於2017-04-08發佈


祂寶座的根基─啟示錄

在繼續看啟示錄五章之前,我們先以希伯來書四章14-16節的相關真理,做為神的寶座之總結:

我們既然有一位已經升入高天尊榮的大祭司,就是神的兒子耶穌,便當持定所承認的道。

因我們的大祭司並非不能體恤我們的軟弱。祂也曾凡事受過試探,與我們一樣,只是祂沒有犯罪。

所以,我們只管坦然無懼的來到施恩的寶座前,為要得憐恤,蒙恩惠,作隨時的幫助。 

和神的寶座一樣大而可畏的是,我們擁有一位體恤我們軟弱的大祭司,只是祂沒有犯罪。祂沒有走上十架為我們付上代價,然後譴責我們的罪─祂走上十架是為了讓我們與神和好。因此,這裡告訴我們只要我們有需要,我們可以隨時坦然無懼來到祂大而可畏的寶座前,我們可以確定的是,我們將找到我們需要的恩典。 

倘若福音有任何缺點,就是似乎好到太不真實。如此大而可畏的全能神怎能如此恩慈、溫柔與慈愛?祂是如此美好,好到難以領會與接受─通常要花一點時間才能做到。我們很難接受,赦免可以輕易到我們不需要做任何事來賺取。我們的全然赦免已被買贖而來,若我們認為仍需要償還什麼,便代表耶穌的犧牲還不夠。 

許多人宣稱只要神的憐憫而不要神的公義;然而,神的憐憫是被建造在神的公義上。神的公義則是建造在罪的結局就是死,而本不應死的耶穌,卻為我們的罪而死。倘若我們還要為我們的罪付什麼代價,這就是不公義,意味著天父並不接受耶穌的犧牲是足夠的。 

所以,我們犯錯時和行得正時一樣,可以坦然無懼來到神的寶座前。我們進入神的寶座不是依據我們個人的公義,而是藉著耶穌的寶血與祂所付的代價。當我們穿著耶穌的公義來到寶座前,天父只看到耶穌的公義─我們在祂眼中被視為全然聖潔,無論我們那天過得好不好。

進入主寶座前的能力從來都不是依據我們做得有多好,而是耶穌十架單純的信心便足以遮蓋我們的罪惡與失敗。我們坦然無懼是因為耶穌所成就的,而不是我們做了什麼或沒做什麼。我們不需要等到完全才進入祂的同在,而是藉著祂的同在我們得以完全。

當彼得看見主行在水面上,他下船與祂一同行在水面上,唯有當他的眼目在耶穌身上時才能做到,一當他注視風浪,他便開始下沈。在我們老我罪惡本性的不斷混亂中也在做相同的事,這些都是罪惡世界的後果。唯有當我們的眼目在耶穌身上,如同我們的公義、我們的道路、我們的真理與我們的生命,我們才能行在老我的混亂與今生的試煉之上。倘若我們開始聚焦在混亂,我們便會沈淪。

所以我們不傲慢闖入寶座室,乃是充滿感謝。我們是『以感謝進入祂的門』(參考詩篇100:4)。我們怎能不對如此大的憐恤與恩慈充滿感謝呢?坦然無懼的謙卑是在主裡與祂所做的事上坦然無懼。我們所擁有的坦然無懼反映出我們在主裡的信心。

(摘自喬納 word for the week,Week11, 2017)

 
The Foundation of His Throne—The Book of Revelation
Week 11, 2017
Rick Joyner

         Before proceeding to Revelation 5, we will conclude this part on the throne of God with a related truth from Hebrews 4:14-16:

         Therefore, since we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

         For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

         Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

         As awesome as the throne of God is, we have a High Priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses, even though He Himself is without sin. He did not go to the cross and pay the price for our sin to then condemn us for them—He went so that we could be reconciled to God. Therefore, we are told that we can come boldly before His awesome throne anytime that we have a need, and we can be assured that there we will find the grace that we need.

         If there is any flaw with the Gospel it would be that it seems too good to be true. How can such an awesome, Almighty God be so kind, gentle, and loving? He is so good and wonderful that it is hard for us to comprehend and accept—it usually takes a while for us to do so. It is hard for us to accept that forgiveness is that easy and that we cannot do anything to earn it. Our total forgiveness has been purchased for us, and for us to think that we still have to pay something is to imply that Jesus’ sacrifice was not enough.

         Many claim that they want the mercy of God and not justice. However, the mercy of God is established by the justice of God. God’s justice established that the consequence of sin is death, and Jesus, who did not deserve to die, died in our place to pay for our sin. If we then still had to pay a price for our sin, then it would be unjust, implying that the Father did not accept Jesus’ sacrifice of Jesus as being enough.

         So we can come boldly before the throne of God just as much when we have transgressed as we can when we have walked uprightly. We do not enter based on our own righteousness, but on the blood of Jesus and the price that He paid. When we come before the throne clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, the Father only sees the righteousness of Jesus—we are deemed completely pure in His eyes, regardless of whether we had a good or bad day.

         The power to enter before the Lord is never based on how well we have done, but on simple faith in the cross of Jesus to be enough to cover our sin and failures. Our boldness is because of what Jesus accomplished, not from anything we have done, or not done. We do not have to wait until we are perfect to enter His presence, but we are perfected by His presence.

         When Peter saw the Lord walking on the water and got out of the boat to walk on the water with Him, he could only do this as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus. As soon as he looked at the waves, he began to sink. We do the same in relation to the constant turmoil that is our old, sinful nature—all of the consequences of this sinful world. As long as we keep our eyes on Jesus, as our Righteousness, our Way, our Truth, and our Life, we can walk above the turmoil of our old nature and the trials of this life. If we start to focus on the turmoil, we will sink.

         So we don’t charge into the throne room arrogantly, but thankfully. We “enter His gates with thanksgiving” (see Psalm 100:4). How can we not be thankful for such great mercy and great grace? Bold humility is bold in the Lord and what He has done. The boldness we have is a reflection of the faith that we have in Him.