作者: Sinclair Ferguson 譯者: Maria Marta
當牧師站在教會門口與會眾握手時，他們有時會本能地回應說「我真的以祂為樂！」--------隨即補充，「哦！我真的不該這麽說，對不對？」我通常握手時間会長一些，用力更重一些，並微笑著說，「西敏小要裡問答第一問不是鼓勵我們這麽做嗎？如果我們以祂為樂，直到永遠 ，為什麽不從現在開始呢？」
當然，排除在「榮耀上帝」以外，我們不能以祂為樂。西敏小要裡問答明智地繼續問道，「上帝已經賜什麼準則，指教我們如何榮耀祂，以祂為樂？」但請注意，聖經包含榮耀上帝和以上帝為樂的「準則」。我們知道聖經有很多榮耀上帝的指導，但它如何指導我們「以祂為樂」？
以上帝為樂是命令，而非額外的選擇：「你們要靠著主常常喜樂，我再說，你們要喜樂」（腓四4）。但現在嗎？我們不能「因命令喜樂」，對不對嗎？
的確如此。然而，聖經表明，受過良好的指導的信徒，他們培養出一種決心要喜樂的信念。他們以上帝為樂。哈巴谷是在艱難時期，在這方面的典範（哈三17–18）。他運用我們的祖先所謂的「行動的信心（acting faith）」--------一種強烈的決心，要經歷何為上帝的命令，包括喜樂，並使用上帝賜予的途徑來這樣做。以下是這些方法當中的四種，其中，我們也應注意榮耀上帝。
以救恩為樂
以上帝為樂意味著歡喜上帝在耶穌基督裡賜給我們的救恩。「我卻要因耶和華歡喜，以救我的 神為樂」（哈三18新譯本）。上帝因我們得救而歡樂（路十五6–7，9–10, 32）。所以我們應當歡樂。以弗所書一章3–14節巧妙地描繪在基督裡的這種救恩。它是福音的泉浴，我們應該常常沐浴其中，它是階梯的梯級，我們應該常常攀爬在上，以便經歷「靠耶和華而得的喜樂是你們的力量」這種體驗（尼八10）。當我們受命要有喜樂時，要這樣做的途径在我們自身以外，唯獨透過與耶穌基督聯合才能知道。
以啟示為樂
喜樂從道成為文字(inscripturation)的啟示中流溢出來。詩篇一一九篇反覆表明這一點。詩人「喜歡」上帝的法度「如同喜歡一切的財富」（詩一一九14；另參35、47、70、77、103、162、174節新譯本）。想想耶穌的說話，「我把這些事告訴了你們，好讓我的喜樂存在你們心裡，並且使你們的喜樂滿溢。」（約十五11新譯本）。祂的意思是指，祂會在我們裡面找到祂的喜樂，並使我們喜樂滿溢，抑或指祂的喜樂存在我們心裡，並使我們的喜樂滿溢。無疑，兩個意思都是。唯有當我們知道主在我們心裡找到祂的喜樂時，我們才能在主裡喜樂滿溢。因此, 喜樂的途徑，就是使自己盡可能多的接觸基督的道，並讓它們豐豐富富地存在心裡（西3:16）。喜樂之糧是為饑渴喜樂之靈魂而設的。
以相通（communion）為樂
有一種在基督裡的喜樂，要在敬拜中經歷，我們以相通為樂。教會是新耶路撒冷，這座不能隱藏的城市是全地所喜歡的（詩四十八2）。在聖靈主導的讚美與祈求；牧養靈魂；宣講聖道；詩章、聖詩、靈歌的對說與口唱；水、面包、與酒的領受等相通中，找到豐富的喜樂。上帝必因我們喜樂歡唱（番三17）。我們的心也以喜樂歡唱來回應。
以苦難為樂
這的確是一種神聖的悖論(divine paradox)。在痛苦之中，透過痛苦，尚可知道有喜樂。根據聖經的觀點，苦難是父上帝嚴懲的手，使用人生的痛苦和黑暗，將我們塑造為那一位的形象，那一位因為那擺在面前的喜樂，就忍受了十字架的羞辱（來十二1–2、5–11；參看羅八29）。保羅說，我們以苦難為樂，在苦難中歡欣，因為「患難產生……..盼望」（羅五3–4）。彼得和雅各重複同樣的原則（彼前一3 -8; 雅一2-4）。對護理中的上帝的可靠之手的認識，不僅帶給我們穩定，而且它更是喜樂的供應源。
所有這一切都說明喜樂在上帝自己裡面。在羅馬書第五章1–11節，保羅引導經歷我們從歡歡喜喜盼望上帝的榮耀（2節），到在患難中也是歡歡喜喜的（3節），到以上帝為樂（11節；見詩四十三:4）這一過程。非信徒認為這是不可思議，因為他被撒但的「喜樂喪失」的謊言蒙蔽了，以為榮耀上帝是通往不快樂的道路。感恩的是，耶穌基督在祂裡面的啟示正好相反-------因著我們的恩救，透過祂的啟示，在敬拜的蒙福相通中，藉著苦難的途徑，可讓我們喜樂滿溢。
是的，的確歡欣快樂！願「永遠的快樂……臨到你們的頭。」（賽五一11）。
本文原刊於Tabletalk雜誌2017年二月號 。
To
Enjoy Him Forever
by
Sinclair Ferguson
While
shaking hands at the church door, ministers are sometimes greeted with a
spontaneous, “I really enjoyed that!”—which is immediately followed by, “Oh! I
shouldn’t really say that, should I?” I usually grip tighter, hold the
handshake a little longer, and say with a smile, “Doesn’t the catechism’s first
question encourage us to do that? If we are to enjoy Him forever, why not begin
now?”
Of
course, we cannot enjoy God apart from glorifying Him. And the Westminster
Shorter Catechism wisely goes on to ask, “What rule hath God given to direct us
how we may glorify and enjoy him?” But notice that Scripture contains the
“rule” for enjoying God as well as glorifying Him. We know it abounds in
instructions for glorifying Him, but how does it instruct us to “enjoy him”?
Enjoying
God is a command, not an optional extra: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I
will say, rejoice” (Phil. 4:4). But how? We cannot “rejoice to order,” can we?
True.
Yet, Scripture shows that well-instructed believers develop a determination to
rejoice. They will rejoice in the Lord. Habakkuk exemplified this in difficult
days (see Hab. 3:17–18). He exercised what our forefathers called “acting
faith”—a vigorous determination to experience whatever the Lord commands,
including joy, and to use the God-given means to do so. Here are four of these
means—in which, it should be noted, we also glorify God.
Joy
in Salvation
Enjoying
God means relishing the salvation He gives us in Jesus Christ. “I will take joy
in the God of my salvation” (Hab. 3:18). God takes joy in our salvation (Luke
15:6–7, 9–10, 32). So should we. Here, Ephesians 1:3–14 provides a masterly
delineation of this salvation in Christ. It is a gospel bath in which we should
often luxuriate, rungs on a ladder we should frequently climb, in order to
experience the joy of the Lord as our strength (Neh. 8:10). While we are
commanded to have joy, the resources to do so are outside of ourselves, known
only through union with Christ.
Joy
in Revelation
Joy
issues from devouring inscripturated revelation. Psalm 119 bears repeated
witness to this. The psalmist “delights” in God’s testimonies “as much as in
all riches” (Ps. 119:14; see also vv. 35, 47, 70, 77, 103, 162, 174). Think of
Jesus’ words, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you,
and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). Does He mean He will find His joy
in us, so that our joy may be full, or that His joy will be in us so that our joy
may be full? Both, surely, are true. We find full joy in the Lord only when we
know He finds His joy in us. The pathway to joy, then, is to give ourselves
maximum exposure to His Word and to let it dwell in us richly (Col. 3:16). It
is joy-food for the joy-hungry soul.
Joy
in Communion
There
is joy in the Lord to be tasted in the worship we enjoy in church communion.
The church is the new Jerusalem, the city that cannot be hidden, the joy of the
whole earth (Ps. 48:2). In the Spirit-led communion of praise and petition;
soul pastoring; Word preaching; psalm, hymn, and spiritual song singing; and
water, bread, and wine receiving, abundant joy is to be found. The Lord sings
over us with joy (Zeph. 3:17). Our hearts sing for joy in return.
Joy
in Tribulation
Here,
indeed, is a divine paradox. There is joy to be known in the midst of and
through affliction. Viewed biblically, tribulation is the Father’s chastising
hand using life’s pain and darkness to mold us into the image of the One who
endured for the sake of the joy set before Him (Heb. 12: 1–2, 5–11; see Rom.
8:29). We exult and rejoice in our sufferings, Paul says, because “suffering
produces . . . hope” in us (Rom. 5:3–4). Peter and James echo the same
principle (1 Peter 1:3–8; James 1:2–4). The knowledge of the sure hand of God
in providence not only brings stability; it is also a joy-producer.
All
of this adds up to exultation in God Himself. In Romans 5:1–11, Paul leads us
from rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God (v. 2) to joy that comes in
tribulation (v. 3) to exulting in God Himself (v. 11; see Ps. 43:4). The
unbeliever finds this incredible, because he has been blinded by the
joy-depriving lie of Satan that to glorify God is the high road to joylessness.
Thankfully, Christ reveals that the reverse takes place in Him—because of our
salvation, through His revelation, in worship’s blessed communion, and by means
of tribulation.
Enjoy!
Yes, indeed, may “everlasting joy . . . be upon [your] heads” (Isa. 51:11).