帖前五23~24　且愿和平的神，亲自全然圣别你们，又愿你们的灵、与魂、与身子得蒙保守，在我们主耶稣基督来临的时候，得以完全，无可指摘。那召你们的是信实的，祂也必作成这事。

　　我们的灵是由良心、交通、直觉这三部分组成的。我们的灵主要是为着与神交通。我们与神有交通时，就接触祂。这样与神的接触，自然叫我们感觉到神，对神有知觉。直觉是指从神来的直接感觉和知觉；借着这直觉，就能知道我们是对还是错。我们若错了，就会被我们的良心定罪。但我们若是对的，就会被我们的良心称义。因此，我们的良心或是控告、定罪我们，或是宽恕、称义我们。保守我们灵的路，首先是要运用灵与神有交通。我们若不能这样运用我们的灵，我们的灵就会留在死沉的光景里。…我们基督徒每逢同来召会聚会时，都必须尽功用。我们需要祷告、赞美或作见证。这就是运用我们的灵，不让我们的灵静止不动，或是留在死沉的光景里。（帖撒罗尼迦前书生命读经，二四四至二四五页。）

　　1 Thes. 5:23-24 And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it.

　　Our spirit is composed of three parts: the conscience, the fellowship, and the intuition. Our spirit is mainly for us to have fellowship with God. When we have fellowship with God, we contact Him. This contact with God spontaneously gives us a sense of God, a consciousness of God. Intuition denotes the direct sense and consciousness that come from God. Through this intuition we can know whether we are right or wrong. If we are wrong, we shall be condemned by our conscience. But if we are right, we shall be justified by our conscience. Our conscience, therefore, either accuses and condemns or excuses and justifies. The way to preserve our spirit is first to exercise it to have fellowship with God. If we fail to exercise our spirit in this way, we shall leave it in a deadened situation. Whenever we Christians come together in a church meeting, we need to function. We need to pray, praise, or give a word of testimony. This is to exercise our spirit and not allow it to remain dormant or in a deadened condition. (Life-study of 1 Thessalonians, pp. 204-205)

　　保守我们灵的第一条路，是正确的运用灵，以保守我们的灵是活的。帖前五章十六至十九节说，‘要常常喜乐，不住地祷告，凡事谢恩；因为这是神在基督耶稣里对你们的旨意。不要销灭那灵。’喜乐、祷告、谢恩就是运用我们的灵。当我们这样运用我们的灵，就能叫我们的灵活。运用灵，使我们的灵活，是保守灵的第一条路。…我们怎能把我们的灵从死沉的光景里释放出来？我们可以借着喜乐、祷告、谢恩，运用我们的灵，而使其得着释放。

　　因着堕落，我们的灵死了。因此，我们的灵必须胜过死这个难处。圣徒参加召会聚会时，常在死的光景里。他们…坐在椅子上，灵是发死的。但他们这个人其他的部分却可能非常活跃。譬如，他们的思想可能在批评别人作的见证；他们也许在想，有些见证并不真实，有些见证非常老旧。

　　不信者的灵完全是死的。在你四围的人，在学校、工作场所、或住家邻近地区的人当中，大多数人的灵里完全是死的。…你有没有从灵里死沉的光景里分别出来，成为圣别？…我们需要把我们的灵从死的光景中拉出来，在圣别我们的事上与三一神的工作合作。…我们既蒙了重生，就必须与众有别。我们要给人看见，我们的灵是活的，不是死沉的。因此，我们的灵应当喜乐、祷告，并且向主谢恩。

　　保守我们灵的另一条路，是在林后七章一节。保罗在这节说，‘所以亲爱的，我们既有这些应许，就当洁净自己，除去肉身和灵一切的玷污，敬畏神，以成全圣别。’这节经文指明，我们应当禁戒肉身和灵一切的玷污。我们必须远离污染我们灵的一切事物。…我〔在上海〕学会，当我搭电车〔去会所〕时要闭起眼睛祷告；这就保守了我的灵。

　　你若因着看某些图片而被污染，你的灵就会被玷污、污染而死沉。结果，你必须先求主洁净你，除去一切玷污，否则你就不能祷告。我举出这事作例证，说明我们必须与圣别人的三一神合作，使我们的灵得蒙保守，远离死沉和污染。（帖撒罗尼迦前书生命读经，二四五至二四八页。）

　　参读：帖撒罗尼迦前书生命读经，第十八、二十三篇；帖撒罗尼迦后书生命读经，第六篇。

　　The first way to preserve our spirit is to keep it living through proper exercise. First Thessalonians 5:16 through 19 says, “Always rejoice, unceasingly pray, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.” To rejoice, pray, and give thanks are to exercise our spirit. When we exercise our spirit in this way, we cause it to be living. Exercising the spirit to keep it living is the first way to preserve it. How can we release our spirit from a situation of deadness? We can do it through exercising our spirit by rejoicing, praying, and thanking.

　　Because of the fall, our spirit has been deadened. Our spirit, therefore, must overcome the problem of deadness. Many times the saints attend the church meetings in death… [and] sit in their chair with a deadened spirit. But other parts of their being may be very active. For example, in their thoughts they may criticize the testimonies given by others; they may think that some testimonies are not real and that others are full of oldness.

　　The spirit of an unbeliever is absolutely dead. Most of those around you at school, at work, or in your neighborhood are utterly dead in their spirit…. Have you been sanctified, separated, from a spirit-deadening situation? We need to pull our spirit out of death and cooperate with the operation of the Triune God in sanctifying us…. Because we have been regenerated, we need to be different. We need to show that our spirit is living, that it is not deadened. Thus, our spirit should rejoice, pray, and give thanks to the Lord.

　　Another way to preserve our spirit is found in 2 Corinthians 7:1. In this verse Paul says, “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and of spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” This verse indicates that we should abstain from all defilement of both flesh and spirit. We need to stay away from anything that contaminates our spirit…. [In Shanghai] I learned to close my eyes and pray when taking the ride [to the meeting hall] by streetcar. This preserved my spirit.

　　If you become contaminated by looking at certain kinds of pictures, your spirit will be defiled, contaminated, and deadened. As a result, you will not be able to pray unless you first ask the Lord to cleanse you from all defilement. I offer this as an illustration of our need to cooperate with the sanctifying Triune God to have our spirit preserved from deadness and contamination. (Life-study of 1 Thessalonians, pp. 205-208)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 1 Thessalonians, msgs. 18, 23; Life-study of 2 Thessalonians, msg. 6