每日灵粮:生命经历的第四层_8
太十六 23『他…对彼得说，撒但，退我后面去罢！你是绊跌我的，因为你不思念神的事，只思念人的事。』
路九 23～24『耶稣又对众人说，若有人要跟从我，就当否认己，天天背起他的十字架，并跟从我。因为凡要救自己魂生命的，必丧失魂生命；凡为我丧失自己魂生命的，必救了魂生命。』
拦阻人看见身体的异象并实行身体生活的，乃是己。不错，我们在教会正确的立场上实行教会生活，但我们是否建造在一起？我们有否正确的彼此相联？我们有否合式的结构在一起？我们在一起聚会，却可能没有建造在一起。我们有聚会，却没有建造。我们需要身体的异象，但要看见这异象，需要付代价舍弃己。我们若要在身体里建造起来，己必须去掉。这就是为甚么我们也必须看见己的异象。己对於身体乃是难处
己的源头就是撒但把他的思想注射到人的心思里。现在我们需要看见，己就是那向神独立的魂。每当魂不倚靠神，并向神独立时，魂立刻成了己。这就是说，每当我们凭自己作事而不倚靠神时，我们就在己里。不管我们的所是和所作是甚么，只要我们向神独立，我们就在己里。
神乃是将人创造成一个经常倚靠神的魂。人是魂（创二 7），这样一个魂应该凡事倚靠神。我们可以用婚姻生活为例，来说明魂对神的倚靠。妻子该倚靠她的丈夫。新妇在结婚之日蒙头，就指明这点。她的蒙头表徵她要以丈夫为她的头，并要倚靠他。不然就会有两个头，那就会引起不和、相争甚至离婚。就如妻子该倚靠丈夫，照样魂也该倚靠神。
然而，魂成了己。己就是那向神宣告独立的魂。我们若看见己的异象，就会看见己是甚么─己就是那向神宣告独立的魂。我们若看见这异象，就会领悟自己不能再向神独立。那时我们会说，『我必须一直倚靠神。不论我作的是甚么，我必须倚靠神；不论我的所是如何，我必须倚靠神。』
因着己是独立的，所以己是基督身体建造最大的难处。我们不仅要倚靠神，也要倚靠身体，倚靠弟兄姊妹。每当我们向弟兄姊妹独立，我们就在己里，在独立的魂里。今天对我们而言，向身体独立就等於向神独立。这不是道理上的事，乃是经历上的事。你若核对你的经历，就会发现当你向弟兄姊妹独立时，你觉得你向神也是独立的。照样，当你与弟兄姊妹隔绝时，你觉得你与神也是隔绝的。
看见有关己的异象，与身体很有关系。今天我们是在主的恢复里，而主的恢复至终要来到这件极重要的事上，就是建造基督的身体。身体的仇敌就是己。身体最大的难处、最大的拦阻和反对，也是己。我们只要有了己，就没有身体。我们有了身体，就没有己。为了使身体建造起来，己，就是独立的魂，必须受对付。己是独立的『我』。当我们独立时，我们就是在己里，身体不见了，我们也没有平安（从天上来的异象，四九至五○、五三至五四页）。
参读：从天上来的异象，第三至四章。
Matt. 16:23
"...He...said to Peter, Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling
block to Me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the
things of men."
Luke 9:23-24 "And He said to them all, If anyone
wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and
follow Me. For whoever wants to save his soul-life shall lose it; but whoever
loses his soul-life for My sake, this one shall save it."
The hindrance to seeing the vision
of the Body and to practicing the Body life is the self. Yes, we are practicing
the church life on the proper ground of the church, but are we built up
together? Are we rightly related to one another? Are we fitly framed together?
We meet together, but we may not be built up together. We have the meeting, but
we do not have the building. We need a vision of the Body, but this vision is
at the cost of the self. If we are to be built up in the Body, the self must
go. This is why we also need to see...the vision of the self. The self is a
problem to the Body. (The Heavenly Vision, pp. 32-33)
The origin of the self was Satan's
injecting his thought into the human mind. Now we need to see that the self is
the soul being independent of God. Whenever the soul is not dependent on God
but is independent of Him, the soul immediately becomes the self. This means
that whenever we do something by ourselves without depending on God, we are in
the self. No matter what we are and no matter what we do, as long as we are
independent of God, we are in the self.
God created man as a soul to be
always dependent on Him. Man is a soul (Gen. 2:7), and as a soul he should
depend on God for everything. We may use married life as an illustration of the
dependence of the soul on God. A wife should depend on her husband. This is
indicated by a bride's wearing a head covering on her wedding day. Her wearing
a head covering signifies that she will take her husband as her head and will
depend on him. Otherwise, there will be two heads, and this will lead to
contradicting, fighting, and even divorce. Just as a wife should depend on her
husband, so the soul should depend on God.
However, the soul has become the
self. The self is simply the soul declaring independence from God. If we have
the vision of the self, we will see what the self is—the soul declaring its
independence from God. If we see this vision, we will realize that we can no
longer be independent of God. Then we will say, "I must depend on God all
the time. Whatever I do, I must depend on God. Whatever I am, I must depend on
God."
Because the self is something
independent, the self is the greatest problem to the building up of the Body.
We should be dependent not only on God but also on the Body, on the brothers
and sisters. Whenever we are independent of the brothers and sisters, we are in
the self; in the independent soul. For us today, being independent of the Body
is equal to being independent of God. This is a matter not of doctrine but of
experience. If you check with your experience, you will realize that when you
were independent of the brothers and sisters, you had the sense that you were
also independent of God. Likewise, when you were isolated from the brothers and
sisters, you had the
sense that you were also isolated from God.
Seeing the vision of the self has
much to do with the Body. Today we are in the Lord's recovery, and the recovery
will eventually come to this crucial matter—the building up of the Body. The
enemy of the Body is the self. The greatest problem, the greatest frustration
and opposition, to the Body is also the self. When we have the self, we do not
have the Body. When we have the Body, we do not have the self. In order for the
Body to be built up, the self, the independent soul, must be dealt with. The
self is the independent "I," the independent "me." When we
are independent, we are in the self, the Body is gone, and we do not have
peace. (The Heavenly Vision, pp. 43-44, 47)
Further Reading: The Heavenly
Vision, chs. 3-4
- 未完待续
