The First Step of Faith走出信心的第一步
Abraham’s Journey of Faith Message of No.4
亚伯拉罕的信心之旅第四讲 信心的失败与上帝的主权
《创世记》Genesis 12:10-20
主讲：林慈信牧师_校对：刘加立弟兄
引言Introduction：
亚伯拉罕信心之旅第四次的信息Sermon No.4 The Faith Journey of Abraham：信心的失败与上帝的主权The failure of faith and the Sovereignty of God。我们先读经文We read the Scriptures first：《创世记》第十二章第10节到第20节《Genesis》12:10 to 20：那地遭遇饥荒。因饥荒甚大，亚伯兰就下埃及去，要在那里暂居。将近埃及，就对他妻子撒莱说：“我知道你是容貌俊美的妇人，埃及人看见你必说：‘这是他的妻子。’他们就会杀我 ，却叫你存活。求你说你是我的妹子，使我因你的平安，我的命也因你存活。及至亚伯兰到了埃及，埃及人看见那妇人极其美貌。法老的臣宰看见了她，就在法老面前夸奖她。那妇人就被带进法老的宫去。法老因着妇人就厚待亚伯兰，亚伯兰得了许多牛、羊、骆驼、公驴、母驴、仆婢。耶和华因亚伯兰妻子撒莱的缘故，降大灾于法老和他的全家。法老就召了亚伯兰来说：你这向我做的是做的什么事呢？为什么没有告诉我她是你的妻子？为什么说她是你的妹子，以致我把她娶来要做我的妻子？现在你的妻子在这里，可以带走她。于是法老吩咐人将亚伯兰和他妻子并他所有的都送走了。《Genesis》12:10 to 20：Now there was a famine in the land.So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there，for the famine was severe in the land.When he was about to enter Egypt，he said to Sarai his wife，“I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance，and when the Egyptians see you，they will say‘This is his wife.’Then they will kill me，but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.”When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh.And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai,Abram’s wife.So Pharaoh called Abram and said“What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?Why did you say‘She is my sister,’so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her and go.”And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.
我们走信心的道路的时候，很多时候我们会看环境而失望When we walk this journey of faith，and we look our circumstances,very often our circumstances dsisappointed us.其实上帝是在试炼我们的Actually God is putting us to trials:
[1]这是我们没有期待的First we don’t expect these trials. [2]我们也没有查验上帝在哪些事情上考验我们Secondly we do not discern what tests God is putting us do.
[3]我们可能甚至乎不接受这些是考验Thirdly we might not even accept these as trials.
但是上帝往往在困难的时候试炼他的儿女们的信心和顺服的But so often God tests the faith and the obedience of his children during hard times.
试炼的功课Issues of testing：
[1]罗Romans 5:2-3：保罗在罗马书第五章第3节说：他在患难中也是欢欢喜喜的Paul says in 《Romans》5:3：He rejoices in the tribulations,因为知道患难生忍耐，忍耐生老练because suffering is produces patience，and patience produces approvedness or (05:33).上帝要我们经过这些考验God wants us go through these trials，好像亚伯拉罕这样子的情况like the situation with Abram and there was not enough food没有饭吃了。
[2]哈Habakkuk 3:17、18：旧约里面的饥荒不是只有一次的And in《Old Testament》 famines come very very often——《哈巴谷书》第三章第17-18节《Habakkuk》3:17-18：哈巴谷说：无花果树终不发芽，葡萄树不结果，橄榄树无所出，田里无收成，圈内的羊被剪除，棚里也没有牛。我却要因耶和华欢喜，以救我的上帝为乐。《Habakkuk》3:17-18：Habakkuk says：Though the fig tree should not blossom,nor fruit be on the vines,the produce of the olive fail，and the fields yield no food,the flock be cut off from the fold，and there be no herd in the stalls。yet I will rejoice in the Lord;I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
圣经告诉我们——不论是《新约》或《旧约》，人活着不仅仅是靠食物的Both the Old and the New testament of Bible teach us that man does not live by bread alone.上帝会考验我们God will test us and through it all、 through the whole process of testing，God is at work.而在整个的考验过程中，上帝在做工。
We very often miss this discernment我们往往错过这种的察验——we don’t see我们看不到：
[1]Also we often miss the blessing that God intense to give us因此我们就错过了上帝要给我们的福分。
[2]What we get instead我们换回来的is God’s chastisement是上帝的责备、管教and then more remedial training然后在下个阶段要补课——重新学习就是了。
温习Review：上帝用祂主权的恩典呼召亚伯拉罕God called Abraham by sovereign grace：
Let us review Abram’s faith journey of this present point让我们来温习一下了亚伯兰到目前为止的信心的旅程：God called Abram by his sovereign grace上帝用他的主权的恩典呼召亚伯兰。The purpose is that Abram might be justified by faith and be sanctified目的就是亚伯兰要因信称义和成圣。
God’s call on Abram involved promise on one had and command on the other上帝对亚伯兰的呼召一方面包含了应许，另外一方面包含了命令。
And what God provides上帝要预备提供给亚伯兰的is his presence；and his renewed promises而上帝不断地更新他的应许的。Plus just enough guidance through his word然后透过他的讲话给亚伯兰刚刚好足够的引导。
And Abraham made a good start亚伯兰起步的时候走的很好，he departed and he arrived他离开了，他到达了——he departed from Haran离开了哈兰，arrived in Canaan到达了迦南地。He built altars in three places他在三个地方筑坛，and he called on the name of Lord他也呼求耶和华的名字。Good start很好的起步！
Now God puts Abram to the test现在上帝要考验亚伯兰。Circumstances are gonna change环境正在改变的。I. All right，so today for the first point，let us see what was the test所以今天我们来考虑第一件事情：上帝究竟在考验亚伯兰什么事？
- On the surface is famine从表面来看是饥荒：it’s food
食物or security或者安全感。Now today in secular psychology we all know about pyramid of man and woman’s needs according to Abraham Maslow（美国社会心理学家，提出五大需求层次论）今天的世俗的心理学都告诉我们：人类的需要好像一个金字塔这样子：on the bottom are physical needs在下面是物质上的需要；and there are social needs including accepted by other people再上一层是比较…人际关系的需要，特别是我在别人面前的形象等等……。Well，Abraham’s sense of security is put to test现在上帝是用食物来考验亚伯兰的安全感。
- We dig a little deeper我们再挖深一点点：What was
未经同意，请勿擅自在其它网站或平台转载和刊登课程的逐字稿；课程的逐字稿的版权归「中华展望」，禁止复印出版等商业用途。ccnci.org中华展望圣约学院[email protected]
God’s testing Abraham?上帝在考验亚伯兰什么事情呢？His faith他的信心and his obedience和他的顺服——faith and obedience信心和顺服。And so very often we don’t feel secure，it is really an issue of faith or lack of faith所以当我们很多时候没有安全感的时候，事实上我们是没有足够的信心。Now let’s break this down a little more现在我们再来看细一点：faith and obedience信心和顺服 is a test是的，上帝要考验的是人的信心和顺服。I see three dimensions of testing我看到三个层面的的考验：a)Faith and obedience of the mind人的思想上的顺服…信心顺服的考验：b)Then this faith and obedience of heart including motives然后有心中的…包括动机方面的信心和顺服的考验。c)Then thirdly is the consequence faith in obedience and choices we made is put to the test所以第三结果就是上帝考验我们在选择上、在行动上的信心跟顺服。
- Faith and obedience of the mind人的思想上的顺服…
信心顺服的考验：First Faith and obedience of the mind首先我们来看思想上的信心跟顺服：Going to Egypt去埃及，well，that will be a natural choice这个选择是最自然不过的。Egypt is the land of River Nile埃及是尼罗河的那个地区。Famous for its fertile lands because of the river flooding every year因为尼罗河泛滥——每年都泛滥，所以他们的土地非常的肥沃。Natural choice by natural logic很自然的一个选择，根据很自然的逻辑。Very much like… why people migrate to The United States and other western countries in the last hundreds years非常像…为什么人们在过去100年移民移居到美国或者其他西方的国家。It’s the most natural choice是最自然的选择的：Opportunities有机会，jobs in other words food有工作，换言之有面包、有食物，futures for our children我们的儿女们有前途。So it’s a natural choice这个是很自然的选择——who doesn’t want the best futures for their children谁不愿意为他们的孩子们预备他们的前途呢？So we often take things into our own hands所以很多时候我们就把事情拿过来自己来做主张了。And Abraham was gonna to do this kind of things second time in chapter 16亚伯兰在《创世记》第十六章第二次做这种事情。Natural logic自然的逻辑：take matters into his own hands自己来做主、来主张。Now immigration itself is not necessarily wrong移民本身不一定是一个错误的选择，immigration itself may not be a sin移民本身不一定是犯罪。But if you look further from the natural logic to Abram’s heart，you will review his sin of the idolatry但是从这个自然的逻辑，你再转看亚伯兰的心——他的内心、他的动机的话，你就看到他心里面的罪和偶像。
- So the second dimension is God tests the faith in
obedience of our hearts所以第二个层次是上帝考验我们的心里面的、动机层次的信心跟顺服的：Abraham fear, and worry,and doubt in his heart亚伯兰心里面的是恐惧、忧虑、怀疑。In other words unbelieve换言之，他不信上帝。And he was a cowardice胆子又小。And so our fears make us do all kinds of strange things我们的恐惧、心中的惧怕会让我们做一些非常奇怪的事情，because we make security our idol、our God、the most important thing in our life因为我们把安全感当作是我们的偶像、我们的上帝、我们最重要的事情。
- This idol worship in our hearts心里面的偶像will
show up in the words and actions就在我们的话语跟行动上表现出来了,so now we see the third dimension of the test现在我们来看第三个层次的考验：Faith and obedience in the choices we made我们做出选择、做出决定的时候，我们的信心跟顺服也是受到考验的。Abram lied亚伯兰撒谎，or rather he lied through his wife lying或者说他透过他太太的撒谎而撒谎。Abram sinned at the level of the mind and heart亚伯兰在思想跟心里面的层次犯罪了，therefore he sinned at the words in the choices level因此，他在选择决定讲话方面犯罪，and the sin that he sinned at the heart level is unbelief而他在心里面所犯的罪就是不信！That was the test上帝是做这方面的考验，Faith and obedience in the mind and the heart 、and our choices上帝在我们的思想、我们的动机和我们的行动上考验我们。
II.罪的意义与后果THE SIGNIFICANCES AND CONSEQUENCES OF SIN：
Now let’s see the significace and the consequences of sin下面我们来看第二段：亚伯兰犯罪，罪的意义和后果：《I Corinthians》10 tells us《哥林多前书》第十章告诉我们——in verse 6, 11, 13第十章的第6节、第11节、第13节：All these 《Old Testament》 stories are written down for our teaching and warning这些旧约的事情写下来是要教导我们要作为警告的。
Now let’s see the significance of Abram thing我们来看亚伯兰犯罪的结果：
1.He put his wife at risk首先他把他的太太置于一个危险的位置：
[A]Risk of lying撒谎的危险
[B]Risk of losing her chastity第二失去她对她丈夫的忠贞的危险：So he was willing to put his wife at risk to keep his security他愿意他太太处于危险来保存自己的安全。
2.He put Pharaoh at risk terra他把法老王放在一个危险的位置：
[A]Of sinning the other sin of adultery有可能犯奸淫的危险；
[B]And then of course diseases falling on his household然后上帝把这个病、这个大灾降在法老的全家：So he put Pharaoh at risk所以他把法老放在危险的位置。
And I read this by putting some passages together这个我在读经的时候把它放在一起的。In other words I read 《Genesis》12 and13 together换言之，我看《创世记》十二章跟十三章一起来看的：
3.Abram made a bad choice亚伯兰做了一个非常糟糕的选择，and therefore he set a bad example for Lot his nephew所以他在罗德他的侄子的面前作了一个非常糟糕的榜样：
Eventually he put Lot’s growing——his maturity at risk所以结果就是罗得的整个的成熟成长——属灵的成长，置于一个危险的地步。And his lack of maturity almost cost his life，certainly cost his wife life而罗得的不成熟最后差不多要用性命赔上，至少用他的太太的性命赔上。
4.Abram put his own name、his reputation at risk他把自己的名誉放在名誉扫地的地位
5.He put God’s plan at risk at least on the surface，not in reality，but he made a mess of God’s plan第五表面上他弄糟了、炸掉上帝的计划——至少表面上弄糟了；of course God’s plan is never destroyed当然上帝的计划没有改变：
So what happen is therefore No.5所以事实上第五点就是：Abram put his blessings that God promised him at risk所以亚伯兰把他在这个约里面上帝应许给他的福分，置于危险、会失掉这些福分的位置：promised land应许之地吗：he was far away他是远远在外地；wife：almost lost her——there was Pharaoh’s harem他的太太差不多失去了——进到法老的后宫；descendants后代、后裔呢、what descendants that god promised would inherit the land后代在哪里：上帝应许他有后代来承受应许之地的。So he put his blessings at risk所以他把他的福分放在危险的地位。
提示：逐字稿文字只限于个人和教会私下学习交流，目的是造就教会和教会负责带领、讲道的同工们；未经同意，请勿擅自在其它网站或平台转载和刊登课程的逐字稿；课程的逐字稿和图片的版权归「中华展望」，禁止复印出版等商业用途。当文字和录音不符时，以录音为准。愿上帝赐福文字编辑和校对的肢体来雅正！若是有修改的地方、奉献支持或是其他任何问题请使用以下邮件方式联系我们。网络圣约ccnci.org中华展望圣约学院[email protected]（PayPal）