明亮晨星的應許─啟示錄

正如我們先前所談論的，教會歷史早在主對七個教會的信息中被預言出來。倘若我們要成為主純淨貞潔的童女，配稱為祂的新婦，教會歷史充滿重要性的功課讓我們學習。在那段歷史中，我們看見與這世代權力連結的後果，以及無法容忍那些與我們所相信的不盡相同，或不過是所相信的方式不太一致，逐漸蔓延在教會生活的結構中。

容忍並不表示我們在支持健全的聖經真理上有所妥協；然而，教會在歷史上被一些小問題所帶來的分裂弄得心力交瘁。就算是在重大教義上的分歧，解決之道並不是彼此為敵，而是在羅馬書十二章18節對我們的勸誡：『若是能行，總要盡力與眾人和睦。』

宗教上的不容忍已證實是不容忍類型中最殘忍的，這也是何以許多人不想與神或宗教有關係的主要原因。甚至連羅馬對早期基督徒的逼迫，都無法與宗教法庭時期基督徒對其他基督徒所做的逼迫相比。根據基督教會歷史的作者亨利.謝爾登（Henry C. Sheldon）所言：『連羅馬官員（曾致力於摧毀基督教）都會羞愧於使用宗教法庭所使用的一些方式。

這些酷刑出現在殉道史（Foxe’s Book of Martyrs）一書中，比較起來納粹還算仁慈，這一點也不誇張。我們很想忘記此，但若不面對、悔改，這些事情很容易浮上台面、被使用來攻擊我們，這些罪的傷痕只有靠饒恕才能醫治。

此外，倘若我們遮掩這些事，就沒有機會從這些功課中學習，最後只會不斷重蹈覆轍。在教會歷史中所發生的每件壞事，都有其目的。目的就是讓我們學習這些終極功課，那即是何以此歷史事先在啟示錄中被寫出來。

主對此教會時代的其餘信息非常強烈，而且已經應驗：

看哪，我要叫她（耶洗別）病臥在床。那些與她行淫的人，若不悔改所行的，我也要叫他們同受大患難。
我又要殺死她的黨類（原文是兒女），叫眾教會知道，我是那察看人肺腑心腸的，並要照你們的行為報應你們各人（啟示錄2:22-23）。 

『黑死病』在此時期席捲歐洲，尤其集中在大淫婦教會掌權的地方，接下來的信息則是主所給予的鼓勵： 

至於你們推雅推喇其餘的人，就是一切不從那教訓、不曉得他們素常所說撒但深奧之理的人，我告訴你們，我不將別的擔子放在你們身上。 
但你們已經有的，總要持守，直等到我來。
那得勝又遵守我命令到底的，我要賜給他權柄制伏列國；
他必用鐵杖轄管（轄管：原文是牧）他們，將他們如同窰戶的瓦器打得粉碎，像我從我父領受的權柄一樣。 
我又要把晨星賜給他。 
聖靈向眾教會所說的話，凡有耳的，就應當聽！（啟示錄2:24-29）

明亮晨星就是金星，是在最深的黑夜升起的最亮星星，成為黎明將近的證據。威廉·廷代爾（William Tyndale）常被稱為『宗教改革的明亮晨星』，他是第一位將聖經翻譯成他的母語，好讓普通老百姓可以瞭解，毫無疑問這讓古騰堡聖經成為印刷術發明後所印出的第一本書。沒有印刷術，宗教改革復興的火焰，很可能會像先前教會改革運動一樣熄滅。以此方式，教會最黑暗的時期終於結束。白日還沒完全到來，但明亮晨星應許白日將近。

 (摘自喬納 word for the week,Week47, 2016) 

 
The Promise of the Morning Star—The Book of Revelation
Week 47, 2016
Rick Joyner

         As we have been covering, church history was predicted by the Lord’s messages to the Seven Churches. Church history is filled with crucial lessons to learn if we are to become the pure, chaste virgin the Lord so deserves as His bride. In that history we see the consequences of being joined to the powers of this age and allowing intolerance for those who may not conform to everything we believe, or just the way that we believe, to creep into the fabric of church life.

         Resisting intolerance does not mean that we do not stand for sound biblical truth without compromise. However, the church has been devastated throughout history by divisions over minor issues. Even when divided over major doctrines, the answer is not to go to war with each other. Rather, we are exhorted in Romans 12:18, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”

         Religious intolerance has proven to be the cruelest form of intolerance and a major reason why so many want nothing to do with God or religion. Even the Roman’s persecutions of the early Christians paled in comparison to what Christians did to other Christians during the Inquisition. According to Henry C. Sheldon, author of The History of the Christian Church, "A Roman magistrate (who was devoted to the destruction of Christianity) would have been ashamed to employ some of the methods freely used by the Inquisition."

         The tortures revealed in such works as Foxe’s Book of Martyrs make the Nazis seem benevolent in comparison, and that’s no exaggeration. We would like to forget this, but such things tend to surface and get used against us if they are not confronted, repented of, and the wounds from these sins healed by forgiveness.

         Also, if we cover them up we do not have the opportunity to learn the lessons from them and they keep getting repeated. Every bad thing that happened in church history was allowed to happen for a purpose. That purpose is that we learn these ultimate lessons. That is why this history was written in advance in Revelation.

       The rest of the message of the Lord to this church age is poignant and was fulfilled:

       “Behold, I will throw her (Jezebel) on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds.

       “And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds” (Revelation 2:22-23).

         During this period, the “black death” swept over Europe and seemed to especially concentrate in the place where the harlot church was dominant. To the rest He gave encouragement:

         “But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them—I place no other burden on you.

         “Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come.       

         “He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS; 

         “AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father;

         “and I will give him the morning star.

         “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:24-29).

         The morning star is the planet Venus that rises as the brightest star during the darkest part of the night as evidence that the day will soon dawn. William Tyndale is often referred to as “the morning star of the Reformation.” He was the first to translate the Scriptures into his native language so that the common people could understand them. This no doubt led to the Gutenberg Bible being the first book to come off the printing press after its invention. Without this, the flames of the Reformation revival would have likely died like the previous movements to reform the church. In this way, the darkest period of the church ended. It was not quite the day, but the morning star promised that it would be soon.