1. Hello, listening friends. We are so glad you joined us again;
亲爱的朋友，你好，很高兴你能收听我们的节目；

2. and, today, I want to talk to you about hunger and thirst.
今天，我要和你谈谈有关饥渴的问题。

3. The world over, people are obsessed with food and diets.
目前在全球，人们都为了食物和饮食习惯而深深困扰。

4. I am told that, on a given day in the United States of America, one-third of the population is on some sort of a diet.
我听说，在一天之内，就有三分之一的美国人在吃减肥餐。

5. Now, there are people who always say, “I am going to diet tomorrow...”
有些人总是说，“我明天就开始减肥……”

6. and they always do that after a very large meal;
通常，这句话总是在他们大餐一顿之后说的。

7. but our times are so different from biblical times,
然而，我们的时代和圣经时代大大不同，

8. and our mindset is so different from that of the time of the Lord Jesus, when He was on the earth.
我们的思想也和耶稣在世的时代完全不同。

9. The people to whom Jesus was speaking
那些听耶稣说话的人们，

10. were starving to death.
都快要饿死了。

11. Even the poorest among us is able to find food.
而我们当中，即使最穷的人也还能找到食物。

12. It wasn’t so back then.
那个时代却不一样。

13. It is important for us, therefore, to grasp the meaning of what Jesus is saying.
因此，我们要懂得掌握耶稣所说的话真正的含义。

14. He said, “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness.”
祂说，“饥渴慕义的人有福了。”

15. His hearers could easily relate His words to physical hunger.
祂的听众，很容易将祂的话联想到生理方面的饥饿。

16. Some even could understand spiritual hunger,
有些人什至可以理解为灵里的饥饿，

17. because, to them, food and water were an absolute necessity, and not luxury;
因为，对他们来说，食物和水是绝对的必需品，而不是奢侈品；

18. and, in biblical times, both food and water were so scarce that they never wasted them;
在圣经那个年代，食物和水如此稀少，他们绝对不浪费；

19. so, when Jesus said, “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,”
因此，当耶稣说“饥渴慕义的人有福了。”

20. His hearers immediately understood that righteousness is not a luxury, but a necessity.
祂的听众立刻明白，义不是奢侈品，而是必需品。

21. Let’s look at this.
我们来看看，

22. What does “righteousness” mean?
“义”是什么意思？

23. Very briefly, it means seeking after pleasing God.
简单地说，就是追求讨神喜悦。

24. It means going after God’s heart.
就是跟从神的心意。

25. It is an absolute necessity for spiritual life, as drink and food for the physical life.
这绝对是属灵生命的必需品，就像饮水和食物对人体的重要性。

26. I want you to imagine that, one day, you wake up
请你想象一下，一天早上你醒过来，

27. and there’ll be no cars,
没有车，

28. no electricity,
没有电，

29. no telephones,
没有电话，

30. no buses.
没有公车，

31. Imagine what life will be like.
想象一下生活会变成什么样。

32. Now, in a spiritual realm, righteousness is like that.
在属灵方面，义就像这一样。

33. Righteousness is not an optional spiritual supplement, but an absolute necessity.
义，不是可有可无的属灵供应，而是绝对的必需品。

34. Hungering for righteousness—thirsting for righteousness—is as important, for every believer in Jesus Christ, as food and water.
对基督徒来说，饥渴慕义就像食物和水一样至关重要。

35. You can no more spiritually live, or even survive, without righteousness, than we can live without food and water.
就如同没有食物和水，我们不能生存，没有了义，属灵的生命也无法存活。

36. I am sure you know that, in the ancient world, there were lots of famines;
相信你知道，在古代社会，常常有饥荒。

37. and that is why they valued food and water.
因此他们这么看重食物和水。

38. Any person who owned a well was considered to be a very wealthy person.
任何人，只要拥有一口井，就是非常富有的人。

39. Rome, itself, experienced a famine back in the year 436 BC.
在西元前436年，罗马也经历过一次饥荒。

40. It was so severe that thousands of people literally threw themselves into the Tiber River to drown.
饥荒非常严重，以至于有数千人投河自杀。

41. We don’t know what that is like.
我们无法想象那种情景。

42. I fast one day a week for spiritual reasons,
为了属灵的原因，我每星期禁食一次，

43. but twenty-four hours in a week is nothing;
但一星期只有24小时不吃东西，算不了什么；

44. but I have never been completely deprived of food.
而且，我从来不会完全没东西吃。

45. Not many of us—even the poorest among us;
大多数人也一样，即使是最穷的人都不至于落到这地步。

46. but what I’m talking about is something greater than food.
但我所说的，是那些比食物更重要的东西。

47. The people to whom Jesus was talking understood exactly what it is to experience starvation.
那些听耶稣教导的人非常清楚，饥饿究竟是怎么一回事。

48. I am told that there are four stages of starvation.
我听说，饥饿一共有四个阶段。

49. The first stage
第一个阶段，

50. is irritation.
就是暴躁易怒。

51. The second stage
第二个阶段，

52. is physical exhaustion.
精疲力尽。

53. The third stage
第三个阶段，

54. is depression;
忧郁沮丧；

55. and the fourth stage
第四个阶段，

56. is lifelessness;
失去生命；

57. and that happens spiritually, too.
在属灵方面也是这样。

58. Jesus is saying,
耶稣说的是，

59. "Hunger and thirst for righteousness. You will be satisfied."
“饥渴慕义的，会得到满足。”

60. This is one type of hunger and one type of thirst that you can be sure you will receive satisfaction from God;
这一种饥渴，肯定会从神得到饱足；

61. but, if you let your hunger for righteousness be satisfied with fake food,
但是，如果你用一些假冒的食物来满足你对义的饥渴，

62. then, you will go through these same four stages of starvation spiritually.
那么，你就会在灵里经历这四个饥饿的阶段。

63. Some of you may be saying,
可能有人会说，

64. “What do you mean by ‘fake food?’”
“你所说的假冒的食物是什么？”

65. Let me tell you about a native plant in Central America.
让我告诉你，在中美洲有一种土生的植物，

66. That plant is called the Nardou plant.
叫做Nardou树。

67. If you eat it,
如果你吃了它，

68. it immediately fills you up.
马上会觉得很饱。

69. It gives you a sense of satisfaction.
满足你的饥饿。

70. You don’t feel like you want food or drink anymore.
你觉得不再需要其他的食物或饮料。

71. It fills the stomach very quickly,
你的胃很快就胀饱了，

72. but has no nutritional value whatsoever.
但实际上，它毫无营养。

73. Not so long ago,
不久之前，

74. a group of Englishmen were traveling throughout the jungles of Central America,
有一群英国人穿越中美洲的森林，

75. and they relied completely upon this Nardou plant.
他们就是依赖这种Nardou树来充饥。

76. They died of starvation.
结果他们都饿死了。

77. Why?
为什么？

78. Because they were not aware that the plant had a deceptive character;
因为他们不知道这种树具有欺骗性。

79. and, when you and I settle for anything less than the righteousness of God,
当你和我去接受一些不属于神的义的事物，

80. we could die of spiritual starvation.
我们属灵的生命也会饿死。

81. If you rely on a church membership,
如果你依赖教会会友的身份，

82. you will die of spiritual starvation.
你属灵的生命就会饿死。

83. If you rely on a preacher or minister,
如果你依赖某一位讲员或传道人，

84. you will die of spiritual starvation.
你属灵的生命就会饿死。

85. If you rely on rituals and ceremonies,
如果你依赖宗教的礼节和仪式，

86. you will die of spiritual starvation.
你属灵的生命就会饿死。

87. If you rely on fame and fortune,
如果你依赖名声财富，

88. you will die of spiritual starvation.
你属灵的生命就会饿死。

89. If you rely on your reputation,
如果你依赖于你个人的名誉，

90. you will die of spiritual starvation;
你属灵的生命就会饿死；

91. and, if you apply those four stages of physical starvation in your life,
如果你将生理上饥饿的四个阶段，

92. and apply them to the spiritual life,
运用到属灵生命上，

93. you will find the following happens:
你会发现以下的情况：

94. First of all,
首先，

95. you will become weak and irritable.
你会软弱，易怒。

96. You will become susceptible to virus of temptation.
你很容易就会受“诱惑病毒”的感染。

97. Are you irritated right now?
你现在是否很暴躁易怒呢？

98. Then, watch out.
那么，要小心。

99. You are in the first stage of spiritual starvation.
你正处于属灵饥饿的第一个阶段。

100. Here are the signs of irritation:
这里有一些易怒的征兆：

101. criticizing the church,
批评教会，

102. criticizing the ministers,
批评牧师，

103. criticizing singing,
批评唱诗，

104. criticizing those in leadership.
批评领袖。

105. If that is happening to you,
如果你正在这么做，

106. take notice.
请注意。

107. You are hungering after the wrong things.
你是在追求错误的东西。

108. You are not hungering after righteousness.
而不是饥渴慕义。

109. You are not hungering after Jesus.
你不是在渴望耶稣。

110. You are not hungering after the Kingdom of God.
你不是渴望神的国。

111. You are not hungering after the glory of God.
你不是渴望神的荣耀，

112. The next step in spiritual starvation will be this:
灵内饥渴的下一个阶段就是：

113. you’ll become spiritually listless and indifferent,
你会变得对属灵的事情冷漠，觉得无关紧要。

114. and you will say, “Who cares what happens?”…
你会说，“我才不在乎发生了什么事。”

115. and, then, thirdly,
第三，

116. you’ll become spiritually depressed;
在属灵的事上，你会感到很沮丧；

117. and, finally, you will spiritually die.
最后，就是灵命死亡。

118. I thought of an old farmer, one time, who was talking to his pastor;
我想起了一个老农夫，有一次他和牧师谈话，

119. and his pastor said he was going to a conference to discuss how to get people into the church,
牧师说要去参加一个座谈会，讨论怎样让教会增加人数。

120. and the old farmer said to him,
老农夫对他说，

121. he said, “Pastor, this is strange to me.
“牧师，真奇怪。

122. When I go to farmer’s convention, they never discuss how to get the cattle to the food.
我参加农业会议的时候，我们从来没讨论过怎样让牲畜吃草。

123. When we get together as farmers,
当我们农夫们聚在一起的时候，

124. many groups try to serve you food that makes you feel good, instead of nutritional food.
大家都说，很多人所提供的食物，只为讨顾客欢心，却不供应有营养的食物。

125. We spend our time discussing the best kind of food.”
于是我们花时间来讨论，什么是最好的食物。”

126. We can learn from this farmer,
我们可以向这个农夫学习，

127. because, unfortunately, in our generation,
因为，我们这一代非常不幸，

128. we find people going after entertainment, instead of solid food.
我们发现人们追求娱乐，而非真实的食物。

129. We find people who are going after pleasing oneself.
我们发现人们追求取悦自己。

130. We find that many groups are anxious to give you fancy food, but no nutritional value;
我们发现许多人，急于给你各种有吸引力的食物，而非真正有营养的食物。

131. but Jesus said,
但耶稣说，

132. "Unless you hunger for righteousness,
“除非你因缺乏义而感到饥饿，

133. unless you thirst for righteousness,
除非你因缺乏义而感到口渴，

134. you will never be satisfied."
不然，你就无法满足。”

135. Not so long ago,
不久前，

136. a lady in the United States
一个美国妇女，

137. decided to serve dog food to the party.
决定将狗食作为聚会的餐点。

138. She was a very good cook
她是一个很擅长厨艺的人。

139. and she tried to trick the people to see if they can distinguish that food or not.
她想和客人开个玩笑，看看他们能否分辨出这是狗食。

140. She made the food look so good,
她将食物做得非常好看。

141. people ate it within ten minutes.
客人十分钟之内都吃光了。

142. This explains to us how undiscerning people are;
这告诉我们，人们多么没有辨别能力；

143. and God created us to hunger for food and thirst for water physically.
神造了我们的身体，饿了就想吃，渴了就想喝水。

144. He also created us to hunger and thirst for righteousness, spiritually speaking.
他也造了我们，让我们在属灵上，饥渴慕义。

145. God created us with that inner longing to be filled.
神造我们的时候，让我们内心有需要，想得满足。

146. Many years ago, a lady came to my office,
许多年前，一位女士来到我的办公室，

147. and she said,
她说，

148. “I’m going to leave my husband
“我要离开我的丈夫，

149. because he is not fulfilling me.”
因为他无法满足我。”

150. I looked her in the eye and I said,
我直接了当对她说，

151. “God forbid that your husband should fulfill you.
“神禁止你的丈夫满足你。

152. Jesus should be the only One Who can fulfill you.”
耶稣才是唯一可以满足你的那一位。”

153. If you look to your spouse for fulfillment,
如果你希望你的配偶来满足你，

154. if you look to the church for fulfillment,
如果你希望你的教会来满足你，

155. if you look for your job to fulfill you,
如果你希望你的工作来满足你，

156. you are not going to be fulfilled;
你一定不会满足；

157. but here’s the good news:
但有个好消息：

158. the presence of hunger and thirst in you is evidence of life.
你生命中还有饥渴的感觉，证明你还活着。

159. Dead people don’t hunger or thirst.
死人不会感到饥渴的。

160. The unsaved person has no appetite for God.
没有得救的人没有渴望神的心。

161. He has no appetite for what pleases God.
他没有兴趣来讨神的喜悦。

162. Jeremiah tells us
耶利米告诉我们，

163. that when people stop thirsting after righteousness,
当人们不再对义有所渴慕，

164. which is the living water,
义就是活水，

165. they will dig for themselves cisterns—broken cisterns—that cannot hold water.
他们就是为自己挖掘一个破的，不能蓄水的池子。

166. It will run dry.
这池子的水会漏光的。

167. It is tragic when people hunger for God’s righteousness, but they attempt to fill that void in their own lives with the wrong things.
当人们渴望神的义，却尝试用错误的东西来填充他们生命中的那个空白，将是十分悲哀的。

168. The prodigal son wanted to be a big shot and he sought his independence from his father.
浪子想成为一个大人物，他设法从父亲那里分得财产，自己独立。

169. He thought that this is how he was going to be fulfilled;
他认为，这样就可以让自己得到满足；

170. and, when he became starved physically,
但当他饿了，没东西吃时，

171. he filled his stomach with the husk that was served to the pigs,
就用喂猪的豆荚来充饥，

172. an incredible insult for a Jew.
这对一个犹太人来说，是极大的耻辱。

173. When he left home,
他离家的时候，

174. he was full of himself
只想到自我，

175. and he said, "Give me, give me..."
他说“给我这，给我那……”

176. but, when he came back,
但当他回到家时，

177. he said, "Make me, make me."
他说，“把我当作雇工吧，把我当雇工吧。”

178. I pray that this will be your prayer:
我祈求，希望这也成为你的祷告。

179. that you would say to the Lord Jesus Christ,
对主耶稣基督说，

180. “Lord Jesus, make me.
“主耶稣，改变我吧。

181. I want to thirst and hunger after righteousness.
我要饥渴慕义。”

182. I don’t want to fill my hunger with anything except your righteousness...”
我不想用除你的义以外的东西来满足我的饥饿……”

183. because Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness,”
因为耶稣说，“饥渴慕义的人有福了，”

184. for Jesus will fulfill and satisfy your hunger and thirst;
因为耶稣将满足你，解决你的饥渴；

185. and, until we meet next time,
下次节目再见，

186. it is my prayer that you will seek God with all of your heart.
我为你祷告，希望你全心全意地寻求神。

187. Until then, I wish you God’s richest blessings.
愿神大大地赐福于你。