1. Hello, listening friends.
亲爱的朋友，你好。

2. If you are joining this broadcast for the first time,
如果你第一次听我们的节目，

3. we are going through a series of messages on 1 Peter.
现在我们正在讲，彼得前书里的系列资讯。

4. Today, we are going to look at the conduct and humility of the blessed.
今天我们要讲一个蒙福的人如何谦卑，以及他的言行举止是怎样的。

5. Peter tells us that the Christian conduct is a lifestyle.
彼得说，基督徒的行为就是他的生活方式。

6. He is telling us that the Christian conduct is a consistent and persistent behavior.
他告诉我们，基督徒的行为是一贯的，而且是持久的，

7. In other words, a believer is not one person in public and another person in private.
换句话说，基督徒在人前人后都是表里一致的。

8. In 1 Peter chapter 4 verses 7 to 11,
彼得前书四章7-11节那里说，

9. Peter gives us four characteristics for the conduct of the blessed and faithful.
彼得列出了一个蒙福又忠诚的基督徒，在他的行为上，会表现出的四个特点，

10. Let’s go through them now.
让我们一项一项来看。

11. Number one,
第一，

12. there is a discipline in prayer.
就是儆醒祷告。

13. Number two,
第二，

14. there is a devotion to love.
就是切实相爱。

15. Number three,
第三，

16. there is a dedication to hospitality.
就是互相款待。

17. Number four,
第四，

18. there is demonstration of the use of the spiritual gifts.
就是善用属灵的恩赐。

19. These are the four characteristics that summarize the conduct of the blessed and faithful.
这就是蒙福又忠诚的行为所表现的四个特点，

20. Let’s now look at them one by one.
让我们一项一项地来看。

21. First, a believer’s conduct includes discipline in prayer.
第一，基督徒的行为包括儆醒祷告。

22. My listening friends, please listen carefully.
亲爱的朋友，请仔细听我说，

23. Prayer is easy.
祷告是很容易的，

24. Many people will tell you the opposite is true.
但很多人会反过来对你说，

25. They say prayer is hard.
祷告是很难的。

26. How can you find time for prayer?
你什么时候祷告呢？

27. My friend, what I mean is this,
亲爱的朋友，我的意思是，

28. it is easy for us to pray when we want something from God.
当我们对神有所求时，很愿意祷告；

29. Prayer is easy when you are desperate.
当你情急时，你就会祷告；

30. Prayer is easy when you are at your wit’s end.
当你走投无路时，你很快就祷告；

31. Prayer is easy when the doctor has given up.
当医生束手无策时，你立刻就祷告；

32. Prayer is easy when you know that your needs can only be met by God alone.
当你发现除了神以外，没有人能满足你时，你马上就祷告；

33. At these times, you don’t have to discipline yourself in prayer.
在这些时候，你不需要督促自己儆醒祷告，

34. On the contrary, you are pounding on the doors of heaven until your spiritual knuckles are broken.
相反的，你会用力地敲天堂的门，直到你属灵的手都敲伤了。

35. But that’s not what Peter is talking about here.
但彼得在这里所说的不是这个意思，

36. What Peter is talking about here is the discipline of spending time with God daily.
彼得的意思是，要每天花时间，儆醒地与神相交，

37. The discipline of spending time with God as a friend spends time with a friend.
就像跟好朋友相处那样，花时间亲近神。

38. The discipline of spending time with God and expressing gratitude of a recipient to the giver.
花时间亲近神，感谢祂赐恩惠给我们；

39. The discipline of spending time with God and delighting in the person of enormous loving generosity.
花时间亲近神，告诉这位满有慈爱又丰富的神，我们多么高兴能认识祂。

40. Peter is talking about a time that is spent between the grateful and the graceful.
彼得的意思是，花时间感恩颂赞；

41. Peter is talking about the discipline of spending daily time with God.
彼得的意思是，每天花时间亲近神。

42. You often hear people talk about saying my prayers.
你常听人说，我要「作祷告」，

43. Have you heard people say that?
你有没有听过这种讲法？

44. My friend, there is a world of difference between saying your prayers and praying.
亲爱的朋友，“作我的祷告”和真正的祷告有很大的区别。

45. Those who say their prayers,
那些作自己祷告的人，

46. Are like someone who picks up the phone and begins to talk.
就像有些人拿起电话就自说自话，

47. And when they finish, they hang up without letting the person on the other side do any of the talking.
自己的话说完了就把电话挂了，却没让对方有任何说话的机会。

48. That’s what a person who says his prayer does with God.
那些作自己祷告的人就是这样对待神的，

49. What kind of a relationship is that?
他跟神的关系是怎样的呢？

50. Many of us find our minds wandering in ten thousand different directions when we pray.
很多人在祷告的时候思潮汹涌，注意力不能集中。

51. My listening friends, I want to tell you the devil is smart.
亲爱的朋友，让我告诉你，魔鬼是很聪明的。

52. He does not want us to stay plugged in with God because he knows that is the source of our power.
他绝对不希望我们跟神紧密相连，因为他很清楚，这就是我们的能力之源。

53. That is why our minds go in so many different directions.
我们的心思之所以不能集中，就是这个原因，

54. Believers must learn to discipline themselves in prayer.
基督徒必须学习儆醒祷告。

55. Whenever you hear a message on prayer,
每当你听了一篇有关祷告的信息，

56. invariably, most people feel guilty and convicted.
大部分人会不约而同地有罪疚感。

57. Why?
为什么？

58. Because no one feels like they’re spending adequate time in prayer.
因为每一个人都会因为自己祷告的时间不够而感到内疚。

59. My listening friends, I don’t want you to feel guilty,
亲爱的朋友，我不希望你有罪疚感，

60. that is not the purpose of this message.
我讲这篇资讯的目的不在此。

61. Why?
为什么？

62. Because I want to tell you something about that kind of guilt.
我想跟你谈谈这种罪疚感，

63. It’s like rubbing alcohol.
就像把酒精擦在皮肤上，

64. It will evaporate very quickly.
很快就蒸发了，

65. In no time at all, you will forget it.
转眼你就会忘记。

66. There are other people who get depressed.
还有另外一些人会感到沮丧，

67. I remember when I used to read about the great saints of God who prayed for hours at a time,
我记得当我读到一些属灵伟人的事迹，他们花很长的时间祷告，

68. I would get depressed because I couldn’t do that.
我自己却做不到，就感到很沮丧。

69. I used to think that there’s something wrong with me.
以前我认为，一定是我有什么不对劲的地方，

70. That is, until I read about how some of the great men of God also had a hard time concentrating.
直到我又读了一些属灵伟人的事迹，发现他们也会分心注意力不集中，

71. So they prayed ten minutes at a time several times a day.
于是他们每天分好几次祷告，每次十分钟。

72. And when I read that, it liberated me.
当我读到这里，就觉得轻松多了，

73. It freed me to understand that prayer should not be a burden.
我明白了，祷告不是重担，这使我感到释然。

74. It is not the length of time that you spend,
关键不在于你花多长的时间祷告，

75. it is the discipline of spending time with God.
而在于你是否养成习惯，肯花时间亲近神。

76. Whatever method you use is not the issue.
你用什么方式并不重要，

77. Spending time with the God you love, that’s the issue.
重要的是，肯花时间亲近你所爱的神；

78. Spending time with the one to whom you owe a debt of gratitude is the issue.
重要的是，肯花时间亲近赐厚恩给你，让你感激不已的神；

79. And that is the focus of prayer.
这才是祷告的焦点。

80. Peter says, in effect, if you get your prayer life right,
彼得说，事实上当你有正常的祷告生活时，

81. developing the next characteristic should not be hard.
发展属灵生活的第二个特点就不会有困难了。

82. When you have disciplined yourself in prayer,
当你能够儆醒祷告时，

83. you will have devotion to love.
你就能够切实相爱。

84. when your vertical life is on the right track,
当你生活的垂直面正常了，

85. your horizontal life will be right too.
你生活的水平面也会正常。

86. But if your vertical relationship is out of kilter,
但如果你跟在上的神的垂直关系状态不佳时，

87. don’t expect your horizontal relationship to be smooth sailing.
那么，你跟人相处的水平关系也好不到哪里去。

88. Peter is saying that Christians must love each other with a deep love.
彼得说，基督徒必须切实相爱。

89. The original word literally means ‘at full stretch.’
“切实相爱”这个词，在原文里是倾注全力的意思。

90. Why at full stretch?
为什么要倾注全力？

91. Sometimes loving your fellow Christian can stretch you to the limit.
有时候真是需要尽全力来爱主内的弟兄姐妹。

92. Now the problem with all of us is that we can easily forget our own imperfections.
大家都有同样的毛病，就是很容易忘记自己的瑕疵，

93. Yet we easily see the imperfections of others.
却很快就看见别人的缺点。

94. And that is why we have a hard time loving people.
所以我们很不容易去爱人，

95. We think that we are perfect and we wish that others be perfect like us.
我们认为自己是完全的，也期望别人像我们一样完全，

96. The truth is, we’re not perfect.
但其实我们都不完全。

97. You really don’t want everybody to be like you.
你也不希望所有的人都跟你一样，

98. In fact, one of the things that irritate parents the most
事实上，最让做父母的感到头痛的就是，

99. Is when they see their own weaknesses and imperfections in their children.
当他们看见，自己的弱点也出现在孩子的身上时，

100. And they get angry with their children.
他们就对儿女发脾气。

101. When you see their imperfections, don’t take it out on the poor child.
当你看见他们的不完全时，千万不要将怒气发泄在可怜的孩子身上，

102. You’re probably only seeing your own imperfections.
很可能这些就是你自己的缺点。

103. And God uses these opportunities to hold up a mirror to us as if to say, “This is what you are,
神使用这些机会，竖立了一面镜子在你面前，告诉你说，“这就是你，

104. But I love you anyway.”
但我仍然爱你。”

105. My listening friend, listen carefully.
亲爱的朋友，请仔细听，

106. When God holds a mirror in front of you,
当神把一面镜子放在你面前时，

107. all you should do is get on your knees and say, “Thank you, Lord, for loving me.
你只需要跪下对神说，“主啊！感谢你这样爱我。

108. Thank you that you love me in spite of my weaknesses.
感谢你，虽然我有弱点，你依然爱我；

109. Thank you for loving me in spite of my imperfections.
感谢你，虽然我不完全，你依然爱我；

110. Now help me to love others that have weaknesses and imperfections that are just as bad as mine.”
求你帮助我，去爱那些像我一样有弱点，不完全的人。”

111. And that is why Peter goes on to say that love covers a multitude of sins.
因此彼得接着说，爱能遮掩许多的罪，

112. You find that in verse 8 of chapter 4.
在第四章第八节。

113. What does that mean?
这是什么意思？

114. Is he telling us that we should tolerate sin and pretend it doesn’t exist?
他是否叫我们包容罪恶，假装没看见？

115. No. That’s not what this verse means.
不是的，这并不是这节经文的涵义，

116. Far from it.
绝对不是。

117. My listening friends, listen to me carefully please.
亲爱的朋友，请你留心，

118. Peter is saying that when you love deeply,
彼得说切实相爱的意思是，

119. you will forgive them when they wrong you.
当他们对不起你时，你愿意原谅他们；

120. It means that you don’t hold the confessed sin against them.
当他们承认自己的罪过时，你不以此为把柄对付他们，

121. Just as your heavenly Father does not hold your confessed sin against you.
正如我们的天父，不用我们所承认的罪来对付我们一样。

122. Many of you have heard this saying,
许多人都听过一句话说，

123. “When you don’t love someone, you often will count every little fault.
“当你不爱一个人时，你会吹毛求疵；

124. But when you love someone, you will swallow the gravel for them and it won’t hurt you.”
但当你爱一个人时，你就会甘心情愿忍气吞声。”

125. When you are disciplined in prayer,
当你儆醒祷告，

126. when you become devoted to love,
当你愿意切实相爱，

127. then you’ll be dedicated to hospitality.
你也就能尽心地款待人。

128. Let’s put it another way.
换句话说，

129. To be disciplined in prayer will make you devoted to love.
你儆醒祷告后，使你能全心全意地爱人，

130. And love can be shown and manifested in hospitality.
这样的爱就会表现出款待人的热诚。

131. I know that some guests are delightful when they come in,
我知道有些客人来访时，让你不亦乐乎；

132. and others are delightful when they leave.
但有些客人，是他走的时候让你庆幸，他终于离开了。

133. Of all forms of love, Peter chooses hospitality.
在所有表达爱的方式里，彼得选择以款待为例来说明。

134. Why?
为什么？

135. Hospitality is the most stretching of all expressions of love.
因为，“款待人”最能考验我们是否尽了全力来表达爱。

136. In Peter’s day, there were no hotels.
彼得那个时代没有旅馆，

137. And the inns were dangerous and often places of immorality.
当时的客栈又都是很危险，藏污纳垢的地方。

138. Therefore, it was very important for Christians to open their homes to believers who were passing through.
所以基督徒开放自己的家，款待一些路过的基督徒旅客是很需要的。

139. Peter is saying that the highest form of expression of Christian love is hospitality.
彼得说，款待客人是基督徒表达彼此相爱的最高方式。

140. Let’s look at these points again.
让我们再说一次这些特征，

141. The conduct of the blessed is seen in disciplined prayer life.
蒙神赐福的人，他行为上的特征会表现在儆醒祷告的生活；

142. It is manifested in a life devoted to love.
表现在彼此切实相爱；

143. And a life that is dedicated to hospitality.
以及热诚的款待。

144. And finally,
最后一点，

145. the conduct of the blessed is found in a life that demonstrates the gifts of the Spirit.
蒙福者的行为，可以从属灵恩赐的运用上表现出来。

146. My listening friends, this is very important.
亲爱的朋友，这一点很重要。

147. The Holy Spirit comes to the life of every believer,
圣灵会进入每一个基督徒的生命里，

148. and opens their spiritual eyes.
并开启他们属灵的眼睛，

149. They recognize they were sinners and needed to repent.
使他们承认自己是罪人，需要悔改，

150. And the Holy Spirit is the person who delivers the born again believer.
圣灵让基督徒能够重生。

151. He is the one who delivers that spiritual baby.
换句话说，圣灵生下了这个新的属灵婴孩。

152. And just as He delivers that spiritual baby,
当祂一生下这属灵的婴儿，

153. on the day that spiritual baby is born again of the Spirit of God,
就在圣灵重生了这个属灵婴孩的第一天，

154. The Holy Spirit gives them a spiritual birthday gift.
圣灵就赐给他们属灵的生日礼物。

155. Some are given more than one gift.
有些人可能多得些礼物，

156. But everyone has at least one gift.
但每个人至少有一份礼物。

157. The tragedy is this,
可悲的是，

158. many Christians leave their spiritual birthday gifts unopened,
很多基督徒根本没有打开这份属灵的生日礼物，

159. and many of them run around saying that they don’t have any gifts.
也有些基督徒到处对人说，他们什么礼物都没有。

160. Do you know what they are actually saying?
你知道其实他们是什么意思吗？

161. They are saying that God is lying and they don’t have a gift.
他们就是说，神说谎，他们没有得到任何恩赐。

162. My listening friend, this is very serious.
亲爱的朋友，这是很严重的，

163. You are under obligation before God to discover and use your spiritual gift.
你在神面前有责任打开，并使用你的恩赐，

164. You have no options.
你别无选择，

165. In fact, that’s why Peter makes an issue of it here.
所以彼得在这里特别提出这件事。

166. The apostle Paul gives us these lists three times.
使徒保罗也三次提到属灵恩赐的清单，

167. In 1 Corinthians 12,
哥林多前书12章、

168. in Romans 12,
罗马书12章、

169. and in Ephesians 4.
和以弗所书第4章。

170. And Peter comes in and emphasizes this and says, “Yes, use the spiritual gifts that Paul is talking about.”
在这里彼得强调说，是的，要好好使用保罗所说的属灵恩赐。

171. Whether they be gifts of teaching,
不论是教导的恩赐、

172. or gifts of hospitality,
款待的恩赐、

173. or gifts of faith,
信心的恩赐、

174. or gifts of administration,
治理的恩赐、

175. or gifts of leadership,
领导的恩赐、

176. or gifts of giving,
施舍的恩赐，

177. whatever they may be.
不论是什么，

178. These are the Holy Spirit’s gifts to the members of the body.
这些都是圣灵赐下的恩赐，给凡属基督的各肢体的，

179. This is very serious.
是很认真的。

180. And they are given first and foremost so that God might be glorified.
赐下这些恩赐最重要的目的，就是要荣耀神。

181. But secondly,
第二，

182. they are given for mutual encouragement of one another.
恩赐也是为了基督徒彼此的鼓舞。

183. We don’t exercise our spiritual gifts to benefit ourselves.
我们不是使用恩赐让自己得到利益，

184. We don’t exercise our gifts to draw people’s attention to us.
我们不是使用恩赐吸引别人对我们的注目，

185. We don’t exercise our gifts to show how brilliant we are.
我们不是使用恩赐表现自己多么有才干，

186. No. Why?
不是，为什么呢？

187. Because they are gifts that are given to us and therefore, we have done nothing to earn these gifts.
因为这些都是圣灵赐给我们的，并不是靠自己的功劳赚取的，

188. And that is why we have nothing to brag about.
所以我们没有什么可夸口的。

189. Each one of us is required to discover and use God’s gifts for the building up of each other’s faith.
我们每一个人都需要发掘神所给的恩赐，并使用它们彼此建立信心。

190. Each one of us is commanded to encourage one another through the use of God’s gifts.
神命令我们每一个人，都要好好使用这些恩赐，彼此劝勉。

191. And that is why Peter closes this section by saying in verse 11,
所以彼得在11节里总结说，

192. “To him belong glory and dominion forever.”
荣耀权能都是祂的，直到永永远远，

193. Amen and Amen and Amen.
阿们！阿们！阿们！