A Good Witness 有美好的见证
Author: Dea. Nicholas Ng
“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”
Today, I would like to share from the book of 1 Peter, the first disciple of Jesus wrote this letter. A bit of background on Peter, he was a fisherman whom Jesus called to be his disciple and told him this “that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church”. Who would have imagined once an uneducated and burly man who catches fish for a living would be transformed to be a fisher of men for the Kingdom of God!
For the past year, we have seen the negative impact of the covid-19 virus and how it can cripple entire economies and individual livelihoods. We give thanks that globally we are slowly getting back to normalcy with the roll out of vaccination of pharmaceuticals collaborating with governments. I would like to encourage us with 1 Peter and remind us that even as the world gets back to normalcy, we should not get too comfortable living in the world. Peter reminds us that we are strangers (sojourners) in this world. We are to abstain from our earthly desires. I think Peter is not saying that we cannot work hard to achieve good standards in life; rather he is arguing that we ought not to give in to our desires and live in such earthly laps of luxury and pleasure, that we end up chasing after worldly pleasure more and more each day - and the devil works to make us forget our heavenly home and forsaking our citizenship in heaven more and more each day. The way to combat this I think is to be honest and have accountability with our spouse, our close brothers and sisters in Christ and be contented and live contented lives. This should be the gold standard in our lives!
To help us combat against our ungodly desires, we need to come to God in prayers daily, especially when we go to work, go to school and any meeting with people. Ask God to help us recognize that as we still live in the flesh now, we will have to go to battle each day against the spiritual forces of evil. And prayer will strengthen us in our faith!
And man’s chief goal is to glorify God and so Peter last point in this passage encourages us to live honourable lives among our friends, our colleagues, classmates who have not yet known Christ. We are to live each day of our lives bearing His image, and live each day with integrity, honesty, kindness and love so that we win them over for Christ!
文:吴国樑执事
翻译:王佩瑾师母
“亲爱的弟兄啊，你们是客旅，是寄居的。我劝你们要禁戒肉体的私欲，这私欲是与灵魂争战的。你们在外邦人中应当品行端正，叫那些毁谤你们是作恶的，因看见你们的好行为，便在鉴察[a]的日子归荣耀给神。”
今天，我想和大家分享耶稣的第一位门徒彼得所写的彼得前书里的一段经文。首先简单介绍彼得：他曾经是一位渔夫，在成为耶稣的门徒之后，耶稣对他说，“你是彼得，我要把我的教会建造在这磐石上”。谁会想到，一个没有受过多少教育，以捕鱼为生的彪形大汉被转化成神国的“得人渔夫”。
过去的一年，我们看到了冠状病毒对全球经济及个人生计所带来的巨大负面影响。感恩的是，透过制药公司与各国政府的紧密合作，在世界各国推出疫苗接种，以至生活得以慢慢恢复正常。我想藉着彼得前书勉励并提醒大家，虽然生活逐渐恢复正常，我们不应该在这世界里待得太舒服。彼得提醒我们，在这世界上我们只是过客， 在地上的欲望必须要有所节制。我不认为彼得是在说我们不能为了过更好的生活而努力，而是提醒我们不应该屈服于自己的欲望，一味过着追求快乐与奢侈的生活，导致我们越来越向往世俗的快乐。魔鬼的工作就是要让我们忘了我们的天家，并渐渐的放弃神的国度。我认为要对抗这点，我们必须拥有诚信，对配偶、朋友和弟兄姐妹要彼此问责，懂得知足且过着知足的生活。这应该就是我们生活的标准了！
为了对抗不敬虔的欲望，我们必须天天来到神的面前祷告，尤其是在工作、学校或任何社交场合里。也祈求神帮助我们认清自己仍然活在肉身中。我们必须每天与邪恶的势力对抗，而祷告将会加强我们的信心。
世人主要的目标就是荣耀上帝，所以彼得在这段经文的最后勉励大家在未认识耶稣的朋友、同事及同学当中要有美好的见证。我们要在生活里体现出耶稣的形象，即以正直、诚实、良善与爱来过每一天，这样我们就可以为耶稣赢得他们了！