诗歌：大本399首首

读经：撒下七12~14上，弗三16~21

Scripture Reading: 2 Sam. 7:12-14a; Eph. 3:16-21

　　撒下七12~14　　…我必兴起你腹中所出的后裔接续你，我也必坚定他的国。他必为我的名建造殿宇；我必坚定他的国位，直到永远。我要作他的父，他要作我的子。…

　　约壹四13　　神已将祂的灵赐给我们，在此就知道我们住在祂里面，祂也住在我们里面。

　　在撒下七章，大卫想要建造神的殿，但在这一章神要大卫领悟，他需要神将基督建造到他里面。因此，撒下七章乃是借着预表揭示一个预言，给我们看见，我们无须为神建造什么；我们作不到。我们无法用自己，或用圣经和神学的知识为神建造什么。我们需要神将基督建造到我们内在的构成里，使我们全人被基督重新构成。结果，我们不仅得着改变，更从一种人变化成为另一种人。…撒下七章简单地指明，神不需要我们为祂建造什么。我们一无所是，一无所有，也一无所能。因此，我们需要基督作到我们里面。（撒母耳记生命读经，一九五页。）

　　2 Sam. 7:12-14 …I will raise up your seed after you, which will come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. It is he who will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he will be My son…

　　1 John 4:13 In this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, that He has given to us of His Spirit.

　　In 2 Samuel 7 David wanted to build God’s house, but in this chapter God wanted David to realize that he needed God to build Christ into him. Thus, 2 Samuel 7 is the unveiling of a prophecy through typology showing us there is no need for us to build something for God. We simply are not able to do this. We cannot build something for God with ourselves or with our knowledge of the Bible and theology. We need God to build up Christ into our intrinsic constitution so that our entire being will be reconstituted with Christ. As a result, we are not only changed, but we are transformed from one kind of person into another…. Second Samuel 7 simply indicates that God does not need us to build anything for Him. We are nothing, we have nothing, and we can do nothing. Therefore, we need Christ to be wrought into our being. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 160-161)

　　一个人的照片如何没有那个人的生命和性情，照样，大卫是神心的一张照片，也没有神的生命和性情。虽然他是合乎神心的人，却与神没有任何生机的关系。大卫所需要的，就是今天我们所需要的。我们需要神将祂自己在基督里建造到我们的人性里。这意思是，我们需要神将祂自己在基督里作到我们里面，作我们的生命、性情和构成。结果，我们不是仅仅合乎神心的人—我们乃是在生命和性情上（但不在神格上）成为神。今天我们外表上可能不像大卫那样高大，但我们可以宣告，我们有神的生命、性情和构成。

　　为要成就这事，神就在基督里成为人，并且经过一些过程，使这人能被标出为神圣的。在复活里，祂被标出为神的长子。在复活里并借着复活，神的长子基督成了赐生命的灵，现今进到我们里面，将祂自己作为生命分赐到我们里面，成为我们内里的构成，使我们成为神人，就像祂自己一样。祂是神成为人，我们是人成为神—在生命和性情上，但不在神格上。

　　许多基督徒仍然只想要有一种合乎神心的行事、生活和为人，但他们没有这种观念：神渴望将祂自己在基督里建造到我们全人里面。祂所要建造到我们里面的，要成为祂的住处和我们的住处。因此，这成了一个相互的住处；新耶路撒冷就是这相互的住处。一面，新耶路撒冷是神的居所；另一面，新耶路撒冷也是我们永远的居所。（启二一3，22。）新耶路撒冷将应验主在约翰十五章四节所说“你们要住在我里面，我也住在你们里面”这简短的一句话，直到永远。

　　按照基督徒中间一般的领会和看法，神将基督赐给我们，是作我们的救赎主和拯救主。祂为我们的罪死了，成功了救赎；祂从死人中复活，且成为我们的生命。然而，这并没有告诉我们，神想要作什么。神乃是要在基督里将祂自己作到我们里面。救赎和拯救都是为着这个。基督的成为肉体、人性生活、死与复活，都是为着神的心愿，就是要在基督里将祂自己作到我们里面。凡基督之所是、所成就的，都是为着这件事。神在我们日常生活中所采取的一切大小步骤，都是要完成祂这目的，就是将祂自己在基督里建造到我们里面。（撒母耳记生命读经，二○五至二○六、二三三页。）

　　参读：撒母耳记生命读经，第二十四至二十六、二十八至二十九篇。

　　Just as the photograph of a person does not have the life and nature of that person, so David, a photograph of God’s heart, did not have the life and nature of God. Even though he was a man whose heart was according to God, he did not have anything related to God organically. What David needed is what we need today. We need God to build Himself in Christ into our humanity. This means that we need God to work Himself in Christ into us as our life, our nature, and our constitution. As a result, we are not simply a man according to God’s heart—we are God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. We today are not outwardly as high as David was, but we can declare that we have God’s life, nature, and constitution.

　　In order to accomplish this, God in Christ became a man and went through some processes that this man could be designated something divine. In resurrection He was designated the firstborn Son of God. In and through resurrection Christ, the firstborn Son of God, became the life-giving Spirit, who now enters into us to impart, to dispense, Himself as life into our being to be our inner constitution, to make us a God-man just like Him. He was God becoming man, and we are man becoming God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead.

　　Many Christians are still trying merely to have a behaving, a living, and a being that are according to God’s heart, but they do not have the concept that God desires to build Himself in Christ into our being. What He is building into us will be His abode, which will be our abode also. Hence, it becomes a mutual abode. The New Jerusalem is this mutual abode. On the one hand, the New Jerusalem is the dwelling place of God; on the other hand, it is also our eternal dwelling place (Rev. 21:3, 22). For eternity the New Jerusalem will be the fulfillment of the Lord’s brief word in John 15:4: “Abide in Me and I in you.”

　　According to the common understanding and view among Christians, God gave Christ to be our Redeemer and our Savior. He died for our sins, accomplishing redemption; He rose up from among the dead; and He has become our life. However, this does not tell us what God wants to do. God wants to work Himself in Christ into us. Redemption and salvation are for this. Christ’s incarnation, Christ’s human living, Christ’s death and resurrection—they all are for God’s desire to work Himself in Christ into us. Everything that Christ is and everything that Christ has accomplished are for this one thing. All the steps, big and small, that God takes in our daily life are to fulfill His intention of building Himself in Christ into our being. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 168, 190)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msgs. 24-26, 28-29

　　约十四23　　耶稣回答说，人若爱我，就必遵守我的话，我父也必爱他，并且我们要到他那里去，同他安排住处。

　　太十三3　　祂就用比喻对他们讲许多事，说，看哪，那撒种的出去撒种。

　　23　　但那撒在好土里的，就是人听了道，也领悟了，他就结出果实…。

　　圣经告诉我们，神正在我们里面作工，基督也正活在我们里面。然而，圣经用了一个非常显著的辞—“建造”，表明神在我们里面的工作。…要建造房子，就必须有正确的材料。…一面，这材料是基督自己作元素；另一面，这材料包括一些出自我们人性的东西。…约翰十四章二十三节…“安排住处”这辞，等于以弗所三章十七节的“安家”。三一神已经进到我们里面，以祂自己作元素，并以一些出于我们的东西作材料，来作建造的工作。这几节关于建造的话，含示神将祂自己在基督里建造到我们里面，与我们的所是有极大的关系。（撒母耳记生命读经，二三九至二四一页。）

　　John 14:23 Jesus answered,…If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.

　　Matt. 13:3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow.

　　23 But the one sown on the good earth, this is he who hears the word and understands, who by all means bears fruit…

　　The Bible tells us that God is working in us and that Christ is living in us. However, the Bible uses a very striking term—build—to denote God’s work in us…. In building a house, it is necessary to have the proper material…. On the one hand, this material is Christ Himself as the element; on the other hand, this material includes something from us with our humanity. The words make an abode [in John 14:23]…equal make His home in Ephesians 3:17. The Triune God has come into us to do a building work with Himself as the element and also with something from us as the material. The word concerning building in these verses implies that God’s building Himself in Christ into us has very much to do with what we are. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 196-197)

　　在马太十三章…种子撒到土里，是凭土壤里的养分而长大。因此，这种子并非只凭着自己长大；它乃是凭着自己，并凭着土壤里的养分而长大。结果，种子的出产乃是由种子和土壤的元素所组成。这里我们看见一个重要的属灵原则：种子要长大，就必须撒到好土里。…因为沙地和石头不能供应必需的养分。

　　种子是神性，土壤及其养分是人性。在我们里面有一些特定的养分是神所造的，预备让祂进到我们里面，好在我们里面长大。神造了人的灵，含有人性的养分。因这缘故，人能相信主并接受祂。

　　撒到我们里面的种子乃是作三一神具体化身的基督。种子在我们里面长大的速度，在于我们供应多少的养分。我们供应的养分越多，种子就长得越快，并且越茂盛。

　　按照圣经，长大等于建造。主耶稣宣告说，祂要建造祂的召会。（太十六18。）这建造是借着我们里面神圣种子的长大而进行的。…长大的程度不在于神圣的种子，乃在于我们供应这种子多少的养分。马太十三章指明，只有好土（8，23）才能提供足够的养分，让神圣的种子长大。

　　既然神在基督里将祂自己建造到我们里面，不只在于祂自己这元素，也在于我们所供应的养分，我们就需要得以加强到里面的人里。我们若留在魂里，留在天然的人里，就没有任何养分为着神圣种子的长大。但我们若得着加强到里面的人里，并且注意我们的灵，操练我们的灵，就能供应养分；这样基督就能安家在我们内里的所是里。…保罗祷告，求父借着祂的灵，用大能使我们得以加强到里面的人里。〔弗三16。〕这大能，就是一章十九至二十二节所提到的，乃是使基督从死人中复活，叫祂在诸天界里坐在神的右边，将万有服在基督的脚下，以及使基督向着召会作万有的头的能力。这样的大能运行在我们里面，（三20，）神也用这大能加强我们，为着祂的建造。神所借以加强我们的那灵，乃是经过过程之三一神的终极完成。一面，神用祂自己作元素加强我们；另一面，我们提供养分。借着这二者，神在基督里就在我们的全人里完成祂内在的建造，就是建造祂的家。（撒母耳记生命读经，二四一至二四三页。）

　　参读：撒母耳记生命读经，第三十至三十一篇。

　　In Matthew 13 the seed is sown into the soil to grow with the nutrients in the soil. This seed, therefore, does not grow just with itself; it grows with itself and the nutrients in the soil. As a result, the produce is a composition of elements from both the seed and the soil. Here we see an important spiritual principle. In order to grow, the seed must be sown into good soil;… neither sand nor stone can supply the necessary nutrients.

　　The seed is divinity, and the soil with its nutrients is humanity. We have within us certain nutrients created by God as a preparation for His coming into us to grow in us. God has created the human spirit with the human nutrients. For this reason, human beings can believe in the Lord and receive Him.

　　The seed that has been sown into us is Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God. The rate at which the seed grows within us depends on the nutrients afforded by us. The more nutrients we supply, the faster the seed will grow and the more it will flourish.

　　According to the Bible, growth equals building. The Lord Jesus declared, “I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). This building takes place by the growth of the divine seed within us. The degree of growth depends not on the divine seed but on how many [spiritual] nutrients we afford this seed. Matthew 13 indicates that only the good soil (vv. 8, 23) affords the adequate nutrients for the growth of the divine seed.

　　Since God’s building Himself in Christ into us depends not only on Himself as the element but also on the nutrients supplied by us, we need to be strengthened into our inner man. If we remain in our soul, in our natural man, there will not be any nutrients for the growth of the divine seed. But if we are strengthened into our inner man and if we pay attention to our spirit and exercise our spirit, the nutrients will be supplied. Then Christ will make His home in our inner being. Paul prayed that the Father would strengthen us with power through His Spirit into our inner man [Eph. 3:16]. This power, referred to in Ephesians 1:19-22, is the power that raised Christ from the dead, seated Christ at the right hand of God in the heavenlies, subjected all things under Christ’s feet, and gave Christ to be Head over all things to the church. Such power operates in us (3:20), and with it God strengthens us for His building. The Spirit through whom God strengthens us is the consummation of the processed Triune God. On the one hand, God strengthens us with Himself as the element and, on the other hand, we afford the nutrients. Through these two God in Christ carries out His intrinsic building—the building of His home—in our entire being. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 197-198)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msgs. 30-31

　　太十六18　　我还告诉你，你是彼得，我要把我的召会建造在这磐石上…。

　　林后三18　　但我们众人既然以没有帕子遮蔽的脸，好像镜子观看并返照主的荣光，就渐渐变化成为与祂同样的形像，从荣耀到荣耀，乃是从主灵变化成的。

　　神在基督里，〔是〕借着新陈代谢变化的过程，将祂自己建造到我们里面。…基督就是那灵，所以祂能住在我们里面，我们也能在灵里与祂交通。我们该仰望祂、观看祂、并返照祂，将我们这人的三层—我们的灵、我们的心、我们的口—向祂敞开。这样，我们就自然而然像镜子一样返照祂，而逐渐变化成为祂荣耀的形像，从荣耀到荣耀。结果我们将与祂有同样的形像；这完全是从主，就是从那灵变化成的。（林后三18。）…当我们仰望祂，祂就将自己印到我们里面，我们就成为祂的返照。（撒母耳记生命读经，二○八至二○九页。）

　　Matt. 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church…

　　2 Cor. 3:18 But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.

　　God’s building Himself in Christ into our being [is] through the metabolic process of transformation. Because Christ is the Spirit, He can dwell in us, and we can fellowship with Him in our spirit. We should look to Him, behold Him, and reflect Him, opening to Him the three layers of our being—our spirit, our heart, and our mouth. Then we will spontaneously reflect Him as a mirror and gradually be transformed into His glorious image from glory to glory. As a result, we will have the same image that He has. This is altogether from the Lord, the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18). When we look unto Him, He impresses Himself into our being. Then we become His reflection. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 171-172)

　　变化是一种新陈代谢的过程，借着将一些新的元素加到我们里面，并排除旧元素，而改变我们。这可由一个人有健康的脸色，乃是借着每天合式的吃、消化并吸收食物来说明。这健康的外表不是因着化妆，乃是因着滋养所产生的结果。…同样，我们每天都需要接受属灵的滋养。这滋养会供应新的元素，并带走旧的东西。逐渐地，我们就长大、改变并成熟…。神的经纶就是将祂自己作到我们里面，使我们经历属灵的消化和吸收这样一种新陈代谢的过程，而在生命上产生逐渐、内在的改变。

　　神将祂自己建造到我们里面，完全是件生机的事。我们要让这建造进行，就需要接受、消化并吸收生机的元素。我们属灵的食物和饮料，就是那生机的、是灵的基督，（约六51，57，七37~39，）祂就是赐生命的灵。

　　当我们借着吃基督、喝基督、并呼吸基督而享受“现在的”基督，我们里面就有新陈代谢的过程进行，就是属灵的消化和新陈代谢的作用。借着这新陈代谢的过程，基督就构成到我们里面；这构成就是建造。因此，基督现今正将祂自己建造到我们里面，作我们内里的构成。这样建造的结果，就使我们成为一班特别的人—基督身体的肢体。每当我们聚在一起，我们就是神的召会。…在马太十六章十八节主耶稣说，祂要建造祂的召会。…基督…建造祂的召会，乃是借着用属灵的饮料供应我们，用属灵的食物喂养我们；这饮料和食物唯独是祂自己这灵。…在各种不同的聚会中，我们竭力将基督供应到圣徒里面，作他们属灵的食物和饮料。我们越这样接受基督，就越经历内里、属灵的新陈代谢。这种新陈代谢就是变化，而变化就是建造。

　　作为基督身体的召会，借着属灵新陈代谢的过程而有的生机建造，实际上就是撒下七章十二至十四节上半，耶和华用预表对大卫所说的预言。…唯有借着这过程，人性（人的后裔）才能成为神圣的（神的儿子）。当神告诉大卫，他的后裔要作神的儿子，神是用预表对大卫预言这事。这指明人的后裔要成为神圣的子。这就是今天我们正在经历的。因此，我们这些在基督里的信徒，乃是一班特别、奇特的子民。在神眼中，我们是神的珍宝。（撒母耳记生命读经，二一○至二一三页。）

　　参读：生命树，第十三章；为着建造基督的身体那合乎圣经的聚会与事奉之路，第十五章。

　　Transformation is a metabolic process that changes us by adding some new element into our being and discharging the old element. This is illustrated by one’s having a healthy complexion through the proper, daily eating, digesting, and assimilating of food. This healthy appearance is the result not of cosmetics but of nourishment…. In like manner, we need to receive spiritual nourishment day by day. This nourishment will supply a new element and then cause the old things to be carried away. Gradually, we will grow, change, and mature…. God’s economy is just to work Himself into us that we may experience such a metabolic process of spiritual digestion and assimilation that produces a gradual, intrinsic change in life.

　　God’s building Himself into our being is altogether an organic matter. In order for such a building to take place, we need to receive, digest, and assimilate an organic element. Our spiritual food and drink is the organic, pneumatic Christ (John 6:51, 57; 7:37-39), the Christ who is the life-giving Spirit.

　　When we enjoy the “now” Christ by eating, drinking, and breathing Him, a metabolic process, a spiritual digestion and metabolism, takes place within us. Through this metabolic process Christ is constituted into our being. This constitution is the building. Christ, therefore, is building Himself into us as our inner constitution. The issue of such a building is that we become a very particular class of people—the members of the Body of Christ. Whenever we gather together we are the church of God. In Matthew 16:18 the Lord Jesus said, “I will build My church.”…Christ builds the church…by supplying us with spiritual drink and by feeding us with spiritual food, which are uniquely Himself as the Spirit. In different kinds of meetings, we endeavor to minister Christ into the saints as their spiritual food and drink. The more we receive Christ in this way, the more we will experience the inner, spiritual metabolism. This metabolism is transformation, and transformation is the building.

　　This organic building up of the church as the Body of Christ through the process of spiritual metabolism is actually what Jehovah prophesied to David in the way of typology in 2 Samuel 7:12-14a…. It is only through this process that something human—the human seed—can become divine—the sons of God. In typology God prophesied to David regarding this when He told David that his seed would be God’s son. This indicates that a human seed would become a divine son. This is what we are experiencing today. Therefore, we, the believers in Christ, are a very particular and peculiar people, …a precious treasure in the eyes of God. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 172-174)

　　Further Reading: The Tree of Life, ch. 13; CWWL, 1987, vol. 3, “The Scriptural Way to Meet and to Serve for the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” ch. 15

　　弗三16~17　　愿祂…用大能使你们得以加强到里面的人里，使基督借着信，安家在你们心里，叫你们在爱里生根立基。

　　以弗所三章十四至十九节启示使徒向父祷告；父借着那灵加强信徒；基督安家在信徒心里；以及信徒在爱里生根立基，领略基督的量度，并认识基督那超越知识的爱，以致被充满，成为〔三一〕神一切的丰满。（李文集一九八八年第一册，四三九至四四○页。）

　　〔为使〕召会…被构成为基督的丰满和神的丰满，…保罗就祷告，要我们得以加强到里面的人里，结果基督就能安家在我们心里，进而以祂自己来占有、充满、浸润、并浸透我们整个内里的部分。这样，我们就被基督充满，而满有力量，能领略基督的量度，并认识基督那超越知识的爱。最终，我们要被基督充满到一个地步，使我们成为神的丰满。（以弗所书生命读经，三四四页。）

　　Eph. 3:16-17 That He would grant you…to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man, that Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love.

　　Ephesians 3:14-19 reveals the apostle praying to the Father; the Father strengthening the believers through the Spirit; Christ making His home in the believers’ hearts; and the believers being rooted and grounded in love, apprehending the dimensions of Christ, and knowing the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ to be filled unto all the fullness of [the Triune] God. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” p. 319)

　　[For] the church [to] be constituted to become the fullness of Christ and the fullness of God,…Paul prayed that we might be strengthened into our inner man with the result that Christ could make His home in our heart and thereby occupy, possess, permeate, and saturate our whole inner being with Himself. In this way we are filled with Christ, and we become strong to apprehend the dimensions of Christ and to know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ. Eventually, we shall be filled with Christ to such an extent that we become the fullness of God. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 285)

　　首先，保罗向父这源头祷告。然后，父借着那灵作凭借、作管道，加强信徒。接着，基督来运行并作工，安家在信徒心里。最后，父和灵的运行，以及子安家在我们心里的结果乃是三一神的丰满。父是源头，灵是凭借，子是标的，而三一神的丰满乃是结果。

　　源头是父，凭借是灵，目的、目标是子，因为子是中心。…保罗向父这源头祷告，求父借着灵的管道，加强信徒，好达到一个目标。这目标乃是基督安家在信徒的心里。

　　三一神可以比喻作一部大机器，保罗是操作这部机器的人。他的祷告“使机器转动起来”。我们必须学习…在整个宇宙里，有一个很高的原则。这原则就是神要作一件事，但祂只愿意作“机器”，祂需要有操作的人。今天，我盼望召会是操作的人。凡是使徒保罗所作的，都是一种代表。他是整个基督身体的代表。现今三一神这宇宙“机器”的操作者乃是召会，基督的身体。但是虽然召会在操作，这并不是说召会本身来完成。召会操作，但三一神这“机器”来完成。…父、子、灵是这宇宙“机器”的三个“零件”，而基督的身体乃是操作者。父是源头，灵是凭借，子是目的、目标。按照以弗所三章来看，操作者求“机器”借着一个管道加强操作者。那灵就是管道，在我们里面作工，将我们全人的每一部分加强到里面的人里，使子这目标、这标的，能安家在我们心的各部分里。（李文集一九八八年第一册，四四○至四四一页。）

　　“到里面的人里”这个句子中，“到…里”一辞是非常有意义的。说我们需要得以加强到里面的人里，就表示我们不是在里面的人里，我们大部分都活在外面的人里。当一位弟兄告诉妻子他很疲倦，他乃是在外面的人里，在心思里，照着他肉身的疲倦而活。…你有里面的人，为什么不留在那里？为什么留在你的疲倦里？你需要操练向父屈膝，求祂加强你，好从你的疲倦进到你里面的人里。（李文集一九八三年第二册，四一一至四一二页。）

　　参读：召会的异象与建造，第六章。

　　First, Paul prayed to the Father as the source. Then the Father strengthens the believers through the Spirit as the means, the channel. Then Christ moves and works to make His home in the believers’ hearts. Eventually, the issue of the moving of the Father and the Spirit and the issue of the Son making His home in our hearts is the fullness of the Triune God. The Father is the source, the Spirit is the means, the Son is the object, and the fullness of the Triune God is the issue.

　　The source is the Father, the means is the Spirit, and the aim, the goal, is the Son because the Son is the center…. Paul prayed to the Father as the source, asking the Father to strengthen the believers through the channel of the Spirit that a goal might be reached. The goal was that Christ would make His home in the hearts of the believers.

　　The Triune God may be likened to a big machine, of which Paul was the operator. His prayer “turned the wheel.” We have to learn…that there is a high principle in the entire universe. This principle is that God wants to do something, but He will only be the “machine,” and He needs someone to be the operator. Today I hope that the church would be the operator. Whatever the apostle Paul did was done in a representing way. He was a representative of the entire Body of Christ. Now the operator of the universal “machine,” the Triune God, is the church, the Body of Christ. But just because the church operates does not mean that the church in itself carries out. The church operates, but the “machine,” the Triune God, carries out. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are the three “parts” of this universal “machine,” and the Body is the operator. The Father is the source, the Spirit is the means, and the Son is the aim, the goal. According to Ephesians 3, the operator asks the “machine” to strengthen the operator…. The Spirit as the channel does the work within us to strengthen every part of our being into the inner man so that the goal, the aim, the Son, might make His home within all the parts of our heart. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” pp. 319-321)

　　In the phrase into the inner man [v. 16], the word into is very significant. To say that we need to be strengthened into the inner man indicates that we are not in the inner man, that we live mostly in the outer man. When a brother tells his wife that he is tired, he is in the outer man, in the mind, living according to his physical tiredness…. You have an inner man. Why not stay there? Why stay in your tiredness? You need to practice bowing your knees unto the Father, that He would strengthen you into your inner man from your tiredness. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity,” p. 311)

　　Further Reading: The Way to Build Up the Church (booklet)

　　弗三17~18　　使基督借着信，安家在你们心里，叫你们在爱里生根立基，使你们满有力量，能和众圣徒一同领略何为那阔、长、高、深。

　　我们在基督里生根，就使祂能安家在我们心里。（弗三16~19。）在以弗所三章使徒祷告，求父神借着灵神，叫信徒得以加强到里面的人里，使子神—基督—安家在他们心里，就是占有他们的全人，叫他们被充满，成为神一切的丰满。（14~19。）“安家”这个辞，在原文只是一个字（katoikeo）。这字的基本意思是，在住所里安顿下来，安排住处。这字的字首，意思是“向下”。（李文集一九八四年第三册，六四四页。）

　　Eph. 3:17-18 That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be full of strength to apprehend with all the saints what the breadth and length and height and depth are.

　　We are rooted in Christ so that He may make His home in our hearts (Eph. 3:16-19). In Ephesians 3 the apostle prays that God the Father would grant the believers to be strengthened through God the Spirit into their inner man, that Christ, God the Son, may make His home in their hearts, that is, to occupy their entire being, that they might be filled unto all the fullness of God (vv. 14-19). The phrase make His home is only one word in the Greek, katoikeo. This Greek word basically means to settle down in a dwelling, to make a dwelling place. The prefix of this word, kata, means “down.” (CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “God’s New Testament Economy,” p. 475)

　　父神借着灵神来运用祂的权柄，叫我们得以加强到里面的人里，使子神深深安家在我们心里。…基督不仅在我们里面，（西一27，）祂也向下安家在我们心里。祂使自己定居在我们心里。

　　我们都已进入三一神里面，现今我们正住在祂里面。我们住在祂里面，就给祂一条路三一的住在我们里面。三一神现今住在我们里面，因此我们已经生根在祂里面。我们生根在祂里面，父神就作工，借着灵神来加强我们，使子神基督深深安家在我们心里；我们的心是由心思、（来四12、）意志、（徒十一23、）情感、（约十六6，22、）和良心（来十22）组成的。…等我们开始求父神使我们得以加强到里面的人里，基督就逐渐开始占有我们的心思，接管我们的情感和意志，并占有我们的整个良心。

　　我们的心就像一所房子，有四个房间，这些房间就是心思、情感、意志和良心。基督渴望占有我们心中的每个房间，以及每个房间的每个角落。祂向下安家在我们心里，我们就刚强的与众圣徒一同领略基督的阔、长、高、深。（弗三18。）这些乃是宇宙的量度。…这些量度都是描述无限无量的基督，祂的量度乃是宇宙的量度。祂就是阔、长、高、深。我们只有和众圣徒在一起，才能领略祂宇宙的量度。（李文集一九八四年第三册，六四五至六四六页。）

　　我们经历基督，先是经历祂所是的阔，再经历祂所是的长，这是平面的。当我们在基督里长进时，就经历祂丰富的高和深，这是垂直的。我们先是经历基督扩展为阔和长，之后我们经历祂上升的高，最后经历祂下降的深。我们将要看见，我们对基督的经历，最终必须是三度的，像一立方体。

　　我们若只有基督的长，而没有宽，那我们的经历将是一条“线”，就是极其长而窄的经历。然而，我们对基督的经历，不该只有一度，像一条线，而该有二度，像一平面，然后有三度，像一立方体。…我们对祂若只有“线”的经历，最终这条线会一直走到极端。

　　我们对基督的经历，需要从二度进到三度，从“平面”进到“立方体”。立方体是扎实的。在会幕和圣殿里的至圣所都是立方体。在会幕和圣殿中这个立方体的量度分别是十肘和二十肘。新耶路撒冷将是一个永远的立方体，长宽高都是一万二千斯泰底亚。今天召会生活也必须是“立方体”。（以弗所书生命读经，三四六、三四九页。）

　　参读：以弗所书生命读经，第三十三篇；神新约的经纶，第三十九章。

　　God the Father is exercising His authority through God the Spirit to strengthen us into the inner man, that God the Son may make His home deep down in our hearts…. Christ is not only in us (Col. 1:27) but… He is also making His home downward in our heart. He is housing Himself in our heart.

　　We all have entered into the Triune God, and we are now abiding in Him. Our abiding in Him affords Him a way to abide in us triunely. The Triune God is now abiding in us, so we have been rooted into Him. While we are rooted into Him, the Father works to strengthen us through God the Spirit so that God the Son, Christ, may make His home deep down in our heart, which is composed of our mind (Heb. 4:12), will (Acts 11:23), emotion (John 16:6, 22), and conscience (Heb. 10:22)…. Since we began to pray that God the Father would strengthen us into the inner man, Christ gradually began to occupy our mind, take over our emotion and will, and possess our entire conscience.

　　Our heart is like a house that has four rooms, and these rooms are the mind, the emotion, the will, and the conscience. Christ has the desire to occupy every room of our heart and every corner of every room. As He makes His home downward in our heart, we become strong to apprehend with all the saints the breadth, length, height, and depth of Christ (Eph. 3:18). These are the dimensions of the universe…. All these dimensions describe the immeasurable Christ, whose dimensions are the dimensions of the universe. He is the breadth, length, height, and depth. We can only apprehend His universal dimensions with all the saints. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “God’s New Testament Economy,” p. 476)

　　In our experience of Christ, we first experience the breadth of what He is, and then we experience the length. This is horizontal. When we advance in Christ, we experience the height and depth of His riches. This is vertical. First we experience Christ spreading as the breadth and the length. Later we experience Him rising up as the height and finally descending as the depth. As we shall see, our experience of Christ must eventually become three-dimensional, like a cube.

　　If we have only the length of Christ, without any breadth, our experience will be a “line,” that is, an experience that is long and narrow to an extreme. Our experience of Christ, however, should not have only one dimension, like a line, but it should have two dimensions, like a square, and then three dimensions, like a cube…. If we have only a “line” experience of Him, this “line” will eventually continue until it reaches an extreme.

　　In our experience of Christ, we should go on from the two dimensions to three, from a “square” to a “cube.” A cube is solid. Both in the tabernacle and in the temple the Holy of Holies was a cube. The dimensions of this cube in the tabernacle and temple respectively were ten cubits and twenty cubits. The New Jerusalem will be an eternal cube, twelve thousand stadia in three dimensions. The church life today must also be a “cube.” (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 286, 288)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msg. 33; CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “God’s New Testament Economy,” ch. 39

　　弗三19~21　　并认识基督那超越知识的爱，使你们被充满，成为神一切的丰满。然而神能照着运行在我们里面的大能，极其充盈地成就一切，超过我们所求所想的；愿在召会中，并在基督耶稣里，荣耀归与祂，直到世世代代，永永远远。阿们。

　　我们得救时，基督就进到我们的灵里。现今我们必须让祂有机会，将祂自己扩展到我们内里之人的每一部分。当我们得以加强到里面的人里，就给基督开门，在我们里面扩展，从我们的灵扩展到我们的心思、情感和意志的每一部分里。基督越多在我们里面扩展，就越多定居且安家在我们里面。这意思是说，祂占有我们里面的每一部分，并以祂自己充满、浸透各部分。结果我们不仅得了启示，我们也被基督充满。然后无论我们到哪里，我们都是使徒，就是受差遣的人；也是申言者，就是为基督说话的人。（以弗所书生命读经，三四一页。）

　　在马太十六章十八节，主耶稣应许祂要建造祂的召会。要这应许得着实现，召会必须进入一种情形，就是许多圣徒让基督深深安家在他们心里，使他们全人里面被基督这三一神的具体化身所浸透，三一神得着并占有他们全人的每一角落，每一通路。…我们已进入三一神里面，现今仍在进入。我们一直在进入，祂也一直在深深地安家在我们心里。我们越进入，祂就越深入。（李文集一九八四年第三册，六四七页。）

　　Eph. 3:19-21 And to know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ, that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God. But to Him who is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power which operates in us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all the generations forever and ever. Amen.

　　When we were saved, Christ came into our spirit. Now we must give Him the opportunity to spread Himself throughout all the parts of our inner being. As we are strengthened into the inner man, the door is opened for Christ to spread in us, to spread from our spirit to every part of our mind, emotion, and will. The more Christ spreads within us, the more He settles down in us and makes His home in us. This means that He occupies every part of our inner being, possessing all these parts and saturating them with Himself. As a result, not only do we receive the revelation, but we also are filled with Christ. Then wherever we may go, we shall be the apostles, the sent ones, and the prophets, those who speak for Christ. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 282)

　　In Matthew 16:18 the Lord Jesus promised that He would build His church. In order for this to be realized, the church has to enter into a state where so many saints will have Christ making His home deep down in their heart so that their entire being would be saturated within with Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God, possessing and occupying every corner and every avenue of their entire being…. We have entered into the Triune God, and we are still entering. We are entering, and He is making His home deep down in our heart. The more we enter, the more He deepens. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “God’s New Testament Economy,” p. 477)

　　我们是神的耕地，神的建筑。（林前三9。）我们既是神的耕地，就需要为着长大而生根；我们既是神的建筑，就需要为着建造而立基。（圣经恢复本，弗三17注4。）

　　神的荣耀作到召会中，神就在召会中得着彰显。因此，在召会中荣耀归与神，就是神在召会中得着荣耀。〔参弗三21。〕（以弗所书生命读经，三六六页。）

　　以弗所三章十六至二十一节…帮助我们，更加认识在召会中，当如何事奉神；并且给我们看见，保罗这个人的灵和态度，以及他的祷告和信心。这也是一个在召会中事奉神的人，应该有的灵和态度，以及祷告和信心。我们若真看见召会是什么，是用什么建造的，我们在召会中事奉，就会有这样的灵和态度，以及这样的祷告和信心。…他的灵和态度，他眼睛所看见的，里头所充满的，口里所说的，心上所挂着的，都是这一个异象：神显现于肉体，调和在人里面，要用基督建造召会，要叫基督充满召会。这一件事充满了保罗的全人；因此，他眼所见，口所说，心上所挂着的，都是这一个。所以，这段圣经最宝贵的点，还不在于给我们看见一个祷告、一个信心，乃是给我们看见一种灵和态度。

　　我们若看见这异象，就能为这异象所迷，而向父屈膝。因此，无论是作长老的、作执事的、或是同工们，凡是事奉主的人，按规矩都得看见异象，看见启示，并且到一个地步，完全着了迷，以致有这个灵，这个态度，和这个空气。因着保罗有这样的灵，这样的态度，和这样的空气，所以自然能有这样的祷告；甚至祷告到末了，他信神能极其充盈地成就一切。在召会里事奉神的人，都该有这样的一个灵和态度，都该有这样的祷告；我们所有的祷告，都该以这样的祷告作中心，并且有这样祷告的信心。（如何治理召会，一三八至一四一页。）

　　参读：倪柝声恢复职事过程中信息记录，第二十、二十四篇；以弗所书生命读经，第三十二、三十四至三十五篇。

　　As God’s cultivated land [1 Cor. 3:9], we need to be rooted for our growth, and as God’s building, we need to be grounded for our building up. (Eph. 3:17, footnote 3)

　　God’s glory is wrought into the church, and He is expressed in the church. Hence, the glory in the church is to God; that is, God is glorified in the church [cf. Eph. 3:21]. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 303)

　　Ephesians 3:16-21… helps us know how to serve God in the church and shows Paul’s spirit, attitude, prayer, and faith. We should have this spirit, attitude, prayer, and faith when we serve God in the church. If we have truly seen the church and the materials that build the church, we will have this kind of spirit and attitude, and we will also have this kind of prayer and faith. His spirit and attitude—what he saw, what he was filled with, what he said, and what he cared about in his heart—were related to the vision of God being manifested in the flesh and being mingled with man in order to build the church with Christ so that the church would be filled with Christ. This matter filled Paul’s entire being; hence, what he saw, what he spoke, and what he cared about in his heart were related to this matter. The most precious point in this portion of the Scriptures is not Paul’s prayer and faith but his spirit and attitude.

　　If we have seen this vision, we will be obsessed with it, and we will bow our knees unto the Father. Hence, every elder, deacon, co-worker, and everyone who serves the Lord must see a vision, a revelation, to the point that he is absolutely obsessed with it and has the same spirit, attitude, and mood of Paul. Because Paul had such a spirit, attitude, and mood, he spontaneously had this kind of prayer; he also believed that God is able to do superabundantly. All those who serve God in the church must have this kind of spirit and attitude and this kind of prayer. All our prayers must take this kind of prayer as the center, and we should have the faith for such prayer. (CWWL, 1952, vol. 2, “How to Administrate the Church,” pp. 153-155)

　　Further Reading: Messages Given during the Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry, 2nd ed., vol. 1, chs. 20, 24; Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 32, 34-35