第十一週■週五

w11d05-ch

晨興餧養

帖前一1『保羅、西拉和提摩太，寫信給在父神和主耶穌基督裏，帖撒羅尼迦人的召會：願恩典與平安歸與你們。』

羅十一36『因爲萬有都是本於祂、藉着祂、並歸於祂；願榮耀歸與祂，直到永遠。阿們。』

〔帖前一章一節啓示，〕召會不僅是神的，是基督的；召會也是在神裏，在基督裏的。

〔一節〕這裏的『父』字指明生命的關係。…神是召會人的父，因爲我們都已經從神而生。我們已經從神而生，現今神乃是我們的父！

假定你的父親是美國總統，你題到他的時候就可以說，『我的父親總統。』…只說『我們的總統』，指明你可能是公民。但你若說『我的父親總統』，這就指明總統是你的父親，你與他有生命的關係。同樣的原則，我們能說神是我們的父。神不再僅僅是我們的創造者，祂已成了我們的父，因爲我們已經從神而生。（帖撒羅尼迦前書生命讀經，五一至五二頁。）

信息選讀

父是源頭；祂是創始者、發起者、籌畫者、設計者。…主耶穌說，『我卻認識祂，因爲我是從祂來的，是祂差了我來。』〔約七29。〕這句簡短的話指明父是源頭。父是源頭，差遣子來。約翰十三章三節也指明父是源頭：『耶穌知道父已將萬有交在祂手裏，且知道自己是從神出來的，又要往神那裏去。』父是籌畫者，祂差遣子來執行祂的計畫。因爲父是創始者、發起者，子從祂出來，並且從祂領受了一切。（李常受文集一九八二年第二册，五一二頁。）

神是父，意思就是神是創造者，神是惟一的發起人。子是父差遣來的。『子從自己不能作甚麼，惟有看見父所作的，子纔能作；父所作的事，子也照樣作。』（約五19。）這是我們必須有的經歷。我們必須蒙神的恩典，看見我們在神面前不能發起一件事。…起初不是我，起初是神。〔創一1。〕神是父，一切都是出乎神。

有一天神給你看見『神是父』的時候，那一天是你有福的一天。那一天你會認識你不能作甚麼，你沒有辦法。你並不是勒住自己不作一件事，勒住自己不作兩件事；你乃是問說，神起頭了沒有？這就是亞伯拉罕的經歷。他的經歷就是給我們看見，他不是自己要作神的子民。亞伯拉罕沒有起頭，是神起頭的，是神從伯拉大河那一邊把他帶過來。（十二1 ～ 5。）

我們如果真知道神是父，我們自己就沒有這麼多把握，就不能說，我要作甚麼就作甚麼；只能說，主若願意，我纔能作，主怎麼說，我纔怎麼定規。這不是說要你作一個猶豫不決的人，這是說你自己真的不知道，只有父指示了你纔知道。

亞伯拉罕認識神是父。這一種的認識，不是道理上的認識。這一種的認識，是真被神帶到一個地步，看見說，『神阿，我不是根源，你是萬有的根源，也是我的根源。沒有你，就沒有起頭。』這是亞伯拉罕。…我們需要學習的第一個功課就是這一個—我自己不能作甚麼，一切都在乎神，祂是父，祂是一切的起頭。（倪柝聲文集第二輯第十五册，六至八頁。）

參讀：亞伯拉罕以撒雅各的神，第一章。

WEEK 11 — DAY 5

Morning Nourishment

1 Thes. 1:1 Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

Rom. 11:36 Because out from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

In 1 Thessalonians we have the revelation that the church is not only of God and of Christ but also in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The word Father [in 1:1] indicates a relationship of life…God is the Fathe of the church people, for we have all been born of Him. It is a wonderful fact that we have been born of God and that He is now our Father!

Suppose your father was the president of the United States. If such were the case, you could refer to him as “my father, the president.”…To refer to our president may indicate that you are a citizen. But if you could say, “my father, the president,” that would indicate that the president is your father and that you have a life relationship with him. In the same principle, we can speak of God as being our Father. No longer is God only our Creator. He has become our Father, for we have been born of Him. (Life-study of 1 Thessalonians, 2nd ed., pp. 42-43)

Today’s Reading

The Father is the source; He is the Originator, the Initiator, the Planner, and the Designer…The Lord Jesus said, “I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me” [John 7:29]. This brief word indicates that the Father is the source. As the source, the Father sent the Son. John 13:3 also indicates that the Father is the source: “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all into His hands and that He had come forth from God and was going to God.” The Father is the Planner, and He sent the Son to carry out His plan. Because the Father is the Originator and the Initiator, the Son came forth from Him and received all from Him. (CWWL, 1982, vol. 2, “The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” p. 397)

For God to be the Father means that God is the Creator, the unique Initiator. The Son was sent from the Father. “The Son can do nothing from Himself except what He sees the Father doing, for whatever that One does, these things the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19). This must be our experience. We must receive grace from God to realize that we cannot initiate anything…In the beginning it was not us, but God [Gen. 1:1]. God is the Father, and everything originates from Him.

The day that God shows you that He is the Father will be a blessed day. On that day you will realize that you cannot do anything and that you are helpless. You will not have to try to hold yourself back from doing this thing or that thing. Instead you will ask, “Has God initiated this?” This is the experience of Abraham. His experience shows us that he had no thought of becoming God’s people. Abraham did not initiate anything. It was God who initiated. It was God who brought him from the other side of the Euphrates River (12:1-5).

If you know that God is the Father, you will not be so confident and will not say that you can do whatever you want. You will only say, “If the Lord is willing, I will do this and that. Whatever the Lord says, I will do.” This does not mean that you should be indecisive. It means that you truly do not know what to do and that you only know after the Father has revealed His will.

Abraham knew God as the Father. This kind of knowledge is not a knowledge in doctrine. It is a knowledge in which one is brought to the point of confessing, “God, I am not the source. You are the source of everything, and You are my source. Without You, I cannot have a beginning.” This was Abraham…The first lesson we have to learn is to realize that we can do nothing and that everything depends on God. He is the Father, and He is the Initiator of everything. (CWWN, vol. 35, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” pp. 8-9)

Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 35, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” ch. 1