僕人的生活─啟示錄
上週我們回顧僕人的生活，到一個時候，人們若不拜獸與受牠的印記就無法買賣與交易。主的僕人將不需要受獸的印記或拜獸，因為供應僕人是主人的責任。主僕人的一切需要有著最穩定的來源；因此我們成為主僕人呼召的一個基本門訓，就是越來越倚靠主成為我們供應的來源。
現在是我們委身成為祂僕人並且經歷祂是我們供應者的時候，在天使被釋放猛烈吹地上四方的風前，目前暫時不叫四方的風吹在地上，正如詩篇三十二篇6節所告訴我們的：
為此，凡虔誠人都當趁祢可尋找的時候禱告祢；大水泛溢的時候，必不能到他那裡。
當大水快要臨到我們時，再嘗試將房子建造在磐石上已太晚。在那個時候，我們也無法信靠自己。我們必須知道主是我們的源頭，祂必須成為我們生命建造在其上的磐石。成為僕人的關鍵在於信靠主人會供應祂的奴僕，而我們擁有最可靠的主人。
獸的印記是一個經濟的印記；人的終極試煉是他會拜神還是拜終極偶像─金錢與人文主義系統，也就是倚靠人而不倚靠神。金錢本身並不邪惡，但當我們信靠金錢取代信靠神時，它就會成為偶像。因此，終極考驗將是我們敬拜誰與我們信靠誰。
倘若我們單單遵守聖經所吩咐的來管理金錢與資源，我們不需要擔心獸的印記─我們會預備好此終極考驗。聖經上對公義的教導大約三分之一都與管家職分有關─我們如何管理神託付我們的資源。在才幹的比喻中，主教導說，我們是『又忠心又良善的僕人』，還是『又惡又懶的奴僕』，是按著我們如何來管理主託付我們的資源來決定。
管家的第一個聖經原則是初熟的果子要歸給主，做為祂家中服事所需。許多人認為那是舊約的律法，但這也出現在新約。在新約裡，我們被呼召成為麥基洗德祭司職分的一份子，正如希伯來書告訴我們，麥基洗德接受了十分之一。十一奉獻早在律法之前，甚至連族長們都給十一。
我們可能會說在我們委身成為僕人時，我們已經獻給主我們一切所有。此順服從將十一給予主家中的服事開始，在十一奉獻後，我們才被要求將其餘奉獻與慈惠金用來幫助窮人與需要的人。（應該留意的是，聖經中有261處提到關心窮人，其中三分之二是給予個人與家庭，三分之一則是給予教會，沒有任何是給予政府的）。
主對在此方面忠心奉獻的人，應許祂會敞開天上的窗戶，傾倒祝福直到滿溢出來。然而，身為僕人，我們個人並不將任何東西視為自己的，我們不過是神的管家。因此，當祂的祝福與供應在我們生命中越來越多時，我們不是將其用在個人的渴望上，而是看見這些祝福如同被託付更多來行祂的旨意。
主也教導，我們若在不義的錢財上不忠心，誰還把那真實的錢財託付我們呢？因此我們的目標是先在自然的錢財上忠心，好讓主可以託付我們天國更大的資源。我們應該以尊敬來看待所有事情，因為王的資源配得如此的敬重，但我們的心必須在天上的事，而不單是地上的事。這即是何以族長富有到可能可以建造當時最棒的皇宮，卻甘願住在帳棚而感到滿足。他們看見神的城，願意為著某個更偉大的事物而活，遠超過任何人可以在地上建造的，那正是主的僕人必須致力建造的事物。
(摘自喬納 word for the week,Week21, 2017)
The Life of a Bondservant—The Book of Revelation
Week 21, 2017
Rick Joyner
Last week we reviewed the life of a bondservant and the time that is coming when no one will be allowed to buy, sell, or trade without worshipping the beast and taking his mark. The Lord’s bondservants will not have to take the mark or worship the beast because it is the Master’s responsibility to provide for His servants. The Lord’s bondservants have the surest Source for all their needs. Therefore, a basic discipline in our bondservant calling is growing in dependence on the Lord as the Source of our provision.
Now is the time for us to commit to be His bondservants and to come to know Him experientially as our Provider. The angels are now holding back the four winds before they are released to blow with all of their fury. As we are told in Psalm 32:6:
Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to Him in a time when He may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they shall not reach Him.
When the flood is upon us, it will be too late to try to build our house on the Rock. In the time that is coming, we will not be able to trust in ourselves either. We must know the Lord as our Source, and He must be the Rock we have built our lives upon. The key to being a bondslave is to trust in the Master to provide for His slaves, and we have the most dependable Master of all.
The mark of the beast is an economic mark. The last and ultimate trial of man is whether he will worship God or the ultimate idols—money and the humanistic system, which depends on mankind rather than God. Money itself is not evil, but when we put our trust in it in place of God, it becomes an idol. The ultimate test is whom we will worship and whom we will put our trust in.
If we simply obey the biblical commands as to how to handle our money and resources, we will not have to worry about the mark of the beast—we will be prepared for this ultimate test. It has been estimated that about one third of biblical teachings on righteousness is about stewardship—how we handle the resources entrusted to us. In His Parable of the Talents, the Lord taught that we are determined to be a “good and faithful servant” or a “wicked, evil slave” by how we handle what is entrusted to us.
The first biblical principle of stewardship is that the firstfruits are to be given to the Lord for the services of His house. Many think that this is an Old Covenant law, but it is in the New Covenant as well. In the New Covenant, we are called to be a part of the Melchezedek priesthood. As we are told in the Book of Hebrews, Melchezedek received tithes. Tithes were pre-law—even the patriarchs tithed.
We may say that in our commitment to be bondservants, we have given everything that we have to the Lord. This obedience begins with taking the first 10% to the service of the house of the Lord as a tithe. After that, we are required to give offerings and alms to help the poor and needy. (It should be noted that of the two hundred and sixty-one references in Scripture to caring for the poor, two thirds of these are given to individuals and families, one third is given to the church, and none are given to governments).
The promise of the Lord for faithfulness in this is that He will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing until it overflows. However, as bondservants we do not receive anything as our own, but rather as stewards. So as His blessings and provision increase in our life, we do not just consume them on our own desires, but we see the blessings as being entrusted with more with which to do His will.
The Lord also taught that if we could not be trusted with unrighteous mammon, who will trust us with the true riches of the kingdom? So our goal is to be found trustworthy with natural things so that He can trust us with the kingdom’s greater resources. We should treat all things with the respect that the King’s resources deserve, but our hearts must be on heavenly things, not just the things on earth. This is why the patriarchs, who were wealthy enough to possibly have built the best palaces of their time, were content to live in tents. They had seen the city of God and lived for something greater than anything man could build on this earth. That is what bondservants must be devoted to building.
