於2022-12-06發佈


選擇 29 
雷克-喬納 
2022.12.6 

生命之河是一條河,不是一個湖或一個池塘。它總是在移動,流動,走向某處。這將是主所建立的會眾的性質。即使一個會眾沒有看到上週列出的所有特徵,但如果它在信仰和對神的愛中前進,它就會在適當的時候前進。

主用人來建立祂的教會,而不僅僅是原則。因此,如果祂正在建立的教會在某個領域有所欠缺,祂會派人幫助填補這個空白。如果你對教會在某個領域的發展有強烈的異象,你可能就是祂要派來的人。這樣的人將被認識,因為他們是傳授異象和目標的建設者,而不是譴責那些還沒有異象的人的批評者。

如果我們有異象,我們能幫助別人的最好方法就是自己在異象中成長,而不僅僅談論。如果我們在真正屬於神的異象中成長,其他人就會被吸引到它。主並沒有糾纏任何人來跟隨祂。祂呼召他們一次,如果他們沒有回應,祂就繼續前進。祂似乎從未重複過這些呼喚。

在《啟示錄》3:20中,我們可以看到這樣一幅的畫面:耶穌站在自己教會的門口,敲門,看是否有人向祂敞開。在這個時代,祂不會去祂不受歡迎的地方。由於許多教會是建立在人們想要的基礎上,而不是建立在主想要的基礎上,因此主通常會盡可能地祝福他們,但祂不會居住在那裡。祂所祝福的和所居住的是有區別的。

在未來的時代,祂將用鐵杖統治,但在那之前,呼召的是 "凡願意的人"。如果我們給人們施加壓力,讓他們響應祂的呼召,結果很可能會很糟糕。這包括在祂裡面走得更高的呼召。我們能做的最好的事情是幫助別人,就是自己走得更高,讓別人被他們在我們身上看到的結果所吸引。世上沒有什麼比一個正在接近主的人更有感染力了。

如果我們在基督裡不斷成熟,我們就會更多地表現出祂。我們透過在祂的一切中成長來做到這一點。祂是神的智慧和神的真理,所以我們應該在智慧和真理中成長。祂透過祂的子民以聖靈的果實和恩賜彰顯出來,所以我們應該在這些方面成長。聖靈有時可能會讓我們專注於祂本性的一個方面,但這絕不應該妨礙我們在其他方面的成長。

由於主的道路高於我們的道路,所以有時祂在我們身上所做的似乎是反直覺的。例如,使徒保羅稱哥林多教會為 "仍是屬肉體的",因為他們為自己喜歡的老師而分裂。保羅對此的處方是 "你們要追求愛,也要切慕屬靈的恩賜,其中更要羨慕的,是作先知講道(原文作:是說預言)"(哥林多前書14:1)。

一些教師和神學家認為哥林多人是"肉體的",因為他們對屬靈的恩賜很投入。這是對保羅在這封書信中的教導的一個基本誤解。恰恰相反,他規定追求屬靈恩賜是對他們肉體的一種補救。事實上,認為如果人們追求屬靈的恩賜,會導致更多的分裂,這是一種屬肉體的心態,而事實恰恰相反。

我們必須考慮這如何適用於基督身體中成熟的基督徒。當不允許他們找到自己的恩賜和呼召並在其中發揮作用時,其結果將是衝突和分裂。這是因為他們不能達成他們被造的目的。

神的合一是多元性的合一,而不是一致性的合一。祂沒有讓每一片雪花都相同,也沒有讓每個人都相同,因為祂追求的是不是枯燥的合一。除非祂身體的每一部分都能達成他們被造出的樣式,否則就不可能有真正的合一,而我們只有與身體的其他部分相適應,才能成為真正的合一。神使我們每個人都是獨一無二的,我們不應該為了合一而妥協,而應該擁抱我們的獨特性。這需要更高的成熟度,然而這也是我們找到更高的合一性的方式,這將真正榮耀祂。

 

Choices, Part 29
Rick Joyner

The river of life is a river, not a lake or a pond. It is always moving, flowing, going somewhere. Such will be the nature of the congregations that are being built by the Lord. Even if a congregation has not seen all the characteristics listed last week, if it is moving forward in its faith and love for God, it will in due time.

The Lord builds His church with people, not just principles. So, if a church He is building is lacking in an area, He will send people to help fill this void. If you have a burning vision for the body to grow in an area, you may be the one He is sending. Such will be known because they are builders imparting vision and purpose, not just critics condemning those who do not yet have it.

If we have a vision, the best way we can help others is to grow in it ourselves, not just talk about it. If we are growing in a vision that is truly of God, others will be drawn to it. The Lord did not badger anyone into following Him. He called them once, and if they did not respond, He moved on. It does not appear He ever repeated those calls.

In Revelation 3:20 we have the remarkable picture of Jesus standing at the door of His own church, knocking to see if any would open to Him. In this age, He will not go where He is not wanted. Since many churches are being built on what the people want and not on what the Lord wants, He will usually bless them as best He can, but He will not inhabit them. There is a difference between what He blesses and inhabits.

In the age to come, He will rule with a rod of iron, but until then, the call is to “whosoever will.” If we pressure people to respond to His call, it will likely end poorly. This includes the call to go higher in Him. The best thing we can do to help others is to go higher ourselves and let others be drawn by the results they see in us. There is nothing on earth more contagious than a person who is getting closer to the Lord.

If we are maturing in Christ, we will manifest more of Him. We do this by growing in all He is. He is the Wisdom of God and Truth of God, so we should be growing in wisdom and truth. He is manifested through His people by the fruit and gifts of the Spirit, so we should be growing in them. The Spirit may have us focus on one aspect of His nature at times, but this should never prevent us from growing in the others.

Since the Lord’s ways are higher than our ways, there are times when it seems like what He is doing in us is counterintuitive. For example, the Apostle Paul called the Corinthian Church “still carnal” because they were splitting over their favorite teachers. Paul’s prescription for this was: “Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy” (I Corinthians 14:1).

Some teachers and theologians have contended the Corinthians were “carnal” because they were devoted to spiritual gifts. That is a basic misunderstanding of Paul’s teaching in this epistle. On the contrary, he was prescribing the pursuit of spiritual gifts as a remedy for their carnality. In fact, it’s a carnal mentality to assume that if people are pursuing spiritual gifts, this would result in more division, when the opposite is true.

We must consider how this applies to maturing Christians in the body of Christ. When they are not allowed to find their gifts and callings and function in them, the result will be conflicts and divisions. That is because they are not able to be what they were created to be.

God’s unity is a unity of diversity, not a unity of conformity. He didn’t make every snowflake different and everyone different because He was seeking boring uniformity. There can be no true unity until each part of His body can be who they were created to be, and we cannot be that until we fit in with the rest of the body. God made each of us unique, and we should not compromise this for unity but rather embrace our uniqueness. This requires a higher maturity, yet that is how we find the higher unity that will truly glorify Him.