新视域的力量
将来如何?

经文
腓立比书一3-11
3我每逢想念你们,就感谢我的神;
4每逢为你们众人祈求的时候,常是欢欢喜喜的祈求。
5因为从头一天直到如今,你们是同心合意的兴旺福音。
6我深信那在你们心里动了善工的,必成全这工,直到耶稣基督的日子。
7我为你们众人有这样的意念,原是应当的;因你们常在我心里,无论我是在捆锁之中,是辩明证实福音的时候,你们都与我一同得恩。
8我体会基督耶稣的心肠,切切的想念你们众人;这是神可以给我作见证的。
9我所祷告的,就是要你们的爱心在知识和各样见识上多而又多,
10使你们能分别是非(或作:喜爱那美好的事),作诚实无过的人,直到基督的日子;
11并靠着耶稣基督结满了仁义的果子,叫荣耀称赞归与神。
信息分享
昨天我们看到,诗人虽然有疑惑和失败,但神仍然接纳他。不但如此,他也明白神掌控的手不断地与他一起:「你搀着我的右手」(诗七十三23)。究竟是什么阻止他陷进险境?是神那保护的手。神亲自令他进入圣所,从而使他回转。
在明白了这个关键以后,诗人想到将来。将来会怎样?他的结论是,将来会同样有保障,因为:「你要以你的训言引导我,以后必接我到荣耀里」(24节)。诗人在默想将来时所感到的保障,你也可以感受到吗?他等于说:「您现在搀着我的右手,保护我,掌控我,恢复我,释放我,我知道您会继续这样做,直到我在荣耀中与您相见。」
神怎样引导我们?透过环境,透过理性,透过基督徒的团契,但主要是透过圣经。神的圣言在我们查考牠时揭示现实,驱走幻觉,引导我们安全地经过地上的网罗和困难,直到我们最终得到荣耀。诗人看到不敬虔人的结局,这样有助改变他的看法。他现在看到敬虔人的结局了,因此他的视野更加清晰。而敬虔人的结局是什么呢?那是荣耀!
「敬虔人的结局是荣耀」
进深研究
彼前一1-6;犹24;创二十八15
1. 彼得确信什么?
2. 犹大说了什么?
祈祷
天父,请让那对未来荣耀的期盼每天都振奋我的心灵。求您帮助我永不忘记,无论我在地上的日子有多艰难,但与前面的荣耀相比便算不得什么了。阿们。
The Power of a New Perspective
What of the future?

Bible reading:
Philippians 1:3-11
3 I thank my God every time I remember you.
4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy
5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,
6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me.
8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,
10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
Message
We saw yesterday how the psalmist sensed that despite his doubts and failures he was still accepted by God. But there's more - he realises also that God's restraining hand has been constantly with him: "You hold me by my right hand" (Psa. 73:23). What was it, after all, that prevented him going over the brink? It was the protecting hand of God. God Himself had put it in his mind to go into the sanctuary and had thereby turned him round.
Realising that, he thinks of the future. What is the future going to be like? His conclusion is that the future is going to be just as secure, for: "You guide me with your counsel, and afterwards you will take me into glory" (v.24). Can you sense the psalmist's security as he contemplates the future? He is saying, in effect: "You are doing this now, holding me by my right hand, protecting me, restraining me, restoring me and delivering me, and I know You will keep on doing this right up to the time when I meet with you in glory."
How does God guide us? Through circumstances, through reason, through the fellowship of Christians, but mainly through the Scriptures. The Word of God, when we consult it, unfolds reality, dispels illusion and guides us safely through the snares and problems of this earthly way until we eventually arrive in glory. The psalmist had seen the end of the ungodly and it had helped to change his perspective. Now he sees the end of the godly and thus his perspective becomes even more clear. And what is the end of the godly? It is glory!
"The end of the godly is glory"
Prayer
O Father, let the prospect of coming glory fill and thrill my soul this day and every day. Help me never to forget that no matter how hard and difficult my earthly pilgrimage may be, it is as nothing compared to the glory that lies ahead. Amen.
Further study
1 Peter 1:1-6
Jude v.24
Genesis 28:15
1. Of what was Peter convinced?
2. How did Jude put it?
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