你的良人、比別人的良人有何強處？(歌5章）

耶路撒冷的眾女子阿、我囑咐你們、若遇見我的良人、要告訴他、我因思愛成病。你這女子中極美麗的、你的良人、比別人的良人有何強處？你的良人、比別人的良人有何強處、你就這樣囑咐我們？（歌 5：8-9）

本章雅歌第五章，第一節提到他們新婚之夜的歡愉，以及婚宴中歡樂的美景。但是話鋒一轉，新婚夫婦遇到夫妻之間磨合的問題。

結婚，不是過著一加一等於二的生活，更不是一加一等於一的不合理算式，而是二分之一加二分之一等於一的生活。若願意執行聖經真愛那願意捨命的真理，夫妻之間甚至會願意接受「零」加一等於一，完全捨己的婚姻生活。

文中，新娘開始時，因為一時之間仍堅持自己的感受，還不知體諒兩人成為一體的真理時，「憑感覺」過著她的婚姻生活，於是就發生了結婚後的這段小插曲。

以屬靈的角度來看，這是教會要走入完全的必經過程：「學習捨己」。新娘一開始躺臥在床不理會新郎的叫喚，這是以自我為中心的態度在過她自以為的信仰生活；直到後來願意起來，尋找已經轉身離開的良人，甚至因此要付出受苦的代價，這是教會要經歷逼迫、承受苦難的成長過程。

當這時教會願意成長，就會有人以質疑的態度來問我們：「你的良人、比別人的良人有何強處？你的良人、比別人的良人有何強處？」好像在說：「為何要這麼堅持妳的信仰？有需要這麼愛主嗎？妳不覺得這樣為主付出很辛苦、很累嗎？像我們這樣當個平信徒不是很好嗎？」甚至也像其他基督教派，在質問著身為真耶穌教會的你，說：「你們的耶穌跟我們的耶穌有什麼不同嗎？為什麼一定要到真耶穌教會信耶穌才能得救？」這時，你要如何回應？

這位新婦在經歷操練之後，反思自己當初深愛良人的起初，然後願意定睛在她的良人身上，深深知道她的良人的完美、與不可取代性。她展現了我們都當學習的美德：如數家珍般地細數良人身上的一切美麗，並告知其他的人為何她的良人，可以勝過別人眼中的其他「良人」之故。她說：

我的良人、白而且紅、超乎萬人之上。

他的頭像至精的金子．他的頭髮厚密纍垂、黑如烏鴉。

他的眼如溪水旁的鴿子眼、用奶洗淨、安得合式。

他的兩腮如香花畦、如香草臺．他的嘴唇像百合花、且滴下沒藥汁。

他的兩手好像金管、鑲嵌水蒼玉．他的身體如同雕刻的象牙、周圍鑲嵌藍寶石。

他的腿好像白玉石柱、安在精金座上．他的形狀如利巴嫩、且佳美如香柏樹。

他的口極其甘甜．他全然可愛。耶路撒冷的眾女子阿、這是我的良人、這是我的朋友。（歌 5：10-16）

今天當別人問我們為何真耶穌教會是唯一得救的教會時，我們說得出唯一的理由嗎？我們對這位真神耶穌基督認識有多少？當別人也在用自己的方法拜這位耶穌時，那麼我們所拜的耶穌與其他基督教派拜的耶穌有何不同？

另外，對於進入婚姻中的人而言，你對你的妻子（或丈夫）認識有多少？我們可以細數出配偶身上的一切優點嗎？我們可曾認真欣賞過神所為我們安排的另一半嗎？我們知道我們的另一半，如何成就在我們心中的那完美、不可取代性嗎？

倘若新婦當下講不出來良人的優點，甚至不接受她的良人的不可取代性，那麼這卷雅歌將不再美麗。正如信主的人若說不出真教會的與眾不同，不接受真教會「關鎖的園、禁閉的井、封閉的泉源」的獨特性，他很快就會離開真教會成為淫婦。

至於我，每次在細讀四福音中的主耶穌基督時，總是被祂的溫柔、敏銳，不顧自己、總是為他人著想，而且睿智、沈穩，還有口中總是充滿智慧的一切美德所吸引；至於真耶穌教會，則是完全遵照著耶穌基督的指示，引導我做祂所喜悅的事，使我可以與我主耶穌基督因行真理，與祂常保親密的關係，得祂的喜悅、使祂常與我同在。因此，我敢大聲說：「我的良人，是任何人所無法相題並論的，而我們的真耶穌教會，就是祂將來要迎娶的天上聖城新耶路撒冷，是耶穌基督所鍾愛的教會，阿們！」

我又看見一個新天新地．因為先前的天地已經過去了．海也不再有了。我又看見聖城新耶路撒冷由神那裏從天而降、預備好了、就如新婦妝飾整齊、等候丈夫。（啟 21：1-2）

By Isaiah Kao

What kind of  beloved is your beloved? (Song of Songs 5) 

“O daughters of. Jerusalem, I adjure you, if you find my beloved, tell him that I am lovesick.”

“What kind of beloved is your beloved, O most beautiful among women? What kind of beloved is your beloved, that you so adjure us?” (Song of Songs 5:8–9, NASB 2020)

In this chapter, Song of Songs 5, verse 1 first mentions the joy of their wedding night and the glad scene of the wedding feast. But then the tone suddenly turns, and the newly married couple encounters the issue of adjustment within marriage.

Marriage is not a life where one plus one equals two, nor is it the unreasonable equation of one plus one equals one. Rather, it is a life where one-half plus one-half equals one. If one is willing to practice the biblical truth of true love, a love willing to lay down one’s life,then in marriage there may even be a willingness to accept “zero plus one equals one,” a completely self-denying life.

In the passage, the bride at first still insists on her own feelings for a moment. She has not yet learned to consider the truth that the two have become one. Living her married life “by feeling,” this leads to a small episode after marriage.

From a spiritual perspective, this is a necessary process for the church to enter into perfection: learning self-denial. At first, the bride lies on her bed and ignores the bridegroom’s call. This reflects a self-centered attitude in what she thinks is her life of faith. Later, when she is willing to rise and seek her beloved who has turned away, and even to pay the price of suffering, it represents the church’s growth through persecution and endurance of suffering.

At such a time, when the church is willing to grow, some will question us with doubt: “What kind of beloved is your beloved, that he is better than another beloved?” It is as if they are saying: “Why are you so firm in your faith? Is it necessary to love the Lord so much? Don’t you feel that giving yourself for the Lord is hard and tiring? Isn't it good to be a lay-believer like us?" Some may even question, like other Christian denominations: “Is your Jesus different from our Jesus? Why must one believe in the True Jesus Church to be saved?” At this moment, how should you respond?

After going through this discipline, the bride reflects on her initial deep love for her beloved. She then chooses to fix her eyes on him, deeply knowing his perfection and his irreplaceable nature. She shows a virtue we should all learn: to recount, as if listing treasured possessions, every beauty of her beloved, and to tell others why her beloved surpasses all others. She says:

“My beloved is dazzling and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand.

His head is like gold, pure gold; his locks are like clusters of dates and black as a raven.

His eyes are like doves beside streams of water, bathed in milk, and perched in their setting.

His cheeks are like beds of balsam, banks of scented herbs; his lips are lilies dripping with liquid myrrh.

His hands are rods of gold set with beryl; his abdomen is panels of ivory inlaid with sapphires.

His legs are pillars of alabaster set on pedestals of pure gold; his appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars.

His mouth is full of sweetness. And he is wholly desirable. This is my beloved and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.” (Song of Songs 5:10–16, NASB 2020)

Today, when others ask us why the True Jesus Church is the only church of salvation, can we give the unique reason? How much do we truly know this true God, Jesus Christ? Others also worship Jesus in their own ways, so what is the difference between the Jesus we worship and the Jesus worshiped by other Christian denominations?

Also, for those who are in marriage, how well do you know your spouse? Can we list all the virtues of our husband or wife? Have we truly appreciated the one whom God has arranged for us? Do we understand how our spouse becomes irreplaceable in our hearts?

If the bride could not express the virtues of her beloved, or did not accept his irreplaceable nature, then this Song of Songs would no longer be beautiful. In the same way, if a believer cannot speak of what makes the true church distinct, or does not accept the uniqueness of the true church as “a locked garden, a shut well, a sealed spring,” he will soon leave the true church and become a unfaithful prostitute.

As for me, whenever I carefully read the Lord Jesus Christ in the four Gospels, I deeply feel His gentleness and sensitivity. He always considers others, and He is wise, steady, and full of every virtue. As for the True Jesus Church, it fully follows the instructions of Jesus Christ, guiding me to do what pleases Him and allowing me to maintain a close relationship with my Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, I dare to say aloud: “My Beloved cannot be compared with anyone else, and our True Jesus Church is the heavenly New Jerusalem that He will one day receive as His bride, the church beloved by Christ. Amen!”

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Revelation 21:1–2, NASB 2020)