晨興聖言-信徒(一)-(W03-4)
第三週 • 週四
晨興餧養
太五13 你們是地上的鹽；鹽若失了味，可用甚麼叫它再鹹？既無任何用處，只好丟在外面，任人踐踏了。
路十七32 你們要回想羅得的妻子。
大衛那次的停下，在宇宙中樹立了一個見證：宇宙中的事，只能出於神，不能出於人；這是第一。第二，不是在乎人為神作甚麼，乃是在乎神為人作甚麼。大衛要造一個聖殿給神；神說，祂要為大衛建立一個家，從那個家要興起一個國來。神對大衛說了這話後，大衛竟然兩次跌倒：一次殺了烏利亞，霸佔了烏利亞的妻子（撒下十一2~17、26~27）；一次是數點以色列人（二四1~10）。奇妙的是，大衛殺了烏利亞，與拔示巴生了一個兒子，就是所羅門；大衛因數點百姓被神懲治後，就在神指示的一塊地上獻祭，那塊地就是後來建造聖殿的基地（18~25，代下三1）。
蓋造聖殿的兒子和基地，都是大衛犯罪得赦免而得着的。…所有看見的人，都要低頭敬拜說，『不是人為神作了甚麼，乃是神為人作了甚麼。』…神只需要我們與祂配合，神不需要我們為祂作甚麼。…你要停下你的主張，停下你的定規，停下你的看法，讓祂說話，讓祂進來，讓祂發號施令；你只需要與祂配合（李常受文集一九五三年第一冊，三八六頁）。
信息選讀
馬太五章十三節的『你們』，專指在國度生活裏得勝的信徒。不僅如此，作地上的鹽是團體的事，不是個別的事。…國度子民這個團體的實體是地上的鹽。我們若是離開召會生活，就無法作這樣的鹽。
我們是地上的鹽，意思是我們防止地完全敗壞。…神所創造的地墮落了。就一面說，地成了腐化且敗壞的。但是鹽能彀殺菌、防腐，將東西保存在原初的光景裏。…因此，鹽的功用是要保存神所創造的。全地越來越腐化。…對敗壞的地，諸天之國的子民就是這個元素，防止地完全敗壞。他們有鹽殺菌、防腐的功能，而將東西保守在原初的光景裏，或將東西帶回神所創造的光景裏。
千年國來臨時，全地都要被鹽醃。地上一切的病菌都要徹底被消殺。全地不僅要被基督複得，也要被帶回神所創造的光景。這工作要由國度子民來完成。國度子民無論在哪裏，都該對他們週圍的人運用鹽的影響力。在我們的鄰舍中，我們該運用我們殺菌的功用。…我們若靈裏貧窮、哀慟、溫柔、公義、憐憫並清心尋求神，我們就有鹽的功用。不需要責備別人，或指出他們的錯誤和短處。他們會被我們的同在所醃。這就是作鹽消殺這敗壞之地病菌的意義（新約總論第五冊，一一三至一一四頁）。
羅得的妻子變成一根鹽柱，是因她留戀所多瑪，回頭觀望；這指明她貪愛並寶貝神即將審判並徹底毀滅的邪惡世界。她雖被救出所多瑪，卻沒有到達羅得所到的安全地方（創十九15~30）。她沒有滅亡，也沒有完全得救。她就像失了味的鹽（路十四34~35），被撇在蒙羞之地。這對貪愛世界的信徒，是個嚴肅的警告（路加福音生命讀經，三八七頁）。
參讀：路加福音生命讀經，第三十三、三十九篇。
WEEK 3 — DAY 4
Morning Nourishment
Matt.
5:13 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt has become
tasteless, with what shall it be salted? It is no longer good for
anything except to be cast out and trampled underfoot by men.
Luke 17:32 Remember Lot’s wife.
David’s
stopping established a twofold testimony in the universe. First, all
the work in the universe should come from God, not from man. Second, all
that matters is what God does for man, not what man does for God. David
wanted to build a temple for God, but God said that He would build a
house for David from which a kingdom would come forth. Even after God
spoke this word to David, he fell twice. First, he murdered Uriah and
usurped his wife Bath-sheba (2 Sam. 11:2-17, 26-27). Second, he numbered
the children of Israel (24:1-10). It is amazing that after the murder
of Uriah, Bath- sheba bore David a son, Solomon, and after David was
chastised by God for numbering the people, he offered sacrifices on a
piece of land, as instructed by God, which later became the site for the
building of the temple (vv. 18-25; 1 Chron. 21:1; 2 Chron. 3:1).
The
son and the site for the building of the temple both came out of
David’s being forgiven of his sins. Those who can see this will bow
their head and worship God, saying, “It is not we who can do something
for You, but You who does something for man.”…God wants only our
cooperation; He does not need us to do anything for Him…We must stop all
our opinions, decisions, and ideas; we need to let Him speak, let Him
come in, and let Him command. All we need to do is cooperate with Him.
(CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” p. 284)
Todays Reading
The
“you” in Matthew 5:13 refers to the overcoming believers in the kingdom
life. Furthermore, being the salt of the earth is a corporate matter,
not an individual matter…It is as a corporate entity that the kingdom
people are the salt of the earth. If we separate ourselves from the
church life, we cannot be such salt.
For
us to be the salt of the earth means that we keep the earth from being
fully corrupted…The earth, which was created by God, has become fallen.
In a sense, it has become rotten and corrupted. But salt kills germs,
eliminates rottenness, and preserves things in their original
condition…Hence, the function of salt is to preserve what God has
created. The entire earth is becoming more and more rotten…To the
corrupted earth the people of the kingdom of the heavens are the element
that keeps the earth from being fully corrupted. They have the salting
function of killing germs, eliminating rottenness, and keeping things in
their original condition or bringing them back to their God-created
condition.
When
the millennial kingdom comes, the whole earth will be salted. All the
germs on earth will be utterly killed, and the whole earth will be not
only regained by Christ but also brought back to its God-created
condition. This work will be done by the kingdom people. Wherever the
kingdom people are, they should exercise a salting influence over those
around them. In our neighborhoods we should exercise our function of
killing germs…If we are poor in spirit, mourning, meek, righteous,
merciful, and pure in seeking God, we shall have a salting function.
There will be no need to rebuke others or point out their mistakes
and shortcomings. They will be salted simply by our presence. This is
what it means to be the salt that kills the germs of this corrupted
earth. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1157-1158)
Lot’s
wife became a pillar of salt because she took a lingering look backward
at Sodom. That look indicated that she loved and treasured the evil
world that God was about to judge and utterly destroy. She was rescued
from Sodom, but she did not reach the safe place that Lot reached (Gen.
19:15-30). She did not perish; neither was she fully saved. Like the
salt that becomes tasteless (Luke 14:34-35), she was left in a place of
shame. This is a solemn warning to world-loving believers. (Life-study
of Luke, p. 328)
Further Reading: Life-study of Luke, msgs. 33, 39
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