第四週■週五

w04d05-ch

晨興餧養

林前一9『…你們乃是爲祂所召，進入了祂兒子我們主耶穌基督的交通。』

弗五8『你們從前是黑暗，但如今在主裏面乃是光，行事爲人就要像光的兒女。』

今天要應用帶有烏陵和土明的胸牌，…需要帶領者把聖徒和基督擔負在心上，好知道聖徒的光景和基督所完成的，以得着神的引導。…這些帶領者需要看見主的照耀，也需要讀聖徒，然後他們纔能得着主對當地召會的引導。

神藉着帶有烏陵和土明的胸牌說話的方式，與我們所以爲的正好相反。神不是藉着發亮的寶石說話，而是藉着變暗的寶石說話。這意思是說，神是藉着消極的光景說話。按正常情形，胸牌裏的十二塊寶石都在烏陵的照耀之下。忽然間刻着某個名字的寶石變暗了，這塊寶石變暗就是神卽時的說話。我們天然的觀念會以爲，神藉着胸牌的說話來自發亮的寶石。事實上，祂乃是藉着忽然間變暗的寶石說話。（出埃及記生命讀經，一六三八至一六三九頁。）

信息選讀

保羅的書信以及主耶穌給亞西亞七個召會的七封書信，都是根據這個原則寫的。這些書信不是根據召會裏積極的事情寫的，而是根據召會消極的光景寫的。我們以保羅寫給哥林多人的頭一封書信爲例，…保羅照着他對哥林多消極的光景所讀出來的，寫了哥林多前書。他考量那種光景，就知道要寫甚麼。雖然他的著作是基於消極的事情，但在這封書信裏，他卻把積極的東西—基督的豐富—服事給召會。

今天基督徒中間的難處乃是因着有太多的黑暗，神就無法來暴露黑暗。當每樣東西都在黑暗裏，我們就很難指出那件東西是在黑暗裏。…所有的燈若都亮着〔時〕，我們很容易就可找出變暗的那一盞。這說明了神如何藉着胸牌說話；一塊寶石變暗了，就是神卽時的說話。

爲要顯明黑暗，首先必須有光的照耀。…所有的燈都亮着時，有一盞燈變暗了，黑暗立刻就顯出來了。這個黑暗就指明有些事情錯了。如果在一個召會裏，事情錯了很容易被發現，那個召會就是正常的。…當黑暗籠罩時，消極的事情就不可能暴露出來。爲此，光是不可少的。在光的照耀下所暴露的，就是神的說話。神是藉着事情變爲消極而說話；這種消極的光景就指明缺少基督。我們這樣來讀消極的光景，就曉得神的引導了。然後在我們所在的地方，我們就會曉得神要我們作甚麼，然後我們就該跟隨祂的引導。

藉着胸牌所得的引導，總是與審判有關。…因着主的說話是藉着消極的光景，這樣的說話就是一種審判。…在保羅的照耀之下，黑暗就被暴露了。保羅有些書信是照着黑暗、照着召會裏聖徒消極的光景寫的。因着保羅看見在哥林多召會裏的一些黑暗面，這些黑暗面乃是神審判的字母，保羅就能寫出哥林多前書這卷審判的書來。但隨着這卷書信裏所含的一切審判，卻有許多積極的事物，就是有基督的豐富，供應給在哥林多的信徒。這就是神說話的方式。不論是在舊約，或是在新約裏，神的說話都是根據消極的光景；然而卻有基督的豐富作祂子民的供應。（出埃及記生命讀經，一六三九至一六四一頁。）

參讀：包羅萬有的基督，第十一章；歌羅西書生命讀經，第六十五篇。

WEEK 4 — DAY 5

w04d05-en

Morning Nourishment

1 Cor. 1:9 ...You were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Eph. 5:8 For you were once darkness but are now light in the Lord; walk as children of light.

Today ’s application of the breastplate with the Urim and the Thummim...requires that the leading ones bear the saints and Christ on their hearts so that they may know the condition of the saints and the completion of Christ for God’s leading...These leading ones need to see the Lord’s shining and read the saints. Then they will be able to receive God’s leading concerning the church in their locality.

God’s way of speaking through the breastplate with the Urim and the Thummim is the opposite of what we would expect. God speaks not through the stones that are shining but through stones that become dark. This means that God speaks through negative situations. Normally the twelve stones in the breastplate were under the shining of the Urim. Suddenly a piece inscribed with a certain name would become dark. This darkening of a particular stone was God’s instant speaking. .. He spoke through the stones that suddenly became dark. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 1430-1431)

Today’s Reading

Paul’s Epistles and also the seven epistles of the Lord Jesus to the seven churches in Asia were all written according to this principle. They were written according to the negative situation of the churches, not according to the positive things found in the churches. Take, for example, Paul’s first Epistle to the Corinthians...Paul wrote this Epistle according to his reading of the negative situation at Corinth. By considering that situation, he knew what to write. But although his writing was based on the negative things, in this Epistle he ministered positive things—the riches of Christ—to the church.

The problem among Christians today is that because there is so much darkness, there is no way for God to expose darkness. When everything is in darkness, it is difficult to point out a particular matter that is in darkness...If all the lights are shining, it will be easy to find one that becomes dark. This illustrates how God spoke through the breastplate. The darkening of a particular stone was God’s instant speaking.

In order for the darkness to be made known, there must first be the shining of light...When all the lights are shining, it immediately becomes apparent when a certain light becomes dark. That darkness is an indicator that something is wrong. If in a certain church things that are wrong are easily found out, that church is normal...When darkness prevails, it is not possible for negative matters to be exposed. For this, light is necessary. What is exposed under the shining of the light
is God’s speaking. God speaks through things becoming negative. This kind of negative situation is an indicator of the shortage of Christ. By reading the negative
situations in this way, we come to know God’s leading. Then in our locality we shall know what God wants us to do, and we should then follow His leading.

The leading obtained through the breastplate always involves a judgment...Because the Lord’s speaking is through negative situations, that speaking is a judgment. Under the shining of Paul, the darkness was exposed. Paul wrote certain of his Epistles according to the darkness, according to the negative condition, of the saints in the churches. Because Paul saw certain dark areas in the church in Corinth, areas that were letters of God’s judgment, Paul could write Corinthians as a book of judgment. But along with all the judgment contained in this Epistle, there are many positive things: the riches of Christ ministered to the believers at Corinth. This is God’s way of speaking. Both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, God’s speaking is according to the negative situation yet with the riches of Christ as the supply for His people. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 1431-1433)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 4, “The All-inclusive Christ,” ch. 11; Life-study of Colossians, msg. 65