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晨興聖言-活在神國的實際裏(W3-2)
2024/10/31 19:45:42瀏覽1015|回應0|推薦0

第三週.週二

w03d02-ch

晨興餧養

太四23『耶穌走遍加利利,…傳揚國度的福音…。』

十六18~19『我還告訴你,你是彼得,我要把我的召會建造在這磐石上,陰間的門不能勝過她。我要把諸天之國的鑰匙給你…。』

主告訴彼得,祂要把祂的召會建造在彼得從父所領受基督的啟示上。此後主立刻對彼得說,『我要把諸天之國的鑰匙給你。』(太十六19。)…要產生召會並建造召會,我們就需要國度。實際上,國度乃是召會的實際。

施浸者約翰、耶穌和十二使徒,告訴人國度已經臨近,藉此開始新約的福音。這就是說,時候到了,神要來將自己當作生命分賜給人。福音帶來神作生命,生命就是國度。國度乃是生命的範圍,讓生命行動、工作、治理、管治,使生命能達成其目的。…福音帶進神聖的生命,神聖的生命有它行動、工作、治理、管治的範圍,使這生命能達成其目的。這就是國度,這神聖的生命同其範圍產生了召會。(李常受文集一九八四年第二冊,一五九至一六○頁。)

信息選讀

照著新約,召會與國度有密切的關係。在馬太十六章…十九節裏『諸天之國』與十八節的『召會』交互使用,有力的證明,真正的召會就是今世的諸天之國。羅馬十四章十七節證實這點,那裏所說神的國,乃指正常的召會生活。所以,今天的召會就是國度。

雖然召會與國度有密切的關係,然而二者有所不同。任何一種生命就是一個國度,所以國度就是生命本身。例如,動物的生命是動物的國度,人的生命是人的國度。同樣的原則,神的生命就是神的國度。然而,召會不是生命,生命也不是召會。召會乃是生命的產物。神聖的生命是國度,這生命產生召會。

那裏缺少國度的實際,那裏就缺少召會的建造。不活在國度實際裏的信徒,至多只能是得救的人;他無法被建造到召會的結構裏。

國度既是召會的實際,照著新約的啟示,我們若沒有正當的國度生活,就無法過召會生活。…新約開始所傳的福音與救恩無關,乃與國度有關。…重生的結果乃是國度,因重生帶進神國的入口。神重生我們時,祂乃是將我們重生到祂的國裏。

諸天之國的實際乃是召會生活的內容。這就是說,沒有國度的實際,召會就是空洞的。國度的實際,實際上就是基督自己作我們的生命。基督作生命乃是素質、本質,讓我們過正當的生活,好叫我們在這生活中,能與其他的信徒同被建造,帶進真實的召會生活,就是基督這三一神具體化身的榮耀彰顯。…基督得著彰顯,整個三一神就得著彰顯。這彰顯在於信徒有否過國度實際的生活,這實際完全啟示並描述在馬太五至七章。這幾章是關於諸天之國憲法的完整信息,這憲法就是國度生活的實際。(新約總論第六冊,一九五至一九八頁。)

參讀:李常受文集一九五七年第三冊,國度與召會,第五至六章。

WEEK 3 — DAY 2

 
Morning Nourishment
 
Matt. 4:23 And Jesus went about in all of Galilee,…proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom…
 
 16:18-19 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens…
 
The Lord told Peter…that He would build His church upon the revelation of Christ, which Peter had received from the Father. Immediately after this the Lord said to Peter, “I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens” (Matt. 16:19)…To produce the church and to build up the church, we need the kingdom. The kingdom actually is the reality of the church.
 
John the Baptist, Jesus, and the twelve apostles initiated the New Testament gospel by telling people that the kingdom had drawn near. This meant that the time had come for God to come to dispense Himself as life to people. The gospel brings God as life, and life is a kingdom. The kingdom is the realm of life for life to move, to work, to rule, and to govern so that life may accomplish its purpose …The gospel brings in the divine life, and the divine life has its realm for it to move, to work, to rule, and to govern so that this life may accomplish its purpose. This is the kingdom, and this divine life with its realm produces the church. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 2: The Vision of the Lord’s Recovery,” pp. 122-123)
 
Today’s Reading
 
According to the New Testament, the church is intimately related to the kingdom. In Matthew 16…the words the kingdom of the heavens in verse 19 are interchangeably used for the word church in verse 18. This is a strong proof that the genuine church is the kingdom of the heavens in this age. This is confirmed by Romans 14:17, which refers to the proper church life. Therefore, the church today is the kingdom.
 
Although the church and the kingdom are interrelated, there is nonetheless a difference between them. Because any kind of life is a kingdom, the kingdom is the life itself. For example, the animal life is the animal kingdom, and the human life is the human kingdom. In the same principle, the life of God is the kingdom of God. The church, however, is not the life, nor is the life the church. Rather, the church is the product of life. The divine life is the kingdom, and this life produces the church.
 
Where the reality of the kingdom is lacking, there the building of the church will be lacking. A believer who does not live in the reality of the kingdom can at best be a saved person; he cannot be built into the structure of the church.
 
Because the kingdom is the reality of the church, according to the New Testament revelation, we cannot live the church life apart from the proper kingdom life…The gospel preached at the beginning of the New Testament concerns not salvation but the kingdom …Regeneration results in the kingdom, for regeneration issues in an entrance into the kingdom. When God regenerated us, He regenerated us into His kingdom.
 
The reality of the kingdom of the heavens is the content of the church life. This means that without the reality of the kingdom, the church is empty. The reality of the kingdom is actually Christ Himself as our life. Christ as life is the essence, the substance, for us to live a proper life so that in this life we may be built up with other believers to bring in the real church life, which is a glorious expression of Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God …When Christ is expressed, the entire Triune God is expressed. This expression depends on whether or not the believers live a life that is the reality of the kingdom, a reality that is fully revealed and described in chapters 5 through 7 of the Gospel of Matthew. These chapters are a complete message on the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens, and this constitution is the reality of the kingdom life. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1739-1742)
 
Further Reading: CWWL, 1957, vol. 3, “The Kingdom and the Church,” chs. 5—6
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