第九篇

召會的功用（二）神在肉體裏團體的顯現

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詩歌：775

讀經：提前三15 ～ 16，約一1、14，西二9，林前六17，七25、40。

【週一、週二】

壹 神的顯現首先是在基督裏—在肉體裏個別的彰顯—提前三16，西二9，約一1、14：

一 新約不是說只有神的兒子成爲肉體，乃是啓示神顯現於肉體—提前三15 ～ 16：

1 顯現於肉體的神，不僅是子，乃是整個的神—父、子、靈。

2 整個的神，不僅是子神，成爲肉體；因此，基督成爲肉體就是整個的神顯現於肉體：

a 在基督成爲肉體時期的職事裏，祂把無限的神帶到有限的人裏面；在基督裏，無限的神與有限的人成爲—約八58，七6，十二24。

b 藉着成爲肉體，神聖的合併—神在祂的神聖三一裏互相內在成爲一而一同作工—被帶到人性裏；所以基督是三一神與三部分人的合併—十四10 ～ 11。

二 話，就是神，成了肉體—一1、14：

1 『成了肉體』（14），意卽在人的樣式和樣子裏—羅八3，腓二7 ～ 8。

2 基督是以人的形狀顯在人前，然而，祂乃是神顯現於人—林後五16。

3 話所是的這位神，不是部分的神，乃是整個的神—子神、父神、靈神。

4 話是神的解釋、說明和彰顯；因此，那成爲肉體的話—神顯現於肉體—乃是神在肉體裏的解釋、說明和彰顯—約一18。

三 神格一切的豐滿，都有形有體的居住在基督裏面—西二9：

1 『神格一切的豐滿』乃指整個的神格，指完整的神。

2 神格旣包含父、子、靈，神格的豐滿就必是父、子、靈的豐滿。

3 神格一切的豐滿，都有形有體的居住在基督裏面，意思是說，三一神具體化身在祂裏面—約十四10。

4 基督作爲神格豐滿的具體化身，不僅是神的兒子，也是整個的神。

【週三、週四】

貳 提前三章十五至十六節指明，不僅作頭的基督自己是神顯現於肉體，連作基督身體和神家的召會也是神顯現於肉體—敬虔的奧祕：

一 十六節的『敬虔』，不僅是指虔誠，乃是指神活在召會中，就是那是生命的神在召會中活了出來，得着了彰顯：

1 基督和召會，二者都是敬虔的奧祕，在肉體裏彰顯神。

2 召會生活乃是神的彰顯；因此，敬虔的奧祕就是正當召會的生活—林前十六，十四24 ～ 25。

【週五、週六】

二 神顯現於召會—神的家和基督的身體—就是祂在肉體裏擴大的團體彰顯—弗二19，一22 ～ 23：

1 神顯現於肉體，開始於基督在地上的時候—約十四9。

2 神顯現於肉體，延續於召會，就是神顯現於肉體的擴增、擴大和繁增—提前三15 ～ 16。

三 當召會按着提前一至三章所寫的，受到妥善的照料，召會就要盡活神的家的功用，爲着神在地上的行動；並盡真理的柱石和根基的功用，有基督和祂身體的實際—三15。

四 這樣的召會就成爲基督是神顯現於肉體的延續—基督從召會活出，成爲神的顯現—弗五32。

五 這乃是神照着新約成爲肉體的原則，以更廣泛的方式顯現於肉體—林前七40，加二20：

1 成爲肉體的原則是：神自己進到人裏面，將祂自己與人調和，使人與祂自己成爲一；如此，神就在人裏，人也在神裏—約十五4 ～ 5。

2 成爲肉體的原則，意思是神性被帶到人性裏，並同着人性作工—林前六17，七40，提前四1。

3 新約話成肉體的原則就是，神聖的生命和性情在基督裏並藉着基督與屬人的生命和性情調和，使我們與神同有一個生命，同過一個生活—林前六17，加二20。

4 保羅寫林前七章，是在話成肉體的原則裏：

a 十節的原則與加拉太二章二十節的原則相同：話成肉體的原則—二人如同一人而活着。

b 在林前七章二十五節和四十節我們看見一個人與主是一並被主浸透，屬靈到一個地步，甚至他的意見也發表出主的心意。

c 如果我們被那靈浸透，我們所發表的乃是我們所想的，但這也會是出於主的，因爲我們與祂是—六17。

六 敬虔的極大奧祕乃是神成爲人，好使人在生命和性情上（但不在神格上）成爲神，以產生一個團體的神人，使神顯現於肉體—羅八3，一3～4，弗四24。

七 至終，神要顯現於新耶路撒冷，就是經過過程並終極完成之三一神在新天新地裏終極完成的團體彰顯—啓二一1 ～ 2、10 ～ 11。

Message Nine

The Function of the Church (2) The Corporate Manifestation of God in the Flesh

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Hymns: 976

Scripture Reading: 1 Tim. 3:15-16; John 1:1, 14; Col. 2:9; 1 Cor. 6:17; 7:25, 40

§ Day 1 & Day 2

I. Gods manifestation was first in Christ as an individual expression in the flesh—1 Tim. 3:16; Col. 2:9; John 1:1, 14:

A. The New Testament does not say that only the Son of God was incarnated; it reveals that God was manifested in the flesh—1 Tim. 3:15-16:

1. God was manifested in the flesh not only as the Son but as the entire God— the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

2. The entire God and not only God the Son was incarnated; hence, Christ in His incarnation was the entire God manifested in the flesh:

a. In His ministry in the stage of incarnation, Christ brought the infinite God into the finite man; in Christ, the infinite God and the finite man became one—John 8:58; 7:6; 12:24.

b. Through incarnation the divine incorporation—God in His Divine Trinity coinhering mutually and working together as one—was brought into humanity; Christ is therefore the incorporation of the Triune God with the tripartite man—14:10-11.

B. The Word, who is God, became flesh—1:1, 14:

1. Became flesh (v. 14) means in the likeness, in the fashion, of man—Rom. 8:3; Phil. 2:7-8.

2. In the form of a man Christ appeared to people, yet He was God manifested in a man—2 Cor. 5:16.

3. The God who the Word is, is not a partial God but the entire God—God the Son, God the Father, and God the Spirit.

4. The Word is Gods definition, explanation, and expression; hence, the Word who became flesh—God manifested in the flesh—is Gods definition, explanation, and expression in the flesh—John 1:18.

C. In Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily—Col. 2:9:

1. All the fullness of the Godhead refers to the entire Godhead, to the complete God.

2. Since the Godhead comprises the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the fullness of the Godhead must be the fullness of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

3. That all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily means that the Triune God is embodied in Him—John 14:10.

4. As the embodiment of the fullness of the Godhead, Christ is not only the Son of God but also the entire God.

§ Day 3 & Day 4

II. First Timothy 3:15-16 indicates that not only Christ Himself as the Head is the manifestation of God in the flesh but also that the church as the Body of Christ and the house of God is the manifestation of God in the flesh—the mystery of godliness:

A. Godliness in verse 16 refers not only to piety but also to the living of God in the church, that is, God as life lived out in the church to be expressed:

1. Both Christ and the church are the mystery of godliness, expressing God in the flesh.

2. The church life is the expression of God; therefore, the mystery of godliness is the living of a proper church—1 Cor. 16; 14:24-25.

§ Day 5 & Day 6

B. God is manifested in the church—the house of God and the Body of Christ—as the enlarged corporate expression in the flesh—Eph. 2:19; 1:22-23:

1. The manifestation of God in the flesh began with Christ when He was on earth—John 14:9.

2. The manifestation of God in the flesh continues with the church, which is the increase, enlargement, and multiplication of the manifestation of God in the flesh—1 Tim. 3:15-16.

C. When a church is taken care of according to what is written in 1 Timothy 1—3, the church will function as the house of the living God for His move on earth and as the pillar and base of the truth, bearing the reality of Christ and His Body—3:15.

D. Such a church becomes the continuation of Christs manifestation of God in the flesh—Christ lived out of the church as the manifestation of God— Eph. 5:32.

E. This is God manifested in the flesh in a wider way according to the New Testament principle of incarnation—1 Cor. 7:40; Gal. 2:20:

1. The principle of incarnation is that God enters into man and mingles Himself with man to make man one with Himself; thus, God is in man, and man is in God—John 15:4-5.

2. The principle of incarnation means that divinity is brought into humanity and works with humanity—1 Cor. 6:17; 7:40; 1 Tim. 4:1.

3. The New Testament principle of incarnation is that, in Christ and through Christ, the divine life and nature are mingled with the human life and nature so that we and God may have one life and one living—1 Cor. 6:17; Gal. 2:20.

4. Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 7 in the principle of incarnation:

a. The principle in verse 10 is the same as that in Galatians 2:20: the principle of incarnation—two persons living as one person.

b. In verses 25 and 40 of 1 Corinthians 7 we see the spirituality of a person who is so one with the Lord and permeated with Him that even his opinion expresses the Lords mind.

c. If we are saturated with the Spirit, what we express will be our thought, but it will also be something of the Lord because we are one with Him—6:17.

F. The great mystery of godliness is that God has become man so that man may become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead to produce a corporate God-man for the manifestation of God in the flesh—Rom. 8:3; 1:3-4; Eph. 4:24.

G. Ultimately, God will be manifested in the New Jerusalem as the consummated corporate expression of the processed and consummated Triune God in the new heaven and new earth—Rev. 21:1-2, 10-11.