新视域的力量
事情的结局？
经文
马太福音七13-20
13你们要进窄门。因为引到灭亡，那门是宽的，路是大的，进去的人也多；
14引到永生，那门是窄的，路是小的，找着的人也少。
15你们要防备假先知。他们到你们这里来，外面披着羊皮，里面却是残暴的狼。
16凭着他们的果子，就可以认出他们来。荆棘上岂能摘葡萄呢？蒺藜里岂能摘无花果呢？
17这样，凡好树都结好果子，惟独坏树结坏果子。
18好树不能结坏果子；坏树不能结好果子。
19凡不结好果子的树就砍下来，丢在火里。
20所以，凭着他们的果子就可以认出他们来。
信息分享
今天我们要看看诗人来到神的圣所之后的领悟：他「思想(理解)他们的结局」（诗七十三17）。当他开始思考那些不敬虔的人会有怎样的结局时，一切就都变得清晰起来。他以前只看到那些不敬虔的人兴盛的一面，但却没有想到他们最后的结局，因为他并没有把各种情况都看清楚。
不敬虔的人会有怎样的结局？今天的经文告诉我们，不敬虔的人所走的宽路引向灭亡，敬虔的人走的窄路引向生命。就是这么简单。虽然诗人当时并没有这段经文，但他肯定明白背后的真理。请听这句来自诗篇三十七篇的话：「至于犯法的人，必一同灭绝；恶人终必剪除」（38节）。这首诗的作者大卫王描述邪恶的人扩展自己，好像一棵树，但结果来到时，他们从地上消失，没有人再能够找到他们。
我们的问题是我们往往太注目于现在，没有考虑将来。你看那些不敬虔的人虽然不理会道德规范，日子似乎过得很好，你有没有因此而对他们产生嫉妒呢？唔，想一想他们的结局吧，他们最终的结果会如何呢？圣经描述那是「灭亡」。我们永远都不要忘记这一点──现在怎样并不重要，它们的结局才是关键所在。
「窄路引向生命」
进深研究
路十二15-21；箴十二15-16，二十八6
1. 耶稣怎么称呼比喻中的人？
2. 比喻中哪个词语一再出现？
祈祷
天父，每当我受到试探，要将自己的生命和处境与那些不认识您的人比较时，求您帮助我提醒自己，重要的是结局，而不是当下。奉耶稣的名祈求，阿们。
The Power of a New Perspective
Where does it all end?
Bible reading:
Matthew 7:13-20
13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
15 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Message
Today we look at the special understanding the psalmist received when he came into the sanctuary of God: "Then I understood their final destiny" (Psa. 73:17). As soon as he considered the final destiny of the ungodly, everything dropped into focus for him. He had looked at the prosperity of the ungodly but he had not looked at their end - he had not taken in all the facts.
What are the facts concerning the end of the ungodly? The passage we read today tells us: the broad road which the ungodly travel leads to destruction; the narrow road which the godly travel leads to life. It is as simple as that. Though this passage was not available to the psalmist, the truth underlying it was most certainly known to him. Listen to this from Psalm 37: "The transgressors shall be destroyed together, the future of the wicked shall be cut off" (v.38, NKJ). The writer of that psalm, King David, described the wicked spreading themselves like a green tree, but when the end came they vanished off the face of the earth and no one could find them.
The trouble with us is that so often we dwell too much on the present and fail to consider the future. Do you look at the ungodly, many of whom seem to be having a marvellous time ignoring moral restrictions, and feel envious of them? Well consider their end. Give some thought to the ultimate outcome. The Bible describes it as "destruction". We ought never to forget that it is not how things are at present that is important; it's how they end that matters.
"The narrow road leads to life"
Prayer
Father, whenever I am next tempted to compare my life and its circumstances with that of others who do not know You, help me to remind myself of the fact that it is the end that matters, not the beginning. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Further study
Luke 12:15-21
Proverbs 12:15-16; 28:6
1. What did Jesus call the man in his parable?
2. What word keeps Occurring in the parable?
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