從使徒行傳保羅五次旅行研究,與當時教會面臨的問題,與新約書卷的關係。
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"Because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son……I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven; ……because thou hast obeyed my voice." (Gen. 22:16-18.)
AND from that day to this, men have been learning that when, at God's voice, they surrender up to Him the one thing above all else that was dearest to their very hearts, that same thing is returned to them by Him a thousand times over. Abraham gives up his one and only son, at God's call, and with this disappear all his hopes for the boy's life and manhood, and for a noble family his name. But the boy is restored, the family becomes as the stars and sands in number, and out of it, in the fullness of time, appears Jesus Christ.
That is just the way God meets every real sacrifice of every child of His. We surrender all and accept poverty; and He sends wealth. We renounce a rich field of service; He sends us a richer one than we had dared to dream of. We give up all our cherished hopes, and die unto self; He sends us the life more abundant, and tingling joy. And the crown of it all is our Jesus Christ. For we can never know the fullness of the life that is in Christ until we have made Abraham's supreme sacrifice. The earthly founder of the family of Christ must commence by losing himself and his only son, just as the Heavenly Founder of that family did. We cannot be members of that family with the full privileges and joys of membership upon any other basis.
─C. G. Trumbull.
We sometimes seem to forget that what God takes He takes in fire; and that the only way to the resurrection life and the ascension mount is the way of the garden, the cross, and the grave.
Think not, O soul of man, that Abraham's was a unique and solitary experience. It is simply a specimen and pattern of God's dealings with all souls who are prepared to obey Him at whetever cost. After thou hast patiently endured, thou shalt receive the promise. The moment of supreme sacriflce shall be the moment of supreme and rapturous blessing. God's river, which is full of water, shall burst its banks, and pour upon thee a tide of wealth and grace. There is nothing, indeed, which God will not do for a man who dares to step out upon what seems to be the mist; though as he puts down his foot he finds a rock beneath him.
─F. B. Meyer.
「我們將所看見所聽見的傳給你們,使你們與我們相交,我們乃是與父並祂兒子耶穌基督相交的。」約翰壹書一章3節
與神相交是福音獨特的福份,基督為我們死了,「把我們帶到神面前」,正如浪子回到父家,他的生命也就住在父親的愛中。基督獻出了寶血,為我開了一條又新又活的路,使我們來到至聖所,我們能在父神的光中行走,祂給我們的應許是:「他們要在主的光中行走,整天因著祂的名而喜樂。」與神同行,自然能喜樂;也正如在陽光中行走,一個與神相交不間斷的生命——這就是福音。
與神相交是傳道人的主題,如果傳道人僅以傳講有關悔改、罪得赦免以及死後穩妥的真理為滿足,那他的工作可算是可悲的失敗。基督徒必須要經歷與神相交的真理,藉此得到經歷聖潔生活的保證。約翰使徒的信息是:與父神並祂兒子耶穌基督相交。
與神相交是傳道人唯一能力的來源,假如與神交通是福音中的福份,這就是傳道人傳講的負擔,然後傳道人一定會跟著以自己的生活指出這是可能的事,並說到與神同行所蒙的福。只有自己經歷,才知道這是最蒙福並有完全的喜樂,一個與父神並祂兒子相交的人,是以生活來見證,並與他人有相同喜樂的交通,神能幫助你我如此做。每天首先找一段安靜的時間,與父神並祂兒子耶穌基督交通,然後做一天的工作,並領人歸向基督,這樣你也在全備福音的事工上獻上一份力量。
「何況你們在天上的父,豈不更把好東西給求祂的人麼?」馬太福音七章11節
耶穌為那些有祂的靈的人們定下了行為的規律。祂以這幾節的論證催促我們,叫我們的心充滿神支配凡事的思想。換一句話說,為門徒者,必得保持完全倚靠,誠懇尋求的態度。
你的心總要存著神同在的思想。假使此心順著這條路徑想,則於你困難之時,必如呼吸一樣自然,一樣容易記得──「……這一切東西,你的天父是知道的。」(太六32)當艱困相逼而至的時候,不待用力,這種記憶就自然而然的來了。從前,每當困難發生的時候,你常是跑到這人那裡和那人那裡,求助於人;但是神支配一切的思想在你裡面佔領了主要的地位,你必跑到神那裡。耶穌為那些有祂靈性的人定下了行為的規律,是根據這種原則而定的──神是我的父,祂愛我,祂從不會忘記甚麼事,那麼,我為甚麼憂慮呢?
耶穌說,有的時候神不能揭去你的黑雲,可是你還要倚靠祂。神的面貌,有時像個不體貼的朋友,但是祂不是的;祂的面貌,有時像個無父心的父親,但是祂不是的;祂的面貌,有時像個不公平的審判官,但是祂不是的。應該保守神隱在萬事之後的思想,讓其增長。除非沒有甚麼特殊的事情發生。沒有神的旨意在後面,因此,你當放心,完全信靠祂。祈禱不但是求,而是一種心態,產生完全自然祈求的空氣。「你們祈求,就給你們。」(太七7)
「神啊,我的心切慕您,如鹿切慕溪水。」詩篇四十二篇1節
為了進入聖潔的生活,我們得先有渴慕的心,渴慕聖潔、有能力,以及更親近主。基督徒通常都會有一種內疚,但這不是罪惡感,或是怕神的憤怒臨到的感覺,乃是一種為內在邪惡,以及不滿足所帶來的自責。這種情形往往是因為得到神更深的啟示、更豐富的屬靈教導,或是受到某些人和見證所引起。然而有時候,則是由於在受大試煉、大衝突和大引誘中,發現自己的能力及奮鬥竟不能解決生活中的難題和需要時,心中所產生的一種悵然。
當我們瞭解自己的極限,通常會有失望、甚至沮喪的感覺。但是亞割谷乃是希望的門(何二15)。保羅在絕望中曾說:「我真是苦啊……。」(羅七24)也因此,神為他開了一扇得勝的門,使他最後能說:「……賜生命聖靈的律,在基督耶穌裡釋放了我,使我脫離罪和死的律了。」(羅八2)