第三十七週．週一

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晨興餧養

啟一５　『並從那忠信的見證人、死人中的首生者、為地上君王元首的耶穌基督，歸與你們。祂愛我們，用自己的血，把我們從我們的罪中釋放了。』

２０　　『論到…七星，和七個金燈臺的奧祕，那七星就是七個召會的使者，七燈臺就是七個召會。』

啟示錄一面給我們『基督的啟示』，另一面向我們顯示『耶穌的見證』，這見證是特殊並終結的。（一2，9，十二17，十九10，二十4。）耶穌的見證就是召會。啟示錄陳明啟示出來的基督和作見證的召會。本書對召會有一特殊並終結的記載。（啟示錄生命讀經，一一頁。）

信息選讀

啟示錄揭示召會是燈臺；（一11～12；）新約其他各卷從來沒有用過這辭來指召會。…召會為燈臺，照亮在黑暗裏。『燈臺』一辭使我們更了解召會及其功用。召會不是燈，乃是燈臺，就是盛托燈的地方。…神是光，羔羊是燈。（啟二一23。）…神在基督裏，而基督就是燈，盛托在燈臺上，將神的榮耀照射出去。這就是召會的見證。

燈臺是眾地方召會，其性質是金的。在豫表上，金表徵神性，就是神的神聖性情。所有的地方召會，在性質上都是神聖的，都是由神的神聖性情所構成的。這種說法完全合乎聖經，因為啟示錄說，眾地方召會乃是金燈臺，（一20，）是從純金錘出來的，不是由土、木、或任何劣等材料作成的。這就是說，所有的地方召會都必須是神聖的；沒有神性，就沒有召會。雖然召會是由人性同神性組成的，但人性不該是地方召會的基本性質；地方召會的基本性質必須是神性，就是神的神聖性情。所以『金燈臺』這個簡單的名稱，使我們更認識召會：召會是把基督照耀出去的，並且是由神聖的性情構成的。

燈臺是在黑暗中照亮；…燈要照亮，裏面必須有油燃燒；燈裏的油點燃了，光就照亮到黑暗裏。這就是召會的功用。召會的功用不單是傳福音，教導人道理；更是在這黑暗的世代中，把神的榮耀照耀出去。這就是召會的見證。

所有的燈臺，都是彼此相同的。許多基督徒存著一個錯誤的觀念，總要使自己與別的基督徒不同。…我們每一個人都有一個頭、雙肩、雙臂、雙手、十個指頭；而每個人頭上都有七個孔：雙耳、雙眼、兩個鼻孔，加上一個口。若是有人說，『我不要和別人一樣，我要和別人不同…。』這是何等的荒謬！那些主張每個地方召會都該與眾不同的人，乃是根據啟示錄二、三章，那裏的七個召會都不相同。他們說，『看，七個召會都不一樣！』…啟示錄二、三章說到各地方召會不同之處，那些不同都不是積極的，而是消極的。以弗所失去了起初的愛，這是消極的；別迦摩屬了世界，這是消極的；推雅推喇有了鬼魔，也是消極的；老底嘉不冷不熱，也是消極的。然而，在積極一面，所有的地方召會都是一樣，七個都是金燈臺。你若能把七個燈臺放在桌子上，除非你把它們編號或標示出來，否則你說不出那個不同。七個燈臺都是一樣的。（啟示錄生命讀經，三○至三三頁。）

參讀：啟示錄生命讀經，第三篇；出埃及記生命讀經，第九十二至九十四篇。

WEEK 37 — DAY 1

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Morning Nourishment

Rev. 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood.

        20 The mystery of the seven stars…and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

On one hand, Revelation gives us the revelation of Christ, and on the other hand, it shows us the testimony of Jesus, which is particular and consummate (1:2, 9; 12:17; 19:10; 20:4). The testimony of Jesus is the church. Revelation presents the revealed Christ and the testifying church. In this book we have a particular and consummate record of the church. (Lifestudy of Revelation, p. 9)

Today’s Reading

In Revelation the churches are unveiled as being the lampstands (1:11- 20). In no other New Testament book is this term used with respect to the church…As the lampstands, the churches shine in the darkness. The word lampstand enables us to understand much about the church and its function. The church is not the lamp; it is the lampstand, the stand that holds the lamp…God is the light, and the Lamb is the lamp (21:23)…God is in Christ, and Christ as the lamp is held by the stand to shine out God’s glory. This is the testimony of the church.

As the local churches, the lampstands are golden in nature. In typology, gold signifies divinity, the divine nature of God. All the local churches are divine in nature; they are constituted with the divine nature of God. To say this is absolutely scriptural, for the book of Revelation says that the local churches are golden lampstands (1:20). These stands are not built of clay wood, or any inferior substance; they are constructed out of pure gold. This means that all the local churches must be divine. Without divinity, there can be no church. Although the church is composed of humanity with divinity, humanity should not be the basic nature of the local churches. The basic nature of the local churches must be divinity, God’s divine nature. By these two simple words—golden lampstands—we realize a great deal about the church: that the church is something shining with Christ and that it is constituted with the divine nature.

The lampstands shine in the darkness…In order for the lamp to shine, it must have oil burning within it. If the oil burns within the lamp, the light will shine out through all the darkness. This is the function of the church. The function of the church is not simply to preach or to teach doctrine. In the dark night of this age, the church must shine out the very glory of God. This is the testimony of the church.

All the lampstands are identical with one another. Many Christians, having taken in a mistaken concept, desire to be different from other Christians…Everyone has a head, two shoulders, two arms, two hands, and ten fingers, and every human head has seven holes: two ears, two eyes, two nostrils, and a mouth. It is ridiculous to say, “I don’t want to have the same appearance as others…” Those who claim that every local church should be unique base their concept upon the differences among the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3. Some have said, “Look! All the seven churches are different.”…All the differences in the local churches in Revelation 2 and 3 are negative, not positive. Ephesus lost her first love—negative; Pergamos is worldly—negative; Thyatira is demonic— negative; and Laodicea became lukewarm—negative. On the positive side, however, all the local churches are identical, because they all are seven golden lampstands. If you could place all the seven lampstands on a table before you, unless you numbered or labeled them, you would be unable to tell them apart. All the seven lampstands are the same. (Life-study of Revelation, pp. 25-27)

Further Reading: Life-study of Revelation, msg. 3; Life-study of Exodus, msgs. 92—94