晨興聖言-話語的職事...(W3-3)

第三週 週三

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晨興餧養

弗一23          召會是祂的身體,是那在萬有中充滿萬有者的豐滿。

林前十二27    你們就是基督的身體,並且各自作肢體。

十17     因着只有一個餅,我們雖多,還是一個身體…。

 

每一個要有屬靈爭戰的人,都必須先認識身體。可說沒有一件事,需要我們認識身體,比屬靈爭戰更急切。因為屬靈爭戰,並不是個人的,乃是身體的。不是我們單個信徒能夠和仇敵爭戰,乃是整個身體纔能對付仇敵。所以我們要說到屬靈爭戰,就不能不先來看認識身體。

我們這裏所說的身體,乃是指着基督那奧祕的身體,就是召會說的。這身體,乃是基督那在我們眾人裏面的生命,與我們調和而成的。當我們的生命經歷還在第二、三層裏面的時候,我們還是活在自己的生命裏,對主調成這身體的生命就無法認識。乃是當我們的己生命徹底解決了,有了過約但河的經歷,而進入第四層了,我們纔能摸着這身體生命的實際,而認識這身體(李常受文集一九五三年第三冊,六四九頁)。

信息選讀

我們每一個得救的人,都是基督身體上的一個肢體。那麼,我們每一個人裏面的生命,是一個肢體的生命,還是一個身體的生命?聖經和經歷都證明,我們每個人雖是基督的一個肢體,但我們每個人裏面所有的,絕不是肢體的生命,乃是身體的生命。我們身體上所有的肢體,都是共同有身體裏面那一個生命。…照樣,在基督奧祕的身體上,任何一個肢體,如果和身體是聯貫的,是有交通的,就他的生命必是身體的生命;身體的生命,也必是他的生命。他離開眾肢體不行,眾肢體離開他也不行。因為他和眾肢體裏面所有的生命,都是一個身體的生命,是無法分別,更是無法分開的。就是這個生命,是把我們眾人聯起來,成為基督的身體的;說得更準確、更透徹一點,是和我們眾人調成基督的身體的。

但這件事,在我們還未把自己身上的難處對付乾淨以前,是沒法清楚經歷到的。我們若是還憑肉體活着,還活在自己裏面,還憑天然的能力事奉神,基督在我們裏面那身體的生命,就沒法彰顯出來,我們也就沒法認識這身體。人越憑肉體活着,就越不覺得需要這身體的扶持。人越憑己意而行,就越不覺得需要召會的托住。人越憑天然事奉,也就越不覺得需要肢體的配搭。乃是一個人肉體受了對付,己意受了破碎,天然生命受了擊打,然後他裏面的生命纔給他一個感覺,叫他覺得,他不過是身體上的一個肢體,在他裏面的生命是沒有法子獨立的,所以這生命也就要求他,帶着他,去和別的肢體交通,和別的肢體聯結。到這時候,他纔開始認識一點身體,也纔有資格來摸屬靈的爭戰。

所以一面說,人要有屬靈的爭戰,來解決神的難處,必須先對付肉體、自己和魂生命,先解決自己的難處;另一面說,人要有屬靈的爭戰,必須先認識身體,而要認識身體,活在身體裏,也必須先對付肉體、自己和魂生命。所以不論是從爭戰一面說,或是從認識一面說,都需要人經過前三層的對付,脫離了肉體、自己和魂生命,而達到第四層的生命經歷纔可以(李常受文集一九五三年第三冊,六四九至六五一頁)。

參讀:李常受文集一九七三至一九七四年第二冊,召會事奉的基本因素,第三章

WEEK 3 — DAY 3

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Morning Nourishment

Eph. 1:22-23 …The church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.

1 Cor. 12:27 Now you are the Body of Christ, and members individually.

         10:17 Seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one Body…

Everyone who wants to engage in spiritual warfare must first know the Body. Nothing requires us to know the Body so urgently as spiritual warfare, because spiritual warfare is not an individual matter but a Body matter. No individual believer can fight with the enemy; it takes the whole Body. If we wish to learn spiritual warfare, we must first know the Body.

The Body referred to here is the mystical Body of Christ, the church. This Body is formed by Christ as life in each of us, Christ mingled with us. During the second and third stages of our experience of life, we are still living in our own life; therefore, we cannot know this life that mingles with us to form the Body. Only when our self life has been utterly dealt with and we have the experience of passing through the Jordan and entering into the fourth stage will we be able to touch the reality of this life of the Body and come to know the Body. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 3, “The Experience of Life,” p. 479)

Todays Reading

Everyone who is saved is a member of the Body of Christ. Is the life in each one of us, then, a life pertaining to the members or to the Body? The Bible and our experience prove that though each one of us is a member of Christ, the life in each one of us is not a member life but a Body life. All the members of our body are sharing one life…Similarly, in the Body of Christ, when one member is joined to the Body or having fellowship with the Body, his life is the life of the Body, and the life of the Body is his life. It would not do for him to be separated from the other members, or vice versa, because the life in him and in the other members is of the same Body; it can neither be distinguished nor separated. It is this life that joins us together to become the Body of Christ; or, to say it more precisely and emphatically, it is this life that mingles with us to become the Body of
Christ.

We cannot, however, experience this before the difficulties of the self have been entirely dealt with. If we are still living according to the flesh, in ourselves, and serving the Lord in our natural ability, the life of the Body, which is Christ Himself in us, has no way of being manifested, and there is no way for us to know the Body. The more we live by the flesh, the less we feel the need for the support of the Body. If we live by our self-opinion, we find no need for the sustaining of the church. If we serve with our natural ability, we sense no need for the coordination of the members. Only when our flesh has been dealt with, the self-opinion has been broken, and the natural life has been smashed, will the life within cause us to realize that we are simply members of the Body and that the life in us cannot be independent. Hence, this life requires us to have fellowship with all other members and be joined to them, and it also brings us into that fellowship and the experience of being joined together. It is at this time that we begin to know a little concerning the Body and become qualified to engage in spiritual warfare.

On one hand, we say that if we want to fight the spiritual warfare and deal with God’s difficulty, we must first deal with our flesh, self, and soul-life, thus solving our own difficulties; on the other hand, we say that in order to fight the battle, we must first know the Body, and in order to know the Body and live in the Body, we must first deal with our flesh, self, and soul-life. Whether, therefore, we speak from the standpoint of fighting the warfare or knowing the Body, we all must first pass through the preceding three stages—coming out of the flesh, the self, and the soul-life—in order to attain to the fourth stage of the experience of life. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 3, “The Experience of Life,” pp. 479-480)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1973-1974, vol. 2, “Basic Factors of the Church Service,” ch. 3

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