第八週■週五

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晨興餧養

約十八37『…耶穌回答說，你說我是王，我爲此而生，也爲此來到世間，爲要給真理作見證…。』

提前三15『…神的家…就是活神的召會，真理的柱石和根基。』

盼望在主恢復中的召會，真理的水準一直拔高。我們不能留在福利平安、基督降世拯救罪人、釘十字架完成救贖、神愛世人等膚淺的福音真理上；這些雖然都對，但仍是初階、基要、開端的。我們必須往高處去。…有許多人年輕時根本不懂素質的靈、經綸的靈、三一神的分賜等真理，但現在的青年人講起這些，卻頭頭是道。

但願我們都能在真理上好好成全青年人，鼓勵他們進入主話語的深處。因這緣故，我們有負擔推薦、推廣生命讀經。（李常受文集一九八四年第五册，四八六頁。）

信息選讀

保羅用隱喻的說法，…說到召會是『真理的柱石和根基』。〔提前三15。〕柱石支持建築物，根基托住柱石。召會就是這樣支持真理的柱石，也是這樣托住真理的根基。…真理是神新約經綸的實際和內容。這經綸由兩大奧祕組成：基督是神的奧祕，（西二2，）以及召會是基督的奧祕。（弗三4。）基督與召會，頭與身體，是神新約經綸之實際的內容。召會是支持這一切實際的柱石，也是托住這一切實際的根基。地方召會該是這樣的建築，托住、擔負、並見證基督與召會的真理—實際。

召會對於神有一個功能，就是把神的一切，就是宇宙中的那個實際，也就是那真理托住。…召會不是托住道理，召會乃是托住神所是的一切實際。宇宙間，只有神是實際；祂所是的一切就是實際，這個乃是托在召會身上。我們在這裏作神的家，就是召會，並作神的家人，乃是把神之所是一切的實際托在上面。

召會所擔負的真理就是三一神，以基督爲具體化身、中心和彰顯，以產生召會作基督的身體、神的家和神的國。（西二9，弗一22 ～ 23，四16，…提前三15，約三3，5。）真理，實際，乃是基督，而基督是神的具體化身。召會擔負着基督作實際；召會向全宇宙見證，基督是實際，並且惟有基督纔是實際。（一14，17，十四6。）召會作爲柱石和根基，擔負着三一神的實際。

在希臘文裏，提前三章十五節的『真理』這辭是指真實、具體的東西。…然而，真理不僅僅是具體的實際，更是這實際的彰顯。真理不是空洞的道理，乃是實際的彰顯，乃是由實際所構成，且傳達這實際的道理。召會是柱石，托住真理，就是托住實際的彰顯。

十六節啓示出召會所托住的實際是甚麼：『大哉！敬虔的奧祕！這是眾所公認的，就是：祂顯現於肉體，被稱義於靈裏，被天使看見，被傳於萬邦，被信仰於世人中，被接去於榮耀裏。』十五節的真理，實際的彰顯，就是十六節敬虔的奧祕。…敬虔的奧祕就是神顯現於肉體。當基督在地上，祂是神顯現於肉體。…神是實際，耶穌這位成爲肉體的人，就是神的顯現。（新約總論第十二册，二三○至二三一頁。）

參讀：真理課程三級卷四，第五十七課。

WEEK 8 — DAY 5

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Morning Nourishment

John 18:37 ...Jesus answered, You say that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, that I would testify to the truth...

1 Tim. 3:15 ...The house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth.

I hope that the standard of truth will be constantly raised higher among the churches in the Lord’s recovery. We cannot remain in the shallow gospel truths such as peace and prosperity, Christ’s incarnation to save sinners, His crucifixion to accomplish redemption, and God’s love for the world. Although these things are right, they are still elementary, basic, and beginning truths. We must go up to the high peak...When many people were young, they did not understand such truths as the essential Spirit, the economical Spirit, or the dispensing of the Triune God, but now the young people all speak about these things, and their speaking is true and logical.

May we all be able to perfect the young people in the truth and encourage them to enter into the depths of the Word. This is why we have a burden to recommend and promote the Life-study messages. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 5, “Truth, Life, the Church, and the Gospel—the Four Great Pillars in the Lord’s Recovery,” pp. 368-369)

Today’s Reading

Paul speaks [metaphorically] of the church as “the pillar and base of the truth” [1 Tim. 3:15]. The pillar supports the building, and the base holds the pillar. The church is such a supporting pillar and holding base of the truth...The truth is the reality and the contents of God’s New Testament economy. This economy is composed of two mysteries: Christ as the mystery of God (Col. 2:2) and the church as the mystery of Christ (Eph. 3:4). Christ and the church, the Head and the Body, are the contents of the reality of God’s New Testament economy. The church is the supporting pillar and holding base of all these realities. A local church should be such a building that holds, bears, and testifies
the truth, the reality, of Christ and the church.

To God, the church has the function to bear all that God is as the reality, the truth, of the universe...The church is not for holding doctrines but for holding the reality of all that God is. In the universe, only God is reality; all that He is, is reality, which is borne by the church. We are here as the church, the house and household of God, holding the reality of all that God is.

The truth borne by the church is the Triune God, having Christ as the embodiment, center, and expression, to produce the church as the Body of Christ, the house of God, and the kingdom of God (Col. 2:9; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:16; 1 Tim. 3:15; John 3:3, 5). The truth, the reality, is Christ, and Christ is the embodiment of God. The church bears Christ as the reality. The church testifies to the whole universe that Christ, and Christ alone, is the reality (1:14,17; 14:6). As the pillar and base of the truth, the church bears the reality of the Triune God.

In Greek the word truth in 1 Timothy 3:15 denotes something real and solid...However, truth is not simply a solid reality but also the expression of this reality. Truth is not vain doctrine; it is the expression of reality, doctrine  constituted with reality and conveying that reality. The church is the pillar bearing the truth, that is, bearing the expression of the reality.

The reality borne by the church is revealed in 1 Timothy 3:16: “Confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, / Justified in the Spirit, / Seen by angels, / Preached among the nations, / Believed on in the world, / Taken up in glory.” The truth in verse 15, the expression of the reality, is the mystery of godliness in verse 16...The mystery of godliness is God manifested in the flesh. When Christ was on earth, He was God manifested in the flesh...God was reality, and Jesus as a man in the flesh was the manifestation of God. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3671-3672)

Further Reading: Truth Lessons—Level Three, vol. 4, lsn. 57