约十五4~5 你们要住在我里面，我也住在你们里面。枝子若不住在葡萄树上，自己就不能结果子，你们若不住在我里面，也是这样。我是葡萄树，你们是枝子；住在我里面的，我也住在他里面，这人就多结果子；因为离了我，你们就不能作什么。

　　每个事奉主的人，都得非常清楚的认识，所有的事奉都应该是生命的供应。……我们虽然是在作事，但重点不在于事情的成功，乃在于生命的供应。……召会和社会是不同的。……召会不在于事务办得好不好，乃在于借着作事把生命供应出去。如果召会光是作事，不能供应生命，就已经失去召会的性质，和社会没有什么两样。这点弟兄姊妹必须抓牢。

　　然而这不是说，我们可以把事情作得一塌糊涂。……我们在主面前还得恐惧战兢地作事，不让事情作差了。然而我们不能停在这里，还得把事情作对到一个地步，叫人得着生命的供应。……我们要仰望主，愿意我们的事奉能作祂生命的出口。我们愿意在神面前蒙拯救脱离错误，但这脱离错误不是重在把事情作成功，乃是重在让生命借此得以出去（建造神家的事奉，四九至五一页）。

　　John 15:4-5 Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.

　　No matter what our service may be, we should be clear that our service is a means to supply life to others. Whether or not we are adequate in our service, our focus is on supplying life, not on accomplishing something. The church is different from a society… In the church the point is not whether we do a good job but whether life is supplied. If the church were only for taking care of matters, not supplying life, the church would lose its nature and would be a society. The saints must uphold this point.

　　I am not saying that we can be sloppy in our service… We must serve in fear and trembling before the Lord lest our service be haphazard. However, we cannot be content with doing a service. We must serve in such a way that others may receive the supply of life. We need to… look to the Lord so that our service becomes an outlet for His life. We want to be delivered from mistakes, but the focus of such deliverance is not on doing a successful job but on the flowing out of life. (CWWL, 1954, vol. 3, “The Service for Building Up the House of God,” p. 92)

　　到底如何才能把生命供应出去？我们都知道，生命乃是在圣灵里，圣灵是神生命的一个住处。罗马八章说，神的灵乃是“生命之灵”（2）。因着神的生命是在圣灵里，所以圣灵就变作生命的灵。同时我们也知道，神的生命进到我们里面，乃是在我们的灵里。

　　神的生命不在人的思想里，不在人的看法和意见里，不在人的一切里；神的生命乃是在祂的灵里，而又住在我们灵里。可以说，神的生命今天是在两层的灵里。这意思是，神的生命原来只在祂自己的灵里，现今神的生命也住在我们灵里。……罗马八章所提的灵，很难断定是专指神的灵，或专指我们人的灵。因为二者的确是混合在一起，像水和酒混合在一起一样。在八章，圣灵和人的灵变作了一个。二者的性质是相同的，因为都是灵。神的灵调在人的灵里，而神的生命就位于、住在、长在我们调和的灵里。所以，我们要供应生命，叫生命出去，就得让灵出去，因为生命是在灵里。灵若是不能释放出去，生命就无法出去（建造神家的事奉，五一至五二页）。

　　主在约翰十五章说，祂是葡萄树，我们是枝子，枝子离了葡萄树，就不能作什么（5）。葡萄树的枝子……乃是为着结果子。结果子，就是供应生命，就是把葡萄树的生命供应出去。这就是我们对主的功用。主今天不需要人作材料，不需要人有干才，只需要人住在祂里面，被祂充满，而将祂的生命供应出去；像葡萄树的枝子，里面被葡萄树的汁浆充满，而将葡萄树的生命供应出去一样。葡萄树的枝子不懂别的事，只懂住在葡萄树上，让其中的生命经过它供应出去，流露出去。……这就是召会的事奉。召会的事奉，不是作什么大工作，大事业，有什么大成就，乃是将基督的生命供应出去，流露出去。这需要我们接在基督身上，住在基督里面，让祂在我们里面有地位而充满我们，使祂的生命变作我们的生命，祂的性情变作我们的性情，祂的爱好变作我们的爱好，祂的趋向变作我们的趋向，祂的一切变作我们的一切（李文集一九五○至一九五一年第三册，五二九至五三○页）。

　　参读：罗马书的结晶，第十八篇；以弗所书生命读经，第四十五、七十六、八十九至九十篇。

　　The life that we supply to others is in the Spirit. This means that the Spirit is the dwelling place of the life of God. In Romans 8:2 the Spirit is referred to as the “Spirit of life.” Since the life of God is in the Spirit, the Spirit is the Spirit of life. In addition, as children of God, we have His life in our spirit.

　　The life of God is not in human thoughts, views, or opinions. The life of God is in the Spirit and dwells in the regenerated human spirit. The divine life is in the two spirits, the Spirit mingled with our human spirit. Initially, the divine life was only in the Spirit, but now the divine life dwells also in our spirit. It is difficult for expositors to determine whether the spirit in Romans 8 refers specifically to the Spirit of God or to our human spirit, for the two spirits are mingled together. In chapter 8 the Spirit and the human spirit have become one spirit. Both the divine Spirit and the human spirit are similar in nature, for they are both spirit. The Spirit is mingled with our human spirit, and the life of God is located, abides, and grows in our mingled spirit. Hence, if we are to supply the saints with life, we must release our spirit, for the divine life is in our mingled spirit. If our spirit cannot be released, the divine life has no way to be released. (CWWL, 1954, vol. 3, “The Service for Building Up the House of God,” pp. 92-93)

　　In John 15 the Lord said that He is the vine and we are the branches. Apart from the vine the branches can do nothing. The branches on the vine… are there to bear fruit. Bearing fruit is to minister life, that is, to release the supply of the vine’s life. This is our function with respect to the Lord. Today the Lord does not need people to be His material, nor does He need human talent. He only needs people to abide in Him, to be filled with Him, and to release the supply of His life. This is truly like the branches of the vine being filled with the sap of the vine and releasing the supply of the vine’s life. The branches of the vine do not know how to do anything but abide in the vine and allow its life to be ministered and to flow out through them. This is the service of the church, which is not a great work or large enterprise with a huge accomplishment but the ministering and flowing out of the life of Christ. It requires us to be joined to Christ, to abide in Christ, and to give Him the ground in us to fill us so that His life, His nature, His likes, and His inclination can become our life, our nature, our likes, and our inclination. In other words, His all becomes our all. (CWWL, 1950-1951, vol. 3, “The Spirit and Service in Spirit,” p. 393)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” ch. 18; Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 45, 76, 89-90