十月二日

是爲那給你們存在天上的盼望。（西1：5）

我們將來在基督裏的盼望是我們現在得快樂的樞紐。它使我們的心多多幷常常想到天堂，因爲我們所渴想的一切應許都在那裏。我們在這裏勞苦疲倦，但那裏乃是安息之境，人的額上不再滴汗，也不再疲乏了。“安息”對于軟弱疲勞的人真是像天堂一樣。我們常馳騁沙場，內有誘惑，外有强敵，我們簡直沒有太平的時候；但在天堂上我們就安享勝利，得勝的錦旗飄揚在我們之上，刀已入鞘，我們的元帥說：“好，你這又良善又忠心的僕人。”我們常有喪親之悲，但我們要到永生之境，那裏不知墳墓爲何物；我們在這裏常爲罪悲傷，但在那裏，我們必完全成爲聖潔，因爲污穢卑鄙的都不得進入那國度；苦菜不再滋生在田間的犁溝中。你不再流浪，不再居住在曠野，乃要承受迦南地，這不是一件快樂的事嗎？可是我們也不要因爲夢想將來，而忘了現在；我們想到將來的時候，就要在現在更加聖潔；我們在盼望天堂的時候藉著神靈的大能更能生出美好的德行；這是我們歡然努力地根基，是我們樂于聖潔的角石。有這盼望的人必然奮發努力工作，因爲主的喜樂成了他的力量。他熱烈地與誘惑爭戰，因爲來世的盼望必然打退仇敵的凶猛攻擊。他勤苦工作，不求現在得報酬，因爲他看重來世的賞賜。

“因爲他等候那座有根基的城……因爲他已經給他們預備了一座城。”

October 2

"The hope which is laid up for you in heaven."--Colossians 1:5

Our hope in Christ for the future is the mainspring and the mainstay of our joy here. It will animate our hearts to think often of heaven, for all that we can desire is promised there. Here we are weary and toilworn, but yonder is the land of rest where the sweat of labour shall no more bedew the worker's brow, and fatigue shall be forever banished. To those who are weary and spent, the word "rest" is full of heaven. We are always in the field of battle; we are so tempted within, and so molested by foes without, that we have little or no peace; but in heaven we shall enjoy the victory, when the banner shall be waved aloft in triumph, and the sword shall be sheathed, and we shall hear our Captain say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." We have suffered bereavement after bereavement, but we are going to the land of the immortal where graves are unknown things. Here sin is a constant grief to us, but there we shall be perfectly holy, for there shall by no means enter into that kingdom anything which defileth. Hemlock springs not up in the furrows of celestial fields. Oh! is it not joy, that you are not to be in banishment forever, that you are not to dwell eternally in this wilderness, but shall soon inherit Canaan? Nevertheless let it never be said of us, that we are dreaming about the future and forgetting the present, let the future sanctify the present to highest uses. Through the Spirit of God the hope of heaven is the most potent force for the product of virtue; it is a fountain of joyous effort, it is the corner stone of cheerful holiness. The man who has this hope in him goes about his work with vigour, for the joy of the Lord is his strength. He fights against temptation with ardour, for the hope of the next world repels the fiery darts of the adversary. He can labour without present reward, for he looks for a reward in the world to come.