於2016-12-02發佈


神所建造的城─啟示錄

正如先前所談到的,當教會權柄的位置是基於人的認同而非神的認同,地獄最大的門會在教會中被打開。這始於第四世紀的教會,當時君士坦丁大帝讓基督教成為羅馬帝國的國教,政府官員被要求成為基督徒。這造成所有野心與邪惡人士進入教會,為了取得政府的青睞,而不是因為真正轉向神。

當宗教儀式開始取代真正的真理,信仰的腐敗越發加深。他們取代與主和祂子民的真實相交,他們只是單領聖餐,在表面上執行他們的屬靈義務。藉此,真實信仰的生命已被單單的儀式所取代。

於是聖經便從教會生活中除去,他們只以拉丁文閱讀,一般百姓是無法瞭解的。教會在中世紀滑跌至更深的黑暗,為此緣故,這段時期又被稱為黑暗時代。超過一千年之久教會凋零到一個地步,充斥迷信與人的結盟,打開大門讓敵基督的靈控制教會。這使得教會所做之事,與基督和使徒的教導背道而馳。

教會跌入黑暗是漸進的過程,長達好幾世紀。宗教改革開始從聖經中得著亮光也是漸進的過程,在宗教改革超過五百年後,真正符合聖經的新約教會生活仍是一種異象與盼望多過真實。偉大的靈魂追求這種盼望到一個程度,救贖、和好與重建的生命大能在教會中重新被恢復。

神所建造而非人手所建的城之異象,驅使亞伯拉罕放下一切追隨夢想,進入未知之地。他本可以住在最雄偉的皇宮,此異象卻促使他甘願住在帳棚。全地與其上的財寶在他屬天的異象中黯然失色,到一個地步他認為:『我們在這裡本沒有常存的城,乃是尋求那將來的城』(參考希伯來書13:14)。

反之,啟示錄的大淫婦是與主訂婚的教會,將自己給了『這世界的神』。她屈服在撒旦提議給耶穌與每位客旅的誘惑下─向牠跪拜與崇拜牠的誘惑,或以牠的方式行事,這是牠提供給世界的,而假教會接受了此提議。

然而,真教會接受基督的道路,這是十架的道路,捨下自己的生命,成為持續等候新郎的屬靈貞節童女,而不是妥協他們所獻上的。因此,魔鬼與其新婦,也就是那些被牠引誘,就像牠引誘亞當的新婦,對真新婦─真聖徒非常憤怒。

正如我們在啟示錄十二章讀到,龍所吐出來的水要吞沒真教會。此洪水就是宗教法庭,大約殺害了五千七百萬被稱為『異端的人』,只因他們不願向教皇跪拜。然而,這些人並不是異端,而是真正的聖徒。正如這裡告訴我們:『地卻幫助婦人,開口吞了從龍口吐出來的水』,『於是有大鷹的兩個翅膀賜給婦人,叫她能飛到曠野』,在那裡被神餵養(請參考啟示錄12:14-16)。當『新世界』被發現時,地便『打開了』,成為受逼迫教會逃脫被神餵養的曠野。在這一段經文的『大鷹』指的是美國,正如美國的象徵標誌是老鷹。

這即是何以美國首批拓殖者極多數是為了逃離歐洲的宗教逼迫,他們在新世界找尋宗教自由。這即是何以宗教自由是美國存在目的之核心,何以我們其他自由都與此緊緊相連。

美國本是一片曠野,但發現此新大陸後,信仰在她裡面『被滋養』,沒有其他地方可以相比。觸摸世界各地基督身體的偉大運動,都是在美國被誕生與滋養的。成為宗教逼迫者的避風港,是我們存在的主要原因之一,這即是何以攻擊宗教自由,仍是龍想要摧毀美國的一個首要方式。

然而,龍絕不會得勝。 

 (摘自喬納 word for the week,Week45, 2016)

 
The City God Built—The Book of Revelation
Week 45, 2016
Rick Joyner

     As covered, the biggest gate of hell was opened into the church when positions of authority in the church became based on the approval of men rather than God. This began in the early fourth century when the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Officials of the empire were required to be Christian. This caused all manner of ambitious and evil people to enter the church to gain favor with the government, not because of a true conversion.

     The corruption of the faith deepened when rituals began to supplant the reality of the truths they were given to celebrate. Instead of having communion with the Lord and His people, they could just take communion and seemingly fulfill their spiritual obligations. By this, life in the true faith was supplanted by mere rituals.

     Then the Scriptures were removed from the life of the church. They were read only in Latin, which the common people could not understand. The church slipped even further into the deep darkness of the Middle Ages, often called The Dark Ages, for that reason. For over a thousand years the church languished in a place where superstition and human alliance opened the door for the antichrist spirit to dominate. This caused the church to practice things that were the opposite of the teachings of Christ and the apostles.

     The slide into the darkness was gradual over centuries. The Reformation that began with illumination from the Scriptures was also gradual. After more than five hundred years of reformation, true and biblical New Covenant church life is still a vision and a hope more than a reality. To the degree that great souls have pursued this hope, there has been life and the power of redemption, reconciliation, and restoration recovered by the church.

     The vision of the city that God, not men, was building compelled Abraham to leave everything to follow this dream into unknown places. This vision caused him to be willing to dwell in a tent when he could have afforded the greatest palace. The earth and its treasures were eclipsed by his heavenly vision to the degree that “here he had no lasting city” (see Hebrews 13:14).

     In contrast, the Great Harlot of the Book of Revelation was the church betrothed to the Lord that gave herself to “the god of this world.” She succumbed to the temptations that Satan offered to Jesus and every sojourner since—the temptation to bow down and worship him, or do things his way and he would offer the world. The false church took the offer.

     However, the true church took the way of Christ, the way of the cross, laying down their lives rather than compromising their devotion to remaining chaste spiritual virgins who would wait for the Bridegroom. So the devil and his bride, those he had seduced like he had the first Adam’s bride, became enraged at the true bride, the true saints.

     As we read in Revelation 12, the dragon poured out a flood to devour the true church. This flood was the Inquisition that is estimated to have killed 57 million declared “heretics” because they would not bow the knee to the papacy. However, these were not heretics, but rather true saints. As we are told: “the earth opened and swallowed the flood” and “the wings of a great eagle were given to the women and carried her away into the wilderness to be nourished by God” (see Revelation 12:14-16). The earth “opened” when the “new world” was discovered, becoming the wilderness to which the persecuted church fled to be nourished by God. The “great eagle” in this passage is America, as the symbol of America is the eagle.

     This is why a large percentage of the first colonists to America were those fleeing religious persecution in Europe. They sought religious freedom in the new world. This is why religious freedom is at the core America’s purpose and why all of our other freedoms are linked to it.

     America was a wilderness, but since its discovery the faith has been “nourished” in her like no other place. Great movements that touched the body of Christ worldwide have been born and nurtured in America. To be a haven for those suffering religious persecution is one of the main reasons we exist. This is why the attack on religious freedom remains a primary way the dragon still seeks to destroy America. 

     But the dragon will not prevail.