第三篇 在旧约里约伯所经历神的销毁和剥夺，远不如在新约里保罗所经历的
Job's Experience of God's Consuming and Stripping in the Old Testament Being Far Behind That of Paul in the New Testament
读经：伯三1，林后四10~12、16~18，腓一19~25，四4
壹 约伯受搅扰、困惑、迷惑到了极点，因为他虽然完全、正直且纯全，却有灾祸临到他的家产和儿女，且有灾病临到他的身体：
I. Job was disturbed, perplexed, and entangled to the uttermost by his suffering of the disasters that befell his possessions and his children and the plague on his body, in spite of his perfection, uprightness, and integrity:
一 约伯咒诅自己的生日（即咒诅自己的母亲）时，必然不是完全、正直的，也没有持守他的纯全，反而在他的纯正上破产了─伯三1。
A. When Job cursed the day of his birth, equivalent to cursing his mother, he surely was not perfect and upright, nor did he hold his integrity; rather, he became bankrupt in integrity—Job 3:1.
二 神的目的是要拆毁那在自己的完全和正直里天然的约伯，使祂能建立一个有神的性情和属性，得更新的约伯，好使约伯成为属神的人，按着神的经纶由神所构成；这样的人（如保罗）绝不会受任何难处和问题所困惑，以致咒诅自己的生日，宁愿死不愿活─腓一19~25，四5~9。
B. God's intention was to tear down the natural Job in his perfection and uprightness that He might build up a renewed Job in God's nature and attributes in order to make Job a man of God, constituted with God according to His economy; such a man (like Paul) would never be entangled by any troubles and problems so that he would curse his birth and prefer to die rather than to live—Phil. 1:19-25; 4:5-9.
三 约伯沉缅于他美好的过去，为他悲惨的现况叹息（伯二九1~三十31），并且坚持，甚至夸耀他的正直、公义、纯全与完全（二七1~7，三一1~40）：─引用经文
C. Job was dwelling on his excellent past and sighing over his miserable present (Job 29:1—30:31); he held fast insistently to, and even boasted of, his uprightness, righteousness, integrity, and perfection (27:1-7; 31:1-40):
1 然而，保罗却操练忘记背后已过的事，好赢得目前“今天的基督”到最完满的地步─腓三8、13~14。
1. Paul, however, exercised to forget the things that were behind in the past in order to gain the present "today Christ" to the fullest extent—Phil. 3:8, 13-14.
2 不仅如此，保罗不是昨天的人，乃是今天的人（来三7~8、14，诗九五7~8）；我们不该往前看将来，也不该回顾已往；我们乃是今天的人（太六11、33~34，路十九9~10，二三43）。─引用经文
2. Furthermore, Paul was not a person of yesterday but a person of today (Heb. 3:7-8, 15; Psa. 95:7-8); we should not look ahead to the future and not look back to the past; we are people of today (Matt. 6:11, 33-34; Luke 19:9-10; 23:43).
3 我们所爱的基督乃是现在的基督、今日的基督，也是在诸天之上、宝座上的基督，作我们每天的救恩并时刻的供应，支持我们在地上过属天的生活─太二八20，彼前一8，来八2，四14~15，七26，林后六2，罗五10。
3. The Christ whom we love is the Christ now, the Christ today, and the Christ on the throne in the heavens, who is our daily salvation and moment-by-moment supply, sustaining us to live a heavenly life on earth—Matt. 28:20; 1 Pet. 1:8; Heb. 8:2; 4:14-15; 7:26; 2 Cor. 6:2; Rom. 5:10.
4 当我们完全成为新耶路撒冷时，我们所有的乃是今天，因为永世里的每一天都是今天；我们唯一拥有的日子是今天，不是明天。
4. When we fully become the New Jerusalem, we will have today since every day in eternity is today; the only day we have is today, not tomorrow.
四 约伯借着八次对他三个朋友的讲话，暴露了自己是有以下特征的人：
D. Through his eight times of speaking to his three friends, Job exposed himself as a person with the following characteristics:
1 约伯是自义的（伯六30，九20，二七5~6，三二1）；他因自己天然人的成功和成就而昏暗，满意于自己所成为的，却不知道自己在神面前可怜的光景（参腓三9，启三17~18）。─引用经文
1. Job was self-righteous (Job 6:30; 9:20; 27:5-6; 32:1); he was darkened by the success and attainments of his natural being, contented with what he had become, yet he was unaware of his miserable situation before God (cf. Phil. 3:9; Rev. 3:17-18).
2 约伯只是在名义上承认神，却不是在实际里；他没有被神浸透，被神充满，也没有与神调和而与神成为一─诗九二10，利二4~5，罗八16，提后四22，林前六17，弗三19，五18、26，来二10~11。
2. Job acknowledged God in name but not in reality; he was not saturated by God, filled with God, and mingled with God to become one with God—Psa. 92:10; Lev. 2:4-5; Rom. 8:16; 2 Tim. 4:22; 1 Cor. 6:17; Eph. 3:19; 5:18, 26; Heb. 2:10-11.
3 约伯没有得着那作神的生机体、以活神并彰显神直到永远之新耶路撒冷某些方面和某些特征的任何元素；反之，神的名，新耶路撒冷的名，并主的新名，写在得胜者上面，指明神的所是、新耶路撒冷的性质以及主的人位，都已作到得胜者里面─启三12。
3. Job did not possess any element that indicated some aspect and some feature of the New Jerusalem as God's organism to live God and to express God for eternity; in contrast to this, the name of God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and the name of the Lord are written upon the overcomer, indicating that what God is, the nature of the New Jerusalem, and the person of the Lord have all been wrought into the overcomer—Rev. 3:12.
五 约伯和他的朋友们都不知道神对付约伯的目的，如使徒保罗向新约信徒所宣告的：信徒所受的苦楚是要为他们成就永远重大的荣耀，就是荣耀的神作他们荣耀的分，给他们得着并享受，直到永远─林后四17。
E. Neither Job nor his friends knew the purpose of God's dealing with him, as the apostle Paul did in declaring to the New Testament believers that the affliction the believers are suffering works out for them an eternal weight of glory, which is the God of glory to be their glorious portion for them to gain and enjoy unto eternity—2 Cor. 4:17.
六 约伯和他的朋友们若花时间在谦卑的灵里寻求神，并在祷告里操练他们的灵（赛五七15，六六2，西四2），神就可能给他们看见在基督里得重生、变化并荣化的圣徒，与天然的人无分无关，也不需要用天然人的美德建立自己。─引用经文
F. If Job and his friends had taken the time to seek God in a spirit of humility and by exercising their spirit in prayer (Isa. 57:15; 66:2; Col. 4:2), God could have shown them that a regenerated, transformed, and glorified saint in Christ has nothing to do with the natural man and does not need to build up himself with the natural virtues.
七 这属天的异象就会拯救他们，免去他们在约伯记三十五章经文里浪费时间、加添痛苦并虚空的辩论；这些经文乃是一群瞎眼的人在黑暗中摸索的记载；他们谈论神，也说到他们的灵（三二8），但在他们三回长篇的辩论中，他们运用他们的心思，而没有运用灵为约伯祷告并彼此交通，好叫他们都能摸着神，得着神作他们的生命、光和属灵的供应：─引用经文
G. This heavenly vision would have saved them from the timewasting, pain-increasing, and vain debates in thirty-five chapters as a record of a group of blind persons groping in darkness; they talked about God and also referred to their spirit (Job 32:8), but they exercised their mind in three rounds of long debates instead of exercising their spirit to pray for Job and to fellowship with one another so that all of them could touch God and receive God as their life, light, and spiritual supply:
1 我们若要有活力排，就必须以约伯记里这些人的谈论为警戒；我们在约伯记中所看见的排聚会，提供我们一个消极的例子，是我们今天在召会生活中所不该有的排聚会；我们来在一起时，头一件必须作的事就是操练我们的灵祷告；活力排就是活力祷告的排─参徒十二5、11~12，来十24~25，三13。
1. If we are going to have vital groups, we must be warned by these talks in the book of Job; the group we see in the book of Job affords us a negative example; it is the kind of group meeting we should not have in the church life today; the first thing that we must do when we come together is to exercise our spirit to pray; the vital groups are groups of vital prayer—cf. Acts 12:5, 11-12; Heb. 10:24-25; 3:13.
2 活力排的活力在于这二灵：在于人的灵并在于神的灵；基督徒的生活就是终极完成的灵作为三一神的终极完成，住在我们重生的灵里，并且这二灵调和为一灵─约四24，罗八16，林前六17，加三14，六18。
2. The groups are vital in these two spirits—vital in our human spirit and vital in God's divine Spirit; the Christian life is a life of the consummated Spirit as the consummation of the Triune God dwelling in and mingled with our regenerated spirit to be one spirit—John 4:24; Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor. 6:17; Gal. 3:14; 6:18.
3 我们要学习在我们的灵里接触神的灵；这是基督徒生活和工作的内在意义；这是神在人里的行动，以及人在神里的行动，以完成祂的经纶，祂的计划，就是将祂自己在基督里作为那灵分赐到人里面，为要建造基督的身体并预备祂的新妇，以终极完成新耶路撒冷─林后二13，腓三3，罗一9。
3. We need to learn to touch the divine Spirit in our spirit; this is the intrinsic significance of the Christian life and work; this is the move of God in man and the move of man in God to fulfill His economy, His plan, to dispense Himself in Christ as the Spirit into man in order to build up His Body and prepare His bride to consummate the New Jerusalem—2 Cor. 2:13; Phil. 3:3; Rom. 1:9.
4 保罗在罗马书里强调凡我们所是的（二29，八5~6、9）、我们所有的（10、16）以及我们向神所作的（一9，七6，八4，十二11），都必须在我们的灵里；我们必须被成全、被建立成为在灵里的人；我们要作爱神的人，要作寻求基督的人，要作得胜者，除了在灵里以外，别无他途（启一10，四2，十七3，二一10）。─引用经文
4. Paul stresses in the book of Romans that whatever we are (2:29; 8:5-6, 9), whatever we have (vv. 10, 16), and whatever we do toward God (1:9; 7:6; 8:4; 12:11) must be in our spirit; we must be perfected and built up to be persons in the spirit; there is no other way to be a lover of God, to be a seeker of Christ, or to be an overcomer than to be in the spirit (Rev. 1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10).
贰 在旧约里约伯所经历神的销毁和剥夺，远不如在新约里保罗所经历的─提前一16：
II. Job's experience of God's consuming and stripping in the Old Testament was far behind that of Paul in the New Testament—1 Tim. 1:16:
一 神的销毁是要消耗我们；神的剥夺是要拆毁并取去那顶替我们活出基督以彰显基督之天然纯全的总和─我们天然性格上的完全和正直─腓一19~20，三4~9上。
A. God's consuming is to exhaust us, and God's stripping is to tear down and take away the totality of our natural integrity—our natural perfection and uprightness in our character—that replaces our living out Christ to express Christ—Phil. 1:19-20; 3:4-9a.
二 天天时时，约伯一直被销毁，他并不喜乐，但在新约里，神的销毁和剥夺成为可喜悦的事；自保罗信主那天起，他就是一个在神的销毁和剥夺之下主里的囚犯，但他满了喜乐和欢乐─徒九15~16，林后四16，腓一19~21上，弗三1，四1，腓一4、18、25，二2、17~18、28~29，三1，四1、4。
B. Day by day and hour by hour, Job was unhappily being consumed, but in the New Testament, God's consuming and stripping become pleasant things; since the day he was converted, Paul was a person under God's consuming and stripping as a prisoner in the Lord, but he was filled with joy and rejoicing—Acts 9:15-16; 2 Cor. 4:16; Phil. 1:19-21a; Eph. 3:1; 4:1; Phil. 1:4, 18, 25; 2:2, 17-18, 28-29; 3:1; 4:1, 4.
三 保罗已经与基督同钉十字架；借着了结和新生的起头而再生，就是重生时就钉了十字架（约三5，罗六4，西二12）；我们就像保罗一样，在重生时已经被钉十字架，目的是从那时起，不再是我们活着，乃是基督在我们里面活着（加二20）。─引用经文
C. Paul was crucified with Christ; to be reborn through termination and germination is to be regenerated crucified (John 3:5; Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12); we, like Paul, were reborn crucified for the purpose that from that time it would be no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us (Gal. 2:20).
四 现今我们基督徒的生活是借死而活（20，林前十五31、36，约十二24，林后四11）；借死而活乃是背十字架的正确意义（太十六24~26，诗歌四六一首）。─引用经文
D. Now in our Christian life we are dying to live (v. 20; 1 Cor. 15:31, 36; John 12:24; 2 Cor. 4:11); dying to live is the proper meaning of bearing the cross (Matt. 16:24-26; Hymns, #622).
五 保罗在经历神的销毁和剥夺时，四面受压，却不被困住；打倒了，却不至灭亡；保罗没有咒诅自己的生日，也没有说宁愿死，不愿生；相反的，经过许多考量后，保罗说，他宁愿活着，为使圣徒得到信仰上的进步（他们生命的长大）和喜乐（他们对基督的享受）─林后一8~9，加二20，腓一21~25。
E. In his experience of God's consuming and stripping, Paul was not constricted under the pressures on every side and did not perish despite his being cast down; Paul did not curse the day of his birth, and he did not say that he preferred to die rather than to live; on the contrary, after much consideration Paul said that he still preferred to live for the saints' progress (their growth in life) and for their joy of the faith (their enjoyment of Christ)—2 Cor. 1:8-9; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:21-25.
六 当保罗为基督的缘故受困苦时（林后十二10），他是喜悦快乐的，甚至为着他的经历而在主里喜乐（西一24，腓二17~18）。─引用经文
F. When Paul was suffering distresses for the sake of Christ (2 Cor. 12:10), he was well pleased, he was happy, and he was even rejoicing in the Lord for his experiences (Col. 1:24; Phil. 2:17-18).
七 保罗要认识基督、并祂复活的大能以及同祂受苦的交通，好模成基督的死（三10）；他以基督的死作他生活的模子，模成基督的死是他极大的喜悦。─引用经文
G. Paul wanted to know Christ, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings in order to be conformed to Christ's death (3:10); he took Christ's death as a mold for his life, and it was his great pleasure to be molded in the death of Christ.
八 保罗借着耶稣基督之灵全备的供应，无论是生，是死，都借着活基督而显大基督；当神造人时，祂要人过的就是这种生活─一19~21上，创一26。
H. Paul magnified Christ by living Him, whether through life or through death, by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ; when God created man, this was the kind of life He wanted man to live—1:19-21a; Gen. 1:26.
九 保罗说，他身体上常带着耶稣的治死，杀死，常为耶稣被交于死，使耶稣的生命，在他那必死的肉身上显明出来；当我们在主死的杀死之下，祂复活的生命就借着我们分赐到别人里面─林后四10~12：
I. Paul said that he was always bearing about in the body the putting to death, the killing, of Jesus and being delivered unto death for Jesus' sake that the life of Jesus might be manifested in his mortal flesh; when we are under the killing of the Lord's death, His resurrection life is imparted through us into others—2 Cor. 4:10-12:
1 在我们环境里耶稣的治死，与内住的灵合作，杀死我们天然的人（我们外面的人），包括我们的身体和魂；我们外面的人因着死的杀死工作而渐渐销毁，我们里面的人却因着复活生命新鲜的供应而日日在更新─16节。
1. The putting to death of Jesus in our environment cooperates with the indwelling Spirit to kill our natural man (our outer man), comprising our body and our soul; as our outer man is being consumed by the killing work of death, our inner man is being renewed day by day with the fresh supply of the resurrection life—v. 16.
2 保罗说他是天天死（林前十五31）；他天天冒死、面对死，并向自己死（林后十一23，四11，一8~9，罗八36）。─引用经文
2. Paul said that he died daily (1 Cor. 15:31); daily he risked death, faced death, and died to self (2 Cor. 11:23; 4:11; 1:8-9; Rom. 8:36).
3 基督之死及其功效的应用是在于复合的灵，这灵住在我们灵里，分赐基督的死及其功效，从我们的灵到我们的魂，甚至到我们必死的身体里─出三十22~25，罗八6、9~11。
3. The application of Christ's death and its effectiveness is in the compounded Spirit, who dwells in our spirit to dispense Christ's death and its effectiveness from our spirit to our soul and even to our mortal body—Exo. 30:22-25; Rom. 8:6, 9-11.
4 这分赐就是膏油的涂抹（约壹二20、27），而膏油的涂抹就是内住之灵的运行；我们的祷告使内住之灵的运行发动，而在这运行之内有杀死的能力。─引用经文
4. This dispensing is the anointing (1 John 2:20, 27), and the anointing is the moving of the indwelling Spirit; our prayer activates the moving of the indwelling Spirit, and within this moving, there is the killing power.
十 保罗在经历神的销毁和剥夺时，他说我们那短暂轻微的苦楚，要极尽超越地为我们成就永远重大的荣耀；“永远”与“短暂”相对，“重大”与“轻微”相对，“荣耀”与“苦楚”相对─林后四16~17，罗八28~29。
J. In his experience of God's consuming and stripping, Paul said that our momentary lightness of affliction works out for us, more and more surpassingly, an eternal weight of glory; eternal is in contrast to momentary, weight is in contrast to lightness, and glory is in contrast to affliction—2 Cor. 4:16-17; Rom. 8:28-29.
十一 约伯认为他所受的苦楚非常沉重，但保罗认为他的苦楚是短暂轻微的；我们不需要在意我们的苦楚，倒需要关切我们被变化，从一种程度的荣耀到另一种程度的荣耀，借此神这重大的荣耀就在我们里面加增；只要我们更多得着神，这才是真正重要的事─徒七2，林后三18，西二19：
K. Job considered his suffering of affliction something very heavy, but Paul considered his affliction to be momentary and light; instead of caring about our affliction, we need to care for the increase of God as the weight of glory within us by our being transformed from one degree of glory to another; as long as we have more of God in us, this is what really matters—Acts 7:2; 2 Cor. 3:18; Col. 2:19:
1 我们就像保罗一样，是在受苦和受压的环境之下，这环境与那灵一同作工，杀死我们天然的人；我们应当在我们的灵、魂、体里与内住的灵合作，并接受外面的环境；因为我们不是顾念所见暂时苦楚的事，乃是顾念所不见永远荣耀的事─腓一19~20，林后四18，来十一1、27，林后五7。
1. Like Paul, we are in an environment of suffering and pressure that works with the Spirit to kill our natural man; we should cooperate with the indwelling Spirit and accept the outward environment in our spirit, soul, and body, because we do not regard the things of temporary affliction which are seen but the things of the eternal glory which are not seen—Phil. 1:19-20; 2 Cor. 4:18; Heb. 11:1, 27; 2 Cor. 5:7.
2 我们需要操练我们的灵，而在杀死的环境中喜乐（腓四4）；主的主宰权柄在运行，将我们放在基督之死的杀死下，使祂的生命能显明在我们的身体上，以更新我们里面的人，使我们像新耶路撒冷一样的新（林后四10~12、16，五17，加六15，启二一2、5、10）。─引用经文
2. We need to exercise our spirit to rejoice in the midst of our killing environment (Phil. 4:4); the Lord's sovereignty is operating to put us under the killing of Christ's death so that His life may be manifested in our body in the renewing of our inner man to make us as new as the New Jerusalem (2 Cor. 4:10-12, 16; 5:17; Gal. 6:15; Rev. 21:2, 5, 10).