Sunday, 17th July 2022
Sister Emily Huang
Let Go Oneself, Learn Unity
Elijah was willing to take off his rode, which represented his identity as the prophet, and put it on Elisha. He knew he was not by himself, and he knew that he needed a team. Elijah decided to stop fighting alone and to stop complaining, instead he followed God’s instructions and mission. A lot of time, we want others to follow us and listen to us, but we are unwilling to listen to others, at the end we cannot learn unity, because we cannot let go of ourselves. But God sees our lives more important than our ministry. We might have better ways to carry things out, but if this caused our relationship with others to break, then we can never learn unity, and our ministry will never be blessed by God.
Deal With Old Self, Rebuild Faith
King Ahab sinned against God, so God sent Elijah to prophesy the sin and death of Ahab. It was not an easy thing to do, and in the past, Elijah refused to speak the truth to the king and ran away. But this time, Elijah chose to follow God’s command faithfully. Even when Ahab saw Elijah, he addressed Elijah as his enemy, but Elijah still spoke the truth boldly. Because of the change in Elijah, he also influenced Ahab, who repented before God.
Open Up Life, Testify God’s Power
Elijah changed his attitude after he came down from Mount Horeb, he not only anointed Elisha as the prophet after him, but he also built schools to educate and raise up prophets of God. Elijah poured out everything he knew and every anointing he had from God to his disciples and students. He did not draw attention to himself but allow people to see the powerful God behind him. Elijah overcame his weaknesses, and at the end, he was glorified by God and was taken to Heaven by the fiery chariot sent by God.
This is the Upper Room of Elijah, he let go of himself to learn unity, dealt with his old self to rebuild faith in God, and opened up his life to testify God’s power. In the New Testament, Jesus’ disciples came together in the Upper Room, prayed and waited upon the Holy Spirit, and received the glory of God. Today we must also learn unity, to connect with our authority, with our brothers and sisters, and with those who are following us. We must also deal with the weaknesses in our lives and rebuild our faith in God. Then we must testify God’s power boldly by opening up our lives.
Pastor Kathy Poon
We may be Christians for a long time, but our lives may still be the same, because our lives have not yet been renewed. We want to deal with our old self, but every time we sinned, we would feel upset about ourselves, and we would be discouraged. But when we think back, it was always Jesus, who found us first, who poured out His love for us, so we can find Him. It was the same with Elijah, God found him on Mount Horeb, and he had this encounter with God, then his life was changed. Instead of ‘reacting’ to his environment, Elijah chose ‘responding’ to it. Only after Elijah had the encounter with God, he experienced the Spirit of God upon him, then he could respond to God faithfully.
God also lived within us, we are the Temple of God, therefore we must know that it’s never about following God’s instructions step by step, but it’s about unity with God, and responding to Him faithfully.
Before Elijah’s experience on Mount Horeb, he already experienced the miracle of the fire from Heaven, but because of the threatening words of Jezebel, Elijah was afraid and ran away. After Elijah’s experience on Mount Horeb, his faith was rebuilt, and he was not afraid anymore. God’s plan is higher than our plans, therefore, do not believe in the lies of Satan and the lies of this world. Our God is our Provider, He is with us, and when we believe in it, we will lack nothing, and we will not be afraid.
Nehemiah 8:10 says, ‘Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”’ Let us stop focusing on our problems, because the more we see our problems, the more problems will appear, on the other hand, when we focus more on God, then the bigger our God will be in our lives, and the smaller our problems will become. When we call upon the Name of the Lord and we will be saved. When we cry out to God from the bottom of our hearts, He will definitely come and save us.
Our God is a real God, even in the smallest things, we can see His faithfulness. If we know that we are the temple of God, then we will not need to seek help from people, resources, or the environment. We will not need to worry, only need to hold onto God and believe He will save.
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon (Senior Pastor)
Mark 14:12 says, ‘Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?”’ The disciples treated the Passover as Jesus’ Passover, but they did not see that the Passover was for them, for them to give thanks and remember how God delivered them in Egypt. The disciples were in the ‘doing’ mode, they were waiting for Jesus to give them instructions, and they did not really treasure the meanings behind the Passover. Mark 14:16 says, ‘So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.’ Jesus did not rebuke them or discipline them when the disciples had the wrong focus, instead, He released the power of faith to the disciples. When they responded to Jesus’ instructions, they experienced the miracles.
When the disciples returned to the Upper Room after Jesus resurrected, they were no afraid anymore, they remembered the Passover dinner they had with Jesus, and they had the faith to go through every day. They were no longer in a ‘doing’ mode, but they really truly put their faith in God.
2022年7月17日 主日信息
以利亚的马可楼
*Emily姐妹分享
上周主日我们讲到“以利亚真正经历神”，他在何烈山与神有一段超自然的互动。何烈山曾是摩西的马可楼，但对于以利亚，这里却是他进入马可楼的前传。神对以利亚说话，预备他，正如耶稣复活后花了四十昼夜与门徒一起，对他们讲论天国的事，改变门徒的思想，预备他们的心。以利亚在真正经历神之后才开始进入他的马可楼阶段。今天我们就来看以利亚的马可楼给我们的启示。
一、放下自己，学习合一 （王上19:19-21）
以利亚在何烈山领受神给他的任务后（王上19:15-18），离开何烈山，按着神的指示去找以利沙并牧养他(V19)，使他成为接续自己的先知。以利亚放下自己曾经跟神抱怨说全以色列“只剩我一人”这个自怜的心态，他没有嫉妒以利沙，也没有因为别人接替自己的位置而自暴自弃，反而愿意将代表自己先知身份的外衣脱下、搭在以利沙身上，与人连结、合一，忠心传承神给他的异象和职分。
二、对付老我，重建信心（王上21:17-29）
以利亚之前也是因为王后耶洗别的一句威胁的话就惧怕逃跑，甚至绝望求死，但是当他进入马可楼后，就开始对付自己这个老我的生命。王上21章讲到亚哈王为了抢夺葡萄园而默许王后谋杀园主拿伯，以利亚听从神的吩咐，不再退缩，凭信心“起来”直面对质亚哈王，宣告神对他和耶洗别审判（V19,20-25）。以利亚虽然知道自己的努力不一定能真的完全改变亚哈的结局，但他还是忠心完成神给他作为先知的托付，他的信心不再是建立在事工的果效而是神的话语上。以利亚的转变甚至让邪恶的亚哈王暂时悔改了（V27-29）！
三、敞开生命 见证神大能 （王下2:1-12）
以利亚知道神在以色列已经为自己存留那不肯屈服于偶像的7000人之后，不仅亲自带领、牧养以利沙，又在伯特利、耶利哥、约旦河等地设立“先知门徒”（V2-3,5,7），这就好像现在我们教会设立学房、为神国度培训将领一样。若不是以利亚愿意敞开自己的生命给这些人看，如何影响到这么多生命呢？直到他在地上的日子快要结束时，以利亚仍然跟随神的带领，努力奔走于各地的先知学房，在地上的最后一刻还在教导门徒以利沙（V9-10），愿意把神给自己的那部分倾囊相授给这位新一代的先知。以利亚让以利沙看见的不是他这位师傅的厉害而是他背后的那位能翻转生命的神，因此以利沙会求感动以利亚的灵“加倍地感动”他。以利亚从过去的跌倒中爬起来，战胜自己的软弱，活出“以色列的战车马兵”这个身份，在被接升天时见证神的大能和荣耀（V11-12）！
总结:
- 以利亚从原本只在乎自己事工果效、怀着自怜自艾的心态面对神，当他在何烈山真实经历神之后，就进入他的马可楼，按照神的吩咐去行出自己的使命，学习放下自己、谦卑与人合一，正如当初门徒们原本在跟随耶稣的时候爱争论谁最大，在领受耶稣的吩咐进入马可楼后，他们不再争这些表面的东西，而是学习谦卑、同心合一祷告；
- 以利亚回到以色列后继续为耶和华神发声，冒着被处死的危险对王说话，他对付过去软弱的老我，不再被对人的惧怕影响，重建对神话语的信心，正如那十一个门徒起初在看到耶稣被抓后就害怕逃跑了，但在主复活升天后他们虽然仍面对罗马官兵和犹太人的逼迫，却勇敢地每天进入马可楼聚会一样；
- 以利亚愿意敞开生命，牧养门徒，生命影响生命，让以色列这片国土有更多的人因着见证神的大能而愿意跟从神，这就好像门徒领受耶稣升天前给他们的大使命后，每天进入马可楼，从原本的十一个门徒和几个妇女到后来120人齐心委身，在五旬节圣灵降临时向众人见证神的大能。
- 对于我们来说，我们在我们的马可楼要放下自己，学习合一 – 就是与教会连结，对上（神和权柄）对下（我们所关怀牧养的人）对左右（弟兄姐妹）都有合一的连结，每天进入马可楼对付我们的生命、拒绝老我和情欲的引诱，重建和恢复我们的信心，愿意展现自己的生命以至于人能在我们身上看见神的大能，用生命影响生命！
*Kathy师母分享：
当我们讲到“对付老我”的时候，很多人会想这又是一个要去“做”的事情。以利亚如果没有何烈山的经历，就不会有后面的改变。当初王后耶洗别说一句威胁要杀他的话，以利亚就绝望逃跑了，因为他里面没有神。现实中的我们也常常如此，一旦环境不如意，我们想当下就有反应（react）而不愿三思而后行（pause and respond），我们觉得与神的经历是一段一段分割的。哥林多前书3章16节说：“岂不知你们是神的殿，神的灵住在你们里头吗？”以利亚在何烈山与主相遇，真实经历圣灵内住，从此他所经历的神不再只是叫他做事的神，他也不是只有某段时间与神同在、做完这件事后却不跟神在一起了。我们的身体既然是神的殿，我们与神就不是分开而是一体的。以利亚在何烈山的经历之前被耶洗别的一句话打败，但他经历圣灵内住后生命就不再一样，他不再是一个人，神的话语成为他生命里永远的确据。对付老我就要先经历神，因为神的意念和道路高过我们的意念和道路。很多的时候我们觉得环境艰难，快要过不下去了，但是千山的牛、万山的羊都是耶和华神的，连黄金都只是在天堂上用来铺路的，他是供应我们的神。能够对付老我、重建信心，是因为相信神与我们同在，我们在世上之事过客，聚集财宝在天上才是有永恒价值。
尼希米记 8:10 说：“……因为今日是我们主的圣日。你们不要忧愁，因靠耶和华而得的喜乐是你们的力量”。对付老我的动力不是来自于自己。如果一遇到问题就只想着怎么解决，反而问题越积越多，最后解决不了就很容易像以利亚那样放弃。要真实的进入神的同在，在一切问题中对焦于神。当我们跟神关系好，与人的关系就没问题。遇到问题就从内心渴求、呼喊神的名，必要得救！我们的神是真实的，可以在每一天的小事上去经历他。我们要知道自己是神的殿，有圣灵内住，不要指望世上有哪个人来帮助我们，只要有神同在，我们就不用担心，只要紧紧抓住他，神所给的一定会超乎我们所求所想。