太十六18 ……我要把我的召会建造在这磐石上，阴间的门不能胜过她。

　　约十一25 耶稣对她说，我是复活，我是生命……。

　　腓一25　 我……仍要留下，继续与你们众人同住，使你们得到信仰上的进步和喜乐。

　　自伊甸园开始，神与撒但的争执，一直就是在死亡与生命这个问题上（参创三3~4，罗五12、17、21，林前十五22）。神的特性是生命，撒但的特性是死亡。……哪里有生命，哪里就有神。基督与一切其他人的分别就是：其他人是死的，祂是活着的。死亡摸不着祂。神曾借着基督毁坏死，如今也使用召会为着同一目的。今天召会是神生命的器皿，蒙召来彰显祂儿子复活的生命，并带人来认识这生命。

　　赞美祂的名，神从起初就给我们看见，召会所受的攻击是从哪一方向而来。我们要知道攻击是来自“阴间的门”，就是死亡的门。……撒但最害怕的，不是召会抵挡罪恶，不爱世界，或胜过其他直接的攻击，乃是召会抵挡他死亡的权势（倪柝声文集第二辑第二十册，一四四至一四五页）。

　　Matt. 16:18 …Upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

　　John 11:25 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life…

　　Phil. 1:25 …I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of the faith.

　　From Eden onwards, God’s controversy with Satan has been on this issue of death and life (cf. Gen. 3:3, 4; Rom. 5:12, 17, 21; 1 Cor. 15:22). All of God is characterized by life, all of Satan by death…Where there is life there is God. The great difference between Christ and all others is that, whereas others are dead, He lives. Death could not touch Him. And God who destroyed death through Christ, now uses the Church for the same purpose. Today she is God’s vessel of life, called to reveal the risen life of His Son, and to bring men to the knowledge of that life.

　　Praise His Name, God has shown us right from the outset from what quarter the attack upon the Church will come. We are to expect it from “the gates of Hades”—that is, of death… Satan’s greatest fear with regard to the Church is of her resistance, not to sinning, or to the love of the world, or to any of his direct attacks, but to his power of death. (CWWN, vol. 40, “What Shall This Man Do?” pp. 119-120)

　　约翰在〔约壹五章十四至十七节〕这几节的用意是要给我们看见，在我们里面的永远生命能胜过我们自己身上，并召会别的肢体身上的死。永远的生命吞灭我们里面的死，也吞灭别的肢体里面的死。……因为召会是基督的身体，所以我们乃是和身体上同作肢体的一同生活。既然我们在身体里，我们就是肢体，和其他同作肢体的在一起。永远的生命不仅顾到我们自己的需要，也顾到我们周围同作肢体者的需要。永远的生命胜过我们里面的死，也胜过我们弟兄里面的死，特别胜过那些软弱或有难处之人里面的死。

　　软弱与死有关，难处也是由死而来。只要召会生活里有难处，就指明在召会中哪些人中间有死。所以，我们需要永远的生命来胜过、吞灭这死。如果你比较刚强，另一位同作肢体的比较软弱，那么你就可以从里面将生命供应给软弱的，好吞灭他里面的死。

　　〔约壹五章十四至十七节〕指明，我们有永远生命的人，能将这生命传给人。这就是说，我们能成为永远的生命所借以供应给人的管道。我们能成为管道，让永远的生命从我们里面流出，并流到别人里面。十六节说到这点。在这节，祈求的人也就是将生命赐给犯罪弟兄的人。这指明祈求的人会将生命赐给他所代求的人。这位住在主里面，与主是一，并与主在一灵里祈求的人，成了神那赐生命之灵能将生命赐给他所代求之人的凭借。这是一件在神圣生命的交通里，分赐生命的事。

　　我们里面永远的生命是真实而实际的。一面我们能享受我们里面这永远的生命。另一面我们能将这永远的生命传给人。我们能成为管道，让永远的生命从我们或借我们流到别人里面。然而，成为管道让永远的生命流出给人的经历是很深的，不能肤浅地去作。我们若要成为永远的生命流出给人的管道，就必须在主里是深的，也必须因着在主的心里而认识主的心。我们若进到主里面到这样的程度，自然就会明白主对这位与我们亲近、犯了罪的弟兄的旨意如何。因为我们知道主对这位弟兄的光景旨意如何，我们就知道怎样为他祷告（约翰一书生命读经，三九七至三九八、四○八至四○九页）。

　　参读：约翰一书生命读经，第三十七至三十八、四十篇；腓立比书生命读经，第十四、五十篇。

　　John’s intention in 1 John 5:14-17 is to show us that the eternal life within us can overcome death both in ourselves and in other members of the church. Eternal life swallows up death within us and death within other members. Because the church is the Body, we live with the fellow members of the Body. Since we are in the Body, we are members with the other fellow members. Eternal life not only takes care of our own need; it also takes care of the need of the fellow members around us. It overcomes death within us, and it overcomes death within our brothers. Especially, it overcomes death in those who are weak or who have problems.

　　Weakness is related to death, and problems come from death. As long as there are problems in the church life, this is an indicator that there is death among those in the church. Therefore, we need eternal life to overcome, to swallow up, this death. If you are stronger and a fellow member is weaker, then you may become the one to supply the life from within you to the weaker one in order to swallow up the death within him.

　　First John 5:14-17 indicates that we who have eternal life can pass this life on to others. This means that we can be a channel through which eternal life is supplied to others. We can be a channel for eternal life to flow out of us and into others. Verse 16 refers to this. In this verse the one who asks is also the one who gives life to the sinning brother. This indicates that the one who asks will give life to the one concerning whom he asks. The asker, who is abiding in the Lord, who is one with the Lord, and who is asking in one spirit with the Lord, becomes the means through which God’s life-giving Spirit can give life to the one for whom he asks. This is a matter of life-imparting in the fellowship of the divine life.

　　The eternal life within us is real and practical. On the one hand, we can enjoy this eternal life within us. On the other hand, we can pass on this eternal life to others. We can be a channel for eternal life to flow out from us, or through us, to others. However, the experience of being a channel for eternal life to flow out to others is a deep matter. This cannot be done in a superficial way. If we would be a channel for eternal life to flow out to others, we must be deep in the Lord, and we must know the Lord’s heart by being in His heart. If we have entered into the Lord to such a degree, spontaneously we shall know the Lord’s will concerning a brother close to us who has sinned. Because we know the Lord’s will concerning the brother’s situation, we shall know how to pray for him. (Life-study of 1 John, pp. 328, 337-338)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 1 John, msgs. 37-38, 40; Life-study of Philippians, msgs. 14, 50