新視域的力量
我害怕黑暗

經文
箴言十二1-8
1喜愛管教的,就是喜愛知識;恨惡責備的,卻是畜類。
2善人必蒙耶和華的恩惠;設詭計的人,耶和華必定他的罪。
3人靠惡行不能堅立;義人的根必不動搖。
4才德的婦人是丈夫的冠冕;貽羞的婦人如同朽爛在他丈夫的骨中。
5義人的思念是公平;惡人的計謀是詭詐。
6惡人的言論是埋伏流人的血;正直人的口必拯救人。
7惡人傾覆,歸於無有;義人的家必站得住。
8人必按自己的智慧被稱讚;心中乖謬的,必被藐視。
信息分享
讓我們繼續來思想這情況:當詩人開始想到不敬虔的人的結局時,一切就都變得清晰了。他真正明白了這些人的境況,以致在這首詩餘下的部分,詩人的語言不單顯示他再沒有妒忌他們,反而開始同情他們。事實上,我們也會遇到同樣的情況,我們越考慮到未信的人最終的結局,就越發憐憫他們。
非基督徒的生命價值觀是多麼灰暗和可悲,特別是他們對生命終結的看法。馬雷博士(Dr. Marrett)是牛津其中一間學院的院長,也是一名理性主義者,他在生命接近終結時寫道:「除了寒冷的秋天以及更寒冷的冬天以外,我再沒有甚麼可期待了,不過我還是不能灰心。」威爾斯(H.G. Wells)曾經嘲笑基督教關於罪和救恩的教義,但在生命終結時卻完全感到困惑和迷惘。他最後一本書的名稱總結了他對事物的看法:《走頭無路的心》(A Mind at the End of its Tether)。一位著名的無神論者在彌留之際,要求一名親戚把一枝燃點著的蠟燭放在他手中,那位親戚關心地問他:「為甚麼要點著的蠟燭?」他的回答是:「因為我害怕進入外面的黑暗中。」
要是我們仍然妒忌那些不敬虔的人的生活方式,只專注於他們現在的成功以及他們看似美好的時光,卻不想到他們的結局,這是多麼愚蠢啊!我們永遠都不該忘記,無論那些不敬虔者的生活方式多麼風光,他們生命的終結都是非常的可怕。
「多關心未信主的人」
進深研究
提前六1-10;詩四十九10;箴二十三5,二十七24
1. 保羅向提摩太反映甚麼真理?
2. 這真理怎樣影響我們的生活方式?
祈禱
天父,求您讓這重要的信息進入我的心中,使我不僅不妒忌那些不認識您的人,反而激發我多去關心他們。但願我能夠被您使用,阻止人們繼續走向那條永遠失喪的道路。奉耶穌的名求,阿們。
The Power of a New Perspective
"I'm afraid of the dark"

Bible reading:
Proverbs 12:1-8
1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid.
2 Good people obtain favor from the Lord, but he condemns those who devise wicked schemes.
3 No one can be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted.
4 A wife of noble character is her husband's crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.
5 The plans of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.
6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.
7 The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous stands firm.
8 A person is praised according to their prudence, and one with a warped mind is despised.
Message
We continue thinking about the fact that as soon as the psalmist considered the end of the ungodly, everything dropped into focus. Their true position became so clear to him that his language in the rest of the psalm indicates that he not only ceased to be envious of the ungodly but began to be sorry for them. Indeed, the same thing will happen to us too - the more we focus on the ultimate end of the unconverted, the more compassion we will feel for them.
How grim and cheerless is the non-Christian view of life, especially as it relates to the end. Dr Marrett, a rationalist and head of one of the colleges in Oxford, wrote, as he neared the end of his life: "I have nothing to look forward to but chill autumn and still chillier winter and yet I must somehow try not to lose heart." H.G. Wells, who ridiculed and scoffed at Christianity with its doctrine of sin and salvation, said at the end of his life that he was utterly baffled and bewildered. The title of his last book summed up his view of things: A Mind at the End of its Tether. When he was dying, a noted atheist asked one of his relatives for a lighted candle to be placed in his hand. "Why a lighted candle?" asked the concerned relative. "Because I am afraid to go out into the dark," was the reply.
How foolish to look enviously at the lifestyle of the ungodly, focusing only on their present successes and the marvellous time they seem to be having, without considering their end. We should never forget that no matter how glittering their lifestyle, the death of the ungodly is a terrible thing.
"Develop concern for the unconverted"
Prayer
O Father, let this sobering thought not only free me from envy but stimulate within me a deep concern for those who do not know You. May I be used in some way to halt the progress of someone on the road to a lost eternity. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Further study
1 Timothy 6:1-10
Psalm 49:10
Proverbs 23:5; 27:24
1. What truth did Paul reflect to Timothy?
2. How does the same truth affect the way we live our lives?
本文英文版權屬 CWR 所有,承蒙允准刊載。
背景音樂版權屬 讚美之泉音樂事工 所有,承蒙允准使用。

