於2017-09-19發佈


測量十字架─啟示錄  

現在我們一起來看啟示錄十一章1-2節:

有一根葦子賜給我,當作量度的杖,且有話說:起來!將神的殿和祭壇,並在殿中禮拜的人都量一量。

只是殿外的院子要留下不用量,因為這是給了外邦人的;他們要踐踏聖城四十二個月。 

究竟這聖殿所指為何,不同的末世論學校有著非常不一樣的推測。在1844年復臨運動前的註釋,沒有一處推測這指的是在耶路撒冷曾被建造的舊聖殿。在此運動之前,似乎所有註釋一致認為『神的殿』指的就是教會。 

似乎重建聖殿的理論需要擁有但以理和啟示錄未來觀的人─讓敵基督有地方『坐在』神的殿中,他們視敵基督和『行毀壞可憎的』為同一個人。或許是,但我認為此和教會有關。在1844年復臨運動前,幾乎所有論述啟示錄的重要教師和作者都如此看,包括啟示者老約翰的一些門徒。 

什麼是測量十字架、聖殿,或在裡面敬拜的人?在聖經預言中,測量遠超過單單量尺寸─它也是對品質與目的達成的一種評量。這意味著教會的領導階層被賜予權杖或權柄,來評量教會、在裡面敬拜的人,以及十字架,在這裡的代表人物是約翰。這要如何得以應驗呢? 

讓我們先從祭壇開始。在舊約獻燔祭的祭壇就是新約十字架的聖經預言,耶穌的十字架應驗了燔祭上所做的一切犧牲。那我們要如何測量十字架呢? 

從第一世紀起,不斷有對十字架的攻擊與錯誤教導,想削減甚至撤銷在教會生活與個別基督徒當中的十架大能。聖經上說十字架的道理是神的大能(參考哥林多前書一章18節),神一切的恩典、憐憫與能力都是經由十字架釋放給祂的百姓。十字架的應用是教會與信徒生活和健康的根基。當然這是每一個在領導位置的基督徒應當持續測量之事,為了分辨他們看顧之人健康與否。 

因為我們到神面前是藉由耶穌的寶血與祂在十字架所獻上的贖罪,所以人將十字架應用在他們生命中的能力,便成為他們用生命敬拜神之能力的要素,這是我們敬拜品質的根基。在新約之下的敬拜不是致力於儀式,乃是活出順服、與主連結的生命。我們如此做便榮耀了主;耶穌是道路、真理和生命,祂的這三種屬性我們都必須認識,才能按著所呼召的來與祂同行。 

正如我們上述所提到的,宗教改革者將任何對十字架的攻擊或對十字架道理的撤銷,都視為敵基督的工作。這是因為在救恩教義上十字架的中心是單單透過耶穌的十字架。大部分宗教改革者將『彌撒聖祭』視為『行毀壞可憎的』,因為那是教會生活與信徒當中對耶穌十字架最根本的攻擊。 

這不單是攻擊聖餐儀式而已,乃是想改變此儀式背離原意背後的教義。在彌撒聖祭的教義中,耶穌只有為亞當的罪而死。個人的罪若要得到豁免,他必須到一個神父面前,這位神父可以為個人的罪『再次獻上耶穌』。這即是何以他們教導聖餐的餅和杯可以神奇地變成主真正的身體與寶血,藉此讓身為人的祭司/神父成為中保,儘管聖經說『只有一位神,在神和人中間,只有一位中保,乃是降世為人的基督耶穌』(參考提摩太前書2:5)。正如希伯來書九章28節也告訴我們:基督既然一次被獻,擔當了多人的罪。 

我們救恩的基要真理, 還有神的恩典、憐憫與能力都是單單倚靠十字架而來,它配得被教會領袖定期測量。在新約之下,在神和人中間並沒有特別的祭司階級居中調節─乃是人人皆祭司。這是宗教改革所恢復的最重要新約真理,這些都基於真理,所有教會教義都必須基於聖經,而不是教會發展出許多分歧又不合乎聖經的教條,讓人遠離神,高舉一個機構來取代祂的地位。 

下週我們將提到『測量聖殿』的意思。 

 (摘自喬納 word for the week,Week33, 2017)
 

Measuring the Cross—The Book of Revelation
Week 33, 2017
Rick Joyner

         Now we come to Revelation 11:1-2:

         Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, "Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it.

         "Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.”

         There is a great diversity of speculation among the different schools of eschatology about what this temple is. I have not seen a single reference to speculation about the old temple being rebuilt in Jerusalem before the 1844 Advent Movement. Before that movement, there seemed to be a consensus that all references to a present or future “temple of God” were a reference to the church.

         It appears that the theory of a rebuilt temple was required for those who had a futuristic view of Daniel and Revelation—to have a place for the antichrist to “take his seat” in the temple of God, which they view as the same person as “the abomination of desolation.” Perhaps, but I consider this to be a reference to the church, like virtually all the important teachers and writers who addressed Revelation before the 1844 Advent Movement did, including some direct disciples of John the Revelator.  

         What does it mean to measure the cross, the temple, or the people who worship in it? Measuring in biblical prophecies  is usually more than just getting the dimensions—it is also an evaluation of quality and success in relation to its purpose. This implies that the leadership of the church, which John represents here, were given a rod, or authority, for measuring the church, those who worship in it, and the cross. How would this be fulfilled?

         Let’s begin with the altar. The Altar of Burnt Offering in the Old Covenant was a biblical prophecy of the cross in the New Covenant. The cross of Jesus fulfilled all of the sacrifices made on the Altar of Burnt Offering. So how would we measure the cross?

         From the first century, there were continuous assaults and false teachings directed at diluting or even nullifying the power of the cross in the life of the church and that of the individual Christian. It is written that the message of the cross is the power of God (see I Corinthians 1:18), and all the grace, mercy, and power of God are released to His people through the cross of Jesus. The application of the cross is fundamental to the life and health of the church and the individual believer. Certainly this is something that every Christian in a leadership position should constantly measure in order to discern the health of those in their care.

         Because we have access to God through the blood of Jesus and His propitiation offering on the cross, the ability of the people to apply the cross to their lives is a primary factor determining their ability to worship God with their lives. This is fundamental to the quality of our worship. Worship under the New Covenant is not about devotion to rituals as much as it is a life lived in obedience and abiding in the Lord. In doing so, we glorify the Lord. Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life. We must know Him as all three to walk with Him as we are called to.

         As we covered, the Reformers saw any attack on the cross, or any dilution of the message of the cross, as being the work of the antichrist. This was because of the centrality of the cross in the doctrine of salvation through the cross of Jesus alone. Most Reformers viewed “the sacrifice of the mass” as “the abomination of desolation”—or “the abomination that desolates”—because it was the most fundamental attack on the cross of Jesus in the life of the church and individual believers.

         This was not just about attacking a ritual of communion, but the doctrine behind this ritual changed from what was originally intended. In the doctrine of the sacrifice of the mass, Jesus only died for Adam’s sin. For the remission of personal sin, a believer had to go to a priest who would “offer Christ again” for their personal sins. This is why they taught that the bread and wine of communion was miraculously changed into the literal body and blood of the Lord. This made a human priest the mediator, even though Scripture says that there is only one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (see I Timothy 2:5). As we are also told in Hebrews 9:28, Christ was “offered once for all….”

         The fundamental truth that our salvation and the grace, mercy, and power of God is dependent on the cross alone is worthy to be measured regularly by church leaders. Under the New Covenant there is not a special class of priests that mediate between God and men—rather, every believer is a priest. These were the most important New Covenant truths recovered by the Reformation. These were based on the truth that all church doctrine must be based on Scripture, not church dogma that had developed so many varied and unbiblical teachings that separated the people from God and elevated an institution to take His place.

         Next week we will address what it means to “measure the temple.”