晨興聖言-基督徒的生活(W1-綱要)

基督徒生活的內在意義

讀經：約十四21、23，林後二10，四6~7

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週　一

壹　基督徒的生活乃是活基督的生活；我們活着應當就是基督，而活基督的路就是愛基督—腓一19~21上，加二20：

一　我們可以憑着愛基督到極點而活基督；我們若不愛基督，就不能活祂；愛祂是將我們全人專注於祂最好的路—林後五14，約壹四19，腓一19~21上，可十二30，啟二4~5，約十四21、23，二一15~17，彼前一8，林前二9，十六22。

二　愛神的意思，是把我們全人，靈、魂、體，連同我們的心、魂、心思和力量（可十二30），都完全擺在祂身上；這就是說，我們全人都讓祂佔有，消失在祂裏面，以致祂成了我們的一切，我們在日常生活裏，實際的與祂是一。

三　當我們愛祂，『那靈參透萬事，甚至神的深奧也參透了』（林前二10）；『參透』這辭原文意，積極地探究，含示準確的知識，不是發現的，乃是探索的；神的靈探索神關於基督的深奧，並在我們靈裏，向我們顯示這深奧，使我們領畧並有分。

四　過基督徒的生活就是愛神的兒子耶穌，好使我們蒙父和子所愛，並享受子向我們的顯現，並父和子的眷臨，使父和子同我們安排相互的住處—約十四21、23。

週　二

五　基督徒的生活就是以神自己作為我們的愛來愛神並彼此相愛的生活；基督曾在這世上活出神就是愛的生活，如今祂是我們的生命，使我們能在這世上活出同樣愛的生活，正如祂在那尋找失喪者並拯救罪人之職事旅程中所是的—約壹四16~19，路十25~37，十九10，弗四20~21，參加五13~15。

貳　過基督徒的生活，就是凡事都要在基督的人位裏行，也就是在基督的面前行—林後二10，四6~7：

一　二章十節的『面』原文與四章六節的『面』相同，指眼睛周圍的部分，其神色乃是內在思想和感覺的標示，將全人表明並陳明出來。

二　作信徒榜樣的使徒保羅（提前一16）是照着基督眼中所表露祂全人的標示，在祂面前生活行動的人。

三　我們的心幾時轉向主，帕子就幾時從我們心裏除去，我們就能用沒有帕子遮蔽的臉，觀看榮耀的主；事實上，我們偏離的心就是帕子；沒有帕子遮蔽的臉，就是沒有帕子遮蔽的心，好觀看顯在耶穌基督面上之神的榮耀—林後三16、18，四6~7，撒上十六7，弗一18上。

四　神的榮耀是顯在基督的面上，而基督的面，就是祂的人位，乃是住在我們靈裏的寶貝—林後四6~7，彼前三4。

五　我們是沒有價值且脆弱的瓦器，但我們靈裏盛裝着無價之寶，就是基督自己的面，基督自己的人位（林後二10，四6~7）；在全宇宙中，沒有甚麼像觀看耶穌的面那麼寶貴（創三二30，出二五30，三三11、14，詩二七4、8，啟二二4）：

1　只有當我們活在基督的面前，注視祂所是的標示，我們纔會感覺到祂之於我們是如此的寶貝；我們有難處只要告訴祂；祂就在我們裏面，面對面與我們同在—腓四6。

2　看見神等於得着神，也就是在神的元素上接受神到我們裏面來變化我們（伯四二5~6，太五8）；我們今天所觀看的這一位神，乃是終極完成的靈，我們可以在我們的靈裏注視祂，好將神的豐富吸收到我們裏面，而逐日在神聖的變化之下（林後三18下，太十四22~23，西四2）。

六　當我們把心轉向在我們靈裏的主，面對面的觀看祂並將祂照耀到別人裏面（賽六十1、5），我們就在變化成祂榮耀形像的過程中，直到那日『我們必要像祂；因為我們必要看見祂，正如祂所是的』—林後三18~四1，約壹三2，啟二二4。

週　三

叁　過基督徒的生活，就是行事為人要與我們所蒙的呼召相配—弗四1~4：

一　行事為人與神的呼召相配之第一項，乃是我們要憑那由神聖屬性所加強之變化過的人性美德，竭力保守那靈的一，就是基督身體的實際—1~4節：

1　在得榮耶穌的靈裏，有耶穌變化過的人性；為着一個身體飲於並湧流出這一位靈，乃是飲於並湧流出那人耶穌的靈，飲於並湧流出耶穌的人性，連同祂被神性所豐富的人性美德，就如卑微、溫柔、恒忍，在愛裏彼此擔就—約七37~39上，林前十二13，徒十六7，弗四2~3。

2　我們若呼求主名，並且從祂得餧養，就會享受為人的耶穌，而祂那被拔高人性裏的一切美德，將在耶穌的靈裏成為我們的，使我們在實際的靈裏實行被恢復的召會生活，而實際的靈乃是基督身體的實際—林前一2，十3~4、17，十二3下、13，十六13，弗四3~4上。

週　四

二　行事為人與神的呼召相配之第二項，乃是我們要在一切事上長到元首基督裏面—15~16節：

1　我們要為着基督身體的建造，在一切事上長到基督裏面，就需要享受基督作我們包羅萬有、宇宙的頂替，為使一個新人得以產生；所以，我們必須『聽祂』，並且『只見耶穌』—可九7~8。

2　凡不是基督的人事物，神都『解雇』；神以基督頂替了在祂舊約經綸裏的一切—一1~8，太十七3~5，西二16~17，來十5~10，十一5~6，參賽二二20~25。

3　當神創造我們的時候，祂『雇』了我們；當祂把我們擺在十字架上，與基督同釘的時候，祂就『解雇』了我們；而當祂使我們與基督一同復活的時候，藉着使我們成為神人的新種類，神的新發明，作神團體的傑作，祂就『重新雇用』我們，將我們帶回到祂原初的心意，就是創造我們，為使祂得着榮耀，得着祂團體的彰顯—創一26，加二20，弗二6、10、15，賽四三7。

三　行事為人與神的呼召相配之第三項，乃是我們要照着那在耶穌身上是實際者而學基督—弗四20~24：

1　『那在耶穌身上是實際者』是指耶穌一生的真實光景，如四福音書所記載的；耶穌在生活中總是在神裏面，同着神並為着神行事；神是在祂的生活中，並且祂與神是一—弗四20~21。

2　在祂地上的生活中，祂設立了一個榜樣，如福音書中所啟示的；此後，祂釘死並復活成了賜生命的靈，使祂可以進到我們裏面，作我們的生命；我們照着祂的榜樣跟祂學，不是憑我們天然的生命，乃是憑祂在復活裏作我們的生命—林前十五45下，西三4。

3　當我們愛主，接觸祂，向祂禱告，我們就自然而然的照着福音書中所描繪的模子、模型、榜樣活祂；這樣，我們就被形成、被模成這個模子的形像—這就是學基督的意思—太十一29，羅八29。

四　行事為人與神的呼召相配之第四項，乃是我們要活在愛和光中—弗五2、8：

1　我們需要作神性情的有分者，享受者（彼後一4）；神的性情就是神的所是—神是靈（約四24），是愛（約壹四8、16），也是光（一5）；靈是指神人位的性質，愛是指神素質的性質，光是指神彰顯的性質。

2　我們需要花彀多個人的時間與主同在，在靈裏與祂私下交通，使我們能被祂愛的素質所充滿，使祂藉着我們牧養人，並被祂照耀的元素所充滿，使人在我們身上看見祂—約四24，路十五20，太五15~16。

五　行事為人與神的呼召相配之第五項，乃是我們要憑着在靈裏被充滿並滿溢基督而活—弗五18：

1　彼此對說、歌唱、頌詠、感謝神並憑着敬畏基督彼此服從，不僅是在靈裏被充滿的流出，也是在靈裏被充滿的路—19~21節。

2　在靈裏被充滿，就是被基督的豐富所充滿，而成為基督的豐滿，基督的滿溢；我們呼求主並禱讀主的話，就能不斷接受祂作恩典，恩上加恩，而成為祂的豐滿，祂的滿溢—三8，一23，三19下，羅十12~13，弗六17~18，約一16。

週　五

肆　過基督徒的生活，就是我們要接受聖靈的管治：

一　藉着我們接受聖靈的管治，神要把我們從這器皿倒在那器皿裏，除淨我們天然外面之人的渣滓、糟粕，以除去我們的味道，改變我們的氣味，直到我們有基督純淨的味道，散發出基督純淨的馨香之氣—耶四八11，林後二14~15，歌四16，王下四8~9：

1　『萬靈的父』藉着試煉和責打，管教我們，『使我們有分於祂的聖別』—來十二4~13。

2　那些從未受過試煉和責打的，就是沒有從這器皿倒在那器皿裏；因此，他們天然的個性，他們外面的人，他們的己，其渣滓、糟粕、沉澱物的原味尚存，香氣未變—耶四八11，羅八28~29，歌四16。

二　馬利亞有一玉瓶盛滿了一磅至貴的真哪噠香膏；當她打破玉瓶，把膏澆在主的頭上時，『屋裏就滿了膏的香氣』—約十二2~3，可十四3，參歌一12。

三　玉瓶表徵我們外面的人，需要打破纔能讓裏面的人能彀沖得出來；主多方地在我們裏面並在我們身上作工，目的就是要打破這瓦器，這玉瓶，這外殼—林後四7，約十二3、24，羅八28~29。

週　六

四　我們天然的所是算不得甚麼；惟有那靈構成到我們這人裏面的纔算數；聖靈的管治拆毀我們天然的性情和習慣，好在我們身上有聖靈的組織，使我們變為成熟、甘甜；神安排我們環境中的一切，來拆毀我們天然的所是，好在我們裏面形成新的性情、新的品格和新的屬性—約三6，林後五17，加六15。

五　不能被破碎有兩個主要原因：

1　一個人不能被破碎，是因為活在黑暗裏；對於一切發生在他身上的事，他總是怪別人或怪環境；他沒有啟示，看不見神的手，看不見是神在對付他—參伯十13，弗三9。

2　一個人不能被破碎，是因為太自愛；我們必須求神除去我們愛自己的心；所有的誤會，所有的不滿，只有一個原因，就是我們私下的自愛。

六　我們需要看見，我們所經歷的一切事，只有一個目的—叫神的生命能藉着我們得釋放並在我們身上得彰顯；盼望我們外面的人被拆毀到一個地步，讓裏面的人能出得來、能看得見；這是寶貴的事，這就是事奉主之人的路—約十二24~26，林後四12。

關於外面之人的破碎與靈的出來以及神的彰顯之交通

我們必須認識神今天把我們放在世上是爲甚麼。我頂直的說，神把我們放在世上，乃是要我們在罪人、聖徒、世人裏面，作出飢渴慕義的心。我們出去作工，必須能彀在人裏面造出飢渴的心。在你裏面必須有一種說不出的新鮮、能力、滋潤和供應。人遇見你，就不能不去尋求神。人遇見你，與你來往時，就因你產生這種渴望尋求神的感覺。如果人與你經常見面，和你來往，卻不能產生羨慕神的心，那就是你的失敗。或者你讀經禱告、事奉、傳福音，而不能產生那種叫人飢渴的能力，那也是你的失敗。（倪柝聲文集第二輯第二十二册，一二頁）

王下四章說到那個書念的婦人接待以利沙的事，聖經記載說，『一日，以利沙經過書念，在那裏有一個大戶的婦人，強留他喫飯。此後，以利沙每從那裏經過，就轉進去喫飯。婦人對丈夫說，我看出那常從我們這裏經過的是聖別的神人。』（8 ～ 9。）以利沙經過書念，沒有講過一篇道，沒有行過一件神蹟，他每從那裏經過，就是進去喫飯。那個女人憑着他的喫飯，就認識他是一個神人。這就是以利沙所給人的印象。

今天我們也要問一問自己，我們所給人的印象是甚麼，或者說，從我們身上出去的是甚麼東西。我們一再題起，我們外面的人必須被破碎。如果不是這樣，我們所給人的印象，就都是我們那個外面的人。我們每一次到人面前去的時候，或者叫人心裏難受，覺得你是一個愛自己的人，覺得你是一個剛硬的人，覺得你是一個驕傲的人；或者你給人一個另外的印象，叫人覺得你是一個聰明的人，覺得你是一個口才非常好的人。也許你是給人一個所謂好的印象。但是，這一個印象能滿足神的心麼？這一個印象能滿足召會的需要麼？神不滿意這個，召會也不需要這個。

…我們外面的人必須被破碎。如果外面的人沒有被破碎，我們的靈就不能出去，我們就不能給人一個靈的印象。

… 給人印象的都是我們身上最強的東西。（ 倪柝聲文集第三輯第八册， 人的破碎與靈的出來， 二七三至二七四，二七二頁）

 

Week One

The Intrinsic Significance of the Christian Life

 

Hymns: E1240

Scripture Reading: John 14:21, 23; 2 Cor. 2:10; 4:6-7

§ Day 1

I. The Christian life is a life of living Christ; our living should be Christ, and the way to live Christ is to love Christ—Phil. 1:19-21a; Gal. 2:20:

A. We can live Christ by loving Christ to the uttermost; if we do not love Christ, we cannot live Him, and loving Him is the best way to concentrate our entire being on Him—2 Cor. 5:14; 1 John 4:19; Phil. 1:19-21a; Mark 12:30; Rev. 2:4-5; John 14:21, 23; 21:15-17; 1 Pet. 1:8; 1 Cor. 2:9; 16:22.

B. To love God means to set our entire being—spirit, soul, and body with the heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30)—absolutely on Him, that is, to let our entire being be occupied by Him and lost in Him, so that He becomes everything to us and we are one with Him practically in our daily life.

C. When we love Him, “the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God” (1 Cor. 2:10); the Greek word for searches is used in reference to active research, implying accurate knowledge gained not by discovering but by exploring; the Spirit of God explores the depths of God concerning Christ and shows them to us in our spirit for our realization and participation.

D. To live the Christian life is to love Jesus the Son of God so that we will be loved by the Father and the Son and enjoy the Son's manifestation to us and Their visitation to us for Them to make a mutual abode with us— John 14:21, 23.

§ Day 2

E. The Christian life is a life of loving God and loving one another with God Himself as our love; Christ lived in this world a life of God as love, and He is now our life that we may live the same life of love in this world and be the same as He is in His lost-one-seeking and sinner-saving ministry journey—1 John 4:16-19; Luke 10:25-37; 19:10; Eph. 4:20-21; cf. Gal. 5:13-15.

II. To live the Christian life is to do all things in the person of Christ, in the face of Christ—2 Cor. 2:10; 4:6-7:

A. The Greek word for person is literally “face,” as in 4:6; it refers to the part around the eyes, the look as the index of the inward thoughts and feelings, which shows forth and manifests the whole person.

B. The apostle Paul, who was a pattern for the believers (1 Tim. 1:16), was one who lived and acted in the presence of Christ, according to the index of His whole person, expressed in His eyes.

C. Whenever our heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away from our heart, and we can behold the Lord of glory with an unveiled face; actually, our turned-away heart is the veil; an unveiled face is an unveiled heart to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ—2 Cor. 3:16, 18; 4:6-7; 1 Sam. 16:7; Eph. 1:18a.

D. The glory of God is in the face of Christ, and His face, His person, is the indwelling treasure in our spirit—2 Cor. 4:6-7; 1 Pet. 3:4. 

E. We are earthen vessels who are worthless and fragile, but within our spirit we contain a priceless treasure, the face, the person, of Christ Himself (2 Cor. 2:10; 4:6-7); in the whole universe there is nothing so precious as to behold the face of Jesus (Gen. 32:30; Exo. 25:30; 33:11, 14; Psa. 27:4, 8; Rev. 22:4):

1. It is only when we are living in His presence, looking at the index of His being,
that we will sense that He is such a treasure to us; if we have some problem, we just need to tell Him; He is right within us, and He is with us face to face— Phil. 4:6.

2. Seeing God equals gaining God, which is to receive God in His element into us to transform us (Job 42:5-6; Matt. 5:8); the very God whom we look at today is the consummated Spirit, and we can look at Him in our spirit to absorb the riches of God into our being and be under the divine transformation day by day (2 Cor. 3:18b; Matt. 14:22-23; Col. 4:2).

F. As we turn our heart to the Lord in our spirit to behold Him face to face and beam Him into others (Isa. 60:1, 5), we are in the process of being transformed into His glorious image unto the day when “we will be like Him because we will see Him even as He is”—2 Cor. 3:18—4:1; 1 John 3:2; Rev. 22:4.

§ Day 3

III. To live the Christian life is to walk worthily of the calling with which we were called—Eph. 4:1-4:

A. The first item of a walk worthy of God's calling is for us to be diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit as the reality of the Body of Christ, with the transformed human virtues strengthened by and with the divine
attributes—vv. 1-4:
1. In the Spirit of the glorified Jesus, there is the transformed humanity of Jesus; to drink of and flow out the one Spirit for the one Body is to drink of and flow out the Spirit of the Man Jesus, to drink of and flow out the humanity of Jesus with His divinely enriched human virtues of lowliness, meekness, and long- suffering for bearing one another in love—John 7:37-39a; 1 Cor. 12:13; Acts 16:7; Eph. 4:2-3.

2. If we call on the name of the Lord and feed upon Him, we will enjoy Jesus as a man, and all the virtues of His uplifted humanity will be ours in the Spirit of Jesus for the practice of the recovered church life in the Spirit of reality as the reality of the Body of Christ—1 Cor. 1:2; 10:3-4, 17; 12:3b, 13; 16:13; Eph. 4:3-4a.

§ Day 4

B. The second item of a walk worthy of God's calling is for us to grow up into Christ the Head in all things—vv. 15-16:

1. In order to grow up into Christ in all things for the building up of His Body, we need to enjoy Christ as our all-inclusive, universal replacement for the producing of the one new man, so we must “hear Him” and see “Jesus only”— Mark 9:7-8.

2. Whatever or whoever is not Christ, God “fires”; God has replaced everything in His Old Testament economy with Christ—1:1-8; Matt. 17:3-5; Col. 2:16-17; Heb. 10:5-10; 11:5-6; cf. Isa. 22:20-25.

3. When God created us, He “hired” us; when He put us on the cross, crucifying us with Christ, He “fired” us; when He resurrected us together with Christ, He “re-hired” us by making us a new species of God-men, a new invention of God as His corporate masterpiece, bringing us back to His original intention of creating us for His glory, His corporate expression—Gen. 1:26; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 2:6, 10, 15; Isa. 43:7.

C. The third item of a walk worthy of God's calling is for us to learn Christ as the reality that is in Jesus—Eph. 4:20-24:

1. The reality is in Jesus refers to the actual condition of the life of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels; Jesus lived a life in which He did everything in God, with God, and for God; God was in His living, and He was one with God— vv. 20-21.

2. In His life on earth He set up a pattern, as revealed in the four Gospels; then He was crucified and resurrected to become the life-giving Spirit so that He might enter into us to be our life; we learn from Him, according to His example, not by our natural life but by Him as our life in resurrection—1 Cor. 15:45b; Col. 3:4.

3. As we love the Lord, contact Him, and pray to Him, we automatically live Him according to the mold, the form, the pattern, described in the Gospels; in this way we are shaped, conformed, to the image of this mold—this is what it means to learn Christ—Matt. 11:29; Rom. 8:29.

D. The fourth item of a walk worthy of God's calling is for us to live in love and light—Eph. 5:2, 8:

1. We need to be partakers, enjoyers, of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4); the divine
nature is what God is—God is Spirit (John 4:24), God is love (1 John 4:8, 16), and God is light (1:5); Spirit is the nature of God's person, love is the nature of God's essence, and light is the nature of God's expression.

2. We all need to spend an adequate amount of personal time with the Lord to privately fellowship with Him in our spirit so that we can be filled with His loving essence for Him to shepherd others through us and so that we can be filled with His shining element for others to see Him in us—John 4:24; Luke 15:20; Matt. 5:15-16.

E. The fifth item of a walk worthy of God's calling is for us to live by being filled in spirit to overflow with Christ—Eph. 5:18:

1. Speaking, singing, psalming, giving thanks to God, and subjecting ourselves to one another in the fear of Christ are not only the outflow of being filled in spirit but also the way to be filled in spirit—vv. 19-21.

2. To be filled in spirit is to be filled with the riches of Christ to become the fullness of Christ, the overflow of Christ; by calling on the Lord and pray- reading His Word, we can continually receive Him as grace upon grace to become His fullness, His overflow—3:8; 1:23; 3:19b; Rom. 10:12-13; Eph. 6:17-18; John 1:16.

§ Day 5

IV. To live the Christian life is for us to accept the discipline of the Holy Spirit:

A. God wants to take away our taste and change our scent by our accepting the discipline of the Holy Spirit, which is God's emptying us from vessel to vessel for the removal of the lees, the dregs, of our natural outer man until we have the pure taste of Christ and exude the pure fragrance of Christ— Jer. 48:11; 2 Cor. 2:14-15; S. S. 4:16; 2 Kings 4:8-9:

1. “The Father of spirits” disciplines us through trials and chastisement “that we might partake of His holiness”—Heb. 12:4-13.

2. Those who have never gone through trials and chastisement have not been emptied from vessel to vessel; thus, the taste of the lees, the dregs, the sediment, of their natural disposition, their outer man, their self, remains within them and their scent is not changed—Jer. 48:11; Rom. 8:28-29; S. S. 4:16.

B. Mary had an alabaster flask filled with a pound of ointment of very valuable pure nard; when she broke the flask and poured it out on the Lord, “the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment”—John 12:2-3; Mark 14:3; cf. S. S. 1:12.

C. The alabaster flask signifies our outer man, which needs to be broken so that the inner man can break forth; the Lord works in us and on us in so many different ways for the purpose of breaking the earthen vessel, the alabaster flask, the outer shell—2 Cor. 4:7; John 12:3, 24; Rom. 8:28-29.

§ Day 6

D. What we are by nature means nothing; only what the Spirit constitutes into our being counts; the discipline of the Holy Spirit destroys our natural disposition and habits and brings in the constitution of the Holy Spirit in maturity and sweetness; God orders everything in our environment to tear down what we are naturally so that He may form in us a new disposition, new character, and new attributes—John 3:6; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15.

E. There are two main reasons for not being broken:

1. A person is not broken because he is living in darkness; in all that happens to him, he puts all the blame on other people or the environment; he has no revelation of God's hand and that God is the One who is dealing with him—cf. Job 10:13; Eph. 3:9.

2. A person is not broken because he loves himself too much; we have to ask God to remove self-love from us; all misunderstandings and dissatisfactions arise from only one thing—secret self-love.

F. We need to realize that everything through which we pass has only one purpose—that God's life would be released through us and expressed in us; may our outer man be broken to such an extent that the inner man can be released and expressed; this is precious, and this is the way of the servants of the Lord—John 12:24-26; 2 Cor. 4:12.

Fellowship concerning the Breaking of the Outer Man for the Release of the Spirit and the Expression of God

We have to know why God has put us in the world. He has put us in the world so that our presence would create a hunger and thirst for righteousness in sinners, believers, and the world. In our work, we have to create a hunger within others. There must be an enigmatic freshness, power, nourishment, and supply within us that will drive others to seek after God by our presence. Others should have a desire to seek after God as a result of meeting us and speaking to us. If we always see others and communicate with them without creating a desire within them for God, it means that we have failed. If our reading of the Bible, prayer, service, and gospel preaching do not produce such a powerful hunger within man, our work has failed. (The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 42, p. 238)

Second Kings 4 gives us the account of the Shunammite woman's reception of Elisha. The Bible says that “one day Elisha was passing through Shunem; and there was a wealthy woman there, who compelled him to have a meal. So whenever he passed through, he would turn aside and have a meal there. And she said to her husband, Now I know that this man who continually passes through unto us is a holy man of God” (vv. 8-9). Elisha passed through Shunem. He did not give one message or perform one miracle. Every time he passed through, he turned aside and had a meal there. The woman identified him as a man of God by the way he took his meal. This was the impression that Elisha gave to others.

Today we have to ask ourselves, “What is the impression that we give to others? What is the thing that comes out of us?” We have spoken repeatedly that the outer man must be broken. If the outer man is not broken, the impression that others receive from us will be nothing but the outer man. Every time we contact others, we may give them an unpleasant feeling that we are self-loving, stubborn, and proud. Or we may give them an impression that we are clever and extremely eloquent. Perhaps we give others a
so-called good impression. But does this impression satisfy God? Does it meet the church's need? God is not satisfied, and the church has no need of our so-called good impressions.

…If the outer man is not broken, our spirit will not be released, and the impression we give to others will not be an impression of the spirit.

…What generates an impression in others is the strongest spots we have in ourselves.

(The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 54, “The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit,” pp. 238, 237)