HOPE

信息題目：蒙福之家

引用經文：申命記6：4-9

講員   ：姜禮振 牧師

大綱 :

     一 . 要全心愛 神, 祂必祝福你的家 ( Deut.6:5 )

       1. 要聽 – ( Deut. 6:3-4; Mt.13:9, 14-15 )

       2. 要遵行 – ( Mt.7:24-26 )

       3. 要全心愛主 – ( Mt.22:37-40 )

     二 . 要常事奉祂, 祂必祝福你的家 ( Deut.6:12-13 )

       1. 不可忘記 神的恩惠 - ( Ps.103 :2-5 )

       2. 不可試探 神 - ( Deut.6:16 )

       3. 要敬畏 神 - ( Deut.6:13 )

     三 . 要教導兒女, 祂必祝福你的家 ( Deut.6:6-9 )

       1. 要記在心上 – ( Ps.119:11 )

       2. 要殷勤教導 – 身教, 言教 ( Prov.22:6 )

       3. 要從自身做起 – 個人, 家庭, 城市 ( Mt.5:14-16 )

信息總結﹕

人們常常很詫異為什麽以色列這個民族在亡國兩千年之後，竟沒有消失。相反地，時至今日，不但繼續存在著，並且在當今這個時代表現得非常優秀。舉個例子，他們的人口占世界人口總數的0.2%，可是在這過去的五十年裏，以色列人獲得諾貝爾獎的比例竟高達34%。這使得我們會問說，為什麽作為神選民的以色列人如此地蒙恩呢？答案就是《申命記》6：4-9 的經文裏所說的“約”。而這個約就是神與他的選民立約的根基和內容。在這個約裏，神告訴我們，若我們願意守這個約，他就會一生一世地祝福我們；若我們不守這個約，神的管教便會臨到，而管教的目的則是讓我們轉回到這個約裏，重新得到神的祝福。因此：

第一，我們要全心全意愛我們的神。神與我們立約的首個要求就是要我們“聽”(申6：4-5)。只有聽神話的人，他的生命才可結出30倍，60倍，100倍的果子。“聽”的希伯來文是“Shema”，它有“聽”，“知道”，“聽從”，“愛”和“教導”五個含義。只有聽了，才能知道；只有知道了，才能遵守和順從；也才能真正地去愛並把所學的教給下一代。申6：4，“你要聽：耶和華我們神是獨一的主”，用“耶和華”，“神”，“主”來同指我們的神。“主”是指救贖的主(Adonai)，著重主人和仆人的關系；“神”（Elohim）是指創造的神；而“耶和華”（YHWH）是指立約的神。所以，申6：4可以這樣解釋說，“創造的主用耶和華的名與我們立約，而他也是我唯一的主人”。所以，我們要全心去愛我們的神，因為他是拯救我們的主，是創造的神，也是立約的神。

全心全意愛我們的主，不僅是聖經的教導，而且也是神對我們的保護。當我們全心愛主，我們就不會用人或者別的東西來代替神的位置。相反地，當我們生活中神的位置被別的東西代替的時候，也就是我們受苦的開始。《天路歷程》的作者，約翰·本仁，雖然一生的遭遇很辛苦，生活很貧窮，最後也只能在修道院的廚房裏做飯菜，可是他的心裏卻始終充滿了主的愛。他每做一件事，都會問，“主啊，你喜悅這事嗎？”，即使他在廚房切菜的時候。約翰·本仁一天24小時都活在主的愛裏面。因他全心全意地愛主，他雖然在廚房裏工作，可那裏不就是他的天堂嗎？盼望主的愛常充滿我們的心。

第二，我們要常事奉我們的神，神賜福那些服事他的人。首先，我們不可忘記神的恩典和恩惠，也不可忘記神在我們身上的救恩。其次，我們不可試探神。馬太福音4：7，當耶穌受到撒但的試探的時候，對撒但說，“不可試探主你的神”，從而使耶穌在試探中得勝。再者，我們要敬畏神。聖經中對神的兒女最高的評價就是敬畏神。聖經舊約中的亞伯拉罕被稱為“信心之父”。其實聖經裏對亞伯拉罕的最高評價不是他的信心，而是創世記22：12所記載的， 當亞伯拉罕獻以撒之後，耶和華神為他預備了羔羊，天使告訴他說，“現在我知道你是敬畏神的了”。敬畏神成了神對亞伯拉罕最高的評價。聖經中也有非常多神對敬畏神的人的應許，比如詩篇34：9告訴我們，敬畏神的人一無所缺。神必供應各樣的需要給敬畏他的人，也必引領並祝福敬畏他的人。

第三，我們要用神的話語來教導我們的兒女。因為我們與神立約，神必祝福我們的家，也必祝福我們的下一代。要教導孩子，我們做父母的首先要熟讀神的話，將神的話記在心裏，並背下來。如果我們做父母的對神的話不熟，我們又如何去教導我們孩子走在蒙福的路上呢？詩篇119：11說，“我將你的話藏在心裏，免得我得罪你”；同時，我們要殷勤地教導孩子們，如申6：7，“無論你坐在家裏，行在路上，躺下，起來，都要談論”。如果我們能這樣做，我們的家必是蒙福的家。神跟我們立約，要賜福給我們，但他也要我們轉向他，把他的話記在心中。再者，神的約值得我們的家，我們的教會，直至整個城市甚至國家遵守，因為神必祝福守他約的人。

今天是母親節，希望鼓勵在座的母親們不要灰心，讓我們來到神的面前說“主啊，求你幫助我，讓我做一個盡職，善盡本分的母親”。我們要確知，我們的主是能夠化黑暗為光明的主，是能把苦難變為祝福的神，也是使憂傷變為喜樂的神，因為他是得勝的主。無論我們的處境如何困難，我們要知道我們的主是得勝的。當做父母的願意與神立約的時候，神定意要祝福我們的家。

我們深思的問題:

1. 一本剛出版的書，叫“發現母親”，是一本非常好的書，它裏面有很多好的觀點和例子，值得我們去讀和去思考。http://baby.sina.com.cn/findmum.shtml

2. 請認真地想想看，作為父母的我們，如何才能我們的家成為“蒙福之家”呢？

Topic: Blessed Household

Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Speaker: Pastor Michael Chiang

People can not help but ask why the nation of Israel did not perish after their country had been over-turned for 2000 years. Today, on the contrary, they not only continue to exist in the world, but also have demonstrated their outstanding achievements in all aspects. For example, the Jews account for only 0.2% of the world population, but in the past five decades, there are about 34% of the Nobel Prize winners that are Jews. So, why are the Israelites blessed so much by God? The answer is given in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. It is about a “covenant”; which is the foundation of all other covenants, established by God between him and his people. In this covenant, God told us that if we are willing to keep the covenant, he will bless us from generations to generations. However, if we fail to do so, God's discipline will come upon us in order for us to turn back and to receive HIS blessings again. Therefore:

Firstly, we shall love our God whole-heartedly. But “to hear” precedes all other requirements of the covenant (Deut 6:4). Only those who listen to God's words will bear fruits 30, 60 or 100 times. The Hebrew word for “hear” is “Shema”, which has five meanings: “to hear”, “to know”, “to obey”, “to love” and “to teach”. That is, “to hear is to know; to know is to obey; to obey is to love and teach”. Deut 6:4 also says, “The LORD our God, the LORD is one”, which is translated into Chinese as “耶和華我們神是獨一的主”. In the original Hebrew text, three words are used to refer to our God, and theses words are “YHWH (耶和華)”, “ Adonai (主)” and “Elohim (神)”。“Adonai” means Master and also means God is the Savior for us; “Elohim” means God is the creator of the earth and heaven; and “YHWH” means God is the God who made covenant with us. Hence, the Deut 6:4 can be explained accordingly as, “The creator of the earth and heaven established covenant with us in the name of YHWH and he is our only Master”.

“To love God wholeheartedly” is not only a teaching of the Bible, but also a protection from God. When we love HIM with all our hearts, God takes up a special place within our inmost being which can not be replaced by anything else, for if that precious place is replaced by anything other than God, sufferings will start to fall upon us. John Bunyan, the author of the book of “Pilgrim’s Progress” (天路歷程) had been living in poverty and experiencing lots of hard times in his life. After many years of suffering, he eventually landed a job of working in a kitchen inside a monastery. Nevertheless, his heart was always filled with the love for God. Everything he did, he would ask, “LORD, are you pleased with this?” It is obvious that John Bunyan lived in God's love 24 hours a day. He loved God whole-heartedly, even when he was working in the kitchen cutting things and doing clean up. Isn't the kitchen where he worked “heaven” for him? Hope our hearts are always filled up with God's love, too.

Secondly, we shall serve our God continually and those who are willing to serve him will be greatly blessed. 1) We should not forget God's grace and favor and especially his salvation for us; 2) We should not put God to test. It was written in Matthew 4:7, when he was tested by Satan, Jesus answered with “Do not put the Lord your God to the test”, which led him to triumph over the temptations. 3) We should fear God. “Fearing God” is actually the highest appraise from God to his children. As we know, Abraham is called “the father of faith” in the Old Testament, but as a matter of fact, the highest appraise for him is not his faith, but his reverence for God. As written in Gen 22:12, after Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering, the angle of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven and said, “Now I know that you fear God.” As we can see, “fearing God” became the highest comment for Abraham from God. In addition, many verses can be found in the Bible in regards to the promises for fearing God. For example, Psalm 34:9 tells us, “for those who fear him lack nothing”. For those who fear God, God will surely bless them, lead their ways and provide all the needs for them.

Thirdly, we shall use God's words to teach our children. Based on the covenant, God will give his benediction to our household and our next generation as well. In order to teach our children, we, as parents, must familiarize ourselves with God's words and take them to our hearts and recite them. If we do not know much about God's words ourselves, how are we able to lead our children on the way of receiving blessings? As said in Psalm 119:11, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you”. At the same time, we should teach our kids diligently, as stated in Deut 6:7, “Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up”. When we are doing so, there is no doubt our household will be greatly blessed. God made a covenant with us to bless us, but he also wants us to turn to him and fix our eyes on him and take his words to heart. Furthermore, the covenant is worthy of all the efforts to be kept by our household, by our church, city and even the whole country.

Today is Mother's day, it is hoped that all the mothers are encouraged to come before our Lord and pray to him, “LORD, please help me, and help me become a mother who can fulfill my duties”. Do not be despaired. No matter how hard and difficult our situation is, we can all be assured that our Lord is the God who can turn darkness into brightness, misfortunes into benediction, sorrows into joys, because he is the LORD who has triumphed. When we, as parents, are willing to make covenant with God, HE will definitely bless our household.