從迷惘到信靠
祈求復興
經文
以賽亞書六十四1-8
1願你裂天而降;願山在你面前震動。
2好像火燒乾柴,又像火將水燒開,使你敵人知道你的名,使列國在你面前發顫!
3你曾行我們不能逆料可畏的事。那時你降臨,山嶺在你面前震動。
4從古以來,人未曾聽見、未曾耳聞、未曾眼見在你以外有甚麼神為等候他的人行事。
5你迎接那歡喜行義、記念你道的人;你曾發怒,我們仍犯罪;這景況已久,我們還能得救嗎?
6我們都像不潔淨的人;所有的義都像污穢的衣服。我們都像葉子漸漸枯乾;我們的罪孽好像風把我們吹去。
7並且無人求告你的名;無人奮力抓住你。原來你掩面不顧我們,使我們因罪孽消化。
8耶和華啊,現在你仍是我們的父!我們是泥,你是窯匠;我們都是你手的工作。
信息分享
昨天我們在結束的時候說過,當我們單單專注於神的榮耀時,便能發出最崇高的禱告。哈巴谷沒有祈求神放棄使用迦勒底人教訓猶大人的這個計劃,他也沒有要求耶路撒冷不再受到劫掠。他沒有這樣祈求,是因為他明白將要發生的事情是那些人應得的。
現在先知開始從神的角度來看整個事件,神的原則以及神的榮耀成為了他的負擔。我相信他的祈求可以這樣演繹:「主啊,我們這些屬於你的子民無論要忍受甚麼,都不要緊,只要你的工作得到復興和保持純潔。」他其中一個偉大的祈求,是神會「在這些年間復興(祂的)作為!」(哈三2)。大部分解經家都相信「這些年間」這句話是指「當那些預測的可怕事件在我們中間發生時」。
啊,但願今天在我們的教會能夠聽到更多這樣的禱告。而事實上我們所聽到禱告,卻大多是關於核子威脅、世界經濟、暴力、貪污等主題。當然,這些都是重要的事情,我們也需要在禱告中記念它們,但這些卻不應該是我們最關心的事項。我必須指出,教會在這個時代所應該關注的核心,是祈求神透過全球性的聖靈復興,來重建祂的子民的屬靈生命。
「教會最關心的應該是屬靈生命的重建」
進深研究
賽二十六1-9;代下十五15;詩三十八9,七十三25
1. 以賽亞為甚麼尋求神?
2. 詩人承認甚麼?
祈禱
我的父、我的神,我們總是容許自己墮入靈性的貧乏和空虛之中,求您赦免。求您再次向我們吹進您的靈氣,親愛的主,就從我開始吧。阿們。
From Confusion to Confidence
A plea for revival
Bible reading:
Isaiah 64:1-8
1 [a]Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!
2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!
3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
4 Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved?
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
7 No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to[b] our sins.
8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
Message
We ended yesterday with the thought that the highest form of prayer is when we are concerned about the glory of God - and nothing else. Habakkuk did not petition God to give up the idea of using the Chaldeans to refine the people of Judah. Nor did he ask that there would be no sacking of Jerusalem. There was no such petition because he had come to see that the forthcoming events were well deserved.
Now that the prophet had begun to see the whole issue from God's point of view, his burden was for God's cause and God's glory. His petition - so I believe - can be paraphrased in these words: "Lord, whatever we, Your people, have to put up with is of no concern so long as Your work is revived and kept pure." His one great plea is that God will "revive [His] work in the midst of the years!" (Hab. 3:2, NKJ). Most commentators believe that the expression "in the midst of the years" means "while these terrible things that are predicted are going on among us".
Oh, that we could hear more of this kind of praying in our churches today. Most prayers we hear are concerned with topical issues - the nuclear threat, world economy, violence, corruption, and so on. These issues are important, of course, and most certainly there is a need to keep them in the focus of our praying. But these matters should not be our biggest concern. I have no hesitation in saying that the chief concern of the Church in this present age should be the spiritual restoration of God's people through a world-wide Holy Spirit revival.
"The chief concern of the Church should be spiritual restoration"
Prayer
My Father and my God, forgive us that we have allowed ourselves to slip into the depths of spiritual poverty and emptiness. Breathe once again into the midst of us - and begin, dear Lord, in me. Amen.
Further study
Isaiah 26:1-9
2 Chronicles 15:15
Psalm 38:9; 73:25
1. Why did Isaiah seek God?
2. What was the psalmist's confession?
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