1月6日 圣徒力量的源头
圣徒力量的源头
神可以不费吹灰之力击败仇敌，无需任何援手；但圣徒若没有祂大能膀臂的扶持，连最小的一个前哨据点都守不住。
地上的将军，其力量源于他的军队——他仿佛是借着士兵的羽翼飞行；一旦兵士的羽翼被剪或颈项折断，将军便无能为力。但在圣徒的军队中，全军的力量唯独在于“万军之耶和华”。神可以不费吹灰之力击败仇敌，无需任何援手；但圣徒若没有祂大能膀臂的扶持，连最小的一个前哨据点都守不住。
神的名之一，就是“以色列的大能者”（撒上15:29）。祂是大卫心中的力量。有了祂，这个牧童可以挑战那使全军胆寒的巨人；没有神的力量，大卫却会因非利士人随口抛出的三言两语而战栗。大卫写道：“耶和华我的磐石是应当称颂的！祂教导我的手争战，教导我的指头打仗”（诗144:1）。同样，在你与罪恶和撒但争战时，主也是你唯一的力量。
有人会问：人所犯的罪中，是否曾有哪一件是撒但没有插手的呢？但若问：圣洁的行为中，是否曾有哪一件是不需要神特别帮助的？答案是显而易见的：“离了我，你们就不能作什么”（约15:5）。保罗这样说：“并不是我们凭自己能承担什么事；我们所能承担的，乃是出于神”（林后3:5）。我们圣徒确实有一池储备的恩典，但这恩典却像深井底部的水，无论我们如何用力泵取，它也不会自行上升。除非神先用祂唤醒人心的恩典来“引水灌注”，生命之泉才会喷涌而出。
保罗曾感叹：“立志为善由得我，只是行出来由不得我”（罗7:18）。无论起初的“立志”还是其后的“行事”，全然都是出于神：“因为你们立志行事都是神在你们心里运行，为要成就祂的美意”（腓2:13）。神既在梯子的最底端，也在最高端；祂是创始者，也是成终者。在灵魂向着圣洁行为攀登的每一个阶梯上，都是祂在托住与扶持。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：创6章，太6章，
个人灵修：拉6章，徒6章
JANUARY 6, TUESDAY
THE SOURCE OF THE SAINT’S STRENGTH
God can overcome His enemies without help from anyone, but His saints cannot so much as defend the smallest outpost without His strong arm.
The strength of an earthly general lies in his troops—he flies upon their wings. If their feathers get clipped or their necks broken, he is helpless. But in the army of saints, the strength of the whole host lies in the Lord of hosts. God can overcome His enemies without help from anyone, but His saints cannot so much as defend the smallest outpost without His strong arm.
One of God’s names is “the Strength of Israel” (1 Samuel 15:29). He was the strength of David’s heart. With Him, this shepherd boy could defy the giant who defied a whole army; without God’s strength, David trembled at a word or two that dropped from the Philistine’s mouth. He wrote, “Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight” (Psalm 144:1). The Lord is likewise your strength in your war against sin and Satan.
Some wonder whether a sin is ever committed without Satan having a part. But if the question were whether any holy action is ever performed without involving the special assistance of God, that is settled: “Without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). Paul put it this way: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God” (2 Corinthians 3:5). We saints have a reservoir of grace, yet it lies like water at the bottom of a well and will not ascend with all our pumping. First God must prime it with His awakening grace. Then it will gush forth.
Paul says, “To will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not” (Romans 7:18). Both the will to do and the action which follows are of God. “It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13) God is at the bottom of the ladder, and at the top also, the Author and Finisher, assisting the soul at every rung in its ascent to any holy action.