八月十六日[mp3_embed playlst=”/downloading/audio/evening/08/0816.mp3″]
经文: 就是我们这有圣灵初结果子的。（罗马书八：23）
现在，我们有圣灵初结的果子。我们有悔改的宝石、有无价珍珠般的信心、有天堂绿宝石般的盼望、有荣耀红宝石般的爱。藉着圣灵的工作，我们己经成为在基督耶稣里新造的人（参阅林后五：17）。这果子会被称为初结的果子因为那是首先结出的。正如以色列人用收成中最先成熟的收获献作摇祭一样，属灵生命及装饰那生命的一切恩典都是的圣灵在我们灵魂中的首先工作。而初结的果子是收成的保证。一旦以色列人摘下第一把成熟的麦穗，就能期盼车辆满载、车轮在禾捆下吱嘎发响的快乐时光。当上帝赐给我们纯净、可爱与好名声时，就是向我们预告将来的荣耀。而初结的果子于上帝总是圣洁的。我们的新性情和这性情所有的能力，都是奉为神圣的。新生命不是我们的，不应当将它的卓越性视为自己的功绩，它是基督的形像，是基督所造的，因此定规是祂的荣耀。而初结的果子并不是全部的收成，圣灵此刻在我们里面的工作尚未完成。完全的工作尚未来到。因此我们不能自夸以为已经“抵达”目的地，视摇祭为年度的全部收获。我们必须有饥渴慕义的心，渴望完全得赎之日，让你今晚大大张口，上帝将充满。寻求更高层次的成圣，你的主将恩赐你。“上帝能……充充足足的成就一切超过我们所求所想的。”（弗三：20）
Evening, August 16
Scripture: “Ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit.”(Romans 8:23)
Present possession is declared. At this present moment we have the first fruits of the Spirit. We have repentance, that gem of the first water; faith, that priceless pearl; hope, the heavenly emerald; and love, the glorious ruby. We are already made “new creatures in Christ Jesus,” by the effectual working of God the Holy Ghost. This is called the firstfruit because it comes first. As the wave-sheaf was the first of the harvest, so the spiritual life, and all the graces which adorn that life, are the first operations of the Spirit of God in our souls. The firstfruits were the pledge of the harvest. As soon as the Israelite had plucked the first handful of ripe ears, he looked forward with glad anticipation to the time when the wain should creak beneath the sheaves. So, brethren, when God gives us things which are pure, lovely, and of good report, as the work of the Holy Spirit, these are to us the prognostics of the coming glory. The firstfruits were always holy to the Lord, and our new nature, with all its powers, is a consecrated thing. The new life is not ours that we should ascribe its excellence to our own merit; it is Christ’s image and creation, and is ordained for his glory. But the firstfruits were not the harvest, and the works of the Spirit in us at this moment are not the consummation－the perfection is yet to come. We must not boast that we have attained, and so reckon the wave-sheaf to be all the produce of the year: we must hunger and thirst after righteousness, and pant for the day of full redemption. Dear reader, this evening open your mouth wide, and God will fill it. Let the boon in present possession excite in you a sacred avarice for more grace. Groan within yourself for higher degrees of consecration, and your Lord will grant them to you, for he is able to do exceeding abundantly above what we ask or even think.
