第三週■週三

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晨興餧養

加五 4『你們這要靠律法得稱義的，是與基督隔絕，從恩典中墜落了。』

 四 30『…「把使女和她兒子趕出去，因爲使女的兒子，絕不可與自主婦人的兒子一同承受產業。」』

神給亞伯拉罕應許是在創世記十二章二節、七節，十三章十五至十七節，十五章四至五節；並且神與亞伯拉罕立約是在十五章七至二十一節。按照神的心意，應許的約在先。神並沒有意思要帶進律法，要人努力遵守來完成祂的定旨。神原初的心意乃是要將祂自己作到人裏面，藉着人來完成祂的定旨。

新約告訴我們，人得救之後需要傳福音並結果子。…是的，你可以用夏甲得人，但所得來的是甚麼樣的人？他們不是以撒，乃是以實瑪利。按照新約，正確的結果子並傳福音乃是憑着裏面生命的湧流，憑着神把基督作到我們裏面，經過我們，再從我們出去。這意思就是，正確的傳福音乃是憑着基督作我們的恩典。（創世記生命讀經，七五三、七五六頁。）

信息選讀

只要我們還有力量產生以實瑪利，神就不能作甚麼。以實瑪利產生以後，神要離開一段時間。當亞伯拉罕九十九歲的時候，照他的想法，自己如同已死。〔羅四 19。〕…羅馬四章也指出，撒拉的生育已經斷絕。亞伯拉罕和撒拉都深信他們已經完了，自己不能再作甚麼了。就在那時，神來了。

所有復興佈道家都鼓動人，叫人爲基督活着，爲基督工作。但我們的職事卻告訴人停止憑自己過基督徒生活，停止用屬世的方法作基督徒工作。…若有人停下來，不憑自己過基督徒的生活，或者不靠屬世的方法爲主作工，他就有福了。要停下你基督徒生活中自己的努力，並基督徒工作上天然的熱心，是不容易的。…願意停下來的人有福了，因爲你一停下，神就來了。…我們人天然的生命一結束，神的生命就開始。

亞伯拉罕八十六歲的時候，他自己的力量仍舊太大，使神又等了十三年。…你禱告求神來作些甚麼，神卻盼望你停下自己。…當亞伯拉罕在地上忙碌的時候，神也許看着他說，『可憐的亞伯拉罕，你不必這麼忙碌。你可不可以停下，讓我來？…』神等候直到亞伯拉罕如同死人，失去了功能。然後祂來到，並且能說，『現在是我的開始，現在是我開始作一點事的時候了。』

肉體努力的產品是以實瑪利，以實瑪利是神所棄絕的。（創十七18～19，二一10～12上，加四30。）以實瑪利不但是神棄絕的，也是阻撓神顯現的。我們今天的經歷告訴我們同樣的事。我們的以實瑪利打斷了我們與神的交通，並使我們無法經歷神的顯現。由此可見，問題不在於我們的所作或所是，完全在於我們有沒有神的同在。…我們必須忘記我們的行爲和工作，而顧到神的顯出。當我們有神的顯出，我們就是在恩典中，在恩典的約中。但今天大多數的基督徒只顧到他們的行爲和工作，而不顧到神的顯出和同在。他們也許生出許多以實瑪利，卻沒有神的同在。我們所需要的是神的同在。我們所需要的不是我們外面的工作所得外面的果子，而是我們的神在裏面的顯現。你裏面有神的同在麼？這是最重要的試驗。（創世記生命讀經，七五七至七五九頁。）

參讀：創世記生命讀經，第四十六篇；真理課程三級卷一，第六課。

WEEK 3 — DAY 3

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Morning Nourishment

Gal. 5:4 You have been brought to nought, separated from Christ, you who are being justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

     4:30 …”Cast out the maidservant and her son, for the son of the maidservant shall by no means inherit with the son of the free woman.”

The promise was given in Genesis 12:2, 7; 13:15-17; and 15:4-5, and the covenant was made in 15:7-21. According to God’s intention, the covenant of promise came first. God had no intention of bringing in the law and of having man endeavor to keep it for the fulfillment of His purpose. What He originally intended to do was to work Himself into man to fulfill His purpose through man.

The New Testament tells us that after we are saved, we need to preach the gospel and bear fruit…Yes, you may use Hagar to win souls, but what kind of souls will you win? They will not be Isaac but Ishmael. According to the New Testament, the proper fruit-bearing and gospel preaching are by the overflow of the inner life, by God working Christ into, through, and out of us. This means that the proper gospel preaching is by Christ as grace to us. (Life- study of Genesis, pp. 619, 621)

Todays Reading

As long as we still have the strength to produce an Ishmael, God cannot do anything. After the producing of that Ishmael, He will stay away for a period of time. When Abraham was ninety-nine years of age, according to his figuration, he was a dead person [Rom. 4:19]…Romans 4 also indicates that Sarah was out of function. Both Abraham and Sarah were fully convinced that they were finished and could do nothing themselves. At that point God came in.

All the revival preachers stir up people, telling them to live for Christ and to work for Him. But in our ministry we are saying that you have to stop living a Christian life by yourselves and doing a Christian work with worldly means…If anyone will stop trying to live a Christian life by himself or to work for the Lord by worldly means, blessed is he. It is not easy to stop your self- effort in the Christian life and your natural zeal in Christian work. Although it is easy to be called by God, it is most difficult to stop your natural zeal… Blessed is the one who will stop, for when you stop, God comes in…When our human life ends, the divine life begins.

When Abraham was eighty-six years of age, he still had too much of his own strength, causing God to wait for another thirteen years…While you are praying that God will do something, God is praying that you will stop…While Abraham was so busy on earth, God might have looked at him and said, “Poor Abraham, you don’t need to be that busy. Won’t you stop and let Me come in?…” God waited until Abraham was a dying person out of function. Then He came in and could say, “Now is My start. Now is My time to begin something.”

The produce of the effort of the flesh was Ishmael, but Ishmael was rejected by God (Gen. 17:18-19; 21:10-12a; Gal. 4:30). Not only was Ishmael rejected by God, but he also frustrated God’s appearing. Our experience today tells us the same thing, for our Ishmael breaks our fellowship with God and keeps us from God’s appearing. We see by this that it is not a matter of what we do or of what we are; it is altogether a matter of whether or not we have God’s presence…We must forget our doing and our working and take care of God’s appearing. When God’s appearing is with us, we are in the grace, in the covenant of grace. But most Christians today care only for their doing and work, not for God’s appearing and presence. Although they may produce many Ishmaels, they do not have God’s presence. What we need is God’s presence. What we need is not the outward fruit of our outward work but the inward appearing of our God. Do you have the presence of God within you? This is a most crucial test. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 622-623)

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