與神真實的友情─啟示錄
我們正談到啟示錄最重要的事件之一─第七個號角響起。『我們的神要作王掌權』─這即是我們所傳揚的天國福音。儘管此預言還有許多部分尚未應驗，但根據正展開的時間，我們已經來到此最後信息傳到全地的時候。我們所不知道的，是需要花多少時間揭開或完成此信息。
上週我們談到此福音的基礎就是萬王之王本身，我們並不是在傳揚一個新制度的到來，而是在傳揚主耶穌的再來。將此謹記在心非常重要，倘若要來的國度降為一個制度或原則，我們便遠遠虧缺此信息的真意了。我們可以擁有政府的最佳形式，若政府裡面沒有好人，我們仍可能擁有壞政府。主在建造人，而不是單建造制度或原則。祂行走在地上所展示的方法，不單是改變人的行為，乃是改變人心，好讓人們以對的理由來做對的事情。正如歷史學家威爾杜蘭（Will Durant）所觀察到的：『凱撒藉由改變機構來尋求改變人，耶穌卻藉由改變人來改變機構。』
為此緣故，很重要的是來瞭解主正在做的事，更重要的是瞭解為什麼。這就是我們在與神真實友情成長之處；我們要順服祂如同祂在一切事上做我們的王，但祂在尋找的不單是祂朋友的順服─祂在尋找我們與祂同心。
我們必須對祂與祂國度的能力與權柄有信心，來展示祂國度的能力與權柄。我們必須謹記在心：我們尋求建造人的信心並信靠祂，而不是信靠我們。初代使徒這麼做是透過傳揚『從死裡復活的耶穌基督』，那便是他們的全部信息。那是使徒的信息，從他們的時代以來卻很少如此被傳揚。
福音的信息是關乎一個人，而不單是觀念與原則，也關於祂勝過死亡。魔鬼用恐懼來控制人，而最大的恐懼就是懼怕死亡。倘若懼怕死亡被破除，其他懼怕的軛便很容易被破除。當一個人來到主耶穌的主權之下，這些軛必須被破除。倘若恐懼正控制著我們，那麼恐懼仍是我們的主，取代了基督的位置。因此我們信息的目的是讓人相信主，活在對祂的信心，取代恐懼的掌控。
當然，這先從對祂的信心與不再恐懼的自由開始，我們要同時在這兩件事上成長。哥林多後書十三章5節告訴我們：『你們總要自己省察有信心沒有，也要自己試驗。』我們要如何以此方式自我省察呢？有一些我們評估屬靈成長的方式，也有一些評估關係的方式，不需要弄得太複雜，但若我們真的在乎某件事，我們會去做的。
我們知道我們更親近一個人的主要方式在於我們認得他的聲音，我可以提供您我妻子聲音所有的細節─她是女高音，說話時有許多分貝，有很特別的音調等。但我懷疑您單從這些事實，就可以在一群女人談話中找到她。然而，她可以在一群女人中說話，我會知道她在哪裡，因為我們花許多時間一起生活，我非常認得她的聲音。這也是我們可以認得主聲音的真實方式─花時間與祂一起。
認得祂的聲音很重要，祂在約翰福音十章說祂的羊跟隨祂是因為他們認得祂的聲音。在羅馬書十章17節則告訴我們：『可見信道是從聽道來的，聽道是從基督的話來的。』以信心來做神的工是從聽見祂而來的，正如耶穌看見父所做的，祂才去做，因此做主工的信心來自得著祂的命令。
這即是我們事工的主要投入在於幫助所有信徒認得主的聲音，我們這樣做是透過持守於身為人類的主要目的─愛祂。倘若我們愛祂，我們將會被吸引更多親近祂與行祂的旨意。
(摘自喬納 word for the week,Week38, 2017)
True Friendship with God—The Book of Revelation
Week 38, 2017
Rick Joyner
We have been covering one of the most important emerging issues of all time—the sounding of the seventh trumpet in Revelation. “Our God Reigns”—this is the preaching of the Gospel of the kingdom. Even though much from this prophecy has yet to be fulfilled, according to the unfolding timeline, we are coming to the time for this last message to go forth across the earth. What we do not know is how long this will take to unfold or be completed.
Last week we covered how the basis of this Gospel is the King Himself. We are not just proclaiming the coming of a new system, but we are proclaiming the coming of the Lord Jesus Himself. This is crucial to keep in mind. If the coming kingdom gets reduced to a system, or just principles, then we fall far short of the message. We can have the best form of government, but we can still have bad government if good people are not in it. The Lord builds on people, not just systems or principles. The method He demonstrated from the time He walked the earth is to not just seek to change people’s behavior, but to change hearts so that people do the right thing for the right reason. As the historian Will Durant observed, “Caesar sought to change men by changing institutions, but Jesus changed institutions by changing men.”
For this reason it is important to understand what the Lord is doing. Even more important is to understand why. This is where we grow into true friendship with God. We want to be obedient to Him as our King in all things, but He is looking for more than just obedience from His friends—He is looking for us to be of one mind and heart with Him.
We must have faith in Him, and in the power and authority of His kingdom, to demonstrate the power and authority of His kingdom. We must always keep in mind that we seek to build people’s faith and trust in Him, not us. The first century apostles did this by preaching “Jesus Christ and the resurrection from the dead.” That was their whole message. It is the apostolic message, yet it has rarely been preached since their time.
The message of the Gospel is about a Person, not just concepts and principles. It is also about His overcoming death. The devil controls men by fear, and the ultimate fear is the fear of death. If the fear of death is broken, then all the other yokes of fear will be easy to break. These yokes must be broken for a person to come under the Lordship of Jesus. If fear is controlling us, then fear is still our lord in place of Christ. So the purpose of our message is to compel men to believe in the Lord and live by faith in Him in place of the controlling fear.
Of course, this begins with us having faith in Him and freedom from fear. These are both things that we grow in. In II Corinthians 13:5 we are told to “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith.” How do we test ourselves this way? There are ways that we evaluate our spiritual growth, and there are ways that we evaluate relationships. These do not need to be complicated, but if we really care about something we will do this.
A primary way we know that we are getting close to a person is that we know their voice. I could give you all of the technical details about my wife’s voice—she is a soprano, speaks in so many decibels, with a certain tone, etc.—but I doubt that you would be able to pick her out of a group of women talking just by knowing these facts. However, she can be talking in a group of dozens of women and I will know where she is because I know her voice so well and we have spent so much time together. That is the only true way that we can get to know the voice of the Lord too—spending time with Him.
Knowing His voice is crucial. He said in John 10 that His sheep follow Him because they know His voice. In Romans 10:17 we’re told, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” The faith to do His works comes by hearing Him. Just as Jesus only did what He saw the Father do, the faith to do the works of Christ come from getting His orders to do them.
This is why a core devotion of our ministry has been to help all believers know the voice of the Lord. We do this by being resolute in our main purpose as human beings to love Him. If we love Him we will be driven to get closer to Him and do His will.
