836 英翻中 (536) The last leson of the Ephesians. 以弗所書最後一課. 30/08/2024

836 英翻中 (537)     The last leson of the Ephesians.        以弗所書最後一課.        30/8/2024                                                                                                             

3.  The Energy (6:18–20)                                                                                                                          3.  能力（6:18-20）

Prayer is the energy that enables the Christian soldier to wear the armor and wield the sword. We cannot fight the battle in our own power, no matter how strong or talented we may think we are. When Amalek attacked Israel, Moses went to the mountaintop to pray, while Joshua used the sword down in the valley (Ex. 17:8–16). It took both to defeat Amalek—Moses’ intercession on the mountain and Joshua’s use of the sword in the valley. Prayer is the power for victory, but not just any kind of prayer. Paul told how to pray if we would defeat Satan.                                                  禱告是使基督徒士兵能夠穿上盔甲並揮舞劍的能力。無論我們認為自己多麼強大或有才華，都無法憑藉自己的力量進行戰鬥。當亞瑪力人攻擊以色列人時，摩西去山頂祈禱，而約書亞在山谷中使用刀劍（出  17：8-16）。打敗亞瑪力人是摩西在山上的代求和約書亞在山谷中使用刀劍，兩者結合付出的代價。祈禱是戰勝的能力，但不是任何一種祈禱都能。 保羅告訴我們如何禱告才能打敗撒旦。

Pray always. This obviously does not mean “always saying prayers.” We are not heard for our “much speaking” (Matt. 6:7). “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17) says to us, “Always be in communion with the Lord. Keep the receiver off the hook!” Never have to say when you pray, “Lord, we come into Thy presence,” because you never left His presence! A Christian must “pray always” because he is always subject to temptations and attacks of the devil. A surprise attack has defeated more than one believer who forgot to “pray without ceasing.”                                            常常禱告。這顯然並不是說“總是祈禱”。我們“多話”（太  6:7）主並不聽我們的聲音。對我們說，“要時常與主相交。讓接收器常常運作！”就是 “不住地禱告”（帖前  5:17）。當你禱告時，永遠不要說，“主呵!，我們來到你面前”，因為你從未離開過祂的同在！基督徒必須“經常禱告”，因為他總是受到魔鬼的試探和攻擊。一次突襲的擊敗，比不止一個信徒忘記“不住地禱告”還要利害。

Pray with all prayer. There is more than one kind of praying: prayer, supplication, intercession, thanksgiving (Phil. 4:6; 1 Tim. 2:1). The believer who prays only to ask for things is missing out on blessings that come with intercessions and giving of thanks. In fact, thanksgiving is a great prayer weapon for defeating Satan. “Praise changes things” as much as “prayer changes things.” Intercession for others can bring victory to our own lives. “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends” (Job 42:10).                                                                                  多方祈禱祈求。禱告不止一種：祈求、懇求、代求、感恩（腓  4:6；提前  2:1）。信徒只是祈禱為了祈求事物，却錯過了代禱和感恩帶來的祝福。事實上，感恩是戰勝撒旦的絕佳禱告武器。 “讚美改變事物”和“禱告改變事物”一樣多。為他人代禱可以為我們自己的生活帶來勝利。 “約伯為他的朋友祈禱時，主就使約伯從他的苦境轉回”（伯  42:10）。

Pray in the Spirit. The Bible formula is that we pray to the Father, through the Son, and in the Spirit. Romans 8:26–27 tells us that only in the Spirit’s power can we pray in the will of God. Otherwise, our praying could be selfish and out of the will of God. In the Old Testament tabernacle, there was a small golden altar standing before the veil, and here the priest burned the incense (Ex. 30:1–10; Luke 1:1–11). The incense is a picture of prayer. It had to be mixed according to God’s plan and could not be counterfeited by man. The fire on the altar is a picture of the Holy Spirit, for it is He who takes our prayers and “ignites” them in the will of God. It is possible to pray fervently in the flesh and never get through to God. It is also possible to pray quietly in the Spirit and see God’s hand do great things.

在聖靈裡禱告。聖經的公式是，我們藉由聖子，並在聖靈裡向父上帝祈禱。羅馬書 8章26-27兩節告訴我們，只有靠著聖靈的大能，才能按照上帝的旨意禱告。否則，我們的禱告可能是自私的，而不是出於上帝的旨意。在舊約的帳幕中，幔子前有個小金壇，祭司在這裡燒香（出  30:1-10；路  1:1-11）。香是祈禱的畫面。它必須按照上帝的計劃混合，不能被人偽造。祭壇上的火是聖靈的圖畫，因為是祂接受我們的祈禱，並按照上帝的旨意“點燃”它們。在肉體中熱切祈禱，永遠無法到達上帝。也可能在聖靈里安靜地禱告，看到上帝的手在做大事。

Pray with your eyes open. Watching means “keeping on the alert.” The phrase “watch and pray” occurs often in the Bible. When Nehemiah was repairing the walls of Jerusalem and the enemy was trying to stop the work, Nehemiah defeated the enemy by watching and praying. “Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch” (Neh. 4:9). “Watch and pray” is the secret of victory over the world (Mark 13:33), the flesh (Mark 14:38), and the devil (Eph. 6:18). Peter went to sleep when he should have been praying, and the result was victory for Satan (Mark 14:29–31, 67–72). God expects us to use our God-given senses, led by the Spirit, so that we detect Satan when he is beginning to work.                                                                                          睜開眼睛祈禱。觀看有“保持警惕”。 “警醒禱告”經常出現在聖經中。當尼希米正在修補耶路撒冷的城牆時，而敵人試圖阻止這項工作，尼希米藉由警醒和祈禱擊敗了敵人。 “然而，我們禱告我們的上帝，並派人看守，晝夜防備”（尼  4:9）。 “警醒禱告”是戰勝世界（可  13:33），肉體（可  14:38），和魔鬼（弗 6:18）的秘訣。彼得在本該禱告的時候睡著了，結果撒但得勝（可  14：29-31、67-72）。上帝希望我們在聖靈的帶領下，使用上帝賦予的感官，以便我們在撒旦開始要工作之先就發現它。

Keep on praying. The word perseverance simply means “to stick to it and not quit.” The early believers prayed this way (Acts 1:14; 2:42; 6:4), and we also should pray this way (Rom. 12:12). Perseverance in prayer does not mean we are trying to twist God’s arm, but rather that we are deeply concerned and burdened and cannot rest until we get God’s answer. As Robert Law put it, “Prayer is not getting man’s will done in heaven; it is getting God’s will done on earth” (Tests of Life, [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1968]). Most of us quit praying just before God is about to give the victory. Not everybody is so constituted that he can sincerely spend a whole night in prayer, but all of us can persevere in prayer far more than we do. The early church prayed without ceasing when Peter was in prison and, at the last moment, God gave them their answer (Acts 12:1–19). Keep on praying until the Spirit stops you or the Father answers you. Just about the time you feel like quitting, God will give the answer.                                                                      不斷的祈禱。 “毅力” 意思是“堅持而不放棄”。早期的信徒是以這樣的毅力禱告（徒  1:14；2:42；6:4），我們也應該這樣禱告（羅  12:12）。禱告有恆心，不是要扭斷上帝的膀臂，而是我們心裡有深深的牽掛和負擔，除非得到上帝的應允，就不停息。正如羅伯 · 勞(Robert Law) 所說，“祈禱不是在天堂完成人的意志；它是在地上實現上帝的旨意”（ ‘生命的測試’，( 密歇根州大急流城：[貝克出版，1968]）。我們中的大多數人，在上帝即將賜予勝利之前就停息禱告。不是每個人都如此堅定，以至於他可以真誠地整夜祈禱，但我們所有人都可以，比我們要做，去更堅持祈禱。當彼得在監獄裡時，早期教會不停地禱告，在最後一刻，上帝給了他們答案（徒  12：1-19）。繼續祈禱，直到聖靈阻止你或天父應允你。就在你想放棄的時候，也正是上帝會給你答案的一刻。

Pray for all the saints. The Lord’s Prayer begins with “Our Father”—not “My Father.” We pray as part of a great family that is also talking to God, and we ought to pray for the other members of the family. Even Paul asked for the prayer support of the Ephesians—and he had been to the third heaven and back. If Paul needed the prayers of the saints, how much more do you and I need them! If my prayers help another believer defeat Satan, then that victory will help me too. Note that Paul did not ask them to pray for his comfort or safety, but for the effectiveness of his witness and ministry.                                                                                                                                為所有聖徒祈禱。主禱文以“我們的父”開始，而不是“我的父”。我們作為與上帝交談的大家庭的一分子而祈禱，應該為這家庭的其他成員祈禱。甚至保羅也請求以弗所人的禱告來支持他的事工 --- 並且他已經從第三層天回來了。如果保羅需要聖徒為他祈禱，你我更需要他們代禱！如果我的祈禱能幫助另一個信徒打敗撒旦，那這勝利也將會幫助我。請注意，保羅並沒有要求他們為他的安慰和安全代禱，而是為他的見證和事工的成效祈禱。

4.  The Encouragement (6:21–24)                                                                                                            4.  鼓勵（6:21-24）

We are not fighting the battle alone. There are other believers who stand with us in the fight, and we ought to be careful to encourage one another. Paul encouraged the Ephesians; Tychicus was an encouragement to Paul (Acts 20:4); and Paul was going to send Tychicus to Ephesus to be an encouragement to them. Paul was not the kind of missionary who kept his affairs to himself. He wanted the people of God to know what God was doing, how their prayers were being answered, and what Satan was doing to oppose the work. His motive was not selfish. He was not trying to get something out of them.                                                                                                                      我們不是孤軍奮戰。還有其他信徒與我們站在一起，我們應該小心地互相鼓勵。保羅鼓勵以弗所人；推基古是對保羅的鼓勵（徒  20:4）；保羅要派推基古到以弗所去鼓勵他們。保羅不是那種把自己的事都藏在心裡的宣教士。他想讓上帝的子民知道祂在做什麼，他們的禱告如何得到回應，以及撒但在做什麼來反對這項工作。他的動機並不自私。他並不是想從他們那裡得到什麼。

What an encouragement it is to be a part of the family of God! Nowhere in the New Testament do we find an isolated believer. Christians are like sheep; they flock together. The church is an army, and the soldiers need to stand together and fight together.                                                                  成為上帝家中的一份子是何等大的鼓勵！ 在新約中，我們找不到孤立的信徒。 基督徒就像羊； 他們聚集在一起。 教會是軍隊，士兵們需要站在一起，一起戰鬥。

Note the words Paul used as he closed this letter: peace—love—faith—grace! He was a prisoner of Rome, yet he was richer than the emperor. No matter what our circumstances may be, in Jesus Christ we are “blessed with all spiritual blessings”!                                                                            請注意保羅在結束這封信時所用的話：平安—愛—信—恩典！ 他是羅馬的囚徒，卻比皇帝還富有。 無論我們的環境如何，在耶穌基督裡，我們所“蒙受的福氣是一切屬靈的祝福”！