"看哪，我站在門外叩門，若有聽見我聲音就開門的，我要進到他那裡去，我與他，他與我一同坐席。
得勝的，我要賜他在我寶座上與我同坐，就如我得了勝，在我父的寶座上與他同坐一般。
聖靈向眾教會所說的話，凡有耳的，就應當聽！"。
啟示錄3:20-22
越來越光明 11
雷克·喬納
羅馬書11:22勸告我們："可見神的恩慈和嚴厲...."。這並不意味著神今天是恩慈的，明天是嚴厲的。祂並沒有改變。祂一直都是恩慈和嚴厲的。許多人只能看到祂的恩慈，正因為如此，他們對關於祂的恩典和憐憫的歪曲、極端和錯誤的教導持開放態度。其他人往往只看到祂的嚴厲，因此被欺騙，無法掌握祂的恩典和憐憫。要看到並與祂相聯繫，我們必須同時看到祂的恩慈和嚴厲。我們的目標必須是"把這生命的道都講給百姓聽"（見使徒行傳5:20），同時看到祂的恩慈和嚴厲。
我們如何看待神是我們信仰的最重要因素。行走在真理中，不僅僅是正確理解和遵守教義，儘管這很重要。真理是一個我們被召喚去跟隨的人。當我們 "敞著臉"地看祂時，我們就改變了（見哥林多後書3:8）。當我們戴著面紗看祂的榮耀時，我們看到的是祂扭曲的形象，並經常試圖把祂變成我們想要的樣子。我們可能有的面紗是偏見或未癒合的傷口。去除這些面紗對於看到主的本來面目和被改變成祂的本性至關重要。
我們對神的認識是影響我們在生活中的選擇的一個關鍵因素。我們的選擇是決定我們人生道路的主要因素。有人說："我們看到的不是世界的本來面目，而是我們的本來面目"。這是有道理的。我們必須有一個準確的認知，才能在真理中行走。這種感知是對我們自己、對他人、對世界的感知，最重要的是對神的感知。祂看到的方式就是真理。基督徒的成熟在很大程度上是學習我們的眼光是如何扭曲的，並得到糾正，以便我們能像祂所看到的那樣看。
生活中的許多經歷會影響我們對生活的看法，而我們必須選擇是否讓它們影響。聖經是感知神的本體和看到神的樣子的基礎。如果道成肉身的耶穌以 "經文"作為祂的立場，那麼我們更應該這樣做？聖經是我們最寶貴的工具，可以將我們的思想與祂的思想相比較，幫助我們保持在生命的道路上。
我們要尊重聖經，因為這是理所當然的，然而祂並沒有說要給我們留下一本書引導我們進入所有的真理。祂說祂會派聖靈給我們，聖靈將引導我們進入所有的真理。聖靈總是把我們引向耶穌，因為祂是真理。當我們看到祂並變得像祂時，我們就開始像祂所看到的那樣看，並理解祂的心。
啟示錄3:20-22是揭示我們的主的性質和我們的責任的非凡文本之一，以確定我們與祂的地位。
"看哪，我站在門外叩門，若有聽見我聲音就開門的，我要進到他那裡去，我與他，他與我一同坐席。
得勝的，我要賜他在我寶座上與我同坐，就如我得了勝，在我父的寶座上與他同坐一般。
聖靈向眾教會所說的話，凡有耳的，就應當聽！"。
首先，我們看到耶穌站在祂自己的教會門口敲門，看是否有人願意讓祂進來！這是一個強有力的啟示，說明瞭在祂的教會中，有很多人都是被祂的聲音所感染。這是一個強有力的啟示，說明在這個時代，祂不會去祂不受歡迎的地方，甚至是祂自己的教會。祂不是那種會把自己強加給妻子的丈夫。因此，我們不會在那些有控制欲的人身上找到祂，也不應該讓控制欲支配我們的方向和選擇。
接下來，將是那些戰勝的人與祂一起坐在祂的寶座上。祂已經接受考驗，克服了困難，與天父一起坐在祂的寶座上，現在輪到我們接受考驗，看看我們將在哪裡。我們是成為站在寶座前的敬拜者的一員（見啟示錄7:9），還是成為與祂一起坐在寶座上的得勝者？加入偉大敬拜者是美好的，但對於那些戰勝這個世界的靈的人來說，有一個更高的呼召。
思考保羅在《腓立比書》第3章中寫的，他說他不認為自己已經得著。這是在可能是最偉大的使徒的生命末期寫的，但他不認為自己已經得著了！他說："我沒有得著。得著了什麼？他顯然不是在談論救贖或永生，因為他在相信耶穌的十字架贖罪的那一刻就得著了這些。相反，他在這裡說的是 "神在基督耶穌裡從上面召我來得的獎賞"（見腓立比書3:12-14）。
整個聖經都清楚地表明，我們的救贖只能來自於神，而我們在神那裡的永恆地位在很大程度上是由我們自己決定的。這些都是由天父指定的，但我們必須使我們的 "恩召和揀選堅定不移"（見彼得後書1:10）。這一點我們將在後面深入討論。
啟示錄3:20的第三個關鍵是我們必須豎起耳朵聽聖靈對各教會所說的話。這不是祂在過去式中所說的，而是我們必須聽祂在現在式中所說的。當然，我們想知道並尊重祂在過去說過的話，但是如果我們要在這個黑暗的大時代成為我們被呼召的光，祂在現在的困境中說的話對我們來說至關重要，我們必須知道並遵循。
這就是這次研究"增加光"的原因。正如箴言4:18告訴我們的那樣，"但義人的路好像黎明的光，越照越明，直到日午。" 如果我們走在義人的道路上，我們會有越來越多的光，即使世界正在經歷越來越多的黑暗。很快就會黑到讓所有人都能看到光。
Increasing Light, Part 11
Rick Joyner
Romans 11:22 exhorts us to, “Behold then the kindness and severity of God….” This does not imply that God is kind one day and severe the next. He does not change. He is both kind and severe all the time. Many are only able to behold His kindness, and because of this, they become open to distorted, extreme, and false teachings about His grace and mercy. Others tend to only see His severity and are therefore deceived and unable to grasp His grace and mercy. To see and relate to Him as He is, we must see both His kindness and severity. Our goal must be to preach “the whole message of this life” (see Acts 5:20), to behold both His kindness and severity.
How we perceive God is the most important element to our faith. To walk in truth is not just understanding and obeying doctrines correctly, though this is important. Truth is a Person we are called to follow. We are changed as we behold Him “with an unveiled face” (see II Corinthians 3:18). When we behold His glory with veils on, we see a distorted image of Him and often try to make Him into what we want Him to be. Some of the veils we can have are prejudices or unhealed wounds. Removing these veils is crucial to seeing the Lord as He is and being changed into His nature.
Our knowledge of God is a key factor that affects our choices in life. Our choices are primary factors that determine our course in life. It has been said, “We do not see the world as it is, but as we are.” There is truth to this. We must have an accurate perception to walk in truth. This perception is of ourselves, of others, of the world, and most of all, of God. The way He sees is truth. Christian maturity is, to a large degree, learning how distorted our vision is and being corrected so we can see as He sees.
Many experiences in life can impact how we view life, and we must choose whether we will let them. The Scriptures are the foundation for perceiving God as He is and for seeing as He sees. If Jesus, who is the Word, took His stand on “It is written” how much more ought we? The Bible is our most valuable tool for comparing our thinking with His and helping us stay on the path of life.
We want to honor the Scriptures as they deserve, yet He did not say He would leave us a book that would lead us into all truth. He said He would send us the Spirit Who would lead us into all truth. The Spirit always leads us to Jesus, because He is the Truth. As we see Him and become like Him, we start to see as He sees and to understand His heart.
Revelation 3:20-22 is one of the extraordinary texts revealing the nature of our Lord and our responsibility to determine where we stand with Him:
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
“He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
First, we have Jesus standing at the door of His own church knocking to see if anyone will let Him in! This is a powerful revelation of how, in this age, He will not go where He is not wanted, even to His own church. He is not the kind of husband who would ever force Himself on His wife. Therefore, we will not find Him in those with a control spirit and should never let a control spirit dictate our course or choices.
Next, it will be those who overcome who sit with Him on His throne. He has already been tested and overcame to sit with the Father on His throne, and now it is our turn to be tested to see where we will be. Will we be a part of the great company that stands before the throne (see Revelation 7:9), or will we be an overcomer who sits with Him on His throne? To be in the great company is wonderful, but there is a higher calling for those who overcome the spirit of this world.
Consider what Paul wrote in Philippians 3 when he said he did not consider himself to have attained. This was written near the end of the life of perhaps the greatest apostle, yet he did not think he had attained! Attained what? He obviously was not talking about salvation or eternal life, as he attained those the moment he believed in the atonement of the cross of Jesus. Rather he is speaking here of the “high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (see Philippians 3:12-14).
It is clear throughout Scripture that our salvation can only come from God, while our eternal position in Him is, to a large extent, determined by us. These are appointed by the Father, but we must make our “calling and election sure” (see II Peter 1:10 NKJV). This we will address in more depth later.
The third crucial point in Revelation 3:20 is we must have our ears open to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. This is not what He has said in the past tense, but we must hear what He is saying in the present tense. Of course, we want to know and honor what He has said in the past, but what He is saying in this present distress is crucial for us to know and follow if we are to be the lights we are called to be in this great time of darkness.
This is the reason for this study on “Increasing Light.” As we are told in Proverbs 4:18, “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.” If we are on the path of the righteous, we will have increasing light, even as the world is experiencing increasing darkness. Soon it will be dark enough for all to see the Light.