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空前的试探与挑战

2023-11-03 in , /by

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。

Greater Is He Who Is In You

2023-11-03 in /by

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. 

卑鄙的人做王

2023-11-02 in , /by

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。

What to Do with a Self-Condemning Heart

2023-11-02 in /by

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. 

南方王和北方王的争战之二

2023-11-01 in , /by

但以理书11: 10 北方王的二子必动干戈，招聚许多军兵。这军兵前去，如洪水泛滥，又必再去争战，直到南方王的保障。

阅读经文:  但以理书 11:10-19

10 「北方王的二子必动干戈，招聚许多军兵。这军兵前去，如洪水泛滥，又必再去争战，直到南方王的保障。 11 南方王必发烈怒，出来与北方王争战，摆列大军，北方王的军兵必交付他手。 12 他的众军高傲，他的心也必自高，他虽使数万人仆倒，却不得常胜。

在新旧约之中的四百年，实在是腥风血雨。巴勒斯坦，神赐给以色列人的那块地，成了列强争夺的战场。刚开始在埃及的三个多利买王对以色列人还算友善，巴勒斯坦归埃及所管，所以犹大省的犹大人渐渐多起来。他们很有作生意的头脑，加上那时推罗已衰败，所以他们都变得很富有。到了埃及多利买王朝的后期，巴勒斯坦变成一块令人垂涎的肥肉。

多利买三世打败西流古二世之后，西流古二世的两个儿子决意雪洗前耻，继承父志，打败埃及。这两个儿子是指西流古三世和他的弟弟安提阿哥三世，为要振兴国势，他们招兵买马铲除异己，准备向外侵略。西流古三世在小亚细亚攻打别迦摩的战事中阵亡，安提阿哥三世继承哥哥的王位，又称为大安提阿哥。

Let God’s Word Bring Us To Our Knees

2023-11-01 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 3:9-17.  Let’s go!
 
1 John 3:9-11 (NIV) 
9  No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 
10  This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. 
11  This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
 
On verses 9-11:  John puts it in such black and white terms: 
 · Those who do what is right belong to God.  Those who sin don’t belong to God.  (v9-10)
 · Those who love their fellow brothers and sisters belong to God.  Those who hate their fellow brothers and sisters don’t belong to God (v10b-11).
So say you’re someone who has trusted Jesus as your Saviour. 

南方王和北方王的争战之一

2023-10-31 in , /by

但以理书11: 5  南方的王必强盛，他将帅中必有一个比他更强盛，执掌权柄，他的权柄甚大。
阅读经文:  但以理书 11:5-9

5 「南方的王必强盛，他将帅中必有一个比他更强盛，执掌权柄，他的权柄甚大。 6 过些年后，他们必互相联合，南方王的女儿必就了北方王来立约。但这女子帮助之力存立不住，王和他所倚靠之力也不能存立。这女子和引导她来的，并生她的，以及当时扶助她的，都必交于死地。

在亚历山大死去后，希腊帝国被四个将军分为四国：马其顿和希腊（安提帕特和卡山德）；脱拉西及小亚西亚（赖西马克）：叙利亚（西流古一世）；巴勒斯坦和埃及（多利买一世）。但是在但以理书里则着重在南王与北王之争。南王指占领埃及的多利买王，北王指占领叙利亚的西流古王。这从希腊出来的二强互相争霸，历时约160多年，以致生灵涂炭。以色列位在巴勒斯坦，正好夹在埃及和叙利亚中间，因此饱受战火之祸。

在第5节说到，南方的王必强盛，便是指占领埃及的多利买一世苏他Ptolemy Soter　自封为王。亚历山大生前曾册封一名将帅在巴比伦作王，那便是在叙利亚称王的西流古一世尼卡特Seleucus Nicator。他的权柄甚大，远胜于多利买一世。

he More You Look at Jesus, the More Like Jesus You Become

2023-10-31 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 3:1-8.

1 John 3:1a
1  How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

On verse 1a:  When our sin had disqualified us from God’s presence and we had no right to have anything to do with God, God lavished His love on us when He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross.  It is through Jesus Christ that we can be called children of God.   That’s the identity changing love of our God.  Because of His love, we’re no longer the same.  We go from sinners to saints, from excluded to included, from being orphaned to being part of His family.  It’s not because of anything we have done but because of His grace.

1 John 3:1b (NIV) 
1…The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

On verse 1b:  Through faith in Christ we are children of God, but of course the world does not know that or acknowledge that.  As we looked at in 1 John 2:15-17, the world is a system of thinking, feeling and living that does not acknowledge Christ.  It’s a system that pervades our society.  Since the world does not acknowledge God, the world will not acknowledge you as a child of God.  Instead the world will try to define you in other ways that are sometimes contradictory to what God’s Word says about you.  

You Can’t Have God Without Jesus

2023-10-30 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 2:18-29.  Let’s go!

1 John 2:18-28 (NIV)
18  Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
19  They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
20  But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.

On verses 18-28:  The apostle John is warning his readers about false teachers.  These false teachers were originally part of the church that John led, but they left the church (v19) and were now teaching that Jesus is not the Christ (that is, not the Messiah that the Jews were waiting for nor the Saviour that we all need) (v22).

These teachers were likely telling the people in John’s church, “You do not know the truth” (v21), accusing John and the other apostles of lying to them.  In response, John reassures his people that “you have an anointing form the Holy One, and all of you know the truth” (v20). 

四百年沉默时期的序幕

2023-10-30 in , /by

但以理书11: 2 现在我将真事指示你，波斯还有三王兴起，第四王必富足远胜诸王。他因富足成为强盛，就必激动大众攻击希腊国。

阅读经文:  但以理书 11:1-4

1 又说：「当玛代王大流士（大利乌）元年，我曾起来扶助米迦勒，使他坚强。

2 「现在我将真事指示你，波斯还有三王兴起，第四王必富足远胜诸王。他因富足成为强盛，就必激动大众攻击希腊国。 3 必有一个勇敢的王兴起，执掌大权，随意而行。 4 他兴起的时候，他的国必破裂，向天的四方分开，却不归他的后裔，治国的权势也都不及他，因为他的国必被拔出，归于他后裔之外的人。

在《圣经》的旧约与新约之间有一段沉默的时期，这沉默指的是神不再有话语给犹大人。这段时期大约有四百年，其间所发生的事都记载在但以理书11章里，那时巴比伦已经被灭，波斯成为世界的霸主。因此旧约的记事中止于波斯帝国；当新约圣经开始时，已是罗马帝国统治的时候。自先知玛拉基之后，到施洗约翰出生，神在以色列（包括犹大），没有再兴起先知。此时犹大人散居在埃及、巴比伦和波斯，有一部份得到古列王的允许，已经回到耶路撒冷重建圣城和圣殿。

因着但以理迫切的祷告，神把将来要发生的事一一告知但以理。神学家D.K. Campbell 说在这一章的前35节里，已经有135个预言在历史上应验了。也因为这部份的预言和历史是那样丝丝相扣，后来的史学家竟有人不愿意相信那是神在数百年前的预言，而说是有马加比族的人按著历史所编造的。但是智者总应该明白，唯有耶和华才是真神，也是宇宙的主宰。