晨興聖言-信徒(一)-(W02-6)

第二週 • 週六

W02-d6-ch

晨興餧養

路十八1~3 耶穌又對他們講一個比喻,是要人常常禱告,不可灰心,說,某城裏有一個審判官,不懼怕神,也不尊重人。那城裏有個寡婦,常到他那裏,說,我有一個對頭,求你給我伸冤。

 

路加十八章三節的寡婦表徵信徒。就某種意義說,在基督裏的信徒在今世是寡婦,因他們的丈夫基督(林後十一2)不在他們這裏了。

主在這個比喻中指明,基督裏的信徒有一個對頭,就是魔鬼撒但,對這對頭我們需要神的伸冤。我們應當為此恒切禱告(見啟六9~10),不可灰心。

照路加十八章四節看,那審判官多時不肯為寡婦伸冤。然後他心裏說,『我雖不懼怕神,也不尊重人,只因這寡婦常常攪擾我,我就給她伸冤罷,免得她不斷來纏磨我。』(4~5)接着,主說,『你們聽這不義的審判官所說的。神的選民晝夜呼籲祂,祂縱然為他們忍耐着,豈不終久給他們伸冤麼?我告訴你們,祂要快快的給他們伸冤了。然而,人子來的時候,在地上找得到信心麼?』(6~8)主在八節的話指明,神報復我們的仇敵,乃是在救主回來的時候(路加福音生命讀經,三九八至三九九頁)。

信息選讀

三一神是給人享受的,但是墮落的人類對這事完全沒有觀念,完全沒有知覺。世界的人忙着嫁娶、買賣、栽種、蓋造(路十七27~28)。他們沒有想到神是他們的享受,因為他們都被麻醉了。所以,主在從加利利到耶路撒冷的漫長旅程上,幾次論到這件事。比方,祂在路加十四章告訴門徒,他們必須恨惡這世代的事物,甚至需要恨惡自己的魂生命,因為凡打岔他們享受基督的事物,他們都該恨惡。在十七章主又說到,被麻醉的世代阻止神的百姓享受神聖的產業。主在十八章再次論到這件事以前,向我們揭示與我們享受禧年有關的另一件事,就是從我們對頭來的逼迫。

我們需要領悟,我們這些神的百姓,在這被麻醉且麻醉人的世代中,就像寡婦一樣。就某種意義說,主,我們的丈夫,已經不在了。不僅如此,我們有一個一直在逼迫我們的對頭。

主也向祂的門徒啟示,當我們尋求祂時,需要恨惡任何阻撓我們享受祂的事物。不僅如此,我們在享受祂時,會遭受逼迫。這逼迫來自我們的對頭,他是神的仇敵,也成了我們的仇敵,因我們站在神這一邊。

十八章一至八節的比喻指明,當主表面上不在的期間,我們從我們的對頭所受的苦難。實際上主沒有離去,祂與我們同在。但當祂表面上不在的期間,我們是寡婦,反對我們的人一直在攪擾我們。

我們的神似乎是不義的,因為祂允許祂的兒女遭受不義的逼迫。比方,施浸者約翰被斬,彼得殉道,保羅下監,約翰被放逐。…甚至今天我們仍遭受不義的錯待。

當我們的丈夫表面上不在,留我們在地上如同寡婦的時候,我們的神暫時好像是不義的審判官。雖然祂看似不義,但我們仍要向祂求訴,恆切禱告,一再的煩擾祂(路加福音生命讀經,四○○至四○二、四○四頁)。

參讀:路加福音生命讀經,第四十篇。

WEEK 2 — DAY 6

W02-d6-en

Morning Nourishment

Luke 18:1-3 And He told them a parable to the end that they ought always to pray and not lose heart, saying, There was a certain judge in a certain city who did not fear God and did not regard man. And there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, Avenge me of my opponent.

The widow in Luke 18:3 signifies the believers. In a sense, the believers in Christ are a widow in the present age because their Husband, Christ (2 Cor. 11:2), is absent from them.

In this parable the Lord indicated that the believers in Christ have an opponent. This opponent is Satan the devil, concerning whom we need God’s avenging. We ought to pray persistently for this avenging (see Rev. 6:9-10) and should not lose heart.

According to Luke 18:4, the judge for a time would not avenge the widow of her opponent. Then he said within himself, “Even though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow causes me trouble, I will avenge her, lest by continually coming she wear me out” (vv. 4-5). Following this, the Lord went on to say, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God by all means carry out the avenging of His chosen ones, who cry to Him day and night, though He is long-suffering over them? I tell you that He will carry out their avenging quickly. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (vv. 6-8). The Lord’s word in verse 8 indicates that God’s avenging us of our enemy will be at the Savior’s coming back. (Life- study of Luke, p. 337)

Todays Reading

The Triune God is for man’s enjoyment. Nevertheless, the fallen human race has no concept of this whatever; it has no sense concerning it at all. The people of the world are busy with marrying and giving in marriage, with buying and selling, with planting and building (Luke 17:27-28). They have no thought concerning God being their enjoyment, for they all have been drugged, stupefied. Therefore, in His long journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, the Lord touched this matter a few times. For example, in chapter 14 He told His disciples that they must hate the things of this generation. They even need to hate their own soul-life, for they should hate anything that distracts them from the enjoyment of Christ. In chapter 17 the Lord came to this point again when He spoke about the stupefied generation, which keeps God’s people away from their enjoyment of the divine inheritance. Before He touched this matter again in chapter 18, He unveiled something else that concerns our enjoyment of the jubilee, and this is the persecution that comes from our opponent.

We need to realize that as God’s people in this stupefied and stupefying generation, we are like a widow. In a sense, our Husband, the Lord, is absent. Furthermore, we have an opponent who is constantly persecuting us.

The Lord’s word to His disciples reveals that while we are seeking Him, we need to hate any thing and any matter that frustrate us from our enjoyment of Him. Furthermore, as we are enjoying Him, we will suffer persecution. This persecution comes from our opponent, the one who is the enemy of God and who has become our enemy because we take sides with God.

The parable in 18:1-8 indicates the suffering we have from our opponent during the Lord’s apparent absence. Actually, the Lord is not absent; He is present. But during His apparent absence, we are a widow whose opposer is troubling her all the time.

It seems that our God is not righteous, for He allows His children to be unrighteously persecuted. For example, John the Baptist was beheaded, Peter was martyred, Paul was imprisoned, and John was exiled…Even today we are still undergoing unrighteous mistreatment.

When our Husband is apparently absent and we are left on earth as a widow, temporarily our God seems to be an unrighteous judge. Although He appears to be unrighteous, we still must appeal to Him, pray persistently, and bother Him again and again. (Life-study of Luke, pp. 338-339, 341)

Further Reading: Life-study of Luke, msg. 40

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