2015年11月30日
天堂名單 The Heavenly Manifest
读经: 路加福音10章17-24節
Reading: Luke 10: 17- 24
要因你們的名記錄在天上歡喜。-路加福音10章20節
Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.- Luke 10:20
全年读经: 以西結書37-39章;彼得後書2章
Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 37–39; 2 Peter 2
我到肯亞航空的櫃台辦理登機手續，在出示護照確認身分之後，地勤人員在乘客名單上卻找不到我的名字，究竟怎麼一回事？原來是超額訂位，加上事前我沒有確認機位，讓我想當天返家的心願落空。
這事件使我想起另一份名單，就是生命冊。路加福音10章提到耶穌派遣門徒去傳揚福音，當門徒歡喜地回報成果時，耶穌卻告訴他們：「不要因鬼服了你們就歡喜，要因你們的名記錄在天上歡喜」（20節） 。我們應當欣喜的，不是我們的成功，而是我們的名字已記錄在上帝的名冊。
但我們要如何確定呢？聖經告訴我們：「你若口裡認耶穌為主，心裡信上帝叫祂從死裡復活，就必得救。」（羅馬書10章9節）
使徒約翰在啟示錄21章裡，描述了令人歎為觀止的聖城，已經預備好等候信靠耶穌基督的人了。他接著寫道：「凡不潔淨的，並那行可憎與虛謊之事的，總不得進那城；只有名字寫在羔羊生命冊上的才得進去。」（27節）
生命冊是上帝的天堂名單，上面有沒有你的名字？
天父，感謝祢賜下獨生子，
祂應許為我們預備地方；
也感謝祢裝備我們，去那地方。
向上帝敞開心門，上帝就為你打開天堂的門。
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At the Kenya Airways check-in counter, I presented my passport for verification. When the agents searched for my name on their manifest—the document that lists names of passengers—my name was missing. The problem? Overbooking and lack of confirmation. My hope of reaching home that day was shattered.
The episode reminded me of another kind of manifest—the Book of Life. In Luke 10, Jesus sent His disciples on an evangelistic mission. On their return, they happily reported their success. But Jesus told them: "Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven" (v. 20). The focus of our joy is not merely that we are successful but that our names are inscribed in God's book.
But how can we be sure of that? God's Word tells us, "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Rom. 10:9).
In Revelation 21, John makes a breathtaking description of the Holy City that awaits those who trust Christ. Then he writes, "Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life" (v. 27).
The Book of Life is God's heavenly manifest. Is your name written in it?
Father in heaven, thank You for the gift of Your Son, who promised to prepare a place for us. Thank You too, that You are preparing us for that place.
God opens the gates of heaven to those who open their hearts to Him.