We return in our study of God's Word to Paul's epistle to Titus, Paul's epistle to Titus.   We're looking at the first four verses.   Originally I thought we could kind of swing our way through these fairly rapidly, but I find myself getting bogged down in the immensity of truth that is here.   I told you, you'll remember, this is a condensed, vacuum-packed little book, and as you open the lid on it, it tends to expand.   And that is what my experience has been in my preparation.

在研读神的话语时，我们回到保罗写给提多的书信，保罗写给提多的书信。 我们看的是前四节经文。 最初，我以为我们可以很快地完成这些经文， 但我发现自己陷入了这里浩瀚真理的泥潭。 我告诉过你，你会记得，这是一本浓缩的、真空包装的小书， 当你打开它的盖子时， 它往往会膨胀。这就是我在准备过程中的经历。

We're looking at the first four verses, which are a somewhat normal salutation - a little longer than most and a little more detailed.   But this particular portion is more than just a salutation; it has more than just some historical interest, more than just a particular curiosity to Titus himself, because in this opening, in this salutation, the apostle Paul is presenting elements of his apostleship.   He's dealing with features of his own life and ministry.   And basically what he does is give us principles that control his ministry.   This opening salutation then provides some excellent material for us to comprehend what made Paul so effective.   There were some principles in his life by which he operated.   In fact, I think it's fairly safe to say he was a man who functioned completely on principle.

我们看的是前四节经文，这是一个有点正常的问候—— 比大多数问候长一点，也更详细一些。 但这一部分不仅仅是一个问候;它不仅仅是一些历史意义， 不仅仅是提多本人的特别好奇， 因为在这个开头，在这个问候中， 使徒保罗正在呈现他使徒身份的要素。 他正在处理他自己的生活和事工的特征。 基本上，他所做的就是给我们控制他事工的原则。 然后，这个开场问候为我们提供了一些极好的 材料，让我们理解是什么让保罗如此有效。 在他的生活中，有一些原则是他运作的 。事实上，我认为可以相当肯定地说，他 是一个完全按照原则运作的人。

And you might say, "Well, what do we mean by principle?"   Well, basically principle is truth that doesn't change.   There were some unchanging, non-shifting, unvarying, foundational truths that he built his life on.   He was not an individual who moved on his own whim or his own emotions or his own passion or the latest trend.   Principles, you see, are not subjective, they are objective. They are not internal, they are external.   Today you hear a lot of talk about values.   "Values" sounds good. We talk about moral values, family values, personal values, Judeo-Christian values or whatever, but generally values carries the connotation of “I value some things and I don't value other things,” and “whatever I feel is valuable that's what I commit myself to.”   And they can be somewhat subjective and somewhat internal.   Principles are not subjective; they are objective and they are external; they are outside the individual; they are fixed.

你可能会说， “那么，我们所说的原则是什么意思？嗯，基本上原则是不变的真理。他的生活建立在一些不变的、不变的、 不变的、基本的真理之上。 他不是一个随心 所欲、自己的情绪、自己的激情或最新趋势 而行动的人。你看，原则不是主观的，而是客观的。它们不是内在的， 而是外在的。 今天，你听到很多关于价值观的讨论。 “价值观”听起来不错。我们谈论道德价值观、 家庭价值观、个人价值观、 犹太教-基督教价值观或其他什么， 但一般来说，价值观带有 “我重视某些东西，我不重视其他东西” 和“任何我觉得有价值的东西，这就是我承诺的”。 它们可能有些主观，有些内在。 原则不是主观的; 它们是客观的，也是外在的;它们在个人之外;它们是固定的。

Paul never functioned on whim.   He never functioned on his own passion or his own emotion.   His whole life and ministry was built around a core of principles - absolutes that never changed, divine principles at that.   That's what made him effective. That's what made him useful.   It's what made him fruitful in his service to God.   These principles were the core of his life.

保罗从来不随心所欲。 他从来不凭自己的激情或自己的情感来运作。 他的整个生活和事工都是围绕着一个核心原则建立的——永远不会改变的绝对原则， 即神圣的原则。 这就是使他有效的原因。这就是使他有用的原因。 这就是使他在事奉神方面富有成效的原因。 这些原则是他生命的核心。

And just thinking about that a little bit - if you operate on principle, if principle is at the core of your life, you always, you always have a fixed starting point.   Paul had that.   He never groped around to try to figure out what to do, how to do it.   He always knew because there was this core of principles in his life.

只要稍微想一想——如果你按照原则行事， 如果原则是你生活的核心，你 总是，你总是有一个固定的起点。 保罗有这一点。他从不摸索着弄清楚该做什么， 如何做。他总是知道，因为他的生活中有这个核心原则。

You need to have that, and so do I.   We need to operate off principle.   Let me tell you what principle affects.   It affects four things primarily in your life.   If you can imagine a sort of a little diagram, the center of your life is a core of principles and some arrows are going out - you could draw four of them.   And the way those principles affect your life comes in a fourfold manner.

你需要拥有它， 我也是。我们需要脱离原则。让我告诉你原则有什么影响。 它主要影响你生活中的四件事。 如果你能想象一个小图表，你 生活的中心是原则的核心，一些箭头正在伸出—— 你可以画出其中的四个。 这些原则影响你生活的方式有四重。

One is confidence.   When you live by principle you live in confidence, you function with confidence.   There's a certain security in what you do because you know it is built on something which is fixed.   You know what is true and you're clear about what is true and you've committed yourself to what is true, and so you act confidently in response to the truth.   Confident people, like the apostle Paul, are confident no matter what happens. It doesn't matter to them whether the result is good, bad, or indifferent; whether people love him or hate him; whether there is affirmation or hostility.   He does what he does with complete confidence because he's operating off of a principle that God has planted in his heart. So he has the assurance to act.   There's no hesitation; there's no equivocation. He moves, he moves rapidly with confidence.

一是信心。 当你按照原则生活时，你就会充满信心地生活， 你就会充满信心地运作。 你所做的事情有一定的安全性，因为 你知道它是建立在固定的东西之上的。 你知道什么是真实的，你很清楚什么是 真实的，你已经委身于真实的事情， 所以你自信地对真理做出反应。自信的人， 就像使徒保罗一样， 无论发生什么事，都是自信的。 结果是好是坏，还是冷漠，对他们来说并不重要 ;人们爱他还是恨他; 是肯定还是敌意。 他满怀信心地做他所做的事情，因为他是按照上帝在他心中种植的原则行事的。 所以他有保证采取行动。 毫不犹豫; 没有含糊之处。他移动，他充满信心地快速移动。

The second thing that comes out of a principled life is purpose.   You know what you're all about.   You're not only ready to act, you know what to do.   You know how to act.   The direction is laid down for you.   You know exactly what is expected of you, so you know what to do and you do it.

有原则的生活产生的第二件事是目标。 你知道你是关于什么的。 你不仅准备好行动， 而且知道该怎么做。 你知道如何行动。 方向已为您定下。 你确切地知道对你的期望是什么，所以你知道该做什么，然后你去做。

There's a third little thing that kind of shoots out of this core of principle and that is wisdom, wisdom.   When you know principle and you act on principle, you discern and you have judgment, and you know how things are to be done.   You know enough to do something. You know what to do and you know how to do it because you have the principles that lay all of that out.

还有第三件小事从这个原则的核心中喷涌而出，那就是智慧， 智慧。当你知道原则并按照原则行事时， 你就会辨别，你有判断力， 你知道事情应该如何做。 你知道的足够多，可以做点什么。 你知道该做什么，你知道如何做， 因为你有规定所有这些的原则。

And I would think that the fourth thing is power, power.   When you operate on divine principle you have power, you move with strength, you have the energy to act because you're acting in accord with divine principle - you have divine power, divine wisdom and divine discernment, divine direction.   The motivation of your heart is clear, and so you have divine confidence.

我认为第四件事是权力， 权力。当你按照神圣的原则运作时，你就有力量 ，你有力量行动， 你有行动的能量，因为你是按照神圣的原则行事的——你有神圣的力量，神 圣的智慧和神圣的辨别力，神圣的指导。 你内心的动机是明确的，所以你有神圣的信心。

That was Paul.   Paul was a man of confidence.   Paul could say, "It doesn't matter to me what you say, I know what I have to do.   It doesn't matter what's going to happen to me, I know what I have to do.   It doesn't matter that I lose my life, I will move ahead because I know what the principles are and I will act on them."

那是保罗。保罗是一个自信的人。 保罗可以说：“你说什么对我来说并不重要， 我知道我必须做什么。 不管我会发生什么， 我知道我必须做什么。 我失去生命并不重要， 我会继续前进，因为我知道原则是什么，我会按照它们采取行动。

It was Paul who had such purpose in his life that he could set his face like flint in some direction and move there, and as we learn in the book of Acts, only the Holy Spirit by some miraculous means could stop him and redirect him.   And he was a man of amazing wisdom.   He applied that wisdom in a myriad of situations, and he certainly was a man of supernatural power.   All of that really flows out of the principled core of his life.   He had taken divine principles, he had acted upon them so frequently that they had become the very core of his behavior.   And those principles, I think, that controlled his ministry are revealed in this text.   Here's the heart, here's the core of this man that made him confident, wise, purposeful and powerful.

保罗在他的生命中有这样的目的，以至于 他可以像燧石一样将自己的脸朝某个方向移动并移动到那里， 正如我们在使徒行传中学到的那样， 只有圣灵才能通过某种神奇的方式阻止他并改变他的方向。 他是一个拥有惊人智慧的人。 他将这种智慧应用到无数的情况下， 他确实是一个拥有超自然力量的人。 所有这些都真正源于他生活的原则核心。 他遵循了神圣的原则， 他如此频繁地按照这些原则行事，以至于它们 已成为他行为的核心。 我认为，控制他事工的那些原则在这段经文中得到了启示。 这是这个人的内心， 这是使他自信、睿智、有目标和强大的人的核心。

Let me read you these four verses again.   "Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie promised long ages ago but at the proper time manifested, even His Word in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior, to Titus my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior."

让我再读一遍这四节经文。 “保罗，神的奴仆，耶稣基督的使徒， 为着神所拣选之人的信心，认识按 着敬虔的真理， 盼望永生的神，就是在很久以前，但在适当的时候所应许的永生，就是他的话语，就是我照救主神的诫命，托付给我真正的孩子提多的 宣告，就是他的话语，就是从父神和我们的救主基督耶稣来的恩典和平安。”

There in those brief four verses you have a marvelous, condensed insight into Paul's principled kind of behavior, and therefore what made him confident, purposeful, wise, and powerful.   And we started to look into that a little bit last time, and I suggested to you that the first principle that framed up his life and ministry was the principle that he was committed to God's mastery.   He was committed to God's mastery.   He introduces himself as Paul, and then he doesn't give a whole lot of credentials.   I just picked up some mail on my desk and in it were two job descriptions, two sort of curriculum vita, they call them CVs, two - I don't mean job descriptions - two job applications, people looking for ministry and giving page after page after page after page of their credentials and their accomplishments and their achievements and all of that. And I wasn't able to receive it with the right frame of mind, having been prepared to preach on Paul who introduces himself as Paul, period - end of discussion, without credentials.

在这简短的四节经文中，你对 保罗的原则行为有奇妙而浓缩的洞察力， 以及是什么使他自信、 有目的、有智慧和有能力。我们上次开始研究这一点， 我向你建议，构成他的生活和事工的第一个原则是他委身于上帝的掌管。 他委身于上帝的掌控。 他介绍自己是保罗， 然后他没有给出太多证书。 我刚刚在办公桌上捡到一些邮件，里面有两份职位描述， 两种简历， 他们称之为简历， 两份——我不是说职位描述——两份工作申请， 人们正在寻找事工，一页又一页地提供他们的证书 、他们的成就和成就等等。 我无法以正确的心态接受它，因为我 已经准备好讲道保罗，保罗自称是保罗，期间 - 讨论结束，没有证书。

The only credentials he offers to us are that he is “a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ.”   That's it.   And what you see there is his commitment to God's mastery over his life.   “Bond-servant” is doulos.   It means “slave” and it carries all the connotations of slavery with it.   The word "apostle," apostolos, is not a dignified, elevated term; it simply means “a messenger,” and a messenger was very often the function - messengering was very often the function of a slave.   He says, "I am under God's mastery and my particular, specific task is to take a message that Jesus Christ wants me to take.   I am a messenger.   I am a slave who is delivering a message."   His whole life was one of submission and yieldedness and slavery and servanthood.   He was committed to that.

他向我们提供的唯一凭证是他 是“上帝的仆人，耶稣基督的使徒”。 就是这样。你在那里看到的是他对上帝掌管他生命的承诺。 “奴仆” 是杜洛斯.它的意思是“奴隶”，它带有奴隶制的所有含义。 “使徒”这个词，阿波斯托洛斯，不是一个端庄， 高级术语;它只是“信使”的意思，而信使通常是功能—— 信使通常是奴隶的功能。 他说：“我在上帝的掌管之下，我特别的、 具体的任务是接受耶稣基督希望我接受的信息。 我是一个信使。 我是一个传递信息的奴隶。 他的一生都是顺服、顺服、奴役和仆人的一生。 他致力于这一点。

Consequently, he didn't do things that could achieve his own goals and his own ends and his own exaltation that could fulfill his own will and his own plans and could lead him to achievements which would some way aggrandize his own life.   He was committed to God's mastery.   That principle in the core of his life affected everything.

因此，他没有做一些可以 实现他自己的目标和目的的事情，也没有做他自己的超升，这些事情可以实现他自己的意志和 计划，并能引导他取得成就，从而在某种程度上夸大他自己的生活。 他委身于上帝的掌控。 他生活核心的这一原则影响了一切。

Then we noted last time a second principle, which we merely began to look at and we will continue this morning.   He was committed to God's mission, he was committed to God's mission.   We find that in verses 1 and 2.   He says in verse 1 that his slavery to God and his apostleship concerning Jesus Christ was “for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness in the hope of eternal life.”   And we'll stop at that point.

然后我们上次注意到第二个原则， 我们只是开始研究它，今天早上我们将继续。 他致力于上帝的使命， 他致力于上帝的使命。 我们在第 1 节和第 2 节中发现了这一点。 他在第1节说，他对上帝的奴役和 他对耶稣基督的使徒身份，是“为 着上帝所拣选的人的信心，并认识真理，就是按着敬虔的，盼望永生”。 到此为止。

There he addresses three things that comprise his understanding of his mission.   His mission was to bring those chosen of God to faith, to bring to those chosen of God who had exercised saving faith the knowledge of the truth, which is for the purpose of godliness and to bring to those who are the chosen of God and the saved the hope of eternal life.

在那里，他谈到了构成他对使命的理解的三件事。 他的使命是带领那些被神拣选的人信主，将真理的知识带给那些运用 得救信心的神所拣选的人，这是为了敬虔的目的，并为 那些被神拣选的人和得救的人带来永生的盼望。

Now look at the first one, we'll just remind you of what we said last time.   He says, "My ministry is for the faith of those chosen of God, or to bring the elect, those chosen by God before the foundation of the world whose names were written in the Lamb's book of life from before the foundation of the world, those who are predestined to be conformed to the image of God's Son - the elect - to bring the elect to the point of saving faith."   That was his mission.

现在看看第一个， 我们只是提醒你我们上次说的话。 他说：“我的事工是为那些被神拣选的人的信心， 或带领那些在创世之前被神拣选的人，那些名字从创世之前就写在羔羊生命册上的人，那些预定要效法 神儿子的形像——选民——将选民带到得救的信心的地步。 这就是他的使命。

In 2 Timothy 2:10, he says it there perhaps even more explicitly, "For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, and with it eternal glory."   Same idea.   My mission is to bring the gospel which can in the power of the Spirit activate saving faith in the elect.   He knew that that divine choice in eternity past is activated by faith; he knew that faith is activated by the Holy Spirit upon the hearing and believing in the gospel.   So his mission was to bring the gospel, which could incite faith in the elect.   We would then say his mission was, first of all, evangelism, evangelism.   He was all about evangelism.   He was all about bringing the saving gospel.

在提摩太后书 2：10，他在那里说得可能更明确， “因此，我为那些被拣选的人忍受一切，使他们也能获得在基督耶稣里的救恩， 并随之得着永恒的荣耀。” 同样的想法。我的使命 是带来福音，在 圣灵的大能中激活选民中得救的信心。 他知道，在永恒过去，神圣的选择是通过信心激活的; 他知道，在 听道和相信福音时 ，圣灵会激活信心。因此，他的使命是带来福音， 福音可以激发选民的信心。 然后，我们会说他的使命首先是传 福音，传福音。他就是传福音。 他就是要带来得救的福音。

Now let's go, secondly, to the second of these issues which we didn't discuss, and we'll pick it up where we left off last time.   Secondly he says, the mission he was given from God was to bring “the knowledge of the truth,” which literally is “for godliness” - which is for the purpose of godliness - to bring “the knowledge of the truth,” that's epignosis.   Gnosis is the word for “knowledge”; epignosis adds a preposition on the front, compounds the word, has the idea of rich knowledge, deep knowledge, thorough knowledge, comprehensive knowledge, full knowledge.   He has in mind the objective of bringing the clear, rich, experiential knowledge of divine altheia, divine truth to people and knows that it will produce godliness.

现在，让我们进入第二个问题，我们没有讨论过， 我们将从上次中断的地方继续讨论。其次，他说， 神赐给他的使命是带来“真理的知识”， 字面意思是“为敬虔” ——也就是为了敬虔的目的——带来“对真理的知识”。 那是会周病。 灵知是“知识”的意思; Epignosis在前面添加一个介词，复合单词， 有知识丰富、 知识渊博、知识通透、知识全面、 知识全的思想。他心中的目标是使 丰富的、体验式的神圣知识阿尔忒亚, 对人们来说是神圣的真理，并且知道它会产生敬虔。

Now just to take that little phrase, because it's very important - "the knowledge of the truth" - and look at it a moment. I want you not to misunderstand it.   Back to 1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 4.   In 1 Timothy 2:4 the apostle Paul says, "God desires all men to be saved.”   “God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

现在只拿那句话， 因为它非常重要——“对真理的认识”——并仔细看看它。 我希望你不要误解它。 回到提摩太前书第2章， 第4节。在提摩太前书 2：4使徒保罗说， “神希望所有人都能得救。” “上帝希望所有人都能得救和认识真理。

Now most likely in that context the phrase "the knowledge of the truth" refers to a saving knowledge.   That is to say a knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which saves.   There he's not talking about a full-orbed doctrinal statement. He's not talking about knowing all there is to know about Scripture; he's talking about saving knowledge.   “The knowledge of the truth” begins, then, at salvation.

现在，在这种情况下，“真理的知识”一词很可能 指的是得救的知识。 也就是说，对耶稣基督的福音的认识，它拯救了人。在那里，他不是在谈论一个完整的教义声明。 他不是在说知道关于圣经的一切知识; 他说的是拯救知识。 因此，“对真理的认识”始于救恩。

Look at 2 Timothy. It encompasses also the knowledge of the gospel.   That's where it starts.   In 2 Timothy 2:25, Paul says that Timothy is to be “able to teach,” and patient and gentle and all of that, in the middle of verse 25, so that God may grant certain people “repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth.”   Now back in 1 Timothy 2:4, “the knowledge of the truth” was linked with salvation; here it's linked with repentance.   In either case it seems to be a gospel knowledge, the knowledge of gospel truth or saving truth.

请看提摩太后书。 它还包括福音的知识。 这就是事情的开始。 在提摩太后书 2：25，保罗说提摩太要“能教导人”， 在第25节的中间，忍耐、温柔等等，好让神赐给某些人“悔改，使人认识真理”。 现在回到提摩太前书 2：4，“真理的知识” 与救赎有关; 在这里，它与悔改有关。 无论哪种情况，它似乎都是一种福音知识，福音真理的知识或得救真理的知识。

Down in chapter 3, verse 7, we find that again, where he talks about unbelievers, false teachers, those who come in the last days and are in error.   And it says of them, they are “always learning and never able to come to” - there's the same phrase – “the knowledge of the truth.”   Three times then in 1 and 2 Timothy we see that phrase "the knowledge of the truth."   It therefore has a gospel connotation.   In other words, you can't be saved until you come to the knowledge of the truth of the gospel, that Jesus died and rose again, and all that is involved in that.

在第3章第 7节，我们再次发现， 他谈到了不信的人、 假教师、末世来的人，他们犯了错误。 关于他们，它说， 他们“总是在学习，却永远无法达到” ——还有同样的一句话——“对真理的认识”。 那么，在提摩太前书和提摩太后书中，我们三次看到“认识真理”这句话。 因此，它具有福音的内涵。换句话说， 除非你认识到福音的真理，耶 稣死了又复活，以及与此有关的一切，否则你无法得救。

But I don't believe that it ends there, because what Titus 1 says - look at it again - is this: that his job was to bring about the saving gospel so that faith could be produced in those that are elect, and then “the knowledge of the truth which is for godliness.”   Now he is saying, “Yes, the knowledge of the truth, of course, starts at salvation, but it continues through sanctification.   It produces godliness.”

但我不相信事情就此结束， 因为提多书 1 章所说的——再看看——是这样的：他的工作是带来 得救的福音，使信心可以在选民身上产生，然后“认识真理，就是为了敬虔”。 现在他说：“ 是的，对真理的认识当然 是从救恩开始的，但它是通过成圣而持续的。它产生敬虔。

Now what is he saying?   He is saying the first phase of my mission is evangelism; the second phase of my mission is edification.   There is a certain amount of edification in evangelism because you have to know so you can believe. But that's not the ending; that's only the beginning.

现在他在说什么？ 他说我使命的第一阶段是传福音; 我使命的第二阶段是造就。 传福音有一定程度的造就，因为你必须知道，这样你才能相信。 但这不是结局，这只是开始。

Look at Titus chapter 2 for a moment.   This is a very important component in the epistle to Titus, and it shows up again, verse 11, "The grace of God has appeared, and that grace has brought salvation and that grace has also” - saving grace – “has also instructed us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and live sensibly, righteously and godly in this present age."   So there is initiated in the knowledge of the truth at salvation an ongoing source of instruction which leads to godliness, righteousness, and the setting aside of worldly desires.   That's because in verse 14 God has called a people for Himself, to be “His own possession,” who are purified and “zealous for good deeds.”

请看提多书第2章。 这是提多书信中非常重要的组成部分， 它再次出现，第 11 节，“神的恩典已经显现， 那恩典带来了救恩，恩典也带来了” ——拯救的恩典 ——“也指示我们否认不敬虔和世俗的欲望，在 当今时代过明智、公义和敬虔的生活。 因此，在得救时对真理的认识中，有一个持续的教导来源，它导致敬虔、 公义和抛开世俗的欲望。 这是因为在第14节中，神呼召了一群人为自己， 成为“自己的产业”，他们被洁净并“热心行善”。

So Paul says, "Look, my first task is evangelism.   My second task is edification.   My first task relates to justification.   My second relates to sanctification. My first is to bring the truth to the elect so they might be saved.   My second is to bring the truth to the elect so they might be sanctified."   And again I note for you that you see the inseparability of justification and sanctification.   They appear here, as so often in the Bible, back to back.   Saving faith is an initial knowledge of the truth, which opens a greater knowledge of the truth, which leads through sanctification to glorification. And glorification, by the way, is a component of his third feature in his mission in verse 2, that which relates to “the hope of eternal life.”   We'll comment on that in a few moments.

所以保罗说：“看哪，我的首要任务是传福音。 我的第二个任务是造就。 我的首要任务与称义有关。 我的第二个是关于成圣的。 我的首要任务是将真理带给选民，这样他们就可以得救。 我的第二个是将真理带给选民， 以便他们能够成圣。 我再次为你们指出，你们看到了称义和成圣的不可分割性。他们在这里出现， 就像圣经中经常出现的那样， 背靠背出现。得救的信心是对真理的初步认识， 它打开了对真理的更大认识， 通过成圣引向荣耀。顺便说一句，荣耀是他在第 2 节使命中的第三个特征的组成部分，即与“永生的盼望”有关。 我们稍后会对此发表评论。

In other words, what he is showing us here, as always in Scripture, is there's an intimate connection between truth and godliness; the knowledge of the truth that saves leads to godliness.   Saving grace, I just read you in Titus 2, instructs “us to deny ungodliness and worldly desire” and leads us into sensible, righteous, and godly living patterns.   A vital possession of truth is always inconsistent with irreverence and ungodliness.   Real truth never deviates from the path of piety. And any profession of the truth that does not lead an individual to live a godly life to one degree or another is a spurious profession. The objective, saving gospel and the subjective godliness correspond to one another inseparably.

换句话说，他在这里向我们展示的是， 正如圣经中一贯的那样， 真理和敬虔之间存在着密切的联系; 认识得救的真理，就导致敬虔。 得救的恩典，我刚刚读到提多书 2 章， 指示我们“要否认不敬虔和世俗的欲望” ，并引导我们进入明智、 公义和敬虔的生活模式。 对真理的至关重要的拥有总是与不敬虔和不敬虔不一致。 真正的真理永远不会偏离虔诚的道路。 任何不能引导个人在某种程度上过敬虔生活的 真理的承认 都是虚假的。客观的、 得救的福音和主观的敬虔是密不可分的对应的。

So Paul says, "My mission is not just evangelism, it is edification."   That certainly is God's plan.   You remember that Peter said, "If you've tasted the kindness of the Lord in salvation, then you certainly want to taste it in sanctification, so lay aside all sin," and all of that other stuff in 2 Peter - or 1 Peter 2:1 - "As babes desire the milk of the mother, you should desire the pure milk of the word."

所以保罗说，“我的使命不仅仅是传福音， 更是造就人。 这当然是上帝的计划。 你还记得彼得说过， “你若尝过主在救恩中的恩典， 那么你当然想在成圣中尝到， 所以要把一切罪放在一边”，以及所有其他的罪 彼得后书中的东西 - 或彼得前书 2：1- “正如婴儿渴望母亲的乳汁一样， 你们应该渴望纯净的道乳。

So Paul is saying here, "Look, I understand that my ministry is, first of all, twofold."   You remember in Ephesians that he said that the Lord had given some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some teaching pastors for the perfecting of the saints, not just for their salvation but to bring them all the way “to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” to make them as fully godlike and Christlike as they can be.   Peter says, "Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." There are many, as you well know, who want to divorce justification and sanctification.   They want to divorce salvation from holiness, but such is not the biblical way.   That is a violation of God's Word, and Paul is very clear about linking the two here.   He insists on this connection.

所以保罗在这里说：“ 看哪，我明白我的事工首先是双重的。 你还记得在以弗所书中 ，他说，主赐给了一些使徒、一些先知、一些传福音的人和一些 教导牧师，是为了成全圣徒， 不仅仅是为了他们的救恩，而且是为了把他们带到“基督丰盛的身量”，使他们尽可能地完全像神一样，像基督一样。 彼得说：“你们要在恩典和认识我们的主救主耶稣基督的知识上成长。 众所周知，有很多人 想要将称义和成圣分开。 他们想将救恩与圣洁分开， 但这不是圣经的方式。 这是对上帝话语的违背，保罗在这里非常清楚地将两者联系起来。他坚持这种联系。

Now just a note about this.   This becomes a key theme in this epistle. There is an address in this epistle clearly to false teachers.   We'll see it as we go through.   In fact, you see it in chapter 1; it's even alluded to in chapter 2; you'll see it again in chapter 3.   So there's obviously very good concern here about false teachers.   The key thing that I want you to note is the condemnation of false teachers in this epistle is related to the failure of their teaching to produce godliness.   In other words, they must be wrong because their teaching doesn't lead to godliness.   You can tell the truth by what it produces.   You can tell error by what it produces.

现在只是关于这一点的注释。 这成为这封书信的一个关键主题。 这封书信中明确地写给假教师。 我们会在经历时看到它。 事实上，你在第一章中看到了这一点; 甚至在第二章中也提到了这一点; 您将在第 3 章中再次看到它。 因此，这里显然对假教师非常担忧。 我想让你注意的关键一点是， 这封书信中对假教师的定罪 与他们的教导未能产生敬虔有关。 换句话说，他们一定是错的，因为他们的教导不会导致敬虔。 你可以通过它产生的东西来说出真相。您可以通过它产生的内容来判断错误。

Look at chapter 1, just as an illustration, verse 10.   "There are many rebellious men, empty talkers, deceivers, especially those of the circumcision."   Now, how do you know these people who come along; and some of them, of course, were teaching a form of Judaizing that you had to go through Mosaic law to be acceptable to God - How do you know?   How do we know that they are rebellious?   How do we know they're empty talkers?   And how do we know they're deceivers?   Go down to verse 16, "They profess to know God but by their” - What? – “deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed."   You can always tell error because of what it produces.   You can always tell a false teacher because of what he produces.   That's exactly what Jesus said in Matthew 7, "You will know them by their” - What? – “their fruit."   And that is a very important point for the apostle Paul to make.   If there is truth - saving truth, sanctifying truth - there will be godliness.

请看第1章， 作为比喻， 第10节。“有许多悖逆的人，空谈者，骗人的，尤其是那些受割礼的人。” 现在，你怎么认识这些人呢？ 当然，他们中的一些人正在教导一种犹太化形式， 你必须通过摩西律法才能被上帝悦纳——你怎么知道？ 我们怎么知道他们是悖逆的呢？ 我们怎么知道他们是空话者？ 我们怎么知道他们是骗子？ 下到第 16 节， “他们自称认识上帝，但不是凭着他们的” ——什么？——“他们否认上帝的行为，是可憎的、悖逆的，对任何善行都毫无价值。 你总是可以判断错误，因为它产生了什么。 你总是可以因为假教师所制造的东西而告诉他。 这正是耶稣在马太福音 7 章所说的， “你们要凭着他们的果子认识他们” ——什么？——“他们的果子”。 这是使徒保罗要提出的一个非常重要的观点。 如果有真理——拯救真理，使真理成圣——就会有敬虔。

Go to chapter 3 for example; look at verse 9, "Shun foolish controversies, genealogies, strife, disputes about the Law, they are unprofitable and worthless."   Why?   They don't produce godliness.   They don't produce virtue.   They don't bring that about. And that is the measure.   And back in chapter 2, as I noted, in verse 12, the implication there is if truth doesn't come along and instruct you “to deny ungodliness and worldly desires,” it isn't truth, it isn't truth.

例如，转到第 3 章; 请看第9节，“你们要避开愚拙的争论、 家谱、纷争、争论律法，都是无益的，毫无价值的。 为什么？他们不会产生敬虔。 它们不会产生美德。 他们没有带来这一点。 这就是衡量标准。 回到第2章， 正如我所指出的，在第12节， 如果真理没有出现并指示你 “否认不敬虔和世俗的私欲”，那么它就不是真理，它不是真理。

We were chosen to be holy.   We were chosen to be blameless.   We were chosen to become a chaste bride.   And the evidence of our election is found in our justification.   And the evidence of our justification is found in our sanctification.   Saving faith is visibly manifest in holy conduct.

我们被拣选为圣洁。 我们被拣选为无可指责的人。 我们被选中成为一个贞洁的新娘。 我们选择的证据可以在我们的辩解中找到。 我们称义的证据是在我们的成圣中找到的。 得救的信心明显地体现在圣洁的行为中。

The apostle Paul even instructed Timothy about this in 1 Timothy.   First Timothy chapter 6, verse 3, "If anybody advocates a different doctrine and doesn't agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing."   If his teaching doesn't produce godliness, it isn't true.

使徒保罗甚至在提摩太前书中指示提摩太这一点。 提摩太前书第6章第 3节，“人若主张别的道理，却不赞同 我们主耶稣基督的道理，不赞同合敬虔的道理，就是自负，一无所知。 如果他的教导没有产生敬虔，那就不是真的。

I can't resist another illustration of this.   First Thessalonians 4, verse 7, "God has not called us for the purpose of impurity but in sanctification."   He has called us with a view toward sanctification.

我无法抗拒另一个例子。帖撒罗尼迦前书 4 章第 7 节，“神呼召我们，不是要 污秽，乃是要成圣。 他呼召我们是为了成圣。

Peter put it this way, 2 Peter 1:3, "His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the deep, true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence."   Then this: "In order that you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust."

彼得这样说， 彼得后书 1：3，“他的神圣力量已授予 我们通过对那位以自己的荣耀和卓越 呼召我们的那位的深刻而真实的认识，得知了与生命和敬虔有关的一切。 然后是这样说的：“为要使你们能成为神性有分的人，脱离了世上因私欲而败坏的污秽。

Salvation is an escape from ungodliness; it is escape from the dominion of sin; it is escape from the corruption of lust.   This is the purpose, Paul says, for my bringing to you the knowledge of the truth so that there might be an initial sanctification at the moment of salvation and an ongoing sanctification until the moment of glorification.   So Paul says, “My mission is clear, to awaken saving faith in the elect and then give them the knowledge of God's truth so that they may live holy lives.”   And there is an ongoing element to that for sure, and that is precisely why the apostle Paul said to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 4, "Have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women, on the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things.”   You must discipline yourself for godliness.

救恩是逃避不敬虔; 这是逃离罪的统治; 这是对情欲腐败的逃避。 保罗说，这就是我把真理的知识带给你们的目的 ，好使在得救的那一刻，有最初的成圣，并持续成圣，直到得荣耀的那一刻。 所以保罗说：“我的使命很明确， 就是要唤醒选民得救的信心，然后让他们认识神的真理，使他们过圣洁的生活。 这肯定有一个持续的因素， 这正是为什么使徒保罗在提摩太前书第4章对提摩太说：“不要与只适合老妇人的世俗寓言有关， 反过来，要为敬虔的目的约束自己; 因为身体的管教只是无益，敬虔却有益于万物。 你必须为了敬虔而约束自己。

You say, "Now wait a minute, I thought this was an inevitability.   I thought salvation was unto godliness."   It is.   Just like election is unto salvation.   But election, though it's unto salvation, doesn't become salvation until there is personal faith.   And sanctification doesn't become sanctification until there's personal obedience.   The pattern is the same.   God elects, but that election never becomes reality until saving faith is exercised. And God saves unto sanctification, but that sanctification doesn't become reality until there is disciplined obedience to godliness.   And the means of this, of course, Paul tells Timothy, is to preach the Word, to prescribe the Word, to exhort with the Word, to give your attention to the Word, read the Word, explain the Word, apply the Word, as he says in 1 Timothy 4:13.

你说，“现在等一下， 我以为这是不可避免的。 我以为救恩是出于敬虔。 是的。就像拣选是为了救恩一样。 但是，拣选虽然是为了得救，但 直到有个人信心，才会成为救恩。 在个人顺服之前，成圣不会成为成圣。 模式是一样的。 神拣选，但这种拣选永远不会成为现实，直到得救的信心被运用出来。 神拯救成圣，但这种成圣直到有纪律地顺服敬虔，才会成为现实。 当然，保罗告诉提摩太，这样做的方法是传道，规定道，用道劝勉，把注意力放在道上， 阅读圣言，解释圣言，应用圣言，正如他在提摩太前书 4：13.

The Word, sound doctrine, was absolutely vital, because people aren't going to become sanctified without the Word any more than they're going to become saved even though they're elect without the Word.   So Paul says my mission is clear: awake in saving faith in the elect and bring about the deep knowledge of God's truth so that they may progress on the path toward godliness.

神的话语，纯正的教义，是绝对重要的，因为人没有神的话语就 不会成圣，就像他们没有神的话语被拣选一样，即使他们是没有神的话语而蒙拣选的。 因此，保罗说我的使命很明确：在拣选之人得救的信心中醒来，并带来对神真理的深刻认识，以便他们能够在通往敬虔的道路上进步。

Thirdly, not only evangelism and edification, but the third component in his ministry was, I guess, what you could call encouragement - to stick with the alliteration - encouragement.   In verse 2 he says another component is to produce in people “the hope of eternal life.”   The context of this faith and knowledge is “in the hope of eternal life.”   That's sort of a pervading reality.   There's a past component here, and the past is election and salvation.   In the present is edification and sanctification.   In the future is anticipation and glorification.   Paul says, “I'm all about all of those.   My mission is to give the saved and the sanctified hope, to provide the context of hope for them to live in, to preach” - What do you mean, preach hope?   I'll tell you what he means - to preach an eternal heaven, to preach an eternal salvation, to preach a returning Christ.   That's what he means - a real heaven, a secure salvation, and a returning Christ.   As he says in Titus 2:13, there is in the very heart of the gospel, right in the heart of it, the “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.”   That's right at the heart of our faith.   Even in chapter 3 and verse 7 he talks about the fact that we've been “justified by His grace in order that we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

第三，不仅是传福音和造就，而且他事工的第三个组成部分， 我想，你可以称之为鼓励——坚持头衔——鼓励。 在第2节中，他说另一个组成部分是在人里面产生“永生的盼望”。 这种信心和知识的背景是“对永生的盼望”。 这是一个普遍存在的现实。 这里有一个过去的成分， 过去是拣选和救赎。 现在是造就和成圣。 未来是期待和荣耀。 保罗说：“我对所有这些都感兴趣。 我的使命是给得救和成圣的人带来希望，为他们提供希望的背景，让他们生活， 传道“——你是什么意思， 传福音？我会告诉你他的意思 - 宣讲永恒的天堂，宣讲永恒的救恩，宣讲再来的基督。 这就是他的意思——真正的天堂、安全的救恩和 再来的基督。 正如他在提多书 2：13，在福音的核心， 就在它的核心，“寻找我们伟大的神和救主基督耶稣的有 福的盼望和荣耀的显现”。这正是我们信仰的核心。 甚至在第3章和第7节中，他也谈到 我们“因他的恩典称义，使我们可以照着永生的盼望成为后嗣”。

Now you say, "Well what does it mean to hope in eternal life?   Is it a wish?"   No.   We say, "I hope something's going to happen"; we mean we wish it would happen.   That's not what the Bible means.   Hope is not a wish.   Hope is not something uncertain or something doubtful or something possible or something maybe.   Hope is believing what is not yet yours but will be.   That's what hope is in the Bible.   It is believing what is not yet yours fully as a present possession, but is absolutely, unequivocally, certainly, unchangeably guaranteed to be yours some day.   And that's heaven, and that's eternal glory. And that's a coming Christ.   And that's a place to live in the Father's house. And that's an eternal reward. And that's eternal service and eternal praise and eternal worship and eternal blessing.   It's all promised to us.   That promise is absolutely secure.   We have the Holy Spirit as the down payment on that promise, the earnest of our expectation and our hope.   We have the intercession of Jesus Christ at the right hand of God as our high priest, and no one can accuse the brethren successfully.   No one can lay any charge to God's elect.   God has already justified us, and Christ continues to intercede for us on our behalf against the accusations of our enemy.

现在你说，“那么，对永生的盼望是什么意思？ 这是一个愿望吗？ 不。 我们说，“我希望某件事会发生”;我们的意思是我们希望它会发生。 这不是圣经的意思。 希望不是愿望。希望不是不确定的、可疑的、 可能的或可能的。希望是相信还不是你的，但会是你的。 这就是圣经中的希望。 就是相信尚未完全属于你的事物，作为现在的财产，但绝对、 明确、肯定、不可改变地保证有一天会成为你的。 这就是天堂， 那是永恒的荣耀。那是一位即将来临的基督。 那是住在天父家里的地方。这是永恒的奖赏。 这就是永恒的服事、永恒的赞美 、永恒的敬拜和永恒的祝福。 这一切都应许给我们了。 这个应许是绝对稳妥的。 我们有圣灵作为这个应许的首付，是我们殷切期待和盼望的。 我们有耶稣基督作为大祭司在神右边代求，没有人能成功控告弟兄们。没有人能对神的选民提出任何指控。神已经使我们称义， 基督继续为我们代求，对抗仇敌的控告。

You say, "What's the value of knowing that the Lord is in heaven preparing a place for us?   What's the value of knowing all of that?"   The value of it, Paul is saying here, is that hope of eternal life becomes an encouragement in a multiplicity of ways.   First, it's an encouragement toward holiness.   First John 3 says, in verses 1 to 3, in that wonderful little section, "It doesn't yet appear what we'll be, we know when we see Him we'll be like Him,” and he says, “the man who has this hope in him purifies himself."   It's a purifying hope.   If I know that I'm going to face Christ, that I'm going to live in His eternal heaven, that I'm headed for glory and the perfection of a sinless, of a sinless environment forever, that purifies my life.   That puts back pressure on me to live a holy life.

你说：“知道 主在天上为我们预备一个地方有什么价值呢？ 知道这一切有什么价值？保罗在这里说，永 生的盼望的价值在于，永生的盼望以多种方式成为一种鼓励。 首先，它是对圣洁的鼓励。 约翰一书第3章在第1节到第3节， 在那段美妙的小部分说， “我们还没有显现出我们将来会成为什么样子， 我们知道我们看见他的时候，我们就要像他一样了” ，他说，“在他里面有这盼望的人，就洁净了自己。 这是一个净化的希望。 如果我知道我将面对基督， 我将生活在他永恒的天堂中， 我将走向荣耀和无罪、无罪环境的完美，永远净化我的生命。这给我带来了压力，让我过圣洁的生活。

Further, it encourages me toward service. When I understand that some day I'll stand before Him to receive a reward for the things done in my body, whether they be good or worthless, and that they can be gold, silver, precious stones, or wood, hay and stubble.   The knowledge of that causes me to be motivated and encouraged toward faithful service, does it not?   That I might hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

此外，它鼓励我去服务。 当我明白有一天我会站在祂面前 ，为我身体所做的事获得奖赏，无论它们是好的还是毫无价值的，它们可以是金、银、宝石、 木头、干草和残茬。 知道这一点，我就会受到激励和鼓励去忠心事奉， 不是吗？这样我就可以听到：“做得好，良善而忠心的仆人。

Furthermore, the knowledge that some day I will be delivered from sin and sorrow and sickness and illness and pain and disappointment and problems and death encourages me to be able to endure anything in this life - so it encourages me in suffering.   I know that some day this vile body shall be changed and made like His glorious body, as Paul told the Philippians in chapter 3.   I live in that hope.   That is an encouraging hope.   It encourages me to holiness.   It encourages me to service.   It encourages me to endure through the difficulties and the sorrows of life. And so, like Paul said in Romans 12:12, I can rejoice in hope.   I can't always rejoice in my trouble; I can rejoice in hope, he says, and thus I can persevere in tribulation.

此外，知道有一天我会 从罪恶、悲伤、疾病 、疾病、痛苦、失望、问题和死亡中被拯救出来，这鼓励我能够忍受今生的任何事情—— 所以它鼓励我在苦难中。 我知道有一天，这卑鄙的身体会被改变，变得像他荣耀的身体一样，正如保罗在第3章告诉腓立比人一样。 我活在这种希望中。 这是一个令人鼓舞的希望。 它鼓励我成为圣洁。 它鼓励我服务。 它鼓励我忍受生活中的困难和悲伤。 所以，就像保罗在罗马书 12：12，我可以在希望中欢欣鼓舞。 我不能总是为我的麻烦而高兴; 他说，我可以在盼望中欢欣鼓舞，因此我可以在患难中坚持下去。

This is the hope that sustains me.   This is the hope that inspires me to holiness, to service, and through suffering.   Why?   Because I know precisely what Paul says in Romans 8 is indeed true.   Listen to these words, "I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us."   There's no comparison between the pain here and the glory there. And so “we hope for what we have not seen and with perseverance we wait eagerly for it,” verse 25 says.   Thus verse 24, "in hope we have been saved."

这是支撑我的希望。 这是激励我成圣、 服事和经历苦难的希望。 为什么？因为我确切地知道保罗在罗马书第8章所说的确实是真实的。 请听这些话：“ 我认为现在的苦难不配与将要显现给我们的荣耀相提并论。 这里的痛苦和那里的荣耀之间没有可比性。 因此，第25节说，“我们盼望所未见的，我们就持着毅力热切等候” 。因此，第 24 节，“我们希望我们得救了”。

Paul's mission is very clear.   He was to bring the elect to saving faith by the gospel.   He was to bring the saved to sanctification by teaching them the full knowledge of God through sound doctrine that would lead them to holiness of life.   And he was to make crystal clear in their minds the reality of eternal life - that great and glorious hope that motivates toward purity and motivates toward service and galvanizes them through all the sufferings and struggles of life because they anticipate the eternal, heavenly glory. There is the sum of all his ministry, and all my ministry, and all your ministry packed in those simple and straightforward words.   He was committed to God's mission, which was clear in his mind - evangelism, edification, encouragement.

保罗的使命非常明确。 他要通过福音带领选民获得得救的信心。 他要带领得救的人成圣，通过纯正的教义 教导他们完全认识上帝，引导他们走向圣洁的生活。 他要在他们的脑海中清楚地看到永生的现实—— 那伟大而荣耀的盼望，激励他们走向纯洁，激励他们去服务，并激励他们度过生命中所有的苦难和挣扎 ，因为他们期待着永恒的、天国的荣耀。 这是他所有事工、 我所有事工 和你所有事工的总和，都装在那些简单明了的话语中。 他致力于上帝的使命， 这在他脑海中是清晰的——传福音、造就、鼓励。

Thirdly, he was committed to God's message, he was committed to God's message.   Verse 2, all of this, he says, "which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, but at the proper time manifested in His word."   It's an obvious corollary to the last point.   All that God's mission required of him was revealed in God's Word.   Whatever he had to preach that would bring the truth to the elect.   Whatever he had to preach that would bring the elect and the saved to sanctification.   Whatever he had to preach to give them hope would come out of the Scripture.   That's what he's saying.   All of this mission is tied to the message “which God, who can't lie, promised long ago and at the proper time manifested it in His word.”

第三，他委身于上帝的信息， 他致力于上帝的信息。 第2节，他说，“神不能说谎，在很久以前就应许了，但在适当的时候，在祂的话语中显明了。 这是最后一点的明显推论。 上帝的使命对他的要求，都在上帝的话语中得到了启示。 无论他要传什么，都能把真理带给选民。 无论他要宣讲什么，都能把选民和得救的人带到圣洁中。 无论他要传什么给他们希望，都会从圣经中出来。 这就是他在说的。 所有这些使命都与“神不能 说谎，很久以前就应许了，并在适当的时候在他的话语中彰显出来”的信息联系在一起。

This is a tremendous statement here, and I want you to think with me - we're not going to get beyond this point, but I don't want you to miss this one.   He is saying, “the truth - which is the content of all my mission, the content of my evangelism, the content of my edification and the content of my encouragement - this truth comes from God. That's more than I can say for the error that the false teachers are propagating.   That's more than I can say for the lies of the Cretans, who are liars,” as he says down in verse 13, or verse 12.   “That's more than I can say for the false teachers.   Furthermore, not only does this come from God, who can't lie, but it was promised long ages ago, which is more than I can say for all that false teaching which just popped up in people's minds recently.   And this truth, which comes from God, was at the proper time manifested in His Word.”   So he is saying, “My message is confined to the Word of God which is the revelation of a plan that God has prepared long ago.   All that pertains to the hope of eternal life, all that pertains to the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, all that pertains to the gospel that saves the elect is found nowhere else but in the Word.”

这是一个巨大的声明， 我希望你和我一起思考——我们不会超越这一点， 但我不希望你错过这一点。 他说，“真理——这是我所有使命的内容， 我传福音的内容，我造就的内容，我鼓励的内容—— 这个真理是从神而来的。 对于假教师所传播的错误，我所能说的要多得多。 这比我能说的克里特岛人的谎言还要多，他们是说谎的，“正如他在第 13 节 或第 12 节中所说的那样。“这比我对假教师所能说的要多。 此外，这不仅来自不会说谎的上帝，而且很久以前就应许过了， 这比我 最近在人们脑海中突然出现的所有错误教导来说都多。 这真理，从神而来，在适当的时候，在祂的话语中显现出来。 所以他说：“ 我的信息仅限于神的话语，这是 神很久以前就预备的计划的启示。 所有与永生的盼望有关的，所有与通往敬虔的真理的知识有关的，所有与拯救选民的福音有关的， 除了话语之外，别无他处。

So, let's take those little pieces that I've shared with you out of that point and let's break them out a little.   He says, "God who cannot lie."   Obviously, if you read your Bible, you know that Scripture affirms this.   You can read 1 Samuel 15:29 and it will introduce you to the God who cannot lie.   You can read Hebrews 6:18 and you will hear that it is impossible for God to lie.   Satan, of course, in John 8:44 is designated as “the father of liars” and a liar, if anything. But here is the “God who cannot lie,” the God who always speaks the truth.   So whatever He says is absolutely right and true.

因此，让我们把我与大家分享的那些小片段从这一点中解开，让我们把它们分解一下。 他说：“不会说谎的神。 显然，如果你读过圣经， 你就会知道圣经肯定了这一点。 你可以阅读撒母耳记上 15：29它会把你介绍给那位不会说谎的神。 你可以阅读希伯来书 6：18你必听见，神不可能说谎。 当然，撒旦在约翰福音 8：44被指定为“骗子之父” 如果有的话，还有一个说谎的人。但这里有一位“不会说谎的神”， 这位总是说实话的神。因此，无论他说什么，都是绝对正确的。

Notice, please, this “God who cannot lie” put all of this together long ages ago.   Now let me give you the literal Greek, "Before the times of the ages,” “before the times of the ages."   Now if you take that literal rendering, then you have to ask the question, if God promised this before the times of the ages, if He promised it before time, then He had to promise it in eternity.   Now you ask yourself the question, “To whom did He promise it?”   Not Moses, not Abraham, not Adam, not any of the patriarchs.   To whom did He promise this?   "Before the times of the ages."   Interesting question.

请注意，这位“不会说谎的神”在很久以前就把这一切放在一起了。 现在让我给你一个字面的希腊语， “在万世之前”， “在万世 之前”。现在，如果你接受这个字面翻译， 那么你就必须问一个问题， 如果神在万世之前就应许了这一点， 如果他在时间之前应许了，那么他就必须在永恒中应许它。 现在你问自己一个问题：“ 他应许给谁 ？不是摩西，不是亚伯拉罕，不是亚当，不是任何一个族长。 他应许给谁呢？”在万代之前。“有趣的问题。

Second Timothy 1:9 gives us a hint.   It says that God “saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all” - What? – “eternity.”   Now we're learning that whatever He promised before time in eternity related to the One we know as Christ Jesus.   It is now revealed but it was promised from all eternity.

提摩太后书 1：9给了我们一个提示。 它说上帝“拯救了我们，并用圣洁的呼召召我们， 不是根据我们的行为， 而是按照他自己的旨意和恩典，这是在基督耶稣里从众人中赐给我们的”——什么？——“永恒”。现在我们了解到， 无论他在永恒的未来之前所应许的，都与我们所知道的基督耶稣有关。 它现在被启示了，但它是从永恒开始应许的。

Listen carefully.   The covenant of redemption, the covenant to redeem man, was ratified before creation.   It was ratified before time.   Look at Hebrews 13 - now keep following - Hebrews 13, verse 20.   This is a benediction, a wonderful one: "Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep” - that's Christ – “through the blood of the” - What kind of covenant? – “eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord."   The God of peace, the same God who resurrected Jesus Christ through the blood of the eternal covenant - there was an eternal covenant that God made before time began, which was a covenant of redemption.

䏃。救赎之约，救赎人的约，在创造之前就已经被批准了。 它提前获得批准。 请看希伯来书 13 章 - 现在继续跟着 - 希伯来书 13 章， 第 20 节。这是一个祝福， 一个奇妙的祝福：“那赐平安的神， 使羊的大牧人从死里复活” ——这就是基督——“借着他的血” ——什么样的圣约？ – “永恒的约， 就是我们的主耶稣。” 和平的神，那位借着永约的宝血 复活耶稣基督的神——神在时间开始之前就立下了永恒的约，那就是救赎的约。

Now look at John 17, and you'll see the nature of this covenant.   John 17 - John's gospel - 17, verse 24 - this is such a marvelous truth.   "Father” - John 17:24, Jesus is praying here – “Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am."   Who are these?   What do you mean?   “I want You to give Me the ones You have given Me to be with Me where I am in order that they can behold My glory which You've given Me.   Who are these people “whom You have given Me” that He's talking about?   Believers, believers.   Jesus is saying this: "Father, You have designed to give Me a redeemed humanity.   You promised You were going to give them to Me.   Father, I want them to be with Me in My glory."

现在看看约翰福音17章， 你就会看到这个约的性质。 约翰福音 17 章 - 约翰福音 - 17， 第 24 节 - 这是一个多么奇妙的真理。 “父亲”——约翰福音 17：24，耶稣在这里祷告 – “天父，我希望他们也， 你赐给我的，在 我所在的地方与我同在。 这些是谁？你是什么意思？ “我希望你把你赐给我的人赐给我 ，让他们在我所在的地方与我同在，以便他们 能够看到你赐给我的荣耀。 他所说的 这些“你赐给我”的人是谁？ 信徒，信徒。耶稣是这样说的：“父啊， 你设计要给我一个被救赎的人性。 你应许过要把它们交给我。 天父啊，我希望他们在我的荣耀中与我同在。

Go back to John 6, the last text in this little look and then I'll pull it together.   In John 6, verse 37, Jesus says, "All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I'll not, certainly not cast out." Why?   Because anybody who comes to Christ is a gift from God.   That's right, is a gift from God.   Verse 39, "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me, I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day." The Lord says, “When they come, I won't turn them down, and once they've arrived I'll keep them, because the Father is sending them and He wants me to hold on to them.”

回到约翰福音 6 章， 这是这个小小外观的最后一段经文，然后我将把它放在一起。 在约翰福音6章第37节，耶稣说：“父所赐给我的，都必到我这里来，到我这里来的，我必不赶出。 为什么？因为任何信靠基督的人都是神的恩赐。 没错，是上帝赐予的礼物。 第39节，“那差我来的，就是他所赐给我的一切，我一无所失，只要在末日兴起。 主说：“他们来了， 我不会拒绝他们， 他们到了，我就留住他们， 因为父差遣他们，他要我抓住他们。

And verse 40, "This is the will of the Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."   And verse 44, "No one comes to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I'll raise him up on the last day."

第40节，“父的旨意是这样的， 叫一切看见子而信他的，都可以得永生， 在末日我自己要叫他复活。 第 44 节，“若不是差我来的父吸引他，没有人到我这里来; 我会在最后一天把他扶起来。

Here's the covenant, here's the eternal covenant.   The Father, God, says to the Lord, Christ, in eternity past, "I love You, I love You so much I want to give You something, and what I want to give You is a redeemed humanity.   I want to create a race of people and I want to redeem them, and I want to give them to You as a gift, and I want to give them to You to love You and adore You and honor You and praise You and worship You forever and ever."   That's why there is a salvation because God predetermined in eternity past to give a love gift to the Lord, and everybody who is saved is a part of that elect and chosen, predestined group of humanity that is going to be the love gift from the Father to the Son. That's why nobody ever gets saved unless the Father draws them, because the Father knows who it is He's giving the Son.   That's why the Son never loses the ones who come because He holds on with tenacity to the precious gift that God the Father has given to Him.

这是圣约， 这是永恒的圣约。 父，神，在永恒的过去对主基督说：“ 我爱你，我非常爱你，我想给你一些东西， 而我想给你的是被救赎的人性。 我想创造一个种族的人，我想救赎他们， 我想把他们作为礼物送给你， 我想把他们交给你，让他们爱你、 崇拜你、尊敬你、赞美你、敬拜你，直到永永远远。」 这就是为什么有救恩，因为上帝在永恒的过去预定要给主一份爱的礼物， 每个得救的人都是那个被拣选和拣选的、预定的人类群体的一部分，这将成为圣父给圣子的爱的礼物。 这就是为什么除非天父吸引他们，否则没有人能得救， 因为天父知道他要把谁赐给儿子。 这就是为什么圣子永远不会失去那些来的人，因为他顽强地抓住 父神赐给他的宝贵礼物。

We are that redeemed humanity.   And that is precisely the plan of redemption that is revealed in Scripture.   Wonder of wonders, the day will come when God the Father will have drawn all of the predestined and elect humanity.   They will have come to faith; they will embrace Christ; Christ will hold on to them; and all of them together will arrive in glory.   And they will be the love gift from the Father to the Son.   And they will spend all eternity praising and honoring and serving and glorifying.   And you know what is especially wonderful and remarkable?   According to 1 Corinthians 15:28, it says the Son takes them all and gives them back to the Father, so that God may be all and in all.

我们就是那个被救赎的人类。 而这正是圣经所启示的救赎计划。奇迹中的奇迹，父神将吸引所有预定和拣选的人类 的那一天将到来。 他们会信主; 他们会拥抱基督; 基督会抓住他们; 他们都将一起在荣耀中到达。 它们将成为圣父送给圣子的爱的礼物。 他们将用永恒的时间赞美、荣耀、服事和荣耀。 你知道什么特别美妙和非凡吗？ 根据哥林多前书 15：28, 它说，子把他们都拿走，还给父， 好叫神成为万有，在万有之中。

Do you understand that we frail, little human beings are really caught up in an immense and eternal covenant that two members of the Trinity have made between each other to demonstrate the profundity and the extent of their love?   “It is this plan,” Paul says, “it is this covenant which was promised before time began by God who can't lie that has been at the proper time manifested both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament through the Word of God.   That's my message.   My mission and the content of it is defined in the Word of God, which reveals God's eternal covenant.   Whatever I want to preach about evangelism, I have to get out of here. Whatever I want to preach about edification, I have to get out of here.   Whatever I want to preach about encouragement, I have to get out of here because this is the manifestation of the truth regarding the eternal covenant.”   And then you ask yourself the very obvious question, “How in the world can people stand up and preach anything but the Word of God?   What else is there?”   What believers experience as to salvation, what they experience as to sanctification, what they experience as to glorification is because God made an eternal promise to the Lord and revealed that eternal promise in His Word so that we could understand it.

你明白我们这些脆弱的小 人类真的陷入了三 位一体的两个成员彼此之间所立的巨大而永恒的圣约中，以表明他们爱的深刻性和范围吗？ 保罗说 ：“正是这个计划，就是在时间开始之前，神所应许的，神不能说谎，在适当的时候，通过神的话语，在 旧约和新约中都彰显出来。 这就是我的信息。 我的使命及其内容在上帝的话语中得到了定义， 它揭示了上帝永恒的圣约。 无论我想宣讲什么关于传福音的事， 我都必须离开这里。 无论我想宣讲什么关于造就的， 我都必须离开这里。 无论我想宣讲什么关于鼓励的话， 我都必须离开这里，因为这是 关于永约真理的彰显。 然后你问自己一个非常明显的问题， “除了神的话语之外，人们怎么能站起来传讲任何东西呢？ 还有什么？ 信徒在救恩方面所经历的，他们在成圣方面所经历的，他们在荣耀方面所经历的，是因为 神向主许下了永恒的应许，并在 祂的话语中启示了这个永恒的应许，以便我们能够理解它。

The plan was designed by a trustworthy God, given as a promise to the Lord, and then in being fulfilled in all eternity will be given back to God reciprocally.

这个计划是由一位值得信赖的上帝设计的， 作为对主的应许， 然后在永恒中实现，将相互归还给上帝。

This great, eternal plan we know about because “at the proper time,” in due time, in God's own kairos, in God's own season, in God's own era He revealed it. And He manifested the realities of that eternal covenant.   How?   "Even His word” - that's where it's contained, in His Word - Old Testament, New Testament.   “God, at sundry times and divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, has now spoken unto us by his Son” - Old Testament prophets and the fathers; New Testament the Son and the apostles.   Listen, no false teacher ever had that kind of message.   The message of the false teacher doesn't come from the God who can't lie; it comes from the devil who lies all the time.   The message of the false teacher wasn't, wasn't an eternal covenant made before time began before anything was ever created, that covenant, that promise, that message that comes from the false teacher was concocted by the mind of man in time, or demons.   That which comes from the false teacher never comes through the Word, because the Word is pure and it manifests only God's truth.

我们知道这个伟大而永恒的计划，因为“在适当的时候” 在适当的时候，在上帝自己的凯罗斯, 在神自己的季节， 在神自己的时代，他启示了它。 他彰显了那永恒之约的现实。 如何？“甚至他的话”——这就是它包含的地方，在他的话语中——旧约，新约。 “神，在以前先知对列祖说过的各种时间和不同的礼仪， 现在已经借着他的儿子对我们说话了” ——旧约先知和列祖; 新约圣子和使徒。 听着，从来没有假教师有过这样的信息。 假教师的信息不是来自不会说谎的神; 它来自一直说谎的魔鬼。 假教师的信息不是， 不是在任何事物被创造之前，在时间开始之前就立下的永恒圣约，那个圣约， 那个应许，那个来自 假教师的信息，是由人的思想在时间中或鬼魔编造的。 来自假教师的，从来都不是通过神的话语而来的， 因为神的话语是纯洁的，它只彰显神的真理。

And so, Paul says, "My message is the Word."   That's why he so clearly expresses the fact that the Word of God, the Word of God is inspired - every part, every part – “so that the man of God may become perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”   That was his passion.

因此，保罗说：“我的信息就是道。 这就是为什么他如此清楚地表达了这样一个事实，即神的话语， 神的话语是默示的——每一部分， 每一部分——“使属神的人成为完全，完全地被供应到一切善行。这就是他的热情所在。

The man functioned from principle.   The driving principles at the core of his life, very clear - committed to God's mastery, God's mission, God's message - revealed in Scripture. And it was because of those principles that this man operated the way he did -   confidently, purposefully, wisely, and powerfully.   And it really is the way we need to operate.   Certainly those are the things that should be true of my life and yours.   You're to be under God's mastery; you're to be evangelizing, edifying, and encouraging at whatever level God has allowed you to have influence. And you're certainly, you're certainly to be one who proclaims and articulates the Word of God.   Live your life according to those commitments and you'll be effective and useful and fruitful.

这个人是从原则出发的。 他生命核心的驱动原则非常 明确——致力于上帝的掌控、 上帝的使命、上帝的信息——在圣经中揭示。 正是因为这些原则，这个人才以他的方式运作——自信、 有目的、明智和有力。这确实是我们需要的运作方式。 当然，这些都是我和你的生活应该发生的事情。 你要在上帝的掌管之下; 你要在 上帝允许你施加影响的任何层面上传福音、造就和鼓励。 你当然，你肯定要成为一个宣讲和阐明上帝话语的人。 按照这些承诺生活 ，你就会变得有效、有用和富有成效。

Well, there's two more points, but we'll have to keep those for next time.

好吧，还有两点，但我们必须保留到下次。

Father, again this morning we are overwhelmed by the power of Your truth.   We are literally carried to levels of comprehension that defy our understanding when we think that some time before there was creation, once before there was even time, You wanted to show Your love to the Lord Christ, and so You made an eternal promise to redeem some out of humanity to give Him as a gift of love - and You chose us.   We'll never know why.   We don't deserve it.   We're astounded and we're grateful.   And then, Lord, thank You, too, for committing unto us the task of serving You, being under Your mastery, fulfilling Your mission to bring the gospel to people, and to bring the edifying truth that leads to godliness to people, and bringing encouragement and doing that through Your message, the Word.   Give us the humble heart of a slave, the faithfulness of a messenger who knows the message, the loyalty to Your Word that being effective demands, so that we can live by those principles and be powerful and wise and purposeful and confident as we give our lives for You for Christ's sake.   Amen.

天父啊，今天早上，我们再次被你真理的大能所淹没。 当我们想到在创造之前的一段时间， 甚至在时间之前， 你想向主基督展示你的爱， 所以你做出了一个永恒的应许，要从人类中救赎一些人，把他作为爱的礼物献给他——而你选择了我们，我们确实被带到了违背我们理解的层次。 我们永远不知道为什么。 我们不配。 我们感到震惊，我们很感激。 然后，主啊，也感谢你委托给我们事奉你的任务， 在你的掌管之下， 完成你的使命，将福音带给人们，将导致敬虔的造就真理带给人们，并通过你的信息，即话语带来鼓励和这样做 。求你赐给我们奴隶的谦卑之心，知道信息的使者的忠心，对祢话语的忠诚，这才是有效的，这样我们就可以按照这些原则生活，当我们为基督的缘故为祢献出生命时，我们能大能、有智慧、有目的、有自信 。阿门。