《静夜亮光》五月六日

五月六日[mp3_embed playlst=”/downloading/audio/evening/05/0506.mp3″]
经文: 等我被释放的时候来到。(约伯记十四:14)

我们在世上的时日使天国显得更为属天。劳苦使安息变为更甜美,面对危险使平安稳妥更让人快乐。地上的苦果叫新酒能在荣荣的金碗中闪亮,给人带来更多的享受。当我们被迎接到征服世界者的座位上时,我们破损的兵器和带着伤痕的面貌,使我们的胜利更为显赫。我们若没有寄居于地上一段时日,就不能与基督有完全的相交。祂所受的洗是苦难的洗礼,我们若期望分享祂国度,也必须经过同样的洗礼。与基督相交是尊荣的,若将之视为廉价是最伤主的心。我们逗留在世上的另一原因,是为他人的好处。直到我们的工作完成,才能盼望进入天国。我们被召要将光带给陷于黑暗旷野中有罪的灵魂。我们留在地上也是为了上帝的荣耀。经过试验的圣徒,像一颗被切割琢磨过的钻石,在王的冠冕上闪耀着熠熠的光。工作经过严格的试验,才能正确地反映出工人技巧。忍受严酷考验后的胜利,为其建造者带来荣誉。我们是上帝所作成的工,我们的坚定不移,能使祂得荣耀。我们以神圣的喜乐忍耐信心之试验,乃是为了荣耀耶稣。愿每个人最大的渴望就是耶稣的荣耀。我们的时间受永恒的信仰所决定和安置。让我们渴望并耐心等待,直至珍珠门最后为我们开启。

Evening, May 6
Scripture: “All the days of my appointed time will I wait.”(Job 14:14)

A little stay on earth will make heaven more heavenly. Nothing makes rest so sweet as toil; nothing renders security so pleasant as exposure to alarms. The bitter quassia cups of earth will give a relish to the new wine which sparkles in the golden bowls of glory. Our battered armour and scarred countenances will render more illustrious our victory above, when we are welcomed to the seats of those who have overcome the world. We should not have full fellowship with Christ if we did not for awhile sojourn below, for he was baptized with a baptism of suffering among men, and we must be baptized with the same if we would share his kingdom. Fellowship with Christ is so honourable that the sorest sorrow is a light price by which to procure it. Another reason for our lingering here is for the good of others. We would not wish to enter heaven till our work is done, and it may be that we are yet ordained to minister light to souls benighted in the wilderness of sin. Our prolonged stay here is doubtless for God’s glory. A tried saint, like a well-cut diamond, glitters much in the King’s crown. Nothing reflects so much honour on a workman as a protracted and severe trial of his work, and its triumphant endurance of the ordeal without giving way in any part. We are God’s workmanship, in whom he will be glorified by our afflictions. It is for the honour of Jesus that we endure the trial of our faith with sacred joy. Let each man surrender his own longings to the glory of Jesus, and feel, “If my lying in the dust would elevate my Lord by so much as an inch, let me still lie among the pots of earth. If to live on earth for ever would make my Lord more glorious, it should be my heaven to be shut out of heaven.” Our time is fixed and settled by eternal decree. Let us not be anxious about it, but wait with patience till the gates of pearl shall open.