第一週 • 週三

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晨興餧養

來四16　  所以我們只管坦然無懼的來到施恩的寶座前，為要受憐憫，得恩典，作應時的幫助。

　十一7   挪亞因着信，既蒙神指示他未見的事，就…豫備了一隻方舟，使他全家得救，藉此就定了那世界的罪，並且承受了那照着信而得的義。

創世記六章八節說，『但挪亞在耶和華眼前蒙恩。』（蒙恩，或作，得恩典。）

恩典乃是神自己被我們享受，以幫助我們對付肉體的情形。…若不是為着肉體，神也許不需要給我們這麼多的恩典。…根據希伯來四章十六節，我們可以得恩典來應付我們隨時的需要。甚麼元素使我們需要恩典呢？主要的是肉體。…當我經過了人生的各種經歷，我就認識我們是多在肉體裏。…有一次我向主生氣，對祂說，『主，你為甚麼不除去我的肉體？』後來祂給我看見，從某種意義說，我需要肉體，因為肉體乃是逼我到施恩寶座前的因素。我對這肉體實在無計可施，我所能作的只有來到施恩的寶座前。雖然我們不能作甚麼，但我們卻有一個地方可去，就是施恩的寶座（創世記生命讀經，四五五、四六一至四六二頁）。

信息選讀

肉體就是魔鬼的同在，而恩典乃是神的同在。為着對付撒但的同在，我們需要神的同在。…每一分鐘，甚至你在禱告的時候，撒但就在你的肉體中。很多次我的禱告受了肉體的破壞。…這種肉體的破壞逼我們來到施恩的寶座前。…雖然撒但比我們大，但神比撒但更大。…因撒但在這裏與我們同在，我們需要神的同在。我們需要說，『主，你知道你的仇敵就在這裏，你必須來和我站在一起抵擋他。』當神臨到我們並與我們站在一起，那就是恩典（創世記生命讀經，四六二至四六三頁）。

就着神的創造而言，神自己並沒有在祂的造物裏面。…在神的創造裏，祂是用祂的手作工，而不是用祂自己來作；但在祂的建造裏，神是用祂自己為材料來作工。…神聖的建造乃是神自己與祂所造之人神聖的調和。…我們若僅僅是神創造的一部分，我們裏面就沒有神的成分；然而作為神建造的一部分，我們裏面有神的一些成分。…神的建造是甚麼？乃是神自己與人性建造在一起。

聖經裏第一個建造乃是挪亞的方舟（創六14~16）。方舟乃是豫表救贖主基督作我們的救主。在祂有救贖、拯救、救恩、安全和保護。那為甚麼方舟是一個建造？

基督這救贖主和救主乃是一個建造。基督不僅是神，更是神人；祂是與人建造在一起的神。…約翰一章一節說，太初有話，話就是神。然而，十四節說，話成了肉體。話就是神，將祂自己與人性調和；這就是一個建造。十四節說，當基督這神的話成了肉體時，祂支搭帳幕在我們中間。成為肉體的主是一個帳幕，是神聖材料與屬人材料調在一起而有的建造。在基督裏有神性和人性，祂的兩種性情乃是兩種材料調在一起，並建造成為一。基督這位救主，就是神成為肉體來作人，乃是神性與人性的建造、調和，是神與人的一個建造。

在我們得救之前，我們僅僅是創造而不是建造。…然而，現今我們得救了，神已經將祂自己與我們調和。祂已將神聖的性情與我們屬人的性情調和，把我們作成一個神聖的建造（李常受文集一九六三年第三冊，二二七至二二八頁）。

參讀：神建造的概論，第一章。

WEEK 1 — DAY 3

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Morning Nourishment

Heb. 4:16 Let us therefore come forward with boldness to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace for timely help.

       11:7 By faith Noah, having been divinely instructed concerning things not yet seen…, prepared an ark for the salvation of his house, through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

Genesis 6:8 says, “But Noah found favor in the sight of Jehovah.” Favor can also be translated “grace.”

Grace is God Himself enjoyed by us and helping us to face the situation of the flesh…If it were not for the flesh, probably God would not have to give us so much grace…According to Hebrews 4:16, we may find grace for timely help. What element causes us to need grace? It is mainly the flesh… As I passed through all the human experiences, I came to realize how much we are in the flesh…Once, I got mad at the Lord and said to Him, “Lord, why don’t You take away my flesh?” Eventually, He showed me that, in a sense, I needed the flesh, for the flesh is the very factor that compels me to come to
the throne of grace. I cannot do anything with this flesh. All I can do is go to the throne of grace. Although there is nothing that we can do, yet there is somewhere that we can go—the throne of grace. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 372, 377)

Today’s Reading

The flesh is the very presence of the devil, and grace is the very presence of God. In order for us to face the presence of Satan, we need the presence of God…Every minute, even while you are praying, Satan is in your flesh. A good number of times my prayers have been frustrated by the flesh…This frustration of the flesh forces us to come to the throne of grace…Although Satan is greater than we are, God is greater than Satan…Since Satan is here with us, we need God to be present. We have to say, “Lord, You know that Your enemy is right here. You have to come and stand with me against him.” When God comes to us and stands with us, that is grace. (Life-study of Genesis, p. 378)

With God’s creation there is nothing of God Himself in His creatures… In God’s creation He did a work with His hands, not with Himself, but in His building God works with Himself as the material…God’s building is a divine mingling of God Himself with man as His creature. As merely a part of God’s creation, we have nothing of God within us, but as a part of God’s building, we have something of God within us…What is God building? It is the building of Himself with humanity.

The first building of God in the Scriptures is Noah’s ark (Gen. 6:14-16). The ark is a type of Christ the Redeemer to be the Savior to us. With Him there is redemption, deliverance, salvation, safety, and refuge. Why then was the ark a building?

Christ the Redeemer and Savior is a building. Christ is not only God but a God-man; He is God built together with man…John 1:1 says that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God. However, verse 14 says that the Word became flesh. The Word as God mingled Himself with humanity. This was a building. Verse 14 says that when Christ as the Word of God was incarnated in the flesh, He tabernacled among us. The incarnated Lord is a tabernacle, a building of the divine material mingled together with the human material. In Christ is divinity and humanity. His two natures are the materials, which are mingled together and built up as one. Christ as the Savior, who is God incarnated as a man, is the building, the mingling, of divinity with humanity, a building of God with man.

Before we were saved, we were only a creation and not a building… However, now that we are saved, God has mingled Himself with us. He has mingled the divine nature with our human nature, making us a divine building. (CWWL, 1963, vol. 3, “The Building of God,” pp. 172- 173)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1963, vol. 3, “The Building of God,” ch. 1