第五週■週一
晨興餧養
太六5 ～ 6『你們禱告的時候，不可像那假冒爲善的人，因爲他們愛站在會堂裏，並十字街口禱告，爲要叫人看見。我實在告訴你們，他們已經充分的得了他們的賞賜。你禱告的時候，要進你的密室，關上門，禱告你在隱密中的父，你父在隱密中察看，必要報答你。』
人那尋求榮耀自己的肉體，總想在人前行善，得人稱讚。但國度子民在國度屬天的管治之下，活在倒空、謙卑的靈裏，以純潔、單一的心行事，就不可在肉體裏作甚麼，得人的稱讚；乃是必須凡事行在靈裏，討他們天父的喜悅。
對於國度子民，神不僅是他們的神，也是他們的父；他們不僅是神所創造的，也是父所重生的；他們不僅有人受造的天然生命，也有神非受造的屬靈生命。因此，王在山上將國度的新律法頒佈給他們，用意是要他們不憑着人墮落的生命，乃憑着父永遠的神聖生命來遵行；不是要得人的榮耀，乃是要得父的賞賜。（馬太福音生命讀經，二八八頁。）
信息選讀
在〔馬太六章〕這三個例證當中，主都使用了『隱密』這辭。（4，6，18。）我們必須在隱密中行義，因爲我們的父是在隱密中。在四節主說，我們的父在隱密中察看。國度子民是天父的兒女，必須活在父的同在裏，並顧到父的同在。他們在隱密中爲着父的國所作的，父都在隱密中察看。天父在隱密中的察看，必是他們在隱密中行義的激勵。在這節主也說，父必要報答我們。這可能發生在今世，（林後九10 ～11，）或在來世作爲賞賜。（路十四14。）
在隱密中行義，結果乃是殺死己和肉體。今天如果不允許人在社會上顯揚他們的善行，他們就不幹了。…對我們國度子民而言，關於義行的基本原則是絕不要顯揚自己。盡可能隱藏自己、遮蓋自己、並在隱密中行事。我們該隱藏到一個地步，正如主耶穌所說的，左手不知道右手所作的。（太六3。）這就是說，我們不該讓別人知道我們所作的。
雖然主說到賞賜，（1，5，）但這裏重要的事不是賞賜，乃是在生命裏長大。在明處長大的聖徒，不是健康的長大。我們都需要一些生命中隱密的長大，一些對基督隱密的經歷。我們需要隱密的禱告主、敬拜主、接觸主、並與主交通，也許連最親近我們的人，也不知道或領會我們在作甚麼。我們需要這些對主隱密的經歷，因爲這樣的經歷殺死我們的己和我們的肉體。雖然怒氣和情慾很醜陋，但最阻撓我們生命長大的乃是己。己是最明顯的，它喜歡公開在人面前行事。己喜歡在人面前行義。我們都必須承認，我們有這樣的己，沒有一人例外。那些行事總要公開顯揚的人，就是滿了己，滿了肉體。己喜愛得榮耀，肉體喜愛被人注視。也許你從未聽過一篇信息，說到這些經節是對付己和肉體。每當我們來到這段話時，我們必須領悟這段話乃是暴露我們的己和我們的肉體。（馬太福音生命讀經，二八八至二九一頁。）
參讀：馬太福音生命讀經，第二十一篇；李常受文集一九五六年第二册，一九五六年『話語職事』拾遺，附錄—自隱的神。
WEEK 5 — DAY 1
Morning Nourishment
Matt. 6:5-6 And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, enter into your private room, and shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
Man’s flesh, seeking to glorify itself, always wants to do good deeds before men in order to gain men’s praise. But the kingdom people, who live in an emptied and humbled spirit and walk in a pure and single heart under the heavenly ruling of the kingdom, are not allowed to do anything in the flesh to gain the praise of men but must do all things in the spirit to please their heavenly Father.
To the kingdom people God is not only their God but also their Father. They are not only created by God but also regenerated by the Father. They have not only the created, natural human life but also the uncreated, spiritual divine life. Hence, the new law of the kingdom, decreed by the King on the mountain, is given to them with the intention that they should keep it not by their fallen human life but by the Father’s eternal, divine life, not to gain man’s glory but to receive the Father’s reward. (Life-study of Matthew, p. 242)
Todays Reading
Regarding each of the three illustrations, the Lord used the word secret (Matt. 6:4, 6,18). We must do our righteous deeds in secret, for our Father is in secret. In verse 4 the Lord said that our Father sees in secret. The kingdom people, as children of the heavenly Father, must live in the presence of the Father and care for the Father’s presence. Whatever they do in secret for the Father’s kingdom is seen in secret by the Father. The heavenly Father’s seeing in secret must be an incentive to doing their righteous deeds in secret. In this verse the Lord also said that the Father will repay us. This may occur in this age (2 Cor. 9:10-11) or as a reward in the coming age (Luke 14:14).
The effect of doing our righteous deeds in secret is that the self and the flesh are killed. If people in society today are not allowed to make a show of their good deeds, they will not do them…For us as kingdom people, a basic principle concerning righteous deeds is never to make a show of ourselves. As much as possible, hide yourself, keep yourself covered, and do things in secret. We should be so hidden that, as the Lord Jesus said, our left hand does not know what our right hand is doing (Matt. 6:3). This means that we should not let others know what we are doing.
Although the Lord spoke about the matter of reward (vv. 1,5), the important thing here is not the reward but the growth in life. The saints who grow openly do not grow in a healthy way. We all need some secret growth in life, some secret experiences of Christ. We need to pray to the Lord, worship the Lord, contact the Lord, and fellowship with the Lord in a secret way. Perhaps not even the one closest to us will know or understand what we are doing. We need these secret experiences of the Lord because such experiences kill our self and our flesh. Although anger and lust are ugly, the thing that most frustrates us from growing in life is the self. The self is most visible in the fact that it enjoys doing things in a public way, in the presence of man. The self likes to do righteous deeds before man. We all must admit that, without exception, we have such a self. Those who always want to do things in such a way as to make a public show are full of self, full of the flesh. The self loves to be glorified, and the flesh loves to be gazed upon. Probably you have never heard a message on these verses that dealt with the self and the flesh. Whenever we come to this portion of the Word, we must realize that it exposes our self and our flesh. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 242-244)
Further Reading: Life-study of Matthew, msg. 21; CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “A God Who Hides Himself,” pp. 3-11
