Tuesday, 8th February 2022
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-7 Everything Done is Sinful
V1 ‘Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.’ What is our attitude when we step into the Temple of God? We are the ones being called, so when we come to the House of God, we must be careful of how we act and how we behave. What is our attitude towards praise and worship? What is our attitude toward prayers? And what is our attitude towards offering and tithing? To walk on this blessed path, first we must know to have the attitude and be respectful for the place God has chosen as His Temple.
Genesis 30:30 says, ‘For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the Lord has blessed you since my coming. And now, when shall I also provide for my own house?’ God is always there, He is following our steps, do not think that no one is watching, and we can do whatever we want. God is always there. V2 ‘Do not be rash with your mouth and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; therefore let your words be few.’ God is watching and God is listening, we must know that He gives and takes away, if we are not alert with our actions or not prudent with our steps, then we will be very likely to sin against God without us even realising it!
Everything we do matters! Every decision we make has a consequence! Genesis 2:9 says, ‘And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.’ When we sin, we live and act under the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Even when we seem to be doing godly things, such as offering or praying, everything when we do for the sake of doing it, but without love, then we have sinned against God. Our attitude determines everything! Do we give thanks in our offering? Tithing is different to offering! We thought that we have already done our tithing, so we don’t have to think about offering but this is not the right attitude.
Our every little thought and our every little action matter, and when we are in the House of God, which is the place God has chosen, we must be extra cautious. A lot of times we may say that the Jewish people are too religious, we might say that’s pagan worship, but it does not mean that we don’t have to follow all the laws because Jesus came to complete the law not to overturn it. Many laws and regulations are helping us to bring the right attitude before God and not to sin against Him.
V4-5 ‘When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed— Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.’ Everyone of us, who are being called, have made vow to God, to admit we are sinners and to let Jesus be our personal Saviour. Our vow to God is that we are no longer living for ourselves but to have Jesus Christ lives in us. Do we really live out the life with Jesus inside us? So often we still make our own decision, let our flesh desires lead our lives, and bury the voice of God somewhere inside us. This is a relationship we must take care and maintain. Our relationship with the Father, is like having a relationship with our children, every parent enjoys to spend time with their children and long for their children to share their lives with us.
V6-7 ‘Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands? For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God.’ When we come to God for every little thing in life, we are building up relationship with Him and get to know Him more. And slowly, when we grow into maturity, we don’t need to come to God for ever little thing, but the way we live will be according to God’s heartbeat.
Section Two V8-17 Everything Received in Vanity
V12 ‘The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.’ People have problem sleeping because there are too many worries, sometimes when we have more on this earth we will also worry more. V13-14 ‘There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun: Riches kept for their owner to his hurt. But those riches perish through misfortune; when he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand.’ When God gives us more, we must also give more, because there is nothing, we can take with us when we die. Whereas we should learn to gather in the Heaven, because if we trust God, then we will not worry about lacking.
Section Three V18-20 Only Jehovah
V18 ‘Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage.’ Do we enjoy the portion that God has given to us? Or do we feel burdened in our labour? Let us focus on God more, because only our God Jehovah can take us to the blessed path.
传道书 5 – 蒙福的道路 谨慎脚步
2022年2月8日 星期二
潘锡安牧师
当时能够进神的殿的人都是神所拣选的 – 比如祭司或王。今天我们能进入神的殿，都是被神拣选的，我们就要谨慎自己的脚步。在农历新年的开始，我们听到很多负面的消息，比如疫情泛滥、物价上涨、犯罪率增加，等等。我们很容易会想，在这样的环境，我们要如何生活？我们是否会带着这样的谋算进入神的殿？我们可能在一个蒙蔽里，不承认或不知道自己内心的想法，但神都知道。传道书第5章的经文帮助我们知道如何更加谨慎走在这条蒙福的道路上。
一、v.1-7 所做的都是恶
V1a 诗篇100:4 说“当称谢进入他的门，当赞美进入他的院，当感谢他，称颂他的名！”圣经提醒我们要以感恩、赞美和感谢进入“神的殿”。我们进入神的殿时，带的是什么态度呢？是否带着感谢赞美的心进入教会、学房，还是内心充满劳苦重担？在神的殿中，充满祷告、感恩和赞美，不是一个建筑物或聚会点而已。耶稣说当我们两三个人一起奉他的名聚集时，他会与我们同在，但他没有说我们这样就是神的殿。我们所聚会的地方，是神所拣选的，所以进入这里的时候我们要谨慎自己的脚步。我们是否将家里不用的东西拿到教会，还是将最好的献上？“脚步”第一次出现在创世纪30:30 – “我未来之先，你所有的很少，现今却发达众多，耶和华随我的脚步赐福于你……”圣经在这里说，雅各踏出每一个脚步，神都与他同在。我们知道无论我们去到哪里神都在吗？在我们的工作场所、我们的家中、甚至任何一个别人看不到的地方，神都在。当我们想要私下做一些属世的事情时，其实神都在看着我们，因为我们都是蒙召的人。赐福的是耶和华，收取的也是耶和华，我们要相信神都在，所以要谨慎自己的脚步。有些时候我们会为自己无伤大雅的谎言找借口，但神都知道我们是否活在真实里面。求神帮助我们做有智慧的人，不要自欺欺人，以为自己私下讲的话或做的事没关系 。
V1b “恶”指的是创世纪2:9所说“分别善恶的树”的“恶”。我们献祭，都在分辨善恶树里，以为自己做到了圣经的要求，却没有在谦卑顺服、舍己利他的生命树下献祭。在分辨善恶树下的奉献是在律法下的奉献，比如做什一的时候，我们会斤斤计较是税前还是税后的收入，而在生命树下的奉献是在收入之前就凭信心摆上，不害怕自己吃亏。什一是本来就属于神的，我们是否在规定之外，愿意做感恩的奉献？我们每天数算很多可以感恩神的地方，但是否为着感恩神而献上感恩祭？我们陷在贫穷困境里，不是神不保守我们，而要反思我们是否骄傲、是否谨慎进入神的殿献祭？
V2 在神所拣选的殿中，我们带着怎样的态度？是否在这里嬉皮笑脸的开玩笑，还是认真尊重神的同在？圣经提醒我们在神所拣选的地方，我们讲话要小心。我们没有跟随犹太人的宗教仪式，因为我们说生命胜过外面的宗教形式，但圣经没有说我们完全不需要仪式，反而说耶稣到来是完全律法。在学房中，每一个同学站在讲台上都拿着麦克风，让我们学习成为祭司，让我们在台上讲的话都不是属世的话。在神的殿中，我们要小心自己的一言一行，因为我们在地上所说所做的，神在天上都在看。
V4 我们向神许的愿、承诺过的话，说过了就会忘记。许愿就是跟神立约，我们每一个蒙召的人都向神承认过自己是罪人，承认自己需要救恩，承认耶稣为我们个人生命的救主，所以我们不再是为自己而活，我们的主权已经不再属于自己。我们有圣灵在我们里面，有从神而来的自由，但我们是否凡事寻问神？我们在自由中没有珍惜与神的关系，就像做父母的会觉得孩子整天来找自己就是烦人。当我们的孩子或下面所带领的人来找我们分享的时候，我们要认可他们这一颗愿意的心。另一方面，我们在凡事寻问神之后，是否长大？我们愿意与神常常互动，我们与神的关系就会更加亲密，我们读圣经的话就更轻松。
V3 那时候的人为何有那么多“梦”？彼得做了异梦，不是人为他解释，而是圣灵亲自解释。我们在doing模式中做很多事，就会做奇怪的梦。我们说话前不谨慎思考，就得罪神得罪人。
V6 不要在权柄面前说自己之前是说错话了，因为神都听到了。
V7 人做了一个奇怪的梦之后，常会想自己的权柄能够解释梦的意义。我们若沉迷在解梦里面，很容易落入算命之类的危险当中，高看了能够解梦的人。但圣经说这些“多有虚幻”，我们只要有神的Logos(神的话)。我们要走出这些虚空的梦，活出真光真理真感觉。
二、v.8-17 所得的都是虚空
V8 在创世纪43:33说“约瑟使众弟兄在他面前排列坐席，都按着长幼的次序，众弟兄就彼此诧异”。当时约瑟是埃及的宰相，本不该跟希伯来人坐在一起吃饭，所以他的哥哥们都惊讶了。这个世界本来就充满了不应该、不公平的罪恶，我们却尝试在这个世界寻找公平、民主。我们爱为人抱打不平，但我们又是如何对待我们的父母、权柄、弟兄姐妹？我们的父母或权柄让我们做事的时候，我们是否甘心乐意？我们以为自己是公义的，看到别人的问题，却看不到自己也是一样有问题的。
V12 越是高位的人，睡眠的品质反而更不好，因为他们担心的事太多。
V13 当我们聚宝在地的时候，反而会害了自己。我们是否施舍、帮助穷人？圣经里面讲的财主指的是每一个有食物多过日用的饮食的人。
V14 我们把钱花在自己孩子身上，但他们是否真的能享受？每个人“怎样从母胎赤身而来，也必照样赤身而去，他所劳碌得来的，手中分毫不能带去”。我们想要自己留东西给孩子，因为我们不相信神。求神帮助我们懂得善用财富，聚宝在天，成为天上的“财主”。
三、v.18-20 唯有耶和华
我们每一个人都有自己的“份”，我们是否珍惜自己所得的那一份？我们在劳碌中没有喜乐，只觉得自己做很多事。我们是否在神给我们要做的事中喜乐？我们一生的果效是从心而来，我们是否由心而发感恩神给我们的恩典？在蒙福的道路上，唯有耶和华带领我们前行。