十二月八日
然而在撒狄,你還有幾名是未曾污穢自己衣服的,他們要穿白衣與我同行,因爲他們是配得過的。(啟3:4)
我們知道這話是指著稱義說的。“他們要穿白衣與我同行”,這就是說他們要長久享受因信所得的義;他們知道基督所賜他們的義,把他們洗得比雪還白。
再者,也是指著快樂和歡喜說的。因爲白衣是猶太人過節時所穿的衣服。凡沒有把衣服染污的人,臉上便常常顯出愉快之色;因爲他們明白所羅門所說的話:“你只管去歡歡喜喜吃你的飯,心中快樂喝你的酒,因爲神已經悅納你的作爲。你的衣服當時常潔白。”凡被神所悅納的人就穿上了歡喜快樂的衣服,幷與主耶穌有一種甜蜜的相交生活。那末從何處來了這麽些疑惑、悲慘和哀痛呢?那是因爲有很多信徒因著罪惡和錯謬把他們的衣服染污了,因此失去了他們的救恩之樂,幷失去了與耶穌相交的甜蜜滋味,他便不能穿白衣了。
這一個應許也是指著在神的寶座前穿白衣說的。凡在這裏沒有把衣服染污的人,到了那裏必然穿上白衣,與衆聖一同穿著白衣永遠唱著哈利路亞,稱頌至高者。他們有不能測度的快樂,夢想不到的幸福,想像不到的福樂,那福分也是遠超過所求所想的。“行爲完全(無污)”的人要得到這一切,幷非出于功勞、行事,而是出于恩典。他們要穿白衣與基督同行,因爲他使他們“配得”。從與他甜蜜的相交中,他們便得以暢飲活水的泉源。
December 8
“Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not
defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are
worthy.”—Revelation 3:4
We may understand this
to refer to justification. “They shall walk in white;” that is, they
shall enjoy a constant sense of their own justification by faith; they shall
understand that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them, that they have
all been washed and made whiter than the newly-fallen snow.
Again, it refers to
joy and gladness: for white robes were holiday dresses among the Jews. They who
have not defiled their garments shall have their faces always bright; they
shall understand what Solomon meant when he said “Go thy way, eat thy
bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart. Let thy garments be
always white, for God hath accepted thy works.” He who is accepted of God
shall wear white garments of joy and gladness, while he walks in sweet communion
with the Lord Jesus. Whence so many doubts, so much misery, and mourning? It is
because so many believers defile their garments with sin and error, and hence
they lose the joy of their salvation, and the comfortable fellowship of the
Lord Jesus, they do not here below walk in white.
The promise also refers to walking in white before the
throne of God. Those who have not defiled their garments here shall most
certainly walk in white up yonder, where the white-robed hosts sing perpetual
hallelujahs to the Most High. They shall possess joys inconceivable, happiness
beyond a dream, bliss which imagination knoweth not, blessedness which even the
stretch of desire hath not reached. The “undefiled in the way” shall
have all this–not of merit, nor of works, but of grace. They shall walk with
Christ in white, for he has made them “worthy.” In his sweet company
they shall drink of the living fountains of waters.