Spirit! Come! – Pastor Jade Yi

5.19.2024

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Psalm 104:24-35

John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 

Day of Pentecost 五旬節 |  5.19.2024  |  10 AM

Life-giving Spirit for Our Soul, our Mind and Heart, and our Strength

賜生命的靈給我們的靈魂，我們的心意，和我們的身體

What is some convincing proof of God working in your life? This is the question we discussed in last Wednesday’s Bible class. Our collective proof is that we all changed after becoming Christians. We are less self-centered and more approachable, forgiving, gracious, thoughtful, and humble. As a result, we are more joyful. 

有哪些令人信服的證據，可以證明神在你的生命中做工呢？ 這是我們上週三聖經課討論的其中一個題目。 我們集體都同意，確實有看見令人信服的證據。這證據就是，我們在成為基督徒後都改變了。 我們不再以自我為中心，而是更能平易近人、更能寬容、比較能親切、體貼、謙虛待人，因此而感到喜樂許多。

How do our changes relate to the commandments Jesus has given to us, love our God and others as ourselves with all our hearts, our minds, our strengths and our souls? We can see our lives have been changed in these 4 areas after becoming Christians: our hearts in terms of our empathy, our minds in terms of our values, our strength in terms of our mental and physical maturity and stability, and our souls in terms of our spiritual growth, our trust in God, and our interactions with people more like little Christs. 

我們的改變與耶穌教導我們的誡命有甚麼樣的關係呢，也就是要盡心、盡性、盡意、盡力的來愛主，也愛他人有如愛自己？ 我們可以看得到，在生命裡的這四個領域裡，我們成為基督徒後，都有在發生變化：我們的心能夠更體會到多方面的感受，我們的思想在價值觀方面也有成長，我們的精力在心智和身體健康方面，更成熟穩定，我們的靈性生命更信靠主，與祂人的互動也更像基督的樣式。

We could all easily state how we should act, talk, think, and behave as Christians, but deep inside us, we know that we don’t change all at once. Sometimes our actions change first before we embrace a certain value; sometimes, our hearts change before we can act our values out. Most of the time we embrace certain values but it takes time for us to act consistently and sense the joy of doing it. It isn’t easy. Paul certainly understands our struggle by saying that he couldn’t do what he wanted in Romans 7.

我們都可以輕鬆地說出身為基督徒應該如何行動、說話、思考和行為，但在我們內心深處，我們知道它們不會同一起成長改變。 有時，在我們接受某種價值觀之前，我們在行為上會先做改變； 有時，我們的心意先做了改變，然後才去做我們覺得對的事情。 大多數的時候，我們都持有某些價值觀，但我們需要一些時間，才能養成固定的行為，並而感受到做這件事的樂趣。 這是一件不容易的事。 保羅當然理解我們的掙扎，他在羅馬書第七章說到，他無法去做他想做的事。

I’d like to share with you a testimony I saw on YouTube. Eric, an immigrant from Malaysia, said that he resisted Christianity for years because he was told that all non-believers would go to hell. Because of this statement, Eric hated Christianity to the point that he gathered his friends to attend the Christian fellowship, ate the food they provided, but didn’t buy into anything they shared about Jesus. 

與大家分享我在 YouTube 上看到的一個見證。是 來自馬來西亞的一位移民，叫做艾瑞克，他多年來一直在抵制基督教，因為有人告訴他，所有非信徒都會下地獄。 由於這句話，艾瑞克討厭基督教，討厭到甚麼程度呢? 他將朋友聚集起來，一起參加基督教惠的團契，吃了他們提供的食物，但不相信基督徒們所分享有關，與耶穌的任何事情。

One day, Eric had to visit a church because his son got an invitation from their neighbor. After listening to the sermon, he realized that Christianity was not all about going to heaven but making the world a better place. Then he was determined to become a true Christian so he went to talk to the pastor. 

有一天，艾瑞克不得不去教堂，因為鄰居邀請他的兒子一起去教會。那日， 聽完講道後，他意識到基督教不只是在意要上天堂這件事，也非常在意要讓世界變得更美好。 然後他決心成為一位真正的基督徒，所以他去和牧師交談。

To summarize, the pastor told him two sentences that changed his life. The pastor said to him true Christians will let people see God through them and bring heaven down to the earth now. The only way to become a true Christian is through having the experience of serving others out of love. Isn’t that what Jesus said in John 13:34-35 that if we love one another just as Jesus has loved us, and by this all people will know that we are his disciples?  Eric said it is easy to let people see him, but enabling people to see God through him wasn’t easy. 

長話短說艾瑞克的故事，牧師告訴他的兩句話，改變了他的一生。 牧師對他說，真正的基督徒會讓人們透過他們，來看見上帝，並將天堂帶到地上。 成為真正基督徒的唯一途徑，是要有經歷過出於愛來服事他人的經驗。 耶穌在約翰福音 13:34-35 不是也說到，我們若彼此相愛，正如耶穌愛我們一樣，這樣眾人就知道我們是祂的門徒了？ 艾瑞克說，讓人們看到他自己很容易，但讓人們透過他看到上帝卻是一件不容易的事。

The good news is that it’s not only St. Paul who knows it isn’t easy, Jesus also knows it isn’t easy. That’s why he sent the Holy Spirit as the advocate to assist us. What comes to your mind when you think of ‘the Holy Spirit’? The first word that comes to me is rejuvenating. Some would say the Holy Spirit wants to convert the Word of God into transformed personalities, and impute them into our lives. 

好消息是，不只是聖保羅知道這是一件不容易的事，耶穌也知道這是一件不容易的事。 這就是為什麼祂差遣聖靈作為中保來幫助我們。 當你想到「聖靈」時，你會想到什麼？ 我想到的第一個詞彙是，具有生命的復甦活力。 有些人會說，聖靈想要做的事，是將神的話語轉化為有蛻變的人格。再把這有蛻變的人格注入到我們生命裡。

What did Jesus say in John 16, the scripture for today, about the purpose of the Holy Spirit? He said that the Holy Spirit will prove the world wrong about three things: sin, righteousness, and judgment. Why these three things? Remember, to the Jewish religious leaders, Jesus was a sinner, and had no right relationship with God, and should be condemned. 

關於聖靈的目的，耶穌在約翰福音 16 章（今天的經文）是怎麼說的？ 祂說聖靈要來證明，世人在三件事情上是錯的：罪、義和審判。 為什麼是這三件事呢？ 請記住，對於猶太宗教領袖們來說，耶穌是一個罪人，與神沒有正義的關係，且應該受到審判。

Many people today, like the religious leaders in Jesus Time, also couldn’t see that Jesus was anointed as the Savior by God. They couldn’t see that he was with God and was God himself. And they were also convinced that Jesus should face the judgment. Actually the judgment Jesus faced was theirs and ours but not his own. He simply accepted the judgment on behalf of humans.

今天的許多人，就像耶穌時代的宗教領袖們一樣，也看不到耶穌是被神膏抹立為我們的救世主，也不看不見祂與神同在，且看出祂就是神，並決議耶穌必須面臨審判。其實，耶穌所面臨的審判是他們自己的，也是我們的。 他只是代表人類接受審判。

We are the sinners because we don’t have the right relationships with God and with everything and every living being that He created and entrusted us to care. We are the one who should be condemned for the mess that we created by living a self-centered life, watching broken relationships with God happening without sharing God’s love and forgiveness. We missed the mark and couldn’t see the big picture of Christianity.

我們是罪人，因為我們與上帝以及祂創造並委託我們照顧的一切事物和每一個生物都沒有正確的關係。 我們應該因我們過著以自我為中心的生活而造成的混亂而受到譴責，我們看著與神的關係破裂而沒有分享神的愛和寬恕。 我們沒有抓住目標，看不到基督教的全貌。

The Spirit has the power to assist our understanding of who Jesus is, what he does, and why he matters, and how he saves. The Spirit has also the power to give life just as we saw how God made the dry hopeless dead bones into a big living army with a sense of hope in Ezekiel. As I said earlier, the Spirit wants to convert the Word of God into transformed personalities for you and me. To name these three powers among many, it is certainly sufficient enough for us to join the movement of God’s mission. Right?

聖靈有能力幫助我們理解耶穌是誰、祂做了什麼、祂為什麼對我們很重要、祂是如何拯救。 聖靈也有賜予生命的能力，正如我們在以西結書中所看到的，神是如何將枯乾無望的枯骨變成一支充滿希望，活生生的大軍隊。 正如我之前所說，聖靈想要做的，是將神的話語轉化為有蛻變的人格，再將這有蛻變的人格，注入到我們生命裡。 列舉這三種聖靈的力量，足以讓我們加入上帝使命的運動。 對吧!

To conclude, I think the verse 4 in Psalm 104 is a very good one. Actually, the whole Psalm is a very good one. It is a psalm praising the mighty power of God who creates the universe. The Psalmist sees God through the beautiful nature God has created. The Psalmist also sees God’s love and care through the rejuvenation of animals and plants. 

我認為用詩篇第104 篇 第4 節來做總結，是非常合適的。 其實，這整首詩篇是一篇非常好的詩篇。 這是一首讚美上帝創造宇宙大能的詩篇。 詩篇作者透過上帝所創造的美麗大自然中，看見上帝。 詩篇作者也透過動物和植物具有生命的復甦活力，看到了神的愛和關懷。 

Psalm 104:4 says that God commanded winds as messengers and appointed fire and flame as ambassadors. May the Holy Spirit fill us and give us boundless love, wisdom and grace, send us out like the winds and fire and flame to be the messenger of God’s good news and the ambassadors of God’s kingdom. May our soul, heart, mind, and strength be more like Christ so that all may see God through us, our being, our words, and our actions.  Amen.

詩篇 104:4 說，上帝命令風為使者，並任命火和焰作為大使。願聖靈充滿我們，賜給我們愛,智慧和恩典，差遣我們如風、火和焰，成為神福音的使者，成為神國度的大使。 願我們的靈魂、心靈、思想和力量，能更像基督，使所有人都能透過我們、我們的存在、我們的言語和我們的行為看見神。 阿們。