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
INTRODUCTION 引言：
《Genesis》 Chapter 12 Verses 4 to 9我们的经文是《创世记》十二章第4到第9节：So Abram went as the Lord has told him and Lot went with him.And Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran亚伯兰就照着耶和华的吩咐去了，罗得也和他同去。亚伯兰出哈兰的时候年75岁。And Abram took Sarah his wife and Lot his brother’s son，and all the possessions that they had gathered and the people that they had acquired（01：04）in Haran，and they set to out to go to the land of Canaan亚伯兰将他妻子撒莱和侄儿罗得，连他们在哈兰所积蓄的财物、所得的人口都带往迦南地去。
When they came to the land of Canaan，Abram pass through the land for the place of Shechem，to the Oak of Moreh.At that time，the Canaanites were in the land他们就到了迦南地。亚伯兰经过那地到了示剑地方——摩利橡树那里，那是迦南地，那时迦南人住在那地。Then The Lord appeared to Abram and said耶和华向亚伯兰显现，说：to your offspring I will give you this land我要把这地赐给你的后裔。So he built there an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him亚伯兰就在那里为向他显现的耶和华筑了一座坛。From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent，with Bethel on the West and Ai on the East. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord从那里他又迁到伯特利东边的山，支搭帐篷；西边是伯特利，东边是艾。他在那里又为耶和华筑了一座坛求告耶和华的名。And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb后来亚伯兰又渐渐迁往南地去。
信心的第一步First Steps of Faith Or as Jesus said to the church in Ephesus“your first love”或者耶稣基督对以弗所的教会所提到的“你起初的爱心”——In《Revelation》2:4 and 5在《启示录》第二章4和5节，Jesus rebuked the church of Ephesus this way耶稣是这样的责备以弗所的教会的：But I have this against you，that you have abandoned the love you had at first.Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first然而有一件事我要责备你，就是你把起初的爱心离弃了。所以应当回想，你是从哪里坠落的，并要悔改，行起初所行的事。First love起初的爱心：For most of us，especially those of us were first generation Christians，we could probably remember our first love of first steps of faith对我们基督徒来说,特别是第一代信主的基督徒，我们一般都能够记得我们起初的爱心——当我们踏出信心的第一步的时候，Sweet moments很甜蜜的一段的时间。
Or for the onlookers who looked at us they also felt very sweet as well不单是对我们来说是甜蜜的，对那些在旁边旁观的人也会感觉到很甜蜜的。We have a number of the examples of the first love of Jesus in the Bible我们在圣经里面有好多次读到一些向耶稣基督的起初的爱心 的个案：For example in《Acts》Chapter 8譬如说在《使徒行传》第八章，verses 31、38、39第31、38、39节：There we read about a eunuch from Ethiopia那里我们读到一个太监，是埃塞俄比亚的太监；He met up with Philip他遇上了腓力，and he said this in verse 31他在《使徒行传》第八章31节说：“How can I…that how can I understand what I am reading unless someone guides me?”他说：“没有人指教我，怎能明白呢？”——因为腓力问他：你所念的你明白吗Because Philip asked him ：“Do you understand what you’re reading?”He said：“How can I understand unless someone guides me?”他就说：“没有人教我，我怎么能够明白呢？”——a heart of hunger and thirsty 饥渴慕道的心。
Then we get to《Acts》 Chapter 10我们来到《使徒行传》第十章。And we read there how Peter having seen the vision,visited the household Cornelius the Gentile我们读到彼得看见了异象之后就去拜访了哥尼流这个外邦人。
《Acts》 Chapter 10 verse 33 we read about another hungry and thirsty heart在第十章33节我们读到另外一个饥渴慕道的人的心。Cornelius said this哥尼流这样说，他说：We are all here in the presence of God to hear all you have been command by the lord第33节哥尼流说：你来了很好，现今我们都在上帝面前，要听主所吩咐你的一切话——Which called our first love你岂不会称之为起初的爱心吗?First step of the faith信心的第一步吗？And of course in 《Acts》 Chapter 16 verse 31 and whole passage 当然到了《使徒行传》第十六章很有名的第31节，前面just before that, the jail keeper in Philippi asked Paul（and Silas）那个监狱的管理人（员）狱卒就问保罗跟西拉：Sirs，what must I do to be saved我要做什么才能得救呢？Hungry and thirsty heart饥渴慕道的心：《Acts》（Chapter）17 到了使徒行传》第十七章，（Chapter）17 verse 4在第四节开始，Now we have Paul in Thessalonica现在我们能看到保罗在帖撒罗尼迦。verse 4：Some of them that is some of the Jews were persuaded and join Pauls and Silas. As did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women第十七章第4节：他们中间就是这些犹太人呢，有些听了劝，就服从保罗和西拉，并有许多敬虔的西利尼人，尊贵的妇女也不少。
I.Review：God’s Call Came to Abraham——Gen12:1-3：回顾：神的呼召来到亚伯拉罕面前——创12:1-3
Now today we read about Abraham’s first今天我们读到的是亚伯拉罕的起步，他的起初的走的那几步。Let’s see how he began his journey of faith我们来看他怎么开始信心之旅。First let’s review首先我们来温习一下：God’s call came upon…came to Abraham in 《Genesis》12 verse1-3上帝的呼召临到亚伯兰…亚伯拉罕——《创世记》第十二章1-3节。This call involve God’s commands and God’s promises这呼召里面包含了上帝对亚伯拉罕的吩咐和应许。The commands includes leave everything and trust God for everything吩咐是离弃一切，在一切事情上信靠神。And God give Abraham many many promises然后上帝给亚伯拉罕诸般的应许。The point is重点是：these promises have global and missionary purpotion这些的应许是关乎全人类的，有着全球性宣教的意义。So God’s call came upon Abraham上帝的呼召临到亚伯拉罕了——It’s a first thing 这是第一点。
II.Overview：Genesis 12:-4-9纵览：创12：4-9：
Secondly第二，Now we come to the passage we read today现在我们来到我们今天读过的这段经文，let me just summarize it for you现在我做一个纵览、一个总结——Four words summary4个字的总结：Abram departed亚伯兰离开，Abram arrived亚伯兰到达——中文不止4个字啊。
1.亚伯拉罕起步离开Abraham departed：
First Abram departed首先亚伯兰起步离开了。Actually he left with his father in Chapter 11 Verse 31 其实在《创世记》第十一章第31节我们已经看到亚伯兰跟他的父亲他拉已经离开——They left Ur他们离开了吾珥。But his father Terah stopped in Harran and they were moving further 他拉到了哈兰的地方呢就停下来就不再前进。So now in 《Genesis》12 verse4-5现在我们来到第十二章4到5节的时候，Abram departed second time现在亚伯兰离开——他是第二次的离开，he left Harran他离开哈兰。As we look back we knew that Abram departed for Canaan现在我们从后代来回顾，我们知道亚伯兰离开是往迦南地去。But 《Hebrews》Chapter 11 verse 8 tells us 但是《希伯来书》第十一章第8节告诉我们呢，when he left he did not know where he was going当他离开的时候他不知道自己往哪里去。God only told him to the land I will show 上帝只说去这个我要指示你的地方。
God called Abram depart上帝呼召亚伯兰就 起步、就离开了。In the New Testament we read how Jesus Christ call his disciples我们看到在新约时期，耶稣基督的呼召是怎么临到要跟随他的门徒们的：《Luke 》9:23《路加福音》九章23节：Christ call came with three commands基督的呼召包含三方面的吩咐：（1）deny yourself舍己；(2)take your cross背起你自己的十字架；(3)and follow me——follow Jesus跟随我——跟随耶稣基督。《Luke》14：33《路加福音》十四章33节：renounce everything撇下一切，deny yourself and renounce everything舍己、撇下一切，and follow me跟随耶稣基督。In 《Luke》5：1-11在《路加福音》五章1-11节，Jesus performed a miracle of the fish耶稣做了一次打鱼的神迹。In the conclusion of verse到了第11节的结论是：The disciple gave up everything，he left everything and follow Jesus门徒就撇下一切所有的跟随耶稣。So Abraham departed亚伯拉罕离开了，he departed in obedience to God’s word亚伯兰顺服上帝所说的话就离开了。Now please notice that at this point，Abraham did not receive much by way of God’s Revelations or God’s words请注意现在在这个阶段呢亚伯兰从上帝所领受的不是那么多的话、那么多的启示；Very simple：command and promise很简单：一个吩咐、一些的应许。But he trusted God但是他信靠上帝。He knew it was God was speaking to him他知道这个是上帝向他讲话，and so he obeyed他就听从了。
Now today，we don’t have God speaking to us so directly like he spoke to Abraham今天上帝不是直接跟我们讲话，好像他向亚伯拉罕讲话一样。But we do have is the word of God written and also the word of God preached and taught 但是我们有上帝亲自写下来的话——这本圣经，和人传讲的、教导的话。The question is问题是，when you began your journey of faith当你走出信心第一步的时候，did you trust and obey你当时是不是信靠顺服的？——Trust and obey信靠顺服：Trust in God’s word信靠上帝的话，and trust in Jesus only唯独信靠耶稣基督。Was that how your journey of faith began你的信心的旅程是这样开始的吗？Now you don’t have to say yes你不一定要说：是的，是这样开始的，because many of us，our faith of knowledge、our commitment were all very fussy、very……not clear因为对我们很多人来说，我们信心的起步的时候，我们的信心、我们所认识的真理都是很含糊的、不清晰的。But we took our steps但是我们有起步就是了。Now let’s notice what happened next 现在我们来看下一步：
2.Abraham arrived亚伯拉罕到达了目的地：
Abraham arrived亚伯拉罕到达了，he arrived in Canaan他到了迦南地。Now again this is still during the first faith of his faith记得这个还是他信心的初期。
A.Nobody noticed him没有人注意到他：And certainly no one received him更重要是没有人接待他。That was his first faith of faith他信心的初步就是这样子：nobody noticed him没有人注意到他。You know when the son of God came on to the earth，nobody noticed him either上帝的儿子来到世界上的时候，人也没有注意他。They didn’t think he was very good looking假如他们注意到他的话，感觉他面貌不好——《Isaiah》53:1- 3《以赛亚书》53章第1节到第3节：Jesus was born in a manger耶稣在马槽出生。
Who noticed谁注意到?Who noticed the birth of this baby谁注意到一个婴孩出生呢：The under class of society did——shepherds社会最低层的人注意到——牧羊人，because angels told因为天使告诉他们。Who noticed谁注意到：Those Foreigner Astrologers——the wise men from the East一些外邦来的星象学家——东方的博士。Otherwise Bethlehem、Jerusalem no one noticed除了这些以外，伯利恒、耶路撒冷没有人注意到，and so nobody noticed Abram没有人注意到亚伯兰。
B.Nobody received him没有人接待他：
And nobody received him没有人接待他。The Canaanites were occupied land going about their business迦南人就在他们自己的地方做他们自己的事。Same with Jesus Christ同样的，耶稣基督也是如此：He came to his own，his own received him not他来到自己的地方，自己的人不接待他——《John》1:11《约翰福音》第一章第11节。Abraham was a stranger亚伯兰是个外人，and alien、immigrant and refugee——If you use 20th century words他是一个外人、陌生人、流浪者。The Bible says he lived in tents圣经说他住在帐篷里的。Now even though he lived in tents as a stranger、as a sojourner不过虽然他是外人、他是过路客，他住在帐篷里——《Hebrews》11:10-16《希伯来书》第十一章10到16节tells us that Abram was looking forward to a city that had foundations 亚伯兰期待有根有基的城市，he desired a better country他盼望将来一个更好、更美的家乡。First steps of faith，that faith of real hope是的，初步的信心，但是蛮有盼望的信心。
Same with Jesus Christ who for the glory to come，endured severely sentences of his birth and life，and suffering he had endured同样的，耶稣基督因为他看到将来要得到的荣耀，他就忍受他出生跟一生的羞辱跟痛苦的。Abram was a stranger，Abram was a sojourner亚伯兰是过路客，他是一个外人。我们也是过路客，我们也是外人（We are strangers，we are sojourners）。But we must trust and obey但是我们必须信靠顺服。
III. Abraham didn’t have much,but he had God.
God’s appearance/presence.God’s promise亚伯拉罕所拥有的不多；但是他有上帝，有上帝的显现（同在）和上帝的应许:
All right，First God’s call came，Second Abram obey，he left and he arrived好，首先，上帝的呼召临到；第二，亚伯兰顺服了：他离开了，他到达了；Thirdly第三方面，now Abraham didn’t have much on his hand亚伯兰…第三方面，他的手上所有的不多，Of course he had by the way of slaves and belongings当然，他有奴仆、有一些财物，but the land was not his但是迦南地不是属于他的，but he had God但是他有上帝！God appeared to him上帝向他显现——（《Gen》12:7a《创世记》第十二章）verse 7第7节：耶和华向亚伯兰显现。He had God’s presence他有上帝的临在，and he had God’s promise他有上帝的应许——God’s presence、God’s promise上帝的来到、上帝的应许。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]
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