萬有在祂裡面─啟示錄
這週我們將更詳述天國福音的傳揚，也就是在啟示錄十一章15-17節提到『第七號』或信息，釋放出去了。
第七個釋放出去的信息是所有信息中最棒的一個─萬王之王要拿回祂的國，現在將在全地掌權。『福音』指的是『好消息』，地上從來沒有聽過比這更好的消息了。許多人宣稱要傳揚此信息，卻沒有做到耶穌與初代使徒所傳揚的，他們幾乎都以同樣方式來做。
我的朋友羅賓麥米蘭（Robin McMillan）對此有很棒的洞見，他說：『多數稱為天國福音的信息，真的都與如何掌控人有關，要他們照著我們認為他們應當的方式來表現。耶穌傳揚天國的福音，是靠著示範此福音與其能力超越地上一切景況。
耶穌基本上在說（大意上）：『你知道的，我們在天上一無所缺，當天堂觸摸這小男孩的午餐，看看會發生什麼事。』突然間，本是餵飽一個小男孩的午餐卻餵飽了五千人，於是耶穌可能會這麼說：『你知道的，在天上沒有瘸子，所以當天堂觸摸這瘸子，看看會發生什麼事。』這瘸子立刻被醫治。在天上沒有死亡，所以當天堂觸摸死人時會發生什麼事？他們會活過來。於是耶穌說當祂的門徒傳揚此福音時，天堂真實的證據也將追隨他們。
我們先前曾簡短談過，在聖經最初提到的某件事往往是其目的之深度啟示，讓我們再次思想聖經最初提到神的殿（家），此發生在雅各做了一個夢，夢中神的使者在一個通天的梯子上，上去下來。這就是神的家─教會被呼召樣式的基本啟示─通往天堂的地方。我們都被稱為神的使者，可以上到屬天領域然後再下來，將天堂真實的證據與權柄帶到全地。
正如我們也曾談到，耶穌就是雅各的天梯，在祂和拿但業的談話中清楚說到。在天國權柄中成長，不單是學習天國的原則和方法，更是在凡事上長大成人歸於萬王之王耶穌基督。我們擁有真實屬靈權柄的程度取決於我們與萬王之王的連結。當我們連結於祂，我們便學習祂的道路─不單是祂在做什麼，而是祂為何要這麼做。
以此同樣方式，天國福音的終極宣言將來自這位萬王之王。因此，我們的目標不單是聽見主的道，更要聽見道本身。這是非常個人的，全都在於關係。再一次，這不單是學習『天國的原則』，就像許多人嘗試呈現天國福音的方式。這乃是看見這位王，學習用祂的眼睛來看，用祂的耳朵來聽，用祂的心來瞭解。這總是讓我們愛祂與彼此相愛，建立與祂和彼此之間的關係。
屬靈權柄是被建造在愛以上；耶穌憐憫羊群沒有牧人，祂便成為牧人。耶穌憐憫住在黑暗中的人，祂便成為他們的教師。原則唯有將我們引至關係時才有助益，當信息只有原則時會變得冷酷、嚴格的官僚機構，雖有可能塑造神聖敬虔的外貌，卻失去了轉化的真正能力。
這並不是把天國化為情感，正如許多人認為愛只不過是一種情感─它比情感來得更深。聖經中有許多類型的愛，但我們可以確定的是神的愛充滿恩典與真理。神的愛不是基於我們的宗教表現，祂乃是用祂兒子的愛以生命買贖我們，這即是我們為何並如何透過耶穌的寶血來接近神。這就像祭司若沒有獻祭的血絕不會進入象徵主同在的約櫃。
歸根究底：一切都關乎耶穌，正如以弗所書告訴我們，萬有都在祂裡面同歸於一，我們的生命也在祂裡面同歸於一。天國的福音是萬王之王的啟示，下週我們會更深入探討。
(摘自喬納 word for the week,Week37, 2017)
All Things In Him—The Book of Revelation
Week 37, 2017
Rick Joyner
This week, we will elaborate more on the proclamation of the Gospel of the kingdom referred to in Revelation 11:15-17 as the “seventh trumpet,” or message, to go forth.
The seventh worldwide message to go forth is the greatest of all—the King is taking up His kingdom and will now rule over the earth. “Gospel” means “good news,” and the earth has never heard better news than this. Many have claimed to proclaim this message but have fallen short of doing so as Jesus and the first apostles proclaimed it, and they almost all do it the same way.
A friend of mine, Robin McMillan, had a great insight about this when he said, “Most of the messages that have claimed to be the Gospel of the kingdom have really been about how to control people and get them to behave the way we think they should. Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the kingdom by demonstrating it and its power over all of the conditions on the earth.”
Jesus basically went about saying (to paraphrase), “You know, we don’t have any lack in heaven. Watch what happens when heaven touches this little boy’s lunch.” Suddenly, what was intended to feed one little boy became enough for five thousand. Then Jesus would say something like, “You know, there are no cripples in heaven, so watch what happens when heaven touches this cripple.” The cripple was instantly healed. There is no death in heaven, so what happened when heaven touched a dead person? They lived. Then He said that when His disciples proclaimed this Gospel, the same evidence of heaven’s reality would accompany them.
We briefly covered before how the first mention of something in Scripture was usually a profound revelation of its purpose, and let us again consider the first mention of God’s house in Scripture. This occurred when Jacob had a dream of the messengers of God ascending and descending on a ladder that reached into heaven. That is a basic revelation of what God’s house, the church, is called to be—the place of access to heaven. The messengers of God that we are all called to be ascend into the heavenly realm and then descend, bringing back evidence of heaven’s reality and its authority over the earth.
As we also covered, Jesus is Jacob’s ladder, as He declared in His discourse with Nathaniel. Growing in kingdom authority is not just learning the principles and methods of the kingdom—it is growing up in all things into Christ, the King. We only have true spiritual authority to the degree that we abide in the King. As we abide in Him, we learn His ways—not just what He is doing, but why.
In this same way, the ultimate declaration of the Gospel of the kingdom will come from the King through His people. Therefore, our goal is to not just hear the words of the Lord, but to hear the Word Himself. This is personal, and it is about relationship. Again, it is not just learning “kingdom principles” as so many have tried to present the Gospel of the kingdom. Rather, it is seeing the King and learning to see with His eyes, hear with His ears, and understand with His heart. This will always reduce down to loving Him and loving one another, to relationship with Him and with each other.
Spiritual authority is founded on love. Jesus felt compassion for the sheep without a shepherd and He became their Shepherd. Jesus felt compassion for those living in darkness and He became their teacher. Principles can be helpful, but only if they lead us to relationship. The messages reduced to just principles become cold, hard, and bureaucratic institutions that may have a form of godliness but have lost the true power of transformation.
This is not to reduce the kingdom to emotions, as many consider love to be just an emotion—it is much more. There are many types of love in Scripture, but we can be assured that God’s love is full of both grace and truth. God’s love is not based on our religious performance, but on His love for His Son who purchased us with His life. This is why and how our approach to God is through the blood of Jesus. This is like how the priests would never enter the presence of the Lord, represented by the Ark of the Covenant, except with the blood.
BOTTOM LINE: It’s all about Jesus. As Ephesians tells us, all things will be summed up in Him, and our life is summed up in Him. The Gospel of the kingdom is a revelation of the King, as we will cover in more depth next week.
