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Zion Bread of Life Christian Church

Luke 17 – Prepare to Enter the Kingdom of God 預備進入神的國

Tuesday, 21st November 2023

Rev Daniel Xi An Poon

V1-4 The Action to Love 愛人的行動

Jesus was talking to the people who were willing to follow Him everywhere. He told them to prepare to enter the Kingdom of God. He reminded the people that following Jesus was not to make themselves feel good but to prepare themselves.

耶穌正在對那些願意跟隨祂的人說話，告訴他們要做好進入神國的準備。祂提醒他們，跟隨耶穌不是為了讓自己感覺良好，而是為了讓自己做好準備。

V1-2 “Then He said to the disciples: it is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.” First we must learn to love people. There will be times we make mistakes and there will be times that others make mistakes, but those who cause them to sin and to fall are to be condemned.

V1-2 『耶穌又對門徒說：絆倒人的事是免不了的，但那絆倒人的有禍了！ 就是把磨石拴在這人的頸項上，丟在海裡，還強如他把這小子裡的一個絆倒了。』首先我們要學會愛人。有時我們會犯錯，有時別人也會犯錯，但那些使他們犯罪並跌倒的人將受到譴責。

V3-4 “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” Life without God will only end in death, and without God’s love, we may fall and sin against God, and be separated from Him. So how can we reveal this love for people, so they will not sin against God? Jesus said we must stay alert, never stop anyone to enter the Kingdom of God. What do we do to help people and to show them love? What is this action Jesus was talking about? We should speak the truth in love, let others know what they’ve offended us, then forgive them completely. When we forgive, we must also love, just like how Jesus loves the sinners with His life. This is the Agape love that we must have.

V3-4 『你們要謹慎！若是你的弟兄得罪你，就勸誡他。他若懊悔，就饒恕他。倘若他一天七次得罪你，又七次回轉，說：我懊悔了，你總要饒恕他。』沒有神的生命最終只能是死亡，沒有神的愛，我們可能會跌倒、得罪神、與神隔絕。那我們要如何向人們展現這種愛，使他們不致得罪神呢？耶穌說我們必須保持警惕，永遠不要阻止任何人進入神的國。我們如何幫助人們並向他們表達愛？耶穌所說的這個行動是什麼？我們應該用愛心說真話，讓別人知道他們得罪了我們，然後完全原諒他們。當我們饒恕時，我們也必須愛，就像耶穌用祂的生命愛罪人一樣。這就是我們必須擁有的愛。

V5-19 The Action of Faith 有信心的行動

V5 “And the apostles said to the Lord, increase our faith.” Why did the disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith? We always want to predict the end result, and we feel that if we cannot see it then we cannot believe it. Having faith is a decision, do we choose to believe and act by faith? God knows our hearts and He treasures our decision of faith. It’s not something we can do by our experience, connections, ability or knowledge. Seeing is believing is not the principles of the Kingdom of God.

V5 『使徒對主說：求主加增我們的信心！主說：你們若有信心像一粒芥菜種，就是對這棵桑樹說：你要拔起根來，栽在海裡！，它也必聽從你們。』為什麼門徒要耶穌增加他們的信心？我們總是想預測最終的結果，我們覺得如果我們看不到，我們就無法相信。信心是一種決定，我們是否選擇相信並憑信心行事？神知道我們的心，祂珍惜我們信心的決定。這不是我們可以透過我們的經驗、關係、能力或知識來做到的事情。眼見為憑並不是神國的原則。

God wants us to make the choice to believe only because we hear the Word of God. We don’t think about the end result, we don’t think about what we can do, but we focus on what God can do. This faith must be challenged and trained overtime. God is watching over us, and He is waiting for us to turn to Him. We must honour God’s works in our lives. When we have faith, when we focus on what God can do, what’s next?

神希望我們只因為聽到神的話而選擇相信。我們不去看最終結果，不去想我們能做什麼，而是專注於神能做什麼。這種信心必須不斷受到挑戰和訓練。神正在看顧我們，祂正在等待我們轉向祂。我們必須尊重祂在我們生命中的作為。當我們有信心，當我們專注於神能做的事時，接下來會發生什麼事？

V17-19 “So Jesus answered and said: were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? And He said to him: arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.” The ten lepers were healed, but how many remembered Jesus? When we don’t honour God and don’t recognise God’s Work in our lives, then our celebrations are pointless. What is it that we focus? God or ourselves? The faith is not by our definition but God’s.

V17-19 『耶穌說：潔淨了的不是十個人嗎？那九個在哪裡呢？除了這外族人，再沒有別人回來歸榮耀於神嗎？就對那人說：起來走吧！你的信救了你了。』十個痲瘋病人都被治癒了，但有多少人記得耶穌呢？當我們不榮耀神，不認識神在我們生命中的工作時，我們的慶祝活動就毫無意義。我們關注的焦點是什麼？是神還是我們自己？真正的信心不是我們定義的，而是神定義的。

V20-37 The Action of the Kingdom of God神國的行動

The action of the Kingdom of God is to deny ourselves, to look lightly of this world, of the desires of the world. We tend to choose the wider path, but Jesus said we must let go of the life of our desires, and follow Jesus simply by faith. Jesus wants to give us life. The life of the world will only wear us off, we don’t have time to pray and to read the Bible. We want to have security, but we seek the things of this world to fulfil our heart. God is our shelter, God is our stronghold, and let us learn to let go, and enter the life of the Kingdom of God!

神國度的行動就是捨己，輕看這個世界，輕看世界的慾望。我們傾向於選擇更寬的道路，但耶穌說我們必須放棄屬世的私慾，憑信心跟隨耶穌。耶穌想要給我們生命。屬世的生活只會讓我們疲憊不堪，我們沒有時間禱告和讀聖經。我們想要安全感，但我們卻尋求世上的事物來滿足我們的心。神是我們的避難所，神是我們的堅固城，讓我們學會放手，進入神國的生活！