第三週 · 週三

w03d03-ch

📖晨興餧養

徒二38 『彼得對他們說，你們要悔改，各人要靠耶穌基督的名受浸，叫你們的罪得赦，就必領受所賜的聖靈。』

十九5 『他們聽了，就浸入主耶穌的名裏。』

施浸乃是帶悔改的人脫離老舊的光景，進入新的境地；這是藉着了結他們老舊的生命，並以基督的新生命重生他們，使他們成為國度的子民。施浸者約翰引薦的職事，開始於初步的水浸。如今，屬天的王既已完成祂在地上的職事，經過死而復活的過程，並成了賜生命的靈，祂就吩咐門徒，將作祂門徒的人，浸入三一神裏面（馬太福音生命讀經，九一六頁）。

📖信息選讀

這浸有兩面：看得見的一面是藉着水，看不見的一面是藉着聖靈（徒二38、41，十44~48）。前者是後者的彰顯和見證，後者是前者的實際。…兩面都不可缺。主憑這浸吩咐門徒以後不久〔太二八19〕，就將他們和全召會都浸在聖靈裏（林前十二13）：猶太部分在五旬節那天（徒一5，二4），外邦部分在哥尼流家裏（十一15~17）。以後，基於這事實，門徒將新悔改的人（二38）不僅浸入水裏，也浸入基督的死（羅六3~4）、基督自己（加三27）、三一神（太二八19）以及基督的身體裏（林前十二13）。水，象徵基督的死和埋葬，可以看作了結受浸者老舊曆史的墳墓。因為基督的死包含在基督裏面，又因為基督是三一神的具體化身（西二9），並且三一神最終與基督的身體是一；所以將初信的人浸入基督的死、基督自己、三一神並基督的身體裏，乃是作一件事：在消極方面，了結他們老舊的生命；在積極方面，為着基督的身體，用新生命，就是三一神永遠的生命重生他們。因此，這裏主所命定的浸，乃是為着諸天的國，把人從自己的生命浸出來，而浸入基督身體的生命裏。

馬太二十八章十九節的『入』字指明聯合，如在羅馬六章三節，加拉太三章二十七節者。原文同字用於行傳八章十六節，十九章五節和林前一章十三、十五節。將人浸入三一神的名裏，就是將人帶進與三一神屬靈、奧秘的聯合裏。…〔在馬太二十八章十九節，〕神聖三一的名是單數的。這名乃是那神聖者的總稱，等於祂的人位。將人浸入三一神的名裏，就是將人浸入三一神一切的所是裏（馬太福音生命讀經，九一六至九一七頁）。

神新約經綸裏經過過程之三一神包羅萬有的靈，是素質的，為着生命，也是經綸的，為着能力，在信徒相信基督時賜給他們（弗一13，加三2），作為神完全福音包羅萬有的福（14），使他們能享受三一神一切的豐富（林後十三14）。

使徒傳講並供應基督，但聽見的人悔改相信祂時，卻領受三一神這奇妙的靈。這含示這靈就是復活升天的基督自己。這裏的領受聖靈是在素質與經綸兩方面，意義是普徧的，包羅一切的，與行傳八章十五至十七節和十九章二至六節的領受聖靈不同，那是專指在經綸一面，領受降在信徒身上的聖靈（聖經恢復本，徒二38註8）。

參讀：新約總論，第二百六十五篇。

WEEK 3 — DAY 3

Morning Nourishment

Acts 2:38 …Repent and each one of you be baptized upon the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

      19:5 And when they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

Baptism brings the repentant people out of their old state into a new one by terminating their old life and germinating them with the new life of Christ, that they may become the kingdom people. John the Baptist’s recommending ministry began with the preliminary baptism, a baptism by water only. Now, after the heavenly King accomplished His ministry on earth, passed through the process of death and resurrection, and became the life-giving Spirit, He charged His disciples to baptize the discipled people into the Triune God. (Life-study of Matthew, 2nd ed., pp. 787-788)

Today’s Reading

Baptism has two aspects: the visible aspect by water and the invisible aspect by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38, 41;10:44-48). The visible aspect is the expression, the testimony, of the invisible aspect, whereas the invisible aspect is the reality of the visible aspect…Both are needed. Not long after the Lord charged the disciples with [the] baptism [in Matthew 28:19], He baptized them and the entire church in the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13), the Jewish part on the day of Pentecost (Acts 1:5; 2:4) and the Gentile part in the house of Cornelius (11:15-17). Then, based on this, the disciples baptized the new converts (2:38) not only into water but also into the death of Christ (Rom. 6:3-4), into Christ Himself (Gal. 3:27), into the Triune God (Matt. 28:19), and into the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). The water, signifying the death of Christ with His burial,
may be considered a tomb in which the baptized ones’ old history is ended. Since the death of Christ is included in Christ, and since Christ is the very embodiment of the Triune God (Col. 2:9) and the Triune God eventually is one with the Body of Christ, to baptize new believers into the death of Christ, into Christ Himself, into the Triune God, and into the Body of Christ is to do just one thing: on the negative side, to terminate their old life, and on the positive side, to germinate them with new life, the eternal life of the Triune God, for the Body of Christ. Hence, the baptism ordained by the Lord here baptizes people out of their life into the Body life for the kingdom of the heavens.

The word into in Matthew 28:19 indicates union, as in Romans 6:3 and Galatians 3:27. The same Greek word is used in Acts 8:16; 19:5; and 1 Corinthians 1:13, 15. To baptize people into the name of the Triune God is to bring them into spiritual and mystical union with Him. There is one name for the Divine Trinity. The name is the sum total of the Divine Being, equivalent to His person. To baptize someone into the name of the Triune God is to immerse him into all that the Triune God is. (Life-study of Matthew, 2nd ed., p. 788)

The all-inclusive Spirit of the processed Triune God in His New Testament economy, both essential for life and economical for power, [is] given to the believers at the time of their believing in Christ (Eph. 1:13; Gal. 3:2), as the all-inclusive blessing of God’s full gospel (Gal. 3:14) that they may enjoy all the riches of the Triune God (2 Cor. 13:14).

The apostles preached and ministered Christ, but when their hearers repented and believed in Him, they received this wonderful Spirit of the Triune God. This implies that this Spirit is just the resurrected and ascended Christ Himself. The receiving of the Spirit here is both essential and economical, in a general and all-inclusive sense, differing from the receiving of the Spirit in Acts 8:15-17 and 19:2-6, which is particularly the receiving of the Spirit in His falling upon the believers economically. (Acts 2:38, footnote 7)

Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 265