Here we point out some points and related issues we have not talked about in the appearances of Jesus after the resurrection. First, Gospel Luke mentions the two disciples who went to the village called Emmaus [1]. They left Jerusalem because they didn’t believe what was told to them about the resurrection. Although Jesus “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:27) They still didn’t recognize Him. It took Jesus to breaking bread to open their eyes to recognize Him [2]. Therefore, we can see that although the body after resurrection looks the same, but yet it is very different. Although they planned to abide together with Jesus, they didn’t since He suddenly disappeared. We again see the body after resurrection is very different with extra abilities

At that time, there were only eleven apostles since Judas Iscariot betrayed Him. (Ref. Matthew 10:4) Among those eleven apostles, Peter is the one Jesus appeared to first [3].` He then verified that He was not a spirit but indeed resurrected and had a better body which was not restricted by things like doors [4].

“Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “…You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”” (Luke 24:45-49) Therefore, if one wants to understand the Bible, the person really needs Jesus to open his mind. Nowadays, Jesus is in heaven and it is impossible to have Him to open our mind. But we do have Holy Spirit abiding inside us who can open our minds through revelation, and lead us to study the Bible. Waiting is needed not only at that time, but also nowadays to wait upon God and His appointed time. At that time, they were His witnesses. We need to be His witnesses through our life nowadays. 

Next, we see in John 20:26 that Jesus appeared to Thomas with others after eight days. “After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”” Again, we observe that the body after resurrection is very different. Here the Bible doesn’t say if Thomas indeed did what was said in John 20:25, which says, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” The important thing is about what he said in John 20:28, “My Lord and my God!” We are indeed blessed since we believe even though we didn’t have a chance to see Jesus as said in John 20:29.

Another appearance was when Peter with six others went to fish. They are professionals, but didn’t get anything. When they followed the words of Jesus and casted the net accordingly, they got a lot of fish [5]. He again showed them that His resurrection was genuine, and His body could eat just like them [6]. He asked Peter three times if Peter loved Him described in this occasion too [7].

Finally, let us take a look about what Paul said about the appearances. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, he said, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” What he knows about the appearances after resurrection is described in 1 Corinthians 15:5-8. It says, “and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.” The James mentioned here should not be the apostle James since he was killed very early, and some people thinks that James is the brother of the Lord [8].

Some related verses and knowledge

[1] Luke 24:13, “And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem.” Luke 24:33, “And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, …” Luke 24:18-23, “One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” …But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive.” Luke 24:25-26, “And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?””

[2] Luke 24:28-31, “And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, …So He went in to stay with them. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.”

[3] Luke 24:33-34, “And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.””

[4] Luke 24:36-43, “While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst …See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet….He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; and He took it and ate it before them.”

[5] John 21:3, “Simon Peter said to them(six others), “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.” John 21:6, “And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch. ” So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.” John 21:11, “Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.”

[6] John 21:12-13, “Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples ventured to question Him, “Who are You?” knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise.”

[7] We discussed before in details what conclusion we could get from the words of Jesus, which is different from some others opinions. It is a video in Chinese about 17 minutes. For people who understand the Chinese, they can find in YouTube. https://youtu.be/gBnDs9LVAA0

[8] Acts 12:1-2, “Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them. And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword.” Matthew 13:55, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?”

(Verses refer to those in NASB unless otherwise specified.)

(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)

The Bible’s record of the first appearance of Jesus is apparently inconsistent. Because we firmly believe that the Bible is inspired by God, we then ask what God wants us to know by these apparent inconsistencies. Besides the example of his first appearance, we use three more examples to illustrate this observation. The first example is in Psalms 8:5, where we can see that we need to use the verse in the New Testament to explain what described in the Old Testament. The second example is in Ecclesiastes 3:21, where we can see that the culture of Hebrew is not always correct. We can also see that both the New Testament and the Old Testament say consistently that human consists of three parts – spirit, soul, and body. The third example is related to Romans 11:24, where we see that God emphasizes on life.

First, let us take a look at three verses. In John 20:1, it says, “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.” Matthew 28:1 states, “Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.” In Mark 16:1-2, it says, “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.” People then ask the question regarding how many persons came to the grave.

Because we firmly believe the verse in 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God …”, we therefore ask the question about what God wants us to know. In web address 1, you can see that the author points out what he thinks about where the apparent inconsistencies are [1]. Then in web address 2, the same author tries to explain what happens to resolve inconsistencies [2]. Apparently from his text, he also points out in his explanation that there are things which aren’t said in the Bible and are human logical conclusions.

In the past, I tried to use the same method to explain the consistency of the Bible, and thought that the same event should be described in the same way from different angles. Nowadays, I firmly believe that the Bible is inspired by God and God doesn’t make mistakes. Therefore, we really want to ask what God wants us to understand by these apparent inconsistencies. 

Using the first appearance of Jesus after resurrection as an example, what God wants us to know is clear. It was declared that Jesus is the Son of God by resurrection as said in Romans 1:4, “who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.” The important fact is that Jesus resurrected. In terms of how many people showed up in the grave, it is not important.

As a matter of fact, things not important sometimes are not even mentioned in the Bible. For example, we talked about Methuselah at chapter 5 in Genesis before. If you calculate the timeline, you’ll find out that the flood came at the same day when Methuselah died. The Bible doesn’t say that he was drowned by the flood or when he died then the flood came immediately. When the Bible doesn’t say things explicitly, we cannot be one hundred percent for sure. If one insists, it often leads to arguments and we cannot edify others. Although we are humans and it is impossible to know God’s will every time since He is infinite and we are finite, we need to at least try to look at things in the aspect of God. We’ll use three examples to illustrate what the Bible wants to tell us in different cases.

In Psalms 8:5, “Yet You have made him a little lower than God (H430), And You crown him with glory and majesty!” But in Hebrews 2:7, it says, “You have made him for a little while lower than the angels (G32); You have crowned him with glory and honor, And have appointed him over the works of Your hands.” Both translations in English are correct by the original languages as given in the Strong’s numbers. God is definitely above everything, so the Old Testament description doesn’t give any information. I believe that God wants to use the apparent inconsistency to tell us that we need to use the verse in the New Testament to explain what described in the Old Testament caused by human errors.

In Ecclesiastes 3:21, it says, “Who knows that the breath (H7307) of man ascends upward and the breath (H7307) of the beast descends downward to the earth?” The word H7307 is the spirit. Spirit is used to communicate with God, and we know the beast has no spirit but soul and body. We never heard that there were any animals except humans that can worship God. As a matter of fact, we can see in Genesis 2:7 that only man has the breath of life, “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” The others were made by God’s word such as in Genesis 1:24, “Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.” God wants to tell us that there is no distinction between spirit and soul in Hebrew. This is not consistent with what the New Testament in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “…and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In Hebrews 4:12, it says, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” So, human consists of three parts – spirit, soul, and body. Apparently, the Hebrew culture is not all correct; otherwise, they will not nail the glorious Jesus to the cross and don’t recognize Him even nowadays. And they need not what did in Luke 24:45, “Then He (Jesus) opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” Furthermore, they would know the purpose of studying the Bible is to have life. “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. (John 5:39-40)

In this example, we can actually see that both the New Testament and the Old Testament say consistently that spirit and soul can be divided. Why do we say that? In Genesis 2:16-17, it says, “The Lord God commanded the man (Adam), saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”” We know that Adam ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But Adam still lived “…one hundred and thirty years, …” (Genesis 5:3) God doesn’t lie. So, we know that his spirit died. In this case, his soul still had lived with his body for quite a while. From here, we can see that spirit and soul are divided. One is dead, and the other one lives meanwhile.

The final example is related to this verse. “For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?” (Romans 11:24) If one looks at the knowledge of horticulture, one will say that a good branch has to be grafted in order to get good fruits. So, there are people thinking that this verse is not correct. Just think about that the Bible is inspired by God and God must have such knowledge, we may ask what then God wants to tell us. We already talked about the purpose of studying the Bible is to have life. Let us take a look at another verse. In John 15:4-5, it says, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” God’s emphasis is to have life. Therefore, the verse in Romans 11:24 is talking about life. We can also see that God cares about the rich root as stated in Romans 11:17-18, the rich root of life. “But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.”

References

[1[ Web address 1: http://blog.adw.org/2011/04/making-sense-of-the-resurrection-accounts-are-there-discrepancies/.

[2] Web address 2: http://blog.adw.org/2011/04/a-chronological-sequence-of-the-resurrection-events/#:~:text=A%20Chronological%20Sequence%20of%20the%20Resurrection%20Events%201,of%20the%20forty%20days.%20…%208%20VIII.%20.

(Verses refer to those in NASB unless otherwise specified.)

(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)

     圣经上记载耶稣复活后的第一次顯现，有著很明顯不合的地方，因為我们深信圣经都是神所默示，因此我们要问，神借著这些不合的地方究竟要告诉我们什麼？除了第一次顯现的例子外，我们另外舉了三个不同的例子来說明这点。在第一个诗篇 8:6 的例子中，我们看到了『要用新约解释旧约』。在第二个传道书 3:21 的例子中，我们看到了希伯来人的文化不一定全对，並看到了『新约和旧约的一致性』。第三个例子是和罗马书 11:24 有关，我们看到『神看重的是生命』。

     首先，我们看三个地方的经文。『七日的第一日清早，天还黑的时候，抹大拉的马利亚来到墳墓那里，看见石头从墳墓挪开了。』(约翰福音 20:1) 『安息日将尽，七日的头一日，天快亮的时候，抹大拉的马利亚和那个马利亚来看墳墓。』(马太福音 28:1) 『过了安息日，抹大拉的马利亚和雅各的母亲马利亚並撒罗米，买了香膏要去膏耶稣的身体。七日的第一日清早，出太阳的时候，她们来到墳墓那里。』 (马可福音 16:1-2) 我们会问，到底有几个人到墳墓那里？

     因為我们深信，『圣经都是神所默示的，…』(提摩太后书 3:16)，所以我们必须从『神要告诉我们什麼』的角度去读圣经。如果你习惯英文的话，可以在网址一看到作者认為那些是在耶稣顯现中不合的地方 [1]。然后在网址二，同一个作者试著去解释和调合这些地方 [2]。很清楚的，作者指出了有一些是人的逻辑而圣经並沒有这样說。

     在过去我也会试著用这作者的方法去解释圣经的一致性，认為每一件事情，圣经所记载的应该完全相同，最多是从不同的角度看同一件事情。现在，因我深信新旧约都是神所默示的和神不会犯错，因此我们要问，如果有明顯不合的地方，神到底要用这些地方告诉我们什麼？

     以耶稣复活后第一次顯现作例子。很顯然的，神要告诉我们的是，耶稣复活了，以大能顯明是神的儿子。『按圣善的灵說，因从死里复活，以大能顯明是神的儿子。』(罗马书 1:4) 所以重要的事实是耶稣复活了，至於有几个人到了墳墓的详情，实在是不重要。

     不重要的事，有时圣经连提都不提。例如我们以前谈过玛土撒拉的事 [3]。如果你看圣经的记载就知道，玛土撒拉死的那一天，也就是洪水来的那一天！至於是不是玛土撒拉一死洪水就来，或者是玛土撒拉被洪水淹死，圣经沒說。我们不能百分之百確定圣经沒說的事，常常会引起公說公有理，婆說婆有理的爭论，不会造就人。虽然我们是人，不可能每一件事都能从神的角度看，至少我们要试著了解圣经要告诉我们什麼？以下舉三个这样的例子。

     在诗篇 8:5，『你叫他比天使(H430)(或译: 神)微小一点，並赐他荣耀尊贵為冠冕。』在诗篇中，天使是如在汇编中所說用的 H4397，而这字 H430 是指神，因此应翻译為神。我们再看新约如何在希伯来书 2:7 引用这经文，『你叫他比天使(G32)微小一点，赐他荣耀、尊贵為冠冕，並将你手所造的都派他管理。』在新约中，天使是用的 G32，所以这是正確的。因此『要用新约解释旧约』，更正旧约中人的用字错误。

     接著看传道书 3:21，『谁知道人的灵(spirit)是往上升，兽的魂(spirit)是下入地呢？』两者原文和英文都是用灵这个字！灵是用来和神交通的，我们知道兽是沒有灵的，也不曾听說过、除了人以外还有其他动物会敬拜神。其实在创世记說得很清楚，只有人有神的生气，其余的是由神的话造的。所以神要告诉我们的是：在希伯来文中，灵和魂是不分的。这和新约所讲的不同，因為人有灵、魂、和体三部份。『…又愿你们的灵与魂与身子得蒙保守，…』 (帖撒罗尼迦前书 5:23) 『…甚至魂与灵、骨节与骨髓，都能刺入、剖开，…』 (希伯来书 4:12) 希伯来人的文化顯然不是全对，要不就不会把荣耀的主钉十字架了！而现在仍不接受耶稣為主。需要『…耶稣开他们的心窍，使他们能明白圣经。』 (路加福音 24:45) 而且不知道查考圣经的目的是要得生命。『你们查考圣经，因你们以為內中有永生；给我(耶稣)作见证的就是这经。然而你们不肯到我这里来得生命。』 (约翰福音 5:39-40)

     在这个例子中，我们其实也可以看见新约和旧约一致說灵和魂是分开的。為什麼这样說呢？在旧约中，『耶和华神吩咐他(亚当)說：「园中各样树上的果子，你可以随意吃，只是分別善恶树上的果子，你不可吃，因為你吃的日子必定死。」』 (创世记 2:16-17) 我们知道亚当吃了这果子，而仍然『亚当活到一百三十岁，…』 (创世记 5:3) 神不說谎，所以我们知道是他的灵死了。在这种情況下，魂仍然存活，可见旧约一开始就說灵和魂是分开的，可以一个死而另一个存活。

     最后的例子和这经文有关。『你是从那天生的野橄榄上砍下来的，尚且逆着性得接在好橄榄上，何況这本树的枝子要接在本树上呢！』 (罗马书 11:24) 如果从园艺的知识来看，要想结好果子，必须接上好枝子，所以会有人认為这经文是不对的。只要想到圣经是神所默示的，就可以知道神不会不知道这麼簡单的园艺知识，那麼神究竟要告诉我们什麼呢？我们已看到耶稣說读经的目的是要得生命，所以我们从另一经文看。在约翰福音 15:4-5 中說， 『你们要常在我里面，我也常在你们里面。枝子若不常在葡萄树上，自己就不能结果子；你们若不常在我里面，也是这样。我是葡萄树，你们是枝子。常在我里面的，我也常在他里面，这人就多结果子。因為离了我，你们就不能做甚麼。』所以这是指生命。神所看重的是那肥汁，生命的肥汁如下列经文所示。『若有几根枝子被折下来，你这野橄榄得接在其中，一同得着橄榄根的肥汁，你就不可向旧枝子夸口；若是夸口，当知道不是你托着根，乃是根托着你。』 (罗马书 11:17-18)

一些相关的知识

[1] 网址一: http://blog.adw.org/2011/04/making-sense-of-the-resurrection-accounts-are-there-discrepancies/.

[2] 网址二: http://blog.adw.org/2011/04/a-chronological-sequence-of-the-resurrection-events/#:~:text=A%20Chronological%20Sequence%20of%20the%20Resurrection%20Events%201,of%20the%20forty%20days.%20…%208%20VIII.%20.

[3] 200809 读经要从神的角度看的簡介: https://youtu.be/dpiRYGhtoTs.

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到这网站后要按『对属灵生命的了解』。)

    聖經上記載耶穌復活後的第一次顯現，有著很明顯不合的地方，因為我們深信聖經都是神所默示，因此我們要問，神藉著這些不合的地方究竟要告訴我們什麼？除了第一次顯現的例子外，我們另外舉了三個不同的例子來說明這點。在第一個詩篇 8:6 的例子中，我們看到了『要用新約解釋舊約』。在第二個傳道書 3:21 的例子中，我們看到了希伯來人的文化不一定全對，並看到了『新約和舊約的一致性』。第三個例子是和羅馬書 11:24 有關，我們看到『神看重的是生命』。

    首先，我們看三個地方的經文。『七日的第一日清早，天還黑的時候，抹大拉的馬利亞來到墳墓那裏，看見石頭從墳墓挪開了。』(約翰福音 20:1) 『安息日將盡，七日的頭一日，天快亮的時候，抹大拉的馬利亞和那個馬利亞來看墳墓。』(馬太福音 28:1) 『過了安息日，抹大拉的馬利亞和雅各的母親馬利亞並撒羅米，買了香膏要去膏耶穌的身體。七日的第一日清早，出太陽的時候，她們來到墳墓那裏。』 (馬可福音 16:1-2) 我們會問，到底有幾個人到墳墓那裏？

    因為我們深信，『聖經都是神所默示的，…』(提摩太後書 3:16)，所以我們必須從『神要告訴我們什麼』的角度去讀聖經。如果你習慣英文的話，可以在網址一看到作者認為那些是在耶穌顯現中不合的地方 [1]。然後在網址二，同一個作者試著去解釋和調合這些地方 [2]。很清楚的，作者指出了有一些是人的邏輯而聖經並沒有這樣說。

    在過去我也會試著用這作者的方法去解釋聖經的一致性，認為每一件事情，聖經所記載的應該完全相同，最多是從不同的角度看同一件事情。現在，因我深信新舊約都是神所默示的和神不會犯錯，因此我們要問，如果有明顯不合的地方，神到底要用這些地方告訴我們什麼？

    以耶穌復活後第一次顯現作例子。很顯然的，神要告訴我們的是，耶穌復活了，以大能顯明是神的兒子。『按聖善的靈說，因從死裏復活，以大能顯明是神的兒子。』(羅馬書 1:4) 所以重要的事實是耶穌復活了，至於有幾個人到了墳墓的詳情，實在是不重要。

    不重要的事，有時聖經連提都不提。例如我們以前談過瑪土撒拉的事 [3]。如果你看聖經的記載就知道，瑪土撒拉死的那一天，也就是洪水來的那一天！至於是不是瑪土撒拉一死洪水就來，或者是瑪土撒拉被洪水淹死，聖經沒說。我們不能百分之百確定聖經沒說的事，常常會引起公說公有理，婆說婆有理的爭論，不會造就人。雖然我們是人，不可能每一件事都能從神的角度看，至少我們要試著瞭解聖經要告訴我們什麼？以下舉三個這樣的例子。

    在詩篇 8:5，『你叫他比天使(H430)(或譯: 神)微小一點，並賜他榮耀尊貴為冠冕。』在詩篇中，天使是如在彙編中所說用的 H4397，而這字 H430 是指神，因此應翻譯為神。我們再看新約如何在希伯來書 2:7 引用這經文，『你叫他比天使(G32)微小一點，賜他榮耀、尊貴為冠冕，並將你手所造的都派他管理。』在新約中，天使是用的 G32，所以這是正確的。因此『要用新約解釋舊約』，更正舊約中人的用字錯誤。

    接著看傳道書 3:21，『誰知道人的靈(spirit)是往上升，獸的魂(spirit)是下入地呢？』兩者原文和英文都是用靈這個字！靈是用來和神交通的，我們知道獸是沒有靈的，也不曾聽說過、除了人以外還有其他動物會敬拜神。其實在創世記說得很清楚，只有人有神的生氣，其餘的是由神的話造的。所以神要告訴我們的是：在希伯來文中，靈和魂是不分的。這和新約所講的不同，因為人有靈、魂、和體三部份。『…又願你們的靈與魂與身子得蒙保守，…』 (帖撒羅尼迦前書 5:23) 『…甚至魂與靈、骨節與骨髓，都能刺入、剖開，…』 (希伯來書 4:12) 希伯來人的文化顯然不是全對，要不就不會把榮耀的主釘十字架了！而現在仍不接受耶穌為主。需要『…耶穌開他們的心竅，使他們能明白聖經。』 (路加福音 24:45) 而且不知道查考聖經的目的是要得生命。『你們查考聖經，因你們以為內中有永生；給我(耶穌)作見證的就是這經。然而你們不肯到我這裏來得生命。』 (約翰福音 5:39-40)

    在這個例子中，我們其實也可以看見新約和舊約一致說靈和魂是分開的。為什麼這樣說呢？在舊約中，『耶和華神吩咐他(亞當)說：「園中各樣樹上的果子，你可以隨意吃，只是分別善惡樹上的果子，你不可吃，因為你吃的日子必定死。」』 (創世記 2:16-17) 我們知道亞當吃了這果子，而仍然『亞當活到一百三十歲，…』 (創世記 5:3) 神不說謊，所以我們知道是他的靈死了。在這種情況下，魂仍然存活，可見舊約一開始就說靈和魂是分開的，可以一個死而另一個存活。

    最後的例子和這經文有關。『你是從那天生的野橄欖上砍下來的，尚且逆着性得接在好橄欖上，何況這本樹的枝子要接在本樹上呢！』 (羅馬書 11:24) 如果從園藝的知識來看，要想結好果子，必須接上好枝子，所以會有人認為這經文是不對的。只要想到聖經是神所默示的，就可以知道神不會不知道這麼簡單的園藝知識，那麼神究竟要告訴我們什麼呢？我們已看到耶穌說讀經的目的是要得生命，所以我們從另一經文看。在約翰福音 15:4-5 中說， 『你們要常在我裏面，我也常在你們裏面。枝子若不常在葡萄樹上，自己就不能結果子；你們若不常在我裏面，也是這樣。我是葡萄樹，你們是枝子。常在我裏面的，我也常在他裏面，這人就多結果子。因為離了我，你們就不能做甚麼。』所以這是指生命。神所看重的是那肥汁，生命的肥汁如下列經文所示。『若有幾根枝子被折下來，你這野橄欖得接在其中，一同得着橄欖根的肥汁，你就不可向舊枝子誇口；若是誇口，當知道不是你托着根，乃是根托着你。』 (羅馬書 11:17-18)

一些相關的知識

[1] 網址一: http://blog.adw.org/2011/04/making-sense-of-the-resurrection-accounts-are-there-discrepancies/.

[2] 網址二: http://blog.adw.org/2011/04/a-chronological-sequence-of-the-resurrection-events/#:~:text=A%20Chronological%20Sequence%20of%20the%20Resurrection%20Events%201,of%20the%20forty%20days.%20…%208%20VIII.%20.

[3] 200809 讀經要從神的角度看的簡介: https://youtu.be/dpiRYGhtoTs.

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到這網站後要按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』。)

     圣经說到耶稣的诞生用了相当大的篇幅，說到祂是因童女马利亚被圣灵感孕而诞生於伯利恆。因為摩西的律法，上耶路撒冷时遇见了西面和亚拿。提到了几位东方的博士见到祂的星来朝拜祂，然后就跳到了十二岁的逾越节祂在耶路撒冷發生的事。

     我们先在路加福音 1:24-27 看到了伊利沙伯怀施洗约翰，和天使向马利亚顯现时间上的关系：『…伊利沙伯怀了孕，就隐藏了五个月，…到了第六个月，天使加百列奉神的差遣往加利利的一座城去，这城名叫拿撒勒，到一个童女那里，是已经许配大衞家的一个人，名叫约瑟，童女的名字叫马利亚。』

     然后在马太福音 1:18-21看到耶稣因童女马利亚被圣灵感孕：『…还沒有迎娶，马利亚就从圣灵怀了孕。她丈夫约瑟是个义人，不愿意明明地羞辱她，想要暗暗地把她休了。正思念这事的时候，有主的使者向他梦中顯现，說：「大衞的子孙约瑟，不要怕，只管娶过你的妻子马利亚来，因她所怀的孕是从圣灵来的。她将要生一个儿子，你要给他起名叫耶稣，因他要将自己的百姓从罪恶里救出来。」』

     接著在路加福音 1:39-45 我们就看到了马利亚立刻起身去証实所听到的事情，她到了伊利沙伯家中並见其被圣灵充满且祝福她：『那时候马利亚起身，急忙往山地里去，…进了撒迦利亚的家，问伊利沙伯安。伊利沙伯一听马利亚问安，所怀的胎就在腹里跳动。伊利沙伯且被圣灵充满，高声喊着說：「你在妇女中是有福的！你所怀的胎也是有福的！我主的母到我这里来，这是从哪里得的呢？因為你问安的声音一入我耳，我腹里的胎就欢喜跳动。这相信的女子是有福的！因為主对她所說的话都要应验。」』

     『马利亚和伊利沙伯同住，约有三个月，就回家去了。』 (路加福音 1:56)

     第二，我们看看耶稣為什麼虽是君王，卻从一开始就诞生在马槽里。这在路加福音 2:1-7 讲得很清楚：『当那些日子，凯撒亚古士督有旨意下来，叫天下人民都报名上冊。…眾人各归各城，报名上冊。约瑟也从加利利的拿撒勒城上犹太去，到了大衞的城，名叫伯利恆。因他本是大衞一族一家的人，要和他所聘之妻马利亚一同报名上冊。那时马利亚的身孕已经重了。他们在那里的时候，马利亚的產期到了，就生了头胎的儿子，用布包起来，放在马槽里，因為客店里沒有地方。』沒有报名上册的事，祂不可能诞生在伯利恆，这裡的就符合了旧约的一个预言。

     我们可看到祂不平常的诞生。那时，『在伯利恆之野地里有牧羊的人，夜间按着更次看守羊羣。有主的使者站在他们旁边，…那天使对他们說：「不要惧怕！我报给你们大喜的信息，是关乎万民的。因今天在大衞的城里，為你们生了救主，就是主基督。你们要看见一个婴孩，包着布，臥在马槽里，那就是记号了。」』 (路加福音 2:8-12)  『忽然，有一大隊天兵同那天使讚美神說：「在至高之处荣耀归与神！在地上平安归与他所喜悅的人！」』 (路加福音 2:13-14) 接著牧羊的人就去了伯利恆証实了这件事。也『…因所听见所看见的一切事，正如天使向他们所說的，就归荣耀与神，讚美他。』 (路加福音 2:20) 『满了八天，就给孩子行割礼，与他起名叫耶稣，这就是沒有成胎以前，天使所起的名。』 (路加福音 2:21)

     第三，约瑟『按摩西律法满了洁淨的日子，他们带着孩子上耶路撒冷去，要把他献与主。』 (路加福音 2:22) 这时他们遇见了西面：『…这人又公义又虔诚…又有圣灵在他身上。…他受了圣灵的感动，进入圣殿，正遇见(and)耶稣的父母抱着孩子进来，要照律法的规矩办理。』 (路加福音 2:25-27) 於是『西面就…称颂神說：「主啊！…我的眼睛已经看见你的救恩，…是照亮外邦人的光，又是你民以色列的荣耀。」孩子的父母因这论耶稣的话就希奇。』 (路加福音 2:28-33)

     『又有女先知，名叫亚拿，… 现在已经八十四岁，並不离开圣殿，禁食祈求，昼夜事奉神。正当那时(in that instant)，她进前来称谢神，将孩子的事对一切盼望耶路撒冷得救赎的人讲說。』 (路加福音 2:36-38)

     请注意，当和合本的翻译用『正』这个字时，要特別留心！因神常用『恰巧』来工作如路得记所提的，但不是說、『恰巧』就是神的工作。

     第四是說到『几位』博士看见耶稣的星就来朝拜祂：『当希律王的时候，耶稣生在犹太的伯利恆。有几个博士从东方来到耶路撒冷，說：「那生下来作犹太人之王的在哪里？我们在东方看见他的星，特来拜他。」』 (马太福音 2:1-2) 他们找到了小孩，因『…在东方所看见的那星，忽然在他们前头行，直行到小孩子的地方，就在上头停住了。』 (马太福音 2:9)    

     他们(博士)去后，有主的使者向约瑟梦中顯现，說：「起来！带着小孩子同他母亲逃往埃及，住在那里，等我吩咐你，因為希律必寻找小孩子，要除灭他。」约瑟就起来，夜间带着小孩子和他母亲往埃及去，住在那里，直到希律死了。这是要应验主借先知所說的话，說：「我从埃及召出我的儿子来。」』 (马太福音 2:13-15) 一方面我们看到了预言因此被应验，另方面我们看到约瑟知道神要他做什麼他立刻就去做，要不然就可能太迟了！因『博士因為在梦中被主指示，不要回去见希律，就从別的路回本地去了。』 (马太福音 2:12) 『希律见自己被博士愚弄，就大大發怒，差人将伯利恆城里並四境所有的男孩，照着他向博士仔细查问的时候，凡两岁以里的，都杀尽了。』 (马太福音 2:16)

     最后我们谈一谈耶稣十二岁时逾越节所發生的事。我们看到了『孩子渐渐长大，強健起来，充满智慧，又有神的恩在他身上。』 (路加福音 2:40) 在路加福音 2:43-49 记载：『守满了节期，他们回去，孩童耶稣仍旧在耶路撒冷。他的父母並不知道，…过了三天，就遇见他在殿里，坐在教师中间，一面听，一面问。凡听见他的，都希奇他的聪明和他的应对。他父母看见就很希奇。他母亲对他說：「我儿，為甚麼向我们这样行呢？看哪，你父亲和我伤心来找你！」耶稣說：「為甚麼找我呢？岂不知我应当以我父的事為念吗？」』 所以至少在十二岁的时候，耶稣就很清楚祂是谁。

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到这网站后要按『对属灵生命的了解』。)

聖經說到耶穌的誕生用了相當大的篇幅，說到祂是因童女馬利亞被聖靈感孕而誕生於伯利恆。因為摩西的律法，上耶路撒冷時遇見了西面和亞拿。提到了幾位東方的博士見到祂的星來朝拜祂，然後就跳到了十二歲的逾越節祂在耶路撒冷發生的事。

      我們先在路加福音 1:24-27 看到了伊利沙伯懷施洗約翰，和天使向馬利亞顯現時間上的關係：『…伊利沙伯懷了孕，就隱藏了五個月，…到了第六個月，天使加百列奉神的差遣往加利利的一座城去，這城名叫拿撒勒，到一個童女那裏，是已經許配大衞家的一個人，名叫約瑟，童女的名字叫馬利亞。』

      然後在馬太福音 1:18-21看到耶穌因童女馬利亞被聖靈感孕：『…還沒有迎娶，馬利亞就從聖靈懷了孕。她丈夫約瑟是個義人，不願意明明地羞辱她，想要暗暗地把她休了。正思念這事的時候，有主的使者向他夢中顯現，說：「大衞的子孫約瑟，不要怕，只管娶過你的妻子馬利亞來，因她所懷的孕是從聖靈來的。她將要生一個兒子，你要給他起名叫耶穌，因他要將自己的百姓從罪惡裏救出來。」』

      接著在路加福音 1:39-45 我們就看到了馬利亞立刻起身去証實所聽到的事情，她到了伊利沙伯家中並見其被聖靈充滿且祝福她：『那時候馬利亞起身，急忙往山地裏去，…進了撒迦利亞的家，問伊利沙伯安。伊利沙伯一聽馬利亞問安，所懷的胎就在腹裏跳動。伊利沙伯且被聖靈充滿，高聲喊着說：「你在婦女中是有福的！你所懷的胎也是有福的！我主的母到我這裏來，這是從哪裏得的呢？因為你問安的聲音一入我耳，我腹裏的胎就歡喜跳動。這相信的女子是有福的！因為主對她所說的話都要應驗。」』

     『馬利亞和伊利沙伯同住，約有三個月，就回家去了。』 (路加福音 1:56)

     第二，我們看看耶穌為什麼雖是君王，卻從一開始就誕生在馬槽裏。這在路加福音 2:1-7 講得很清楚：『當那些日子，凱撒亞古士督有旨意下來，叫天下人民都報名上冊。…眾人各歸各城，報名上冊。約瑟也從加利利的拿撒勒城上猶太去，到了大衞的城，名叫伯利恆。因他本是大衞一族一家的人，要和他所聘之妻馬利亞一同報名上冊。那時馬利亞的身孕已經重了。他們在那裏的時候，馬利亞的產期到了，就生了頭胎的兒子，用布包起來，放在馬槽裏，因為客店裏沒有地方。』沒有報名上册的事，祂不可能誕生在伯利恆，這裡的就符合了舊約的一個預言。

      我們可看到祂不平常的誕生。那時，『在伯利恆之野地裏有牧羊的人，夜間按着更次看守羊羣。有主的使者站在他們旁邊，…那天使對他們說：「不要懼怕！我報給你們大喜的信息，是關乎萬民的。因今天在大衞的城裏，為你們生了救主，就是主基督。你們要看見一個嬰孩，包着布，臥在馬槽裏，那就是記號了。」』 (路加福音 2:8-12)  『忽然，有一大隊天兵同那天使讚美神說：「在至高之處榮耀歸與神！在地上平安歸與他所喜悅的人！」』 (路加福音 2:13-14) 接著牧羊的人就去了伯利恆証實了這件事。也『…因所聽見所看見的一切事，正如天使向他們所說的，就歸榮耀與神，讚美他。』 (路加福音 2:20) 『滿了八天，就給孩子行割禮，與他起名叫耶穌，這就是沒有成胎以前，天使所起的名。』 (路加福音 2:21)

      第三，約瑟『按摩西律法滿了潔淨的日子，他們帶着孩子上耶路撒冷去，要把他獻與主。』 (路加福音 2:22) 這時他們遇見了西面：『…這人又公義又虔誠…又有聖靈在他身上。…他受了聖靈的感動，進入聖殿，正遇見(and)耶穌的父母抱着孩子進來，要照律法的規矩辦理。』 (路加福音 2:25-27) 於是『西面就…稱頌神說：「主啊！…我的眼睛已經看見你的救恩，…是照亮外邦人的光，又是你民以色列的榮耀。」孩子的父母因這論耶穌的話就希奇。』 (路加福音 2:28-33)

       『又有女先知，名叫亞拿，…現在已經八十四歲，並不離開聖殿，禁食祈求，晝夜事奉神。正當那時(in that instant)，她進前來稱謝神，將孩子的事對一切盼望耶路撒冷得救贖的人講說。』 (路加福音 2:36-38)

    請注意，當和合本的翻譯用『正』這個字時，要特別留心！因神常用『恰巧』來工作如路得記所提的，但不是說、『恰巧』就是神的工作。

    第四是說到『幾位』博士看見耶穌的星就來朝拜祂：『當希律王的時候，耶穌生在猶太的伯利恆。有幾個博士從東方來到耶路撒冷，說：「那生下來作猶太人之王的在哪裏？我們在東方看見他的星，特來拜他。」』 (馬太福音 2:1-2) 他們找到了小孩，因『…在東方所看見的那星，忽然在他們前頭行，直行到小孩子的地方，就在上頭停住了。』 (馬太福音 2:9)

      他們(博士)去後，有主的使者向約瑟夢中顯現，說：「起來！帶着小孩子同他母親逃往埃及，住在那裏，等我吩咐你，因為希律必尋找小孩子，要除滅他。」約瑟就起來，夜間帶着小孩子和他母親往埃及去，住在那裏，直到希律死了。這是要應驗主藉先知所說的話，說：「我從埃及召出我的兒子來。」』 (馬太福音 2:13-15) 一方面我們看到了預言因此被應驗，另方面我們看到約瑟知道神要他做什麼他立刻就去做，要不然就可能太遲了！因『博士因為在夢中被主指示，不要回去見希律，就從別的路回本地去了。』 (馬太福音 2:12) 『希律見自己被博士愚弄，就大大發怒，差人將伯利恆城裏並四境所有的男孩，照着他向博士仔細查問的時候，凡兩歲以裏的，都殺盡了。』 (馬太福音 2:16)

      最後我們談一談耶穌十二歲時逾越節所發生的事。我們看到了『孩子漸漸長大，強健起來，充滿智慧，又有神的恩在他身上。』 (路加福音 2:40) 在路加福音 2:43-49 記載：『守滿了節期，他們回去，孩童耶穌仍舊在耶路撒冷。他的父母並不知道，…過了三天，就遇見他在殿裏，坐在教師中間，一面聽，一面問。凡聽見他的，都希奇他的聰明和他的應對。他父母看見就很希奇。他母親對他說：「我兒，為甚麼向我們這樣行呢？看哪，你父親和我傷心來找你！」耶穌說：「為甚麼找我呢？豈不知我應當以我父的事為念嗎？」』 所以至少在十二歲的時候，耶穌就很清楚祂是誰。

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到這網站後要按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』。)

The Bible uses quite a few pages to talk about the birth of Jesus; he was born due to Immaculate Conception and born in Bethlehem. Because of Moses’ laws, Joseph brought the baby Jesus to Jerusalem, where he met Simeon and Anna. Due to the magis talking to King Herod, Joseph had to bring Mary and the baby Jesus and flee to Egypt. Finally, let us review briefly what happened at the feast of Passover when He was twelve years old.

First, we see in Luke 1:24-27 that Elizabeth had John the Baptist in her old age, “After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying, …Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.”

Then in Matthew 1:18-21, we observe the Immaculate Conception: “…when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.””

Next, in Luke 1:39-45, we can see that Mary arose and went in a hurry to verify what she knew, “Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country …and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.””

As for how long she stays with Elisabeth, Luke 1:56 tells us, “And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.”

Secondly, we can see in Luke 2:1-7 why Jesus is the King but was born in a manger, “Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. …Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, …to …Bethlehem, …in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

“In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, …But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”” (Luke 2:8-12)

“And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”” (Luke 2:13-14)

“And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.” (Luke 2:21)

Thirdly, let us take a look at how He met Simeon and Anna. In Luke 2:22, it tells us, “And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord.” Luke 2:25-27 says, “…Simeon…was righteous and devout, …and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law.”

Simeon then in Luke 2:28-32 “…blessed God, and said, “…For my eyes have seen Your salvation, …A Light of revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”” “And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him.” (Luke 2:33)

In Luke 2:36-37, the baby Jesus met Anna, “And there was a prophetess, Anna …then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.” “At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:38)

Fourthly, let us see how the magi were led to worship Him in Matthew 2:1-2, “…in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”” According to the Bible, it doesn’t say there are three magi like what said traditionally by some people. 

In Matthew 2:9, a miracle happened regarding how they found the baby Jesus, “After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was.” “And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.” (Matthew 2:12) 

As a result, Joseph fled to Egypt in Matthew 2:13-15, “Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.” So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. He remained there until the death of Herod. …”

“Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.” (Matthew 2:16)

If Joseph didn’t trust and obey immediately, it would be too late. We can see this often in the Bible.

Finally, let us review quickly regarding what happened when Jesus was twelve years old, which is the only event recorded after his birth and before He was an adult. In Luke 2:40, it says, “The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”

“Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He became twelve, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast.” (Luke 2:41-42)

In Luke 2:43-49, it clearly states, “and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware of it, …Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. …And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house? “” 

Apparently, He knew who He was at the age of twelve years old.

(Verses refer to those in NASB unless otherwise specified.)

(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)

我们重点式的敘述一下，作為耶稣的开路者的施洗约翰之生平。首先我们用经文看他的出生，我们也可从这里看见我们需要用新约来解释旧约不清楚的地方。接著看他的成长和传道，他的宣道是基於事实，而不是怕把人吓走。第三他很清楚的知道他要做的事情，就像他所說的：他必兴旺，我必衰微。第四他见証了耶稣是神的儿子。最后我们看看他是如何的死，和為什麼圣经說他有他的软弱。

在路加福音 1:8-17 中， 对於他的出生說得很清楚，我们就看经文如何說。我们看到了天使向他的父亲撒迦利亚顯现，並预先告诉他的母亲伊利沙伯要生他，且帮他取了名字叫约翰 [1]。因他的出生可使许多以色列人回转，从母腹里就被圣灵充满(2)，且『他必有以利亚的心志能力，行在主的前面，叫為父(复数)的心转向儿女，叫悖逆的人转从义人的智慧，又為主预备合用的百姓。』(路加福音 1:17) 

这里我们特別要提到的是父用的是复数，不是指天父。如果我们看旧约中相应的经文：『看哪！耶和华大而可畏之日未到以前，我必差遣先知以利亚到你们那里去！他必使父亲的心转向儿女，儿女的心转向父亲，免得我来咒诅遍地。』 (玛拉基书 4:5-6) 如果我们用工具书，就可看见只說父亲是男性的名词，沒有說是单数或复数。在这情況下，我们必须用新约来阐释旧约。

第二我们看到他的成长是在旷野 [2]，到神的话临到他，他就宣讲悔改的洗礼 [3]，正如以赛亚所說的，他是耶稣的开路先锋 [4]。我们也看到了施洗约翰的宣道和许多人不同，他讲的是事实，而不是怕把人吓走 [5]。

接著我们看到约翰為耶稣施洗是要尽诸般的义 [6]，而且他非常清楚的知道他要做的工作，知道『他必兴旺，我必衰微』[7]，也传道說耶稣会用圣灵和火施洗 [8]。

第四我们看施洗约翰為耶稣做的见証。因他為耶稣施洗，『…天忽然為他开了，他就看见神的灵彷彿鸽子降下，落在他身上。从天上有声音說：「这是我的愛子，我所喜悅的。」』(马太福音 3:16-17) 因此『约翰又作见证說：「我曾看见圣灵彷彿鸽子从天降下，住在他的身上。我先前不认识他，只是那差我来用水施洗的，对我說：『你看见圣灵降下来，住在谁的身上，谁就是用圣灵施洗的。』我看见了，就证明这是神的儿子。」 (约翰福音 1:32-34) ##### 最后我们来看看他是如何的死及圣经如何诚实地记载了他的软弱。他為了希罗底的缘故下在监里 [9]。『约翰在监里听见基督所做的事，就打發两个门徒去，问他說：「那将要来的是你吗？还是我们等候別人呢？」(马太福音 11:2-3) 『耶稣回答說：「你们去，把所听见、所看见的事告诉约翰：就是瞎子看见，瘸子行走，长大痲疯的洁淨，聋子听见，死人复活，穷人有福音传给他们。凡不因我跌倒的就有福了。」(马太福音 11:4-6) 所以虽然约翰明知道耶稣是神的儿子，他仍然软弱了！我们虽然常会软弱，但不能用这当借口，要悔改。

这是在圣经中记载他是如何的死：『到了希律的生日，希罗底的女儿在眾人面前跳舞，使希律欢喜。希律就起誓，应许随她所求的给她。女儿被母亲所使，就說：「请把施洗约翰的头放在盘子里，拿来给我。」(马太福音 14:6-8) 以人看来这好像是个悲剧。但让我们看看使徒雅各的死。『那时，希律王下手苦害教会中几个人，用刀杀了约翰的哥哥雅各。』(使徒行传 12:1-2) 雅各短命而死好像也是个悲剧，但在启示錄 21:14，『城牆有十二根基，根基上有羔羊十二使徒的名字。』雅各的名字在十二根基上，是大得荣耀的。神看人的死，和人看人的死，是很不一样的。

一些相关的经文

[1] 撒迦利亚按班次在神面前供祭司的职分，照祭司的规矩掣签，得进主殿烧香。烧香的时候，眾百姓在外面祷告。有主的使者站在香坛的右边向他顯现。撒迦利亚看见，就惊慌害怕。天使对他說：「撒迦利亚，不要害怕，因為你的祈祷已经被听见了。你的妻子伊利沙伯要给你生一个儿子，你要给他起名叫约翰。(路加福音 1:8-13)

[2] 你必欢喜快乐，有许多人因他出世，也必喜乐。他在主面前将要為大，淡酒浓酒都不喝，从母腹里就被圣灵充满了。他要使许多以色列人回转，归於主他们的神。(路加福音 1:14-16)

[3] 亚那和该亚法作大祭司。那时，撒迦利亚的儿子约翰在旷野里，神的话临到他。他就来到约旦河一带地方，宣讲悔改的洗礼，使罪得赦。(路加福音 3:2-3)

[4] 正如先知以赛亚书上所记的话，說：「在旷野有人声喊着說：『预备主的道，修直他的路！一切山洼都要填满，大小山冈都要削平！弯弯曲曲的地方要改為正直，高高低低的道路要改為平坦！凡有血气的，都要见神的救恩！』」(路加福音 3:4-6)

[5] 约翰对那出来要受他洗的眾人說：「毒蛇的种类！谁指示你们逃避将来的忿怒呢？你们要结出果子来，与悔改的心相称。不要自己心里說：『有亚伯拉罕為我们的祖宗。』我告诉你们：神能从这些石头中，给亚伯拉罕兴起子孙来。现在斧子已经放在树根上，凡不结好果子的树就砍下来，丟在火里。」(路加福音 3:7-9)

[6] 当下，耶稣从加利利来到约旦河，见了约翰，要受他的洗。约翰想要拦住他，說：「我当受你的洗，你反倒上我这里来吗？」耶稣回答說：「你暂且许我，因為我们理当这样尽诸般的义。」於是约翰许了他。(马太福音 3:13-15)

[7] 我曾說『我不是基督，是奉差遣在他前面的』，你们自己可以给我作见证。娶新妇的就是新郎，新郎的朋友站着听见新郎的声音就甚喜乐，故此我这喜乐满足了。他必兴旺，我必衰微。」(约翰福音 3:28-30)

[8] 约翰說：「我是用水给你们施洗，但有一位能力比我更大的要来，我就是给他解鞋带也不配。他要用圣灵与火给你们施洗。他手里拿着簸箕，要扬淨他的场，把麦子收在仓里，把糠用不灭的火烧尽了。」(路加福音 3:16-17)

[9] 先是希律為他兄弟腓力的妻子希罗底的缘故，差人去拿住约翰，锁在监里，因為希律已经娶了那妇人。约翰曾对希律說：「你娶你兄弟的妻子是不合理的。」於是希罗底怀恨他，想要杀他，只是不能。(马可福音 6:17-19)

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到这网站后要按『对属灵生命的了解』。)

我們重點式的敘述一下，作為耶穌的開路者的施洗約翰之生平。首先我們用經文看他的出生，我們也可從這裏看見我們需要用新約來解釋舊約不清楚的地方。接著看他的成長和傳道，他的宣道是基於事實，而不是怕把人嚇走。第三他很清楚的知道他要做的事情，就像他所說的：他必興旺，我必衰微。第四他見証了耶穌是神的兒子。最後我們看看他是如何的死，和為什麼聖經說他有他的軟弱。

在路加福音 1:8-17 中， 對於他的出生說得很清楚，我們就看經文如何說。我們看到了天使向他的父親撒迦利亞顯現，並預先告訴他的母親伊利沙伯要生他，且幫他取了名字叫約翰 [1]。因他的出生可使許多以色列人回轉，從母腹裏就被聖靈充滿(2)，且『他必有以利亞的心志能力，行在主的前面，叫為父(複數)的心轉向兒女，叫悖逆的人轉從義人的智慧，又為主預備合用的百姓。』(路加福音 1:17) 

這裏我們特別要提到的是父用的是複數，不是指天父。如果我們看舊約中相應的經文：『看哪！耶和華大而可畏之日未到以前，我必差遣先知以利亞到你們那裏去！他必使父親的心轉向兒女，兒女的心轉向父親，免得我來咒詛遍地。』 (瑪拉基書 4:5-6) 如果我們用工具書，就可看見只說父親是男性的名詞，沒有說是單數或複數。在這情況下，我們必須用新約來闡釋舊約。

第二我們看到他的成長是在曠野 [2]，到神的話臨到他，他就宣講悔改的洗禮 [3]，正如以賽亞所說的，他是耶穌的開路先鋒 [4]。我們也看到了施洗約翰的宣道和許多人不同，他講的是事實，而不是怕把人嚇走 [5]。

接著我們看到約翰為耶穌施洗是要盡諸般的義 [6]，而且他非常清楚的知道他要做的工作，知道『他必興旺，我必衰微』[7]，也傳道說耶穌會用聖靈和火施洗 [8]。

第四我們看施洗約翰為耶穌做的見証。因他為耶穌施洗，『…天忽然為他開了，他就看見神的靈彷彿鴿子降下，落在他身上。從天上有聲音說：「這是我的愛子，我所喜悅的。」』(馬太福音 3:16-17) 因此『約翰又作見證說：「我曾看見聖靈彷彿鴿子從天降下，住在他的身上。我先前不認識他，只是那差我來用水施洗的，對我說：『你看見聖靈降下來，住在誰的身上，誰就是用聖靈施洗的。』我看見了，就證明這是神的兒子。」  (約翰福音 1:32-34)

最後我們來看看他是如何的死及聖經如何誠實地記載了他的軟弱。他為了希羅底的緣故下在監裏 [9]。『約翰在監裏聽見基督所做的事，就打發兩個門徒去，問他說：「那將要來的是你嗎？還是我們等候別人呢？」(馬太福音 11:2-3) 『耶穌回答說：「你們去，把所聽見、所看見的事告訴約翰：就是瞎子看見，瘸子行走，長大痲瘋的潔淨，聾子聽見，死人復活，窮人有福音傳給他們。凡不因我跌倒的就有福了。」(馬太福音 11:4-6) 所以雖然約翰明知道耶穌是神的兒子，他仍然軟弱了！我們雖然常會軟弱，但不能用這當藉口，要悔改。

這是在聖經中記載他是如何的死：『到了希律的生日，希羅底的女兒在眾人面前跳舞，使希律歡喜。希律就起誓，應許隨她所求的給她。女兒被母親所使，就說：「請把施洗約翰的頭放在盤子裏，拿來給我。」(馬太福音 14:6-8) 以人看來這好像是個悲劇。但讓我們看看使徒雅各的死。『那時，希律王下手苦害教會中幾個人，用刀殺了約翰的哥哥雅各。』(使徒行傳 12:1-2) 雅各短命而死好像也是個悲劇，但在啓示錄 21:14，『城牆有十二根基，根基上有羔羊十二使徒的名字。』雅各的名字在十二根基上，是大得榮耀的。神看人的死，和人看人的死，是很不一樣的。

一些相關的經文

[1] 撒迦利亞按班次在神面前供祭司的職分，照祭司的規矩掣籤，得進主殿燒香。燒香的時候，眾百姓在外面禱告。有主的使者站在香壇的右邊向他顯現。撒迦利亞看見，就驚慌害怕。天使對他說：「撒迦利亞，不要害怕，因為你的祈禱已經被聽見了。你的妻子伊利沙伯要給你生一個兒子，你要給他起名叫約翰。(路加福音 1:8-13)

[2] 你必歡喜快樂，有許多人因他出世，也必喜樂。他在主面前將要為大，淡酒濃酒都不喝，從母腹裏就被聖靈充滿了。他要使許多以色列人回轉，歸於主他們的神。(路加福音 1:14-16)

[3] 亞那和該亞法作大祭司。那時，撒迦利亞的兒子約翰在曠野裏，神的話臨到他。他就來到約旦河一帶地方，宣講悔改的洗禮，使罪得赦。(路加福音 3:2-3)

[4] 正如先知以賽亞書上所記的話，說：「在曠野有人聲喊着說：『預備主的道，修直他的路！一切山窪都要填滿，大小山岡都要削平！彎彎曲曲的地方要改為正直，高高低低的道路要改為平坦！凡有血氣的，都要見神的救恩！』」(路加福音 3:4-6)

[5] 約翰對那出來要受他洗的眾人說：「毒蛇的種類！誰指示你們逃避將來的忿怒呢？你們要結出果子來，與悔改的心相稱。不要自己心裏說：『有亞伯拉罕為我們的祖宗。』我告訴你們：神能從這些石頭中，給亞伯拉罕興起子孫來。現在斧子已經放在樹根上，凡不結好果子的樹就砍下來，丟在火裏。」(路加福音 3:7-9)

[6] 當下，耶穌從加利利來到約旦河，見了約翰，要受他的洗。約翰想要攔住他，說：「我當受你的洗，你反倒上我這裏來嗎？」耶穌回答說：「你暫且許我，因為我們理當這樣盡諸般的義。」於是約翰許了他。(馬太福音 3:13-15)

[7] 我曾說『我不是基督，是奉差遣在他前面的』，你們自己可以給我作見證。娶新婦的就是新郎，新郎的朋友站着聽見新郎的聲音就甚喜樂，故此我這喜樂滿足了。他必興旺，我必衰微。」(約翰福音 3:28-30)

[8] 約翰說：「我是用水給你們施洗，但有一位能力比我更大的要來，我就是給他解鞋帶也不配。他要用聖靈與火給你們施洗。他手裏拿着簸箕，要揚淨他的場，把麥子收在倉裏，把糠用不滅的火燒盡了。」(路加福音 3:16-17)

[9] 先是希律為他兄弟腓力的妻子希羅底的緣故，差人去拿住約翰，鎖在監裏，因為希律已經娶了那婦人。約翰曾對希律說：「你娶你兄弟的妻子是不合理的。」於是希羅底懷恨他，想要殺他，只是不能。(馬可福音 6:17-19)

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到這網站後要按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』。)

We describe some key points in the life of John the Baptist who was the forerunner for Jesus. First, let us use verses to take a look at his birth, and we can also see from those verses that we have to use New Testament to explain the unclear parts of Old Testament. Secondly, we want to see his growth and preaching style, which is based upon facts without worrying that he might scare people away. Thirdly, he is clear what he was assigned to do, like what he said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Fourthly, he has testified that Jesus is the Son of God. Finally, we talk about how he dies, and why the Bible says that he has his feebleness 

In Luke 1:8-17, it talks very clearly about his birth. Let us take a look at what the verses say. We see the angel appeared to his father Zacharias and told him in advance that his wife Elizabeth would give birth to John the Baptist, and also told him that the child’s name should be John [1[. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. And because of his birth, he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God [2]. And Luke 1:17 states, “It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Notice that fathers use the plural. So, it doesn’t mean God the father. If we look at the corresponding verses in Malachi 4:5-6 of Old Testament, it says, “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.” If you use tools, you will see that “father” is a male noun and doesn’t specify if it is plural or singular. In this case, we have to use New Testament to get the correct meaning of the words in Old Testament.

Secondly, we can see that he grew in the wilderness [2]. When the word of God came to him, he started to preach the baptism of repentance [3]. As Isaiah said, he is the forerunner of Jesus [4] We can also see his preaching style is very different from many people, which is based upon facts not on the worry that he might scare people away [5]. 

Thirdly, he baptized Jesus since it is fitting for them to fulfill all righteousness (6). He is very clear what he was assigned to do, as he said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” [7] He preached that Jesus would baptize people with Holy Spirit and fire [8].

Fourthly, let us take a look at how he testified for Jesus. Since he baptized Jesus, he saw in Matthew 3:16-17, “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” Therefore, “John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:32-34)

Finally, let us look at how he died and how the Bible honestly described his feebleness. John was arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias [9]. In Matthew 11:2-3, it says, “Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?”” “Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”” (Matthew 11:4-6) Although he knew that Jesus is the son of God, he is still feeble. Therefore, although we are often feeble, we cannot use feebleness as an execuse. We really need to repent.

Some related verses

(Verses refer to those in NASB unless otherwise specified.)

[1] Luke 1:8-13, Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.

[2] Luke 1:14-16, You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.

[3] Luke 3:2-3, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins;

[4] Luke 3:4-6, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight. ‘Every ravine will be filled, And every mountain and hill will be brought low; The crooked will become straight, And the rough roads smooth; And all flesh will see the salvation of God.'”

[5] Luke 3:7-9, So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

[6] Matthew 3:13-15, Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him.

[7] John 3:28-30, You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. He must increase, but I must decrease.

[8] Luke 3:16-17, John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

[9] Mark 6:17-19, For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so;

(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)

There are four parts in this article. First, let us review the necessity of repentance. Secondly, we will take a look at what could have been the effect due to a wrong translation. Followed by a discussion about why one shouldn’t look for a perfect church. Finally, we still need to pursue the truth even in this situation. In order to be conformed to the image of Jesus, we need to deny ourselves.

John the Baptist says in Matthew 3:1-3, “…”Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!'”” Jesus himself says in Matthew 4:12-17 that repentance is necessary, “Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; …From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”” The disciples preach the same in Mark 6:12, “They went out and preached that men should repent.” After Pentecost, they preached as was described in Acts 2:38, “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Repentance is absolutely necessary as indicated in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Repentance is only the first step. We really need a true repentance, since one can even cheat oneself without seeing the fact as says in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” We really need enlightenment by God. Merely studying the Bible is not enough. The purpose of studying the Bible is according to what Jesus says in John 5:39-40, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.” And the life can only be initialized from God as indicated in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.” What we can do is be willing to work with God.

Secondly, we can see a wrong translation can cause some problems. As an example, we are familiar with the verse in John 4:24, NASB, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” According to Strong’s Concordance, we have in John 4:24, NIV, “God is a Spirit: (G4151) and they that worship him must worship him in spirit (G4151) and in truth.” There is no distinction between the Holy Spirit and our spirit in Greek. In the English translation the big letter “Spirit” is used to indicate the Holy Spirit, and the small letter “spirit” to describe our spirits. In this case, we cannot use the surrounding verses to decide which one we need to choose, and unfortunately all the possible combinations are chosen in different translations. Therefore, we have to decide how to translate correctly according to the whole Bible. 

Let us just use these two versions for our discussion. In NASB, the small letter “spirit” is used. It has to be wrong since we cannot see a spirit, but in Exodus 33:23 Moses can see God although not in face, “Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.” Thus, we cannot say that “God is spirit” as in NASB. Since according to the whole Bible God is Holy Trinity, God is (Holy) Spirit. As in NIV, there is no “a” in Greek. Thus, the right translation should be “God is Spirit (G4151), and those who worship Him must worship in spirit (G4151) and truth.” 

Thirdly, let us not dream about a perfect church because Romans 3:23 says clearly, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” There was a pastor said something like this. If you ever see a perfect church, please let me know and I’ll join it. She knows that it is impossible to have a perfect church. As long as I attend such a church, it isn’t perfect anymore since I am imperfect. It is impossible to not make mistakes. Nevertheless, God is full of mercy and grace as seen in Revelation 3:8, “I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.” Just because the church in Philadelphia has a little power, He rewards them an open door.

Since we talked about sin, we may ask where it comes from? In Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as through one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, …” In Genesis 2:16-17, “The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” However, Adam disobeyed as stated in Genesis 3:6, “…she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.” So, sin comes from the disobedience of God. In Romans 5:19, “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One (Jesus) the many will be made righteous.” He obeyed God to death. God says, don’t kill people. If one kills, then the person doesn’t obey and commits a sin.

God knows that we often are weak and commit sins and are unable to follow the words in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, “Do not quench the Spirit.” He gives us the way of repentance in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” What we need to do is to seek and open the door as stated in Luke 11:9-13, “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” The verses are referring to the Holy Spirit. The only condition is that the person has to be a Christian. Although it doesn’t state when, there are no other conditions. We must pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit and pray in faith as stated in Hebrews 6:12, “so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot do anything. Jesus says clearly in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Finally, let us talk about denying oneself in order to gain life. Words becomes flesh [1] in order to that we might have life abundantly [2]. To gain life is the way of following Jesus. It is a way of bearing our cross as Jesus says in Luke 9:23, “…If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” It is the way of denying oneself! Paul in Romans 8:13 says, “for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” In other words, we have to substitute the life of ours by that of Jesus: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20) “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Romans 8:29) To be conformed to the image of Jesus is our goal, how can we not deny ourselves? 

Some related verses

(Verses refer to those in NASB unless otherwise specified.)

[1] Philippians 2:5-7, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,:who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”

[2] John 3:17, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” 

(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)

我们分為四个部份来看这话题。首先我们看一看悔改的必要性。第二我们看看翻译错误会影响很大。接著我们讨论為什麼不要梦想有个完美的教会，即使如此，我们仍要追求。最后，我们看到了我们必须治死老我，这是得生命非要不可的。

施洗约翰是為耶稣开路的，他传道說：『…「天国近了，你们应当悔改！」这人就是先知以赛亚所說的，他說：「在旷野有人声喊着說：『预备主的道，修直他的路！』」 (马太福音 3:1-3) 耶稣自己也說要悔改：『耶稣听见约翰下了监，就退到加利利去；…从那时候，耶稣就传起道来，說：「天国近了，你们应当悔改！」』 (马太福音 4:12-17) 门徒也这样传道：『门徒就出去传道，叫人悔改。』 (马可福音 6:12) 在五旬节后，他们仍这样传，如『彼得說：「你们各人要悔改，奉耶稣基督的名受洗，叫你们的罪得赦，就必领受所赐的圣灵。」』 (使徒行传 2:38) 悔改实在是非常必要：『我们若认自己的罪，神是信实的，是公义的，必要赦免我们的罪，洗淨我们一切的不义。』 (约翰一书 1:9)

悔改只是第一步，要真的悔改，要意识到人真的会自己欺骗自己，看不到自己，因為『人心比万物都诡诈，坏到极处，谁能识透呢？』 (耶利米书 17:9) 需要人的光照。不要以為查考圣经就可以了！耶稣說得很清楚：『你们查考圣经，因你们以為內中有永生；给我作见证的就是这经。然而你们不肯到我这里来得生命。』 (约翰福音 5:39-40)  要知道生命的成长只能从神来，『我栽种了，亚波罗浇灌了，惟有神叫他生长。可见栽种的算不得甚麼，浇灌的也算不得甚麼，只在那叫他生长的神。』 (哥林多前书 3:6-7) 我们只能夠主动的愿意。

第二我们說到错误的翻译会影响很大。舉个例子来說，在以弗所书 4:15 說：『惟用愛心說诚实话(G226)，…』 (以弗所书 4:15) 可能很少人会想到诚实话不见得是真的，更不见得是真理，因此別人不会听。那麼我们看这希腊字 G226，这字只在另一个经文中出现，就是『如今，我将真理 (G226) 告诉你们，就成了你们的仇敌吗？』 (加拉太书 4:16) 我们不能說，圣灵的感动不只是讲真理而已，有时是真话，真理一定是真话，而真话不一定是真理，因此这句话应该翻成：『惟用愛心說真话』。虽說诚实话是翻错的，这也不对，是圣经的话加上了人的逻辑，在这经文中我们看上下文就知道应翻作真理，因此这句话应该翻成：『惟用愛心說真理』。

另外一个影响很大的例子见魂有不同的翻译，这会浪费许多时间去分辨究竟為何？例如和合本中的彼得前书說的灵魂其实都是指魂，英文就很清楚！有更多的经文中，魂被翻成不同的字。

接著谈谈不要梦想有完美的教会，『因為世人都犯了罪，亏缺了神的荣耀。』 (罗马书 3:23) 有个牧师說，如果有完美的教会，请告诉我，我一定要加入。她知道这是不可能的事，『因為我加入了，就不可能再是完美的教会了。』 犯错是经常的事，要悔改！

那麼我们看看在圣经中罪从何处来？『这就如罪是从一人(亚当)入了世界…』 (罗马书 5:12) 在创世记 2:16-17，『耶和华神吩咐他(亚当)說：「园中各样树上的果子，你可以随意吃，只是分別善恶树上的果子，你不可吃，因為你吃的日子必定死。」』 (创世记 2:16-17) 可是，『於是，女人…又给她丈夫，她丈夫也吃了。』 (创世记 3:6) 所以罪从不顺服而来，亚当不能完全的信靠神。『因一人的悖逆，眾人成為罪人；照样，因一人(耶稣)的顺从，眾人也成為义了。』 (罗马书 5:19) 例如，神說不能杀人，杀人就不顺服神，犯罪了！

即使常常不能顺服，神仍留了一條路给我们，『我们若认自己的罪，神是信实的，是公义的，必要赦免我们的罪，洗淨我们一切的不义。』 (约翰一书 1:9) 我们要做的是要寻求，『…因為，凡祈求的，就得着；寻找的，就寻见；叩门的，就给他开门。「你们中间作父亲的，谁有儿子求饻，反给他石头呢？求鱼，反拿蛇当鱼给他呢？求雞蛋，反给他蠍子呢？你们虽然不好，尚且知道拿好东西给儿女，何況天父，岂不更将圣灵给求他的人吗？」』 (路加福音 11:9-13) 只要是基督徒，这是沒有任何其他條件而沒說时间的应许，我们一定要求被圣灵充满，『並且不懈怠，总要效法那些凭信心和忍耐承受应许的人。』 (希伯来书 6:12) 沒有圣灵，我们真的什麼都不能做。耶稣实在說得很清楚：『我是葡萄树，你们是枝子。常在我里面的，我也常在他里面，这人就多结果子。因為离了我，你们就不能做甚麼。』 (约翰福音 15:5)

最后我们谈一谈要治死老我得生命。耶稣道成肉身 [1]，不仅是要赐给我们生命，更是要赐给我们更丰盛的生命 [2]。而得生命的道路，是一條跟随的道路，也是一條十字架的道路，因為『耶稣又对眾人說：「若有人要跟从我，就当舍己，天天背起他的十字架来跟从我。」』 (路加福音 9:23) 这是一條治死老我的路！所以保罗說：『你们若顺从肉体活着，必要死；若靠着圣灵治死身体的恶行，必要活着。』 (罗马书 8:13)  也就是說，我们实在要用耶稣的生命去替代我们的生命：『我已经与基督同钉十字架，现在活着的不再是我，乃是基督在我里面活着；並且我如今在肉身活着，是因信神的儿子而活，他是愛我，為我舍己。』 (加拉太书 2:20) 而且『因為他预先所知道的人，就预先定下效法(模成)他儿子的模样(形像)，使他儿子在许多弟兄中作长子。』 (罗马书 8:29) 即然模成耶稣的形像是我们的标桿，怎能不治死我们的老我而得生命？

一些相关的经文

[1] 你们当以基督耶稣的心為心。他本有神的形像，不以自己与神同等為強夺的，反倒虛己，取了奴仆的形像，成為人的样式。 (腓立比书 2:5-7)

[2] 『因為神差他的儿子降世，不是要定世人的罪，乃是要叫世人因他得救。』 (约翰福音 3:17)  『…我来了，是要叫羊得生命，並且得的更丰盛。』(约翰福音 10:10)

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到这网站后要按『对属灵生命的了解』。)

我們分為四個部份來看這話題。首先我們看一看悔改的必要性。第二我們看看翻譯錯誤會影響很大。接著我們討論為什麼不要夢想有個完美的教會，即使如此，我們仍要追求。最後，我們看到了我們必須治死老我，這是得生命非要不可的。

施洗約翰是為耶穌開路的，他傳道說：『…「天國近了，你們應當悔改！」這人就是先知以賽亞所說的，他說：「在曠野有人聲喊着說：『預備主的道，修直他的路！』」 (馬太福音 3:1-3) 耶穌自己也說要悔改：『耶穌聽見約翰下了監，就退到加利利去；…從那時候，耶穌就傳起道來，說：「天國近了，你們應當悔改！」』 (馬太福音 4:12-17) 門徒也這樣傳道：『門徒就出去傳道，叫人悔改。』 (馬可福音 6:12) 在五旬節後，他們仍這樣傳，如『彼得說：「你們各人要悔改，奉耶穌基督的名受洗，叫你們的罪得赦，就必領受所賜的聖靈。」』 (使徒行傳 2:38) 悔改實在是非常必要：『我們若認自己的罪，神是信實的，是公義的，必要赦免我們的罪，洗淨我們一切的不義。』 (約翰一書 1:9)

 悔改只是第一步，要真的悔改，要意識到人真的會自己欺騙自己，看不到自己，因為『人心比萬物都詭詐，壞到極處，誰能識透呢？』 (耶利米書 17:9) 需要人的光照。不要以為查考聖經就可以了！耶穌說得很清楚：『你們查考聖經，因你們以為內中有永生；給我作見證的就是這經。然而你們不肯到我這裏來得生命。』 (約翰福音 5:39-40)   要知道生命的成長只能從神來，『我栽種了，亞波羅澆灌了，惟有神叫他生長。可見栽種的算不得甚麼，澆灌的也算不得甚麼，只在那叫他生長的神。』 (哥林多前書 3:6-7) 我們只能夠主動的願意。

第二我們說到錯誤的翻譯會影響很大。舉個例子來說，在以弗所書 4:15 說：『惟用愛心說誠實話(G226)，…』 (以弗所書 4:15) 可能很少人會想到誠實話不見得是真的，更不見得是真理，因此別人不會聽。那麼我們看這希臘字 G226，這字只在另一個經文中出現，就是『如今，我將真理 (G226) 告訴你們，就成了你們的仇敵嗎？』 (加拉太書 4:16) 我們不能說，聖靈的感動不只是講真理而已，有時是真話，真理一定是真話，而真話不一定是真理，因此這句話應該翻成：『惟用愛心說真話』。雖說誠實話是翻錯的，這也不對，是聖經的話加上了人的邏輯，在這經文中我們看上下文就知道應翻作真理，因此這句話應該翻成：『惟用愛心說真理』。

另外一個影響很大的例子見魂有不同的翻譯，這會浪費許多時間去分辨究竟為何？例如和合本中的彼得前書說的靈魂其實都是指魂，英文就很清楚！有更多的經文中，魂被翻成不同的字。

接著談談不要夢想有完美的教會，『因為世人都犯了罪，虧缺了神的榮耀。』 (羅馬書 3:23) 有個牧師說，如果有完美的教會，請告訴我，我一定要加入。她知道這是不可能的事，『因為我加入了，就不可能再是完美的教會了。』 犯錯是經常的事，要悔改！

那麼我們看看在聖經中罪從何處來？『這就如罪是從一人(亞當)入了世界…』 (羅馬書 5:12) 在創世記 2:16-17，『耶和華神吩咐他(亞當)說：「園中各樣樹上的果子，你可以隨意吃，只是分別善惡樹上的果子，你不可吃，因為你吃的日子必定死。」』 (創世記 2:16-17) 可是，『於是，女人…又給她丈夫，她丈夫也吃了。』 (創世記 3:6) 所以罪從不順服而來，亞當不能完全的信靠神。『因一人的悖逆，眾人成為罪人；照樣，因一人(耶穌)的順從，眾人也成為義了。』 (羅馬書 5:19) 例如，神說不能殺人，殺人就不順服神，犯罪了！

即使常常不能順服，神仍留了一條路給我們，『我們若認自己的罪，神是信實的，是公義的，必要赦免我們的罪，洗淨我們一切的不義。』 (約翰一書 1:9) 我們要做的是要尋求，『…因為，凡祈求的，就得着；尋找的，就尋見；叩門的，就給他開門。「你們中間作父親的，誰有兒子求餅，反給他石頭呢？求魚，反拿蛇當魚給他呢？求雞蛋，反給他蠍子呢？你們雖然不好，尚且知道拿好東西給兒女，何況天父，豈不更將聖靈給求他的人嗎？」』 (路加福音 11:9-13) 只要是基督徒，這是沒有任何其他條件而沒說時間的應許，我們一定要求被聖靈充滿，『並且不懈怠，總要效法那些憑信心和忍耐承受應許的人。』 (希伯來書 6:12) 沒有聖靈，我們真的什麼都不能做。耶穌實在說得很清楚：『我是葡萄樹，你們是枝子。常在我裏面的，我也常在他裏面，這人就多結果子。因為離了我，你們就不能做甚麼。』 (約翰福音 15:5)

最後我們談一談要治死老我得生命。耶穌道成肉身 [1]，不僅是要賜給我們生命，更是要賜給我們更豐盛的生命 [2]。而得生命的道路，是一條跟隨的道路，也是一條十字架的道路，因為『耶穌又對眾人說：「若有人要跟從我，就當捨己，天天背起他的十字架來跟從我。」』 (路加福音 9:23) 這是一條治死老我的路！所以保羅說：『你們若順從肉體活着，必要死；若靠着聖靈治死身體的惡行，必要活着。』 (羅馬書 8:13)  也就是說，我們實在要用耶穌的生命去替代我們的生命：『我已經與基督同釘十字架，現在活着的不再是我，乃是基督在我裏面活着；並且我如今在肉身活着，是因信神的兒子而活，他是愛我，為我捨己。』 (加拉太書 2:20) 而且『因為他預先所知道的人，就預先定下效法(模成)他兒子的模樣(形像)，使他兒子在許多弟兄中作長子。』 (羅馬書 8:29) 即然模成耶穌的形像是我們的標桿，怎能不治死我們的老我而得生命？

一些相關的經文

[1] 你們當以基督耶穌的心為心。他本有神的形像，不以自己與神同等為強奪的，反倒虛己，取了奴僕的形像，成為人的樣式。 (腓立比書 2:5-7)

[2] 『因為神差他的兒子降世，不是要定世人的罪，乃是要叫世人因他得救。』 (約翰福音 3:17)  『…我來了，是要叫羊得生命，並且得的更豐盛。』(約翰福音 10:10)

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到這網站後要按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』。)

更正:  關於十一奉獻。這衹是聖靈引導我瞭解十一奉獻的真諦過程中的一次，我在「2142 十一奉獻的真諦和不要認撒但為父」，講述了整個五次的過程。 我在油管和相應的文章中，並沒有個別的更新，而是用更正的方式引用了正確的「2142」，保留了這過程，希望別人不會和我犯下同樣的錯誤。其他的部份沒有問題。謝謝。

     我们首先用十一奉献来说明不要强解圣经，然后问保罗为什么不在迫害基督徒之前见到大光，因而谈到了万物有定时，接着讲箴言中的一个远离虚假和谎言的祷告，最后看圣经如何说神是又真又活的神，是有怜悯有恩典的神。

     我们已在专题查经中谈了三次的十一奉献，因为这和许多人的生活息息相关 [1]。只有在第三次，我们才把人的逻辑完全除掉，只看圣经如何教导。在这里，我们只将分享的最后结论大致提出。

     首先我们看见旧约在律法中的要求是、奉献要超过十分之一。我们现在是在新约的时代，新约没有如律法般的要求一定要奉献十分之一。新约的要求是要甘心乐意，我们和神的关系会决定了我们到底奉献多少。但不能把这当作借口，我可以见证神会考虑我们是否有足够的资源能奉献十分之一。新约中受到耶稣称赞的是穷寡妇奉献的两个小钱，是超过十分之一的奉献。

     如果我们和神关系好，自然会想要神家有粮，尤如我们和一个人关系好，自然希望这人能衣食无忧。也自然会考虑到那在旧约中所说的，且从未拿走的事实：十分之一是属耶和华的。这不是说奉献不到十分之一就是和神关系不好，神是看内心的，而不是看外表。

     我们可能会问，为什么我必须在前两次中犯两次错误？第一次分享是因有对圣经相当熟习的人和我有同样的看见，第二次意识到原文与和合本的翻译不同，直到第三次才借着姊妹的话告诉我拿去一切人的逻辑，只看圣经怎么说。

     问答这一问题，我们试着先问另一问题：神不是随时可以让保罗见到大光吗？不是在他迫害基督徒之前见到大光更好吗？是的，从人的角度看可能是更好的。保罗说：然而我蒙了怜悯，是因耶稣基督要在我这罪魁身上显明他一切的忍耐，给后来信他得永生的人作榜样。 (提摩太前书 1:16) 他说：『…在罪人中我是个罪魁。』(提摩太前书 1:15) 动词用的是现在式，所以他是说，我不仅过去迫害基督徒是个罪魁，现在仍是。神让他看见，和神的圣洁及无限相比，他不是罪魁是什么？愿神让我们都有这样的看见，这样的看见是不可少的。

     在传道书 3:1，耶和华说：「我的意念非同你们的意念，我的道路非同你们的道路。天怎样高过地，照样，我的道路高过你们的道路，我的意念高过你们的意念。」 的确如此，且『凡事都有定期，天下万务都有定时。』 (传道书 3:1) 这就是我们所领受的，凡事都有一个时间的窗口，有开始的时间，有结束的时间。有时候神会允许我们犯错而无意中开始了这窗口，结束的时间是在神手上。我想这大概就是为什么我在讲十一奉献时会先犯两次错误，第三次才借姊妹的话真的知道！没有疑问的，神的道路高过我的道路。

     箴言教我们一个这样的祷告：「我求你两件事，在我未死之先，不要不赐给我：求你使虚假和谎言远离我，使我也不贫穷也不富足，赐给我需用的饮食。恐怕我饱足不认你，说：『耶和华是谁呢？』又恐怕我贫穷就偷窃，以致亵渎我神的名。」  (箴言 30:7-9) 这虽只是物质上的，而人活着不是单靠食物 [2]，有人见证这样的祷告是蒙主悦纳的，是蒙主应许的。

     这就牵涉到善意的谎言问题，因人们常常以为善意的谎言为世界所接纳，是所以可以说的。千万不可！善意的谎言也是谎言，要用智慧的话语。圣经应许基督徒：『你们中间若有缺少智慧的，应当求那厚赐与众人、也不斥责人的神，主就必赐给他。』 (雅各书 1:5)

     我看到在圣经中蒙神赦免的谎言都和牺牲自己的生命有关。例如说，妓女喇和当时如不说谎就形同自杀，神不要我们去自杀。但圣经从没有夸赞她的说谎，只称赞她的信心。 但和真理有关的，『…你务要至死忠心，我就赐给你那生命的冠冕。』 (启示录 2:10)

     圣经在经文中说神是又真又活的神： 『…你们是怎样离弃偶像，归向神，要服事那又真又活的神。』 (帖撒罗尼迦前书 1:9) 神有绝对主权，但有怜悯， 有恩典，如经文所说：『耶和华说：「…我要恩待谁，就恩待谁；要怜悯谁，就怜悯谁。」』 (出埃及记 33:19) 『道成了肉身，住在我们中间，充充满满地有恩典，有真理。…』 (约翰福音 1:14)

     我们已提到了几个神的应许，要全心相信，所有神的应许从不落空。『只要凭着信心求，一点不疑惑；因为那疑惑的人，就像海中的波浪，被风吹动翻腾。』 (雅各书 1:6) 例如在大使命中有这样的应许：『凡我所吩咐你们的，都教训他们遵守，我就常与你们同在，直到世界的末了。』 (马太福音 28:20) 这应许因我们有内住的圣灵而成就了。『他又用印印了我们，并赐圣灵在我们心里作凭据。』 (哥林多后书 1:22)

     我们最后用一节经文来结束分享：『遵守神命令的，就住在神里面，神也住在他里面。我们所以知道神住在我们里面，是因他所赐给我们的圣灵。』 (约翰一书 3:24)

一些相关的经文和知识

 [1] 这三次分别是：『200816 从圣经的无误和一致性看一些经文』https://youtu.be/xea-Yj-jnro ，『 201220 读经要从整本圣经读的三个例子』https://youtu.be/O3E84s3SoYI ，和『210918 愿神家有粮和十一的奉献』https://youtu.be/YH7ih5ZFQeQ 。

 [2] 耶稣却回答说：「经上记着说：『人活着，不是单靠食物，乃是靠神口里所出的一切话。』」 (马太福音 4:4) ####

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到这网站后要按『对属灵生命的了解』。)