94 天堂——神要迎接衪的百姓进入永远的喜乐 Heaven - God will welcome Hispeople into everlasting joy
《简明神学》Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs，巴刻（J. I. Packer）著/張麟至译，更新传道会，2007年。

https://yibaniba.blogspot.com/2020/01/blog-post_98.html

http://www.geocities.ws/gary_bee_za/packer/heaven.htm

94 天堂——神要迎接衪的百姓进入永远的喜乐

Heaven - God will welcome His people into everlasting joy

你们心里不要忧愁，你们信　神，也当信我。在我父的家里有许多住处；若是没有，我就早已告诉你们了；我去原是为你们预备地方去。我若去为你们预备了地方，就必再来接你们到我那里去；我在哪里，叫你们也在那里。（约14:1-3） .

[天堂]一词无论在希伯来文和在希腊文里，都是[天上]的意思，这是圣经用来指神的居所的一个名词（诗33:13-14；太6:9），那里有神的宝座（诗2:4）；是神所在之处，即得荣的基督回去的地方（徒1:11）；战门的与得胜的教会现今在那里联合敬拜（来12:22-25）；有一天属乎基督的百姓要在那里与他们的救主永远同在（约17:5,24;帖前4:16-17）。圣经将天堂描绘为安息之地（约14:2），一座城（来11:10），与一家乡（来11:16）。将来当基督回来审判时，它要成形为再造的宇宙（彼3:13；启21:1）。

将天堂看成一个地方，虽然会使人误会。但其优点胜过缺点。圣经里的天堂似乎是一个实际的空间，触及了所有受造的空间。保罗在以弗所书里，将基督在父神右边的宝座（弗1:20），和基督徒在基督里的属灵祝福与复活生命，都归在天上（弗1:3；2:26）。以弗所书中所谓的的[天上]（1:3,20；2:6；3:10及6:12[天空]）是天堂的另一种文学说法。保罗曾提到他在[第三层天上]或[乐园]的经验（林后12：2,4）。无疑的，神将宝座所在的天上，有别于敌对的属灵势力所盘踞的天空领域（弗6:12）。能适应天上生活的复活身体在等着我们去享用（林后5:1-8），我们要带着那个身体见父神与子神（太5:8；约一3:2）。当我们还只活在现今的身体中时，天上的实际对我们而言，是不可见的，通常说来也是想不透的；我们只有凭信心去明白天上的事（林后4:18；5:7）。可是天和住在其中的——父、子、灵、圣天使和邪灵——与我们十分接近，这点信徒永不可稍忘，因为那是一件属灵的事实。

圣经教导我们要籍着以下三种方法，来思想天上的生活：（1）由我们目前与父、子、灵神，以及与其它基督徒，和其他受造之物之间那种不够完美的关系中，去推想将来那种完全没有任何限制、挫折与失败的完美关系；（2）从我们所能想出如何为神而活的生活中推想，但由其中除去我们这尘世里所经历到之各种形式的 痛苦、邪恶、冲突与烦恼；（3）将我们所知道各种观念中的美好和神所赐的享受，以丰富的想象力加诸在将来的喜乐里。启示录里所描述之天上生活的异象，就是籍着以上三种方式的想象而来（启7:13-17；21:1-22:5）。

按照圣经，蒙赎者在天上生活持续的喜乐来自：（1）他们从耶稣基督的面上看见神（启22:4）；（2）因为主牧养他们，他们不断地经历到基督的爱（启7:17）；（3）与他们所爱的人和全体荣耀者间的团契生活；（4）因着神给他们在天上所存留的，信徒得以继续地成长、成熟、学习、才能和力量日日增长。蒙赎者渴慕所有这一切，一旦少了，他们的喜乐就不完全。然而在天上没有实现不了的愿望。

在天上的福气和奖赏有程度之分，虽然所有人都要蒙福到他们所能领受的界限，但是其度量有所不同，正如他们在世上的不同一样。至于奖赏（这一方面，现今的不负责会带来将来永远的损失；林前3:10-15），有两点必须证明：第一，当神奖赏我们的工作时，祂也是在激赏自己的恩赐，因为那些工作唯独是因着祂的恩典才能做成。第二，每一个奖赏的本质都远超过基督徒最渴慕的，它是一种与救主更深的爱的关系；这也是圣经所所表达之带有尊荣的冠冕、袍子、筵席等所有意象所指向的属灵实际。这奖赏的方向类似追求爱情的奖赏一样，后者是透过婚姻使这种爱的关系更趋美善。

由此看来，天上荣耀的生活是一种复合体；信徒在基督里、且透过祂看见神，加上蒙父神与子神所眷爱；有安息（启14:13），而又必须工作（启7:15）；是一种赞美敬拜的生活（启7:9-10；19:1-5），加上与羔羊和众圣徒的交通（启19:6-9）。

天堂没有终止的一天（启22:5），

其永恒性正是它荣耀的一部分；

你可以说，天堂是无终无息的，是荣耀中的荣耀。

[我不愿这喜乐经历终止。]

我们的心在天上会说：

[我愿这喜乐永远不止。]

而那真是永远不止息的，

没有消息比这更好的了！

HEAVEN

GOD WILL WELCOME HIS PEOPLE INTO EVERLASTING JOY

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. JOHN 14:1-3

Heaven, which in both Hebrew and Greek is a word meaning “sky,” is the Bible term for God’s home (Ps. 33:13-14; Matt. 6:9) where his throne is (Ps. 2:4); the place of his presence to which the glorified Christ has returned (Acts 1:11); where the church militant and triumphant now unites for worship (Heb. 12:22-25); and where one day Christ’s people will be with their Savior forever (John 17:5, 24; 1 Thess. 4:16-17). It is pictured as a place of rest (John 14:2), a city (Heb. 11:10), and a country (Heb. 11:16). At some future point, at the time of Christ’s return for judgment, it will take the form of a reconstructed cosmos (2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1).

To think of heaven as a place is more right than wrong, though the word could mislead. Heaven appears in Scripture as a spatial reality that touches and interpenetrates all created space. In Ephesians, Paul locates in heaven both the throne of Christ at the Father’s right hand (Eph. 1:20) and the spiritual blessings and risen life in Christ of Christians (Eph. 1:3; 2:6). “The heavenly realms” in Eph. 1:3, 20; 2:6; 3:10; and 6:12 is a literary variant for “heaven.” Paul alludes to an experience in the “third heaven” or “paradise” (2 Cor. 12:2, 4). No doubt the heaven of God’s throne is to be distinguished from the heavenly realms occupied by hostile spiritual powers (Eph. 6:12). A resurrection body adapted to heaven’s life awaits us (2 Cor. 5:1-8), and in that body we shall see the Father and the Son (Matt. 5:8; 1 John 3:2). But while we are in our present bodies, the realities of heaven are invisible and ordinarily imperceptible to us, and we know them only by faith (2 Cor. 4:18; 5:7). Yet the closeness to us of heaven and of its inhabitants, the Father, the Son, the Spirit, the holy angels, and the demonic spirits, must never be forgotten: for it is a matter of solid spiritual fact.

Scripture teaches us to form our notion of the life of heaven by (a) extrapolating from the less-than-perfect relationship that we now have with God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, with other Christians, and with created things to the thought of a perfect relationship, free from all limitation, frustration, and failure; (b) eliminating from our idea of a life lived for God all forms of pain, evil, conflict, and distress, such as we experience here on earth; and (c) enriching our imaginings of that happy future by adding in every conception of excellence and God-given enjoyment that we know. The visions of heaven’s life in Revelation 7:13-17 and 21:1-22:5 draw on all three of these ways of conceiving it.

According to Scripture, the constant joy of heaven’s life for the redeemed will stem from (a) their vision of God in the face of Jesus Christ (Rev. 22:4); (b) their ongoing experience of Christ’s love as he ministers to them (Rev. 7:17); (c) their fellowship with loved ones and the whole body of the redeemed; (d) the continued growth, maturing, learning, enrichment of abilities, and enlargement of powers that God has in store for them. The redeemed desire all these things, and without them their happiness could not be complete. But in heaven there will be no unfulfilled desires.

There will be different degrees of blessedness and reward in heaven. All will be blessed up to the limit of what they can receive, but capacities will vary just as they do in this world. As for rewards (an area in which present irresponsibility can bring permanent future loss: 1 Cor. 3:10-15), two points must be grasped. The first is that when God rewards our works he is crowning his own gifts, for it was only by grace that those works were done. The second is that essence of the reward in each case will be more of what the Christian desires most, namely, a deepening of his or her love-relationship with the Savior, which is the reality to which all the biblical imagery of honorific crowns and robes and feasts is pointing. The reward is parallel to the reward of courtship, which is the enriching of the love-relationship itself through marriage.

So the life of heavenly glory is a compound of seeing God in and through Christ and being loved by the Father and the Son, of rest (Rev. 14:13) and work (Rev. 7:15), of praise and worship (Rev. 7:9-10; 19:1-5), and of fellowship with the Lamb and the saints (Rev. 19:6-9).

Nor will it end (Rev. 22:5). Its eternity is part of its glory; endlessness, one might say, is the glory of glory. Hearts on earth say in the course of a joyful experience, “I don’t want this ever to end.” But it invariably does. The hearts of those in heaven say, “I want this to go on forever.” And it will. There can be no better news than this.

天堂有郊区吗？DoesHeaven Have Suburbs?

作者：Guy M. Richard  译者:  Duncan Liang

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/zG3KuyeIGu9WGsG0UOKU8A

https://tabletalkmagazine.com/posts/2018/04/does-heaven-have-suburbs/

我读过的其中一句对我最有帮助的话，是苏格兰清教徒罗哲夫（Samuel Rutherford）说的。他说：“活在基督里，你就是在天堂的郊区。”我发现这句话对我帮助如此之大，因它解决了我其中一个最大挣扎，就是如何在生活处境当中努力追求喜乐。如果我们用21世纪的眼光来看罗哲夫这句话，可能很难明白个中意味。“郊区”这词在今天已经有了大量外加的内容。许多人认为郊区就是乌托邦式的理想状态。他们要逃离烦乱的城市生活，看修整更整齐的郊外社区是对这问题的解决之道。其他人是从更消极方面看郊区。他们也许出于宣教的原因，带着怀疑的眼光看郊区，看那些为生活便利或更多空间，选择离开城市这“庄稼已经熟了”的禾田的人。虽然罗哲夫这句话确实让21世纪的读者心里想象出许多画面，但同样确实的，就是罗哲夫在17世纪写到“天堂的郊区”时，根本没有想到任何这样的事情。对罗哲夫而言，天堂并不是一个人要逃离的是非之地，而是“赞美之地”，“所有受造乐园中最美的”。天堂是一个有“满足的喜乐”和“永远的福乐”的地方（诗16:11）。

One of the most helpful quotes that I have encountered is from the Scottish Puritan Samuel Rutherford. He said, “Live in Christ, and you are in the suburbs of heaven.” The reason I have found this quote so helpful is because it addresses one of my greatest struggles, namely, the struggle for joy in the midst of the circumstances of life. This may be hard to see if we read Rutherford’s quote with twenty-first-century eyes. The word suburban has become freighted with a great deal of baggage in our day. Many think of the suburbs with utopic ideals. They want to escape the messy realities of city life, and they see the more manicured communities of suburbia as the answer. Others think of the suburbs more negatively. For missional reasons, perhaps, they look with suspicion at the suburbs and those who would choose to leave the “white-unto-harvest fields” of the city for the sake of convenience or space. While it is true that Rutherford’s quote conjures up any number of images in the minds of twenty-first-century readers, it is also true that Rutherford had none of these things in mind when he wrote about the “suburbs of heaven” in the seventeenth century. Heaven is not, for Rutherford, a messy place from which people need to escape. It is instead the “land of praises” and “the fairest of created paradises.” It is the one place where there is “fullness of joy” and “pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11).

所以罗哲夫讲到“天堂的郊区”，他并不是从政治、甚至不是从宣教角度说的；他是从地理方面来讲。他讲的是接近。生活在郊区的人，是生活在最接近城市的地方，却还没有实际进入这城。这就是罗哲夫要表明的要点。当你我“活在基督里”，按他紧接着说的，“我们和赞美之地之间就仅有薄薄的一墙之隔。”当我们“活在基督里”，我们就是让自己身处离天门一步之遥的地方。我们虽未实际身处其中，却是按最大可能接近天堂。我们在郊区。在这郊区，我们经历到诗篇16:11讲的“满足的喜乐”和“永远的福乐”。当然，我们不是完全经历这一切。那现实是唯独为天堂存留的。但你我能接近，我们在今生能经历真实的喜乐，真正和持久的福乐。我们如此经历时，就是在“天堂的郊区”。

When Rutherford uses the phrase “the suburbs of heaven,” therefore, he is not speaking politically or even missionally; he is speaking geographically. He is talking about proximity. Those who live in the suburbs are those who live as close to the city as they can get without actually being in the city. That is Rutherford’s point. When you and I “live in Christ,” there is, as he next says, “but a thin wall between [us] and the land of praises.” When we “live in Christ,” we place ourselves just outside heaven’s gates. We are as close to heaven as we can get without actually being there. We are in the suburbs. And in the suburbs, we experience something of the “fullness of joy” and the “pleasures forevermore” that Psalm 16:11 talks about. To be sure, we do not experience them perfectly. That reality is reserved exclusively for heaven. But you and I can get close, and we can experience genuine joy and real and lasting pleasure in this life. And when we do, we are in the “suburbs of heaven.”

活出在基督里的生活

THE PRACTICES OF LIFE IN CHRIST

过去几年，随着我孩子长大，我的职业有了发展，我的婚姻进深，我的身体变老，以及我要付的账单增多，我就发现自己生活面对的其中一个最大挣扎，就是努力要在基督里，而不是当下经历的具体处境中找到喜乐。罗哲夫的这句话提醒我，虽然天堂完全的喜乐是我现在还不能得到的，但郊区真正喜乐和长久的福乐是我可得的。我需要做的，就是按罗哲夫的说法，“活在基督里。”

Over the years, as my children have grown, as my career has progressed, as my marriage has developed, as my body has aged, and as my bills have mounted, I have found that one of the greatest struggles I face in life is the struggle to find joy in Christ rather than in the particular circumstances I am experiencing at the moment. Rutherford’s quote reminds me that although the perfect joy of heaven is not available to me yet, the real joy and lasting pleasure of the “suburbs” is mine for the taking. All I need to do, according to Rutherford, is to “live in Christ.”

但到底什么是“活在基督里”？根据我对罗哲夫和圣经的认识，我会说努力“活在基督里”，这与两种主要的做法有关。第一，我们需要提醒自己，我们这些相信的人是“在基督里”，而“在基督里”的人，是“新的创造”，或“新造的人”（林后5:7），领受了基督已为我们得到的所有福气和益处（弗1:4-14）。我们需要提醒自己，我们得着基督，就是得着万有。我们得不着基督，我们就是一无所有。耶稣确实就是马太福音13:44-46讲的那“藏在地里的宝贝”和“重价的珠子”。人找到祂，就知道他们已经找到了一切，因此为了得到祂，愿意舍弃其他。我们需要提醒自己这些事，因我们如此快快忘记——也许更多是在经历，过于是在理性方面忘记。在我们生活里，这些不再意义重大，不再像从前那样影响我们。提醒我们这些，是我们要“活在基督里”就要做的第一件事情。

But what exactly does it mean to “live in Christ”? From what I know of Rutherford and of Scripture, I would say that two main practices are involved in trying to “live in Christ.” First, we need to remind ourselves that those of us who believe are “in Christ” and, as such, are “new creation[s]” or “new creature[s]” (2 Cor. 5:17) and recipients of all the blessings and benefits that Christ has procured (Eph. 1:4–14). We need to remind ourselves that when we have Christ, we have everything, and that when we do not have Christ, we have nothing. Jesus really is the “hidden treasure” and the “pearl of great value” of Matthew 13:44–46. Those who find Him know that they have found everything and are therefore willing to forsake all else in order to have Him. We need to remind ourselves of these things because we so quickly forget—maybe not so much intellectually as experientially. These things cease to have weight in our lives. They cease to affect us the way that they once did. Reminding ourselves of them is the first thing we need to do in order to “live in Christ.”

但我们也需要把这些重大真理运用到我们的生活当中。这就是“活在基督里”，我们要做的第二件事。提醒自己福音伟大和荣耀的真理，这只是我们要做的其中一部分。我们也需要在日常生活当中把这些真理行出来。我们需要把这些真理应用在我们的思想、我们的行动当中。我们需要让它们影响我们对自己，对我们的罪、我们与神关系、与其他人关系、与身边世人关系的看法。正如罗哲夫论证的，如果实际情况就是，福音说你我“充其量是罪人，不过是罪人，而罪人对基督来说根本算不得什么”，怎么这真理如何体现在我们日常生活当中呢？它如何指导我们对自己、对我们生活在当中的这世界的看法？这带来怎样的革命性变革？英格兰清教徒约翰欧文曾说过，认识真理和认识真理的大能有天壤之别。当我们聚焦把福音真理应用在我们的生活当中，我们就是越来越接近实际经历真理，这就是欧文，还有许多其他清教徒思想的问题。我们需要让自己殚思竭虑，默想福音提醒我们的事，全面考虑这些事情如何应用在我们的生活当中。

But we also need to apply these great truths to our lives. And that is the second practice for us to “live in Christ.” Reminding ourselves of the great and glorious truths of the gospel is only part of what we need to do. We also need to work them out in our everyday lives. We need to apply them to our thinking and to our doing. We need to let them affect the way we think about ourselves, our sin, and our relationships with God, with others, and with the world around us. If it is true, as Rutherford argues, that the gospel says that you and I are “at the worst a sinner, and but a sinner, and a sinner is nothing to Christ,” then how does this truth work itself out in our everyday lives? How does it inform the way we see ourselves and the world in which we live? How is it paradigm-shifting? The English Puritan John Owen used to say that there is a big difference between knowing the truth and knowing the power of the truth. When we focus on applying the verities of the gospel to our lives, we are getting closer to actually experiencing the truth, which is what Owen, and many other Puritans, had in mind. We need to wear ourselves out in meditating on the things about which we have been reminded and in thinking through how they apply in our lives.

悔改与喜乐

REPENTANCE AND OUR JOY

如果我们真的是“在基督里”，是“新造的人”，我们把这真理应用在我们的生活当中，我们就需悔改。自从马丁路德写了95条论纲，把它钉在威登堡教会大门上，不断悔改，这就已经成为改革宗群体信仰和实践的特点。路德的第一条论纲是这样讲的：“当我主耶稣基督说‘你们应当悔改’（马太4：17）时，衪的意愿是希望信徒们毕生致力于悔改。”路德认识到，“活在基督里”，这至少包括基督徒要不断操练悔改。这悔改的特征，就是不仅在我们的行为方面，也在我们的情感方面转离罪，转向基督。因此，悔改不仅是改变我们的行为，也是改变我们内心的忠诚，让我们的情感不再依附不合法的事，努力把情感归于神命令我们去爱的事情。这就是我们基督徒毕生致力要做的事。

If it is true that we are “in Christ” and “new creations,” our practiced application of that truth to our lives will involve repentance. Ever since Martin Luther wrote his Ninety-Five Theses and nailed them to the church door in Wittenberg, continual repentance has been distinctive of faith and practice in the Reformed community. Luther’s first thesis put it this way: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance” (Matt. 4:17). Luther recognized that at least part of what it means to “live in Christ” is that Christians will be continually engaged in the practice of repentance. This repentance is to be characterized by a turning away from our sins and a turning toward Christ, not only in terms of our behavior but also in terms of our affections. To repent, therefore, is not only to change our behavior but to change our heart allegiance, to tear our affections away from illicit things, striving to give them to those things that God has commanded us to give them to. And this is something that we are to do for the entirety of the Christian life.

那么“活在基督里”，就是活着不断悔改，把我们爱的情感集中在基督身上。这是通向满足的喜乐和永远的福乐的道路，我们可以从以下婚姻的例子明白这一点。我在婚姻中得到喜乐的方法，就是我要让我的心和我的爱不断专注在我妻子身上。我容许我的心和我的爱去追逐其他妇女，或甚至其他事情的程度，与我在婚姻中失去喜乐的程度成正比（相当可能，我失去的甚至要多得多）。基督徒人生也是如此，得到喜乐的方法，就是让我的心和我的爱不断专注在基督身上。我容许它们去追逐其他“爱人”（如物质财富、世上成功、名声和自我等等的偶像）的程度，与我生活失去喜乐的程度成正比。那么“活在基督里”，就是努力让我的心和我的情感不断专注在基督身上，当我心偏离（我心会时不时偏离），就要把我的心和我的情感从“其他爱人”身上强行收回。我愿让自己坚持这两种操练，特别是坚持悔改和以基督为乐的程度，与我在天堂这一面有可能经历到的任何“满足的喜乐”和“永远的福乐”成正比。这与我发现自己生活在“天堂的郊区”成正比。

To “live in Christ,” then, is to live in continual repentance, to keep our affections fixed upon Christ. This is the road that leads to real joy and lasting pleasure, as we can see in the following example taken from marriage. The pathway to my joy in marriage is for me to keep my heart and my affections fixed on my wife. The degree to which I allow them to run after other women or even other things is the degree to which I will lose the joy in my marriage (and, quite possibly, a whole lot more). So also in the Christian life, the pathway to joy is to keep my heart and my affections fixed on Christ. The degree to which I allow them to run after other “lovers” (idols such as material possessions, worldly success, reputation, self, etc.) is the degree to which I will lose my joy in life. To “live in Christ” is, therefore, to strive to keep my heart and my affections fixed upon Christ, to tear them away from “other lovers” when my heart goes astray—and my heart will go astray time and again. The degree to which I give myself to these two practices, especially to repentance and joy in Christ, is the degree to which I will find myself experiencing whatever “fullness of joy” and “pleasures forevermore” are possible this side of heaven. It is the degree to which I will find myself living in the “suburbs of heaven.”

100. 天堂 Heaven

作者: 史鮑爾 (R.C. Sproul)     譯者: 姚錦榮

摘自《神學入門》《Essential Truths of the Christian Faith》266頁, 更新傳道會出版

有一首流行的抒情歌唱道：「天堂……就是當我與你在一起的時候。」與所愛的人享受親密相交，實在是一個無比的福分。不過，正如地上的經驗不足以比喻地獄的苦況，地上也沒有一種喜樂可與天堂的奇妙相比擬。

從聖經中我們可找到一些描繪地獄可怖的喻象，同樣地，我們也可找到描繪天堂的豐美和令人渴望的喻象。聖經把天堂比作樂園，亞伯拉罕的懷裏，和由天而降的榮美之城。新耶路撒冷被描繪成有如透明的黃金街，城墻上鑲有珍貴的寶石，是一個歡樂永不止息的地方。

　　

天堂最值得註意的是它所沒有和它所有的東西。天堂所沒有的是：（1）眼淚、（2）悲傷、（3）死亡、（4）痛苦、（5）黑暗、（6）不虔敬的人、（7）罪、（8）聖殿、（9）太陽或月亮，及（10）亞當犯罪所帶來的咒詛（創3：14～19）。天堂所有的是：（1）聖徒、（2）生命水的河、（3）醫治的果子、（4）神的羔羊、（5）敬拜、（6）羔羊及新婦的婚筵、（7）神敞開的臉，及（8）公義的日頭。

天堂是基督所居之處，與神人相交是永恒的福樂。愛德華滋（JonathanEdwards）曾試著表達信徒在天堂中的喜樂，他寫道：「聖徒將會在愛海中暢遊——永永遠遠地沈浸於神無窮明亮、溫和與甘甜的愛中；永永遠遠，充充滿滿地得著光，並且被光環繞，又永永遠遠地將光反映回真源頭。」

聖徒不但在天堂享受與神和救主的相交，我們也相信，我們在地上所認識的聖徒，在天堂上也會相認和相交。天堂是所有美事的匯聚。

在天堂的福分有不同的程度。保羅以星星作比喻來說明這點，眾星在同一個天空中，但亮度有別。關於福分有幾件事需要說明。第一，所有星星都在照耀，這表示，天堂沒有不愉快的事：每個人都蒙福，而且所蒙之福將遠超我們的想象，連最有洞見的心思也想象不出來。第二，基督救贖的工作對所有聖徒都有同樣的功效。第三，信徒所作蒙獎賞的「工」，其本身並沒有功效，全是因神願意按善工賞賜我們，而神這樣做，全是因為基督的緣故。地獄最恐怖的地方就是它是永遠的，而天堂叫我們最感喜樂的，也是它的永無窮盡。死亡，這個終極的仇敵，將永遠消失，路加福音二十章34至38節也向信徒保證，這個天堂的賞賜是永恒的。

天堂所帶來最大的喜樂是，我們得見神的面，而這非筆墨所能形容的喜樂，是藉靈魂的眼睛看見的。神是靈，因此祂的選民將在靈裏親眼看見祂。這是基督為祂子民所贏得的賞賜，讓祂的兒女可以享受。

總結

1．天堂中沒有任何會帶來痛苦和死亡的事物。

2．天堂是一個沒有罪，也不受罪影響的地方。

3．天堂是信徒享受與基督直接同在的地方。

4．天堂的福氣包括能看見神的面，這是我們今生所沒有的。

5．天堂是永遠享受神賞賜的地方。

6．地上沒有任何的知識與經驗，能夠減弱我們將在天堂享受的豐滿喜樂。

思考經文：

林前15:50- 57；林後5 ：1- 8；彼前1 : 3-9；啟21 -22 章

HEAVEN

A contemporary ballad declares, “This is heaven . . . when I’m with you.” Being in close communion with a loved one is indeed a blessing. Yet as there are no earthly situations worthy of comparison to the misery of hell,  so there are no earthly joys suitable to serve as accurate analogies of the marvels of heaven.

As we find grim and ghastly biblical images for hell, so we find rich and promising biblical images for heaven. It is likened to paradise, to the bosom of Abraham, and to a glorious city that comes down from heaven. The New Jerusalem is described in terms of translucent streets of gold, a place with walls of precious gemstones, and a setting of perpetual and everlasting joy.

What is most notable about heaven is what is absent from it as well as what is present in it. Things that will be absent include: (1) tears, (2) sorrow, (3) death, (4) pain, (5) darkness, (6) ungodly people, (7) sin, (8) temples, (9) the sun or moon, and (10) the curse from Adam’s sin (see Genesis 3:14-19).

What will be present in heaven includes: (1) the saints, (2) the river of the water of life, (3) healing fruit, (4) the Lamb of God, (5) worship, (6) the wedding feast of the Lamb and His bride, (7) the unveiled face of God, and (8) the Sun of Righteousness.

Heaven is where Christ is. It is the eternal bliss of communion with the God-man. Jonathan Edwards, in trying to give voice to the joy believers will find in heaven writes that the saints will swim in the ocean of love, and be eternally swallowed up in the infinitely bright, and infinitely mild and sweet beams of divine love; eternally receiving the light, eternally full of it, and eternally compassed round with it, and everlastingly reflecting it back again to its fountain.1

While the saints will delight in fellowship with their God and Savior, there is no reason to believe that they will not recognize and fellowship with saints they knew on earth. Heaven is the abode of all good things.

There will be degrees of blessedness in heaven. Paul uses a metaphor of the stars of differing brilliance shining in the same heaven to describe this. There are, however, several clarifying points that need to be made. First, all the stars will shine. That is to say, there is no unhappiness in heaven.

                                                

All are blessed beyond our most insightful imaginations. Second, the atoning work of Christ has the same saving efficacy for all saints. Finally, the “works” of the believer, which “merit” greater or lesser blessedness, are not good in themselves. Rather, it is the sovereign pleasure of God to regard these works as meritorious. He does so for Christ’s sake only. While the greatest horror of hell is its eternality, one of the greatest joys of heaven is the assurance that it will never end. The last enemy, death, will be no more. Luke 20:34-38 assures the believer that this reward of heaven is everlasting.

The greatest joy of heaven is the beatific vision, seeing the face of God. This unspeakable joy, however, comes through the eyes of the soul. God is spirit, and in spirit the elect shall see Him. This is the reward, earned by Christ, enjoyed by His children.

Summary

1. Heaven will include the absence of all that brings pain and death.

2. Heaven will be a place without sin and the effects of sin.

3. Heaven will be a place where believers will enjoy the immediate presence of Christ.

 4. Heaven will include the beatific vision, the glorious experience of gazing at the face of God, which is not possible in this life.

5. Heaven will be a place to enjoy God’s rewards forever.

6. No earthly knowledge or experience will be able to dim the fullness of joy we will have in heaven.

Biblical passages for reflection:

1 Corinthians 15:50-57 2 Corinthians 5:1-8 1 Peter 1:3-9 Revelation 21-22

1, Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 2 (Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth, 1979), 29.

你能證明有天堂嗎？Is There Proof of Heaven?

作者：Matt Smethurst   譯者：駱鴻銘

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/is-there-proof-of-heaven

http://www.crtsbooks.net/blog/post/2016/04/17/Is_There_Proof_of_Heaven.aspx

看不見的東西是否存在？如果你問的是氧氣、重力，或你正在用來閱讀此文的WiFi（無線網絡）訊號，答案是很明顯的。但是那些無法用科學方法來測量的看不見的現實又怎麼說呢？比如說，愛、尊嚴、公平、希望。Do unseen things exist? The answer is obvious once you consider oxygen, gravity, or the WiFi signal you’re using to read this article. But what about invisible realities that can’t be scientifically measured? Well, think of love, or dignity, or justice, or hope.

是否存在一個靈性的世界，雖然眼不能見，卻是完全真實的呢？這正是聖經所教導的（林後四18）。其中之一就是天堂。Now might there be a spiritual world that, though unseen, is entirely real as well? This is precisely what the Bible teaches (2 Cor. 4:18). And one of these realities is heaven.

原來我們不是顧念所見的，乃是顧念所不見的；因為所見的是暫時的，所不見的是永遠的。 (2Co 4:18)

儘管你無法像證明台北存在一樣，證明天堂也是存在的，但是這不能代表天堂這個地方是虛構的。誠然，相信天堂的存在最終是要靠信心——雖然不是盲目的或沒有理性的信心，但仍然是信心。希伯來書的作者是這樣定義信心的：「信就是所望之事的實底，是未見之事的確據。」（來十一1）While it’s impossible to prove the existence of heaven in the same way you’d prove the existence of Chicago, that doesn’t mean the place is fictional. To be sure, belief in heaven finally boils down to faith—not blind or irrational faith, but faith nonetheless. As the author of Hebrews puts it, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1).

基督徒相信有天堂，基本上是因為他們相信聖經，因為聖經清楚說到了天堂，而上帝的話是值得信賴的真理，是人生命的靠山。無可否認地，我們經常會渴望更確定的事，盡信書不如無書，不是親眼目睹的都不算數。然而使徒彼得告訴我們，比起耶穌自己在登山變相時所顯現的榮耀，聖經是「更確實」的啟示（彼後一19；參《新譯本》）。這是一個會讓人目瞪口呆的聲明。彼得是說，聖經本身是上帝所曾經賜給人、最有說服力的「證據」。Christians believe in heaven fundamentally because they believe the Bible that so clearly speaks of heaven. You can bank your life on God’s Word. Admittedly, we often crave something more certain, more verifiable, more impressive than words in a book. Yet Peter tells us Scripture is a revelation “more sure” than even Jesus himself in transfigured glory (2 Pet. 1:19 NASB). That’s a stunning claim. He is saying the Bible itself is one of the most convincing “proofs” God’s ever given.

雖然聖經也許沒有告訴我們一切我們想知道的有關天堂的內容，但是它們的確告訴了我們一切我們必須知道的。它們的見證是完整的、充足的、足夠的。So, while the Scriptures may not tell us everything we want to know about heaven, they do tell us everything we need to know. Their witness is complete, sufficient, enough.

真的有天堂嗎？Heaven Is for Real?

對我們許多人來說，天堂算是我們熟悉的觀念，但究竟天堂是什麼呢？最簡單地說，天堂是上帝的住所。「我們在天上的父」，這是我們在主禱文裏所複誦的。好，這不代表上帝不在其他地方，上帝是無所不在的。但是天堂是祂的居所，是祂特別與人同在，要賜福給人的地方。我們的財寶藏在那裏（太十九21），我們是那裏的國民（腓三20），我們的產業在那裏（彼前一4-5），我們的盼望也存在那裏（西一5）。Heaven’s a familiar idea to many of us, but what exactly is it? Most simply, it’s the place where God lives. “Our Father in heaven,” we recite in the Lord’s Prayer. Now, this doesn’t mean God is absent elsewhere; he’s present everywhere. But heaven is the place where his presence uniquely dwells to bless. It’s the place of our treasure (Matt. 19:21), our citizenship (Phil. 3:20), our inheritance (1 Pet. 1:4–5), and our stored-up hope (Col. 1:5).

或許你注意到我一直在用這個字「那裏」。這是因為天堂不只是一個概念，或心靈狀態；它是一個真實的地點（約十四2-3；徒一9-11；七55-56）。當跟隨耶穌的人過世時，雖然我們的身體會留在地上，但是我們的靈魂馬上就會與上帝同在（腓一23；林後五8）。這是一個暫時的處境或「中間狀態」，到耶穌再來的那日，我們的身體會復活，與我們的靈魂重新結合在一起，直到永遠。Perhaps you’ve noticed I keep using the word “place.” That’s because heaven isn’t a mere concept or state of mind; it’s a real location (John 14:2–3; Acts 1:9–11; 7:55–56). When followers of Jesus die, though our bodies remain on earth, our souls immediately enter God’s presence (Phil. 1:23; 2 Cor. 5:8). This is a temporary situation or “intermediate state” until the day when Jesus returns and our bodies are raised and reunited with our souls forever.

沒有圓嘟嘟的天使No Chubby Angels

你明白嗎，身為基督徒，我們最終的盼望不是完全脫離這個地球，而是使全地得到恢復。有一天，當得贖的罪人領受一個得贖的世界時，天上的城市會裂天而降（啟廿一1-4；參：彼後三13；羅八13）。這就是為什麼聖經用具體的、實質的措辭來描繪我們未來的家的原因——「新天新地」（賽六十五17；彼後三13；啟廿一1-4）。換句話說，我們不會飄浮在黃金豎琴和圓嘟嘟的天使周圍，而是會不斷奔跑、工作、玩耍、歌唱、歡笑、安息，並陶醉在對美善和榮美上帝的無盡驚訝中。Our ultimate hope as Christians, then, is not evacuation from this earth but the restoration of this earth. One day, heaven’s city will split the skies as redeemed sinners inherit a redeemed world (Rev. 21:1–4; cf. 2 Pet. 3:13; Rom. 8:13). This is why the Scriptures picture our future home in concrete, material terms—“new heavens and a new earth” (Isa. 65:17; 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1–4). We won’t be floating around with golden harps and chubby angels, in other words. We’ll be running and working and playing and singing and laughing and resting and reveling in the endless wonders of good and beautiful God.

因此談論永恆的「天堂」並不算錯，只要我們記得，天堂只是「新天新地」的簡稱——在我們的君王面前，一個永遠長存、越來越喜樂的世界。So it’s fine to talk about eternity in “heaven” so long as we remember the word is just shorthand for the new heavens and new earth—a world of everlasting, ever-increasing joy in the presence of our King.

深切的盼望Longings that Point

根據傳道書的說法，上帝已經「把永生安置在世人心裏」（傳三11）。按照上帝的形象被造，我們有永恆的生命，並且有永生的能力，會本能地盼望永生。我們被造本是要永遠活著。According to Ecclesiastes, God has “put eternity into the human heart” (Eccl. 3:11). As persons crafted in his image, we are eternal beings with an innate longing and capacity for eternal life. We were made to live forever.

人類對無盡幸福的渴望永遠得不到滿足，也是無可否認的。我們在世上最成功的人身上，經常可以親眼目睹他們的坐立難安與不滿足。他們已經擁有一切，卻仍然滿懷失落。如同金凱瑞這位著名的戲劇演員曾經說過的，「我認為每個人都應該變得有錢有名，並實現所有的夢想，好叫他們能明白，這並不是答案。」Humanity’s desire for unending happiness is insatiable and undeniable. Consider the deep restlessness and dissatisfaction we often witness among the world’s most accomplished people. They have everything, yet something is still missing. As actor Jim Carrey once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed so they can see that it’s not the answer.”

這怎麼解釋呢？What explains this?

在一篇以「我們的神話故事」為題的長篇論文裏，托爾金（J.R.R.Tolkien）思考著人類對奇幻故事的愛好（註1）。像我們這樣的現代人明知這些故事不是真的，我們為什麼會深受吸引呢？托爾金指出，這些故事所具有的某些特色，會與我們的靈魂起共鳴，比如說：In a lengthy essay titled “On Fairy Stories,” J. R. R. Tolkien ponders the human love for fantasy stories.1 Good moderns like us know the tales aren’t true; why, then, are we so drawn to them? Tolkien suggests they contain features that uniquely resonate with our souls, things like:

l           英雄的自我犧牲

l           站到時間之外

l           與非人的生物交往

l           好人戰勝惡人

l           逃過死亡

l           永不分離的愛情（「從此過著幸福快樂的日子」）

Heroic self-sacrifice

Stepping outside of time

Communion with non-human beings

Good triumphing over evil

Escape from death

Love without parting (“happily ever after”)

神話故事會深入到我們的渴望裏，這是現代寫實小說無法觸及的。儘管我們從理智上深信，沒有什麼東西可以滿足我們的渴望，因為這些東西是「美的讓人難以相信」，但是我們仍然會不自主的懷有這些盼望。心靈深處，我們有著揪心的懷疑——盼望——懷疑這個世界原本不是這樣，未來也不會如此。因此，神話故事會把我們傳送到「那裏」，喚醒我們在「這裏」的天生渴望。它們指向一種潛在的實況，而我們心靈深處知道那是真實的。Fairy tales tap into desires that realistic fiction can’t touch. Though we’re intellectually convinced nothing can fulfill our desires for what’s “too good to be true,” the desires won’t leave us alone. Deep down we have a gnawing suspicion—a hope—that our world isn’t the way it’s supposed to be and isn’t the way it always will be. So by transporting us to places “out there,” fairy tales awaken hardwired longings “in here.” They point an underlying reality we sense deep in our souls is somehow true.

基督信仰之美在於：福音不只是又一個指向潛在事實的美妙故事，福音就是那潛在的事實，而其他的故事都是指向這個事實。當耶穌再來時，那原本捉摸不定、遙不可及，以及「美得讓人難以相信」的事，會直接撞入到現在，包裹我們的經驗，並使我們喜樂充滿。The beauty of Christianity is that the gospel is not just one more wonderful story pointing to the underlying reality; rather, the gospel is the underlying reality to which all the other stories point. When Jesus returns, what always felt elusive and distant and “too good to be true” will come crashing into the present, enveloping our experience and drenching us with joy.

托爾金的朋友魯益士說得也許更妙：「如果我們在自己身上找到這個世界所無法滿足的渴望，最有可能的解釋是我們是為另一個世界造的。」Tolkien’s friend C. S. Lewis perhaps put it best: “If we find in ourselves a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

天堂的大門是敞開的Heaven’s Open Door

清教徒湯瑪斯·布魯克斯說道，「我們無法誇大基督或天堂」。我們不可能高估那在來世裏與基督同在的生命的美妙。因為我們所要探索的基督恩典有無窮無盡的層面，天堂因此是永恆的。“Neither Christ nor heaven can be hyperbolized,” observed Puritan Thomas Brooks. It’s impossible to overestimate the wonder of life with Christ in the world to come. Heaven will be eternal because the dimensions of his grace to be explored will be endless.

雖然你我都無法從科學上「證明」天堂是存在的（或不存在），但持守這個信念卻是完全合理的。聖經可靠的見證，以及我們靈魂澆滅不息的渴望，都強而有力地證實了這個事實。Though you or I cannot scientifically “prove” heaven’s existence (or non-existence, of course), it is an entirely plausible belief to hold. The reliable testimony of the Scriptures, as well as the unquenchable longings of our souls, powerfully attest to its reality.

最後，我們必須謹記，我們可以上天堂唯一的理由是因為上帝已經讓天堂臨到我們身上。兩千年前，在耶穌基督身上，上帝已經活出我們未能活出的生命，為我們應得的死亡而死，並從死裏復活，好叫所有接待祂的人可以享受祂，直到永遠。Finally, we must remember the only reason we can go to heaven is because God left heaven to come to us. Two thousand years ago, in the person of Jesus Christ, God lived the life we’ve failed to live, died the death we deserve to die, and rose again so that all who embrace him might enjoy him forever.

如果你為了救恩而信靠耶穌，宇宙的審判者看到你——罪和一切——就會看到祂毫無瑕疵的愛子。If you’re trusting Jesus for salvation, the Judge of the cosmos looks at you—sin and all—and sees his spotless Son.

陶恕（A.W Tozer）曾經問道：「你是否曾駐足思考，上帝會很高興在天堂與你同在，就像你很高興到天堂一樣。」“Did you ever stop to think,” asked A. W. Tozer, “that God is going to be as pleased to have you with him in heaven as you are to be there?”

祂等不及了，你呢？He can’t wait. Can you?

註：

1. 2014年二月20日在救贖主長老教會，凱勒（Tim Keller）把這篇文章應用在一場以「轉變人的盼望」為題的演講裏，作為他們「探索基督信仰」系列的一部分。以上對托爾金作品的討論是引自這場演說。

編者按：本文的另一個版本刊載於ExploreGod.com。

1 Tim Keller helpfully applies this essay in a lecture titled “Hope That Transforms,” delivered February 20, 2014 at Redeemer Presbyterian Church as part of their “Questioning Christianity” series. The discussion of Tolkien’s work above is indebted to this lecture.

Editors’ note: A version of this article appeared at ExploreGod.com.