於2017-09-10發佈


門徒的生命─啟示錄   

這週我們要來看啟示錄十章8-11節:

我先前從天上所聽見的那聲音又吩咐我說:你去,把那踏海踏地之天使手中展開的小書卷取過來。 

我就走到天使那裡,對他說:請你把小書卷給我。他對我說:你拿著吃盡了,便叫你肚子發苦,然而在你口中要甜如蜜。 

我從天使手中把小書卷接過來,吃盡了,在我口中果然甜如蜜,吃了以後,肚子覺得發苦了。 

天使(原文是他們)對我說:你必指著多民、多國、多方、多王再說預言。 

神也要以西結先知吃書卷,然後去對百姓說話。先知自己需要先將神的話吃下去並且消化,好讓他們在對他人說話前,神的話已經在他們裡面了。  

假先知常對他人宣告審判與定罪,彷彿他們與眾不同、充滿公義。聖經裡的先知要認百姓的罪時會使用『我們』,聖經裡的先知會與百姓站在一起,為他們代禱。這即是基督的本質,道成肉身,將自己視為『人子』,成為人的真正中保。 

基督徒蒙召成為世界的鹽和光,倘若在我們的時代世界掉進了黑暗與腐敗中,這是我們的責任。我們不能向真理妥協,而不宣告在我們時代邪惡與性扭曲所帶來的後果。要成為基督真正的信差,我們必須像祂一樣,與百姓認同並願意為他們捨了自己的生命。 

唯有神完美無瑕的羔羊─基督的犧牲,才能贖罪。我們的死,無論是按著我們所蒙召的每天向自己死,或是我們最終的死亡,都是為真理站立的結果。這是十架的見證,最後一定會帶來他人的得救。 

正如主要被提到天上前,祂對祂的門徒說:但聖靈降臨在你們身上,你們就必得著能力,並要在耶路撒冷、猶太全地,和撒瑪利亞,直到地極,作我的見證』(使徒行傳1:8)。在這節『見證』的希臘文是 martus,就是英文『殉道者』(martyr)的由來。我們皆被呼召天天成為殉道者。 

耶穌吩咐祂的門徒每天捨己背起十字架,祂的門徒除了一人之外全都被處死,只因為他們不屈不撓的宣揚福音。聖經並沒有記載約翰的死,但他不斷受到要將他處死的威脅,他們甚至把他下在油鍋裡煮,他卻毫髮未傷,他們無法殺害他。這即是何以他最後被放逐到拔摩島的原因了。 

門徒的生命看起來似乎很艱難,但這無疑是終極生命。正如主所教導的:『因為,凡要救自己生命(生命:或作靈魂;下同)的,必喪掉生命;凡為我喪掉生命的,必得著生命』(馬太福音16:25)。當我們捨下我們的生命與喜愛為要事奉神,我們將活出最偉大與崇高的生命。我們將加入此生所能擁有最大的探險旅程,與那些地上最偉大的靈魂一起進入永恆的團契中。 

門訓的真正生命亦是我們此生所能經歷最自由的生命,我們若向世界死,世界能拿我們怎樣呢?一個死人毫無所懼,無法被世界的渴望與激情控制。正如耶穌說祂有食物吃,是他們不知道的,支撐門徒的是天上的糧,而他們的團契是在萬王之王同在中的屬天團契。   

(摘自喬納 word for the week,Week32, 2017) 

 

The Life of a Disciple–The Book of Revelation
Week 32, 2017
Rick Joyner

         This week we will cover Revelation 10:8-11:

Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, "Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land."

So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he said to me, "Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey."

I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.

So they said to me, "You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings."

         The prophet Ezekiel was also told to eat the book, and then to go and speak to the people. It is required of prophets that they themselves partake of the Word and digest it so that it is part of them before they speak it to others.

         Pseudo prophets often proclaim judgments and condemnation on others as if they themselves are different and righteous. Biblical prophets used the term “we” when confessing the sins of the people. Biblical prophets did not stand apart from the people, but as one of them, interceding for them. This is the nature of Christ, who became one of us and identified Himself as “The Son of Man” so that He could be the true Mediator for man.

         Christians are called to be the salt and light of the world, so if the world has fallen to corruption and darkness in our times, it has been on our watch. We cannot compromise the truth and fail to proclaim the certain consequences of the evil and perversion growing in our time. To be true messengers of Christ, we must, like Him, identify with the people and be willing to lay down our lives for them.

         Only the death of Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, can be the propitiation for sin. Our death, whether it is dying daily as we are called to do, or our ultimate death, is the result of standing for the truth. It is the witness of the cross that will inevitably result in the salvation of others.

         Just before the Lord was taken up into heaven, He said to His disciples, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). The Greek word translated “witnesses” in this text is martus, from which we derive the English word “martyr.” We are all called to be martyrs every day.

         Jesus commanded His disciples to take up their crosses and die daily. All but one ended their lives by being executed for their unrelenting declaration of the Gospel. John, the one whose death is not recorded, suffered repeated attempts to execute him, but even when they boiled him in oil he was not harmed, and they could not kill him. This is why he was exiled to the Isle of Patmos. 

         The life of a disciple would seem like a hard one, but it is actually the ultimate life. As the Lord taught, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25). When we lay down our own lives and interests for the sake of serving the Lord, we will live the greatest, most noble lives. We join the greatest adventure found in this life, and we enter an eternal fellowship with the greatest souls that have walked the earth.

         The true life of discipleship is also the most freedom we can experience in this life. If we are dead to this world, what can the world do to us? A dead man has no fear and cannot be controlled by the desires and passions of this world. Just as Jesus said that He had food to eat that they did not know about, what sustains the disciples is the bread of heaven, and their fellowship is a heavenly one in the presence of the King of kings.