74 英翻中 (林后13章) 54
Saturday, May 31, 2025
Friday, May 30, 2025
72 英翻中(林后12章) A preacher in paradise 天堂里的传道人 30/05/2025
72 英翻中(林后12章) A preacher in paradise 天堂里的传道人 30/05/2025
CHAPTER
ELEVEN A PREACHER IN
This
section is the climax of Paul’s defense of his apostleship and his love for the
believers at
1. Glory: God Honored Him (12:1–6) 1. 荣耀：上帝尊荣他（12:1-6）
The Judaizers were anxious to receive honors, and they boasted about their “letters of recommendation” (2 Cor. 3:1ff.). But Paul did not look for honor from men; he let God honor him, for that alone is the honor that really counts. 犹太律法師渴望获得荣誉，吹嘘他们的“推荐信”（哥林多後书3:1 比照研讀）。但保罗不求人的尊荣；他让上帝尊重他，因为只有如此，才是真正重要的荣耀。
First,
God honored Paul by giving him visions and revelations. Paul saw the glorified
Christ on the very day he was converted (Acts 9:3; 22:6). He saw a vision of
Ananias coming to minister to him (Acts
During
his ministry, he had visions from God to guide him and encourage him. It was by
a vision that he was called to
An angel appeared to him in the midst of the storm and assured him that he and the passengers would be saved (Acts 27:23). 一位天使在暴风雨中向保羅显现，向他保证 — 他和乘客都会得救（使徒行传 27:23）。
Along with these special visions that related to his call and ministry, spiritual revelations of divine truth were also communicated to Paul (see Eph. 3:1–6). God gave him a profound understanding of the plan of God for this present age. Certainly Paul understood the mysteries of God. 除了这些与他的呼召和事工有关的特殊异象外，上帝圣真理的属灵启示也传达给了保罗（见 以弗所书 3：1-6）。上帝使他深刻的理解祂对當时代的计划。保罗当然明白上帝的奥秘。
God
also honored Paul by taking him to heaven and then sending him back to the
earth again. This marvelous experience had taken place fourteen years before
the writing of this letter, which would place the experience in about the year
AD 43. This would be the period in Paul’s life between his departure for
Jewish
rabbis were accustomed to speaking about themselves in the third person, and
Paul adopted that approach as he unfolded this experience to his friends (and
enemies) at
The interesting thing is that Paul kept quiet about this experience for fourteen years! During those years, he was buffeted by his “thorn in the flesh,” and perhaps people wondered why he had such a burdensome affliction. The Judaizers may have adopted the views of Job’s comforters and said, “This affliction is a punishment from God.” (Actually, it was a gift from God.) Some of Paul’s good friends may have tried to encourage him by saying, “Cheer up, Paul. One day you’ll be in heaven!” Paul could have replied, “That’s why I have this thorn —I went to heaven!” 有趣的是，保罗对这段经历保持了 14 年的沉默！ 在那些年，他被自己的“肉中刺”折磨着，也许人们想知道他为什么会有如此沉重的痛苦。犹太律法師可能采纳了约伯的安慰者的观点，并说，“这种苦难是上帝的惩罚。” （实际上，这是上帝的礼物。）保罗的一些好朋友可能试图鼓励他说，“振作起来，保罗。总有一天你会在天堂！”保罗本可以回答说，“这就是为什么我有这根刺 — 我去過天堂！”
God honored Paul by granting him visions and revelations, and by taking him to heaven; but He honored him further by permitting him to hear “unspeakable words” while he was in heaven. He overheard the divine secrets that are shared only in heaven. These things could be spoken by God and by beings in heaven, but they could not be spoken by men. 上帝赐予保罗异象和启示，并将他带到天堂，以此来荣耀他。但祂进一步尊重他，让他在天堂时可以听到“说不出的话”。他无意中听到了只有在天堂才能分享的神圣秘密。这些话上帝能说，天上的众生能说，人却不能说。
Could the Judaizers relate any experiences that were like this one? Even Moses, who was intimate with God, met the Lord on the mountaintop; but Paul met the Lord in paradise. Paul had exercised great spiritual discipline during those fourteen years, for he had told this experience to no one. There is no doubt that this vision of God’s glory was one of the sustaining powers in Paul’s life and ministry. No matter where he was—in prison, in the deep, in dangerous travels—he knew that God was with him and that all was well. 犹太律法師可以讲述任何类似的经历吗？ 就连与上帝亲近的摩西，也只在山顶遇见了主；但保罗在乐园里遇见了主。保罗在那十四年里锻炼了很大的属灵操练，因为他没有告诉任何人这段经历。毫无疑问，这种对上帝荣耀的异象是维持保罗生活和事工的能力量之一。无论他在哪里 — 在监狱里、在深渊里、在危险的旅途中 — 他都知道上帝与他同在，一切都很順暢。
You and
I are not going to heaven till we die or till our Lord returns. But we have a
marvelous encouragement in the fact that we are today seated with Christ in the
heavenly places (Eph. 2:6). We have a position of authority and victory “far
above all” (Eph.
Such an
honor as this would have made most people very proud. Instead of keeping quiet
for fourteen years, they would have immediately told the world and become
famous. But Paul did not become proud. He simply told the truth—it was not
empty boasting— and let the facts speak for themselves. His great concern was
that nobody rob God of the glory and give it to Paul. He wanted others to have
an honest estimate of him and his work (see
How could Paul have such a great experience and still remain humble? Because of the second experience that God brought to his life. 保罗怎能拥有如此丰富的经历，却仍保持谦卑？ 因为上帝在他生活中带给他的第二次经历。
2. Goodness: God Humbled Him (12:7–8) 2. 良善：上帝使他谦卑（12:7-8）
The Lord knows how to balance our lives. If we have only blessings, we may become proud; so He permits us to have burdens as well. Paul’s great experience in heaven could have ruined his ministry on earth; so God, in His goodness, permitted Satan to buffet Paul in order to keep him from becoming proud. 主知道如何平衡我们的生活。如果我们只有祝福，可能会变得骄傲；所以他也允许我们有负担。保罗在天上的伟大经历，可能會毁掉他在地上的事工。因此，上帝出于良善，允许撒但攻击保罗，以防止他变得骄傲。
The mystery of human suffering will not be solved completely in this life. Sometimes we suffer simply because we are human. Our bodies change as we grow older, and we are susceptible to the normal problems of life. The same body that can bring us pleasures can also bring us pains. The same family members and friends who delight us can also break our hearts. This is a part of the “human comedy,” and the only way to escape it is to be less than human. But nobody wants to take that route. 人的苦难之谜，今生不会完全解开。有时我们受苦仅仅是因为我们是人。随着年龄的增长，我们的身体会发生变化，我们很容易受到生活中的正常问题的影响。能给我们带来快乐的身体，也会给我们带来痛苦。同样让我们高兴的家人和朋友也会让我们心碎。这是“人间喜剧”的一部分，摆脱它的唯一方法就是不是人。但没有人愿意走那条路。
Sometimes we suffer because we are foolish and disobedient to the Lord. Our own rebellion may afflict us, or the Lord may see fit to chasten us in His love (Heb. 12:3ff.). King David suffered greatly because of his sin; the consequences were painful and so was the discipline of God (see 2 Sam. 12:1–22; Ps. 51). In His grace, God forgives our sins; but in His government, He must permit us to reap what we sow. 有时我们受苦是因为我们愚昧，不顺服主。我们的叛逆可能会折磨自己，或者主可能认为适合在祂的爱中管教我们（希伯来書 12:3 比照研讀）。大卫王因他的罪而受尽折磨；后果是痛苦的，上帝的管教也是如此（见 撒母耳下 12:1-22; 箴言 51章）。在上帝的恩典中，祂赦免了我们的罪；但在祂的管理中，祂必须允许我们种什么就收什么。
Suffering also is a tool God uses for building godly character (Rom. 5:1–5). Certainly Paul was a man of rich Christian character because he permitted God to mold and make him in the painful experiences of his life. When you walk along the shore of the ocean, you notice that the rocks are sharp in the quiet coves, but polished in those places where the waves beat against them. God can use the “waves and billows” of life to polish us, if we will let Him. 苦难也是上帝用来建立敬虔品格的工具（罗马书 5:1-5）。当然，保罗是具有丰富基督徒品格的人，因为他允许上帝在他痛苦的人生经历中塑造和製成他。当沿着海岸漫步时，你会注意到安静的海湾中的岩石很锋利，但在海浪拍打它们的地方却很光滑。如果我们愿意，上帝可以用“波涛汹涌” 的生命来打磨我们。
Paul’s thorn in the flesh was given to him to keep him from sinning. Exciting spiritual experiences—like going to heaven and back—have a way of inflating the human ego; and pride leads to a multitude of temptations to sin. Had Paul’s heart been filled with pride, those next fourteen years would have been filled with failure instead of success. 保罗肉体上的刺上帝安排赐给他的，以防止他犯罪。令人兴奋的屬靈体验 — 比如去天堂和回来 — 它是膨胀人自我的方式；骄傲导致许多犯罪的诱惑。如果保罗的心中充满了骄傲，那么接下来的十四年将充满失败，而不是成功。
We do
not know what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was. The word translated “thorn” means
“a sharp stake used for torturing or impaling someone.” It was a physical
affliction of some kind that brought pain and distress to Paul. Some Bible
students think that Paul had an eye
affliction (see Gal.
Satan
was permitted to buffet Paul. The word means “to beat, to strike with the
fist.” The tense of the verb indicates that this pain was either constant or
recurring. When you stop to think that Paul had letters to write, trips to
take, sermons to preach, churches to visit, and dangers to face as he
ministered, you can understand that this was a serious matter. No wonder he
prayed three times (as his Lord had done in the Garden, Mark
When God permits suffering to come to our lives, there are several ways we can deal with it. Some people become bitter and blame God for robbing them of freedom and pleasure. Others just give up and fail to get any blessing out of the experience because they will not put any courage into the experience. Still others grit their teeth and put on a brave front, determined to “endure to the very end.” While this is a courageous response, it usually drains them of the strength needed for daily living; and after a time, they may collapse. 当上帝允许苦难临到我们的生活时，我们可以有几种方法来处理它。有些人变得痛苦，责备上帝剥夺了他们的自由和快乐。其他人只是放弃，并且无法从体验中获得任何祝福，因为他们不会在体验中投入任何勇气。还有一些人咬紧牙关，摆出一副勇敢的样子，决心“坚持到底”。虽然这是一种勇敢的反应，但通常会耗尽他们日常生活所需的力量；一段时间后，它们可能会崩溃。
Was Paul sinning when he prayed to be delivered from Satan’s buffeting? I don’t think so. It is certainly a normal thing for a Christian to ask God for deliverance from sickness and pain. God has not obligated Himself to heal every believer whenever he prays; but He has encouraged us to bring our burdens and needs to Him. Paul did not know whether this “thorn in the flesh” was a temporary testing from God, or a permanent experience he would have to learn to live with. 当保罗以祈祷求上帝使他脱离撒旦的攻击时，他是在犯罪吗？我不这么认为。基督徒祈求上帝从疾病和痛苦中解脱，这当然是件很正常的事。上帝并没有责定自己對每一个信徒以祷告懇求时，都要医治他。但他鼓励我们把我们的负担和需要带给祂。保罗不知道这个“肉体上的刺”是来自上帝的暂时考验，还是他必须学会忍受的永久经历。
There are those who want us to believe that an afflicted Christian is a disgrace to God. “If you are obeying the Lord and claiming all that you have in Christ,” they say, “then you will never be sick.” I have never found that teaching in the Bible. It is true that God promised the Jews special blessing and protection under the old covenant (Deut. 7:12ff.), but He never promised the New Testament believers freedom from sickness or suffering. If Paul had access to “instant healing” because of his relationship to Christ, then why didn’t he make use of it for himself and for others, such as Epaphroditus (Phil. 2:25ff.)? 有些人希望我们相信受苦的基督徒是上帝的耻辱。他们说，“如果你顺服主，并声称你在基督里拥有祂的一切，那么你就永远不会生病。”我从未在圣经中找到过这样的教导。诚然，上帝在旧约下应许犹太人特别的祝福和保护（申命記 7:12 比照研讀），但他从未应许新约信徒免于疾病或痛苦。如果保罗因为与基督的关系而获得“即时医治”，那么他为什么不为自己和他人使用它，例如以巴弗提（腓立比书 2:25 比照研讀）？
What a contrast between Paul’s two experiences! Paul went from paradise to pain, from glory to suffering. He tasted the blessing of God in heaven and then felt the buffeting of Satan on earth. He went from ecstasy to agony, and yet the two experiences belong together. His one experience of glory prepared him for the constant experience of suffering, for he knew that God was able to meet his need. Paul had gone to heaven—but then he learned that heaven could come to him. 保罗的两次经历是何等的对比！保罗从天堂到痛苦，从荣耀到苦难。他在天上尝到了上帝的祝福，又在地上感受到了撒旦的攻击。他从狂喜到痛苦，然而这两种体验却是相通的。他一次荣耀的经历为他不断经历苦难做好了准备，因为他知道上帝能够满足他的需要。保罗已经去了天堂 — 但后来他知道天堂可以临到他。
3. God Helped Him (12:9–10) 3. 恩典 : 上帝帮助了他（12:9-10）
Two messages were involved in this painful experience. The thorn in the flesh was Satan’s message to Paul, but God had another message for him, a message of grace. The tense of the verb in 2 Corinthians 12:9 is important: “And He [God] has once-for-all said to me.” God gave Paul a message that stayed with him. The words Paul heard while in heaven, he was not permitted to share with us; but he did share the words God gave him on earth—and what an encouragement they are. 这次痛苦的经历涉及两条信息。肉体上的刺是撒但给保罗的信息，但上帝给他另一个信息，恩典的信息。哥林多后书 12章9節中动词的时态很重要：“祂 [上帝] 对我说了一遍。”上帝给了保罗一直伴随着他的信息。保罗在天堂听到的话，他不被允许与我们分享；但他确实分享了上帝在地上给他的话语 — 它们是何等的鼓励。
It was
a message of grace. What is grace? It is God’s provision for our every need
when we need it. It has well been said that God in His grace gives us what we
do not deserve, and in His mercy He does not give us what we do deserve.
Someone has made an acrostic of the word grace: God’s Riches Available at
Christ’s Expense. “And of his [Christ’s] fullness have all we received, and
grace for grace” (John
It was a message of sufficient grace. There is never a shortage of grace. God is sufficient for our spiritual ministries (2 Cor. 3:4–6) and our material needs (2 Cor. 9:8) as well as our physical needs (2 Cor. 12:9). If God’s grace is sufficient to save us, surely it is sufficient to keep us and strengthen us in our times of suffering. 这是一个足够恩典的信息。从来不缺少恩典。上帝足以满足我们的屬靈事工（哥林多後書3:4-6）和我们的物质需求（哥林多後書9:8）以及身体需求（哥林多後書12:9）。如果上帝的恩典足以拯救我们，那么在我们受苦的时候，它肯定足以保守我们并加强我们。
It was a message of strengthening grace. God permits us to become weak so that we might receive His strength. This is a continuous process: “My power is [being] made perfect in [your] weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9 niv). Strength that knows itself to be strength is actually weakness, but weakness that knows itself to be weakness is actually strength. 这是加强恩典的信息。上帝允许我们软弱，好让我们得着祂的力量。这是持续的过程：“我的能力在 [你的] 弱点中顯得完善”（哥林多後書12:9 新國際版）。知道自己是有能力的，实际上是軟弱，但知道自己是軟弱的，实际上是有能力。
In the Christian life, we get many of our blessings through transformation, not substitution. When Paul prayed three times for the removal of his pain, he was asking God for a substitution: “Give me health instead of sickness, deliverance instead of pain and weakness.” Sometimes God does meet the need by substitution; but other times He meets the need by transformation. He does not remove the affliction, but He gives us His grace so that the affliction works for us and not against us. 在基督徒的生活中，我们通过转換，而不是替代，而获得许多祝福。当保罗为消除他的痛苦而祈祷三遍时，他是在祈求上帝给他一个替代：“赐我健康而不是疾病，拯救我脫離痛苦和软弱。”有时上帝确实通过替代来满足需要；但其他时候，祂是通过轉換来满足需要。祂并没有除去苦难，而是赐给我们祂的恩典，使苦难对我们起作用，而不是对我们不利。
As Paul prayed about his problem, God gave him a deeper insight into what He was doing. Paul learned that his thorn in the flesh was a gift from God. What a strange gift! There was only one thing for Paul to do: accept the gift from God and allow God to accomplish His purposes. God wanted to keep Paul from being “exalted above measure,” and this was His way of accomplishing it. 当保罗为他的问题祷告时，上帝让他更深入地了解他在做什么。保罗得知他肉体上的刺是来自上帝的礼物。多么奇怪的礼物！保罗只有一件事要做：接受上帝的恩赐，让上帝完成祂的旨意。上帝想要阻止保罗“被高举过头”，而这是祂要完成它的方法。
When
Paul accepted his affliction as the gift of God, this made it possible for
God’s grace to go to work in his life. It was then that God spoke to Paul and
gave him the assurance of His grace. Whenever you are The apostle, exercising
loving authority—
God did not give Paul any explanations; instead, He gave him a promise: “My grace is sufficient for thee.” We do not live on explanations; we live on promises. Our feelings change, but God’s promises never change. Promises generate faith, and faith strengthens hope. 上帝没有给保罗任何解释；相反，祂给了他应许：“我的恩典够你用。”我们不靠解释祂的話生活；而是生活在祂承诺中。我们的感觉会轉換，但上帝的应许永远不会改变。应许产生信心，信心增强盼望。
Paul
claimed God’s promise and drew on the grace that was offered to him; this
turned seeming tragedy into triumph. God did not change the situation by removing
the affliction; He changed it by adding a new ingredient: grace. Our God is
“the God of all grace” (1 Peter
But God does not give us His grace simply that we might “endure” our sufferings. Even unconverted people can manifest great endurance. God’s grace should enable us to rise above our circumstances and feelings and cause our afflictions to work for us in accomplishing positive good. God wants to build our character so that we are more like our Savior. God’s grace enabled Paul not only to accept his afflictions, but to glory in them. His suffering was not a tyrant that controlled him, but a servant that worked for him. 但上帝赐给我们恩典并不是为了让我们“忍受”苦难。即使是未悔改的人也能表现出极大的忍耐。上帝的恩典应该使我们能够超越我们的环境和感受，并使我们的苦难轉換为我们作工，以实现它积极的好处。上帝要塑造我们的品格，使我们更像我们的救主。上帝的恩典使保罗不仅能够接受他的苦难，而且能够以这些苦难为荣。他的痛苦不是控制他的暴君，而是为他工作的仆人。
What benefits did Paul receive because of his suffering? For one thing, he experienced the power of Christ in his life. God transformed Paul’s weakness into strength. The word translated “rest” means “to spread a tent over.” Paul saw his body as a frail tent (2 Cor. 5:1ff.), but the glory of God had come into that tent and transformed it into a holy tabernacle. 保罗因受苦而得到什么好处？ 首先，他在生命中经历了基督的大能。上帝将保罗的软弱轉变为力量。翻译成“安息”的词的意思是“搭帐篷”。保罗将他的身体视为一个脆弱的帐篷（哥林多後書 5:1 比照研讀），但上帝的荣耀已经进入了那个帐篷，并将它变成了帳幕。
Something else happened to Paul: he was able to glory in his infirmities. This does not mean that he preferred pain to health, but rather that he knew how to turn his infirmities into assets. What made the difference? The grace of God and the glory of God. He “took pleasure” in these trials and problems, not because he was psychologically unbalanced and enjoyed pain, but because he was suffering for the sake of Jesus Christ. He was glorifying God by the way he accepted and handled the difficult experiences of life. 另一些事發生在保羅身上，他能够以自己的软弱为荣。这并不意味着他更喜欢痛苦而不是健康，而是他知道如何将他的软弱转化为资产。是什么能力造成的不同？ 上帝的恩典和祂的荣耀。他在这些试炼和问题中“乐在其中”，不是因为他心理失衡，并享受痛苦，而是因为他为耶稣基督而受苦。他通过接受和处理生活中的困难经历的方式，来荣耀上帝。
“It is a greater thing to pray for pain’s conversion than its removal,” wrote P. T. Forsyth, and this is true. Paul won the victory, not by substitution, but by transformation. He discovered the sufficiency of the grace of God. 福赛思(P. T. Forsyth) 写道，“祈祷痛苦的转化比消除痛苦更重要。”这是真的。保罗赢得了胜利，不是通过替代，而是通过转化。他发现上帝的恩典是足够用的。
From Paul’s experience, we may learn several practical lessons. 从保罗的经历，我们可以從中学到几个实际的教训。
1. The spiritual is far more important to the dedicated believer than the physical. This is not to suggest that we ignore the physical, because our bodies are the temples of the Spirit of God. But it does mean that we try not to make our bodies an end in themselves. They are God’s tools for accomplishing His work in this world. What God does in developing our Christian character is far more valuable than physical healing without character. 1. 对献身的信徒来说，屬靈远比物质重要。这并不是说我们忽视身体，因为我们的身体是上帝之灵的殿堂。但这确实意味着我们尽量不让自己的身体成为目的。它们是上帝在这个世界上完成祂的作為的工具。祂在培养我们基督徒品格方面所做的，远比没有品格的身体医治更有价值。
2. God knows how to balance burdens and blessings, suffering and glory. Life is something like a prescription: the individual ingredients might hurt us, but when properly blended, they help us. 2. 上帝知道如何平衡负担与祝福、苦难与荣耀。生活就像处方：單獨一樣的成分可能会伤害我们，但如果混合得当，它们会帮助我们。
3. Not all sickness is caused by sin. The argument of Job’s comforters was that Job had sinned, and that was why he was suffering. But their argument was wrong in Job’s case, as well as in Paul’s case. There are times when God permits Satan to afflict us so that God might accomplish a great purpose in our lives. 3. 并非所有的疾病都是由罪引起的。约伯的安慰者认为约伯犯了罪，这就是他受苦的原因。但他们的论点在约伯和保罗的情况下都是错误的。有时上帝允许撒旦折磨我们，以便上帝在我们的生活中完成祂伟大的目的。
4. There is something worse than sickness, and that is sin; and the worst sin of all is pride. The healthy person who is rebelling against God is in worse shape than the suffering person who is submitting to God and enjoying God’s grace. It is a paradox—and an evidence of the sovereignty of God—that God used Satan, the proudest of all beings, to help keep Paul humble. 4. 有比疾病更糟糕的东西，那就是罪；最严重的罪是骄傲。健康的背叛上帝的人，比受苦的顺服祂，享受祂恩典的人更糟糕。这是悖论 — 也是上帝主权的一个证据 — 上帝使用了众生中最骄傲的撒旦来帮助保罗保持谦卑。
5. Physical affliction need not be a barrier to effective Christian service. Today’s saints are too prone to pamper themselves and use every little ache or pain as an excuse to stay home from church or refuse to accept opportunities for service. Paul did not permit his thorn in the flesh to become a stumbling block. In fact, he let God turn that thorn into a stepping-stone. 5. 身体上的痛苦不必成为有效的基督徒服务的障碍。今天的圣徒太容易放纵自己，以每一个小小的疼痛为借口，不去教堂或拒绝接受服务的机会。保罗不允许他身上的刺成为绊脚石。事实上，他让上帝把那根荆棘变成了踏脚石。
6. We can always rest in God’s Word. He always has a message of encouragement for us in times of trial and suffering. 6. 我们可以永远安息在上帝的话语中。在考验和苦难的时候，祂总有信息给我们鼓励。
The great French mystic, Madame Guyon, once wrote to a suffering friend, “Ah, if you knew what power there is in an accepted sorrow!” 伟大的法国神秘主义者，盖恩夫人曾经写信给一位受苦的朋友，“啊，如果你知道在接受的悲伤中，會有多大能力！”
Paul knew about that power, because he trusted the will of God and depended on the grace of God. That same power can be yours today. 保罗知道那种能力，因为他相信上帝的旨意，依靠上帝的恩典。今天，同样的能力也可以属于你。
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