第二週 • 週二

晨興餧養

羅九23~24『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；這器皿就是我們這蒙祂所召的，不但從猶太人中，也從外邦人中，這有甚麼不可？』

弗四6『一位眾人的神與父，就是那超越眾人，貫徹眾人，也在眾人之內的。』

    保羅說到神的時候，他當然說神是創造者（羅一25），但這不是他的中心點；舊約已經這樣指示我們了。…〔羅馬九章二十三至二十四節〕稱我們作器皿；神已揀選我們作祂的器皿—蒙憐憫得榮耀的器皿。這含示且指明神要人盛裝祂，祂渴望爲自己得着一個容器。

     人是一個器皿。首先，我們的身體是一個器皿。我們每天用食物、水和空氣來充滿我們的身體。…我們多半一
天喫三次。我們一天喝好多次。此外，我們不停的呼吸。我們無論作甚麼，都一直呼吸。不呼吸我們就活不了！藉着喫、喝並呼吸，我們就得着充滿。所以我們外面的人是一個器皿（保羅的完成職事，一○三至一○四頁）。

信息選讀

     我們裏面的人也是一個器皿。神已造了我們作器皿來盛裝祂。『我們有這寶貝在瓦器裏，要顯明這超越的能力，是屬於神，不是出於我們。』這是保羅在林後四章七節所告訴我們的。從五至六節我們知道，寶貝是神自己在基督裏，祂已經把祂自己放到我們這瓦器裏面。這些經節我們都很熟，但我們卻活得不像有神作內容的人。

     少有人會有我們是盛裝神的器皿這種想法。然而，我們大多數人常常有一種想法：我們必須行事端正、殷勤、謙卑、不得罪人。我們天天懊悔自己沒有更順從父母，更取悅同學，或是更親愛兄弟姊妹。我們也許會想更屬靈，怎樣早起晨興，或花更多時間讀聖經。我們很容易有這種想法，但對於我們是盛裝神的器皿這種想法又如何？我們有這種想法麼？我們也許順從我們的父母，愛我們的姊妹，但可能沒有讓神盛裝到我們裏面。果真如此，我們就像一個空殼子，想去討好別人，卻遠離了神。不只不信的人走錯了路，不只別的基督徒偏離了，我們這些在主恢復裏的人也常常偏離正道。每當我們想要愛別人或是待人仁慈，而不領悟我們是命定盛裝神時，就連我們也偏離了目標。我們必須學習從所有我們行爲的想法上轉離，只關心被神充滿。

     聖經把神描繪成食物、水、空氣。我們必須吸取祂，被祂充滿，就好像我們接受所喫的食物，所飲的水，以及所吸入的空氣。在已過二十年裏，我們中間編了許多的詩歌，說到吃喝主並吸入神。…對一些人來說，喫神的思想太粗野，無法接受。我們不能責備他們這麼想，因爲他們缺少啓示。

     我們不只爲神所造，更是被祂揀選成爲蒙憐憫的器皿；並且不只是蒙憐憫的器皿，更是早豫備得榮耀的器皿。在新約二十七卷書中，只有保羅的著作把我們是盛裝神的器皿這思想傳輸給我們。…我們從羅馬八章看見神如何必須是靈，而這靈必須是基督的靈。然後神纔能在我們裏面作我們的內容。

     以弗所四章六節說，『一位眾人的神與父，就是那超越眾人，貫徹眾人，也在眾人之內的。』父不只超越
我們，貫徹我們，祂也在我們裏面；『在…之內』這個介係詞原文不僅有『同在』之意，更指神在我們裏面。
神自己安家在我們裏面，正如保羅在別處所寫的（保羅的完成職事，一○四至一○六頁）。

參讀：保羅的完成職事，第十一章。


WEEK 2 — DAY 2

Morning Nourishment

Rom. 9:23-24 "In order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory, even us, whom He has also called, not only from among the Jews but also
from among the Gentiles."

Eph. 4:6 "One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

     When Paul refers to God, he of course says that God is the Creator (Rom.1:25), but this is not his central point. The Old Testament has already told us this....[In Romans 9:23-24 we are] called vessels. God has chosen us to be His vessels, vessels of mercy unto glory. This implies and indicates that God wants to be contained; He wants a container for Himself.

     Man is a vessel. Firstly, our body is a vessel. Every day we fill it with food,water, and air....We eat probably three times a day, besides snacks. We drink more times a day. In addition, we are continuously breathing. Whatever else we are doing, we keep breathing. Without it, we graduate from living! By
eating, drinking, and breathing we fill ourselves. Our outer man, then, is a vessel. (The Completing Ministry of Paul, pp. 75-76)

Today's Reading

     Our inner man is also a vessel. God has created us as vessels to contain Him."We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us," Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:7.From verses 5 and 6 we know that the treasure is God Himself in Christ, who has sown Himself into us, the earthen vessels. These verses are familiar to us, yet we do not live as those who have God as their contents.

     Seldom does the thought cross our mind that we are a vessel to contain God. All too often, however, we entertain the thought that we must behave rightly, courteously, humbly, and inoffensively. Day after day we are sorry not to be more obedient to our parents, more pleasant to our classmates, and kinder to our sister or brother. We may think along even more spiritual lines, about getting up early for morning watch or spending more time to read the Bible. Such thoughts are commonplace to us. But how about the thought that we are vessels to contain God? Does this thought occur to us? We may obey our parents and love our sister but not have God contained in us. If so, we are like an empty box, trying to please others but apart from God. It is not only the unbelievers who are on the wrong track. It is not only other Christians
who are off. We who are in the Lord's recovery are also often off the track. Whenever we think in terms of loving others or being kind, without realizing that we were ordained to contain God, we too are missing the mark. We must learn to turn away from all such considerations of behavior and care only to be filled with God.

     God is illustrated in the Bible as food, water, and air. We must take Him in and be filled with Him just as we take in the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. Over these past twenty years a number of hymns have been composed among us that speak of eating and drinking Christ and of breathing
God in....To some people the thought of eating God is rough and unacceptable. We cannot blame them for thinking this way; they are short of revelation.

     We have been not only created by God, then, but also chosen by Him to be vessels of His mercy. And not only are we vessels of mercy; we are also vessels prepared unto glory. It is only Paul's writings, of all the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, which convey the thought that we are vessels to contain
God....From Romans 8 we [can] see how God must be the Spirit and that this Spirit must be the Spirit of Christ. Then God can be in us as our contents.

     [According to Ephesians 4:6] the Father is not only over us; He is not only through us; He is also in us. This preposition in does not mean merely"with";it means that God is within us. God is housing Himself in us, as Paul writes elsewhere. (The Completing Ministry of Paul, pp. 76-77)

     Further Reading: The Completing Ministry of Paul, ch. 11