2. Manna issue 62 - God Revealed His Church to Me 神向我啟示祂的教會
Lawrence Chin—Sabah, Malaysia 馬來西亞沙巴
ACCEPTING CHRISTIANITY 接受基督教
I grew up in a household with parents who believed in traditional ancestor worship,
although they did not impose these beliefs on me.
They sent me to Christian missionary schools as a child,
and it was through this channel that I was exposed to Christian doctrines from a young age.
我在一個父母相信傳統祖先崇拜的家庭中長大，
儘管他們沒有把這些信仰強加在我身上。
小時候，他們送我去基督教傳教學校，
正是因為這個管道，我從小就接觸了基督教的教義。
In high school, I even chose Bible study as my religious study subject.
When I attended college,
I joined Christian youth mission activities and accepted Christianity.
高中時，我甚至選擇聖經研習，作為我的宗教學習科目。
當我大學的時候，
我參加了基督教青年宣道活動，並且接受了基督教。
I went on to pursue higher education in England,
and it was there that I was baptized into the BaptistChurch in 1980.
I was quite active in youth fellowships and church activities.
我繼續前往英國接受高等教育，
在 1980 年，我就是在那裡受洗加入浸信會。
我非常積極地參與青年團契和教會活動。
I believed in the Lord’s salvation for mankind as it was spelled out in the Bible;
however, at times I still doubted my own salvation.
Before I received baptism, I was taught that, to accept Christ,
I simply had to pray to Jesus and tell Him that
I believed in Him and ask for Him to forgive my sins.
Saying these words meant that I had accepted Christ and the Holy Spirit would then dwell in me.
我相信聖經的記載，主拯救了人類；
然而，有時候我仍然會懷疑自己是否會得救。
在我接受洗禮之前，我被教導，要接受基督，
我只需向耶穌禱告，並告訴祂，
我相信祂，並求祂寬恕我的罪。
說這句話代表了，我已經接受了基督，然後聖靈就住在我心裡。
However, after receiving baptism,
I didn’t feel the presence of the Holy Spirit within me.
I didn’t speak in other tongues as the early believers did
when they received the Holy Spirit
(Acts 2:4).
The churches I worshipped in also did not experience many signs and miracles,
as the early church had
(Acts 5:12, 16).
然而，洗禮之後，
我感覺不到自已身體裡面有聖靈。
我沒有像早期信徒那樣，會說其他的語言，
當他們得到聖靈的時候，
（徒 2：4）。
我禮拜的教會，也沒有體會到很多異象和神蹟，
有如早期教會那樣
（徒 5：12，16）。
But since I accepted Christ in the BaptistChurch,
I did not think to look for a different church
that prayed in tongues and performed signs and miracles.
After completing my studies and returning to Malaysia in 1982,
I continued to worship in the BaptistChurch.
但自從我在浸信會接受了基督，
我從來沒有想過，要尋找另一間教會，
會用方言禱告，且施行異象和神蹟。
1982 年，完成了學業，並返回馬來西亞後，
我繼續在浸信會做禮拜。
RESISTING MY WIFE’S CHURCH 抵制妻子的教會
In 1986, I married a member of the True Jesus Church,
and she tried to bring me to her church.
However, I tried to convince her
that my church doctrines were in accordance with the teachings of the Bible
and that her church was wrong.
1986 年，我與一位真耶穌教會的信徒結婚，
她試圖帶我去她的教會。
然而我試圖說服她，
我教會的教義，是符合聖經的教導，
而她的教會是錯的。
My wife prayed and tried very hard to share the gospel with me,
but I was adamant in my resistance.
I had been taught at my church to believe that
the True Jesus Church doctrine was a deviation from the truth.
I did not want to give in to my wife
because I felt that I was correct.
我的妻子祈禱，並且努力與我分享福音，
但是我堅決的抵制。
我在自已教會被教導，要相信，
真耶穌教會的教義是偏離了真理。
我不想屈服於自已的妻子，
因為我覺得自已是正確的。
However, because the nearest True Jesus Church congregation was two hours away,
I usually drove my wife to church
and attended service with her
despite my reservations about the doctrines and beliefs.
Over time, I observed many positive qualities of the church.
I noticed that the believers were fervent in their prayers,
many signs and miracles occurred, and the church grew in size.
然而，由於要去最近的真耶穌教會聚會，需要開車兩個小時的路程，
我通常開車送我妻子去教會，
並且與她一起參加聚會，
儘管我對這些教義和信仰，持有保留的態度。
經過一段時間，我觀察許多教會正面的特質。
我注意到，很多信徒禱告的很迫切，
出現了許多的神蹟奇事，教會的規模也不斷擴大。
Yet these observations were not enough to change my view.
I still insisted that my church was the right one and that the True Jesus Church was wrong.
I continued to worship at the BaptistChurch
whenever I had the opportunity.
然而這些考查，並不足以改變我的觀點。
我仍然堅持，自已的教會是正確的，而真耶穌教會是錯誤的。
我繼續去浸信會聚會，
每當我有空的時候。
THE TRUECHURCH OF GOD 神的真教會
In August 1992, I had a very bad bout of the flu.
I was concerned that I might pass this on to my wife and our young daughter
so I decided to sleep in another bedroom.
That night, I had a vivid dream.
1992 年 8 月，我得了一場嚴重的流感。
我很擔心，自已可能會把這個傳染給妻子和小女兒，
所以我決定睡在另一間臥室。
那天晚上，我做了一個很生動的夢。
In the dream, I saw two churches.
On the left side, I saw my church
and recognized many church members who were standing in front of the entrance.
On the right side, I saw a chapel with the name “True Jesus Church” on it
and a large group of its members standing in front of it.
I didn’t recognize anyone there.
在夢中，我看到了兩間教會。
在左邊，我看到了自已的教會，
並且認出了站在入口處有許多教會的信徒。
在右邊，我看到一個小教堂，上面寫著“真耶穌教會”，
以及有一大群它的信徒站在它的前面。
我不認識那裡的任何人。
The two churches were separated by a road.
It looked straight and extended all the way back until it disappeared into the horizon.
Above the churches, the sky was bright and a cloudless blue.
兩個教會之間隔著一條馬路。
它看起來很筆直，直直向後延伸，直到它消失在地平線。
教會的上方，天空很晴朗，萬裡無雲一片藍。
The members of both churches were engaged in a debate over which church was the true church.
They were shouting across the road to emphasize their points.
This went on for quite some time and seemed very real to me.
兩邊教會的信徒，都在爭論哪個教會才是真教會。
他們向著馬路喊叫，以強調自己的論點。
這樣子持續了相當長的一段時間，對我來說似乎很真實。
All of a sudden, a loud voice from above said,
“The True Jesus Church is the true church of God.”
At that moment, I realized that I had been wrong in my opinions and judgments
on which church was the true church.
Even though I was still asleep,
I had a strong compulsion to submit to God, ask for forgiveness, and worship Him.
突然間，上方傳來一道洪亮的聲音：
“真耶穌教會才是神的真教會。”
那一刻，我意識到自的看法和判斷是錯誤的，
認為哪個教會才是真教會。
雖然我還在睡覺，
我有強烈的衝動，想要順服神，請求寬恕，並且敬拜祂。
When I opened my eyes, I saw bright rays of light shining on me
from one corner of the ceiling before they quickly disappeared.
當我睜開眼睛時，我看到亮芒照在我身上，
從天花板一角射出，然後很快就消失了。
CONFIRMED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT 有聖靈印證
I was wide awake.
I felt compelled to kneel down and pray, so I did.
To my surprise, I was praying in tongues.
After the prayer, I noticed the time was 1:34 am.
我就完全清醒了。
我覺得很想要跪下來禱告，所以我就這麼做了。
令我驚訝的是，我竟然會用靈言禱告。
禱告結束之後，我注意到時間已是凌晨 1 點 34 分。
Even though I initially believed that the voice I heard was God,
I started to have doubts.
Over the next few months, I frequently pondered
what the dream meant and why I had it.
I wasn’t sure that the dream was from God
and wondered why He would reveal things to me in this way.
儘管我最初相信，自已聽到的是神的聲音，
我開始產生懷疑。
在接下來的幾個月裡，我常常思考，
這個夢有什麼意義，以及為什麼我會夢到它。
我不確定這個夢是否來自神，
並且思考為什麼祂會用這種方式向我透露事情。
I continued to pray and attended service a few times at True Jesus Church,
but there was no progress in overcoming my doubts or in speaking in tongues.
Therefore, I kept the dream to myself and didn’t tell my wife about it.
我繼續在真耶穌教會祈禱，並參加了幾次聚會，
但在打消我的疑慮，或是說方言的方面，卻沒有任何進展。
因此，我把這個夢藏在心裡，沒有告訴我妻子。
In December 1992, I brought my family to Australia for a holiday.
On the last leg of our trip we stayed with my wife’s relatives,
who were members of the True Jesus Church.
We went to church with them on the Sabbath,
and I decided that I would ask God to reveal to me whether the dream was really from Him.
1992 年 12 月，我帶著家人去澳洲度假。
在我們旅行的最後一站，我們住在妻子的親戚家，
他們對是真耶穌教會的信徒。
安息日我們和他們一起去教會，
我就決定，要求神向我顯明，那個夢是不是真的來自於祂。
During the first prayer session,
I asked God to give me the Holy Spirit to prove that
the revelation I received was true.
To my surprise, I was able to pray in tongues again.
I felt a warm stream flowing from my shoulder to my legs
and there was inexpressible joy inside me.
在第一次的禱告會期間，
我求神賜給我聖靈來證明，
我夢到的啟示是真的。
令我驚訝的是，我又能夠用靈言禱告了。
我感到有一股暖流從，自我的肩膀流向我的腿，
我的心裡有一種難以言喻的喜悅。
My heart was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude to our Lord Jesus
that He would reveal Himself to me in such a meaningful way.
I had received the Holy Spirit
and believed with my whole heart
that the True Jesus Church was indeed God’s true church.
我的心充滿了對主耶穌的喜樂和感激，
祂用了如此有意義的方式向我顯明自己。
我已經得到了聖靈，
並且全心的相信，
真耶穌教會確實是神的真教會。
Receiving the Holy Spirit as confirmation of my dream dispelled all of my lingering doubts
and allowed me to fully believe in the doctrines of the church.
I was baptized three months later.
得到聖靈證實了我的異夢，消除了我所有的疑慮，
並讓我完全相信教會的教義。
三個月之後我就受洗了。
I am very grateful to the Lord for speaking to me
and bringing me to His fold in such a wonderful way.
He knew my hard and stubborn nature
and helped me come to my senses and realize which church was His.
Otherwise, I would still be a lost sheep wondering in the wilderness,
unable to recognize the voice of the good shepherd, our Lord Jesus.
我非常感謝主能夠對我說話，
並以如此奇妙的方式，將我帶進祂的羊圈。
祂知道我的堅硬和固執的個性，
並幫助我能夠清醒過來，並且認識到哪教會才是祂的。
不然的話，我還是一隻迷失曠野的羊，
無法辨認好牧人我們主耶穌的聲音。
May all glory be given unto our Lord God almighty, Jesus Christ.
願一切榮耀歸給我們全能的主神，耶穌基督。
小頁 markvmax@hotmail.com
歡迎主內同靈來信加入翻譯
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