太二四48~50 若是那恶仆心里说，我的主人必来得迟，就动手打那些和他同作奴仆的，又和酒醉的人一同吃喝，在想不到的日子，不知道的时辰，那奴仆的主人要来。

　　主在马太二十四章的话乃是一个比喻。既然是个比喻，就必须解释。和酒醉的人一同吃喝〔49下〕，就是与沉醉在属世事物里的世人为伴，……沉醉于属世的享受，这就是不运用恩赐的危险。一旦我们成了与世人为伴的人，就不会向主忠信，运用祂所给我们的恩赐，自然就会落入危险里（李文集一九七九年第二册，一二五页）。

　　Matt. 24:48-50 But if that evil slave says in his heart, My master delays, and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eats and drinks with the drunken, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know.

　　The Lord’s word in Matthew 24 is a parable. Since it is a parable, it must be interpreted. To eat and drink “with the drunken” [v. 49b] is to keep company with worldly people, who are drunk with worldly things, …worldly enjoyment. This is the danger of not using our gift. Once we become a person who keeps company with worldly people, we would not be faithful to the Lord in using the gift He gives us, so we fall into danger. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “Basic Lessons on Service,” p. 101)

　　“和酒醉的人一同吃喝”（二四49）……比动手打同作奴仆的人飘离得更远、堕落得更甚。……属世的人被属世的事物迷醉，甚至麻醉。他们被现今的世代所麻醉。与他们一同吃喝，就是享受他们所享受的。就好的一面说，当你动手打圣徒，你对召会生活仍然有兴趣。……因为你是如此“对召会有负担”，如此对召会生活有兴趣，你才批评弟兄姊妹。一旦你定意要忘掉召会，不再对召会有兴趣，你就进到爱世界里，并与那些常被这世代所麻醉的世人为伴。一个爱世界的圣徒，无心谈论长老的好坏。他也许曾经动手打和他同作奴仆的，但他现今被属世的享乐完全霸占了。他现今在和酒醉的人一同吃喝。几乎每天对他都是快乐的一天，每个周末对他都是欢乐的周末，因为他正享受属世事物的麻醉。

　　在主的使命上懒惰不忠信的奴仆有一个借口，就是主不会立刻回来，就是祂必来得迟（48）。结果，他们开始虐待同作信徒的，并有分于属世的事物。他们的借口是，主若现在就回来，所有的事都解决了，他们就不会有时间爱世界了。然而，主在马太二十四章的话告诉我们，祂不会接受这样的借口。祂回来时，要把不忠信的奴仆割断（51）。割断不是指切成碎片。我们得救时，就与基督这位受膏者（林后一21）联结了，即使我们在退后的光景中，主也不会把我们切断。但我们若仍然不忠信并懒惰，祂在回来时就要把我们从这样的联结中割断。祂将要执行我们和祂之间的割断。我们要从祂荣耀的同在中被割断，到一个假冒为善的人受处分的地方。不信者的处分是永远的沉沦，而懒惰奴仆的处分是暂时的、时代性的惩罚。

　　不要打那么多电话，反倒要用这些时间去接触你隔壁的邻居，给他一本我们所出版的彩虹小册。你若持续、定时、正确且带着真诚的负担和一些祷告，每两周一次拜访你的一个邻居，你不信这个人会被主得着么？我们不该用任何事作借口。我们不能说，人都中了毒反对我们，或者说我们所在地是一个满了基督徒的特别地区。我们必须问自己：我们花了多少时间带着福音单张、圣经和一些彩虹小册去访问人？你若试着这样作，一周过一周，甚至一天过一天，你就要看见结果。圣经告诉我们，栽培的人或农夫应当忍耐地劳苦，期待看见收获（林前九10，提后二6）（李文集一九八五年第五册，六六六、六六八至六七○页）。

　　参读：事奉的基本功课，第十三课。

　　[To eat and drink with the drunken] (Matt. 24:49) is to drift away further, a further fall from beating the fellow slaves….The worldly people are drunk and even drugged with worldly things. They are stupefied with the present age. To eat and drink with them is to enjoy what they enjoy. In a good sense, when you are beating the saints, you are still interested in the church life…. Because you are so “burdened for the church” and so interested in the church life, you criticize the brothers and the sisters.

　　Once you make the decision to forget about the church, to have no interest in the church, you enter into the loving of the world, and you keep company with worldly people who are always being stupefied by this age. A saint who loves the world has no heart to talk about what elders are good or bad. He may once have been beating his fellow slaves, but now he is fully occupied with worldly enjoyment. He is now eating and drinking with the drunken. Nearly every day may be a happy day to him, and nearly every weekend a pleasant weekend, because he is enjoying the stupefying of the worldly things.

　　The slothful slaves who are not so faithful in the Lord’s commission have an excuse that the Lord is not coming back immediately, that He is delaying His coming (v. 48). As a result, they begin to mistreat fellow believers and partake of the worldly things. Their excuse is that if the Lord would return right now, everything would be solved; they would not have the time to love the world. However, the Lord’s word in Matthew 24 tells us He would not take this kind of excuse. At His coming back He will cut off, or cut asunder, His unfaithful slaves (v. 51). To cut asunder does not mean to cut into pieces. When we were saved, we became attached to Christ, the anointed One (2 Cor. 1:21). Even if we are in a backslidden condition, the Lord will not cut us off. But if we remain unfaithful and slothful, at His coming back He will cut us off from this attachment. He will carry out a cutting asunder between us and Him. We will be cut off from His glorious presence into a place that will be the portion of the hypocrites. The portion of the unbelievers is eternal perdition, but the portion of the slothful slaves is a temporary, dispensational punishment.

　　Instead of making so many telephone calls, use the time to go to contact your next-door neighbor, and give him a rainbow booklet that we have published. If you visited one of your neighbors once every two weeks, continuously, regularly, properly, and with a sincere burden and some prayer, do you not believe this person could be caught by the Lord? We cannot take anything as an excuse. We cannot say that many have been poisoned against us or that our particular area is a place full of Christians. We must ask ourselves how much time we have spent in visiting others with gospel tracts, with the Bible, and with some of the rainbow booklets. If you try this week after week and even day after day, you will see the result. The Bible tells us that the husbandmen, or farmers, should labor with patience, expecting to see the gathering (1 Cor. 9:10; 2 Tim. 2:6). (CWWL, 1985, vol. 5, “The Way to Practice the Lord’s Present Move,” pp. 540-543)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “Basic Lessons on Service,” lsn. 13