晨興聖言-經歷、享受並彰顯基督(四)(W44-1)

第四十四週.週一

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晨興餧養

啟十二5   『婦人生了一個男孩子,是將來要用鐵杖轄管萬國的;她的孩子被提到神和祂的寶座那裏去了。』

二26~27 『得勝的,又守住我的工作到底的,我要賜給他權柄制伏列國;…像我從我父領 受的權柄一樣。』

啟示錄十二章二節說婦人懷了孕,而五節說,『婦人生了一個男孩子。』這裏的孩子是男孩子,象徵神子民中較剛強的部分。…這裏的男孩子不是指嬰孩,乃是指婦人裏面較剛強的部分。婦人代表神全體的子民。但歷代以來,神子民中總有些較剛強的人。在聖經裏,這些人被視為一個集體單位,為神爭戰,將神的國帶到地上。(啟示錄生命讀經,四八九頁。)

信息選讀

歷史證明,在神的子民中,並非每一個人都是剛強的。…這在列祖時代就是如此。…我信在那時,神還有數以百計的子民,只是挪亞是其中剛強的人。在以色列國的時代,屬神的人也有成千成萬,但是其中只有很少數的人是剛強的,例如以利亞和耶利米就是剛強的人。毫無疑問,大多數神的子民都是真的,卻不是剛強的。新約時代也有同樣的情形。在早期雖然有成千的基督徒,但真正剛強的卻不多。就是在目前,也有成萬甚至百萬計的基督徒,但剛強的並不多。我鼓勵你們都作剛強的。

我們不僅要作婦人的一部分,也要作男孩子的一部分。…男孩子由復活的得勝者組成。男孩子是『將來要用鐵杖轄管萬國的』。(啟十二5。)這指明男孩子包括啟示錄二章二十六至二十七節所說的得勝者,這些得勝者是已經去世的人。

十二章五節說,婦人『生』了一個男孩子。這裏的『生』表徵復活,與行傳十三章三十三至三十四節者同。男孩子是由那些死了且復活的得勝聖徒組成的,這可由啟示錄十二章十一節『他們雖至於死』的話得到證明。主耶穌是在復活裏生為神的長子。對祂而言,復活就是生。行傳十三章三十三和三十四節是引用詩篇二篇七節的話,啟示說當主復活時,祂是生為神的長子。在復活以前,祂是神的獨生子,帶著神性;但藉著復活,祂生為神的長子,兼有神性和人性。所有死去的得勝者都是男孩子的一部分。藉著復活,男孩子要完全產生出來。…今天你若是得勝者,並且一直活著到主回來,你就不算是男孩子的一部分,反而可能是啟示錄十四章所說初熟的果子之一。你如果是得勝者,又在主來之前死了,到時候你就要復活,成為男孩子的一部分。

十二章五節又說,男孩子『被提到神和祂的寶座那裏去了』。這裏男孩子的被提,和帖前四章十七節所說大體信徒的被提不同。在帖撒羅尼迦前書,大體信徒的被提,是在末次號筒,(林前十五52,帖前四16,)就是第七號(啟十一15)之時,被提到空中。但這裏男孩子要被提到神的寶座前,並且是在一千二百六十天之前,也就是在第五號(九1)以前,從第六印開始的三年半(四十二個月—十二14,十三5,十一2)大災難之前。(啟示錄生命讀經,四八九、四九六至四九七、五○五頁。)

參讀:啟示錄生命讀經,第三十四至三十六篇。

WEEK 44 — DAY 1

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Morning Nourishment

Rev. 12:5 And she brought forth a son, a man-child, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.

2:26-27 And he who overcomes and he who keeps My works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations;…as I also have received from My Father.

Revelation 12:2 says that the woman was with child, and verse 5 says that “she brought forth a son, a man-child.” The child here, being a man-child, signifies the stronger part of God’s people…Man-child here does not indicate a baby. Rather, it indicates the stronger part within the woman. The woman represents the totality of God’s people. But throughout all generations there have been some stronger ones among God’s people. These are considered in the Bible as a collective unit fighting the battle for God and bringing God’s kingdom down to earth. (Life-study of Revelation, pp. 399-400)

Today’s Reading

History proves that not everyone among God’s people is a strong one… This was true during the time of the patriarchs…I believe that God had hundreds of people. Noah, however, was a strong one. During the time of Israel, there were hundreds of thousands who belonged to God, but only a few of them were strong. For example, Elijah and Jeremiah were strong ones. Undoubtedly, the majority of God’s people were genuine, but they were not strong. We find the same thing in the New Testament. Although there were thousands of Christians in the early days, not that many were truly strong. Even at present there are thousands, even millions, of Christians, but not many are strong. I encourage you all to be strong.

We should not only be part of the woman but also part of the man-child… The man-child consists of the resurrected overcomers. That the man-child “is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod” (Rev. 12:5) indicates that the man-child consists of the overcomers as mentioned in 2:26-27. These overcomers are those who have already died.

Revelation 12:5 says that the woman “brought forth” the man-child. Brought forth here signifies resurrection, as in Acts 13:33-34. The man-child is composed of the overcoming saints who have died and who have been resurrected. This is proved by the words unto death in Revelation 12:11. The Lord Jesus was brought forth in resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God. To Him that was a birth. Acts 13:33 and 34, a quotation of Psalm 2:7, reveal that when He was resurrected, He was begotten as the firstborn Son of God. Prior to that, He was the only begotten Son of God with divinity, but through His resurrection He was begotten as the firstborn Son of God with both divinity and humanity. All the overcomers who die will be part of the man-child. By resurrection the man-child will come into full existence…If you are an overcomer today and live until the Lord comes back, you will not be a part of the man-child. Instead, you may be among the firstfruits mentioned in Revelation 14. But if you are an overcomer and die before the Lord comes back, you will be resurrected to be part of the man-child.

Revelation 12:5 also says that the man-child “was caught up to God and to His throne.” To be caught up is to be raptured. The rapture of the man-child differs from that of the majority of the believers, which is mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. There, the majority of the believers are raptured to the air and at the last trumpet (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thes. 4:16), which is the seventh trumpet (Rev. 11:15). But here, the man-child is raptured to the throne of God and before the one thousand two hundred and sixty days, which is the time of the great tribulation of three and a half years (forty-two months, 12:14; 13:5; 11:2), beginning from the sixth seal, before the fifth trumpet (9:1). (Life-study of Revelation, pp. 400, 405-406, 412-413)

Further Reading: Life-study of Revelation, msgs. 34-36

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