从天上赐下的复兴
沮丧的忧郁者?

经文
使徒行传八1-8
1从这日起,耶路撒冷的教会大遭逼迫,除了使徒以外,门徒都分散在犹太和撒玛利亚各处。
2有虔诚的人把司提反埋葬了,为他捶胸大哭。
3扫罗却残害教会,进各人的家,拉着男女下在监里。
4那些分散的人往各处去传道。
5腓利下撒玛利亚城去,宣讲基督。
6众人听见了,又看见腓利所行的神迹,就同心合意的听从他的话。
7因为有许多人被污鬼附着,那些鬼大声呼叫,从他们身上出来;还有许多瘫痪的,瘸腿的,都得了医治。
8在那城里,就大有欢喜。
信息分享
昨天,我们提到五旬节能使人对神的神圣肃然起敬,并且使人在属灵上有新的追求和渴慕。此外,五旬节也给人带来一种超然的热情和兴奋。我们只需要阅读使徒行传,便可以感受到初期信徒特有的兴奋和喜乐,很多地方都有这些记载,其中一处便是今天的经文。
初期教会对一切关于神和祂的国度的事情都感到兴奋,他们对耶稣、圣灵的降临、神国度的建立、以及祂再来的应许都感到激动。他们十分诚恳,并怀着渴望的心,认为神既让耶稣从死里复活,亦必让他们从自己罪的坟墓里出来;神将耶稣升上天上、坐在天父右边的大能大力,亦必在他们中间工作。
任何人只要认罪悔改、与神和好,就一定可以享有超然的喜乐,这也是在灵性复兴时的情况。不要以为复兴一定是与重担和忧虑有关。复兴虽然总有一段为罪哀伤的时间,但紧接着的是无尽的喜乐。有些历史学家将复兴时的基督徒形容为沮丧的忧郁者,这完全是最可悲、最错误的描述。实际情况是,经历复兴的基督徒就像第一世纪的信徒一样,需要为被误认为喝醉的控诉作辩。可喜的是,我们现在很少会再受到这种误解,我们不须要再强调两者的区别。
「悔改之后必有超然的快乐和喜悦」
进深研究
徒四1-37,十五3,十六25;罗十四17
1. 彼得和约翰如何引起了骚动?
2. 人们有甚么回应?
祈祷
天父,虽然现在可能是处于复兴的大浪潮以外,但求您让我充满初期教会那种热情和兴奋的灵。奉您可敬的名字祈求,阿们。
Heaven-Sent Revival
Dejected melancholics?

Bible reading:
Acts 8:1-8
1 On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.
3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.
6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said.
7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.
8 So there was great joy in that city.
Message
Yet another outcome of Pentecost was extraordinary fervour and excitement. One has only to read the pages of Acts to feel the throb of excitement and joy that characterized the early disciples. It surfaces in many places, one of which is the text before us today.
The early Church was excited about everything that was connected with God and His kingdom. They were excited about Jesus, about the coming of the Spirit, about the establishment of His kingdom, and about the promise of His coming again. They were gripped by an intense earnestness and a spirit of expectation. The God who had raised up Jesus from the dead had raised them also from their own graves of sin. The power that had elevated Christ to the heavens and placed Him at the right hand of the Father was working in them with all its quickening might.
This is also the way it is in times of revival. Once people have repented of their sins and found peace with God there is invariably extraordinary joy. Let no one think that revival is associated with heaviness and gloom. There is always a period of mourning for sin but this is soon followed by waves of endless delight. It is surely amongst the most tragic misrepresentations of truth that historians should write that in times of revival Christians act like dejected melancholics. The reality is that in revival Christians, like their brothers and sisters in the first century, have to defend themselves against the charge of being drunk. Very few of us come under that dark suspicion nowadays, but it is hardly to our credit that there is rarely any need to stress the distinction.
"After repentance there is extraordinary happiness and joy"
Prayer
O Father, as far as it is possible outside of the great wave of revival, let me be gripped with the same spirit of fervour and excitement that pervaded the early Church. For Your own dear Name's sake I ask it. Amen.
Further study
Acts 4:1-37; 15:3; 16:25
Romans 14:17
1. How did Peter and John stir things up?
2. What was the response?
本文英文版权属 CWR 所有,承蒙允准刊载。
背景音乐版权属 赞美之泉音乐事工 所有,承蒙允准使用。

