第六週 • 週一

w06d01-ch 

晨興餧養

林後四4  …這世代的神弄瞎了他們這不信者的心思，叫基督榮耀之福音的光照，不照亮他們；基督本是神的像。

來一3　   祂是神榮耀的光輝，是神本質的印像，用祂大能的話維持、載着並推動萬有…。

林後四章五節說，『因為我們不是傳自己，乃是傳基督耶穌為主，也傳自己為耶穌的緣故，作你們的奴僕。』『因為』說明使徒的福音，就是他們所傳基督之榮耀的福音，為何不該受蒙蔽，因為他們不是傳自己，高舉自己，乃是傳基督耶穌為萬有的主，也傳他們為耶穌的緣故，作信徒的奴僕，像耶穌一樣。

基督耶穌為主，包含：基督是在萬有之上，永遠受頌讚的神（羅九5）；永遠的話成了肉體，成了人（約一14）；耶穌是人釘十字架，成了我們的救主（徒四10~12），並且復活，成了神的兒子（十三33）；基督被高舉為主（二36），就是萬人的主（十36，羅十12，約二十28，林前十二3）；祂是神的像，是神榮耀的光輝（來一3）。這就是福音的內容。因此，福音乃是基督榮耀的福音，照明、照射、照耀在人心裏（林後四6）。人的心若不受任何事物遮蔽，也不被撒但這世代的神弄瞎，他就能看見福音的光照。…五節裏的奴僕一辭，與主相對。使徒高舉基督為主，卻認為自己不過是服事信徒的奴僕。他們不僅是基督的奴僕，也是信徒的奴僕（哥林多後書生命讀經，九○至九一頁）。

信息選讀

這世代的神就是撒但。那些被弄瞎、被遮蔽的人，以為他們沒有敬拜甚麼。事實上，他們的神就是撒但。無神論者敬拜撒但而不自知。今天世上的人，不論是原始的或是有高尚文化的，幾乎都被這世代的神弄瞎了。

我們需要將關於帕子的話，應用到自己身上。要緊的是，我們都要儆醒，因為任何不是基督自己的事物，都可能被撒但那狡猾者用作帕子。我們若要接受神兒子的啟示，就需要放下我們的觀念。每一個觀念，無論是屬靈的或屬世的，都是帕子。我們要有啟示，就需要放下我們的觀念。

今天神照耀在各處。這恩典的時代乃是亮光的時代。神照耀，聖經也照耀。不僅如此，包羅萬有的靈在地上運行，是滿了恩典的。然而，儘管聖經在照耀，那靈在運行，許多人仍舊沒有得着啟示。原因乃是他們持守一些觀念，並且被這些觀念蒙蔽。

我們要接受啟示，在神那邊沒有問題，在祂那邊一切都豫備好了；問題全在我們這邊。我們需要除去帕子，就是放下我們的觀念。重要的是，我們要禱告：『主，幫助我除去任何是帕子的東西。』我們讀聖經時，若持守自己的觀念，就會像古時的猶太人，他們每逢誦讀聖經時，帕子還在心思上。但我們讀主的話時，若放下自己的觀念，就是以沒有帕子遮蔽的臉讀主的話；這樣光就會主觀的照耀在我們裏面。…我們也需要禱告：『主，我信靠你，來擊敗這世代的神。除你以外，我不敬拜甚麼。主，我將自己的心轉向你，放下我所有的觀念。在你以外，我不要敬拜任何人。』我們若這樣禱告，光就會照耀，我們會得着啟示。如果我們放下自己的觀念，將我們的心轉向主，帕子就除去了，這世代的神在我們裏面就沒有任何地位（新約總論第十一冊，一七至一八頁）。

參讀：新約總論，第三百二十四篇。

WEEK 6—DAY 1

Morning Nourishment

2 Cor. 4:4 …The god of this age has blinded the thoughts of the unbelievers that the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine on them.

Heb. 1:3 Who, being the effulgence of His glory and the impress of His substance and upholding and bearing all things by the word of His power…

Second Corinthians 4:5 says, “For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake.” For explains why the apostles’ gospel, which is the gospel of the glory of Christ, should not have been veiled, for they do not preach, exalt, themselves but Christ Jesus as Lord of all, and they conducted themselves as the believers’ slaves for Jesus’ sake.

Christ Jesus as Lord comprises Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever (Rom. 9:5), the eternal Word incarnated to be a man (John 1:14), Jesus crucified as a man to be our Savior (Acts 4:10-12) and resurrected to be the Son of God (13:33), and Christ exalted to be the Lord (2:36), even the Lord of all men (10:36; Rom. 10:12; John 20:28; 1 Cor. 12:3), who is the image of God, the effulgence of God’s glory (Heb. 1:3). This is the very content of the gospel. Hence, the gospel is the gospel of the glory of Christ, which illuminates, radiates, and shines in the heart of man. If man’s heart is not veiled with anything or blinded by Satan, the god of this age, man can see the illumination of the gospel. The word slaves in 2 Corinthians 4:5 is in contrast with Lord. The apostles exalted Christ as Lord but considered themselves merely slaves to serve the believers. They were slaves not only to Christ but to the believers as well. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, 2nd ed., p. 79)

Today’s Reading

The god of this age is Satan. Those who are blinded or veiled think that they do not worship anything. Actually, their god is Satan. Atheists worship Satan without knowing what they are doing. Nearly all people today, whether primitive or highly cultured, have been blinded by the god of this age.

We need to apply this word about veils to ourselves. It is crucial that we be on the alert, for it is possible for anything that is not Christ Himself to be used as a veil by Satan, the subtle one. If we would receive the revelation of the Son of God, we need to drop our concepts. Every concept, whether spiritual or carnal, is a veil. To have revelation we need to drop our concepts.

God today is shining everywhere. This age of grace is an age of light. God is shining, and the Bible also is shining. Moreover, the all-inclusive Spirit moving on earth is full of grace. However, even while the Bible is shining and the Spirit is moving, many still do not receive revelation. The reason is that they hold to certain concepts and are veiled by these concepts.

With respect to receiving revelation, there is no problem on God’s side. On His side everything is ready. The problem is altogether on our side. We need to drop the veils; that is, we need to drop our concepts. It is important for us to pray, “Lord, help me to drop everything that is a veil.” If we hold on to our concepts while reading the Bible, we will be like the ancient Jews who had a veil on their mind whenever the Scriptures were read. But if we drop our concepts as we read the Word, we will read it with an unveiled face. Then the light will shine into us subjectively. We also need to pray, “Lord, I trust in You to defeat the god of this age. Apart from You, I do not worship anything. Lord, I turn my heart to You, and I drop all my concepts. I don’t want to worship anyone other than You.” If we pray in this way, the light will shine, and we will receive revelation. If we drop our concepts and turn our heart to the Lord, the veils will be taken away, and the god of this age will have no ground in our being. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3263-3264)

Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 324