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

2. We are glad you tuned in.
很高兴你能收听这个节目，

3. It is our hope and prayer that you are being blessed by this series of messages from the book of Acts.
通过使徒行传的系列信息使你蒙福，这是我们的盼望和祈祷。

4. I think for most of us, waiting is not easy.
对大部分的人来说，“等候”不是一件容易的事，

5. Waiting is not considered to be a virtue any more.
现在已经没有人认为，“耐心地等候”是一种美德了。

6. Look at how people drive in many of our cities.
看看在许多都市里人们开车的习惯，

7. See how anxious we are beeping the horns of our cars so that people can get out of our way.
我们心急地狂按汽车喇叭，叫前面的人让路；

8. See how we push in the lines and try to get in front of the line.
我们在队伍中推挤，就是想挤到队伍最前面。

9. Waiting is something that children hate to do.
儿童最恨等待了，

10. Most adults detest it also.
许多成年人也讨厌等待。

11. We want everything in an instant.
我们什么都要速成的，

12. We want instant happiness,
我们要及时行乐，

13. we want instant success,
我们要立即的成功，

14. and we want instant peace.
我们要眼前的平安。

15. The problem is that we bring all of this agitation and impatience into our Christian faith.
问题是，我们把这种急燥不耐烦的心态，带进基督教信仰的生活里；

16. We bring all these expectations of instant results into our faith.
我们把期待眼前果效的心态，带进信仰中。

17. We want instant worship,
我们要快速的敬拜；

18. we want instant teaching,
我们要速成学习班；

19. we want instant answers to prayer.
我们要立即蒙应允的祷告。

20. And when we don’t get instant answers to prayer,
一旦我们的祷告没有获得立时的回应，

21. we immediately think that things have gone wrong.
我们马上认为情况不妙。

22. The reason we do that,
我们为什么会这样呢？

23. is because our instant nature thinks of God as an average human being.
因为我们喜欢速战速决的天性，使我们认为，神就像普通人一样；

24. We treat God as if He is just another person.
我们把神当作人。

25. What do I mean by that?
我的意思是什么呢？

26. When you receive silence from an angry spouse,
当你的配偶生气，却对你一声不响，

27. you find yourself feeling isolated and confused.
你就会感到被孤立又很困惑。

28. Someone once said,
曾经有人说过：

29. “Silence is the most perfect expression of scorn.”
沉默是藐视人的最高招。

30. I heard about a man who was looking sad.
我听说，有个人看起来很悲哀的样子，

31. When his friend asked him why he was sad,
他的朋友问他：为什么愁眉苦脸？

32. he said, “My wife said she would give me the silent treatment for three days.”
他说：我的妻子告诉我，三天不跟我说话。

33. His friend said, “Why should that make you sad?”
他的朋友说：这样就令你那么难过吗？

34. The man replied,
那个人说：

35. “Today is the last of the three days.”
因为今天已经是第三天了。

36. But God is not like that.
神不是这样的！

37. When God is silent,
当神沉默不语时，

38. it is not necessarily because he’s angry.
并不表示祂在生气。

39. There is a silence of conviction.
有一种从沉默而来的顺从，

40. And it is designed to bring you under conviction for something you are doing.
这种沉默，是为了让你对目前你所做的事，产生顺从的心。

41. God’s silence is sometimes designed to comment about something that he wants you to do.
有的时候，神的沉默其实是表达，有些事是祂要你去作的，

42. And He will remain silent until you obey.
祂会保持缄默，直到你顺从为止。

43. But then there is the silence of mercy.
另外，还有一种仁慈的沉默，

44. God knows that for your good, He has to wait.
神知道，为了你的好处，祂必须等待。

45. Then there is the silence of testing.
还有一种考验的沉默，

46. God sometimes is testing to see how much you trust him.
有时，神要考验你，到底有多信任祂？

47. Then there is the silence of love.
还有一种爱的沉默，

48. Out of love for you, God is not giving you what you are asking for.
因为神爱你，所以不能答应你所祈求的。

49. So when God is silent, it is possibly because he is placing you in his training school.
所以，当神沉默时，很可能是因为祂要把你放在培训班里；

50. When God is silent it is because He is trying to teach you some new truth about yourself.
当神沉默时，因为祂要教导你，重新认识自己的真面目；

51. When God is silent, it is possible to see how much you trust Him and His Word.
当神沉默时，可能祂要考验你，对祂和祂的话语信靠的程度；

52. When God is silent, it is possible that He is trying to get you quiet so that he can work on your behalf.
当神沉默时，可能想让你安静下来，祂才能为你做些事；

53. When God is silent, it is because He loves you and He wants you to rest in His love.
当神沉默时，因为祂爱你，要你在祂的爱中享安息。

54. In Acts chapter 1, verses 12 to 26,
在使徒行传一章12-26节那里，

55. we see that God gave the apostles a period of waiting.
我们看见，神让祂的门徒有一段等候期。

56. But that waiting time was not a waste of time.
但等待并不是浪费时间，

57. It was a period of preparation.
而是预备期，

58. Here is the lesson we need to keep on learning over and over again.
这是我们要不断反复学习的功课。

59. And we don’t seem to be able to learn this one lesson.
这个功课我们似乎老是学不好，

60. The lesson is this,
这个功课就是：

61. God is doing things in your life that you cannot see.
神在我们生命中所作的，往往是我们眼睛看不见的；

62. God is doing things in your life which you are not aware of.
神在我们生命中所作的，往往是我们意识不到的；

63. God is doing things in your life to develop your character.
神在我们生命中所作的，往往是为了建立我们的素质，

64. And you cannot see that.
你却看不见。

65. Let’s read together Acts chapter 1, verses 12 to 26.
让我们来读使徒行传第一章12-26节 ，

66. I’m going to explain to you this in a minute.
待会儿我会讲解这段经文给你听。

67. I want you to think about this question.
请想想以下这个问题：

68. What was God doing during this ten-day period of waiting?
在这十天的等候期中，神在做什么？

69. He wanted the apostles to learn how to pray together.
祂要门徒学习如何在一起祷告；

70. How to fellowship together?
如何彼此相交？

71. How to study the Bible together?
如何在一起读经？

72. How to discern His will together?
如何一同寻求神的旨意？

73. How to practice obedience together?
如何同心顺从神？

74. Next time you are waiting upon the Lord,
当你再要等候神时，

75. remember, He is working his purpose in your waiting.
请记住，当你等候时，祂正在进行祂在你身上的计画；

76. Next time you are waiting upon the Lord,
当你再要等候神时，

77. Know that He is working on your behalf.
要知道，祂正在为你工作；

78. Next time you’re waiting upon the Lord,
当你再要等候神时，

79. Know beyond a shadow of doubt, that His silence is for one of the following reasons,
要知道，在一切疑惑的背后，祂的沉默总是有原因的。

80. either to bring you under conviction,
或者让你顺从祂，

81. or it is because of his mercy on you,
或者因为祂对你的怜悯，

82. or it is a time of testing,
或者是一项考验，

83. or it is so to teach you patience.
或者要你学习忍耐，

84. And all of that is because he loves you so much.
这一切都因为祂深深爱你。

85. This ten-day period of waiting between the time of Jesus’ ascension to heaven and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
从耶稣升天，到圣灵浇灌之间的十天等候期，
86. was serving three primary purposes,
有三个主要的目的：

87. waiting for the Lord was to strengthen the apostles,
“等候主”使门徒获得能力。

88. and this is the first point,
这是第一点，

89. And you find that in verses 12 to 15 of Acts chapter 1.
从使徒行传一章12-15节里看到。

90. Secondly,
第二，

91. waiting for the Lord was to separate the apostate from the apostles,
“等候主”是为了辨别叛徒和使徒，

92. verses 16 to 20.
在16-20 节那里。

93. Thirdly,
第三，

94. waiting for the Lord was to solidify the anointed,
“等候主”是为了巩固被拣选的人，

95. Verses 21 to 26.
在21-26节。

96. Let’s look at the first one today,
今天让我们来看第一点，

97. waiting for the Lord was to strengthen the apostles.
“等候主”使门徒获得能力。

98. Waiting for God’s plan and God’s timing will ultimately strengthen the believer.
等候神的计划实现，以及等候神所定的时间来临，最终的目的就是让信徒得到能力。

99. How will waiting strengthen them?
“等候”怎样使他们得力呢？

100. First, it will teach them obedience.
首先，让他们学习服从。

101. In Acts chapter 1 verse 4,
使徒行传第一章第四节，

102. Jesus commanded them to wait.
耶稣吩咐他们等候。

103. In Acts chapter 1 verse 12,
在使徒行传一章12节，

104. there is direct obedience to the command of Jesus.
记载了他们直接顺从耶稣的命令。

105. He said to them, “Do not leave Jerusalem.
耶稣对他们说，不要离开耶路撒冷，

106. Wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit to be fulfilled.”
要等候父所应许的圣灵。

107. And they waited for the Holy Spirit.
他们就等候圣灵降临，

108. How many of us would have gotten restless by the third day?
多少人很可能到第三天就不耐烦了，

109. The fourth day?
或者第四天，

110. The fifth day?
第五天，

111. The eighth day?
第八天。

112. I don’t believe for a moment that it was easy for the apostles to wait.
我一点都不相信，门徒的等待是容易的。

113. The apostles were all from the Galilee region,
这些门徒都是来自加利利一带地方的，

114. and they were away from home and family.
他们远离家乡，

115. They were away from their familiar surroundings.
他们远离自己所熟悉的环境。

116. Some of you may remember that after the resurrection in John 21:3,
你们可能还记得，约翰福音21章第三节那里，耶稣复活以后，

117. Jesus did not show up for a couple of days.
耶稣有好几天没有出现。

118. And what did Peter do?
彼得去做什么了？

119. He said, “I’m going fishing.”
他说，我要去打鱼。

120. The waiting was killing him.
空等真是要他的命！

121. And the others followed.
其他门徒也跟着他去。

122. And Jesus met them there as a form of rebuke.
耶稣到那里和他们见面，其实是要责备他们。

123. And here these apostles could have said to themselves,
而在这里，门徒大可以自圆其说，

124. “Jesus has gone to heaven. We need to get on with life.
耶稣已经升天，我们该恢复日常生活了；

125. We need to leave Jerusalem and head back north to the Galilee.
我们应该离开耶路撒冷，往北边去，回到加利利；

126. We need to get about our businesses.
我们要回到自己的老本行；

127. We can’t just sit around and do nothing.”
我们总不能坐在这儿干等啊！

128. My listening friends, listen carefully to what I’m going to tell you.
亲爱的朋友，请仔细听我所要说的，

129. When you are waiting for the Lord,
当你等候主时，

130. the one thing you are not supposed to do is nothing.
你绝不能贸然行事。

131. If the apostles were thinking in terms of ministry,
如果门徒想到要服侍，

132. they could have said to themselves,
他们可以对自己说：

133. “There are people to be won for Christ.
我们要为基督赢得人的灵魂；

134. There are ministries to be done in the name of Christ.
奉耶稣基督的名，有许多事工等着要做；

135. There are towns to be evangelized.”
许多城市需要福音。

136. Let me tell you something I hope you’ll never forget.
希望你永远不忘记我所说的：

137. The most important obedience in your life,
生命中最重要的服从，

138. is the obedience that you practice when you do not have an earthly reason as to why you are called to do what you are called to do.
就是，当你从事自己被呼召的事奉时，并不是基于任何属于世界的理由，而是完全顺服神。

139. You are not learning obedience if you have logical explanation.
如果你根据逻辑性的解释，那么，你还没有学会顺服；

140. When you have all of the facts before you obey,
如果当你顺服之前，你已经知道所有的事实，

141. then you are obeying because you know that this is the best thing to do.
那么，你的顺服是基于你知道这是最好的选择。

142. But when you cannot see any reason why you should do what you are called to do,
但如果你被呼召去做一件事，却不知道背后的理由，

143. you are practicing and learning simple obedience.
你就是在学习单纯的顺服。

144. Some of you may be going through a situation like this right now.
可能有些朋友正处于这样的情况里，

145. You are being asked to obey and submit when all you can see is utter darkness,
神要求你，在前景一片漆黑中，顺服祂，听从祂。

146. no light of reason,
你看不见任何理由，

147. no light of logic,
你看不见任何逻辑性，

148. no light of action.
你看不见任何行动。

149. When that happens, I want you to remember this.
在这样的状况中，请记住，

150. God is teaching you simple obedience.
神要教导你单纯的顺服。

151. The disciples were being strengthened by waiting.
门徒在等候中获得能力，

152. They were l earning obedience to God.
他们学习顺服神。

153. I’ve noticed that my time has run out,
我们的节目时间快到了，

154. and I haven’t come to the next two points.
我还没有讲到另外两点，

155. So please tune in in the next program so that you can hear the other two points.
请记得收听我们下一次的广播，我要继续讲下面两点给你听。

156. Until next time, I wish you God’s richest blessing.
愿神大大地赐福给你，我们下次节目时间再会。