第四十三週．週五

W43-d5-ch

晨興餧養

啟三１６　『你既如溫水，也不熱也不冷，我就要從我口中把你吐出去。』

     ２０　『看哪，我站在門外叩門；若有聽見我聲音就開門的，我要進到他那裏，我與他，他與我要一同坐席。』

基督就是那位要與得勝者一同坐席，賜得勝者在寶座上與祂同坐的，就如祂得了勝，在祂父的寶座上與父同坐一樣。〔啟示錄三章二十一節〕的得勝，是指勝過恢復後又墮落的召會中，不冷不熱和驕傲的光景，〔16～17，〕並出代價買所需之物（金子、白衣和眼藥），〔18，〕且開門讓主進來與開門的人一同坐席。〔20。〕

主是召會的元首，祂站在墮落召會的門外叩門，…這門是召會的門，但需要個別的信徒打開。在老底嘉的召會有知識，卻沒有主的同在。主是在對付整個召會，但接受主的對付，必須是個人的事。（新約總論第十四冊，一二三至一二四頁。）

信息選讀

我們…雖然愛主，常常禱告，也常常聚會，卻不肯實際的出代價；結果就變作不冷不熱。…雖然祂在我們靈裏，但我們卻把祂關在門外。例如，我們把祂關在我們情感的門外。我們的靈有如『冷宮』，我們把主留在那裏，以致主無法進到我們的內室，進到我們的心房。主一直站在我們那冷冷的靈裏叩門，祂盼望進到我們的心情，進到我們的情感裏。主巴望與我們有相互的享受。

主在啟示錄三章二十節又說，祂進到開門的人那裏時，主與他，他與主，要一同坐席。『坐席』原文指在晚上用一天的正餐。坐席不單是喫一種食物，乃是喫豐盛的筵席。這可能含示以色列人喫迦南美地豐富的出產這豫表的應驗。（書五10～12。）以色列人每年過節都與神一同坐席，而神也與他們一同坐席。每逢以色列人過節，他們都與神同喫，把他們所喫的獻給神，讓神與他們同喫。照樣，主告訴我們，祂要與我們一同坐席，我們也要與祂一同坐席。

這裏所應許的坐席，不單是指將來，也是指今天。我們若是得勝者，當主在國度裏來臨的時候，我們就有特權與祂同喫。但在那天以前，我們可以享受與祂一同坐席。

我們…把啟示錄二、三章裏的七封書信，全面的看過，就知道主高舉喫祂自己這件事，就是接受祂自己作我們生命的供應，使我們長大、變化，成為與祂一樣。在基督應許要賞賜七個召會中的得勝者時，祂是那生命樹、隱藏的嗎哪、以及我們與祂同享的筵席。這與舊約中神的子民喫的三個階段相合。神的子民被命定要喫生命樹，神的贖民在曠野飄流時得以喫嗎哪，在美地上他們一年三次在錫安山上過節，享受美地豐富的出產。聖經的最後一卷書啟示錄再次題到喫的三個階段，作為應許得勝者的賞賜；基督對於得勝者將是生命樹、隱藏的嗎哪、以及美地豐富的出產。這完全是為著我們對基督的享受。…藉著享受基督，我們就得以被祂構成。至終，我們將在構成上與祂調和，成為一個實體，作新耶路撒冷以彰顯祂。（新約總論第十四冊，一二四至一二五頁。）

參讀：新約總論，第四百一十三篇。

WEEK 43 — DAY 5

Morning Nourishment

Rev. 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am about to spew you out of My mouth.

          20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me.

Christ is the One who will dine with the overcomers and give the overcomers to sit with Him on His throne as He overcame and sat with His Father on His throne. [In Revelation 3:21] to overcome is to overcome the lukewarmness and pride of the degraded recovered church [vv. 16-17], to pay the price to buy the needed items (gold, white garments, and eyesalve) [v. 18], and to open the door so that the Lord can come in and dine with those who open the door [v. 20].

The Lord as the Head of the church is standing outside the degraded church, knocking
at her door…The door is the door of the church, but the door is opened by individual
believers. The church in Laodicea has knowledge but does not have the Lord’s presence. The Lord is dealing with the whole church, but the acceptance of the Lord’s dealing must be a personal matter. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 4215-4216)

Today’s Reading

Although we love the Lord and consistently pray and attend the meetings, we may not be willing to practically pay a price, and in the end we become lukewarm…Even though He is in our spirit, we often shut Him outside the door. For instance, we shut Him outside the door of our emotion. Our spirit is like a prison in which we keep the Lord. Therefore, the Lord has no way to enter into our inner chambers and into our heart. The Lord is standing and knocking in our cold spirit, longing to enter into our heart and our emotion. The Lord desires to have mutual enjoyment with us. 

In Revelation 3:20 the Lord also said that, after He comes in to him who opens the door, He will dine with him and he with Him. According to the Greek, the word dine signifies the principal meal of the day at evening. To dine is not merely to eat one item of food but to partake of the riches of a meal. This may imply the fulfillment of the type of the children of Israel eating the rich produce of the good land of Canaan (Josh. 5:10-12). During the yearly feasts the children of Israel feasted with God, and God feasted with them. Whenever the Israelites had a feast, they ate with God, offering what they were eating to God and letting God eat with them. In like manner, the Lord says that He will dine with us and that we will dine with Him.

The dining promised here is not only for the future but also for today. If we are an overcomer, we will have the special privilege of eating with the Lord when He comes in the kingdom. Before that day, however, we may enjoy His dining with us.

In Revelation 2 and 3, we [can] see that the Lord exalts the eating of Himself, the taking in of Himself as our life supply, that we may grow, be transformed, and be the same as He is. In His promises concerning the reward to the overcomers in the seven churches, Christ is considered as the tree of life, the hidden manna, and the feast for us to enjoy with Him. This corresponds to the three stages of eating by God’s people in the Old Testament. God’s people were destined to eat the tree of life, God’s redeemed people were given to eat the manna while wandering in the wilderness, and in the good land they had a feast three times a year on Mount Zion to enjoy the rich produce of the land. These three stages of eating are repeated in Revelation, the concluding book of the Bible, as rewards promised to the overcomers, to whom Christ will be the tree of life, the hidden manna, and the rich produce of the good land. This is altogether for our enjoyment of Christ…Through our enjoyment of Christ, we may be constituted with Him. Eventually, we will be mingled with Him in our constitution as one entity in order to express Him as the New Jerusalem. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 4216-4217)

Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 413