Friday, 22nd April 2022
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-3 The Lord is My Salvation
V1 ‘And in that day you will say: O Lord, I will praise You; though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.’ When did people start crying out ‘O Lord’? Genesis 15:2 says, ‘But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”’ It’s easy for us to cry out to God for help, but it’s not easy for us to give thanks to God and to think about what we can offer to God. We thought God has everything and He doesn’t need anything from us, but our attitude is wrong. We cry out to God not to complain about our current situation, but to give thanks because God is the One we can rely on, we don’t need to worry and we don’t need to fear.
V2 ‘Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’ God is our help, He is our Salvation and our shield, He will save and He will not withhold any good thing from us. Exodus 15:2 says, ‘The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.’ When Moses responded to God, he knew God was the only God and the true God; they feared God and recognised God.
V3 ‘Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.’ What is our attitude when we come before God and receive the living water? Do we have joy when we come before God? When we open the Bible in the morning and when we come together to receive the Word of God, we should be joyful because we are receiving the love and salvation from our God. The Holy Spirit is speaking to our hearts and to our lives, do we really believe that coming before God we can receive true joy and salvation? This is the living water, which can provide for us and
Section Two V3-6 The Lord is the God we Preach
V4 ‘And in that day you will say: Praise the Lord, call upon His name; declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted.’ When we have received the salvation and when we are set free, we must also preach. Sharing the Gospel should not be a burden for us but a life we live. Our God is the I-Am-Who-I-Am God, when this world was facing darkness, God created the Heaven and Earth. We must praise and sing to Him, to declare His Name and to share His Goodness. Why don’t we have the passion to share the Good News? Because we cannot see what is going to happen ‘that day’ is already happening ‘this day’. We must be restored from the heart of stone to the heart of flesh. Everything happened in our lives is not by accident, today we can have what we have and do what we do is all by the Grace of God. Let us humble ourselves and see God’s Great Work in our lives, He has been protecting us and guiding us along the way.
V5-6 ‘Sing to the Lord, for He has done excellent things; this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!’ We must sing and the let the world know what the Lord has done! We will not only sing and speak the excellent things of God, but also witness and live out for Him. Judges 5:3 says, ‘Hear, O kings! Give ear, O princes! I, even I, will sing to the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.’ When we are determined to give thanks always and to spread the Word to the end of the earth, then we can see testimonies in our lives every day, there is always stories to share, and there is always praises to sign!
以赛亚书 12 – 到那日 在那日
2022年4月22日 星期五
潘锡安牧师
今天的经文就是属神子民对神在末日大翻转的回应。当我们一直去拿东西，却从来不给出去，最终会贫乏。神创造穹苍，我们看他什么都不缺乏，而我们看自己就什么都缺。因此，我们没有愿意花时间去思想如何回馈那位不断爱我们的神。以赛亚书11:10-16讲述“到那日”神所做的事。当初以色列百姓出埃及的时候，神不仅为他们分开红海，他也使海中的地变干，不然人无法走过去。你是否相信在末日，神会为我们行大事，是否相信神在细节上都会帮助我们走出困难？我们又该如何回应神？在本章的经文以赛亚做了一个信心的宣告。
一、v.1-3 神是我的拯救
V1 “到那日”，耶稣基督是我们得胜的旌旗，我们属神的子民都要说“耶和华啊，我要称谢你！”。本节“耶和华”这个名字第一次在圣经被提及是在创世纪15:2 亚伯拉罕回应“主耶和华”。人第一次回应神，说神是我们的“盾牌”，神是会大大赏赐我们的。当我们接受耶稣的时候，我们是否相信耶稣是我们的盾牌，是否相信他要大大赏赐我们、不留下一个好处不给我们？神是我们的拯救，我们要称谢、献祭给他。我们的神是会管教我们，会因为我们的执迷不悟生气，但他也会安慰我们。
V2 神的作为是可以看到的。我们要每天感恩，这样才看到神每天不一样的作为。在末日，生活枯燥、压力巨大，我们更要打开属灵的眼睛看到可以感恩神的地方。我们因为心里的骄傲，就很容易看到从上而来的压力和要求，看不到祝福，没有感恩的心，只想做自己的事情。然而，以赛亚先知提醒我们，神是我们的拯救，是我们所倚靠的，我们就不会惧怕、可以感恩。本节的“耶和华”原文第一次出现是在出埃及15:2 摩西和以色列人回应神，承认耶和华是“真神”。谁是我们生命中的真神，是金钱、势力，还是拯救我们的耶和华？
V3 这是一个救恩的泉源，永不干旱。当我们进入取水的时候，态度是开心快乐的。每一天来到神的面前时，我们是开心快乐的吗？我们在神的泉源里得到拯救、力量，得到爱，我们的态度如何？我们来到晨祷，是否只是因为学房的要求？愿我们每天都能来到神面前，得到神活水江河的滋润。
二、v.4-6 神是我们传扬的
有了神的拯救、活水，我们要做什么呢？
V4 “在那日”，所有子民要归回，被掳的得释放、被囚的出监牢，我们要传扬神的大作为。我们看见神的呼召，就要回应神。传福音对我们来说是否是一个重担？本节的“耶和华”第一次出现在创世纪 2:4 – 这是一位自由永有的神，在什么都没有的时候他就开始做事。我们要称谢这位神，宣告他的名。我们是否相信神的无所不能，是否相信在我们的问题、缺乏中，神能够给我们？我们要“将他所行的传扬在万民中”，神如何祝福我们，我们就要使万民知道。我们每一个人都能经历神的祝福，不要以为我们每天能够起来、母亲能够怀胎十月生下四肢健全的孩子是必然会发生的。我们看不到爱，就不愿意去回应爱。我们没有动力传福音，因为我们没有看见好处，也没有看见“到那日”我们要做的事。我们要警醒，不再蒙蔽，让我们的心有血有肉。我们要跟周遭的人说自己如何被祝福。我们不管看自己多不好，神还是拣选我们。
V5 “你们要向耶和华唱歌”第一次出现在士师记5:3。这里的“唱歌”是向君王、世界传扬神，因他为我们所行的都“甚是美好”。那些整天负面的人嘴中散发出来的是毒气、没有感恩。当我们愿意感恩，生命中就从不缺乏见证可以分享，不会看我们能走到如今是靠自己的努力。我们看到的都是神的恩典。
V6 我们的神是最大的。什么是你看为最大的呢？是房贷、人际关系、家庭、工作等自己的事吗？当我们看神为至大，我们里面就充满感恩，别人就会想靠近我们。