(六月第一周) 6/01/2025 第22主日敬拜 活水得勝教會主日敬拜 David Hong 牧师证道

10:30am

活水得勝教會主日敬拜

33-01 Union Street Flushing NY 11354

6/ 1 /2025主日敬拜诗歌

亲爱的阿爸天父，我们感谢您出现在我们的生命中，给我们带来希望和快乐、平安和喜乐！感谢您为我们所做的一切，我们将用我们所知道最美的话语敬拜赞美您，用我们所能唱出最美的音符高声赞美您直到永远！

一粒麦子
隐藏我
基督是我满足
生命活水充满我

活水得胜人：叶武华弟兄打字记录 06012025

This afternoon, Jesus, I ask that you will bless each person here. We say that we trust in
you, Holy Spirit, come, minister to your people, that we will grow in affection and love for
you. Lord, we love you. Receive our worship, may it be a pleasing aroma. Before we start
our worship, let’s just pray. Let’s just lift up an intercede for this church, both our church
and living water.
Let’s lift up all the pastors and members. We pray for Pastor Ho’s full healing and God’s
grace and blessing upon the water. And as we deserve God’s will for this English service,
maybe a church that is pleasing to the Lord, just honoring Jesus and worshiping Jesus. In
these times where there’s so much going on, Jesus, we want to be completely focused on
you. And in your tabernacle, the fire never went out. It says night and day, may the fire
burn. So we pray, Lord, may our fire always burn day and night. So we focused on you, the
author
perfecter of our faith Jesus we want to see your face draw near to us as we draw near to
you so let’s just lift up prayers for our church let’s intercede let’s pray against the spiritual
battle for this generation pray against darkness in the name of Jesus and blood covering
us always very calm strengthen our hearts and minds and we may know the death of Jesus
love and
that we may comprehend with all the saints that just pray, which Father we thank you,
Lord, who has lived our prayers to you. Pray, Lord, Father, that you will be glorified in our
lives and you’re glorified in our church, Lord, Father, as we pray, just for your healing upon
your pastors, Lord. We pray for your restoration, for healing and a new strength and a new
joy over your pastors, God. I ask, Lord, Father, that you will put
a new testimony in the glory of Jesus name, Lord Father, and your cross high and lifted
up. I ask that you would open the eyes and hearts of your people, Lord. It means you have
clean hands and a pure heart to ascend to your holy hill, Lord God, and we want to do
your work. We want Jesus to be glorified, O God. I ask, Lord Father, that you would
strengthen.
our heart for God. I ask that your word will take center stage. I ask, O Father, your word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation, O God, may the light of your cross shine through this
target world, O Lord. Strengthen your people, open our eyes, O God, may we worship you
with all of our hearts, want to love you with all of our heart, mind, strength, and soul, O
God, strengthen us, Holy Spirit, that we may, O Father, be so joyful in you, O God, give us
all of this.

Give us, Lord God, Your Spirit, Lord, full of Your Spirit, O God. Father, we thank You again
for being with us, that You are always with us and You lead us to rivers of mercy and joy
and grace and peace. As we look to You, Jesus, and what You have accomplished for us,
we worship You with the Spirit that strengthens us.
So receive our worship. And maybe worship in spirit and in truth. We’ll sing together. Yeah,
we’ll sing together. It’s one of my favorites.
Of all our sins and griefs to bear What a faithful gift to carry Everything to bow and pray
All of his we are all there for
their trouble anyway
to the
Despite your sake, you take it to the Lord, you pray. In His arms, He will speak and shield
you. He will find us all this day. If you will find us all, I swear Jesus.
Jesus.
Jesus in the dark, so brilliant Jesus for my hand, I speak the whole name
Lord God, Heavenly Father, We praise your name this morning, O Lord. We thank you so
much for gathering us here so we could worship you in truth and in spirit. We thank you so
much, O God, for loving us, for giving us everything in Jesus Christ. Thank you so much, O
Lord God. And Lord, we are so excited to hear the word that you’re about to speak to us
through Pastor David, O God. And Lord, we just ask
that you prepare our hearts and minds, that you make our hearts perfect before you, Lord.
Hearts that are trembling in awe, in reverence, in worship, and in love for you, O God. And
Lord, may your Holy Spirit fill this place, fill our hearts, O Lord. And may your spirit just
consume and overflow in Pastor David. Use his mouth, his whole
being, Lord, use Him to speak and proclaim the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to us, that
we may be emboldened, that we may be empowered, O God, to go forth and to spread the
life, the fragrance of Lord Jesus to all that’s around us, O God. We commit this service
into your hands, and, Lord, just be with us, O God, and just bless us and may
Your presence be felt by all those here, Lord. Be with Pastor David. Use him and speak
through him. May his voice be your voice, his words, your words, O Lord. Use him, O God,

to reclaim your truth and to set us free. Thank you so much, O God. We pray in Jesus’
name. Amen. Thank you. Have a wonderful petition. We’re going to look at the book of
Esther today.
You know, this is something that when I first came upon these passages, it really, really
convicted me. Now, this is a passage. Actually, let’s just read first, and then that’s the
chapter three. Attempted to read in the NLT. No, I can not. What are we? All right. Who
wants to read some of the passages?
After these things came, how do you say that? Asher’s promoted highmen, the aggregate,
the son of Ahmed the love, and advanced them and set his throne above all the officials
who were with him. And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down to
take homage to him. For the king had so commended concerning him. But Mordecai did
not bow down for take homage. Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gates set
a Mordecai. Why do you transgress the king’s command?
And when they spoke to him day after day, and he would not listen to them, they told
Haman in order to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand. For he had told them that
he was a Jew. And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to
him, Haman was truly filled with fury, but he disdained to lay hands of Mordecai alone. So,
as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the
Jews, the people of Mordecai, and to throw out the whole kingdom as after it.
In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the 12th year of King Asuras, they cast
prayer. That is, they cast thoughts between Haman day after day, and they cast it month
after month, until the 12th month, which is the month of Arar. Then, the month of the King
Asuras, there is a certain people scattered abroad, and dispersed among the peoples, and
all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other
people, and they do not keep the king’s laws, so that it is not to the king’s prophet to
tolerate them.
If it is to please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten
thousand talents of sobering to the hands of those who have charge of the kingdom’s
business, that they may put it into the king’s treasuries.” So the king took his… what was
it? Signet? Signet? So they took his signet from his hand and gave it to Haman the
Agagai, the son of Haman the Tha, the enemy of the Jews. And the king said to Haman,
the money is given to you, the people also. Be with them as it seems good to you.
And then we’ll go to one more chapter. Chapter 6, 1 through 10, I’ll just read this title. On
that night, the king could not sleep and he gave orders to bring the book of memorable

deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written how
Hordakai told about the Fana and Teresh, two of the king’s beliefs regarding the threshold,
and who had sought to lay hands on King Asherus. King Sergans.
And the king said, what honor of distinction had been bestowed on Mordecai for this? The
king young man who attended him said, nothing has been done for him. And the king said,
who is in the court? Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to
speak to the king about having Mordecai hang on the yellows that he had prepared for
him. And the king’s young man told Haman.
Haman is here, there, standing in the court. And the king said, let him come in. So Haman
came in. And the king said to him, what should be done to the man who the king delights
to honor? And Haman said to himself, who would the king delight to honor more than me?
And Haman said to the king, for the man who the king delights to honor, let royal robes be
brought, which the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose
head a royal crown is set.
And let the robes and the horse be handed over to the one of the king’s most noble
officials. Let them dress the man whom the king delights the honor, and let them lead him
on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, Thus shall it be done
to the man whom the king delights. Then the king said to Hamlet, Hurry, take the robes
and the horse as you have said, and do to Mordecai the Jew.
who sits at the landscape, leave out nothing that you have mentioned. Let’s pray. Jesus,
Father, we thank you for your word. Holy Spirit, give us insight. I ask that this will not just
be head knowledge, but it will be heart knowledge. May we hear your voice, Jesus, as we
seek to be transformed and renewed day by day.
It says in your word, Lord, thank you. If we are in our right minds, it is for you. But if we
are on our minds, it is for you. We hear your voice in Jesus’ name. You guys know this
story, Esther? So give your biblical context now. We see the dismal history of Israel, the
kings of Israel since King Saul, we have King David, we have King Solomon.
the kingdom breaks in two with the kingdom of Judah kingdom of Israel no righteous king
comes out of Israel the whole time all wicked Judah has a couple now God ordained exile
for both of these tribes the ten tribes of Israel they’re exiled around 722 BC they fall to
Assyria I believe and then Judah they fall to well they fall to Assyria 586 okay so

This is post-exile. So the 70 years that Israel and Judah suffered under the exile, this is
post-exile, meaning that King Xerxes overcame the Babylonian king and decreed that all
the Jews are now able to return to Jerusalem and they have religious rights again.
So now we’re come to a place where King Xerxes or King Asheras Let’s go to chapter a
little context now King Xerxes is now the ruler. This is Persia. I don’t know if you guys
watched like 300 All those old movies like King Xerxes Persia was a great empire and the
Queen at that time
defies King Xerxes and so he’s very upset he wants to have a kill but ultimately he doesn’t
but has her exiled and vanished and now they’re looking for a new queen and out of all the
beautiful women in the empire Esther is chosen so there’s favor there right so we’ll see
now the book of Esther is special because God has never mentioned in the book of Esther
So what we see here is the hiddenness of God, the silence of God, although we can’t be
seen, he’s working very powerfully. So Esther becomes the queen. So we pick up in
chapter 3, this man here, Haman, the son of Hamadetha, the Agagite. Now this is very
interesting, an Agagite,
It’s known to be a descendant of King Aga. You guys know who that is? King Aga was the
enemy of the Israelites since King Saul. So when King Saul became the new king, the first
king, right off the bat, he’s doing things that God does not have. God tells Saul, go to the
Amalekites, destroy everything, every sheep,
everything. Now, a lot of people have problems with this because this seems to be very
ruthless and unfair. But we don’t know why, but my guess is looking into is when Israel
was free from Egypt, right? From the 400 years of bondage, when they go into the desert,
the Amalekites, knowing that they were slaves and tired, attacked the Amalekites.
So maybe that’s why God’s not God. These are bad. We need to get them back. So King
Agag is the king of the Amalekites and King Saul decides to spare him. And he takes all
the riches of the country and Samuel, who is the prophet who anoints King Saul, says, oh,
because you did not obey, the Lord has now rejected you. But not only that,
Because Saul didn’t obey, we see hundreds of years later, his descendant Haman, who is a
descendant of King Agath, now wants to kill all the Jews, right? So it’s very interesting
how one person’s disobedience can run down the generations, right? So be careful. Obey
God.

fully with the whole part because you never know right this generational sense so today i
want to talk about particularly uh identity and how do we gain an identity right like a very
deep profound question right my mom in the Korean culture, she’s just, oh, that’s David’s
mom. Very easy identity, right? Very easy. But in our context, it’s a little more complex,
isn’t it? Actually, we have broken off from the family traditions. We have broken off from
the traditional idea of identity. So much of Hollywood and the arts have now portrayed
identity as something to be found
within the digging and the excavating of one’s own psyche and psychology to look inwards
and to discover yourself, to discover who you are. And that’s just how identity is formed
now. You can disagree with me anytime. I mean, Christian knows the landscape. And even
now as the reality of gender and the reality of how one identifies oneself
It’s so invariant. There’s just so many ways, right? And this idea of identity is now such a
problem. I mean, you can identify as so many different things because people are looking
inwards and saying, who am I? They’re confused, right? So, I mean, we look at the movie
Frozen, right? It’s just like, who are you? I don’t know who I am, but
Who cares what authority says, you just gotta let it go. Almost every Disney movie is about
going against institution, going against tradition, and discovering who you are. So we have
people who identify as so many things, but what the truth of all that is, no matter how
much we want to identify ourselves, we also need validation.
So I can write, hey, you know, I come from a Korean family, you know, and I identify as
something homosexual. My family has disowned me, but I don’t care because I looked in, I
see my desires, I know who I am, and I decide to be gay, right? That’s all and good, but
when I
I post that on Instagram and I get 5,000 likes. I’m like, oh my God, I love. So the real, if
we’re very honest, the real affirmation of one’s identity comes in the context of community.
No one is ever an island unto themselves. So in this age where identity and
Seeking one’s identity is paramount, and getting validation of how we say we identify it is
very important. Now, Hamid here, let’s look at this parent, Hamid. He is the subject that is
actually representative of today’s voice.
Heyman is now he is elevated to the second in command, which is equivalent to the vice
president He is a person of stature. He is a person of repute and He wherever he goes
People are bound down to him just because of his power And it says here Mordecai
refused to buy that bow down or show him

respect. And not just that, it seems like Mordecai’s company was also saying, look,
everyone’s bounding down except that guy. Mordecai’s not bounding down. So he is so
angered. It says here, he is filled with rage that not only does he want to kill Mordecai,
But he wants to kill everyone, all of his Jews, all of his kind. If that doesn’t really explain
today’s political climate, I don’t know what does. So what is going on here? What is going
on? Why is this person reacting like this? Why would we go to the world right now? It just
doesn’t take long for us to see the sea of social media posts that are vilifying and saying
outrageous things.
all of these people should die and all of these people should die. What’s going on here?
And this passage is talking about the origin of sin. So what does the Bible mean when the
Bible says sin? This is very interesting. Do you know what Satan’s person was? Why did
Satan fall?
So Satan was known. If we look at Ezekiel, he was in charge of worship. So he was a very
beautiful angel. He was very close to the glory of God. He was worshipping and all the
angels worship. And it says that because of his pride, because he was so full of himself,
that pride came in and he fell. So this gives us a clue of what sin is and
This, if you understand this, it’ll be a thread through all of your existence to understand
what’s going on. So here, we see a case study on what pride is. And what is pride? I’m
going to give you Tim Keller’s definition, commentaries for this, but pride is self
Absorption. This is not a comfortable message. Even when I was going through this, I was
once again convicted and I was able to, with the Lord’s help, understand what was going
on inside of me to lay down my pride and to really receive the truth. Now, in his book,
Self-forgetfulness, my tip color. He makes this very interesting observation that no one
comes in to say like, oh today my elbows are feeling amazing or like fine. Right? No one
thinks about the well-functioning elbow It only becomes an issue when there’s something
wrong with it, right? No one’s saying, no one needs word of grace until something happens
to you and then it caused attention to itself. So in the same way, Tim Keller-Rumar said,
so why are we always calling attention? What is wrong with our identity? What is wrong
with who we are that we’re constantly calling attention to ourselves of
Why am I feeling this way? Why is that person thinking of me this way? And the answer is,
is that we are sinners. So sin obviously defines sin like this. It’s in curvatus insae. Curved
inwards. So when I hear that and how we explain it, I get this imagery of a black hole.

A black hole is one of the most powerful forces, right? Light cannot escape. Everything
that goes near it is sucked in. So in the same way, I think what Augustine was getting to is
that all of our experiences, as we navigate or go through life, as things are in front of us,
on the left side of us, on the right side of us,
and our experiences are so immediate and visceral it persuades us that life is mainly about
me and we navigate life and we navigate just our daily existence attributing from the
axiom of the self so just as a personal testimony I have struggled with this
my entire life So consumed by how others perceive me. It’s such a big thing For example, I
don’t know if you I remember I had a friend at Newhart Very funny guy one time it was
cracking all these jokes About God he wasn’t like a serious believer I didn’t laugh at his
jokes a couple days later
He actually approached me and said, how come you didn’t laugh? He told me in the
moment of honesty, I lost sleep. I couldn’t sleep because you didn’t laugh at my jokes. I
don’t know why. I mean, I thought about that and it’s, it really is a reflection of how our
heart works and how we view ourselves. As soon as we attach our identity
with an achievement or something that we possess like oh if you need to be viewed as
smart if you need to be viewed as funny if you’re viewed as the cool guy or the chill guy or
Then anything that comes against that it’s going to threaten your identity and what here
what we see Haman is I really sympathize with him and Haman is really a story about us is
because he’s saying look
I went through great pain to get to this position. I went through so much schooling and,
you know, so many months of tests. I beat everyone. And here is this guy who does not
give me the affirmation I deserve. So what does he do? He not only wants to take revenge
on Mordecai, but his entire people.
the Jews, right? If we go to chapter 6, that night the king had trouble sleeping so he
ordered and intended to bring the book of the history of his raid so that it could be read to
him. In those records he discovered an account of how Mordecai had exposed the plot. So,
Haman, in his rage, in his pride,
wants to take revenge and wants to kill the entire people. Now Esther finds out about this
plot through Mordecai. Mordecai is at the gate and he overhears Haman’s plot to kill not
just him but the entire people. So Mordecai trips the king into giving a decree saying that
there is a rebel group. He doesn’t specifically mention the Jews, but he says there’s a rebel

group who is a threat to your kingdom. They’re going to get your laws and we need to deal
with this insurrection quickly and swiftly or else they may become cancerous to our
empire. So the king also persuaded that he would also have a monetary game that says
here that Haman said he would put
a very large amount into the treasury. Now in those days, war was very expensive and we
know that Persia was constantly invading other countries. Wars are incredibly, it requires
so many resources. So without even thinking twice, he just gives a decree with a signet
ring to give him the okay to deal with his group. And we see here as
He puts the plan into motion. Mordecai finds out about this plan. He is distraught, to say
the least. It says that he goes into fasting, he stops eating. He goes into sackcloth and
then to dust and ashes. He tells Esther, Esther is distressed. She consecrates the fast
from the entire Jewish. She asks the entire group of Jews to consecrate the fast, to cry
out to God so that they can
avoid or deal with this. And so here we pick off in chapter six, the king, he has trouble
sleeping. So he orders one of his attendant to bring the history books. So as he’s reading
the history books, it’s recorded that someone exposed the plot of two eunuchs plotting an
assassination of King Xerxes and King Ashrus.
And the king had completely forgotten about this. And we know that in the earlier
chapters, because Mordecai was working in the palace right by the gate, he was always
able to hear the gossip of the people. And one day he just happened to overhear the plot
of these two eunuchs. And he told Esther to tell the emperor, the king, about this plot.
So when Esther told the king, the king did an investigation and found out that there was
indeed a plan to assassinate him and he had them killed immediately. So here he discovers
that he never rewarded Mordecai for this discovery, for letting him know that there was
this assassination attempt on his life.
So he asked one of his attendants, right, what has been done for him. It says nothing has
been done for him. And during this, right around this time, he asked who was in the court.
And at the perfect time, Haman comes in and asked, Haman comes in and the king asked
Haman.
Somebody says here, Haman is out on the court, bringing him in the king order. So Haman
came in and the king said, what should I do to honor a man who truly pleases me? And it
says, Haman thought to himself, who would the king wish to honor more than me? So he

replied, if the king wishes to honor someone, he should bring out one of the king’s boy,
Rose.
as well as a horse that the king himself has ridden, one with a royal emblem on its head.
Let the robes and the horse be handed over to the one of king’s most noble officials. And
let him see that the man whom the king wishes to honor is dressed in the king’s robes and
led through the city square on the king’s horse. And have the official shout as they go,
This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor. Alright, so to summarize all
this and get to the point of what I want to communicate today is everyone seeks
validation. We all need validation as we put ourselves to the world and as we say, this is
who I am, we all need validation.
Now why I sympathize and I see myself in Haman is because Haman wanted what I want.
Haman wanted and was seeking what everybody and what every heart wants. And this is
receiving not just validation but receiving a claim and praise from someone that we deem
also praiseworthy. It’s one thing to receive praise from someone that you don’t have high
esteem for. It’s one thing to receive praise from your little brother, who you don’t have high
esteem for, or your little cousin, but then to receive praise
from someone that you esteem. That is what we’re all after, isn’t it? Most of what we do in
life is so that we can be acknowledged and recognized. We want to be told you did a good
job. We want to be told you are worthy and valuable. We want to be somebody’s. Like, I
don’t want to be a nobody. I want to be of somebody. I need to be seen. I need to be
heard.
No one’s listening. No one is looking at me. So what do we do? We make outrageous
claims. We get angry. We want to kill other people. We can’t love because our hearts are
like a black hole. It needs so much love. It needs so much validation. We want the praise of
our friends. We want the validation of our friends and just our, like for me, like I remember
somebody like this
If Lance told me, hey, that was a great sermon, that’s one thing. But if John Piper was
here, and he said, oh David, that wasn’t amazing. I would literally maybe faint, right? It’s
because we want the praise and the recognition. We need deeply somebody that we look
up to, somebody like our parents. And our parents don’t do it enough. We need figures in
our lives who are big.
to tell us you’re good I like you you’re worthy you’re gifted right but we don’t get this so
what do we do we seek it everywhere else just like Amen we become evil we become

prideful because if you’re not going to give it to me a little love for it everywhere so what
does it say if we don’t give our hearts what it needs it’ll eat poison so when we
Don’t get the affirmation from our friends. We’re devastated. When we don’t get the
affirmation from our parents, we’re devastated. We’re traumatized. We’re broken. We’re in
pieces. Because we’re not getting all sweet. Good job. You’re amazing. You’re awesome,
right? So the only fault of Haman here is that he simply went to the wrong game.
So he’s so devoid of praise. He needs other people’s validation so much. He so
desperately needs people to say, you’re so good, you’re so amazing, that he can’t. But
think, when the king asked him, oh, what should I do with the person I truly? He already,
because he’s so hungry, he immediately thinks, oh, it’s about me.
Dude, the king just must be talking about me. This is very normal. This is who we are. This
is me. This is me. Hey man, for the longest time, I am so desperate. Not how I know. I am
so needed because when people criticize me, I know I’m devastated. I’m out for the count.
For many days, I can’t even get. I remember the first time, my first sermon I ever preached
was a disaster. It was so bad.
I couldn’t preach but I was up there like this and like this and just like the only passionate I
remember an older woman came up to me She was a she’s one of those people who just
talked in her mind and she goes to me in Korea
I wanted to kill myself. This is a big problem in our culture. We have such a hole. We have
such a vacancy. We want to be perfect. I need to be perfect. I have high standards.
Expectations. There’s so much pressure we put on ourselves. And we can’t rest. We have
to work harder. The more we fail, the more harder we work. Don’t we not?
We make mistakes, so we try harder, we work harder, more pressure, and so we get more
angry, more frustration, depression, anxiety, fear, because we’re not giving ourselves, and
we’re not going to the right person for what we need. Haman went to the wrong king,
that’s it, and look what he said.
When he said, when he said, what should we do for Mordecai? He didn’t say Mordecai, but
what should we do in whom the king delights? He already thought about this millions of
times, because he had an answer very quickly. He thought about it every night. Oh, only if
the king would give me his sports. I ride on his sports up high. Everybody looks at me and
they’re going to say, oh, wow, Amen. He’s amazing. He’s on the king’s force. Not only is he
the vice president, but now

He did such an amazing thing and he want the highest mobile to grab the horse go around
as a parade, right? Like the next one, the championship, right? It’s a parade. Oh, here is
Heyman. Everybody listen here. Come on. Let’s be honest. I want that. I want to go into a
room. I have arrived. I’m here. This is the energy I bring, right? So imagine how much
humbling I need.
I said, God, when will you take care of this pride? Over and over again, I’m seeking the
praise of that. I want people to know I’m special. I want people to know I’m a somebody.
Right? So this is not a bad thing. Haman, I feel so, I am Haman. When I read this, I’m like,
oh, I understand you, Haman. He’s the true hero.
It’s not Esther, it’s not about Esther, it’s about him and here. And look at this, excellent.
How many times in my pride, I remember looking sometimes when I preached, I’m like, oh,
that person is not being blessed. As a pastor, you see everything and you see somebody
falling asleep. This is all pride, pride in me. And how many times?
Me being evil, want to hurt, can’t love those people. And we see here Haman, I feel so
sorry for him because I don’t know how many times in my Christian life I judge somebody
and it happens to me. If you’re a Christian, you know you understand. As soon as you
criticize somebody, you do the same thing. Is this true or no? As soon as you judge
somebody, it happens to you.
So many times in my life I experienced, because God is teaching us how to truly love,
right? And truly be a Christian. So we see here, poor Haman. He dies. He said, I’m going to
kill this Mordecai. I’m going to put him on the pole 75 feet high. I’m going to entail him on
this pole for all to see.
And he ends up, he ends up being impaled. He’s the one by his own plan. So what can we
learn here? We learn that going to, going to the true king, who has, he has literally, he
gave us his robes, his signet ring, And if we go to, I want to go, let’s go to First Peter
chapter one. And we’re going to look at verse seven. Just read it. Yeah, we know this, we
know this very well. In this you rejoice not for a little while. If necessary, you have been
greeted by various trials so that the tested, genuineness of your faith, more precious than
gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire,
may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And
it says later on that even angels want to look into this. And you know, this praise and glory
and honor is actually not us praising Jesus and his glory, which is also true, but it’s
actually

His praise towards us. And this is so magnificent, it says in the later verse. In verse 12, it
was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you in things that have
not been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy
Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. So here is the practical
application.

So much of our lives is marked by feelings of inadequacies. It’s so much of our day-to-
day living is marked by this feeling of insufficiency, of not measuring up, of looking to see

how we are perceived. It’s always this relentless, sleepless, monkey on our back. We’re so
keenly aware of how others perceive us and how they may look at us. I’m so super sharp
when I look and have a conversation. Am I saying something smart? Am I not? Is this
something that’s landing on that person? So self-consumed and so much of this defines
and can rob my life.
of really being in the present, really being, having joy, living in the present, and knowing
that I have nothing more to prove. But can we really accept the fact that, man, I have
nothing to prove? Because my king affirms me. Because Jesus looked upon me with so
much joy and pleasure.
That is half a Nile. Do we see a Jesus that sings over us? In Isaiah 6, we see Jesus who is
high and lifted up and says, that’s Jesus, right? We know that from John 12. Isaiah has this
holy, holy God, the living God. The angels are around him, the seraphim who are holding,
they’re covering their eyes because they cannot look upon God. But that’s Jesus, right?
He’s so holy, so amazing, that even these mighty angels can’t look upon, they can’t have
their angel eyes, look at the orals they will perish. And he says, his train fills the whole
temple, that this amazing God, this holy God, who created everything that we see, comes
to us and says, ah, you’re enough, you’re good enough. I’m letting that.
Just wash over you over and over again. I’m 15 years in. I still have trouble receiving that.
My natural instinct is to impress people. I want to impress. I want people to think well of
me. And as long as I think that there’s so much pressure on myself, either I give up
or I work too hard. What are we seeking? Why do we do that? Jesus. We want Him, but we
just don’t know it. When we experience Jesus, what is He saying? Why would He come
near us and touch our hearts, spend time with us? Because He loves us. He has joy over
us. He is joyful. When I look at my child, Emma, I always find, as soon as she comes into
the room, I’m happy.

No matter what, God is the exact same way. Whatever we call, he’s happy. He’s so joyful
you came. He never gets sick and tired of you. He always wants to spend time with you
more and more, all day, every day. He never tires of you. He never says, oh, it’s the same
old this and same old David, the same old problems, same old sins, but he’s always there.
And when we really listen,
And say, Laura, sing me a song. Isn’t song so great? Music has such a way of helping us
break through the concrete walls of this world and that concrete slab seemingly that
makes us feel so confined and restricted and that I want to be free. And so many people
escape in the world of music where there’s so many layers of, you know, why is music
great? It’s just so many.
of great reality. And I don’t even know how musicians do that. They’ll like have some bass,
drums, and they just stack. And then the lyrics, the nice voice, just stack in one reality
apart. So is Jesus. He’s at least as good as music. He’s at least as good as the best foods
out there. Right, all the foods, why are food certain foods like cakes? Oh, so many stacks
of…
This crunchiness and smooth, why is it crispy on the outside and tender in the middle,
warm and hot. It’s all these, it’s stacked. That’s the beauty, that’s why we love food and
experiences, nice vacations. When we go to nice vacations, our eyes have seen so many
new things and it goes crazy. I’ve never seen, when we walked out flushing, I’ve seen
everything. Your brain already knows, oh, I already know everything, I don’t want to know
anymore.
Right? So Jesus is about… If you have… I’ve never had steak and said, oh, this is terrible.
Right? It’s one thing to think about the color blue. You can think with all your mind, with all
your brain, blue, blue, blue, blue, blue. But looking at it, oh, blue. Difference. Our sensation,
our senses are there to experience Jesus. Say, Jesus, give me a hug.
You’re wrong, Jesus. You’re a kiss his feet. He’s real. More real. What is real? He’s more
real. He’s more real than having the best caribbean and the best vacation. He’s more real
than that. Because we’re talking about sensation here. And everything we do in this world
where negativity and
so much polarization and this question around what is true and who we are and identity
and all the fragility that lives inside me of why I can’t withstand some of the things that
come against me like criticism or I’m not enough. This can be all traced back to our
inability to hear. When Jesus says, I’ve made you.

It’s an amazing thing. Every day I wake up. Will Jesus come today? Who knows? Right? I
just came back from Las Vegas. Everybody doing the slides. Oh, I was like, you don’t know
the real jackpot. Right, you hit the jackpot. But every morning, you can have this feeling.
It’s an experience. Oh, he’s good again today.
He loves me today just like you loved me yesterday. So there’s no guarantees in life that
bad things will not happen. There’s no guarantees that people won’t betray you. There’s no
guarantees that people won’t say harsh words to you. There’s no guarantee for any of this.
Life will be hard. But one guarantee is that we have the unchanging Word of God and the
heart of Jesus, the love of Jesus, who’s always there.
ready to receive us. And as we know, the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15, as I want to tie
in a little bit of New Testament into the Old Testament, we see the same kind of thing of
the prodigal son who asked for his inheritance prematurely, tantamount to wishing the
father’s death, he goes to a foreign nation, spends it,
spends everything, a famine falls, there’s no way he can go back home in a shame, so he
ends up working with a farmer tending to the pigs, he’s so hungry, he starts eating the
pig’s food. And that’s so profound to me, because I, on a daily basis, am seeking pig’s
food. And then he comes to a census, it says, which is amazing. And he realizes, oh,
there’s something better than this.
and he goes home preparing this speech that I’m not worthy to be your son. His father
sees him from afar as if he was waiting daily for his son to return, runs after him. He
doesn’t care, right? He doesn’t care. He lifts up his robes, which was not something men
did in those days. It would be very undignified. Only women and children were allowed to
do that.
for them and their robes, their dignified robes. He must have been a man of stature for
him to run was something that was unseen. So this is a very radically different story of
who God is. Who is God to you is always the most important question. Who is God? This
God running after you, running towards you always.
That’s good news, isn’t it? No criticism. He’s waiting. He returned. He’s waiting with the
robe. He says, bring the best robe. Takes off his signature ring, which is the family crest.
Puts it on him. Grey feast. Grey feast. This is what Jesus said about God. Who is God?
This is a picture of who God is.
And to know this God, as we struggle on a daily basis, we make mistakes, we sin, we
forget about God, and that’s always true. But remember, whenever we turn to God, it’s

always there. Waiting to give us the eternal, the eternity that our hearts need. Let’s pray.
Father, we thank you.
just for your amazing love and your grace and mercy and just how gracious you are that
you find us, you run after us, you run towards us and maybe come to you when you may
be found and we pray to you when you hear our prayers and today is the day where you
make known to us your great salvation
so we look into this amazing gospel with the angels to know that you love us this much
and may that Lord always inform our hearts and lather our imagination and no matter
which place we are that you may pick us up from the pit that you will pick us up from the
mire and set us
on steady ground. We thank you and Jesus thank you.
**[文件名]: Pastor David Hong 証道 2025年6月1日.pdf**
**[文件内容开始]**
===== 第 1 页 =====
David Hong 牧师 証道 2025年6月1日
今天下午,耶稣,我祈求祢祝福这里的每一个人。我们说我们信靠
祢,圣灵,求祢来,服事祢的百姓,使我们在对祢的深情和爱上
不断增长。主,我们爱祢。接纳我们的敬拜,愿它成为祢所喜悦的馨香之气。在我们开始
敬拜之前,让我们先祷告。让我们为这间教会,包括我们的教会
和活水教会,代祷。
让我们为所有的牧师和会众祷告。我们为何牧师的完全康复祷告,求神
的恩典和祝福临到活水教会。当我们寻求神对这英语聚会的旨意时,
愿我们成为一间蒙主喜悦的教会,单单尊荣耶稣、敬拜耶稣。
在这个发生许多事的时代,耶稣,我们想要完全专注于
祢。在祢的帐幕中,火从未熄灭。经上说,昼夜不息,愿火
燃烧。所以我们祷告,主啊,愿我们的火常常昼夜燃烧。使我们专注于祢,这信心的
创始成终者耶稣,我们想要见祢的面,在我们亲近祢时求祢亲近我们。
所以让我们为我们的教会举起祷告,让我们代求,让我们为这世代属灵的
争战祷告,奉耶稣的名祷告抵挡黑暗,愿宝血常常遮盖
我们,使我们内心平静,刚强我们的心思意念,使我们能认识耶稣之爱的深度,

使我们能与众圣徒一同明白……让我们祷告,天父我们感谢祢,
主,祢垂听了我们的祷告。主啊,天父,我们祷告,愿祢在我们的
生命中得荣耀,愿祢在我们的教会中得荣耀,主啊,天父,当我们为
祢的众牧师祷告,求祢医治他们时,我们为祢的恢复祷告,求祢赐下医治、新的力量和新的
喜乐给祢的众牧师。神啊,我祈求,主啊,天父,愿祢使
新的见证为耶稣名的荣耀而被建立,主天父,愿祢的十字架被高举。
我祈求祢开启祢百姓的眼睛和心窍,主。这意味着要有
清洁的手和纯净的心才能登上祢的圣山,主神,我们想要行
祢的工。我们想要耶稣得荣耀,哦神。我祈求,主天父,愿祢
刚强
我们向神的心。我祈求祢的话语占据中心位置。我祈求,哦父啊,祢真理的
话语,祢救恩的福音,哦神,愿祢十字架的光照亮这个
黑暗的世界,哦主。刚强祢的百姓,开启我们的眼睛,哦神,愿我们
用我们全部的心敬拜祢,愿我们用我们全部的心、意、力、魂爱
祢,哦神,刚强我们,圣灵,使我们能够,哦父啊,在祢里面如此喜乐,哦神,将这一切赐给我
们。
===== 第 2 页 =====
求祢赐给我们,主神,祢的灵,主,使我们被祢的灵充满,哦神。父啊,我们再次感谢祢
与我们同在,祢始终与我们同在,祢引领我们到怜悯、喜乐、
恩典与平安的江河。当我们仰望祢,耶稣,以及祢为我们所成就的一切时,
我们以那刚强我们的灵来敬拜祢。
所以,请接纳我们的敬拜。愿我们在灵和真理中敬拜。我们要一起唱诗。是的,
我们一起唱。这是我最喜欢的诗歌之一。
(歌词部分,根据上下文推测并意译,可能不完整或不精确)
背负我们所有的罪孽与忧伤,何等信实的礼物承载一切
俯伏祷告
我们都在那里为了祂……
无论如何,他们的烦恼……
到主面前……
尽管为了你,你把它带到主面前,你祷告。在祂的臂弯中,祂必说话并庇护
你。祂今日必寻见我们所有人。如果你要寻见我们所有人,我起誓,耶稣。
耶稣。

在黑暗中的耶稣,如此灿烂 耶稣,为了我的手,我呼唤那全名
主神,天父,我们今晨赞美祢的名,哦主。我们如此
感谢祢将我们聚集在这里,使我们可以用心灵和诚实敬拜祢。我们如此
感谢祢,哦神,因祢爱我们,因祢在耶稣基督里赐给我们万物。非常感谢祢,哦
主神。主啊,我们非常兴奋能听到祢即将通过 David 牧师向我们
传达的话语,哦神。主啊,我们只求
祢预备我们的心思意念,使我们的心在祢面前完全。愿我们的心
在敬畏、尊崇、敬拜和对祢的爱中战兢,哦神。并且
主啊,愿祢的圣灵充满这地方,充满我们的心,哦主。愿祢的灵
在 David 牧师里面燃烧并满溢。使用他的口,他全
人,主啊,使用他来向我们宣讲和传扬我们主耶稣基督的福音,使
我们得以刚强壮胆,使我们得以被赋予能力,哦神,得以出去并传播
主耶稣的生命、馨香之气给我们周围的一切,哦神。我们将这次聚会交托在
祢手中,并且,主啊,求祢与我们同在,哦神,求祢祝福我们,愿
祢的同在让这里的所有人都感受到,主。与 David 牧师同在。使用他并通过他说话。
愿他的声音成为祢的声音,他的话语成为祢的话语,哦主。使用他,哦神,
===== 第 3 页 =====
来恢复祢的真理并使我们得自由。非常感谢祢,哦神。我们奉耶稣的
名祷告。阿们。谢谢大家。愿大家有美好的祈求。我们今天要看《以斯帖记》。
你们知道吗,当我第一次读到这些经文时,它真的、真的
让我知罪。现在,这是一段经文。实际上,我们先读一下,那是
第三章的内容。试图用新普及译本读。不,我读不了。我们用什么版本?好吧。谁
想读一些经文?
这些事以后,该怎么说呢?亚哈随鲁王抬举……哈曼,亚甲族
哈米大他的儿子,提升他,使他的座位高过所有与他在一起的
大臣。所有在朝门的王臣都向
他鞠躬致敬。因为王曾这样吩咐关于他的事。但末底改
并不鞠躬或表示敬意。于是,在朝门的王臣们就
问末底改:”你为何违背王的命令呢?”
他们天天劝他,他还是不听,他们就告诉
哈曼,要看末底改的话是否站得住。因为他曾告诉他们,他

是犹太人。哈曼见末底改不向他鞠躬致敬,
就怒气填胸。但他不屑于只下手害末底改一人。于是,
既然他们已将他末底改的族裔告诉了他,哈曼就图谋灭绝所有的
犹太人,就是末底改的族人,在整个王国境内。
正月,就是尼散月,在亚哈随鲁王十二年,他们掣
普珥(“prayer” 应为 “Pur” 普珥,即掣签),
就是他们在哈曼面前日复一日地掣签,月复一月地掣,
直到十二月,就是亚达月。哈曼对
亚哈随鲁王说:”有一个民族,散居在王国各省
各民族中。他们的律法与别的民族不同,
他们也不遵守王的律法,所以容留他们
对王无益。
王若以为美,请下旨灭绝他们;我愿捐一万
他连得银子,交给办理国事之人,纳入王的府库。”于是王从手上摘下……什么来着?
印章?戒指?于是他们从王手上摘下他的印章戒指,交给哈曼——
亚甲族哈米大他的儿子,犹太人的仇敌。王对哈曼说:
“这银子赐给你,这民也交给你,你可以随意待他们。”
然后我们再读另一章。第六章,1到10节,我只读标题。那
夜王睡不着觉,就吩咐人取历史记录,
===== 第 4 页 =====
就是编年史,在王面前诵读。发现书上写着
末底改曾告发守门太监中的两个太监辟探和提列,
企图下手害亚哈随鲁王。
王说:”末底改行了这事,赐他什么尊荣爵位没有?”伺候王的
臣仆回答说:”没有赐他什么。”王说:”谁在院子里?”那时哈曼正进王宫的
外院,要求王将末底改挂在他所预备的木架上。
王的臣仆就告诉哈曼。
“哈曼站在院内。”王说:”叫他进来。”哈曼就进来。
王问他说:”王所喜悦尊荣的人,当如何待他呢?”哈曼心里说:”王所喜悦尊荣的,
不是我是谁呢?”哈曼就回答王说:”对于王所喜悦尊荣的人,
当将王常穿的朝服
和戴过冠的御马,

交给王极尊贵的一个大臣,命他将衣服给王所喜悦尊荣的人穿上,使他骑上马,走遍城里的街
市,在他面前宣告说:
‘王所喜悦尊荣的人,就如此待他。'”王对哈曼说:”你速速将这
衣服和马,照你所说的,向坐在朝门的犹太人末底改去行,
凡你所说的,一样不可缺。”让我们祷告。耶稣,
天父,我们为祢的话语感谢祢。圣灵,赐给我们洞察力。我祈求这不只是
头脑的知识,更是心里的知识。愿我们听见祢的声音,耶稣,当我们
寻求日日被改变和更新时。
祢的话语说,主啊,感谢祢。我们若果癫狂,是为神;若果谨守,是为你们。(林后5:13)我们
在耶稣的名里听见祢的声音。你们都知道
以斯帖的故事吧?那么现在给出圣经背景。我们看到以色列黯淡的历史,
从扫罗王以来的以色列诸王,我们有大卫王,我们有所罗门王,
王国分裂为二:犹大国和以色列国。以色列国始终没有出过一个
义王,全是恶的。犹大国有几个。现在神命定这两个支派都被掳
exile,以色列十个支派大约在主前722年被掳,他们亡于
亚述,我相信,然后犹大国他们亡于……嗯,他们亡于巴比伦(更正:犹大亡于巴比伦,非亚
述),主前586年,好吧,所以
===== 第 5 页 =====
这是被掳之后。所以以色列和犹大在被掳中受苦的70年之后,这是
被掳之后,意思是波斯王塞鲁士(居鲁士)战胜了巴比伦王,下诏允许所有
犹太人可以返回耶路撒冷,他们重新有了宗教权利。(注:讲道中提到的 Xerxes 亚哈随鲁/薛西
斯时期是以斯帖记背景,但下诏归回的是塞鲁士/古列)
所以现在我们来到亚哈随鲁王(或译薛西斯王)统治的时期。让我们看一些
背景。亚哈随鲁王现在是统治者。这是波斯帝国。我不知道你们有没有
看过像《300勇士》那样的老电影,像亚哈随鲁王。波斯是一个大帝国,当时的
王后瓦实提
违抗亚哈随鲁王,所以他非常生气,想处死她,但最终没有,
只是把她废黜并赶走,现在他们正在寻找新王后,从帝国所有
美女中,以斯帖被选上了,所以这里有恩宠,对吧?我们会看到。
《以斯帖记》很特别,因为在整卷《以斯帖记》中,神的名字一次也未被提及。
所以我们在这里看到的是神的隐藏,神的沉默,虽然祂不能被
看见,但祂正在非常有力地工作。于是以斯帖成了王后。我们在

第三章看到这个人,哈曼,亚甲族哈米大他的儿子。这非常
有趣,一个亚甲人,
已知是亚甲王的后裔。你们知道那是谁吗?亚甲王是以色列人
自扫罗王以来的敌人。所以当扫罗王成为新王,第一个
王时,一开始,他就在做神不喜悦的事。神告诉扫罗,去
亚玛力人那里,毁灭一切,所有的牛羊,
一切。现在,很多人对这点有疑问,因为这看起来非常
残忍和不公平。但我们不知道原因,不过我的猜测是,查考一下,当以色列
从埃及得释放,对吧?从400年的奴役中出来,当他们进入沙漠时,
亚玛力人,知道他们是奴隶并且疲惫,就攻击了他们。(注:此处讲员口误,应为攻击以色列
人)
所以也许那就是为什么神……这些是恶的。我们需要除掉他们。所以
亚甲是亚玛力人的王,扫罗王决定饶恕他。并且他夺取了那地所有的
财富,撒母耳,就是膏立扫罗王的先知,说:”哦,
因为你没有听从,耶和华现在厌弃你作王了。”但不仅如此,
因为扫罗没有听从,我们看到几百年后,他的后裔哈曼,就是
亚甲王的后裔,现在想要杀死所有的犹太人,对吧?所以非常有趣,
一个人的不顺服如何能影响几代人,对吧?所以要小心。要听从神。
===== 第 6 页 =====
要全心全意地听从,因为你永远不知道,对吧?这种代际的影响。所以今天我
想特别谈谈身份,以及我们如何获得身份,对吧?就像一个非常
深奥的问题。对吧?我妈妈在韩国文化里,她就是,”哦,那是 David 的妈妈。”非常简单的身
份,对吧?非常容易。但在我们的背景下,就有点复杂了,
不是吗?实际上,我们已经脱离了家族传统。我们已经脱离了
传统的身份观念。好莱坞和艺术界大量地将
身份描绘成某种需要
通过挖掘和探究自己的心理和内心来向内
寻找、发现自己、发现你是谁的东西。而这正是现在身份形成
的方式。你们随时可以不同意我的看法。我的意思是,基督徒了解这个环境。甚至
现在,关于性别的现实和一个人如何自我认同的现实
是如此多变。有太多方式了,对吧?而这个身份的观念现在成了这样一个
问题。我的意思是,你可以认同为这么多不同的事物,因为人们正在向内

看,说:”我是谁?”他们很困惑,对吧?所以,我的意思是,我们看电影
《冰雪奇缘》,对吧?就像,”你是谁?我不知道我是谁,但
谁在乎权威怎么说,你只需要随它吧。”几乎每一部迪士尼电影都是关于
反抗体制,反抗传统,并发现你自己。所以我们有
认同为各种各样事物的人,但所有这些的真相是,无论
我们多么想自我认同,我们也需要 validation(认可/确认)。
所以我可以写,嘿,你知道,我来自一个韩国家庭,你知道,我认同为
某种……同性恋者。我的家庭已经抛弃了我,但我不在乎,因为我向内看,我
看到我的欲望,我知道我是谁,我决定成为同性恋者,对吧?这都很好,但是当我
把这个发到 Instagram 上,我得到5000个赞。我就想,哦我的神,我爱死了。所以现实是,如
果
我们非常诚实,一个人身份的真正肯定来自于群体背景。
没有人是一座孤岛。所以在这个身份和
寻求自我身份至关重要的时代,并且获得对我们自我认同方式的确认是
非常重要的。现在,这里的哈曼,让我们看看这个人,哈曼。他是那个
实际上代表了当今声音的主体。
哈曼现在被提升到第二把交椅,相当于副
总统。他是一个有地位的人。他是一个有声望的人,无论他走到哪里,
人们都因他的权力而向他鞠躬。这里说末底改
拒绝向他鞠躬或表示
===== 第 7 页 =====
尊敬。而且不仅如此,似乎末底改的同伴也在说:”看,
每个人都在鞠躬,除了那个人。末底改不鞠躬。”所以他如此
愤怒。这里说,他充满了怒火,以至于他不仅想杀末底改,
他还想杀掉所有人,他所有的犹太人,他所有的同类。如果这还不能解释
今天的政治气候,我不知道还有什么能解释。那么这里到底发生了什么?怎么回事?
为什么这个人会这样反应?为什么我们现在看世界也是这样?只需
很短的时间,我们就能看到大量社交媒体帖子在诋毁和说出极端言论。
“所有这类人都该死”和”所有那些人都该死”。这是怎么回事?
这段经文正在谈论罪的起源。那么当圣经说”罪”时,是什么意思?这
非常有趣。你们知道撒但原本是什么样吗?撒但为何堕落?

撒但原本是。如果我们看《以西结书》,他负责敬拜。所以他是一个非常
美丽的天使。他非常接近神的荣耀。他敬拜,所有
天使都敬拜。经上说,因为他的骄傲,因为他如此自满,
骄傲进来了,他就堕落了。这给了我们一个关于罪是什么的线索,
这个,如果你理解了,它将贯穿你的整个存在,帮助你理解
正在发生什么。所以在这里,我们看到了一个关于骄傲是什么的案例研究。什么是骄傲?我
要给你们提姆·凯勒的定义,他的注释,骄傲就是自我
中心。这不是一个让人舒服的信息。即使我在准备这个时,我
也再次被定罪,并且我能够,靠着主的帮助,理解我里面
发生了什么,放下我的骄傲,真正接受真理。现在,在他的书
《忘记自我》(或译《谦卑》)中,提姆·凯勒。他做了一个非常有趣的观察,没有人
会进来说,哦,今天我的肘部感觉棒极了或很好。对吧?没人
会去想那个功能正常的肘部。只有当它出问题时,它才会成为关注点,对吧?没人会说,在没事
发生时需要恩典的话语,直到你出了事,然后它才引起了对自身的注意。所以同样地,提姆·凯勒
说,那么为什么我们总是引人注意?我们的身份出了什么问题?我们是谁出了
问题,以至于我们不断地把注意力引向自己?
为什么我有这种感觉?为什么那个人那样想我?答案是,
因为我们都是罪人。所以罪通常被这样定义:*in curvatus in se*(拉丁文)。向内弯曲。所以
当我听到那个以及我们如何解释它时,我得到了一个黑洞的意象。
===== 第 8 页 =====
黑洞是宇宙中最强大的力量之一,对吧?光都无法逃脱。任何
靠近它的东西都会被吸进去。所以同样地,我想奥古斯丁想说的是,
我们所有的经历,当我们导航或度过人生时,事物在我们面前,
在我们左边,在我们右边,
我们的经历是如此直接和切身,它使我们相信生活主要是关于
“我”的,我们 navigating 生活,我们 navigating 日常存在,都是从
自我这个公理出发。作为一个个人见证,我一生
都在与此挣扎。
如此沉迷于别人如何看待我。这是件大事。例如,我不知道你们……我记得在纽瓦特有个朋友。
非常有趣的家伙,有一次他讲了
所有关于神的笑话,他不是一个严肃的信徒,我没有笑他的
笑话。几天后

他实际上来找我,说:”你怎么没笑?”他非常诚实地告诉我,”我失眠了。我睡不着,因为你没笑
我的笑话。”我
不知道原因。我的意思是,我思考了那个,这,这真的反映了我们的
心如何运作,以及我们如何看待自己。一旦我们将自己的身份
与某个成就或我们拥有的东西联系起来,比如哦,如果你需要被视为
聪明,如果你需要被视为有趣,如果你被视为酷哥或淡定的家伙或……
那么任何与此相悖的东西都会威胁到你的身份。而这里
我们看到的哈曼……我真的很同情他,哈曼的故事其实也是关于我们的故事,因为
他在说:”看,
我经历了巨大的痛苦才达到这个位置。我经历了那么多年的学校教育,
你知道,那么多个月的考试。我打败了所有人。而这里有这么个家伙,他不
给我我应得的肯定。”所以他做了什么?他不仅想向末底改报复,还要报复他整个民族,
犹太人,对吧?如果我们看到第六章,那夜王睡不着觉,就
吩咐人取他统治的历史记录来读给他听。
在那些记录中,他发现了一段记载,关于末底改曾揭露阴谋。所以,
哈曼,在他的愤怒中,在他的骄傲中,
想要报复,想要杀死整个民族。现在以斯帖通过末底改知道了这个
阴谋。末底改在朝门,他无意中听到哈曼的阴谋,不仅要杀
他,还要杀所有犹太人。所以末底改……(此处讲员口误,应是哈曼欺骗王)促使王下旨说
有一个叛乱集团。他没有具体提到犹太人,但他说有一个叛乱
===== 第 9 页 =====
集团对王的王国构成威胁。他们要破坏王的律法,我们需要
迅速果断地处理这次叛乱,否则他们可能像癌症一样蔓延到我们的
帝国。王也被说服了,而且他还有金钱上的收益,这里
说哈曼承诺他会将
巨额款项纳入国库。在那些日子里,战争非常昂贵,我们
知道波斯不断入侵其他国家。战争耗费极其……它需要
如此多的资源。所以王想都没想,就用他的印章戒指
下旨,批准他处理这个群体。我们看到这里,当
他将计划付诸实施时。末底改得知了这个计划。他心烦意乱,至少可以这么说。
经上说,他禁食,他停止进食。他披上麻布,躺在灰中。

他告诉以斯帖,以斯帖也很忧急。她号召全体犹太人……禁食。
她请求全体犹太人群体制定禁食,向神呼求,使他们能够
避免或应对此事。于是我们在这里看到第六章,王睡不着觉。
于是他命令一个侍从取历史书来。当他读
历史书时,上面记录着有人曾揭露两个太监阴谋
刺杀亚哈随鲁王的阴谋。
王已经完全忘记了这件事。我们知道在更早的
章节里,因为末底改在宫门附近工作,他总是
能听到人们的闲言碎语。有一天他碰巧听到了
这两个太监的阴谋。他告诉以斯帖去禀告皇帝,就是王,关于这个阴谋。
所以当以斯帖告诉王时,王进行了调查,发现确实
有一个刺杀他的计划,他立即处死了他们。所以在这里他发现
他从未奖赏末底改这次的发现,因为他让他知道有
这次对他生命的刺杀企图。
于是他问一个侍从,对吧,”为他行了什么事没有?”回答说:”没有为他行什么。”就在
这个时候,左右,他问谁在院子里。
就在这完美的时刻,哈曼进来了,王问,哈曼进来,王问
哈曼。
有人说这里,哈曼在院里,王命带他进来。于是哈曼
进来。王对他说:”王所喜悦尊荣的人,当如何待他呢?”
经上说,哈曼心里想:”王所喜悦尊荣的,不是我是谁呢?”于是他
===== 第 10 页 =====
回答说:”对于王所喜悦尊荣的人,
当将王穿过的朝服
和王骑过的御马,头戴王冠的,
带来。将朝服和马交给王极尊贵的一个大臣,
命他将衣服给王所喜悦尊荣的人穿上,带他骑上马,走遍城里的街市,使他们在他面前宣告说:
‘王所喜悦尊荣的人,就如此待他。'”好吧,所以总结所有
这一切,说到我今天想传达的重点,就是:每个人都寻求
认可。我们都需要认可,当我们向世界展示自己,当我们说”这就是
我是谁”时,我们都需要认可。

现在我同情哈曼,并且我在哈曼身上看到自己,是因为哈曼想要的正是我想要的。
哈曼想要并寻求的,是每个人、每颗心都想要的。这就是
不仅得到认可,而且得到我们所认为的也值得称赞之人的
宣称和赞美。从你不怎么看重的人那里得到赞美是一回事。
从你不怎么看重的弟弟那里得到赞美是一回事,或者你的小表弟,但是从你
所敬重的人那里得到赞美。那才是我们所有人追求的,不是吗?我们生活中所做的大部分事情,
都是为了能被承认和认可。我们想听到别人说”你做得很好”。我们想听到别人说”你是有价值、宝
贵的”。我们想成为某个人眼中的”人物”。就像,我不想成为一个无名小卒。我想成为某个人物。
我需要被看见。我需要被
听见。
没人在听。没人在看我。所以我们做什么?我们发表 outrageous 的言论。
我们生气。我们想杀别人。我们不能爱,因为我们的心
像个黑洞。它需要如此多的爱。它需要如此多的认可。我们想要朋友的赞美。我们想要朋友的认
可,就像对我来说,我记得像这样
如果 Lance 告诉我:”嘿,那篇讲道很棒,”那是一回事。但如果约翰·派珀
在这里,他说:”哦 David,那太精彩了。”我可能真的会晕倒,对吧?这
是因为我们想要那赞美和认可。我们内心深处需要某个我们仰望的人,像我们的父母那样的人。
而我们的父母做得不够。我们需要生命中有大人物
来告诉我们”你很好,我喜欢你,你是有价值的,你是有恩赐的”,对吧?但我们得不到这个,所
以
我们做什么?我们到处去寻找,就像哈曼一样,我们变得邪恶,变得
===== 第 11 页 =====
骄傲,因为如果你不给我,我就到处去索取一点爱。所以这告诉我们,
如果我们不把心所需要的给它,它就会吃毒药。所以当我们
得不到朋友的肯定时,我们崩溃了。当我们得不到
父母的肯定时,我们崩溃了。我们受创伤。我们破碎。我们支离破碎。
因为我们没有得到那些甜甜的”做得好”、”你真棒”、”你太厉害了”,对吧?所以哈曼在这里唯一
的错误,就是他 simply 找错了王。
所以他如此缺乏赞美。他如此需要别人的认可。他如此
拼命地需要别人说”你真好,你真了不起”,以至于他不能……但是
想想,当王问他:”哦,对于我真正喜悦的人,我该怎么做?”他已经,
因为他如此饥渴,他立刻想到:”哦,那是在说我。”

伙计,王肯定是在说我。这很正常。这就是我们。这就是我。这就是我。
嘿,老兄,在很长一段时间里,我是如此绝望。我不知道怎么……我是
如此需要……因为当人们批评我时,我知道我崩溃了。我一蹶不振。
好几天,我甚至无法……我记得第一次,我人生中第一次讲道
是一场灾难。太糟糕了。
我讲不了道,但我在上面像这样,像这样,只记得……我记得
一位年长的女士走到我面前。她是那种心里想什么就说什么的人,她用韩语对我说……(内容不
详)
我想自杀。这是我们文化中的一个重大问题。我们有如此一个空洞。我们有
如此一个空缺。我们想要完美。我需要完美。我有很高的标准。
期望。我们给自己施加了如此大的压力。我们不能安息。我们
必须更努力地工作。我们越是失败,我们就越是更努力地工作。难道我们不这样吗?
我们犯错,所以我们更努力尝试,我们更努力工作,压力更大,于是我们变得更
愤怒,更多挫败、抑郁、焦虑、恐惧,因为我们没有给我们自己(所需),并且
我们没有去找那个对的人来满足我们的需要。哈曼找错了王,
就是这样,看看他导致了什么。
当他说……当他说”我们该为末底改做什么?”时,王没说末底改,但
说”王所喜悦尊荣的人,当如何待他?”他已经想过这个问题几百万次了,
因为他很快就有了答案。他每晚都在想。哦,要是
王能把他的……(“sports” 可能为 “robes” 朝服之误)给我就好了。我高高骑在他的……
(“sports” 可能为 “horse” 马之误)上。每个人都看着我,他们
会说,哦,哇,哈曼。他太了不起了。他骑着王的……(“force” 可能为 “horse” 马之误)。他
不仅是
副总统,而且现在
===== 第 12 页 =====
他做了如此了不起的事,他想要最高的……(“mobile” 可能为 “honor” 荣誉之误)去牵马游街,
对吧?就像下一个,冠军游行,对吧?是个游行。哦,这是
哈曼。大家都听好了。拜托。老实说。我想要那个。我想走进一个
房间。我成功了。我来了。这就是我带来的气场,对吧?所以想象我需要多少
谦卑。
我说,神啊,你什么时候才处理掉这个骄傲?一次又一次,我在寻求那赞美。
我想让人们知道我很特别。我想让人们知道我是个人物。

对吧?所以这并非坏事。哈曼,我感同身受,我就是哈曼。当我读到这里时,我想,
哦,我理解你,哈曼。他是这里真正的(反面)主角。
不是以斯帖,重点不是以斯帖,重点是他和这里。看看这个,太典型了。
有多少次在我的骄傲中,我记得有时我讲道时看下面,我想,哦,
那个人没得祝福。作为牧师,你看到一切,你看到有人
睡着了。这都是骄傲,我里面的骄傲。有多少次?
我变得邪恶,想要伤害,不能爱那些人。我们在这里看到哈曼,我如此
为他感到难过,因为我不知道在我的基督徒生涯中有多少次我论断别人,
然后同样的事就发生在我身上。如果你是基督徒,你知道你明白。一旦你
批评某人,你就做了同样的事。这是真的吗?一旦你论断
某人,同样的事就发生在你身上。
在我生命中经历过很多次,因为神在教导我们如何真正去爱,
对吧?并且真正做一个基督徒。所以我们在这里看到,可怜的哈曼。他死了。他说,我要
杀死这个末底改。我要把他挂在75英尺高的木架上。我要把他挂
在这个木架上让所有人都看见。
而他最终,他最终被刺死。他是被自己的计划所害。那么我们能从这里学到什么?我们学到要
去,去到那真正的王那里,祂有,祂 literally,祂
给了我们祂的袍子,祂的印章戒指,如果我们去到……我想去,让我们去看《彼得前书》
第一章。我们要看第七节。读一下。是的,我们知道这个,我们
很熟悉这个。”因此,你们是大有喜乐;但如今,在百般的试炼中暂时忧愁,叫你们的信心既被试
验,就比那被火试验仍然能坏的金子更显宝贵,可以在耶稣基督显现的时候得着称赞、荣耀、尊
贵。”
这称赞、荣耀、尊贵实际上不是我们赞美耶稣和祂的荣耀,那当然也是真的,但它
实际上
===== 第 13 页 =====
是祂对我们的称赞。这是如此宏伟,在后面的经文中说。在第12节,
“他们得了启示,知道他们所传讲的一切事,不是为自己,乃是为你们……靠着从天上差来的圣灵
传福音给你们的人,现在将这些事传给你们;天使也愿意详细察看这些事。”所以这里是实际的应
用。
我们生命中太多部分被不足感所标记。我们太多
的日常生活被这种不充分、达不到标准、察言观色看别人
如何看待我们的感觉所标记。这总是一个无情、不眠的、

背上的猴子(指负担)。我们如此
敏锐地意识到别人如何看待我们以及他们可能怎么看我们。当我观察和与人交谈时,我超级敏
锐。我是不是在说聪明的话?我有没有?这话有没有
打动那个人?如此自我消耗,这么多这些东西定义并可能掠夺我的生命,
使我无法真正活在当下,真正拥有喜乐,活在当下,并且知道
我无需再证明什么。但是我们能真正接受这个事实吗,伙计,我
没有什么需要证明的了?因为我的王肯定我。因为耶稣以如此
多的喜乐和悦纳看着我。
那是何等大的恩典。我们是否看见一个为我们欢唱的耶稣?在《以赛亚书》第6章,我们看见耶
稣至高被举起,说,那是耶稣,对吧?我们从《约翰福音》第12章知道。以赛亚看见这位
圣哉、圣哉的神,永活的神。天使环绕着祂,撒拉弗用手
遮眼,因为他们不能直视神。但那就是耶稣,对吧?
祂如此圣洁,如此奇妙,以至于这些大能的天使都不能直视,他们不能用
他们的天使眼睛看,否则他们会灭亡。祂说,祂的衣袍充满整个
殿宇,这位奇妙的神,这位圣洁的神,创造了我们所看见的一切,祂
来到我们面前说:”啊,你够了,你够好了。”我要让这个真理
一遍又一遍地洗涤你。我已经信主15年了。我仍然很难领受这个。
我的本能是想给人留下深刻印象。我想留下好印象。我想人们看好
我。只要我认为……我自己就有如此大的压力,要么我放弃
要么我过度工作。我们在寻求什么?我们为什么那样做?耶稣。我们想要祂,但我们
只是不知道。当我们经历耶稣时,祂在说什么?祂为何
亲近我们,触摸我们的心,花时间与我们在一起?因为祂爱我们。祂因我们喜乐。
祂是喜乐的。当我看我的孩子 Emma 时,我总是发现,只要她走进
房间,我就高兴。
===== 第 14 页 =====
无论如何,神正是同样的方式。无论我们怎样,祂都高兴。祂如此喜乐
你来了。祂从不厌烦你。祂总是想花更多更多时间与你在一起,
整天,每天。祂从不厌倦你。祂从不说,哦,又是老样子,老 David,
老问题,老罪,但祂总是在那里。当我们真正倾听时,
并且说,劳拉,给我唱首歌。歌曲不是很好吗?音乐有一种独特的方式帮助我们
突破这个世界的水泥墙,以及那似乎
让我们感到如此受限制和束缚的水泥板,而我想要自由。所以很多人

逃到音乐的世界里,那里有如此多层次的,你知道,为什么音乐
伟大?它就是有如此多
伟大的现实层面。我甚至不知道音乐家是怎么做到的。他们会有一些贝斯、
鼓,然后他们就堆叠起来。然后歌词,美妙的声音,就堆叠成一个独立的现实。
耶稣也是如此。祂至少和音乐一样好。祂至少和世上最好的食物
一样好。对吧,所有的食物,为什么某些食物像蛋糕?哦,如此多层次……
这种酥脆和顺滑,为什么外面是脆的,中间是嫩的,
温热和热乎。所有这些,它是堆叠的。这就是美,这就是为什么我们爱食物和
体验,美好的假期。当我们去美好的假期时,我们的眼睛看到了如此多
新事物,它让我们疯狂。我从未见过,当我们走出(可能指熟悉环境)……,我已经见过一切
了。你的大脑已经知道,哦,我已经知道一切了,我不想再知道了。
对吧?所以耶稣是关于……如果你有……我从未吃过牛排然后说,哦,这太难吃了。
对吧?思考蓝色是一回事。你可以用你全部的心思,用你全部的
大脑去想,蓝色,蓝色,蓝色,蓝色,蓝色。但是看着它,哦,蓝色。区别。我们的感觉,
我们的感官在那里是为了体验耶稣。说,耶稣,给我一个拥抱。
你错了,耶稣。你亲吻祂的脚。祂是真实的。更真实。什么是真实?祂更
真实。祂比拥有最好的加勒比海和最好的假期更真实。祂比那更真实。
因为我们在这里谈论的是感觉。以及我们在这个充满 negativity 和
如此多两极分化的世界里所做的一切,以及关于什么是真实和我们是谁以及身份
的问题,以及住在我里面的所有脆弱性,关于为什么我无法承受一些
攻击我的事情,比如批评或”我不够好”。这都可以追溯到我们
无法听见。当耶稣说:”我造了你。”
===== 第 15 页 =====
(你是好的/够好的)。这是件奇妙的事。每天我醒来。耶稣今天会来吗?谁知道呢?对吧?我
刚从拉斯维加斯回来。每个人都在玩老虎机。哦,我当时想,你们不知道
真正的头奖。对吧,你中了头奖。但是每个早晨,你都可以有这种感觉。
这是一种经历。哦,祂今天再次是良善的。
祂今天爱我,就像祂昨天爱我一样。所以生活中没有保证坏事不会发生。
没有保证人们不会背叛你。没有
保证人们不会对你说严厉的话。没有任何这方面的保证。
生活会是艰难的。但有一个保证是,我们拥有神永不改变的话语和耶稣的心,耶稣的爱,祂总是
在那里,

准备接纳我们。正如我们所知,《路加福音》第15章的浪子,我想把
一点新约和旧约联系起来,我们看到同样类型的事情,
浪子提前要求他的产业,相当于希望父亲
死,他去了外国,花光了,
花光了一切,饥荒来了,他无颜回家,
最后在一个农夫那里工作,放猪,他饿极了,开始吃
猪食。这对我来说如此深刻,因为我在日常生活中,也在寻求猪食。
然后他醒悟过来,经上说,这很奇妙。他意识到,哦,
有比这更好的东西。
他就回家,准备了一套说辞:”我不配称为你的儿子。”他的父亲
从远处看见他,仿佛他每天都在等待儿子归来,就跑向他。
他不在乎,对吧?他不在乎。他撩起衣袍,这在当时不是男人
会做的事。那会非常不体面。只有妇女和儿童才被允许那样做。
为了他们和他们的袍子,他们体面的袍子。他一定是个有地位的人,
对他来说奔跑是件前所未见的事。所以这是一个非常 radically 不同的
关于神是谁的故事。神对你来说是谁,永远是最重要的问题。神是谁?这位
神总是追赶着你,奔向你。

未经允许不得转载：活水得勝教會 Living Water Victory Church » (六月第一周) 6/01/2025 第22主日敬拜 活水得勝教會主日敬拜 David Hong 牧师证道