26马太和约翰这两卷书,为著神选民的有分和享受,比圣经其他各卷书更完全的启示神圣的三一。约翰福音,特别在十四至十六章,为著我们生命的经历,启示了父、子、灵神格的奥秘;马太福音,为著国度的构成,以父、子、灵三者的一个名,揭示了神圣三一的实际。在马太福音头一章,圣灵、(太一18、)基督(子-太一18)和神(父-太一23,)为著产生那人耶稣,太一21,)都在现场;祂这位耶和华救主,神与我们同在,乃是三一神的具体化身。在三章,马太给我们一幅图画,子站在受浸的水中,天开了,那灵彷佛鸽子降在子身上,并且父从天上对子说话。(太三16~17。)在十二章,子以人的身位凭著那灵赶鬼,带进父神的国。(太十二28。)在十六章,为著建造召会,就是国度的命脉,父将子启示给门徒。(太十六16~19。)在十七章,为著展示国度实现的小影,(太十六28,)子变化形像,(太十七2,)并有父喜悦的话(太十七5)来印证。最终,在结束的一章,基督这末后的亚当,经过钉十字架的过程,进入复活的境地,成了赐生命的灵;以后祂回到门徒中间,在复活的气氛和实际里,吩咐他们去,将外邦人浸入神圣三一的名,就是祂的人位,也就是祂的实际里,使他们成为国度的子民。以后,行传和书信揭示:将人浸入父、子、灵的名里,乃是将他们浸入基督的名里;(徒八16,十九5;)而将人浸入基督的名里,就是将他们浸入基督这人位里;(加三27,罗六3;)因为基督是三一神的具体化身,并且成了赐生命的灵,(林十五45,)是便利的,人随时随地都可以浸入祂里面。根据马太福音,这样浸入父、子、灵的实际里,乃是为著构成诸天的国。属天的国不能用属血肉的人(林前十五50)组成,像属地的团体一样,只能用一班浸入与三一神的联合里,且因作到他们里面的三一神,而得建立并被建造的人来构成。
26Matthew and John are the two books in which the Trinity is more fully revealed, for the participation and enjoyment of God’s chosen people, than in all the other books of Scripture. John unveils the mystery of the Godhead in the Father, Son, and Spirit, especially in chapters fourteen through sixteen, for our experience of life; whereas Matthew discloses the reality of the Trinity in the one name for all Three, for the constitution of the kingdom. In the opening chapter of Matthew, the Holy Spirit (v. 18), Christ (the Son—v. 18), and God (the Father— v. 23) are upon the scene for the producing of the man Jesus (v. 21), who, as Jehovah the Savior and (God with us, is the very embodiment of the Triune God. In chapter three Matthew presents a picture of the Son standing in the water of baptism under the open heaven, the Spirit as a dove descending upon the Son, and the Father out of the heavens speaking to the Son (vv. 16-17). In chapter twelve, the Son, in the person of man, cast out demons by the Spirit to bring in the kingdom of God the Father (v. 28). In chapter sixteen, the Son is revealed by the Father to the disciples for the building of the church, which is the life-pulse of the kingdom (vv. 16-19). In chapter seventeen, the Son entered into transfiguration (v. 2) and was confirmed by the Father’sword of delight (v. 5) for a miniature display of the manifestation of the kingdom (16:28). Eventually, in the closing chapter, after Christ, as the last Adam, had passed through the process of crucifixion, entered into the realm of resurrection, and be come the life - giving Spirit, He came back to His disciples, in the atmosphere and reality of His resurrection, to charge them to cause the heathen to become the kingdom people by baptizing them into the name, the Person, the reality, of the Trinity. Later, in the Acts and the Epistles, it is disclosed that to baptize people into the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit is to baptize them in to the name of Christ (Acts 8:16; 19:5, Gk.), and that to baptize them in to the name of Christ is to baptize them in to Christ the Person (Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3), for Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God, and He, as the life-giving Spirit, is available any time and any place for people to be baptized into Him. Such a baptism into the reality of the Father, Son, and Spirit, according to Matthew, is for the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens. The heavenly kingdom cannot be organized with human beings of flesh and blood (1 Cor. 15:50) as an earthly society; it can only be constituted with people who are immersed into the union with the Triune God and who are established and built up with the Triune God who is wrought into them.