一月十四日
以大能施行拯救。（赛63:1）
从“拯救”两字，我们便可明白救恩大功的全部意义，从起初神就要人完全成圣。这两个字是“言简意赅，包罗万象”的；的确不错，一切恩典都包在这两个字里了。基督不单能以大能拯救那些悔改的人，并且他也能使人悔改。他能把信的人带到天堂上；并且他更能赐人新心，把信放在人的心中。他能使恨恶圣洁的人爱圣洁，能使轻视他名的人在他面前屈膝。这还不是它全部的意义，因为神的力量在事后仍可看出。信徒的生活一步一步的都是“全能的神”所行得神迹。荆棘焚烧了，却是没有烧毁。他能使他的子民圣洁，也能保守他们一直圣洁，并能使他们爱敬他，直到他使他们圣洁的生活得以完成。基督的能力不仅在于使人相信之后，就任凭他自生自长，他开了工就作到底；他既把生命的种子放在必死之人的生命中，就使他属神的生活生存下去，并赐他力量，直到他能挣开罪恶的一切捆绑，使人能丢弃世界，在荣耀里达到完全的境地。信徒啊！这是多么令人鼓舞呀！你在为某个所爱的人祷告吗？要继续祷告，因为基督能“以大能施行拯救”。你没有力量使背道的人归回，但主是大能的。要倚靠那大能的膀臂，求神使用他的膀臂大赐力量。你自己有什么事困扰你吗？不要怕，因为他的力量够你用的。不论你是与别人或单独作工，耶稣都能“以大能施行拯救”，最好的证据就是他曾拯救了你。神没有用大能施行毁灭，真是一件万幸的事。
January
14
“Mighty
to save.” –Isaiah 63:1
By the words “to save” we understand the whole of the great
work of salvation, from the first holy desire onward to complete
sanctification. The words are multum in parro: indeed, here is all mercy in one
word. Christ is not only “mighty to save” those who repent, but He is
able to make men repent. He will carry those to heaven who believe; but He is,
moreover, mighty to give men new hearts and to work faith in them. He is mighty
to make the man who hates holiness love it, and to constrain the despiser of His
name to bend the knee before Him. Nay, this is not all the meaning, for the
divine power is equally seen in the after-work. The life of a believer is a
series of miracles wrought by “the Mighty God.” The bush burns, but
is not consumed. He is mighty to keep His people holy after He has made them
so, and to preserve them in his fear and love until he consummates their
spiritual existence in heaven. Christ’s might doth not lie in making a believer
and then leaving him to shift for himself; but He who begins the good work
carries it on; He who imparts the first germ of life in the dead soul, prolongs
the divine existence, and strengthens it until it bursts asunder every bond of
sin, and the soul leaps from earth, perfected in glory. Believer, here is encouragement.
Art thou praying for some beloved one? Oh, give not up thy prayers, for Christ
is “mighty to save.” You are powerless to reclaim the rebel, but your
Lord is Almighty. Lay hold on that mighty arm, and rouse it to put forth its
strength. Does your own case trouble you? Fear not, for His strength is
sufficient for you. Whether to begin with others, or to carry on the work in
you, Jesus is “mighty to save;” the best proof of which lies in the
fact that He has saved you. What a thousand mercies that you have not found Him
mighty to destroy!
