9月1日 偏离福音真理
偏离福音真理
圣徒真正的喜乐，绝非世人那种痴笑轻浮之乐；真喜乐乃是笃实深沉的。
“凡照此理而行的，愿平安、怜悯加给他们。”（加6:16）既然如此，当平安缺席时，我们能归咎于福音吗？无论笔何等精良，哪怕握在妙笔生花之书法家手中，也无法在湿纸上写出字来。这不是笔的错，也不是手的错，问题在于纸本身。
若圣徒的心无论他何等声名显赫、受人敬重，仍被某种尚未悔改降服的私欲玷污，神的应许就绝不会向他宣告平安。这人已沦为不守规矩而行的人，在他自造的牢笼中，没有任何喜乐与平安能够触及。圣灵深知当如何使用祂管教的杖。
许多人误解了平安的真谛。至于那些尽力紧随福音而行却仍寻不见安慰的人，他们或许已有平安，只是自己尚未察觉。圣徒真正的喜乐，绝非世人那种痴笑轻浮之乐；真喜乐乃是笃实深沉的。基督之灵款待基督徒的客房，乃是内室，而非临街的门廊，并非每一个路人都能闻到筵席的香气。“心中的苦楚，自己知道；心里的喜乐，外人无干。”（箴14:10）基督与基督徒也许正在内室一同坐席，哪怕你未曾看见端进去一道菜，也未曾听见信徒耳中那极其美妙的乐声。你或许以为这灵魂没有平安，只因他未曾将内心的平安当作显眼的招牌挂在脸上。
相反，有时圣徒心中最深的平安与安慰，恰恰在于他满面泪水之时。若你听见一位基督徒因自己的罪而哀痛哭泣，你回家后或许会以为基督教是一种忧郁阴沉的宗教。然而，那位你所怜悯的人，绝不愿用自己的忧伤，去换取这世界所能施舍的一切轻狂之乐。这些眼泪中蕴藏着一种奥秘，是人的理性所无法测透的。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：撒上25章，林前6章，
个人灵修：结4章，约5章
SEPTEMBER 1, TUESDAY
SOME DO NOT WALK IN GOSPEL TRUTH
The saint’s true joy is not a giggling lightheadedness like the world’s; true joy is real.
As many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them” (Galatians 6:16). When peace is absent, then, can we blame the Gospel? No matter how superior the pen is, even in the hand of a skilled scribe, it will not write on wet paper. It is not the pen’s fault, nor the hand’s—the problem is the paper.
If the heart of the saint—no matter how famous and respected—is defiled by a lust which has not yielded to repentance, God’s promise will not speak peace. This person has become a disorderly walker, and no joy and peace can reach him in his self-made prison. The Spirit knows how to use His rod of correction.
Many misunderstand the meaning of peace. As for those who walk as close to the Gospel as they can but still see no comfort, they may have peace and not realize it. The saint’s true joy is not a giggling lightheadedness like the world’s; true joy is real. The parlor where the Spirit of Christ entertains the Christian is an inner room, not a porch next to the street where everyone who passes by can smell the banquet. “A stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy” (Proverbs 14:10). Christ and the Christian may be having supper within, even though you have not seen a single dish go in, or heard the music which sounds so splendid to believers. You might assume this soul does not have peace because he has not hung out a conspicuous sign on his countenance announcing the peace which he has inside.
On the contrary, sometimes there is never more inward peace and comfort in a saint’s heart than when his face is covered with tears. If you should hear a Christian moaning and sobbing about his sins you might go home thinking that Christianity is a melancholy, dismal religion. And yet the one you pity would not part with his sorrow for all the giddy joy the world gives away. There is a mystery in these tears which human understanding cannot resolve.