一月一日[mp3_embed playlst=”/downloading/audio/evening/01/0101.mp3″]
经文: 我们必因祢欢喜快乐。（雅歌一：4）
我们必因上帝欢喜快乐。我们不必带着一丝愁烦来开启岁首之门，开始这新的一年。反之，我们要与欢乐竖琴之甜美旋律唱和，要与欣喜钹之宏亮声音共鸣。“来啊，我们要向耶和华歌唱，向拯救我门的磐石欢呼。”（诗九十五：1）。我们这些蒙召的、忠心的、被拣选的人啊，要以上帝的名驱除忧愁，高举信心的旗帜。让那些不信的人去为他们的烦恼哀伤吧！我们却拥有使水变甜的树，可不将它投入玛拉的苦泉中，因此，我们要以欢乐赞美主。永恒之灵，完全的保惠师，我们要永不止息崇拜颂扬耶稣之名！耶稣必要获得我们心中欢乐之冠冕。新郎来临的时候，我们不能带着哀伤的心情，因为那是对祂的羞辱。上帝任命我们作天上的歌颂者。让我们在进入新耶稣撒冷的华厅向祂颂赞以前，预先演习这永恒之歌。我们必欢喜快乐──欢喜与快乐是同义词──双重之喜乐，颂赞加上颂赞！纵使在尘世中，有什么事物能限制我们在主里的喜乐呢？在耶稣里满有丰盛！祂是无尽福乐河流之源头，河中丰盛的每一滴水皆在祂里面！甜美的主耶稣，祢是祢子民当今的产业。在这一年中，恩待我们，让我们珍视祢的宝贵，从岁首至年终，让我们能因祢而欢喜快乐。但愿正月能始于在主里的欢乐，让腊月结束于在耶稣里的欣喜。
Evening, January 1
Scripture: “We will be glad and rejoice in thee.”(Song of Solomon 1:4)
We will be glad and rejoice in thee. We will not open the gates of the year to the dolorous notes of the sackbut, but to the sweet strains of the harp of joy, and the high sounding cymbals of gladness. “O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise unto the rock of our salvation.” We, the called and faithful and chosen, we will drive away our griefs, and set up our banners of confidence in the name of God. Let others lament over their troubles, we who have the sweetening tree to cast into Marah’s bitter pool, with joy will magnify the Lord. Eternal Spirit, our effectual Comforter, we who are the temples in which thou dwellest, will never cease from adoring and blessing the name of Jesus. We WILL , we are resolved about it, Jesus must have the crown of our heart’s delight; we will not dishonour our Bridegroom by mourning in his presence. We are ordained to be the minstrels of the skies, let us rehearse our everlasting anthem before we sing it in the halls of the New Jerusalem. We will BE GLAD AND REJOICE : two words with one sense, double joy, blessedness upon blessedness. Need there be any limit to our rejoicing in the Lord even now? Do not men of grace find their Lord to be camphire and spikenard, calamus and cinnamon even now, and what better fragrance have they in heaven itself? We will be glad and rejoice IN THEE . That last word is the meat in the dish, the kernel of the nut, the soul of the text. What heavens are laid up in Jesus! What rivers of infinite bliss have their source, aye, and every drop of their fulness in him! Since, O sweet Lord Jesus, thou art the present portion of thy people, favour us this year with such a sense of thy preciousness, that from its first to its last day we may be glad and rejoice in thee. Let January open with joy in the Lord, and December close with gladness in Jesus.
