看哪﹗那做夢的來了﹗
Behold, the Dreamer Cometh!
by Sister Gwen Shaw石桂林
譯者: 金幼竹
他們遠遠就看見約瑟。在他走近之前﹐大家同謀﹐決定殺他。他們彼此說﹕『那做夢的來了。來吧﹗我們殺他﹐把屍體丟在枯井裡﹐說他是被野獸吃掉了﹐看看他的夢能不能實現。』（創世紀３７﹕１８－２０）
這個世界不喜歡『做夢的人』﹐他們不喜歡約瑟﹐因為約瑟看到他的未來充滿了奇妙的事﹐同時﹐他相信神會把他夢裡看到的實現出來。他的夢替他招來了禍患﹐但是﹐也由於他能瞭解夢裡的意義﹐他又從禍患中被提昇到埃及宰相的地位。
作一個『做夢的人』須要有極大的勇氣﹐因為﹐做夢的人必須抗拒一般人的共識﹑既有的階層﹑人造的系統﹐和社會的規則。他必須相信別人從來沒有想到的事﹐他是一個違反傳統的人﹐是一個叛徒﹐一個不隨俗的人﹐但是﹐就是因為他是如此的不同﹐別人常常會覺得他不太正常。
一個做夢的人是不會隨便放棄的﹐事實上﹐通常﹐他是絕對不放棄的。他會嘗試了又嘗試﹐值得他達成了他的夢想﹐或者他在嘗試當中死去。只有成功和死亡能夠阻止一個真正的做夢的人。
一個做夢的人可以看到靈裡面的事情﹐是一般人肉眼看不到的。但是﹐因為他在靈裡面看到了﹐他就能憑著信心﹐把那些事在物質的世界裡實現出來。你可以把你所有的夢想實現成真﹐所有實際存在的事本來就只是夢想而已。
約瑟的哥哥們恨他﹐就是因為他的夢。如果他也像他們一樣普普通通﹐或者﹐他把他的夢放在自己心裡而不說﹐他就不會有那麼多敵人了。然而﹐他的夢使他們對他產生憎恨﹐因為他們嫉妒。他們不會做夢﹐所以﹐他們也不要他做夢。於是﹐當他們看到他走近他們﹐就說﹕『看哪﹗那個做夢專家來了﹗』（有一個聖經版本這麼描寫。）他們說這話的時候充滿著輕蔑和玩弄的語氣﹐當然﹐這就是那些『不會做夢的人』的自然反應。儘管如此﹐你仍然應該勇敢的向神要你的夢﹗
每一位帶動復興的人都會遭到逼迫
為什麼帶動復興的人會讓好人都嫉妒呢﹖當神恩膏某人的生命﹐並大大的用他的時候﹐我們常常會發現﹐在他身邊和他最親近的朋友裡面﹐就會有人嫉妒他。在今天﹐任何神要使用帶動復興的人﹐很快就會發現﹐那些他最尊敬的人裡面就有人在幕後不著邊際的抵制他。
十九世紀初﹐有一位叫做埃文．羅伯茨的年輕人﹐是威爾斯的一個煤礦工人。他得到一個夢﹐神會在威爾斯有一個大復興﹐這個復興是如此重要﹐神會把地獄之門對威爾斯關閉一年﹐而十萬個靈魂會接受耶穌。白天他去煤礦做工﹐到了晚上﹐他就在房間裡為那大復興禱告﹐他竭力地禱告﹐以至於他的床都因聖靈而震動﹐就像五旬節的時候聖靈降臨的時候『整個房子震動』一樣。神用一個異象回應了他的禱告﹐於是﹐他離開了聖經學校回到了羅格(Loughor)──他的家鄉。當他一進門的時候﹐他告訴他的母親﹕『在兩個禮拜之內﹐羅格這地方將會有極大的改變﹐我們會有一個前所未有的大復興。』
羅伯茨得到了他教會長老的允許﹐向年輕人講他的訊息。他用撒迦利亞四章六節﹕『不是倚靠勢力﹐不是倚靠才能﹐乃是倚靠我的靈。』當場﹐聖靈降在『摩利亞教堂』團契廳裡坐著的那十七個年輕人身上﹐他們哭泣吶喊到午夜時分﹐這些年輕人因此震撼了整個城鎮。
接下來的那個晚上﹐那些年輕人又聚集在一起。只是﹐那個聚會一直沒有結束﹐從白天到晚上﹐從晚上到白天﹐一直到整個威爾斯都被神的全能震撼了。人們從各個地方來﹐從英國﹐歐洲﹐蘇俄﹐美國﹐大不列顛帝國的屬地﹐以及世界的其他地方﹐並且把這個大復興帶回他們自己的地方去﹐這也就是把洛杉磯阿蘇薩街的復興燃燒起來的火把。
神用了像羅伯茨那樣的年輕人去作神國的大事﹐但是﹐他自己國家的神職人員卻嫉妒他攻擊他﹐使他心碎﹐精神崩潰﹐最後放棄了他的事工。為什麼﹐當神選用那些非人所推崇的人作祂的工作時﹐他們會受到別人的懷疑和攻擊﹐就如羅伯茨和施洗約翰所經歷的情況﹖當神的恩膏降臨在施洗約翰身上﹐他開始傳講懺悔的訊息的時候﹐那些猶太的宗教領袖就猛烈地攻擊他﹐他們的想法是﹐「如果神要作什麼大事的話﹐一定會使用耶路撒冷的會堂﹐而不是在那泥濘的約旦河岸。」
然而﹐施洗約翰付出了他的代價﹐他曾經看到異象﹐他知道他的呼召是什麼﹐他勇敢地傳講福音的結果是喪失了他的生命﹐任何值得你以生命全力以赴的事﹐也應該值得你付上你生命的代價。
兩千年之久的夢
自從猶太人在西元七十年被羅馬帝國從驅散到世界各地以後﹐兩千年來﹐他們不斷的禱告﹐並且相信﹐有一天﹐他們會回到神賜給他們的祖先亞伯拉罕的土地。他們每天為以色列禱告三次﹐而每一年的逾越節﹐他們會重新宣告他們的夢﹕『明年﹐我們會在耶路撒冷慶祝逾越節﹗』
一年又一年的過去﹐當他們的夢似乎離他們越來越遠﹐而歐洲的猶太人漸漸被當地人同化的時候﹐神揀選了一位奧國猶太人﹐並且把這個夢重新放在他的心裡﹐這人的名字叫西奧多．赫茨爾。他呼籲他的同胞重新擁抱那個夢﹐他們回應了他而聚集起來﹐並為這個夢而掙扎努力。一些公義的外邦人也看到了這個異象﹐並且開始積極的幫助猶太人實現這個夢﹐這就是錫安主義的來源。有一長段的時期﹐這個夢似乎顯得非常渺茫﹐有的猶太人甚至提議﹐他們應該到烏干達去復國。但是﹐遠在非洲的烏干達怎麼可能成為他們的『應許之地』呢﹖亞伯拉罕從來不曾走在那塊土地﹐以撒也沒有在那裡鑿井﹐而雅各也不是在那裡看到梯子伸展到天上。
又過了許多年﹐那個『猶大國』始終沒有建立﹐但是﹐有一些勇敢的猶太人遷移到了那塊『應許之地』﹐他們用他們所能聚集的金錢買了那裡的沼澤地﹐然後把那些沼澤改良成了以色列國的果園和農場。
終於﹐在１９４８年的一天﹐大衛。本．古里安站在一群長老面前﹐宣佈以色列國家的重生。就在那一刻﹐戰爭爆發了﹐她的敵人群起攻擊那剛剛誕生的國家﹐但是﹐他們並沒得逞﹐他們永遠也不會得逞﹐因為神也有一個夢﹐就是把以色列那塊土地還給祂的老朋友﹐亞伯拉罕。
（原文未完，以上文章選自Behold, the Dreamer Cometh!一書 by Sister Gwen Shaw）
(閱讀原文:)
Behold, the Dreamer Cometh!
by Sister Gwen Shaw
But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. "Here comes that dreamer!" they said to each other. "Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams." (Genesis 37:18-20)
The world resents a "dreamer." They hated Joseph because he saw wonderful 有點ahead of him, and he had faith that God would make all his dreams come to pass.
It was Joseph's dreams that got him into trouble, and it was his understanding of dreams that got him out of trouble and elevated him to Viceroy of Egypt.
It takes courage to be a dreamer, because a dreamer has to go against the conventional, the status quo, the systems of man and the rules of society. He has to believe for what no one else has ever even thought of. He is a revolutionary, a rebel, a dissident, and because he is so different, the world sometimes thinks he is insane.
A dreamer doesn't give up easily. In fact, he usually NEVER give up. He keeps on trying and trying until he either succeeds, or dies in the attempt. Only success or death can stop a real dreamer.
A dreamer sees things in the spirit which man cannot see in the natural. But through seeing in the spirit he can, through faith, materialize it into the physical and natural. You can have anything that you are capable of dreaming for. All reality begins with a dream.
It was Joseph's dreams that made his brothers hate him. If he had just been an ordinary lad like they were, or, if he had kept his dreams to himself, he wouldn't have made enemies. But it was his dreams that made them hate him, because they were jealous. They couldn't dream, and they didn't want him to dream either. So when they saw him coming, they said, "Here comes the master of the dreams!" (as one versions gives it). They said this in contempt and mockery. And of course, that is what you will receive from the "non-dreamers" also. Nevertheless, dare to ask God to give you a dream!
EVERY REVIVALIST WILL HAVE PERSECUTION
Why do revivals make good men jealous? When God anoints someone's life and begins to use that person in a special way, we often see some of his best friends get jealous of him. Anyone whom God is going to use to bring revival in these days will soon find some of the people he most highly esteemed are fighting against him in a quiet and subtle way.
At the turn of this century there was a young man by the name of Evan Roberts, who worked in the coal mines of Wales. He had a dream that God would send a great revival to Wales, so great that God would bar the gates of hell to Wales for one year and 100,000 souls would find Christ. By day, he worked in the mines, and at night he spent hours in prayer for that revival. He prayed so hard that his whole bed shook with the shakings of the Holy Spirit, as in the day of Pentecost, when "all the house was shaken." In a God-given vision he saw that God had answered his prayer. He left his Bible school and went back home to Loughor. When he reached his home, he told his mother, "There will be a great change in Loughor in less than a fortnight. We are going to have the greatest revival that Wales has ever seen."
Roberts got permission from the elders of his church to minister to the young people. He preached on Zechariah 4:6, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." Seventeen young people were seated in that Fellowship Hall of the Moriah Chapel. The Holy Spirit fell upon them and there was weeping and shouting until midnight. The town was shaken up by what was happening to their teenagers.
The following night they gathered together again. That meeting never ended; it continued, day and night, until all of Wales was shaken by the power of God. People came from all over the United Kingdom, Europe, Russia, United States, the British Empire and the rest of the world to experience this great revival and take it back home with them. It was the flame that kindled the fires of Azusa Street, Los Angeles.
God used that young man in such a mighty way, but some of his own country's clergy were jealous of him and turned against him with great persecution, breaking his heart, and causing him to have a breakdown that led him to give up his ministry. Why is it that when God uses someone who is chosen by God, and not by man, people get suspicious of him, like they were of Roberts and John the Baptist? When God anointed John to preach and warn the people, the religious leaders gave him his greatest opposition. They thought, "If God is going to do something big, He will do it here in our Temple in Jerusalem, and not down there on the banks of that muddy Jordan."
But John had paid the price. He had seen the vision. He knew his calling, and he was bold enough to preach the Gospel that cost him his life. Anything worth living for is worth dying for.
A TWO THOUSAND YEAR OLD DREAM
For two thousand years, ever since the dispersion in 70 A.D., the Jews have prayed for, and believed, that they would return to the land God gave their father, Abraham. Three times a day in their prayers, the Jews pray for Israel. And every year, at Passover Time, they repeated their dream, “Next year in Jerusalem!”
When the years went by and the dream seemed farther than ever away from being fulfilled, and the Jews of Europe began to assimilate with the Gentiles, their God raised up an Austrian Jew, and renewed this dream in his heart. His name was Theodor Herzl. He called out for his people to start dreaming again. They came together, and the struggle began. Righteous Gentiles caught his vision and tried to help the Jews make it come to pass. That is how Zionism was born. For a time, it seemed as though the dream could not be fulfilled. It was even suggested that the Jews accept Uganda as their homeland. But how could Uganda, Africa, ever become “The Land of Promise?” It had not been Uganda where Abraham had walked through the length and the breadth thereof, nor where Isaac dug his wells, nor where Jacob saw the ladder that reached to the sky.
Again the years passed by, and the dream of a Judenstaat was unfulfilled. Yet, some courageous ones came to The Land of Promise, and with their last coins bought up portions of the swamps which would later become the great orchards and farms of the State of Israel.
Then, one day in 1948, fifty years ago, David Ben Gurion stood up before the elders of the land and declared that Israel was a state. In that same hour, war began, as their enemies rose up against them with a force much greater than that of this infant state. But they did not succeed, nor will they ever, because God too has a dream. And His dream is to return Eretz Israel to His old friend, Abraham.
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