💜《神的心意-God’s Best Secrets》20220610『捨棄自己 Self-Denial』— 慕安德烈 [Andrew Murray]

經文: 「於是耶穌對門徒說：若有人要跟從我，就當捨己，背起他的十字架來跟從我。」— [聖經·馬太福音 16章24節]

當耶穌第一次公開明確地說，祂會受苦、受死，又再復活時，彼得立即勸阻說：「主阿！……這事必不臨到祢身上。」，主耶穌回答說：「撒但，退我後邊去吧。」(馬太福音 16章23節)，彼得的意思是要耶穌不要上十字架，免除那樣的死刑痛苦，但這是撒但的詭計，試圖引誘耶穌遠離上帝所訂定救贖人類的計劃。

耶穌第二次提及祂的死亡時，祂又再加上幾句話：「要背起十字架」，更深入的闡釋是：「若有人要跟隨我，就得要捨己、背起他的十字架。」當亞當犯罪，屬天的生命就離開他，他就變成屬世的，活在老我的生命-自我抬頭，自我膨脹，一切都以自我為中心-這種自私的心態，成為他生活的準則。當耶穌來到世界上為要恢復人本有的地位時，祂自己率先倒空自己，取了奴僕的樣式，至極謙卑到一個地步，甚至死在十字架。因著祂以身作則並豎立榜樣，祂就要求門徒們也如此效法祂。

結果彼得經不起考驗竟然否認主，當耶穌被捕時，彼得對人說：「我不認得那個人。」(馬太福音 26章72b節)。當一個人未認識主時，他會說：「我不認識這個敗壞的人。」但作門徒的，是要背起自己的十字架和治死老我，算自己是死的，且甘心放棄本該擁有的權利，不以自我為中心。

「治死老我」是基督徒的座右銘，「絕對順服基督」是應有的心態，不要讓「老我蠢動」，掙扎著想從十字架上跳下來，要讓它一直掛在十字架上，保持著與耶穌同死的狀態。

耶穌說：「要捨己。」作為耶穌的跟隨者，必須懇求耶穌給我們恩典，才能真正地犧牲捨己，就像其他見證人那樣，無私地為周圍的人而活，因為耶穌是這樣的愛我們。

—《 神 的 心 意 》
[每日靈修 6月10日]
作者：慕安德烈
編輯：榮華興

『 Self-Denial 』

Scripture: “Then said Jesus unto His disciples, ‘If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.'” — [Matthew 16:24]

Christ had for the first time definitely announced that He would have to suffer much and be killed and be raised again. “Peter rebuked him, saying, ‘Be it far from Thee, Lord: this shall never be unto Thee.'” Christ’s answer was, “Get thee behind Me, Satan.” The spirit of Peter, seeking to turn Him away from the cross and its suffering, was nothing but Satan tempting Him to turn aside from the path which God had appointed as our way of salvation.

Christ then adds the words of our text, in which He uses for the second time the words “take up the cross.” But with that He uses a most significant expression revealing what is implied in the cross: “If any man come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross.” When Adam sinned, he fell out of the life of Heaven and of God into the life of the World and of Self. Self-pleasing, self-sufficiency, self-exaltation, became the law of his life. When Jesus Christ came to restore man to his original place, “being in the form of God, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and humbled Himself even to the death of the cross.” What He has done Himself He asks of all who desire to follow Him: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself.”

Instead of denying himself, Peter denied his Lord: “I know not the Man.” When a man learns to obey Christ’s commands, he says of himself: “I know not the man.” It is the secret of true discipleship, to bear the cross, to acknowledge the death sentence that has been passed on self, and to deny any right that self has to rule over us.

Death to self, is to be the Christian’s watchword. The surrender to Christ is to be so entire, the surrender for Christ’s sake to live for those around us so complete, that self is never allowed to come down from the cross to which it has been crucified, but is ever kept in the place of death.

Let us listen to the voice of Jesus: “Deny self;” and ask that by the grace of the Holy Spirit, as the disciples of Christ Who denied Himself for us, we may ever live as those in whom self has been crucified with Christ, and in whom the crucified Christ now lives as Lord and Master.

— God’s Best Secrets by Andrew Murray
「 10 June 」