以賽亞書 62 章禱告運動Isaiah 62 Prayer Campaign

Dear Prayer Partners,
On a recent ministry trip through Europe, I was shocked to see just how decadent the world is quickly becoming. In the airports and train stations, not just young people but folks old enough to be grandparents were dressed scantily and covered in tattoos. I could see the visible impact of gender confusion. And at a recent gay parade in a major Western city, there were even men completely naked marching openly in the street in front of children. Truly, the “darkness” spoken of in Isaiah 60:2 is falling on the world, which means we need to let our light shine (Isaiah 60:1). But to do so will require an abundance of grace from the Lord.

Grace is a precious gift from God and a powerful force in our lives. In the New Testament, it generally refers to the unmerited divine favour granted to believers who trust in the atoning blood of Jesus. The Greek word for “grace” is charis, and signifies the acceptance we have received before God through Christ. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God…” (Ephesians 2:8).

In the Old Testament, the way grace or favour are presented is slightly different. It usually involves appearing before a king or authority figure to do something to please them. We find it, for instance, six times in the Book of Esther, where the queen is hoping to appear before the king to deliver her people.

The first time “grace” appears in the Bible is in the story of the Flood. The Lord is grieved at humanity’s increasing sin, violence and perversion, and He decides to judge us. Yet, “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8). Here, the Hebrew word for “grace” is chen, meaning favour or acceptance. Because of his faith, Noah was on God’s good side. He delighted the Lord. How so?
The Jewish sages taught that this grace or chen spoken over Noah meant that in an evil and perverse generation, Noah was given the ability to still see sin from God’s perspective. He could still discern right from wrong according to God’s standards, and he stayed faithful to how heaven viewed things. This greatly pleased the Lord, and it condemned the rest of the world to God’s just judgment (Hebrews 11:7).
The prophet Zechariah promises that one day this same grace will come as a “Spirit” upon the Jewish people and convict them concerning how they once “pierced” the rightful heir to the throne of David (Zechariah 12:10). In fact, they will realise everything they did wrong before the Lord and repent, just like when the Holy Spirit came upon you and me and convicted us of all our sins.

As we enter our times of prayer together this month, may that same “spirit of grace” come upon us as well. May we have the God-given ability to see sin from His perspective and to stick with His standards of right and wrong. If you are offended by the increasing moral decadence in the world, that is a good sign! It means His Spirit is still dealing with you. And as we hold to God’s ways, know that this surely delights Him, and the Lord will not withhold any good thing from those who walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11).
In His abundant grace,

David R. Parsons
Vice President & Senior Spokesman

International Christian Embassy Jerusalem

以賽亞書 62 章禱告運動

親愛的禱告夥伴，

在最近一次歐洲事工之旅中，我震驚地發現世界正在迅速變得多麼頹廢。 在機場和火車站，不僅是年輕人，連祖父母輩的人都衣著暴露，滿身紋身。 我可以看到性別混亂的明顯影響。 最近在西方主要城市舉行的同性戀遊行中，甚至有男子全裸在街道上當著孩子們的面公開遊行。 確實，以賽亞書 60:2 中所說的「黑暗」正在降臨世界，這意味著我們需要讓我們的光發光（以賽亞書 60:1）。 但要做到這一點，需要主賜予豐富的恩典。

恩典是來自上帝的寶貴禮物，也是我們生命中強大的力量。 在新約中，它通常指的是那些相信耶穌贖罪之血的信徒所獲得的不配得的神聖恩惠。 希臘語中的「恩典」一詞是charis，表示我們通過基督在上帝面前得到的接納。 「你們得救是本乎恩，也因著信；這並不是出於自己，而是神所賜的；」（以弗所書 2:8）。

在舊約中，恩典或恩惠的表達方式略有不同。 它通常涉及出現在國王或權威人物面前做一些事情來取悅他們。 例如，我們在《以斯帖記》中就曾六次發現這樣的情況，其中皇后希望出現在國王面前拯救她的人民。

聖經中第一次出現“恩典”是在洪水的故事中。 主對人類日益增長的罪惡、暴力和墮落感到悲傷，祂決定審判人們。 然而，「挪亞在耶和華眼前蒙恩」（創世記 6:8）。 這裡，希伯來語中的“恩典”一詞是chen，意思是青睞或接受。 由於挪亞的信心，他站在神的一邊。 他令主喜悅。 怎麼會這樣？

猶太聖賢教導說，對挪亞所說的這種恩典或chen意味著，在一個邪惡而邪惡的世代，挪亞被賦予了仍然從上帝的角度看待罪惡的能力。 他仍然能按照神的標準來辨別是非，並且忠於上主對事物的看法。 這讓主大為喜悅，藉此他定了那世代的罪（希伯來書11:7）。

先知撒迦利亞承諾，有一天，同樣的恩典會以“聖靈”的形式臨到猶太人身上，使他們對自己曾經如何“刺穿”大衛王位的合法繼承人的行為認罪（撒迦利亞書 12:10）。 事實上，他們會意識到自己在主面前做錯的一切並悔改，就像聖靈降臨在你我身上，讓我們知罪我們所有的罪一樣。

當我們這個月一起祈禱時，願同樣的“恩典的靈”也臨到我們身上。 願我們擁有上帝賦予的能力，從祂的角度看待罪惡，並堅持他是非的標準。 如果您對世界上日益道德敗壞的現象感到憤怒，那是一個好兆頭！ 這意味著祂的靈仍在與您有溝通。 當我們堅持神的道路時，要知道這必定令祂喜悅，祂未嘗留下福氣不給那些行動正直的人。（詩篇 84:11）。

在祂豐富的恩典中，

大衛·帕森斯
ICEJ副總裁兼高級發言人

耶路撒冷國際基督徒大使館