第五週 • 週六
晨興餧養
出三一13~14 …你們務要守我的安息日；…使你們知道我是把你們分別為聖的耶和華。…凡在這日作工的，那人要從民中剪除。
16 故此，以色列人要謹守安息日，要世世代代守這安息日為永遠的約。
我們開始守安息日，就指明我們簽了一分合同、一分契約，向神保證我們要這樣與祂是一。我們與祂是一，是藉着先享受祂，然後纔為祂作工、與祂同工、並且與祂是一而作工。這是一個永遠的約，不僅僅是為着一個時代，一個時期，或一個世代，乃是我們與神之間永遠的合同。
憑着我們自己為主作工，而不向祂禱告、不信靠祂，乃是一件嚴重的事。事實上，我們…需要…把祂接受進來，藉着喫祂而享受祂。在五旬節那天，彼得不僅信靠主，也被主充滿，甚至暢飲祂。…彼得傳揚耶穌時，他裏面有分於耶穌。…他是傳揚他所喫的，見證他所享受的（出埃及記生命讀經，二○九八至二○九九頁）。
信息選讀
安息日使我們聖別，標明我們，把我們標出來。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。我們成為聖別，從凡俗的事物中分別出來。
出埃及三十一章十四至十五節…清楚的說，若有人不守安息日、不帶着這個記號、不尊重這約，好被聖別的，必要被處死。這是表徵遭受屬靈的死亡。這個原則適用於我們今天的經歷。我若沒有與主是一而說話，就會在說話中遭受死亡，並從神的子民中被剪除。從神的子民中被剪除，就是從交通中被剪除。
在召會生活中，我們也許作許多事，卻沒有先享受主，沒有同着主、與主是一而事奉。這樣事奉的結果乃是遭受屬靈的死亡。…每當我們那樣事奉時，我們就從身體的交通中將自己剪除了。
帳幕及其器物都引到神的安息日，…引到享受神所定意並作成的。這意思是，帳幕及其一切的器物都將我們引到安息。祭物是為着使我們安息的。我們若沒有到燔祭壇這裏來經歷基督作祭物，就沒有安息；反之，我們會有定罪和控告。照樣，我們若沒有到陳設餅桌子這裏，我們就會飢餓，得不着飽足，這也指明我們沒有安息。我們若沒有來到燈臺這裏，就沒有甚麼光；我們會在黑暗裏，而黑暗不會給我們安息。…我們若沒有來到幔內的約櫃，沒有來到香壇這裏，也不會有安息。凡與神的居所有關的事，都將我們引到一件事—主的安息日及其安息與舒暢。因此，帳幕及其器物將我們引到享受神所定意並作成的。阿利路亞，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！
帳幕及其一切器物的建造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，不是憑着我們自己的力量，乃是藉着享受祂並與祂是一。這就是安息日的意義，也是論到建造神在地上的居所之後，緊接着說到安息日的原因。願我們都看見這件事並有深刻的印象（出埃及記生命讀經，二一○○至二一○二頁）。
參讀：出埃及記生命讀經，第一百七十二篇。
WEEK 5 — DAY 6
Morning Nourishment
Exo. 31:13-14 …You shall surely keep My Sabbaths;…that you may know that I am Jehovah who sanctifies you…Keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you… Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
16 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the
Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.
When we begin to keep the Sabbath, this indicates that we have signed an agreement, a contract, that assures God that we will be one with Him in this way. We would be one with Him by first enjoying Him and then by working for Him, with Him, and in oneness with Him. This is an eternal covenant. It is not merely for one age, dispensation, or generation. It is an eternal agreement between us and God.
It is a serious matter to work for the Lord by ourselves without praying to Him and without trusting in Him. Actually,…we need…to take Him in and enjoy Him by eating Him. On the day of Pentecost Peter was not only trusting in the Lord; he was filled with the Lord, even drinking Him…While Peter was preaching Jesus, inwardly, he was partaking of Jesus…He preached what he had been eating. He testified what he had been enjoying. (Life-study of Exodus, 2nd ed., pp. 1766-1767)
Today’s Reading
The Sabbath day sanctifies us, designates us, marks us out. When we enjoy the Lord and then work with Him, for Him, and by being one with Him, spontaneously, we are sanctified. We become holy, separated from what is common.
[Exodus 31:14-15 says] clearly that if anyone did not keep the Sabbath, bear the sign, and honor the covenant in order to be sanctified, that one would be put to death. This signifies the suffering of spiritual death. The principle applies in our experience today. If I do not speak in oneness with the Lord, I will suffer death in my speaking, and I will be cut off from God’s people. To be cut off from God’s people is to be cut off from fellowship.
In the church life we may do many things without first enjoying the Lord and without serving with the Lord and by being one with the Lord. That kind of service results in the suffering of spiritual death…Whenever we serve in that way, we cut ourselves off from the fellowship in the Body.
All the tabernacle and its furniture lead to the Sabbath of God,…to the enjoyment of what God has purposed and done. This means that the tabernacle and all its furniture lead us into rest. The offerings are for us to rest. If we do not come to the altar of burnt offering to experience Christ as the offerings, we will not have rest. Instead, we will have condemnation and accusation. Likewise, if we do not come to the table of the bread of the Presence, we will be hungry and not have satisfaction. This is another indication that we do not have rest. If we do not come to the lampstand, we will not have any light. We will be in darkness, and darkness will not give us rest…If we do not come to the Ark within the veil and to the incense altar, we will not have rest. Everything related to God’s dwelling place leads us to one matter—to the Sabbath with its rest and refreshment of the Lord. Therefore, the tabernacle with its furniture leads us to the enjoyment of what God has purposed and done. Hallelujah, in the church life we are in the tabernacle, and the tabernacle leads us to rest, to the enjoyment of God’s purpose and of what He has done!
The building work of the tabernacle and all its furniture 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 the meaning of the Sabbath, and this is the reason that a word about the Sabbath immediately follows the word concerning the building up of God’s dwelling place on earth. May we all see this matter and be impressed with it. (Life-study of Exodus, 2nd ed., pp. 1767-1769)
Further Reading: Life-study of Exodus, msg. 172
