 50, “Messages for Building Up New Believers (3),” pp. 704-705)

Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 50, “Messages for Building Up New Believers (3),” chs. 41-42