生命的经历(二): 完全地实行交通
我们一旦得救,要想内里经历基督作生命, 就需要与弟兄姊妹有完全地实行交通. 正如林前一9说," 神是信实的,你们是为他所召,进入了他儿子我们主耶稣基督的交通。"
弗四25," 所以你们既已脱去谎言,各人就要与邻舍说实话,因为我们是互相为肢体。"
徒二42 "他们都坚定持续在使徒的教训和交通里,持续擘饼和祷告。"
约壹一4~5 :"我们写这些事,是要叫我们的喜乐得以满足。神就是光,在他里面毫无黑暗;这是我们从他所听见,现在又报给你们的信息。"
现在我们很难找到许多信徒在这交通的实际里。在地位上,我们都在这交通里,但在我们的日常生活中,很少人在交通的实际里。我们可能在名义上有『交通』这件事,但我们可能在实行上没有交通。
我曾试着实行这交通,但我必须承认,我没有完全成功的整天、时刻维持这交通。我们若没有实行在这交通里,我们就是在那灵以外,在三一神以外,在神圣的生命以外。
我们得救以前,是活在罪中、死在罪中的罪人,无分於生命的交通。有一天,有人将永远的生命传给我们(约壹一2),我们就相信主耶稣。从那时起,我们被带进神圣的交通里。关于我们对神圣交通起初的经历,有两件事很显著。
第一,很难找到一个人是没有人传福音给他,而直接自己信主的。几乎每一个都是先听到人传,然后相信的。第二,在传报福音的人与接受福音得救的人之间,几乎总是有一种深厚的关系。
我们与主之间垂直的交通,受到我们与别人平面的交通所影响。我们与周遭的人若没有正确的关系,就很难在垂直的一面与主有好的关系。原因是神圣的交通乃是惟一的交通。
每一天,我们都该在这一个有垂直与平面两面的神圣交通里。我们许多人可能以为,每一天我们是照着垂直的一面开始这交通,然后接着才有平面的一面。
然而,许多时候这不是我们的经历。…我们若在晚上与妻子、丈夫或室友争吵,早上就很难开始与主有垂直的交通。我们必须维持垂直与平面两面的交通,才能在属灵上健康。
以弗所四章二十五节里的邻舍是指弟兄姊妹。我们必须与同作信徒的人是对的,好蒙保守在神圣的交通里。在我们的经历中,若没有先与别的信徒有平面的交通,我们常常无法与主有垂直的交通。
一个有正确的生活并且得胜的圣徒,是终日一直在神圣的交通中,有垂直的一面,也有平面的一面。我们必须学习更多与主有交通,也必须学习更多与圣徒有交通。我们必须为着身边的圣徒而感谢主,我们必须竭力与他们有交通。
弟兄姊妹彼此之间应该有透彻的交通,甚至交通到日常生活中实际的事。
我们可能觉得,我们与周围的圣徒只该交通我们所读过的信息,或交通到其他的属灵活动。当然,我们的交通应该包括这些;然而,我们的交通也该包括许多实际的事。我发现我们中间有很大的短缺,就是缺少交通。
我们的难处是没有交通的习惯,我们许多人不喜欢交通。我们必须领悟,当我们交通时,主就在其中。当我们离开了交通,或停止与同作信徒的人交通时,主就被关在外面。
我们应当尽可能的,试着与同作信徒的人有交通。这神圣的交通不只改正我们,也塑造我们,甚至将我们重新构成。这交通将神圣的构成成分,带进我们属灵的所是里,使我们这人里面有所改变。
交通在〔约壹一章三节〕指明为着某一共同的目的,把个人的利益放在一边,并联於别人。因此,与使徒有交通,在使徒的交通里,并在使徒的交通里与三一神有交通,是放下我们个人的利益,联於使徒和三一神,为着完成神的定旨。
我们有分於使徒对三一神的享受,就是联於使徒和三一神,以完成神、使徒和所有信徒所共有三一神的神圣定旨。
神圣的交通乃是在基督身体里生活的实际。历世纪以来,主一直受阻挠,就是因着缺少交通。在启示录二十二章二十节,主耶稣说,『我必快来!』但将近二千年过去,主仍没有回来。
原因是信徒持个人主义,都是单独、有意见并且制造分裂的。
有一件事能管制我们,那就是神圣的交通。我们在这交通里受限制。借着在这交通里受限制,基督的身体就蒙保守在一里,职事的工作就继续往前。
我们若离开交通,一切就都完了。那使一切活着的乃是交通。我们若学习交通,就会得着许多益处,特别在主的工作上,更是如此。
生命的交通就是神圣生命的涌流。…经历基督作生命正确的路,乃是在我们里面得着这流。…我们要知道自己是否在交通中、凭基督而活,并经历基督的路,乃是核对里面是否有一道流。
我们若没有这流,或者这流衰退了,我们就必须向主呼喊,并向他敞开。
你有生命的流,就有喜乐。…按理说,基督徒必须是喜乐的人;他们必须是每时每刻满了喜乐的人。有时我们真是如此满了喜乐,以致我们觉得若不呼喊『阿利路亚』、『赞美主』或『阿们』,我们就要炸开了。
因为我们里面真是满了神圣生命的流、涌流和满溢,我们无法静默,而必须呼喊并说话。你会发觉,你越发表你里面的涌流,生命的交通就越要在你里面涌流。
我们若顾到我们里面生命的涌流和照耀,我们就别无所需。当然,我们仍然需要祷告、读经、参加聚会,并与圣徒交通。但我们必须看见,这些正当的基督徒活动,实际上是涌流和照耀的结果。
同时,这一切实行是我们凭以经历更多涌流和照耀的工具、凭借。我们所必须认识的基本的事,乃是凭基督而活、活在基督里,并以基督为我们的生命,其秘诀是一直顾到内里的涌流和内里的照耀。
你若没有内里的涌流和照耀,就必须到主那里与他办交涉,受他对付,因为那是很强的指标,指明你里面有甚么错了。倘若我们中间所有的圣徒都天天顾到这事,我们将成为何等活泼、照耀并涌流的基督徒!
这样,每当我们来聚会,每个人都会带来他们里面涌流并照耀的一些东西。享受生命的交通和生命的光,必须是我们每日每时的经历。
参读:经历基督作内里的生命,第二章;三一神作三部分人的生命,第十六章。
English Version
1 Cor. 1:9 "God is faithful,
through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
Eph. 4:25 "Therefore having put off the lie, speak truth each one with his
neighbor, for we are members one of another."
Acts 2:42 "And they
continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in
the breaking of bread and the prayers."
1 John 1:4-5 And these
things we write that our joy may be made full. And this is the message which we
have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light and in Him is no
darkness at all."
It is hard to
find many [believers] who are in the reality of fellowship. Positionally we all are in this fellowship,
but in our daily living, very few of us are in the reality of fellowship. We
may have the matter of fellowship in name, but we may not have it in
practicality. I have tried to practice this fellowship,
but I have to admit that I have not been completely successful in maintaining
this fellowship hour after hour throughout the day. When we are not in this
fellowship in a practical way, we are out of the Spirit, out of the Triune God,
and out of the divine life. (The Triune God to Be Life to the Tripartite Man,
p. 145)
Before we were
saved, we were sinners living in sin and dead in sin. We were not involved in
the fellowship of life. One day someone reported to us the eternal life (1 John
1:2), and we believed in the Lord Jesus. From that moment we were brought into
the divine fellowship. Two things are very striking about our initial experience
of the divine fellowship. First, it is difficult to find one person who
believed in the Lord directly by himself without the help of someone who
preached the gospel to him. Nearly everyone heard a report first and then
believed. Second, there is almost always a deep relationship between the one
who reported or preached the gospel and the one who received the report and got
saved.
Our vertical
fellowship with the Lord is affected by our horizontal fellowship with others.
If we do not have a proper relationship with those around us, it is difficult
to have a good fellowship with the Lord vertically. The reason for this is that
the divine fellowship is one fellowship. Each day we should be in the divine
fellowship, vertically and horizontally. Most of us may think that we daily
start this fellowship according to its vertical aspect, followed by its
horizontal aspect. Most of the time, however, this is not our
experience....If we have a quarrel with our wife, husband, or roommate in the
evening, we will find it difficult to start our vertical fellowship with the
Lord in the morning. We must maintain both the vertical and horizontal aspects
of the fellowship in order to be healthy spiritually.
In Ephesians 4:25
the word neighbor refers to the brothers and sisters.We must be right with our
fellow believers in order to be kept in the divine fellowship. In our
experience we often cannot have vertical fellowship with the Lord without first
having horizontal fellowship with other believers.
A saint who has a
proper living and who is victorious is one who is always in the divine
fellowship, vertically and horizontally, all day long. We must learn to
fellowship with the Lord more and we must also learn to fellowship with the
saints more. We must thank the Lord for those around us, and we
must endeavor to have fellowship with them. The brothers and sisters should
have thorough fellowship with one another, even concerning practical things
related to their daily living.
We may feel that
we should only fellowship with those around us about the messages we have read
or some other spiritual activity. Of course, our fellowship should include
this. However, our fellowship should also include many practical things. I have
discovered that the biggest shortage among us is fellowship. Our problem is
that we do not have the habit to fellowship, and many of us do not like to
fellowship. We must realize that when we fellowship, the Lord is involved. When
we turn away from fellowship or stop our fellowship with our fellow believers,
the Lord is kept away.
We
should try to have fellowship with our fellow believers as much as possible.
This divine fellowship not only corrects us; it also molds us and even
reconstitutes us. This fellowship brings the divine constituent into our
spiritual being, causing a change in our being. (The Triune God to Be Life to
the Tripartite Man, pp. 145-147)
Fellowship [in 1 John 1:3] indicates a putting away of private
interests and a joining with others for a certain common purpose. Hence, to
have fellowship with the apostles, to be in the fellowship of the apostles, and
to have fellowship with the Triune God in the apostles’ fellowship is to put
aside our private
interests and join with the apostles and the Triune God for the carrying out of
God’s purpose....Our participation in the apostles’ enjoyment of the Triune God
is our joining with them and with the Triune God for His divine purpose, which
is common to God, the apostles, and all the believers. (1 John 1:3, footnote 3)
The divine fellowship is the reality of living
in the Body of Christ. The Lord has been frustrated throughout the centuries
because of the lack of fellowship. In Revelation 22:20 the Lord Jesus said, “I
come quickly,” but it has been nearly two thousand years, and the Lord is still
not back. The
reason is that the believers are individualistic, independent, opinionated, and
divisive.
The one thing which should rule us is the The
one thing which should rule us is the divine fellowship. We are restricted in
this fellowship. By being restricted in this fellowship, the Body of Christ is
kept in oneness, and the work of the ministry continues to go on. When we are
out of fellowship, everything is finished. The thing which makes everything
alive is fellowship. If we learn to fellowship, we will receive many benefits,
especially in the Lord’s work. (The Triune God to Be Life to the Tripartite
Man, pp. 147-148)
The fellowship of life is simply the flow of the
divine life....The proper way to experience Christ as life is to have this flow
within us....The way to know whether we are in the fellowship, living by
Christ, and experiencing Christ is simply to check whether there is a flow
within....If we do not have the flow or
if the flow is ebbing, we must cry out to the Lord and open to Him.
When you have the flow of life, you will have
joy....Christians, as a rule,must be joyful persons; they must be persons who
are full of joy at all times. Sometimes we are so full of joy that we feel we
will burst unless we shout “Hallelujah!” “Praise the Lord!” or
“Amen!”...Because we are so full of the current, flowing, and bubbling of the
divine life within us, instead of being quiet, we must shout and speak. You
will find that the more you express what is flowing within, the more the
fellowship of life will flow
within you.
If we take care of the flowing and
shining of life within us, we will have need of nothing else. Of course, we
will still need to pray, read the Scriptures,attend the meetings, and
fellowship with the saints. But we have to realize that all these proper
Christian activities are actually the result of the flowing and the shining. At
the same time, all these practices are the instruments,the means, by which we
experience more flowing and shining. The basic thing we must realize is that
the secret of living by Christ, living in Christ,and taking Christ as our life
is to always take care of the inward flowing and the inward shining. If you do
not have the inward flowing and shining, you must go to the Lord to deal with
Him and be dealt with by Him, for that is a strong indication that something is
wrong within. If all the saints among us
would take care of this matter day by day, what living, shining, and flowing
Christians we would be! Then whenever we come to the meetings, everyone would
come with something flowing and shining within their being. The enjoyment of
the fellowship of life and the light of life must be our day-by day and
moment-by-moment experience. (Experiencing Christ as the Inner Life, pp. 18-19,
22-23)
Further Reading: The Mending Ministry of John, ch. 7; Experiencing
Christ as the Inner Life, ch. 2; The Triune God to Be Life to the Tripartite
Man, ch. 16
- 未完待续