Reture to simplicity/返璞归真

In a beautifully decorated temple, flocks of people are passing by and shopping. Some are selling health remedy, happiness pills, some are selling fortune making and good relationship books and the money changers seated at their tables counting the money with a big smile. For that is what you would gain for believing in God.
Doesn’t this scene look familiar? This is a popular present day temple compare to the temple some 2000 years ago not much difference as described in John 2:13-16[The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves," Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!"] Maybe the only difference is that we make triples more money in our present day temple with an elaborated reduced and false gospel than two thousand years ago. When a bowl of clean soup is blended in some sugar or spice, it’s not the same taste at all, but some people like to drink sweet or spicy, so the vendor had to change the original taste to suit the customer need. This is a typical modern day business strategy which is penetrating into the Holy temple of God, but let’s see what the Lord Jesus’ strategy is: Mark6:8-12 [These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them." They went out and preached that people should repent.] So the core message of Jesus'gospel is to repent, He did not promise of health or wealth for believing but definitely Cross!—Mark8:34[take up your cross and follow me],The Cross--"The subject is worthy of an angel's tongue; it needs Christ himself completely to expound it... Abide hard by the cross, and search the mystery of his wounds." says C.H Spurgeon. These approaches are totally not fit into the modern day people pleasing business strategy,not even modern day psychology,sociology and philosophy, and modern people like to hear nice words, as predicted in [2Timothy 4:3,4--For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables]. The great German theologian Martin Luther has also summarized these two types of gospel as Theology of the Cross(=faith is joining Christ in his suffering) against the theology of Glory(=faith is the means to obtain material or powerful success). A defining quote for Glory theology is “God helps those who help themselves, or if you do this for God, God will reward you”(self-centered); Cross theology is “take up your cross and follow me”(God centered)
Among all these prosperity gospel’s complexities, how much I adore the Lord’s simplicity, His simple yet loving provision for His servant John—[John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.(Matthew 3:4)] and for many others. And if a man wants to buy the Love of Christ for his wealth, he would be utterly contemned,even worse for those who sell it.[Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.(song of Solomon8:7)]
在一个修饰漂亮的圣殿中，一群群的人来回穿梭购物。有卖健康药物的，快乐药片的，还有些卖如何发财的书，如何建立人际关系的书；小贩坐在他们的桌上乐颠颠地数着大把的钞票。因为这就是人们认为相信上帝可以得到的。
这看起来是个很熟悉的场景，在两千多年前的圣殿中相似的一幕也在发生：约翰福音2：13-16【犹太人的逾越节近了，耶稣就上耶路撒冷去。看见殿里有卖牛羊鸽子的，并有兑换银钱的人，坐在那里。耶稣就拿绳子作成鞭子，把牛羊都赶出殿去。倒出兑换银钱之人的银钱，推翻他们的桌子。又对卖鸽子的说，把这些东西拿去。不要将我父的殿，当作买卖的地方。】
或许我们和他们唯一的差别是我们用这个骗人的福音赚了更多倍的钱。当一碗清汤加进了糖或辣椒，就不是原来的味道了，但是因为有的人爱喝甜或辣，商人就在里面添加了料。这就是现代社会典型的商业战略。这个商业模式已经渗透入了神的圣殿中。我们再看看耶稣的战略是如何：马可福音6：7-12【耶稣叫了十二个门徒来，差遣他们两个两个的出去。也赐给他们权柄，制伏污鬼。并且嘱咐他们，行路的时候，不要带食物和口袋，腰袋里也不要带钱，除了拐杖以外，什么都不要带。只要穿鞋。也不要穿两件挂子。又对他们说，你们无论到何处，进了人的家，就住在那里，直到离开那地方。何处的人，不接待你们，不听你们，你们离开那里的时候，就把脚上的尘土跺下去，对他们作见证。门徒就出去，传道叫人悔改。】所以福音的中心就是要悔改，因为人都是罪人。主没有保证我们信他会有健康或财富，但肯定会有的是十字架！【马可福音8：34于是叫众人和门徒来，对他们说，若有人要跟从我，就当舍己，背起他的十字架来跟从我。】这样的教训简直是和现在商业社会的讨人欢心的招术格格不入，但是现代人喜欢听好听的话，如同提摩太后书四章三、四节所写:【因为时候要到，人必厌烦纯正的道理。耳朵发痒，就随从自己的情欲，增添好些师傅。并且掩耳不听真道，偏向荒渺的言语。】德国的马丁路德曾总结出这两种神学观，一个是十字架神学（=信仰是与基督同负十字架）教义比如耶稣说：背起你的十字架来跟从我，而成功神学是（=信仰为获得物质财富和权力）教义比如：如果你做些什么事，神就会赏你什么好处。一个是以神为中心，一个是以人为中心。
在当今泛滥的成功神学的复杂中，主耶稣的简朴是多么动人，他为他的仆人所预备的尽管简朴平凡却充满了爱【这约翰身穿骆驼毛的衣服，腰束皮带，吃的是蝗虫野蜜。】如果一个人要用财宝换主的爱，那他就全然被藐视！因为【爱情众水不能息灭，大水也不能淹没。若有人拿家中所有的财宝要换爱情，就全被藐视。】【因为爱情如死之坚强。嫉恨如阴间之残忍。所发的电光，是火焰的电光，是耶和华的烈焰。（雅歌）】

Continue with Mark, the parables/马可福音中的比喻

The parables of Jesus have great relationship to the definition of the kingdom which is one of the most debated issues in Synoptic scholarship. The parables obscured the truth from those who have rejected Him and blasphemed against the Holy Spirit while for His disciples He opened the understanding to the mysteries of His spiritual kingdom, a kingdom not of this world, but was to be set up in the hearts of men. In the gospel according to Mark chapter 4, there are four parables and one story of Jesus on boat.【Mark4:2-8, He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."】 The main point of this soil parable is to make the listeners to examine the hearts to see what kind of soil they are. Later He continued to explain the parables:【Mark4:14-20, The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."】 So now we can connect the parables to the specific thing Jesus was referring to. First type of soil: wayside/path, birds came and ate the seed on this type of soil. Attention, birds, later Jesus refer it to Satan who comes and takes away the seeds. Second type is rocky places, this type of people receive the Word with joy, and later fall away quickly. Why then the person received gospel with joy fall away so quickly? Because it’s not a normal reaction that the Lord expects, the reaction our Lord expects when we truly received the seed is a brokenness inside, a pain in the heart for the sins, a sense of repentance! Totally not like what the glamoring prosperity gospel promised of health and wealth to replace cross.The last type is the good soil, which can produce crop. The crop is a new life that Jesus can be manifested in it.
Now we proceed to the parable of the mustard seed. 【Mark4:30-32,What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."】 According to the trace of the first type of soil where birds came to ate up the seed, we can relate birds with Satan. Now this Satan birds came again to perch in the shade of the big plants. Why birds of the air can perch in its shade? Christianity is a miraculous faith started from 12 people, its beginning is as small as that mustard seed. As it grows and becomes the largest of all, the birds came. I remembered a preacher once said “the falling of Christianity was when Constantine the Great made Christianity the State religion of Roman Empire.” When a living faith grows into a big religion by the power of men instead of the working of the Holy spirit, is like a mustard seed grows to that big plants, Satan(the bird as stated above) is definitely flying to attack it,and able to perch in it. This is revealed by all kinds of immorality and abominations in many big churches. The nature of the faith has changed into a degenerated big religion.The living spiritual things became dead religious rituals,legalistic practice etc.But the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow;it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the hearts.
马可福音中的许多比喻都与神的国有关。主耶稣说对于那些拒绝祂和亵渎圣灵的人，祂就隐藏了比喻的奥妙，他们读比喻时有眼不能看懂，有耳不能听明。所以要读懂耶稣比喻的一个重要条件就是相信神，带着虚心求道的心来向主寻求真理。马可福音的第四章讲到了4个寓言和一个耶稣平静风浪的故事。【马可福音4：2-8，耶稣就用比喻教训他们许多道理．在教训之间、对他们说：“你们听阿．有一个撒种的．出去撒种。撒的时候、有落在路旁的、飞鸟来吃尽了。有落在土浅石头地上的、土既不深、发苗最快．日头出来一晒、因为没有根、就枯干了。有落在荆棘里的、荆棘长起来、把他挤住了、就不结实。又有落在好土里的、就发生长大、结实有三十倍的、有六十倍的、有一百倍的。】这个关于不同土壤的比喻就是要让我们先检查下自己的心是什么样的土壤。祂接着解释道：“【马可福音4：14-20，撒种之人所撒的、就是道。那撒在路旁的、就是人听了道、撒但（魔鬼）立刻来、把撒在他心里的道夺了去。那撒在石头地上的、就是人听了道、立刻欢喜领受．但他心里没有根、不过是暂时的、及至为道遭了患难、或是受了逼迫、立刻就跌倒了。还有那撒在荆棘里的、就是人听了道．后来有世上的思虑、钱财的迷惑、和别样的私欲、进来把道挤住了、就不能结实。那撒在好地上的、就是人听道、又领受、并且结实、有三十倍的、有六十倍的、有一百倍的。】第一种我们可以把飞鸟和魔鬼联系起来，这个飞鸟立即就夺走了撒的种；第二种撒在石头上的，人听了道就欢喜领受，但是他很快就会跌倒。这有什么问题呢？问题就在于，欢喜领受主耶稣的道，并不是祂所期望看到的。耶稣所期望的反应是心里的破碎，灵里为罪的忧伤，和悔改的心情。一个听到福音就欢喜接受的人是心里没有根，不过是暂时的，主耶稣清楚地预言了此类人以后的光景：及至为道遭了患难、或是受了逼迫、立刻就跌倒了。最后一个落到好土中的，这个土和其他的土不同在，他可以结出果子，这个果子就是听道之人有了新的生命，一个耶稣可以被彰显出来的新生命。
现在看看关于芥菜种的比喻。【4章31-32又说，神的国、我们可用甚么比较呢．可用甚么比喻表明呢。好像一粒芥菜种、种在地里的时候、虽比地上的百种都小，但种上以后、就长起来、比各样的菜都大、又长出大枝来．甚至天上的飞鸟、可以宿在他的荫下。】为什么天上的飞鸟又出现了呢？为什么可以宿在他的荫下呢？基督教起初是一个由耶稣的12门徒所开始的信仰，他就如芥菜种那么小，后来长得比各样的菜都大，天上的飞鸟就来宿在他的荫下。前面的比喻我们得出这个飞鸟就是魔鬼，当这个信仰变得大了，魔鬼就来攻击。记得一个牧师说过，基督教开始堕落，就是在君士坦丁大帝把基督教定为罗马帝国的国教那时起。当一个活的信仰变成了普世的宗教，就是他开始死亡的时候了，属灵的东西变成了死板的仪式。然而神的道是活泼的，是有功效的，比一切两刃的剑更快，甚至魂与灵、骨节与骨髓都能刺入剖开，连心中的思念和主意都能辨明。并且被造的没有一样在他面前不显然的。