於2023-02-21發佈

 
認識你─獨一的真神,並且認識你所差來的耶穌基督,這就是永生。約翰福音17:3  

試驗 
雷克-喬納 
2023.2.21 

哥林多後書13:5-6指示我們:"你們總要自己省察有信心沒有,也要自己試驗。豈不知你們若不是可棄絕的,就有耶穌基督在你們心裡嗎?我卻盼望你們曉得,我們不是可棄絕的人。"。這是一個重要的勸告。然而,我問過許多基督徒和基督教領袖,他們是否這樣做,到目前為止,我還沒有發現一個人這樣做,甚至可以解釋如何這樣做。這會不會是今天的信徒中有那麼多軟弱和淺薄的原因?

那些沒有試驗自己,甚至不知道如何試驗的基督徒可能仍然在他們的基督徒道路上做得很好。儘管如此,如果沒有幫助,這也不會出現在新約中。多年來,我一直在努力理解對義人的試驗。然後,幾年前,當我講授"義人的七個試驗"時,它成為我講過的最受歡迎的信息之一。

顯然,那些追求主的人非常渴望瞭解這一點。這篇信息傳遍了全世界。最近,我在一篇信息中提到了其中的一些原則,並看到了同樣的疑惑興趣和對理解這一點的極大渴望,所以我將在本研究中稍後包括這一點。但首先,讓我們談談我們需要考慮的一些重要的"省察"問題。

我們可以省察自己,知道我們是否住在祂裡面的第一種方法是檢查我們跟隨祂的原因。我們尋求祂是為了榮耀祂,還是為了我們能得到的東西?通過跟隨祂,我們將獲得遠遠超過我們所能想像的東西,欣賞和期待這些成就並沒有錯。然而,當獲得東西成為我們的主要動機時,我們就不是在跟隨祂,而是在跟隨我們自己的野心,我們充其量只是屬靈的嬰兒。

自私和自我追求是人生道路上最致命的陷阱。同樣,這並不意味著我們不能欣賞和享受服務祂的回報。然而,記住 "最重要的事,就是把最重要的事一直當成最重要的事",我們必須保持我們的優先次序。甚至耶穌也為擺在祂面前的喜樂而忍受了十字架,但當我們的主要奉獻變成以自我為中心而不是以基督為中心時,我們的優先次序就會失調。

耶穌宣稱,祂的門徒要背起十字架,犧牲自己的欲望和利益來跟隨祂。交換條件是,如果我們這樣做,並尋求為祂的緣故和祂的獎賞做一切事情,我們的獎賞將遠遠大於我們以自我為中心所能達到的任何目的。這是一個奉獻的問題。我們在為誰服務?通過這個試驗是第一個也是最大的試驗。

生命的另一個基本試驗體現在自然界中:當一個東西停止生長時,它就開始死亡。我們對主的愛是否在增長?祂警告說,在這個時代,許多人的愛會變冷。要使他們的愛 "漸漸冷淡",他們必須對祂有愛,但後來讓它死去。我們正在做什麼以繼續在對祂的愛中成長?

上帝是愛,我已經知道,如果不更多地愛祂,就不可能瞭解祂的任何事情。因此,不斷地尋求更好地瞭解祂,會使我們對祂的愛不斷增長。耶穌甚至說,永生就是認識祂(見約翰福音17:3)。真正的門徒是為了認識他們的主人並向他們學習,那麼我們在做什麼來向有史以來最偉大的老師學習呢?我們是否如願以償地把接受主的教導視為最大的榮譽?這應該是我們生活中的主要奉獻。

我們將在這次學習中繼續進行一些這樣的試驗。聖經中告訴我們,主試驗義人,不是要定我們的罪,而是要幫助我們在人生的道路上走下去。在學校裡,我們參加試驗,以便我們能夠畢業到下一個級別。或者,正如我們的朋友傅蘭吉(Francis Frangipane)所說,"上帝的試驗,你永遠不會被當;你只是會不斷地接受試驗,直到通過。" 讓我們通過不斷重複的試驗,這樣我們就能畢業。記住,祂的所有試驗都是開卷試驗,所有的答案都可以在聖經中找到。

 

Feb 21
WEEK 8
The Test
Rick Joyner

In II Corinthians 13:5-6, we are instructed, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” This is an important exhortation. However, I have asked many Christians and Christian leaders if they are doing this, and so far I have not found one who was or could even explain how to do this. Could this be why there is so much weakness and shallowness in believers today?

The Christians who are not testing themselves or even know how to may still be doing well in their Christian walks. Still, this would not be in the New Testament if it was not helpful. I labored to understand the tests of the righteous for years. Then, several years ago, when I taught on “The Seven Tests of the Righteous,” it became one of the most popular messages I ever preached.

There was obviously great hunger among those who were in pursuit of the Lord to understand this. The message went all over the world. More recently, I mentioned in a message just a few of these principles and saw the same kind of quizzical interest and great desire to understand this, so I will include this later in this study. But first, let’s address some of the important “pre-test” questions we need to consider.

Among the first ways we can test ourselves to know if we are abiding in Him is to examine the reasons we are following Him. Do we seek Him to glorify Him or for what we can attain? By following Him, we will attain far more than we can conceive, and to appreciate and look forward to these attainments is not wrong. However, when attaining things becomes our main motive, we are not following Him so much as our own ambitions, and we remain spiritual babies at best.

Selfishness and self-seeking are some of the deadliest traps along the path of life. Again, this does not mean we cannot appreciate and enjoy the rewards of serving Him. However, remembering “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing,” we must keep our priorities straight. Even Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him, but when our main devotion becomes self-centered rather than Christ-centered, our priorities become out of order.

Jesus declared that His disciples would take up their crosses to sacrifice theirdesires and interests to follow Him. The tradeoff is, if we do this and seek to do all things for His sake and His reward, our reward will be far greater than anything we could ever achieve by being self-focused. It’s a matter of devotion. Who are we serving? To pass this test is the first and biggest test of all.

Another basic test of life is manifested in nature: when something stops growing, it starts dying. Is our love for the Lord growing? He warned that, in these times, the love of many would grow cold. For their love to “grow cold,” they must have had love for Him, but then let it die. What are we doing to continue growing in our love for Him?

God is love, and I have learned that it is not possible to learn anything about Him without loving Him more. Therefore, to continually seek to know Him better will cause our love for Him to continually grow. Jesus even said that eternal life was to know Him (see John 17:3). True disciples live to know their masters and learn from them, so what are we doing to learn from the greatest Teacher ever? Do we esteem this greatest of honors to be taught by the Lord as we should? This should be our primary devotion in life.

We will continue with some of these tests in this study. We are told in Scripture that the Lord tests the righteous, not to condemn us but to help us stay on the path of life. In school, we take tests so we can graduate to the next level. Or, as our friend Francis Frangipane says, “You never fail God’s tests; you just keep taking them until you pass.” Let’s pass the tests we keep repeating, so we can graduate. And remember, all His tests are open-book tests, and all the answers are readily available in the Bible.