Living in Christ’s Church Session 12
《教会论与教会生活》第12讲
Chapter 4，第四章，Christ assembly 教会是基督的会众。
主讲：林慈信牧师_校对：刘加立、爱的天空&ZJY(CGY)_文字：傅昱川
引言Introduction：
Has the church had it? 教会有效性已经过时了、没用了是吗？Many people think so，很多人是如此想的。The church they picture is that gloomy stone fortress, two blocks from the office，他们心目中的教会，就是那座黑沉沉的堡垒式的建筑物，从他们的工作单位只是两条街而已， with the doors shut against the life of a city，门是紧紧关住的，与城市的生活脱离了毫无关系。Only the pigeons take interest in this granny’s bells，只有鸽子对教会的钟楼（肮脏的钟楼）有兴趣。Who needs it？谁需要教会呢？A tramp or two might sleep for one hour in the prayer chapel，无家可归的流氓，可能一个两个，会花一两个小时睡在教会的圣堂里。But everyone else hurries by，所有其他人呢，都走过就赶紧的离开了。
No, you say， 你说不是啦，That’s just the old downtown building，这个只不过是教会在市中心的那座建筑物而已，the congregation sold it five years ago，会众已经五年前卖掉了，moved out to the suburbs， 已经搬到郊外去了，you could see their new church，你要看他们的新的教堂了。The air conditions sanctuary is 800，有冷气的圣堂有八百个座位，and there is an educational wing ward 20 classrooms，教育楼有二十个课室，all wired for audio video equipment and computers，每一课室都有试听教材，都是连线的。On Sunday morning it is full，星期天是坐满的。and a nursery school meets there five days a week，幼儿园一个礼拜，五天在那里上课。
But the critics aren’t satisfied，但是，批评教会的人士并不满意。why has the church left the city they want to know，他们要知道为什么教会逃离城市呢？Do two or three hours the full use on Sunday morning justified the luxurious new plant? 一个星期只是用上两三个小时，在主日早上坐得满满的，就是有足够的理由建这座豪华的、新的设备吗？What does the church really mean to the fashionable suburbanites would now have it to themselves? 现在教会这座楼，对那些赶上时髦的郊外的人士，他们可以完全自己拥有了，对他们来说，教会真正的意义是什么呢？So long as the church is something you go，教会一天是你去的一个地方，the critics will never be answered，那一天批评教会的人，不会得到满意答案的。
We so often think of the church as a building，我们常常就以为教会就是一座建筑物，that we find it hard to realize that，因此我们很难的去体会到，the word is never used in that sense in the New Testament，那个是从来在新约圣经不是这样用法的。But if the church is not the building， 但是，教会假如不是一座建筑物，what is it? A kind of religious club? 那她又是什么呢？一种宗教性的俱乐部吗？with the organization the law in a society? 俱乐部在社会上到处都能找得到啊，labor unions（工会）, political parties（政党）, gardening club（园艺社）, health club（健身房）, country club（高尔夫球场）。Is the church just a voluntary organization of people who share certain religious convictions? 教会是不是只不过是：一个一般共享同样的宗教信念的人的一个的自愿团体而已呢？
本章的第一段，Section 1 Christ, the Lord of the Churchly，基督——教会之主。
If we try to define the church is one of the many organizations we formed, we will understand it，假如我们把教会的定义说是：人可以组织起来的众多的组织之一的话，我们必定会误解教会。The church is not our church，教会不是我们的教会；our nation’s church，我们国家的教会；our pastor’s church，我们牧师的教会；or our father’s church，或者我们祖先、我们父亲的教会。
It is Christ’s church，教会是基督的教会。Christ is the bridegroom, the church is his bride，基督是新郎，教会是祂的新妇；Christ is the head, the church is His body，基督是头，教会是祂的身体; Christ is the King, the church is His Kingdom，基督是君王，教会是祂的国度； Christ is the Shepherd, the church is His flock，基督是牧羊人，教会是祂的羊群。
Apart from Christ, the church makes no sense，若没有基督，教会毫无意义。We can’t start with a building or roll of members，我们不能从一座建筑物，或一个会友的名单开始。We have to start with Christ，我们必须以基督开始。Without the Shepherd the sheep are scattered，没有牧人，羊必分散。It the call of this Shepherd, that’s seeking of that Shepherd, to gather the sheep to a flock (John 10:)，就是因为牧羊人的呼召，牧羊人的寻求，使羊群聚集起来，成为一群羊。
When Jesus said I will build my church (Matthew 16:18)，当耶稣说：“我要建造我的教会”（马太福音16:18节），When Jesus said I will build my church (Matthew 16:18), thought He was speaking of men and women, boys and girls，祂在讲的是人——男女老幼，to be set upon the foundation of the apostles，这些男女老幼是要建立在祂的使徒们的根基上。Christ builds in living stone’s，基督是用活石来建造的。The church is not only His possession，教会不单单是祂所拥有的，it is His creation，教会是祂创造的。
Many organizations better stamp of the founders or the first leaders，很多的组织都有他们的创办人，或者他们第一批的领袖们的印记。IBM for all of these guys to reflective the personality of Thomas Watson。比如说，IBM都反映出它的创办人华生的性格；Abraham Lincoln left his mark on our nation not just on a pennies. 林肯总统不单单是在美国一分钱的铜币留了他的印记，他的印记是留在整个美国国家上的。In the totalitarian politics，在集权的政治，the leader becomes an idol or the masters，政治领袖就成为群众的偶像，Stalin（斯大林）,Hitler（希特勒） , Mao （毛**泽**东），built cults of leader worship to serve their thirst for power，他们建造了偶像敬拜的一个制度，敬拜领袖来满足他们的权力欲。
Yet there is no party, nation, movement that is centered on a man in the way the church’s centered on Christ。但是，没有一个政党、没有一个国家、没有一个运动集中在一个人的身上，好像教会集中在基督身上那样。Human tyrants may build a personality cult，人类的暴君可以制造一个偶像敬拜的一种的所谓宗教，but they remain mere man，但他们仍然是凡人而已。Their power is drawn from the people they deceive，他们的权力是来自他们所欺骗的人们那里来的。
The dictator may be contemptible as a person，暴君、独裁者这个人可能是非常让人厌弃、藐视的。Think of a screening rages of Hitler，想一想希特勒的那种的喊叫，but his mystique is drawn from his role as a symbol，但是，他那种神秘感是来自他身为象征人物的那个角色。
But Christ is not a symbol，但是基督不是象征，He is the reality，基督是实在，reality，祂是真实。He’s not a great man，祂不是一个伟大的人， He is the God man， 祂是神人。Before Jesus declared I will build my church，当耶稣宣告我必建造我的教会之前，He asked His disciples who people said that He was，祂问祂的门徒，人们说祂是谁呢？The disciples reported view any Rabbi was thinking credibly, flattering。门徒报道了一些对基督的观点，任何拉比都会觉得这是非常奉承祂的。Some said he was a great prophet, Elijah returned to earth before the coming of the LORD，有些门徒说，祂就是那位伟大的先知以利亚，现在回到地上，很快的耶和华就要来了。Others thought He was Jeremiah, the most respected of all the prophets，也有其他的人会觉得：耶稣是耶利米先知中的最受尊敬的那一位。King Herod，希律王， who had beheaded John the Baptist, 就是那位砍了施洗约翰头的那一位，had some reasons of feeling Jesus might be Jon back from the grave to seek out his murderer，有他自己的理由，为什么他怕耶稣就是施洗约翰，从坟墓中再回来了，来寻求谋杀他的，就是希律王自己。
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But Jesus asked, 但耶稣问，who do men say that the Son of man is（Matthews 16:13, 太16：13），人们说人子是谁呢？He identifies Himself as the Son of man，耶稣称自己为“人子“，the mysterious figure in the vision of Daniel，就是但以理书里的那位神秘的人物，who came on the clouds of heaven to spit on the right hand of the ancient of days and the receive an eternal kingdom (Daniel 7:13&14）。但以理书7:13~14节：”我在夜间的异象中观看,见有一位像人子的,驾着天云而来,被领到亘古常在者面前, 得了权柄、荣耀、国度,使各方、各国、各族的人都侍奉他。他的权柄是永远的，不能废去，他的国必不败坏。“
Even in the way He asked His question, Jesus claimed to be more than a prophet. 耶稣就在祂问问题的问法，就表明祂宣称自己不仅仅是一位先知，He then put the question directly to His disciples，然后呢，耶稣就直接问祂的门徒们了，but who say thee that I am，但是你们说我是谁呢？
本章的第二段，Section 2, Jesus confessed as the Son of God，承认耶稣是神的儿子。
An answer Jesus has spokesman for the twelve makes the confession that finds the church to the Lord，彼得的回答，他是代表这十二位门徒，他是他们的代言人。这个回答就宣告了: 使教会与主耶稣连接的那个信念，thou art Christ, the Son of the living God，你是基督，是永生上帝的儿子! When Peter gave that answer， 当彼得做出这个答复的时候，he knew that many stopped following Jesus，他知道有好些人都已经不再跟随耶稣了，because He would not become the political Christ they wanted，因为耶稣不愿意作他们想要的“政治的弥赛亚“，but Peter remains loyal，但是彼得仍然是忠诚的。he could not go away with others，他不能和别人一样离开耶稣，for he knew that Jesus had the words of eternal life，因为他知道耶稣有永生之道，that He is the son of God，耶稣是 神的儿子。（约6:66~69）
从66节开始：从此，他门徒中多有退去的，不再和他同行。耶稣就对那十二个门徒说：“你们也要去吗？”西门彼得回答说：“主啊，你有永生之道，我们还归从谁呢？我们已经信了，又知道你是上帝的圣者。
Jesus declared: 耶稣宣告: Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona,西门——约拿的儿子，你是蒙福的，for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, 因为不是血肉向你启示的，but my Father which is in heaven, 乃是我在天上的父向你启示的。For Peter to recognize that Jesus of Nazareth for the very Son of God was to display God given faith. 彼得之所以能够认出拿撒勒人耶稣, 就是上帝亲自的儿子，是表明出上帝给他信心。
That faith was necessary for the formation of the New Testament church, 新约教会的形成，必须要有这个的信心(或者这个信仰)。If Jesus were merely a prophet like Isaiah，假如耶稣只不过以赛亚一样是个先知的话，He could gather disciples as Isaiah had done，祂可以召聚门徒的，以赛亚也是这样做的。以赛亚书8:16~17节：“你要卷起律法书，在我门徒中间封住训诲。我要等候那掩面不顾雅各家的耶和华；我也要仰望他。“ 门徒，以赛亚也有门徒的。
Indeed Jesus did gather His disciples.是的，耶稣的确召聚了一些的门徒，He could say as Isaiah said，祂也可以好像以赛亚这样说： Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me，看哪，我和上帝给我的儿女们。以赛亚书8:18节：“看哪，我与耶和华所给我的儿女，就是从住在锡安山万军之耶和华来的，在以色列中作为预兆和奇迹。“ 那主耶稣亲自说的呢？是在希伯来书2:13 节：”看哪，我与上帝所给我的儿女。“耶稣也可以这样说的。
But Jesus was not a gathering disciples to wait for the LORD，但是耶稣召聚门徒们不是要等候，预备耶和华的到来，不是的（Isiah 8:17）；我也要仰望祂（以赛亚书8:17），He was gathering disciples as the LORD，祂不是召聚门徒们来等候上主，祂是以“主的身份“来召聚门徒的。
The church is His church because it is God’s church，教会是基督的教会，因为教会是上帝的教会。And He comes to fulfill all the promises of God for His people，基督来，是要实现上帝对祂子民所赐下所有的应许，基督都要实现。Any gifted leader could gather followers and start a new movement，任何有恩赐才干的领袖都可以召聚一些跟随者，开拓一个新的运动，or establish a new organization，或者建立一个新的组织。
But the New Testament bears witness to Jesus, not as leader or as prophet, but as Lord，但是，新约圣经见证耶稣不是领袖，不是先知，乃是“主“。angels announced the birth of Jesus as the Lord，天使们宣告那位出生的耶稣是“主“。路2:11节：”因今天在大卫的城里，为你们生了救主，就是主基督。“He’s not only Lord Christ， 祂不仅仅是耶和华主所差来的基督，弥赛亚，被膏者，祂就是基督弥赛亚，被膏者——主自己，Lord of the angel as well as the Shepherd，天使的主、牧羊人的主。路2:26节：”西面得了圣灵的启示，知道自己未死以前，必看见主所立的基督。“
耶稣不单单是主所里的基督弥赛亚，祂是基督弥赛亚，祂就是主，Christ the Lord。 His name is called Jesus Savior，祂的名字是耶稣，是救主。因为，for it is He who should saved His people from their sins。因为是祂来拯救祂的子民脱离他们的罪恶的。太1：21节：”她将要生一个儿子，你要给他起名叫耶稣，因他要将自己的百姓从罪恶里救出来。“
God’s people are His people, God’s work is His work. 上帝的子民就是弥赛亚的子民，上帝的工作就是弥赛亚的工作，for He is God the Son，因为祂——弥赛亚，就是神圣子——圣子神。The eternal Word made flesh，就是永恒的”道“，道成肉身永恒的”道“。约翰福音1：1~4，18节：”太初有道，道与 神同在，道就是 神。这道太初与 神同在。万物是藉着他造的；凡被造的，没有一样不是藉着他造的。生命在他里头，这生命就是人的光。从来没有人看见 神，只有在父怀里的独生子将他表明出来。“
The prophets promise that God must come to redeem His people，先知们应许: 上帝必要来救赎祂的子民。以赛亚书40:3节：“有人声喊着说：在旷野预备耶和华的路，在沙漠地修平我们 神的道。“The voice of him that crieth，喊叫的声音，is the voice of John the Baptist proclaimed the coming of Jesus，就是施洗约翰的声音，宣告耶稣的来临，whose sandal he was not worthy to untie，连耶稣的鞋带子施洗约翰都是不配去解开（太3:1-3,11-12）的。
Because the false shepherds have not care for the people，因为假牧羊人没有照顾百姓，the LORD God will come to be their Shepherd，耶和华上帝要亲自来做他们的牧羊人。Jesus comes as the good Shepherd，耶稣就是好牧羊人。祂来，who looks with compassion on the scattered flock, who gives His life for the sheep，耶稣来，带着怜悯的心，使那些分散的羊聚集起来，耶稣为这些的羊舍命 （约翰福音10:11；马太福音9:36；以西结书34:11-12,23）
我们下次的继续来讲，耶稣是这位好牧人、耶稣是上帝的儿子，相信承认这个是什么意思？
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