750 英翻中 (450) By perseverance the snail reached the ark. 坚持不懈的蜗牛,終於爬到方舟得救. 5/1/2024

750英翻中(450) By perseverance the snail reached the ark.坚持不懈的蜗牛,終於爬到方舟得救.                                                     5/1/2024

親愛的訪友, 您們學習英文的毅力是否像聖經中記載挪亞方舟那時要靠自己進入方舟.  您有過放棄的心態嗎?  編輯有兩次要離開您們, 當我那時翻譯歌羅西書到此處時, 就領悟到聖靈的感動, 就打消了那個念頭. 繼續用一年的時間, 翻譯了倪析聲所寫的 "曠野的筵席" , 得益非淺. 我又讀到解經王子司布真的警句  "坚持不懈的蜗牛, 終於爬到方舟得救."     這是編輯者蒙恩得救的見證.     要進入方舟得救,   得靠自己的毅力像蜗牛一樣,   爬到主耶穌基督救您的方舟.

Great men of God like Charles Spurgeon, G. Campbell Morgan, and H. A. Ironside never had the privilege of formal Bible training. But they were devoted students of the Word, learning its deeper truths through hours of study, meditation, and prayer. The first step toward fullness of life is spiritual intelligence—growing in the will of God by knowing the Word of God.                 上帝重用的僕人像司布貞，摩根和H．A．愛賽( Ironside)等从未有过正式的圣经训练的機會。但是，他们是誠心要学上帝話的學生，長时間的讀聖經，默想和祈祷来学习更深层的真理。通过认识上帝的道，迈向生活豐滿的第一步就是屬靈上的智慧 —— 透過知道上帝的話在上帝的旨意中成长。

2.  He Prayed for Practical Obedience (1:10)                                                                                          2.  保羅为操練的順服而祷告（1:10） 

The false teachers in Colosse attracted people through their offer of “spiritual knowledge,” but they did not relate this knowledge to life. In the Christian life, knowledge and obedience go together. There is no separation between learning and living. The wisdom about which Paul prayed was not simply a head knowledge of deep spiritual truths (see Col. 1:28; 2:3; 3:16; 4:5). True spiritual wisdom must affect the daily life. Wisdom and practical intelligence must go together (see Ex. 31:3; Deut. 4:6; 1 Cor. 1:19).                                                                                     歌羅西的假教师們以提供  “屬靈知识”  吸引人，但他们并没有将这种知识与生活联系在一起。在基督徒的生活中，知识和顺服是聯繫在一起。学习和生活之间没有分离。保罗所祈祷的智慧不仅仅是头脑深刻的屬靈真理的知识（参 西 1:28; 2：3; 3:16; 4：5）。真正的屬靈智慧必會影响日常生活。智慧和实际的知識必须在一起行事為人（參   埃    31：3; 申   4：6; 林前   1:19）。

 In my pastoral ministry, I have met people who have become intoxicated with “studying the deeper truths of the Bible.” Usually they have been given a book or introduced to some teacher’s tapes. Before long, they get so smart they become dumb! The “deeper truths” they discover only detour them from practical Christian living. Instead of getting burning hearts of devotion to Christ (Luke 24:32), they get big heads and start creating problems in their homes and churches. All Bible truths are practical, not theoretical. If we are growing in knowledge, we should also be growing in grace (2 Peter 3:18).                                                                                                             在我牧會的教會裡，遇到過陶醉在 “研究更深奧的圣经的真理” 的人，通常人给他们一本书，或者介绍给他们一卷教师的录音带。不久之后，他们看是那麼很聪明的，却是变得愚蠢！他们发现 “更深奧的真理” 只能使他们脱离真实的基督徒生活。以在他們家里和教會中开始製造问题和头大，來代替以熱誠的心献给基督（路24:32）。圣经裡所記載的真理都是实用的，而不是理论的. 若要在知识上更多増長，我们就必須在恩典中加多（彼後   3:18).

Two words summarize the practicality of the Christian life: walk and work. The sequence is important: first wisdom; then walk; then work. I cannot work for God unless I am walking with Him, but I cannot walk with Him if I am ignorant of His will. The believer who spends time daily in the Word and prayer (Acts 6:4) will know God’s will and be able to walk with Him and work for Him.                                                                                                                                                     用两句话总结基督徒生活的操練：與上帝同行和一起作為。顺序很重要：第一要智慧;然後與主同行, 然後一起作為。除非我和主同行，否则我不能與祂一起工作，如果我不了解祂的旨意，就不能和祂同行。信徒每天化時間在祷告和讀經上（徒6：4）将会知道上帝的旨意，並且能够和祂同行，並為祂工作

After all, our purpose in life is not to please ourselves, but to please the Lord. We should walk worthy of our calling (Eph. 4:1) and worthy of the gospel (Phil. 1:27), which means we will walk worthy of God (1 Thess. 2:12). In short, we should walk to please God (1 Thess. 4:1).                    毕竟，我们不是為自己的喜好作為生活的目標，而是以討主的喜悅為目的。我们的與主同行应该與蒙召的恩相稱（弗4：1），並且與福音相稱（腓1:27），意思是要對得起上帝（帖前2:12）。简而言之，我们应该在與上帝同行時要討祂的歡喜（帖前4：1）。

It is not we who work for God; it is God who works in us and through us to produce the fruit of His grace (Phil. 2:12–13). Christian service is the result of Christian devotion. The work that we do is the outflow of the life that we live. It is by abiding in Christ that we can produce fruit (John 15:1ff.).                                                                                                                                                      不是我们为上帝工作。而是上帝要透過我们，在我們裡面有所作為，為祂結恩典的果子（腓2：12-13）。基督徒的事奉是基督徒委身後所結的果子。我们所作的工是我们生活的流露。是住在基督里才能結的果子（约15：1 比照研讀）。

God must make the worker before He can do the work. God spent thirteen years preparing Joseph for his ministry in Egypt, and eighty years preparing Moses to lead Israel. Jesus spent three years teaching His disciples how to bear fruit; and even the learned apostle Paul needed a “postgraduate course” in Arabia before he could serve God with effectiveness. A newborn babe can cry and make its presence known, but it cannot work. A new Christian can witness for Christ and even win others—but he must be taught to walk and learn God’s wisdom before he is placed in an office of responsible ministry.                                                                                                      上帝必须在祂的僕人，能為祂作工之前，要作訓練工人能作工的準備。上帝用十三年時間准备祂的僕人约瑟，并使用八十年的時間准备摩西领导以色列人出埃及的工作。耶稣教导门徒三年如何出去结果子;  即使学問淵博的使徒保罗，也需要在阿拉伯讀 “慱士後的课程”，才能有效地侍奉上帝。 新生婴孩能哭泣，使人知道他的存在，但他不能工作。 剛信主的基督徒可以见证基督，甚至帶領他人信主 —— 但是，在他要擔任有责任的執事的職位之前，則必须受教导如何與主同行，並学习上帝的智慧。

God’s wisdom reveals God’s will. As we obey God’s will in our walk, we can work for Him and bear fruit. We will not just occasionally serve God; we will be “fruitful in every good work” (Col. 1:10). But there is a blessed by-product of this experience: “increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10). As we walk with God and work for God, we get to know Him better and better.        上帝的智慧顯示祂的旨意。当我们顺服祂的旨意與祂同行时，才能为祂工作而結果子。我们不会偶然的事奉上帝; 我们一定要先在 “每件善事上都結果子”（西1:10）。但是，这经验有祝福的副产品：“對上帝的認识越来越多”（西1:10）。当我们与上帝同行，为上帝工作时，我们就越来越多的认识祂。

Our Christian lives desperately need balance. Certainly we get to know God better as we pray in our private rooms and as we meditate on His Word. But we also get to know Him as we walk in our daily lives and work to win others and help His people.                                                              基督徒的生活迫切需要平衡。誠然，当我们在私人房间里祈祷，并且默念祂的话语时，我们认识上帝更多。但是，我们也要在日常生活中與上帝同行，並争取失喪的人，且帮助祂的子民，之後會认识上帝。

Worship and service are not competitive. They always go together. When He was ministering on earth, our Lord retired to pray—then He went out to serve. We need to avoid the extremes of impractical mysticism and fleshly enthusiasm. As we spend time with God, we get to understand Him and His will for our lives, and as we go out to obey Him, we learn more.                                 崇拜和事奉是不會互相衝突。它们总是聯繫在一起。当我们的主在地上事奉时，總是在退到山上祈祷 —— 然后祂才開始事奉。我们需要避免极端的不切实际的神秘主义和肉体的热情主義。当我们用時間與上帝同在时，就會體認上帝和祂為我们生命的旨意，並且当我们順服祂出去事奉祂时，就会学到更多。

Practical obedience means pleasing God, serving Him, and getting to know Him better. Any doctrine that isolates the believer from the needs of the world around him is not spiritual doctrine. Evangelist D. L. Moody often said, “Every Bible should be bound in shoe-leather.”   Paul would agree.                                                                                                                                     实用的順服是討上帝的喜悦，侍奉祂，更多地认识祂。任何将信徒与他所在的世界的需要隔离的教义，都不是屬靈的教义。福音传教士慕迪经常说，“每一本圣经都应该绑在皮鞋上。” 保罗会同意這意思。                  

Paul has prayed that we might have spiritual intelligence, and that this intelligence might result in practical obedience. But there is a third request that completes these first two; and without it, the Christian life could not be mature.                                                                                                  保罗祈祷我们可能有灵性的智慧，这种智慧可能会导致实际的服从。但是還有第三个请求來完備了前两個沒有的，若沒有它，基督徒的生命不能成熟。

(待續)