老鷹的故事

October 5, 2007

RICK JOYNER:

"We are in the First Stages of a Great Transition--Maybe the Greatest Yet"

我們正處於一個大轉變的第一階段：也許是有史以來最大的

最近我們開始討論一個議題，就是為什麼每次大復興結束之後，教會的光景卻似乎總是比復興前更糟糕。如果我們明白這問題的答案，我們將可以把大量的生命帶入教會，並幫助教會保持在一定的生命與能力層次中，使得教會不再需要被復興。復興只有在有東西失落的情況下才需要。倘若教會一直維持其生命並持續成長，那麼她根本不需要被恢復（復興），而是將持續地在生命與能力中成長。

The Path of Life--Navigating through Transition

This is stated in Proverbs 4:18, "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day." That is normal Christianity--walking in continually increasing light until we have the fullness of the light. Since it is obvious that no one is presently walking in the fullness of the light, and there is no credible person who is claiming to be, we obviously still have a long way to go. However, there are people and movements who are walking in ever increasing light and should still be on the right path.

如同在箴言四章18節所言：「義人的路好像黎明的光，越照越明，直到日午。」這就是正常的基督信仰：行走在持續加增的光中，直到日午。由於很明顯的，目前沒有人行在如此完全的光中，因此我們顯然還有一條漫長的路要走。然而，的確有些人或是某些運動，目前正走在逐漸加增的光中，他們也持續走在正確的道路上。

Therefore, if this is not happening for us, we have missed a turn somewhere. We need to go back to where we missed it and get back on the right path. That's called "repentance."

因此，如果這樣的情形沒有發生在我們身上，這就意味著我們可能在哪裡走岔了路。我們必須回到我們最早走岔的地方，然後再轉回到正確的道路上。這就是所謂的「悔改」。

It is one thing to get off of the path, but it is another to get stuck on it somewhere and stop moving. This happens to many. They may not be involved in sin or legalism, which are the ditches on either side of the path of life, but neither are they increasing in the light they are walking in. These have just stopped, and most of these have stopped because they ran into a transition that they couldn't or didn't want to make.

走岔了路是一回事，然而，在路的某處卡住，停滯不前，卻又是另外一件事。這件事發生在很多人的身上。他們並未陷入罪或是律法主義中，他們沒有落入道路兩邊的深溝裡，但是他們卻也沒有行在持續加增的光中。他們只是停了下來，而大部分他們停下來的原因，是因為他們陷入一個他們無法突破或是他們不願意接受的轉變中。

Navigating through a spiritual transition is one of the rarest and most difficult requirements for leadership. Transitions present the most risk, and therefore require the most faith. In every significant transition that I have experienced, it seemed that the whole work was being put at risk to go to the next level. Even though there is the promise of being able to bear much more fruit once the transition is made, almost all require that a time of severe pruning precede it. It is much easier to lead when people are gathering and everything is on the increase than it is through a pruning in which people are leaving. The purpose for the transition may seem obscure to all but the leaders.

帶領門徒經過屬靈的轉變，是領袖最罕見也最困難的必要任務之一。轉變將帶來最大的風險，因此也需要最大的信心。在我所經驗的每個重要的轉變中，要提升進入更高層次的整個工作，都似乎會帶來危險。即使我們事前領受應許，一旦轉變成功我們將結果子更多，但是在轉變前，幾乎所有人都會經歷到嚴重的修剪。當會友都在聚集，一切都在加增的時候，帶領教會非常容易；但是當神正在修剪，會眾正逐漸離去時，這時的領導則將非常地困難。往往除了領袖們以外，其他人都不明白為什麼需要轉變。

As the Apostle Paul shared with the churches in the first century, "Through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God " (see Acts 14:22). This is a principle that we could interpret, "Through many transitions we must enter the Kingdom of God ." Transitions will be tribulations. That's why when the whole world makes the transition to the Kingdom, it will be the greatest of all tribulations. We all want to get to the Kingdom, but not many want to go through the door.

如同使徒保羅與第一世紀的教會分享「我們進入神的國，必須經歷許多艱難。」（徒14:22）這個原則我們可以這樣解釋，「我們進入神的國，必須經歷許多轉變。」轉變將成為艱難。這也是為什麼當全世界要轉變成神的國度時（末世），就將會有最大的艱難。我們每個人都希望進入神的國，但是很少人願意進入窄門。

Even so, churches, movements, missions, even companies and nations begin to die when they get stuck at one stage of development--they stop growing and stop moving forward. The River of Life is just that--a river, not a lake or a pond. A river is flowing, moving, and going somewhere. That is why it is said that you can never step into the same river twice--it constantly changes. Like it or not, change is a basic evidence of healthy life. The path of life, which is also called the path of the righteous, is a path, and a path leads somewhere.

即便如此，當人們在某個發展階段停滯不前，停止成長並前行時，這些教會、運動、宣教，甚至公司與國家就將開始死亡。生命河就是一道河流，並不是湖水或是池塘。而河水是流動，前行，並將流到某處的。這也就是你永遠無法進到同一條水流中兩次的原因，因為河水一直在改變。不管你喜不喜歡，改變就是健康生命最基本的證據。生命之道，同時也被稱為義路，是一條路，而路總是會領人到某處。

Prophetic Ministry and Leadership

Biblically, we see the great moves of God having the same problem we have in keeping the momentum going. One place this is highlighted is Ezra 4:24-5:2:

在聖經裡，我們看到神偉大的行動也有我們要維持運動一樣的問題。有一個特別的記載在以斯拉記4:24-5:2

"Then work on the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia . When the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them, then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them supporting them."

「於是，在耶路撒冷神殿的工程就停止了，直停到波斯王大利烏第二年。那時，先知哈該和易多的孫子撒迦利亞奉以色列神的名向猶大和耶路撒冷的猶大人說勸勉的話。於是撒拉鐵的兒子所羅巴伯和約薩達的兒子耶書亞都起來動手建造耶路撒冷神的殿，有神的先知在那裡幫助他們。」

In Ezra, in the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah, the remnant who had returned to rebuild the temple laid the foundation and then became distracted, with each building their own houses, and forgetting the house of God. This is a good prophetic picture of where the Church is today. Many arose with a heart to see radical, Biblical Christianity and New Testament Church life restored. A foundation for this was laid, but then the workers became distracted and went off to build their own "houses" or ministries.

在以斯拉記裡面，在哈該和撒迦利亞的預言裡，回歸耶路撒冷重建聖殿的餘民，放下了建造聖殿根基的工作而被其餘事務所分心，每個人開始建立自己的家，忘了神的殿。這是對今日教會光景一幅很好的預言圖畫。許多基督徒渴望見到一個符合聖經的新約教會生活被恢復，而做了許多建造的根基事工。但是這些工人逐漸分心而開始建立自己的「家」或是事奉。

It is rare to find a ministry today that is not just built around an individual's purpose or vision that has a true Kingdom purpose and vision. In Ezra, this distraction continued until the prophets started prophesying. This is one of the main reasons why the Lord has raised up the prophetic ministry in our time--to get the work on His restored house completed and to see the Church come forth in all of the glory she is called to walk in.

今天我們很難找到一個事工，是有真實的國度異象與目的，而不只是建立在個人的目的或是異象上。在以斯拉記，這樣的分心直到先知開始發預言為止，都是一直持續著。這也是神為什麼在這個時代興起先知性事奉的一個主要原因：要幫助祂的殿恢復的工作得以完全，並看見教會行走在她起初蒙召進入的榮耀裡。

In the last two decades, the prophetic ministry has been received in an increasing part of the Body of Christ. There has been movement again toward the Church's ultimate purpose where it has been received. This ministry is especially given to get the Church moving, and to keep it moving, which we see highlighted in Ezra 6:14:

"And the elders of the Jews were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia ."

First, the elders were successful in building through the prophesying of the prophets. The prophets did not create the building--the elders did. Some prophets can be good builders, but not many. In general, prophets will do well to let the elders do that part and let the prophets stick to their part. The elders would also do well not to try to get the prophets too involved in the practical work of building. They may want to do it, but if it is not their calling, and with most of them it isn't, then they should not do it.

The point that we made before is that the work on the house of God ceased until the prophets started prophesying. The work on the house of God will not avoid the ruts, or be able to get out of them without the prophets. Certainly the prophets can be difficult, but the work will be much more difficult without them. The time may now be upon us when no work will enter into its full purpose without them. They are especially important for helping works through transitional stages.

The prophets are a part of the Body, and as the Apostle Paul explained, one part of the Body must not say to another part that they have no need of them. We will not get very far without them. If we reject the true prophets, we will likely become subject to those who are false. The reason we are told in Acts 2:17-18 that in "the last days," when the Lord pours out His Spirit, the result will be dreams, visions, and prophecy, because in the last days, we will not make it without this kind of specific guidance.

The third point we can derive from Ezra 6:14 is that the work was completed according to the God of Israel and the decrees of the civil authorities. It is a remarkable thing the way the Lord moved on the hearts of these kings to not only let their slaves go, but to bless and support them and donate to their work. This is another whole subject that we will only note for now, but anti-government and anti-authority mindsets have no place in the work of God, as Paul made clear in Romans 13.

For these last few weeks I have been trying to reinforce and elaborate a bit more on how to make a phase transition. This is one of the most critical aspects of leadership. The greatest leaders in history were those who led through the great transitions. I am also sharing this because I believe we are, overall, in the first stages of a great transition, maybe the greatest yet--the transition of an age. This will require extraordinary leadership, but the Lord will provide it. Even so, walking in the light and the increasing light of "the path of the righteous," means that we should be able to see our path with increasing clarity. That is what we will seek.

最近幾個星期來，我試著要去強調並闡述如何進入轉變的階段。這是領袖工作其中一個最關鍵的部份。歷史上最偉大的領袖，是那些帶領大家走過最大轉變的人。我分享這些，也正是因為我相信，我們正處在一個偉大的改變的第一階段：也許是有史以來最大的轉換世代。這需要非凡的領袖，但是主會興起這樣的領袖。即便如此，行在光中，以及越照越明的義路上，意味著我們將越來越認清我們的道路。這正是我們要尋求的。

Rick Joyner
MorningStar Ministries
Email: info@morningstarministries.org

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