Tuesday, 2nd August 2022
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-11 God Knows Everything
Are we really align with God and align with our authority? Because if we don’t then we cannot receive the flow that’s coming from above. The blessings and anointing are like a flow from above, for us to receive and pass on to others. When we are not aligned, the flow of living water will become like the Dead Sea in our like lives, no living things can live in it.
V1-2 ‘Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and have come forth from the wellsprings of Judah; who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth or in righteousness; for they call themselves after the holy city, and lean on the God of Israel; the Lord of hosts is His name.’ We tend to blame God for everything, and blame our authority for all the problems we have in our lives. God is giving us a good news, that He has a plan for us. When we don’t know the heart of God and when we don’t know His plan for us, we will be bitter and we will complain.
We thought God does not know us, we thought God does not understand our situation. V3 ‘I have declared the former things from the beginning; they went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did them and they came to pass.’ Everything happened in the past is in God’s hands.
V4-5 ‘Because I knew that you were obstinate, and your neck was an iron sinew, and your brow bronze, even from the beginning I have declared it to you; before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you, lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them, and my carved image and my molded image have commanded them.’ God knows the people are stiff necked. We pray and we worship with a hardened heart, we don’t have feelings for God and we are not truthful in front of Him. God knows everything about us, He knows how we are pretending and acting in front of Him. The people craves images and made idols because they were afraid of lacking, they thought by worshipping idols they would no longer be afraid.
We are also the same, we see things more important than God. We worship the world, our work, our family, even our ministry. We are worried about not having enough, we are losing our ‘being’ and indulging in our ‘doing’. When was the last time we hunger and thirst for God’s Word? Our attitude will determine our respond to God’s Word. Everything we received from God is a gift, but is our thanksgiving truthful? We must live a life of freedom, praise and pray in truth and in spirit, let our hearts be genuine, deal with our hearts, so we can be renewed and be righteous before Him.
V6-7 ‘You have heard; see all this. And will you not declare it? I have made you hear new things from this time, even hidden things, and you did not know them. They are created now and not from the beginning; and before this day you have not heard them, lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them.’’ Can we face our blindness in boldness? We know God’s plan is good for us, then we must admit the low point in our lives. When we see and understand then we must repent and return. He has already revealed it all to us.
V8 ‘Surely you did not hear, surely you did not know; surely from long ago your ear was not opened. For I knew that you would deal very treacherously, and were called a transgressor from the womb.’ God is doing a new thing, so stop thinking about the past mistakes and bad experiences. Stop walking backwards and stop using our own ways to manipulate God’s Way. Today is the day for us to walk out of the cave and to walk out of Egypt.
V9-10 ‘For My name’s sake I will defer My anger, and for My praise I will restrain it from you, so that I do not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.’ God chose us and tested us, there will be hardship but this is to help us to be refined, so all the stubbornness and rebellious nature inside us can be dealt with. Then we can be used by God.
V11 ‘For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; for how should My Name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another.’ God allowed us to experience His Good ness and His Glory. We are not following an idol, we are not worshiping a false god. He is the one true God, but what is our attitude when we worship Him? He knows everything, He knows our hearts.
Section Two V12-16 God Will Make Us Know
V12-13 ‘Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last. Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has stretched out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand up together.’ We must listen because He is teaching us and He is calling us. He wants to reveal everything He knows to us.
V14 ‘All of you, assemble yourselves, and hear! Who among them has declared these things? The Lord loves him; He shall do His pleasure on Babylon, and His arm shall be against the Chaldeans.’ God wants us to come together, to be revealed in front of others, to put down our masks, and to allow people to see our weakness so God can be glorified in our lives. He is God Almighty, yet He loves us and calls us His beloved. We want to receive love from this world, but at the end we receive emptiness. Only the love of God can truely fulfill us.
V15-16 ‘I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him, I have brought him, and his way will prosper. Come near to Me, hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, I was there. And now the Lord God and His Spirit have sent Me.’ God loves us, His teaching is for our benefit. Who can save us and who can lead us to the prosperous way? Only God can help us, we must come near Him. Stop magnifying our problems, and see the magnified God, He is with us in our troubles and He has been comforting us all this time!
Section Three V17-22 To Return to Preach God
V17 ‘Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.’ Do we know that all the teachings from God is for our benefit? It’s for us to come to the right path, let God lead us and let God take over.
V18-19 ‘Oh, that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your descendants also would have been like the sand, and the offspring of your body like the grains of sand; his name would not have been cut off nor destroyed from before Me.’ God wants us to fish for people, to be fruitful and abundant. When we listen to the Word of God, to let go of what we hold onto, then God’s blessings for us will be more than what we can imagine.
V20 ‘Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! With a voice of singing, declare, proclaim this, utter it to the end of the earth; say, “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob!”’ Let us go out of Babylon, and flee from the Chaldeans, to be willing to seek God and to destroy the idols we worship. To walk out of slavery and to preach the Good News to all.
V21-22 ‘And they did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He caused the waters to flow from the rock for them; He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out. “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”’ Do not think thy there is not desert when we follow God, the desert will still be there, but God’s living water is also there. His providence is never ending, but can we see it? Stop complaining and start seeing the wondrous work of God.
以赛亚书 48 – 神对我们的计划
2022年8月2日 星期二
潘锡安牧师
在本章一开始神就提醒，我们是否明白我们的水源出自哪里，是否对准水位？如果没有对准，就干旱接不到水，或者因水流不出去而变成死海。唯有对准水位，从上而来的水才能经过我们流到下面我们所影响的人。那些在国破家亡、被掳到巴比伦的犹大人看到的都是问题、以为神不了解他们，不知道神在拯救他们。神说他们这样的抱怨是“不凭诚实，不凭公义”。对于这些在为奴为仆中怨天尤人的百姓，神要告诉他们一个好消息，就是神的计划。我们“不凭诚实，不凭公义”，因为我们不了解神的心意和计划。
一、v.1-11 神都知道一切
V1-2 神是能够得胜的“万军之耶和华”，但这些百姓却“不凭诚实，不凭公义”地指责神让他们活在水深火热中。
V3-4 “早先的事”指刚刚发生的事，就是国家灭亡、百姓被掳到巴比伦的事，神早已“说明”。在以赛亚书39章神已经借着他的仆人以赛亚的口对希西家说：“……日子必到，凡你家里所有的，并你列祖积蓄到如今的，都要被掳到巴比伦去，不留下一样。这是耶和华说的。并且从你本身所生的众子，其中必有被掳去，在巴比伦王宫里当太监的……”（39:5-8）。当时希西家以为他能走到如今是靠着自己，因此跟巴比伦使者炫耀。
V4 神对我们说：“你的颈项是铁的，你的额是铜的”。我们向神屈身跪拜时本该是感到痛、要放下自己感觉的，但现在我们在敬拜中已经没有感觉了。
V5 我们以为神和权柄不知道我们，但我们里面一切的顽梗虚假，神都已知道。神不要我们觉得是我们手上所倚靠的偶像让我们遇到现今的事情。古时外邦人拜那些天地万物 – 比如风雨、太阳等，因为他们害怕没有这些东西，于是造出这些偶像，祈求它们能帮助自己有平安。我们是否也是倚靠世上的事甚至教会里的服事更胜过倚靠神？我们来参加晨祷，是否因为渴慕神的话？我们对待神给我们的晨祷和学房是什么心态？我们要看到，能够有晨祷、学房，这些都是神给我们的礼物。我们的祷告和赞美是发自内心吗？神要我们的心是真的，不要觉得服事是劳苦重担。当我们的心不对的时候，我们说出的话就是“不凭诚实，不凭公义”，我们就要对付我们的心，诚实面对神，才能明白神的计划。
V6-7 我们要勇敢面对自己的蒙蔽，不再怨天尤人，而是承认自己的低点。隐藏的事本是属于耶和华的（申29:29），但如今神告诉我们: “我将新事，就是你所不知道的隐密事，指示你”。神知道我们因为过去的失败，心里害怕，所以他要做一件新事。我们用过去的经验来跟从神，但神告诉我们“这事是现今造的，并非从古就有”。我们遇到挑战就喜欢跑回原来的山洞，然而，在生命树气息下，我们要学习谦卑顺服。当我们说“这事我早已知道了”的时候，说明我们还在山洞里，不愿走出我们的埃及。
V8 我们不知道自己里面是叛逆的，还以为自己是圣城的人，自以为圣洁。
V10 神说我们一定会吃苦，但不是像别人“熬炼银子”那样捶打我们。“在苦难的炉中”，神拣选我们，唯有在吃苦的时候，我们里面的骄傲、顽梗才能炼净。
V11 神让我们经历这些，看到他的良善和荣耀。我们想一祷告就解决自己的问题，把神当成偶像来拜，在人面前装得很属灵，但神都知道一切。
二、v.12-16 神要使我们知道
V12-13 神要我们知道他是掌管穹苍的神，我们不要把那些我们害怕的东西当作神，而要听神说的话。
V14 我们不是一个人去听，却要“聚集而听”，就好像我们现在所处的马可楼阶段，神要我们在人前放下假面具，真实呈现自己的软弱，好让神的荣耀彰显。我们是否想过自己是“耶和华所爱的人”？当我们愿意谦卑自己、将一切在人前的伪装放下的时候，神说我们是“耶和华所爱的人”。我们是否被这位自有永有的神所说的话打动？我们希望从伴侣、婚姻、父母儿女或者权柄身上得到爱，最后筋疲力尽、得到的只是害怕，没有看到自己是神所爱的人。神要帮助他所爱的人不再留在压制、虚伪、或者怨天尤人里面，神要拯救我们。
V15 神拣选我们，我们的的道路就亨通，必能走到那位爱我们的神那里。没有偶像能带我们脱离为奴为仆、水深火热之地，唯有神能给我们平安。
V16 神说，你要靠近我。我们愿意放下一切缠累而靠近神吗？神告诉我们，当我们水深火热、困难受苦的时候，其实神都与我们同在。我们有看到吗？我们遇到问题的时候不要只懂得哭闹，不要放大我们的问题或里面的焦虑、恐惧，而是四处观望，看到神陪伴我们走过死荫幽谷，他的杖他的竿都安慰我们。我们不要放弃追求神。
三、v.17-22 要回转传扬神
V17 我们被教训、提升不是被数落或操控，而是让我们“得益处”。我们不要担心将来要怎样做，而是让神来带领我们。
V18-19 我们的平安在哪里？唯有听从神的命令，我们的“平安就如河水，…公义就如海浪…后裔也必多如海沙，…腹中所生的也必多如沙粒”。我们是否像枯井、像打不到鱼的渔夫？这是因为我们为自己谋算，不相信神给我们的祝福。神要我们成为得人如得鱼的人，成为大族的族长。
V20 我们没有办法从巴比伦出来，除非我们自己愿意。神当初在埃及用十灾将人崇拜的偶像一个个拆毁，最后以色列百姓才用自己的脚走出埃及。我们是否愿意走出自己所害怕的“巴比伦”吗？我们愿意走出自己为奴为仆之地，去宣扬神的大作为吗？
V21 在旷野中的以色列百姓明明看见过神的大作为，但不懂感恩，遇到困难就埋怨神和权柄，想回去埃及，因此摩西才生气击打磐石。不要以为跟从神就没有高山低谷或沙漠。干旱的沙漠还是会有，但神的活水江河也一直都在，他的供应够我们用。
V22 不认识神的人永远没有平安。神给我们力量，我们是否愿意从巴比伦中走出来，还是习惯了迦勒底人给我们的压逼？神要祝福我们和我们的子孙后代，将我们从迦勒底人中拯救出来，让我们可以“将这事宣扬到地极”！