你可能听说过这个秘密被提的概念，特别是如果你生活在美国的环 境中，但我认为在当今世界，这个概念已经变得更加广为人知。 And you've probably heard of this idea of a secret rapture, especially if you live in an American context, but I think it's become more well-known around the world in our day and time.
所以当人们谈论被提时，这是新约圣经中唯一被用来支持这个教义的经文。 So when people talk about the rapture, this is the only passage in the New Testament that people will use and appeal to in order to substantiate that doctrine.
但这确实是最经典的依据。 But it's definitely the locus classicus.
我的意思是，这是经典经文，因为它实际上使用了被提或被接到云里的说法。 I mean, this is the classic text because it actually uses the language of a rapture or being caught up, right, in the clouds.
让我们带着这个想法来读保罗的话，并问问自己：保罗在 这里描述的是被提、是秘密被提，还是在讲述其他事情？ So let's read the words of Paul with that in mind, and we'll ask ourselves: Is Paul describing here a rapture, a secret rapture, or is he talking about something else?
你会看到，答案是其他事情。 And as you'll see, the answer is something else.
但我想请你和我一起查考这些经文，这样我们就能在上下文中准确地看到那究竟是什么。 But I want you to walk with me through the verses so that we can see in context exactly what that something else is.
在帖撒罗尼迦前书四章十三节，我们读到：「论到睡了的人，我们不 愿意弟兄们不知道，恐怕你们忧伤，像那些没有指望的人一样。」 So in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, we read this: But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
「我们若信耶稣死而复活了，那已经在耶稣里睡了的人，神也必将他与耶稣一同带来。」 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
「我们现在照主的话告诉你们一件事：我们这活着还存 留到主降临的人，断不能在那已经睡了的人之先。」 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
「因为主必亲自从天降临，有呼叫的声音和天使长的声音，又有神的号吹响。」 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.
「那在基督里死了的人必先复活。以后我们这活着还存留的人必和他们 一同被提到云里，在空中与主相遇。这样，我们就要和主永远同在。」 And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord.
「所以，你们当用这些话彼此劝慰。」 Therefore, comfort one another with these words.
让我们在这里停一下。 Pause there.
首先我们需要把这个被提的谬论放在一边，这样我们才能真正看清保罗想要表达的意思。 The first thing I need to do is let's just get the rapture nonsense off the table here so we can actually look at what Paul is trying to say.
一些解经者之所以认为保罗在谈论秘密被提，是因为第 十七节说到我们要一同被提到云里，在空中与主相遇。 So what makes some interpreters think Paul is talking about a secret rapture of Christ is verse 17, there, when he says that we will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
有趣的是，这个被提的传统实际上是基于保罗这段话的拉丁文翻译。 Now, it's fascinating here that this fostering tradition of a rapture is actually based on a Latin translation of Paul's word here.
在武加大译本帖撒罗尼迦前书第四章中，「被提」这个词用的是rapiemur，对吧？ So in the Latin Vulgate translation of 1 Thessalonians 4, the word for caught up is rapiemur, right?
被一同提到云里。 To be caught up together in the clouds.
这个词就成了「被提」的词源，指真信徒被提上去、被聚集到基督那里。 And so that word becomes the root for the rapture, the catching up, the gathering up of the true believers in Christ.
在时代论，特别是从十九世纪末二十世纪初以来的美国新教时代论中，被提的概 念基本上是这样的：在末世大灾难爆发之前，在最后审判来临之前的苦难时期， 将会有一次真信徒的秘密被提，使他们从地上消失，不必经历那段灾难时期。 And in Protestant dispensationalism, and American Protestant dispensationalism especially since the late 19th and early 20th century, the idea of the rapture is basically this: that before the great tribulation breaks out at the end of time, before this period of suffering that will precede the final judgment takes place, there is going to be a secret catching up, a secret rapture of true believers so that they will disappear from the earth and they won't have to suffer through that time of tribulation.
他们会被提走，而那些留在世上的人将会受苦，经历灾难。 They'll be raptured, and those who are left behind in the world will suffer, experience the tribulation.
有些人会悔改信主，有些人不会，最后基督会在他第二次降临时来审判活人和死人。 Some will convert, some won't, and then finally Christ will return at his second coming and will judge the living and the dead.
这种新颖的观点在经文中是没有根据的。 Now, this novel idea has no basis in the text.
这是断章取义的典型例子，就是把一个词或一个 概念脱离上下文，然后据此作出错误的解释。 It's a perfect example of proof texting, of taking one word out of context, one idea out of context, and making a false interpretation on its basis.
但如果仔细查看这段经文，你会发现保罗说的不是什么秘密被提，而是在讲公开的主再来。 But if you look at the passage here carefully, you'll see that Paul is not talking about a secret rapture; he's talking about a public parousia.
他说的不是选民的秘密聚集，而是在讲末世时耶 稣公开的再来，那时将与死人复活同时发生。 He's not talking about a secret gathering up of the elect; he's talking about the public second coming of Jesus at the end of time that will coincide with the resurrection of the dead.
只要你通读经文并把它放在上下文中，就能看出这一点。 And you can see that if you just read through the text and put it in context.
让我们逐节查考，就会明白我在说什么。 Let's just work through it verse by verse, and we'll see what I'm talking about.
让我们回到第十三节，我从第十七节开始读完整段。 So if you go back to verse 13, I'll just start with 17. Read the whole thing.
这段开始于保罗说的，好，让我们停一下。 It begins with Paul saying, Okay, pause.
这里的上下文是什么？ What's the context there?
在古代犹太教、圣经和新约中，睡了是死亡的比喻，对吧？ Well, in ancient Judaism, in Scripture, and in the New Testament, to sleep was a metaphor for death, right?
在我们这个时代，人们会用其他委婉语来说死亡。 So in our day and time, people will use other euphemisms for death.
你可能听过人们说，噢，他走了，对吧？ You've probably heard people say, Oh, he passed, right?
或者说他离世了。 Or he passed away.
这是一种温和、善意地表达某人去世的方式，对吧？ Well, that's a kind of gentle, kind way of saying that someone died, right?
这是一种委婉语，用离开而不是死亡来描述。 So it's a euphemism describing somebody's going away rather than dying.
所以在公元一世纪，他们会用睡了这个委婉语。 So in the first century A.D., they would use the euphemism of sleep.
所以说某人睡了就是在描述他们已经死了这个事实。 So someone fell asleep was a way of describing the fact that they had died.
所以在帖撒罗尼迦教会发生的事情是，有些人睡了，就是死了。 So what's going on is that in the Church of Thessalonica, some people have fallen asleep; they've died.
那个教会中的基督徒，他们是从异教徒归信的，很多人对来世没有确切的信念或概念， 他们失去了盼望，因为他们以为如果在主再来之前死了，就不能分享复活的盼望了。 And the Christians in that congregation, who are converts from paganism, many of whom don't have any solid beliefs or ideas about the afterlife, right, have lost hope because they assume that if you die before the second coming, then you won't actually be able to share in the resurrection.
所以他们为死者悲伤，认为仅仅因为这些人在基督再来之前过早死去，就不能得救了。 So they were grieving over the dead, thinking that they would not be saved simply because they died too soon before the second coming of Christ.
所以保罗说，听着，不是这样的！ So Paul is saying, Look, no, no, no, no!
我不愿你们像那些没有指望的外邦人一样忧伤，对吧？ I don't want you to grieve like the pagans who have no hope, right?
不要为那些睡了的人忧伤，因为我们是信的人，对吧？ Don't grieve over those who have fallen asleep because we believe, right?
所以他要给他们信心：我们信耶稣死而复活了，照样 ，神也必将那些在耶稣里睡了的人与他一同带来。 So he's going to give them the faith: We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
换句话说，保罗是在说那些死了的人，如果是在基督 里死的，实际上是要来的；他们要回到我们这里。 In other words, what Paul is saying is those who have died, if they died in Christ, are actually going to come; they're going to return to us.
当耶稣再来的时候，他们要与耶稣一同来。 They're going to come with Jesus when he returns at his second coming.
他要把他们带来，所以他们并没有失丧。 He's going to bring them with him, so they're not lost.
他们是与基督同在的，然后他继续解释。 They are with Christ, and then he goes on to explain.
他接着说，我们现在照主的话告诉你们。 He continues, For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord.
这是一个庄严的神圣启示宣告，说到我们这活着还存 留到主降临的人——要特别注意这点，非常重要！ So this is like a solemn declaration of divine revelation that we who are alive and who are left until the coming of the Lord—highlight that; so important!
这里「降临」的希腊文是parousia。 The Greek word there for coming is parousia.
这是耶稣自己在福音书中使用的标准用语，保罗也用这个词来谈论基督的再来。 It is the standard word used by Jesus himself in the Gospels, but also by Paul, to talk about the second coming of Christ.
这个词字面意思是同在，但它的意思是他要回来；他要再次与我们同在，与我们在一起。 It literally means presence, but it means he's going to return; he's going to be with us, present with us again.
所以他郑重地说，我们这活着还存留到主再来（par ousia）的人，断不能在那已经睡了的人之先。 So he says, I'm telling you solemnly that those of us who are alive and who are left until the parousia, the second coming of Christ, are not going to precede those who have fallen asleep.
换句话说，我们不会比那些已经死了的人有什么优势，对吧？ In other words, we're not going to have it any better off than those who have died, right?
因为在第十六节说，主自己，就是基督，必亲自从天降 临，有呼叫的声音和天使长的声音，又有神的号吹响。 Because in verse 16, The Lord himself, this is Christ, will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.
所以他在描述耶稣的降临。 So he's describing the parousia of Jesus.
请注意：这听起来像是秘密被提吗？ And notice here: does this sound like a secret rapture?
这里有天使长的声音，有呼叫的声音，还有神的号声。 We've got the archangel's call, the cry of command, and the trumpet of God.
这跟你在那些被提电影里看到的不一样，在电影里人们坐在飞机上 ，突然间飞机上一半的人悄无声息地消失了，因为他们被提了。 This is not like you'll see in those rapture movies where they're flying on an airplane and all of a sudden, you know, half the airplane quietly just disappears because they've been raptured.
被提理论主张耶稣会秘密降临来聚集他的真信徒。 The rapture doctrine proposes a secret coming of Jesus to gather his true believers.
保罗在这里讲的是耶稣在末时公开的降临，这与死人复活同时发生，对吧？ What Paul is talking about here is a public coming of Jesus at the end of time that coincides with the resurrection of the dead, right?
不是大灾难，而是死人复活。 Not the tribulation, but the resurrection of the dead.
他说当这事发生时，那在基督里死了的人，也就是那些已经死去的信徒，必先复活。 And he's saying when that happens, those who are dead in Christ, in other words, the believers who have died, they will rise first.
所以他们实际上不会失去什么；从某种意义上说，他们反而走在我们前面。 So they're not going to actually lose out; they're actually going to be, in a sense, ahead of us.
他们要先复活，然后我们这活着还存留的人必和他们一同被提到云里，在空中与主相遇。 They will rise first, and then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
让我们在这里停一下：保罗想表达什么？ So pause here: what is Paul getting at?
他说这些话的主要原因是帖撒罗尼迦人担心他们在基督里已 死的弟兄姐妹会失去他们在救恩中的份，失去复活的份。 The whole driving force behind his words here is the anxiety of the Thessalonians over whether their dead brothers and sisters in Christ are going to lose their share in salvation; they're going to lose their share in the resurrection.
保罗说，不，他们不会失去。因为事情是这样的：当基督再来时，在基督里 死了的人必先复活，然后我们要和他们一同被聚集，在空中与基督相遇。 And Paul's saying, No, they won't. Because here's what's going to happen: when Christ comes back, the dead in Christ will rise first, and then we will be gathered with them to meet Christ in the air.
你可以想象基督与众圣徒从天降临，然后地上的圣徒被提上去与基督和他的圣徒相会。 So you can imagine it's Christ coming down from heaven with the saints, and then the saints on earth being caught up to meet Christ and his saints together.
所以这就像是在末时所有神的选民，无论是死的还是活的，的一次盛大聚集。 So it's like a grand engathering of all the elect of God, both the dead and the living, that will take place at the end of time.
你知道这是末时而不是圣经从未提到的秘密被提的 原因是，保罗自己说在基督里死了的人要怎样？ And the reason you know it's the end of time and not this secret rapture, which the Bible never talks about, is that Paul himself says the dead in Christ will what?
必先复活。 Rise first.
所以他在谈论两个事件：主的再来和死人复活。 So he's talking about two events: the second coming and the resurrection of the dead.
他说的不是秘密降临和真信徒的消失；他说的是 最后的降临和所有在基督里死了的人的复活。 He's not talking about a secret coming and the disappearance of true believers; he's talking about the final coming and the resurrection of all the dead in Christ.
他说，这样，我们就要和主永远同在。 And he says, So we shall always be with the Lord.
所以，你们当用这些话彼此劝慰。 Therefore, comfort one another with these words.
所以保罗在这里劝勉的重点，他末世论的重点，是要在面对死亡时给帖撒罗尼迦人安慰。 So the point of Paul's exhortation here, the point of Paul's eschatology, is to give the Thessalonians comfort in the face of death.
如果你看福音书中耶稣的预言，这是很容易理解的。 And this is easy to understand if you look at the prophecies of Jesus in the Gospels.
你可以从这些预言中得出结论；他说得很清楚：你 们不知道主再来的时候，所以要预备好，对吧？ You can walk away from those prophecies; he's very clear: you don't know when the second coming is going to take place, so get ready, right?
是近的；快要来了。 It's near; it's coming soon.
你在启示录中会看到多快呢？ You'll see in the book of Revelation how soon?
这仍然是个奥秘。 That remains a mystery.
所以在教会的第一代信徒中，正如我们将在帖撒罗尼迦前书第五章看到的， 因为我们不知道日子和时辰，基督可能随时来到，因此他可能很快就来。 So in the first generation of the Church, there was this expectation, as we'll see when we come to 1 Thessalonians 5, that because we don't know the day or hour, Christ could come at any moment, and therefore he could come soon.
所以带着这种迫在眉睫的期待，当第一代基督徒开始去世时，有些 人因此感到困扰，想着：等等，这里有什么不对；好像出了问题。 So with that imminent expectation, when the first generation of Christians began to die, there were some people who were troubled by that and thought, Wait, something's wrong here; something's going amiss.
他们会怎么样？ What's going to happen to them?
死去的人会有什么结局？ What will be the fate of the dead?
这是需要像保罗这样的使徒来澄清的事，他说那些与基督同 在的，在基督里的死人必要复活，我们都要被聚集在一起。 That was something that had to be clarified by apostles like Paul, who said the dead who are with Christ, who are in Christ and with him, will rise again, and we will be gathered together.
他们不会失去救恩。 They're not going to miss out on salvation.
现在，我觉得这段经文有趣的是，如果你想要一个理解保罗在这 里描述主再来的框架，你其实应该，令人惊讶的是，回到旧约。 Now, what's fascinating to me about this passage is if you want a framework for understanding Paul's description of the parousia here, you should actually, surprise surprise, go back to the Old Testament.
因为如果你看出埃及记第十九章十六至二十节，保罗似乎是从出埃 及记第十九章神降临在西奈山的记载中，借用了一些意象来描述主 的再来。让我给你指出一些这里的对应之处，你可以自己去读。 Because if you look in the book of Exodus, chapter 19, verses 16 through 20, Paul seems to actually be getting some of the images that he uses to describe the second coming from the account of God coming down from heaven on Mount Sinai in the book of Exodus, chapter 19. So I'll just give you a few of the parallels here; you can read it for yourself.