第一週•週三

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晨興餧養

羅八2 『因爲生命之靈的律，在基督耶穌裏已經釋放了我，使我脫離了罪與死的律。』

     6 『因爲心思置於肉體，就是死；心思置於靈，乃是生命平安。』

羅馬八章六節說，心思置於肉體，就是死；心思置於靈，乃是生命平安。二節說到生命之靈的律，十一節說到那住在我們裏面的靈。…〔在〕以弗所四章十八節有神的生命。不信的人與神的生命隔絕。接着十九節說，他們『感覺…喪盡』。希伯來八章十節說，在新約裏，神將祂的律法寫在信徒裏面；然後約壹二章二十七節說到膏油的塗抹在凡事上教導信徒：約翰十五章四至五節說到我們與主的互住；腓立比二章十三節說到神爲着祂的美意，在我們裏面運行，使我們立志並行事。…在全本新約裏，你找不到直接用『生命的感覺』一辭的經文：但以上所列的經文，都透徹的含示並說到生命的感覺。(李常受文集一九七九年第一册，七二九至七三O頁。)

信息選讀

在消極一面，生命的感覺是死的感覺，一種消極的感覺。…羅馬八章六節完全是說到感覺，因爲它說心思置於肉體，就是死。…你將心思置於肉體，就有死的感覺：你覺得死就在那裏。

死的感覺是內裏輭弱、虚空、不適、不安、沉悶、枯乾、黒暗、痛苦的感覺等—在消極一面。(6上。)當你覺得自己裏面輭弱、虛空、不適、不安、沉悶、枯乾、黑喑、並且痛苦，這指明死就在那裏。死在這裏，就是說，你將你的心思置於肉體。將心思置於肉體，意思就是活在肉體裏。心思是我們日常生活的鑰匙。這鑰匙爲我們開門，使我們行在路上。將心思置於肉體，意思就是開肉體的門，並走屬肉體的路。因此，當你覺得死在這裏，就必須領悟，你正在肉體裏生活、行事爲人。這是生命的感覺消極的功用。

在積極一面，生命的感覺發揮功用，給我們以一下積極的知覺—剛強、飽足、平安、安息、釋放、活潑、滋潤、明亮、舒服等。(6下。)我們不是輭弱的，乃是剛強的。我們不是虚空的，乃是飽足的。我們沒有不適和不安，乃有平安和安息。我們沒有沉悶，乃有釋放和活潑。…我們有滋潤的感覺與枯乾相對，明亮與黑暗相對，以及舒服與痛苫相對。這一切都是我們從生命感覺的功用所得着積極的感覺。當我們有這幾種感覺，就必須領悟，這是生命的感覺在作工。

因此，羅馬八章六節所含示主要的事，就是生命的感覺。將心思置於靈，就是生命平安。這完全是感覺和知覺的事。這知覺是生命的感覺。它的功用不僅引導我們，也支配我們，管制我們，並指引我們。死的感覺和生命平安的感覺，是生命感覺之意義的兩方面。

以弗所四章十九節說，不信的人『感覺喪盡』。這裏的『感覺』主要是指人良心的感覺。…對自己內裏感覺最不在意的人，是最有罪的人。不信者若竭力要作好人，就必顧到自己內裏的感覺。那些只受法律、警察支配的人，搆不上道德的標準。甚至對不信的人而言，道德的標準也必須照着他們良心內裏的感覺。當然，對信徒而言，生命的感覺不僅僅是良心的事，乃是與照着生命(神的生命)感覺而有的良心感覺有關。(李常受文集一九七九年第一册，七三O至七三二頁。)

參讀：羅馬書生命讀經，第六十五篇。

WEEK 1 — DAY 3

Morning Nourishment  

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Rom. 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death.

            6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.

Romans 8:6 says that the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace. Verse 2…speaks of the law of the Spirit of life, and verse 11 speaks of the Spirit who dwells in us …In Ephesians 4:18 there is the life of God. The unbelievers are alienated from the life of God. Then verse 19 says that they are “past feeling.” Hebrews 8:10 says that in the new covenant God writes His laws within the believers. Then 1 John 2:27 speaks concerning the anointing that teaches the believers concerning all things. John 15:4-5 speaks of our mutual abiding with the Lord, and Philippians 2:13 speaks of God operating in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure…In the whole New Testament you cannot find a verse that directly uses the term the sense of life. But the sense of life is thoroughly implied and referred to in all the above verses. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 1, “Basic Lessons on Life,” p. 544)

Today’s Reading

The sense of life on the negative side is the feeling of death, a kind of negative feeling…Romans 8:6 is altogether a verse of sensation because it says that the mind set on the flesh is death …When you set your mind on the flesh, you have the sense of death. You feel that death is there. The feeling of death is the inner feeling of weakness, emptiness, uneasiness, restlessness, depression, dryness, darkness, pain, etc.—on the negative side (v. 6a). When you sense that you are weak, empty, uneasy, restless, depressed, dried up, darkened, and in pain within, this indicates that death is there. When death is present, this means that you have set your mind on the flesh. To set the mind on the flesh simply means to live in the flesh. The mind is the key of our daily walk. The key opens the gate for us to walk on the way. To set the mind on the flesh simply means to open the gate of the flesh and to walk the fleshly way. Thus, when you sense that death is present, you have to realize that you are living, walking, in the flesh. This is the negative function of the sense of life.

On the positive side the sense of life functions to give us a consciousness of the following positive things—strength, satisfaction, peace, rest, release, liveliness, watering, brightness, comfort, etc. (v. 6b). Instead of being weak, we are strong. Instead of being empty, we are satisfied. Instead of uneasiness and restlessness, we have peace and rest. Instead of depression, we have release and liveliness…We have a sense of watering versus dryness, brightness versus darkness, and comfort versus pain. All these are the positive feelings we have from the function of the sense of life. When we have these kinds of feelings, we have to realize that this is the working of the sense of life. 

Thus, in Romans 8:6 the main thing that is implied is the sense of life. To set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. This is altogether a matter of sensation and consciousness. This consciousness is the sense of life. It functions not only to guide us but also to govern us, to control us, and to direct us. The feeling of death and the feeling of life and peace are the two aspects of the meaning of the sense of life.

Ephesians 4:19 says that the unbelievers are “past feeling.” Feeling here refers mainly to the consciousness of one’s conscience…The most careless people concerning their inner feeling are the most sinful people. The unbelievers who endeavor to be good persons surely would take care of their inner feeling. Just to be governed by the law, by the police, is not up to the moral standard. Even with the unbelievers, the moral standard must be according to the inner feeling of their conscience. Of course, the sense of life, for a believer, is not simply a matter of the conscience, but it is related to the consciousness of the conscience according to the sense of life, the life of God. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 1, “Basic Lessons on Life,” pp. 544-546)

Further Reading: Life-study of Romans, msg. 65