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2024/10/31 19:52:50瀏覽1138|回應0|推薦0 | |
第三週.週四 晨興餧養 羅十四17『因為神的國不在於喫喝,乃在於公義、和平、並聖靈中的喜樂。』 弗二19『這樣,你們不再是外人和寄居的,乃是聖徒同國之民,是神家裏的親人。』 神的國…是召會的生活。…根據某些聖經教師的說法,國度還沒有來到。他們宣稱現今是召會時代,下一個時代纔是國度時代。但是在羅馬十四章十七節,保羅不是說神的國『將不在於』;他乃是用現在式說神的國『不在於』。十四章是說到接納信徒,照上下文看,國度就是今日的召會生活。召會生活的實際乃是國度。十二章說到身體生活,十四章說到國度生活。這指明在羅馬書,國度生活就是身體生活的實際。 在一面意義上,說今世是召會時代,來世是國度時代,這樣說是對的。然而,在另一面意義上,神的國今天就在這裏,因為國度是召會的實際,也是召會的生活。因此,召會就是國度。既然今日召會就是國度,那麼說國度已經完全被懸起來,直到要來的時代,這樣說是不正確的。十四章十七節確實的證明,國度就是今日的召會生活。(新約總論第七冊,二二三頁。) 信息選讀 在論到召會的使徒行傳裏,也常常題到國度。(八12,十四22,十九8,二十25,二八23,31。)在使徒行傳裏,信徒們傳揚神的國為福音,(八12,)福音甚至被稱為神國的福音。所以,說國度與今天的召會生活完全是分開的,這種說法是不正確的。 按照新約的啟示,正當的召會生活乃是國度生活。我們若活在我們裏面之活神的管治下,也就是活在諸天之國的管治下,我們將會有馬太五、六、七章所記載的那種生活,也會有實行在召會生活中的國度生活。因此,我們不能把神的國和召會分開。 以弗所二章十九節的『同國之民』一辭,指明神的國。所有的信徒,無論是猶太人或外邦人,都是神國裏的國民。神的國是神施行祂權柄的範圍。一個人只要是信徒,他就是神國裏的國民。公民權包括了權利和義務,這兩件事總是並行的。我們享受國家的權利,也要擔負國家的義務。…十九節使我們有根據,能說現今召會乃是神的國。這裏題到的同國之民,是與國有關,不是與家有關。家是由家人組成,而不是由國民組成。一面,我們是神家裏的親人;另一面,我們是神國裏的國民。 雖然現今召會乃是神的國,但我們只有在靈裏生活行動的時候,纔是在神國的實際裏。每當我們照著舊人行事為人,或是在肉體或己裏生活,我們實際上是在神國之外。這就是說,當我們在肉體裏,我們就是在墮落之人的性情這個舊範圍裏,這墮落之人性的範圍,完全被撒但篡竊以形成他的國。因此,一位真基督徒若活在肉體裏,而不活在靈裏,實際上,他可能就是活在撒但的國裏,而不是活在神的國裏。只有當我們在靈裏生活、行動、行事,並全人都在靈裏,而不在天然的人裏,我們纔是在神的國裏,我們也實際的是神的國。(新約總論第七冊,二二四、二二○至二二二頁。) 參讀:新約總論,第二百零九篇、二百四十至二百四十一篇。 WEEK 3 — DAY 4 Morning Nourishment
Rom. 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Eph. 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
The kingdom of God is the living of the church…According to some Bible teachers, the kingdom has not yet come. They claim that now is the dispensation of the church, and the next dispensation will be that of the kingdom. But in Romans 14:17 Paul does not say that the kingdom of God shall be; he uses the present tense and says that the kingdom of God is. According to the context of Romans 14, which speaks of receiving the believers, the kingdom is today’s church life. The reality of the church life is the kingdom. Romans 12 speaks of the Body life, and Romans 14, of the kingdom life. This indicates that, in Romans, the kingdom life is the reality of the Body life.
In a sense, it is correct to say that the present age is the church age and that the coming age will be the kingdom age. However, in another sense, the kingdom of God is here today, for the kingdom is the reality of the church and the living of the church. Hence, the church is the kingdom. Since the church is the kingdom today, it is not correct to say that the kingdom has been suspended altogether until the coming age. Romans 14:17 proves definitely that the kingdom is the living of the church today. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2237-2238)
Today’s Reading
In Acts, which is concerned with the church, there is frequent mention of the kingdom (8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31). In Acts the believers preached the kingdom of God as the gospel (8:12). The gospel is even called the gospel of the kingdom. Therefore, it is not correct to say that the kingdom is altogether separate from today’s church life.
According to the revelation in the New Testament, the proper church life is the kingdom life. If we live under the rule of the living God within us, that is, under the rule of the kingdom of the heavens, we shall have the kind of life recorded in chapters 5, 6, and 7 of Matthew. We shall also have a life of the kingdom practiced in the church life. Hence, we should not separate the kingdom of God from the church.
[In Ephesians 2:19] the term fellow citizens indicates the kingdom of God. All the believers, both Jewish and Gentile, are citizens of God’s kingdom, which is a sphere wherein God exercises His authority. As long as anyone is a believer, he is a citizen of the kingdom of God. This citizenship involves rights and responsibilities, two things that always go together. We enjoy the rights of the kingdom, and we bear the responsibilities of the kingdom. Ephesians 2:19 affords us the basis for saying that the church today is God’s kingdom. The citizens mentioned here are related to a kingdom, a nation, not to a family. A family is composed of members, not of citizens. On the one hand, we are members of God’s household; on the other hand, we are citizens of God’s nation, of God’s kingdom.
Although the church today is God’s kingdom, we are in the kingdom in reality only when we live and walk in spirit. Whenever we behave according to the old man or live in the flesh or the self, we, in a practical way, are out of God’s kingdom. This means that when we are in the flesh, we are in the old realm of the fallen human nature, which has been fully usurped by Satan to form his kingdom. Therefore, a genuine Christian, if he lives in the flesh instead of in the spirit, may live in a practical way not in the kingdom of God but in the kingdom of Satan. Only when we live, walk, behave, and have our being altogether in our spirit, not in our natural man, are we in the kingdom of God and, in reality, are the kingdom of God. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2238, 2235-2236)
Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 209, 240— 241
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