約翰福音7: 14-24

 

7:14 到了節期，耶穌上殿裡去教訓人。
7:15 猶太人就希奇，說：「這個人沒有學過，怎麼明白書呢？」
7:16 耶穌說：「我的教訓不是我自己的，乃是那差我來者的。
7:17 人若立志遵著他的旨意行，就必曉得這教訓或是出於上帝，或是我憑著自己說的。
7:18 人憑著自己說，是求自己的榮耀；惟有求那差他來者的榮耀，這人是真的，在他心裡沒有不義。
7:19 摩西豈不是傳律法給你們嗎？你們卻沒有一個人守律法。為甚麼想要殺我呢？」
7:20 眾人回答說：「你是被鬼附著了！誰想要殺你？」
7:21 耶穌說：「我做了一件事，你們都以為希奇。
7:22 摩西傳割禮給你們（其實不是從摩西起的，乃是從祖先起的），因此你們也在安息日給人行割禮。
7:23 人若在安息日受割禮，免得違背摩西的律法，我在安息日叫一個人全然好了，你們就向我生氣嗎？
7:24 不可按外貌斷定是非，總要按公平斷定是非。」

 

¹⁴ Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. ¹⁵ The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”

¹⁶ Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. ¹⁷ Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. ¹⁸ Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. ¹⁹ Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

²⁰ “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”

²¹ Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. ²² Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. ²³ Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? ²⁴ Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”

 

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    主耶穌在節期的時候還是出現，並且宣告了重要的信息：「我的教訓不是我自己的，乃是那差我來者的。人若立志遵著他的旨意行，就必曉得這教訓或是出於上帝，或是我憑著自己說的。人憑著自己說，是求自己的榮耀；惟有求那差他來者的榮耀，這人是真的，在他心裡沒有不義。摩西豈不是傳律法給你們嗎？你們卻沒有一個人守律法。為甚麼想要殺我呢？」

 

    主耶穌這段話很重要，提醒那些猶太人知道：要尋求上帝的榮耀，過於人的榮耀！連主耶穌自己都是求上帝的榮耀，更是要榮耀上帝，而不是要榮耀自己！也為這樣的人，才是真正的義人，而主耶穌正是這樣的榜樣要讓我們學習！

 

    親愛的弟兄姊妹，讓我們尋求上帝的榮耀，並且將榮耀歸給上帝，唯有上帝是榮耀！人的榮耀是虛假的，是沒有意義的，不是我們要擁有的；只有上帝的榮耀才是真實的，才是我們要擁有的！

 

 

 

 

 

約翰福音7: 1-13

 

7:1 這事以後，耶穌在加利利遊行，不願在猶太遊行，因為猶太人想要殺他。
7:2 當時猶太人的住棚節近了。
7:3 耶穌的弟兄就對他說：「你離開這裡上猶太去吧，叫你的門徒也看見你所行的事。
7:4 人要顯揚名聲，沒有在暗處行事的；你如果行這些事，就當將自己顯明給世人看。」
7:5 因為連他的弟兄說這話，是因為不信他。
7:6 耶穌就對他們說：「我的時候還沒有到；你們的時候常是方便的。
7:7 世人不能恨你們，卻是恨我，因為我指證他們所做的事是惡的。
7:8 你們上去過節吧，我現在不上去過這節，因為我的時候還沒有滿。」
7:9 耶穌說了這話，仍舊住在加利利。
7:10 但他弟兄上去以後，他也上去過節，不是明去，似乎是暗去的。
7:11 正在節期，猶太人尋找耶穌，說：「他在哪裡？」
7:12 眾人為他紛紛議論，有的說：「他是好人。」有的說：「不然，他是迷惑眾人的。」
7:13 只是沒有人明明地講論他，因為怕猶太人。

 

After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want^[a] to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. ² But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, ³ Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. ⁴ No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” ⁵ For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

⁶ Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. ⁸ You go to the festival. I am not^[b] going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.

¹⁰ However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. ¹¹ Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”

¹² Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”

Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” ¹³ But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.

 

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    在這裡看見主耶穌也有被打壓的待遇，但是祂並不躁進，反而是靜靜地面對，甚至連上耶路撒冷過節這是，不是明去，似乎是暗去的。

 

    雖然如此，還是有人期待與主耶穌相遇，雖然怕猶太人！甚至還有猶太人盼望他的出現，尋找耶穌，說：「他在哪裡？」

 

    其實，與主耶穌的相遇，是人生得改變的開始！先是身分與地位的改變，在上帝國完全實現時，則是實質的改變：短暫變永恆、有罪的變成聖潔！我們都當期盼這樣的改變，讓主耶穌成為我們生命的主！

 

 

 

歷代志下15章

      歷代志下15:1-19  ,

歷代志下15:1-19

 

15:1 上帝的靈感動俄德的兒子亞撒利雅。
15:2 他出來迎接亞撒，對他說：「亞撒和猶大、便雅憫眾人哪，要聽我說：你們若順從耶和華，耶和華必與你們同在；你們若尋求他，就必尋見；你們若離棄他，他必離棄你們。
15:3 以色列人不信真上帝，沒有訓誨的祭司，也沒有律法，已經好久了；
15:4 但他們在急難的時候歸向耶和華─以色列的上帝，尋求他，他就被他們尋見。
15:5 那時，出入的人不得平安，列國的居民都遭大亂；
15:6 這國攻擊那國，這城攻擊那城，互相破壞，因為上帝用各樣災難擾亂他們。
15:7 現在你們要剛強，不要手軟，因你們所行的必得賞賜。」
15:8 亞撒聽見這話和俄德兒子先知亞撒利雅的預言，就壯起膽來，在猶大、便雅憫全地，並以法蓮山地所奪的各城，將可憎之物盡都除掉，又在耶和華殿的廊前重新修築耶和華的壇；
15:9 又招聚猶大、便雅憫的眾人，並他們中間寄居的以法蓮人、瑪拿西人、西緬人。有許多以色列人歸降亞撒，因見耶和華─他的上帝與他同在。
15:10 亞撒十五年三月，他們都聚集在耶路撒冷。
15:11 當日他們從所取的擄物中，將牛七百隻、羊七千隻獻給耶和華。
15:12 他們就立約，要盡心盡性地尋求耶和華─他們列祖的上帝。
15:13 凡不尋求耶和華─以色列上帝的，無論大小、男女，必被治死。
15:14 他們就大聲歡呼，吹號吹角，向耶和華起誓。
15:15 猶大眾人為所起的誓歡喜；因他們是盡心起誓，盡意尋求耶和華，耶和華就被他們尋見，且賜他們四境平安。
15:16 亞撒王貶了他祖母瑪迦太后的位，因她造了可憎的偶像亞舍拉。亞撒砍下她的偶像，搗得粉碎，燒在汲淪溪邊。
15:17 只是邱壇還沒有從以色列中廢去，然而亞撒的心一生誠實。
15:18 亞撒將他父所分別為聖、與自己所分別為聖的金銀和器皿都奉到上帝的殿裡。
15:19 從這時直到亞撒三十五年，都沒有爭戰的事。

 

The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded. ² He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. ³ For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. ⁴ But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. ⁵ In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. ⁶ One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. ⁷ But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”

⁸ When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of^[a] Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.

⁹ Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

¹⁰ They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. ¹¹ At that time they sacrificed to the Lord seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder they had brought back. ¹² They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. ¹³ All who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. ¹⁴ They took an oath to the Lord with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. ¹⁵ All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.

¹⁶ King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷ Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. ¹⁸ He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.

¹⁹ There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

 

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    讀到亞撒王的事蹟，尤其是他敬畏耶和華，帶給猶大國蒙福，也號召了以色列敬畏上帝的人，大家一同來享受上帝的賜福！而這福份不是一時的，照經文所說：「從這時直到亞撒三十五年，都沒有爭戰的事。」

 

 

    然而在這樣的描述中，也讓我們有淡淡的不安，這樣的黃金歲月可以維持多久呢？因為就人類的歷史來看，太平盛世並不多，許多的時候都是充滿戰火和動盪不安。即使是現在好像世界和平，也是不斷有零星戰火和冷戰的情形。

 

    當然我們不要忘記，真正永恆的平安是在上帝國完全實現的時候，這才是我們可以期盼的，不要一時的平安與安定而忘記了那真正的永恆的平安！當然今日COVID-19疫情肆虐，其實更是激發我們盼望上帝國快快完全實現！

 

 

約翰福音6: 60-71

 

6:60 他的門徒中有好些人聽見了，就說：「這話甚難，誰能聽呢？」
6:61 耶穌心裡知道門徒為這話議論，就對他們說：「這話是叫你們厭棄（原文是跌倒）嗎？
6:62 倘或你們看見人子升到他原來所在之處，怎麼樣呢？
6:63 叫人活著的乃是靈，肉體是無益的。我對你們所說的話就是靈，就是生命。
6:64 只是你們中間有不信的人。」耶穌從起頭就知道誰不信他，誰要賣他。
6:65 耶穌又說：「所以我對你們說過，若不是蒙我父的恩賜，沒有人能到我這裡來。」
6:66 從此，他門徒中多有退去的，不再和他同行。
6:67 耶穌就對那十二個門徒說：「你們也要去嗎？」
6:68 西門•彼得回答說：「主啊，你有永生之道，我們還歸從誰呢？
6:69 我們已經信了，又知道你是上帝的聖者。」
6:70 耶穌說：「我不是揀選了你們十二個門徒嗎？但你們中間有一個是魔鬼。」
6:71 耶穌這話是指著加略人西門的兒子猶大說的；他本是十二個門徒裡的一個，後來要賣耶穌的。

 

⁶⁰ On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

⁶¹ Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! ⁶³ The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit^[e] and life. ⁶⁴ Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. ⁶⁵ He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

⁶⁶ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

⁶⁷ “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

⁷⁰ Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” ⁷¹ (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

 

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    多麼美的認信：「主啊，你有永生之道，我們還歸從誰呢？我們已經信了，又知道你是上帝的聖者。」

 

    然而這樣的話若是沒有聖靈的支持，仍然是空話一場！因為任何美好的話，都會從人的口中說出來，若是不實在的，就是謊話一篇！也因為這樣，我們不能說一口好話，我們要有實實在在的信再來說這一段話，才不是天大的謊言！

 

    然而人要認識永生之道唯有透過聖靈的啟示，若沒有聖靈的引導，人心是罪惡綑綁，是被不信的惡心所充滿，是無法真心信靠主耶穌的，也因為這樣賣主耶穌的猶大也混在使徒中間，其實是不信的！

 

    教會也是這樣，不是混在基督徒中間多年就是基督徒。其實有很多在教會中混的人，一點也沒有得著聖靈的啟示，心中仍然是充滿不信的惡心。表現上好像是基督徒，有善行與善言，卻不信主耶穌是上帝的兒子，也不將榮耀歸給上帝，只想得人的認同與稱讚，這等人是多麼可憐啊！