创六8　　但挪亚在耶和华眼前蒙恩。

　　约一16　　从祂的丰满里我们都领受了，而且恩上加恩。

　　撒但很乐意听到，神要把人从地上除灭，但挪亚却在耶和华眼前蒙恩。这转变了局面，改变了时代。阿利路亚，神没有被击败！在表面的失败中，借着一个在耶和华眼前蒙恩的人得胜了。这是个转捩点。如果你配着圣经读一读历史，你会看见在每一个时代，当撒但尽力把局面破坏到极点之后，总有一个人或少数人在神眼前蒙恩，成为转移那时代的人。你们记得以色列人的历史，虽然他们一再堕落，堕落到底，但是出来了一个少年人，名叫但以理，使仇敌大大的惊讶。……但以理书说，“但以理却……。”〔一8〕创世记六章八节说，“但挪亚……。”在人堕落到底的时候，总有一个“却”或“但”。

　　召会是由神的生命所产生，在这新约时代彰显神自己。……〔然而〕眼前的情况就足以告诉我们，召会是多么堕落，多么偏离神正确的目标。但不要灰心。虽然撒但尽力破坏，神仍然有方法达成祂原初的目的。在一切的失败之中，神今天兴起了众地方召会来改变时代（创世记生命读经，四七二至四七三页）。

　　Gen. 6:8 But Noah found favor in the sight of Jehovah.

　　John 1:16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

　　Satan was glad to hear that God was going to destroy man from the face of the earth, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. That turned the situation and changed the age. Hallelujah, God was not defeated! In the midst of apparent defeat, there was victory through a man who found grace in the eyes of the Lord. That was the turning point. If you read history along with the Bible, you will see that in every generation, when Satan has done his best to damage the situation to the uttermost, there has always been one man or a few people who found grace in the eyes of God and who became the ones who turned the age. Remember the history of Israel. Although they degraded lower and lower until they reached the bottom, there was, much to the surprise of the enemy, a young man named Daniel …There in the book of Daniel it says, “But Daniel” [1:8]; here in Genesis 6:8 it says, “But Noah.” At the bottom of man’s fall, there is always a “but.”

　　The church was produced with God’s life to express Him in this New Testament age …The present situation is sufficient to show us how much the church has fallen and deviated from God’s proper goal. But do not be disappointed. Though Satan has done his best, God still has a way to carry out His original purpose. Among all the defeats, God today has raised up local churches to change the age. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 388-389)

　　肉体是撒但的杰作。……撒但……就在我们的肉体中。肉体是撒但、罪和死的“聚会所”。这三个大仇敌不断地在我们肉体中聚集，他们的聚集永不会散。

　　恩典乃是神自己给我们享受，以帮助我们对付肉体的情形。……若不是为着肉体，神也许不需要给我们这么多的恩典。……根据希伯来四章十六节，我们可以得恩典来应付我们随时的需要。什么元素使我们需要恩典呢？主要的是肉体。……当我经过了人生的各种经历，我就认识我们是多在肉体里。虽然我不喜欢在肉体里，但肉体却在这里。有一次我向主生气，对祂说，“主，你为什么不除去我的肉体？”后来祂给我看见，从某种意义说，我需要肉体，因为肉体乃是逼我到施恩宝座前的因素。我对这肉体实在无计可施，我所能作的只有来到施恩的宝座前。虽然我们不能作什么，但我们却有一个地方可去，就是施恩的宝座。

　　肉体就是魔鬼的同在，而恩典乃是神的同在。为着对付撒但的同在，我们需要神的同在。……虽然肉体是撒但的同在，但我们有恩典来胜过他，抵挡他；这恩典就是神的同在。……你以为你能对付撒但么？忘了这种想法吧！……虽然撒但比我们大，但神比撒但更大。神是最大的。因撒但在这里与我们同在，我们需要神的同在。我们需要说，“主，你知道你的仇敌就在这里，你必须来和我站在一起抵挡他。”当神临到我们并与我们站在一起，那就是恩典。

　　神是主宰并智慧的。祂知道祂若除去肉体，可能我们很少会迫切寻求祂的恩典。在祂的主宰和智慧里，祂把肉体留在这里，祂知道就着某种意义说，肉体对我们是有用的。肉体昼夜帮助我们转向施恩的宝座。当我们成熟被提时，我们能够转向肉体说，“小肉体，你的时间到了，你现在可以离开了。”在生命成熟以前，就某一面说我们需要肉体，不是来毁坏我们，乃是迫使我们来到施恩的宝座前（创世记生命读经，四六一至四六三页）。

　　参读：创世记生命读经，第二十七至二十九篇。

　　The flesh is Satan’s masterpiece…Satan is…in our flesh. The flesh is the meeting hall of Satan, sin, and death. These three great enemies continually meet together in the hall of our flesh, and their meeting is never dismissed.

　　Grace is God Himself enjoyed by us and helping us to face the situation of the flesh … If it were not for the flesh, probably God would not have to give us so much grace… According to Hebrews 4:16, we may find grace to meet our timely need. What element causes us to need grace? It is mainly the flesh … As I passed through all the human experiences, I came to realize how much we are in the flesh. Although I do not like to be in the flesh, the flesh is here. Once I got mad at the Lord and said to Him, “Lord, why don’t You take away my flesh?” Eventually He showed me that, in a sense, I needed the flesh, for the flesh is the very factor that compels me to come to the throne of grace. I cannot do anything with this flesh. All I can do is go to the throne of grace. Although there is nothing that we can do, yet there is somewhere that we can go—the throne of grace.

　　The flesh is the very presence of the devil, and grace is the very presence of God. In order for us to face the presence of Satan, we need the presence of God… Although the flesh is the presence of Satan, over and against it we have grace, which is the presence of God… Do you think that you can deal with [Satan]? Forget such thoughts… Although Satan is greater than we are, God is greater than Satan. God is the greatest. Since Satan is here with us, we need God to be present. We have to say, “Lord, You know Your enemy is right here. You have to come and stand with me against him.” When God comes to us and stands with us, that is grace.

　　God is sovereign and wise. He knows that if He were to take away the flesh, probably very few of us would be desperate to seek His grace. In His sovereignty and wisdom, He leaves the flesh here, knowing that, in a sense, it is useful to us. DAY and night the flesh helps us turn to the throne of grace. When we are matured, that is, when we are raptured, we will be able to turn to the flesh and say, “Little flesh, your time is over. You may leave now.” Before the maturity of life, in a sense we need the flesh, not to damage us, but to force us to come to the throne of grace. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 379-381)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msgs. 27-29