第七週 • 週二
晨興餧養
啟二一2 我又看見聖城新耶路撒冷由神那裏從天而降，豫備好了，就如新婦妝飾整齊，等候丈夫。
創二八17 他就懼怕，說，這地方何等可畏！這不是別的，乃是神的家，也是天的門。
新耶路撒冷乃是神與人的調和，是神和人調在一起的東西。啟示錄告訴我們，新耶路撒冷由神那裏從天而降，所以在新耶路撒冷裏，滿了天的成分，是完全屬天的。另一面，新耶路撒冷又是神住在人中間；並且這個新耶路撒冷，是個團體的人。所以，新耶路撒冷是天，是神，又是人。這乃是聖經的啟示。…神歷世歷代作工的最終結果，乃是要得着一個奧秘的東西，是天、神、人三合一調在一起的東西。
當新天新地新耶路撒冷，從天降到新地上時，這個三合一的東西就在地上了。…天、神、人三者調成了一個，就是新耶路撒冷（基督徒生命成熟的路，五一頁）。
信息選讀
〔伯特利〕是在地上，卻是聯於天，所以雅各稱之為天的門。當我們在地上的召會，神的家中時，我們能進入天的門，並且藉着基督這天梯，能看見並經歷天上的事（聖經恢復本，創二八註2）。
希伯來四章十六節所說的寶座，毫無疑問，是指天上神的寶座（啟四2）。神的寶座，對全宇宙是掌權的寶座（但七9，啟五1），但對我們信徒，卻成了施恩的寶座，由至聖所裏的遮罪蓋（施恩座）所表徵（出二五17、21）。…當我們還活在地上時，怎能來到天上神和羔羊（基督）的寶座前？秘訣在於希伯來四章十二節所說我們的靈。那在天上坐在寶座上的基督（羅八34），現今也在我們裏面（10），就是在我們的靈裏（提後四22），這靈就是神居所的所在（弗二22）。伯特利是神的家，神的居所，也是天的門；在那裏基督是梯子，把地聯於天，並把天帶到地（創二八12~17，約一51）。我們的靈今天既是神居所的所在，這靈就是天的門，在這裏基督是梯子，把我們在地上的人聯於天，並把天帶給我們。因此，每當我們轉到靈裏，就能進入天的門，藉着基督作天梯，摸着天上施恩的寶座（聖經恢復本，來四16注1）。
根據新約的整個啟示，基督徒工作的獨一目標該是新耶路撒冷，就是神永遠經綸終極的目標。…今天在一般的基督徒當中，幾乎沒有人的目標是正確的。他們在那裏追求屬靈、聖潔、傳福音救靈魂、設立神學院教導神學、聖經，但幾乎沒有人答覆說，他們所以作這些，目標是要終極完成新耶路撒冷。
召會的墮落，主要的是由於這個事實：幾乎所有的基督工人都被岔開，以新耶路撒冷之外的許多事物為他們的目標。因此，在召會的墮落下，我們要作一個得勝者答應主的呼召，就不僅需要勝過消極的事物，更需要勝過那些頂替新耶路撒冷為目標的積極事物。…要成為得勝者，我們應當以神永遠經綸的目標，就是新耶路撒冷，為獨一無二且終極無比的目標（如何作同工與長老，並如何履行同工與長老的義務，五○、五二至五三頁）。
參讀：基督徒生命成熟的路，第四篇；如何作同工與長老，並如何履行同工與長老的義務，第三篇。
WEEK 7 — DAY 2
Morning Nourishment
Rev. 21:2 "And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."
Gen. 28:17 "And he was afraid and said, How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
The New Jerusalem is a mingling of God and man, something of God mingled with man. Revelation tells us that the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven from God. This implies that the New Jerusalem is filled with the element of heaven and is absolutely heavenly. On the other hand, the New Jerusalem is God abiding among man. It is a corporate man. Therefore, the New Jerusalem is something of heaven, God, and also man. This is the revelation in the Bible....The ultimate issue of the work of God in every age is to gain something mystical, that is, something of God, man, and heaven mingled together.
When the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven to the earth, this union of God, heaven, and man will be on the earth....Heaven, God, and man will be mingled into one as the New Jerusalem. (The Way for a Christian to Mature in Life, p. 51)
Today's Reading
[Bethel] was a place on earth, but it was joined to heaven; hence, Jacob called it the gate of heaven. While we are in the church, the house of God, on earth, we can enter the gate of heaven, and through Christ as the heavenly ladder we can see and experience the things of heaven. (Gen. 28:17, footnote 1)
Undoubtedly, the throne mentioned in Hebrews 4:12 is the throne of God, which is in heaven (Rev. 4:2). The throne of God is the throne of authority toward all the universe (Dan. 7:9; Rev. 5:1). But toward us, the believers, it becomes the throne of grace, signified by the expiation cover (the mercy seat) within the Holy of Holies (Exo. 25:17, 21)....How can we come to the throne of God and the Lamb, Christ, in heaven while we still live on earth? The secret is our spirit, referred to in Hebrews 4:12. The very Christ who is sitting on the throne in heaven (Rom. 8:34) is also now in us (Rom. 8:10), that is, in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22), where the habitation of God is (Eph. 2:22). At Bethel, the house of God, the habitation of God, which is the gate of heaven, Christ is the ladder that joins earth to heaven and brings heaven to earth (Gen. 28:12-17; John 1:51). Since today our spirit is the place of God’s habitation, it is now the gate of heaven, where Christ is the ladder that joins us, the people on earth, to heaven, and brings heaven to us. Hence, whenever we turn to our spirit, we enter through the gate of heaven and touch the throne of grace in heaven through Christ as the heavenly ladder. (Heb. 4:16, footnote 1)
According to the entire revelation of the New Testament, the unique goal of the Christian work should be the New Jerusalem, which is the ultimate goal of God’s eternal economy....Today among Christians in general, nearly no one has a proper goal. They pursue being spiritual, being holy, preaching the gospel to win souls, and establishing seminaries to teach theology and the Bible, yet hardly anyone can say that they are doing these things with the goal of consummating the New Jerusalem.
The degradation of the church is mainly due to the fact that nearly all Christian workers have been distracted to take many things other than the New Jerusalem as their goal. Hence, under the degradation of the church, to be overcomers answering the Lord’s call, we need to overcome not only the negative things but even more the positive things which replace the New Jerusalem as the goal....To be overcomers we should take the goal of God’s eternal economy, the New Jerusalem, as our unique and ultimate goal. (How to Be a Co-worker and an Elder and How to Fulfill Their Obligations, pp. 49, 51-52)
Further Reading: The Way for a Christian to Mature in Life, ch. 4; How to Be a Co-worker and an Elder and How to Fulfill Their Obligations, ch. 3
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