第三週 • 週二

w03d02-ch

晨興餧養

約七39   耶穌這話是指着信入祂的人將要受的那靈說的；那時還沒有那靈，因為耶穌尚未得着榮耀。

羅八9    但神的靈若住在你們裏面，你們就不在肉體裏，乃在靈裏了；然而人若沒有基督的靈，就不是屬基督的。

在聖經裏，四這數字表徵神的創造。…在成為肉體裏，主耶穌是神又是人。四種香料表徵在神創造裏主耶穌的人性。當然，有些基督徒不喜歡聽到『創造』這辭用在主耶穌身上。這是因着亞流（Arius）的異端教訓；他教導人說，基督僅僅是受造者，而不是永遠的神。

油表徵在神格裏的神性。…一這數字表徵獨一的創造者—神。

在這複合的膏油裏，有四與一這兩個數位，以及四與一調在一起。這表徵人性與神性相調，調和起來。論到複合的膏油，我們無法避免使用『調和』這個辭。『複合』、『相調』這些辭實際上就是調和的意思。四種香料與油調和在一起（出埃及記生命讀經，一九三六至一九三七頁）。

信息選讀

膏油的五種成分—四種香料和橄欖油—都必須經過過程，其中包含壓榨或切割。譬如，橄欖若不放入油醡中，就無法流出橄欖油。照樣，為要有沒藥和肉桂，也必須在樹皮上有些切口。…一棵樹流出沒藥樹脂時，其形狀就像眼淚。

肉桂來自樹皮的內部，而桂皮來自樹皮的外部。肉桂能用以強心，桂皮能用以驅逐蟲蛇。

所有的香料都是藉着受苦豫備妥當的。這指明神的靈惟有藉着基督的受苦，纔能成為基督的靈這複合的膏油。…藉着基督的受苦，香料與油相調，形成複合的靈。

主耶穌的一生都在受死的苦，不僅是十字架上的六個小時而已。祂一出生，就開始受苦。這苦難是由沒藥所表徵。…釘十字架的生活就是受苦的生活。…祂天天都過釘十字架的生活；這就是經歷沒藥從樹上的切口像眼淚一樣滴下來。

主耶穌出生以後，星象家獻上黃金、乳香和沒藥，以表達他們對祂的珍賞。在祂死的時候，尼哥底母和亞利馬太人約瑟埋葬祂，藉着把沒藥放在祂的身體上，也表明他們對主的珍賞。因此，主在地上一生的開始與結束，出生與受死時，都有沒藥。這指明主的一生，由出生至受死，都是受苦的生活，眼淚的生活。祂過釘十字架的生活，沒藥的生活。

我們需要學習如何在我們的經歷中應用沒藥。今天基督的死在哪裏？…基督的死乃是在那靈裏。在英文裏，『靈』（spirit）這字可特別用來指從物質萃取出來的液態素質，尤其是藉着蒸餾而來的素質。…主受死的精粹就是在基督之靈裏的一種成分。

我們若要經歷基督的死，就需要那靈。…羅馬六章所啟示，我們的舊人已經與基督同釘十字架的事實，惟有藉着八章裏的那靈纔能經歷。…離了那靈，我們就無法經歷基督的死。我們在基督的死裏與祂聯合，其事實是在六章，但其經歷是在八章（出埃及記生命讀經，一九五二至一九五五頁）。

參讀：出埃及記生命讀經，第一百五十八篇。

WEEK 3—DAY 2

Morning Nourishment

John 7:39 But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Rom. 8:9 But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Yet if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him.

In the Bible the number four signifies God’s creation…In His incarnation the Lord Jesus was both God and man. The four spices signify the humanity of the Lord Jesus in God’s creation. Of course, some Christians do not like to hear the word creation used in the case of the Lord Jesus. This is due to the heretical teaching of Arius who taught that Christ was merely a created being and that He was not the eternal God.

The oil signifies divinity in the Godhead…The number one signifies God, the unique Creator.

In this compound ointment we have the numbers four and one, with the number four blended with the number one. This signifies humanity blended, mingled, with divinity. Concerning the compound ointment, we cannot avoid using the word mingled. The words compounded and blended actually mean “mingled.” The four spices were mingled with the oil. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 1689-1690)

Today’s Reading

The five elements of the anointing oil—the four spices and the olive oil—all had to pass through a process that involved either pressure or cutting. For instance, if olives are not put into the press, they cannot give forth olive oil. Likewise, in order to have myrrh and cinnamon, some kind of incision must be made on the bark of a tree…When a tree flows out the resin of myrrh, this resin has the appearance of tears.

Cinnamon comes from the inner part of the bark of a tree, and cassia comes from the outer part of the bark. Cinnamon can be used to stimulate the heart, and cassia, to repel insects and snakes.

All the spices were prepared for use through suffering. This indicates that the Spirit of God could become the Spirit of Christ as the compound ointment only through Christ’s sufferings…It was through the sufferings of Christ that the spices were blended with the oil to form the compound Spirit.

The Lord Jesus suffered death throughout His life, not only during the six hours He was on the cross. As soon as He was born, He began to suffer. This suffering is signified by myrrh…A crucified life is a life of suffering…Daily He lived a life of crucifixion. This is the experience of myrrh dropping as tears from cuts made in the tree.

After the Lord Jesus was born, the magi expressed their appreciation of Him by offering Him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. At the time of His death, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea also showed their appreciation of the Lord by putting myrrh upon His body when they buried Him. Therefore, at the beginning of the Lord’s life on earth and at the end, at His birth and at His death, there was myrrh. This indicates that the Lord’s life from birth to death was a life of suffering, a life of tears. He lived a crucified life, a life of myrrh.

We need to learn how to apply the myrrh in our experience. Where is the death of Christ today…? The death of Christ is in the Spirit. In our language the word spirit in a particular usage can mean the essence of a substance as extracted in liquid form, especially by distillation…The extract of the Lord’s death is an element in the Spirit of Christ.

If we would experience the death of Christ, we need the Spirit…The fact revealed in Romans 6 that our old man has been crucified with Christ can only be experienced through the Spirit in Romans 8…Apart from the Spirit we cannot experience the death of Christ. The fact of our identification with Christ in His death is in Romans 6, but the experience of this is in Romans 8. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 1703-1705)

Further Reading: Life-study of Exodus, msg. 158