Good morning, brothers and sisters.
My name is David. I'm one of the staff here at Watermark, and I'm responsible for the Mandarin ministry.
And Karen is my co-worker here.
So I'm thankful for her so that you can understand what I'm saying here today.
Today is the last message in our series on Deuteronomy.
When we think back over Deuteronomy,
we see that God has made a covenant with the people of Israel.
He's given them His sacred law.
It speaks of God's holiness, righteousness, love and compassion.
Not only did He give them this law,
and He told them how they ought to love one another.
How they should care for the widows and orphans and foreigners among them.
And He even told them how they ought to celebrate and party.
You know, we can always review and go back and listen to the previous sermons in this series.
Today, we see that the people of Israel, they need to turn back to God.
This is a weird feeling.
Because where are they now?
And we think this is so strange, because what is the situation that they are in?
Because they are in the situation that they are in.
They are in the place of the Lord.
They immediately enter the place of the Lord.
Actually, they are just outside of the promised land.
They are about to enter into the promised land.
But in the Bible, they are in the promised land.
And why is this passage talking about turning back?
This is like a couple of married married to a couple of married married.
They say,
It's as though you are telling people who are about to get married.
In the future, when you are about to get divorced,
this is how you repair the relationship.
Because here, Moses is saying to the people who are about to enter in the promised land,
After you go into exile, this is what you should do.
In the future, it reminds us how, in God's perspective,
A day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
I like a movie.
There is a movie that I like.
There is a type of movie that I like.
For example, Back to the Future.
Like The Wife of the Time Traveler.
Recently, there is a movie that I like.
Some amazing professor.
Dr. Strange.
Sorry, Dr. Strange.
So, in Dr. Strange, there is a treasure.
He can see the past and future.
It enables him to see the past and the future.
If you have this treasure,
I see the wall on the table.
If you look at the wall,
it's a wall.
You know, if you were to look into it,
at my future, you would see I'm Apollo Bones.
If you look at it from this angle,
then I'm a baby.
Now, we see the following.
It says,
it's a few hundred years.
And we feel a little bit like this
when we're looking at this passage today.
You just look at it a little bit,
and it's as though we fast-forwarded hundreds of years.
Hundreds of years after Israel entered the promised land,
they betrayed God,
and God allowed them to go into exile.
But God gave them an amazing promise.
And as I thought about this promise,
I thought it was,
it's really an amazing promise.
Because in human relationships,
it is very rare to find this kind of a promise.
Like, for example,
if you have a dating couple,
or even good friends,
the relationship among good friends,
if one party offends
and does a lot of things
against the other party,
what typically happens is
the other party gets really mad
and doesn't want to have anything to do
with the first offending party.
In most situations,
when one party offends the other party,
even if the first party
wants to come back and be reconciled,
the offended party
may or may not be willing
to continue the relationship.
But the God that we see
in this passage of Scripture,
He's very different.
When the Israelites
went to the other party,
after they were beaten,
the other party,
the other party
would still tell them
to go back.
Even though Israel
has offended God,
has gone and worshipped idols,
has betrayed God,
but God says to them,
turn back to me.
This is the context.
This is what precedes
our passage of Scripture today.
We need to turn back,
return to the Lord.
Leave the path to death
and return to the path of life.
And return to our God.
Let's look at our passage today.
In verse 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10,
it repeats and repeats
the concept of turning back,
restoring, turning again.
In the original language,
this is the same word
repeated again and again.
In both the Chinese
and English translations,
different words are used
in these six verses,
but the original text,
it was the same word.
In verse 1,
in the ESV translates it,
call them to mind.
In verse 2,
it says return.
In verse 3,
it uses the word restore
and He'll gather you again.
The 8th is
in verse 8,
in English,
it uses the word again.
The 9th is
in verse 9,
it uses the word again.
In verse 9,
but in the original language,
the term is this idea
of turning,
returning.
God's promise is,
after the people of Israel
have been exiled,
that if the people of Israel
turn back to God,
God will turn back to them.
In verse 3,
it says,
then the Lord your God
will turn back.
He'll restore your fortunes.
神,
这样的圣洁的神,
他竟然
向以色列明去回转.
This God,
this holy God,
it is amazing
that He would turn back
to the people of Israel.
It's amazing.
If it's amazing.
It's amazing.
If it's amazing.
Again,
we think about
the illustration of marriage.
If one party
offends the other party.
If it's amazing.
Now let's say
the party that
the offending party.
Let's say that
he or she turned back.
Next 10 years.
You have to clean.
If it's amazing.
You have to clean.
I think that person
will have to do
the dishes in the house
for the next 10 years.
And we can't buy
a dishwasher.
But God here says
if you turn back
I will turn back.
Now the theme
in the New Testament
one theme
in the New Testament
is a theme of
repentance.
Our Lord Jesus
He starts out
His ministry
and He says
repent
for the kingdom
of God is near.
God tells us here
that we can always repent
we can always turn back
and He is here
waiting for us
to turn back to Him.
Now what are we
turning from
and what are we
turning to?
We need to turn
from idols
and we need to turn
to God's word.
In verse 8 it says
and you shall again
obey the voice
of the Lord
and keep all His commandments.
第九节说
你要尽心尽性
归向耶和华
In verse 9
in verse 10
it says
when you turn
to the Lord
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and you obey
the voice
of the Lord your God
就是你要去
听从耶和华的话
and you need to keep
His commandments
and His statutes.
我们转
从这个偶像
那里去转离
We are turning
away from idols
这个偶像呢
对大家来说
可能不太容易理解
But maybe in our society
today we don't talk
a lot about idols
How do we understand
idols?
太简单
Or we might have
a very simplified
understanding
of the concept of idols
因为我们经常会想
是那些庙里的
木胎泥塑
Is it those
wooden and metal statues
in the temples?
那些只是外在的
Those are just external idols
实际上有很多的偶像
是在我们的心里
是内在的
But many many idols
are internal
They're in our hearts
是我们自己的心里的罪
It's our sin
有人说人的心呢
是一个偶像的工厂
A famous preacher said that
Our hearts are idol factories
总是会制造出
各种各样的这样的偶像
We produce all sorts of different idols
也有人呢
去制造
就是列出一些表格
然后帮助我们
去看到你的偶像
到底是什么
You know there are actually tools
available that help you to identify
What's your idol?
不同的人有不同的偶像
Different types of people
manufacture different idols
比如说大家都喜欢钱
It's not that all of us love money
但是钱呢
背后所代表的
却是不一样
Or even for those of us
who love money
We may love money
for different reasons
有的人呢
是因为他有钱以后
他可以舒适地生活
For some people
They want money
Because then they can live comfortably
这种舒适呢
就是他的偶像
And comfort can become an idol
有的人呢
他有钱
为什么呢
因为希望别人
得到别人的这样的称赞
Some people
They want money
Because they want the acclaim of man
有的人呢
他想得到钱呢
是因为他想呢
能够去控制很多的事情
Some people want money
Because money means power
有的人呢
是因为这钱
能够带来权力
Because they can control others
我去对照那表格
去看的时候
一样一样找
然後我自己
看
我是哪一个呢
When I used this tool
I was wondering
Oh, I wonder what kind of idols
I tend to manufacture
然后我就找我爱人
让他帮我看
你看
And I had my wife
take a look for me too
What are my idols
因为我自己看
感觉每一样
好像都有一些的
Because when I was looking through this
I was like
Wow, all of these are idols in my heart
我爱人可能就是这样
一针直直痛楚地说
舒适就是你的偶像
But my wife
She knows me so well
She's like
Comfort is clearly your idol
所以对我们
很多兄弟姐妹呢
也可以去回想
就是仔细地去看我们心里
我们到底是看中哪些事情
You know, brothers and sisters
We can take some time
examine our hearts
And think about
What are idols
让我们去偏离神
What desires
What things tend to draw us away from God
我要从那些偶像当中
去转向神
We need to turn from these idols
And turn to God
我们刚才回顾了说
从哪里去转离
So we've talked about
What we need to turn from
现在我们看
我们要转向哪里
Now let's talk a little bit
About what we're turning to
在这里我们看到
神说我们要转向神的话
We see here
God says
Turn to my word
在这里边呢
神也说
这话呢
这诫命呢
离你不远
And here
God says that
His word
It is not far from us
就在你的口里
就在你的心里
The word is very near you
It is in your mouth
and in your heart
这对我来说
是很不容易理解的
It's difficult for me
to understand this actually
为什么呢
Why?
因为当我去想
理解神的话语的时候
Because when I want to try
to understand God's word
我呢就需要漂洋过海
I feel like
I need to put in a lot of effort
就去看呢
说神啊
你在这里边
所说的到底是什么意思
I need to spend a lot of time
and study
and try to understand
What is God really trying to say
in this passage
但是对于以色列人
他们真是蒙福的人
But the people of Israel
They were so blessed
他们就从
站在那里
就听到这话语的时候
其实就是他们的家乡话
When they stood there
and when they heard these words
It was in their own language
他不像我们还要去
翻译成这个中文
或者翻译成中文
去这样的去
When I'm studying the scripture
Oh it had to have been translated
into Chinese
translated into English
所以这话就在他们的口里
就在他们的心里
This word
It was in their language
And it was in their mouth
And it was in their heart
在心里是什么意思呢
But what does it mean
That this word was in their heart?
就是以色列人
他们对神的话呢
就不断地这样的重复
不断地去说
不断地去读
最后呢
内化在他们的心里
God told them to keep on meditating on
To keep on thinking on
And repeating these words
Until these words were in their hearts
直到神的话成为他们生命的一部分
And until God's word became part of their lives
这就是神的话呢
要在他们心里
我们如果去以色列的话
会看到很多的人
在这个西墙那边
在那里不断地去诵读神的话
And even when we go to Israel today
We find, for example
Many many Jewish people
At the wailing wall
And they're repeating
repeating, repeating, repeating
God's words
就是要把神的话去记在心里
Until God's words are in their hearts
不同的人呢
对神的话呢
就是这样的记忆呢
不一样
去画的时间读也不一样
Now all of us
We spend different amounts of time
And use different methods
To read God's word
但是呢
当我们去读神的话语
彼此读神的话语的时候
我们就会能够
把神的话语
变化成我们的生命
But as we spend time in God's word
God's word enters into our lives
因为第30章6节里面
告诉我们
要尽心尽性爱耶和华你的神
In verse 6 it says that
We are to love the Lord your God
With all your heart
And with all your soul
就是我们是怎么样去爱神呢
But then how do we actually love God?
因为主耶稣基督曾经说过
Our Lord Jesus he said
爱我的
遵行我诫命的
这就是爱我了
If you obey my commandments
You love me
这就是我们
如果说想去爱神
我们所能够做的
What can we do
If we want to love God?
We can love His commandments
这个爱神
其实确实是很难理解的
It's very difficult to understand
如果说有一个人
在你旁边
你去爱他
这很容易
I mean when a human being
is standing next to you
Maybe it's easier to understand
how to love them
当然对你来说
或许也很难
Or maybe it's also very difficult
但是对于一个神
你看不见神
你怎么样去爱他
How do you love a God
Who you can't see
神告诉我们
就是爱他的话
去遵行他的禁忍
God says if you love His word
And you obey His commandments
You're loving Him
对于爱这个词汇呢
我前一段时间
去学到了一个
这样一个新的拼写方法
Recently I learned
A new way of spelling the word love
就是在
因为我现在是
两个孩子的爸爸了
Because I now have two little ones
我就想
我该怎么样去爱自己的孩子
And I want to learn
How to better love my children
然后我听了有人
上了一堂就是这样的一个课
就是说
训练孩子的这样的课
And so I attended a parenting seminar
有一位老爷爷呢
他就是这样说的
And this
This grandfather there said
他说
爱你这个词汇是这样拼写的
This is how you spell the word love
现在大家跟我来一起拼写
We can spell it together
他拼写是这样的
爱的拼写是
T-I-M-E
I spell love
T-I-M-E
什么意思呢
What does this mean?
就是说当你爱什么
你就会花时间在什么事情上
Whatever you love
You're going to spend time on
如果说你爱爬山
你就花很多时间去爬山
If you love hiking
You're going to spend time hiking
若你爱打球
你会花很多时间去打球
If you love playing basketball
You're going to spend time playing basketball
若你爱你的男朋友和女朋友
你就会花很多的时间跟他在一起
If you love your boyfriend or girlfriend
You're going to spend a lot of time with them
若你爱你的妻子或丈夫呢
你也一样会花时间与他们在一起
Also if you love your spouse
You're going to spend time with them
对我来说
就是说我要
如果说我去爱我的孩子
我就要花时间在他们身上
And so for me I realized
If I want to love my children
I need to spend time with them
当我去检验自己都发现
哇 其实如果按这个标准来说
其实我对孩子的爱真的是很少
And for me I realized
That if I use this standard
I don't love my kids that much
所以对我来说
我就要有一个回转
So I need to turn to them
我就要花时间在他们身上
I need to spend time on them
对于这里边呢
也就是说我们爱神
回归到神的话有哪里
我们到底花了多长时间在哪里
And so we kind of have to ask ourselves
If we are turning to God
If we're turning to His word
Are we spending time in God's word?
我们是不是也把神的话放在我们的心里?
Are we putting His word into our hearts?
我们是不是也把神的话呢
放在我们的嘴里?
Are we putting His word on our lips?
In our mouths?
彼此去说神的话?
And speaking God's word to one another
彼此教导神的话?
And even teaching one another
这就是神说告诉我们
我们向哪里就回转?
And this is the way that God tells us
因为神是这样的爱我们
Since God has so loved us
祂就把所有我们生命当中需要知道的话语
都记录在祂的圣经当中
He's given us the Bible
Which has all the words that we need for life and godliness
让我们知道该怎样爱他
怎样爱世人
These words tell us how we can love him
And how we can love one another
在这里边我们看到
神呢就在以色列
他们去离开
被逐出应许之地以后
神呢去应许他们
让他们去回到这应许地
So this is something
A promise God offers to the Israelites
After they have left the promised land
They have been taken off into exile
And God says
This is how you are to turn back
神就一直在等待他们的回转
And God is waiting for them to turn back
神呢也说在
这话语当中呢
是第19节
我今日忽天换地向你做见证
我将生死或福沉命在你面前
这里边是生死
福祸
Here we see in contrast
来说
很多这样对立的观念
来说
我可以看到
来说
我可以看到很多条不同的道路
In our lives
We see so many different paths
但是其实
归根界里
只有两条道路
But actually
It all boils down to two paths
一条呢
是死亡的道路
One is a path toward death
一条呢
是生的道路
One path is toward life
神说呢
你们要选择生命
离开死亡之路
选择生命
And God says
Choose life
Don't choose death
在这里面呢
让我想起来
上周我碰到的一个人
This makes me think of
Someone I met last week
这个人过去的生活
是什么样子的呢
How did this
This is how this person used to live
他过去的生活
可以说是
五毒俱全
It seemed that he had everything
他曾经吸毒
Everything in terms of drugs
And alcohol
他也曾经
具有这样不正当的关系
He had all sorts of
Sexually immoral conduct
其实他的生活呢
其实如果说
从这个富裕的条件来说
倒也还不错
I mean materially
He was pretty well off
比如说
他曾经开过夜总会
就有六件
He had owned
很多不同的网站
但是呢
他在这种罪的生活当中的时候呢
他就
他自己是不知道的
But as he was living in these ways
Like he didn't know really
What he was living for
他也跟妻子离婚了
He divorced his wife
当然就是在这种
毒瘾当中
生活当中
他会过得
也是有很多挣扎的
Obviously he was also
going through a lot of struggles
from all of his addictions
Be it to drugs
alcohol or sex
直到有一天
一位传道人
跟他去传讲福音
But one day he heard the gospel
from a preacher
在这种福音的教导当中
慢慢地他就有了转变
And as he started to receive
the teaching of the gospel
His life started to change
他就完全转离了
他过去这种罪的生活
He turned away
from his entire previous lifestyle
而且他又去
用尽千方百计
去让他的妻子要回来
And he even put a lot of effort
into pursuing his wife back
当中经历了很多很多的挣扎
After many more struggles
当他去回转了以后
他就花很多时间
在神的话语上
As he turned to God
He spent time in God's word
现在呢
也在不断地去传讲神的话语
And now he spends a lot of his time
actually sharing God's word with others
每周讲道可能要两次
On typical Sunday
He'll preach twice
查经班就得带三次
当他在回到过去
一起生活的那些
比如说黑社会啊
或什么那些人身边的时候
And when he goes back
to his old friends
including some who are gang members
他说 哇 你真的是不一样
They say
You are a totally different person
当那些人来到他家中的时候
He invites them over to his house
When they come over
他说 你们家真的有平安
And they say
There's a sense of peace in your home
你们家有神
There's God in your house
这就是回转
This is what it means to turn back
也就是悔改
And it's related to repenting
圣洁的神
跟这个罪是一点关系都不可能有的
当我们有在罪中生活的时候
我们是无法去面对
没法去在上帝的同在当中
If we're living in sin
We cannot be living with God who is holy
而且当我们是这个罪人的时候
我们自然而然就会过罪的生活
And because we're sinners
We very naturally live sinful lives
就像我们面前的这些以色列人一样
Just like these Israelites
他们就最后拜偶像
然后被逐出允许之地
They worship idols
And then they were driven out of the promised land
所以最后呢
还是神要去解决这个问题
And our God
He takes the initiative
And He solves this problem
他就拆检他的独生子来到这个世界当中
So He sent His only Son into this world
并且为我们的罪被钉在十字架上
To die for our sins on the cross
这个罪是如此之大
The magnitude of the sin
Was born by Him
当主耶稣基督在十字架上的时候
祂都要去跟父说
我的神 我的神
你为什么离弃我
On the cross
Jesus said
My God, my God
Why have you forsaken me?
这就是神的作为
That is what God did
是我们人所做不到的
We could not do that for ourselves
这也是第六节当中所告诉我们的道理
And this is what it's talking about in verse 6
第六节当中是这样说的
耶和华你的神
必将你心里和你后裔心里的污秽除掉
And the Lord your God
Will circumcise or get rid of what is unclean
In your heart and the heart of your offspring
中文我们看得不清楚
在英文里面它是表达比较清楚
就是说要去
在人的心里去行一个割离
The English uses the word circumcision directly
Which is to have a surgery on your heart
而且这个手术呢
只能神去做
And only God can do this surgery
就像我们刚才所说的这个奇异博士一样
他曾经是一个最高明最高明的一个医生
Just like Dr. Strange
He was once a brilliant doctor
有很多人在那个手术台上
都已经被宣布死亡了
然后他呢又把他那个病
知道到底是出了什么问题
然后把那个病给治好
然后能够活过来
Where many patients were already declared dead
on the operating room
And he was able to understand what was the problem
And bring them back to life
但是当他自己去有了这样的病的时候
他就无能为力
But when Dr. Strange himself
When he became sick
He could not heal himself
他必须找到他的最好的助理
然后去帮他把这个心脏呢
让他重新去运转起来
He needed to find an assistant
He needed to have someone else
Who could save his own heart
之前看他那么的风光
但是在这种状况面前
他是无法自救的
He seemed so strong and so brilliant
But in light of his own mortality
He could not save himself
在这里面我们看到
神他去做的这样的一个手术
Here we see that God did a surgery for us
当然这也就是
让我们看到
在旧约当中
这个心里的割离
实际上就是
之前谈到歌里的时候
讲的是这个立约的记号
In the Old Testament
Circumcision is a mark of a covenant
神呢在那时候知道
人所有所不能行的
就预备了这样的一个新的约
神在旧约的时候呢
是律法写到石板上的
神在那个时候就预言说
时候将到我要与以色列家另立新约
这就是神要去做的
神要在人的心里面去动工
让罪人能够去转向他
完全地转向他
也就是36节说
好叫你尽兴尽信
爱耶和华你的神
In order that we may love the Lord our God
The Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul
在主耶稣基督
在上次十字架之前
Our Lord Jesus
Before he went to the cross
有一个门徒彼得
One of his disciples, John
曾经发誓赌咒
要跟他在一起
Said
He declared
I will definitely stay with you
但是在基教两遍以前
他有三次不认主
But before the rooster crowed twice
He had already denied Christ
当基教了以后
他就心里是痛悔莫及
但是耶稣基督复活以后
是主耶稣基督找到他
But after Christ rose from the dead
Jesus Christ went and sought Peter out
问他
你爱我吗
And he asked him
Do you love me
你爱我吗
Do you love me
你爱我吗
Do you love me
神这样的爱彼得
就在他犯了罪以后
完全地离弃他以后
还是这样地爱他
God loved Peter so much
That even when Peter betrayed him
And denied him
God sought him out
但彼得呢
就有这样的一个回转
他是在那个时候呢
是忏悔
就悔改
And Peter repented
And Peter turned to Christ
Turned back to Christ
我们今天也要去想
我们自己的罪到底是什么
So today
We also need to spend time
Reflecting on
What is our sin
有的时候需要彼此的去提醒
And sometimes we need to remind one another
然后我们要回到神面前
回到神的话里
And we need to turn back to God
And turn back to God's word
回到永生神的面前
And come back to the presence of the living God
因为二十节里边说
Because verse 20 says
因为他是你的生命
For he is your life
主耶稣基督也告诉我们
Jesus also tells us
我是道路真理生命
I am the way
The truth and the life
若不借着我
没有人能到父那里去
Apart from me
No one can come to the Father
这就是我们
做人所能够去做到的
去回转归向神
归向神的话语
And this is what we must do
As people
We need to repent
And turn to God
And turn to God's word
因为他那里有生命
Because
He has the words of life
Let's pray
慈爱大爸父
我们感谢你
Our loving heavenly Father
We thank you
感谢你是这样的慈爱的神
Thank you that you are a God of such love
在我们还是罪人的时候
Even when we were still sinners
你说一下主耶稣基督
You sent the Lord Jesus Christ
来到世间
To come to earth
拯救我们
To save us
拯救我们这些无助的罪人
To save us
We were helpless sinners
并把你的话语
不断地去传讲给我们
And you continually speak your word to us
让我们能够认识你
So that we can know you
让我们知道该怎样去爱你
怎么样去把你的话语
去记在我们的心中
And so we know how to put your words
into our hearts
也去传讲你的话语
And also to speak your words to others
让我们能够跟身边的人
一起去回转
Lord we pray that you would help us
and those around us
去走这条生命之路
And to take this path of life
that you've given us
感谢主
Thank you Lord
奉主耶稣基督的命祈求
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray
Amen
Correct
谢谢 screens
oud
And always
下集
oud