第四週 • 週三

w04d03-ch

晨興餧養

林後三17  而且主就是那靈；主的靈在哪裏，哪裏就有自由。

林前六17  但與主聯合的，便是與主成為一靈。

羅八4　   使律法義的要求，成就在我們這不照着肉體，只照着靈而行的人身上。

約五十年前，我年幼的心思無法領會，我這根枝子如何能住在基督這葡萄樹裏面，而祂也住在我裏面。但我看見基督這賜生命的靈進入我的靈裏，與我成為一靈（林前六17）以後，就領悟枝子與葡萄樹的互住不是發生在我們的心思、情感或意志裏，乃是在我們人那由神聖的靈所內住之重生的靈裏（羅八16，參弗二22）。為這緣故，提後四章二十二節說，『願主與你的靈同在。』（李常受文集一九七九年第二冊，二一八頁）

信息選讀

就〔基督〕的升天和高舉說，祂是在諸天之上的主，但說到祂的內住，祂是賜生命的靈，聖氣。既然祂在我們靈裏，我們就與祂是一靈；並且這調和的靈—神聖的靈與人的靈調和—乃是葡萄樹，有神聖的靈為葡萄樹，人重生的靈為枝子。這二靈在神聖的生命並神聖的性情裏是一。既然我們接受了主，我們只需要住在祂裏面。…照着我們的經歷，我們很難知道何時住在基督裏，但我們很容易知道何時不住在祂裏面。

與肉身生命有關的事，若是作用正常，就不會產生感覺或知覺。例如，當我們胃裏有感覺，意思就是我們餓了，或者喫壞了。我們不覺得胃怎樣的時候，就知道我們的胃是健康的。同樣，我們住在主裏面時，也許沒有知覺。然而一旦我們在祂之外，立刻就知道有問題。每當我們覺得有問題，無論我們在作甚麼，都要停下來。這是關乎住在基督裏消極一面的祕訣。例如，配偶為難我們，並且我們開始回應時，也許會立刻感到屬靈的『胃痛』。這時候，我們就需要停止回應。另有些時候，當我們愛一個人，而我們的愛不是出於我們住在主裏面，我們就會感覺有問題。我們必須停下這樣的愛，來回應這感覺。我們若實行這項祕訣，就會住在主裏面。

我們從神生的信徒，已經經歷神聖的出生。這神聖的出生將神聖的靈與我們人的靈調和為一。這靈成為我們對是靈的神真實敬拜的因素。在我們裏面這個因素寶愛並享受主所說即時、實際和當前的話，也使我們愛主。結果，父神和子神就來同我們安排住處，並且祂們住在我們裏面，我們也住在祂們裏面。對於主的住，今天我們的感覺必須變得敏銳，以至於每當我們發言、表態或存心不出於主，中止了祂的住時，我們就能立刻禱告：『主，求你赦免並潔淨我。我不願停止住在你裏面，我要留在葡萄樹上。』這是我們住的路，並且這與不住的禱告有關（帖前五17）。…我們的禱告乃是我們自然而然地信靠主。我們若藉着不住的禱告，實行住在主裏面，主就要得着一班在調和的靈裏實際與祂是一的人。

當我們以住在基督裏面的方式享受祂，我們就能向每個人見證，我們的基督不是道理的基督，乃是我們能時時經歷的現今和實際的基督（李常受文集一九七九年第二冊，二一八至二二○、二二三頁）。

參讀：約翰着作中帳幕和祭物的應驗，第十九篇。

WEEK 4—DAY 3

Morning Nourishment

2 Cor. 3:17 And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

1 Cor. 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.

Rom. 8:4 That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit.

About fifty years ago my young mind could not understand how I, a branch, could abide in Christ, the vine, and He in me. But after I saw that Christ as the life-giving Spirit had entered into my spirit to be one spirit with me (1 Cor. 6:17), I realized that the mutual abiding of the branches and the vine takes place not in our mind, emotion, or will but in our regenerated human spirit, which is indwelt by the divine Spirit (Rom. 8:16; cf. Eph. 2:22). For this reason 2 Timothy 4:22 says, “The Lord be with your spirit.” (CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, p. 170)

Today’s Reading

Regarding His ascension and exaltation, He is the Lord in the heavens, but concerning His indwelling, He is the life-giving Spirit, the holy breath. Since He is in our spirit, we are one spirit with Him, and this mingled spirit—the divine Spirit mingled with the human spirit—is the vine tree, with the divine Spirit
as the vine and the regenerated human spirit as the branch. These two spirits are one in the divine life and in the divine nature. Now that we have received the Lord, all we need to do is abide in Him…According to our experience, it is difficult to know when we are abiding in Christ, but it is easy to know when we are not abiding in Him.

Anything related to the physical life that is functioning normally produces no feeling or sensation. For instance, when we have a feeling in our stomach, it means either that we are hungry or that we have eaten wrongly. We know that our stomach is well when we do not feel anything. Similarly, when we are abiding in the Lord, we may have no sensation. But once we are outside of Him, we know immediately that something is wrong. Whenever we sense that something is wrong, we need to stop whatever we are doing. This is a secret on the negative side to abiding in Christ. For instance, when our spouse gives us a difficult time and we begin to respond, we may immediately sense a spiritual “stomachache.” At such a time we need to stop our response. At other times, when we love someone but our love is not from our abiding in the Lord, we have a sense that something is wrong. We need to respond to this sense by ceasing such a love. If we practice this secret, we will abide in the Lord.

We believers who have been born of God have experienced a divine birth. This divine birth mingles the divine Spirit and our human spirit into one. This spirit becomes the factor of our genuine worship of God, who is Spirit. This factor within us loves and enjoys the instant, practical, and present word spoken by the Lord, and it causes us to love the Lord. As a result, God the Father and God the Son have come to make an abode with us, and They are abiding in us and we in Them. Today we must become sensitive to the Lord’s abiding so that when we utter a word, express an attitude, or have an intention that is not of the Lord, which causes the abiding to stop, we can immediately pray, “Lord, forgive me and cleanse me; I do not wish to stop abiding in You. I want to remain in the vine.” This is the way for us to abide, and it is related to praying unceasingly (1 Thes. 5:17)…Our prayer is our spontaneous trust in the Lord. If we practice abiding in the Lord by praying unceasingly, the Lord will gain a group of people who are one with Him practically in the mingled spirit.

When we enjoy Christ in the way of abiding in Him, we are able to testify to everyone that our Christ is not a doctrinal Christ but a present and practical Christ whom we can experience all the time. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, pp. 170-174)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1982, vol. 2, “The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” ch. 19