第四週■週五

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晨興餧養

啓十九8 ～ 9『又賜她得穿明亮潔淨的細麻衣，這細麻衣就是聖徒所行的義。天使對我說，你要寫上，凡被請赴羔羊婚筵的有福了。又對我說，這是神真實的話。』

基督現今在豫備我們作祂的新婦。祂把新婦獻給自己的時候快到了。…在新婦身上，基督不注視別的，只注視她的美麗。這美麗乃是基督所是的返照。…新婦的美麗…乃是來自那位作到召會裏面，然後藉着召會彰顯出來的基督。我們的美麗不是我們的行爲；我們惟一的美麗乃是基督的返照，就是基督從我們裏面照耀出來。基督在我們身上所珍賞的，乃是祂自己在我們身上的彰顯（以弗所書生命讀經，九六三頁）。

信息選讀

首先，基督必須進到我們裏面，並被我們吸收。然後，祂就能從我們裏面照耀出去。這個照耀乃是新婦的榮耀，是神性藉着人性的彰顯。真實的美麗，乃是神聖屬性藉着人性的彰顯。宇宙中沒有甚麼像這個彰顯如此美麗的。所以，新婦的美麗乃是基督從我們照耀出來。這是神性藉着人性得着彰顯的事。

在婚配那日，新郎在意他新婦的美麗，遠過於她的才幹。照樣，在召會生活中，對主來說，我們的美麗最終比我們的功用重要得多。召會生活剛開始的時候，我們也許強調能力和功用。但最終我們要更多強調美麗。…不要太注意在功用上成爲能幹、彀資格、有恩賜的人。起先，這也許在召會生活中算得了數，但至終主要給我們看見，祂所在意的不是我們的能力；祂所在意的乃是從我們的人性所彰顯出祂自己的美麗。基督的心意，不是要把一個能幹的召會獻給祂自己；所要獻給祂的召會，乃是榮耀的、美麗的，沒有斑點和皺紋或任何這類的病。我們若要除去瑕疵和缺陷，就必須更多將基督接受進來。祂不僅爲着我們的功用加強我們，祂更使我們美麗，好作祂的新婦。…召會藉着有分於基督、消化基督並吸收基督而漸漸變爲美麗的！我們越這樣經歷內住的基督，祂就越要以祂自己的元素頂替我們的斑點和皺紋，並且祂的豐富同祂神聖的屬性，也越要成爲我們的美麗。這樣，我們就豫備好獻給基督，作祂心愛的新婦。

以弗所五章的經歷，是應驗啓示錄十九章所必需的。以弗所書給我們看見，基督如何藉着以祂自己聖化、潔淨、保養並顧惜我們，來豫備新婦。這樣，我們就得着新陳代謝的變化，成爲美麗、榮耀的，照着啓示錄十九章，豫備好了要獻給基督。…論到基督的妻子，就是基督的新婦，…『又賜她得穿明亮潔淨的細麻衣。』〔8〕新婦旣是這樣穿着，就可以宣告她『自己豫備好了』（7）。這指明，到十九章的時候，新婦已經豫備好了。新婦豫備好的意思，乃是說她穿『明亮潔淨的細麻衣』。潔淨指性質，明亮指彰顯。這細麻衣就是『聖徒所行的義』。…這裏新婦的義是主觀的，〔腓三9，〕就是基督作爲義構造到我們裏面。這個主觀的義越多作到召會裏面，召會就越豫備好成爲新婦。凡組成新婦的人，都蒙了救贖和重生；但他們需要有主觀的義交織到他們的所是裏，使他們有明亮潔淨的細麻衣。事實上，這細麻衣就是新婦的美麗（以弗所書生命讀經，九六三至九六六頁）。

參讀：以弗所書生命讀經，第九十五、五十八篇。

WEEK 4 — DAY 5

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Morning Nourishment

Rev. 19:8-9 And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints. And he said to me, Write, Blessed are they who are called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true words of God.

Christ is now preparing us to be His bride. The time is coming when He will present the bride to Himself…In His bride Christ will behold nothing but beauty. This beauty will be the reflection of what He is…The beauty of the bride…comes from the very Christ who is wrought into the church and who is then expressed through the church. Our beauty is not our behavior. Our only beauty is the reflection of Christ, the shining out of Christ from within us. What Christ appreciates in us is the expression of Himself in us. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 778)

Today’s Reading

First, Christ must come into us and then be assimilated by us. Then He will be able to shine out of us. This shining is the glory of the bride, the manifestation of divinity through humanity. Real beauty is the expression of the divine attributes through humanity. Nothing in the universe is as beautiful as this expression. Therefore, the beauty of the bride is Christ shining out of us. It is a matter of divinity expressed through humanity.

On the day of his wedding, a bridegroom cares much more for the beauty of his bride than for her ability. In like manner, in the church life our beauty will eventually be much more important to the Lord than our function. At the beginning of the church life, we may emphasize ability and function. But eventually, we will place more emphasis on beauty…Do not pay that much attention to becoming capable, qualified, and gifted in function. At first, this may count for something in the church life. But eventually, the Lord will show us that what He cares for is not our ability; He cares for the beauty of Himself expressed through our humanity. Christ does not intend to present a capable church to Himself. The church that will be presented to Him will be
glorious and beautiful, a church without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing. If our blemishes and imperfections are to be removed, we need to take in more and more of Christ. He should not simply energize us for our function but also beautify us that we may be His bride. The church is being beautified by partaking of Christ, by digesting Christ, and by assimilating Christ! The more we experience the indwelling Christ in this way, the more He will replace our spots and wrinkles with His element, and the more His riches with the divine attributes will become our beauty. Then we will be prepared to be presented to Christ as His lovely bride.

The experience of Ephesians 5 is necessary for the fulfillment of Revelation 19. Ephesians shows how Christ prepares the bride by sanctifying, cleansing, nourishing, and cherishing us with Himself. In this way we are metabolically transformed, and we become beautiful and glorious, ready to be presented to Christ according to Revelation 19. Because the bride is clothed [“in fine linen, bright and clean” (Rev. 19:8)], the declaration can be made that she “has made herself ready” (v. 7). This indicates that by the time of Revelation 19 the bride will have been prepared. For the bride to be prepared means that she has the “fine linen, bright and clean.” Clean
refers to nature, whereas bright refers to expression. This fine linen is “the righteousnesses of the saints.” …The righteousnesses of the bride here denote the subjective righteousness (Phil. 3:9), Christ as the righteousness which has been constituted into our being. The more this subjective righteousness is wrought into the church, the more she is prepared to become the bride. Those who compose the bride have been redeemed and regenerated. But they need to have the subjective righteousness interwoven into their very being in order to have the fine linen, bright and clean. Actually, it is this linen that is the beauty of the bride. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 778-780)

Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 95, 58