Thursday, 3rd February 2022
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-8 Everything has its Time
If we want to follow God, what is the decision we will make? When we know the goodness of following God, we must let go of the worldly gains; when we don’t stop gathering in Christ, we will be stronger in spirit to overcome the temptations of the world. In the Body of Christ, we can pray for one another, and we can support one another. Where there is love, there will be trust, and no one will be left out, because God’s intention for us is not to live alone!
When we gather, it is not a religious ritual, but a gathering in love. It’s easy for us to lose ourselves when our lives are smooth, because the world will take hold of our mind and our spirit; but when we make the decision to seek God continually and earnestly, we can always live in His goodness. Time is precious, therefore, the devil wants to steal our time, all the new technology, games, entertainments, etc. are stealing our time away from coming to God.
V1 ‘To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.’ There is a time for everything, even the smallest thing, like an ant or a rock, has its timing to be. God is in control of everything, but men want to take control. We ended up destroying the beautiful natural environment God created, yet we still want to use our own understanding to try fixing everything. In the previous chapters of the Book of Ecclesiastes, we see that everything is vanity, but in this chapter, we move our focus to God, and see that without God, everything is vanity. We must trust in God more, to see outside of the vanities and that everything has its timing in God.
Section Two V9-15 Everything is the Work of God
V11 ‘He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.’ God’s timing is the best timing, we work in the daytime and sleep at night-time, God created the world for a purpose. Do we know our purpose, and do we follow the purpose God created us to be? Do not overdo things, work more than we should, because only God knows what’s best for us, and only God can direct us the right way to use our time wisely and to work most efficiently according to God’s Will.
Are we work in partnership with God? When we receive an instruction, is our heart also receiving it? Very often we use our own perspectives to look at things, when our authority gives us directions and guidance, are we willing to listen and to understand with our hearts? Everything is beautiful in God’s eyes, He has already prepared everything for us. Our lives may see difficult at the moment, but when we look back, we can start to see how God has been supporting us and restoring our relationship with Him along the way.
Be willing to focus on what God focuses on, then we will no longer complain and have bitterness, because we are so small compare with the universe God created, yet He still loves us and trusts us to manage the world, what is there for us to complain? We can easily focus on the things we are doing and the things we work hard for, but we did not realise that without God, we cannot do everything. Let us humble ourselves, lower our eyesight, see more grace and less condemnation.
Section Three V16-22 God Tests God Judges
V16 ‘Moreover I saw under the sun: In the place of judgment, wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, Iniquity was there.’ Every good thing goes through trials and challenges; God also test us through trials and challenges to see if we really love Him and really trust Him. We can be here today is because of God, not because of our own strength. In this path of being called, we must know that everything comes from God, and everything belongs to Him. May God help us to continue striving on this path and never give up!
传道书 3 – 一切都在于神
2022年2月3日 星期四
潘锡安牧师
一个人若是抓紧神、靠神而活的时候，他的身上就会有神的荣光，活出神给他的“生气”。这是一个选择，需要人愿意去放下自己内心的小剧场和从世界而来的试探去跟随神。当试探来的时候，我们不要停止聚会 – 要两三个人一起RPG祷告，神的话就会进入我们里面医治我们，使我们的灵不再沉睡。服事神不是一个宗教仪式，是一个团队里每一个人互相扶持、彼此代祷。不要让安逸的生活抢走我们对神的热情和彼此的爱。
一、v.1-8 凡事都有定时
本段经文用了14个“有时”做对比，我们是否有按照神所定的时间来行事？神创造我们白天工作，晚上休息，但现代人常让手机、电脑来影响晚上本该有的休息，让娱乐偷窃了我们的时间。不要对这些试探妥协，而要治死我们里面的叛逆。人从出生就有恶根，但神给我们的是“重生”- 借着圣灵，我们已经与耶稣同死同埋葬同复活。当魔鬼借着环境中的人和事来试探我们时，我们要宣告自己不再一样了。神创造天地，他也创造关系。我们在爱与信任中，从权柄听到的话都是鼓励造就的话。若我们听到权柄提升我们的话是在骂我们，说明我们没有爱和信任，就要鉴察我们内心的罪。
我们人生的所有事都是在神的手里。在地震、火山爆发等自然灾难发生前，动物都会预先感知，但人要很多技术手段去探测也未必知道。我们若相信凡事都在神手里，就不再倚靠自己的小聪明行事。我们要愿意承认自己的有限，谦卑降服于神的时间，不再放纵自己于世上的虚空。
二、v.9-15 都是神的作为
V9 我们在doing里面得到什么益处呢？当我们的权柄给我们一个“苹果”的时候，我们是否能返还一个“苹果”，还是“香蕉”？我们虽然听了权柄对我们说的话（“苹果”），但我们还是去做自己心里想做的事（“香蕉”），这就是一个doing的模式。我们心里骄傲，觉得自己的“香蕉”比权柄给的“苹果”好。然而，耶稣在客西马尼园向父神的祷告是“愿你的意旨成全”，我们要学习耶稣求父神成就他的旨意而不是我们自己的意思。神借着“苹果”让我们学习生命的功课，当我们拿到苹果的时候，我们是否偷吃，还是愿意完整的返还？
V11 “神造万物，各按其时成为美好” – 我们白天若不好好工作，晚上就睡不着，就会想要玩手机，或者上网娱乐来舒压。“工作”不是做那些让我们有压力的事情，而是做神要我们做的事。我们每天要看到感恩的事，因从神而来都是祝福我们的“美好”的事。“又将永生安置在世人心里” – 神已经为我们预备好了一切。当我们顺服神，每天忠心在晨祷中扎根于神的话语，神就亲自跟我们说话。
V14 圣经常常提到神是“亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各的神”，就是提醒我们神如何祝福亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各，神是永不改变的。
V15 在古代，人们远行要靠马或骆驼等动物，如今的我们则可以使用不同的交通工具，但在神眼中，两者的结果都是一样的 – 就是从A地点到B地点。神看重的是我们复活的生命和对他的爱与信任。我们看重的是什么? 在一段关系中，当我们看重的不是自己在过程中的点滴付出，而是看到是神让我们能从A点达到B点，就不会自我膨胀，也不会觉得自己是受害者，而是感恩神的恩典。
三、v.16-22 神试炼 神审判
V16 我们不要以为自己公义，可以审判别人，其实我们不知道自己生命里面有“奸恶”。
V18 正如一把宝剑要经过火烧、锤打，才能削铁如泥，神的试炼也是必须的。神让许多事发生在我们生命中，就是要“试验”我们对他的爱和信任。我们是否爱神，是否相信我们的一切都在神的手中？若不是神，我们没有办法走到如今。求神帮助我们知道，一切都在于神。