晨興聖言-亞伯拉罕、以撒、雅各的神-(W3-6)

第三週■週六

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晨興餧養

加四 26『但那在上的耶路撒冷是自主的,她是我們的母。』

來十二 22 ~ 23『但你們乃是來到錫安山,來到活神的城,屬天的耶路撒冷,…來到…眾長子的召會…。』

加拉太四章二十六至二十八節和三十一節,啓示新耶路撒冷是信徒的母。這位母親就是在上的耶路撒冷,屬天的耶路撒冷。…新耶路撒冷,屬天的耶路撒冷,在上的耶路撒冷,是我們的母親,這位母親乃是恩典的新約。新約是我們的母,因爲她生出我們作自由的兒女。(新約總論第八册,一四三頁。)

信息選讀

撒拉表徵在上的耶路撒冷,也表徵新約。這指明新耶路撒冷就是新約。…一面,新耶路撒冷是新約;另一面,新約產生新耶路撒冷。這是主對亞伯拉罕所應許的,也是亞伯拉罕所仰望並等候的。

在加拉太四章那是我們之母的婦人,就是新約。我們已經生在新約之下,而那在上的耶路撒冷乃是我們的母。這婦人是新約並我們的母,我們的母乃是神的恩典。在希伯來十二章,我們乃是來到由我們信徒所組成的召會。…我們與召會是一。在加拉太四章,新耶路撒冷作我們的母,原則是一樣的。這婦人是眾子,眾子也就是母。此外,這母是恩典,恩典也就是母,因爲我們都已經從恩典並藉着恩典而生。這母也是新約,並且新約就是母。最終,新約還是聖城,那在上的耶路撒冷。

至終,這母,就是在上的耶路撒冷,乃與父是一。父是賜恩者;恩典就是約;約又是城,就是那在上的耶路撒冷,她是我們的母;母所產生的眾子,乃是母的組成成分;母歸回於父,與父成爲一,乃是由父而出,然後歸回於父這目的地。

接受並遵守新約,就是來到屬天的耶路撒冷和召會這裏。(來八 7 ~ 13,十二 22 ~ 23。)新約、屬天的耶路撒冷、和召會乃是一。要領會這點,我們必須看見加拉太書和希伯來書之間的連結。加拉太書對付猶太教,警告信徒不要退回到猶太教,乃要留在恩典裏。希伯來書囑咐我們不要漂回到舊約,乃要留在新約裏。希伯來七至十章論到更美之約,就是新約。八章指明舊約過去了,新約已經進來取而代之。然後在十二章保羅告訴我們,我們已經來到錫安山,來到活神的城,來到召會。(22 ~ 23。)

信徒的母,乃是亞伯拉罕所仰望的城。『他等候那座有根基的城,其設計者並建築者乃是神。』(十一 10。)希伯來十二章二十二節指明這座城是甚麼,這節告訴我們,我們乃是來到屬天的耶路撒冷,就是基督的妻並新約信徒的母這裏,這母是由神的眾子所組成,而眾子乃是由她而生。因此,亞伯拉罕所等候並我們所來到的城,乃是基督的妻。

神揀選亞伯拉罕作新族類的父,與新耶路撒冷並我們對她的領會相關聯。神揀選亞伯拉罕,目的不僅是要將墮落的人類恢復到起初神創造人的情形裏;反之,神揀選亞伯拉罕,目的乃是要完成祂的經綸。…神揀選亞伯拉罕,目的不是要將人恢復到在神創造裏人起初的情形,乃是要產生許多的兒子。神在亞伯拉罕身上所作的一切,從頭一步到末了一步,都是按照這原則。(新約總論第八册,一四一至一四二、一四四、一三四、一三六頁。)

參讀:新約總論,第二百五十五篇。

WEEK 3 — DAY 6

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Morning Nourishment

Gal. 4:26 But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother.

Heb. 12:22-23 But you have come forward to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem;…and to the church of the firstborn…

Galatians 4:26-28 and 31 reveal that the New Jerusalem is the mother of the believers. This mother is the Jerusalem above, the heavenly Jerusalem… The New Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem, the Jerusalem above, is our mother, and this mother is the new covenant of grace. The new covenant is our mother because it brought us forth as children of freedom. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2673)

Todays Reading

Sarah signifies both the Jerusalem from above and the new covenant, the new testament. This indicates that the New Jerusalem is the new covenant… On the one hand, the New Jerusalem is the new covenant; on the other hand, the new covenant produces the New Jerusalem. This is what the Lord promised to Abraham, and this is what Abraham looked to and waited for.

The woman who is our mother in Galatians 4 is the new covenant. We have been born under the new covenant, and the Jerusalem from above is our mother. This woman is the new covenant and our mother, and our mother is the grace of God. In Hebrews 12 we have come to the church, which is composed of us as believers…We and the church are one. The principle is the same with the New Jerusalem as our mother in Galatians 4. The woman is the sons, and the sons are the mother. Furthermore, the mother is grace, and grace is the mother, because we all have been born of grace and through grace. This mother is also the new covenant, and the new covenant is the mother. Finally, the new covenant is also the holy city, Jerusalem from above.

Eventually, the mother, Jerusalem from above, is one with the Father. The Father is the grace-giver; the grace is the covenant; the covenant is the city, the Jerusalem above, who is our mother; the sons produced by the mother are the components of the mother; and the mother returns to the Father to be one with Him, having come out from the Father and then going back to the Father as the destination.

To receive the new covenant and to keep it is to come to the heavenly Jerusalem and to the church (Heb. 8:7-13; 12:22-23). The new covenant, the heavenly Jerusalem, and the church are one. In order to understand this we need to see the link between Galatians and Hebrews. Galatians deals with Judaism, warning the believers not to backslide into Judaism but to stay in grace. Hebrews charges us not to drift into the old covenant but to remain in the new covenant. Hebrews 7 through 10 are on the better covenant, the new covenant. Hebrews 8 indicates that the old covenant is over and that the new covenant has come in to replace it. Then…Paul tells us that we have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, and to the church (12:22-23).

The mother of the believers is the city for which Abraham was looking. “He eagerly waited for the city which has the foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God” (11:10). This city is identified in Hebrews 12:22, which tells us that we have come to the heavenly Jerusalem, the wife of Christ and the mother of the New Testament believers composed of the sons of God, who have been born of her. The wife of Christ is thus the city for which Abraham was waiting and to which we have come.

God’s choosing Abraham to be the father of the new race is related to the New Jerusalem and to our understanding of it. In choosing Abraham it was not God’s intention simply to restore fallen man to his original, God-created condition. Rather, in choosing Abraham, God’s intention was to carry out His economy…God’s intention in choosing Abraham was not to restore man to man’s original condition in God’s creation but to bring forth many sons. All that God did with Abraham from the first step to the last was according to this principle. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2671-2672, 2674, 2667-2668)

Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 255

 

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