作者：Danny Hyde 譯者：駱鴻銘
我們也為這緣故不住感謝上帝，因為你們接受了我們所傳的上帝的道，不認為這是人的道，而認為這確實是上帝的道。這道也運行在你們信的人裡面。(1Th 2:13；新譯本) "And we also thank God
constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard
from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the
word of God, which is at work in you believers" (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
改革宗教會相信上帝今天仍然對人說話。儘管我們不認為祂是透過聖靈的默示對人說話，但是我們相信通過講道，上帝的聲音可以原原本本、活活潑潑地藉著先知和使徒的口和筆，向我們說話。這種說法有什麼根據呢？以下簡單說明這個教義：當一個正式蒙召、被按立的牧師（羅十）宣講上帝的話，而不是他自己的話（提後二15），並且誠心地尊榮上帝，而不是高舉自己（帖前二3-6），上帝就在今天對我們說話。牧師所宣講的話「不……是人的道，而……是上帝的道」。按照布靈格（Heinrich Bullinger,
1504-1575）的話說：Reformed churches
believe God still speaks. While we do not believe he speaks via the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, we believe that via preaching God's voice is as real and
vital to us as it was through the mouths and pens of prophets and apostles. How
can we say this? Here's the doctrine formulated as simply as possible: when a
lawfully called and ordained minister (Rom. 10) preaches the Word of God and
not his own words (2 Tim. 2:15) and does so in sincerity to honor God and not
himself (1 Thes. 2:3–6), God speaks. His words are "not . . . the word of
men but . . . the word of God." In the words of Heinrich Bullinger
(1504–1575):
「當正式蒙召的傳道人[per prædicatores legitime
vocatos]今日在教會宣講上帝的話的時候，我們相信，上帝的話本身[[ipsum Dei verbum]就被宣講出來，並且被聖徒接納」（第二瑞士信條；1.4）。因此，在你牧者的講道中，要如何聽見主的聲音呢？很明顯我是假定你的牧師是正式蒙召的傳道人。以下是其方法："Wherefore
when this Word of God is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully called
[per prædicatores legitime vocatos], we believe that the very Word of God
[ipsum Dei verbum] is preached, and received of the faithful" (Second
Helvetic Confession, 1.4). So how do you hear the voice of the Lord in your
pastor's sermon? Obviously I'm assuming the above is true of him. Here's how:
1. 充滿期待——「主啊，我期待你對我說話」。我們在主日聚集，為的是要聆聽上帝的話，即保羅所說的「不認為這是人的道，而是……上帝的道」，我們就必須滿心期待地來到教會，呼求上帝：「主啊，我期待你對我說話」。這意味著我們在整個禮拜當中要作好預備，聆聽祂在主日時，透過宣講祂的話來對我們說話。我們在整個禮拜當中，必須以期待的靈來預備我們的心。先知以賽亞說到在我們的時候，耶和華的山會被高舉，萬國都要流向祂的殿：「來吧，我們登耶和華的山，奔雅各神的殿。主必將他的道教訓我們；我們也要行他的路。」（賽二3）因此，我們必須對自己說：「上帝就要對我們說話了。祂會對我說什麼呢？我實在等不及了！」1. Expectantly—“Lord, I expect you to speak” Since we gather together on the Lord’s Day to hear what Paul says is “not . . . the word of men but as what it really
is, the word of God,” we need to come
expectantly, crying out to God, “Lord, I expect you to speak.” This means that
we need to prepare all week to hear him speak through the preaching of his Word
on the Lord’s Day. We need to be preparing our hearts all week long with a
spirit of anticipation. The prophet Isaiah spoke of our day, saying, the Lord’s
mountain would be exalted and the nations would flow to his house: “Come, let
us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he
may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths” (Isa. 2:3). Because of
this we need to be saying to ourselves, “God’s going to speak. What’s he going
to say? I can’t wait.”
2. 充滿飢渴：「主啊，我需要祢對我說話！」每逢週日，我們必須以飢渴的心聆聽上帝的話，呼叫說：「主啊，我需要你對我說話！」為什麼呢？為什麼我們需要透過人的話來聽上帝的話，而人的話其實就是上帝的話？因為祂的話是我們靈魂的食糧。我們這個時代是個追求即時滿足的時代，我們是通過iPhone和黑莓機，在指尖上掌握我們的世界，我們隨時都可以必須和人聯絡，取得資訊。但是這種感覺是稍縱即逝的，不會持久，也無法滿足我們的內心。正如我們在曠野的先祖們，我們飢渴的心靈需要上帝的話。「人活著不是單靠食物，乃是靠耶和華口裡所出的一切話。」（申八3）就像古時的先知們吃下他們的書卷來象徵人們需要上帝的話來餵養他們，我們今天也需要吃上帝的話來滿足我們靈命的飢渴。你喜歡吃哪一類的食物呢？你喜歡的是純粹的卡洛里，有高單位的撒但話語、世上的話語、你自己的話的快速糖份，但是可悲的是，這些話卻是今天許多認信基督教的講道者口中的話嗎？你想要讓你的耳朵被這種「活出美好」、健康、財富、快樂等等的應許來搔癢嗎？還是我們蒙召是要渴慕上帝的話，就像一個還在哺乳的嬰孩渴慕母乳一樣呢？正如彼得所說，「像才生的嬰孩愛慕奶一樣，叫你們因此漸長，以致得救」（彼前二2）。母奶會滋養我們，使我們健康，滿足我們的需要。2. Hungrily—“Lord, I need you to speak” When Sunday morning rolls around, we need to
hear the Word hungrily, crying out, “Lord,
I need you to speak.” Why? Why do we
need him to speak through the words of men, which are in reality the Word of
God? Because his Word is the food of our souls. In our age of instant
gratification and having the world at our fingertips on our iPhones and
Blackberries, we are ever-connected to each other and to information. But that
feeling is passing. It does not last not does it satisfy our souls. Like our
forefathers in the wilderness, our hungry souls need the Word. “Man does not
live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of
the LORD” (Deut. 8:3). Like the prophets of old who ate their scrolls to
signify the people’s need to have the Word within them to nourish them, so too
we need to partake of the Word to satisfy our spiritual hunger. What kind of an
appetite do you have? Do you want the empty calories, the quick sugar high of
the devil’s words, the world’s words, your own words, and sadly, the words of
so many professing Christian preachers today? What kind of appetite do you
have? Do you want your ears tickled with promises of a better life now, health,
wealth, and happiness? Instead, we are called to have an appetite for the Word
like a nursing child has an appetite for milk. As Peter says, “Like newborn infants,
long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation” (1
Peter 2:2). Milk is nourishing. Milk is healthy. Milk is satisfying.
3.聚精會神地——「主啊，我必定聽祢說話！」為了讓這個滋養發揮最大的功效，我們必須專心致志地聽上帝的話。在講道當中，我們必須禱告：「主啊，我必定聽祢說話。」這意味著在每週講道的時刻，我們必須對自己說：「這些不是莫某牧師的話，而實際上是上帝的話。」當我們認識到上帝在我們當中，正在對我們說話，我們就能專注於聆聽上帝的話。這就是為什麼威斯敏斯特信仰告白說要「本著良知來聽道」（conscionable
hearing）是一種敬拜行動的原因。我們是在聽上帝說話，因此要全心全意地聆聽每一個字。申命記三十二章47節給了我們一個專心致志地聆聽上帝的話的例子。在摩西最後講道的結尾，他勸勉會眾要認識到在這篇講道當中正在發生的事情是有深刻含義的：「因為這不是虛空、與你們無關的事，乃是你們的生命」。這對牧師和會眾來說，都是深具挑戰的。你能說你教會的講道不是虛空的嗎？你能說講道就是你的生命嗎？在這篇講道後，我衷心盼望你們對講道的看法能徹底更新。讓我向你們發出挑戰，要對抗疲勞，對抗不專心，對抗魔鬼對這件事的看法，即講道很無聊。敬拜是上帝對人說話的時刻和地點！3. Attentively—“Lord, I will listen to you
speak” To make best use of that nourishment we need to hear the Word
attentively. During the sermon, we need to be praying, “Lord, I will listen to
you speak.” This means every week and even every moment of the sermon, we need
to be saying to ourselves, “These are not the words of Pastor ____, but what
they are in truth, the words of God.” As we recognize that God is in our midst
and that he is speaking, we will be able to give our attentive listening to the
Word. This is why the Westminster Confession calls the “conscionable hearing”
of the Word an act of worship. We are hearing God, and hearing him, giving our
minds and hearts’ full attention to every last word. One example of hearing the
Word attentively is in Deuteronomy 32:47. At the end of one of Moses’ last
sermons, he exhorted the people to recognize the profundity of what was
happening in that sermon: “For it is no empty word for you, but your very
life.” Here is a challenge for pastors as well as for parishioners. Can you say
of the preaching of the Word in your church that it is not empty? Can you say
of the preaching of the Word that it is your very life? Let me challenge you
with all that is in me to think of preaching totally different after this
sermon. Let me challenge you to fight fatigue, to fight distracting thoughts,
and to fight what the devil wants you to think about all this, that it’s
boring. Worship is the place and the time where God speaks!