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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。

3 Stages in Your Spiritual Growth

2023-10-29 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 2:9-17.  Let’s go!

1 John 2:9-11 (NIV) 
9  Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 
10  Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. 
11  But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.

On verses 9-11:  Light versus darkness is an ongoing theme in 1 John, the idea that God is light (see 1 John 1:5), that Jesus is the true light (2:5) and that if we are in Jesus we are in the light as well (1:7).  In contrast, the darkness is anywhere where Jesus is not glorified or obeyed (1:6).  How do you know if a Christian is truly in the light or in the darkness?  It’s in how that person loves others.  Here John proclaims that anyone who says he is in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness, whereas anyone who loves his brother lives in the light (v10).  In other words, how we love others is proof of whether we are truly in Christ or not. 

但以理最后的一个异象

2023-10-29 in , /by

但以理书10: 12  他就说：但以理啊，不要惧怕。因为从你第一日专心求明白将来的事，又在你神面前刻苦己心，你的言语已蒙应允，我是因你的言语而来。

阅读经文:  但以理书 10:1-21

1 波斯王居鲁士第三年，有事显给称为伯提沙撒的但以理。这事是真的，是指著大争战。但以理通达这事，明白这异象。 2 当那时，我但以理悲伤了三个七日。 3 美味我没有吃，酒肉没有入我的口，也没有用油抹我的身，直到满了三个七日。

4 正月二十四日，我在底格里斯大河边， 5 举目观看，见有一人身穿细麻衣，腰束乌法精金带。 6 他身体如水苍玉，面貌如闪电，眼目如火把，手和脚如光明的铜，说话的声音如大众的声音。 7 这异象唯有我但以理一人看见，同着我的人没有看见，他们却大大战兢，逃跑隐藏， 8 只剩下我一人。我见了这大异象便浑身无力，面貌失色，毫无气力。 9 我却听见他说话的声音，一听见就面伏在地沉睡了。

这是继上一章的事件两年之后发生的，也是但以理的最后一个异象。第10-12章是一个极长的预言，本章是导论，11-12章则比较详细地叙述在但以理之后的世代将要发生的事。但以理因为预言的内容而悲伤了21天。为何此内容使但以理如此伤神呢？从但以理被告知此预言时 ，他自己就好像被卷入了一场极大的争战之中。

这次在底格里斯河向他显现的，不再是天使加百列了，而是一位像在启示录里，约翰看见的那一位：“灯台中间有一位好像人子，身穿长衣，直垂到脚，胸间束著金带。他的头与发皆白，如白羊毛，如雪，眼目如同火焰，脚好像在炉中锻炼光明的铜，声音如同众水的声音”（启1:13-15）。但以理则见“有一人身穿细麻衣，腰束乌法精金带。他身体如水苍玉，面貌如闪电，眼目如火把，手和脚如光明的铜，说话的声音如大众的声音。” 令人不能不想到，是不是荣耀的主耶稣向他显现了？

Love Never Gets Old

2023-10-27 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 2:1-8.  Let’s go!

1 John 2:1-2 (NIV) 
1  My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 
2  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

On verses 1-2:  The greatest lawyer you will have representing you is Jesus Christ.  When we sin, Jesus acts as our advocate and speaks to the Father in our defense (v1).  Yet unlike lawyers who defend with their words alone, Jesus defended us with His blood, giving Himself as “the atoning sacrifice for our sins”.  What an amazing advocate and Saviour we have in Jesus.