教会的合一
【要在灵里才能合一】弗四3：「用和平彼此联络，竭力保守灵的合一。」这合一是在灵里，这灵就是合一。祂在我们里头所作的工作是合一的。我们大家越辩论道理越有分别，越辩论道理越有距离。但是我们若肯回到灵里，结果就是合一。你看在这房间里的日光灯，外面虽然是分开的，但是它们在电流里头却是通的，成了一系，成了一体。照样，在自己里头你是你，我是我；但是在灵里头，我们是一个，是合一的。
【报仇抑赦免】有一次，有一个少年弟兄，坐在一个擘饼聚会里。后来又进来了一个弟兄，这一个弟兄是杀他父亲的。这一个少年弟兄，本来是想要报仇的；但是杀他父亲的这一个人，也是一个弟兄。他已经得救了，也来一同擘饼。他一看见这位弟兄进来，他就走出去了。他想到底我赦免他呢？或是仍然要报仇？如果要报仇，今天晚上，我就不能与他一同擘饼。他知道擘饼是表明合一。我的手放在里面，他的手也放在里面。所以他一看见这一个弟兄进来，他就走出去了。他想到底给他赦免或者不给他赦免呢？到末了，他定规给他赦免，与他没有事情。所以他就又进来坐在那里，和他一同擘饼。擘饼就是见证生命的合一，擘饼就是证明在你里面，在我里面，在他里面，都有这一个生命，我们在基督的生命里是合一的。这一个饼不只是基督，也是所有属基督的人。我们在这里不只与基督有交通，也与所有属基督的人彼此有交通。
【不离前人脚迹】有一游客旅行瑞士。一日要上山顶，请了一位女孩引路。那位女孩一直行在从前的人所留的脚迹上，不敢偏离左右。路旁虽有好看的花，她也不敢去采，别的事情一概不敢去作，惟恐稍离前人所留的脚迹。那位游客不禁向她发问说：『我看出你丝毫不离这些脚迹！』女孩回答说：『我们行路的，从来不离这些脚迹，总是踏在这些脚迹上，好叫这些脚迹更加明显，以便后来的人看得清楚。』离开脚迹就是危险。作基督徒不能单独，应该跟随羊群的脚踪往前走。「你若不知道，只管跟随羊群的脚踪去」(歌一8)。
【基督徒的合一】在极大礼堂的四角上有四个人，他们很想共同携手，但谁也不愿到每一角上去迁就。礼堂中心有一美丽喷水池，最后有人提议，大家至喷水池相会，于是他们都朝共同中心点走去，──四十呎、五十呎、一百呎，他们愈近喷水池，他们彼此间也愈接近，每一人让一些步，最后共达目的地，在灿烂的水池边互相握手。
耶稣是生命、自由与爱的泉源，居于世界中心。神的儿女，愈近基督，他们也愈彼此接近。让我们盼望，快快有这一天，我们大家可彼此握手高唱：「愿基督的爱永存我们心里；愿神的祝福，永使我们心心相系！」让基督徒世界，共为古老的精神举起双手：「我们的弟兄！」─《Leaves of Gold•Hall》
【不要有个人主义】犹太人永远不会想他自己是一个人，他总是想他自己是一氏族、一家族、一国的一分子；脱离了社会，他没有实际的存在。就是在今天，有人说在澳洲有一种土人，当人问他叫甚么名字的时候，他回答的不是他自己的名字，而是他所属部落的名字。他并不想自己的个人，他想自己为部落的一员。
【合一的灵】
1.一个灵(腓一27)：信徒所受的，不只是一样的灵，且是一个灵；属灵圣徒不只和基督合一，且与众圣徒合一，行事同一心灵，同一脚踪(林后十二18)；意念相同，爱心相同，一样心思，一样意念(腓二2)。
2.同乐、同苦(林前十二26)：『腓立比教会』同心合意兴旺福音(腓一5)。『和教士』。皆是主肢体，不可互吞(加五15)；不彼此践踏(林前十二21)。
3.骨肉不可相争(创十三8)。『亚伯拉罕救罗得』(创十四14~16)。
4.要保守圣灵所赐合而为一的心(弗四3)，不让有任何破坏合一的言行发生，不让里面有任何损害合一的意念存在。
【教会的合一不是在礼仪和组织】基督徒的合一，决不是组织、礼仪、制度、名称的『划一』或『统一』，而是心灵的『合一』。正如同一位父亲的众儿子可以用不同的方法来孝敬父亲，他们大可不必穿一样的衣服、理一样的发、戴一样的眼镜、吃一样的东西、从事一样的行业、叫同一个名字。我们对于其它的基督徒，应当在不违背真理的范围内，容许各人有不同的想法、认识、观念。
【Church,
Separation in】The story has
been told of a small church affiliated with an exclusive “splinter”
denomination. The members had cut out some gold letters and fastened them on
the wall in front of the church. The letters said: “Jesus Only.”
One
day a gust of wind blew away the first three letters. The sign then read, more
accurately: “Us Only.”
【Church Strife】In Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, there are
named two ladies who could not get along with each other, Euodia and Syntyche
(or, as it has been rendered, Odious and Soontouchy). They obviously had
trouble working together. Then and now, the church is too often described in
this little jingle:
To
dwell above with saints we love,
O
that will sure be glory.
But
to dwell below with saints we know,
Well,
that’s another story!
【Church Strife】The church filled with strife may do well to
be reminded of Lord Nelson at Trafalgar who, coming on deck and finding two
British officers quarreling, whirled them about and—pointing to the ships of
their adversary—exclaimed, “Gentlemen, there are your enemies!”
【Church Unity】A visitor to a mental hospital was astonished
to note that there were only three guards watching over a hundred dangerous
inmates. He asked his guide, “Don’t you fear that these people will overpower
the guards and escape?”
“No,”
was the reply. “Lunatics never unite.”
【Church Unity】For safety reasons, mountain climbers rope
themselves together when climbing a mountain. That way, if one climber should
slip and fall, he would not fall to his death. He would be held by the others
until he could regain his footing.
The
church ought to be like that. When one member slips and falls, the others
should hold him up until he regains his footing. We are all roped together by
the Holy Spirit.
【Church Unity】A man asked his young son to break a bundle of
sticks. He returned a little later to find the lad frustrated in the task. He
had raised the bundle high and smashed it on his knee, but he only bruised his
knee. He had set the bundle against a wall and stomped hard with his foot, but
the bundle barely bent.
The
father took the bundle from the child and united it. Then he began to break the
sticks easily—one at a time.
So it
is with the church: united we are strong, divided we can fail or be broken.
【Church Unity】Many years ago, two students graduated from
the Chicago-Kent College of Law. The highest ranking student in the class was a
blind man named Overton, and when he received his honor, he insisted that half
the credit should go to his friend, Kaspryzak. They had first met one another
in school when the armless Kaspryzak had guided the blind Overton down a flight
of stairs. This acquaintance ripened into friendship and a beautiful example of
interdependence. The blind man carried the books that the armless man read
aloud in their common study, and thus the deficiency of each individual was
compensated for by the other’s ability.
【Church Unity】If you fell and severely injured your wrist,
it would swell up and become very painful. The rest of your body might feel so
bad about it that it would sit up all might to keep it company!
That
is what the body of Christ should do when one member is hurt. When one hurts,
all hurt—and all should respond.
【Church Unity】Two porcupines found themselves in a blizzard
and tried to huddle together to keep warm. But because they were pricked by
each other’s quills, they moved apart. Soon they wee shivering again and had to
lie side by side once more for their own survival. They needed each other, even
though they needled each other!
There
are many “porcupine” Christians running around. They have their good points,
but you can’t get near them because the bad points prick too hard.
【Church Unity】Have you ever wondered what makes the
difference between a spotlight and a laser beam? How can a medium-power laser
burn through steel in a matter of seconds, while the most powerful spotlight
can only make it warm? Both may have the same electrical power requirements.
The difference is unity.
A
laser can be simply described as a medium of excited molecules with mirrors at
each end. Some of the excited molecules naturally decay into a less excited
state. In the decay process they release a photon, a particle of light. It is
here that the unique process of the laser begins. The photon moves along and
“tickles” another molecule, inviting another photon to join him on his journey.
Then these two photons “tickle” two more molecules and invite two more photons
to join the parade. Soon there is a huge army of photons marching in step with
each other. It is this unity that gives the laser its power. A spotlight may
have just as many photons, but each is going its own independent way,
occasionally interfering with other photons. As a result, much of its power is
wasted and cannot be focused to do any useful work. However, the laser, because
of its unity, is like an army marching in tight formation and is able to focus
all its power on its objective.
【Church Unity】In any flesh-and-bones body, there are a
variety of cells. There are nerve cells, blood cells, muscle cells, and many
others, each having a distinct function. The body operates smoothly, not
because the cells get together and vote on what to do, but because each one
does what it was designed to do. It is the function of the head to bring all
these different functions together, so that the body operates effectively as
each cell gives itself to the task of functioning according to its design.
Certainly
the body would not operate properly if its cells chose to go their own way. Do
you know what we call a rebellion of the cells of your stomach? We call it
indigestion! A revolt of your brain cells is called insanity. Any time the
cells in our body don’t operate properly, it means that the body is sick, that
something is wrong with it.
Many
of the problems in the church today are a result of our forgetting that the
church is a body with a head, Jesus Christ. Instead we sometimes try to operate
the church as an organization. As a result, the church has no more power than
any other human organization at work in the world.
【Church Unity】The story is told of a time when a little
child in an African tribe wandered off into the tall jungle grass and could not
be found, although the tribe searched all day. The next day the tribal members
all held hands and walked through the grass together. This enabled them to find
the child, but due to the cold night he had not survived. In her anguish and
through tears, the mother cried, “If only we would have held hands sooner.”
It is
not enough that we all share a common goal. We must all work together to
accomplish it without hesitation.
【Church Unity】As members of the body of Christ, we can be
compared to pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. Each piece has protrusions and
indentations. The protrusions represent our strengths (gifts, talents, abilities),
and the indentations represent our weaknesses (faults, limitations,
shortcomings, undeveloped areas). The beautiful thing is that the pieces
complement one another and produce a beautiful whole.
Just
as each piece of a puzzle is important, so each member of the body of Christ is
important and can minister to the other members of the body.
Just
as, when one piece is missing from the puzzle, its absence is very obvious and
damages the picture, so also is the whole weakened when we are absent from the body
of Christ.
Just
as, when each piece of a puzzle is in place, any one piece is not conspicuous
but blends in to form the whole picture, so it should be in the body of Christ.
【Church Unity】The story is told that during the American
Civil War, when the rival armies were encamped on the opposite banks of the
Potomac River, the Union’s band played one of its patriotic tunes, and the
Confederate musicians quickly struck up a melody dear to any Southerner’s
heart.; Then one of the bands started to play “Home, Sweet Home.” The musical
competition ceased, and the musicians from the other army joined in. Soon
voices from both sides of the river could be heard singing, “There is no place
like home.”
In a
similar way, the church, in spite of its many divisions, is bound together by
that one strong link—we are all going home, nd to the same home. We have a
common destiny.
【Church Unity】Born in 1765 in France, James Smithson was the
illegitimate son of a prominent English duke and a direct lineal descendant of
King Henry VII through his mother. Branded as a bastard, James was refused
British citizenship and denied a rich inheritance through his true father. Due
to this rejection the young Smithson felt constrained to succeed at whatever he
did, and he became one of
In
1829 Smithson, who never married, died and left his considerable fortune to a
nephew. Rumor had it that the terms of Smithson’s will stipulated that his
entire estate was to go to one recipient upon the nephew’s death. The English
scientific community hoped that he had made sizable grants to their favorite
institutions. But when the terms of the will were made public they were
shocked!
Smithson
had written: “Just as
Let
us be careful of saying to some member of the body of Christ, “I have no need
of you,” only to find that the same member could have met some of our greatest
spiritual needs.
如何辨识假合一
一、合一的重要性
1.主耶稣为羊舍命的目的，乃是要领祂的羊合成一群，归一个牧人(约十15~16)
2.主耶稣离世前最后为属祂的人祷告──求父使他们合而为一，像三一神合一(约十七11，21~23)
二、甚么是合一？
1.我们『在基督耶稣里，都成为一了』(加三28)
2.这个一乃是生命、圣灵的事，我们若住在主里面就有一(约十七21)
3.我们只需保守那灵的一(弗四3)，而不需制造任何的合一
三、撒但利用假合一来破坏真合一
1.圣经里第一个假合一的事例，就是撒但耸动人来制造巴别塔(创十一1~9)
2.一直到主再来，撒但不曾放弃那个假合一──巴比伦城所预表的(启十七、十八章)
四、认识撒但的假合一
1.圣经所记载的第一个事例，总是树立了该类事物的原则
2.第一个原则──商量︰假合一是从人的妥协产生出来的
3.第二个原则──拿砖当石头︰用人工代替神工
4.第三个原则──拿石漆当灰泥︰用天然的代替属灵的
5.第四个原则──建造城︰属人的权柄势力范围
6.第五个原则──造塔传扬名︰高抬自己(人的原则是从地达天，神的原则是从天降下)
7.第六个原则──免得分散︰团成了组织系统
五、神对假合一的反应
1.神不愿意人凭自己而不靠神来作事(创十一6)
2.变乱他们的口音︰彼此不能沟通
3.分散全地︰神只容许真合一，不能冗忍假合一
4.呼召亚伯拉罕出吾珥︰呼召真正属祂的人从假合一里出来
六、神多次多方呼召人从假合一里出来
1.从假合一里出来不是破坏合一，反而是持守合一
2.神藉先知以赛亚呼召神子民从巴比伦出来(赛五十二11)
3.用大能的手和伸出来的膀臂，用倾出来的忿怒，将你们从万民中领出来(结二十34)
4.神甚至呼召便雅悯人要逃出耶路撒冷(耶五30~六1)
5.主耶稣来把羊领出羊圈
6.『你们务要从他们中间出来，与他们分别，不要沾不洁的物，我就收纳你们。我要作你们的父，你们要作我的儿女。』(林后六17~18)
7.『我们也当出到营外就了祂去。』(来十三13)
8.『我的民哪，你们要从那城出来，免得与它一同有罪，受它所受的灾殃。』(启十八4)
七、倪弟兄说要从小的合一和假的合一出来
1.『你越保守人所谓的合一，你越是一个有派别的人。…你需要从小的合一里出来，你才能进到大的合一里去。』
2.『不是出去的人爱心不足，乃是里面的人在神面前亮光不够。…不是那些出去的人错，是那些在里面的人错。』