作者: R.C. Sproul 譯者: Maria Marta
我們都聽過佈道家引用啟示錄：「看哪！我站在門外敲門；如果有人聽見我的聲音就開門的，我要進到他那裡去，我要跟他在一起，他也要跟我在一起吃飯。」（啟三20新譯本）。通常，佈道家用此節文本向未歸信的人呼籲，說：「耶穌在敲你的心門。如果你開門，祂就會進來」。不過，在原初的說法中，耶穌的說話是針對教會。它不是一個佈道家的呼籲。
那又怎麽樣？關鍵之處是，尋求是非信徒不能自己作的事。非信徒不會去尋求。非信徒不會敲門。尋求是信徒的事務。愛德華茲曾說：「尋求上帝的國是基督徒生活的首要事務。」尋求是信心的結果，而非原因。
當我們歸信基督，我們用「發現」這語言來表達我們的歸信。我們說找著基督。我們可能有寫著「我找到了」的保險杠貼紙。這些陳述是真實的。具有諷刺意味的是：一旦我們找著基督，這並不是我們尋求的結束，而是開始。通常，當我們找著我們正在搜尋的事物時，它標志著我們搜尋的結束。但是，當我們「找著」上帝，這是我們尋求的開始。
基督徒的生活始於歸信，它並非在開始的地方結束。它成長；從信心到信心；從恩典到恩典；從生命到生命。這成長的過程是藉著不斷追求上帝來推動的。
在你屬靈的道路上，你是從信心到信心，從恩典到恩典，從生命到生命邁進嗎？你在不斷追求上帝嗎？
Is
Jesus Knocking at the Heart of the Unbeliever?
FROM R.C. Sproul
We
have all heard evangelists quote from Revelation: “Behold, I stand at the door
and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him
and dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20). Usually the evangelist applies
this text as an appeal to the unconverted, saying: “Jesus is knocking at the
door of your heart. If you open the door, then He will come in.” In the
original saying, however, Jesus directed His remarks to the church. It was not
an evangelistic appeal.
So
what? The point is that seeking is something that unbelievers do not do on
their own. The unbeliever will not seek. The unbeliever will not knock. Seeking
is the business of believers. Jonathan Edwards said, “The seeking of the
Kingdom of God is the chief business of the Christian life.” Seeking is the
result of faith, not the cause of it.
When
we are converted to Christ, we use language of discovery to express our
conversion. We speak of finding Christ. We may have bumper stickers that read,
“I Found It.” These statements are indeed true. The irony is this: Once we have
found Christ it is not the end of our seeking but the beginning. Usually, when
we find what we are looking for, it signals the end of our searching. But when
we “find” Christ, it is the beginning of our search.
The
Christian life begins at conversion; it does not end where it begins. It grows;
it moves from faith to faith, from grace to grace, from life to life. This
movement of growth is prodded by continual seeking after God.
In
your spiritual walk, are you moving from faith to faith, from grace to grace,
from life to life? Are you continually seeking after God?