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复活的耶稣_葡萄树和枝子

约翰福音15章5节       我是葡萄树,你们是枝子。常在我里面的,我也常在他里面,这人就多结果子;因为离了我,你们就不能做什么。

亲爱的朋友,当我们即将进入行动管制令的另一个周末时,我们在家里与信徒保持联系,这里有一些伟大的名言和思想来激发我们的信心。

“没有素质的讲道,不会让人感到被冒犯;既不会让听道者对自己不满,他也不会去挑战传道者。”——乔治·怀特菲尔德(George Whitefield)

“如果你要与耶稣基督同行,你将会被敌对……在我们的时代,要做一个真正的基督徒,是需要遭受毁谤的。”——乔治·怀特菲尔德(George Whitefield)

“神给我生命的目的,就是要我渴慕荣耀祂,同时也渴慕经历在那荣耀中的喜乐,这两者是同一个渴慕。”——乔纳森·爱德华兹(Jonathan Edwards)

“立志一:我要为神而活。立志二:纵然没有人愿意这么做,我还是坚决如此行。”——乔纳森·爱德华兹(Jonathan Edwards)

“祷告是信心的自然的表现,就好像生命需要呼吸一样。”——乔纳森·爱德华兹(Jonathan Edwards)

复活的耶稣_提比哩亚海边的早餐

约翰福音21章16节   耶稣第二次又对他说:「约翰的儿子西门,你爱我吗?」

提比哩亚海最初名叫「革尼撒勒湖」,后称为「加利利海」,最后因为湖畔新建的「提比哩亚城」而改名为「提比哩亚海」。所以提比哩亚海就是加利利海。

这是一个非常美丽而温暖的故事。彼得和几个门徒一起打渔去了,耶稣在海边为他们准备烤鱼早餐。就好像大约三年前他们的初遇,彼得和同船的人一夜辛劳,却一无所获。耶稣叫他们:「把船开到水深之处,下网打鱼。」他们下了网,就圈住许多鱼,网险些裂开,鱼装满了两只船。这次他们辛劳整夜也是一无所获,耶稣说:「你们把网撒在船的右边,就必得着。」他们便撒下网去,竟拉不上来了,因为鱼甚多。跟耶稣同工一定很有趣,在我们无能为力,十分失望时,只要祂一出声,必水到渠成。

〈约翰福音〉21章几乎可以说是以彼得为主角,因为1.是彼得发起去打渔,2.一知道是主耶稣时,彼得就跳下海到主那里;3.在早餐之后,主单单问彼得是否爱祂,4.并把喂羊的责任交给彼得,5.预言彼得的受难。

有的解经家把耶稣这三次问彼得的「爱」做了一些解释。第一个希腊原文是‘agape’,是神爱世人那种超越的爱(divine love)。第二个是‘phileo’,是属于兄弟、手足情分的那种爱(brotherly love)。主三次问彼得‘你爱我吗?’前两次用的是‘agape’,第三次用的是‘phileo’。而彼得三次都是以‘phileo’来回答主。有的人说‘agape’的爱超越‘phileo’的爱,但也有人持相反的意见。这两个字在希腊文圣经里经常交替使用,因此我们不要在这两字上伤脑筋。

Let God’s Word Bring Us To Our Knees

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.  You believe you are a child of God based on John 3:16 and other Bible verses.  Yet you know for a fact that from time to time you still sin and you still don’t love others as you should all the time.  How are we to take these verses from 1 John 3:9-11?  

复活的耶稣_不信的多马

约翰福音20章29节  耶稣对他说:「你因看见了我才信,那没有看见就信的有福了!」

如果福音书只有前三本,我们就只知道多马的名字,无从追寻他的事蹟。感谢主!约翰替我们记下了许多宝贝而独特的史料,使我们得着教训。

多马是双生子的意思。有人说,他本名犹大,后来见十二门徒中有雅各的儿子犹大,又有卖主的加略人犹大,为了分别起见,就叫他的诨名:双生子。多马又叫低士马,多马是希伯来语,低士马是希腊语,都是双生子的意思,与利百加生下以扫雅各「双子」那个字是同一个字(创廿五)。想必他定是双生子之一,就是不知道另外那个双生子在哪里?后来又怎样?多马却因跟从主而留名于后世,受人纪念,可见服事主的人总不吃亏。

一、多疑的多马

提起多马,就想到不信,正如提起犹大,就想到卖主,提起底马就想到贪爱世界一样。圣经中提到多马三次发言,三次都显出他的疑惑不信。

第一次是在拉撒路死了的时候,主说:「拉撒路死了,我没有在那里就欢喜,这是为你们的缘故,好叫你们相信;如今我们可以往他那里去吧!」多马就对其他门徒说:「我们也去和他同死吧(约11:15-16)」。第二次是在最后的晚餐席上,主说:「我去为你们预备了地方,就必再来接你们到我那里去。」多马说:「主啊!我们不知道你往哪里去,怎么知道那条路呢(约14:5)?」第三次就是主复活后向门徒显现,多马竟不在场,后来门徒告诉他,他们已经看见主了。多马却说:「我非看见他手上的钉痕,用指头探入那钉痕,又用手探入他的肋旁,我总不信(约20:25)」。

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

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 John 3:1-8.  I used to think that 1 John was an easy book to read.  While there are still parts of 1 John that I find very clear and easy to understand, there are other parts of 1 John that come across to me as a little cryptic and that require us to meditate deeply in order to grasp the deep truths that John is communicating.  So let’s break down this passage verse by verse to uncover what John is talking about.

1 John 3:1a (NIV) 
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 too 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.

复活的耶稣_向门徒显现

路加福音24章36节  正说这话的时候,耶稣亲自站在他们当中,说:「愿你们平安!」

复活节向世人证明了一件事,圣诞节是真实的故事。虽然我们无法确定耶稣降生的日期,但我们可以肯定,耶稣曾经出生成为人,在这世界上以一个人的形像,过了33年半的时间。

在耶稣复活那天,门徒惊疑不定。他们聚在一起,不敢再出去。一来敌人知道耶稣的尸身不见了,己经开始放话是祂的门徒偷走了耶稣的尸体;二是他们还在半信半疑之中。有人看见复活的耶稣,有人没有看见,究竟是有还是没有?是眼花还是幻觉?

今天有则新闻,有位老人家患了新冠状肺炎,治愈后出院,街坊隣舍夹道歚迎,为他打气。他也保持距离地感谢他们。这些人是切实看到老人家了,所以他们的喜乐洋溢在外。

但是门徒大多数没看到复活的耶稣,怎么笑得出来呢?约翰记载:那日,就是七日的第一日晚上,门徒所在的地方,因怕犹太人,门都关了。耶稣来站在当中,对他们说:「愿你们平安!」 说了这话,就把手和肋旁指给他们看。门徒看见主,就喜乐了。(约20:19-20)

他们是真的喜乐了, 因为看到了复活的耶稣。没有人开门,耶稣却出现在他们中间,何等神奇。耶稣还有身体,甚至连祂的钉痕也还在,却不被时空限制了。

You Can’t Have God Without Jesus

Hi GAMErs,

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

1 John 2:26 (NIV) 
26  I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.

What is going on in these verses?  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).  With more reassuring words, John writes, “I do not write to you because you do not know the truth but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth” (v21).   He urges them to continue in the faith and not to feel insecure just because these false teachers were saying “You’re missing something!” (v27-28).   

复活的耶稣_在以马忤斯

路加福音24章34节    主果然复活,已经现给西门看了。

以马忤斯这个地方在圣经里只出现过一次,借着路加医生的介绍,我们知道它离耶路撒冷大约有25里路,但是没有告诉我们是哪个方向。虽然考古学家们提出了六个可能的地点,但目前尚无共识。路加生记载的这件事发生在耶稣复活那天的傍晚,有两个曾经跟随耶稣的人,正从耶路撒冷朝着以马忤斯而去。这两人虽然不列在十二使徒之中,但因为曾经是跟随耶稣的人,所以也被称为门徒。其中有一人名叫革流巴,另一人的姓名不详。

虽然有一些圣经学者认为〈马可福音〉第十六章的9-20节都是后人加上的,即使如此,这段话要突显的,就是连门徒也不相信耶稣复活的事实。这段记录让我们看到,即使紧紧跟随耶稣有三年之久的人,曾经与耶稣一起共同生活的人,都有信心不足的时候,何况我们?但是耶稣并没有谴责他们,反而专门为他们上了一堂浓缩的圣经课程,从摩西和众先知起,凡经上所指著自己的话,都给他们讲解明白了。他们的知识有了,但是信心依然在摇摆之中。这也是我们之间很多人的真实情况,信耶稣了,但是对耶稣所行的神蹟和复活还是有保留的相信,因此努力用各种解释把神蹟合理化。这样做,对自己的信心一点都没帮助。

这两个门徒的心中,只相信耶稣是先知。他们曾亲近耶稣,有很多关于耶稣的知识,看过祂行各样的大能,听过祂精辟的讲道,但不相信祂是神的儿子。他们有很多知识,但是没有信心。就好像犹大一样,和耶稣很亲近,还去过短宣哦!他也是耶稣差遣出去传道的人选之一,但是他却失落了,成了灭亡之子。

3 Stages in Your Spiritual Growth

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 Jesus or not. 

复活的耶稣

约翰福音20章17节   耶稣说:「不要摸我,因我还没有升上去见我的父。你往我弟兄那里去,告诉他们说我要升上去见我的父,也是你们的父,见我的神,也是你们的神。」

在〈约翰福音〉20章里,我们看到跟随耶稣的马利亚和其他妇女,以及门徒,都乱成一团。他们不知道究竟发生了何事?耶稣的尸身为什么不见了?耶稣的坟墓为何打开了?坟前的石头又是谁把它挪开的?那些守卫的罗马兵丁呢?无数的疑问拥入现场,他们迫切需要一个像福尔摩斯般的侦探。

抺大拉的马利亚看到坟墓是空的,立刻去告诉门徒,约翰和彼得立刻飞奔过去,看见耶稣的裹头巾和细麻布,他们想不通,又回去了。只留下马利亚在那里痛哭。她心里觉得不可思议,又探头往坟里看,这下子看到两个天使问她为什么哭?跟天使对话完,一回头又看到一个人问她为什么哭,她以为是管理园子的,便问他有没有把耶稣的尸身移走。