【读圣经学英语】神是灵

约翰福音-John 4 章 21~25节

4:21	耶稣说，妇人，你当信我，时候将到，那时你们敬拜父，不在这山上，也不在耶路撒冷。 Jesus said to her, Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
4:22	你们敬拜你们所不知道的，我们敬拜我们所知道的，因为救恩是从犹太人出来的。 You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is of the Jews.
4:23	时候将到，如今就是了，那真正敬拜父的，要在灵和真实里敬拜祂，因为父寻找这样敬拜祂的人。 But an hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truthfulness, for the Father also seeks such to worship Him.
4:24	神是灵；敬拜祂的，必须在灵和真实里敬拜。 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.
4:25	妇人说，我知道弥赛亚（就是那称为基督的）要来；祂来了，必将一切的事都告诉我们。 The woman said to Him, I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when He comes, He will declare all things to us.

亮光

在预表里，敬拜神应该：（一）在神所选立为祂居所的地方；（申十二5，11，13～14，18；）（二）带着祭物。（利一～六。）神所选立为祂居所的地方，预表人的灵，就是神今日的居所。（弗二22。）祭物预表基督，祂是百姓用以敬拜神之一切祭物的应验与实际。因此，主教导那妇人，要在灵和真实里敬拜是灵的神，意思是说，她不该在特定的地方，乃该在她的灵里接触是灵的神；并且不该藉着祭物，乃该藉着基督；因为现今基督这实际已经来到，（约四25～26，）一切影儿、预表都过去了。主耶稣告诉撒玛利亚妇人说，神是灵，敬拜神的意思就是接触祂；这个与祂的接触不是地方的问题，乃是人灵的问题。

当祂说，『时候将到，如今就是了，』就是说时代已经转变了。敬拜的地方不该再是一个地方，而必须是人的灵，在那里神要设立祂名的居所。我们都必须受题醒，我们有灵，其中有神的居所。我们的灵是敬拜神，就是接触神的地方。每逢我们在我们灵中敬拜神的时候，那就是我们饮于这位作活水的神。当你用你的灵赞美神，你就立刻有所饮。

Enlightenment:

In typology, the worship of God should be (1) in the place chosen by God to set His habitation there (Deut. 12:5, 11, 13-14, 18), and (2) with the offerings (Lev. 1—6). The place chosen by God for His habitation typifies the human spirit, where God’s habitation is today—Ephesians 2:22, “an habitation of God through the spirit” (KJV), should read “a dwelling place of God in spirit.” The offerings typify Christ; Christ is the fulfillment and reality of all the offerings with which the people worshipped God. Hence, when the Lord instructed her to worship God the Spirit in spirit and reality, it meant she should contact God the Spirit in her spirit instead of in a specific place, and through Christ, instead of with the offerings, for now, since Christ the reality has come (vv. 25-26), all the shadows and types are over. The Lord Jesus told the Samaritan woman that God is Spirit, that worshipping God means to contact Him, and that contacting Him is not a matter of place, but a matter of the human spirit.

When He said, “An hour is coming and now is,” it meant that the age had changed. The place of worship should not be a place any longer; it must be the human spirit, where God is going to set up His habitation with His name. We all must be reminded that we have a spirit wherein is God’s habitation. Our spirit is the place to worship God, that is, to contact Him. Whenever we worship God in our spirit, it means that we drink God as the living water. When you praise God with your spirit, you immediately have a drink. If you would say, “Praise God! O Father, I worship You,” from your spirit, you would be drinking living water.