第三週 · 週五

w03d05-ch

📖晨興餧養

太三16~17 『耶穌受了浸，隨即從水裏上來，看哪，諸天向祂開了，祂就看見神的靈，仿佛鴿子降下，落在祂身上。看哪，又有聲音從諸天之上出來，說，這是我的愛子，我所喜悅的。』

約翰福音，特別在十四至十六章，為着我們生命的經歷，啟示了父、子、靈神格的奧祕；馬太福音，為着國度的構成，以父、子、靈三者的一個名，揭示了神聖三一的實際。在馬太福音頭一章，聖靈（18）、基督（子—18）和神（父—23），為着產生那人耶穌（21），都在現場；祂這位耶和華救主，神與我們同在，乃是三一神的具體化身。在三章，馬太給我們一幅圖畫，子站在受浸的水中，天開了，那靈仿佛鴿子降在子身上，並且父從天上對子說話（16~17）（馬太福音生命讀經，九一八頁）。

📖信息選讀

在馬太十二章，子以人的身位憑着那靈趕鬼，帶進父神的國（28）。在十六章，為着建造召會，就是國度的命脈，父將子啟示給門徒（16~19）。在十七章，為着展示國度實現的小影（十六28），子變化形像（十七2），並有父喜悅的話（5）來印證。最終，在馬太福音結束的一章，基督這末後的亞當，經過釘十字架的過程，進入復活的境地，成了賜生命的靈；以後祂回到門徒中間，在復活的氣氛和實際裏，吩咐他們去，將外邦人浸入神聖三一的名，就是祂的人位，也就是祂的實際裏，使他們成為國度的子民。以後，使徒行傳和書信揭示：將人浸入父、子、靈的名裏，乃是將他們浸入基督的名裏（徒八16，十九5）；而將人浸入基督的名裏，就是將他們浸入基督這人位裏（加三27，羅六3）；因為基督是三一神的具體化身，並且成了賜生命的靈（林前十五45），是便利的，人隨時隨地都可以浸入祂裏面。根據馬太福音，這樣浸入父、子、靈的實際裏，乃是為着構成諸天的國。屬天的國不能用屬血肉的人（林前十五50）組成，像屬地的團體一樣，只能用一班浸入與三一神的聯合裏，且因作到他們裏面的三一神，而得建立並被建造的人來構成（馬太福音生命讀經，九一八至九一九頁）。

亞伯拉罕的子孫基督將神聖的福帶給我們〔太一1〕，使我們能承受神。…亞伯拉罕的後裔〔加三29〕只有一位，就是基督（16）。因此，我們要成為亞伯拉罕的後裔，就必須屬於基督，成為基督的一部分。因我們與基督是一，我們就也是亞伯拉罕的後裔，是照着應許為後嗣，承受神所應許的福，就是那包羅萬有的靈；這靈就是經過過程之三一神的終極完成，作了我們的分。

信徒神聖的基業〔徒二六18〕…是三一神自己連同祂所有的、所已經作成的以及為祂贖民所要作的一切。這位三一神化身在包羅萬有的基督裏面（西二9）；這基督是分給眾聖徒的分，作他們的基業（一12）。…神既是我們的基業，聖靈就是所賜給我們這基業的憑質〔弗一13~14〕（新約總論第九冊，五頁）。

參讀：新約總論，第二百六十五篇。

WEEK 3 — DAY 5

Morning Nourishment

Matt. 3:16-17 And having been baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon Him. And behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight.

For our experience of life, John unveils the mystery of the Godhead in the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, especially in chapters 14 through 16; whereas for the constituting of the kingdom, Matthew discloses the reality of the Divine Trinity by giving one name for all three. In the opening chapter of Matthew, the Holy Spirit (1:18), Christ (the Son—v. 18), and God (the Father—v. 23) are present for the producing of the man Jesus (v. 21), who, as Jehovah the Savior and God with us, is the very embodiment of the Triune
God. In chapter 3 Matthew presents a scene in which the Son was standing in the water of baptism under the opened heaven, the Spirit like a dove descended upon the Son, and the Father spoke out of the heavens to the Son (vv. 16-17). (Life-study of Matthew, 2nd ed., p. 789)

Today’s Reading

In Matthew 12 the Son, in the person of man, cast out demons by the Spirit to bring in the kingdom of God the Father (v. 28). In chapter 16 the Father revealed the Son to the disciples for the building of the church, which is the life pulse of the kingdom (vv. 16-19). In chapter 17 the Son entered into transfiguration (v. 2) and was confirmed by the Father’s word of delight (v. 5), bringing about a miniature display of the manifestation of the kingdom (16:28). Eventually, in the closing chapter, after Christ as the last Adam had passed through the process of crucifixion, entered into the realm of resurrection, and become the life-giving Spirit, He came back to His disciples in the atmosphere and reality of His resurrection to charge them to make the heathen the kingdom people by baptizing them into the name, the person, the reality, of the Divine Trinity. Later, in the Acts and the Epistles it is disclosed that to baptize people into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit is to baptize them into the name of Christ (Acts 8:16; 19:5), and that to baptize them into the name of Christ is to baptize them into Christ the person (Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3), because Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God, and He, having become the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45), is available any time and in any place for people to be baptized into. According to Matthew, being baptized into the reality of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit is for the constituting of the kingdom of the heavens. Unlike an earthly society, the heavenly kingdom cannot be formed with human beings of flesh and blood (1 Cor. 15:50); it can be constituted only with people who have been immersed into the union with the Triune God and who have been established and built up with the Triune God, who has been wrought into them. (Life-study of Matthew, 2nd ed., pp. 789-790)

Christ, the Son of Abraham [Matt. 1:1], brings us the divine blessing for us to inherit God…Abraham’s seed [Gal. 3:29] is only one, Christ (v. 16). Hence to be Abraham’s seed we must be Christ’s, a part of Christ. Because we are one with Christ, we are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise, inheriting God’s promised blessing, which is the all-inclusive Spirit as the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God to be our portion.

The believers’ divine inheritance [Acts 26:18]…is the Triune God Himself with all that He has, all that He has done, and all that He will do for His redeemed people. This Triune God is embodied in the all-inclusive Christ (Col. 2:9), who is the portion allotted to the saints as their inheritance (1:12). Since God is our inheritance, the Holy Spirit is the pledge of this inheritance to us [Eph. 1:13-14]. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2756)

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