第三週■週五

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晨興餧養

加三 8『並且聖經旣豫先看明，神要本於信稱外邦人爲義，就豫先傳福音給亞伯拉罕，說，「萬國都必因你得福。」』

    26『因爲你們眾人藉着相信基督耶穌，都是神的兒子。』

神產生許多兒子的目標，不是藉着人的工作而成就的，乃是憑着神的恩典纔得以完成。…按照新約裏神聖的啓示，恩典實際上就是神將祂自己給了祂的選民，作他們的享受，這享受要使他們成爲神的眾子。

在約翰一章，我們看見話，就是神，成了肉體，（1，14，）並且恩典隨着祂而來。（17。）這意思就是祂作恩典而來。…凡信入祂並接受祂的，要從祂所生，成爲神的兒女。〔12 ～ 13。〕因此，神藉着把自己作爲恩典，賜給祂所揀選的人，就產生了許多兒子。（新約總論第八册，一三六至一三七頁。）

信息選讀

在創世記十五章，神應許亞伯拉罕必會有後嗣，亞伯拉罕也相信神。然而，就在下一章，因着亞伯拉罕沒有從撒拉得孩子，他就聽從撒拉的建議，從她的使女夏甲得孩子。夏甲生了一個兒子，起名叫以實瑪利。亞伯拉罕從夏甲得的孩子，神並不喜悅，祂就十三年之久不再向亞伯拉罕顯現。當耶和華再次向亞伯拉罕顯現時，…〔祂〕向亞伯拉罕指明，祂的恩典要使亞伯拉罕產生一個兒子；〔參十七 1 ～ 2；〕但亞伯拉罕憑着自己所作的，卻是出於肉體，他這樣作就被神定罪。…耶和華對亞伯拉罕說，『你妻子撒拉必給你生一個兒子，你要給他起名叫以撒。我要與他堅定所立的約，作他後裔永遠的約。』（19。）

在十八章，耶和華再次向亞伯拉罕顯現，對他說，『在生命的時候，（原文，）我必回到你這裏；你的妻子撒拉必生一個兒子。』（10 上。）這指明以撒的出生是出於耶和華的來臨。這好比馬利亞的生出耶穌，乃是三一神的來臨。至終，撒拉真的生出了以撒。（二一 1 ～ 3。）

產生以撒完全是件神恩典的事，就是將神自己賜給祂的選民，以產生祂許多的兒子。反之，以實瑪利不過是憑着亞伯拉罕天然的能力與力量產生的。…保羅在〔加拉太四章〕告訴我們，夏甲表徵律法，由屬地的耶路撒冷所象徵；撒拉表徵恩典，由屬天的耶路撒冷所象徵。…律法是人的勞苦加上人的能力以產生一些東西；而恩典是將神賜給祂所揀選的人，好產生許多兒子。

神與亞伯拉罕所立起初的約，乃是恩典的約，在這約裏，不需要人的能力或努力，只需要神的恩典以產生許多兒子。這約等於新約。…所有亞伯拉罕的真後裔，就如以撒、雅各、摩西和大衞，都在這約之下，今天我們也在這約之下。…律法的約雖然是藉着摩西賜的，摩西自己卻不在那約之下。反之，在神眼中，摩西乃是在恩典的約之下。律法的約不能爲神產生任何東西，這約只能產生『以實瑪利』。…新約就是神與亞伯拉罕所立那恩典之約完全的延續，這約乃是要產生眾子。藉這約所產生眾子中的頭一位，乃是亞伯拉罕自己。亞伯拉罕是一切相信之人的父，（羅四 11，）…其他在舊約裏的兒子，包括雅各、大衞和耶利米等，但不包括以掃。（新約總論第八册，一三八至一四○頁。）

參讀：新約總論，第二百五十四篇；加拉太書生命讀經，第二十四篇。

WEEK 3 — DAY 5

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Morning Nourishment

Gal. 3:8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles out of faith, announced the gospel beforehand to Abraham: “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”

       26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

God’s goal of bringing forth many sons is accomplished not by man’s work but by God’s grace…According to the divine revelation in the New Testament, grace is actually God Himself given to His chosen people for their enjoyment, and this enjoyment will make them God’s sons.

In John 1 we see that the Word, who is the very God, became flesh (vv. 1, 14) and that grace came with Him (v. 17). This means that He came as grace…Whoever believes in Him and receives Him will be born of Him to become one of His children [vv. 12-13]. Therefore, by giving Himself to His chosen people as grace, God brings forth many sons. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2668)

Todays Reading

In Genesis 15 God promised Abraham that he would have an heir, and Abraham believed God. However, in the very next chapter, because Abraham did not have a child by Sarah, he followed Sarah’s suggestion to have a child by Hagar, her handmaid. Hagar gave birth to a son, and he was called Ishmael. Abraham’s having a child by Hagar was displeasing to God, and He did not appear again to Abraham for thirteen years. When the Lord appeared to Abraham again,…[He] indicated to Abraham that His grace would produce a son by him [cf. Gen. 17:1-2]. But what Abraham had done by himself was of the flesh and as such was condemned by God…The Lord…said to Abraham, “Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him” (v. 19).

In Genesis 18 the Lord appeared to Abraham again and said to him, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and then Sarah your wife shall have a son” (v. 10a). This indicates that the bringing forth of Isaac would be of the Lord’s coming. This may be compared to Mary’s bringing forth of Jesus being the coming of the Triune God. Eventually, Sarah did give birth to Isaac (Gen. 21:1-3).

The producing of Isaac was altogether a matter of God’s grace, that is, of God Himself given to His chosen people to produce His many sons. Ishmael, on the contrary, was produced by Abraham’s natural ability and strength. In [Galatians 4] Paul tells us that Hagar signifies the law symbolized by the earthly Jerusalem and that Sarah signifies grace symbolized by the heavenly Jerusalem…The law is a matter of man’s labor with man’s ability to produce something, whereas grace is God given to His chosen people to produce the many sons.

The original covenant God made with Abraham was the covenant of grace. In this covenant there is not the need for man’s ability or effort but the need for God’s grace to produce the many sons. This covenant equals the new testament…All of Abraham’s genuine descendants, such as Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David, were under this covenant, which is the covenant we are under today…Although the covenant of law was given through Moses, he himself was not under that covenant. Rather, in the sight of God, Moses was under the covenant of grace. The covenant of law cannot produce anything for God; this covenant can only bring forth “Ishmaels.” The new testament is a full continuation of the covenant of grace God made with Abraham to produce sons. The first of the sons produced by this covenant was Abraham himself. Abraham is the father of all those who believe (Rom. 4:11)…Other sons in the Old Testament include Jacob, David, and Jeremiah but not Esau. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2669-2671)

Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 254; Life- study of Galatians, msg. 24