第五週 • 綱目
基督作為那賜我們安息者
讀經：創一26、31~二2，太十一28~30，出三一12~17
週 一
壹 『凡勞苦擔重擔的，可以到我這裏來，我必使你們得安息。我心裏柔和謙卑，因此你們要負我的軛，且要跟我學，你們魂裏就必得安息；因為我的軛是容易的，我的擔子是輕省的』—太十一28~30：
一 這裏的勞苦不僅是指為了遵守律法誡命和宗教規條而努力的勞苦，也是指為了工作成功而奮鬥的勞苦；凡這樣勞苦的，總是擔重擔的。
二 主頌揚父，承認父的道路，並宣告神聖的經綸之後（25~27），便呼召這樣的人到祂這裏來得安息。
三 安息不僅是指從律法與宗教，或工作與責任的勞苦並重擔中得着釋放，也是指完全的平安和完滿的滿足。
四 負主的軛就是接受父的旨意；這不是受律法或宗教義務的規律或支配，也不是受任何工作的奴役，乃是受父旨意的約束。
五 主過這樣的生活，並不在意別的，只在意祂父的旨意（約四34，五30，六38）；祂將自己完全降服於父的旨意（太二六39、42）；因此，祂要我們跟祂學：
1 信徒照祂的榜樣負祂的軛—神的旨意—並為神的經綸勞苦，就在他們靈裏翻印主—十一29上，彼前二21。
2 主在祂的一生中服從並順從父，祂已將祂服從並順從的生命賜給我們—腓二5~11，來五7~9。
3 基督是第一個神人，我們是許多的神人；我們必須在祂絕對服從神，並完全以神為滿足的事上跟祂學。
4 神是在我們裏面，藉着耶穌基督，行祂看為可喜悅的事，使我們能實行祂的旨意（十三20~21）；神為着祂的美意在我們裏面運行，使我們立志並行事（腓二13）。
週 二
六 柔和，或，溫柔，意即不抵抗任何反對；謙卑，意即不重看自己；在一切的敵對中，主是柔和的；在一切的棄絕裏，祂心裏是謙卑的。
七 祂將自己完全降服於父的旨意，不為自己作甚麼，也不盼望為自己得甚麼；因此，無論環境如何，祂心裏都有安息；祂完全以父的旨意為滿足。
八 負主的軛、跟主學，就叫我們的魂得安息；這是裏面的安息，不是任何僅僅在本質上是外面的事物。
九 我們照着主的榜樣跟祂學，不是憑我們天然的生命，乃是憑祂在復活裏作我們的生命—弗四20~21，彼前二21。
十 主的軛是父的旨意，祂的擔子是將父旨意實行出來的工作；這樣的軛是容易的，不是痛苦的；這樣的擔子是輕省的，不是沉重的。
十一 『容易』的原文表明合用；因此是美好、親切、柔和、溫良、容易、愉快，與艱難、嚴酷、尖銳、痛苦相對。
十二 我們若負主的軛（父的旨意）且跟祂學，我們魂裏就必得安息；神經綸的軛就是如此；在神經綸中的每一件事，都不是重擔，乃是享受。
週 三
貳 在論到神居所的建造這一長段的記載之後，出埃及三十一章十二至十七節重申守安息日的誡命；按照歌羅西二章十六至十七節，基督是安息日之安息的實際；祂是我們的完成、安息、平靜和完全的滿足—來四7~9，賽三十15上：
一 在帳幕建造工作的囑咐之後插入關於安息日的話，指明主吩咐那些建造者，作工的人，為主作工時要學習如何與主一同安息。
二 倘若我們只知道如何為主作工，而不曉得如何與祂一同安息，我們就違背了神聖的原則：
1 神在第七日安息了，因為祂完成了祂的工，並且滿足了；神的榮耀得着彰顯，因為人有了祂的形像；祂的權柄也即將施行，以征服祂的仇敵撒但；只要人彰顯神並對付神的仇敵，神就得着滿足而能安息—創一26、31~二2。
2 後來第七日蒙記念為安息日（出二十8~11）；神的第七日乃是人的第一日。
3 神已經豫備好一切給人享受；人被造後，並不是加入神的工作，乃是進入神的安息。
4 人受造首先不是為了作工，乃是以神為滿足，並與神一同安息（參太十一28~30）；安息日是為人設立的，人不是為安息日創造的（可二27）。
週 四
三 出埃及三十一章十七節說，『六日之內耶和華造天地，第七日便安息舒暢』：
1 安息日不僅是神的安息，也是神的舒暢。
2 神創造的工完畢以後，便安息了；祂看着祂的工作，看看諸天，看看大地，看看所有的活物，特別看看人，就說，『甚好！』—創一31。
3 神是因人得着舒暢的；祂按着自己的形像造人，有一個靈，使人能與祂有交通；所以，人是神的舒暢—26節，二7，參約四31~34。
4 神創造人以前，是個『單身漢』（參創二18、22）；祂要人接受祂、愛祂、被祂充滿並彰顯祂，好成為祂的妻子（林後十一2，弗五25）；在將來的永遠裏，神要得着一個妻子，就是新耶路撒冷，稱為羔羊的妻（啟二一9~10）。
5 人就像一種令人舒暢的飲料，解除神的乾渴，並使祂滿足；神結束祂的工作，開始歇息時，就有人作祂的同伴。
6 對神而言，第七日是安息、舒暢的日子；然而，對作神同伴的人而言，安息、舒暢的日子是第一日；人的第一日乃是享受的日子。
四 在我們得着享受以前，神不會要求我們作工，這乃是一個神聖的原則；等到我們與祂一同並對祂有完滿的享受以後，就能與祂同工：
1 如果我們不曉得如何與神一同有享受，如何享受神自己，以及如何被神充滿，我們就不會曉得如何與祂同工，並在神聖的工作上與祂是一；人乃是享受神在祂的工作上所已經成就的。
週 五
2 五旬節那天門徒被那靈充滿，意即他們是充滿了對主的享受；因為他們被那靈充滿，別人就以為他們喝醉了酒—徒二4上、12~13。
3 事實上，他們是充滿了對屬天之酒的享受；他們被這種享受充滿以後，纔開始與神是一而與神同工；五旬節是第八週的第一日；因此，我們由五旬節看見了第一日的原則。
4 對神而言，是作工而安息；對人而言，是安息而作工。
五 我們在作神的神聖工作以建造召會（由建造帳幕的工作所豫表）時，必須帶着一個記號，指明我們是神的子民，並且我們需要祂；然後我們就能不僅為神作工，也與神是一而與神同工；祂是我們作工的力量，和勞苦的能力：
1 我們是神的子民，我們應當帶着一個記號，指明我們需要祂作我們的享受、力量、能力和一切，使我們能為祂作工，以尊崇祂並榮耀祂。
2 安息日的意思是：我們為神作工以前，必須享受神，並且被祂充滿；彼得憑着那充滿他的神、充滿他的靈傳福音；因此，彼得有一個記號，指明他是神的同工，而他的傳福音就是尊崇神、榮耀神—14節。
3 我們這些神的子民，必須帶着一個記號，指明我們是與神一同安息，享受神，並且先被神充滿，然後與充滿我們的那一位同工；此外，我們不僅與神同工，更與神是一而作工。
4 在我們對神子民的說話中，我們總要帶着一個記號，指明主是我們的力量、我們的能力和我們的一切，為着供應話語—林後十三3，徒六4。
週 六
六 守安息日也是一個永遠的合同，永遠的約，向神保證我們與祂是一，是藉着先享受祂、被祂充滿，然後才為祂作工、與祂同工並且與祂是一而作工—出三一16：
1 憑着我們自己為主作工，而不把祂接受進來，藉着喫喝祂而享受祂，乃是一件嚴重的事—參林前十二13，約六57。
2 彼得在五旬節那天說話的時候，他裏面有分於耶穌，喝祂並喫祂。
七 安息日也是聖別的事（出三一13）；我們享受主，然後與祂同工、為祂作工並與祂是一而作工，自然而然我們就聖別了，從凡俗的事物中分別歸神，被神浸透以頂替一切肉體和天然的事物。
八 在召會生活中，我們也許作了許多事情，而沒有先享受主，沒有與主是一而事奉；這樣的事奉導致屬靈的死亡，也失去身體的交通（14~15）。
九 凡與神居所有關的事，都將我們引到一件事—主的安息日及其安息與舒暢；在召會生活中，我們是在帳幕裏，而帳幕將我們引到安息，引到享受神所定意並作成的！
十 帳幕及其一切器物的建造工作（豫表主建造召會的工作）應當開始於對神的享受，而其間繼續有享受神而得的舒暢；這指明我們為神作工，不是憑着自己的力量，乃是藉着享受祂並與祂是一；這就是以基督作我們靈中內裏的安息而持守安息日的原則。
Week Five
Christ as the One Who Gives Us Rest
Hymns: E654
Scripture Reading: Gen. 1:26, 31—2:2; Matt. 11:28-30; Exo. 31:12-17
§ Day 1
I. "Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light"—Matt. 11:28-30:
A. To toil here refers not only to the toil of striving to keep the commandments of the law and religious regulations but also to the toil of struggling to be successful in any work; whoever toils thus is always heavily burdened.
B. After the Lord extolled the Father, acknowledging the Fathers way and declaring the divine economy (vv. 25-27), He called this kind of people to come to Him for rest.
C. Rest refers not only to being set free from the toil and burden under the law or religion or under any work or responsibility, but also to perfect peace and full satisfaction.
D. To take the Lords yoke is to take the will of the Father; it is not to be regulated or controlled by any obligation of the law or religion or to be enslaved by any work, but to be constrained by the will of the Father.
E. The Lord lived such a life, caring for nothing but the will of His Father (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38); He submitted Himself fully to the Fathers will (Matt. 26:39, 42); hence, He asks us to learn from Him:
1. The believers copy the Lord in their spirit by taking His yoke—Gods will—and toiling for Gods economy according to His model—11:29a; 1 Pet. 2:21.
2. The Lord, who was submissive and obedient to the Father throughout His life, has given us His life of submission and obedience—Phil. 2:5-11; Heb. 5:7-9.
3. Christ was the first God-man, and we are the many God-men; we have to learn of Him in His absolute submission to God and His uttermost satisfaction with God.
4. God is doing in us that which is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ that we may be able to do His will (13:20-21); God operates in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13).
§ Day 2
F. To be meek, or gentle, means not to resist opposition, and to be lowly means not to have self-esteem; throughout all the opposition the Lord was meek, and throughout all the rejection He was lowly in heart.
G. He submitted Himself fully to the will of His Father, not wanting to do anything for Himself or expecting to gain something for Himself; hence, regardless of the situation He had rest in His heart; He was fully satisfied with the Fathers will.
H. The rest that we find by taking the Lords yoke and learning from Him is for our souls; it is an inward rest; it is not anything merely outward in nature.
I. We learn from the Lord according to His example, not by our natural life but by Him as our life in resurrection—Eph. 4:20-21; 1 Pet. 2:21.
J. The Lords yoke is the Fathers will, and His burden is the work of carrying out the Fathers will; such a yoke is easy, not bitter, and such a burden is light, not heavy.
K. The Greek word for easy means "fit for use"; hence, good, kind, mild, gentle, easy, pleasant—in contrast to hard, harsh, sharp, bitter.
L. If we take the Lords yoke (the Fathers will) upon us and learn from Him, we will find rest for our souls; the yoke of Gods economy is like this; everything in Gods economy is not a heavy burden but an enjoyment.
§ Day 3
II. In Exodus 31:12-17, after a long record concerning the building up of Gods dwelling place, there is a repetition of the commandment to keep the Sabbath; according to
Colossians 2:16-17, Christ is the reality of the Sabbath rest; He is our completion, rest, quietness, and full satisfaction— Heb. 4:7-9; Isa. 30:15a:
A. The fact that the insertion concerning the Sabbath follows the charge for the building work of the tabernacle indicates that the Lord was telling the builders, the workers, to learn how to rest with Him as they worked for Him.
B. If we only know how to work for the Lord but do not know how to rest with Him, we are acting contrary to the divine principle:
1. God rested on the seventh day because He had finished His work and was satisfied; Gods glory was manifested because man had His image, and His authority was about to be exercised for the subduing of His enemy, Satan; as long as man expresses God and deals with Gods enemy, God is satisfied and can rest—Gen. 1:26, 31—2:2.
2. Later, the seventh day was commemorated as the Sabbath (Exo. 20:8-11); Gods seventh day was mans first day.
3. God had prepared everything for mans enjoyment; after man was created, he did not join in Gods work; he entered into Gods rest.
4. Man was created not to work first but to be satisfied with God and rest with God (cf. Matt. 11:28-30); the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).
§ Day 4
C. Exodus 31:17 says, "In six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed":
1. The Sabbath was not only a rest to God but also a refreshment to Him.
2. God rested after His work of creation was completed; He looked upon His handiwork, at the heavens, the earth, and all the living things, especially at man, and said, "Very good!"—Gen. 1:31.
3. God was refreshed with man; God created man in His own image with a spirit so that man could have fellowship with Him; man, therefore, was Gods refreshment—v. 26; 2:7; cf. John 4:31-34.
4. God was a "bachelor" before He created mankind (cf. Gen. 2:18, 22); He wanted man to receive Him, love Him, be filled with Him, and express Him to become His wife (2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:25); in eternity future God will have a wife, the New Jerusalem, which is called the Lambs wife (Rev. 21:9-10).
5. Man was like a refreshing drink to quench Gods thirst and satisfy Him; when God ended His work and began to rest, He had man as His companion.
6. To God the seventh day was a day of rest and refreshment; however, to man, Gods companion, the day of rest and refreshment was the first day; mans first day was a day of enjoyment.
D. It is a divine principle that God does not ask us to work until we have had enjoyment; after a full enjoyment with Him and of Him, we may work together with Him:
1. If we do not know how to have enjoyment with God, how to enjoy God Himself, and how to be filled with God, we will not know how to work with Him and be one with Him in His divine work; man enjoys what God has accomplished in His work.
§ Day 5
2. On the day of Pentecost the disciples were filled with the Spirit, which means that they were filled with the enjoyment of the Lord; because they were filled with the Spirit, others thought that they were drunk with wine—Acts 2:4a, 12-13.
3. Actually, they were filled with the enjoyment of the heavenly wine; only after they were filled with this enjoyment did they begin to work with God in oneness with Him; Pentecost was the first day of the eighth week; therefore, concerning the day of Pentecost, we see the principle of the first day.
4. With God it is a matter of working and resting; with man it is a matter of resting and working.
E. In doing Gods divine work to build the church, typified by the work to build the tabernacle, we must bear a sign to indicate that we are Gods people and that we need Him; then we will be able to work not only for God but also with God by being one with God; He will be our strength to work and our energy to labor:
1. We are Gods people, and we should bear a sign that we need Him to be our enjoyment, strength, energy, and everything so that we may be able to work for Him to honor and glorify Him.
2. The Sabbath means that before we work for God, we need to enjoy God and be filled with Him; Peter preached the gospel by the infilling God, the infilling Spirit; therefore, Peter had a sign that he was Gods co-worker, and his gospel preaching was an honor and glory to God—v. 14.
3. As Gods people, we must bear a sign that we rest with God, enjoy God, and are filled up with God first, and then we work with the very One who fills us; furthermore, we not only work with God but also work as those who are one with God.
4. In our speaking to Gods people, we must always seek to bear a sign that our Lord is our strength, our energy, and our everything for ministering the word—2 Cor. 13:3; Acts 6:4.
§ Day 6
F. Keeping the Sabbath is also an eternal agreement, or covenant, that assures God that we will be one with Him by first enjoying Him and being filled with Him and then by working for Him, with Him, and in oneness with Him—Exo. 31:16:
1. It is a serious matter to work for the Lord by ourselves without taking Him in and enjoying Him by drinking and eating Him—cf. 1 Cor. 12:13; John 6:57.
2. As Peter was speaking on the day of Pentecost, he was inwardly partaking of Jesus, drinking and eating Him.
G. The Sabbath is also a matter of sanctification (Exo. 31:13); when we enjoy the Lord and then work with Him, for Him, and by being one with Him, spontaneously we are sanctified, separated unto God from everything that is common, and saturated with God to replace everything that is fleshly and natural.
H. In the church life we may do many things without first enjoying the Lord and without serving the Lord by being one with the Lord; that kind of service results in spiritual death and the loss of the fellowship in the Body (vv. 14-15).
I. Everything related to Gods dwelling place leads us to one matter—to the Sabbath with its rest and refreshment of the Lord; in the church life we are in the tabernacle, and the tabernacle leads us to rest, to the enjoyment of Gods purpose and of what He has done!
J. The building work of the tabernacle and all its furniture (typifying the work of the Lord to build up the church) should begin with the enjoyment of God and continue in intervals with the refreshment by enjoying God; this will indicate that we do not work for God by our own strength, but by the enjoyment of Him and by being one with Him; this is to keep the principle of the Sabbath with Christ as the inner rest in our spirit.
