创十二7　　耶和华向亚伯兰显现，说，我要把这地赐给你的后裔。亚伯兰就在那里为向他显现的耶和华筑了一座坛。

　　伯四二5　　我从前风闻有你，现在亲眼看见你。

　　在创世记十二章七节…我们看见，祭坛是根据于神的显现。…谁也不能将他自己奉献给神，而他是没有遇见神的；谁也不能把一切都摆在祭坛上，而是没有神的显现的。奉献不是由于人的劝勉，不是由于人的催促，乃是由于神的显现。如果神没有向人显现，那就没有一个人是能自动把他所有的都摆在祭坛上的，没有一个人是能自动把自己奉献给神的。…如果有一天，我们遇见主，那一个遇见，就自然而然产生奉献（倪柝声文集第二辑第十七册，一一七页）。

　　Gen. 12:7-8 And Jehovah appeared to Abram and said, To your seed I will give this land. And there he built an altar to Jehovah who had appeared to him. And he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent…

　　Job 42:5 I had heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen You.

　　In Genesis 12:7 we see that the altar is based on God’s appearance… No one can offer himself to God unless he has first met God. Unless God has appeared to a man, he cannot offer his all to God. Consecration is not the result of man’s exhortation or persuasion but of God’s revelation. No one can voluntarily offer up all he has on the altar if God has not first appeared to him… However, when man meets God, consecration takes place spontaneously in his life. (CWWN, vol. 37, “The Life of the Altar and the Tent,” p. 89)

　　遇见神的结局，就是叫你完全掉一个头，你不能再继续走你从前的路。神给我看见了祂自己，我就得着了能力，舍去我的自己；神给我看见了祂自己，我就没有办法，不得不弃绝自己。神的显现叫你活不了，神的显现叫你不能为自己活。神的显现里面有无穷无尽的能力，那一个显现把你一生的道路都改变了。基督徒为神活着的能力是在乎看见神！

　　祭坛的结局，是引到帐棚去。…从〔创世记十二章八节〕以后，亚伯拉罕是住在神的家—伯特利—里。…并不是他出来的时候没有帐棚，可是神不提起帐棚；等到他有了祭坛之后，神的话才给我们看见帐棚。…帐棚的意思是流动的，是不扎根的。神要借着祭坛来对付你自己，神要借着帐棚来对付属乎你的东西。亚伯拉罕有祭坛，他把他的一切都给了神，…亚伯拉罕还有牛，还有羊，还有许多东西。但是，亚伯拉罕是住在帐棚里的人。换句话说，祭坛所余剩的东西，只能保留在帐棚里。这是一个原则，就是你所有的东西都得放在祭坛上，但是还有余剩的东西，是留下给你用的，那一个东西并不是你所有的，乃是在帐棚里的。我们要记得，若没有经过祭坛，就连帐棚里都不能摆进去，但是经过祭坛的不一定都烧光。…许多东西一奉献给神，神就拿去，神就不留给你。但是有的东西摆在祭坛上，神还留给你用。这些从祭坛上留下给你的东西，你只能保守在帐棚里。

　　有人要问说，“如果我将我一切所有的都给神，是不是说我应当把所有的东西都卖掉？”…我们有两种生活，一种是在神面前的生活，一种是在世界里的生活。在神的面前，我们所有的，的确都在祭坛上；但是，在世界里活着，许多物质的东西还是需要的。我们活在这里，还得有衣、食、住。我们应该把所有的都奉献给神，完全为着神活着，但是，如果神说这一个可以留着的话，我们就留着。我们对于这些物质的东西，乃是用帐棚的原则来对付。这些东西是为了我们的需要而留下的；我们如果不需要它，就可以舍弃它。我们可以用这些东西，但不能被这些东西摸着。这些东西可以在我们手里，也可以不在我们手里；可以加添，也可以减少。这就是帐棚的生活。

　　所以我们要学习一件事：没有经过祭坛的东西，是我们所不能用的；放在祭坛上的东西，不是我们自己可以收回的；神在祭坛上所留下的东西，是要用帐棚的原则来守住的（倪柝声文集第二辑第十七册，一一八、一二○至一二三页）。

　　参读：倪柝声文集第二辑第十七册，第十六篇；亚伯拉罕以撒雅各的神，第一至三、五章。

　　When we meet God, a radical change takes place in our life. We can no longer do what we did in the past. When we meet God Himself, we have the power to deny ourselves. The matter of denying one’s self ceases to be optional when we have met God. His appearance makes a person unable to go on by himself; it forces him to not live by himself anymore. God’s appearance brings with it inexhaustible power. Such an appearance will alter the whole course of a person’s life. For a Christian, the power to live for God is based on his vision of God.

　　The altar has its issue in the tent… From [Genesis 12:8] on, Abraham lived in God’s house—Bethel… He lived in a tent before, but God did not mention it. Not until he had built the altar does the Word of God bring the tent into view. A tent is something movable; it does not take root anywhere. Through the altar God deals with us; through the tent God deals with our possessions. At the altar Abraham offered up his all to God… Abraham still possessed cattle and sheep and many other things, but he had become a tent dweller. What was not consumed on the altar could only be kept in the tent. Here we see a principle. Everything we have should be placed on the altar. But there is still something left. These are the things that are for our own use. However, they are not ours; they are to be left in the tent. We have to remember that anything that has not passed the altar cannot even be in the tent. But not everything that has passed the altar is consumed… When we consecrate many things to God, He takes them and nothing is left behind. But God leaves some of the things offered on the altar for our own use. The things that have passed through the altar and are for our use can only be kept in the tent.

　　Some people ask, “If I give my all to God, do I have to sell all my possessions and dispose of all my money?”… We have a life to live before God, and we also have a life to live in the world. In our life before God everything must truly be on the altar, but for our life in the world we still have need of many material things. While we are living in the world, we need clothing, food, and a dwelling place. We ought to consecrate our all to God and live for Him alone; but if He says we may retain a certain thing, then we may retain it. Nevertheless, we must apply the principle of the tent to all the physical things that He permits us to retain, because they have been given back to us to meet our need in the world. If we do not need them, we should dispose of them. We may use them, but we must not be touched by them. We can have them or let them go; they can be given, and they can be taken away. This is the life of the tent.

　　May we learn this lesson. We dare not use anything that has not been placed on the altar, we may not take anything back from the altar, and what God gives back must be kept according to the principle of the tent. (CWWN, vol. 37, “The Life of the Altar and the Tent,” pp. 90, 92-93)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 37, ch. 16, “The Life of the Altar and the Tent”; CWWN, vol. 35, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” chs. 1-3, 5