12月7日 借着信心得胜
12月7日，主日
借着信心得胜
胜过世界的是谁呢？不就是那信耶稣是神的儿子的吗？（约翰壹书5:5）
作为一名基督徒，正是因着神在我身上已经成就的那奇妙工作，我如今能够运用信心，也能够凭着信心而活。这是约翰所说的第二个步骤：他先告诉我们，“凡从神生的就胜过世界”；接着又加上一句，“使我们胜过世界的，就是我们的信心”（4节）。换句话说，我的重生使我得着一种新的能力，“信心的机能”让我可以真正地行使信心、并以信心为生活的方式。
我们可以用一个更贴近生活的方式来说明：我们所面对的“世界”，力量极其强大；它的权势远远超出我们任何一个人。世界之所以能辖制所有生在其中的人，是因为我们确实是“生在罪孽中”，“我是在罪孽里生的； 我母亲在罪中怀了我”（诗51:5）。换句话说，自我们开始存在的那一刻起，世界就已经进入我们里面。
你去读旧约就能看见这一点：那些伟大的信心勇士，那些族长、敬虔的君王、以及先知——他们无一例外地都被世界击败，都曾失败跌倒。正如经上所说：“没有义人，连一个也没有”（罗3:10）；“全世界都伏在神的审判之下”（罗3:19）。因此，如果我要胜过这样一个世界，我就需要一种超乎我自己的力量。我若想凭自己上阵、靠着自己的意志和力量去征服世界，那必然是徒劳的。历史上的修道主义正是因为看见了这一点，才说：“逃避世界吧。”
那么，我真正的需要是什么？我需要得着释放；我需要被带到另一个领域；我需要一种我本来不具备的力量、权能与能力。而答案就在这里：神赐给我信心——祂赐给我一种新的眼光、新的理解，使我得以接触到一个全新的能力源头——我看见了常人看不见的事。我看见了一种极大的权能，远胜过一切攻击我的势力。基督徒，就是那些被带进另一个领域的人；他们属于一个新的国度，拥有属天的生命、属天的力量。
默想主题：
基督徒，就是那些被带进另一个领域的人。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：代下7章，约贰
个人灵修：哈2章，路21章
December 7, Sunday
OVERCOMING BY FAITH
Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 JOHN 5:5)
As a Christian, because of what has happened to me, I am able to exercise faith and to live by faith. Here is the second step. First you see “Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world,” and then “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (verse 4). In other words, my rebirth gives me this faculty of faith and enables me to exercise faith and to live by it.
Let me put it in this practical form: The world that I am fighting is very powerful; it is much more powerful than any one of us. The world conquers and masters everyone who is born into it, for indeed we have been born in sin and “shapen in iniquity” (Psalm 51:5); the world is in us the moment we begin to live. Read your Old Testament; look at those great heroes of the faith, the patriarchs, the godly kings, and the prophets—they all were conquered by the world, they all failed. “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10); the whole world is guilty before God (Romans 3:19); and therefore if I am to conquer and overcome that world, I need something that will enable me to do so. It is no use trying to fight the world immediately—that cannot be done. Monasticism recognizes that and says, “Run away from it.”
So what do I need? I need emancipation; I need to be lifted to another realm; I need a force and a strength and a power that I do not have myself. That is my need, and here is the answer: I am given faith—I am given an outlook and understanding—I am introduced to a source of power—I see something that another person has never seen. I see a might and a power that is even greater than all that is opposed to me. Christians are men and women who have been introduced to another realm.
A Thought to Ponder: Christians are men and women who have been introduced to another realm.