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Zion Bread of Life Christian Church

Proverbs 18 箴言 18

Wednesday, 18th October 2023

Rev Daniel Xi An Poon 潘錫安牧師

On this path of faith, do we have companions to walk together with us? Not just about our spouse, but people who walk with us, encourage us, and support us. We may have a lot of friends, but how many people really walk with us with the same heart? We may live in a community but still feel alone. But we are not alone, our Mother Church has demonstrated this for us, to live out the faith by encouraging each other and building up each other.

在這條信心之路上，有同伴與我們同行嗎？不只是我們的配偶，還有那些與我們同行、鼓勵我們、支持我們的人。我們或許有很多朋友，但有多少人真正與我們同心同儕？我們可能生活在一個群體中，但仍然感到孤獨。我們並不孤單，台北母堂已經為我們示範了這一點，透過互相鼓勵、互相建造來活出信心的生活。

Building up each other is not doing things for them but to help them to stand in the position God appointed for them. It takes time and willingness, to give each other space and training to be who God created them to be. It’s so easy to just help others to do things instead of letting others shine and be successful. Do we really see that when others are successful we are also successful?

建造彼此不是為他們做事，而是幫助他們站在神為他們所安排的地位。需要時間和願意的心，給予彼此成長空間和訓練，讓彼此成為神創造的樣子。僅僅幫助別人做事而不是讓別人發光並取得成功是很容易的。我們是否真的看到別人成功時我們也成功了？

Our life purpose is to let God’s Will be done on this earth as it is in heaven. We often feel tired and offended, we feel the world is unfair to us, but it’s actually ourselves who made us who we are today. What is true wisdom? In a group we can see true wisdom. Do we work so hard by ourselves and not let others participate? We thought we are making contributions to our community but we don’t know that we don’t give space for others to also make their contributions.

我們人生的目的是讓神的旨意行在地上，如同行在天上。我們常常感到疲倦和被冒犯，覺得世界對我們不公平，但其實是我們自己造就了今天的我們。什麼是真正的智慧？在團體中我們可以看到真正的智慧。我們是獨自努力奮鬥卻不讓別人參與的人嗎？我們以為自己正在為群體做出貢獻，但不知道我們沒有為其他人提供做出貢獻的空間。

V1-3 “A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgment. A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart. When the wicked comes, contempt comes also; and with dishonor comes reproach.” God gives everyone different gifts, He treasures relationship with us and our relationship with one another. When we don’t build up one another, we become prideful, we think we can do it by ourselves. We live under the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, there are so much ‘me’ in us and therefore we will be easily offended, we don’t feel understood, and we even start despise others. God wants us to live with a joyful heart, when we feel offended, we won’t feel joyful, then we will be like living in a cave. This is not true wisdom.

V1-3「與眾寡合的，獨自尋求心願，並惱恨一切真智慧。 愚昧人不喜愛明哲，只喜愛顯露心意。 惡人來，藐視隨來；羞恥到，辱罵同到。」神賜給每個人不同的恩賜，祂珍惜與我們的關係以及我們彼此之間的關係。當我們不能互相幫助時，我們就會變得驕傲，因為我們認為靠自己也能做到。我們生活在分別善惡樹下，內心有太多的“我”，因此很容易被冒犯，感到不被理解，甚至開始鄙視別人。神希望我們懷著喜樂的心生活，當我們感到被冒犯時，我們就不會感到喜樂，那麼我們就會像生活在山洞裡一樣，這不是真正的智慧。

V4-8 “The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the wellspring of wisdom is a flowing brook. It is not good to show partiality to the wicked, or to overthrow the righteous in judgment. A fool’s lips enter into contention, and his mouth calls for blows. A fool’s mouth is his destruction,
And his lips are the snare of his soul. The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, and they go down into the inmost body.” Also true wisdom comes from our words. When we have true wisdom, everything we say can influence people and everything we say can determine life and death. We don’t know we are the foolish, when we enter contention, our heart is also revealed. We must humble ourselves more, to receive teaching from our authority, and to ask God in everything we do.

V4-8 「人口中的言語如同深水，智慧的泉源好像湧流的河水。 瞻徇惡人的情面，偏斷義人的案件，都為不善。 愚昧人張嘴啟爭端，開口招鞭打。 愚昧人的口自取敗壞，他的嘴是他生命的網羅。 傳舌人的言語如同美食，深入人的心腹。 」真正的智慧也來自我們的言語。當我們有真智慧時，我們所說的一切都可以影響人，我們所說的一切都可以決定生死。我們不知道自己是愚昧的，當我們爭論的時候，我們的心也暴露了。我們必須更謙卑自己，接受權柄的教導，凡事求問神。

V9-15 “He who is slothful in his work
Is a brother to him who is a great destroyer. The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his own esteem. Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, and before honor is humility. He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him. The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit? The heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” True wisdom also comes from our attitude, do we know who our God is? We don’t need to worry when we fully rely on God. On the other hand, when our heart is not right, even when we don’t say anything, our attitude will still reveal our heart, and this is being prideful. We thought not giving an opinion is our way of survival, but true wisdom is from our attitude.

V9-15「做工懈怠的，與浪費人為弟兄。耶和華的名是堅固臺，義人奔入便得安穩。富足人的財物是他的堅城，在他心想，猶如高牆。敗壞之先，人心驕傲；尊榮以前，必有謙卑。未曾聽完先回答的，便是他的愚昧和羞辱。人有疾病心能忍耐，心靈憂傷，誰能承當呢？聰明人的心得知識，智慧人的耳求知識。 」真智慧也來自我們的態度，我們知道我們的神是誰嗎？當我們完全依靠神時，我們就不需要擔心。反之，當我們的心不對時，即使我們不說什麼，我們的態度也會流露出我們的心，這就是驕傲。我們以為不發表意見是我們的生存之道，但真智慧來自於我們的態度。

V24 “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” True wisdom is from relationship. Do we treasure the relationship we have with others? Do we treasure our companions? When we don’t see the people walking with us and helping us, then we don’t see what God has done for us and we will feel alone. God knew Adam was not good alone so He created Eve. How do we see the relationship we have with one another? We need true wisdom, in community, in our words, in our attitude, and in our relationship.

V24 「濫交朋友的自取敗壞，但有一朋友比弟兄更親密。」真智慧來自關係。我們珍惜與他人的關係嗎？我們珍惜我們的同伴嗎？當我們看不見人們與我們同行、幫助我們時，我們就看不見神為我們所做的一切，我們就會感到孤獨。神知道亞當獨自一人不好，所以創造了夏娃。我們如何看待彼此之間的關係？在群體中、在我們的言語中、在我們的態度中、在我們的關係中，我們都需要真正的智慧。

We thought we are not loved but God’s love us so real in our lives. Who do we listen to? What do we believe? God sent Jesus to die for us because of His love, what more do we need to prove it? When we are willing to die, to be buried, and to resurrect together with our Lord Jesus, we will then be able to receive true wisdom together with Him!

我們以為沒人愛我們，但神在我們的生命中如此真實地愛我們。我們聽誰說話？我們相信誰？神因著祂的愛差遣耶穌為我們死，我們還需要什麼來證明呢？當我們願意與主耶穌同死、同埋葬、同復活時，我們就能與主一同得著真正的智慧！