Thursday, 4th February 2021
Why were there so many problems in the Book of Judges? It was a generation without godly leaders, and such a generation is wilful and confused. Proverbs 31 taught us how to prepare a king. God chose Samson to be the Judge of Israel, but his parents did not prepare him well and he was unable to become a godly leader.
Section One: V1-9 Prepare the King
God chose Samson’s mother and told her not to drink wine. Same thing happened here for King Lemuel, his name means ‘because of God’, and before he was born, his mother was teaching him in the womb. God chose each one of us to serve Him, He is nurturing us and teaching us every day through His Word. We are all prepared by God, not just for us to receive blessings, but for us to live in His Kingdom and His Will. In V3, when we are to become someone used by God, first we should not live in the lustful desires.
Secondly, we should not indulge in wine. The Bible did not say that we cannot drink wine, but why are Nazarites not allowed to drink? V5 tells us that when we drink, we will forget the law and pervert the justice to all the afflicted. When we drink, we will be blind and put down our alertness. When we know the consequences of drinking wine, would we use this attitude to do it? Or should we carry a conviction of sin, of righteousness and of judgement? What’s the responsibility of a king? To be the judge and to carry our righteous acts, but when we drink wine, we will easily forget the law and righteousness.
In V6-7, it tells us that when the miserable people drink, they forget their bitter heart and their troubles. But this also means they will no longer seek God in their misery. God wants to bless us and change our lives; when we change our lives our living quality will also change. We don’t just believe in God because we want to have good quality life, but it’s because when our lives are being lifted up, then the good quality life will come naturally.
Section Two: V10-31 Prepare for the Helper
V10-14 Be a Valuable Helper
How to prepare a helper and a wife? The wife is the helper of her husband and the Church is the Bride of Jesus. So this chapter is talking to all of us. How can we be a helper, who our husband can rely on? Be a blessed person, walking in righteous way of the Lord. As a wife, we should have good testimony in our lives and be victorious in everything we do. Do we also do good and not evil to the House of God as it is mentioned in V12? Do we help and bless the House of God to be abundant? Or do we keep on using the money and resources in the House of God on useless things?
V15-19 Be a Productive Helper
Are we a productive person for our household? V15 shows the noble wife wakes up every morning before the daybreak. Every morning Pastor wakes up in the morning and share to us the Rhema to go through today. If all the people in the household are not satisfied with the food given in the morning, then they will go out and find food themselves. Are we blessing the people in our household or are we becoming a burden to them? In V16 the noble wife knows how to produce profit and plant vineyard, Jesus gave us the blessings of Abraham, to take land as inheritance and to fish for people. But do we work hard in these blessings? Throughout the day what do we do?
The world lies to us and saying that if we don’t work then we are useless. But our values are not based on if we go out to work or not, but are we being a good helper and make our house prosperous? Do we go out to labour for the harvest for God? Where our heart is then our blessings will be. Stop worrying about the outward appearance and start bringing more people to Christ! We need to see the world from the eyes of Jesus, to be zealous for the salvation of the unbelievers out there, not to worry about our own matters, our beauty, or our finance, otherwise we will be like those willful Israelites as recorded in the book of Judges.
V20-24 Be a Fruitful Helper
A helper should be able to let people around them to see the fruits they produce. But often we live in fear of lacking, worry about our finance or other things. Everything we produce only benefits ourselves, but we did not see God created us to be helpers and to bring benefits to them. Be a generous person, not just for our own satisfaction and happiness. We care a lot about if we are being understood or not.
V25-27 Be a Visionary Helper
Do we live in the presence of God and the Will of God? In order for our house to be filled with the presence of God, we need to have the presence of God ourselves! To see the visions God has given to us and our family!
V28-31 Be a Diligent Helper
Have a thankful heart and be diligent to finish all the work in our hands. The students in Hong Kong Leadership Institute were very busy, day and night they diligently served God and live in the presence of God. When we see the blessings, do we treasure the opportunity and be diligent in our duties? Or do we become lazy for our own lustful desires and the worldly entertainment?
Pursuit & Response
Oh Lord, You are the mighty King, You have brought each one of us to Bread of Life Christian Church in south Auckland not by an accident. May Your Word in Proverbs 31 prepare our lives. Help us not only see ourselves but also our church. You want us to be more generous and to understand Your Will for us. The End time is near, help us and prepare us to walk in Your way, to become Your faithful bride, may everything we do is for Your Kingdom. Give us strength, passion, and vision to serve Your church, to live in the hope and to long for Your glory. Prepare our heart, oh Lord, for You only. Amen.
2021年2月4日 星期四
箴言 31
一国之君的预备
–
为什么在士师记有那么多问题？一个没有君王、没有审判官、没有神同在的世代是混乱的。我们今天要以如何预备一国之君的角度来看箴言31章。
一，v1-9: 君王自我的预备
要成为君王，不止有神拣选，也要预备自己。在士师记中，神拣选了参孙的母亲，告诉她不要喝酒。利慕伊勒王(利慕伊勒名字的意思是“为了神”)也是这样。他未出胎，他母亲就在腹中教训他。神拣选了我们每一个人来服事他，他每天都透过他的话语来养育和教导我们。我们都是神预备的，不只是为了我们得到祝福，也是为了我们能生活在他的国度和他的旨意里。
第3节告诉我们，当我们要成为神所使用的人，我们首先不应该生活在私欲中。其次，我们不应该沉溺于酒。圣经并没有说我们不能喝酒，但为什么拿细耳人不能喝酒? V5告诉我们，喝了酒，我们就会“忘记律例，颠倒一切困苦人的是非”。当我们喝酒的时候，我们就会失明，我们的警觉性就会降低。当我们知道喝酒的后果时，我们还会用这种态度去做吗?我们可以为罪、为义、为审判自己责备自己吗?君王的责任是什么?是要施行判断和公义，可当我们喝酒时，我们很容易忘记律法和公义。
6-7节告诉我们，当痛苦的人喝了酒，就忘记了他们的苦楚和烦恼。但这也意味着他们将不再在苦难中寻求上帝。神想要祝福我们，改变我们的生命; 当我们改变我们的生命，我们的生活质量也会改变。我们相信上帝并不仅仅是因为我们想拥有高质量的生活，而是因为当我们的生命被提升时，高质量的生活自然就会到来。
二，v10-31: 帮助者的预备
V10-14: 成为有价值的帮助者
如何预备成为一个帮助者和一个妻子? 妻子是丈夫的帮助者，教会是耶稣的新妇。所以这一章是在对我们所有人说话。我们怎么能成为丈夫可以倚靠的帮助者呢? 要做一个蒙福的人，行耶和华的义路。作为妻子，我们应该在生活中有好的见证，在我们所做的每一件事上都要得胜。我们能否像12节中提到的那样，让神的殿“有益无损”吗? 我们是否帮助，祝福，使神的殿丰盛呢?还是是将神殿里的资财资源，浪费在无用的事上呢?
V15-19: 成为有生产力的帮助者
我们在教会、在家中是否能成为一个有热情、有生产力的人？第15节讲到这位才德的妇人“未到黎明她就起来”。 我们的牧师也是每天清晨就起来跟我们分享神的话语。家中的人所吃的若不是我们预备的，就会跑到外面乱吃，最后伤害自己的身体。我们是成为家中的人一个负担，还是成为他们的祝福？第16节，她买来地不是放在一边不理，而是会栽种、投资，得利。耶稣给我们亚伯拉罕的祝福，我们是否努力得地为业，得人如得鱼？18-19节，我们是否殷勤做工，还是一天到晚都在享乐？世界欺骗我们说没有工作，没有赚钱的人就没有价值 。但我们的价值不在于工作赚钱，而是 我们是否能祝福我们的家，成为帮助者。不要成为主耶稣的担忧。神说收割的日子来了，我们的心在哪里呢？是在自己投资、金钱、身材、样貌、还是情欲上？当我们看见教会的椅子比人多的时候，我们是否愿意将人带进教会里？我们让周围的人所讲的话扭曲了我们在神国度里的价值观。我们若没有用耶稣基督的眼光看周围的人，没有为这些未信主的人大发热心，就会像士师记里的以色列人一样任意妄为。
V20-24，成为多结果实的帮助者
我们是否能让人看到并享受自己工作所结出的的果子？还是我们很害怕贫穷？其实如果我们殷勤不懒惰，我们是不会贫穷的。我们不想自己辛苦，不愿花时间去祝福这个家，祝福别人，只希望自己生产的东西对自己有益，忘了神造我们成为一个慷慨的帮助者。我们是否只想让别人来明白我们的感觉，让我们自己觉得舒服？
V25-27，成为有异象的帮助者
我们要让神的家有神同在，就首先要自己有神同在。要看到神给我们和我们的家的异象。
V28-31，成为殷勤的帮助者
才德的妇人不懒惰，是殷勤的，而我们呢？在香港611学房的神学生每天从早到晚都是殷勤服事神，住在神同在的，而我们这些海外的人是否珍惜神所给我们的恩典，抓紧时间完成我们手上的任务？还是只是浪费在自己的私欲上? 要成为一个好的帮助者就要勤快、努力工作，不抱怨。不是为自己的喜好而活，而是一生为了神而活。
*追求：
主再来的日子近了，我们是如何看待自己？我们是否将自己当作耶稣基督的新妇来预备自己？
主耶稣我感谢你，你是再来的君王。你把我们带到南奥克兰灵粮堂不是偶然，你借着箴言30来预备我们的生命，成为毫无瑕疵，无可指责的新娘。让我们不要只看自己，而是看到你的教会，更加有责任心，舍己，更加明白我们不止是享福，而是为了同一个异象殷勤做工。你再来的日子近了，求主预备每一个新妇，行走在你的道路上。让我们做主工的时候，不是抱怨，而是忠心，我们所做一切都是为了神的国度。赐给我们服事教会的力量，热情和异象，让我们里面有一个盼望，看见你的荣耀，预备我们的心，单单为你，成为耶稣基督你荣耀的新妇！