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Be Filled With The Holy Spirit

2022-03-29 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 8:14-25.  Let’s go!

Acts 8:14-17 (NIV)
14  When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
15  When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
16  because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
17  Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
 
On verses 14-17:  At THRIVE and the great majority of Christian churches around the world that I know of, it is routinely taught that the Holy Spirit begins to dwell in us from the moment that we believe and trust Jesus as our Saviour.  So why is it that in Acts 8:14-17, the Samaritan Christians already believed in Jesus and had already been baptized, but that “the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them” (v16)? 
 
One possible explanation is that verse 16 is not referring to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but the filling of the Holy Spirit.  What is the difference?  The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the idea that when a person receives Jesus into their life, the Holy Spirit begins to live inside that person’s heart, whether that person feels anything or not (1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19).  In contrast, the filling of the Holy Spirit is an experience where the Spirit of God fills you with His power in a way that can be felt (Acts 1:8).  As Christians we were made to have the Holy Spirit not just dwell in us, but to continually fill us (Ephesians 5:18).  So one possible explanation of Acts 8:14-17 is that these Samaritan Christians already had the Holy Spirit dwelling within them, but Acts 8:17 is when they first experience the filling of the Holy Spirit.

约伯的安慰者

2022-03-29 in , /by

〈约伯记〉34:3   因为耳朵试验话语，好像上膛尝食物。

阅读经文：〈约伯记〉34章

在〈约伯记〉里，人称约伯的三位朋友和以利户为“约伯的安慰者”，这是一个讽刺性的称谓，并不是说他们真的能安慰约伯，而是说他们虽然想安慰约伯，却反而带给约伯更多大的痛苦。以利户虽然在言语上加了一点蜜糖，要使其言语看来不急燥而亲切，但是往往一下子就露出他欲加罪于约伯的心态。他说：“耳朵试验话语，好像上膛尝食物。我们当选择何为是，彼此知道何为善”，这句话听起来很有道理，但是下一句立刻就攻击约伯：“喝讥诮如同喝水，他与作孽的结伴，和恶人同行”。仅仅引用约伯的一句话，就把约伯定罪，与恶人同行。

这种“断章取义式”的定罪法，在耶稣和司提反被定罪的例子上也可以找到。我们在和别人辩论时，也很容易就会用这种方法打击对手。是是，约伯岂真是说，“人以神为乐总是无益？”倘若约伯真觉得人以神为乐总是无益，那么他又何必一直回头找神，向神祈求？约伯记得神使他平顺的那些日子，他只是不明白为何灾难忽然临到，压得他无法喘过气来，他希望知道自己错在哪里。这实在是人之常情，当人落在苦难中时，有谁能不问：为什么？

以利户认为 “神断不至行恶，全能者断不至作孽，但是祂会按着人所做，公平地报应各人。”在这里以利户想为人的灾难，替神开后门。神给人的灾难不是作恶也不是作孽，而是公平的报应。他和约伯其他三个朋友一样，为了神不断地辩护，但是神需要律师吗？当约伯说出他的感受时，他要求的是什么呢？约伯从来没有说神行恶或作孽，约伯只是希望神让他明白，他错在哪里？神从来不需要人为祂辩护。在〈申命记〉32章，神说：“你们如今要知道，我，唯有我是神！在我以外并无别神。我使人死，我使人活，我损伤，我也医治，并无人能从我手中救出来。（申32:39）”

以利户自言是约伯的中保

2022-03-28 in , /by

〈约伯记〉33:6   我在神面前与你一样，也是用土造成。

阅读经文：〈约伯记〉33章

这整篇文章行云流水，其实有点像诗歌。以利户一开始用很正直的口吻和约伯说话，自认与约伯平等，都是神用土造成的人。但是在第六节里，英文里有一句Truly I am as your spokesman before God，意思指他愿意做约伯的中保，在神面前为他辩护。因此他强调，他必不用威严惊吓约伯，也不用势力压约伯。他先表达对约伯的善意，表明他与前三位老者不一样。

但是很快地，他就像约伯其他的朋友一样，指责约伯的话说得不对，因为神比世人更大，所以人不应该与神争论。但是在我的经验里，我觉得你若相信有神的存在，难免要和祂辩一辩，因为人的心太浅，人的眼看得太近。我们需要毫无畏惧，才能真的来到神面前倾心吐意。因为“爱里没有惧怕”，正因为我们对神的爱有把握，我们才敢像孩子来到父母面前一样，又倾诉又争论。倘若你不相信有神，你就不会花力气去跟神争辩了。唯有当你心里有神的存在时，你才会找祂争论。因为你希望能够明白一些事情。我们跟神争论时，其实并不是要赢，而只是想让自己和神之间毫无阻碍，不希望有误会，不希望有怀疑。所以要和神把话说个清楚。朋友之间，有时不也如此吗？你希望的不是输赢，只希望彼此之间没有隔阂。

所以约伯才敢据理力争，因为他相信神的爱。当我们读〈诗篇〉时，也会发现大卫在神面前毫无保留，什么心思意念，好的坏的，生气或失望，感谢或悲哀，他什么都讲，因为他相信神的爱，他不愿意对神有任何隐瞒。不管是对或错，都是最真实的情感。我相信那就是神所求于我们的，不要隐瞒，因为没有用，神一切都明白，什么都知道。你向祂隐瞒做什么呢？难道你不说，祂就不知道吗？我相信，神希望我们知道祂对我们的爱毫无保留；也希望我们对祂的爱，毫无保留。

The One You Need More Than Anyone Else

2022-03-28 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 8:1-13.  Let’s go!

Acts 8:1-3 (NIV)
1  And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
2  Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.
3  But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
 
On verses 1-3:  As a high ranking Pharisee, Saul spent much of his life studying the Scriptures and doing his best to live what he believed was a moral and upright life.  Yet because Saul had yet to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and did not yet have the Holy Spirit, his life was heading in the opposite direction of where God wanted him to go.  Until Saul personally met Jesus and received the Holy Spirit, Saul would be used by the enemy as an instrument to destroy the church.  Saul thought that he was doing God’s work when he went out to persecute and destroy the church. 
 
What can we learn from this?  You can have great intelligence, education and status in the eyes of people.  You can work hard at the things you believe God wants you to do.  But if you don’t acknowledge Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, if you’re not depending on the Holy Spirit to guide your steps, your life can very well be headed in an opposite direction to where God intended you to go.  If you don’t have the Spirit of God guiding your steps, it doesn’t matter how talented, experienced, or successful you are in the eyes of people, and it doesn’t matter how much of God’s Word you think you know.  True life and lasting fruit are in Jesus Christ, knowing Jesus as your Saviour, following Him as your Lord, and depending on His Holy Spirit to lead the way.

以利户陈述己意

2022-03-27 in , /by

〈约伯记〉32:8   但在人里面有灵，全能者的气使人有聪明。

阅读经文：〈约伯记〉32章

约伯的三个老朋友听完约伯的慷慨陈词后都安静下来，觉得没什么好说的了。既然约伯觉得他什么错都没有，样样事都做得十分完全，这样自大的人，何必再回答他呢？你可能也有过这样的经历，好话坏话都说尽，人家都不听劝，那也只好由着他，不然又能怎样？年记大一点的人就有这份成熟，不再去自找麻烦。但是有一个比较年轻的人以利户就不这样想了，既然你们都想不出话来答约伯，那么就让我来吧。不管以利户说得对不对，神后来向约伯显现时，没有责备以利户，也没有对以利户说什么。所以让我们来看看以利户的话有几分真实合理。

布西（有译：布斯）是亚伯拉罕的侄儿，亚伯拉罕的兄弟拿鹤的儿子（创22:20-21）。一开始他显然很有礼貌，尊敬老年人，所以退让一边不语。但是越听越生气，终于说出来：“尊贵的不都有智慧，寿高的不都能明白公平。”上一句当然很有道理：“在人里面有灵，全能者的气使人有聪明。”全能者的气，指的是神吹进亚当鼻子里的那口气（创2:7），也是神放在人里头的灵。神在大洪水之前说：“人既属乎血气，我的灵就不永远住在他里面，然而他的日子还可到一百二十年。（创6:3）”所以当神的灵留在人里面时才称之为活人。动物也是活的，但是牠们里面没有神的灵，神给牠们也有悟性和本能，但是没有神赐的灵和聪明。

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

2022-03-27 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 7:44-60.  Let’s go!

Acts 7:44-50 (NIV)
44  “Our forefathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the desert. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.
45  Having received the tabernacle, our fathers under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David,
46  who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.
47  But it was Solomon who built the house for him.
48  “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says:
49  “‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be?
50  Has not my hand made all these things?’
 
On verses 44-50:  After talking about how the Israelites rejected Moses’ leadership and worshiped idols instead (v30-43), Stephen turns his attention to the way the temple in Jerusalem was built.  Stephen recounts how God originally gave Moses specific designs for a tabernacle, which was a portable tent where His people could worship Him as they journeyed from place to place (v44).  The Israelites would use this portable tabernacle to worship Him throughout the days of Joshua until the reign of King David (v45-46).  After that, it was King David who initiated and his son King Solomon who completed the construction of what was meant to be a permanent temple (v46-47).  But Stephen reminds his audience that God never asked for or required His people to build Him a permanent standing temple (v48).  He quotes Isaiah the prophet (in Isaiah 66:1-2) to show how silly it is for people to think that they could keep God inside the man-made buildings that they build.    

Don’t Repeat History but Make History

2022-03-25 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 7:30-43.  Let’s go!
 
Acts 7:30-43 (NIV)
30  “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.
31  When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to look more closely, he heard the Lord’s voice:
32  ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
33  “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals; the place where you are standing is holy ground.
34  I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’
35  “This is the same Moses whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush…….

On verses 30-43:  Here Stephen recounts how Moses obeyed the call of God and how God performed incredible signs and wonders through Moses to deliver the Israelites from slavery in Egypt (v30-38).  Yet despite all this, the Israelites rejected Moses and chose to worship idols instead of the LORD (v39-43).  Stephen is connecting the way the Israelites in Moses’ time rejected Moses, God’s chosen servant, with the way Stephen’s accusers were now rejecting Jesus, God’s Son.  Stephen is pointing to a pattern of rebellion against God that he notices among his own people. He will later say that they have this tendency to reject the Holy Spirit (see verse 51).

自言虽遭困苦守道不偏

2022-03-25 in , /by

〈约伯记〉31:35   唯愿有一位肯听我！看哪，在这里有我所画的押，愿全能者回答我！。

阅读经文：〈约伯记〉31章

这是约伯最后为自己辩解的最后一段，为了表明他所言一切属实，他甚至当场画押。当台湾的选举越来越白热化时，因为有位副总统候选人炒军宅的问题，让该党的立委也被冲击，甚至有人用自己的姓名下了重咒：“若XXX有买任何一户军宅，全家死光”，以示清白。很多人为了要让人相信自己说的是实话，便不惜立下重誓。约伯画押也有类似的意思。古时候审判犯人，问明罪状，就叫犯人画押。现在约伯也自行画押，表示所言一切属实。他之所以要画押，可能是要对朋友们表明心意，因为在这之前，他们列指约伯的罪状，令约伯十分愤怒。

约伯的自省从自己的眼目和心开始。使徒约翰说：“因为凡世界上的事，就像肉体的情欲、眼目的情欲并今生的骄傲，都不是从父来的，乃是从世界来的。（约壹2:16）”雅各也说，“但各人被试探，乃是被自己的私欲牵引、诱惑的。私欲既怀了胎，就生出罪来；罪既长成，就生出死来。（雅1:15-16）”可见约伯非常清楚罪的来源和形成之道，因此他一开始就讲到他与眼睛立约。其实在现今的社会上，很多人跌倒就是从眼目开始，以前是看黄色书刊，现在一上电脑，时时有裸露的美女或帅哥相片就跳入眼中，若不立刻设置让那些都消失不再出现，难免有时会感到好奇，而走错第一步。但是约伯禁止他的眼目，不随便去看别的女人，所以也不起淫念。

很多人心中起淫念，往往是因为看了一些色情有关的节目或杂志，以致想入非非。心里不干净，自然追求邪僻，以致害己害人。这里我们看到约伯也起了一个咒：“我若受迷惑，向妇人起淫念，在邻舍的门外蹲伏，就愿我的妻子给别人推磨，别人也与她同室”。约伯强调自己不与虚谎同行，也不追随诡诈。他的脚步若偏离正路，他的心若随着我的眼目，若有玷污沾在他手上，就愿他所种的有别人吃，他田所产的被拔出来。所以起咒也是一个世人为了证明自己而有的模式。因为约伯还是相信，至高的神依然在察看他所行的道路，数点他的脚步。

悲伤的绝境

2022-03-24 in , /by

〈约伯记〉30:16　现在我心极其悲伤，困苦的日子将我抓住。

阅读经文：〈约伯记〉30章

人生的境遇何等难料。我们每个人都可能有过和约伯一样的感叹，有的人觉得今不如昔，有的人想念往日的风光，有的人埋怨上帝不听祷告。神把约伯的例子放在我们眼前，让我们发现我们共同的敌人，那就是我们的感觉。我们的感觉让我们对上帝的信心摇摆不定，但是上帝始终坚定不移地看守着我们，看守着约伯，不让撒旦得寸进尺。当我们感觉最糟的时候，也就是撒旦技穷之时，牠就快失败了。

主耶稣说过：“那杀身体不能杀灵魂的，不要怕他们；唯有能把身体和灵魂都灭在地狱里的，正要怕他。（太10:28）”撒旦在约伯身上所施的技俩有哪几种呢？一是拿走约伯的儿女，二是取走约伯的财产，三是恶待约伯的身体，四是让环境来逼迫约伯。每一种技俩都是针对人的弱点，每一种技俩都会让人抓狂，要把人逼到绝境。张文亮老师讲了一个故事，他说：「如果你在一幢房子，却找不到走出去的路，怎么办？」我问学生。学生答：「我把大门撞开。」，「我会从窗户跳出去。」，「我将墙挖洞。」，「总该有个屋顶吧？」，「冷静地想一想，怎么进来，就能怎么出去。」，「打电话出去，请锁匠来协助。」我微笑的摇摇头，学生问道：「那么老师呢？」我说：「我祈求上帝，给我光。」

绝境的意思就是人找不到出路，没有解决的方法，无法可想了，那叫绝境。人一旦陷入绝境，又看不到上帝的援手时，就会发出像约伯一样痛苦而悲伤的言语。约伯讲到社会上一些最贫穷的愚妄人，竟然现在也敢来向他的脸吐唾沫，推他的脚，甚至想办法攻击他，欺负他，让他不甚悲伤，觉得自己的情况已经落到比那些人还不如的地位。

Study God’s Word and Know It Well

2022-03-24 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 7:17-29.  Let’s go!
 
Acts 7:17-29 (NIV)
17  “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased.
18  Then another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt.
19  He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.
20  “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for in his father’s house.
21  When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.
22  Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
23  “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites.
24  He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian.
25  Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.
26  The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’
27  “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?
28  Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’
29  When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.
 
On verses 17-29:  Continuing his dramatic recounting of Israel’s history, Stephen talks about the life of Moses before Moses’ burning bush experience, essentially summarizing Exodus 1-2.