晨興聖言-馬太福音中所啓示...(W1-2)

第一週 • 週二

晨興餧養

W1-d2-ch

太二4~6  他〔希律王〕就召集了所有的祭司長和民間的經學家,向他們查問,基督當生在何處。他們對他說,在猶太的伯利恆,因為藉着申言者所記的是這樣:『猶大地的伯利恆阿!你在猶大的首領中,絕不是最小的,因為有一位掌權者要從你出來,牧養我民以色列。』

 

耶穌生在伯利恆,…但奇怪的是,遠離了所謂的聖地,遠離了這真的宗教,遠離了聖殿,遠離了猶太的宗教中心,遠離了祭司、經學家、法利賽人和所有宗教人士,卻有一顆星在異教之地顯明有關基督的事。這星並未顯示給猶太人,而是顯示給外邦人,異教人。人一再被告知,必須憑藉聖經來尋找並認識基督。但是聖經裏尋找基督的頭一個例子並非藉着聖經。星象家並沒有任何聖經知識—他們連聖經也沒有。

那些祭司長和經學家真是精通聖經,但主並沒有到他們那裏去。祂去到一個遙遠的異教之地,把這件事啟示給一些異教徒,不是藉着聖經,而是藉着人手摸不到的東西—一顆天上的星。

也許我們有聖經,但我們可能錯過了星。把聖經拿在手裏是容易的事,但要等待觀看一顆星太難了。我們根本沒法曉得這星會在何時何地出現。我們能研究聖經,…可能知道聖經講論基督的一切事,但我們無法斷定那顆星幾時來到。聖經這本書是在猶太人這群宗教人士手中,星卻是顯示給異教人士。你看見這點麼?也許我們想,這星一定會向那些在聖殿中祈禱的祭司們顯現,但它卻是顯示給遠離聖殿的外邦人(李常受文集一九七○年第一冊,三六九至三七○頁)。

信息選讀

我們都必須看見這顆星!…那星是甚麼?那星就是活的啟示,活的異象。不是聖經字句的死知識,不是彌迦書五章二節的死知識。今日我們所需要的不是單單聖經的知識,而是屬天的異象,即時的異象,活的異象,人的觀念沒法教導的異象。…今日要認識基督,乃是一件活的事,不是照着聖經知識的死字句,而是照着那屬天的活星。

我們沒法將祂包圍、拘禁、限制在我們的宗教裏。…每逢我們堅持自己對,別人錯,主就要離開我們去找那些錯的人了。

民數記二十四章十七節說,『必有一星從雅各而出』,但這星沒有顯給雅各家任何一個人。從雅各而出的星顯給外教人了。

現在我們要來看星象家作了甚麼事:他們看見了那天上的星,便跟隨它,但是他們犯了一個大錯。…他們知道這星表徵猶太人的王;因此他們推想他們該去到耶路撒冷,詢問那些對這一類事有知識的人。我們知道,那一去就帶來許多麻煩。我確信,如果他們不轉向自己天然的觀念,而是繼續仰望天上的星,那星會一直走在他們前頭,引導他們直達耶穌所在的地方。他們用不着去耶路撒冷。他們完全錯了,以致許多幼小無辜的生命受害。猶太宗教的領袖們有知識,星象家有異象。但那些接受異象的人犯了一個大錯,若非神出來干豫,甚至可能導致嬰孩耶穌喪生(李常受文集一九七○年第一冊,三七○至三七二頁)。

參讀:新約的事奉,第五至六章;脫離宗教儀文隨從靈,第二、十篇。

WEEK 1 — DAY 2


Morning Nourishment

Matt. 2:4-6 And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written through the prophet: “And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, by no means are you the least among the princes of Judah; for out of you shall come forth a Ruler, One who will shepherd My people Israel.”

Jesus was born in Bethlehem…The strange thing, however, is this: far away from the so-called Holy Land, far away from the genuine religion, far away from the temple, far away from the Jewish religious center, far away from the priests, the scribes, the Pharisees, and all the religious people, was a star showing something of Christ in a heathen land. It did not appear to the Jews, but to the Gentiles, the heathen…The first case of finding Christ in the Scriptures was not by the Bible. The magi did not have any Bible knowledge—they did not even have a Bible.

Those chief priests and scribes knew the Bible so well, but the Lord did not go to them. He went far away to a heathen land to reveal this matter to some pagans, not through the Scriptures but through something which human hands cannot touch—a heavenly star.

We may have the Bible, yet we may miss the star. To hold the book in our hand is easy, but to wait and look unto the star is rather difficult. We simply do not know when and where the star will appear. We may study the Scriptures and obtain a degree in those studies, and we may learn all that the Bible has to say about Christ, but we simply cannot determine when the star will come. The book was with the Jewish people, the religious people, but the star appeared to the heathen. Have you seen this? We may think that the star should have appeared to those priests praying in the temple, but it appeared to some pagans far away from the temple. (CWWL, 1970, vol. 1, “New Testament Service,” pp. 276-277)

Today’s Reading

We all need to see this star!…What is the star? The star is the living revelation, the living vision, not the dead knowledge of the Scriptures in the letter…What we need today is not merely Bible knowledge but the heavenly vision, the instant vision, the living vision, the vision that human concepts cannot teach. To know Christ today is something living, not according to the knowledge of the Bible in dead letters but according to the living, heavenly star.

We cannot circumscribe, confine, or restrict the Lord with our religion… When we insist that we are right and others are wrong, the Lord may leave us and go to the ones who are wrong.

Numbers 24:17 says, “There shall come forth a Star out of Jacob,” but this star did not appear to any of the people of Jacob. The star out of Jacob appeared to the pagans.

Now consider what the magi did: They saw the heavenly star and they followed it, but they made a great mistake…They realized that this star signified the King of the Jews; therefore, they reasoned that they should go to Jerusalem and inquire of those who would have knowledge of such matters. Their going, as we know, caused much trouble. I do believe that if they had not turned to their natural concept, but continually looked away to the star in the sky, the star would have gone before them all the time, leading them directly to the place where Jesus was. They need not have gone to Jerusalem. They were thoroughly wrong and caused many young and innocent lives to be taken. The Jewish religious leaders had the knowledge, and the magi had the vision. Nevertheless, those who received the vision made a great mistake and, apart from divine intervention, would have caused the loss of the little child Jesus. (CWWL, 1970, vol. 1, “New Testament Service,” pp. 277-278)

Further Reading: Finding Christ by the Living Star (booklet); CWWL, 1970, vol. 3, “Being Delivered from Religious Rituals and Walking according to the Spirit,” chs. 2, 10

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