第十一週■週二

w11d02-ch

晨興餧養

林前三16『豈不知你們是神的殿，神的靈住在你們裏面麼？』

   十二27『你們就是基督的身體，並且各自作肢體。』

在父的家裏，有許多住處。（約十四2。）這裏的『住處』（複數）和約翰十四章二十三節的『住處』（單數）原文同。『住處』是甚麼意思？這許多住處是指基督身體的許多肢體，（羅十二5，）這身體就是神的殿。（林前三16 ～ 17。）主的身體有許多肢體，每個肢體就是一個住處。許多住處就是身體的許多肢體，這由約翰十四章二十三節得到充分證明。那裏說，主與父要同愛祂的人安排住處。…我們都是神建造的住處。這建造就是基督的身體，所有的住處乃是基督身體的肢體。（約翰福音生命讀經，四○一頁。）

信息選讀

約翰十四章二節的『我去』，意思是主要經過死與復活而去，將人帶進神裏面，以建造神的居所。這就是馬太十六章十八節所說召會的建造。在那裏主說，『我要把我的召會建造…。』在約翰十四章二節這裏主說，『我去是爲你們豫備地方。』…主只有一個工作。…我們若把這兩段話擺在一起，就會看見豫備地方就是建造召會。主爲着建造召會，就必須去豫備地方。這件事最終的結果將是新耶路
撒冷的建造。（啓二一2。）主現今在建造召會。這個建造召會就等於建造新耶路撒冷。我們曾看過，在全宇宙中，神只有一個建造—用祂的贖民，建造祂活的居所。

『我去是爲你們豫備地方，』意思就是：主要豫備地方，完成救贖，爲人開路，並爲人作出立場，好使人進入神裏面。…這是約翰十四章的中心思想。我們若要讓神住在我們裏面，我們首先必須進入祂裏面。我們若不進入祂裏面，祂就不會進入我們裏面。一旦我們住在神裏面，祂就要住在我們裏面。

罪人怎能進入神裏面？所有隔離的元素：罪性、罪行、世界、魔鬼、死亡、肉體、以及己，都必須除去，然後我們纔會親近神，不只到神面前，更是到神裏面。…爲此，需要一些工作，一些豫備。主必須作豫備的工作。祂必須去，不是到諸天之上，乃是到十字架，好除掉所有的障礙。所有的障礙都被主那包羅萬有的死除掉了。…祂對付了罪性、罪行、世界、這世界的王、肉體、己、舊人、甚至死亡。藉着死與復活，主鋪好了路，豫備了地方，好把我們帶進神裏面。…藉着祂的死與復活，主開闢、豫備了道路，鋪好了大道，能立刻領人進入神裏面。主挪移了所有的山岡，填平了所有的凹地，鋪好了大道，付上了所有的過路費。我們無須付上甚麼，我們可以直接進入神裏面。

藉着主的死而復活，祂不只開了進入神的道路，也爲我們在神面前，並在神裏面，豫備了立場。…只要我們相信主耶穌的名，我們就在神面前，並在神裏面有了立場。我們都必須喊說，『阿利路亞！我在神面前，甚至在神裏面有了立場，甚至神自己也不能拒絕我。哦，因着基督豫備的工作，公義的神永遠不能趕逐我。我在神裏面有這樣一個堅固的立場。』我能向你們見證，對於我在神裏面的這個事實，我十分有把握。沒有釘死並復活的基督，我們絕不能有這個保證。但主旣經過了十字架，並且從死人中復活，我們就知道我們在神面前有了地位，在神裏面也有了立場。（約翰福音生命讀經，四○一至四○四頁。）

參讀：約翰福音生命讀經，第三十一至三十二篇。

WEEK 11 — DAY 2

Morning Nourishment

1 Cor. 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

        12:27 Now you are the Body of Christ, and members individually.

In the Father’s house are many abodes (John 14:2). The Greek word for abodes in verse 2 is the plural form of the word translated “abode” in verse 23. What does abode mean? The many abodes are the many members of the Body of Christ (Rom. 12:5), which is God’s temple (1 Cor. 3:16-17). The Lord’s Body has many members, and each member is an abode. That the many abodes are the many members of the Body is adequately proven by John 14:23, which says that the Lord with the Father will make an abode with the one who loves Him…We all are the abodes of God’s building. This building is the Body of Christ, and all the abodes are the members of the Body of Christ. (Life-study of John, 2nd ed., p. 343)

Today’s Reading

The words I go in John 14:2 mean that the Lord was going through death and resurrection to bring man into God for the building of God’s habitation. This is the building of the church mentioned in Matthew 16:18, where the Lord said, “I will build My church.” Here, in John 14:2 the Lord said, “I go to prepare a place for you.”…The Lord has only one work…If we put these two portions of the Word together, we will see that the preparing of a place is just the building of the church. In order for the Lord to build the church, He had to go to prepare a place. The consummate result of this will be the building of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2). The Lord is now building the church. This building of the church is equal to the building of the New Jerusalem…In all the universe God has only one building—the building of His living habitation with His redeemed people.

I go to prepare a place for you means that the Lord would prepare a place, accomplish redemption, open up the way, and make a standing for man to get into God…This is the central thought of John 14. If we are going to allow God to dwell in us, we must first get into Him. If we do not get into Him, He will not get into us. Once we dwell in God, then He will dwell in us.

How can sinners get into God? All the separating elements, the obstacles of sin, sins, the world, the devil, death, the flesh, the self, and the old man, must be abolished. Then we will be brought near to God, and not only to God but into God. For this, some work, some preparation, was needed. The Lord had to do a work of preparation. He had to go not to the heavens but to the cross to remove all the obstacles. All the obstacles have been removed by the Lord’s all-inclusive death…He dealt with sin, sins, the world, the ruler of this world, the flesh, the self, the old man, and even death. By death and resurrection the Lord paved the way and prepared the place that we might be brought into God. By His death and resurrection the Lord cut and prepared the way and paved the highway that can bring any person into God immediately. The Lord removed all the mountains, filled all the gaps, paved the highway, and paid all the tolls. There is no charge for us to pay. We may come directly into God.

By His death and resurrection the Lord has not only opened the way into God but also prepared a standing for us before and in God…As long as we believe into the name of the Lord Jesus, we have a standing before God and in God. We all must shout, “Hallelujah! I have a standing before God. I even have a standing within God. Even God Himself cannot reject me. Oh, because of the preparing work of Christ, the righteous God can never cast me out. I have such a firm standing in God.” I can testify to you that I am so secure about the fact that I am in God. Without the crucified and resurrected Christ we could never have this assurance. But since the Lord has gone through the cross and has been raised from the dead, we know that we have a position before God and a standing in God. (Life-study of John, 2nd ed., pp. 343-345)

Further Reading: Life-study of John, msgs. 31—32