經文: 「我們若是靠聖靈得生，就當靠聖靈行事。」(聖經·加拉太書 5章25節)「若有人在基督裡，他就是新造的人，舊事已過，都變成新的了。」(聖經·哥林多後書 5章17節)

        自從始祖亞當墮落之後，人從以「上帝為中心」的生活，掉入以「自我為中心」的生活，只求自我的滿足、自己的成就，以追求世俗轉眼成空的享樂為目標。所有的罪、死亡、陰間的權勢，都是由「自我中心」的心態所發動、所造成的。 

        五旬節那天，是上帝恩典世代的來臨。以上帝這方面來說，是要把聖靈的恩賜澆灌給教會，以人這方面來說，則是用心靈與誠實，全心全意地來敬拜上帝，這些都是為了上帝能在人的靈魂中直接動奇妙的善工；當人整個沈浸在聖靈當中，就絕對會棄絕自己以及外在事物，將全人降服在上帝面前，讓聖靈對著內心說話、啟示。 

        墮落後的人是以「自我」為中心的，而重生得救的人，是以「上帝」為中心的，心中有上帝的能力與聖靈的彰顯。當聖靈在你心中要你認罪悔改時，就要默然不語，謙卑地求上帝來做光照潔淨的工作，而把自己的理性與意志擺在一邊，不予理會。 

        對付老我的喜好、脾氣、情緒、判斷，自我否定與禁慾苦修是必要的，理由很簡單，因老我的生命是可咒詛的，裡面毫無良善可言。了解到這一點，且承認自己毫無能力行善，惟一的方法只有從上帝那兒得來新生命，如此老我的生命才能被釘死，自我中心的國度才能被粉碎。 

        現在你應該知道何謂天天讓「死」在我身上發動，「生」也同時在我身上發動；我們當常懷憂傷痛悔的心，謙卑俯伏在上帝腳前，求上帝的靈每時每刻來充滿己心，並從內心深處向上帝呼求，求祂將我們久受俗塵蒙蔽的心田，再次復甦活絡起來，來讓那生命之光、永恆的生命，照亮內心。 

弟兄們，牢記一點，若要上帝的靈在我們心中做直接持續的工作，惟一的方法就是釘死老我並降服耶穌，讓聖靈內住。若要彰顯上帝救贖大愛，並分享展現屬天福份，釘死老我及禁慾苦修是不可少的步驟，因此讓我們花時間謙卑等候在上帝的面前吧！求祂的靈每時每刻掌管我們的全人。

—《 神 的 心 意 》
[每日靈修 8月26日]
作者：慕安德烈
編輯：榮華興

『 The kingdom of self 』

Scripture: “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” — (Galatians 5:25) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” —(2 Corinthians 5:17)

        “Man by his fall had fallen from a life in God into a life of self, an animal life of self-love, self-esteem and self-seeking, m the poor perishing enjoyments of the world. All sin , death .and hell are nothing else but this kingdom of self or the various operations of self-love, self-esteem and self-seeking.

        “On the Day of Pentecost a new dispensation of God came forth. On God’s part it was the operation of the Holy Spirit in gifts and graces upon the whole Church. On man’s part it was the adoration of God in spirit and in truth. All this was to make way for the immediate and continual operation of God in the soul; that man, baptized with the Holy Spirit, should absolutely renounce self, and give up his whole soul to use the faculties of his mind, and all the outward things of the world, as enlightened and inspired by the Holy Spirit.

        “The kingdom of self is the fall of man and the great apostasy from the life of God in the soul. The Kingdom of Christ is the Spirit and Power of God manifesting itself in the birth of a new inward man. When the call of God to repentance first arisei in thy soul, be retired, silent, passive and humbly attentive to the new risen life within thee, disregarding the working of thine own will and reason.

        “Hence is to be seen the true ground and necessity of that universal mortification and self-denial with regard to all senses, appetites, tempers, passions and judgments. Our own life is to be hated; and the reason is plain, because there is nothing lovely in it. By this knowing and owning our own nothingness and inability, that we have no other capacity for good, but that of receiving it from God alone, self is wholly denied, and its kingdom destroyed.

        “You know now to what it is that you are daily to die, and daily to live; and therefore look upon every day as lost that does not help forward both this death and this life in you. Casting yourself with a broken heart at the feet of the Divine Mercy, desire nothing but that every moment of your life may be given to God, and pray from the bottom of your heart that the seed of eternity, the spark of life that had so long been smothered under earthly rubbish, might breathe and come to life in you.”

Let us take hold of the central thought here that, to make way for the immediate and continual operation of God in our souls, we need, in the power of the Holy Spirit, absolutely to renounce self, and yield our whole being for God to dwell and work in. The universal mortification and self-denial is indispensable if God’s redeeming love is to display its power and shed forth all its blessing. Let us cast ourselves with a broken heart at the feet of the Divine mercy, and desire nothing but that every moment of our life may be given to God.

— God’s Best Secrets by Andrew Murray
「 26 August 」

經文: 「上帝藉著聖靈向我們顯明了，因為聖靈參透萬事，就是上帝深奧的事也參透了。」— [聖經·哥林多前書 2章10節]

        上帝為什麼要創造？因為這位美善的上帝，一心就是渴望有個愛與溝通的對象，要把祂的美善傳送出去；所以祂對萬物沒有別的心意，就是要他們接受祂的美善，這就是祂起初創造宇宙萬物的動機。正如同燃燒的太陽，無怨無悔地將光熱傳送給大地一樣，上帝也是衷心誠意地，要將屬天的福份與美善，賞賜給祂的百姓。這位聖潔、三位一體的真神，絕不偏待人，只要你大大張口，祂就要將極其豐盛的榮耀，大大地滿足你。 

        這位樂意施恩的上帝，是永不枯竭愛的源頭，祂的愛長闊高深、無可測度，祂不斷將其美善向萬物湧流，不求任何回報；只望人把心歸向祂，並結出美善的果子，來榮耀祂的名。這種神聖的愛是何等深刻磅礡、感人肺腑。任何有思想情感的人，若嚐過主恩美善的滋味，莫不思想如何回報這偉大的愛！

        基督教的信仰是如此奇妙，讓我們發現到我們的存在，與造物主是何等息息相關，我們是多麼仰賴這神聖的大愛而活。幾乎救贖過程的每一部份，都敘述著上帝無限的愛，從亞當犯罪，到耶穌死而復活，都一一敘述主愛的奧秘，就是那起初造天地和人類的愛。福音所有的奧秘都是主愛的證據，為要彰顯上帝的心意：除掉人類萬物的罪惡，讓神聖的愛得勝。 

        想像瑞士山頂的冬陽是何等溫暖人心！但很可惜，有多少上帝的兒女，懂得等候在祂的面前，讓祂的慈顏榮光照亮穿透我們的內心？有多少基督徒明白除非我們肯花足夠的時間，等候在上帝面前，我們就無法讓主的榮光照進我們的心坎，也無法讓祂的大愛充滿我們的心田。 

「天父啊！求祢教導我們如何禱告，叫我們若不讓祢的愛充滿我們心田，就不得安息。奉主耶穌基督聖名，阿們。」

—《 神 的 心 意 》
[每日靈修 8月25日]
作者：慕安德烈
編輯：榮華興

[圖片版權屬「基督教靈糧之家」所有，在此僅供分享福音用途。]

『 The Goodness of GOD 』

Scripture: “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” — [1 Corinthians 2:10]

        “The goodness of God breaking forth into a desire to communicate good, was the cause and the beginning of the Creation. Hence it follows that to all eternity God can have no thought or intent towards the creature but to communicate good, because He made the creature for this sole end, to receive good. He must always will that to it which He willed at the creation of it. As the sun hath but one nature, and can give forth nothing but the blessings of life, so the holy triune God has but one nature and intent towards all the creation, which is to pour forth the riches and sweetness of the Divine perfection upon everything that is capable of them, and according to its capacity to receive them.

        “This is the amiable nature of God; He is the Good, the unchangeable overflowing fountain of good, that sends forth nothing but good to all eternity. He is Love itself, the unmixed immeasurable Love, doing nothing but from love, giving nothing but gifts of love to everything that He has made; requiring nothing of all His creatures but the spirits and fruits of that Love which brought them into being. Oh, how sweet is this contemplation of the heighth and depth of the riches of Divine Love! With what attractions must it draw every thoughtful man to return Love for Love to this overflowing fountain of boundless goodness! What charms has that religion which discovers to us our existence in relation to, and dependence upon, this ocean of Divine Love! View every part of our redemption, from Adam’s first sin, to the resurrection of the dead, and you will find nothing but successive mysteries of that first love which created angels and men. All the mysteries of the Gospel are only so many marks and proofs of God’s desiring to make His love triumph in the removal of sin and disorder from all nature and creatures.”

“With what joy an invalid on a winter’s day yields himself to bask in the bright sunshine. What journeys are undertaken to the heights in Switzerland where the sun gives its warmth best. And, alas! how little God’s children understand that this is just the one thing they need, to wait before God in quiet till His light shines upon them, and into them, and through them. How little it is understood that unless we take time, time enough with God for His light to shine into the depths of our hearts, it is in vain for us to expect that His immeasurable love can enter our hearts and fill our lives. Oh, our Father, teach us, we pray Thee, to believe in Thy love, and not to rest until our hearts are filled with it!

— God’s Best Secrets by Andrew Murray
「 25 August 」

經文: 「靠著聖靈，隨時多方禱告祈求；並要在此儆醒不倦，為眾聖徒祈求。」— [聖經·以弗所書 6章18節]

        人來到這世界走一趟不為別的，就是能有機會藉著祈禱，從空虛夢幻的人世，找著天上那永恆的歸宿，無論我們的日子是如何悲慘貧窮，我們都可以通向那快樂美好之路；我們心中有一把鑰匙，可以打開那要賞賜給我們的天上福份。 

        上帝的道，並非遠在天邊遙不可及，祂乃近在眼前，就在我們的心中；因為我們心眼瞎了，不知如何禱告，以致我們對天堂的事很陌生，也不認識上帝。要知道祈禱是惟一與上帝連接的管道，也是打開天上窗戶的鑰匙。 

        種子埋在好土裡，有充足的陽光水份，不見得每粒種子都會發芽長得好，但人的靈若經上帝的吹氣與澆灌，則必甦醒活絡起來。陽光不一定都照得到向它伸展的葉片，但若有人向這位眾光之父，眾善之源仰望，上帝必向他展開笑顏。 

        我們都是上帝的後裔，這關係其實比我們與同伴之間的關係還親近；因為我們的生命氣息都在乎祂，就像我們的始祖亞當，因著上帝在他鼻孔吹一口氣，就成為有靈的活人。他有上帝的形像，倒不在於他的外觀形像，而是內在有上帝本質的形像，祂把祂的內質吹進人的裡面，原本在天堂的三位一體神，藉著人心裡的聖靈，就把天堂帶到各處，而信徒在地也彷若在天；換句話說，那裡有重生的新生命，那裡就有天堂樂園。 

剛才我們講到有關陽光的比喻，是聖經深奧真理之一。太陽從不間斷地將光與熱傳送給大地，上帝也不止息地動工在那翹首等待祂的兒女心田中，除非我們自己不願意接受祂，或被世界引誘而主動離開祂，上帝的愛永遠與我們同在。弟兄們，願我們天天學習做如此的禱告： 「父啊！願祢的愛、祢的光照進我的心田，就如同陽光毫不吝惜地普照大地，人和萬物就享用了溫暖與光熱。奉主耶穌基督聖名，阿們。」

—《 神 的 心 意 》
[每日靈修 8月24日]
作者：慕安德烈
編輯：榮華興

『Prayer the Key to the Treasures of Heaven』

Scripture: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” — [Ephesians 6:18]

        “Man has been sent into the world on no other errand but by prayer to rise out of the vanity of time into the riches of eternity. For poor and miserable as this life is, we have all of us free access to all that is great, and good, and happy, and carry within ourselves a key to all the treasures that Heaven has to bestow upon us. “God, the only good of all intelligent nature, is not an absent or distant God, but is more present in and to our souls than our bodies; and we are strangers to heaven and without God in the world, for this only reason, because we are void of that Spirit of prayer, which alone can, and never fails to unite us with the one only good, and to open heaven and the Kingdom of God within us. A root set in the finest soil, in the best climate, is not in so sure a way of its growth to perfection, as every man may be, whose spirit aspires after all that, which God is ready and infinitely desirous to give him. For the sun meets not the springing bud that stretches towards him with half that certainty as God, the source of all good communicates Himself to the soul that longs to partake of Him.

        “We are all of us by birth the offspring of God, more nearly related to Him than we are to one another. For in Him we live and move and have our being. The first man that was brought forth from God had the breath and spirit of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit breathed into him, and so he became a living soul. He was the image and likeness of God, not with any regard to his outward shape or form, for no shape has any likeness to God ; but he was in the image and likeness to God because the Holy Trinity had breathed their own nature and spirit into Him. And as the Deity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are always in heaven, and make heaven to be every-where, so this spirit breathed by Them into man brought heaven into man along with it. And so man was in heaven as well as on earth, that is, in Paradise which signifies a heavenly state, or birth of life.”

The lesson that we find here in regard to the sun is one of the deepest truths of God’s Word. As willing as the sun is unceasingly to shine forth its light and warmth on the waiting earth, is the living God waiting unceasingly to work in the heart of His child. Or, rather, He is ever actually working within us, except as we hold Him back and hinder Him by our unbelief for our surrender to the spirit of the world. Oh, that we could learn to say every day: As sure as the sun shines on this earth, my God is sending forth His light and His love into my heart for me to receive and to rejoice in.

— God’s Best Secrets by Andrew Murray
「 24 August 」

經文: 「體貼肉體的，就是死；體貼聖靈的，乃是生命、平安。」(聖經·羅馬書 8章6節)「聖靈就是上帝藉著耶穌基督我們救主厚厚澆灌在我們身上的。」(聖經·提多書 3章6節)

        借着上帝的羔羊-耶穌基督-對天父完全的順服，上帝的心意得以成就，耶穌成為墮落人類的心靈之光，祂的柔和謙卑也得以成形在祂兒女的身上。想到這位榮耀的上帝，竟然願意如此親近平凡的世人，就感到倍受恩寵及無比安慰。

        「釘死老我，向上帝而活。」，是痛苦的，但也是蒙福的；是椎心的，但也是快樂的；因為無論何往何在，都可以求聖靈內住我心，管理我全人，並驅走黑暗。除上帝以外，無人可以將老我治死；除上帝以外，也無人可以奪取我心；陰間的勢力無法轄制我，光明的天堂卻臨近我，因為上帝與我同在。願我每一句話、每個眼神動作、每個思想，都在聖靈的管制下，而不是出於自己的私意，讓我的靈魂完全安息在祂手中，祂的謙卑忍耐、榮美形像，也深深吸引我的心，趕赴那羔羊的喜宴。 

        這羔羊的喜宴，象徵著我與耶穌之間緊密相連的開端；換句話說，那是我心中永恆愛之火花的誕生，我一旦得著祂的內住，我就感到我前所未有的平安喜樂。 若你完全降服耶穌，選擇跟隨耶穌腳蹤，走那忍耐、謙卑、柔順的道路，你就得著新生命；反之，若你偏離這道路，選擇歸榮耀給自己，那麼你就是走向通往死亡的道路，因為若不是由聖靈掌管的新生命，而是由情慾老我掌管的舊生命，最終必走向死亡。 

「上帝的羔羊啊！祢有能力讓我討厭敗壞的老我，嚮往祢的柔和謙卑，願祢的叮嚀常響在我耳際：「我心裡柔和謙卑，你們當負我的軛，學我的樣式。」(馬太福音 11章29節) 就是因為耶穌基督絕對的謙卑，上帝才高舉祂；惟有我們不斷的渴慕那柔和謙卑的生命，我們才能找到靈裡真正的安息。奉主耶穌基督聖名，阿們。」

—《 神 的 心 意 》
[每日靈修 8月23日]
作者：慕安德烈
編輯：榮華興

[圖片版權屬「台北真理堂」所有，在此僅供分享福音用途。]

『 The Lamb of God 』

Scripture: “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” — (Romans 8:6) “Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;” — (Titus 3:6)

        “The Lamb of God is the Eternal Love and Meekness that left the bosom of His Father to be Himself the resurrection of Meekness and Love in the darkened souls of fallen men. What a comfort it is to think that this Lamb of God, Who is the glory of heaven, is as near to us, as truly in the midst of us, as He is in the midst of heaven.”

        “Oh, sweet resignation of myself to God! Happy death of every self-desire; blessed unction of a holy life; the only driver of all evil out of my soul, be thou my guide and governor, wherever I go. Nothing but thou canst take me from myself, nothing but thou canst lead me to God; hell has no power where thou art ; nor can heaven hide itself from thee. Oh, may I never indulge a thought, bring forth a word, or do anything for myself or others, but under the influence of thy blessed inspiration. The sight, though distant, of this Sabbath of the soul, freed from the miserable labour of self, to rest in Meekness, Humility, Patience and Resignation under the Spirit of God is like the joyful voice of the Bridegroom to my soul, and leaves no wish in me but to be at the marriage-feast of the Lamb.”

        “This marriage-feast signifies the entrance into the highest state of union that can be between God and the soul in this life. In other words, it is the birthday of the Spirit of Love in our souls, which, whenever we attain it, will feast our souls with such peace and joy in God, as will blot out the remembrance of everything that we called joy or peace before.

        “Thither you must certainly come, if you keep to this path of Meekness, Humility and Patience, under a full Resignation to God. But if you go aside from it, let the occasion seem ever so glorious, it is only preparing you for a harder death. For die you must to all and everything that you have worked or done under any other spirit but that of the Meekness of the Lamb.

“As the Lamb of God He has all power to bring forth in us a weariness of our fallen state, and a willingness to fall from it into His Meekness and Humility.”

Let us listen to the blessed Lamb of God as He calls us: “Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart.” It was for His humility that God so highly exalted Him. It is only as our life becomes the unceasing expression of a longing for His humility and meekness that we shall find rest to our souls.

— God’s Best Secrets by Andrew Murray
「 23 August 」

經文: 「我們靠著聖靈，憑著信心，等候所盼望的義。」— [聖經·加拉太書 5章5節]

        聖經上說：「我心裡柔和謙卑，你們要負我的軛，學我的樣式；這樣，你們心裡就必得享安息。」(馬太福音 十一29)，要忍耐、柔和、謙卑，向上帝降服，就是要倒空自己，將屬亞當的老我釘死，將心完全降服給耶穌，這是高度信心的舉動；如此就可脫離罪的轄制，由聖靈管理的全人生活，能活出柔和謙卑的樣式。 

        當你把心獻給耶穌，你就住在至高者的隱密處，祂要在你裡面活，聖靈也要在你裡面運行。當耶穌柔和謙卑成為你的內化與氣質時，你就活出基督，那麼現在活著的不再是你，乃是基督活在你裡面；除非人願意向老我死，聖靈是無法內住於人心的；惟有選擇宣告向自己死，向上帝活，上帝的恩典與能力才能臨到。 

        當你心急衝動、老我顯露，或是自視甚高、驕傲抬頭時，趕緊轉向耶穌，安靜在上帝面前，放下自己的一切，將自己交在全能者的手中，才能得享安息。尤其在你越浮躁動盪、越沮喪氣餒的時候，就越要親近上帝；因為只有從上帝那兒才能得著真正的安息與耐性，但有一點我們要確知的就是我們安息的程度，是和我們交託給上帝的信心成正比。 

        這經文雖短，卻富含真理，知道全備的救恩，是要帶領人完全的降服於耶穌，緊緊的與聖靈連接，活出基督的樣式，散發出耶穌馨香之氣。 

「主啊！願祢常住我心，我也當默想祢的柔和謙卑、耐心順服；求主施恩，讓祢的情感，屬靈的美德內化在我靈魂中。奉主耶穌基督聖名祈求，阿們。」

—《 神 的 心 意 》
[每日靈修 8月22日]
作者：慕安德烈
編輯：榮華興

『 Faith in CHRIST 』

Scripture: “For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” — (Galatians 5:5)

        “In the words of Christ, ‘Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls,’ you have two truths asserted. First that to be given up to Patience, Meekness, Humility and Resignation to God, is strictly the same thing as to learn of Christ, or to have faith in Him. And that because the inclination of your heart towards these virtues is truly giving up all that you are, and all that you have from fallen Adam; it is perfectly leaving all that you have, and your highest act of faith in Him. Therefore all the blessing and deliverance from sin from any degree of faith and hope in Christ are sure of being led and governed by His Spirit of Patience, Meekness, Humility and Resignation to God. Whilst you shut up yourself in these, you are in the very arms of Christ, your whole heart is His dwelling place, and He lives and works in you. When these tempers live and abide in you, as the spirit and aim of your life, then Christ is in you of a truth, and the life that you then lead is not yours, but it is Christ that liveth in you. The Spirit of Divine Love can have no place or possibility of birth in any fallen creature till it wills and chooses to be dead to all self, in a patient, meek, humble, resignation to the good power and mercy of God. And when your own impatience or pride attacks you, stand turned to this humble resignation and leave and give up yourself to be helped by the mercy of God. The greater the perplexity of your distress is, the nearer you are to the greatest and best relief, provided you have but patience to expect it all from God. And be assured that we have neither more nor less of the Divine operation within us but just and strictly in that degree as our faith and hope and trust are upon God more or less.

        “These are short but full articles of true religion, which carry salvation along with them, which make a true and full offering and oblation of our whole nature to the Divine operation, and are also a true and full confession of the Holy Trinity in Unity.”

Let now your one thonght be: It is now the whole bent and design of my soul to seek for my salvation alone through the mediation of the meek, humble, patient, resigned Lamb of God, who alone has power to bring forth the blessed birth of these heavenly virtues in my soul.

— God’s Best Secrets by Andrew Murray
「 22 August 」

經文: 「凡勞苦擔重擔的人可以到我這裡來，我就使你們得安息。我心裡柔和謙卑，你們當負我的軛，學我的樣式；這樣，你們心裡就必得享安息。」— [聖經·馬太福音 11章28-29節]

        許多人會問，治死老自己真的有這樣簡單、迅速嗎？不是很多有經驗的人說過，要養成柔和謙卑、忍耐等德性，是需要很長的一段時間嗎？如我前述，只要憑信心將心思意念轉向上帝，就可與耶穌柔和謙卑的性情有分；就如同罪人願意開口認罪，接受耶穌為個人救主，他就算為重生得救了。為什麼許多人枉然刻苦勞累，卻做不到這些品格？那是因為他們用「人為」的方式去追求，卻不是憑信心向耶穌求告。 

        「凡勞苦擔重擔的人可以到我這裡來，我就使你們得安息。」(馬太福音 十一28) 耶穌的應許簡潔有力，只要照著做，就可得著祂的安息。你不妨反省自問，究竟自己是用什麼方法，來脫離老我的轄制與罪的權勢？耶穌已經升天作王，握有天上與地下的權柄，我們卻沒有把祂當做萬王之王來看待，向祂支取必要的幫助與能力，這不是頂愚蠢的事嗎？ 

        向耶穌順服，棄絕自己，會不會帶給我什麼好處？這倒不是問題！重要的是我們能否像當年使徒那樣，憑信心向耶穌求取柔和謙卑、忍耐順服，直到得著所應許的聖靈果子。 

        除了勉勵眾弟兄棄絕老我外，還要將信心希望寄託在上帝的羔羊身上。何謂上帝的羔羊？不就是那位滿有柔和謙卑，向上帝完全順服的耶穌嗎？因此，當你謙卑俯伏在上帝的羔羊面前，真誠渴望在祂的生命性情上有份，又願這樣的倒空自己，敬拜渴望祂的內住；耶穌的柔和謙卑，焉能不在我們內心成形？ 

我們常以為對耶穌的信心，僅限於相信接受祂在十字架上為我們所做的救贖工作，其實祂受死的意義遠甚於此，其還包括相信聖靈的同在與運行，宣告祂的恩典夠用，幫助我們完成「進深成聖」的過程。這樣「以信以至於信」的「信心」，藉著每天不斷的操練，我們就被模塑成上帝羔羊的形像，能以基督的心為心，活出屬天的生命。

—《 神 的 心 意 》
[每日靈修 8月21日]
作者：慕安德烈
編輯：榮華興

『 Dying to Self 』

Scripture: “Come to me, all you who are troubled and weighted down with care, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and become like me, for I am gentle and without pride, and you will have rest for your souls;” — [Matthew 11:28-29]

        “Many will ask how this way of overcoming self is to be so simple, plain and immediate. Is it not the doctrine of almost all men that much length of time and practice are scarce sufficient for the attainment of any one of these four virtues?” “I have referred you to Patience, Meekness, Humility as the one plain and immediate way of dying to self, because you can as easily and immediately, by the mere turning and faith of your mind have all the benefit of these virtues, as publicans and sinners by their turning to Christ could be helped and saved by Him. The reason that you or others are vainly endeavoring after these virtues, is because you seek them in a multitude of human rules and methods, and not in that simplicity of faith in which those who applied to Christ immediately obtained that which they asked of Him.”

        ” ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ How short and simple and certain a way to peace and comfort. What becomes now of your rules and methods, to be delivered from self and the power of sin, and find the redeeming power and virtue of Christ ? What a folly it would be to suppose that Christ, after having finished His great work, and ascended into heaven, with all power in heaven and on earth, was become less a Saviour, and gave less immediate help, than when He lived as man upon earth.

        “You say that it is not the question whether my giving up myself to Christ in faith would do me as much good as it did to them who came to Him on earth; but whether my turning in faith to Patience, Meekness, Humility and Resignation to God, would do to me all that faith in Christ did for those who became His disciples.

        “When I exhort you to give up yourself in faith and hope to these virtues, what else do I do, but turn you directly to so much faith and hope in the true Lamb of God. What is the Lamb of God but the perfection of patience, meekness, humility and resignation to God ? And consequently, is not every sincere wish and desire, every inclination of your heart, that longs to be governed by these virtues, an immediate, direct application to Christ, a worshipping and falling down before Him, a giving up of yourself unto Him, and the very perfection of faith in Him.”

We too often think of faith in Christ only as connected with the work He did for us on the Cross. But its meaning is far larger and richer. It is by faith that zve can claim all the grace and the mind there were in Him, and receive it through the Spirit as ours. Faith then becomes the daily exercise by which the virtues and the graces that there are in Christ cart become ours. And so we get the mind of Christ.

— God’s Best Secrets by Andrew Murray
「 21 August 」

經文: 「我要從父那裡差保惠師來，就是從父出來真理的聖靈；祂來了，就要為我作見證。」[聖經·約翰福音 15章26節]「上帝所賜、出人意外的平安必在基督耶穌裡保守你們的心懷意念。」[聖經·腓立比書 4章7節]

        若非你接受了這新生命，你就不知道何謂神聖的愛；因為這愛滿有平安喜樂，在祂裡面沒有煩亂，只有自由滿足與幸福。只要接受了神子耶穌，自然而然湧現各樣的福份，補足我們各樣的缺憾，不但使我們稱義，也賜下那出人意外的平安在我們心中。 

        若人離棄上帝，轉向自我中心，就會發現裡面充滿了惡及各樣的不義，諸如自私、驕傲、嫉妒等；這些天然的罪性，都與老我緊緊地連在一起，若我們被聖靈光照，能真正分別善惡，必定謹慎恐懼，除惡務盡，不敢耽溺於各樣不義、憤怒、擾攘等自我私慾，也不會縱容內心毒蛇的種類，任其滋養長大邪惡薰心。狡滑的老我會化裝成光明的天使，引誘我們墮落偏離正道；所以信徒們當儆醒禱告並禁食刻苦，好得著屬靈的力量與生命，戰勝老我，來過得勝的生活。 

        我們無法憑己力來抗拒罪惡的權勢，也無法憑藉天然人的意志來勝過老我及向自己死。得勝之道非常簡單，不但人人能做而且垂手可得，況且在每一件事上都能來操練這課題時，老練之後必能得心應手且應付自如。 你要知道這簡單淺顯易學實用的真理是什麼嗎？那就是向上帝絕對的謙卑、完全的順服，學習祂的柔順忍耐，這也就是走十字架窄路，向自己死的惟一途徑。 

要真正認識老我，是非常非常不容易的事，它可怕的權勢以及屬肉體的律，是我們犯罪的源頭，也是使我們昧於認清自己的本相，以致我們不能完全相信上帝的愛，也不肯完全順服上帝。除非我們願意完全向自己死，否則我們就無法從肉體的律被釋放出來；惟有憑藉著信心，與耶穌同釘十字架，聖靈就會教導我們進入真理，學會耶穌的柔和謙卑，完全地降服於上帝。記得這真理-與耶穌同死的步驟，這在上帝眼中看來，是極其寶貴。

—《 神 的 心 意 》
[每日靈修 8月20日]
作者：慕安德烈
編輯：榮華興

『 The Monster of Self 』

Scripture: “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:” — [John 15:26] “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” — [Philippians 4:7]

        “Until this birth of the Spirit of Divine Love is found in you, you cannot know what Divine Love is in itself. For Divine Love is perfect Peace and Joy, it is a Freedom from all disquiet, it is all Content and mere Happiness, and makes everything to rejoice in itself. Love is the Christ of God; wherever it comes, it comes as the Blessing and Happiness of every natural life, as the Restorer of every lost perfection, a Fulfiller of all righteousness, and a Peace of God which passes all understanding.

        “When the intelligent creature turns from God to self, he finds nature only as it is in himself and without God. Nothing is to be had from it, or found in it, but the working of every kind of evil. Covetousness, envy, pride and wrath are the four elements of self, or nature, all of them inseparable from it. Were we truly affected with things as they are our real Good, or real Evil, we should be much more afraid of having the serpents of Covetousness, Envy, Pride and Wrath, well nourished and kept alive in us, than of being shut up in a Pest-house, or cast into a Dungeon of venomous beasts. This monster of self can hide himself under all forms of goodness, can watch and fast, pray much and preach long, and yet often gets more life and strength, and more immovable abode in these forms of virtue than he has in publicans and sinners.

        “To die to self, or to come from under its power, cannot be done by any act of resistance we can make to it by the powers of nature. The one only way of dying to self is most simple and plain; it is equally practicable by everybody; it is always at hand; it meets you in everything, and is never without success.

        “If you ask what is this one true simple, plain, immediate and unerring way, it is the way of Patience, Meekness, Humility and Resignation to God. This is the truth and perfection of dying to self.”

There is not a more difficult lesson in the Christian life than to attain a true knowledge of what self is. Its terrible power, its secret and universal rule, and the blinding influence it exerts in keeping us from the .knowledge of what it is, are the cause of all our sin and evil. Hence it comes that so few really believe in their absolute impotence to obey God or to believe in His love. And there is nothing that can deliver us from it but that entire willingness to die to self, which comes through by faith we understand that we died in Christ Jesus. It is that alone that can make us partakers, through faith and the Holy Spirit, of that meekness1 and gentleness and humility and surrender to God which gave Christ’s death its worth and its beauty in the sight of the Father.

— God’s Best Secrets by Andrew Murray
「 20 August 」