启二7　那灵向众召会所说的话，凡有耳的，就应当听。得胜的，我必将神乐园中生命树的果子赐给他吃。
　　三20　看哪，我站在门外叩门；若有听见我声音就开门的，我要进到他那里，我与他，他与我要一同坐席。
　　要从里面被洁净，必须有些东西进到我们里面，吃就是唯一的路。主耶稣是滋养的食物，祂是最好的洁净元素。祂作食物进到我们里面时，不仅滋养我们，也在里面洁净我们。祂不是洗净我们的手，乃是洗净我们的组织，我们的全人。借着吃耶稣而有里面的洁净，这件事是联结马太十五章前两段的环结。
　　这就是我们所需要的洁净。这不是外面的洗手，要炫耀我们有多干净。这是来自吃耶稣而有里面的洁净。我们都需要这种从主而来里面的洁净（马太福音生命读经，六〇六至六〇七页）。

　　Rev. 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.

　　3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me.

　　In order to be cleansed from within, something must get into us, and the only way this can take place is by eating. As the nourishing food, the Lord Jesus is the best cleansing element. When He comes into us as food, He not only nourishes us, but also inwardly cleanses us. He does not wash our hands; He washes our system, our very being. This matter of inward cleansing through the eating of Jesus is the link that joins the first two sections of Matthew 15.

　　This is the kind of cleansing we need. This is not a matter of outward washing of hands to make a display of how clean we are. It is a matter of the inward cleansing that comes from eating Jesus. We all need such an inward cleansing from the Lord. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 544-545)

　　得胜的秘诀〔是吃耶稣〕，……没有别的路。我们不可接受学习的路，教训的路。愿主怜悯我们，使我们拣选这一条吃耶稣的路。日复一日，我们必须吃祂这生命树、隐藏的吗哪和筵席。这样，我们就会是得胜者。……许多年来，我没有得着胜过脾气的秘诀，但后来主给了我秘诀。胜过我们脾气的路就是呼求“哦，主耶稣”。只要稍微吸入一点点耶稣，耶稣是最强的“化学药剂”。祂进来的时候，立刻中和我们的怒气。即使我们想要发脾气，也会没有脾气。我深知这点。从前我越算，就越有怒气。但现今怒气一来，我就呼求：“哦，主耶稣，” 祂就中和怒气；不仅如此，祂将怒气转成赞美（李文集一九七一年第四册，二五四至二五五页）。
　　我们已经看过，利未记十一章与饮食的事，就是与吃的事有关。现在我们需要来看，这一章也与死亡非常有关。在十一章，“尸体”一辞至少用了十三次，“死”字用了三次。没有死亡，就不可能有尸体。实际上，尸体就指明死亡。只要有尸体，就是有死亡。……死与饮食相提并论，指明我们的饮食，我们的吃，乃是生死攸关的事。我们若接触洁净的事物，就得着生命；若接触不洁净的事物，就得着死亡。
　　死亡是丑陋的、可憎的，所以我们需要禁戒死亡。表面上，十一章是说到远离不洁；实际上，这一章是告诉我们要禁戒死亡。我们该禁戒的死亡，主要的还不是肉身的，而是属灵的（利未记生命读经，三七四至三七五页）。
　　死亡乃是撒但工作的特点，他一切所作的就是要人充满死亡。所以今天我们的聚会，不是人数多，聚会就好，我们的聚会还必须胜过死亡。我们所要的乃是把死亡吞灭，把生命释放出来。在聚会中若找到死亡，就没有生命了。基督徒必须看见，没有一样坏东西能比死亡更坏；反之，没有一样东西能比生命更好。在神眼中，死亡乃是最丑恶的，生命才是最宝贵的。什么是生命呢？生命不是一种道理。一个接受生命的人，会有经历，但很难说得出来。生命不是热的空气、好的感觉，生命就是基督自己（倪柝声文集第二辑第二十四册，一七三至一七四页）。
　　参读：享受基督的丰富以建造召会作基督的身体，第十七篇；新约总论，第二百七十九篇。

　　The secret of overcoming [is eating Jesus]....There is no other way. We must not take the way of learning things, the way of picking up teachings. May the Lord be merciful to us that we would pick up this one way, the way of eating Jesus. Day by day we must eat Him as the tree of life, the hidden manna, and the feast. Then we will be the overcomers.

　　For many years I did not have the secret of overcoming my temper, but eventually the Lord gave me the secret. The way to overcome our temper is to call, "O Lord Jesus." Simply breathe Jesus in a little. Jesus is the strongest "chemical agent." When He comes in, right away He neutralizes our anger. Even if we try to lose our temper, we will have no temper. I know this quite well. Previously, the more I reckoned, the more anger I had. But now when the anger comes, I call, "O Lord Jesus," and He neutralizes it; moreover, He turns the anger into praising. (CWWL, 1971, vol. 4, "Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ," pp. 185-186)

　　We have seen that chapter 11 of Leviticus is concerned with the matter of diet, with the matter of eating. Now we need to see that this chapter is also very much concerned with death. In Leviticus 11 the word carcass is used at least thirteen times, and the word dead is used twice. Without death, there could not be any carcasses. A carcass actually denotes death. As long as there is a carcass, there is death.

　　The fact that this chapter speaks of death in relation to diet indicates that our diet, our eating, is a matter of life or death. If we contact clean things, we get life. But if we contact unclean things, we get death.

　　Death is an ugly, abominable thing. Therefore, we need to abstain from death. Apparently chapter 11 speaks of abstaining from uncleanness; actually this chapter tells us to abstain from death. The death from which we should abstain is not mainly physical death but spiritual death. (Life-study of Leviticus, p. 321)

　　Death is the characteristic of Satan's work. The ultimate goal of his work is to saturate man with death. Today our meeting does not depend on numbers. If we have a bigger number, it does not mean that we have better meetings. The important thing is that we have to overcome death in our meetings. We have to swallow up death and release life. If we see death in the meeting, it means that life is absent. A Christian must realize that there is nothing more evil than death. At the same time, there is nothing better than life. In God's eyes death is the most ugly thing, while life is the most precious thing. What is life? Life is not a doctrine. A person who has life has the experience of life, but it may be very difficult for him to describe what he has experienced. Life is not excitement or good feelings. Life is just Christ Himself. (CWWN, vol. 44, p. 876)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1971, vol. 4, "Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ," ch. 17; The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 279