腓四4　　你们要在主里常常喜乐，我再说，你们要喜乐。

　　弗三8　　这恩典赐给了我这比众圣徒中最小者还小的，叫我将基督那追测不尽的丰富，当作福音传给外邦人。

　　保罗写腓立比书的时候，已经是个长者。毫无疑问的，狱卒期待他因着坐监而心力交瘁。但保罗一点也不疲竭，反倒满了喜乐，他一直在主里喜乐。我确信他一直让基督从他身上照耀出来，一直在彰显基督。这种彰显乃是宣告基督无限的伟大，并宣告基督是取用不竭的。（腓立比书生命读经，五七页。）

　　Phil. 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

　　Eph. 3:8 To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel.

　　At the time Paul wrote the book of Philippians, he was an elderly person. No doubt, the guards expected him to be exhausted by his imprisonment. But far from being exhausted, Paul was full of joy and rejoicing in the Lord. I am confident that he was shining forth Christ and expressing Him. Such an expression was a declaration of the unlimited greatness of Christ and a declaration that Christ is inexhaustible. (Life-study of Philippians, p. 49)

　　我们天然的忍耐是有限的，但基督作我们的忍耐是无限的。我们多少都有忍耐，但只到某个限度”过了这个限度之后，我们就会受不了，发起脾气来。…虽然我们天然的忍耐这样有限，但基督作为忍耐却是无穷无尽、无法测度的。

　　保罗在监狱中一定受了许多的虐待，但他还能够喜乐，并且向狱卒显明基督无限的伟大。保罗特别显出基督无穷无尽的忍耐，基督的确在保罗的肉身上显大。保罗天天在主里喜乐，他的喜乐没有随着时间消减。他能够在喜乐中显出他所经历、所享受那无法测度的基督。保罗就这样彰显、展览、高举、并颂扬基督。我不相信狱卒会跟保罗过不去，或是保罗会跟狱卒过不去。相反的，他是基督活的见证人，见证基督的力量、大能、忍耐、爱心和智慧，都是无限无量的。狱卒可能认为保罗很奇怪、很特别，认为他有一些东西是他们没有的。他们在保罗身上所感觉到的，乃是显大的基督。保罗在监狱里，把基督的伟大扩大地彰显了出来。他凡事放胆，无论是生，是死，总叫基督显大。因着保罗这样显大基督，他就能胜过一切的环境。（腓立比书生命读经，五七至五八页。）

　　保罗的生活实际上就是赐生命之灵的彰显。在保罗日常生活的每个景况中，他都是他所传扬这位基督的彰显。…在米利大岛上，他就是活这样一位成为包罗万有之灵的基督。…我们读路加〔在使徒行传〕对保罗生活的记载，就看见他所活的乃是包罗万有的灵，就是那成为肉体、钉死十架、复活、升天、被神高举之基督的终极完成。

　　在风暴的海上，主已经使保罗成为与他同船之人的主人，（徒二七24，）也成为他们生命的保证人和安慰者。（22，25。）如今在平安的陆地上，主进一步使他不仅在迷信的人眼中成为神奇的吸引，（二八3~6，）也成为土人的医治者和喜乐。（8~9。）在他漫长、不幸且受监禁的航程中，主保守使徒在祂的超越里，使他活出一种生活，远超忧虑的境域。这种生活是全然尊贵，有人性美德的最高标准，彰显最高超的神圣属性，与多年前主在地上所过的生活相似。这是耶稣在祂被神性所丰富的人性里，再次活在地上！这是从前活在福音书里那奇妙、超绝、奥秘的神人，借着祂许多肢体中的一个，在使徒行传里继续活着！这是成为肉体、钉死十架、复活、被神高举之基督的活见证人！保罗在他的航程里活基督，并显大基督，（腓一20~21，）难怪人对他和他的同伴多方尊敬，（徒二八10，）给与上等的礼遇和最高的敬意。（使徒行传生命读经，七○八至七一○页。）

　　参读：使徒行传生命读经，第七十至七十二篇；耶利米书生命读经，第三至四篇；享受基督活而实际的路，第三至四章。

　　Our natural patience is limited, but Christ as our patience is without limit. We all have the capacity to be patient, but only to a certain extent. Then we become provoked and angry…. Although our natural patience is so limited, Christ as patience is inexhaustible and immeasurable.

　　Even though Paul must have been mistreated in prison, he could be happy and display to the guards the unlimited greatness of Christ. In particular, Paul displayed Christ’s inexhaustible patience. Christ certainly was magnified in Paul’s physical body. DAY by day, Paul was happy in the Lord. His happiness did not diminish as time went by. In his happiness he could show forth the immeasurable Christ he experienced and enjoyed. By this way Paul expressed, exhibited, exalted, and extolled Christ. I do not believe that Paul was offended by the jailers or that he offended them. Rather, he was a living witness of Christ, testifying of His ability, power, patience, love, and wisdom, all without measure. The guards may have considered Paul to be strange or peculiar, viewing him as possessing something which they did not have. What they sensed in Paul was Christ magnified. While he was in prison, Paul expressed the greatness of Christ in an enlarged way. He magnified Christ with all boldness both through life and through death. By magnifying Christ in this way, Paul could overcome any situation. (Life-study of Philippians, p. 50)

　　Paul’s living was actually the expression of the life-giving Spirit. In every situation of his daily living, Paul was the expression of the very Christ he preached….On the island of Malta he lived such a Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit…. As we read Luke’s account [in Acts] of Paul’s living, we see that his living was the all-inclusive Spirit as the consummation of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and God-exalted Christ.

　　On the sea in the storm, the Lord had already made the apostle not only the owner of his fellow voyagers (Acts 27:24), but also their life-guarantee and comforter (27:22-25). Now on the land in peace, the Lord made him further not only a magical attraction in the eyes of the superstitious people (28:3-6), but also a healer and joy to the native people (vv. 8-9). All during his long and unfortunate imprisonment-voyage, the Lord kept the apostle in His ascendancy and enabled him to live a life far beyond the realm of anxiety, but fully dignified with the highest standard of human virtues expressing the most excellent divine attributes, a life that resembled the one that He Himself had lived on earth years before. This was Jesus living again on the earth in His divinely enriched humanity! This was the wonderful, excellent, and mysterious God-man, who lived in the Gospels, continuing to live in Acts through one of His many members! This was a living witness of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and God-exalted Christ. Paul in his voyage lived and magnified Christ. No wonder the people honored him and his companions with many honors (v. 10), that is, with the best respect and highest regard! (Life-study of Acts, pp. 616-617)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Acts, msgs. 70-72; Life-study of Jeremiah, msgs. 3-4; CWWL, 1972, vol. 1, “The Living and Practical Way to Enjoy Christ,” chs. 3-4