第八週■週二

w08d02-ch

晨興餧養

林後四 1『因此，我們旣照所蒙的憐憫，受了這職事，就不喪膽。』

提後四 5『你卻要凡事謹慎自守，忍受苦難，作傳福音者的工作，盡你的職事。』

基督身體所有的肢體，凡作職事工作的，都有分於神新約經綸惟一的職事（林後四 1，三 8 ～ 9）。這惟一的職事，就是叫人活的那靈的職事（8）。…這職事是義的職事，帶進稱義，叫人得生命（9，羅五 18 下）。律法的職事是定罪的職事，叫人死；而信仰的職事，新約的職事，是稱義的職事，叫人得生命，所以完全是生機的。那建造基督身體之職事的工作，是直接由在生命裏長大、得成全的聖徒所作的（弗四 15 ～16）（李常受文集一九八八年第三册，七○七頁）。

信息選讀

在林後四章一節，保羅用代名詞『我們』，指許多的執事。然後在提後四章五節，保羅囑咐提摩太要盡他的職事。…這是提摩太個人的職事，但這個人的職事乃是團體職事，『這職事』，新約惟一職事的一部分。林後四章一節的職事，是所有新約執事團體的職事。在這團體的職事裏，保羅有他的一分，彼得有他的一分，提摩太也有他的一分。所有的執事，都各自有他們在這職事裏的一分。我們把所有這些分加在一起，就是『這職事』，也就是新約的職事。

新約職事的工作，是要完成神關於召會的新約經綸（弗三 9 ～ 10），建造基督的身體。以弗所四章十二節說，眾聖徒都需要被成全，『目的是爲着職事的工作。』這就是說，成百甚至成千的聖徒都能被成全，目的是爲着職事的工作。在本節裏用『職事』這辭。毫無疑問，這是指新約惟一的職事，以完成新約中所包含神永遠的定旨。神的新約包含神的經綸；要完成這經綸，是需要極力工作的，而那個工作就是職事。…以弗所四章十二節…清楚的指明，作職事的工作，就是建造基督的身體。

近年來，有些異議者曾說，他們接受一切的職事。他們…認爲新約有許多的職事。然而，這是錯誤的。旣然只有一個新約，怎麼能有許多新約的職事？許多工人也許有分於建造一座建築物，但他們並不是完成許多不同的工作；反之，他們只完成一個工作。那一個工作不是照着任何人的意見作的，乃是在一個監督，一個工頭之下（林前三 10），並照着惟一的一分藍圖完成的。那一分藍圖消除一切的意見。工作的每一部分，都必須是照着那一分藍圖，並在那一個工頭的帶領之下作的。這樣，所有的工人只完成一個建造的工作。

我們也許說到彼得的職事、保羅的職事或提摩太的職事；但我們這樣說時，必須領悟，這些個別的職事只是『這職事』，新約惟一職事的一小部分。『這職事』含示並包括眾執事在這職事裏的各部分。一幅拼圖不會拼出兩幅圖畫；每幅拼圖只顯示一幅圖畫。這幅圖畫由許多部分組成。我們若能將這許多部分正確的放在一起，至終我們會只看見一幅圖畫。同樣，我們將新約執事一切個別的職事放在一起，就只有一個職事，就是新約惟一的職事（李常受文集一九九三年第一册，七至一○頁）。

參讀：基督身體的建造，第二章；李常受文集一九八八年第三册，三一六至三二五頁。

WEEK 8 — DAY 2

Morning Nourishment

2 Cor. 4:1 Therefore having this ministry as we have been shown mercy, we do not lose heart.

2 Tim. 4:5 But you, be sober in all things, suffer evil, do the work of an evangelist, fully accomplish your ministry.

All the members of the Body of Christ who do the work of the ministry participate in the unique ministry of God’s New Testament economy (2 Cor. 4:1; 3:8-9). This unique ministry is the ministry of the Spirit, who gives life (v. 8)…This ministry is the ministry of righteousness, which brings in justification unto life (v. 9; Rom. 5:18b). The ministry of the law was the ministry of condemnation unto death, but the ministry of the faith, the New Testament, is the ministry of justification unto life, so it is altogether organic. The work of the ministry to build up the Body of Christ is directly by the perfected saints in the growth in life (Eph. 4:15-16). (CWWL, 1988, vol. 3, pp. 558-559)

Todays Reading

In 2 Corinthians 4:1 Paul uses the pronoun we, referring to many ministers. Then in 2 Timothy 4:5 Paul charges Timothy to fully accomplish his ministry… This was Timothy’s personal ministry, but this personal ministry was a part of the corporate ministry, “this ministry” [2 Cor. 4:1], the unique ministry of the New Testament. The ministry in 2 Corinthians 4:1 is the corporate ministry of all the New Testament ministers. In this corporate ministry Paul had his portion, Peter had his portion, and Timothy had his portion. All the ministers have their own portion of the ministry. When we add all the portions together, we have “this ministry,” which is the New Testament ministry.

The work of the New Testament ministry is to accomplish God’s New Testament economy concerning the church (Eph. 3:9-10) in the building up of the Body of Christ. Ephesians 4:12 says that all the saints need to be perfected “unto the work of the ministry.” This means that hundreds and even thousands of saints can be perfected unto the work of the ministry. In this verse the term the ministry is used. No doubt this refers to the unique ministry of the New Testament to carry out God’s eternal purpose, which is contained in the new covenant. God’s new covenant contains God’s economy. To carry out this economy requires much work, and that work is the ministry…[Ephesians 4:12] indicates clearly that to do the work of the ministry is to build up the Body of Christ.

In recent years some of the dissenting ones have said that they accept all ministries, [meaning] many ministries. However, this is wrong. Since there is only one new covenant, how could there be many new covenant ministries? Many workers may have a part in constructing a building, but they do not carry out many different works. Rather, they carry out only one work. That one work is not done according to anyone’s opinion but is carried out under one superintendent, one master builder (1 Cor. 3:10), and according to the unique copy of the blueprint. The one blueprint eliminates all opinions. Every part of the work must be done according to the one blueprint and under the leadership of the one master builder. In this way all the workers carry out only one building work.

We may speak of Peter’s ministry, of Paul’s ministry, or of Timothy’s ministry, but we must do so with the realization that these individual ministries are only small parts of “this ministry,” the unique ministry of the New Testament. “This ministry” implies and includes all the ministers’ pieces of the ministry. A jigsaw puzzle does not portray two pictures; each puzzle shows only one picture. This picture is composed of many pieces. If we have the ability to put the pieces together properly, eventually we will see just one picture. Likewise, when we put all the individual ministries of the New Testament ministers together, we have just one ministry, the unique ministry of the New Testament. (CWWL, 1993, vol. 1, “The Ministry of the New Testament and the Teaching and Fellowship of the Apostles,” pp. 6-8)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1988, vol. 3, “The Building Up of the Body of Christ,” ch. 2; CWWL, 1988, vol. 3, pp. 249-255