但我断不以别的夸口,只夸我们主耶稣基督的十字架。(加六14)
一个人在重生之初,会有很多不一致的地方——有一些互不协调的情感,也有一些互不相连的事物。在使徒保罗最深处有坚强稳固的贯彻如一,任凭外在生活怎样改变,也不受骚扰,因为他是扎根在神的根基上。我们大多数人没有属灵上的协调,因为我们太着意于外在事物的协调。保罗生活在地下室,而协调的批评家活在表面事物上的上层,两者并不相通。保罗的协调深入到最基本的事上。他协调最大的根源,就是神救赎人类所付上的痛苦——耶稣基督的十字架。
对自己重述你所信的是什么,然后把其余的事物尽可能地除掉,归回那唯一的基石——主耶稣的十字架。从历史的观点看来,十字架是微不足道的。可是从圣经观点来看,却比世上所有王国更重要。我们传讲的信息,若不提神在十字架上的惨痛,就必无所成,神的能力也无法传递给人。信息听来似乎很有趣,却没有能力。当传扬十字架,神的能力就释放出来。“神就乐意用人所当作愚拙的道理,拯救那些信的人。”“我们却是传钉十字架的基督。”
祈祷◆主啊,我在你面前的生活,似乎是毫无目的、黯淡无光,直至你在我里面出现。因着我相信你大能的救赎,我敬拜你。可是,噢!能够察觉你的感动却是另一回事!
November 25: The Secret Of Spiritual Coherence
“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Galatians 6:14
When a man is first born again, he becomes incoherent, there is an amount of unrelated emotion about him, unrelated phases of external things. In the apostle Paul there was a strong steady coherence underneath, consequently he could let his external life change as it liked and it did not distress him because he was rooted and grounded in God. Most of us are not spiritually coherent because we are more concerned about being coherent externally. Paul lived in the basement; the coherent critics live in the upper storey of the external statement of things, and the two do not begin to touch each other. Paul’s consistency was down in the fundamentals. The great basis of his coherence was the agony of God in the Redemption of the world, viz., the Cross of Jesus Christ.
Re-state to yourself what you believe, then do away with as much of it as possible, and get back to the bedrock of the Cross of Christ. In external history the Cross is an infinitesimal thing; from the Bible point of view it is of more importance than all the empires of the world. If we get away from brooding on the tragedy of God upon the Cross in our preaching, it produces nothing. It does not convey the energy of God to man; it may be interesting but it has no power. But preach the Cross, and the energy of God is let loose. “It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” “We preach Christ crucified.”