This Is It
This Is It
- Greg Waybright
- Acts 13:26-39
- Examining Our Ways
- 36 mins 1 sec
- Views: 1834
Pastor's Letter
This Is It - Week 7
Easter season is a time when both church-goer and non-church person should go to church. Jesus-followers should be there to remember the heart of their faith. Those who never go to church should go at Easter to find out what the Christian faith is all about. The reason is that nothing is more central to the Bible than Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Easter season is a time when both church-goer and non-church person should go to church. Jesus-followers should be there to remember the heart of their faith. Those who never go to church should go at Easter to find out what the Christian faith is all about. The reason is that nothing is more central to the Bible than Jesus’ death and resurrection. The entire message of the Bible pivots on one weekend in Jerusalem about two thousand years ago. Attempts to make sense of the Bible that do not give prolonged thought to understanding the message of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are doomed to failure. As Tim Keller wrote, “If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.”
There would be no Christian church apart from the fact that people deeply believed that Jesus rose from the dead. We’ll see today that this was the message his followers proclaimed wherever they went. Ironically, Jesus’ own disciples did not expect him to be crucified; they certainly did not expect him to rise again. Yet after these events, their thinking and attitudes were completely transformed. They could not deny what they had experienced. One day, Jesus died on a cross. Then, they saw him risen and alive. This was so undeniable to them that absolutely everything in their lives changed. This reality led Chuck Colson to say, “I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead. Then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world—and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.”
So, we’ll take time to hear again this Easter 2014 about what happened that first Easter season:
- * The man who was mocked one day as a bogus king—is King over all kings.
- * The man who was considered utterly powerless—is more powerful than death.
- * The man who cried out in despair on a cross—is the eternal Son of God.
- * The man who was scorned as unable to save himself—saves all who believe in him.
To His Glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor
Study Notes
This is It - Week 7 - Study Notes
English
This Is It!
Acts 13:26-41
This is it. This is what it's all about. If what we celebrate today did not happen, then there is no reason to be in church today. In fact, there is no reason to have this or any other church at all! On Easter Sunday, we remember that Jesus Christ, God's Son, came into the world, lived the life we should all have lived but haven't, died on a cross on Good Friday in our place, and then defeated sin and death by his resurrection from the dead. If that really happened, then we have hope to offer our mercy-needing, sickness-ravaged and death-plundered world. If it didn't happen, we don't. As Tim Keller wrote in his The Reason for God, "If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn't rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead."
So, this is a good day to be in church. For those of us who are Christians, we talk about many things in church because our faith applies to every part of our lives. But, today, we go to church and remember the foundation of everything we believe and everything we do, i.e., that Jesus rose from the dead. And, for the many here today who may not go to church so often, this is the day you should go to church because today we talk about what this faith is all about. As the Apostle Paul said, "If Christ has not been raised from the dead, our faith is futile... But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead... (1 Cor. 15:17,20).
I am particularly excited about speaking this Easter because my Dad is present. My Dad has been a Christian for many years – many years! But, let me tell you something about my Dad. My Dad still has his sense of wonder at the good news that God loves us so much that he sent his son Jesus, who loves so much that he died for us. He still is thrilled by his conviction this loving God is also powerful enough to overcome sin and even death by his resurrection. When that message is proclaimed, my Dad has always beamed with joy. So, I'm going to proclaim it and join him in the joy of its truth.
This Easter, 2014, I want to go back to the beginning, i.e., to the very first sermon we have that the Apostle Paul preached. I'm convinced his words can guide us today. He was speaking to a group of people who were not Christians about what is at the heart Christian faith. What did he say?
#1: There is a God – and he at work in the world (13:13-22).
Most human beings have always believed that there is some sort of reality other than just the physical, empirical world. Some have believed in everything being somehow divine, i.e., pantheism. Some have believed in a plurality of gods, polytheism. Some in a deity that is distant from the world, deism. Today, I'm quite sure that most of us gathered here believe that there is some sort of spiritual reality greater than our material universe. There are and always have been atheists – but never very many. The Bible declares to you that there is a personal God. In fact, the entire Bible opens with God basically proclaiming, "I am here, I have made everything, and I am ready to enter into your life."
When you walk into a church and ask what people believe about God, you should find us saying things like Paul said in the first part of this first sermon. What I want you to notice this Easter is how Paul declared that God is present and involved in human history. Let's look at just some of what he said:
• In v 17, God chose Israel from all the people of the earth for a special purpose. God made the people great during their stay in Egypt and then God led them out of Egypt with an uplifted arm.
• In v. 21, God gave to Israel her first king, Saul. And then, God removed Saul.
• In v. 22, God raised up David the son of Jesse. God chose him to be king—a young shepherd who was good with a sling shot and liked to write songs. God took Saul down and put David up.
• In v. 23, God sent a Savior, Jesus—and it's not as though God was an impersonal force behind the flow of history. No, God did it "as he promised." He had planned long before, and spoken of it long before. God did it all, according to Paul, so that when it happened, we would know God was doing it.
I could go on and on about this but I think you get the point – God is real. God is present. God can be known. And, God is at work in history. When you believe that, you can see why Christians believe in prayer and why genuine Christians do not give up when difficulties come. We believe God is doing something greater than we could have imagined and we learn to speak with him and to trust him.
Paul was saying what I believe from the depths of my own heart and my own experience: There is a great and glorious God. You can know him. You can count on him in this world. Christians believe there is a purpose for what happens in this world because we believe God is active in history. In fact, the Bible's message is that, when God is done with his work, everything in the universe will be made right. Evil will be judged. Broken relationships will be reconciled. Sickness will be vanquished. Death will be no more.
If you will understand the Christian faith, you must begin with this wonderful thing about God. There is a God. He made the world. He is at work in his world. I tell you this today: This same God is here and ready to enter into your life.
#2: The Center of God's plan is Jesus – who he is and what he did
In Paul's sermon, his point is that all that God is doing in history points to one great event, i.e., Jesus' coming into history. In his first sermon, Paul said in 13:24-25, that as great as prophets like John the Baptist were, they were not the center of God's plan. Jesus is.
One of the main points to be grasped about this is that all Christians have always believed that the death and resurrection of Jesus really happened. Other religions center on having their adherents do certain religious practices or learn certain religious insights but the Christian faith centers on the Jesus of history and what he did. This is one reason I was so moved by the testimony Dr. Gita Govahi gave this morning. She wrote me, "I am now very sure that everything that has happened in my life has worked to bring me to this moment in time right here as I stand before you." So, Gita was aware of God's guiding presence in the world. Gita went on today to say this: "I was in my twenties when I started feeling that Jesus is very close to God -- perhaps closer than anyone else. It was the person and the ways of Jesus that drew her to this day.
With that in mind, read Paul's sermon from 13:32-36 and you'll see he cited many different Scriptures. His point was that all of the Scriptures are connected in this way: They all point to Jesus. In other words, what Paul was preaching was that Jesus really lived, died on a cross, and rose from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus was God's plan. It's a fact of history. Paul said, "Jesus appeared to many people over many days (13:31)." In fact, Jesus made resurrection appearances to over 500 people in Jerusalem.
This record shows that the crucified Jesus was meeting people in Jerusalem so often that, when Paul was taken to court before Governor Festus, Paul simply told him in Acts 26, "Governor Festus, ask King Agrippa. He knows Jerusalem. The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner."
In other words, this claim that a man who was truly dead has risen from the dead was witnessed all over the country. "We know Jesus died – really died. But, he has risen." Remember this: All this had happened just about 15 years before these events were recorded in Acts. The witnesses were still alive when Acts was written. Paul was saying in court, "The king knows this is true. The evidence is indisputable."
Lee Strobel was Yale-educated journalist with the Chicago Tribune who decided to do research on the claims of Jesus after his wife was converted to Jesus. Being an avowed atheist, Strobel fully anticipated that he would find the claims to be bogus. To the contrary, as he read about Jesus, Strobel, like Gita, found him to be the kind of person who was the way he had always envisioned God (if there is a God) would be. And, he found the evidence of Jesus' claims strong. He wrote about these witnesses in Jerusalem: I went to a psychologist friend and said, "If 500 people claimed to see Jesus after he died, could it have been a hallucination." He said a hallucination is an individual event. If 500 people have the same hallucination, that's as big a miracle as the resurrection.
I want to say today that if you want to understand the Christian faith, you must look at Jesus. See what he taught and you will find wisdom. Look at how he lived and you will find life as life was meant to be lived. And today, you must also look at what he did. He rose from the dead. It happened.
#3: The Promise of Easter Faith -- Fulfillment
When you believe in the resurrected Jesus, you begin to find fulfillment for the deepest longings that every thoughtful human being has. Let me mention three:
First – There is injustice all around me (the longing for the world to be made right).
A lot of things have happened over the past years that appear to be senseless and unjust. Genocide in places like Cambodia, Rwanda and Armenia. More recently, 44 school shootings in 24 states since the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. In our own church, Matthew and Grace Huang still unjustly imprisoned in Qatar. Do you ever have times when you see things in this world and say, "That's not right? That evil should be punished... That person got away with murder..." There are authorities in this world that sometimes work hard to bring justice: Parents in homes. Judges in the courtroom. Teachers and principals in schools. Still, we know human authorities often fail at bringing justice. And, if this world is all that is, then it is truly an unjust world. But, God says at Easter, "There is life beyond this world." And, God promises, "Evil will be punished. Goodness will be rewarded. I am a just God and I will make all things right." Jesus' resurrection is the evidence that God is greater than all the evils in this world. He promises that eternity will show that justice prevails.
Second – There is imperfection inside me (the longing for my life to be made right).
On a very personal side, most people have things about our lives that we would like to be free from. These are the things we often hide from those around us. We know we should change but we cannot. We know we need forgiveness. Jesus' death on the cross is for you. When he says he can and will forgive you, he can and will. When he says he will set you free from your past, he will. When he says he will change your life, he will.
Beyond that, I find most people trying to find fulfillment through something in this world. Through personal acheievement or success or accumulation of things... But, again and again, once a person has obtained what he thought would bring fulfillment, he discovers it isn't all it's cracked up to be. Cynthia Heimel wrote an editorial about three celebrities who thought they would find fulfillment through success – then succeeded – only to discover that what they thought would change everything left them empty.
I pity [celebrities]. The minute a person becomes a celebrity is the same minute he/she becomes a monster. (Three well-known celebrities) were once perfectly pleasant human beings with whom you might lunch on a slow Tuesday afternoon. The night each of them became famous they wanted to shriek with relief. Finally! Now they were adored! The morning after the night each of them became famous, they wanted to take an overdose of barbiturates.
All their fantasies had been realized, yet the reality was still the same. If they were miserable before, they were twice as miserable now, because that giant thing they were striving for, that fame thing that was going to make everything okay, that was going to make their lives bearable, that was going to provide them with personal fulfillment and (ha ha) happiness, had happened. And nothing changed. They were still them. The disillusionment turned them howling and insufferable. (from The Village Voice).
What you have been made for is a life with God. Jesus died and rose again to offer that life to you. CS Lewis had asked himself, even as an atheist, "What is it that I am longing for? If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." JRR Tolkien knew Lewis' longing was for what only Jesus could give. Lewis found his longing fulfilled through Jesus. So can you.
Third: There is death in my world (the longing to live).
I know that some people do not think much about the impact of death. But, you should. Once you have lost a daughter – your only brother – friends close to you – you will know how ugly death is. Many of us who are here today have experienced the awful nature of death. And Jesus alone is the one who takes its sting away. He's the only one who can give us the assurance that death is not the end of things.
Let me tell you what happened to me one year. I met with a man, Andrew Furayama, who had been a major church leader in Japan. When I went to him, he was in his hospital bed in Tokyo, suffering from pancreatic cancer. A few days later, he would die. But, on that evening, this physically dying man was very much alive. He, in fact, was encouraging me: "Brother Greg, I want to assure you of the truthfulness of the gospel message that we both have learned. I now tell you that it is real and practical. Death is not the end of things. I am not afraid to die, because Jesus said, 'I am the resurrection and life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.'"
Just before that visit with Pastor Furayama, I had seen a documentary film while studying in Cambridge, England, a BBC production called "Sea of Faith." In this documentary, theologian Don Cupitt told of the time when he, as a young priest, was assigned to visit a dying man at a hospital. Though a theologian and priest, Cupitt was agnostic. Cupitt said that, as he went to the hospital room, the parishioner was obviously in his last hours. As a priest, Cupitt took his religious book and read the appropriate words and prayed the prescribed prayers. But, before Cupitt left, the man died.
As he was going home, Cupitt reported, "I didn't suppose that my words had magically altered the eternal destiny of the man, and yet I felt that it had been worthwhile turning out. And I hoped that, when my time came, someone would do the same for me. I learned that day that religion is the affirmation of human dignity in the face of an indifferent universe."
Though eloquent, Cupitt's words left me empty. Is an affirmation of human dignity all that we people have to offer to a dying world? More personally, which of these two pastors would I want to visit me at my deathbed—Furayama or Cupitt? For me, the decision is not a difficult one. I want the one who points me to the Lord Jesus Christ who is the resurrection and the life.
We know God is greater than any sin in this world because Jesus was able to bear its penalty and overcome it. We know God is greater than any problem we face in this world – even death – because Jesus experienced it and overcame it. In history, Jesus died and rose again! That's what Paul preached about in his sermon. It's what I proclaim to you today. Your family can be different. Your marriage can be different. Your future can be different. You can be different!!
What you are called upon to do is – believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. "...God raised Jesus from the dead... Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin... (Acts 13:37-39).
To His glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor
title="Chinese
基督復活了。這是今天我們教會和一切以福音為中心的教會存在以來紀念復活節的理由。在復活節主日,我們紀念耶穌基督,神的兒子,來到這個世界,活出了我們本該活的生活,在受難日死在十字架上,代替我們的位置,然後通過死裡復活戰勝了罪和死。假如這真的發生了,我們就能夠給予這個不完美和垂死的世界有盼望。如果這沒有發生,我們就沒有理由呆在這裡了。就如Tim Keller在《為何是祂》中所寫的:“如果耶穌從死裡復活了,你就該接受祂所有的話;如果祂沒有從死裡復活,我們對祂的話有什麼可在乎的呢?”問題的根本不在於你是否喜歡祂的教導,而在於祂是否從死裡復活。” 所以,今天是教會的好日子。對於我們這些基督徒,我們談論很多事情,是因為我們的信仰影響我們的生活的方方面面。然而,今天,我們去教會紀念我們所信、所做的根基,就是耶穌從死裡復活。對於那些平時不常來而今天來教會的人,今天你們確實應該來,因為今天我們讲的是信仰的根源所在。就如使徒保羅所說:“如果基督沒有從死裡復活,我們所信的便是徒然……但基督已經從死裡復活……”(哥林多前書15:17;20) 今天的復活節讲道我格外地興奮,因為我的父親在這裡。我的父親做基督徒很多年了——真的很多年了!但是,我來告訴你一些有關我父親的事。我父親對神如此愛我們、以致差遣祂的兒子耶穌為我們而死這個好消息一直感到驚奇。他堅信這位充滿愛的神有能力通過復活來勝過罪和死亡,他也常常因此而激動不已。當聽到這個信息,我父親總是眉開眼笑。所以,我將要傳講這個信息,和他一同喜樂。 在今年的復活節,我想回到開始,就是使徒保羅所傳講的第一篇信息。我肯定今天他的話能帶領我們。祂在向一群非基督徒人講論基督徒的信仰。他都說了些什麼?
#1: 有一位神 – 祂在這個世界上做工 (13:13-22).
人類一直相信在這肉眼可見的物質世界之上有某種存在。有些人相信萬物中都有神,這就是泛神論。有些人認為有很多神,這就是多神論。有些人也相信有一位神,但認為這位神離我們很遙遠,這是自然神論。今天,我確信這裡的多數人相信在我們的物質宇宙之上有某種屬靈的存在。當然還有無神論者——但不很多。聖經告訴你,只有一位神。實際上,整本聖經的開頭神就宣稱,我存在,我創造萬物,我準備進入你的生活中。 當你來到教會,問人們有關神的事情,你會發現我們會說一些與保羅在他的第一篇講章的第一部分相似的話。我希望在這個復活節你注意到保羅是如何宣稱神在歷史中的同在和參與。讓我們來看看他講的 一些話:
第7節,神从全地众名族中拣选以色列名族为了一个特别的目的。神使人在埃及的时候人数增加,神用高举的手带领他们出埃及。
第20節,神給以色列人第一位王掃羅,以後神將他從位上挪去。
第22節,神興起耶西的兒子大衛。神揀選他做王-一個年輕的牧羊人,唯一的好處是會用彈弓,還喜歡寫詩歌。神降低掃羅,抬舉大為。
第23節,神差派救主耶穌-神不是一個在歷史長河中好像一個沒有位格的力量,不是的,神的作為照著"祂的應許"實現。神早就計劃,早就有話出。神都行了,按保羅的話說,當這一切發生的時候,我們知道神是那位的行事的神。
我可以繼續說,但我想你已經明白我在說什麼-神是真實的。神在我們中間。神是可以認識的。而且神在歷史中做工。如果你相信這點,就能明白基督徒為什麼相信禱告,為什麼真誠的基督徒在困難的時候不放棄。我們相信神做更大的事,超過我們的想像,我們學習怎样和祂說話,學習信靠祂。 保羅說我從心靈深處和經歷中相信:有一位偉大榮耀神的存在。你可以認識祂。在這世界上你可以依靠祂。基督徒相信在世界上發生的事是有目的的,因為我們相信神在歷史中行事。實際上,聖經的信息是,當神完成祂的工作,宇宙萬物都將重新步入正軌。罪惡要受審判。破碎的關係得以和好。疾病消失,不再有死亡。 如果你明白基督教的信仰,你必須從這位奇妙的神開頭。有一位神。祂創造世界。祂在這個世界工作。我今天告訴你:這位不變的神就在這裡,要進入你的生命。
#2 神計劃的中心是耶穌-祂是誰和祂的作為
在保羅的講道中,他指出神在歷史中所做的一切都指向一個偉大的事件,就是耶穌進入歷史。在他第一篇的講道中,保羅在13:24-25節中,偉大的先知有如施洗約翰,都不是神計劃的中心,乃是耶穌。 一個需要把握的要點,所有的基督徒都相信耶穌的死而復活是真實發生的事件。其他的宗教核心都是要信奉的人行宗教禮儀或學習某種宗教灼见。但是基督徒的信心圍繞著歷史中的耶穌和祂的作為。這是我之所以我為今天早上Gita Govohi 博士的見證如此感動的原因。她這樣寫道:"我現在篤定在我生命中發生的所有事情,彼此效力,帶領我到如今這個時候站在你們的面前。" Gita 意識到在這個世界中神同在的帶領。Gita 接著在今天說:" 我二十多歲的時候開始感受到耶穌与神非常的親近-也許比任何的人都近。是耶穌這個人和祂的作為吸引她直到今天。” 念保羅13:32-36節的講道,你會看到他引用許多不同的聖經經文。他指出所有的經文都是這樣連接的:他們都指向耶穌。用另一句話說,保羅宣講的是耶穌真實地生活過,死在十字架上,並從死裡復活。耶穌的復活是神的計劃。是歷史的事實。保羅說,"耶穌向多人顯現多日(13:31)。實際上,耶穌復活後 耶路撒冷的500 多人看見耶穌的顯現。 這個紀錄說明被釘十架的耶穌在耶路撒冷如此頻繁在众人中間,保羅被提到非斯都總督的面前時,保羅就只是告訴他," 非斯都總督,你問亞基帕王,他知道耶路撒冷。王也曉得這些事,所以我向王放膽直言,我深信這些事沒有一件向王隱藏的,因都不是在背地裡做的。" 用另一句話說,宣稱一個真正死掉的人從死裡復活,國中上下見證這一事件。"我們知道耶穌死了,真的死了,但是他復活了。"記著:使徒行傳記載的,只不過是15年前發生的事。使徒行傳寫成的時候這些見證人都還活著。保羅在庭上說," 王知道這些事是真實的。證據是不可推翻的。" Lee Strobel 是在耶魯受教的一個芝加哥論壇報的記者,他太太改變成為基督徒之後,他決定對耶穌的聲稱作一個研究。作為一個自稱無神論者,Strobel 充分地預料他會發现耶穌所聲稱的是偽造的。相反地,他念到耶穌的時候,就像Gita 一樣,Strobel 發現這個人的作為,要是真有一個神,想像中的神就是他這個樣子的。而且他發現耶穌聲稱的證據太強了。他寫道這些在耶路撒冷的見證人:"我去問一位心理學家的朋友說," 如果500 人都聲稱他們看到耶穌死後復活,還可能是一種幻覺嗎?"他說幻覺常常是個人的經歷。如果500 人發生同樣的幻覺,那就和復活一樣的是大神蹟了。" 我今天想說如果你要明白基督教的信心,你必須來看耶穌這個人。看看他的教導,你會找到智慧。看看他生活過的,你會發現生命本應該活的樣式。今天,你必要來看他做的事。他從死裡復活。這是真正發生的事實。
#3 復活信心的應允-實現
你相信復活的耶穌的時候,開始找到每一個人最深的渴望的滿足。我提三樣事: 第一: 在我的周圍充滿不公正的事( 渴望世界重歸正道) 過去幾年發生的許多沒有意義,不公正的事。華盛頓州發生的泥土坍塌死亡39人。自從康州 New Town Sandy Hook 小學的悲劇發生後,24個州發生44 起學校槍擊事件。在我們教會,Matthew 和 Grace Huang 至今還蒙冤陷在Qatar 獄中。你是否有過這樣的時候,看見世界發生的事,你說:" 這是不對的!這樣的惡事就是要受審判...... 那個人謀殺却得以開溜...... "世界上的一些有权柄的有時候竭力要主持公道:在家中的父母、在法庭上的法官、學校的老師和校長。然而,我們知道世上的权威常常失於公道。但是在復活節神說," 在這個世界以上還有生命。"神應許說,"邪惡要受審判。良善要得獎賞。我是公正的神, 我要使萬物都重歸正道。"耶穌的復活是神大過世界上任何邪惡的一個證據。祂應許永恆將會表明正義的勝利。 第二:在我的裡面有不完全( 渴望我的生命重歸正道) 在很個人的層面,許多人對自己的生活的某些東西想要掙脫得著自由。這些東西我們常常向周圍的人隱藏的。我們知道自己要改,但是辦不到。我們知道我們需要得赦免。耶穌在十架上的死是為了你。祂說祂會赦免你,祂就能赦免你。祂說祂能將你從過去當中釋放出來,祂就能釋放你。祂說祂能改變你的生命,祂就能改變你的生命。 除此,我發現大部分的人竭力尋求想在這個世界上得滿足。透過個人得成就和成功,或積攢東西......但是一次又一次,人一旦獲得他想要的,以為那樣會帶來滿足,卻發現這一切并不如其所望,值得付出一生经营的。
我可怜(那些名人)。一个人成为名人的那一刻也是他/她成为“怪兽”的开始。(三位众所周知的名人)曾经都是非常讨人喜欢的,你也许愿意在一个悠闲的周二下午与他们共进午餐。在成为名人的那个晚上,他们想要放松的尖叫。终于!现在他们受人崇拜了!但是在成名后的第二天早上,他们想要服用大量镇定剂。 他们所有的幻想已经实现了,然而现状并没有改变。如果他们以前感觉悲惨的话,现在他们就会感觉双倍的悲惨,因为他们努力追求的巨大的成功,那个会使万事顺利,会使他们的生活变得可以忍受,将会为他们提供个人成就感和幸福感的成名之事,已经发生了。然而生活一成不变。他们仍然是他们。幻觉破灭使他们哀嚎难以忍受。(来源于乡村之音新闻) 你之所以被创造,乃是为了过一种与神相连的生活。耶稣受难又复活正是为你提供这样的生活。C.S.路易斯甚至还是一位无神论的时候就问过自己,“我一直在寻找的是什么呢?如果我发现自己有一个欲望,是任何这个世界的经历都无法满足的话,那么最有可能的解释就是我是为了另外一个世界而被创造的。”
JRR 托尔金知道路易斯的渴望是只有耶稣才能满足的。路易斯发现他的愿望正是籍着耶稣才得到了实现。你也会发现是这样。
第三:我的世界有死亡(生的渴望) 。
我知道有些人不去過多地思考死亡带来的冲击影响。但你應該。一旦你失去了一個女兒 - 你唯一的兄弟- 摯友 - 你就會明白死亡是多麼的醜陋 。今天我們這裡的許多人都曾體驗過死亡的可怕本質。唯有耶穌能夠拿走它的刺痛。唯有祂能夠向我們保證,死亡並不是事物的終結。 讓我告訴你有一年發生在我身上的事。我遇到一個人,Andrew Furayama ,他曾是日本一家大教會的領袖。我去看他的时候,他正躺在東京一家醫院的病床上,患了胰腺癌。幾天之後,他就会死了。但是,那天晚上,這個身體瀕臨死亡的人卻生机勃勃。事實上,是他在鼓勵我: “Greg弟兄 ,我想向你擔保,你我都认识的福音信息是可信的。現在我告訴你,這真是又真,又實在的!死亡不是事物的終結。我不怕死,因為耶穌說, ‘我是復活和生命。凡相信我的人,雖然死了,也必將活過來。'" 就在那次探訪Furayama牧師之前,我在英國劍橋學習時看了一個紀錄片,是由英國廣播公司製作的,名為“信仰之海 ”。在這部紀錄片中,神學家Don Cupitt講述了一件事,那時他還是一位年輕的神父,他曾被指派去醫院探訪一位垂死的病人。盡管身為神學家和神父,Cupitt是一位不可知論者。Cupitt說,當他到了醫院病房時,那位教友已然到了生命彌留之際的最後幾個小時。作為一個神父,Cupitt拿出他的宗教書籍宣讀了相應的話並按指定的禱告文禱告了。但在Cupitt離開前,那名男子死了。 在他要回家的時候,Cupitt說道, “我並不設想我的話能神奇般地改變那個人的永恆命運,但我仍覺得這是值得的。我希望,輪到我的時候來臨時,也有人能為我這樣做。那天,我明白了,宗教是在一個冷漠的世界面前對人類尊嚴的肯定。 雖然言之堂皇,但Cupitt的話留給我的是虛空。對於一個瀕死的世界,我們所能提供的難道就只是對人類尊嚴的肯定嗎?這兩個牧師,就我個人而言,當我躺在臨終前的床榻上時,我更希望誰來探訪我呢? Furayama還是Cupitt?對我來說這不是個困難的決定。我要的牧師是指向我到主耶穌基督面前的,因祂是復活和生命。 我們知道神大過世界上一切的罪,因為耶穌能夠擔當罪的刑罰并勝過它。我們知道神大過我們在世上面臨的任何問題 - 甚至死亡 - 因為耶穌經歷了,并勝過了它。在歷史上,耶穌死而復活了!這就是保羅在他的布道中所宣講的。這就是我今天向你們宣告的。你的家人可以不一樣。你的婚姻可以不一樣。你可以不一樣!
呼籲我们要做的是 - 相信主耶穌基督。
“ ......惟獨神所復活的......所以弟兄們,你們當曉得,赦罪的道是由這人傳給你們的。在一切不得稱義的事上,信靠這人,就都得稱義了... ...”(使徒行傳13:37-39 ) 。
荣耀归给神,
格雷格博士
主任牧师
Greg Waybright • Copyright 2014, Lake Avenue Church