周偉恩牧師
海德公園華人浸信會
二Ｏ二Ｏ年三月八日
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| 周偉恩牧師證道，許美恩姐妹英文翻譯 |
°…可以長大成人，達到基督豐盛長成的身量(弗4:13)。
°你們得了重生…就是借著神永活長存的道(彼前1:23)。
°像初生嬰孩愛慕那純淨的靈(話語的) 奶，好叫你們靠它長大，進入救恩(彼前2:2)。
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| 我們戴上基督得勝榮耀的冠冕，主耶穌必保守我們脫離“新冠病毒” |
讀經
°這樣看來，我所親愛的，你們素來是順服的，就應當恐懼戰兢地作成自己的救恩。
°神為了成全自己的美意，就在你們裡面動工，使你們可以立志和行事。
°無論作甚麼，都不要發怨言、起爭論，
°好使你們無可指摘、純真無邪，在這彎曲乖謬的世代中，作神沒有瑕疵的兒女；你們要在這世代中發光，好像天上的光體一樣，
°把生命的道顯揚出來，使我在基督的日子可以誇耀我沒有空跑，也沒有徒勞。
°即使把我澆奠在你們信心的祭物和供奉上，我也喜樂，並且和你們大家一同喜樂。
°照樣，你們也要喜樂，並且要和我一同喜樂。 腓2:12-18.
做成你得救的工夫
°這樣看來，我所親愛的，你們素來是順服的，就應當恐懼戰兢做成你們得救的工夫。腓2:12
因信稱義 (過去)
因信成聖 (現在)
因信得榮 (將來)
°神為了成全自己的美意，就在你們裡面動工，使你們可以立志和行事。腓2:13
食 讀
咀嚼 細讀
吞 刻在心版
消化 融匯貫通
能量 動力
行事 行事
好像光體照耀
°無論作甚麼，都不要發怨言，起爭論(腓2:14) 。
--這些見過我的榮耀，和我在埃及與曠野所行的神跡的人，仍然試探了我這十次，不聽從我的話(民14:22)。
°好使你們無可指摘(沒有攙雜的)、純真無邪(無害)，在這彎曲乖謬的世代中，作神沒有瑕疵的兒女；腓2:15a
°這世代向他行事敗壞，就不是他的兒女，滿有弊病，這實在是個乖僻彎曲的世代。申32:5
°總要披戴主耶穌基督，不要為肉體安排，去放縱私慾。羅13:14
°你們要在這世代中發光，好像天上的光體一樣(腓2:15b)，
°我耶和華憑著公義呼召了你；我必緊拉著你的手，我必保護你，立你作人民的約，作列國的光(賽 42:6)，
°我是世界的光，跟從我的……要得著生命的光(約8:12)
°你們是世上的光(太5:14)
°把生命的道顯揚出來，使我在基督的日子可以誇耀我沒有空跑，也沒有徒勞(腓2:16)。
°你的話是我腳前的燈，是我路上的光(詩119:10)。
喜樂犧牲的事奉
°即使把我澆奠在你們信心的祭物和供奉上，(腓2:17a)
°…將身體獻上，當作活祭，是聖潔的，是神所喜悅的。你們如此事奉乃是理所當然的。羅馬書12:1
°因為我活著就是基督，我死了就有益處(腓1:21)。
°我也喜樂，並且和你們大家一同喜樂。照樣，你們也要喜樂，並且要和我一同喜樂(腓2:17b-18)。
在黑暗裡的燦爛光體
°人的靈是耶和華的燈(箴20:27)
The Word of Life 生命之道 03/08/2020
(Philippians腓2:12-18)
Benjamin Franklinwas one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Franklin was a leading author and printer, politician, scientist, inventor, and diplomat. As a scientist, he made major contributions to his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. Among his many inventions, his major inventions are the lightning rod and bifocals. He was the first American ambassador to France. He was widely admired among the French and was a major figure in the development of positive Franco-American relations. But do you know that Benjamin Franklin only had two years of formal schooling? BJ is an excellent example to follow, but can I be like him? Of course not! There is only one Benjamin Franklin. But then Paul urges us to grow to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ(Eph 4:13). If I cannot be like Franklin, how could I ever hope to be like Jesus? Did Paul lie? Is the Bible believable? Absolutely! Paul is giving us our goal. It takes a process to achieve it. It began the day when we became a follower of Christ and will complete at His return. By then, we will reach a glorious state like Christ. For now, we are to be ever-growing like Christ. How then do we grow like Christ? Christ is the Logos, the Word(Jn 1:1; 14). Peter says our rebirth came forth through the Word. Logos is the Giver/Sustainerof life (1 Pet 1:23). The word logosmeans “something said.” Jesus was God’s utterance on earth. Peter says our growth depends on the milk of the word (1 Pet 2:2, KJV).Paul gives us the details on how the Word of life works in our lives in the verses that we are going to learn.
The 1stdirective that Paul gives us is to ‘work out your salvation.’ It seems odd that Paul says our salvation is by grace through faith alone and nothing else (Eph 2:8). There are salvations in the past, present, and future. The past salvation happened at the moment when we accepted Christ as our Savior. We were justified and saved from the penalty of sin. The present aspect of our salvation is being sanctified, i.e., being saved from the slavery of sin. We labor together with God. The future salvation is when we will be glorified and saved from the existence of sin. Paul, in here talks about the present salvation. The verb ‘work out’ in Paul’s day was also used for ‘working a mine,' i.e., getting out of the mine all the valuable ore possible, or 'working a field' to get the greatest harvest possible. Paul says to work out our salvation withfear and trembling. It sounds quite passive. Actually, the words mean the desire to please our Lord. But are we left alone to ‘work out our salvation?’ No! God’s Word, the Word of Life, is our food and weapon to fight. But to actualize it, we must go through a process like when we eat food: eat, chew, swallow, digest, energized, and grow. Similarly, you read, study, put the Word in our hearts, integrate, living out, and grow. Moreover,God is at work in us! We "work out" our salvation by keeping in step (cooperating) with (obeying) the Holy Spirit, who leads us in the will of God (2:13b).To work out our salvation is to discoverour God-given potential and realize it to the fullest extent. My daughter begged us to let her learn to play the piano at 5 yrs old. She is not a concert pianist, but she loves playing the piaon. When I worked in Belgium, we attended an international Baptist church. One Sunday at worship, she played the piano. Afterward, a lady told my wife our daughter was making music. That means she puts her soul and heart into the music. God has given all of us a melody of life. Play it well with all our heart, soul, and mind, and by the grace of God, we will be able to please Him by fulfilling His will (Php 2:13a).
Paul’s 2nddirective is for us to be seen as the lights in the world. Paul tells his readers, “Do all things without complaining and disputing” (Phil. 2:14). Complaining and disputing both relates toour tongue. James tells us that the tongue is the most uncontrollable member of the body(James 1:26). The 1stgeneration Israelites were infamous for these characteristics. From the time they left Egypt to Kadesh, in less than a year, they complained 10 times in unbelief (Num 14:22). InEgypt, God sent 10 plagues to build the faithof His people. Because of their unbelief and disobedience, the entire 1stgeneration never reached the Promised Land. Today as well, grumblersforfeit God’s blessings. Father comes home and complains about his work. The mother gripes about her work and also has to take care of the children. Children grumble about lack of this and that versus their peers. The cancer of a complaining spirit can ruin the joy of a family and infect the effectiveness of the whole church. No one is perfect, and life always has unpleasantness. Here, Paul is teaching us a joyful living. I love my old house in Houston. Its backyard is gorgeous, and it has a pool. On one side of the garage wall, I planted bougainvillea (簕杜鹃). In summer, the tree blossoms and the whole wall becomes red. As beautiful as the bougainvillea is, it has a lot of long sharp thorns. Every Spring, I had to trim the tree to generate more branches to get a full bloom in the summer. Even when I wore leather gloves, sometimes, I still got stung by the thorns. Some people look at the plant, they only see the thorns, whereas when I look at the plant, I see the beautiful blossom. I just ignored the stings and enjoyed myself looking at the bloom. Our life is like that. You can either moan and groan or appreciate what God has blessed you. If Christ is the Lord of your life, you don’t complain. Every day, you rejoice and thank God for all that He has done for you. Joyful living without murmuring and complaints enable us to become blameless and harmless in a crooked and perverse nation (2:15). The word ‘blameless’ literally means unadulterated (沒有攙雜的). In 2008, contaminated milk in China caused six babies to die, and 54K babies hospitalized. Paul is warning us our daily behavior should not be contaminatedby any acts that will offend God. ‘Harmless’ means will not hurt. Drug can cure you or harm you. Likewise, some churches only preach about Christian prosperity. Without preaching about our sins, Christ’s death and resurrection, our faith is vain. Paul again draws a contrast to the wilderness Israelites, who corrupted themselves and became a perverseand crooked generation (Deu 32:5). The KJV translates as “their spot is not the spot of His children.” The ‘spot’ is the mark. There is an ancient custom whereby one could identify another member by the tribal mark placed on the forehead. The corrupted Israelites lost their identity as God’s children. Paul tells us to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not take thought beforehand for the lusts of the flesh” (Rom 13:14). When we put on the Lord, we are identifying ourselves with Him, like wearing His badge. That badge needs to be worn 24/7 and 365/yr. Israel was called to be light of the nations (Isa 42:6). Their light was extinguished by their corruption. God then sent His only begotten Son into the dark world. He is the light of the world. Through Him, we receive the light of life (John 8:12) and become the light of the world (Matt 5:14). The light that we are to give to men is the light of the Word of God. The verb “holding fast” has the idea of two travelers in the dark, one with the light and one without. The light the one traveller who holds fast is the Word. God’s Word is the lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Ps 119:105). The moon is nearly 240K miles from Earth. It appears to be relatively insignificant. But at night our time, it reflects the radiance of the sun. By its gravitationalpull, it moves the oceans of the world. Just as the moon, we can reflect the radiance of our Lord and move the world by living out the Word of life. Hyde Park Baptist Church can shine brightly in Austin and the world.
In the 3rddirective, Paul first praises the Philippians for their faithful sacrificial service. In the OT, God-ordained non-sweet savor sacrifices and sweet-savor sacrifices. The former isblood sacrifices to offer for the remission of sin, whereasthe latter was for worship and praise for the forgiveness of sin. The drink offering is one of the sweet-savor sacrifices. In the NT era, Christ died once to redeem all our sins. Thus, there is no need for us to offer any blood sacrifice. The sweet-savor sacrifice is our sacrificial service to the Lord (Rom 12:1). The OT priestpoured out a chalice of wine to the altar fire. Wine pouring into the fire signifies sacrifice. Wine once poured on the fire causes it to flame up brilliantly. That flame is our good works. Wine signifies joy. Paul’s sacrificial service to his readers is like the drink offering to the Lord. He wants them to learn from him, serving sacrificially the Lord not only faithfully but also joyfully. He learned it from Christ (Php 1:21). How then are we able to serve joyfully and faithfully? Abraham’s faith journey teaches us the ‘how to.’ When God first revealed to Abraham, He told him to leave his country, his relatives, and his father’s house, 3 levels of circumstances progressively more difficult to part. God was calling Abraham to sever his past completely. The last time God revealed to him, He told him to offer his son, his only forgotten son, and his beloved son as a burnt offering, also a three-level of circumstances progressively more difficult to part. God was calling Abraham to rely on Him entirely for his future. Sacrificial serving is to completelydiscard your old self and put your futures entirely in the Lord’s hands. It is remarkable that in two short verses, 2:17-18, Paul used the words joy and rejoice four times, twice for himself and twice for the Philippians.
When Benjamin Franklin was living in Philadelphia, the street he lived in was pitch dark. He decided to hang a beautiful lantern in front of his house. Anyone walking on the dark street could see this light from the distance. What was the result? It wasn't long before Franklin's neighbors began placing lamps outside their homes. Soon the entire city realized the value of street lighting and followed his example with enthusiasm. The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah (Proverbs 20:27). When the Word of Life, Jesus Christ, who is the Light of the world kindled our spirit, we then can shed light. If we can live out God's Word, others will be attracted to the Light of the world. Has your spirit been lit by coming to Christ? Has the light of yours shone brighter and brighter even in the darkest night? You can do so when you work out your own salvation and offer yourself as the drink offering to become that shinning body.
