成熟的过程 The Process of Maturity (Day2)
Samuel Lin
Phil 4:11-12 Not that I speak according to lack, for I have learned, in whatever circumstances I am, to be content. I know also how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to hunger, both to abound and to lack.
Time is needed for life to mature....Maturity is a matter of the enlargement of capacity. You must allow God to give you time to suffer beyond measure; then your capacity will be enlarged.
To escape God’s arrangement just one time is to lose an opportunity to have our capacity enlarged. This will prolong the time required for life to mature in us and will even require us to make up this lesson in order to reach maturity. A believer can never be the same after passing through suffering. Either he will have his capacity enlarged or he will become more hardened. For this reason, when believers are passing through suffering, they must pay attention and they must realize that maturity in life is the sum total of receiving the discipline of the Holy Spirit. People may see a person who has matured in life, but they cannot see the accumulated discipline of the Holy Spirit which that person has received secretly day by day throughout the years. (Watchman Nee—a Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, pp. 143-144)
Today’s Reading
Jacob’s long wait for the return of his sons [from Egypt] was surely a trial. This was under the sovereign hand of God to prolong Jacob’s suffering that he might be emptied of everything.
Our preoccupations frustrate the growth of life. Due to these preoccupations, there is not much room in our being for the divine life. But when Jacob heard the news about Joseph in Egypt, he had been emptied of every preoccupation. Nothing was occupying his inner being. Rachel had died, his twelve sons had gone away, and Jacob had been utterly emptied out. He was so empty that when the good news came, he was not excited by it. In fact, his heart was numb (Gen. 45:26). When the news came regarding Joseph, Jacob had not only been transformed; he was completely filled with the divine life. He had become mature.
Even in chapter 37 Jacob could not bear God’s image or exercise God’s dominion. Although he was transformed, he was not yet mature. His partiality toward Joseph proves that he was not mature. This partial love was a weak point. Do not think that a transformed person cannot be partial in his love or have other weak points. Therefore, God sovereignly placed Jacob under His hand that he might become mature....In order to become mature, Jacob firstly had to suffer the loss of Joseph, the treasure of his heart. It seems impossible that Joseph could have been lost. He could easily have died of a certain illness, but how could Jacob have lost him? Although he was not to die, because he was still very useful, he had to be taken away from Jacob.
Jacob actually did not react to all these dealings in the last stage for his maturity. He no longer had his own activity. Rather, without any struggle, he absolutely submitted to his circumstances. He took all the situations as they happened (43:11, 13). Concerning the probable loss of his sons, he said, “If I am to be bereaved of my children, I shall be bereaved” (43:14). What submission this was!
In his early days Jacob always trusted in his own skill and ability. However, after the dealings in the last stage, his trust was no longer in himself, but in God. Jacob had come to know God’s mercy. In his experiences through all his life, he eventually realized that it was God’s mercy, not his skill and ability, that had counted in his situations. And he had also learned that this merciful God is all-sufficient, not only almighty, to meet his needs in every kind of situation. Hence, Jacob said to his sons, “May the All-sufficient God grant you mercy before the man” (43:14). Now his trust and rest are altogether in the mercy of his all-sufficient God, no longer in himself and in his ability. Here we see a man who has been fully transformed for maturity. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 1199, 1185, 1201)
Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msgs. 93-94
晨兴喂养
腓四11~12 我并不是因缺乏说这话，因为我已经学会了，无论在什么景况，都可以知足。我知道怎样处卑贱，也知道怎样处富余；或饱足、或饥饿、或富余、或缺乏，在各事上，并在一切事上，我都学得秘诀。
生命成熟需要时间。……成熟的问题在于度量的扩充。你要让神有更多的时间，给你受你所不能受的苦难，以便扩充你的度量。
逃躲一次神的安排，就是失去一次度量被扩充的机会；如此我们里面生命成熟的时间便要延长，甚至要补课才能成熟。信徒经过苦难之后，和以前绝不会一样；不是度量被扩充，就是更加刚硬了。所以信徒遭受苦难时需要注意，要看见生命成熟是接受圣灵管治的总和。人只看见那人生命成熟，却未看见那人历年逐日暗中所接受加起来的圣灵管治（倪柝声—今时代神圣启示的先见，一五一至一五二页）。
信息选读
雅各久候儿子们〔从埃及〕回来，实在是一个试炼。这是在神主宰的手下，为着延长雅各的苦难，使他倒空一切。当好消息临到雅各时，他已经完全空了。
我们先入的东西拦阻生命的长大。由于这些先入的东西，在我们这人里面并没有多少地位来为着神的生命。但是当雅各听见约瑟在埃及的消息时，他已经倒空了一切先入的东西。没有什么霸占他里面的人。拉结已经死了，十二个儿子已经走了，雅各已经完全被倒空了。他是这样的虚空，当好消息来的时候，他并不因此兴奋。事实上，他的心麻木（创四五26）。当约瑟的消息来的时候，雅各不仅被变化了，并且完全为神的生命所充满。他已经成熟了。
甚至在创世记三十七章，雅各还不能具有神的形像，或施行神的管治权。虽然他变化了，但他还没有成熟。他对约瑟的偏心，证明他还没有成熟。这种偏爱是一种弱点。不要以为变化过的人不会偏爱，或没有别的弱点。所以，神主宰地把雅各放在祂手下，使他成熟。……雅各要成熟，首先必须失去他心头的宝贝—约瑟。约瑟似乎不可能失去。他可能容易生病而死，但雅各怎会失去他？虽然约瑟没有死—他还是非常有用—但他必须从雅各被夺去。
雅各对于末后阶段这一切叫他成熟的对付，实际上没有什么反应。他不再有自己的活动。他毫无挣扎，完全顺从环境。一切的情况发生时，他都接受（四三11、13）。对于他可能失去儿子，他说，“我若丧了儿子，就丧了吧。”（14）这是何等的服从！
雅各在早期总是信靠自己的机巧和能力。然而经过了末后阶段的对付之后，他不再信靠自己，乃是信靠神。雅各已经认识神的怜悯。经过了他一生的经历，他终于领悟在他的处境中，算得数的乃是神的怜悯，不是他的机巧和能力。他也学知这位怜悯的神不仅是全能的，也是全足的，能在每一种情况中应付他的需要。因此，雅各对他的儿子们说，“但愿全足的神在那人面前赐你们怜悯。”（14）现在他的信靠和安息完全在于全足之神的怜悯，不在于他自己和他的能力。在这里我们看见一个完全被变化而成熟的人（创世记生命读经，一四二九、一四一二、一四三一至一四三二页）。
参读：创世记生命读经，第九十三至九十四篇。
周 二
2 成熟的问题在于度量的扩充—诗四1：
ａ 生命成熟是接受圣灵管治的总和—来十二5~11。
ｂ 人只看见一个人生命成熟，却未看见那人历年逐日暗中所接受加起来的圣灵管治—林后一8~10，创四七7、10。
3 神要主宰地用人、事、物倒空所充满我们的一切，除去我们先入的一切，使我们的度量增加，好被神充满—路一53，太五6。
三 雅各的一生启示，我们所遭遇的每件事，都在神的主宰之下，叫我们被变化，得成熟；没有一件事是偶然的：
1 雅各要成熟，首先必须失去他心头的宝贝—约瑟—创三七31~35。
2 成熟的信徒学知神是有怜悯的，也是全足的，能在每一种情况中应付他的需要—四三11、13~14，十七1，腓一19~21上，四11~12，参提前六6~8。
3 他的信靠和安息完全在于全足之神的怜悯，不在于他自己和他的能力—罗九16。