九月十五日
经文: 「祂必不怕凶恶的信息。」(诗篇一 一二:7)
基督徒啊!当你听见凶信的时候切不应当害怕;若你因此愁眉不展,痛苦万状,那么,你和别人有什么两样呢?别人没有你所有的神可以投奔,他们不像你一样已经知道神的信实,所以不怪他们被惊恐打倒,被惧怕吓坏;但你说你有了另一种生命,你已重生且得了活泼的盼望,你的心得以存活乃是依靠属天而非属世之物;你若与别人一样地烦恼,那么你说你所得到的恩典有什么价值呢?你说你所有的新性情有什么尊贵呢?再者,若你像别人一样担惊受怕,无疑,你也要犯别人在苦难环境中所犯的罪。不信神的人,当他们听到凶信的时候,就背叛神,怨恨神,以为是神苦待他们。
你也要犯这样的罪吗?你也要像他们一样来触犯神吗?有很多不得救的人常用错误的手段企图脱离困难,若你的心胜不过眼前的压力也必出此。要信靠神,耐心等候他。最聪明的办法莫如摩西在红海所作的:“只管站住!看耶和华今天向你们所要施行的救恩。”若你因凶信而害怕起来,你就不能因想到你的责任而用镇静的态度迎接苦难,并在灾害之中振作起来。若你作一个畏缩的懦夫还能荣耀神吗?圣徒们常在焚烧他们的火中高声歌颂神,但你的疑惑和失望,好像感到举目无告似地,表现出没有帮助你的样子,能荣耀至高者吗?要勇敢,要倚靠,并相信与你立永约之神的信实:“不要轻易动心,也不要惊慌。”(改译)
Morning, September 15
Scripture: “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings.”(Psalm 112:7)
Christian, you ought not to dread the arrival of evil tidings; because if you are distressed by them, what do you more than other men? Other men have not your God to fly to; they have never proved his faithfulness as you have done, and it is no wonder if they are bowed down with alarm and cowed with fear: but you profess to be of another spirit; you have been begotten again unto a lively hope, and your heart lives in heaven and not on earthly things; now, if you are seen to be distracted as other men, what is the value of that grace which you profess to have received? Where is the dignity of that new nature which you claim to possess?
Again, if you should be filled with alarm, as others are, you would, doubtless, be led into the sins so common to others under trying circumstances. The ungodly, when they are overtaken by evil tidings, rebel against God; they murmur, and think that God deals hardly with them. Will you fall into that same sin? Will you provoke the Lord as they do?
Moreover, unconverted men often run to wrong means in order to escape from difficulties, and you will be sure to do the same if your mind yields to the present pressure. Trust in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Your wisest course is to do as Moses did at the Red Sea, “Stand still and see the salvation of God.” For if you give way to fear when you hear of evil tidings, you will be unable to meet the trouble with that calm composure which nerves for duty, and sustains under adversity. How can you glorify God if you play the coward? Saints have often sung God's high praises in the fires, but will your doubting and desponding, as if you had none to help you, magnify the Most High? Then take courage, and relying in sure confidence upon the faithfulness of your covenant God, “let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”