第五週 • 週五

 w05d05-ch

晨興餧養

林後三6  祂使我們彀資格作新約的執事，這些執事不是屬於字句，乃是屬於靈，因為那字句殺死人，那靈卻叫人活。

林前三6~7 我栽種了，亞波羅澆灌了，惟有神叫他生長。可見栽種的算不得甚麼，澆灌的也算不得甚麼，只在那叫他生長的神。

新約彀資格的執事乃是供應生命給人，為要幫助人在生命裏長大（林後三6）。…哥林多前書裏…啟示，新約彀資格的執事的六種身分：撒種者、栽種者、澆灌者、生育者、餧養者和建造者。這六種身分與生命的事有關，就是與我們經歷並享受基督作為賜生命的靈有關（李常受文集一九七○年第一冊，七六五頁）。

信息選讀

在林前九章十一節保羅對哥林多人說，『我們…把屬靈之物撒給你們。』屬靈之物指屬靈的種子。…種子是生命的容器，撒種就是分賜生命。因此，撒屬靈之物是生命的事。…主耶穌來作撒種者，將祂自己作為生命的種子撒在人類裏面（太十三3、37）。…在主的恢復裏，我們作為新約的執事，需要作撒種者，將生命分賜到別人裏面。

作撒種者比作教師難多了。要作教師，人只需要上聖經學校，在那裏他可能被訓練成為優秀的講員，不但學習聖經道理和比喻，也學習如何運用聲音，說故事，講得動聽，並且使用手勢。然而，要作撒種者，人必須有那能在別人裏面生長並產生基督的生命種子。這樣的屬靈種子不是僅僅道理或字句，乃是在我們靈裏生命的東西。…要得着教訓並不難，但要得着這些種子就不容易了。

在林前三章六節保羅說，『我栽種了。』栽種也是生命的事，因為栽種包含撒種，就是撒播生命的容器，或將花草、苗木或樹秧栽植在地裏；這一切都是生長的活物。…在基督裏得了重生，有神生命的信徒，乃是神新造裏的耕地、農場〔9〕。就團體一面，我們是神的召會，有基督栽種在我們裏面。我們要將基督栽種到別人裏面，就需要在我們靈裏真實地經歷基督作生命。我們裏面若生長並產生基督，我們就會有出於基督的東西可以栽種到別人裏面。

在六節保羅繼續說，『亞波羅澆灌了。』我們不僅該是栽種者，也該是澆灌者。一旦我們將基督栽種到別人裏面，我們就需要用生命水（啟二二17）澆灌他們。…我們可將神農場上的澆灌者比喻為有貯水槽的灌溉系統，用水供應農場。…我們需要對基督作生命水有真實的經歷，並與祂有活的接觸。結果，我們就會有生命的泉源不斷的從我們裏面湧流出來（約四14），並且我們將是活水的管道，神聖的灌溉系統，能用生命水供應別人（七37~39）。我們需要作澆灌者，就是被生命水充滿，並且澆灌同作信徒者，使他們在生命裏長大的人。我們對基督作活水若沒有足彀的經歷，就很難澆灌別人。

在林前四章十五節保羅說，『我在基督耶穌裏藉着福音生了你們。』生育就是藉着生命的分賜產生東西，生出東西。就像使徒保羅藉着將神聖的生命分賜到哥林多信徒裏面，而生了他們，我們也該作父親，藉着將神聖的生命分賜到人裏面，而生育屬靈的兒女。生育不像教導；生育乃是生命的事。我們需要有神聖的『生命胚芽』，為要將神聖的生命分賜到別人裏面，將他們生為神的兒女（李常受文集一九七○年第一冊，七六六至七六八頁）。

參讀：李常受文集一九七○年第一冊，那靈與召會，第七章。

WEEK 5—DAY 5

Morning Nourishment

2 Cor. 3:6 Who has also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, ministers not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

1 Cor. 3:6-7 I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth. So then neither is he who plants anything nor he who waters, but God who causes the growth.

A sufficient minister of the new covenant is a person who ministers life to others in order to help them grow in life (2 Cor. 3:6). In this chapter we will go on to see six statuses of a competent minister of the new covenant as revealed in 1 Corinthians: a sower, a planter, a waterer, a begetter, a feeder, and a builder. These six statuses are related to the matter of life, that is, to our experience and enjoyment of Christ as the life-giving Spirit. (CWWL, 1970, vol. 1, p. 577)

Today’s Reading

In 1 Corinthians 9:11 Paul says to the Corinthians, “We have sown to you the spiritual things.” The spiritual things refers to spiritual seeds…A seed is a container of life, and to sow a seed is to impart life. Hence, sowing the spiritual things is a matter of life…The Lord Jesus came as a Sower to sow Himself as the seed of life into the human race (Matt. 13:3, 37)…In the Lord’s recovery we as ministers of the new covenant need to be sowers who impart life into others.

To be a sower is much more difficult than to be a teacher. In order to be a teacher, a person simply needs to go to a Bible school where he may be trained to be a good speaker, learning not only biblical doctrines and parables but also how to use one’s voice, tell stories, speak eloquently, and use gestures. However, in order to be a sower, one must have seeds of life that can grow and produce Christ in others. Such spiritual seeds are not mere doctrines or letters; instead, they are something of life in our spirit…To acquire teachings is easy, but to obtain these seeds is difficult.

In 1 Corinthians 3:6 Paul says, “I planted.” Planting is also a matter of life, for it involves sowing seeds, the containers of life, or placing herbs, plants, or trees in the ground, all of which are living things that grow…The believers, who have been regenerated in Christ with God’s life, are God’s cultivated land, a farm in God’s new creation [v. 9]. Corporately, we as the church of God have Christ planted in us. In order for us to plant Christ into others, we need the genuine experience of Christ as life in our spirit. If we grow and produce Christ within us, we will have something of Christ to plant into others.

In 3:6 Paul continues, “Apollos watered.” We should not only be planters but also waterers. Once we plant Christ into others, we need to water them with the water of life (Rev. 22:17)…We may liken a waterer in God’s farm to an irrigation system with a reservoir that supplies a farm with water…We need to have the genuine experience of Christ as the water of life and a living contact with Him. Consequently, we will have a fountain of life bubbling within us constantly (John 4:14), and we will be a channel of living water, a divine irrigation system, that can supply others with the water of life (7:37-39). We need to be waterers, those who are filled with the water of life and who water their fellow believers for their growth in life. If we do not have the sufficient experience of Christ as the living water, it will be difficult for us to water others.

In 1 Corinthians 4:15 Paul says, “In Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” To beget is to generate something, to bring forth something, through the impartation of life. Like the apostle Paul, who begot the Corinthian believers in Christ by imparting the divine life into them, we should be fathers who beget spiritual children by imparting the divine life into others. Begetting, unlike teaching, is a matter of life. We need to have the divine “life germ” in order to impart the divine life into others so that they may be begotten as children of God. (CWWL, 1970, vol. 1, pp. 577-579)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1970, vol. 1, pp. 577-583