从迷惘到信靠
值得敬拜
经文
腓立比书三1-14
1弟兄们,我还有话说,你们要靠主喜乐。我把这话再写给你们,于我并不为难,于你们却是妥当。
2应当防备犬类,防备作恶的,防备妄自行割的。
3因为真受割礼的,乃是我们这以神的灵敬拜、在基督耶稣里夸口、不靠着肉体的。
4其实,我也可以靠肉体;若是别人想他可以靠肉体,我更可以靠着了。
5我第八天受割礼;我是以色列族、便雅悯支派的人,是希伯来人所生的希伯来人。就律法说,我是法利赛人;
6就热心说,我是逼迫教会的;就律法上的义说,我是无可指摘的。
7只是我先前以为与我有益的,我现在因基督都当作有损的。
8不但如此,我也将万事当作有损的,因我以认识我主基督耶稣为至宝。我为他已经丢弃万事,看作粪土,为要得着基督;
9并且得以在他里面,不是有自己因律法而得的义,乃是有信基督的义,就是因信神而来的义,
10使我认识基督,晓得他复活的大能,并且晓得和他一同受苦,效法他的死,
11或者我也得以从死里复活。
12这不是说我已经得着了,已经完全了;我乃是竭力追求,或者可以得着基督耶稣所以得着我的(或作:所要我得的)。
13弟兄们,我不是以为自己已经得着了;我只有一件事,就是忘记背后,努力面前的,
14向着标竿直跑,要得神在基督耶稣里从上面召我来得的奖赏。
信息分享
昨天我们谈到,当我们来到神的面前,默想祂、聆听祂的声音时,心里马上会感到非常渴望敬拜祂。哈巴谷在与神相遇以后,得到神的能力和主权这令人震惊的启示以后,发觉自己的心对神全然涌溢着深刻的感情。
你只需要阅读哈巴谷书第三章便可以看到他的感情是怎么样的被燃起。我们很高兴看到这一章的感情内容是那么的浓烈,从它的开头所使用的语句我们便可以知道。请参考诗篇第七篇的标题「先知哈巴谷的祷告,调用流离歌。」「流离歌」相信是指这个祷告最初唱出的节奏,而那强烈的节奏正显示了这一章的话和观念所引发出的深刻感情。
为甚么哈巴谷的情绪会如此激动?那是因为他的灵魂被神惊人的启示所激动。基督徒生命中有一件是我们必须明白的事情,那就是我们对神敬拜的态度很大程度上是取决于我们对祂的理解。所以请让我再一次问你:你怎样看待你的神?你对祂的理解究竟有多深?今天知道如何真正敬拜神的人为数不多,这都是现代讲坛太多肤浅的讲道和教导所直接带来的结果。我们对神的敬拜的深度,在乎我们觉得祂有多「值得」;你越是觉得神「值得」,你所发出的敬拜也就会越深刻。
「与神相遇之后,他的心满溢了对神深刻的感情」
进深研究
西一1-12;耶九24;何六3;约十七3
1. 保罗对歌罗西人有甚么期望?
2. 请用一首诗来描述你的神。
祈祷
神啊,如果我对您的敬拜是源自我对您的认识,求您帮助我能够更加认识您。当我阅读您的话语和祷告的时候,求您以全新和生动的方式向我显明您自己。奉基督的名祈求,阿们。
From Confusion to Confidence
"Worth-ship"
Bible reading:
Philippians 3:1-14
1 Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.
2 Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh.
3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—
4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:
5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee;
6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Message
Yesterday we saw that one of the inevitable results of contemplating God and listening to His voice is a spontaneous desire to worship Him. Habakkuk, after having been closeted with God and receiving the staggering revelation of His power and sovereignty, finds his heart filled to overflowing.
You have only to read the third chapter of Habakkuk to see how his emotions are set on fire. It's interesting to notice that so strong is the emotional content in this chapter that it begins with the words: "A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth." The word "shigionoth" (plural of shigaion, see heading to Psalm 7) is believed to indicate the tempo at which this prayer was originally meant to be sung. The tempo was to be strong one, corresponding to the profound emotions raised through the words and concepts of this chapter.
Why were Habakkuk's emotions so aroused? Because his soul had been set ablaze by a thrilling revelation of God. One of the things we must understand about the Christian life is that our worship of God is largely determined by our understanding of Him. So permit me once again to ask you a personal question: How do you see God? What is the depth of your understanding of Him? Today, comparatively few know how to really worship God. This is a direct result of the superficial preaching and teaching that comes from so many modern pulpits. Our worship of God depends, as the word suggests, on how much "worth" we ascribe to Him. The greater "worth" you see in Him, the greater worship you will give to Him.
"Having been closeted with God his heart was filled to overflowing"
Prayer
O God, if it is true that my worship of You flows from my understanding of You, then help me to know You more. As I spend time reading Your Word and in prayer, reveal Yourself to me - in a fresh and living way. In Christ's Name I ask it. Amen.
Further study
Colossians 1:1-12
Jeremiah 9:24
Hosea 6:3
John 17:3
1. What was Paul's desire for the Colossians?
2. Write a psalm describing what your God is like.
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