第六週■週一

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晨興餧養

約一12 ～ 13『凡接受祂的，就是信入祂名的人，祂就賜他們權柄，成爲神的兒女。這等人…乃是從神生的。』

彼後一4『藉這榮耀和美德，祂已將又寶貴又極大的應許賜給我們，叫你們…藉着這些應許，得有分於神的性情。』

神的性情是指神的所是，就是神所是的豐富、元素和構成成分。（約四24，約壹一5，四8，16。）神聖的性情，主要指神聖生命的構成，神的構成，乃是由那靈、愛、光所構成。…我們這些神的兒女乃是神人，從神而生，擁有神的生命和性情，屬於神的種類。（三1，約一12 ～ 13。）我們重生時，有另一個性情分賜到我們裏面；這是神的性情，神聖的性情。神聖的性情旣是在神聖的生命裏，我們重生所得的神聖生命裏面就有神聖的性情。（三3，5 ～ 6，15。）凡信入神兒子的人就由神而生，並有權利成爲神的兒女；因此，信徒有權利有分於、享受神的性情。（一12 ～ 13。）（新約總論第十三册，二八四至二八五頁。）

信息選讀

宇宙中最大的福分，就是我們能有分於神的性情。…我們正在有分於神所是的神聖元素。…我們若要成爲有分於神聖性情的人，就需要憑神聖的生命而活，在這生命裏有神聖的性情。（約一4，十10，十一25，六57 下。）我們乃是藉着神的應許而活神聖的生命。爲使我們能享受神一切的所是，神要照着祂的應許爲我們作許多事。…雖然我們在相信的時候就得着了神聖的生命，但我們必須不斷享受神聖的性情。

我們旣然有神聖的性情，就不需要外面的規條來調整我們的頭髮、衣服和行爲。我們所作的任何調整，都該是照着裏面的神聖性情。…每個新生嬰兒都有人的性情。雖然嬰孩沒有任何外面規條的知識，他們仍然有人的性情規律他們所喫的東西。你不需要教導他們有關甜和苦的事，因爲他們有人的性情連同人的口味。我們基督徒有…神聖的性情同神聖的口味。我們必須過一種和我們裏面神聖性情相配的生活。

我們旣有了神的生命，也就有神的性情。生命是重在生活的本能，性情是重在生活的口味。我們喜歡屬天，因爲這就是神的性情，神的口味就是屬天的。我們喜歡聖別，因爲神的性情和口味就是聖別。我們一驕傲就覺得難過，謙卑了就覺得舒服，因爲這就是神的性情和口味。我們佔人的便宜就不好受，與人分享就十分快樂，因爲這也是神的性情和口味。…若是我們領會到，我們裏面神的性情有一個特別的口味，我們就知道，要脫開世界是多容易，要不愛罪惡是多容易。神在我們裏面，不只是我們的生命，也作了我們的性情。祂是我們裏面生活的本能，也成了我們生活的口味。祂的生命和性情都在我們裏面，所以我們不愛世界，勝過罪惡，是輕而易舉的。

我們裏面神聖性情的範圍得以擴大的路，就是接受基督的話，不但藉着誦讀，也藉着禱告、歌唱、頌詠和感謝。（西三16。）基督的話若要豐豐富富的住在我們裏面，我們就需要敞開我們的全人，並運用我們的靈。然後基督的話就會進到我們裏面，挑旺我們，並與我們調和，使我們真正、實際的與主成爲一。結果，神聖性情在我們裏面的範圍就得以擴大。（新約總論第十三册，二八六、二八八至二九一頁。）

參讀：彼得後書生命讀經，第一至四篇。

WEEK 6 — DAY 1

Morning Nourishment

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John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name, who were begotten…of God.

2 Pet. 1:4 Through which He has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature…

The divine nature refers to what God is, that is, the riches, the elements, and the constituents of God’s being (John 4:24; 1 John 1:5; 4:8, 16). The divine nature, which mainly refers to the constitution of the divine life, the constitution of God, is constituted with Spirit, love, and light…As the children of God, we are God-men, born of God, possessing the life and nature of God, and belonging to the species of God (3:1; John 1:12-13). At our regeneration, another nature was imparted into us; this is the nature of God, the divine nature. Because the divine nature is in the divine life, the divine life with which we were born again has the divine nature within it (3:3, 5-6,15). Whoever believes into the Son of God is born of God and has the right to become a child of God; thus, a believer has the right to partake of, to enjoy, the nature of God (1:12-13). (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3932-3933)

Today’s Reading

The greatest blessing in the universe is that we can partake of God’s nature…We are partaking of the divine elements of God’s being…If we would be partakers of the divine nature, we need to live by the divine life within which is the divine nature (John 1:4; 10:10; 11:25; 6:57b). We live the divine life by God’s promises. In order that we may enjoy all that He is, God will do many things for us according to His promises…Although we received the divine life at the time we believed, the divine nature must be continually enjoyed by us.

Since we have the divine nature, we do not need outward regulations to adjust our hair, clothes, and behavior. Any adjustments that we make should be made according to the divine nature within…Every newborn child has the human nature. While little babies do not have any knowledge of outward regulations, they still have the human nature that regulates what they eat. You do not need to teach them about sweet and bitter because they have the human nature with its human taste…We [Christians] have the divine nature with a divine taste. We must live a life that matches the divine nature within us.

Since we have the life of God, we also have the nature of God. The emphasis on life is on the capacity to live, and the emphasis on nature is on the inclination of our living. We desire to be heavenly because the nature of God, the inclination of God, is heavenly. We desire to be holy because God’s nature and inclination are holy. We feel uneasy when we are proud, and we feel comfortable when we are humble because this is the nature and inclination of God. We feel uneasy when we take advantage of others and very happy when we share with others, because this is God’s nature and inclination…If we realize that the divine nature within us has a particular taste, we will see that it is easy to be freed from the world and not love sin and evil. God is in us not only as our life but also as our nature. Within us He is the capacity to live, and He has also become our taste in our living. His life and nature in us make it very easy for us
not to love the world and to overcome sins and evil.

The way to enlarge the sphere of the divine nature within us is to take the word of Christ not only by reading but also by praying, singing, psalming, and thanking the Lord (Col. 3:16). If the word of Christ is to dwell in us richly, we need to open our entire being and exercise our spirit. Then the word of Christ will enter into us, stir us up, and become mingled with us, causing us to be one with the Lord in an actual and practical way. As a result, the sphere of the divine nature in us will be enlarged. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3934-3937)

Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Peter, msgs. 1—4