7月12日 神主权的引导
神主权的引导
神是如此喜爱祂儿女内在的纯洁，以至于为了洗净深嵌在我们本性中的污垢，祂会不惜力度地用力擦洗。
神在祂一切的护理之中作工。“万事都互相效力，叫爱神的人得益处”（罗8:28）。正如神利用一年四季来成就丰收，既用冬日的冰雪严寒，也用夏日的酷暑，照样，祂也使用顺境与逆境、令人愉悦与令人不悦的护理，来促进人的圣洁。严冬般的护理能冻死情欲的杂草，盛夏般的护理则催熟公义的果实。
即使神使我们受苦，也是为了我们的益处，使我们得与祂的圣洁有分。宗世界神学家克莱沃的伯纳德（Bernard of Clairvaux，1090–1153）曾将苦难比作一种长满尖刺、用于刮擦布料的起绒草，工匠用它来使布料变得更加纯净细致。神是如此喜爱祂儿女内在的纯洁，以至于为了洗净深嵌在我们本性中的污垢，祂会不惜力度地用力擦洗；在祂儿女的衣袍上，祂宁愿看到一个破洞，也不愿容留一处污斑。
但有时，神主权的引导是更为温柔的。当祂让自己的百姓坐在安慰的向阳坡上，为他们遮挡苦难的寒风时，那是为了汲取恩典的汁液，加速他们在圣洁中的成长。保罗深谙此理，因此他“以神的慈悲”劝勉罗马的圣徒“将身体献上，当作活祭，是圣洁的，是神所喜悦的”（罗12:1）。他在此暗示，神期待人在这些怜悯上结出理所当然的果实，因为这一切怜悯皆是从祂而来。
当农夫将肥料撒在地里时，他图的是在收割时得着更丰盛的庄稼；神赐下祂的怜悯，用心亦是如此。因此，祂严厉控告以色列人的忘恩负义：“她不知道是我给她五谷、新酒，和油，又加增她的金银；她却以此供奉（或作‘制造’）巴力”（何2:8）。神发怒，是因为以色列竟耗费神的恩典，去行属灵的淫乱。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：书16-17章，诗148章，
个人灵修：耶8章，太22章
JULY 12, SUNDAY
GOD’S SOVEREIGN DIRECTION
God loves purity in His children so much that He will rub as hard as He has to in order to get out the dirt ingrained in our natures.
In all His providences God is at work. “All things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28). As God uses all seasons of the year for the harvest—the ice and cold of winter as well as the heat of summer—so He uses both good and bad, pleasing and unpleasing providences, for promoting holiness. Winter providences kill the weeds of lust and summer providences ripen the fruits of righteousness.
Even when God afflicts it is for our good, to make us partakers of His holiness. Bernard has compared afflictions to a sharp, scratching burr called a teasel, which was used to make cloth more pure and fine. And God loves purity in His children so much that He will rub as hard as He has to in order to get out the dirt ingrained in our natures; He would rather see a hole than a spot in His child’s garment.
But sometimes God’s sovereign direction is more gentle, and when He lets His people sit under the sunny bank of comfort, sheltered from the cold gusts of affliction, it is to draw forth the sap of grace and hasten their growth in holiness. Paul understood this when he urged the Roman saints “by the mercies of God” to present their bodies “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God” (Romans 12:1). He implied that God expects a reasonable return on the mercies, mercies which have all come from Him.
When the farmer lays his compost on the ground, he intends to receive it again at harvest in a fuller crop; and so does God, by His mercies. Thus He firmly indicted Israel for her unthankfulness: “She did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal” (Hosea 2:8). God was angry because Israel embraced adultery at His expense.