第九篇 用祷告的灵读箴言，使之对我们成为金块和珠宝，加强我们追求基督的生活，以完成神的经纶
Reading the Book of Proverbs with a Praying Spirit So That It Will Render Us Nuggets and Gems to Strengthen Our Life of Pursuing Christ for the Fulfillment of God's Economy
壹 箴言是智慧人之言语的汇集（一1~7），强调人借着接触神，从神所得的智慧（参代下一10~12，西二2~3，一28~29），并且教导人如何行事为人，在为人生活中建立他们的性格（参腓一20，加六7~8，五22~26）：─引用经文
I. Proverbs is a collection of the words of the wise (1:1-7); it stresses the wisdom that man receives of God through his contacting of God (cf. 2 Chron. 1:10-12; Col. 2:2-3; 1:28-29), and it teaches man how to behave and build up his character in his human life (cf. Phil. 1:20; Gal. 6:7-8; 5:22-26):
一 因为箴言主要是由律法时代两位犹大王（所罗门和希西家）所收集，所以箴言这卷书可视为律法的辅助。
A. Since the proverbs were collected mainly by two kings (Solomon and Hezekiah) in the age of the law, the book of Proverbs may be considered a subsidiary to the law.
二 律法是神的描绘，要求神的百姓遵守，使他们能成为神的复本，好叫神得着彰显和荣耀─参罗八4。
B. The law is the portrait of God; as such, it demands that God's people keep it so that they may be made copies of God for His expression and glorification—cf. Rom. 8:4.
三 箴言是律法的辅助，指导人如何照着神的属性，就是照着神的所是，行事为人并建立自己。
C. Proverbs, as a subsidiary to the law, instructs people how to behave and how to build themselves up according to God's attributes, that is, according to what God is.
贰 箴言独有的特点，是向我们陈明古时许多智慧人智慧的话，所有读这卷书的人一致认为这些话是好的；但我们必须领悟，箴言之于我们是如何，乃在于我们是哪一种人，以及我们以何种方式接受箴言：
II. Proverbs has a particular character; that is, it presents to us the words of wisdom by many ancient wise men, which is unanimously considered good by all the people who read it; but we have to realize that what the book of Proverbs is to us depends upon what kind of persons we are and by what way we take it:
一 我们若是一个讲求伦理道德的人，有刚强的心思，并且渴慕像一个真正有道德的人那样完全，这卷书的确会帮助我们在追求完全的事上成功；然而，这卷书并不能帮助我们成为一个照着神那住在我们里面的灵而活在灵中的人（提后四22，罗一9，二29，七6，八4~6、9~11、16，林前十六18，林后二13~14，腓三3，加五15~17、22~25，六18，弗五18，六16）：─引用经文
A. If we are ethical persons with a strong mind and have a desire to be perfect as genuine moral persons, surely this book would help us to make a success in our pursuit of perfection; however, it would not help us to be persons who live in our spirit according to the Spirit of God (2 Tim. 4:22; Rom. 1:9; 2:29; 7:6; 8:4-6, 9-11, 16; 1 Cor. 16:18; 2 Cor. 2:13-14; Phil. 3:3; Gal. 5:15-17, 22-25; 6:18; Eph. 5:18; 6:18):
1 在旧约里，约伯满足于自己的纯全，满足于自己属人完全的追求；但这不是神在他身上所要的，反而顶替了神在他身上所要的；这就成了神的仇敌，使他这个神所创造的人受拦阻，不能完成神的定旨。
1. In the Old Testament Job was satisfied with his integrity, with his pursuit of human perfection, but that was not what God wanted of him; rather, it replaced what God wanted of him, and it became an enemy of God, frustrating Job as a man created by God to fulfill God's purpose.
2 神的定旨是要约伯得着神，使神得荣耀，得彰显；我们对神最高的事奉，就是得着神到极点，被神充满，以彰显神而使祂得荣耀─腓三7~8、12，赛四三7，林前六20，十31，参约十七1。
2. God's purpose was for Job to gain Him for the glorification of God, the expression of God; the highest service that we can render to God is for us to gain God to the uttermost, to be filled with God, in order to express God for His glory—Phil. 3:7-8, 12; Isa. 43:7; 1 Cor. 6:20; 10:31; cf. John 17:1.
3 神创造人的定旨，是要人得着祂，被祂充满，好彰显祂，而不是彰显属人的完全；所以神来拆毁约伯在属人完全上的成功；然后神进来向约伯启示祂自己，指明祂自己才是约伯所该追求、得着并彰显的─伯四二1~6，十13，弗三9，腓三14，林后三18，四16~18。
3. God's purpose in creating man is to have man gain Him and be filled with Him to be His expression, not an expression of human perfection; therefore, the success of Job in human perfection was torn down by God; then God came in to reveal Himself to Job, indicating that He Himself is what Job should pursue, gain, and express—Job 42:1-6; 10:13; Eph. 3:9; Phil. 3:14; 2 Cor. 3:18; 4:16-18.
二 我们来到箴言这卷书跟前，需要在我们的灵里祷告，将自己从心思转向灵（弗六18，路十八1，西四2）；我们若这样来到箴言跟前，就会凭着新人来摸主的话，我们过生活就不是凭着我们天然的人、我们的旧人和我们的己，乃是凭着那活在我们灵里，作我们生命和人位的主耶稣（提后四22，约六57、63，耶十五16）。─引用经文
B. When we come to the book of Proverbs, we need to turn ourselves from the mind to the spirit by praying in our spirit (Eph. 6:18; Luke 18:1; Col. 4:2); if we come to Proverbs in this way, we will be touching the Word by the new man, and we will live a life not by our natural man, by our old man, and by our self but by the Lord Jesus, who is our life and person living in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22; John 6:57, 63; Jer. 15:16).
三 我门必须拒绝自我修养，定罪旧造天然人的建立（参太十六24，罗六6，加二20），并借着操练我们的灵同着那灵，在祷告的灵里接触话，作为新造重生的人（弗四22~24，林后四16）来读箴言；这样，箴言里的话就会对我们成为灵和生命（约六63，太四4，弗六17~18）。─引用经文
C. We must reject self-cultivation, condemn the building up of the natural man in the old creation (cf. Matt. 16:24; Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20), and come to Proverbs as a regenerated man in the new creation (Eph. 4:22-24; 2 Cor. 4:16) by exercising our spirit with the Spirit to contact the word in the spirit of prayer so that the word in Proverbs will become spirit and life to us (John 6:63; Matt. 4:4; Eph. 6:17-18).
四 我们新约信徒该相信，箴言是圣经中神的圣言的一部分；诗人说，“我要向你的诫命举手，这些诫命是我所爱的”（诗一一九48）；向神的话举手，指明我们热诚欢乐地接受它，并对它说“阿们”（尼八5~6）。─引用经文
D. As New Testament believers, we should believe that Proverbs is a part of the holy word in God's Holy Scriptures; the psalmist says, "I will lift up my hand to Your commandments, which I love" (Psa. 119:48); to lift up our hand unto the word of God is to indicate that we receive it warmly and gladly and that we say Amen to it (Neh. 8:5-6).
五 箴言是神的呼出，给我们吸入，叫我们从神得着生命的供应；圣经是神的呼出；当我们借着各样的祷告读任何经文的时候，这祷读就是我们吸入神的气─提后三16，弗六17~18：
E. Proverbs is the breath of God for us to breathe in that we may receive the life supply from God; the Bible is God's exhaling; when we read any verse by means of all prayer, this pray-reading becomes our inhaling of God's breath—2 Tim. 3:16; Eph. 6:17-18:
1 箴言里一切的话都是神的呼出，而神的呼出完全具体化在基督里；我们读箴言时，需要吸入神所呼出的一切；借着吸入箴言里神圣的气，我们越接受说话之神的气，就越享受基督─提后三16，约二十22。
1. All the words in Proverbs are God's breathing, which is altogether embodied in Christ; as we read Proverbs, we need to inhale all that God has exhaled, all that He has breathed out; by inhaling the divine breath in Proverbs, the more we receive the breath of the speaking God, the more we will enjoy Christ—2 Tim. 3:16; John 20:22.
2 以色列人受嘱遵守诫命、律例和典章，今天我们则需要持守基督；借着接受基督、持守基督、紧联于基督，我们就会赢得祂、享受祂并活祂；我们需要爱基督、持守基督、教导基督、披戴基督并书写基督─申六1、5~9，腓三9，一19~21上。
2. Whereas the children of Israel were charged to keep the commandments, statutes, and ordinances, we today need to keep Christ; by taking Christ, keeping Christ, and holding fast to Him, we will gain Him, enjoy Him, and live Him; we need to love Christ, keep Christ, teach Christ, wear Christ, and write Christ—Deut. 6:1, 5-9; Phil. 3:9; 1:19-21a.
3 圣经是神的呼出（提后三16），所以我们该借着各样的祷告（弗六17~18），接受神的话，包括箴言这卷书，借此吸入圣经；我们教导圣经时，应当将神呼到人里面。─引用经文
3. Because the Scriptures are the breathing out of God, the exhaling of God (2 Tim. 3:16), we should inhale the Scriptures by receiving the word of God, including the book of Proverbs, by means of all prayer (Eph. 6:17-18); as we are teaching the Bible, we should be exhaling God into people.
六 我们读箴言时，该在灵里被神的丰满所充满（弗五18~19，三19）；不仅如此，我们该用重生的灵（罗八16），在新约生命的灵里（2），调和着祷告来读箴言（弗六17~18），好用灵和生命，与话调和（参约六63）。─引用经文
F. We should read Proverbs by being filled with the fullness of God in our spirit (Eph. 5:18-19; 3:19); furthermore, we should read Proverbs in the New Testament Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2), with our regenerated spirit (v. 16), and by mingling prayer with our reading (Eph. 6:17-18) in order to mingle the words with spirit and life (cf. John 6:63).
叁 照着神的经纶，箴言的原则如金块，细则如珠宝，这些都不是为着建立我们的旧人；反之，这些乃是叫我们建立我们的新人，加强我们追求基督的生活，以完成神的经纶，就是产生并建造基督的身体，终极完成那作神心头愿望和终极目标的新耶路撒冷：
III. According to God's economy, the big proverbs, like nuggets, and the small ones, like gems, are not for us to build up our old man; rather, they are for us to build up our new man to strengthen our life of pursuing Christ for the fulfillment of God's economy in producing and building up the Body of Christ, which consummates the New Jerusalem as God's heart's desire and ultimate goal:
一 我们需要以祷告的灵接受神那活而有功效的话，使我们得以建立我们的新人，并使我们得以辨明我们的灵与魂─来四12：
A. We need to receive the living and operative word of God with a praying spirit so that we can build up our new man and so that we may be able to discern our spirit from our soul—Heb. 4:12:
1 仇敌的计谋总是要使我们的灵与我们的魂搀杂在一起；搀杂是我们最大的难处；我们越被神的光─神的同在─所充满，就越认识神，也就越宝贵干净过于宝贵能力─太五8，路十一34~36，诗一一九105、130。
1. The enemy's strategy is always to mix our spirit up with our soul; our greatest problem is our mixture; the more we know God by being filled with His light, His presence, the more we will treasure purity over power—Matt. 5:8; Luke 11:34-36; Psa. 119:105, 130.
2 除去这搀杂的路是借着圣灵的启示；灵与魂的分开，乃是有神的话光照我们，在我们里面照亮，给我们看见我们心中的思念和主意─三六9，彼前二9。
2. The way to purge such mixture is through the revelation of the Holy Spirit; the dividing of the soul and the spirit occurs when God's word illuminates us, shining within us to reveal the thoughts and intentions of our heart—36:9; 1 Pet. 2:9.
3 在神话语的光中所看见的，也就在光中杀死了；光杀死，乃是基督徒经历中最大的事；灵与魂的分开乃是靠着光照─赛六1~8，徒九1~4，十三9~10。
3. Whatever we see under the shining of God from the word of God is killed by the light; the greatest thing in the Christian experience is the killing that comes from light; the dividing of the soul and the spirit comes from the shining—Isa. 6:1-8; Acts 9:1-4; 13:9-10.
4 启示就是我们看见神所看见的；启示就是神开我们的眼睛，叫我们认识我们的主意，认识我们里面最深处的思念，像祂认识我们一样；神只要将我们的思念显露，将我们心中的主意给我们看一下，我们的灵与魂就分开了。
4. Revelation is seeing what God sees; it is God opening our eyes to see our intentions and the deepest thoughts in our being as God sees them; as soon as God exposes our thoughts and shows us the intentions of our heart, our soul will be separated, divided, from our spirit.
5 若没有祷读，箴言就仅仅是格言的汇集，但我们带着祷告读箴言，也就是祷读箴言时，我们的祷读就使所有的箴言对我们成为灵和生命。
5. Apart from pray-reading, the book of Proverbs is merely a collection of proverbs, but when we read Proverbs prayerfully, that is, when we pray-read Proverbs, our pray-reading causes all the proverbs to become words of spirit and life to us.
二 我们不该来到箴言跟前作一个守字句的人，乃该作一个寻求神的人；我们应当作全心寻求神，借着寻求神的面而求祂的恩，求神用脸光照我们，并且行在神面前的人─诗二七8，一〇五4，一一九2、10、58、135、168，林后三6。
B. We should not come to Proverbs as a letter-keeper but as a Godseeker; we should be those who seek God with all our heart, who seek God's favor by entreating His countenance, who ask God to cause His face to shine upon us, and who walk in God's presence—Psa. 27:8; 105:4; 119:2, 10, 58, 135, 168; 2 Cor. 3:6.
肆 以弗所四章二十二至二十四节清楚地告诉我们，在基督里的信徒有两个人─旧人和新人；旧人借着我们天然的出生，乃是属亚当的，新人借着新生、重生，乃是属基督的；我们应当过脱去旧人，穿上新人的生活；照着神的经纶，箴言不该用来培养并建立我们的旧人，乃该培养并建立我们重生的新人：─引用经文
IV. Ephesians 4:22-24 tells us clearly that a believer in Christ has two men—the old man and the new man; the old man is of Adam through our natural birth, and the new man is of Christ by a new birth, regeneration; we need to live a life of putting off the old man and putting on the new man; according to God's economy, Proverbs should not be used to cultivate and build up our old man but to cultivate and build up our regenerated new man:
一 为要照着神的经纶而进入箴言这卷书的内在意义，我们应当成为照着新造而活的人（加六15）；旧造是我们在亚当里的旧人（弗四22），是我们与生俱来天然的人，没有神的生命和神的性情；新造是在基督里的新人（24），是我们由那灵重生的人（约三6），有神的生命和神的性情作到其中（36，彼后一4），有基督为其构成成分（西二10~11），成为新的构成。─引用经文
A. In order to enter into the intrinsic significance of the book of Proverbs according to God's economy, we need to be those who are living according to the new creation (Gal. 6:15); the old creation is our old man in Adam (Eph. 4:22), our natural being by birth, without God's life and the divine nature; the new creation is the new man in Christ (v. 24), our being that is regenerated by the Spirit (John 3:6), having God's life and the divine nature wrought into it (v. 36; 2 Pet. 1:4), having Christ as its constituent (Col. 3:10-11), and having become a new constitution.
二 在我们的灵里，有美妙、奇妙、经过过程、包罗万有、七倍加强、赐生命的灵（腓一19，启四5，五6，林前十五45，林后三6，罗八16）；当我们操练我们的灵，在神写成的话中（约十35）接触基督这神活的话（一1，五39~40），祂就成为神应用的话，对我们就是那灵（弗六17~18）；这样，凡我们所读圣经中的话就会对我们成为灵和生命，而使我们得复兴（约六63）。─引用经文
B. In our spirit there is the marvelous, wonderful, processed, allinclusive, sevenfold intensified, life-giving Spirit (Phil. 1:19; Rev. 4:5; 5:6; 1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:6; Rom. 8:16); when we exercise our spirit to contact Christ as the living Word of God (John 1:1; 5:39-40) in the written word of God (10:35), He becomes the applied word of God as the Spirit to us (Eph. 6:17-18); then our reading of any word in the Bible will become spirit and life to us to revive us (John 6:63).
三 我们需要在祷告的灵和气氛中接受圣经，借此将圣经从一本表面上教导我们培养己并建立天然人的书，转为满了光、生命、灵和属灵滋养的书；这要拆毁我们的己，破碎我们天然的人，并以三一神终极完成的灵供应我们。
C. We need to turn the Bible from a book that apparently teaches us to cultivate the self and to build up the natural man into a book that actually is full of light, life, spirit, and spiritual nourishment by receiving it in a spirit and atmosphere of prayer; this will tear down our self, break our natural man, and supply us with the consummated Spirit of the Triune God.
伍 我们必须是这样的人：爱主并追求基督，而非追求自我完全（参腓三3~14），并且爱整本圣经中主的话语，用祷告的灵来读经，不是要得着字句道理，乃是要寻求生命的灵与生命的话（参约五39~40，林后三6）；我们来读箴言不该是要得任何帮助以自我修养，乃是要滋养我们的灵，好使我们过一种在神圣美德上，就是在神圣属性的彰显上是完全的基督徒生活（加五22~23，太五5~9）。─引用经文
V. We must be persons who love the Lord and pursue Christ, not self-perfection (cf. Phil. 3:3-14), and who love the Lord's word in the entire Bible and read it with a praying spirit, not to seek the doctrine of letters but to seek the Spirit and word of life (cf. John 5:39-40; 2 Cor. 3:6); we should read Proverbs not to gain any help for self-cultivation but to nourish our spirit so that we may live a Christian life that is perfect in the divine virtues, which are the expressions of the divine attributes (Gal. 5:22-23; Matt. 5:5-9).