Wednesday, 24th November 2021
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-16 God Judges
V1 ‘Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.’ What it means by ‘judge’ here is to judge in someone else’s position. As authorities, we have the responsibilities to point out mistake and make correction; but if this is not what our position is to do, then when we judge and condemn others, we are condemning ourselves. V2 ‘But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.’ We must do ourselves, do not stand in other people’s shoes to judge others. When we focus on doing what we have to do, instead of what others are doing, then we can do our jobs efficiently and effectively. Do not think that we can run from the judgement of God, when we are willing to humble and obey then our lives will be blessed.
V3-4 ‘And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?’ All the knowledge we have in this world is second-hand knowledge. Everything we learn and everything we are taught are discovered from someone else then passed on to us. Therefore, if this person receives the knowledge in a wrong attitude, we my very likely receive this knowledge in the same way. Therefore, it is not up to us to make judgement about others, because we don’t even know if the information and knowledge, we receive are completely true. Even for the Government of country, it is not our job to criticize about their decision, but to do our part as citizens and to pray for them. We are responsible for our own lives, and when we act according to the position God appoints us in, then He will reward us.
V7 ‘Eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honour, and immortality.’ We don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but we know our loving Father has already prepared the eternal life for us. We should not be afraid of death, because the eternity is much better than everything we have on this earth, this is the truth a lot of people do not understand.
V11 ‘For there is no partiality with God.’ No matter what kind of people we are, what kind of things we do, there is no partiality with God. Do we believe in it? Do we believe God rules and reigns? We understand the truth today, we understand the Bible, God wants us to humble and obey, to deny ourselves and benefit others. Life and death have been laid down in front of us, do we really to see our low point and fully rely on God? We all have double-standard, do not make judgement before we find out the truth, and do not give up before we learn to fully rely on God.
Section Two V17-24 False Life
V17-20 ‘Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.’ Do we know God’s law, and do we know God’s standards? Do we really follow accordingly? What is our position? When we share what we receive from the Bible, do we really see how the Scriptures speak into our lives and enlighten us in our low point in life?
V21-23 ‘You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonour God through breaking the law?’ Are we standing in the right place? Doing what we should do in our position? Do we really know our position? We have been taught about the truth, but we must also live out the truth. Change our way of living purposely, turn knowledge into life. The Word of God is alive, does the Word make us alive? Do we live it out first before we use it to judge or teach others? True teaching must change our lives first before others.
Section Three V25-29 True Life
V25 ‘For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.’ How to live out a true life in the eyes of God? On the surface, we may be doing everything according to God’s way and teaching, but our attitude may not be right. We do everything for a purpose, we want the applause of others, and we care about how people look at us. V26-27 ‘Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfils the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law?’ Our ‘doing’ cannot determine our lives in the eyes of God, God sees our heart, can we live a true life with the heart of God?
What is really the life we live out? We learn a lot, we know a lot, but do we really live out a life connected to Jesus? We need the wisdom and enlightenment from God, to differentiate how to living the true life.
罗马书 2 – 真假生命
2021年11月24日 星期三
潘锡安牧师
一、神审判 v.1-16
V1 去论断别人和被人论断都不好。“论断”指的是一个人站在不当在的位份做批评论断的事（这与我们的权柄因着“提升”我们而给予的点评、鞭策是不一样的）。教会有从神而来的权柄，是在万有之上。世上的任何一个权柄都经过神，不同的权柄有不同的工作范围。我们不会去批评在上掌权的，而要多为他们祷告。这个世界会灭亡，神会对世界有最终的审判，而我们的责任是向人传有永生盼望的福音。如果我们不顾位份去论断人，我们就只是在讲人是非，在所论断的事上“定自己的罪”。我们来到教会、学房，不是用学到的真理去批评论断别人，而是提升自己，活出谦卑顺服的生命树气息。
V2 -3“我们知道这样行的人，神必照真理审判他。”我们要做的事是很多的，所以要专注在自己该做的事上，这样就会过得很充实。
V4 神什么都知道，但他有一颗为父的心，要在这些罪恶的事上彰显他的“恩慈、宽容、忍耐”。我们不要只因为别人表扬我们做得好才高兴，这样就只是想去赚取人的赞赏，很容易跌倒。当人称赞我们时，我们要感恩神让我们能有如此恩典。当我们看到别人特别是权柄的不好之处，我们是否愿意为他们代祷？现代很多资讯都是通过媒体的过滤传到我们耳里，若报道人本身有歪曲，我们接受到的信息也是有偏见的，就更不能以此来评论信息中的当事人了。我们要有一颗感恩的心去看到神的爱，相信每一件临到我们的事是为了祝福我们而不是打到我们。
V6 我们不用去担心其他人得到什么，我们要对自己的生命负责。我们若没有监管我们权柄的位份，就不要论断他们。这正如列王纪里记载的那些恶王，神没有让百姓去论断他们，而是神亲自借亚述和巴比伦王审判了以色列和犹大国。
V7 我们要渴慕的是永恒的生命。我们在地上会毁坏的生命其实很快就会过去，明天的事如何没有人知道，但我们都知道爱我们的阿爸父已经为我们预备了永生。死亡带不走神的恩典，他为我们预备的是最好的。
V8-9 “作恶的人”就是那些批评论断的人。保罗当时是对在罗马教会的信徒讲这些话的（1:8），也是跟我们这些跟从耶稣的人说的，包括“犹太人”和外邦人。我们谁都没有资格因为自己的优势而批评论断他人，只求神给我们一颗谦卑的心。
V10-11 无论是谁，他是什么位份，“神不偏待人”。我们是否相信神掌权？
V12 如今我们知道真理，可是我们不去行出来，而还是照着我们的情欲做事，神就会照着这个来审判我们。如果我们真的活不出真理，但我们若以一颗为罪为义为审判的心寻求神帮助，神会出手帮助我们。我们靠自己本来就是做不到神给的要求，所以我们才要迫切祷告，而不是怨天尤人。
二、假的生命 v.17-24
我们既然知道神的标准，是否活在这个标准下，还是知道了却不去做。当我们听了牧者的讲道后要分享自己的领受时，要看到自己的低点，说“我”自己领受到的是什么，而不是站在一个“师傅”的角度去回应或教训别人说“我们应该怎样怎样”。我们被教导真理后就要努力去行出来，使自己改变。若我们都行不出一件事还以此去教别人，这就是假的教导。听了领袖给我们的关于真理的教导，我们不要做“陪审团”的工作去论断他们的生命，而是要活出真理，听道而行道。神要帮助我们扎根、结果，我们要首先去听神给我们的教导才能领受祝福。
三、真的生命 v.25-29
我们可能做很多事情让人觉得我们是虔诚爱主的基督徒，然而我们内心充满苦毒、自怜、孤单、抱怨、不平，这都是因为我们并非由心而发做那些事，我们做事只是想听到人的夸奖。这样的人生活在分辨善恶树下，一直在doing的模式中，没有办法活出真平安。在耶稣讲过的“浪子回头”的比喻里，大儿子对父亲宠爱失而复得的小儿子很不满，这个大儿子之前做的事表面上看上去很好，但是他的目的是爸爸的赞赏，一旦他没有得到他真正想要的东西，他就不开心。我们的表面行为不代表什么，唯有我们的内心才反应真实的我们。
神看重的是我们的生命。我们学了很多，知道很多，然而我们的生命是否与耶稣基督连在一起呢？求神帮助我们在真光中越来越敞开自己的生命。