第二十九週．週四

W29-d4-ch

晨興餧養

帖前五２３　『且願和平的神，親自全然聖別你們，又願你們的靈、與魂、與身子得蒙保守，在我們主耶穌基督來臨的時候，得以完全，無可指摘。』

１６～１９　『要常常喜樂，不住的禱告，凡事謝恩；因為這是神在基督耶穌裏對你們的旨意。不要銷滅那靈。』

神不僅全然聖別我們，也保守我們的靈、魂、體得以完全。…在量的一面，神要全然聖別我們；在質的一面，神要保守我們得以完全，就是要保守我們的靈、魂、體得以完美。因著墮落，我們的體受了敗壞，魂受了玷污，靈也死了。在神完全的救恩裏，我們的全人都要得救，成為完全、完美的。為此，神保守我們的靈脫離死的元素，（來九14，）保守我們的魂不再留在天然和老舊裏，（太十六24～26，）並保守我們的體脫離罪的敗壞。（帖前四4，羅六6。）神這樣的保守，以及祂徹底的聖別，維持我們過聖別的生活，直到成熟，使我們能在主的『巴路西亞』裏與祂相會。（帖撒羅尼迦前書生命讀經，二四三至二四四頁。）

信息選讀

我們的靈是由良心、交通、直覺這三部分組成的。我們的靈主要是為著與神交通。我們與神有交通時，就接觸祂。這樣與神的接觸，自然叫我們感覺到神，對神有知覺。直覺是指從神來的直接感覺和知覺；藉著這直覺，就能知道我們是對還是錯。我們若錯了，就會被我們的良心定罪。但我們若是對的，就會被我們的良心稱義。

保守我們靈的第一條路，是正確的運用靈，以保守我們的靈是活的。〔參帖前五16～19。〕…喜樂、禱告、謝恩乃是運用我們的靈。當我們這樣運用我們的靈，就能叫我們的靈活。

你知道保持緘默，乃是叫你的靈留在死沉的光景裏麼？你若讓你的靈留在死的光景裏，這意思就是說，你沒有與聖別人的神合作，以保守你的靈。

保守我們靈的另一條路，是在林後七章一節。…這節說，『所以親愛的，我們既有這些應許，就當潔淨自己，除去肉身和靈一切的玷污，敬畏神，以成全聖別。』這節經文指明，我們應當禁戒肉身和靈一切的玷污。我們必須遠離污染我們靈的一切事物。所以我們應當保守我們的眼睛不看惡事，譬如那些玷污人的圖片。這樣的圖片不僅玷污我們的眼睛，也玷污我們的靈；這是我從經歷中學知的。一九三三年我第一次訪問上海。那時召會有兩個會所，…兩個會所相離甚遠。…從西上海到北上海要花一個小時以上。我頭幾次搭電車時東張西望，看著大街上各種景觀。等我到了會所時，我發現我的靈非常死沉。我注意看街上那許多東西，就叫我的靈死沉。從這件事我學會，當我搭電車時要閉起眼睛禱告；這就保守了我的靈。因為我學習這樣保守我的靈，所以當我到達北上海的會所時，我的靈還是活的。我的確在我的靈裏得以聖別。

你若因著看某些圖片而被污染，你的靈就會被玷污、污染而死沉。結果，你必須先求主潔淨你，除去一切玷污，否則你就不能禱告。我舉出這事作例證，說明我們必須與聖別人的三一神合作，使我們的靈得蒙保守，遠離死沉和污染。（帖撒羅尼迦前書生命讀經，二四四至二四六、二四八頁。）

參讀：經過過程的神聖三一之分賜與超越基督之輸供的結果，第一、三章。

WEEK 29 — DAY 4

W29-d4-en

Morning Nourishment

1 Thes. 5:23 And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

         16-19 Always rejoice, unceasingly pray, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.

God not only sanctifies us wholly but also preserves our spirit, soul, and body complete…In quantity God sanctifies us wholly; in quality God preserves us complete; that is, He keeps our spirit, soul, and body perfect. Through the fall our body has been ruined, our soul has been contaminated, and our spirit has been deadened. In God’s full salvation our entire being is saved and made complete and perfect. For this, God is preserving our spirit from any deadening element (Heb. 9:14), our soul from remaining natural and old (Matt. 16:24-26), and our body from the ruin of sin (1 Thes. 4:4; Rom. 6:6). Such a preservation by God and His thorough sanctification sustain us to live a holy life unto maturity that we may meet the Lord in His parousia. (Life-study of 1 Thessalonians, p. 204)

Todays Reading

Our spirit is composed of three parts: the conscience, the fellowship, and the intuition. Our spirit is mainly for us to have fellowship with God. When we have fellowship with God, we contact Him. This contact with  God spontaneously gives us a sense of God, a consciousness of God. Intuition denotes the direct sense and consciousness that come from God. Through this intuition we can know whether we are right or wrong. If we are wrong, we will be condemned by our conscience. But if we are right, we will be justified by our conscience.

The first way to preserve our spirit is to keep it living through proper exercise [cf. 1 Thes. 5:16-19]…To rejoice, pray, and give thanks are to exercise our spirit. When we exercise our spirit in this way, we cause it to be living.

Do you realize that to be quiet is to keep your spirit in a deadened condition? If you allow your spirit to remain in a situation of death, this means that you do not cooperate with the sanctifying God to preserve your spirit.

Another way to preserve our spirit is found in 2 Corinthians 7:1…”Therefore since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and of spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” This verse indicates that we should abstain from all defilement of both flesh and spirit. We need to stay away from anything that contaminates our spirit. This is the reason we should keep our eyes from looking at evil things, such as defiling pictures. Such pictures defile not only our eyes; they also defile our spirit. This is something I have learned from experience. In 1933 I visited Shanghai the first time. The church had two meeting halls then,…quite far from each other…The ride from western Shanghai to northern Shanghai took more than an hour. The first few times I took this ride in the streetcar, I looked around at the various sights on the main street. But when I arrived at the meeting hall, I realized that my spirit was deadened. It had been deadened by my looking at so many things on the street. From this I learned to close my eyes and pray when taking the ride by streetcar. This preserved my spirit. Because I learned to preserve my spirit in this way, when I arrived at the meeting hall in northern Shanghai, my spirit was living. I had truly been sanctified in my spirit.

If you become contaminated by looking at certain kinds of pictures, your spirit will be defiled, contaminated, and deadened. As a result, you will not be able to pray unless you first ask the Lord to cleanse you from all defilement. I offer this as an illustration of our need to cooperate with the sanctifying Triune God to have our spirit preserved from deadness and contamination. (Life-study of 1 Thessalonians, pp. 204-205, 207)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Issue of the Dispensing of the Processed Trinity and the Transmitting of the Transcending Christ,” chs. 1, 3