晨興聖言-馬太福音中所啓示...(W6-4)
第六週 • 週四
晨興餧養
太八9 因為我也是一個在權柄之下的人,有兵在我以下;我對這個說,去,他就去;對那個說,來,他就來;對我的奴僕說,作這事,他就作。
十六24 於是耶穌對門徒說,若有人要跟從我,就當否認己,背起他的十字架,並跟從我。
一個要作神代表權柄的人,除了他自己必須認識神的權柄,並順服神的權柄之外,還有三點基本的要求是必須有的:
〔首先,〕一個作代表權柄的人必須記得,沒有權柄不是出於神的。…他身上如果有權柄,乃是出於神的;他自己並不是權柄。沒有人可以立自己作權柄。你個人的意見,不能成為別人的律法;你自己的意見、看法或主張,並沒有被接受的價值。…只有由神出來,顯在你身上的權柄,你纔可以叫弟兄姊妹服。作代表權柄的人,只應該代表神的權柄。…所有作代表權柄的人,都必須記得:他只是代表神的權柄,他自己並沒有任何的權柄。
一個人是作權柄的人,乃在於他是認識神的旨意,有神的思想,有神的意思(倪柝聲文集第三輯第一冊,二二九至二三○頁)。
信息選讀
一個作代表權柄的人,第二個基本的要求乃是要棄絕自己。當你不認識神的旨意時,就不可開口,不可隨便使用權柄。一個作神代表權柄的人,不僅要在積極方面認識何為神的權柄,也要在消極方面學習棄絕自己。請你記得,你的意見,神並不寶貝,弟兄姊妹也不寶貝。…你以為你的意見是最好的,你以為你的意見,神寶貝,弟兄姊妹也寶貝。你乃是在夢裏。你千萬不要愚昧到一個地步,硬將自己的意見壓在別人心上。
一個作神代表權柄的人,第三個基本要求,就是必須時刻與神有親密的交通。不只有來往的交通(communion),並且是有東西的交通(communication)。有些人一天到晚有許多意見,他必須學習丟棄他的意見。他每碰到一個意見,都要帶到神面前辦交涉,看看這些意見是出於肉體的,還是出於神的。這樣,神就能逐漸將祂的心意指教他。
所以我們要作代表權柄,就必須有屬靈的條件,加上謙卑的條件。作權柄的條件,乃是根據自以為不配,自己覺得不行。我覺得有一句話不錯:在新舊約聖經中我們看見,神所用的人,沒有一個是驕傲的人。我頂直的告訴你,人一有驕傲,神立時把他擺在一邊。我站作工地位二十餘年,從來沒有看見一個驕傲的人是神能用的。人在那裏偷偷地驕傲,遲早會在話語裏顯出來,因為話語是走漏裏面消息的。就是謙卑的人,將來在神的審判台前還不知要有多少的驚駭!而驕傲人的驚駭也不知要超過謙卑人多少倍!我們必須覺得自己不行,因為神只用無用的僕人。這不是我們客氣,乃是真覺得我們是無用的僕人;雖然放了羊、耕了地,但回來時,仍說自己是無用的僕人。我們總要站在僕人的地位上(路十七10)。神絕不把權柄交給自以為是、自以為行的人。我們要拒絕驕傲,學習謙卑溫柔(倪柝聲文集第三輯第一冊,二三三、二三七、三二四頁)。
參讀:倪柝聲文集第三輯第一冊,權柄與順服下編,第一篇。
WEEK 6 — DAY 4
Morning Nourishment
Matt. 8:9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my slave, Do this, and he does it.
16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
In order to be God’s deputy authority, a person must fulfill three fundamental requirements (in addition to knowing God’s authority and submitting to His authority).
A deputy authority must [first] remember that all authorities come from God…If there is any authority in a man at all, that authority comes from God. There is no inherent authority in a person, and no one can appoint himself to be an authority. Our personal opinions cannot become others’ law, and our own ideas, views, and proposals do not deserve others’ esteem…We can only ask the brothers and sisters to submit to the authority in us which comes from God. A deputy authority can only be a deputy to God’s authority…All deputy authorities must remember that they are merely God’s representative authorities; they have no authority in themselves.
A person becomes an authority because of his knowledge of God’s will, God’s mind, and God’s thoughts. (CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” pp. 209-210)
Today’s Reading
The second basic requirement of a deputy authority is to deny himself. Before one is clear about God’s will, he should not open his mouth and should not exercise any authority. God’s deputy authority must not only know His authority
on the positive side, but must learn to deny himself on the negative
side. Please remember that neither God nor the brothers and sisters
treasure your opinion…If you think your opinion is the best, that God
treasures your opinion, and that the brothers and sisters honor your
idea, you are living in a dream. Do not be so foolish as to unilaterally
impose your opinion upon others.
Those
who are God’s deputy authorities should possess a third
qualification—they must have a constant and intimate fellowship with the
Lord. There must not only be a communion, but a communication. Some are
loaded with opinions throughout the day. These ones must learn to give
up their opinions. Every time one has an opinion, he has to bring it to
the Lord and find out if such an opinion is of the flesh or of God. In
this way God will gradually reveal His heart’s desire to him.
In
order to be a deputy authority, we must fulfill the condition of
spirituality as well as the condition of humility. The qualification of
an authority is based on one’s consciousness of his inability and
unsuitability. One thing is sure: None of the persons that God used in
the Old and New Testaments were proud. I can tell you frankly that as
soon as a person becomes proud, God will put him aside. As a worker for
over twenty years, I have never seen a proud man who was used by the
Lord. Even if a man is just a little proud in private, his words will
sooner or later expose him, because a person’s words always disclose the
hidden state of his heart. Even a humble person will be greatly
surprised at the judgment seat. The surprise that awaits the proud,
however, will surely be many times more than that of the humble! We must
be conscious of our unprofitableness all the time, because God can only
use the unprofitable slaves. We are not saying this to be polite. We
honestly should feel that we are unprofitable slaves. We may have tended
sheep or plowed the field, but when we come in from the field, we
should still acknowledge that we are unprofitable slaves. We should
always stand in the position of a slave (Luke 17:10). God never entrusts
His authority to the self-confident and self-assured. We have to reject
pride and learn humility and meekness. (CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and
Submission,” pp. 212, 215, 286)
Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” ch. 12
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