第七週 ‧ 週三

晨興餧養

民二十8『你拿着杖，和你的哥哥亞倫招聚會眾，在他們眼前吩咐磐石發出水來；這樣，你就為他們使水
                  從磐石中流出來，給會眾和他們的牲畜喝。』

詩一一○ 7『祂要喝路旁的河水；因此祂必抬起頭來。』

    按道理說，要湧流生命水，我們必須先解除乾渴（約四14）。這意思是說，我們若沒有被活水充滿，我們就不可能有湧流。湧流來自滿溢，而滿溢來自乾渴得以解除。然而，從經歷的觀點來看，我們用不着等到乾渴解除了纔湧流。既然我們已經開始喝主，以解除我們的乾渴，我們就需要注意湧流（出埃及記生命讀經，六○○至六○一頁）。

信息選讀

    我們若要湧流生命水，我們也需要與被擊打的基督聯合為一（出十七6，約七38）。被擊打的磐石表徵
成為肉體的基督被釘十字架。…基督在十字架上被神所擊打。我們需要與這位被擊打者聯合為一。這意思是說，我們的屬人生命，我們的天然生命，必須受擊打，好使活水能流出來。然而，我們不需要擊打自己。我們只要與被擊打的基督是一，與祂聯合為一，就會經歷天然的生命被釘死。然後基督的神聖生命如何藉着祂屬人的生命被擊打而作為活水流出來，我們也要照樣經歷藉着天然生命被擊打而流出生命水來。只有當我們天然的生命被擊打，神聖的生命纔會從我們裏面流出來（出埃及記生命讀經，六○八頁）。
〔詩篇一百一十篇七節裏的〕河表徵得勝者。

    當基督領頭爭戰到底時，祂需要水喝，這水就是得勝者（聖經恢復本，詩一一○ 7 註1）。

    基督既已被釘十字架，那靈也既已賜下，基督就不需要再被釘了，就是不需要再次擊打磐石，使活水流出。在神的經綸裏，基督只該釘死一次（來七27，九26~28 上）。我們要從釘十字架的基督接受活水，只需要『拿着杖』，並『吩咐磐石』〔民二十8〕。拿着杖就是在基督的死裏與祂聯合，並將基督的死應用在我們自己身上和我們的處境中。吩咐磐石，就是向基督這被擊打的磐石直接說話，求祂基於那靈已經賜下的這個事實，將生命的靈賜給我們（參約四10）。我們若將基督的死應用在自己身上，並在信心裏求基督賜給我們那靈，就必得着活的靈，作為生命全備的供應（腓一19）（民二十8 註1）。

     〔神〕要領〔以色列人〕進入美地，那地有川，有泉，有源，從谷中和山上流出水來。…〔申命記八章七至九節〕所提美地的頭一方面是其中的水。論到這水，先是有源，就是源頭；然後有泉和川，就是流出。美地裏的水是『從谷中和山上』流出來的。這指明基督要在不同的環境中流出來。我們的光景有高有低，但不管在高或在低，基督都可以流出來（申命記生命讀經，七一至七二頁）。

    所有的谷都是十字架的經歷，基督死的經歷，而所有的山都是主復活的經歷。谷是十字架，山是復活。我們必須常有難處，常有谷；但也常在山上，常在復活的經歷裏。每一次有谷，必定有山。每一次你經歷十字架的死，你必定經歷復活。活水是從這一切經歷中流出來的（包羅萬有的基督，四五頁）。

    參讀：出埃及記生命讀經，第四十三至四十五篇；包羅萬有的基督，第四章。




‹‹ WEEK 7 — DAY 3 ››

Morning Nourishment

Num. 20:8 "Take the rod, and gather the assembly, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to
                        the rock before their eyes, so that it yields its water. Thus you shall bring forth
                        water for them out of the rock and give the assembly and their livestock something
                         to drink."

Psa. 110:7 "He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore He will lift up His head."

    Doctrinally speaking, in order to flow the water of life we must have our thirst quenched (John 4:14). This means that if we are not filled with the living water, there cannot be any overflow. The flowing comes from the overflow, and the overflow comes from having our thirst quenched. From the point of view of experience, however, we need not wait until our thirst is quenched in order to flow. (Life-study of Exodus, p. 521)

Today's Reading

    If we would flow the water of life, we also need to be identified with the smitten Christ (Exo. 17:6; John 7:38). The smitten rock signifies the incarnated Christ in His crucifixion....On the cross Christ was smitten by God. We need to be identified with this smitten One. This means that our human life, our natural life, must be smitten so that the living water may flow. There is no need, however, for us to try to smite ourselves. If we simply are one with the smitten Christ, identified with Him, we shall experience the crucifixion of our natural life. Then as Christ's divine life flowed out as living water through the smiting of His human life, we also shall experience the flow of the water of life through the smiting of our natural life. Only when
our natural life has been smitten will the divine life flow out from us. (Lifestudy of Exodus, p. 527)

    [In Psalm 110:7] the brook signifies the overcomers. As Christ is taking the lead to fight
through to the end, He will need water to drink, and this water will be the overcomers.Cf. footnote 33. See footnote 341, paragraph 2, in Daniel 2. (Psa. 110:7, footnote 1)

    Since Christ has been crucified and the Spirit has been given, there is no need for Christ to be crucified again, that is, no need to strike the rock again, that the living water may flow. In God's economy Christ should be crucified only once (Heb. 7:27; 9:26-28a). To receive the living water from the crucified Christ, we need only to “take the rod” and “speak to the rock”[Num. 20:8]. To take the rod is to identify with Christ in His death and apply the death of Christ to ourselves and our situation. To speak to the rock is to speak a direct word to Christ as the smitten rock, asking Him to give us the Spirit of life (cf. John 4:10) based on the fact that the Spirit has already been given. If we apply the death of Christ to ourselves and ask Christ in faith to give us the Spirit, we will receive the living Spirit as the bountiful supply of life (Phil. 1:19). (Num. 20:8, footnote)

    [God] was bringing [the children of Israel] to a good land, a land of waterbrooks, of springs and of fountains, flowing forth in valleys and in mountains....The first aspect of the good land mentioned [in Deuteronomy 8:7-9] is its water. Concerning this water, first there were the fountains, which were the source, and then the springs and the brooks, the outflow. The water in the good land flowed forth “in valleys and in mountains.” This indicates that Christ flows in different environments. We have our ups and downs, but Christ flows both in the ups and in the downs. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, p. 57)

    All the valleys are the experiences of the cross, the experiences of the death of Christ, and all the mountains are the experiences of the Lord's resurrection. A valley is the cross; a mountain is the resurrection. We must be one who always has some trouble, some valley, but also one who is always on the mountains, always in the experience of resurrection. Whenever there is a valley, there is a mountain. Whenever you experience the death of the cross, you will experience the resurrection. The living waters flow forth from all these experiences. (The All-inclusive Christ, pp. 44-45)

    Further Reading: Life-study of Exodus, msgs. 43-45; The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 4