史普罗(R.C. Sproul，1939–2017）金句四十则40Quotes from R. C. Sproul (1939–2017)

摘录者: Matt Smethurst 译者: Duncan Liang

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/40-quotes-rc-sproul/

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只有两种死法，我们可以存着信心死，或者我们可以在罪中死。

“There are only two ways of dying. We can die in faith or we can die in our sins.”

我们是安全的，不是因为我们紧紧抓住耶稣，而是耶稣紧紧抓住我们。

“We are secure, not because we hold tightly to Jesus, but because he holds tightly to us.”

认识到上帝认识我的一切，却仍然爱我，这确实是我终极的安慰。

“To know that God knows everything about me and yet loves me is indeed my ultimate consolation.”

最了不起的光景，莫过于跪下祷告之后起来，知道上帝已经赦免了你曾犯过的每一件罪。

‎”There is no greater state than to get up from your knees knowing that God has forgiven every sin you’ve ever committed.”

如果上帝不是主权的上帝，那么上帝就不是上帝了。

“If God is not sovereign, then God is not God.”

上帝说话，这就了结了争论。

“When God says something, the argument is over.”

一位全然是爱，全然是恩典，全然是怜悯，没有主权，没有公义，没有圣洁，没有忿怒的上帝，只不过是偶像而已。

“A god who is all love, all grace, all mercy, no sovereignty, no justice, no holiness, and no wrath is an idol.”

只要我们一认为上帝欠了我们怜悯，我们想的就不再是怜悯了。

“As soon as we think God owes us mercy, we’re not thinking about mercy any more.”

当上帝的话语中有一些事情是我不喜欢的，问题不在上帝的话语，而在于我。

 “When there’s something in the Word of God that I don’t like, the problem is not with the Word of God. It’s with me.”

上帝要求你相信、传讲和教导圣经所说是真实的事情，而不是你要圣经说是真实的事情。

By James Thompson from Louisville, KY, USA (R.C. Sproul) CC BY 2.0

“You are required to believe, to preach, and to teach what the Bible says is true, not what you want the Bible to say is true.”

上帝并不总是在公义中行事，有时祂在怜悯中行事。怜悯并非公义，但也并非不公义。不公义干犯义。怜悯彰显慈爱和恩典，并不干犯义。我们可能看到上帝不凭公义行事，这是怜悯，但我们绝不会看到上帝不公义。

“God does not always act with justice. Sometimes he acts with mercy. Mercy is not justice, but it also is not injustice. Injustice violates righteousness. Mercy manifests kindness and grace and does no violence to righteousness. We may see nonjustice in God, which is mercy, but we never see injustice in God.”

对上帝心怀敬畏的人，绝不会抱怨教会沉闷。

“People in awe never complain that church is boring.”

当他们把我冰冷、没有了生命的指头从我圣经上用力掰开，那就是我退休的时候。

“I’ll retire when they pry my cold, dead fingers off of my Bible.”

若有人有抱怨不公义的余地，那就是耶稣。他是唯一一位受上帝惩罚的无辜之人。如果我们对上帝的忿怒感到愤怒，就让我们对十字架感到愤怒吧。十字架是我们的震惊应聚焦的所在。如果我们有理由感受道德愤怒，就让我们把这愤怒指向各各他。

“If ever a person had room to complain of injustice, it was Jesus. He was the only innocent man ever to be punished by God. If we stagger at the wrath of God, let us stagger at the cross. Here is where our astonishment should be focused. If we have cause for moral outrage, let it be directed at Golgotha.”

不管我在别人手中遭受多大的不公义对待，我却从未在上帝手中遭遇过丝毫不公义对待。

 “No matter how much injustice I have suffered from the hands of other people, I have never suffered the slightest injustice from the hand of God.”

上帝回答约伯的问题，不是用说话，而是用祂自己。

“God answered Job’s questions not with words but with himself.”

基督徒的人生是不从的人生。

“The Christian life is a life of non-conformity.”

基督不仅取了我们的罪、我们的亏欠和我们的过失，祂还把祂的顺服、祂的产业和祂的功德赐给了我们。

“Not only does Christ take our sins, our debts, and our demerits, but he also gives us his obedience, his assets, and his merits.”

如果人没有成圣，这就意味着他从未有过任何称义。

“If there is no sanctification, it means that there never was any justification.”

如果我们藐视上帝的公义，我们就不是基督徒了。

 “If we despise the justice of God, we are not Christians.”

我们可以按我们罪性去爱的唯一一种上帝，是一位不圣洁的上帝，一个我们亲手制造的偶像。

“The only kind of God we can love by our sinful nature is an unholy god, an idol made by our own hands.”

对于上帝救赎了我们，我们其实并不真正感到惊奇。在我们深处某个地方，在我们内心隐秘处，我们窝藏着这种观念，就是上帝欠了我们祂的怜悯。如果我们被排除在天堂之外，天堂就不再一样。我们知道自己是罪人，但肯定不是我们能有的那样糟糕。我们的人性有足够多值得救赎的特点，如果上帝真是公义，祂就会把我们包括在拯救当中。让我们感到惊奇的是公义，而非恩典。

“We are not really surprised that God has redeemed us. Somewhere deep inside, in the secret chambers of our hearts we harbor the notion that God owes us his mercy. Heaven would not be quite the same if we were excluded from it. We know that we are sinners, but we are surely not as bad as we could be. There are enough redeeming features to our personalities that if God is really just he will include us in salvation. What amazes us is justice, not grace.”

人与上帝相争，没有平局，没有裁判不完全划一的判决。当我们与全能的上帝摔跤，我们就输了。祂是在这宇宙未曾遭遇挫败的冠军。

 “There are no draws with God, no split decisions. When we wrestle with the Almighty, we lose. He is the undefeated champion of the universe.”

上帝的公义总是、永远是祂圣洁品格的表现……上帝所行的，总与上帝的所是一致。

“The justice of God is always and ever an expression of his holy character. . . . What God does is always consistent with who God is.”

我们犯罪时，不仅犯了背叛上帝的罪，而且也彼此侵害。罪是侵害人的。罪没有任何抽象之处。我通过犯罪伤害人。我伤害了他们的人格，我掠夺了他们财物，我毁坏了他们的名声，我抢夺了他们的一种宝贵生命特质，我击破了他们对幸福的梦想和渴望。当我不尊荣上帝的时候，我就是在不尊荣一切背负祂形象样式的人。难怪上帝如此严肃看待罪。

“When we sin, we not only commit treason against God, but we also do violence to each other. Sin violates people. There is nothing abstract about it. By my sin I hurt human beings. I injure their person; I despoil their goods; I impair their reputation; I rob from them a precious quality of life; I crush their dreams and aspirations for happiness. When I dishonor God, I dishonor all people who bear his image. Is it any wonder, then, that God takes sin so seriously?”

我们面对的问题，就是圣洁一词对所有语言来说都是陌生。没有一本字典能充分解释这词。

“The problem we face is that the word holy is foreign to all languages. No dictionary is adequate to the task.”

死亡提醒我们，我们是受造物。死亡虽可怕，但与和一位圣洁的上帝相遇相比却根本算不得什么。与祂相遇时，我们恍然大悟，自己全然是受造之人，将我们对自己看法的神话击得粉碎，这神话就是我们对自己的看法，我们是半神，次等的神祗，尝试永远活着的神话。

“Death reminds us that we are creatures. Yet as fearsome as death is, it is nothing compared with meeting a holy God. When we encounter him, the totality of our creatureliness breaks upon us and shatters the myth that we have believed about ourselves, the myth that we are demigods, junior-grade deities who will try to live forever.”

圣经只有一次把上帝的一种属性提升到第三层次，只有一次连续三次提到上帝的一种特征。圣经说上帝是圣哉、圣哉、圣哉。

“Only once in sacred Scripture is an attribute of God elevated to the third degree. Only once is a characteristic of God mentioned three times in succession. The Bible says that God is holy, holy, holy.”

上帝把祂话语的事工，而非它的结果托付给了我们。

“God has entrusted to us the ministry of the Word, not its results.”

十字架是上帝恩典荣耀的彰显，藉此父差遣子完全满足祂的公义，使罪人可以得救，却不牺牲这公义。

‎”The cross was a glorious outworking of the grace of God, by which the Father commissioned the Son to make full satisfaction so that sinners might be saved with no sacrifice of God’s justice.”

一位替代在时空中显现，祂由上帝亲自设立，承受我们过犯的重担，为我们的罪责赎罪，代表我们挽回上帝的忿怒，这就是福音。

“A Substitute has appeared in space and time, appointed by God himself, to bear the weight and the burden of our transgressions, to make expiation for our guilt, and to propitiate the wrath of God on our behalf. This is the gospel.”

‎如果我要永生之道，我只能在一个地方把它找到，就是来到将自己生命赐下，好使我们能活过来的那一位面前。

“If I want the words of eternal life, there’s only one place I can go to get them—to the One who gave his life that we might live.”

没有一人曾因口头承认相信得救，你必须要得着信心。

 “Nobody was ever saved by a profession of faith. You have to possess faith.”

上帝不要我把玩信仰，祂不要我在教会中蜻蜓点水。祂要得着我，我的身体和灵魂。

“God doesn’t want me to play with religion. He doesn’t want me to dabble in church. He wants me—body and soul.”

我们是罪人，并非因为我们犯罪；我们犯罪，因为我们是罪人。

“We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners.”

你称义的根据，是耶稣基督完全的行为。我们靠行为得救，但这行为不是我们自己的行为。

“The grounds of your justification are the perfect works of Jesus Christ. We’re saved by works, but they’re not our own.”

没有唯独因信称义的教义，福音就不仅遭妥协，还是完全失去了。

“Without the doctrine of justification by faith alone, the gospel is not merely compromised; it’s lost altogether.”

我们在查考上帝话语的本分上失败，最大的原因并非它难以理解，也不是因它沉闷，而是因为这是要付出努力的工作。我们的问题不是缺乏聪明或热情，我们的问题是我们懒惰。

“We fail in our duty to study God’s Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy.”

你在这宇宙中睁开眼睛，不可能看不到这是一座剧院，彰显着上帝的启示。

“You can’t open your eyes in this universe without seeing a theater of divine revelation.”

你不可能爱耶稣，却不爱祂的话。

 “You can’t love Jesus and not love his Word.”

牧师必读的一本宣教书20Quotes from a Missions Book Every Pastor Should Read

Matt Smethurst 摘录   Duncan Liang 翻译

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/20-quotes-missions/

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我读Andy Johnson 的短篇杰作，《宣教：地方教会如何全球化》（Crossway, 2017）时，以下摘录吸引了我的关注。我要毫不夸张地说，每一位宣教士，但特别是每一位牧师，都应读这本书。

The following quotes caught my attention as I read Andy Johnson’s outstanding little book, Missions: How the Local Church Goes Global (Crossway, 2017) [review | excerpt | excerpt | excerpt]. I am not exaggerating when I say that every missionary—but especially every pastor—should read this book.

 “想象有一家地方教会，人清楚知道并认同会众对万民的宣教使命。长老指引会众开展策略性宣教。强调宣教是所有基督徒，而不仅仅只是小众‘宣教俱乐部’要关注的问题。新潮流和要有立刻可见结果的高压专政不能操纵人。教会成员看宣教是全体教会的工作，而不是个人自己私下的活动。在这样的教会里，教会成员把宣教当作教会的一项核心事工，而不是偶然为之的短期项目。教会与宣教士关系深入、认真和长久。欢喜为宣教做奉献是教会预算的基本部分，而不只是偶然和情急之下呼吁的结果。教会成员确实重视宣教到了如此地步，以至于一些人要告别原本的生活，接受教会长期差派。” (19)

“Imagine a local church where the congregation’s mission to the nations is clear and agreed upon. Elders guide the congregation toward strategic missions. Missions is held up as a concern for all Christians, not just the niche ‘missions club.’ The tyranny of new trends and demands for immediate, visible results hold no sway. Members see missions as the work of the church together rather than the personal, private activity of the individual. In this church, members see missions as a core ministry of the church, not an occasional short-term project. Relationships with missionaries are deep, serious, and lasting. Joyful giving to missions is a basic part of the church’s budget, not merely the fruit of occasional and desperate appeals. And members actually value missions enough that some want to uproot their lives and be sent out long-term by the church.” (19)

 “教会是神想出来的主意，是祂普世宣教一个和唯一一个组织方面的计划……任何人发明出来协助宣教的机构都要记住，它们是伴娘，而不是新娘。” (27)

“The church was God’s idea. It is his one and only organizational plan for world missions. . . . Any humanly invented organizations that assist in missions must remember that they are the bridesmaids, not the bride.” (27)

 “鼓励你的教会宣教的最好办法，可能就是暂时不讲宣教，而是更多讲福音。我曾见过有的教会努力让教会成员对宣教感到振奋，却没有让他们对福音感到振奋，结果就是可悲。” (32)

“The best way to encourage your church in missions [may be] to stop talking about missions for a time and, instead, talk more about the gospel. I’ve seen churches that have tried to get their members excited about missions without being excited about the gospel. The result was pitiful.” (32)

 “福音的荣耀——而不是人类的需要——是全球宣教独立持久的动力。”(35)

“The glory of the gospel—not the neediness of mankind—is the self-sustaining fuel for global missions.” (35)

 “宣教士并不是自封的自由人，他们应当向具体的地方教会负责。” (39)

“Missionaries are not just self-styled free agents. They should be accountable to a specific local church.” (39)

 “如果我们选对了人，就无需担心给他们的钱是不是太多。如果你真的担心给宣教士的钱太多，钱会浪费掉，你很有可能就应当把他们召回家，取而代之的是差派值得信赖的宣教士……我们的责任是差派要慎思明辨，而不是支持的时候心存疑惑。”(41)

“If we choose the right people, we need not worry about giving them too much money. If you are seriously concerned that excess money given to your missionaries will be wasted, you should probably bring them home and send out trustworthy missionaries instead. . . . Our responsibility is to send discerningly, not support suspiciously.” (41)

 “我们与教会成员谈论到万民那里去的时候，我们，而不是某个与教会平行的差传机构，应评价他们的品格，按需要协助他们成长。” (43)

“As we talk with members of our churches about going to the nations, we—not some parachurch sending agency—should be the ones to evaluate their character and help them grow as needed.” (43)

 “如果你认真读使徒行传或书信，就会留意到异端、混乱和混合主义常常出现在福音扩展的最前线。因此，我们需要把装备最精良的人派上前线。这样的工作并不是每一个只是喜欢分享自己信仰的基督徒都能做的。我们需要确保我们派出去的人有深入的神学知识，使他们的教导可以在他们听众的生命当中准确复制出来，直到基督再来。” (45)

“If you carefully read Acts and the Epistles, you will notice that heresy, confusion, and syncretism most often occur at the edge of gospel expansion. Therefore, that is where we need our best-equipped people. Such work is not for every Christian who simply loves to share his or her faith. We need to make sure those we send possess deep theological knowledge, so that what they teach can be reproduced in the lives of their hearers with accuracy until Christ returns.” (45)

 “教会是造就忠心宣教士的地方。” (46)

“Churches are where faithful missionaries are made.” (46)

 “宣教预备的核心并不是学习宣教，而是敬虔、认识圣经、有传福音的热心、对基督教会的爱，以及要看到基督得荣耀的激情……我们对福音和教会的认识，远比我们可能运用的任何具体宣教策略重要。” (47, 48)

“The core of missions preparation is not mission studies. It is godliness and Bible knowledge and evangelistic zeal and love for Christ’s church and a passion to see Christ glorified. . . . Our understanding of the gospel and the church is more important than any specific missionary strategies we might employ.” (47, 48)

 “广泛的旅行和国际经验，并不是宣教工作的先决条件。爱福音，生活忠心，有支持的教会，有愿意去的心才是。宣教士并不是拥有各地护照的环球旅行家。最好的宣教士倾向会去一个地方，留在当地，有时在那里度过余生。” (48)

“Extensive travel and international experience are not prerequisites to missionary work. A love for the gospel, a faithful life, an affirming church, and a willingness to go are. Missionaries aren’t world travelers with full passports. The best missionaries tend to go to one place and stay there, sometimes for the rest of their lives.” (48)

“地方教会……承担着为它宣教士的福祉负责的责任……让人难过的，许多教会使用与教会平行的差传机构，做法似乎更像是弃权，而不是委派。”(51)

“The local church . . . retains a responsibility for the welfare of its missionary. . . . Sadly, many churches use parachurch sending organizations in a manner that looks more like abdication than delegation.” (51)

“太多的教会用他们支持宣教的广度，而不是深度来衡量他们对万民的爱。我曾见过许多教会走廊里装饰着一幅世界地图，在教会支持一位宣教士的每一个地方钉上一枚图钉。这可能没有问题，但如果教会认定，图钉越多等于宣教的影响更大，这就有问题了。实际上情况常常相反——对一群宣教士微薄的支持，会众几乎不认识他们。但如果我们把广度和深度调换位置，那会怎样？如果教会奉献同样的金钱，但不是给五十个图钉，而是只给五到十个图钉，那会怎样？不是在一家大教会有大量图钉，而是只在全世界三四个地方。这会如何改变局面？”(59–60)

“Too many churches view the breadth of their missions commitments, rather than the depth, as the measure of their love for the nations. I’ve seen many a church hall adorned with a map sprouting pins for every place where the church supports a missionary. That may be just fine, but not if the church assumes that having more pins equals more impact for missions. In reality, it often means the opposite—meager support to a bunch of missionaries barely known by the congregation. But what if we turned breadth and depth on their heads? What if a church gave the same amount of money, but instead of fifty pens there were only five or ten? Or lots of pins in a large church, but in only three or four places around the world. How might that change things?” (59–60)

“宣教的目标，就是召集植堂建立其他教会的教会。” (63)

“The goal of missions is to gather churches that plant other churches.” (63)

 “如果你请一位宣教士讲一讲她上周或上个月做了什么，她就觉得你得罪了她，你就要小心了……愿意为福音搬家到海外，这根本不能反映他们品格、工作能力或工作伦理的状况。” (66)

“If a missionary is offended that you ask for a description of what she did during the past week or month, be concerned. . . . A willingness to move overseas for the gospel doesn’t say anything about their character, competence, or work ethic.” (66)

“我曾去过几个国家，那里好意的宣教士追求速度和人数的愿望如此强烈，使用的方法如此漫不经心，以至于新的教会宣告成立，然后遭放弃，更多像是灵命流产而不是灵命出生……宣教工作迫切，但并不疯狂。我们盼望有收成，但神从未担保会有怎样的增长速度。”(68)

“I’ve visited several countries where well-meaning missionaries became so urgent in their desire for speed and numbers, and so careless in their methods, that new churches were declared planted and then abandoned in a manner resembling spiritual abortions more than births. . . . The work of missions is urgent, but it’s not frantic. We long for a harvest, but God has nowhere guaranteed a rate of increase.” (68)

“我们绝不应接手撒但的工作，给宣教士施加压力，让他们变得不忠心，以此试探他们犯罪。然而当我们要求人数，暗示要把人数与对他们的支持联系起来，我们就是在这样做了。如果我们像一些人曾经做过那样，微妙传递一种愿望，要有某个受洗人数指标，我们可能就在不经意间取了彼得在马太福音16:23的角色。在那里我们的主责备他：‘撒但，退我后边去吧！你是绊我脚的，因为你不体贴神的意思，只体贴人的意思。’让魔鬼去做牠自己的工作好了，我们不需要帮助牠。” (73)

“We should never take up Satan’s work by tempting [missionaries] to sin through pressuring them toward unfaithfulness. Yet we do that when we demand metrics with an implied link to their support. If we subtly communicate a desire for a certain quota of baptisms, as some have done, we may unwittingly be taking up Peter’s role from Matthew 16:23. There our Lord rebukes him, saying, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.’ Let the Devil do his own work. We needn’t help him.” (73)

“关注长期，这意味着用长期的心态做短宣工作。不是仅仅提供‘宣教经验’，而是考虑短宣工作要协助你们现在支持的已有长期团队的工作。” (84–85)

“Being long-term focused [means] doing short-term trips with the long-term mindset. Rather than just providing ‘missions experiences,’ consider trips that support the work of existing long-term teams to whom you are committed.” (84–85)

“改变一家教会如何宣教的最好方法，不是通过下命令，而是通过教导。” (118)

“The best way to change how a church does missions is not by decree but by teaching.” (118)

“我们的忠心可能失败，但神的宣教使命不会失败。基督要得着万民作祂的基业。与神要拯救基督为之而死的每一个儿女这不可阻挡的计划相比，疯狂猜测哪些人会得救，给人罪疚感，这些都是无力的动机。父赐给基督的，祂一个也不会失去，神已选择使用我们在无数的地方教会作祂福音胜利的工人。” (120)

“We may fail in our faithfulness, but God will not fail in his mission. Christ will have the nations for his inheritance. Frantic speculation and guilt are weak motivators compared with the truth of God’s unstoppable plan to rescue every child for whom Christ dies. Christ will not lose any of those whom the Father has given him, and God has chosen to use us—in countless local churches—as the agents of his gospel triumph.” (120)

狄马可，《认识教会带领》，书摘20条20Quotes from Mark Dever on Church Leadership

Matt Smethurst 摘錄, Duncan Liang 翻译

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/20-quotes-dever-church-leadership/

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/DXNYFV4gGjDpPZxWfRCGtg

狄马可写的一本对人有帮助、应用性很强的小册子，《认识教会带领》（B&H,2016），以下是我读这本书时让我留意的20条书摘。

The following 20 quotes caught my attention as I read Mark Dever’s helpful and practical little book Understanding Church Leadership (B&H, 2016).

 “请想想，新娘的随从是何等小心预备她走上婚礼的红地毯。基督要教会领袖预备祂的新妇时小心翼翼，丝毫不亚于前者。”(1)

“Think of how care-full a bride’s attendants are as they prepare her to walk down the aisle. Christ wants his leaders no less careful as they prepare his bride.” (1)

 “在神旨意之外的能力总是属魔鬼的。” (4)

“Power apart from God’s purposes is always demonic.” (4)

 “像我们今天许多人那样拒绝权柄，这就是目光短浅、自我摧毁。一个没有权柄的世界，就像不加限制的欲望，没有控制的汽车，没有交通灯的十字路口，没有规则的比赛，没有父母的家，没有神的世界。这能运行短短一段时间，但不久就不得要领，然后是残忍，最后是悲剧。”(4)

“To reject authority, as so many in our day do, is short-sighted and self-destructive. A world without authority would be like desires with no restraints, a car with no controls, an intersection with no traffic lights, a game with no rules, a home with no parents, a world without God. It could go on for a little while, but before long it would seem pointless, then cruel, and finally tragic.” (4)

 “你不应让对教会不满的人担任执事服侍。执事绝不可是最大声抱怨，用他们的行动或态度让教会起冲突的人。完全相反！执事应当作消声器和减震器……你不应提名看不到讲道和教导事工重要性的人担任执事，而要提名心急要保护这重要事工的人。更广泛地说，你要教会当中最支持的人担任执事服侍。所以当你考虑谁可以担任执事服侍时，要找有鼓励人恩赐的人。”(13, 14)

“You don’t want people serving as deacons who are unhappy with your church. The deacons should never be the ones who complain the loudest or jar the church with their actions or attitudes. Quite the opposite! The deacons should be mufflers or shock absorbers. . . . You don’t want to nominate deacons who don’t recognize the importance of the ministry of preaching and teaching, but people who are anxious to protect it. More broadly, you want the most supportive people in the church to serve as the deacons. So when you’re considering who might serve as a deacon, look for people with gifts of encouragement.” (13, 14)

 “看圣经时留意到关于一家地方教会牧师和长老的第一件事，就是他们是众数。”(17)

“The first thing to note [in Scripture] about the pastors or elders of a local church is that they are plural.” (17)

 “代求祷告也许是长老最基本的事工。长老要代表神对人说话，就必须代表人对神说话。” (24)

“Intercessory prayer is perhaps the most basic ministry of the elders. In order to speak to men for God, elders must speak to God for men.” (24)

 “牧养就像教养儿女，要求人有耐心。这种工作不是单单一篇讲道或一天之内就能做成的。当然，有时神确实用一篇讲道，或一次至关重要的交谈促成突破。但通常长老的工作是重复性，是天天进行的，就像带一群羊去一块新鲜的草地吃草，就像每天做饭，或带孩子上学。”(25–26)

 “Shepherding, like parenting, requires patience. This kind of work is not done in a single sermon or in a day. Sometimes, of course, God does cause breakthroughs in a single sermon or crucial conversation. But usually the work of eldering is as repetitive and daily as walking the flock to a fresh field for grazing. It is like making the daily meals, or taking the kids to school.” (25–26)

 “我的会众可以有另一位牧师，但我的孩子不能有另一位父亲，我的妻子不能有另一位丈夫。” (27)

“[My] congregation can get another pastor, but my children cannot get another father, or my wife another husband.” (27)

 “执事不应作为单独的权力机构，或需要由它通过议案的立法机关另一部门发挥作用。如果长老说，“让我们开车去匹兹堡，’那么这就不由得执事回来说，‘不，我们要开车去费城。’他们可以正当地回来说，‘我们的汽油不够我们开到匹兹堡，也许我们应该重新考虑。’这对人很有帮助。但通常来说，他们的工作是支持长老设定的目标。” (33)

“Deacons should not act as a separate power bloc or second house of the legislature through which bills need to be passed. If the elders say, ‘Let’s drive to Pittsburgh,’ it’s not up to the deacons to come back and say, ‘No, let’s drive to Philadelphia instead.’ They can legitimately come back and say, ‘Our engine won’t get us to Pittsburgh. Perhaps we should reconsider.’ That’s very helpful. But in general their job is to support the destination set by the elders.” (33)

 “作为一位主任牧师，也许对我教牧事工最有帮助的单独一件事，就是认出其他长老……他们补足我的恩赐，弥补我的一些缺陷，让我的判断更全面，在会众中营造出对决策的支持。” (34)

“As a senior pastor, probably the single most helpful thing to my pastoral ministry has been the recognition of the other elders. . . . They round out my gifts, make up for some of my deficiencies, supplement my judgment, and create support in the congregation for decisions.” (34)

 “新约圣经中找不到提名委员会或受托人，你要找财务委员会，或小组带领团队，这也是找不到的。相信圣经的全备性，这并不禁止我们设立这样的架构，只不过是让它们的权威变得只具有相对地位而已。” (36)

“Neither nominating committees nor trustees are found on the pages of the New Testament. You will look in vain for finance committees or small group leadership teams. Belief in the sufficiency of Scripture doesn’t forbid such structures; it just relativizes their authority.” (36)

“会众制治理合乎圣经，但会众却并非无误。” (36)

“Congregationalism is biblical, but the congregation is not inerrant.” (36)

 “一家教会有成员无法信任的领袖，或有不能信任领袖的成员，这都是一种严重的灵命缺陷。”(37)

“It is a serious spiritual deficiency in a church either to have leaders who are untrustworthy or members who are incapable of trusting.” (37)

 “作为教会成员，你需要信任你的领袖，要不然就找人取代他们。但不要说你承认他们是领袖，然后却不服从他们……与其不信任教会领袖，倒不如让我鼓励你，在你领袖背后议论他们：秘密会面，策划如何鼓励你的领袖。制定策略，让教会领袖做工不至忧愁，而是有快乐。”(37–38)

 “You as a church member either need to trust your leaders or replace them. But don’t say that you acknowledge them and then not follow them. . . . Rather than distrusting church leaders, let me encourage you to talk behind your elders’ backs: meet in secret and plot to encourage your leaders. Strategize to make the church leaders’ work not burdensome, but a joy.” (37–38)

 “撒但的谎言，就是绝不可信任权柄，因为权柄总是暴政和压制人；但长老仁慈地使用权柄，就推翻了这谎言。”(38–39)

“Satan’s lie—that authority can never be trusted because it is always tyrannical and oppressive—will be subverted by the elders’ benevolent exercise of authority.” (38–39)

 “教会成员制并不只是写在纸上的名字，或我们宣告喜欢我们成长的地方。它必须反映出一种活的委身……否则就没有价值。” (43)

 “Membership is not simply a name on a piece of paper or our declaration of affection toward the place we grew up. It must reflect a living commitment . . . or it is worthless.” (43)

 “不参与的‘成员’让真成员和非基督徒都感到糊涂，不清楚作基督徒意味着什么。我们这些‘活跃的’成员，若是容许‘不活跃’的成员继续成为教会成员，这就是自愿不造就他们了，因为教会成员制是对一个人得救的集体认可。请明白这一点：教会成员制是教会对一个人得救的集体见证。因此，一家教会如何能诚实见证一个从未见过的人，见证这人是忠心奔跑神为他安排的路程？” (44)

“Uninvolved ‘members’ confuse both real members and non-Christians about what it means to be a Christian. And we ‘active’ members do voluntarily ‘inactive’ members no service when we allow them to remain members of the church, since membership provides the church’s corporate endorsement of a person’s salvation. Please understand: membership is the church’s corporate testimony to an individual’s salvation. So how can a congregation honestly testify that someone it never sees is faithfully running the race?” (44)

“如果你不加入一家教会，就不要说你属于教会。” (45)

“Don’t say you belong to the church if you won’t join a church.” (45)

 “你不应为了得救而加入一家教会，加入教会，是帮助你确定自己是得救……你在一家地方教会的成员身份，就是会众公开见证你的生活证明你已重生。成员身份不能救你，但它反映出得救。如果没有反映，我们如何能肯定我们说自己得救的宣告为真？”(45)

“You should not join a church to be saved, but to help you make certain you are saved. . . . Your membership in a local church is that congregation’s public testimony that your life gives evidence of regeneration. It doesn’t save, but it reflects salvation. And if there is no reflection, how can we be sure about our claims of salvation?” (45)

 “加入一家教会，这帮助我们对抗我们自己错误的个人主义，发现基督教信仰的集体性质。”(46)

“Joining a church helps us counter our wrong individualism and discover the corporate nature of Christianity.” (46)

 “今天太多的教会呈现出一种版本的基督教信仰，按照这种版本，所有苦难都可以找到原因，所有牺牲都得到赏赐，所有奥秘都能在今生找到解释……如果你想评价一个基督徒在永恒这一边的生命，这是不能完全做到的。基督没有这样做，保罗没有这样做，我们也不应这样做。”(51)

“Too many churches today present a version of Christianity in which all sufferings are accounted for, all sacrifices rewarded, and all mysteries explained in this life. . . . If you evaluate a Christian’s life this side of eternity, it will not add up. Christ’s didn’t; Paul’s didn’t. Ours shouldn’t either.” (51)

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.