晨興聖言-經歷、享受並彰顯基督(W17-5)

第十七週.週五

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晨興餧養

羅九23 『且要在那些蒙憐憫、早豫備得榮耀的器皿上,彰顯祂榮耀的豐富。』

加二20 『我已經與基督同釘十字架;現在活著的,不再是我,乃是基督在我裏面活著…。』 

神在創造人以後,就把人放在生命樹跟前。這生命樹好作食物。在約翰六章,主耶穌說祂是可喫的,祂是生命的糧。(35。)所以,我們都能喫祂。此外,我們喫甚麼就裝甚麼,因為所喫的東西進到我們這人裏面。…我們所喫的不僅裝在我們裏面,還消化吸收成為我們的成分,甚至變成我們。所以營養學家說,『你喫甚麼,就是甚麼。』我們不僅是盛裝的器皿,也是喫的器皿,消化我們所喫之物的器皿。神切望我們喫祂。如果我們告訴神,我們要喫祂,祂會很歡喜。我們是喫祂、消化吸收祂的器皿。最終神要成為我們。讚美主!我們是被造的器皿,來盛裝神作生命。

羅馬九章二十一、二十三節說,我們是貴重的器皿,是蒙憐憫、早豫備得榮耀的器皿。這是我們的分。…有一天我要滿了榮耀,且要在榮耀裏彰顯榮耀的神。我們都是蒙憐憫、早豫備得榮耀的器皿。(創世記生命讀經,一五二頁。)

信息選讀

新約啟示我們,神要一個愛祂、把自己向祂敞開的器皿。…你必須領悟,如果你愛召會,卻不把自己完全敞開,你就仍然喜愛為主作些甚麼。這是出於墮落的性情,這就是天然的生命帶著墮落的性情。正當的光景乃是:我不需要作甚麼,但我需要愛主愛到極點,一直向祂大大的敞開。…倘若你以此為祕訣,再去讀保羅所寫的書信,你就會看見這是他書信裏真正的本質。

當你進到我所交通的經歷裏,你會跪下來敬拜主,說,『主,現在我曉得了,我必須愛你,必須盡力事奉你,我必須有一顆敞開的心,向著你是一個敞開的人。主阿,因著你的憐憫和說話,你不要我作甚麼。主阿,我在這裏。』這真是美妙,這正是主今天所要的。…器皿只能盛裝東西,燈臺只能為著添油把自己敞開。…燈臺甚麼也不作,只是把自己敞開,接受油並照耀。它接受了加添的油,就有所彰顯,發出光來。事實上,燈臺就是真正盛裝油的器皿。

你愛主,你保守自己一直向祂敞開,然而你不作甚麼,祂要作成一切。這不但是可能的,也是主所要求的。主要求你停下你的作為,但祂不要你打盹或漠不關心;祂要你非常儆醒。要愛祂,把自己一直向祂敞開,天天告訴祂說,『主,我愛你。主,我在這裏向你敞開。主,憐憫我,因著你的恩典,我不喜歡我的全人有那一部分向你是關閉的,我喜歡完完全全的向你敞開。』

如果你真進到聖經裏面,就會看見所啟示的基本路線乃是這樣:你是神所創造的器皿。作為一個滿了生命的器皿,你必須運用你的情感來愛祂,要全心愛主你的神。(太二二37。)你是一個器皿,不需要作甚麼,但你必須敞開自己。我們都懂得自由意志的原則。如果你不愛祂,主不會強迫你來愛祂。如果你自己不敞開,主絕不會強迫你敞開。因此你必須運用你的自由意志來愛主,並使自己敞開。(李常受文集一九八○年第一冊,三二八至三三○、三三三至三三四頁。)

參讀:成全訓練,第二十二章。

WEEK 17 — DAY 5

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Morning Nourishment

Rom. 9:23 In order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory.

Gal. 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me…

After God created man, He put him in front of the tree of life. The tree of life was good for food. In John 6 the Lord Jesus said that He was edible, that He was the bread of life (v. 35). Therefore, we all can eat Him. Furthermore, we contain whatever we eat because it comes into our being…Whatever we eat is not only contained in us but is assimilated into our very element. It even becomes us. Therefore, dietitians say, “You are what you eat.” We are not only containing vessels; we are eating vessels, vessels that assimilate what we eat. God is desirous of being eaten by us. If we tell God that we want to eat Him, He will be very happy. We are His eating and assimilating vessels.
Eventually, God will become us. Praise the Lord! We were made vessels to contain God as life.

Romans 9:21 and 23 tell us that we are vessels unto honor, vessels of mercy prepared unto glory. This is our portion…One day I will be filled with glory and I will be in glory to express the God of glory. We all are vessels of mercy prepared unto glory. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 121-122)

Today's Reading

The New Testament shows us that God wants a vessel loving Him and keeping itself open to Him. You have to realize that if you love the church but do not open yourself up absolutely, you will still love to do something for the Lord. This is of the fallen nature. This is the natural life with the fallen nature. The proper situation is that I do not need to do anything, yet I need to love the Lord to the uttermost, keeping myself wide open all the time to Him…If you take this as a key and read once again the Epistles written by Paul, you will see that this is the genuine substance in his Epistles.

When you enter into the experience of my fellowship, you will kneel down and worship the Lord. You would say, “Lord, now I know. I must love You. I must serve You to the uttermost. I must have an open heart with an open being to You. O Lord, by Your mercy and Your speaking, You do not want me to do anything. Lord, I am here.” This would be wonderful. This is what the Lord wants today…A vessel can only contain something, and the lampstand can only keep itself open for the refilling of the oil…The lampstand does not do anything. It just opens itself to receive the oil and to shine. It receives the filling oil, and then it expresses something; it shines. Actually, a lampstand is a real vessel containing oil.

You love the Lord, and you keep yourself open to Him all the time. Yet you would not do anything, but He would do everything. Not only is this possible, but this is also required by the Lord. The Lord requires you to stop your doing. But He does not want you to be sleepy or indifferent; He wants you to be very alert. Love Him and keep yourself open to Him. Tell Him every day, “Lord, I love You. Lord, I am here open to You. Lord, have mercy upon me, and by Your grace I do not like to have any part of my being closed to You. I like to keep myself entirely and thoroughly open to You.”

If you really get into the Bible to see what is revealed as an underlying line, it is this: you are a vessel created by God. As a vessel full of life, you need to exercise your emotion to love Him. Love the Lord your God with all your heart (Matt. 22:37). As a vessel, you do not need to do anything, but you need to keep yourself open. We all know the principle of the free will. If you do not love Him, the Lord would not force you to love Him. If you do not keep yourself open, the Lord would never force you to keep yourself open. So you must exercise your free will to love the Lord and to keep yourself open. (CWWL, 1980, vol. 1, “Perfecting Training,” pp. 243-244, 246-247)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1980, vol. 1, “Perfecting Training,” ch. 22

 

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