十一月二日 [mp3_embed playlst=”/downloading/audio/evening/11/1102.mp3″]
经文: 我见恶人离弃祢的律法,就怒气发作,犹如火烧。(诗篇一一九:53)
对于世人的罪恶,你是否有这样的圣洁怒气?若无,你就是缺少了内在的圣洁。大卫因为不圣洁之事遍行而泪流如河。耶利米希望眼睛能涌出泉水,好教他能为以色列民之邪恶哀哭。罗得因所多玛居民之堕落生活而伤痛。在以西结的异象中,那些额上画记号的,是因耶路撒冷城行可憎之事而欢息哀哭的人。眼见人带着痛苦走向地狱,仁慈的心灵必然忧伤不已。他们曾经经历罪的邪恶,因此每看到别人如娥扑向火焰,他们都会焦虑不安。罪恶教义人怒气发作,因为罪违背了人人都应严格遵守的圣洁律法。他人身上的罪教信徒惊恐,因为那提醒他自己内心之不洁。当他见到人时,他会警觉地说:“今日是他跌倒了,或许明天就换成我。”罪对信徒来说是可怕的,因罪将救主钉在十字架上,在每项罪之中,他都见到铁钉和长矛。一个得救的灵魂如何能见到可咒诅之罪而不痛恨呢?仁慈的上帝配受更好的礼遇,伟大的上帝当得更好的对待,公义的上帝必得更好的待遇,否则祂要当面与罪人为敌。清醒的心眼见罪的厚颜无耻而战栗,因沉思罪的刑罚而惊慌。悖逆是何等恐怖啊!为不敬虔的人所预备的刑罚是何等可怕啊!切勿嘲笑罪恶的无知,恐怕有朝一日你会对罪微笑。罪是你的仇敌,也是你主的仇敌,以最深的恨意去正视它,惟有如此,你才能圣洁。非有圣洁,人不能见主。
Evening, November 2
Scripture: “Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law.”(Psalm 119:53)
Prayer is the never-failing resort of the Christian in any case, in every plight. When you cannot use your sword you may take to the weapon of all-prayer. Your powder may be damp, your bow-string may be relaxed, but the weapon of all-prayer need never be out of order. Leviathan laughs at the javelin, but he trembles at prayer. Sword and spear need furbishing, but prayer never rusts, and when we think it most blunt it cuts the best. Prayer is an open door which none can shut. Devils may surround you on all sides, but the way upward is always open, and as long as that road is unobstructed, you will not fall into the enemy’s hand. We can never be taken by blockade, escalade, mine, or storm, so long as heavenly succours can come down to us by Jacob’s ladder to relieve us in the time of our necessities. Prayer is never out of season: in summer and in winter its merchandise is precious. Prayer gains audience with heaven in the dead of night, in the midst of business, in the heat of noonday, in the shades of evening. In every condition, whether of poverty, or sickness, or obscurity, or slander, or doubt, your covenant God will welcome your prayer and answer it from his holy place. Nor is prayer ever futile. True prayer is evermore true power. You may not always get what you ask, but you shall always have your real wants supplied. When God does not answer his children according to the letter, he does so according to the spirit. If thou askest for coarse meal, wilt thou be angered because he gives thee the finest flour? If thou seekest bodily health, shouldst thou complain if instead thereof he makes thy sickness turn to the healing of spiritual maladies? Is it not better to have the cross sanctified than removed? This evening, my soul, forget not to offer thy petition and request, for the Lord is ready to grant thee thy desires.