The Church of Jesus Christ Taiwan Restoration Mission
復原耶穌基督教會台灣佈道所
March 2nd, 2014 (Sunday 11:00am - 14:00pm)
Topic : Covenant & Blessing 主題 : 盟約與賜福
每次長老 Duff 開講時, 總見得他, 一臉笑嘻嘻的, 從不正襟危坐在鏡頭面前, 忽而轉身, 忽而手舞足蹈, 隔空比畫一番..., 跟他一起上課, 很是輕鬆自在. 也因此, 常離題扯遠了, 課上起來有些久...像今天, 怎麼還沒到下課時間呢? (斜眼偷瞄一看, 哇! 都快一點了. 有夠誇張哩)
也只能怪早上, 電腦連線出狀況, 經查電信局客服, 才知電話單還沒繳; 被斷話連帶網路也沒了, 緊急連絡教會帳管員 > Tom Cruise, Tom 說; 繳費截止是 3/5 啊! 沒理由現在就斷話, 還是催促他速至超商繳費, 繳完回報; 依然無解, 我們想:不會吧! 上個月也都忘了繳? 再打客服確認, 果真是一月的也還沒繳...只能勞駕請 Tom 週一再跑一趟門市繳費囉!
眼看11:30了, 還無法連線, Eileen 只好用她吃到飽的網路, 分享無線網路, 當 Wifi 基地台, 嘗試連線應急, 可想而知, 訊號來源強度不夠, 網路不穩, 時而 Lag, 時而有聲無影, 最後, 也只能在斷斷續續中, 勉強上課, 也才會上到快一點, 都還沒下課.
因為 Maggie 不明原因的腿部麻痺, 造成生活與工作上的極大不便, 長老 Duff 請大家一起為她祈福, 並用橄欖油膏點她, 祈求 主賜福與減輕她的痛楚, 並早日恢復健康. 長老 Duff 還特別說這不是醫療行為, 也沒有醫療效用, 純粹是增加她的心理建設與信心, 相信 上主的安排, 若有病痛還是得看醫生去.
"Never fear, only trust and obey." 正如我們詩歌誦唱中, 常見到的"勿憂勿懼, 堅定信心與服從誡命" ; 這也是我今天要跟大家分享的, 有關 "Covenant & Blessing 盟約與賜福" 的主題.
約書亞記 Joshua 4:8-24
8 以色列人就照約書亞所吩咐的、按著以色列人支派的數目、從約但河中取了十二塊石頭、都遵耶和華所吩咐約書亞的行了．他們把石頭帶過去、到他們所住宿的地方、就放在那裡。
So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down.
9 約書亞另把十二塊石頭立在約但河中、在抬約櫃的祭司腳站立的地方．直到今日、那石頭還在那裡。
Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.
10 抬約櫃的祭司站在約但河中、等到耶和華曉諭約書亞吩咐百姓的事辦完了、是照摩西所吩咐約書亞的一切話．於是百姓急速過去了。
Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over,
11 眾百姓盡都過了河、耶和華的約櫃和祭司就在百姓面前過去。
and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the LORD and the priests came to the other side while the people watched.
12 流便人、迦得人、瑪拿西半支派的人、都照摩西所吩咐他們的、帶著兵器在以色列人前頭過去。
The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, armed, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them.
13 約有四萬人、都準備打仗、在耶和華面前過去、到耶利哥的平原、等候上陣。
About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho for war.
14 當那日耶和華使約書亞在以色列眾人眼前尊大．在他平生的日子、百姓敬畏他、像從前敬畏摩西一樣。
That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.
15 耶和華曉諭約書亞說、
Then the LORD said to Joshua,
16 你吩咐抬法櫃的祭司、從約但河裡上來。
"Command the priests carrying the ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan."
17 約書亞就吩咐祭司說、你們從約但河裡上來。
So Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan."
18 抬耶和華約櫃的祭司從約但河裡上來、腳掌剛落旱地、約但河的水就流到原處、仍舊漲過兩岸。
And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.
19 正月初十日、百姓從約但河裡上來、就在吉甲、在耶利哥的東邊安營。
On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.
20 他們從約但河中取來的那十二塊石頭、約書亞就立在吉甲．
And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan.
21 對以色列人說、日後你們的子孫問他們的父親說、這些石頭是甚麼意思．
He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their fathers,
'What do these stones mean?'
22 你們就告訴他們說、以色列人曾走乾地過這約但河．
tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.'
23 因為耶和華你們的 神、在你們前面、使約但河的水乾了、等著你們過來、就如耶和華你們的 神、從前在我們前面、使紅海乾了、等著我們過來一樣．
For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over.
24 要使地上萬民都知道耶和華的手、大有能力．也要使你們永遠敬畏耶和華你們的 神。
He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God."
當年摩西奉 神諭, 帶領在埃及為奴四百年之久的以色列子民, 跨紅海的出埃及記, 想必大家都耳熟能詳, 爾後, 又有約書亞帶領十二族族人, 走過約旦河到達彼岸. 這在在證明, 大能的 神, 不只存在於過往, 也一直都在我們身邊, 守護著我們, 使神蹟不時重現, 只為了挽救信靠他的人民, 必不致淪落滅亡.
使徒行傳 Acts 7:1-8
1 大祭司就說、這些事果然有麼。
Then the high priest asked him, "Are these charges true?"
2 司提反說、諸位父兄請聽．當日我們的祖宗亞伯拉罕在米所波大米還未住哈蘭的時候、榮耀的 神向他顯現、
To this he replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran.
3 對他說、『你要離開本地和親族、往我所要指示你的地方去。』
'Leave your country and your people,' God said, 'and go to the land I will show you.'
4 他就離開迦勒底人之地住在哈蘭．他父親死了以後、 神使他從那裡搬到你們現在所住之地．
"So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his
father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.
5 在這地方 神並沒有給他產業、連立足之地也沒有給他．但應許要將這地賜給他和他的後裔為業．那時他還沒有兒子。
He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child.
6 神說、他的後裔、必寄居外邦、那裡的人、要叫他們作奴僕、苦待他們四百年。
God spoke to him in this way: 'Your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
7 神又說、使他們作奴僕的那國、我要懲罰、以後他們要出來、在這地方事奉我。
But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,' God said, 'and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.'
8 神又賜他割禮的約．於是亞伯拉罕生了以撒、第八日姶他行了割禮．以撒生雅各、雅各生十二位先祖。
Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
神, 給予我們自由選擇的機會, 用心來跟隨他, 絕不會逼迫我們, 來遵守他的誡律, 雖然守誡限制重重, 看似失卻很多自由, 但是, 因此而得的平安.喜悅和快樂, 卻是難以衡量. 據報導, 電視台曾訪問20位樂透得主, 問他們中獎後是否比較快樂? 竟有九成的人, 認為比以前不快樂, 這答案真是出乎人意料之外; 可見得擁有財富, 並不是快樂的來源.
全家在台期間, 常看到祭祀用的是三牲禮, (但是為何要用三牲禮? 恐怕沒幾個人說得出原由) 恆信是傳自遠古時代 - 自人類始祖亞當為首的族裔, 祈神敬天, 相信如此就能博得 神的青睞, 赦免他們的罪, 以期使能早日返回天家; 輾轉相傳, 年代久遠, 只知為拜而拜, 殊不知, 此殺牲惡習, 已經在耶穌基督, 為人類贖罪, 釘死在十字架上之後, 已然終止這樣的牲禮; 取而代之的是, 奉 耶和華為唯一真神, 分享 神愛世人的情, 並以愛己之心愛人, 如此就已能有機會重返天家 - ZION 的錫安世界了.
諾亞 Noah, 因深信 神的啟示建方舟, 得以在地球全面性毀滅的大洪荒中, 全家八口安然無恙, (國外有漢學專家研究這個 "船" 字, 可能是那之後創建的, 因為它拆解恰恰好, 不正是 "舟+八口"? ) 之後, 諾亞 Noah 在世傳道 120 年, 神也應允以天上彩虹與人約定, 自此不再以大洪荒毀滅全人類.
一生謹守誡律, 為人公義的亞伯拉罕 Abraham (中東各國猶太人的共同祖先)年近百歲, 其妻 Sarah 也已 90 多歲, 神賜福給他們, 讓他們老來得子 - 以撒 Issac, 並允諾其後代12族的子孫中, 並有為王的賢君(大衛王). 這在醫學發達的現今, 都沒有醫生敢打包票, 讓你老來懷孕, 更何況是讓年已90多歲的老婦人生子, 如果這不是 神的恩典, 人如何完成?
耶利米書 Jeremiah 31:31-34
31 耶和華說、日子將到、我要與以色列家和猶大家、另立新約。
"The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
32 不像我拉著他們祖宗的手、領他們出埃及地的時候、與他們所立的約．我雖作他們的丈夫、他們卻背了我的約．這是耶和華說的。
It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.
33 耶和華說、那些日子以後、我與以色列家所立的約、乃是這樣．我要將我的律法放在他們裡面、寫在他們心上．我要作他們的 神、他們要作我的子民。
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34 他們各人不再教導自己的鄰舍、和自己的弟兄、說、你該認識耶和華．因為他們從最小的、到至大的、都必認識我．我要赦免他們的罪孽、不再記念他們的罪惡．這是耶和華說的。
No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the
LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,"
declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
西元前八百多年, 耶和華就與耶利米有盟約, 而在耶穌基督時代, 除了樹立了洗禮的典範, 更是在最後晚餐中, 建立以麵包和紅酒來紀念他的約定, 直至今日盟約依舊存在.
希伯來書 Hebrews 9:15
為此他作了新約的中保．既然受死贖了人在前約之時所犯的罪過、便叫蒙召之人得著所應許永遠的產業。
For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are alled
may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
講到公義, 記得有一次去淡水玩, 上車對著投幣孔, 投下全家的車資, 不料司機竟稱除了我, 其他人還沒有投幣, 不准我們搭車; 爭辯無效, 僵持不下, 車上有位婦人挺身而出, 證稱我有投下足額車資, 要司機莫為難我們. 我想, 這就是公義! 當哪一天, 我站在 神的面前時, 耶穌基督, 就是我與 神之間的協調者, 他知道我的為人生平, 定會挺身而出為我辯證. 因為我奉行誡律與行公義的事, 一直以來都是他最忠實的僕人.
神以泥土, 依他的型, 塑捏成你我, 我想到我那正在當兵的兒子 Joel, 希望將來有個她, 能個補足他形體與個性上的不足, 好像我與 Kendra, Eric 和 Eileen 等人一樣, 在人生的道上合力寫成一個圓.
(Those Who Came : Paul Lin, Belinda Kao, Eric Ho, Eileen Chen)(Tom Lin, Ruby Chen)
(Skype to : <Daughertys> Duff, Kendra, Amanda, Haley; <Lades> Nancy, Sarah, David, Anna, Joseph; <Moellmanns> Dennis, Metthew, Jai-yu, Joshua; Maggie, Sashay, Uncel)
3/8 Jai-Yu 生日快樂 
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