九月五日

我寄居在米設，住在基達帳棚之中有禍了！（詩120：5）

基督徒必須居住在不信神的世界中，徒說：“我有禍了！我有禍了！”是沒有用的。耶穌不曾求神叫你離開世界，耶穌既未爲你這樣祈求，你就不要這樣期望。最好是靠著主的力量面向艱難，幷在其中榮耀他。仇敵時刻窺視幷偵察你的行爲是否一致，因此務要聖潔。要記得你是衆目所視、衆手所指的，他們所期望于你的，過于對別人的期望。有人崇愛你，有人敬仰你，有人留意你，也有人要陷害你，所以不要留下一個使人指責的機會。讓他們發現你僅有的錯就是你的善良。你要像但以理一樣使他們不能不說：“我們要找參這但以理的把柄，除非在他神的律法中就尋不著。”你要恒久一致，也要有用。

或許你想：“若我有一個我更喜歡的地位或者我更能服待主，我現在這樣却是不行的。”但你是居住在惡人之中，他們更需要你的勸勉；若他們彎曲，更需你去使他們變直；若他們悖謬，更需你去轉變他們高傲的心歸向真道。醫生不是當到病人多的地方去服務嗎？兵丁的榮譽不是在槍林彈雨的戰場上得來的嗎？當你對付各方面來的攻擊和罪惡因而疲勞不堪的時候，要想到一切聖徒都曾忍受過相同的苦難。他們幷不是臥在柔軟的床上進入天堂，因此你也不要希望你的路比他們更容易。他們在戰場上冒死鬥爭；你若不像耶穌基督的精兵一樣忍受苦難，也不能得冠冕。因此要：“在真道上站立得穩，要作丈夫，要剛强。”

September 5

"Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar." -- Psalm 120:5

As a Christian you have to live in the midst of an ungodly world, and it is of little use for you to cry "Woe is me." Jesus did not pray O that you should be taken out of the world, and what He did not pray for you need not desire. Better far in the Lord's strength to meet the difficulty, and glorify Him in it. The enemy is ever on the watch to detect inconsistency in your conduct; be therefore very holy. Remember that the eyes of all are upon you, and that more is expected from you than from other men. Strive to give no occasion for blame. Let your goodness be the only fault they can discover in you. Like Daniel, compel them to say of you, "We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God." Seek to be useful as well as consistent. Perhaps you think, "If I were in a more favourable position I might serve the Lord's cause, but I cannot do any good where I am"; but the worse the people are among whom you live, the more need have they of your exertions; if they be crooked, the more necessity that you should set them straight; and if they be perverse, the more need have you to turn their proud hearts to the truth. Where should the physician be but where there are many sick? Where is honour to be won by the soldier but in the hottest fire of the battle? And when weary of the strife and sin that meets you on every hand, consider that all the saints have endured the same trial. They were not carried on beds of down to heaven, and you must not expect to travel more easily than they. They had to hazard their lives unto the death in the high places of the field, and you will not be crowned till you also have endured hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Therefore, "stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong."