我们在乎的赏罚 (马太福音6章1-18)

陈彪

登山宝训对神国门徒的人生来说，可能是最重要的一段教训了。主耶稣的这段讲道位于登山宝训的中段，前有天国宪章——八福和重申律法，后有面对每日生活中属灵原则的运用。6.1-6.18的经文则给出宗教（教会）生活中的属灵原则。

基督徒该有怎样的教会生活原则？我们最在乎的是谁的看法？谁是我们最关键的听众？谁来决定我们的奖赏，谁有权利赦免我们的过犯？你认识和信靠的神是圣经启示的上帝吗？还是你想象中的神，或是功能性的神？换句话说，我们在与他人相处中的行事为人（施舍与饶恕），和内在教会属灵生活（祷告和禁食）时，你最在乎的是谁的看法和赏罚？

要点是，教会群体生活中的行事为人，往往取决于我们内在属灵的操练。而外在的教会生活，往往帮助我们体察出我们真实的内心世界。

1、    教会群体生活中的行事为人（施舍与饶恕）
雅各书说，“在神我们的父面前，那清洁没有玷污的虔诚，就是看顾在患难中的孤儿寡妇，并且保守自己不沾染世俗（Jas 1:27）。”；耶稣不断的教导我们要爱仇敌和饶恕。故此，真的宗教虔诚一定有施舍的善事。然而，我们在具体的实践中，因着自己的私欲往往被自己的名誉、他人的评价和自己的感受，跟随着堕落世界的行为方式来行事为人。我们往往选择了人的赞誉，或为自己赢得了好名声，或者叫攻击我们的人尝到了应得的滋味，但是，失去了从上面来的永恒和目前的奖赏。

什么是我们的良药？寻求天父的奖赏和心灵诚实的敬拜。我们千万不要忘记我们的天父不光是有能力管天上的事，连地上的他也具体的统领（6.19-34）。“你父在暗中察看，必然报答你”。不然，主祷文的下半部分就不会教导我们，为每日的需要、为有能力饶恕得罪我们的人、和为避免被试探落入罪恶之中，来祷告祈求。在选择仇恨和报复前，想一想饶恕的好处。愿上帝帮助我们看到终极的赏罚是在他那儿，从而带给你我真正的安慰和盼望。

在我们的教会（真宗教）生活中，Os Guinness 有一句名言，“只有一个听众和观众，那就是上帝自己”。这就是我要在下面分享的内在宗教情操，操练具有心灵诚实的敬拜。

2、    个人宗教生活中的焦点方式（祷告和禁食）这是为什么耶稣多次强调我们敬拜的中心和方式：唯有造天地的上帝，和救赎审判的上帝是真神，值得我们颂赞和向往；唯有按他启示之话语的规模来敬拜才会荣耀他，才能使我们得到真正的满足。
如果一个年轻的基督徒因为不知道如何祷告，而难以在众人面前开口，那么，常常参加公祷的弟兄姐妹就需要更加在意。我们的祷告是为让他人听到吗？虽然我们祷告的开始是以呼求上帝的名开始的，是不是说着说的就忘了是对他说的？你有过禁食的属灵操练吗？体会如何？这个方式带给你什么你未曾经历过的与基督联合？你有冲动让全教会都知道你在禁食吗？

在你祷告生活中，“我们在天上的父”这样的称呼，给你带来怎样的感受和经历？神的名、国度和旨意对你是个遥远、没有切身利益的理念？还是成为你再度调整你人生优先次序的准绳？你扣心自问时，你最大盼望的什么？是一个完美的世界吗？如果如此，愿上帝祝福你，将你变成他在地上实现他旨意的畅通管道，而不是阻塞的因素。

3、    内外生活的关联和一致性

在我们最终到“家”以前，没有一个基督徒能够在内外生活中始终都保持一致。但这决不该成为我们的借口，而应该像保罗那样，“向著标竿直跑，要得神在基督耶稣里从上面召我来得的奖赏（腓 3:14）”。我愿意与弟兄姐妹共勉，愿上帝在我们内外生活上都为主。愿我们在教会群体生活中的行事为人，更多的反映出我们内在属灵的操练。同时，让外在的教会生活，帮助我们体察出我们真实的内心世界，以至于我们更加依靠耶稣那恩惠的福音，将来与他一同座席，亲耳听到那永远的赏赐，而不是永远的懊悔。

出埃及18-19: 从预备西奈山之约，看上帝对教会的心意

陈彪

今天的三段经文不光丰富，它们之间的关系也十分有趣：在新约希伯来书13章，讲到在地的教会领袖（13.7）和已经升入天上会幕、永不改变的大祭祀耶稣（13.8-17）；在出埃及18-19章，摩西在他岳父叶忒罗的建议下设立有层次的“教会领袖”——“ 作千夫长、百夫长、五十夫长、十夫长，去管理人民”（18.17-23），为接下来摩西从上帝那里领受和实施上帝属天的律法铺路；而箴言8章则拟人化的宣讲智慧，从创造到维系，从公义到财富，都离不开智慧——“君王借我掌权，统治者借我制定法纪。领袖、贵族和所有公义的审判官，都借我治国。……财富和尊荣是我的，恒久的财产和公义也是我的…… 在耶和华创造的开始，在太初创造一切以先，就有了我 (8.15-8.30) 。”   治理的体系、治理的法规和治理中的智慧，这三样，无论古今，在国家、教会和家庭中都不可或缺。“深哉，神丰富的智慧和知识！他的判断何其难测！他的踪迹何其难寻！…… 因为万有都是本於他，倚靠他，归於他。愿荣耀归给他，直到永远。阿们！”

下面，我们较具体来看出埃及18-19章的原意和现今应用。18-19章是出埃及记中两大部分的过渡地带——从以色列人离开埃及（1-18章），进入西奈山立约（19-40章）。核心要点是，上帝透过救赎以色列人为他君尊的祭司——“我向埃及人所行的，你们都看见了；也看见了我怎样像鹰一样把你们背在翅膀上，带领你们到我这里来。现在你们若是实在听我的话，遵守我的约，你们就必在万民中作属我的产业，因为全地都是我的。你们要归我作君尊的祭司和圣洁的国民。”（出 19:4-6） 但是，这将会如何实现？暂且不论以色列人赎罪的必要性（神不断提醒，除了摩西，以色列人不可近他的圣山19.13-21），怎样在以色列人中传递和执行神圣洁的律法，以至于他们将来可以在万民中成为上帝的祭司？从这里的描述（18.24-26和19.9）中，我们发现有两点值得注意。1）设立有层次的领袖团队并授予他们权柄；2）同时，上帝给摩西绝对代表上帝的权柄。

我们会问这两点在现今的教会和家庭中该如何实施？对于第一点，我们可以几乎可以照单平移过来，因为主耶稣带领门徒和使徒们都是这样做的。今年，我们的主题是同心合一的建立神家。你会怎样带领你的家人？你会给你的孩子零花钱并交到他们负责任的消费？你怎样带领你的小组或门徒训练你的接班人？对我自己的应用就是不仅要带领百夫长，还要学习如何影响五十夫长、十夫长，使他们也能带领神的百姓（比如，前两天我给团契组长和教导同工友有关主题查经的建议和计划）。  你在设立有层次的领袖团队并授予他们权柄吗？

那么，第二点呢？一些教会会照搬。他们认为建立牧师和长老执事，有摩西般的权柄是教会成长的关键。还有一些会说，那是旧约的教导，新约是全民皆祭司。不该在人中间有任何的层次和等级。你的看法呢？按照圣经渐进启示和救赎历史的发展，我们首先要记住，这里的摩西是预表基督那绝对的君王和权柄的。这里的“我要在密云中降临到你那里”，跟主耶稣在登山变相时，父上帝“说，这是我的爱子，你们要听他的”是一脉相承的。千万不要搞错了，只有上帝有绝对的权柄，教会的领袖们没有。然而，上帝在地上依旧设立权柄，包括在他的教会里（罗13，弗4）。可是，他们是领受有限的权柄。注意到，圣经说设立领袖的目的之一，是“为要使人民在我与你说话的时候可以听见。”  ；我们都是神信息的传递者，我们是忠信的信史吗？还是会妥协和改变上帝原意的人？我们作为领袖使人们有效的听到了神的心意吗？还是选他们爱听的？我们会认为我们的权柄和地位更重要吗？敢于既要教导和带领年轻的弟兄姐妹们成长，同时还要给他们权柄和能力吗？你记得在民数记11章的故事吗？当第二年摩西带领以色列人离开西奈山，向应许地出发时，上帝召摩西和70位长老来，并将他的灵分给这些人。但是。当摩西的帮手约书亚的得知后，“说：「请我主摩西禁止他们。」 摩西对他说：「你为我的缘故嫉妒人吗？惟愿耶和华的百姓都受感说话！愿耶和华把他的灵降在他们身上！」（民11.28-29）。

今天摩西的心愿已经借着主耶稣的牺牲、得胜和升天、赐下圣灵给教会。上帝的灵在每一位重生悔改，信靠他的子民身上。每个人领受不同的恩赐和职分，但都来自一个圣灵。目的仍旧不变，叫教会的每一个人都长成耶稣基督的身量——那位大君王和大祭司的模样，好使我们在全地的万民中，作君尊的祭司和圣洁的国民，引导万民归向至高上主。愿我们都有一颗智慧的心，按着他给我们的结构和真理，成为美好的见证人！

Matt 14: Jesus takes great attention to what we need

Biao Chen

As many of you knew that Xuguang and I visited our daughter to experience along with her Christian college learning and life growth experience that I may share with you in other time. On Sunday morning, Xuguang & I went our daughter’s church, to worship at 8:30 service in order to allow me to preach at a local Chinese church at Chattanooga.  The church Jessica attends is called “New City Fellowship”, a PCA congregation at downtown Chattanooga, TN.  The well mixed congregation from white, black and Hispanic in the deeper south has already told any visitors the power of Gospel and profound manifestation of presence of Christ’s Kingdom.  God used the worship songs, baptismal sacraments and sermon teaching & touching me greatly.

No one would be exempted from current economic downtime.  Many needs in our congregation and Chinese community at great Orlando have been and will be surfaced. How should we prepare and response to various unexpected waves and storms in life of uncertainty? Should we simply be defined or confined by that? Absolutely not be, because we are the children of God and heirs of Eternal Kingdom.  Let me share what I heard the sermon from Pastor Randy Nabors based on Matthew 14, so that you too can be encouraged and rejoiced with all saints.

There are so much more we can talk about on Matthew 14, even you can tell that several sermons can preach from this chapter.  Pastor Nabors preached out the great message in titled “Take Heed to What You Need” 主关注你的需要 with 7 points.  In light of our current church lives, please allow me share four aspects from his sermon out of Matt 14 with my own perspectives.

1.      Even Jesus needs to have grief time.  From verse 1-12, we were told that John Baptist was headed by the king Herod.  As Jesus heard this tragedy from the disciples of John about the death of his cousin, “he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. (v. 13)”   This is a devastate moment for our Lord to face human misery in the greatest evil: death to his relatives. If our Lord, incarnate God, need a solitary for grief, how about us?  I still remember how Xuguang had coped with lost of her father who died in cancer, as well as similar situation from our brothers and sisters recently.  We all knew that Craig just lost his sister unexpectedly who later has been diagnosed in lung cancer in hospital.  She, Angela Croom, left in this world with two children, one of them is still in the college as freshman.  Craig’s family needs to have a grief more than Jesus needed then, for they are barely fragile humans as we are.  With certain hope and grace of Christ and love of Father (by the way Angela Croom is a believer in Christ), her family would be out of shadow land for sure and easier.  May we remember “a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance” (Ecc 3:4), and be wept with weepers by prayers and condolence.

2.      Jesus always first takes care the needs of His people. As crowd heard the tragic news, they followed Jesus to ashore.  Matthew said, “He [Jesus] saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick” (v. 14).   This is not the first place in the gospels to describe the compassion of Jesus toward suffering people.  Maybe some of people need comforts as they also lost the prophet of John Baptist, yet I believed that there are a lot more who have had various physical and spiritual sickness. Out of his infinite mercy and compassion, he heals many who trust him by faith.  In our church and community, many people have suffered various illness (some are terminal while others are chronicle), and many of our children and adults recently had been gone through the flue and sickness. Some of us may be overwhelmed by worries of economy and whether you can provide essential needs for your family, or may be bonded by the sins and bad habits.  Have you noticed in the very end of chapter (v. 36), all the people who touch the fringe of his garment, and Jesus were made them well.  Do we trust our great healer Jesus would have compassion on us and delivered us from the evils, either by ordinary means or supernatural miracles?     

3.      Bring people’s needs to Jesus through His followers. Feeding 5000 people are only miracle recorded in all four gospels.  In this familiar story, we know that it is Jesus ultimate providing the foods for hungry crowds, not by disciples.  Yet Jesus first response to his disciples who were reluctant to ministry the crowds is that “you give them something to eat. (v. 17)”  I remembered Pastor Nabors said something with great wisdom, “if it is your needs, you need to trust Lord’s provision. Yet if it is others needs brought to your slight, your primary response is not merely to encourage them to trust Lord, but to help them in what you have.”   Have you noticed the people’s needs where God have placed in your lives? What are your attitudes and actions toward needy? Last Wednesday’s prayer meeting, I was informed that Shaolei Fu plans back to China to live with his parent in Henan.  This is astonishing to me because he used to be so afraid to mention his parents, now by trusting Christ our little brother Shaolei has courage to face tomorrow’s reality. One of nurse here and a doctor, a friend of Yi Yuanyuan, voluntarily will be his companionship for the trip to China.  Now we are calling Chinese community in Orlando to make a loving donation toward Xiaolei recovery needs in China through US Chinese news paper.  Just on this Monday, we also heard Pastor Craig’s sister passed away by unnoticed lung cancer.  Have Lord brought our attention to the need of their freshman boy Sherrod Croom who has lost both parents while he is in his first year of college? Are we called to love one another in tangible way, just like disciples who gave out their limited 5 loaves and 2 fish?  You might ask yourselves that needs are huge, how can we meet that demands? You are right, we just can’t.  However, the hope or the turning point is in Jesus second commend, “bring them here to me (v. 18)”  Do you trust Jesus as living God, who have used tiny  5 loaves and 2 fish to feed 5000 multitudes, and he can do the same things again in the front of our sights?  Can we bring our lack of faith and love, and self-sufficient into the presence of God?  If you felt to be exhausted in work and service to others, where do your turn? In verse 23, we have observed that after his ministry to multitudes “he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.”  Please don’t just point others to Jesus, also bring your needs to Jesus, as you see that even Jesus need a time alone to commune with God.

4.      We need both courage and faith to live in this world as followers of Christ.  The last point, I want to you review is the interaction between the Peter and Jesus as they walked on the storming water.  What? Pastor, are you out of your mind to ask us to take risks in faith in this huge storming season of economic downtime? You are absolute right!  Our treasurer brought my attention to our decreasing Tithing and offerings recently.  I think it is something to do with bad economic and lack of faith on our sides.  Please don’t laugh Peter’s little faith, as least he have courage to walk on the water, do we?  Have you noticed why he sank in water? Not by storm, but by watch too much on the waves and getting afraid of them.  Faith without courage of action is the dead one, the courage without faith in Christ is blind to fail.

Yesterday, I heard news about Intel’s announcement to invest 7 billion dollars on to upgrade 4 factories to produce new type of smaller chips in the mids of much cloudy bailout bills and other bad news on economy. As NPR interviewed Intel CEO Paul Otellini why Intel doing so despite of last quarter’s 24% lost and seems worsen economy, Mr. Otellini responded in two reasons: First, this investment will lower the long time cost in of production, and second, we needs to have long term investment in U.S. manufacturing to get ready for next opportunity and to bring US economy out of the recession. Myself at least was amazed and encouraged by Intel’s move at this difficult time.  From this perspective, should we learn even from Intel’s investment which apparently has a long term view (with faith) on the market’s need and take a risk now in order to capture the future opportunities? We surely have definite sure future and eternal hope in Christ as God promises us in His Words and Acts.  Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, do “we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven”? (Hebrew 8.1, which is in our today’s scripture readings), does he know our deepest needs and fear? Of course, he does. But do you trust Him enough to believe that he will meet our needs in his infinite mercy as High Priest in heavenly realm even now?

Let us all encourage one another to lean on Christ, our anchor, our rock of salvation, and our hiding place, as Psa 18:2 prescribe for us, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”  Surely Jesus is taking great attention to what we need.

Luke 24 Jesus opens our hearts to understand the unified testimony to Him in Scripture

Biao Chen

Personally I love to have four gospels to depict the life and ministries of our Lord Jesus on earth in various lenses.  By reading the Scripture in this particular order (Gospel/NT, and OT plus Psalms), we in fact would be reminded 4 times per year about the birth, life, passion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, not merely one cycle according to Christian calendar. This is really cool for our soul and body as we are intended to be recreated in the image of God, Christ.

The story and teaching of “on the Road to Emmaus”  is one of my favorite passages for many years.  Do you know that this is the first of three resurrection appearances found in Luke and is one of the longest stories in the Gospel? Do you realize that this is one critical and insightful teaching to us about Christ-center reading/preaching from all Scritpures (Old and New Testaments), as Jesus said “everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” (verse 44, reference 27)?  No wonder one of the greatest warming Jesus gave to Jews in similar way:  “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,  yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” (Joh 5:39-40)

Our hearts often just like two disciples on the road to the Emmaus, slow of heart to believe the testimony of Scripture for Christ. Is that the case for you as you come to his Holy words sometimes? I admit that is my case sometimes.  How can we cultivate the quickness of heart to believe? One of effective way for us is to practice “drawer near to God, so He will draw near to us” by beginning our devotion or day with prayer and plea the His Spirit filling us again and leading us into the wonder of His grace and glory in His Words.  My prayer for you all today are,
you would say “to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while [Jesus] talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures? (verse 32)’ ”.  Just like two thousand years ago for what happen to that two disciples, who rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem to share resurrection news of Jesus Christ with the rest of eleven Apostles, may God open our heart and mind once again toward Heavenly Jerusalem, where Jesus enthrone now at right hand of the Father, and encourage our brothers and sisters in the same way in the family of God.