愿我 们 的旨意 与 神一致。 [ 罗马书 15:1–6] 最近，在周三 祷 告 会 后的 领 袖 查经时间 里，我 们 一直在 研 读 《 约 拿 书 》第四章。 研 读 越深，我越 发 感到神要 教 导 我的功 课 可以 概 括 为 一句 话 ：“不要成就我的意思，只要成就祢的意思。” 约 拿作 为 神的仆人和先知，却因神收回了原定降在尼尼微人身上的灾 祸 而向神 发 怒——要知道， 这 些人已 经 悔改 并 离弃了罪 恶 。他 发 怒的原因何在？因 为约 拿渴望成就的是他自己的意愿，而非神的旨意。 约 拿的意愿是什 么 呢？那就是毁 灭 尼尼微人。他 极 度渴望——甚至抱着一 种 “不 达 目的誓不 罢 休”的 决 绝 心 态 ——要神降灾于他 们 。看着 约 拿的 态 度，我反思了何 为真 正的 属灵 成熟。 简 而言之，我 认为属灵 的成熟在于 将 自己的意愿放下在十字架前， 并 顺 服主的旨意。 换 言之，一 个属灵 成熟的基督徒， 会 像耶 稣 在受 难 前夜于客西 马 尼 园 向父神 祷 告那 样 祈求：“然而，不要照我的意思，只要照祢的意思。”那 么 ，主 对 我 们教会 有何旨意呢？ 在今天的 经 文——《 罗马书 》 15 章 5 至 6 节 ——中，我 们 看到使徒保 罗为罗马教会祷 告：“但愿 赐 忍耐 与 安慰的神，叫 你 们 彼此同心，效法基督耶 稣 ，好叫 你 们 同心合意，用一口一舌 荣 耀我 们 主耶 稣 基督的神和父。” 总 之，保 罗 向神祈求 教会 的合一。 这 是因 为教会 的合一正是 教会 之首——主的旨意。那 么 ，我 们该 如何促 进 “ 胜 利 长 老 会 ”（ Victory Presbyterian Church ）的合一呢？我祈愿我 们 都能留心 并 顺 服神借着今天的 经 文所 教 导 的功 课 ，致力于在多 样 性中 维护教会 的合一。首先， 为 了 维护教会 ——即基督身体——的合一，我 们 必 须寻 求取 悦 邻 舍，而不是取 悦 自己。 请 看今天的 经 文， 罗马书 15 章 1 至 2 节 ：“我 们坚 固的人 应该 担代不 坚 固人的 软 弱，不求自己的喜 悦 。我 们...
Spiritual attitude
“And He also told this parable to some people
who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with
contempt” (Luke 18:9).
“The
kind of person you are is far more important than the kind of work you do.” When we realize that our existence is more important than our actions, as
believers, we must develop appropriate spiritual attitudes within our
hearts—one of which is humility.
In
today's passage Luke 18:9, we see a Pharisee who believed himself to be
righteous and looked down on others. He
enjoyed being esteemed among people (16:15). His spiritual posture was pride. He considered himself better than even tax
collectors and other sinners. Look at the Pharisee's prayer in the parable of
Jesus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers,
adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I
get' (18:11-12). When considering why
the Pharisee was so ensnared in spiritual pride to offer such a prayer, I think
it's because he focused on what he did for God rather than what God had done
for him. Charles Swindoll refers to this
as one of the worst heresies in his book 'Grace Awakening'. It's easy for us to fall into this heresy. We can easily become trapped in spiritual
pride and superiority because we focus on what we do for God rather than on
what God has done for our salvation in Jesus Christ. If we don't guard against this, bit by bit,
without us realizing, our hearts will be filled with spiritual pride and
superiority.
Unlike
the Pharisee, the tax collector stood at a distance in the temple. He didn't even dare to look up to heaven, but
beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner' (v. 13). At least he approached God in prayer
acknowledging and admitting he was a sinner. So, he cried out, 'God, have mercy on me.' This is a blessing. Realizing one's own sin before the holy God is
a blessing. And being able to confess
and plead for mercy from God in the midst of this precious realization is truly
an undeniable blessing. Being able to
humble oneself before God is a blessing. We must humble ourselves before God, just as
the tax collector did. We should yearn
for the blessing of our sins being exposed by the holy presence of God. We must acknowledge our sins and confess them
to God because His holy word pierces our conscience. In the midst of all this, as stated in
Philippians 2:3, we should consider others better than ourselves.
God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble
(Jam. 4:6). We must humble ourselves
before the holy God. We should never
believe ourselves to be righteous, like the Pharisees. To do so, we must live our faith not before
people, like the Pharisees, but before God. Continually, with hearts and motives laid
bare, we should turn to God in repentance through His holy Word, even
confessing hidden sins. In the midst of
this, we must look to what God has done for us in Jesus Christ and trust in His
work for our salvation. Relying on the
precious blood shed on the cross by Jesus, we must repent of our sins. We must humbly bow down before God in
repentance, trusting solely in the righteousness of Jesus. By relying on the merit of Jesus' sacrifice on
the cross, we approach the throne of God's grace, seeking His help in humility.
While guarding against
spiritual pride and superiority,
James Kim
[Celebrating the 9th
birthday of beloved son Dillon (meaning: faithful and truthful)]"
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