At death, God』s people don』t say 「goodbye,」 but 「we』ll see you later.」

在離世前，上帝的子民不必說「永別了」，只需說「再見」！

You do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.1 Thessalonians 4:13

恐怕你們憂傷，像那些沒有指望的人一樣。-帖撒羅尼迦前書4章13節

My granddaughter Allyssa and I have a regular routine we go through when we say goodbye. We wrap our arms around each other and begin to loudly wail with dramatic sobs for about twenty seconds. Then we step back and casually say, 「See ya,」 and turn away. Despite our silly practice, we always expect that we will see each other again—soon.

孫女愛莉每次和我道別時，都有個固定的模式。我們會先緊緊相擁，大聲哀嚎，戲劇化地啜泣約二十秒，然後分開後退一步，輕鬆地說「再見」才轉身離開。儘管我們的道別方式有點傻氣，但我們都很期待很快能再次相聚。

But sometimes the pain of separation from those we care about can be difficult. When the apostle Paul said farewell to the elders from Ephesus, 「They all wept as they embraced him . . . . What grieved them most was [Paul』s] statement that they would never see his face again」 (Acts 20:37–38).

然而，有時和我們摯愛的人分離卻是痛苦難熬的。當使徒保羅向以弗所的長老道別時，「眾人痛哭，抱著保羅……。叫他們最傷心的，就是[保羅]說『以後不能再見我的面』那句話」（使徒行傳20章37-38節）。

The deepest sorrow, however, comes when we are parted by death and say goodbye for the last time in this life. That separation seems unthinkable. We mourn. We weep. How can we face the heartbreak of never again embracing the ones we have loved?

最深的哀痛莫過於因死亡而分離，在此生最後一次和對方說再見。這種分離的痛苦是難以想像的，我們哀悼、哭泣，因失去摯愛而心碎。

Still . . . we do not grieve like those who have no hope. Paul writes of a future reunion for those who 「believe that Jesus died and rose again」 (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18). He declares: 「The Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel,」 and those who have died, along with those who are still alive, will be united with our Lord. What a reunion!

但我們憂傷，並不像那些沒有指望的人一樣。保羅告訴我們那些「信耶穌死而復活」的人，將來會再相聚（帖撒羅尼迦前書4章13-18節）。他說：「因為主必親自從天降臨，有呼叫的聲音和天使長的聲音。」那些早已安息主懷的人和還活著的人，都將一同與我們的主相會。這是多麼讓人期待的團聚啊！

And—best of all—we will be forever with Jesus. That』s an eternal hope.

而且最棒的是，我們將會永遠與耶穌同在。這是永恆的盼望！

Thank You, Lord, for the assurance that this world is not all we have but that a blessed eternity awaits all who trust in You.

主，感謝禰，因禰應許凡相信禰的人，

都有蒙福的永恆等待著我們，

這個世界不是我們的永久居所。

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18New International Version (NIV)

13Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformedabout those who sleep in death,so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.14For we believe that Jesus died and rose again,and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.15According to the Lord』s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord,will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven,with a loud command, with the voice of the archangeland with the trumpet call of God,and the dead in Christ will rise first.17After that, we who are still alive and are leftwill be caught up together with them in the cloudsto meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lordforever.18Therefore encourage one anotherwith these words.

帖撒羅尼迦前書 4:13-18Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified) (CUVMPS)

13論到睡了的人，我們不願意弟兄們不知道，恐怕你們憂傷，像那些沒有指望的人一樣。14我們若信耶穌死而復活了，那已經在耶穌里睡了的人，神也必將他們與耶穌一同帶來。15我們現在照主的話告訴你們一件事：我們這活著還存留到主降臨的人，斷不能在那已經睡了的人之先。16因為主必親自從天降臨，有呼叫的聲音和天使長的聲音，又有神的號吹響，那在基督里死了的人必先復活，17以後我們這活著還存留的人必和他們一同被提到雲里，在空中與主相遇；這樣，我們就要和主永遠同在。18所以，你們當用這些話彼此勸慰。

INSIGHT

The Bible speaks of hope as a robust confidence in the purposes and power of God. First Peter 1:3 says, 「Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.」 Our hope is rooted in Christ』s conquering of death on our behalf. Romans 15:4 adds, 「For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.」

The encouragement of the Scriptures gives us hope as we see how God faithfully deals with His children. He is 「the God of hope」 (v. 13), who encourages us to trust Him with whatever we might face. And He is our hope as we look forward to our future reunion with loved ones who have gone before us.

靈糧透視

聖經將「盼望」描述為對上帝的旨意和大能有堅定信心。彼得前書1章3節說：「願頌讚歸與我們主耶穌基督的父上帝。祂曾照自己的大憐憫，藉耶穌基督從死里復活，重生了我們，叫我們有活潑的盼望。」基督為我們戰勝了死亡，成了我們盼望的根源。羅馬書15章4節進一步指出：「從前所寫的聖經，都是為教訓我們寫的，叫我們因聖經所生的忍耐和安慰，可以得著盼望。」

當我們從聖經看到，上帝如何信實地對待祂自己的兒女時，就會帶給我們盼望。祂是「使人有盼望的上帝」（13節），祂鼓勵我們信靠祂，無論我們面對何種環境。當我們期待將來與離世的至親重聚時，祂正是我們的盼望所在。

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