第三週■週一

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晨興餧養

加四 22 ～ 24『因爲律法上記着，亞伯拉罕有兩個兒子，一個是出於使女，一個是出於自主的婦人。然而那出於使女的，是按着肉體生的；那出於自主婦人的，是藉着應許生的。這些都是寓意：兩個婦人就是兩約…。』

自主的婦人撒拉，表徵應許的約。（加四 23。）神與亞伯拉罕所立應許的約乃是恩典的約。在那約中神應許要給亞伯拉罕後裔，沒有一點意思要亞伯拉罕作任何事來得到。神要把一些東西作到他裏面，使他能生出一個後裔來完成神的定旨。這是神所作的，不是亞伯拉罕所作的。這就是恩典。撒拉是自主的婦人，是亞伯拉罕正式的妻子，是這恩典之約的象徵。她生以撒不是憑人的力量，而是憑神的恩典。（創世記生命讀經，七五二頁。）

信息選讀

恩典之應許的產品是以撒，他是完成神定旨的後裔。（創十七 19，二一 12 下。）完成神定旨的後裔，一點不差就是基督自己，爲神作到我們裏面，經過我們，又從我們出來。神所作到我們裏面的，帶進那作後裔的基督。（加三 16。）這後裔至終變成了我們的地。…在裏面，我們有基督作生命，我們憑這生命活着；在外面，我們有基督作地，我們在其中活着。這就是召會生活連同基督作我們的生命。這是我們完成神定旨惟一的路。（創世記生命讀經，七五九頁。）

如果我們要得着基督來承受產業，來爲神站在地上，那我們就不能把自己帶進來，我們自己不能動，我們自己不能作，我們自己不能發起，我們自己必須放在一邊。這是最大的試驗，也是最難受的試驗。這是神的僕人們最容易失敗的一點。我們必須記得，在神的工作上，不只不可以犯罪，並且憑着自己去作好也是不可以的。神的問題不只是作得怎麼樣，神的問題更是誰在那裏作。…但願我們被神帶到一個地步，能對主說，『主，我要遵行你的旨意！是你自己在我裏面使我遵行你的旨意，不是我自己在這裏遵行你的旨意！是你，不是我！』

我們必須記得：『耶和華說，我的意念並非你們的意念，你們的道路並非我的道路。天怎樣高過地，照樣我的道路高過你們的道路，我的意念高過你們的意念。』（賽五五 8 ～ 9。）因此，憑着我們自己所作的，卽使從我們看來是不錯的，也不能滿足祂的心。…只有祂自己作的，纔能滿足祂的心。雖然祂降卑祂自己，竟然肯使用我們，但是我們要記得，我們不過是被使用的僕人，我們不過是祂手裏的器皿，我們不能代替祂去作甚麼。我們只能讓神藉着我們去作，我們不能憑着我們自己去作。不錯。後來以撒還是亞伯拉罕生的，但是以撒是神應許的兒子，是神使亞伯拉罕生的兒子，是神藉着他生的兒子。應許的原則和以實瑪利的原則是完全不同的。但願神憐憫我們，拯救我們脫離以實瑪利的原則。

亞伯拉罕是一個信徒，他打算尋求神的喜歡，他打算達到神的目的。神要他生兒子，他就想方法生兒子，這豈不是遵行神的旨意、討神的喜歡麼？這一個難道還錯麼？但是，保羅說，『那出於使女的，是按着肉體生的。』〔加四 23。〕我們是應當遵行神的旨意，但是，問題是誰來遵行神的旨意。如果是憑我們自己遵行神的旨意，結果就生出以實瑪利來。亞伯拉罕所以錯，不是他的目的錯，乃是他的源頭錯了。他的目的是要神的應許得着成功，但是，錯在他用自己的力量去作這件事。（倪柝聲文集第二輯第十五册，七二至七五頁。）

參讀：亞伯拉罕以撒雅各的神，第四章；真理課程三級卷一，第六課。

WEEK 3 — DAY 1

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Morning Nourishment

Gal. 4:22-24 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one of the maidservant and one of the free woman. However the one of the maidservant was born according to the flesh, but the one of the free woman was born through promise. These things are spoken allegorically, for these women are two covenants…

Sarah, the free woman, signifies the covenant of promise (Gal. 4:23). God’s covenant of promise with Abraham was a covenant of grace. In that covenant God promised that He would give Abraham the seed, without having any intention that Abraham needed to do anything in order to have it. God would work something into him that he might bring forth a seed to fulfill His purpose. It would be God’s doing, not Abraham’s. This is grace. Sarah, as the free woman, the proper wife of Abraham, was a symbol of this covenant of grace. She brought forth Isaac not by man’s strength but by God’s grace. (Life- study of Genesis, p. 618)

Todays Reading

The produce of the promise of grace, which is Isaac, is the seed for the fulfillment of God’s purpose (Gen. 17:19; 21:12b). The seed for the fulfillment of God’s purpose is nothing less than Christ Himself wrought by God into, through, and out of us. What God has wrought into us brings in Christ as the seed (Gal. 3:16). This seed will eventually become our land… Within we have Christ as the seed by whom we live, and without we have Christ as the land in whom we live. This is the church life with Christ as our life. This is the only way for us to fulfill God’s purpose. (Life-study of Genesis, p. 623)

If we want Christ to inherit the land and if we want to stand for God, we should not try to bring Him in by ourselves. We should not act or do anything by ourselves. We have to put ourselves aside. This is the greatest and hardest test. This is where God’s servants most frequently fail. We must remember that God’s work must not only be free from sin; it must be free from our own efforts as well. God is not only asking how  well a work is done, but who is doing the work…May God bring us to the point where we can say to the Lord, “I want to do Your will! You are within me and You must enable me to do Your will. I am not here to do Your will by myself! It must be You, not I!”

We must remember that “My thoughts are not your thoughts, / And your ways are not My ways, declares Jehovah. / For as the heavens are higher than the earth, / So are My ways higher than your ways, / And My thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8-9). Therefore, anything we do by ourselves, even though it may be good in our eyes, cannot satisfy God’s heart…The only thing that will satisfy His heart is that which is done by Himself alone. Although He has lowered Himself and is willing to use us, we have to remember that we are merely servants whom He uses as vessels in His hand. We cannot replace Him in anything. We can only allow God to work through us; we cannot do anything by ourselves. Eventually, Isaac was born of Abraham, but Isaac was the son born according to God’s promise. It was God who caused Isaac to be born. God begot this son through Abraham. The principle of promise is totally different from the principle of Ishmael. May the Lord be merciful to us and deliver us from the principle of Ishmael.

Abraham was a believer. He tried to please God and fulfill God’s goal. God wanted him to have a son, and he tried to have a son by himself. Was this not according to God’s will, and did he not do it to please God? Could it be wrong? However, Paul said, “The one of the maidservant was born according to the flesh” [Gal. 4:23]. It is true that God’s will should be done. But the question is who should be the one to do His will. If we try to do His will by ourselves, the result is Ishmael. Abraham was wrong, not in his goal but in his source. His goal was to see God’s promise being fulfilled, but he was wrong to fulfill it by his own strength. (CWWN, vol. 35, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” pp. 55-57)

Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msg. 46; CWWN, vol. 35, ch. 4; Truth Lessons—Level Three, vol. 1, lsn. 6