By Water and By Blood

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 5:1-12.  Let’s go!

1 John 5:1a (NIV) 
1  Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God…

On verse 1a:  I love how simple the apostle John makes it sometimes.  If you believe Jesus is the Christ (the Saviour of the world), you are born of God and have life in Him.  Simple.

1 John 5:1b-2 (NIV) 
1…and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 
2  This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.

On verses 1a-2:  Earlier John was saying that one important way that we love God is by loving His children.  Now John is taking it in the other direction: he’s saying that to love God’s children is to love God and carry out His commands.  How is it that we love the children of God when we love God and obey His commands?  Here are two ways that works.

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何西阿的儿女

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何西阿书1:10a  然而，以色列的人数必如海沙，不可量，不可数。

阅读经文:  何西阿书 1:4-11

4 耶和华对何西阿说：「给他起名叫耶斯列，因为再过片时，我必讨耶户家在耶斯列杀人流血的罪，也必使以色列家的国灭绝。 5 到那日，我必在耶斯列平原折断以色列的弓。」

何西阿娶淫妇为妻，可能有的人会想，既然神要他娶，就娶。只要不理她，也可以过日子。但是我们看到何西阿的顺服是里外合一的顺服。从他和歌篾一个接一个地生孩子，何西阿对歌篾就好像是丈夫对妻子一样，没有亏欠。这就是神要的顺服，不是阳奉阴违，而是表里一致的顺服。

有的人花很多时间来为神辩解，神不会叫人去娶淫妇，或有的说，那是指精神上的淫乱，因为歌篾拜偶像，等等。但是我们还是回到圣经上，看看圣经是怎么说的，好过用自己的意思去猜来猜去，都没个准。

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God’s Love Drives Out Our Fear

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 4:13-21.  Let’s go!

1 John 4:13-14 (NIV) 
13  We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 
14  And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

On verses 13-14:  In other words, the faith that John and his fellow apostles preach is not merely about believing in abstract ideas.  Rather their faith comes with a real experience of God’s Holy Spirit (v13), and their testimony is based on having actually seen this Jesus who was sent from the Father to be the Saviour of the world (v14).  In other words, Christian faith is not simply a bunch of philosophical principles and ideas about metaphysics.  Rather, the Christian faith is grounded in historical fact and is accompanied by a real, life-changing experience of the Holy Spirit. 

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何西阿受命

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何西阿书1:2b  你去娶淫妇为妻，也收那从淫乱所生的儿女，因为这地大行淫乱，离弃耶和华。

阅读经文:  何西阿书 1:1-3

1当乌西雅、约坦、亚哈斯、希西家做犹大王，约阿施的儿子耶罗波安做以色列王的时候，耶和华的话临到备利的儿子何西阿。

世界上的爱情故事很多，可是像〈何西阿书〉这一本写爱情的书，一开始就令人愕然不已。很多人寻求神祝福的婚姻，求神带领他们找到神为自己预备的配偶。若你是何西阿，神真的为你预备了祂所选给你的配偶，你要不要接受？你会不会接受？我们所期望的配偶都是要与我们匹配的，门户相当的，但是若对方与你不匹配，不门户相当，你还会考虑这个婚姻吗？借着一个婚姻的悲剧，神要让我们明白祂对我们的爱，以及何谓真正的爱情。

在公元八世纪里，神兴起了几位大先知，向北国以色列发言的是阿摩司和何西阿，向南国犹大发言的是以赛亚和弥迦。从人的眼光来看，那并不是一个太差的时代。当时北国以色列的王是耶罗波安二世，南国犹大的王是乌西雅王；在他们当政时，国家都变得富强壮大。

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生命册的挑战

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但以理书12:2  睡在尘埃中的必有多人复醒，其中有得永生的，有受羞辱永远被憎恶的。

阅读经文:  但以理书 12:1-13

1「那时，保佑你本国之民的天使长米迦勒必站起来，并且有大艰难，从有国以来直到此时没有这样的。你本国的民中，凡名录在册上的，必得拯救。 2 睡在尘埃中的必有多人复醒，其中有得永生的，有受羞辱永远被憎恶的。 3 智慧人必发光，如同天上的光；那使多人归义的，必发光如星，直到永永远远。 4 但以理啊，你要隐藏这话，封闭这书，直到末时。必有多人来往奔跑，知识就必增长。」

〈但以理书〉到尾声了，有点舍不得结束。想到在异国里守住敬虔的但以理，就觉得应该向他看齐，学习他不管在什么环境下都尊主为大的生活方式。不要害怕人言可畏，也不要担心必然受害。我想这就是他大蒙神眷爱的原因之一。主耶稣说，“清心的人有福了，因为他们得以见神”（太5:8）。我想，但以理就是最好的例子了。

在11章40-45节里，我们没有太多讨论。因为大部份圣经学者都认为，那段时间，也就是12章所说的“大艰难”，是指安提阿哥四世的迫害或末世的大灾难，或说是安提阿哥四世末期或主耶稣第二次降临前景。所以在这里给大家做个参考。

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How God Shows His Love

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 4:7-12.  Let’s go!

1 John 4:7-12 (NIV) 
7  Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 
8  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 
9  This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 
10  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 
11  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 
12  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
 
On verses 7-12:  This is one of my favourite passages in 1 John, so much so that when Sharleen and I got married this was the passage we chose to be read at our wedding.  This passage is not just beautifully written; more importantly, it is one of the best summaries you will find in the Bible of what Christianity is all about, teaching us that:

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空前的试探与挑战

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但以理书11: 35  智慧人中有些仆倒的，为要熬炼其余的人，使他们清净洁白，直到末了，因为到了定期，事就了结。

阅读经文:  但以理书 11:28-45

28 「北方王必带许多财宝回往本国，他的心反对圣约，任意而行，回到本地。 29 到了定期，他必返回，来到南方，后一次却不如前一次。 30 因为基提战船必来攻击他，他就丧胆而回，又要恼恨圣约，任意而行。他必回来联络背弃圣约的人。 31 他必兴兵，这兵必亵渎圣地，就是保障，除掉常献的燔祭，设立那行毁坏可憎的。 32 作恶违背圣约的人，他必用巧言勾引；唯独认识神的子民，必刚强行事。

在两约之间的四百年里，犹太人与外邦统治者在政治及文化上的冲突，以及犹太人相互之间，因外来势力的干扰所造成的摩擦，促成了原本团结内敛的犹太人，分裂为不同的宗教集团和党派，酝酿了400年末期同族兄弟自相残杀的血腥史。

亚历山大是个英勇明智的帝王，深深明白武力的征服只是一时，唯有文化的改变才能长久，因此他立志要把希腊文化传遍当时的世界。他沿着征服之地建筑希腊化的城巿，鼓励马其顿人与当地的女子通婚，凡他的军队所到之处，都感受到希腊文化的震撼，巴勒斯坦也不例外。

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Greater Is He Who Is In You

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 4:1-6.  Let’s go!

1 John 4:1-3 (NIV) 
1  Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 
2  This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 
3  but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

On verses 1-3:  Why is John telling his readers to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (v1)?  It’s because in John’s day false prophets were preaching messages that contradicted the gospel message, the message that Jesus Christ the Son of God came into this world, died for our sins, and rose again.  For example, historians report that a man called Cerinthus taught that Jesus was not divine and that he was not supernaturally born of a virgin but that he was the naturally born son of Joseph and Mary. 

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卑鄙的人做王

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但以理书11: 23  与那君结盟之后，他必行诡诈，因为他必上来以微小的军成为强盛。

阅读经文:  但以理书 11:20-27

20 那时，必有一人兴起接续他为王，使横征暴敛的人通行国中的荣美地。这王不多日就必灭亡，却不因愤怒，也不因争战。

21 必有一个卑鄙的人兴起接续为王，人未曾将国的尊荣给他，他却趁人坦然无备的时候，用谄媚的话得国。 22 必有无数的军兵势如洪水，在他面前冲没败坏，同盟的君也必如此。

希望大家还分得清楚，南方王是指埃及的多利买王朝；北方王是叙利亚的西流古王朝，西流古是王的称号，其姓氏为安提阿哥。安提阿哥三世和罗马大战之后，因为溃不成军，只好把所占领的小亚细亚之地全数归还罗马。罗马不仅要求他要付大量的赔款和土地，每年要进贡，还命令他将王弟安提阿哥四世（以彼芬尼）送到罗马做人质。他建立大帝国的梦粉碎了，又受到这样的侮辱，灰心丧志地回国后，第二年就死了。传说他在以拦的彼勒神庙里抢劫宝器时，被大臣希利奥当斯所杀。其子西流古四世继位。

因为西流古三世长年争战，等西流古四世继位时，国库空空如也，又得每年向罗马进贡一千他连得银子。一他连得的银子约现值6606美元，一千他连得的银子便是6606,000美元，六百六十多万的美元。所以他只好横征暴敛，无所不用其极地苛征重税。

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What to Do with a Self-Condemning Heart

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 3:18-24.  Let’s go!
 
1 John 3:18 (NIV) 
18  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

On verse 18:  One of the big themes of 1 John is that true love is shown not just with our words but with our actions.  When it comes to love, actions speak louder than words.  I encourage you to memorize this verse.
 
1 John 3:19-20 (NIV) 
19  This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence
20  whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

On verses 19-20:   Has your own heart ever condemned you?  Have you ever wrestled with the thought, “maybe I’m not a child of God after all or maybe God is not with me”? The first way John says we can reassure ourselves is by focusing on the fruit of our lives, instead of on our feelings. 

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