晨興聖言-信徒(一)-(W07-5)
第七週 • 週五
晨興餧養
約十五4~5 你們要住在我裏面,我也住在你們裏面。枝子若不住在葡萄樹上,自己就不能結果子,你們若不住在我裏面,也是這樣。我是葡萄樹,你們是枝子;住在我裏面的,我也住在他裏面,這人就多結果子;因為離了我,你們就不能作甚麼。
信徒…是葡萄樹的許多枝子。這就是說,信徒是神的基督的眾肢體,在神聖的分賜裏形成三一神的生機體。在約翰十五章一節主耶穌宣告:『我是真葡萄樹』,在五節祂說,『我是葡萄樹,你們是枝子。』這葡萄樹及其枝子,就是基督和在基督裏的信徒,是神經綸中三一神的生機體,因神的豐富而長大,並彰顯祂神聖的生命。
約翰十五章的葡萄樹,是宇宙的葡萄樹,包含基督和祂作枝子的信徒。在這葡萄樹,這生機體裏,三一神活祂自己,彰顯祂自己,並分賜祂自己到極點(新約總論第五冊,一三七頁)。
信息選讀
我們是葡萄樹的枝子,需要住在葡萄樹(神的基督)裏。…惟有當枝子住在葡萄樹上,葡萄樹對枝子才是一切。因這緣故,主耶穌說到祂自己是葡萄樹,我們是枝子:『你們要住在我裏面,我也住在你們裏面。』〔約十五4〕我們的生活和享受,就是住在葡萄樹裏。我們作枝子的定命,就是留在葡萄樹上。
葡萄樹的枝子憑自己不能作甚麼,因為離了葡萄樹,枝子就會枯萎死去。枝子與葡萄樹之間的關係,描繪我們與主耶穌之間的關係。離了祂,我們就一無所是,一無所有,也一無所能。凡我們所是、我們所有並我們所作的,必須在主裏,且憑着在我們裏面的主。…我們不該在自己裏面作甚麼;我們該憑着住在葡萄樹裏來作一切。…因為我們對主是枝子,主對我們是葡萄樹,我們就必須住在祂裏面,並讓祂住在我們裏面。然後在我們的經歷中,基督對我們就是一切,作我們的享受。
任何絕緣體都會使我們與葡萄樹豐富的供應斷絕。一點不順從、一個罪甚或罪惡的思想,都能成為絕緣體,使我們與葡萄樹的豐富斷絕。首先,我們必須看見我們是枝子。然後我們需要維持我們與主之間的交通。沒有甚麼應當在祂與我們之間。…因此,我們需要禱告:『主耶穌,讓你我之間沒有甚麼事物,使我與你豐富的供應斷絕。』
葡萄樹和枝子是一個生機體以榮耀父。我們憑着葡萄樹,藉着結果子彰顯神聖生命的豐富而榮耀父。結果子使父的生命得着彰顯;因此,結果子使祂得着榮耀〔約十五8〕。
父是葡萄樹的源頭和本質。沒有果子,葡萄樹的素質、本質和生命就是隱藏、遮藏並受限制的。然而,在成串的果子上,葡萄樹內裏生命的豐富就得着彰顯。這樣彰顯內裏的生命,就是將神聖的本質從葡萄樹裏面釋放出來。葡萄樹的生命藉着枝子的繁殖和繁增得着彰顯,父就因此得榮耀,因為父在祂生命豐富裏的所是,在葡萄樹的繁殖和繁增上得着彰顯。這是父的得榮耀。
我們結果子,就是三一神從裏面的得榮、彰顯。今天三一神在我們裏面作我們的生命和性情,這三一神的生命和性情從我們裏面的彰顯,就是榮耀。所以,神聖的生命同其性情藉着我們結果子得着彰顯,父就得着榮耀(新約總論第五冊,一三九至一四二頁)。
參讀:新約總論,第一百零九至一百一十篇;一個在靈裏之人的自傳,第六章。
WEEK 7 — DAY 5
Morning Nourishment
John 15:4-5 Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.
The believers are also the many branches of the vine. This means that the believers are members of the Christ of God to form the organism of the Triune God in the divine dispensing. In John 15:1 the Lord Jesus declared, “I am the true vine,” and in verse 5 He said, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” This vine, which is Christ, with its branches, which are the believers in Christ, is the organism of the Triune God in God’s economy to grow with His riches and to express His divine life.
The vine in John 15, therefore, is a universal vine comprising Christ and His believers as the branches. In this vine, this organism, the Triune God lives, expresses Himself, and dispenses Himself to the uttermost. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 1178)
Todays Reading
As branches of the vine, we need to abide in the vine, the Christ of God… Only when the branches abide in the vine can the vine be everything to them. This is the reason the Lord Jesus said concerning Himself as the vine and us as the branches, “Abide in Me and I in you” [John 15:4]. Our life and enjoyment are to abide in the vine. Our destiny as branches is to remain in the vine…
A branch of a vine cannot live by itself, for it will wither and die apart from the vine. The relationship between the branches and the vine portrays the relationship between us and the Lord Jesus. We are nothing, we have nothing, and we can do nothing apart from Him. What we are, what we have, and what we do must be in the Lord and by the Lord in us…We should not do anything in ourselves; we should do everything by abiding in the vine… Because we are branches to the Lord and the Lord is the vine to us, we must abide in Him and let Him abide in us. Then in our experience Christ will be everything to us for our enjoyment.
Any insulation will separate us from the rich supply of the vine. A little disobedience, a sin, or even a sinful thought can be the insulation that separates us from the riches of the vine. First, we must see that we are branches. Then we need to maintain the fellowship between us and the Lord. Nothing should be between Him and us…Hence, we need to pray, “Lord Jesus, let there be nothing between You and me separating me from Your rich supply.”
The vine and the branches are an organism to glorify the Father. With the vine we have the glorification of the Father through the expression of the riches of the divine life in fruit-bearing. In fruit-bearing the Father’s life is expressed; hence, in fruit-bearing He is glorified [John 15:8].
The Father is the source and substance of the vine. Apart from the fruit, the essence, substance, and life of the vine are concealed, hidden, confined. However, the riches of the inner life of the vine are expressed in the clusters of fruit. To express the inner life in this way is to release the divine substance from within the vine. When the life of the vine is expressed through the branches in its propagation and multiplication, the Father is glorified, because what the Father is in the riches of His life is expressed in the propagation and multiplication of the vine. This is the glorification of the Father.
Our fruit-bearing is the glorification, the expression, of the Triune God from within. Today the Triune God is within us as our life and nature, and the expression of the life and nature of the Triune God from within us is glory. Therefore, when the divine life with its nature is expressed through us in fruit-bearing, the Father is glorified. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1180-1182)
Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 109—110; CWWL, 1967, vol. 2, “An Autobiography of a Person in the Spirit,” ch. 6
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