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October 11
"As dying and behold we live." (2 Cor. 6:9.)
ＴHAD a bed of asters last summer, that reached clear a cross my garden in the country. Oh, how gaily they bloomed. They were planted late. On the sides were yet fresh blossoming flowers, while the tops had gone to seed. Early frosts came, and I found one day that that long line of radiant beauty was seared, and I said, "Ah! the season is too much for them; they have perished"; and I bade them farewell.
I disliked to go and look at the bed, it looked so like a graveyard of flowers. But, four or five weeks ago one of my men called my attention to the fact that along the whole line of that bed there were asters coming up in the greatest abundance; and I looked, and behold, for every plant that I thought the winter had destroyed there were fity plants that I thought the winter had destroyed there were fifty plants that it had planted. What did those frosts and surly winds do?
They caught my nowers, they slew them, they cast them to the ground, they trod with snowy feet upon them, and they said, leaving their work, "This is the end of you." And the next spring there were for every root, fifty witnesses to rise up and say, "By death we live."
And as it is in the floral tribe, so it is in God's kingdom. By death came everlasting life. By crucifixion and the sepulchre came the throne and the palace of the Eternal God. By overthrow came victory.
Do not be afraid to suffer. Do not be afraid to be overthrown.
It is by being cast down and not destroyed; it is by being shaken to pieces, and the pieces torn to shreds, that men become men of might, and that one a host; whereas men that yield to the appearance of things, and go with the world, have their quick blossoming, their monentary prosperity and then their end, which is an end forever.
－Beecher.
"Measure thy life by loss and not by gain,
Not by the wine drunk, but by the wine poured forth.
For love's strength standeth in love's sacrifice,
And he who suffers most has most to give."
我要給你們一個這世界最光明主題的呼召，這可幫助你。我喜樂的敬拜都有無限的愛，無始無終；有海洋般廣大、溫柔、甜蜜、榮耀、福份、良善、忍耐和恩慈的神，所有這些能震憾地獄廣大的愛，也就是聖父、聖子、聖靈三而一的神無限的慈愛和良善。除非有福、喜樂的愛和光在墮落的天使和人前後，否則他們毫無力量。
請抓住這個可靠有福的真理：除非你的靈魂有從上頭來的新生，否則你乏善可陳；若要自然的正義就得有新生的體驗，也就是藉著愛的靈，運行在生命中而有的結果。愛是光明燦爛榮耀的，否則不能在受造之物中得以昇華；在此過程中亦須具有喜樂。神之所以必須道成肉身，就是因非藉此不能使恢復本性；而靠人自己的力量無法達到這種光榮的境界，這完全是藉愛的靈所運行而成。
現在，你也看出絕對需要十字架福音的真理。換言之，老我若不死，就不能向神活著；十字架的捨己是使人良善的唯一途徑，十字架就是否認天然個性，得以經驗神賜超自然良善的唯一方法。除非愛的靈吹入每個人的心中，在那兒運行，否則只有天然的努力和美德，並非出自神的良善和本性。若不是藉神親自活在你裏面，並在其中運行，因而產生愛的靈，我們是無法信仰這真理，並敬拜真神。
讓我們為這奇妙的愛深深地謙卑、敬拜神，祈求祂幫助我們使我完全捨己，降服在祂面前。
「聽見拉撒路病了，就在所居之地，仍住了兩天。」約翰福音十一章6節
神曾經以一種延宕──一種具有深意的延宕──對你麼？神的延宕，就是祂的答覆。想想在伯大尼家庭中延宕沉默的那些日子啊！在你的生命中，有沒有與那相似的日子呢？神像那樣對你，你是否仍求一種聽得見的答覆呢？如果沒有神的祝福，你不能前進的時候，神就照你所求的允你；但是祂的延宕，是一種標記，就是要你深深地瞭解祂。你在神面前哀哭，是因為你沒有得到聽見祂的反應麼？你會覺得神要用最可能最親密的方法，給你一種延宕的沉默，必不叫你失望，卻是叫你快樂，因為祂知道你受得住一種較大的啟示。如果神以延宕沉默對你，就當稱讚祂，因為祂要使你暢行祂的旨意。倘使神不延宕，即時答覆，那是神的主權。時間對於神是無關的，起初你以為「我求神賜我麵包，祂反賜我石頭。」祂不是這樣，現在你覺得祂賜你的是生命之糧。
最奇的是神。能將祂的安靜，傳到你的裡面，叫你完全信任祂──「我知道神已聽允了我。」祂的延宕沉默是祂已經聽允了你的證據。你祈禱的目的在神的祝福麼？祂也願意賜福給你，但是祂不能賜你在延宕中所得的恩惠。如果耶穌基督叫你瞭解祈禱是榮耀祂的父，──祂首先給你的親密是延宕沉默。
「鑒察人心的，曉得聖靈的意思，因為聖靈照著神的旨意替聖徒祈求。」羅馬書八章27節
聖靈會在聖徒的心中，成為代求的靈。事實上，我們有兩個代言人，一個是坐在天父右邊為我們代求的耶穌，另一個則是在我們裡面的靈，祂能啟示我們靠耶穌的名，向神禱告。
我們需要神的靈，儘管我們不知道該為何事禱告，也不知當怎樣祈求，但是聖靈會把負擔加給我們，用說不出來的歎息，甚至在我們不全然瞭解每件事時，替我們禱告。
神瞭解我們，並且總是以天父慈愛的心來鑒察我們、教導我們明白聖靈的意思，然後回答我們的禱告。祂在我們還不知應當如何開口祈求時，就曉得我們的需求；在我們還不明白許多情況的當兒，信實地回應我們的呼求。當我們回到天家、手捧著生命的記載時，我們會瞭解，並感謝神無限的愛。因為祂使聖靈照著祂的旨意替我們祈求，又讓聖靈根據我們的每一個需要向祂禱告。
