於2012-01-01發佈

悔改+渴慕神=復興

當我為第50週寫每週一話時,我想到50是一個宣告自由,是禧年的數字。在聖經中的禧年,所有的債務都免除,所有的奴隸都得自由。現在我們何不向神求一個禧年呢?全世界背負著前所未有、無法支撐的債務,更糟的是,這是因為前所未有的罪惡所帶來的重擔。當此罪惡和債務一樣龐大時,卻無法大過十字架的能力。

有一個方程式可以將逼近的災難變為最大的祝福,那就是:

悔改+渴慕神=復興。

悔改是意識到並承認我們的過犯而產生的結果,這與亞當和夏娃犯罪時所做的完全相反,他們當時是隱藏遮蓋自己的過犯。悔改是當我們失敗時奔向神,而不是逃離祂。

復興意味著甦醒─從沈睡或死亡中醒來。這兩種人都需要在此時復興;許多的教會在沈睡,有些教會已經死去,唯一的呼吸是因為人造生命的支撐。我們需要甦醒,我們必須復興!

當然,在基督肢體裡正產生很棒的教會與美好的事;然而,研究顯示只有百分之六的基督徒擁有聖經的世界觀,顯然我們出現了一些問題。大約也只有相同比例的人知道自己的呼召與職分,真正走在其中的更少。現在不到百分之五十的基督徒上教會,擁有活躍教會生活的更少,這卻是基督徒真正長大成熟不可缺少的一環。我們需要復興!

我曾有對未來的一些異象,在異象中神讓我看見復興遠多過災難。我不認為自己曾經有任何感受,像是此時對西岸的感受。即便如此,我知道復興可以比許多本要臨到我們的事更早發生。我們需要一些點燃復興之火的人,就像早期的愛德華滋(Jonathan Edwards)、懷特腓德(George Whitefields)、伊凡羅伯斯(Evan Roberts)、威廉西摩(William Seymours)、巴特門斯(Frank Bartlemans)與瑪麗亞伊特(Maria Woodworth-Etters)等。

當主預言要臨到耶路撒冷的審判,祂哀哭有多少次祂想要聚集他們,如母雞聚集自己的雛雞在牠翅翼下。言外之意是他們若聚集於祂,耶路撒冷的毀滅就不會發生。現在主正在做許多事來聚集祂的百姓,我們必須回應並一起聚集於祂。

在二十年前神就向我顯示,有一件事教會可以做,好得著更多時間,就是實現『尊榮/孝敬父母』的誡命。這是唯一一條帶著應許的誡命,它會使我們得福,並使我們的日子在主所賜我們的地上得以長久(參考申命記5:16,以弗所書 6:2-3),此應許同時出現在新舊約中。當我在加州帕莎蒂娜(Pasadena)的一間教會分享,當時路安格(Lou Engle)正是那間教會的牧養團隊,此分享鼓勵他寫一本書,後來點燃了呼召運動(The Call),聚集成千上萬的人在華府體育館,在主面前禁食禱告與悔改。

想一想,還有守約運動、全球禱告日和為耶穌行走。倘若這些事發生在聖經時代,它們會被記載在聖經正典上。想一想這是何等充滿大能:當我們在聖經中讀到成千上萬的人在王的殿前,為他們的罪悔改呼求主,或是聚集在國家各大體育館,在祂面前禁食禱告。這是舊約所強調的一件事,而我們卻在自己的時代中親眼目睹。

這些事都得到天上的注意,主已經聽見並給予我們更多時間。即便如此,我們必須做比幾年聚集一次更多的事,我們必須持續在我們個人的教會聚集,更多親近祂、彼此親近。我們必須下定決心順服二大誡命:超乎一切來愛神和彼此相愛。

倘若我們不認識神,我們便無法愛祂。我們越認識祂,我們會越愛祂。我們若不認識彼此,也不可能相愛。我們必須定意超乎一切來遵從這二大誡命,並在其中持續成長。倘若末後的大悲劇是因不法的事增多,眾人的愛心變得冷淡,讓我們定意更多在對神與對人的愛中成長,抵擋不法的靈,其會竊取祂百姓的愛。

 (摘自 喬納 word for the week, Week 50, 2011)


The Judgments of God, Part 13
Repentance + Hunger for God = Revival
Week 50, 2011


As I write this Word for the Week for the 50th week of the year, I thought about how 50 is the number of freedom, the Jubilee. In the biblical Jubilee, all debts were canceled and all slaves were freed. Why can’t we ask God for a Jubilee now? The world is burdened with unprecedented and unsustainable debt, and even worse, it is burdened by unprecedented sin. As great as this sin and debt is, it is not beyond the power of the cross. 

There is an equation that can turn pending disaster into the greatest of all blessings. It is:

Repentance + hunger for God = revival.

Repentance is the result of the realization and acknowledgement of our transgressions. This is the opposite of what Adam and Eve did when they sinned, which was to hide and cover themselves. Repentance is when we run to God and not away from Him when we fail. 

Revival means to revive—either from sleep or from the dead. Both are needed at this time. Much of the church is asleep, and some churches are dead and are only breathing because of artificial life support. We need reviving. We must have revival! 

Of course, great churches and great things are taking place in the body of Christ. However, with research showing that only about 6 percent of those who claim to be Christians have a biblical worldview, we obviously have a very basic problem. This is also about the same percentage of those who know their calling and ministry with even less walking in it. At this time, less than 50 percent even attend a local church, and much less have the kind of vital local church life we need for true Christian maturity. We need a revival! 

In the visions I have had of the future, I was shown far more revival than calamity. I don’t think I have ever felt the kind of urgency and seriousness for anything like I feel for our West Coast at this time. Even so, I know that revival can preempt many of the things presently destined to come upon us. We need companies of Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefields, Evan Roberts, William Seymours, Frank Bartlemans, and Maria Woodworth-Etters. 

When the Lord prophesied the judgment that was to come upon Jerusalem, He lamented how often He had tried to gather them like a mother hen gathers her chicks. The implication was that if they would gather to Him, the destruction of Jerusalem would not have to happen. The Lord is doing many things right now to gather His people, and we must respond and gather together to Him. 

I was shown more than twenty years ago that one thing the church could do to buy more time was to fulfill the commandment to “honor your fathers and mothers.” This is the only commandment with a promise, which is that it would go well with us and we would dwell long in the land that the Lord has given to us (see Deuteronomy 5:16, Ephesians 6:2-3). This is in the Old and New Testaments. When I shared this in a church in Pasadena where Lou Engle was on the pastoral team, it encouraged him to write a book that helped to spark The Call, which has now gathered hundreds of thousands in stadiums and in Washington D.C. to pray and fast in repentance before the Lord.

Think about that—along with the great Promise Keepers movement or the International Day of Prayer and March for Jesus. If these things had been done in biblical times, they would have been written about in canon Scripture. Think how powerful it would be to read in the Bible about hundreds of thousands gathering before the king’s palace to repent of their sins and call upon the Lord or gathering in great stadiums all over the nation to pray and fast before Him. This would be one of the highlights of the Old Testament, and we have seen this in our own times. 

These have received the attention of heaven, and the Lord has heard and He has given us more time. Even so, we must do more than just gather once every couple of years in big meetings. We must gather together in our own local churches continually, drawing closer to Him and to one another. We must resolve in our hearts that we will obey the two great commandments: to love God above all things, and to love one another. 

We cannot love God if we do not know Him. The more we know Him, the more we will love Him. Neither can we love each other if we do not know each other. We must resolve that above all things these two we will do and grow in continually. If the great tragedy at the end is that the love of most will grow cold because of lawlessness, let us resolve to grow more and more in our love for God and one another, rejecting the spirit of lawlessness that is stealing His people’s love.