第五週 • 週三

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晨興餧養

賽十三1   亞摩斯的兒子以賽亞所得關於巴比倫的默示〔直譯，負擔〕。

亞十二1   耶和華論以色列之話語的默示〔直譯，負擔〕。鋪張諸天、建立地基、造人裏面之靈的耶和華說。

你…總得在神面前得着這個啟示、光照。但是有了啟示、光照，還沒有話語的職事。你需要有更新的悟性，更新的心思。…思想清楚了，還不一定能作話語的執事，因為〔你〕還沒有話。…如果沒有話，你在講臺上講了半天，你那個意思還沒有出去。所以你在神面前總得有話。

重擔是靈裏的光照，悟性定住光照的思想，並加上裏面的話。你那個重擔，最末了的一步，就是要把裏面的話釋放出去。這三者連在一起，合成為申言者的重擔。重擔是光，加上思想，又加上裏面的話。我們的重擔，是要將神的啟示給人，而神的啟示是藉我們所得着啟示的話把它帶出去的（倪柝聲文集第三輯第七冊，二二七、二三○頁）。

信息選讀

在…話語的職事上，最大的難處就是沒有負擔，或者說不接受負擔，不注意負擔。…可能在講臺釋放話語，卻是個沒有負擔的話語。講臺的負擔不是你講得好，負擔就卸了。…這不是你道講得好不好的問題，也不是他們受不受感動的問題，更不在於你如何將信息講得有條有理，乃是在於眾人聽了之後，會產生甚麼樣的果效。如果他們是尚未得救的，你就該接受負擔，背負他們的靈魂，靠着主的恩典，在釋放話語時，將救恩種到他們裏面。…他們若是已經得救卻不愛主，你就該接受一個負擔，使他們愛主。他們若是愛主卻不肯把自己交給主，不肯接受主的對付，你就當接受負擔，使他們願意將自己交給主，受主對付。

我們服事神的話語，不是去注意更換講臺的道，乃要注意有沒有神的說話。講臺要有神的說話，就需要站講臺的人裏面有負擔。一篇有負擔的話，可能惹動人的反感，卻也可能在人裏面挑動人；然而，無論如何，眾人都不得不承認那是神的說話。…一篇好聽卻沒有神說話的道，…不能摸着人，不能在人裏面翻轉人，也無法滿足真正飢渴的人。因為那篇道可能是聖經裏的話，卻不是神現今…要向眾人說的話。

所以，我們的講臺不能太便當、太便宜。…一個盡話語職事的人，是背負着人在神面前光景的人。…他有一個責任，知道他要給這些人甚麼。這些人的光景如何，神要對這些人說甚麼話，統統是他需要接受的負擔。

沒有負擔，無論作甚麼都是死的，都沒有果效；有負擔纔是活的，纔會朝氣蓬勃。這個問題不在於方法，乃在乎『人』。…你若有負擔，你這個『自己』不可能加多，反而會減少，並要受對付；因為有些事你的負擔不許可你作，有些事你得受對付，否則沒辦法釋放負擔。所以，負擔是最叫人受對付的。

現今在召會裏的情形，好像已經往負責任的趨向去了，大家沒有甚麼負擔，都像在作大公司的雇員一樣。這是很危險的事；這會叫我們失去主的同在。…每一個事奉主的人，都該接受負擔，都該有負擔（李常受文集一九五七年第二冊，三○三至三○四、三○六、三一○至三一二頁）。

參讀：倪柝聲文集第二輯第二十二冊，第三十一篇；神話語的職事，第十二章。

WEEK 5 — DAY 3

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Morning Nourishment

Isa. 13:1 The burden concerning Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

Zech. 12:1 The burden of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel. Thus declares Jehovah, who stretches forth the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him.

We must receive revelation and light from God. Yet revelation and light alone do not constitute the ministry of the word. One must be renewed in his mind and understanding…Yet even if our mind is clear, we still may not be a minister of the word because we still do not have the proper words…If we do not have the appropriate words, we may speak for hours on the platform without conveying what we know. This is why we have to have words from God.

A burden is the light we receive in the spirit, the thoughts that capture the light, and finally the inner words that supplement the light and thoughts. The last step of the burden is the release of the inner word. The combination of these three things makes up the burden of the prophets. Burden is light plus thoughts plus the inner words. Our burden is to release God’s revelation to man, and God’s revelation is released through the words of revelation that we have received. (CWWN, vol. 53, “The Ministry of God’s Word,” pp. 195, 197)

Todays Reading

The greatest problem in…the ministry of the word is not having a burden or, we can say, not receiving a burden or not paying attention to a burden… Those who minister the word may…do so without a burden. The discharge of our burden when we minister the word does not depend on how well we speak…It is not a matter of how well we speak, the logistics of our presentation, or whether the saints are touched; rather, it is a matter of what will be produced in the saints. If some are not yet saved, we should receive a burden to bear their souls by the Lord’s grace in order to sow the seed of salvation into them when we release the word…If they are saved but do not love the Lord, our burden should be for them to love the Lord. If they love the Lord but are not willing to give themselves to the Lord and receive His dealing, our burden should be for them to willingly give themselves to the Lord and be dealt with by Him.

When we minister the word of God, our concern should be whether we have God’s speaking, not the topic of our speaking. In order to have God’s speaking, the one who ministers the word must have a burden. People may have a negative reaction or be stirred up when they hear a message that is spoken with a burden, but they cannot deny that it is God’s speaking…A message that sounds nice but is void of God’s speaking cannot touch people, turn them inwardly, or satisfy those who are hungry and thirsty, because they are not the words that God wants to speak even if they are from the Bible.

Therefore, speaking should not be easy or cheap…One who ministers the word should bear people’s condition before God. He bears the responsibility of knowing their needs. He needs to sense their condition and know what God wants to speak.

Without a burden, all our activity will be dead and ineffective; with a burden, we will be living and flourishing. Such an outcome is not related to our method but to our person. If there is a burden, our self decreases and is dealt with. It will not increase, because there are things that our burden will not allow us to do, and there are areas that will require our being dealt with before we can release our burden. Hence, having a burden deals with us the most.

It seems as if the brothers in the churches serve according to obligation as employees in a company. They do not seem to have much burden. Such service is dangerous and will cause us to lose the Lord’s presence…Everyone who serves the Lord must receive a burden and have a burden. (CWWL, 1957, vol. 2, “The Administration of the Church and the Ministry of the Word,” pp. 233, 235, 238-239)

Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 42, ch. 31; CWWN, vol. 53, “The Ministry of God’s Word,” ch. 12