第一週 • 週六

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晨興餧養

林後四16 所以我們不喪膽，反而我們外面的人雖然在毀壞，我們裏面的人卻日日在更新。

弗三16~17 願祂…藉着祂的靈，用大能使你們得以加強到裏面的人裏，使基督藉着信，安家在你們心裏…。

我們與生俱來的所是，無論好壞，無論有沒有用，都是天然的，都會攔阻聖靈將神聖的生命構成到我們這人裏面。為這緣故，我們天然的力量、天然的智慧、天然的聰明、天然的個性、天然的缺點、天然的美德和天然的屬性，加上我們的性格和習慣，都必須被拆毀，好使聖靈在我們裏面形成新的個性、新的性格、新的習慣、新的美德和新的屬性。為了完成這重新構成的工作，神的聖靈在我們裏面運行，用神聖的生命光照、感動、引導並浸透我們；祂也在我們的環境裏作工，安排我們處境裏的每一細節和人事物，好拆毀我們天然的所是。祂也許將某個人安排在我們家裏，為要拆毀我們天然的快或慢。祂也許安排某些事，廢掉我們天然的聰明或遲鈍。祂也許安排另一種處境，拆毀我們天然的智慧或愚拙。祂用各種人事物拆毀我們天然人的各方面，為要將我們模成基督的形像（倪柝聲—今時代神聖啟示的先見，一一八至一一九頁）。

信息選讀

住在我們靈裏的聖靈，受我們外面之人的局限和拘禁。為這緣故，外面的人必須被破碎，使裏面的人（帶着聖靈的人靈）能得釋放〔參林後四16〕（倪柝聲—今時代神聖啟示的先見，一二一頁）。

為甚麼有的人經過多少年的對付，還是那麼一回事呢？…有兩個最大的原因：

第一，是因為他們住在黑暗裏，…看不見神的手。神在那裏作，神在那裏拆毀，他們並不知道是神作的。他們缺少光，他們沒有活在光裏面。他們所看見的只是人，他們只看見人和他們作對；…只看見環境，以為環境太壞。…但願神給我們一個啟示，看見這是神的手，跪下來對主說，『這是你，這是你，我接受。』…至少要認識那對付我們的手，不是世人，不是我們家裏的人，不是〔聖徒〕，…是神對付我們。…凡是主所作的事，我們就接受，就相信，因為主所作的事不會錯。

第二，是因為他們太自愛。…當神要把我們那個自愛的心除去的時候，我們要敬拜着說，『主阿！如果這是你的手，就讓我從心裏接受。』我們要記得，所有的誤會，所有的不平，所有的不滿，只有一個原因，就是我們私下的自愛。…許多時候發生問題，就是因為我們又在那裏想拯救自己。…自愛是基本的難處。但願主今天在我們裏面說話，但願我們能禱告說，『我的神阿！我看見了這一切都是出乎你。…你這樣作，沒有別的，就是要達到你的目的，好使你的生命能從我身上活出來。…我因為自愛，作了許多事來拯救我自己，所以耽誤了你的時間。今天我看見你的手，我願意將我自己奉獻給你，我再一次將我自己交在你的手裏。』

盼望主在我們身上打出一條路來，把我們外面的人拆毀到一個地步，讓裏面的人能出得來、能看得見。這是寶貴的事，這就是事奉主之人的路（倪柝聲文集第三輯第八冊，一七七至一八○頁）。

參讀：倪柝聲—今時代神聖啟示的先見，第十五至十六章。

WEEK 1—DAY 6

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Morning Nourishment

2 Cor. 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

Eph. 3:16-17 That He would grant you…to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man, that Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith…

Whatever we are by birth, whether good or bad, whether useful or not, is natural and altogether a hindrance to the Holy Spirit in constituting the divine life into our being. For this reason our natural strength, natural wisdom, natural cleverness, natural disposition, natural shortcomings, natural virtues, and natural attributes, plus our character and habits, must all be torn down in order that the Holy Spirit may form in us a new disposition, new character, new habits, new virtues, and new attributes. In order to accomplish this work of  reconstitution, the Holy Spirit of God moves within us to enlighten, inspire, lead, and saturate us with the divine life. He also works in our environment to arrange every detail, person, matter, and thing in our situation to tear down what we are naturally. He may arrange to place a certain person in our home in order to tear down our natural quickness or slowness. He may arrange certain matters to abolish our natural cleverness or dullness. He may arrange another situation to tear down our natural wisdom or folly. He uses all kinds of persons, matters, and things to tear down all aspects of our natural being in order that He may conform us to the image of Christ. (Watchman Nee—a Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, pp. 115-116)

Today’s Reading

The Holy Spirit dwelling in our spirit is confined and imprisoned by the outer man. For this reason the outer man must be broken that the inner man (the human spirit with the Holy Spirit) might be released [cf. 2 Cor. 4:16]. (Watchman Nee—a Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, p. 117)

Why do so many people remain unchanged after being dealt with for years?…There are two main reasons.

First, these ones are living in darkness,…not [seeing] God’s hand. God is working and breaking, yet they do not know that God is doing the work. They are short of light, and they are not living in the light. They only see men, thinking that men are opposing them. Or they only see the environment, complaining that it is too harsh…May the Lord grant us the revelation to see God’s hand. May we kneel down and say, “This is You. This is You. I accept it.”… At a minimum we have to know that hand and see that it is not the world, our family, or the [saints] who are dealing with us…God is the One who is dealing with us…We have to accept and believe everything that the Lord has done. He can never be wrong in what He does.

Second, a person is not broken because he loves himself too much…When God plucks this self-love from us, we have to worship Him, saying, “Lord! If this is Your hand, I accept it from my heart.” We have to remember that all misunderstandings, complaints, and dissatisfactions arise from only one thing—secret self-love…Many times problems arise because we try to save ourselves…Self-love is the root of our problem. May the Lord speak within us today, and may we pray, “My God! I now see that everything comes from You…All of these things were done with only one purpose in mind—that Your life would be expressed through me…Through self-love I have done many things to save myself, and I have wasted much of Your time. Today I see Your hand, and I willingly consecrate myself to You. I commit myself to Your hand once again.”

Hopefully the Lord will find a way through us. May our outer man be broken to such an extent that the inner man can be released and expressed. This is precious, and this is the way of the servants of the Lord. (CWWN, vol. 54, “The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit,” pp. 157-159)

Further Reading: Watchman Nee—a Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, chs. 15-16