[0:00] 弟兄姐妹平安Hello everyoneLet us pray before we beginDear Heavenly Father, thank you for your grace that we may come here to worship youBut we ask you to rest our heart in this hot weatherSo we may listen to your preachingAnd that we will be able to live out your word in our livesPray this in Jesus' name, AmenJust before Christmas, Ben invited me to see a movieHe says there's a movie that he really really wanted to see
[1:02] And that he says there's a movie that he really really wanted to seeThis is what I said to him when he first invited meAnd that he said I'm so busy now, especially that Christmas is comingGoing to see a few days laterA friend of his saw the movie and recommended to himHe said that this movie is spectacular and it's really worth seeingSo he decided to invite me againThis time I saidYou know, we've already spent so much money this ChristmasAnd we'll have to spend over $30 to see this movieLet's not goA few days passed
[2:10] And the trailers of this movie began showing on TVAnd there were many positive reviews of this movie on the internetUse, he又跑来跟我说Ay,我们去看吧我真的很想看好像听说里面还有跟圣经相似的情节So he came over againAnd said, let's go and see itI really really want to see itPlus there's some scenes in it that parallels the BibleThis is what I saidAy, I'm not sureHe even sent the BibleI thought to myselfGoodness, he's even playing the Bible cardSo longYou can猜出他说的是哪一部电影吗After all that, can you guess what movie it is?
[2:51] Just 2012This is a disaster movie, 2012I said, I know that the end of the world will probably look very similar to the scenes from this movieWe're not going to see itLet's not goLet's not goAnd in the end, we gave upBut for a long time, the scenes from that movie kept playing in my headI could only feel relief after the movie had stopped showing前两个星期不是前两个星期好几个星期前我正在厨房做饭然后Ben呢他在大厅呢看那个凤凰电视那个新闻联播
[4:05] A few weeks agoWhile I was cookingBen was watching newsOn the Phoenix Channel我听到新闻上说中国的北方有雪灾有很多地方呢零下三十几度交通 痰瘫甚至连海上都接了冰And I heard the reporters say thatNorth China was experiencing severe snow stormsMany places had temperatures of 30 degrees under zeroAnd traffic was at a standstillEven the sea water was freezing up于是我就连忙从厨房里面跑到大厅想看一下那个地方到底现在怎么样了So I quickly ran out of the kitchento see exactly what was going on那电视的画面已经换到了那个天气预报But the news has already moved onto the weather report只听到那个吕主播他这样说I heard the anchor saying this他说这几天呢北方仍然下雪不过大家不要担心这跟2012这部电影没什么关系只是今年的雪下的比较大一些
[5:11] While it is still snowing hard in the northPeople should not be alarmedThis year's relatively heavy snowhas nothing to do with the movie 2012但是我想他不提这部电影呢我就没有把2012跟这个大雪连上关系I thought to myselfI wouldn't even have connected the twoIf she didn't mention the movie但是他这么一提的时候我还是觉得可能是因为在国里很多人看到那部电影就把这两件事件连起来了所以呢他才会这么说的But now that she has said itI realized thatmany people must have beenmaking this connectionOr else there wouldn't be a reasonfor her to say it又过了一个星期新闻联播了有这样的一个片段A week laterDuring another news broadcast有一段新闻是一个土耳其的男子叫鸭甲他以前曾经因为刺杀罗马教宗坐牢30年现在他终于出狱了然后他通过律师发了一个预言他说这世界末日将会在这个世纪出现后来的医生呢诊断他有精神问题所以说这几件事情都是一个独立的事件但是他让我感到非常的不安因为他让我不得不去思想世界末日或者是基督在临这一个将来一定会发生的事件大家每个基督徒都盼望基督的再次的降临因为那个时候正义会得到伸张也代表新天新地的到来圣经告诉我们到那个时候人们会活在一个和平快乐没有眼泪没有悲伤与主面对面的一个世界但是在新天新地之前这个旧的世界必须先要毁灭人要经过审判通过了才可以去到新的国度圣经中主耶稣曾经用十个同旅的故事来告诉我们他来的那一天谁也不知道但是一旦他要来临那是你连去取一点油把灯点上的功夫都没有所以主我们要好好地预备预备自己那一天能够有足够的油点亮我们的灯去迎接他的到来今天我们已经预备好去迎接他了吗要是你已经预备好了
[9:11] 那末日对你来说呢是清醒的是很容易面对的事情If you are ready then facing this day will be easy而且它将是美好生活的一个开始And it will be a beginningof a wonderful new life要是你觉得你还没预备好那末日对你来说是一个灾难是你无法承受的Yet if you're not readythen that day will be a disasterthat you couldn't endure到底我们如何去预备自己去预备那些油呢So how should we prepare ourselvesHow should we prepare the oil能够像那五个聪明的同侣在基督降临的时候能够欢欢喜喜地去迎接我们的基督呢So that we can be likethe five wise virginswho will joyfully welcome Jesuson the day of his return让我们一同来看今天的经文Let us look at today's passage在二章二十八节约翰说孩子们你们要住在主里面这样他又显现我们就可以坦然无惧他来到的时候我们也不自惭愧地躲避他了
[10:21] John says in verse 28And now little children abide in himso that when he is revealedwe may have confidencethat notthat not be put to shamebefore himat his coming这里说的他又显现指的就是基督的在灵也就是末日的那一天When he is revealedhe is alluding to the return of Christor the end of the day而不致羞愧地躲避他是当我们接受审判的时候我们能够站在基督的面前not be put to shame before himmeans that we may stand firmbefore himat the time of judgment面对面没有惭愧没有遗憾face to facewithout shameand without regret更不需要去躲避他就是宽宽洗洗地去面对他with no need to hide from himbut joyfully facing him约翰告诉我们要是我们想毫无惧怕地面对那一天有一个办法
[11:22] John tells usthat there is one waywe can face that daywithout fear就是你们要住在主里面and that is to abide in the Christin Lord如何住在主里面呢第一个是行公义how do we abide in the Lordfirst we need to be righteous二十九节你们既然晓得神是公义的就应当知道所有行公义的都是从他生的if you know that he is righteousyou may be sure that everyonewho does righthas been born of him这里说我们晓得神是公义的it says that we knowGod is righteous我们也的确知道神是公义的因为可以通过我们的读经通过我们的个人经历我们都可以知道神是公义的and indeed we do knowbecause we read it in the Bibleand we learn itthrough our personal experiences今文又说知道行公义的都是从他生的这是什么意思呢it also sayseveryone who does righthas been born of himwhat does this mean行公义的就是指那些已经受洗的基督徒those who does rightare people who have beenbaptized Christian因为行公义是基督徒重生的一个特质because righteousnessis one important characterof a born again Christian当人还没有成为基督徒的时候他们不认识基督他们还背负着自己的罪但是当他们信了耶稣以后他们的罪得到赦免but after they believe in Jesusand receive absolutionfor their sins受洗后圣经说基督徒就有了新的生命成为新造的人and after being baptizedthey will have a new lifeand become a new creation这个新的生命是与基督联合在一起的and this new lifeis connected to Christ因此他会才会活得越来越像基督and therefore he will liveto be more and morelike Jesus既然新的生命拥有基督的影子那基督公义的特质也就是一个基督徒应有的特质接着经文说行公义的都是从他生的从他生是表明了一个基督徒身份上的改变 everyone who does righthas been born of himborn of him indicatesa change of identityin a Christian神创造的人是创造者与被造墓的一个关系
[14:12] God created manthe relationship hereis of the creatorand his creation唯独基督徒多了一个身份就是父亲与子女的身份but Christianshave one extra identitythe identityof being God's children一种成传的关系就像我们的长相或者是性格与我们的父母非常的伤似it's a relationshipof inheritancein the same waythat our looksor our personalitiesare similar to thatof our parents既然我们与神有这一种的关系我们应该也效法神行公义since we have thisrelationship with Godwe need to imitate Godand be righteous行公义是什么呢what is righteousness米加书六章八节那里提到我们要行公义好怜悯传谦卑的心与神同行Mikah 6 verse 8says that we need toact justlyhave mercyand walk humblywas our God当时以色列人献祭给神把金钱和时间都摆上但是神却对他们说行公义远比限制更为重要when Israelmade offeringsto Godof moneyand time
[15:28] God told themto themthat acting justlywas far more important事实上行公义是维护社会稳定和人与人之间关系中的一个非常重要的元素in factrighteousness is animportant elementin maintainingstability in our societyand personal relationshipswith each other我们个人的言行或者操守或与其他人的关系都必须建立在公义上神要求我们行公义行公义就是遵行自己所明白的真理作为自己生活的一个准则God asked us to act justlythis means that we mustlive to the codeto obey all the truththat we understand简单说就是以圣经的原则作为标准来生活simply putit means to liveaccording to the bible神要我们行公义首先是要我们以公义来阅束自己的行为其次是要以公义来尊重别人
[16:39] God asks us to act justlyit means we need torestrain our own behaviorwith righteousnessand respect othersin a righteous way我们要谨记的是这里说的是要我们行公义而不是只要公义而行不出来we need to firmly rememberthat here Godis asking us toact justlynot just to feel righteousbut do nothing about it我们更应该在生活中无论与人沟通相处或是在工作学识上处理自己的生活上把圣经的教导和原则应用在里面we need to applybiblical principlesinto all facets of our livesin personal communicationwith othersin studyor at workor dealing withour own lives住在主里面的第二个要素是持守神儿履的职份the second keyof abiding in Christis to persist in our dutiesas God's children三章一节你们看父赐给我们的是怎样的爱就是让我们可以称为神的儿女我们也珍视他的儿女因此世人不认识我们是因为他们不认识父在这里约翰不但告诉我们神对我们的厚爱让我们从被造物而得到成为神儿履的名分
[18:16] John isnot only telling us about God's great lovefor his actin transforming usfrom mere creaturesto his children他在经文中还强调的就是我们要我们也珍视他的儿女这一个的事实he's also emphasizingthe fact thatwe truly arehis children世人不认识我们也不也因他为他们不认识父这一句话的意思是要有人认识父也应该认识我们the reason the worlddoes not know usis that it did not know himthis means thatif they knew the fatherthey would know us这也是表达上面所说的我们与神的关系and this reiteratesour relationship with God我们是紧紧地与神连接在一起的一群人we are a group of peoplethat is closely bound to God当人认识神的时候也可以认出我们来when a personcomes to know Godthey would recognizeus for what we are同样的人也可以通过我们的行为得以认识神in the same veina person can come to know Godthrough our actions第二节亲爱的现在我们是神的耳驴将来怎样还没有显明然而我们知道主又显现我们必要像他因为我们必要看到他本来是怎样的约翰强调的是现在现在我们是神的耳驴今天我们是神的耳驴拥有了一个尊贵的身份而这身份的背后我们也有做儿驴的职份和责任
[20:17] We are God's children todayWe are distinguishedyet with this statusalso comes our responsibilitiesas his children实际上说要孝敬我们的父母英文用honor这个字The Ten Commandments teach us to honor our parents这就是要使我们的父母得荣耀同样的我们做神的耳驴也应当使神得荣耀It means to bring gloryto our parentsIt follows thatas God's childrenWe need to bring gloryto God使神得荣耀了并不是一件离我们很远的事情This is not a difficult thing这是我们每天都能做的事情It is something that we can doin our daily lives例如早上我们可以通过我们的祷告我们的感谢我们的颂赞去感谢他赞美他For examplewe canafter we get up each morningwe can prayand thank and praise God在学习和工作的地方不做一些羞辱他名的事情例如说考试做逼了工作偷懒了等等
[21:29] And not to do anythingin our studies or workthat will bring shameto his nameFor exampleCheating in an examor being lazy on the job最近有个孩子分享了跟我分享了他的经历Recently a young personwas sharing her experienceswith me她是一个中国留学生一边读书一边打工She's a studentwho's having a hard timestudying while workingat the same time但是当老板跟他说星期天上班的时候他对老板说因为他是基督徒所以星期天要上教会不能打工When her boss asked herto take the Sunday shiftShe told him thatshe is a Christianand would not work on Sundaysbut would go to church这孩子在这事情上就荣耀了神Through her actionsshe has glorified God通过这个事件他让老板明白到原来星期天是要上教会敬拜神的She showed her bossthat Sundayis a day of worshiping God同时她也让老板看到一个基督徒生活虽然并不富裕但是他仍然的持守星期天上教会的原则
[22:40] She also showed thatalthough she was not well offAs a ChristianShe is able to upholdthe principleof attending churchOn Sundays神的名就因为这件事情得以被高举And God's nameis lifted highShe also told mesomething wonderfulShe also told me他说当他这么做的时候有一个人因为在星期六不能上班所以星期天那天呢他就做了双份的工作星期天既不用上班可以敬拜神同时呢他的收入也可以赚那么多She said thatbecause someone could not takethe Saturday shiftShe ended updoing twoAnd she got paid more while notworking on Sundays这就是神的奇妙当我们爱她的时候同时我们也能够感受到神对我们更大的恩典This is what is intriguing about GodHe pours downmore blessingswhen we do love him我们呢使天父得荣耀是做神儿女的一个本分一个职责
[23:46] GlorifyingOur Heavenly Fatheris our responsibilityas his children接着约翰又说将来怎么样还没有显明John continues to say thatwhat we will behas not yet been revealed将来是指末后指基督的再来He is pointing towardsthe time of Jesus' return事实上是对的那个时候怎么样呢一切事情还没有发生是一个未知之数What will the world be like during those timesIt is unknown但是他说主又显现我们必要向他因为我们必要向他看见他本来是怎样的It also says thatwhen he is revealedwe will be like himfor we will see himas he is主又显现就是指上到天堂的时候我们与主面对面的时候Jesus显现我们必要向他指的是那时候我们也会像他一样得荣耀因为在哥伦多后书三章十八节让我们清楚地知道约翰这里指的是什么那里说到我们众人脸上的破纸既然已经窃开反映主的荣光就变成主那样的形象大有荣光这写出了当我们在天上见主的情形这就是我们的盼望是基督徒末日后在天上与主面对面的情形这盼望能够帮助我们抵挡末日临到的恐惧因为我们知道靠着主在主里我们必然能够在天上看见主本来的面目在主里的第三点是要洁净自己第三节凡对他存着盼望的就洁净自己像他一样的洁净约翰说凡是盼望将来能够与基督在天上同德荣耀的就当像基督一样洁净自己就是让我们像基督一样在地上生活的时候过一个没有罪咎的生活这意思是我们是有罪的人这我们都很清楚当神才派他的独生子耶稣来到世上成为人并为我们的罪丁死在十字架上使我们能够靠着耶稣的宝血洁净了我们的罪这样神已经做了他的工作就是凭着爱凭着他独生子的献身他已经尽力地去
[27:46] 挽救我们这些堕落的人而人所要做的不单是要接受这一份的救赎之功这一份的礼物使自己所犯的罪能够得以洁净还要做的是要在世上追求过一个圣洁的生活人要过洁净的生活是很难的因此我才会说我们要追求追求过这一种的生活当我们有这种追求这种渴望的时候我们才能够活出来 It is onlywhen we have this aspiration can we achieve it in our daily lives捷径包括了内心和灵魂同时也包括了我们的生活
[28:51] We need purity in our soul and our spirit and our actions内心和灵魂就是我们的思想By soul and spirit I mean our thoughts我们的行为有偏差了是因为我们的思想错误了然后这些思想就会引导我们去犯罪The mistakes in our actions are brought about by wrong thoughts in our head These thoughts lead us to sin因此我们每天祷告把我们所想的告诉神我们呢一面能够从中做到反省的工作另一面我们可以让神来引导我们回到正确的思想上 Therefore when we do pray every day to share our thoughts with God On one hand we can reflect on them While on the other hand we can ask God to guide us back onto the right track因为当我们祷告的时候圣灵同时也会动工告诉我们哪些应该做哪些不应该做 When we prayThe Holy Spirit moves to show us what we should and shouldn't do我在生活上的捷径就是不做一些可耻的事不做一些令神蒙羞的事情
[29:59] Purity in our actions means not to do what is shameful to God 对于这个这方面我有一个很大的感触 And I felt very strongly towards this 我曾经呢就做了一些令神蒙羞的事情我必须承认 I must confess that I have done things in the past which brought shame to God 在一个星期五的晚上呢 当我们星期五 团契结束了以后 我要送一些女孩回家 One Friday night I was driving some girls home after Bible study 那天呢 是要去Josie的家里 We were going to Josie's house that night 我不记得当时呢 有哪一些的女孩坐我的车上 只记得其中一个是Esther I don't remember all the girls in my car except Esther 我的车只能够载五个人 而当时我们有六个人 We had six people all together while my car could only carry five 我因为懒了 不想多跑一回了 所以我就决定 六个人坐一辆车
[31:03] Because I felt lazy and I didn't want to take an extra trip So I decided to take all six people together 当我开到 波稳的那个 东卡斯路上的时候 远远看到 那个警车上面的子弹灯 当我到东卡斯路上 在波稳 我看到警察 警察的灯 远远看到 警察的灯 远远看到 那一刻我很自然地 跟孩子们说 糟了 怎么办 第一个反应 我就把车开到 最近的一条街 转了进去 So I followed my instinct And I turned into a side street 那些小路了 很暗没有灯 我又认不到路 在当中转来转去 It was so dark Because there were no street lamps And I didn't know the way So I drove round and round 我终于开出了大路 成功地逃避了警察的检查 虽然没有拿到罚单 但是心里非常难受 一个传道人 居然在孩子的面前 做出这样的事情来 不但没有为他们立下榜样 反而上演了这样一幕狼狈的情形
[32:23] I failed to be a good role model for them And I also put myself in this sorry situation 回到家 我在神的面前 我为了自己的罪 痛心忏悔 恳求祂的赦免 When I got home I deeply grieved for my sin And asked God for forgiveness 并决心以后 无论任何的情况下 我坚决不会再做那样的事情 And I resolved to never under any circumstance To do something like this again 也的确如此 在那次以后 我没有再犯同样的错误 And truth be told I have not made the same mistake again 这件事情对我影响非常地深刻 我常常地提醒自己 要谨慎谨慎 免得神的名被羞辱 This heavily affected me in the ways I behave in other situations I often remind myself to be alert to actions that might bring shame to God's name 要是你也曾经 做过一些羞辱神的名的事情 今天就在神的面前 恳求祂的赦免 立志以后不再做这样的事情 不再羞辱神的名
[33:37] If you have done things in the past that were shameful to God Then ask for forgiveness today And resolve never to do it again 只要你能够对于自己所犯的 能够有一个痛心后悔的 有一个痛心后悔的心 神一定会赐给我们力量 不去再犯那些的错误 As long as you deeply regret what you have done God will surely give you the strength not to do it again 那样我们就可以过一个圣洁的生活 So we might begin a life of purity 行公义 做好神儿履的职份 和过一个圣洁的生活 都是基督徒必然的条件 Acting justly Persisting in our duties as God's children And living a life of purity These are the three key things that enable us to abide in Christ Today you probably feel that it is difficult to do all of the above
[34:39] And you'll be right They're not easy Yet when we relive the sins from the movie 2012 我们就会觉得行公义 旅行儿履的职份 和过一个圣洁生活 去预备自己 面对末日的来源 是必要的 We'll feel that acting justly Persisting in our duties as God's children And living a life of purity Are necessary 只要我们有预备自己的决心 神必然会赐力量 给我们去行出来 When we have the heart of determination God will give us the strength 就像刚才我所提到 那个超载的例子 My example before Of overloading my car 其实那个 并不是我的第一次超载 That wasn't my first time 以前我也会对自己说 下一次不要再犯这个错误了 I've taught myself in the past not to do it again 但是我觉得 那并不是什么 大不了的事情 就是泛泛交通的事情 但是我没有想到 但是我没有想到 我没有想到 我只是破了 交通规则嘛 就是这种心态 让我不能够改变 我自己的这个习惯 直到那一天 神让我有不一样的经历 让我清楚地知道 我不单的是犯了交通规则 而更羞辱了他的名 我才痛心地悔改 决心不再这样行 因此我相信 当我们下决心的时候 神会帮助我们 去走过我们生活当中 面对种种的困难 挑战 我也是在每天 为自己的灯加油 预备 直到今天 我还没有预备好 但是我很努力地去预备 但是我很努力地去预备 但是我很努力地去预备 但是我很努力地去预备 我希望你跟我们一样 跟我一样去思想这个问题 努力去为自己的灯加油 之后 今天让我们一起来以后 一同地来加油 之后 之后
[37:43] Below 至于嗯 您 尚 没有 没有有 beş ườ二八 吃大家 就是 闵