7月2日 作門徒的條件
人到我這裡來,若不愛我勝過……就不能作我的門徒。(路十四26、27、33)
耶穌基督說人生中最親密的關係,若與他的要求相衝突的話,就必須立刻選擇順服他。作門徒的意思,就是把自己誠意地奉獻給一位——我們的主耶穌基督。對一個有位格的主奉獻,與對一個原則或運動獻身,並不相同。我們的主從沒有宣告一項運動,他宣告的乃是叫人對他個別的獻身。作門徒就是做主忠誠的愛奴。我們這些自稱基督徒的人,許多根本就不專心愛主。除非聖靈把愛澆灌給人,否則世上沒有一個人懂得熱誠愛主。我們也許會仰慕他、尊敬他,但卻不會愛他。唯一愛耶穌的就是聖靈,是他把神的愛傾瀉入我們心中。聖靈一見有榮耀耶穌耶穌的機會,就會佔有你的心、你整個的人,使你在主耶穌的熱愛中燃燒發光。
基督徒的生命,都蓋上了“自然的道德創造力”的印記,所以門徒像主耶穌一樣被人指責為:矛盾不一。其實,主耶穌時刻對神都是如一。信徒也該對神的兒子始終如一,而不是在死硬的教條上持守。人把自己傾進教條裡去,神卻要把人的偏見炸毀,叫他們懂得專心愛他。
祈禱◆我何等需要看見你那威嚴、大能和榮耀的作為!我們所有人都只需要你的觸摸,使一切事物都變成嶄新而奇妙,並且抗衡任何不屬你的影響和標準。願你的同在使我們得以潔淨和滿有能力。
July
2 The Conditions Of Discipleship
“If any man come to Me, and
hate not . . . he cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:26, also 27, 33
If the closest relationships of life clash with the
claims of Jesus Christ, He says it must be instant obedience to Himself.
Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person, Our Lord Jesus
Christ. There is a difference between devotion to a Person and devotion to
principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause; He proclaimed
personal devotion to Himself. To be a disciple is to be a devoted love-slave of
the Lord Jesus. Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not devoted to
Jesus Christ. No man on earth has this passionate love to the Lord Jesus unless
the Holy Ghost has imparted it to him. We may admire Him, we may respect Him
and reverence Him, but we cannot love Him. The only Lover of the Lord Jesus is
the Holy Ghost, and He sheds abroad the very love of God in our hearts.
Whenever the Holy Ghost sees a chance of glorifying Jesus, He will take your
heart, your nerves, your whole personality, and simply make you blaze and glow
with devotion to Jesus Christ.
The Christian life is stamped by 'moral spontaneous
originality', consequently the disciple is open to the same charge that Jesus
Christ was, viz., that of inconsistency. But Jesus Christ was always consistent
to God, and the Christian must be consistent to the life of the Son of God in
him, not consistent to hard and fast creeds. Men pour them selves into creeds,
and God has to blast them out of their prejudices before they can become
devoted to Jesus Christ.