瞭解聖經
一個很大的疑問是，人們讀同樣的經文，怎麼會從中衍生出不同的結論，甚至教義。可能我們自己所說的話，別人卻詮釋為與我們本意完全相反的意思，而這也發生在主與和祂的話語上。許多人會有一個疑問：為什麼主容許聖經預言有時模糊不清，或似乎彼此衝突？

其中一個原因，顯然是主有目的地區分真正尋求真理者與冒牌者；簡言之，主不想讓聖經預言那麼容易瞭解─祂要那些被託付深度瞭解的人，堅定尋求不輕言放棄，因為他們看重這樣的瞭解，足以在任何障礙中堅持不懈。正如主告訴祂的門徒，這就是何以祂用比喻對人說話。

在我還是剛開始讀聖經的年輕信徒，我對聖經的深度與宏觀嘖嘖稱奇。我曾花多年時間閱讀馬克斯、弗洛伊德、榮格與羅洛梅等偉大哲學家，最後引至存在主義者如卡謬和史金納。我很快推斷出聖經的智慧遙遙領先最傑出的人類智慧，可是我在那之前曾嘗試讀過聖經，卻對我毫無意義。信主之後，我簡直不敢相信這是同一本書。不同的不在於書，而在於我，我讀聖經的眼光不同了。

即便如此，在我頭幾次讀聖經時，仍有一些不瞭解，甚至我那時認為聖經互相矛盾。當我得著主的知識、祂的道路，自己的靈命也成熟了，這些矛盾也離我遠去。當然，我沒有聲稱自己現在完全瞭解聖經，儘管這本書一直是我這四十年研讀生涯上的主要焦點。我可能已經讀聖經超過50遍了，但我仍是一位學生，而不是專家。決定我們是否可以正確分辨神的話的一個簡單因素，可以在約翰福音七章17-18節找到：

人若立志遵著祂的旨意行，就必曉得這教訓或是出於神，或是我憑著自己說的。 
人憑著自己說，是求自己的榮耀；惟有求那差他來者的榮耀，這人是真的，在他心裡沒有不義。 

分辨真理與正確詮釋神話語的首要原則，就是無論聖經怎麼說，我們都必須願意遵著祂的旨意行。倘若我們是帶著先決條件來讀神的話，我們永遠不會明白真理。倘若神是神，要把祂當神看，我們必須下決心，無論我們瞭解或同意與否，祂公義的標準就是公義，祂公正的標準就是公正，而我們生命的主要目標必須遵著祂的旨意行並順服祂。

接下來的經文則會使我們保持在正軌上。在這裡榮耀的希臘文是doxa，也可以被翻成『認出』。倘若我們要成為真實的見證人，持守在公義的道路上，榮耀主與尊榮祂的名不應是我們的主要目的，而是我們的所有目的，我們絕不要嘗試用我們的信息來使自己出名。惟有將榮耀主視為我們的動機，我們才是真的。

這裡有一個小缺失─就是我不知道在這方面做得如何。打從我初信主第一次讀到這段經文，我就試圖讓此成為我生命的核心目的，但我絕不敢假設自己已經做得很完全了。我不斷受到追逐私利的動機或有所自我保留的挑戰，所以我確定自己尚未完全，可能做得也不好。反之，我可能也做得很好，我真的不清楚。我想這就是保羅在哥林多前書四章1-5節的意思：

人應當以我們為基督的執事，為神奧祕事的管家。 
所求於管家的，是要他有忠心。 我被你們論斷，或被別人論斷，我都以為極小的事；連我自己也不論斷自己。 
我雖不覺得自己有錯，卻也不能因此得以稱義；但判斷我的乃是主。 
所以，時候未到，什麼都不要論斷，只等主來，祂要照出暗中的隱情，顯明人心的意念。那時，各人要從神那裡得著稱讚。 

有時我感到主不斷給我挑戰，說一些不受歡迎且具爭議性的預言和議題。我認為祂這樣做是為要幫助我一直保有對的動機，因為這些預言絕不會受到人的歡迎。有時我以為最會帶來憤怒的預言，卻成為最受歡迎的預言。我實在無法瞭解人們對事情的反應，所以我只要試著專注於對神的順服。

我個人的經驗是，我需要最大信心與勇氣所做之事，也認為那是最公義與最公平的，似乎往往造成宗教界最大的憤怒。我不需要什麼信心、勇氣、熱情與順服所做之事，反而得著他們的稱讚。這即是何以我幾乎每天用加拉太書一章10節來勸勉自己：『若仍舊討人的喜歡，我就不是基督的僕人了。』

我並不是在宣稱自己是公義、公平，或好僕人的最佳範例，但我知道當別人的意見與我的動機混雜時，所帶來的混淆實在難以承受，我無法過這樣的生活。值得注意的是，耶穌所做的工越大，宗教界對祂的反對也越大。當祂開始使死人復活，他們覺得是時候殺害祂了─想看看吧。我們若活在懼怕人中，我們就是最愚昧的人，一生都會受盡折磨。惟有順服神才會找著真平安與喜樂，而且只能在主裡找到，無論人們怎麼想我們。

 (摘自喬納 word for the week, Week 21, 2012)


Understanding the Scriptures - The Path of Life, Part 14
Week 21, 2012 
Rick Joyner
  
One of the great questions is how people can read the same Scriptures and derive different conclusions, or even doctrines, from them. We have likely all said things that someone would interpret the exact opposite of what we meant, and this happens to the Lord and His Words as well. One question many have is: Why would the Lord allow biblical prophecies to sometimes be so ambiguous or seemingly conflict the way that they do?

One reason is that the Lord obviously has a purpose in separating the real seekers of truth from the pretenders. In short, He does not want them to be easy to understand—He wants those who are trusted with a depth of understanding to have a resolute searching heart that will not give up because they value this understanding enough to persevere through any obstacle. As the Lord told His disciples, this is why He spoke to the people in parables. 

When I was a young believer and started reading The Bible, I was profoundly astonished at its depth and brilliance. I had spent years reading Marx, Freud, Jung, May, many of the great philosophers, and ultimately leading to the existentialists like Camus and B.F. Skinner. I concluded quickly that the wisdom of The Bible trumped the most brilliant human wisdom by an insurmountable distance. Yet I had tried to read The Bible before, but it did not make sense to me. After my conversion, I could hardly believe it was the same book. The difference was not the book, but me, and the eyes that I was looking through.

Even so, the first few times I read The Bible there were things I could not understand, and things I thought were contradictions. As I gained knowledge of the Lord, His ways, and matured myself, these went away. Certainly I would not claim that I now have perfect understanding of the Scriptures, though they have been the main focus of my study for 40 years now. I have probably read The Bible more than 50 times, but I’m still a student, not an expert. There is one simple factor that determines whether we can discern God’s Word accurately, and it is found in John 7:17-18:

“If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak    from Myself. 
He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.” 

The first principle of discerning truth and accurately interpreting God’s Word is that we must be willing to do His will regardless of what it says. If we approach it with preconditions, we will never know the truth. If God is God, then to see Him as He is we must resolve that regardless of whether we understand or agree with it, His standards of righteousness are righteous, His standards of justice are just, and the main goal of our lives must be to do His will and obey Him.

Then the next verse is what will keep us on track. The word that is translated “glory” here is the Greek doxa, which could have been translated “recognition.” If we are going to be true witnesses and stay on the path of the righteous, not just our main purpose, our entire purpose must be to glorify the Lord and honor His name, and never try to use our message to make a name for ourselves. We will only be true to the degree that we keep this as our motive.

Here’s a glitch though—I don’t know how well I’ve done at this. I’ve tried to keep it as a core purpose of my life since I first read this as a new believer, but I would never presume to have done it perfectly. I am constantly challenged by self-seeking motives that rise up, or self-preservation, so I’m sure I have not been perfect and may not have even followed this very well. On the other hand, I may have done it well. I really do not know. I think this is what Paul meant in I Corinthians 4:1-5:

 "Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 
In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy. 
But to me it is a very small thing that I should be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. 
For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. 
Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God."

I sometimes feel that the Lord continues to give me challenging, controversial prophecies and issues to address that are bound to be unpopular. I think He may do this to help me stay on the course with my motives because they surely will not be popular with men. Then sometimes the things I thought would bring the most wrath turn out to be most popular and vice versa. I honestly have not figured out how things will be taken, so I just try to focus on simple obedience.

It is my experience that the things I do that take the most faith and courage and I think are the most righteous and just, do seem to bring the most wrath from the religious community. The things I do that require little faith, courage, or devotion and obedience, seem to get the most accolades from the same. This is why I quote Galatians 1:10 to myself almost every day—“If I were still trying to please men I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”

I do not claim to be the most righteous, just, or even a good example of a good bondservant, but I know that when the opinions of others get mixed into my motives, the confusion is unbearable, and I can’t live that way. It is also noteworthy that the greater the works Jesus did, the more the religious community opposed Him. When He started raising the dead, they felt it was time to kill Him—go figure. We are the greatest of all fools and will be tormented our whole lives if we live in the fear of man. True peace and joy can only be found in obedience to God, and it is found in Him regardless of what people think of us.