於2012-12-13發佈

生命的道路 42

與神同心代禱

上週我們開始談論到在最近美國大選中所學到的功課,我想更深引用詩篇一百一十五篇16節的真理:『天,是耶和華的天;地,祂卻給了世人。』

如這節經文所言,這即是何以主不會在地上做什麼,直到我們禱告─祂將地上的權柄委託人來管理。這也是為何主會允許我們投票給一位非祂所選擇的總統,同樣也是為何祂要撒母耳恩膏掃羅成為以色列的王,即使這並非出於祂的旨意。地上所發生的每一件事並非都是祂的旨意;事實上,我們可能可以斷定,現在在這裡所發生的事,鮮少是出於祂的旨意。

此外還有另一個很重要的觀點:主甚至不會在地上帶來祂的審判,直到有一個代禱者為其禱告,就像以利亞禱告所臨到以色列的事。你會開始禱告神的審判臨到你的國家嗎?我們若與祂合一,我們會這樣禱告,因為這是祂的旨意。誰擁有神的心,到一個地步來為祂心中的事禱告?當以利亞禱告雨不下在以色列時,當時有多少人一直祈求讓雨降下來?

當耶穌對彼得做出聖經中最嚴厲的責備,祂告訴彼得為何祂要如此嚴厲責備他:

撒但,退我後邊去吧!你是絆我腳的,因為你不體貼神的意思,只體貼人的意思。』(參考馬太福音 16:23).

彼得會受到如此大的責備,是因為他從人的角度而非神的角度來看事情。這可能是我們遠離神旨意的主要方式,當此發生在彼得身上時,竟可以如此快的發生,在馬太福音十六章的責備,正是彼得才剛領受聖經中最大稱讚不久之後。 

耶穌對他說:『西門巴約拿,你是有福的!因為這不是屬血肉的指示你的,乃是我在天上的父指示的。
我還告訴你:你是彼得,我要把我的教會建造在這磐石上,陰間的權柄不能勝過他。
我要把天國的鑰匙給你,凡你在地上所綑綁的,在天上也要綑綁;凡你在地上所釋放的,在天上也要釋放。』(馬太福音 16:17-19).

在這裡我們看見彼得聽見直接從父神來的話,接著又聽見直接從魔鬼來的話,就在幾分鐘之內發生!他接收魔鬼話語的方式,來自體貼人的意思而不體貼神的意思。我們的同情是比較與人的意思一致,還是比較與神的意思一致呢?

我深切盼望看見美國轉離聖經所謂的惡行,行神看為義的事,好使我們能繼續享受主的祝福。即便如此,此絕對不會因為一次選舉而發生。許多時候我會談到主醫治我們土地所需要的四件事,記載在歷代志下七章14節。我們可能已經做了三件,卻很難對付第四件,就是轉離惡行。這次選舉的結果,一些州清楚顯明這個國家有些地方並沒有轉離惡行,反而陷得更深。

即便如此,令人非常鼓舞的是,在最近的爭議中,許多美國人起來捍衛連鎖速食餐廳「福來雞」(Chick-Fil-A)(註:福來雞因反同性戀言論而遭到抵制),當時羅姆尼並不想選邊站,他說這並非他的戰役。此戰役是此時最根本的社會議題之一,更不用提言論自由了。毫無疑問,這使得許多福音派與許多非福音派的人對羅姆尼不再如此熱中。他可能會是一個比歐巴馬更好的領袖,卻似乎不是此時我們所需要充滿勇氣與信念的領袖。

在選舉之前,我被問到的主要問題是我認為誰會選贏,現在的主要問題是審判是否會臨到美國。這是一個越來越重要的問題,我們下週會做更深入的解釋。然而,我們必須一直謹記在心:神的審判若是臨到美國,那是一件好事,祂的管教證明祂仍愛著我們,而不是拒絕我們。主要的事就是讓主要的事成為主要的事,而主要的事就是祂的國即將降臨,祂的旨意即將行在地上如同在天上。

 (摘自喬納 word for the week, Week 49, 2012)


Intercession In Line With God's Heart - The Path of Life, Part 42
Week 49, 2012 
Rick Joyner 

Last week we began addressing some of the lessons we received from the recent U.S. elections. I would like to carry the truth of Psalm 115:16 just a bit further, “The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth He has given to the sons of men.”

As stated, this is why the Lord will not do things on the earth until we pray—He has delegated authority over the earth to men. This is also why the Lord would allow us to vote for a President that may not have been His choice and why He had Samuel appoint Saul as the king of Israel when this was not His will. Not everything that happens on the earth is His will. In fact, we could probably conclude that very little which happens here now is His will.

Here is another important point from this: The Lord will not even bring His judgments on the earth until an intercessor prays for them like Elijah did for those that came upon Israel. Would you begin to pray for God’s judgments to come upon your own country? We would if we are in unity with Him and this is His will. Who has the mind and heart of God to the degree to pray for what is on His heart? How many were praying for rain to come to Israel the whole time Elijah was praying that it would not?

When Jesus gave Peter one of the harshest rebukes in the Scriptures, he tells Peter why He rebuked him so harshly:

Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man’s” (see Matthew 16:23).

Peter received this ultimate rebuke because he was looking at things from man’s perspective instead of God’s. This is a primary way that we can move far away from God’s will, and as it happened to Peter, it can happen very fast. This rebuke in Matthew 16 came immediately after Peter had received one of the greatest commendations in Scripture.

“Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. 
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:17-19).

We see here that Peter heard straight from the Father and then straight from the devil, all in what appears to have been just a few minutes! The way he opened himself up to hear from the devil was by setting his mind on man’s interests instead of God’s. To what degree are our sympathies more in harmony with man’s interests than God’s?

I put a lot of hope in seeing the country turn away from what the Bible calls wickedness and turn back to what it defines as righteousness so that we could continue to enjoy the blessings of the Lord. Even so, this will probably never happen because of an election. Many times I have remarked about the four things required in II Chronicles 7:14 for the Lord to heal our land. We have done maybe three but have hardly addressed the fourth, which is turning from our wicked ways. The outcome of the issues on the ballot in a number of states made it clear that at least some parts of the nation are not turning from their wicked ways but falling more deeply into them.

Even so, it is very encouraging how many Americans all over the country rose up to stand with Chick-Fil-A in that recent controversy, while Romney would not take sides, saying that this was not his battle. This battle was around one of the most fundamental social issues of the times, not to mention freedom of speech. No doubt this caused many evangelicals, as well as many non-evangelicals, to cool toward Romney. He may have been a better leader than Obama, but he did not seem to be a leader with the kind of courage and conviction that we really need at this time.

Before the elections, the main question I was asked was who I thought would win. Now the main question is whether judgment is coming upon America. This is a growing and important question that we need to examine in a bit more depth and will next week. However, we must always keep in mind that if God’s judgment is coming upon America, it is a good thing, and His correction is evidence of His continued love for us, not His rejection. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing, and the main thing is that His kingdom is coming, and His will is going to be done on earth just as it is in heaven.