晨興聖言-經歷、享受並彰顯基督(四)(W48-6)
第四十八週.週六
晨興餧養
啟二二7 『看哪,我必快來!凡遵守這書上豫言之話的有福了。』
20 『見證這些事的說,是的,我必快來!阿們。主耶穌阿,我願你來!』
〔啟示錄二十二章二十節〕的上半是主在這章第三次警告我們,祂必快來;下半是使徒約翰的禱告,也是他對主警告的響應,這也是聖經中最後的禱告。我們聽過本書的話之後,都該有同樣的禱告和響應:『主耶穌阿,我願你來!』這是約翰的渴望發表成為禱告。因此整本聖經結束於我們對主再來的渴望發表成為禱告。(啟示錄生命讀經,八九六頁。)
信息選讀
〔提後四章一節〕是保羅將要殉道之時的勸勉。他說那美好的仗他已經打過了,當跑的賽程他已經跑盡了,當守的信仰他已經守住了;在審判臺前他必要得公義的冠冕為賞賜;這冠冕也要賜給凡愛慕主顯現的人。(6~8。)他以審判和國度題醒提摩太,要過一個愛慕主顯現的生活;這對我們也是一個題醒,這會叫我們不灰心、不退後、不軟弱,反而忠心到底。
在第一世紀末了,主說,『看哪,我必快來!』(啟二二12,)好使我們看重在祂回來時的賞罰;這是主的警告。…我們不該以為,主已容忍這情況十九個世紀多,祂會慢慢回來。我們需要看看今天世界的局勢。我們不知道往後幾天內會發生甚麼事情。在今世,事情發生得很快。所以,我們必須儆醒禱告。我們也必須在靈裏並在日常生活中豫備好。願主遮蓋我們,使我們作個儆醒、禱告、並且豫備好的人。
主還沒有回來,因為祂還沒有得著祂所想望的。祂渴望得著一個身體彰顯祂,得著一個可愛的新婦滿足祂的心。當主說祂要快來時,乃是照著祂的時間觀念,不是照著我們的時間觀念。這裏的重點是:神正在慢慢作工,將祂自己分賜到我們裏面。我們需要看見,我們的生命若成熟得早,主便能早來。
主耶穌回來時,不但要審判消極的事物,也要迎娶祂的新婦。這就是說,祂來是要作審判者,也要作新郎。…主要來作新郎,新婦就必須為祂豫備好。…因著新婦還沒有豫備好,我們可以說,主的來可能不會像有些人所期待的那樣快。
這裏的原則乃是:生命越高等,其生長就越緩慢。…新婦必須為新郎豫備好,而這豫備是藉著在生命裏的長大;長大是需要時間的。我們不該因著主耽延祂的回來就歸咎於祂,乃該殷勤豫備自己迎見祂。我們也該供應生命給別人,使他們長大並豫備好。
只有懶惰、閒懶的僕人纔說,『我的主人必來得遲。』(太二四48下。)然而,主正加速祂的回來;祂的回來將不會太久,就在召會時代結束之前。我們必須看見,召會是基督的身體…。主還沒有回來,因為身體還沒有在地上顯現。
在基督身體裏生活的實際乃是神聖的交通。歷世紀以來,主一直受阻撓,就是因著缺少交通。主還沒有回來,因為信徒是個人主義、單獨、有意見、且是製造分裂的。…在地上必須有一些遺民,他們會回應主的心,並甘心放棄自己的個人主義,好同被建造成為一個身體。(新約總論第十四冊,四○一至四○三頁。)
參讀:神聖分賜的異象與新路實行的指引,第四篇。
WEEK 48 — DAY 6
Morning Nourishment
Rev. 22:7 And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this scroll.
20 He who testifies these things says, Yes, I come quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
The first part of Revelation 22:20 is the Lord’s third warning that He is coming quickly. The last part is the apostle John’s prayer and response to the Lord’s warning. It is also the last prayer in the Bible. After reading this book, we should have such a prayer and response —”Come, Lord Jesus!”…The whole Bible is concluded with the desire for the Lord’s coming expressed as a prayer. (Life-study of Revelation, p. 751)
Today’s Reading
[Second Timothy 4:1] is an exhortation from Paul immediately before his martyrdom. He says that he had fought the good fight, finished the course, and kept the faith, and that at the judgment seat he would be awarded the crown of righteousness, which would be awarded to all those who have loved His appearing (vv. 6-8). He reminded Timothy that by the Lord’s judgment and kingdom we should have a living that loves the Lord’s appearing. This is also a reminder to us, and this will cause us not to be discouraged, not to backslide, and not to become weak but to remain faithful to the end.
At the end of the first century, the Lord said, “Behold, I come quickly,” (Rev. 22:12) so that we would consider His reward to be rendered at His coming back. This is the Lord’s warning…We should not think that because the Lord has been tolerating the situation for more than nineteen centuries, He is slow to come back. We need to look at the world situation today. We do not know what will happen within the next few days. In this age things happen very quickly. Therefore, we must pray and be watchful. We must also be prepared in spirit and in our daily life. May the Lord cover us so that we may be a watchful, praying, and prepared people.
The Lord has still not come, because He does not yet have what He desires. He is after a Body to express Him and a dear bride to satisfy His heart. When the Lord said that He would come soon, He spoke according to His sense of time, not according to ours. The point here is that God is working slowly to dispense Himself into us. We need to see that the quicker our life matures, the sooner the Lord will return.
When the Lord Jesus comes back, He will not only judge the negative things but also receive His bride. This means that He will come both as the Judge and as the Bridegroom…For the Lord to come as the Bridegroom, the bride must be prepared for Him…Because the bride is not yet ready, we may say that it is possible that the Lord’s coming will not be as soon as some expect.
The principle here is that the higher the life is, the slower it grows…The bride must be prepared for the Bridegroom, and this preparation is through the growth in life, a growth that requires time. Instead of blaming the Lord for delaying His coming, we should be diligent to prepare ourselves to meet Him. We should also minister life to others so that they may grow and be prepared.
Only the lazy, idle servant says, “My master delays” (Matt. 24:48b). The Lord, however, is hastening His coming, and it will not be long before the church age is ended. We must see that the church is the Body of Christ…The Lord has not yet returned, because the Body has not yet been manifested on the earth.
The reality of living in the Body of Christ is the divine fellowship. The Lord has been frustrated throughout the centuries because of the lack of fellowship. The Lord has not come back because the believers are individualistic, independent, opinionated, and divisive…There must be a remnant that will respond to the Lord’s heart and be willing to lose their individualism in order to be built up together as one Body. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 4449-4451)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1990, vol. 3, “The Vision of the Divine Dispensing and Guidelines for the Practice of the New Way,” ch. 4
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