生命的长大(十二):灵里痛悔忧伤温柔安静

赛五七15 …我必住在至高至圣的所在，也与灵里痛悔卑微的人同居，要使卑微之人
的灵苏醒，也使痛悔之人的心苏醒。

六六1~2 …天是我的座位，地是我的脚凳；你们要在哪里为我建造殿宇？哪里是我
安息的地方？…我所看顾的，就是灵里贫穷痛悔、因我话战兢的人。

我们也需要温柔安静的灵。彼前三章四节说，我们心中隐藏的人是温柔安静的灵。
加拉太六章一节说，我们需要用温柔的灵挽回堕落的弟兄。在林前四章二十一节保
罗问哥林多人，他们要他带著刑杖或在温柔的灵里，到他们那里去。

新约中多次提起温柔的美德。在马太五章五节主说，『温柔的人有福了，因为他们
必承受地土。』基於这节，我们可以查考新约里温柔的真正意义。世界的路是抗争、
奋斗并击败别人，以得著一些产业，一些基业。

但圣经说，你若要承受甚么，就必须温柔。温柔的意思是不抵抗世人的反对，甘心
忍受。无论情况如何，我们都该温柔，不与别人相争。温柔的意思是不为自己争。
我们需要温柔安静的灵。你若争甚么，就无法安静；你能安静惟一的路，就是不为
自己争，或为自己寻求甚么。

痛悔卑微的灵与忧伤的灵非常相近，以赛亚五十七章十五节和六十六章二节都指明
同样的事，这二处指明甚至天也不是神乐於居住之地。神渴望与那有痛悔卑微之灵
的人同住。这不是小事。

我们若灵里痛悔卑微，我们就灵里忧伤，并且能享受神的同在。神就与我们同在，
甚至与我们同住。

我们的灵若骄傲，我们若保守自己完整、完美且完全，不愿悔改并认罪，我们就会
失去主的同在。在某种意义上，照著我们的经历，主的同在会离开我们。所以我们
需要卑微忧伤的痛悔之灵，就是悔改的灵，承认我们的罪恶。

我们若在这样的灵里，主必与我们同在，并与我们同住。五十七章十五节和六十六
章二节是我们要向圣徒指出的美妙经文。

神不认为天或地是他的居所，也不认为以色列人为他所建物质的殿，是他安息的地
方。旧约里的帐幕和殿，只是神与以色列人联结的象徵，神认为以色列人才是他真
正的殿。

神与以色列人联结，与他们成为一个实体，这一个实体是属灵的殿，神与以色列中
敬虔的人都住在其中。根据以赛亚六十六章二节和五十七章十五节，神所渴望得著
的住处，是一班可以让他进入的人。

神要在宇宙中得著一个住处，是神与人的调和，在其中神被建造到人里面，人被建
造到神里面，使神与人，人与神，能成为相互的住处。在新约里，这个住处，这个
殿（家），是教会，就是神在信徒灵里的居所。

这个宇宙建造，这个宇宙的殿终极的显出，就是新耶路撒冷。在这城里，神在人里
面，以人作他的居所；人也在神里面，以神作他的居所。

参读：生命的基本功课，第十九课。
English Version

Isa. 57:15 ...I will dwell in the high and holy place, and with the contrite 
and lowly of spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the 
heart of the contrite.
66:1-2 ...Heaven is My throne, and the earth the footstool for My feet.

    Where then is the house that you will build for Me, and where is the 
place of My rest?...To this kind of man will I look, to him who is poor 
and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.

    We also need a meek and quiet spirit. First Peter 3:4 says that the 
hidden man of our heart is a meek and quiet spirit. Galatians 6:1 says that 
we need to restore a fallen brother in a spirit of meekness. In 1 Corinthians 
4:21 Paul asked the Corinthians if they wanted him to come to them with 
a rod or in a spirit of meekness.

    The New Testament mentions the virtue of meekness a number of times. 
In Matthew 5:5 the Lord said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit 
the earth.” Based upon this verse, we can look into the real meaning of 
being meek in the New Testament. The world’s way is to fight, to strive, 
and to defeat others to gain some possession, some inheritance. But the 
Bible says that if you are going to inherit anything, you have to be meek. 
To be meek means not to resist the world’s opposition but to suffer it willingly.
 Regardless of the situation, we should be meek, not fighting against others.
 Meekness means not fighting for yourself. We need a meek and quiet spirit. 
If you fight for anything, you cannot be quiet. The only way that you can 
be quiet is not to fight for yourself or seek anything for yourself. (Basic 
Lessons on Life, p. 152)

    A contrite and humble spirit is very close to a broken spirit. Isaiah 
57:15 and 66:2 both indicate the same thing. They indicate that even heaven 
is not a joyful place to God for His dwelling. God desires to dwell with 
people who have a contrite and humble spirit. This is not a small thing.

    If we are contrite and humble in our spirit, we are broken in our spirit,
 and we can enjoy God’s presence. God is then with us and even dwells with 
us. If our spirit is proud and we keep ourselves complete, perfect, and 
whole, being unwilling to repent and confess, we will lose the Lord’s presence.
 In a certain sense, according to our experience, the Lord’s presence would 
leave us. So we need a contrite spirit, which is humble and broken, a repenting 
spirit to confess our sinfulness. If we are in this kind of spirit, the 
Lord will be with us and will dwell with us. Isaiah 57:15 and 66:2 are wonderful 
verses to point out to the saints. (Basic Lessons on Life, pp. 151-152)

    God did not consider either heaven or earth His dwelling place, nor 
did He consider the physical house, the temple, built for Him by the children 
of Israel the place of His rest. In the Old Testament both the tabernacle 
and the temple were only symbols of God’s union with the children of Israel, 
whom God considered His actual house (Heb. 3:6 and footnote). God was united 
with the children of Israel and became one entity with them, and this one 
entity was a spiritual house in which both God and the godly people in Israel 
dwelt (Psa. 27:4; 84:10; 90:1; cf. 1 Pet. 2:5a). According to Isaiah 66:2 
and 57:15, the dwelling place God desires to have is a group of people into 
whom He can enter. God intends to have a dwelling place in the universe 
that is the mingling of God and man, in which God is built into man and 
man is built into God, so that God and man, man and God, can be a mutual 
abode to each other (John14:2, 20, 23; 15:4; 1 John 4:13). In the New Testament this dwelling place, 
this house, is the church, which is God’s habitation in the believers’ spirit 
(Eph. 2:22 and footnote 4; 1 Tim. 3:15 and footnote 2). The ultimate manifestation 
of this universal building, this universal house, is the New Jerusalem. 
In this city God is in man, taking man as His dwelling place, and man is 
in God, taking God as His habitation (Rev. 21:3, 22, and footnotes). (Isa. 66:1, footnote 1)

    Further Reading: Basic Lessons on Life, lsn. 19

- 未完待续

生命的事奉(一):三十四要点及经文

生命的长大(十一):造清洁的心有正直的灵