第六週 • 週六

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晨興餧養

徒十五40  保羅卻揀選了西拉，也出去，蒙弟兄們把他交與主的恩典。

　二十32  如今我把你們交託神和祂恩典的話，這話能建造你們，叫你們在一切聖別的人中得着基業。

〔保羅與西拉〕蒙弟兄們把他們交與主的恩典〔徒十五40〕。…保羅第二次出外盡職的旅程，開始於此，結束於行傳十八章二十二節。

〔在二十章三十二節，〕保羅把信徒交託神和祂恩典的話。恩典乃是信徒所得着並享受的三一神。我相信保羅在以弗所那三年中，每天向聖徒講說神恩典的話（使徒行傳生命讀經，四二七至四二八、五四八頁）。

信息選讀

我們能見證，靠着主的憐憫，生命讀經的信息裏有神恩典的話。…我要鼓勵青年人花幾年時間，被所有生命讀經的信息來構成。…甚至年長的人仍然有時間被這些信息構成，然後有年日事奉主，在全地執行神新約的經綸。

在行傳二十章三十二節，我們看見神恩典的話的功用。第一，這話能建造聖徒。建造聖徒需要在神聖的生命裏長大，而在神聖的生命裏長大需要神聖元素的滋養，並得着神聖知識的造就和裝備。惟有藉着神豐盛恩典的話，纔能有這一切；這恩典乃是三一神自己，祂經過了成為肉體、為人生活、釘十字架、復活、升天等一切過程，就將自己賜給聖徒，作他們的享受。

第二，神恩典的話的功用是叫我們『在一切聖別的人中得着基業』。神聖的基業乃是三一神自己並祂所有的、所作成的、以及為祂贖民所要作的一切。這位三一神化身在包羅萬有的基督裏面（西二9）；這基督是分給眾聖徒的分，作他們的基業（一12）。而賜給眾聖徒的聖靈，乃是這神聖基業的豫嘗、憑質和保證（羅八23，弗一14）。我們今天在神新約的禧年裏，就有分於並享受這基業作豫嘗；到來世和永遠裏還要完滿地享受這基業（彼前一4）。

我們永遠的基業，與我們重生所得，且在基督徒一生中不斷經歷並享受之神聖的生命有關。…基業乃是一分正當且合法的產業，…我們不是作工來得基業，我們是領受基業。…我們在重生那一天，就得着權利有分於基業。這基業包括與永遠生命有關的一切福分。…這基業是合法、正確且正當的，因為基督付出祂寶血的代價，受死為我們將這基業買來。我們可以每天有分於並享受這從今天直到永遠都屬於我們的基業。

按照保羅在行傳二十章三十二節的話，基業乃是在聖別的人中間。有分於神的基業需要我們被聖別，被聖別需要神恩典的話。主耶穌在約翰十七章十七節禱告說，『求你用真理聖別他們，你的話就是真理。』聖別（弗五26，帖前五23），就是從世界和世界的霸佔裏分別出來，歸給神和神的旨意；這不僅是地位上的聖別（太二三17、19），也是性質上的聖別（羅六19、22）。神活的話在信徒裏面作工，把他們從一切屬世的事物中分別出來。這就是在神的話裏得以聖別，這話就是真理，實際（使徒行傳生命讀經，五四八至五五一頁）。

參讀：李常受文集一九七五至一九七六年第三冊，一○四至一○八頁。

WEEK 6 — DAY 6

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Morning Nourishment

Acts 15:40 But Paul chose Silas and went out, having been commended to the grace of the Lord by the brothers.

       20:32 And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who have been sanctified.

[Paul and Silas were] commended to the grace of the Lord by the brothers [Acts 15:40]…This was the start of Paul’s second ministry journey, which ended in 18:22.

[In Acts 20:32] Paul committed the believers to God and to the word of His grace. Grace is the Triune God received and enjoyed by the believers. I believe that during the three years Paul was in Ephesus, he daily spoke the word of God’s grace to the saints. (Life-study of Acts, pp. 363, 465)

Today’s Reading

We can testify that, by the Lord’s mercy, the word of God’s grace can be found in the Life-study messages…I would encourage the young people to take the time over the next several years to become constituted of all the Life-study messages. Even those who are much older still have the time to be constituted of these messages and then have years to serve the Lord by carrying out God’s New Testament economy throughout the earth.

In Acts 20:32 we see the function of the word of God’s grace. First, this word is able to build up the saints. To build up the saints requires the growth in the divine life, and the growth in the divine life needs the nourishment of the divine element and the edification and equipment with the divine knowledge. All of these can be afforded only by the word of God’s abundant grace, which is the Triune God Himself who went through all the processes of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension and who has been given to the saints for their enjoyment.

Second, the word of God’s grace functions to give us “the inheritance among all those who have been sanctified.” The divine inheritance is the Triune God Himself with all He has, all He has done, and all He will do for His redeemed people. This Triune God is embodied in the all-inclusive Christ (Col. 2:9), who is the portion allotted to the saints as their inheritance (1:12). The Holy Spirit, who has been given to the saints, is the foretaste, the pledge, and the guarantee of this divine inheritance (Rom. 8:23; Eph. 1:14), which we are sharing and enjoying today as the foretaste in God’s New Testament jubilee, and which we will share and enjoy in full in the coming age and for eternity (1 Pet. 1:4).

Our eternal inheritance is related to the divine life, which we received through regeneration and which we are experiencing and enjoying throughout our entire Christian life. An inheritance is a proper and legal possession…We do not work for an inheritance; we receive it. On the day we were regenerated, we were given the right to share an inheritance. This inheritance includes all the blessings related to eternal life…This inheritance is legal, proper, and legitimate, for Christ died to purchase it for us, paying the price of His precious blood. Daily we may participate in and enjoy the
inheritance that is ours today and for eternity.

According to Paul’s word in Acts 20:32, the inheritance is among those who have been sanctified. To participate in God’s inheritance requires us to be sanctified, and to be sanctified requires the word of God’s grace. In John 17:17 the Lord Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” To be sanctified (Eph. 5:26; 1 Thes. 5:23) is to be separated from the world and its usurpation unto God and His purpose, not only positionally (Matt. 23:17, 19) but also dispositionally (Rom. 6:19, 22). God’s living word works in the believers to separate them from anything worldly. This is to be sanctified in God’s word, which is the truth, the reality. (Life-study of Acts, pp. 465-467)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 3, pp. 99-102