亚伯拉罕信心之旅_03_走出信心的第一步
The First Step of Faith走出信心的第一步——
Abraham’s Journey of Faith Message of No.3
亚伯拉罕的信心之旅第三讲（《创世记》Genesis 12:4-9）
主讲：林慈信牧师_校对：刘加立弟兄
Abram lived in tents埃布尔兰住在帐篷里——
《Hebrews》11:9《希伯来书》十一章第9节。But God appeared and spoke但是上帝来显现，上帝说话——（《Genesis》 12:7）verse 7《创世记》第十二章第7节。Brothers and sisters弟兄姐妹，if there is no God’s word假如没有上帝的话，then there is no church就没有教会。We have this backwards from Rome Catholics我们跟天主教这方面的想法是倒过来的。We have God’s word，that’s what is church我们有神的话，所以有教会；therefore there is worship因此有敬拜；therefore there is faith and response to God’s word所以有信心，信心是回应上帝的话。
- Abraham built altars亚伯拉罕筑祭，献祭：Back
to verse 7回到第7节：Abraham built altars亚伯兰建筑祭坛献祭。Now we must know something here about altars我们来看看祭坛这件事：later on in the Old Testament后来到了(《旧约》)《撒母耳记下》的时候，God said this to David上帝对大卫这样说，David wants to build a temple for God大卫要为上帝建造圣殿——II《Samuel》7:6-7:《撒母耳记下》第七章第6-7节。You see，God always goes with his people 神是永远不断地与他的子民同在的、同行的。
In《Acts》Chapter 17 Paul tells us在《使徒行传》十七章保罗告诉我们：Since God is always with us上帝既然永远与我们同在，always with his people永远与他的子民同在；God does not need an altar 神是不需要祭坛的，God doesn’t need tabernacle神是不需要会幕的，God does not need temple神是不需要圣殿的。God does not need David to built temple for him上帝不需要大卫为他建圣殿。
Quite opposite很幽默的是刚好是反过来的：II《Samuel》7:11《撒母耳记下》七章11节：God said I will build your house上帝说我为你建造你的家。You want to build a house for me你要为我建我的家吗？I always went with you from ancestors in the wilderness我一直跟你的祖宗以色列在旷野中同行的。And I don’t complain上帝说：我从来没有抱怨。
So God doesn’t need a place for us to worship所有上帝不需要一个我们敬拜他的地方。But God is pleased，it is God’s will that he set his name and a certain place where it symbolise as presents但上帝的美意是：他愿意设立他的名字在某些的地方，好叫我们知道这个是表征着他的同在。And so Abram responded to God’s appearance and God’s words，he built the altars所以亚伯兰回应上帝的显现、上帝的应许来建筑祭坛。
- Abraham called upon the name of the Lord亚伯拉罕呼求上帝的名: And he suddendly called upon the name of the Lord圣经在这里说：他呼求耶和华的名——《Genesis 》4:26《创世记》第四章26节tells us calling upon the name of the Lord is what’s the sinners do呼求上帝的名是罪人做的事。Calling upon the name of the Lord is for sinners must do呼求耶和华的名是罪人必须要做的事——《Romans》10:13 《罗马书》第十章13节。 Calling upon the name of the Lord is what believers do呼求上帝的名是信徒们做的事。Calling upon the name of the Lord is what believers must do呼求上帝的名是信徒必须要做的，so they might be saved好叫他们得救。So calling upon the name of the Lord is an expression of faith所以呼求耶和华的名是信心的表现。Where there is faith 有信心，there is worship就有敬拜。God gives faith上帝赐下信心，so men believe，men worship God上帝赐下信心，人发出信心，人敬拜。凡求告耶和华名的就必得救All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
By the way顺便一提，you know we always end up our prays by saying we pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ我们祷告结束的都说我们是奉我们的主耶稣基督的名而求的。What does it mean to pray in the name of our Lord我们奉我们主的名而呼求是什么意思呢？It means that our prayers go up with our faith、our trust 意思是说我们的祷告是带着我们的信心上升的。We trust in Jesus and his work我们信靠耶稣基督、信靠他的救赎大功。So God gives us the promises and gives us salvation full and free上帝把白白的救恩、丰富的救恩赐给我们。We pray in the name of our Lord我们奉我们的主呼求神，we respond in faith（我们以信心回应）。Abraham didn’t have much and he had God亚伯拉罕所有的不多，他有上帝；and that’s enough有上帝就够了。God’s presents、God’s promise上帝的同在、上帝的应许。
IV．Shechem, Bethel, Negev/Hebron:God continues to be present with his people; God continues to renew his promises士剑、伯特利、希伯仑：上帝不断与祂的子民同在；更新祂的应许：
Fourthly第四方面：We read about the places where Abram built the altars我们读到亚伯兰建筑祭坛的地方，where he called upon the name of Lord或者他呼求耶和华的名的地方，or where he went或者他去过的地方：Shechem示剑、Bethel伯特利 and Negev in the south南地，including Hebron南地是包括希伯伦的。It’s interesting to study these Biblical places研究这些圣经的地理是很有趣的。And these three places tell us something这三个地方告诉我们一件事：You see，as God’s progress in his plan of salvation上帝的救赎继续前进的时候，as God’s plan of revelation progress 当上帝启示的计划前进的时候；God continues to be present with his people上帝继续的与他的子民同在；and God continues to renew、to repeat to enrich his promises 上帝继续的更新他的应许、重复他的应许、赐下更丰富的应许。And so for those of us，who are children of Abraham、the later generations那么对我们来说，我们是亚伯拉罕的子孙、我们是后来的世代。
What does this faith mean for us，later generations所以我们这些后代来说，信心的意义是什么呢，Faith is claiming God’s promises信心就是领受抓住神的应许，or you might say faith is read claiming God’s promises或者我们可以说信心是重新的领受、重新地抓住神的应许。For Abraham’s son Isaac对亚伯拉罕的儿子以撒来说，digging up the wells that his father duck把他的父亲亚伯兰所挖的井再重新再挖开，because the Philistines filled them up因为非利士人把它们塞住了。Digging up the wells was Isaac’s way of faith，of claiming God’s promises把他父亲的井再挖一次是以撒表示他的信心的方法。Very interestingly we read the Bible that Jacob——Abraham’s grandson visited these three places很有趣的是，亚伯拉罕的孙子雅各也到过这些地方的。
1.Jacob visited these places雅各去过的地方：
A.Shechem示剑：《Gen》33:18-20《创世记》三十三（章）18-20（节）：There Jacob lived with his children在那里，雅各跟他的儿子们就住在那个地方。And there is the prince of the land defiled Dinah——Jacob’s daughter在那里，示剑的统治者的儿子玷污了、侮辱了底拿——雅各的女儿。And so Jacob’s sons deceived the people of Shechem,had them circumcised and killed them all 那么雅各的儿子欺骗示剑的人，叫他们行割礼，然后把他们全族人杀掉。So later on Shechem became a place of a great thing示剑后来是亚伯拉罕的孙子或者曾孙子犯大罪的地方。You might say Jacob’s children needed to build an altar further more你可以说亚伯兰的曾孙更加需要筑坛；They needed God’s mercy他们需要上帝的怜悯。
B.Bethel伯特利: And so when we read on to《Gen》35当我们读到《创世记》三十五节（章）的时候，Jacob came to Bethel雅各他们来到伯特利，the place where God appeared to him much much earlier in his life 这是上帝在更早的时候向雅各显现的地方：The Gate of Heaven，the house of God天之门，神的殿——《Genesis》35:1、3、6 &15《创世记》三十五章第1节、第3节、第6节、第15节；especially verse 5特别是第5节：There was a great terror among the people there他们周围的居民大大的恐惧。Yes，God promised Abram that he will make Abraham’s name great是的，上帝应许过给亚伯兰，要使他的名为大。But here we read that Jacob’s name was great because of the terror at him that he had caused among the habitants这里我们读到的是，雅各跟他一家名为大——没有错，但是是因为周围的人怕他。
Well，God was mercyful但是上帝怜悯，怜悯他。God spoke there to Jacob just as he spoke to Jacob much earlier in his life在伯特利，上帝再次向雅各讲话；就好像在早期当雅各逃离他的家的时候向他讲话一样。So these places as symbols of God’s presence所以这些地方就是上帝同在的象征，can be places of our sin可能是我们犯罪的地方，can be places where we reached the consequences of sin这些地方可能是神的子民受到犯罪的报应的后果的地方。God continues to be the God of grace神是继续施恩典的神，God is the God who continues to be present and to speak to his people上帝是一个继续与他的子民同在、继续向他子民讲话的上帝。
C.Negev南地: 《Gen》35:16-21我们来到《创世记》三十五章16到21节：[i] South to Ephrath向南走：Jacob continues to go south for the Negev雅各继续往南走——向南地走，and then we read Benjamin——boy Number 12 was born我们读到便雅悯——第12个儿子出生了，but mother Rachel——Jacob’s beloved wife died但是，妈妈——就是雅各最爱的妻子拉结在这里去世了。Joy，sorrow喜乐，悲哀；birth and death生和死。Where is God present with his people神在哪里与他的子民同在，where does God renew his promises with his people上帝在什么地方更新他的应许，where we are就是我们所在的地方：places of our birth、sin、death在我们出生的地方、在我们犯罪的地方、在我们死亡的地方。[ii] South–journeyed on继续向南走：《Gen》35:27《创世记》三十五章27节：Jacob continued to move south for Hebron雅各继续往南地走，到了希伯伦。And there Isaac died在那里，以撒去世了。And so Jacob and his old brother Esau buried him所以雅各跟他的哥哥以扫埋葬了以撒。All life will end人生总有去世的那一日的——生老病死：birth、aging、sickness and death；犯罪和犯罪带来的报应sin and sin’s consequences。In all these circumstances在这 这一切的处境、一切的场合，God is there上帝在——Emmanuel：God with us以马内利：上帝与我们同在！And so the history of Jacob confirms Abraham’s history所以雅各后来的一生是证实亚伯拉罕的一生的。As first step of faith亚伯拉罕踏出信心的第一步：he built some altars他建筑一些的祭坛。And（38：57）he know that God will meet his faithful，mercyful to him但上帝会对他施慈爱、施信实，to his grandsons、to his great grandsons对他的孙子、对他这么多的曾孙子信实，施慈爱；must straight on in the time of Joshua一直到约书亚的时期。
2.Joshua conquered and claimed/divided these places乔舒亚征服这些地，分地:We read about Shechem and Bethel，and Negev again到了约书亚的时期，我们又读到示剑、伯特利和南地。And when the people Israelis conquered the land and Joshua divided the land to the tribes当以色列人征服了迦南地，约书亚分地给所有支派的时候，very very interesting非常有意思的：《Joshua》17:1-2《约书亚记》第十七章1-2（节）：
A.Shechem went to Manasseh士剑给了玛拿西；B.Bethel to Ephram伯特利给了以法莲。In other words Shechem and Bethel were given to Joseph——Jacob’s favourite son换言之，示剑、伯特利给了约瑟的后代——雅各最爱的儿子。
C.Negev conquered南地征服: What about Negev南地呢？What about Hebron希伯伦呢？Also given to a choice man也是给一个特别的人，not necessarily Jacob’s beloved不一定是雅各最爱的，or Joshua’s。But it was Joshua how choice man但是约书亚最看重的，a man of faith Caleb一个信心的伟人迦勒——in《Joshua》10:36&40《约书亚记》第十章第36节跟40节；and then(《Joshua》) chapter 11 verse 16 and chapter 14 verse 6 (《约书亚记》)十一章第16节跟十四章第6节。We read that the south and Negev were all conquered along with all of Canaan全迦南地包括南地都被征服了。And now the man of faith现在这个信心的伟人Caleb went with Joshua as a spy迦勒，就是和约书亚一同做探子的，he requested Hebron他要求要拿希伯伦。
- Caleb requested Hebron迦勒要求要希伯伦：Joshua granted his request约书亚答应了他，and then Chapter 14(《Joshua》)到了（《约书亚记》）十四章，verse13-15第13-15节：Caleb gave Hebron the city to his daughters把希伯伦这个城的地方给了他的女儿们。
So Abraham arrived Canaan亚伯兰到达了迦南地，nobody noticed、nobody received him没有人注意到他、没有人接待他。
Jesus came，nobody noticed耶稣来了，没有人注意到。But Jesus finished his work耶稣成就了他的大工，just as God continued to finish his purpose at Shechem、at Bethel and Hebron and Negev就等于上帝会继续做工——在示剑做工、在伯特利做工、在南地、在希伯伦做工，直到他完成了他的旨意。Just as Jesus came正如耶稣来，Jesus gave promises 耶稣也给我们——他的门徒他的应许：he gave promises on earth他在地上给诸般的应许；he gave a promise as he was leaving the earth to the heaven他在离开地上升天的时候，他应许：I will be with you until the end of the world我必与你们同在，直到这个世界的末了。And today Jesus is in heave现在耶稣在天上，in glory在荣耀中；he continues to be present with us through the Holy Spirit and his word今天他仍然与他的子民同在，透过他的话、透过圣灵。And his promises stay with us他的应许继续与我们同在。
What does it mean to be later day of the believers我们作为后代的、末代的信徒，信心是什么呢？It is to re-claim God’s promises再次领受神的应许，and to again obey God’s claim on the last再一次的顺服上帝在我们身上的主权；like Isaac and Jacob好像以撒、雅各，like Joshua and Caleb又好像约书亚和迦勒。
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V.结论/应用Conclusion/Application：
Now so we conclusion我们做个结论：when we take the first steps of faith当我们起步走出信心的第一步的时候，we don’t see very far我们看不到很远的。We wouldn’t know what will happen to Shechem、Bethel、Hebron……我们不知道我们的示剑、我们的伯特利、我们的希伯伦将来会怎么样？Well，for many of us， we have walked in a distance since that day of our first love但是对我们很多的信徒来说，我们在这个信心的第一步之后也走了蛮长的一段路了。
When we are back our first love 但是起初的爱心去哪里了呢？As in Cornelius, as in Ethiopian eunuch, as in a Philippian jailer,就好像哥尼流、就好像非洲的太监、（就好像）腓利比的狱卒，那个饥渴慕道的心hungry and thirsty for God’s word。Where are our first love today我们起初的爱心在什么地方呢？Jesus told the Ephesus church in 《Revelation》 Chapter 2（4-5）耶稣对以弗所的教会，在《启示录》第二章第4-5节说：repent，go back回去起初的那个爱心，你们要悔改。Redo that work重新再做你当时所做的，namely trust and obey信靠顺服。
Now what do we read…you know next message in the next passage我们下一讲下段经文，by the way，Abram gonna fall，Abram gonna fail马上我们就读到亚伯兰会跌倒、亚伯兰会失败的；but he made a very start 但他起步起得好。And he arose from where he fell他在哪里跌倒，他再次起来的。Faith，a journey of faith is not a straight path信心，信心之旅不是一条直直的道路，a tortuous road是很曲折的道路。Jesus want us go back to pick up the pure simple heart again耶稣要我们回来，回去再捡起那个单纯的、起初的赤子之心。God never never leave these people上帝永远永远不离弃他的子民，he’s always with us，his promises are always with us他永远与我们同在，他的应许也是永远在我们中间的。
Let us respond with faith and love让我们用信心、爱心来回应，and with obedience用顺服来实行出来。Let’s pray我们祷告：Father we grateful for your presents、for your promises上帝，因为你与我们同在，因为你的应许，我们献上感谢：Thank you Lord for these testimonies from Old Testament and New Testament believers谢谢你给给我们看到圣经里，旧约的信徒、新约信徒他们的榜样。Not perfectly examples不是十全十美的榜样，but examples for us to learn from但是要作为我们警戒的榜样。Holy Spirit gives us the faith that would keep on圣灵，求赐给我们一个继续前进的信心。We’ll re-fall、picks us up当我们跌倒的时候，圣灵求你接我们起来。When we are cold，The Holy Spirit我们呼求圣灵的时候，stirs us up for our first love for Jesus 当我们冷淡的时候，圣灵求你挑旺我们起初对耶稣基督的爱心。You can do that你能做，you want to do that也是你的旨意，So have mercy on us求主你继续地怜悯我们。We pray in Jesus’s name奉耶稣基督圣名求，阿们！
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