今日來經歷樂園─啟示錄

誠如我們先前所談到的，主給祂教會的信息，特別是直接給那些得勝者，這是我們必須尋求的本質。我們決不要向相反的一方讓步，乃是定意行出神的旨意，無論任何困難或威脅想要攔阻我們。

這在啟示錄一開始提到主的七個教會中，每個教會皆有祂所稱讚的長處，但其中六個教會也都有著威脅他們成為燈臺的重大問題。誠如我們先前所說的，在以弗所的初代教會失去他們起初的愛心。因此，他們的燈臺即將被挪去。

這是我們首先必須留意保守，也是最重要的事。主賜給此教會得勝者的應許，是他們可以吃生命樹上的果子。這是我們如何勝過失去起初的愛心之啟示─我們開始吃生命樹上的果子，而不是吃分辨善惡樹上的果子。

每一天我們都必須選擇我們要吃哪棵樹上的果子，這是我第一本書的主題：『生命樹和善惡樹的分辨』（There Were Two Trees in the Garden），這本書持續成為我最暢銷的書之一。書中論及聖經如何從起初到末了顯示，此為我們所有人都必須做的持續性選擇。分別善惡樹上的果子是以宗教表現做為我們與神關係的依據，而不是我們在基督裡所找著的生命大能。

藉此基本方式，現今世代的邪靈便是分別善惡樹上的果子─最致命的果子，將殺害所有持續吃它的人。吃來自生命樹上的果子─基督─是唯一的解藥。要分辨這兩棵樹的不同並不難，但不吃死亡之樹的果子卻不容易。然而，倘若我們要成為我們所蒙召的教會，這是我們要得勝的第一件事。

愛神是首要之事，那些在基督裡成長之人，同時也在對祂的愛中成長。神的愛將使我們擁有得勝者的本質，除了在愛中的人，任何人最終都會放棄。哥林多前書十三章說：『愛是永不止息』，此也可以被翻成『愛是永不放棄』。

我們必須抓住這個我們在基督裡的莫大恩典，無論我們跌倒多少次，祂的愛促使我們再次站立，繼續往前。所以我們可能成為得勝者的程度，取決於我們對神的愛瞭解多少，我們也藉此能彼此相愛。操練我們屬靈的果子固然很好，操練我們的忍耐、決心和信心對得勝者尤其寶貴，但更重要的是，總要尋求在愛中成長。這是我們一直必須放在首要之事的首要之事。我們必須愛真理，我們必須愛人如己，我們也必須愛祂賜給我們的美善恩賜。但在這一切事上，我們必須先愛神。

從聖經我們得知，得勝者將吃神樂園中生命樹上的果子（生命樹所在的伊甸園又被稱為樂園）。許多人視這些應許是『未來』之事，其實不然。正如我們將看見，這些應許是為著現在。我們每天都在選擇要吃哪棵樹上的果子，現在我們便可以吃來自生命樹上的果子。耶穌基督就是生命樹，聖餐的餅和杯代表我們目前如何吃祂的部分。倘若『我們吃什麼像什麼』，我們將成為我們所吃之物的樣式。

在聖經裡有許多應許與千禧年或未來有關，因為神學家或末世論者無法將這些應許放在他們現今的末世論中。我們需要挑戰這些，未來我們將會這麼做。其中一個例子便是：我們今日就可以住在神的樂園中，這是我們蒙召來做的事。

與耶穌同釘的一個犯人求問祂，當祂得國降臨的時候，求祂記念他，主回答他說：『我實在告訴你，今日你要同我在樂園裡了』（參考路加福音23:43）。聖經告訴我們，耶穌被釘十架之後並沒有立刻到樂園。祂反倒是往另一個方向走，去到被綑綁之人的地獄。所以祂對此犯人所說的是什麼意思呢？翻成『將要』的希臘文是『esomai』，此字又可以翻成『可以』或『能夠』。耶穌對犯人說的是，就算被釘在十字架上，他仍能經歷樂園。

主對此犯人所說的話還有更多啟示，我們可以確定的是，此犯人在他生命盡頭所呈現的小小信心，都能使他擁有永生，但在這裡的重點是主的名字是『我是』，而不是『我曾是』或『我將是』。要認識主，我們必須認識現在的祂，我們現在就可以與祂同坐在天上的寶座，同時也能行走在地上。

這是很重要的，因為在歷史上，在未來的每個真理，都必須能應用在我們『今日』的生活中。

(摘自喬納 word for the week,Week22, 2016)

 
Experiencing Paradise Today—The Book of Revelation
Week 22, 2016
Rick Joyner

     As we covered, the Lord’s messages to His churches are especially directed to the overcomers and that is the nature we must seek. We must not yield to opposition but resolve to do the will of God, regardless of the difficulty or the threats seeking to stop us.

     The seven churches the Lord addressed at the beginning of Revelation each had strengths that He commended them for, and all but one had major problems threatening their purpose as a lampstand. As we covered, the first church at Ephesus had lost their first love. Because of this, they were about to have their lampstand removed.

     This is the first, most important thing we must guard against. The Lord gave the overcomers of this church the promise that they could eat of the Tree of Life. This is a revelation of how we overcome the tendency to lose our first love—we start eating from the Tree of Life instead of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

     We must choose each day from which of these trees we’re going to eat. This was the subject of my first book, There Were Two Trees in the Garden, and it continues to be one of my most popular. It deals with how the Scriptures from beginning to end manifested this continual choice we must all make. The fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil would have us base our relationship to God on religious performance rather than on the power of life found in Christ.

     In a basic way, the evil spirit of this present evil age is the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil—the deadliest fruit that kills all who continue to eat from it. Eating from the Tree of Life—Christ—is the only antidote. To discern the difference in these two trees is not hard to understand, but to not eat of the deadly tree is not easy because it is contrary to the spirit of the age. Nevertheless, it is the first thing we must overcome if we are going to be the church we are called to be.

     Loving God is the main thing. Those growing up into Christ are growing in love for Him. The love of God will cause us to have the nature of an overcomer. Any person except the one in love will eventually quit. I Corinthians13:8 states, “Love never fails.” This could be translated “Love never quits.”

     We must grasp this great grace that we have in Christ. Regardless of how many times we fall, His love compels us to get back up and keep going. So we will likely be overcomers to the degree we know the love of God. Because of this we love one another. Working on all the fruits of the Spirit is good. To work on our patience, resolve, and faith is especially valuable for the overcomer, but far more important is always seeking to grow in love. This is the main thing that we must keep the main thing the whole time. We must love the truth, we must love people, and we must love the good gifts He has given us. Yet above all things, we must love God. 

     We are also told that the overcomers will eat from the Tree of Life in the midst of the Paradise of God (the Garden of Eden in which the Tree of Life was placed was also referred to as Paradise). Many tend to consider these promises to be for the “hereafter,” but they are not. As we will see, these promises are for the present. As stated, we choose which tree we will eat from every day, and we can eat from the Tree of Life now. Christ Jesus is the Tree of Life, and the bread and wine of communion represent how we can partake of Him now. If “we are what we eat,” we will become what we partake of.

     Many promises in Scripture have been relegated to the millennium, or “hereafter,” by theologians or eschatologists who could not fit them into their eschatology of the present. We need to challenge many of these, and we will. Here’s one: we can live in the Paradise of God today. This is what we are called to do.

     When the thief crucified with Jesus asked Him to remember him when He came into His kingdom, the Lord replied:  “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (see Luke 23:43). We are also told that Jesus did not go immediately to Paradise after His crucifixion. Rather, He went in the other direction, to those bound in hades. So what did He mean when speaking to this thief? The Greek word translated “will” in the verse above is ‎esomai, also translated “may” or “can.” What Jesus was saying was that even hanging on the cross, he could be experiencing Paradise.

     There is more to the revelation of what the Lord said to this thief.  We can be assured that the little faith he demonstrated right at the end of his life enabled him to have eternal life, but the point here is that the name of the Lord is “I Am,” not “I Was” or “I Will Be.” To know Him we must know Him in the present, and we can be seated with Him on His throne in the heavenly places right now, while also walking on the earth.

     This is important here because everything historically true and yet also in the future must be applied to our lives “today.”