使徒行傳 第10章 中英摘要

  彼得在使徒行傳裡,之前所講的四篇道,對象都是猶太人,而第十章的這篇道,則是對外邦人講的。神藉著異象告訴彼得,神所潔淨的物,不可當作俗物。我們要知道,這時新約聖經還沒有寫,而這個真理的開啟,是非常重要的關鍵點,若是使徒彼得,當時不順服神的帶領,無法跨越自身猶太傳統的思考,那福音的傳遞,就會出現危機。
  哥尼流是義大利營的百夫長,是個外邦人,神記念他的禱告與賙濟,於是差遣使者告訴哥尼流,打發人往約帕去請彼得來。神做事是立體的,就在這時神也同時讓彼得看見異象,並告訴彼得不要疑惑,要與他們同去。
  彼得到了哥尼流家,聽了哥尼流的異象後,他說神是不偏待人的,於是將耶穌基督死而復活的見證,並因信祂名罪蒙赦免的真理,對他們眾人講說,這時聖靈降在一切聽道的人身上,那些猶太信徒,看見聖靈的恩賜也澆灌在外邦人身上,都覺得希奇。彼得說:「這些人既受了聖靈,與我們一樣,誰能禁止用水給他們施洗呢?」於是就奉耶穌基督的名給他們施洗。
  使徒行傳第八章裡的埃提阿伯太監,千里迢迢,不畏艱難的上耶路撒冷去禮拜,也認真的在讀經,但是,直到他聽到腓力所傳講的耶穌,並真心相信耶穌基督是神的兒子,他才得著救恩。本章的哥尼流是個虔誠人,他和全家都敬畏神,多多賙濟百姓,也常常禱告神….但虔誠、賙濟、讀經、禮拜並不能使人得救;有人造橋鋪路、虔誠念經、逢神就拜,甚至整天出入教會,也跟著讀經唱詩…在這一切當中,若是沒有真正認識耶穌基督、接受耶穌基督,那麼這些都不能讓人得救;唯有認識、並相信接受從死裡復活,神的獨生兒子耶穌基督,並受洗歸入祂的名下,我們才能真正得著救恩。
  基督徒常說:「人的盡頭,就是神的起頭」我個人認為,這句話是比較消極的,因為我們不一定要被逼到沒路時,才來愛神、服事神;我們可以在人生高峰時,持續愛神,歸榮耀給神,也可以在健康、順利時就來敬畏神、服事神;不需要等到離婚、破產、進加護病房時,才想到要來到神面前。我們活著就是要服事神、傳揚神,傳福音需要積極,不要裹足不前而說是在等候神。我們一邊禱告,一邊行動,神蹟奇事就會運行在我們當中。

葉長老 風美小組信息 / 高雄 錦泰 摘錄回應

Acts 10

  The first four preaches of Peter in Acts was directed to Jews. Yet, the preaching in Acts 10 was addressed to gentiles. God showed Peter a vision and told him that “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” This revelation of truth is crucial to the spreading of God’s gospel from Jews to gentiles. If Peter, the first apostle, didn’t follow God’s lead, and if he couldn’t cross the barrier of this traditional belief, then there would be a crisis in the conveyance of the gospel.
  Cornelius was an Italian centurion; he is a gentile. Yet, God heard his prayers and remembered his gifts to the poor, and God was pleased by his righteousness, so God sent a holy angel to tell Cornelius to send people to invite Peter at Jappa. God’s work is multi-dimensional; while God asked Cornelius to get Peter, He showed Peter the vision and told him not to doubt. After Peter got to Cornelius’s house and heard his testimony, he commented that “God does not show favoritism.” Therefore, Peter told them about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the truth of man being forgiven by believing in the name of Jesus. At the moment, the Holy Spirit descend upon the audiences. The Jews saw that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were bestowed upon gentiles, and they were astonished. Peter then said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So they were baptized in the name of Jesus.
  The eunuch Ethiopian in Acts 8 went all the way and endure all the hardship to worship in Jerusalem, he read Scriptures diligently as well. Nevertheless, he wasn’t saved until he heard about Jesus from Philip and believed that Jesus is the Son of God. Cornelius in this chapter was a man with piety; he and his family all revered God, helped the poor, and prayed often to God. Yet, piety, giving gifts to the poor, reading Bible, and attending services cannot save him. Some people try to save themselves by paving roads, building bridges, reading Scriptures, and worshiping false Gods; some of them even attend church services and read Bible. However, if they don’t know Jesus Christ, they will never be saved, because those deeds cannot save people. Only through knowing and believing that Jesus is the Son of God and He has resurrected, and be baptized in the name of Jesus, can men receive salvation.
  Christians always said, “The end of man is the beginning of God.” I consider this statement rather passive. As the matter of fact, we don’t have to come to God to love and serve Him only when things go out of control. We can continue to love and glorify God when we are at our primes. We definitely can revere and serve God while we are healthy and successful. We don’t have to wait until our divorce, bankruptcy, or going into intensive care unit to realize that we need to come to God. We are living to serve God and to spread Jesus’s name. We need to be proactive in spreading the gospel. The last thing we should do is to do nothing under the excuse of waiting for God. We pray while we act, then miracles will always be with us.

Message by Elder Yeh / Summary and response by Jim Lin