晨興聖言-經歷、享受並彰顯基督(W17-4)
第十七週.週四
晨興餧養
羅九21 『窯匠難道沒有權柄,從同一團泥裏,拿一塊作成貴重的器皿,又拿一塊作成卑賤的器皿麼?』
林後十三14 『願主耶穌基督的恩,神的愛,聖靈的交通,與你們眾人同在。』
林後四章四節說到『基督榮耀之福音的光照』。這裏有四件事:基督、榮耀、福音和光照。六節接著說,『那說光要從黑暗裏照出來的神,已經照在我們心裏,為著光照人,使人認識那顯在耶穌基督面上之神的榮耀。』神照在我們心裏,結果使我們認識那顯在耶穌基督面上之神的榮耀,也就是光照我們,使我們認識基督榮耀的福音。…神照在宇宙中,產生了舊造。但祂照在我們心裏,使我們成為新造,因這照耀將榮耀基督這奇妙的寶貝,帶到我們這瓦器裏面。(新約總論第十冊,二三三頁。)
信息選讀
神照在我們心裏,是為著光照我們,使我們能認識那顯在基督面上的榮耀。那顯在耶穌基督面上之神的榮耀,乃是榮耀的神藉耶穌基督得著彰顯;祂是神榮耀的光輝;(來一3;)認識祂就是認識榮耀的神。…神照在我們心裏,為叫我們光照別人,使他們認識神顯在耶穌基督面上的榮耀,也就是認識那彰顯神,表明神的基督。(約一18。)
神在我們心裏的照耀,乃是顯在基督的面上。我們要經歷神的照耀,就需要與基督有直接、個人、親密的接觸。…這就是為甚麼我們呼求主耶穌的名。我們藉著呼求主,就被帶進與祂面對面的接觸裏,經歷神照在我們心裏。惟獨我們與主有這樣直接、切身、並親密的接觸時,我們纔有內裏的照耀。每當我們親切、親密的呼求主,我們就在祂的面前,而神也照耀在我們的心裏。這樣,我們就把所接受的再照耀出來,使基督福音的榮耀得以照耀。
我們的傳福音該非常光照人。這就是說,在我們傳講時,神就照在那些和我們說話的人心裏。我們也要幫助他們呼求主耶穌的名,使他們被帶到基督面前,與祂有切身的接觸,並經歷神照耀在他們的心裏。這樣的傳講不僅僅是陳明某些事實,乃是陳明一種榮耀。那些接受榮耀福音的人,要得著基督作為分賜到他們裏面的寶貝。這樣,他們就會和我們一樣,成為盛裝這寶貝的瓦器。(新約總論第十冊,二三三至二三五頁。)
神達成祂目的的手續,第一步是創造人作器皿,以盛裝祂自己作生命。…你曉得你身為一個人,乃是器皿麼?器皿就像瓶子,或是杯子。今天,當我與主交通的時候,我很喜樂,因為我是個器皿。我對自己說,『人哪,你正像個瓶子,你的口就像瓶口。瓶子的目的是要裝東西,不是要裝你自己。你這個器皿是設計來盛裝神的。』
這不是我的觀念。這觀念開始是在創世記裏題到的,然後又為保羅所強調。保羅在羅馬九章〔似乎〕說,『你是誰,竟向神頂嘴?難道你不知道你是泥土?窯匠有主宰的權柄用泥土作成各樣的器皿。』二十一和二十三節啟示,神創造人是要人作器皿。我們是器皿,以盛裝神作生命。(創世記生命讀經,一五一至一五二頁。)
參讀:創世記生命讀經,第十篇;長老訓練第六冊,保羅書信中真理的要點,第四章。
WEEK 17 — DAY 4
Morning Nourishment
Rom. 9:21 Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor?
2 Cor. 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Second Corinthians 4:4, speaking of “the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ,” refers to four matters: illumination, gospel, glory, and Christ. Verse 6 goes on to say, “The God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” God’s shining in our hearts results in the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, that is, in the enlightenment that causes us to know the glory of the gospel of Christ…God’s shining in the universe produced the old creation. His shining in our hearts has made us a new creation, because this shining brings into us, earthen vessels, the marvelous treasure of the Christ of glory. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3207-3208)
Today's Reading
The shining of God in our hearts is to illumine us that we may know the glory in Christ’s face. The glory of God manifested in the face of Jesus Christ is the God of glory expressed through Jesus Christ, who is the effulgence of the glory of God (Heb. 1:3); to know Him is to know the God of glory… God shines in our hearts that we may shine on others so that they may have the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, that is, the knowledge of Christ, who expresses and declares God (John 1:18).
God’s shining in our hearts is in the face of Christ. In order to experience God’s shining, we need to have direct, personal, and intimate contact with Christ…This is the reason we call upon the name of the Lord Jesus. By calling on the Lord we are brought into face-to-face contact with Him and experience God’s shining in our heart. Only when we have such direct, personal, and intimate contact with the Lord do we have the inner shining. Whenever we call on the Lord in a dear, intimate way, we are before His face, and the shining of God is in our heart. Then we may shine out what we have received for the shining of the glory of the gospel of Christ.
We need to preach the gospel in a very illuminating way. This means that while we are preaching, God shines into the hearts of those to whom we are speaking. We also need to help them to call on the name of the Lord Jesus in order that they would be brought to the face of Christ, have personal contact with Him, and experience God’s shining in their hearts. To preach in this way is to present not merely a gospel of certain facts but a gospel of glory. Those who receive the gospel of glory will have Christ as the precious treasure dispensed into them. Then, like us, they will be earthen vessels containing this treasure. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3208-3209)
The first step of God’s procedure in fulfilling His purpose was to create man as a vessel to contain Himself as life…Do you realize that as a human being you are a vessel? A vessel is like a bottle or a cup. Today, while I was with the Lord, I was rejoicing because I am a vessel. I said to myself, “Man, you are exactly like a bottle. Your mouth resembles the mouth of a bottle. The purpose of a bottle is to contain something, not to contain yourself. You are a vessel designed to contain God.”
This is not my concept. It was presented initially in Genesis and then stated emphatically by Paul in Romans 9 when he said, “Who are you, trying to argue with God? Don’t you realize that you are clay? The potter has sovereign authority to mold the clay into vessels.” Romans 9:21 and 23 reveal that God created man as a vessel. We are vessels to contain God as life. (Lifestudy of Genesis, p. 121)
Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msg. 10; CWWL, 1985, vol. 3, “Elders’ Training, Book 6: The Crucial Points of the Truth in Paul’s Epistles,” ch. 4
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