神正在建造的城─啟示錄  

接下來我們將談到啟示錄十九章1-5節： 

此後，我聽見好像群眾在天上大聲說：哈利路亞（就是要讚美耶和華的意思）！救恩、榮耀、權能都屬乎我們的神！ 

祂的判斷是真實公義的；因祂判斷了那用淫行敗壞世界的大淫婦，並且向淫婦討流僕人血的罪，給他們伸冤。

又說：哈利路亞！燒淫婦的煙往上冒，直到永永遠遠。 

那二十四位長老與四活物就俯伏敬拜坐寶座的神，說：阿們！哈利路亞！ 

有聲音從寶座出來說：神的眾僕人哪，凡敬畏祂的，無論大小，都要讚美我們的神！ 

現在我們正來到這世代末了與要來世代最令人興奮的預言─神的國要臨到地上。 

首先，我們看見有極大的歡喜，因為主已審判如此敗壞地上的大淫婦，祂也給被大淫婦所殺眾聖徒的血伸冤。這裡告訴我們，燒淫婦的煙往上冒直到永遠。『永遠』不是希臘文 aion的正確翻譯，翻為『世代』更正確。然而，我們從這裡可以做出一個結論，從她的毀滅所帶來的煙顯然持續很長的時間。 

正如要來的世代是耶穌在地上掌權的千禧年，我們可以斷定，從大淫婦教會毀滅所帶來的煙霧顯然會穿越那世代。為什麼這很重要呢？因為這在人類歷史上最可怕事件所帶來的教訓，必須永遠被記得與學習。 

接著我們看見在寶座前二十四位長老與四活物，為此大淫婦毀滅的偉大事件一起來敬拜神。於是有勸誡的聲音從寶座發出，要神的眾僕人加入慶祝的行列。這即是天上如何來看此淫婦的毀滅─這成為天上大慶祝的原因。 

因此，現在這將如何影響我們呢？顯然，當邪惡毀滅時，應當歡喜快樂。我們也看見那些為大淫婦毀滅哀哭的，都是與她有商業利益的人。再一次，為何『獸的印記』是一個經濟的印記有其原因，因為經濟決定我們是否可以與這世代的勢力買賣或交易。我們若基於商業利益而向某件事敞開或抵擋它，我們同時也對欺騙大大敞開，結局是我們會站在錯誤的一方。 

在啟示錄十八章4節，有聲音臨到神的百姓說：『要從那城出來』。首先，那表示神的百姓正在此『奧秘的巴比倫中』，又稱為『大淫婦』。歷史顯明在此時期最大的腐敗與邪惡便是在此體制中產生，一些最偉大的聖徒從其中被興起，與她共存直到今日。 

聖方濟各亞西西（Francis of Assisi）是其中一位在中古世紀最傑出的基督徒，甚至連他的批評家在他死後都寫道，在聖方濟各以前，八福只被視為要來世代的理想，在此生是不可能獲得如此屬靈的生命。在聖方濟各之後就不能這樣說了，因為他真實活出基督的八福。值得注意的是，此偉大的聖人是活在一些最腐敗的教宗時期，其中一些人還是他的朋友。這怎麼可能？耶穌不是教導健康的人不需要醫生嗎？ 

在歷史上我們有一些最有效率的佈道家，正是那些傳揚耶穌的天主教徒，聖靈的大能在他們裡面。許多文件記載這些人運行在聖靈的能力與恩賜中，就像初代使徒所行的一樣。一些人信主了，門訓萬國的程度很難被後人複製。 

教宗若望保祿二世是我們世代最傑出的泛基督教領袖之一，他先知性起來對抗共產主義的勇氣，協助粉碎鐵幕，釋放上千萬的人脫離最糟的人性枷鎖得到自由。他擁有非凡的醫治與行神蹟的恩賜，勸誡所有天主教徒尋求受聖靈的洗與聖靈的恩賜，結果產生了數百萬重生得救的靈恩派天主教徒。 

所以，這是呼召真聖徒脫離此系統的時候嗎？正如我們在啟示錄十八章所讀到的，有一位天使或使者，宣告說：『巴比倫大城傾倒了』。在此之後主的百姓才被告知：『要從那城出來』。這尚未發生，所以現在還不是呼召神的百姓出來的時候。以我的看法，直到不出於那系統的新皮袋產生，呼召他們進入，此預言才會發生。  

那我們現在該怎麼做呢？尋求新皮袋，尋求神正在建造的城『新耶路撒冷』。 

 (摘自喬納 word for the week, Week16, 2018)

（參考：耶路撒冷從天而降）

 
The City God is Building—The Book of Revelation
Week 16, 2018
Rick Joyner

         Next we will cover Revelation 19:1-5:   

       After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!

       For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servantsshed by her."

       Again they said, "Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!"

       And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, "Amen! Alleluia!"

       Then a voice came from the throne, saying, "Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!" (NKJV) 

Now we come to some of the most exciting prophecies of the end of the age and of the unfolding of the age to come—the kingdom of God coming to the earth. 

First we see a great rejoicing that the Lord has judged the great harlot that had so corrupted the earth, and that He has avenged the blood of all of His saints that were slain by her. We are told that the smoke from her destruction will rise forever. “Forever” is not quite an accurate translation of the Greek word aion. It is more accurately and often translated, “age” or “ages.” Nonetheless, we can conclude from this that the smoke from her destruction will be obvious for a long time. 

As the next age is the millennium reign of Christ on the earth, we could conclude that the smoke from the destruction of this harlot church will be obvious through that age. Why is this important? Because the lessons of this most terrible episode of human history must be remembered and learned for all time. 

      Next we see that the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures before the throne of God join the worship for this great event of the destruction of the great harlot. Then the exhortation comes from the very throne of God for all servants of the Lord to join the celebration. That is how the destruction of this harlot is seen in heaven—it is a cause for great celebration. 

      So, how should this affect us now? Obviously, it is right to rejoice at the destruction of evil. We also see that the ones who lament the destruction of this great harlot are those who had business interests with her. Again, there is a reason why the “mark of the beast” is an economic mark that determines whether we can buy, sell, or trade with the present powers of this age. If we are for or against something based on business interests, then we are wide open for deception and ending up on the wrong side. 

      In Revelation 18:4, the call goes out for God’s people to “come out of her.”First, that indicates that God’s people are in this “Mystery Babylon,” also called “the great harlot.” History reveals that during the times of the greatest corruption and evil being done by this system, some of the greatest saints arose within her, and remain within her to this day. 

      One of the most truly remarkable Christians in the Middle Ages was Francis of Assisi. Even his critics wrote after his death that before him, the beatitudes were considered an ideal for the age to come but that it was not possible to attain such spirituality in this age. This could not be said after Francis because he truly lived the beatitudes of Christ. Remarkably, this great saint lived during a time of some of the most corrupt popes, some of whom were his friends. How could this be? Well, didn’t Jesus teach that it was not those who were well who needed a physician? 

Then we have a multitude of some of the most effective evangelists in history who were Catholics but preached Jesus, and the Holy Spirit was mighty within them. It is well documented that most of these moved in the power and gifts of the Spirit like the apostles did in the beginning. Some converted and discipled whole nations on a level that has not often been duplicated. 

 Pope John Paul II was one of great Christian leaders of our time. His courage and prophetic stand against Communism helped shatter the Iron Curtain and set hundreds of millions of people free from the worst human bondage. He had a remarkable gift of healing and miracles and exhorted all Catholics to seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. The result was over one hundred million born-again charismatic Catholics. 

       So, is it time to call the true saints out of this system? As we read in Revelation 18, it was a great angel, or messenger, that made the proclamation that “Babylon is fallen.” It was after this that the Lord’s people were told to “come out of her.” This has not happened yet, so it is not time to call God’s people out. It is my opinion that this will not happen until there is a new wineskin not of the nature of that system to call them into. 

      So what should we do now? Seek the new wineskin and seek the “new Jerusalem,” the city that God is building.