Thursday, 21st July 2022
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-13 God will Prepare
V1 ‘Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.’ God has already told us that He has brought us the Good News, the Gospel, but we are still rebellious. We are afraid of poverty, we are afraid of being abandoned, we are unsatisfied about our lives, and we are worried that God will miss out something. Therefore, we tend to use our own ways and our own approaches, we thought we are ‘helping’ God. But we are actually living in a ‘doing’ mode, and we become slaves to this world.
V2 ‘He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.’ Jesus has already resurrected; He is compassionate and loving. He sees through our lives, and He wants to help us. but we are still stiff necked, our sinful lives stop us to see God’s preparation for us. It’s never God’s problem, but our problems.
V4 ‘He will not fail nor be discouraged, till He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands shall wait for His law.’ We don’t like to wait; we want to see things happen then we will believe. God has always been waiting for us, He has been so patient with us. We must learn to be still, when God does not move, then we will not move, but when God starts moving, then we must quickly follow Him and never look back. Do we believe that we are the chosen ones?
V5-7 ‘Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it: I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house.’ Do we know who we really are? Do we see God has already prepared for us and given us the authority? Do not look down on the identity and destiny God has given to us. He has appointed us to be the light of the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, and to set the capitative free.
V8-9 ‘I am the Lord, that is My Name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.’ When we tried to use our own knowledge and our own ways to live on this world, then we will not receive the glory of God. Because we are not living the godly way and we are not giving glory to God in our lives. Are we willing to humble and obedient, to deny ourselves and to benefit others?
V10 ‘Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you coastlands and you inhabitants of them!’ When we turn back to God, then we will see the Gentiles singing praises to God and we will receive glory together with Him!
Section Two V14-22 God will Promise
Do we know everything we have is from God? Do we believe that God’s promises will come to pass? V14 ‘I have held My peace a long time, I have been still and restrained Myself. Now I will cry like a woman in labour, I will pant and gasp at once.’ We thought God is not speaking to us, we thought God is staying silent. But we forgot that God has already prepared everything for us, and He will always keep His promises. Do we really have the faith to continue waiting and believing in God’s promises?
V15-16 ‘I will lay waste the mountains and hills, and dry up all their vegetation; I will make the rivers coastlands, and I will dry up the pools. I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them.’ The lives on this world are fragile, we do not know what will happen tomorrow, we do not know what our children’s lives will be like, and as we see all the natural disasters around the world, we do not know what the future holds. So are we still worrying and striving about today’s work? Only God knows about tomorrow, and He has already given us the way our, but do we really see this promise? Do not be the blind, but open our eyes to see God at work!
V22 ‘But this is a people robbed and plundered; all of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prison houses; they are for prey, and no one delivers; for plunder, and no one says, “Restore!”’ God never stops His Work, God continues to talk to His people, but when we turn our faces to the world, when we are unwilling to spend time with God, then we will be blinded, we will be lied to by this world, and we cannot see God’s promises.
Section Three V23-25 God is the Answer
V23 ‘Who among you will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come?’ We want God but we also want the world. We do not live out a testimony for God and we still indulge in the worldly desires.
V24-25 ‘Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Was it not the Lord, He against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in His ways, nor were they obedient to His law. Therefore He has poured on him the fury of His anger and the strength of battle; it has set him on fire all around, yet he did not know; and it burned him, yet he did not take it to heart.’ We must have an attentive ear to hear. Stop asking ‘why’, stop being jealous about others, and start being sensitive to the Holy Spirit. God’s blessings are with us, in our work, our family, our health, our finance… but we only see the lacking and we continue to complain. Open our eyes and see, the Holy Spirit is within us, to convicted ourselves of sins, of judgement, and of righteousness. Turn back to God, see the Gospel in our lives, turn our focus to God, because everything is about Him.
以赛亚书 42 – 一切都在乎神
2022年7月21日 星期四
潘锡安牧师
福音可以让我们得到平安，但世界上有很多东西拦阻我们去领受、相信、经历和传扬福音，使福音没有在我们生命中发挥百分之百的祝福。我们把福音当成功能饮料来用，其实不是福音有问题，而是我们的对世界、对神、对自己的认知有问题。
一、v.1-13 神的预备
V1 这就是神所拣选的以色列。神是负责、包底的神。我们是否相信我们是被神拣选的、不是被丢弃的？我们可能看别人的家庭、工作、生活都是比我们好，却看不到神拣选的宝贵，被周围的环境影响，没有真平安，不知道其实神是爱我们的。当我们有神赐给我们他的灵的时候，我们才能“将公理传给外邦”。这就是马可楼的经历，当初门徒在马可楼领受圣灵浇灌后就开始说起各国的话，传扬真理。
V2-3 当我们相信神有预备的时候，我们的生命就与这个世界不一样。世上的财富从哪里来呢？当初以色列人自己想选王的时候，神已经告诉他的百姓，他们和他们的儿女将来会被王辖制。财富本来是神给大家的供应，但现在很多富人却是用自己的聪明和手段将财富从穷人手上拿走。马太福音12章的经文说明了耶稣的到来应验以赛亚书的预言。我们跟随耶稣，要效法他的怜悯和爱，不要再去伤害那些人“被压伤”的人。然而，我们因着害怕，不明白神对我们生命的预备。我们害怕贫穷、不被爱、被丢弃，对神不放心，总想做什么事情以防神“漏单”，结果反而让自己活在为奴为仆的生命里。
V4 我们是否会灰心丧胆？我们是否觉得跟从神没有什么改变，就很想用自己的方法做些事情？我们不愿意等候、不愿意安静，因为我们一定要看见一些事情发生。其实神一直都在等我们，他的真理、道路永不改变，但当我们的生命还没有成长到一定程度的时候，我们就看不见神的道路。我们要学习等候神，在看不到动静的时候反而要按兵不动，不要走在神的前面。无论别人说什么，只要神不动我们就随便行动，唯有在神动的时候我们就要立刻行动。
V5-7 我们是否真知道我们是谁，还是看自己什么都没有？我们有从神而来的身份、能力、权柄，但当我们相信撒旦的谎言而放弃、离开神的同在时，我们就赤身露体、一无所有了。要相信神已经呼召我们“做外邦人的光，开瞎子的眼，领被囚的出牢狱，领坐黑暗的出监牢”。
V8 认识神的名我们就得力量，他是耶和华以勒、是预备丰丰富富的神！然而当我们离开神、倚靠世界或自己的时候，神会将一切称赞、荣耀收回。
V9 我们看圣经要看到神的真实、神的预备、神的公义。我们需要先谦卑顺服、舍己利他，活在生命树气息下，“这事”才发生。
V10-11 “基达人”属以实马利族，是看似不属于神的、被丢弃、被诅咒的百姓，“西拉的居民”代表外邦人，如今他们都来赞美神。
V12-13 神要将人觉得靠着自己或世界的力量得来的东西都要摧毁，因为这些东西不能使我们得到生命。唯有明白我们所拥有的一切都出乎于神的时候，我们才得到真正的祝福。
二、v.14-22 神的应许
V14-18 虽然看上去好像是我们祷告很久神都没有回应，但神在借着他的灵“引瞎子行不认识的道，，领他们走不知道的路”。神要做的事他一定会做的！我们过去就像瞎子一样，生活在黑暗中 – 看不到将来，对永生没有盼望，只知道在这个世界享乐。神借着大自然的力量和疫情让我们看到人的脆弱。我们想要为下一代积攒钱财，但没有人知道明日我们的生命会如何。这个地球正在慢慢被毁灭，但我们没有为永生做预备，只是在为这会被毁坏的身体努力，把精力放在这个世界上，没有看重神给我们的永生和应许。因此，神对我们说：“你们这耳聋的，听吧！你们这眼瞎的，看吧！”
V19-22 我们被世界蒙蔽，看不见神的作为。神从一开始就在说话，他的作为从未停止，只是我们的眼目都向着世界，不愿花时间在神的国度里，反倒将时间花在世界上自己想要的东西。我们不相信神给我们的都是美好的，想要靠自己的力量得生命，结果反而丧失生命。
三、v.23-25 神是答案
我们知道自己是耳聋眼瞎的吗？我们所经历的都是经过神的，神让我们借着这些事醒悟过来。我们若跟从神，我们的生命是能让别人看见神的。但我们的生活一塌糊涂、没有见证，我们却还不知道。我们过着如“掳物”一样的生活，是因为我们“不肯遵行他的道，也不听从他的训诲”。不要只是跟神求地上的祝福，神的祝福一直都在，可是我们落到如此地步却不知道。我们要敏锐于圣灵的声音。圣灵来是要让我们为罪为义为审判自己责备自己。唯有悔改回转，我们才能经历神丰盛的祝福。福音永不改变，不要让我们的生命阻挡了福音。我们的一切都在乎神，我们是否愿意谦卑领受神给我们的预备和应许？