第八週■週一

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晨興餧養

徒二十28『聖靈立你們作全羣的監督，你們就當爲自己謹慎，也爲全羣謹慎，牧養神的召會，就是祂用自己的血所買來的。』

弗二21『在祂裏面，全房聯結一起，長成在主裏的聖殿。』

保羅在林前一章二節說到『在哥林多神的召會』。召會是由宇宙的神所構成的，卻存在於地上的許多地方，哥林多就是其中之一。就性質說，召會在神裏面是宇宙性的；但就實行說，召會在一個確定的地方是地方性的。…保羅對召會的描寫是美妙的。然而，基督徒卻沒有充分的注意。…『神的召會』一辭指明召會有神的性情，她是由神的元素構成的。因此，召會是神的；這是召會宇宙的一面。（哥林多前書生命讀經，一○至一一頁。）

信息選讀

召會…是神的家。（彼前二5—殿，直譯，家。）…在原文，『家』的意思不僅指房子、住處，也指家人。家是指房子，也是指家庭、親人。因此，原文同一個字也可譯爲『家裏的親人』。（弗二19。）

今天神在地上的居所乃是召會，並且神這位偉大的父有一個家庭，就是召會。…對我們而言，房子是一回事，家庭是另一回事；房子是建築物，家庭是住在那裏的人。不過，神的房屋和神的家庭是一樣的。房屋就是家庭，家庭也就是房屋。

神的房屋和神的家庭是一個實體，就是一班重生、蒙召的人，由神自己所內住。這些蒙召的人，由神用祂的生命所重生，並由這位活神帶着祂的一切所是來內住，他們旣是神的居所，也是神的家庭。這…與人羣組織不同。這是個生機體—在神聖的生命裏是生機的，在神聖的性情裏是生機的，在三一神裏面也是生機的。

有些人非常強調艾克利西亞，卻不怎麼留意召會生機的一面。他們不常說到召會是神的家庭。雖然如此，我們必須曉得召會是生機的，是神活的家。保羅說，召會是活神的家，（提前三15，）這家會長大。（弗二21。）…會長大的東西必定是活的。…凡是會長大的，都是有生命的生機體。阿利路亞，我們是在漸漸長大！

一九六四年，我到德州平景鎮（Plainview）去探望一小羣聖徒。一九六五年，我到德州維口（Waco）去探望另一個小團體。若沒有信心，我會完全失望。消息傳到紐約，有一位和我同工多年的親愛弟兄對另一位弟兄說，他不相信德州這些小團體會持續下去。一九六八年，我到拉巴克（Lubbock）去，我沒有看見一個大召會；我所看見的，相當需要信心。因着祂的憐憫，我的確有信心。一九六九年，德州的聖徒遷到休斯頓，我去探望他們。那裏的情況有些令人鼓舞，但不完全是如此。然而，一九八二、一九八三年，我訪問歐文，令我非常興奮。德州眾召會長大了許多，因爲召會是活的。召會是活神的活家，不是組織的東西，乃是生命的東西；因此，召會是憑着生命而長大。（李常受文集一九八三年第三册，五五六至五五八頁。）

神的居所就是祂的家人，祂的家庭；祂的家庭是藉着神的生育而產生的。…至終，神的兒女要長成祂成熟的兒子，還要成爲後嗣。（新約總論第七册，二一六頁。）

參讀：恢復基督在召會中作一切，第八章；李常受文集一九六八年第二册，七五八至七六一頁。

WEEK 8 — DAY 1

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Morning Nourishment

Acts 20:28 Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers to shepherd the church of God, which He obtained through His own blood.

Eph. 2:21 In whom all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord.

In 1 Corinthians 1:2 Paul speaks of “the church of God which is in Corinth.” The church is constituted of the universal God, but it exists on earth in many localities, one of which was Corinth. In nature the church is universal in God, but in practice the church is local in a definite place. Paul’s description of the church is marvelous. However, Christians have not paid adequate attention to it...The expression the church of God indicates that the church has the nature of God, that it is constituted of the element of God. Therefore, the church is of God. This is the universal aspect of the church. (Life-study of 1 Corinthians, second edition, p. 8)

Today’s Reading

The church is...the house of God (1 Pet. 2:5)...[In] Greek [the] word oikos means not only the house, the dwelling, but also the household. Oikos means both the house and also the folks, the family, that make up the household; thus, it may also be translated as “household” (Eph. 2:19).

God’s dwelling place today on earth is the church, and God, as such a great Father, has a family, which is the church...To us the house is one thing, and the family another; the house is the building, and the family is the people who live there. God’s house and God’s family, however, are the same. The house is the family, and the family is the house.

Both the house of God and the family of God are one entity, that is, a group of regenerated, called ones, indwelt by God Himself. These called ones, who have been regenerated by God with His life and who are being indwelt by this living God with all that He is, are both God’s dwelling place and His family...This is different from a group or organization of people. This is something organic—organic in the divine life, organic in the divine nature, and organic in the Triune God.

Some stressed the ekklesia very much, but they did not pay much attention to the organic aspect of the church. They did not say much about the church as God’s family. We must realize, though, that the church is organic; it is the living house of God. Paul says that the church is the house of the living God (1 Tim. 3:15) and that this house grows (Eph. 2:21)...For something to grow, it must be living...Anything that grows is organic, with life. Hallelujah, we are growing!

In 1964 I went to Plainview, Texas, to visit a small group of saints. Then in 1965 I went to Waco, Texas, to visit another small group. Without faith I would have been fully disappointed. When the news went to New York, a dear brother with whom I had been co-working for a number of years said to another brother that he did not believe that these small groups in Texas would last. In 1968 I went to Lubbock, Texas. I did not see a big church; rather, I saw something that needed much faith. By His mercy I did have that faith. Then the saints in Texas moved to Houston in 1969, and I went to visit them. The situation there was somewhat encouraging but not entirely so. My visits to Irving, however, in 1982 and 1983 made me excited. There has been much growth among the churches in Texas because the church is something living. It is the living house of the living God. It is not something of organization but something of life; thus, its growth is by life. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 3, “The Basic Revelation in the Holy Scriptures,” pp. 426-427)

God’s dwelling place is His household, His family, and His family comes into being by God’s begetting...Eventually, God’s children will grow up to be His mature sons, and then they will become heirs. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2232)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1978, vol. 3, “The Recovery of Christ as Everything in the Church,” ch. 8; CWWL, 1968, vol. 2, pp. 597-600