第八週■週二

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晨興餧養

提前三15『倘若我躭延，你也可以知道在神的家中當怎樣行；這家就是活神的召會，真理的柱石和根基。』

林前三16『豈不知你們是神的殿，神的靈住在你們裏面麼？』

召會作爲神的居所，乃是神的家，和祂的家人，祂的家庭。在舊約中，殿和神的百姓是兩件分開的事，但是在新約的應驗裏，居所和家庭乃是一。按照神新約的經綸，神的家就是祂的家庭。…希伯來三章六節…說到『基督爲兒子，治理神的家；我們…便是祂的家了。』在舊約時代，神的家就是以色列家，（利二二18，民十二7，）由他們中間的帳幕或殿所象徵。（出二五8，結三七26 ～ 27。）今天神的家乃是召會。作神百姓的以色列人，乃是我們新約信徒的豫表。（林前九24 ～十11。）他們的歷史就是召會的豫表。（新約總論第七册，二一○頁。）

信息選讀

召會有雙重的功用：對基督，召會是身體；對神，召會是家。基督是頭，召會是這頭的身體，這是召會的一個功用。神是父，召會是祂的家，這是召會的另一個功用。…召會是基督的身體，乃是一個生機體；同樣，召會是神的家，乃是一個活的實體，活的家。

彼前四章十七節是說到召會是神的家的另一處經節：『因爲時候到了，審判要從神的家起首。』這裏我們看見，管教的審判要從神自己的家起首。神的家，或家人，就是由信徒組成的召會。神從這家，就是祂自己的家起首，藉着對自己兒女管教的審判，施行祂行政的管理，使祂有堅定的立場，在祂宇宙的國度裏，審判那些不信從祂福音，以及背叛祂行政的人。

在說到召會是神的家時，保羅特別說到神是活神。活在召會裏的活神，對召會必是主觀的，不是僅僅客觀的。…因爲神是活的，召會也就在祂裏面、憑祂並同祂活着。活的神與活的召會，同活着、同行動、同工作。活的召會是活神的家。因此，在我們的聚會、事奉和服事中，我們要給人一種印象：活的神在我們中間活着、行動、說話並活動。

召會，活神的家，乃是活在父的名裏和父的生命裏，意卽召會是活在父的實際裏。神的家是一個活的組成，由許多在父的生命和實際裏的兒女所組成。這就是說那裏有神的家，那裏就有父神同祂的生命和實際。這與召會是基督的身體相同。基督與祂身體的肢體不是分開的，因爲基督作身體的頭，乃是住在眾肢體裏面。因此，基督不該算作身體上分開的肢體，因爲祂在身體的所有肢體裏面。召會是神的家原則也是一樣。父不是家人中分開的一員，乃是在所有的兒女裏面。

召會的身分的第一個特點，就是召會是從世界中召出來的會眾。第二個特點是召會是神的家，由那些神所生的人組成。…爲要成爲會集，我們需要被聖別，就是從世界被分別出來。然而要成爲神家的一分子，我們需要從神而生。任何不是神所生的人，都不能成爲祂家（家庭）的一部分。（新約總論第七册，二一一至二一二頁。）

參讀：新約總論，第一百六十一、三百六十三篇。

WEEK 8 — DAY 2

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Morning Nourishment

1 Tim. 3:15 But if I delay, I write that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth.

1 Cor. 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

As God’s dwelling place, the church is both God’s house and His household, His family. In the Old Testament the temple and God’s people were two separate things, but in the fulfillment in the New Testament the dwelling place and the family are one. According to God’s New Testament economy, God’s house is His family. Hebrews 3:6...refers to “Christ...as a Son over His house, whose house we are.” In Old Testament times, the house of God was the house of Israel (Lev. 22:18; Num. 12:7), symbolized by the tabernacle or the temple among them (Exo. 25:8; Ezek. 37:26-27). Today the house of God is the church. The children of Israel, as people of God, are a type of us, the New Testament believers (1 Cor. 9:24—10:11). Their history is a prefigure of the church. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2227)

Today’s Reading

The church has a twofold function. To Christ, the church is the Body; to God, the church is the house. Christ is the Head, and the church is the Body of the Head. This is one function of the church. God is the Father, and the church is His house. This is another function of the church...The church as the Body of Christ is an organism. In like manner, the church as the house of God is a living entity, a living house.

First Peter 4:17, another verse that refers to the church as the house of God, says, “It is time for the judgment to begin from the house of God.”...God’s house, or  ousehold, is the church composed of the believers. From this house, as His own house, God begins His governmental administration by His disciplinary judgment over His own children, that He may have strong ground to judge, in His universal kingdom, those who are disobedient to His gospel and rebellious to His government.

In speaking of the church as the house of God, Paul specifically refers to God as the living God. The living God who lives in the church must be subjective to the church and not merely objective...Because God is living, the church is also living in Him, by Him, and with Him. A living God and a living church live, move, and work together. The living church is the house of the living God. Therefore, in our meetings, service, and ministry we should give people the impression that the living God is living, moving, speaking, and acting among us.

The church, the house of the living God, is living in the Father’s name and in the Father’s life. This means that the church is living in the Father’s reality. God’s house is a living composition of His many children in the Father’s life and reality. This means that where the house of God is, there is God the Father with His life and reality. This is similar to the church being the Body of Christ. Christ is not separate from the members of the Body, for, as the Head of the Body, Christ dwells in all the members. For this reason, Christ should not be counted as a separate member of the Body, because He is in all the members of the Body. The principle is the same with the church as God’s house. The Father is not a separate member of the household, the house, but is in all the children.

The first characteristic of the status of the church is that it is an assembly called out of the world. The second characteristic is that the church is God’s house composed of those who have been born of God...In order to be the assembly, we need to be sanctified, that is, separated from the world. But to be a component of the house of God, we need to be born of God. Anyone who has not been born of God cannot be part of His house, part of His family. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2227-2229)

Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 161, 363