【佳音】

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传和好的佳音

这就是 神在基督里，叫世人与自己和好，不将他们的过犯归到他们身上，并且将这和好的道理托付了我们（哥林多后书5:19）

亲爱的弟兄姊妹们，现今，未得救的人中鲜有人听到过真正的佳音。为什么？因为太多的基督徒都在忙于告诉世人，上帝恼怒他们，他们陷在了困境和错误中。有人称这为佳音，却根本不是佳音，更不是上帝托付我们分享与众人的。

上帝所赐给我们的，是与世人“和好的道理”。

祂差遣我们传与世人：上帝修复了祂与世人的和睦和关系。是与全人类和好，不只是基督徒，也不只是你聚会里的人，而是每一个人！

这是确实的。即使世上最败坏堕落的顽梗罪人，也跟你一样，能与上帝和好了。看罗马书5:10你就会懂我的意思，经上说：“我们作仇敌的时候，且借着 神儿子的死，得与 神和好”（因为我们作仇敌的时候，且借着 神儿子的死，得与 神和好，既已和好，就更要因祂的生得救了）。

“和好”在这里是过去词，代表上帝已经修复了与世人的关系。祂做这些时，除了主耶稣，地上没有一人相信新生；祂做这些时，整个世界都陷在罪里。

透过主耶稣的死和复活，上帝洁净和宽恕了地上的每个男人、女人、孩子，并修复了与他们的关系。而我们所有人现在要做的，就是通过接受耶稣作为我们的救主来获取这份佳音。

这是上帝赐给我们的佳音，而我们也需要将这佳音分享与迷失的人们。如果我们这样做，我敢向你保证，他们迷失不了多久了。

研经：哥林多后书5:10-21
5:10 因为我们众人必要在基督台前显露出来，叫各人按着本身所行的，或善或恶受报。  
5:11 我们既知道主是可畏的，所以劝人，但我们在 神面前是显明的，盼望在你们的良心里也是显明的。  
5:12 我们不是向你们再举荐自己，乃是叫你们因我们有可夸之处，好对那凭外貌、不凭内心夸口的人有言可答。  
5:13 我们若果颠狂，是为 神；若果谨守，是为你们。  
5:14 原来基督的爱激励我们，因我们想一人既替众人死，众人就都死了；
5:15 并且祂替众人死，是叫那些活着的人不再为自己活，乃为替他们死而复活的主活。  
5:16 所以我们从今以后，不凭着外貌认人了，虽然凭着外貌认过基督，如今却不再这样认祂了。  
5:17 若有人在基督里，他就是新造的人，旧事已过，都变成新的了。  
5:18 一切都是出于 神，祂借着基督使我们与祂和好，又将劝人与祂和好的职分赐给我们。  
5:19 这就是 神在基督里，叫世人与自己和好，不将他们的过犯归到他们身上，并且将这和好的道理托付了我们。  
5:20 所以我们作基督的使者，就好像 神借我们劝你们一般。我们替基督求你们与 神和好。  
5:21 神使那无罪的替我们成为罪，好叫我们在祂里面成为 神的义。

Tell the Good News of Reconciliation

"GOD was in CHRIST, reconciling the world unto HIMSELF, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation."
(2 Corinthians 5:19)
  
Dear Brothers and Sisters

Very few unsaved people today have ever really heard the good news. Why? Because too many Christians are busy telling the world GOD is mad at them. And telling them that they're terrible and wrong. Some call that good news, but it's not, and it's not what GOD has commissioned us to share.

HE's given us the "word of reconciliation"!

HE's sent us to tell the news that GOD has restored harmony and fellowship between HIMSELF and men. All men. Not just believers. Not just the people in your congregation, but everyone!

That's right. The worst old reprobate sinner in the world is every bit as reconciled to GOD as you are. Look at Romans 5:10 and you'll see what I mean. It says that "when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son." (Romans 5:10 For if, while we were GOD’s enemies, we were reconciled to HIM through the death of HIS SON, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through HIS life!)

Reconciled. That word is past tense. GOD has already restored fellowship between HIMSELF and the world. HE did it when there was not one person on earth except JESUS who believed in the new birth. HE did it when the entire world was lying in sin.

Through the death and resurrection of JESUS, GOD has cleansed and forgiven and restored to HIMSELF every man, woman and child on the face of this earth. All any of us have to do now is receive that good news by accepting JESUS as our LORD and SAVIOUR.

That's the good word GOD has given us. That's the word we need to share with those who are lost. If we'll do it, I can almost guarantee you, they won't stay lost very long.


Scripture Study: 2 Corinthians 5:10-21

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of CHRIST, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

The Ministry of Reconciliation
11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the LORD, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to GOD, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for GOD; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For CHRIST’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And HE died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for HIM who died for them and was raised again.

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded CHRIST in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in CHRIST, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from GOD, who reconciled us to HIMSELF through CHRIST and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that GOD was reconciling the world to HIMSELF in CHRIST, not counting people’s sins against them. And HE has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore CHRIST’s ambassadors, as though GOD were making HIS appeal through us. We implore you on CHRIST’s behalf: Be reconciled to GOD. 21 GOD made HIM who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in HIM we might become the righteousness of GOD.

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满怀上帝之爱来传道

亲爱的弟兄姊妹们，主耶稣与撒玛利亚妇人的相遇是个极好的例子，显明主耶稣是满溢着爱来回应受伤之人。即使在我们认不出祂的爱时，祂的眷爱之手也从未向我们收回。

虽然这个会面看上去可能有些偶然，但事实上，妇人与弥赛亚的相会是命定的。妇人到了井旁时，主耶稣通过向她要水喝，从而发起了与她的谈话。主耶稣的主动交流，令妇人很吃惊，也由此打开了能够永远地改变她生命的对话之门。

在整个交流中，主耶稣的目的是：帮助这个妇人认清她最大的需求，同时也让她懂得，祂能用惟一的恩赐来满足她的需求（救恩和赦免她的罪）。她曾在不义之地耗费生命，为了设法找到爱和认同。然而，惟有基督给她的圣灵的活水，才能真正地解她灵命和情感之渴。

像撒玛利亚妇人一样，我们有时也会专致于要使我们的迫切需求得到满足，却未能看到上帝伸向我们的眷爱之手，供应我们的需求，给我们真正的满足。惟有基督能永远地填满我们灵魂的空虚，提供我们此时所必需的情感需求。

这个世界布满了井，虽然承诺给我们爱、认同和自我价值，却无法完全地满足我们的渴。当你的灵魂空虚、井又枯干时，寻求主耶稣。主耶稣与你有一个预定的神圣约定，如果你服从祂的话语和教导，那么祂将用祂的灵永远地解你的渴。

研经：约翰福音4:1-42

GOD's Loving Outreach

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This story of the LORD's encounter with a Samaritan woman is a wonderful example of HIS loving response to hurting individuals. JESUS is always reaching out in love, even when we do not recognize HIS extended hand.

Although this meeting may have appeared accidental, it was really a providential appointment with the MESSIAH. As the woman reached the well, JESUS initiated conversation by asking for a drink of water. HIS direct approach surprised her and opened the door for a dialogue that would change her life forever.

Throughout the exchange, JESUS' goal was to help the woman recognize her greatest need so HE could supply her with the only gift that would meet that need: salvation and the forgiveness of her sins. She had spent her life trying to find love and acceptance in all the wrong places. CHRIST offered her the living water of the Holy Spirit—the only thing that would quench her spiritual and emotional thirst.

Like the Samaritan woman, we can at times be so intent on getting our immediate needs met that we fail to see GOD's hand reaching out to us in love, offering what will truly satisfy. Only CHRIST can fill our empty souls for eternity and provide for our essential emotional needs now.

This world is filled with wells that promise to provide love, acceptance, and self-worth but never fully satisfy. When your soul is empty and the well runs dry, look for JESUS. HE has a divine appointment scheduled with you, and HE will quench your thirst with HIS SPIRIT—if you let HIM.

Scripture study: John 4:1-42

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犯罪的后果

耶和华 神对蛇说：“你既作了这事就必受咒诅，比一切的牲畜野兽更甚，你必用肚子行走，终身吃土。我又要叫你和女人彼此为仇，你的后裔和女人的后裔也彼此为仇。女人的后裔要伤你的头，你要伤他的脚跟。”又对女人说：“我必多多加增你怀胎的苦楚，你生产儿女必多受苦楚，你必恋慕你丈夫，你丈夫必管辖你。”又对亚当说：“你既听从妻子的话，吃了我所吩咐你不可吃的那树上的果子，地必为你的缘故受咒诅。你必终身劳苦，才能从地里得吃的。地必给你长出荆棘和蒺藜来，你也要吃田间的菜蔬。你必汗流满面才得糊口，直到你归了土，因为你是从土而出的。你本是尘土，仍要归于尘土。”（创世纪3:14-19）   

亲爱的弟兄姊妹们，基督徒喜欢把罪恶分类，把有的罪评定为小的、不重要的罪，有的就认定是大罪，能导致深远的损害。事实上，没有一个罪是孤立存在的，每一个对上帝的不服从都会严重影响到犯罪者，并且现今乃至未来的无数人也会受到牵连。

如果我们忽略亚当和夏娃的犯罪背景，只看这个罪本身，那么很少人会认定他们犯的是极大的罪，因为他们只不过从一棵标着“不能吃”的树上，吃了几个果子而已。今天的人们认为，忽视上帝的命令没有什么，即使是圣经上的命令。

可是，上帝看待我们犯罪却完全不同。每一个罪的背后，都跟随着负面的后果。亚当和夏娃对上帝的不服从，导致他们在已实现的两个基本方面（与上帝的亲密关系和蒙悦纳的事工），经受到痛苦和挫折。并且使整个地球落在罪的诅咒之下，此后生在世上的每个人，与生俱来都有远离上帝的罪恶本性。

第一次的悖逆，致使人类道德陷入极坏的境地。迄今为止，文明饱受历代人类所犯无数罪恶的无数负面后果的影响。这个世界落得今天如此悲惨的地步，还有什么惊讶呢？犯罪不仅导致了苦难，也使上帝失丧了祂所看为宝贵的我们，伊甸园被关闭，向罪恶的人类紧锁。

在这个堕落的世界，基督的恩典和宽恕的佳音是我们惟一确实的盼望。尽管专注犯罪的后果会令人不快，但这却是必需的，有时能够提醒我们救恩的伟大，并感动我们，即使在最微小的事情上，也要服从上帝。每一个服从，在上帝看来都是重大的。


在此，我们夫妻感谢上帝，我们主耶稣基督的父，赐给我们美好的一天，也赐给我们你们这些忠心于主的弟兄姊妹们。

（以上所写的，你们可以用来建造耶稣基督的国度）

The Consequences of Sin

Genesis 3:14-19

14 So the LORD GOD said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock
    and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
    and you will eat dust
    all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush[ your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

16 To the woman HE said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
    with painful labour you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
    and he will rule over you.”

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Christians tend to categorize sins, rating some as small and inconsequential, but others as huge and far-reaching in the damage they cause. In reality, no one sins in isolation. Each disobedient to GOD affects not only the sinner but also countless others in both the present and the future.

If we were to separate Adam and Eve's sin from its context, few of us would convict them of great transgression. All they did was swallowing some fruit from a tree with a "do not eat" sign. Today people think nothing of ignoring commands—even biblical ones.

But GOD has a totally different view of our sins. Each one (sin) is followed by negative consequences. Adam and Eve's disobedience led to pain and frustration in two basic areas of fulfilment—relationships and meaningful work. The whole earth fell under sin's curse, and every person born since then has entered the world with a sin nature that alienates each one from the LORD.

That first rebellion plunged humanity into a terrible condition. Civilization is now plagued by countless ramifications of the innumerable sins committed by human beings throughout the ages. Is it any wonder the world is in such sad shape? Sin not only causes suffering; it robs us of GOD's best. The Garden of Eden is closed and locked to sinful mankind.

The good news of CHRIST's grace and forgiveness is our only real hope in this fallen world. Though unpleasant, focusing on sin's consequences is necessary at times to remind us of the greatness of our salvation and to move us to obey GOD, even in the small things. Each obedient is huge to HIM.  

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嫉妒的根源

因为情欲和圣灵相争，圣灵和情欲相争。这两个是彼此相敌，使你们不能作所愿意作的。但你们若被圣灵引导，就不在律法以下。情欲的事都是显而易见的，就如奸淫、污秽、邪荡、拜偶像、邪术、仇恨、争竞、忌恨、恼怒、结党、纷争、异端、嫉妒〔有古卷在此有凶杀二字〕、醉酒、荒宴等类。我从前告诉你们，现在又告诉你们，行这样事的人必不能承受 神的国（加拉太5:17-21）   

在生命的某一时刻，你极有可能猝不及防就被嫉妒所波及。嫉妒是一个灵命的攻击吗？还是你的贪心是敌人所致？或是某人或某事造成你的愤慨不已？

答案可能会使你很诧异：“全都不是”。嫉妒的根源其实在我们的内心，即使我们可能设法转移责任。例如，我们可能会说：“他们真是不应该拥有这些，他们根本不配得到，所以我有这种情绪完全是正当合理的。”

你从这里看出是怎么回事了吗？我们不仅会嫉妒某些人，还会说我们的嫉妒是别人的过错！这明显是错误的思想。我们要为自己的嫉妒情绪，负上100%的责任。

嫉妒是肉体的产物，圣经将其与这些罪同列：拜偶像、奸淫、醉酒、邪术。这些罪都是与圣洁的上帝敌对，被描述为“属地的、属情欲的、属鬼魔的”（加拉太5:17-21，雅各3:15这样的智慧不是从上头来的，乃是属地的、属情欲的、属鬼魔的）。

嫉妒情绪会引起要将个人的成功与否跟别人进行不良的比较，而这种模式会发展为要超越别人的恶性竞争，最终结果就是使生活充满了恐惧和忿恨。这样的生活是多么的可怕啊！

嫉妒虽是一个常见的情绪，但在真基督徒的生命中却毫无一席之地。因此，我们每个基督徒都应该从客观的角度看我们内心的动机。你现在受到嫉妒心态的困扰吗？如果是的话，就将你真实的感觉呈在上帝的跟前，求祂洁净你这个罪恶的心态。

The Source of Jealousy

Galatians 5:17-21

17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the SPIRIT, and the SPIRIT what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the SPIRIT, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of GOD.

Most likely, you have been caught off guard by a wave of jealousy at some point in your life. Was it a spiritual attack? Did the Enemy make you covetous? Was someone or something working to make you resentful?

The answer—which may surprise you— is no. Jealousy actually springs from within us, even though we might try to deflect the blame. For example, we may say, "Well, they just shouldn't have that. They don't deserve it, so I'm perfectly justified in feeling this way."

Do you see what is actually going on here? We are not only feeling envious of someone, but we're also saying that our jealousy is the other person's fault! That's simply not true. We are each 100 per cent responsible for our own feelings of envy.

Jealousy is a product of the flesh. In the Bible, it is listed among such sins as idolatry, immorality, drunkenness, and sorcery—sins which stand against our holy GOD and are described as "earthly, natural, demonic" (Gal. 5:17-21; James 3: 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.).

Envious feelings can lead to unhealthy comparison of one's own success to someone else's. That pattern can grow into a competition to out-perform others—and may result in full-blown fear and resentment. What a horrible way to live!

Though jealousy is a common emotion, it has no place in a true believer's life. So each of us should try to look objectively at our heart motives. Are you plagued with an attitude of jealousy today? Lay your honest feelings out before the LORD, and ask HIM to cleanse you of this sinful attitude.