Sunday, 31st July 2022
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
We are entering the season of Upper Room, and today we will look through the lives of the disciples of Jesus, to see what they had gone through and why they were willing to enter the Upper Room and bringing changes to their lives. When we look at their life journeys, we will know what God wants us to do today. We are not here to bring the restoration that we want, but the restoration God wants.
Acts 1:4-8 says, ‘And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”’
After Jesus resurrected, He spent forty days with the disciples, and talked to them about the Kingdom of God. Jesus told them to pray together and wait for the Holy Spirit. A lot of times we don’t know what our lives are, only when trials and troubles come, then we can truly see who we are. When Jesus was prosecuted, all the disciples ran away, but when Jesus resurrected, He did not scold them, but to care for them, to cook them the fish, and to teach them.
1. THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS COME UPON YOU
Jesus told the disciples that they would be baptised by the Holy Spirit, then immediately the disciples asked if the Kingdom of Israel will be restored. The disciples were still thinking about ‘doing things’ and ‘having things happen’, they were still expecting Jesus to bring back the Kingdom of Israel like before. The world is moving forward, it’s just like how we wish to go back to the lives before the Pandemic, but the world is never the same after the Pandemic.
In the original scripture, verse 8 actually means, ‘the Holy Spirit will come to attack you’. We thought the Holy Spirit comes to empower us and to give us everything we wish for, but the Bible says that the Holy Spirit comes to convict us for sins, for righteousness, and for judgment. Why would the Holy Spirit come on Pentecost Day like a fire upon the disciples, when the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus like a dove when He was baptised? We would interpret the Holy Spirit with our own thinking, instead of simply trust and rely on God. What do we rely on? Our qualifications, our power, our finance, our knowledge…? We are afraid of many things, and that’s why the Holy Spirit will come to attack us, so we can be cleanse with His fire.
2. YOU SHALL RECEIVE POWER
We are excited to receive power, but do we really understand what this power is? II Peter 1:3 says, ‘as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.’ Deuteronomy 29:29 also says, ‘the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.’ We must hold onto the Word of God and to treasure the Word of God. This is what our church focuses, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, which is the Word of God.
The hunger and thirst within us can only be satisfied by the Word of God, there is nothing and no one in this world that can give us this satisfaction. We will feel empty inside unless we continue to have the hunger and thirst for the Word of God, then we can receive the true power and restoration. This power can help us to live out the Word of God, to humble, to obey, to deny ourselves, and to benefit others.
3. YOU SHALL BE WITNESSES TO ME
What does it mean by being the witness of God? To let go of what we want and what we like, to submit to our authority, to connect with our brothers and sisters, to live under the Tree of Life, and to impact lives of those, who follow us. The restoration brought by God is different to what we think about and what we want. God has already prepared the best for us, it will look different to the seemingly good things in this world, but can we believe that what God has prepared for us is the best for us?
Upper Room is a lifestyle we live, to humble, to obey, to deny ourselves and to benefit others. To align with our authority, to connect with our brothers and sisters beside us, and to impact the lives of those, who follow us. When we enter the Upper Room, we are not entering a physical place, but entering a new stage in life, where God is working within us, changing us, redirecting us. What we think is important might not be so important in the Kingdom of God, therefore we must put down our own thinking, humbly following Him, and letting Him use us as a witness. So the restoration brought by God will be in our lives.
主日讲道记录 – 2022年7月31日
#神带下来的复兴
- 潘锡安牧师
马可楼不是一个建筑物，而是一个生命。很多时候我们觉得如果自己按照某种方式来做事，我们的生命、家庭等等就不一样，但究竟神想要我们如何做？在进入马可楼前，耶稣跟门徒分享了这段重要的信息：神带下来的复兴。
*经文 – 使徒行传 1:4-8
耶稣在复活之后花了四十天时间跟门徒讲论天国的事（1：3），在升天前，耶稣吩咐他们不要离开耶路撒冷，而是等候，因为“不多几日，你们要受圣灵的洗”（1:4-5）。当试炼来临的时候，人的真实生命就披露出来了。那些经历过耶稣神迹奇事和爱的门徒听到圣灵要降临，以为他们有圣灵的能力就可以推翻罗马政府、“复兴以色列国”（1:6）。那些门徒的生命此时没有改变，心里想的还是以色列复国的事，但神的复兴与人想要的复兴是不一样。我们所期待的重新是回到原来想要的生活，就好像三年的疫情让我们期待回到疫情之前的生活，然而这是不可能的，因为世界在向前走。我们要如何经历神，神带下来的复兴究竟如何？
- 圣灵降临在你们身上
耶稣说的“圣灵降临在你们身上”是什么意思呢？“降临”的圣经原文是“攻击”。路加福音 11:22说 “但有一个比他更壮的来……”- “来”的意思就来攻击你“所倚靠的盔甲兵器”。我们所倚靠的是什么呢？是学历、知识、权力、金钱、工作或身份吗？还是在婚姻中倚靠另一半的尊重和爱，或者要儿女孝顺才感觉是个温暖的家? 圣灵来要攻击我们，让我们将我们所倚靠的东西都放下。门徒以为圣灵来给他们加添力量、使他们心想事成。我们也像那些门徒一样想让圣灵加添我们的力量。神都知道我们的问题。我们跟从耶稣，就一定要放下自己。可惜我们却常常放下一点又拿起更多东西。圣灵来是要让我们为罪为义为审判自己责备自己，而不是为我们得到自己想要的东西。耶稣告诉门徒回耶路撒冷等候圣灵降临，就是要“攻击”他们。五旬节的时候，圣灵降临时在门徒的头上有火，就是要烧尽里面一切的东西。我们跟从神，是否为自己留一手？我们服事神，是否倚靠神？我们里面有很多害怕，但我们要求圣灵来攻击我们，夺去我们里面紧紧抓住的东西。
2. 你们就必得着能力
现在有很多人去学先知预言、赶鬼的课程，因为他们很想得到这个能力。然而彼得后书1:3告诉我们，“神的神能已将一切关乎生命和虔敬的事赐给我们，皆因我们认识那用自己荣耀和美德召我们的主”。圣灵给我们的能力不是我们要的，而是“一切关乎生命和虔敬的事”，就是明白神的话语。我们要有圣灵才能明白神的话语。圣灵给我们饥渴慕义的心，当我们“饥渴慕义”的时候，我们无法自己满足自己，而是需要有从外面而来的帮助，就是从神给我们教会的水流里得到养分。我们有圣灵而来的能力，也要有饥渴慕义的心去领受神的话语，就是明白“一切关乎生命和虔敬的事”，不仅是为我们，也为了我们的家庭、下一代。我们是否愿意将神给我们的能力用在对的地方？
3. 作我的见证
我们要在哪里做耶稣的见证呢？耶稣说: “要在耶路撒冷、犹太全地和撒马利亚，直到地极”。“耶路撒冷”是神的殿所在之处，我们要先在神的殿作见证；“犹太全地”代表我们工作和居住的地方；“撒马利亚，直到地极”代表我们工作生活以外的地方，这就我们常说的先神后人再大地。我们是否愿意在教会、在我们周围为主作见证? 要放下我们自己觉得对的东西，与神与权柄连接，谦卑顺服，与弟兄姐妹连接，成为合一，并且生命影响生命，带领下面所牧养的人。我们有很多计划想要得到这个世界，但我们若想得到这个世界，最后反而会失去世界。我们被自己的情欲控制，没有自由，只想得到世上的财富，然而耶稣告诉我们，要聚宝在天上。我们是否愿意从自己开始，在教会、在我们所工作和生活的地方改变？
*师母分享：
今天的信息解释了什么是马可楼。马可楼的季节是一个过程，神带领我们经历个人、家庭、城市、国家的复兴。那十一个门徒愿意听从耶稣说的“不要离开……要等候”的吩咐，才经历复兴。一粒麦子若不落在地里死了，就不能结出许多籽粒来。那一百二十个门徒以及我们每一个来到这里的人都是那“一粒麦子”。种子要先埋在地里才能长大结果，我们要埋在耶稣基督这块磐石里。
圣灵来要“攻击”我们习惯的思想和感觉，当我们觉得自己做不到“谦卑顺服、舍己利他”这个崇高目标的时候，要如何行出神的话语？我们要呼求圣灵的帮助，圣灵就会给我们超自然的能力，使我们不再靠着自己的意志力，战胜我们自己过不去的那道坎。
神的话语带下的能力就是十字架，我们与神之间（竖）和与人之间（横）的拦阻要被拆毁。我们以为的神和人是一个样子，神的能力要拆毁一切我们认识神和认识人的拦阻。如果一件事情不能让我们与神、与人和好，我们就要思考，这件事是否是从神而来？神所带来的复兴和我们以为的复兴是不一样的。复兴要从我们每一个人的生命开始，愿意像一粒麦子一样埋在耶稣基督里面，以耶稣基督为我们的养分，结出生命树的果子。