第一週 • 週三

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晨興餧養

弗四1~3  所以我這在主裏的囚犯勸你們，行事為人要與你們所蒙的呼召相配，凡事卑微、溫柔、恒忍，在愛裏彼此擔就，以和平的聯索，竭力保守那靈的一。

與神呼召相配的行事為人，第一項是保守一，第二項是長到元首基督裏面，第三項是照着那在耶穌身上是實際者，學了基督。

我們要有以弗所四章二節所說的美德，就需要有變化過的人性。在我們天然的人性裏，沒有卑微、溫柔、恒忍。但這些美德可以在我們變化過的人性，也就是耶穌的人性裏找着。…柔和謙卑是耶穌人性的特徵〔太十一29〕。在我們身上，任何看來是柔和謙卑的，都是假的，經不起任何真實的試驗。讚美主，耶穌在祂復活生命裏的人性，今天可以成為我們的！我們越被變化，就越有耶穌的人性。藉着有復活基督的人性，我們自然而然的就有保守那靈的一所需要的美德（以弗所書生命讀經，四六九、三七三至三七四頁）。

信息選讀

在會幕及其四十八塊包金的皂莢木豎板這幅圖畫中〔出二六15~30〕，可以看見在三一神裏真正的一。木板本身是彼此分開的，但在金子裏乃是一。把板連接一起的閂也是用包金的皂莢木作成的。…金閂表徵聯結的靈，皂莢木表徵人性，金表徵神性。…這指明聯結的靈不僅是神的聖靈，乃是聖靈調和了我們的靈。

這調和的靈可見於羅馬八章。…〔四節〕的靈乃是我們人的靈調和着神的聖靈。不僅如此，十六節…清楚的指出調和的靈，也就是那靈同我們的靈。在那構成聯結之閂的調和之靈裏，有變化過的人性，帶着卑微、溫柔和恒忍的美德。

多年來我想要溫柔、卑微，但是我一次又一次地失敗。最終我學到，以弗所四章二節的卑微、溫柔和恒忍，無法在我們天然的人性裏找着；這些乃是變化過之人性的特徵，也就是耶穌基督人性的特徵。這變化過的人性及其所有的美德，是由聯絡之閂內的皂莢木所表徵的。這指明在聯結的靈裏有變化過的人性，就是我們那被基督復活的生命變化過的人性。

保守那靈的一需要變化。…你若還沒有被變化，你就沒有保守一所需要的卑微和溫柔。我們越被變化，就自然而然地越承受卑微、溫柔和恒忍。這一切美德，都是我們藉變化而得的產業。

那靈的一，是那些如同嬰孩或兒童的基督徒不能保守的；惟有變化過的人，纔能保守一。凡是天然和屬肉體的人，無法溫柔、卑微和恒忍。他們不能保守一，因為在他們天然的人裏，沒有甚麼能使他們保守一。所以，我盼望再一次強調，四章二節含示變化的需要。我們在一這事上有難處，因為我們太天然，太屬肉體，也太在自己裏面。但我們若被變化，我們就自然而然地保守一，因為在我們變化過的人性裏有卑微、溫柔和恒忍。

二節指明變化的需要，三節指明十字架的需要。我們需要變化，使我們有卑微、溫柔和恒忍；我們也需要被十字架除掉，使我們有和平的聯索。這樣，我們就會保守那靈的一（以弗所書生命讀經，三七四至三七七頁）。

參讀：以弗所書生命讀經，第三十六篇。

WEEK 1—DAY 3

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Morning Nourishment

Eph. 4:1-3 I beseech you therefore, I, the prisoner in the Lord, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing one another in love, being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.

The first item of a walk worthy of God’s calling is to keep the oneness, and the second is to grow up into Christ the Head. The third item is to learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus.

In order to have the virtues spoken of in Ephesians 4:2, we need a transformed humanity. In our natural humanity there is no lowliness, meekness, or long-suffering. But these virtues are to be found in our transformed humanity, that is, in the humanity of Jesus…Meekness and lowliness are characteristics of the humanity of Jesus [Matt. 11:29]. Any meekness or lowliness that we may seem to have in ourselves is a pretense and cannot survive any real testing. Praise the Lord that the humanity of Jesus in His resurrection life can be ours today! The more we are transformed, the more of the humanity of Jesus we have. By having the humanity of the resurrected
Christ, we spontaneously have the virtues required to keep the oneness of the Spirit. (Life-study of Ephesians, 2nd ed., pp. 377, 296-297)

Today’s Reading

The genuine oneness in the Triune God is seen in the picture of the tabernacle with its forty-eight boards of acacia wood overlaid with gold. In themselves the boards were separate from one another, but in the gold they were one. The bars that held the boards together were also made of acacia wood overlaid with gold…The golden bars signify the uniting Spirit. The acacia wood signifies humanity, and the gold signifies the divine nature…This indicates that the uniting Spirit is not merely the Holy Spirit of God but the Holy Spirit mingled with our spirit.

This mingled spirit is seen in Romans 8…The spirit in verse 4 is our human spirit mingled with God’s Holy Spirit. Furthermore, verse 16…clearly points to the mingled spirit, that is, the Spirit with our spirit. In the mingled spirit, which constitutes the uniting bars, there is the transformed humanity with the virtues of lowliness, meekness, and long-suffering.

For years I tried to be meek and lowly, but I failed time after time. Eventually, I learned that the lowliness, meekness, and long-suffering in Ephesians 4:2 are not to be found in our natural humanity but are characteristics of the transformed humanity, the humanity of Jesus Christ. This transformed humanity with all its virtues is typified by the acacia wood within the uniting bars. This indicates that in the uniting Spirit there is the transformed humanity, our humanity transformed by the resurrection life of Christ.

Keeping the oneness of the Spirit requires transformation…If you have not been transformed, you will not have the lowliness or the meekness necessary to keep the oneness. The more we have been transformed, the more we spontaneously inherit lowliness, meekness, and long-suffering. All these virtues are our heritage by transformation.

The oneness of the Spirit cannot be kept by babyish or childish Christians. It can be kept only by the transformed ones. Those who are natural and fleshly cannot be meek, lowly, or long-suffering. They cannot keep the oneness, because nothing in their natural being can ever enable them to keep it. Therefore, I wish to emphasize the fact once again that 4:2 implies the need of transformation. We have problems with oneness because we are so natural, so fleshly, and so much in ourselves. But if we have been transformed, we keep the oneness spontaneously because in our transformed humanity we have lowliness, meekness, and long-suffering.

Ephesians 4:2 indicates the need of transformation, and 4:3 indicates the need of the cross. We need to be transformed in order to have lowliness, meekness, and long-suffering; and we need to be crossed out in order to have the uniting bond of peace. Then we will keep the oneness of the Spirit. (Lifestudy of Ephesians, 2nd ed., pp. 297-299)

Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msg. 36