第十二週■週二

w12d02-ch

晨興餧養

徒二十28『聖靈立你們作全羣的監督，你們就當爲自己謹慎，也爲全羣謹慎，牧養神的召會，就是祂用自己的血所買來的。』

彼前一18 ～ 19『…你們得贖，…不是用能壞的金銀等物，乃是用基督的寶血，如同無瑕疵無玷污的羔羊之血。』

〔行傳二十章二十八節裏〕『祂…自己的血』這辭很不尋常。神就是神；祂不是人或受造之物。那麼，神這位創造主怎麼會有血？在成爲肉體之前，神的確沒有血。然而藉着成爲肉體，我們的神，創造主，那永遠者，耶和華，就與人調和。結果，祂不再僅僅是神——祂成了神人。祂這位神人確實有血，祂就是用這血買來了，得着了召會。

當基督這位神人死在十字架上時，祂不僅作爲人受死，也作爲神受死。死在十字架上的，乃是從神成孕，並且帶着神而生的那一位。因爲祂是神人，所以神的元素在祂裏面，神聖的元素與祂的人性調和。神就這樣將自己聯於人性，來作救主，（路二11，）爲我們受死、流血。（新約總論第七册，二○二至二○三頁。）

信息選讀

救贖墮落人類的血，乃是神兒子耶穌的血。我們人類需要真正的人血來救贖我們。因爲主耶穌是人，所以祂能滿足這要求。祂是人，流出了人的血來救贖墮落的人類。主也是神的兒子，就是神自己。因此，祂的血有『永遠』的元素，這元素保證祂的血永遠有功效。

這位用自己的血將召會買來的神，乃是經過過程的神；這位神成了一個人，稱爲耶穌和以馬內利—神與我們同在。祂旣是這樣的一位，就…是神與人調和。就着祂僅僅是神來說，祂的確沒有血；但是就着祂是神成爲肉體，神與人調和來說，在祂的人性裏確實有血，讓祂在十字架上流出，好將召會買來。這就是爲甚麼保羅能說，這位呼召我們的神已經用祂自己的血爲代價買了我們，得着了我們。（新約總論第七册，二○三至二○四頁。）

使徒保羅和他的同工爲着開展福音而有的行動，不是照着他們的定意和愛好，也不是照着人議定的行程，乃是藉着聖靈，照着神的意旨，如同我們在腓利受差傳福音時所看到的。（徒八29，39。）他們想要在亞西亞講道，聖靈卻禁止他們。〔十六6。〕禁止也是聖靈引導的一部分。

〔在行傳十六章六至七節，〕聖靈禁止，耶穌的靈不許，指明保羅和他的同工該向前直走，…朝着馬其頓和亞該亞。然而，保羅沒有想到要往那裏去，所以需要主在夜間給他異象；在這異象中，馬其頓人的召喚臨到保羅。（9。）

耶穌的靈與…聖靈交互使用，〔6 ～ 7，〕啓示耶穌的靈就是聖靈。在新約裏，聖靈是神的靈一般的稱呼；耶穌的靈是神的靈特別的說法，指成爲肉體之救主的靈，這位救主就是在人性裏的耶穌，經過了爲人的生活和十字架上的死。這指明在耶穌的靈裏不僅有神的神聖元素，也有耶穌的人性元素，以及祂爲人生活並受死的元素。使徒傳講的職事，乃是在人的生命裏，爲着人類並在人類中間，一個受苦的職事，因此需要這樣一位包羅萬有的靈。（使徒行傳生命讀經，四三四至四三六頁。）

參讀：使徒行傳生命讀經，第四十四篇。

WEEK 12 — DAY 2

Morning Nourishment

Acts 20:28 Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers to shepherd the church of God, which He obtained through His own blood.

1 Pet. 1:18-19 …You were redeemed…with precious blood, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ.

The phrase His own blood [in Acts 20:28] is very unusual. God is God; He is not a man or a creature. How, then, can God, the Creator, have blood? Prior to incarnation, God certainly did not have blood. But through incarnation our God, the Creator, the eternal One, Jehovah, became mingled with man. As a result, He was no longer only God—He became a God-man. As the God-man, He surely had blood with which to obtain, acquire, the church.

When Christ, the God-man, died on the cross, He died not only as man but also as God. The One who died on the cross was the One who had been conceived of God and born with God. Because He was a God-man, the element of God was in Him. The divine element was mingled with His humanity. In this way God joined Himself to humanity to be the Savior (Luke 2:11) who died and shed His blood for us. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2219)

Today’s Reading

The blood that has redeemed fallen human beings is the blood of Jesus, the Son of God. As human beings, we need genuine human blood for our redemption. Because the Lord Jesus was a man, He could fulfill this requirement. As a man, He shed human blood to redeem fallen human beings. The Lord is also the Son of God, even God Himself. Therefore, with His blood there is the element of eternity, and this element insures the eternal efficacy of His blood.

The God who purchased the church with His own blood is the processed God, the God who became a man called Jesus and Emmanuel, God with us. As such a One,…He is God mingled with man. In the matter of His being God only, He surely did not have blood. But in the matter of His being God incarnate, God mingled with man, He surely, in His humanity, had blood to shed on the cross to purchase the church. This is the reason Paul could say that the very God who called us has obtained us, acquired us, purchasing us with the price of His own blood. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2219-2220)

As in the evangelistic work of Philip (Acts 8:29, 39), the move of the apostle Paul and his co-workers for the spread of the gospel was not according to their decision and preference or according to any schedule made by human council, but by the Holy Spirit according to God’s counsel. They intended to speak the word in Asia, but the Holy Spirit forbade them [16:6]. Forbidding is also a part of the Holy Spirit’s leading.

The Holy Spirit’s forbidding and the Spirit of Jesus’ not allowing [in verses 6 and 7] indicated that Paul and his coworkers should go directly forward,… toward Macedonia and Achaia. Paul, however, did not have the thought of going there. This made it necessary for the Lord to give him a vision during the night, and in this vision a Macedonian call came to Paul (v. 9).

The Spirit of Jesus and the Holy Spirit [vv. 6-7]…are used interchangeably, revealing that the Spirit of Jesus is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a general title of the Spirit of God in the New Testament. The Spirit of Jesus is a particular expression concerning the Spirit of God and refers to the Spirit of the incarnated Savior who, as Jesus in His humanity, passed through human living and death on the cross. This indicates that in the Spirit of Jesus there is not only the divine element of God but also the human element of Jesus and the elements of His human living and His suffering of death as well. Such an all-inclusive Spirit was needed for the apostle’s preaching ministry, a ministry of suffering among human beings and for human beings in the human life. (Life-study of Acts, 2nd ed., pp. 369-370)

Further Reading: Life-study of Acts, msg. 44