1月7日 神大能的意义
神大能的意义
神藉着良心，使人都对祂的公义有所认识，好叫人在审判之日站在祂面前时，无可推诿。（参罗1）
唯独神是所有生命的源头与维系者；因此，正是祂那持续不断的更新大能，使人的良心能保持敏锐活泼。
良心可以定义为神在人里面运作的一种神圣影响力，用以拦阻人犯罪。它源于神，其中的一个证据，就是它总是指证罪恶，并维护公义。因此，良心绝不可能是我们这颗心的产物，因为我们是在堕落的状态下，“人心比万物都诡诈，坏到极处”（耶17:9）。神藉着良心，使人都对祂的公义有所认识，好叫人在审判之日站在祂面前时，无可推诿。（参罗1）。当你重生成为基督徒，就会将自己，包括你的良心，奉献给祂，这时圣灵便开始切实地在你里面动工，使你在基督里得以完全。
常言道，当神创造世界之后，祂就结束了创造之工。也就是说，祂不再创造新的物种。然而直到今日，祂并未停止祂的护理（Providence）之工。正如基督所说：“我父作工直到如今”（约5:17）。换言之，祂持续地托住祂所造的万物，并赐予它们存留与运作的能力。一件艺术品完成后，便不再需要艺术家；房子盖好、钉下最后一颗钉子后，也不再需要木匠。但神在我们身上所作的工，无论是对外体还是内心，祂的手从未离开过。
若说圣父的职分体现为护理与保守，那么圣子的职分则体现为救赎。这两项工作皆是恒久不息的。正如圣父虽完成了创造之工，却从未止息祂的作为；基督虽从死里复活，也未曾结束祂的事工。神在创造之后便“安息”了；同理，基督在成就了永远的救赎、且“洗净了人的罪，就坐在高天至大者的右边”（来1:3）。在宝座上，祂继续为圣徒代求，并藉此托住他们，使他们免于那必然的败坏与灭亡。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：创7章，太7章，
个人灵修：拉7章，徒7章
JANUARY 7, WENDESDAY
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF GOD’S STRENGTH
“God uses the conscience to give some knowledge of His righteousness to all, so that no one can stand before Himon the Day of judgment and plead ignorance” (Romans 1).
God alone is the source and sustainer of all life; therefore, it is His constant regenerating power that keeps the conscience alive.
Conscience may be defined as that divine influence at work in man to restrain him from sin. One evidence of its origin is that it always speaks against sin and for righteousness. Therefore, it cannot be the product of our own hearts, which in their fallen state are “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). God uses the conscience to give some knowledge of His righteousness to all, so that no one can stand before Him on the Day of Judgment to plead ignorance (Romans 1). When you become a Christian and consecrate yourself —conscience and all—to Him, the Holy Spirit begins in earnest to perfect you in Christ.
It is said when God made the world He ended His work of creation—that is, He made no more new species of creatures. Yet to this day He has not ended His work of providence. “My Father worketh hitherto,” Christ said (John 5:17). In other words, He continually preserves and empowers what He has made with strength to be and to act. A work of art, when complete, no longer needs the artist, nor a house the carpenter when the last nail is in place. But God’s works on behalf of both the outer and the inner man are never off His hands.
If the Father’s work is a preserving one, the Son’s is a redemptive one. Both acts are perpetual. Christ did not end His work when He rose from the dead, just as the Father did not end His work when He finished creation. God rested at the end of creation; and Christ, when He had wrought eternal redemption and “by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3). From there He continues the work of intercession for the saint, and thereby keeps him from certain ruin.