蒙恩見證-919期

妙哉,主愛!──奧克蘭教會郭煥然弟兄

(文/奧克蘭教會 郭煥然,摘自真耶穌教會 [聖靈月刊] 2007年1月號)|發佈日期:2020/12/10

我反對妻子和孩子們信耶穌,認為這是不認祖宗的事,但看到他們事事如意、天天快樂,而我卻相反,我的態度改由不反對進入觀望。孩子的中文老師是真耶穌教會的信徒鍾姊妹,半年後終於鼓起勇氣向她詢問一些關於信耶穌的問題,經過她先生耐心又清楚的解釋,我們有了一些基本概念,並應邀在那個安息日下午去教會參加講道聚會,主的恩典開始臨到我們家…。 (EMI 摘要)

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哈利路亞,奉主耶穌聖名作見證:

對我來說,信耶穌,又能在真耶穌教會受洗歸入主的名下,是一大恩典,一大福氣,更是一大神蹟。

信主前,我本來是反對信耶穌的。記得十幾年前,太太維嬌一直堅持要信耶穌,認為其他的宗教信仰並不能滿足她的心靈,很多都是迷信。她還告訴我,從小她就立志信耶穌,只是在等候時機。當下我大罵她一頓,認為這是不認祖宗。

可是很奇怪,當時我事事都不亨通,天天都不快樂。相反的,她和孩子們卻事事如意,天天有說有笑,非常快樂。每天用餐前,他們都會禱告感謝,我見了就會說:「如果我不去賺錢,看你們有沒有飯吃!」

後來他們為了避免我責罵,就會先感謝禱告後再請我上桌。現在想起來,覺得自己真是太自大了。今天我深深體會到,一個人的身體健康或就業機會都必須仰賴我們所敬拜的真神,藉著祂的保守及憐憫,我們才有平安和福氣。

過了一段日子,很多真正不如意的事日漸明朗,我也就不再反對,但還不能算是接受。那時維嬌讓孩子在學校上基督教的宗教課程,我常見到孩子從學校帶回福音信息,每當他們與媽媽一起談論耶穌基督時,總是非常喜樂。我的態度改由不反對進入觀望,且看看那是怎麼一回事再說。

不久,神的恩典降臨我家。1994年7月初認識了真耶穌教會的信徒鍾姊妹(孩子的中文老師)半年後,我們終於鼓起勇氣向她詢問一些關於信耶穌的問題,諸如信耶穌算不算不孝等等。

經過她先生陳弟兄耐心又清楚的解釋,我們有了一些基本概念,並應邀在那個安息日下午去教會參加講道聚會。感謝神奇妙的恩典,那天聚會後,我們竟很自然地接受了真耶穌教會的禱告方式,維嬌也在這次的禱告中得到聖靈。那天她本來是有些感冒的,在禱告後也不知不覺地舒服起來。

回家途中,我們的車子被撞,同車的信徒說這是受了魔鬼的阻擋;說也奇怪,當時維嬌問我:「你後悔來真教會嗎?」我竟毫不猶豫地回答說:「我不後悔。」在接下來的三個星期中,因為車子在修理廠,碰巧事發後第五天我們就要搬家,教會弟兄姊妹的愛心關懷與幫助,使我們非常感動,深深感受到主裡的溫暖。

慕道五個月後,經過認真地查考道理,明白信耶穌只拜獨一真神才是真正的拜神。於是我們一家四口歡歡喜喜地於1994年12月23日接受主的赦罪洗。從那時起,我們徹底悔改,一心一意懇求主帶領我們在世上遵行主所吩咐的:「行善,行義,愛神,愛人。」

信主前,我的身體一向都很虛弱,又有胃酸過多的症狀,每天都會被胃、胸口及食道部位的疼痛所困擾,醫生說我的心臟也有一些輕微的腫大,這對我的情緒影響很大,也因此常向家人發脾氣。

家庭醫生曾給我開了胃痛特效藥和心腫痛的藥,而且必須長期服用,直到離開這個世界。沒想到信主後,憑著信心,我的病痛漸漸地減輕了,後來竟不需服用藥物。正如馬太福音二十一章22節所說:「你們禱告,無論求什麼,只要信,就必得著。

受洗後六個月左右,蒙神的恩典把寶貴的聖靈賜給我。我永遠不能忘記受聖靈時那令人欣喜的時刻,首先是禱告時眼前出現一片柔和的光,又有一股熱流由頭頂流下一直通到心胸,全身感到非常舒服,內心湧出一股難以形容的喜樂。

更奇妙的是,過了不久,原本已禿頭六年的頭頂,居然長出頭髮來,一直保持到如今。這真是額外的恩典,使我又進一步認識到天父對祂兒女的疼愛。我雖然沒有求,也不敢奢求,但是天父卻照祂的意思把我妝飾起來,感謝神。

1996年5月27日,經胃鏡證實,我的食道長了瘜肉,心裡非常難過,因為醫生說要再照一次X光才能確定如何治療,或許需要開刀切除。於是我告訴教會,大家以愛心為我代禱。7月8日,我遵從醫生的指示去照X光。十天後,這份報告終於出來了。

感謝真神,因為祂的憐憫,食道的瘜肉竟奇蹟般地消失了。醫生覺得很奇怪,不知是怎麼一回事。我卻除了感謝神以外,絲毫沒有懷疑。因為聖經上明明告訴我們:「在人這是不能的,在神凡事都能。」(太十九26)

2003年4月27日,我因盲腸炎入院作切除手術。感謝神的保守和憐憫,因為自己在家已忍了一週之久,病情在很嚴重的時候並沒有惡化,否則就有生命危險。在醫院住了17天,神不但救我脫離了肉體上的痛苦,更藉著這次苦難提醒我做為一個神的兒女所要追求的事──「你們要思念上面的事,不要思念地上的事。」(西三2)。

長期以來,我一直都有很多的嗜好,諸如養貓養狗,養雞養魚,栽種花草果樹等。說來這些也不是什麼不良嗜好,問題卻出在我把太多的精力放在這些事上,而忽略了更重要的事情,比如讀經、禱告,與家人相處的時間,關心孩子的起居、學習等。

更糟糕的是,每逢安息日,只有一半的心在教會,下午常常獨自開車出去買這些寵物所要用的東西,一去就去很久。由於路上車流量大,自己的年紀日漸增長、視力也變差,常常令太太和孩子們為我擔心。

在醫院的那段漫長的日子裡,讓我反省過去種種,想起保羅在哥林多前書十章23節所寫的:「凡事都可行,但不都有益處。凡事都可行,但不都造就人。」說也奇怪,當我發現自己虧欠了神,願意悔改,病情就大有好轉。出院後,幾經爭戰,終於立志聽從神的命令,把不好的習慣改掉,以認真讀經、禱告,多多關心家人,專心聚會為生活重心。

事實告訴我們,只要我們把自己降到最卑微,神的大能就會彰顯出來。神的大權能在萬古以先早已存在,可憐的是渺小的人類自大自滿,不願悔改認錯,不懂得尊主為大,因此無法得到由神而來的福氣。原來我們所拜的真神是無所不知、無所不能、並且對祂的兒女有極大的慈愛,這都是以前的我所不能瞭解的。

快快認識神,快快得福氣;
遲遲認識神,遲遲得福氣;
永遠不認識神,就永遠無福氣。

如果不是由神而來的福氣,那只不過是屬世的,怎比得上我們基督徒這種永遠的喜悅和永生的盼望呢?約翰福音二十一章25節這樣說:「耶穌所行的事還有許多,若是一一的都寫出來,我想,所寫的書就是世界也容不下了。」做為真耶穌教會的信徒們一定與我有同感,我們活著的每一天都充滿了神的恩典,而這恩典也要帶領我們進入永生。我們活著就是一大福氣,一大恩典和一大神蹟,因此世世代代都要為主作見證。

願一切榮耀、尊貴、頌讚與感謝都歸給至高的真神,我們的救主耶穌基督。阿們!



What A Wonder—Gods Love

(Gavin Kwok)

Hallelujah, in the name of the Lord Jesus I bear testimony.

I personally feel that being able to believe in Jesus, and come to the True Jesus Church to be baptised in His name is indeed a great blessing, an awesome grace, and also a major miracle. Before I came to believe in Jesus, I was totally against it. I remember around a decade ago, my wife strongly wanted to believe in Jesus. She thought that all the other religions could not satisfy her, as many of these religions were actually superstitions. She even told me that from a young age, she had resolved to believe in Jesus, but she was waiting for the appropriate time. When I heard this, I scolded her because this was not in our tradition - I thought Jesus is only the Saviour of the foreigners!

Back then, things in my life were not going smoothly, I was not feeling happy. Conversely, I saw that my wife and our children were happy with their lives. Before every meal, they would say grace and when I saw this I would say, "Would there be any food on the table if I didnt go and work?" Afterwards, to avoid my scolding, they would say grace before I got to the table. Looking back, I can not help feeling that I was very ignorant and proud of myself. Now, I understand that God is our only reliance regardless of what we do or matter concerning our health. It is only through His protection and mercy can we have peace and blessing.

After some time, many of our unresolved things were cleared up, and I stopped my silly idea of going against those who believe in Jesus. However, I still did not accept Jesus myself. At that time, my wife allowed the children to take Christian education lessons at primary school. I often saw my children bringing home the good news - the gospel, and every time the children talked to their mother about Jesus, they would be very happy. My attitude towards Christianity changed from being against it to being neutral on the matter. I thought about just taking a look at what might happen from here.

Not long after, in July 1994, the grace of God truly came upon my family. After knowing Sister Chong (my childrens Chinese language teacher) from True Jesus Church for about half a year, we finally had the courage to ask about matters concerning belief in Jesus. Matter like whether or not believing in Jesus means that you will not be showing honour to the parents. Through Brother Chen, Sister Chongs husband, we were given a clear and careful explanation. From there, we had a basic concept of believing in Jesus and accepted an invitation to join in the afternoon service that Sabbath day. Thanks to Gods wonderful grace that at the end of that service, we accepted the True Jesus Church way of praying easily and during the prayer my wife received the Holy Spirit. What was more, my wife who was feeling ill on that day felt a lot better after the prayer!

On the way home from church our car was involved in an accident. My wife asked me, "Do you regret coming to this church?" Straight away I replied, "No, I dont." The believers said that this whole incident was a stumbling block to us as the fifth day after the car accident we were to move house. Since it would take three weeks for our car to be fixed, we had great inconveniences with transportation. However, the church brethren were very helpful, we were given much love. This moved us greatly - we could really feel the warmth in Jesus.

After five months of truth-seeking and diligent study of the Bible, we came to understand the Word and gain faith on the One True God. So we, a family of four, received baptism on the 23rd December 1994. From that time on, we repented wholeheartedly and asked God to guide us in doing what He requires of us - to do good, love God and love man.

I myself experienced firsthand the benefits of believing in Jesus. Before believing in Jesus, my body was very weak as I was inflicted by gastric problems. Everyday I was troubled by stomach, oesophagus, and chest pains. Doctors also said my heart was enlarged. These health problems affected my mood daily and so I often lost my temper on my family members. My family doctor once prescribed to me medication for my heart and furthermore, it was dictated that they be taken for the rest of my life. I had never imagined that my ailments could recover in such a fast pace through faith in Jesus, that in a short period of time I stopped taking the medication altogether. My experience is an example of what is recorded in the book of Matthew chapter 21 verse 22, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

Six months after baptism, through the grace of God, He bestowed the Holy Spirit on me. I could never forget that joyous moment in my life. At first I saw a gentle white light and I felt a warm sensation flowing from the top of my head to my chest. My whole body felt very relaxed. From my heart came a type of joy and happiness which is beyond words. Furthermore, the baldness I have had for six years disappeared; and I have kept my hair until today! This is truly a bonus of His blessing on me. From this incident, it shows how much God loves His children. Although I did not dare ask God for this, our heavenly Father even improved my appearance according to His good pleasure!

On 27th May 1996, through a gastroscopy I was found to have a growth in my oesophagus. I was extremely worried. Doctors said that they had to take an x-ray, and then probably operate to remove it. I told the church about this and so everyone prayed for me with love. On 8th July according to what the doctors dictated, I had an x-ray and ten days later the results came out. Thanks to the True God that because of His mercy, the growth in my oesophagus disappeared. The doctors thought that this was strange, and were unable to understand what had happened to it. I had no doubt about the diagnosis of the doctors because it is as recorded in the book of Matthew chapter 19 verse 26, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

But that was not to be the end of Gods mercy on me and my health problems. On 27th April 2003, I had to undergo an operation for my appendicitis. Thank God for His mercy that although I had suffered the misery of pain at home for that whole week prior to my operation, nothing serious happened to endanger my life. I was hospitalised for seventeen days and had seen the abidance of God with me. Thus, I was taught a lesson: to seek first His Kingdom and righteousness and "Set you minds on things above, not on earthly things." (Col 3: 2)

In the past I used to have many hobbies such as keeping cats, dogs, chickens, and fish as pets; planting flowers, trees, and other plants. Actually these are not unacceptable, the problem is that I had put too much time and effort into these hobbies and overlooked what was more important - things like praying and reading the Bible, sharing time with my family and caring for my childrens daily lives. But perhaps the worst thing about me was that I had a habit of only half-heartedly observing the Sabbath day at church. In the afternoon I would go away and took a long time looking for pets and the accessories for them. Because the traffic would be quite heavy and my eyesight was not what it used to be, it was a thing of concern for my wife and children. During my stay in hospital I reflected on things I did in the past and pondered about what is recorded in 1 Corinthians 10:23, "Everything is permissible - but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible - but not everything is constructive." Then strangely, once I realised that I had fallen short of Gods expectations and was willing to repent, my health was quickly restored. After being discharged I had to go through some more struggles in containing myself before I finally resolved to listen to Gods commands by changing my bad old habits. In exchange, the habit of praying and reading the Bible consistently, showing more concern for the family, and paying more attention in the church services became the centre of my life.

As a matter of fact, if we are willing to humble ourselves before God, then His power and glory will be manifested on us. Gods great power has existed long before time began, but poor mankind, powerless as we are, often act foolishly and arrogantly - not willing to repent and confess our wrongs, not knowing how to glorify God, and so this is how the blessings of God were kept far away from us. I now know that the God we worship is omniscient and omnipotent, willing to lavish His love on His children.

Here is something I have also come to understand: the sooner you come to know God, the sooner you can receive His blessings. If you do not come to know God, then you will never receive His blessings. Keeping this in mind, I have also learnt that if something we gain is not a blessing from the True God, then it is merely something worldly. How then can something like this compare with joy and hope that is everlasting in Jesus Christ?

I believe the members of True Jesus Church would agree with what is recorded in John 21: 25, "Jesus did many other things as well. If everyone of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written," because the lives we live everyday are indeed a blessing, a grace and a miracle of God.

There are still many other testimonies for me to witness. We must pass these down to future generations so that they too can know about Gods wonderful love and mercy.

May all the glory, praise, and thanks be to our great True God, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.







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