於2012-05-27發佈

聚焦於神的光
從聖經中我們知道合一帶來屬靈權柄的倍增,聖經的見證告訴我們一人可以追趕千人,但兩人卻可以追趕萬人。主也教導我們若有兩人同心合意,神必為他們成全。當然,此同心合意不單是理智上的同意,更是兩人之間真正深度的合一,這需要我們對要合一的人和事委身,並不是表面的合一而已。

就好像以利亞,他是先知也是先見,卻被蒙蔽以為只有他一人為主站立,事實上主還留下數千人,我們並不是孤軍奮戰。主擁有比我們所知道更多的人為真理站立;然而,就算我們孤軍奮戰並且殉道,還有什麼比這更好的死法?我們現在正目睹在美國基督肢體當中所發生的神蹟─基督的肢體正開始邁向合一。雖然離我們理想中的合一還很遠,但此正在發生。

目前是我們可以成為蒙召樣式的最佳機會─一個看重福音真理勝過自己生命的忠心見證人,我們將會看見我們認為很軟弱的人,展現出非凡的勇氣和力量。當黑暗與日遽增時,我們將看見教會在前所未有的光和榮耀中興起,我們將看見以賽亞書六十章1-5節的應驗:

興起,發光!因為你的光已經來到!耶和華的榮耀發現照耀你。 
看哪,黑暗遮蓋大地,幽暗遮蓋萬民,耶和華卻要顯現照耀你;祂的榮耀要現在你身上。 
萬國要來就你的光,君王要來就你發現的光輝。 
你舉目向四方觀看;眾人都聚集來到你這裡。你的眾子從遠方而來;你的眾女也被懷抱而來。 
那時,你看見就有光榮;你心又跳動又寬暢;因為大海豐盛的貨物必轉來歸你;列國的財寶也必來歸你。 

在這裡我們看見,在極大黑暗遮蓋之時,主的榮耀將顯現在祂子民身上。在第3節,光將戰勝黑暗,萬國要來就光,而不是停留在黑暗中。 

正如詩篇九十七篇2節告訴我們:『密雲和幽暗在祂的四圍…。』為此緣故,當我們看見列國的黑暗和混亂增加時,我們理當開始尋找主。主勸誡我們『應當小心怎樣聽』(參考路加福音8:18),不單是你聽見什麼,我們也要留意如何來觀看。誰最能引起我們的注意─是主還是魔鬼? 

正如我們曾討論過的,我們若要瞭解時候,我們必須更留意基督所做的,而不是敵基督所做的。我們的確需要瞭解魔鬼的計謀,但那應該只佔我們時間與注意力的極小部分。你是否發現與啟示錄有關的書籍多半談到的是敵基督?有些書所有內容全都與敵基督有關。啟示錄第一節就告訴我們,這本書是關於『耶穌基督的啟示』,而不是敵基督。我們的異象怎麼會如此扭曲?

要成為光,我們必須聚焦在光上。這並不意味我們不要留意黑暗,不需瞭解魔鬼的詭計,而是我們會變成我們所注視對象的形狀,正如哥林多後書三章18節所言:

我們眾人既然敞著臉得以看見主的榮光,好像從鏡子裡返照,就變成主的形狀,榮上加榮,如同從主的靈變成的。

倘若我們注視主的榮耀,我們就會變成祂的形狀。倘若我們花更多時間與注意力來觀看魔鬼,我們會變得像他一樣。你是否有注意到許多留意異端的人,反而呈現出更多控告弟兄者的本質,而非基督的本質?他們想要保護基督肢體不受蒙蔽的意圖可能很崇高與真誠;然而,倘若他們花太多時間留意魔鬼的作為,他們的言行舉止會開始像魔鬼而不像基督。倘若留意錯的事的時間多過對的事,他們就會被所觀看的錯誤扭曲。         

許多人過於專注在敵人身上而掉入這樣的陷阱中,也有許多人無法聽進任何不好的事。這些是使徒保羅所警告的人,他們『耳朵發癢』(參考提後4:3),只聽他們認為好的事情,他們注定要被蒙蔽。行在光中的關鍵在於一直專注在神身上,讓祂指引我們何時與何處需要瞭解魔鬼的詭計。

另一個關鍵則是我們在但以理書二章所看見的,當世上的國正在崩塌,神的國卻在成長。當每一件事都在分裂,我們卻在建造。我們所做的是在建造還是在拆毀呢?

 (摘自喬納 word for the week, Week 19, 2012)


Focus On The Light - The Path of Life, Part 12

We know from Scripture that with unity there is a multiplication of spiritual authority. There is the biblical testimony that one can put a thousand to flight, but two can put ten thousand to flight. The Lord also taught that if any two could agree, then it would be done for them. Of course, this agreement is more than just an intellectual assent to a matter; rather it implies an actual and deep union between the two. This takes an investment in both the matter that we are uniting about and the people we are uniting with, but it is not superficial.

Just as Elijah, a prophet and seer, was deceived into thinking he was the only one left who stood for the Lord, when in reality the Lord had many thousands more, we are not alone. The Lord has many more than we know who are standing for His truth. However, even if we are alone and we die for our stand, is there a better way to die? We are seeing a remarkable miracle take place in the body of Christ in America right now—the body of Christ is starting to come together in unity. It may still be far from what our idealism would imply unity is, but it is happening.

We are coming to the greatest opportunity we have ever had to be who we are called to be—faithful witnesses who esteem the truth of the gospel more than their own lives. We will see those who we may think are weak showing remarkable courage and strength. In the increasing darkness, we will see the church arise in unprecedented light and glory. We will see Isaiah 60:1-5 fulfilled:

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. 
“For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you. 
“And nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 
“Lift up your eyes round about and see; they all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried in the arms. 
“Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you.” 

As we see here, it is during the times of great darkness that the glory of the Lord appears on His people. In verse 3, the light will win and the nations will come to the light, not stay in the darkness.

As we are told in Psalm 97:2, “Clouds and thick darkness surround Him….” For this reason, as we see the darkness and confusion of the nations increasing, we should start looking for the Lord. As the Lord exhorted us to “be careful how you hear” (see Luke 8:18), not just what you hear, we should be careful how we see too. Who has most of our attention—the Lord or the devil?

As we have discussed, if we are to understand the times, we must give much more attention to what Christ is doing than what the antichrist is doing. It is right to understand the schemes of the devil, but that should only be a small part of what we give our time and attention to understanding. Have you noticed that most of the books written on the Book of Revelation are about the antichrist, and some are entirely about the antichrist? We are told in the first verse of Revelation that this is “the revelation of Jesus Christ,” not the antichrist. How does our vision get so skewed?

To be the light, we must have our focus on the light. This does not mean that we will not be aware of the darkness and even have an understanding of the schemes of the devil, but we will be changed into what we behold, as we are told in II Corinthians 3:18:

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 

If we behold the glory of the Lord, we will be changed into His image. If we spend more time and attention beholding the devil, we will become like him. Have you noticed how so many cult watchers start taking on more of the nature of the accuser of the brethren than they do the nature of Christ? Their original intent to protect the body of Christ from deception may have been noble and sincere. However, if they spend too much time looking at what the devil is doing, they will start acting more like the devil than Christ. If they spend more time looking at what is wrong rather than what is right, they will get twisted with the error they’re beholding.

Many have fallen to this trap of focusing too much on the enemy, and many cannot hear anything negative. These are the ones the Apostle Paul warned about “who only want to have their ears tickled” (see II Timothy 4:3), or who can only hear what they consider to be positive things. They too are doomed to being deceived. A key to walking in the Light is keeping our attention on Him and letting Him direct us to when and where we need to understand the schemes of the devil.

Another key is that as we see in Daniel 2, when the empires of this world are collapsing, the kingdom is growing. When everything else is falling apart, we are building. Is what we are doing building or tearing down?