十一月二十八日
有弟兄来证明你心里存的真理，正如你按真理而行，我就甚喜乐。（约三：3）
真理在该犹的心中，该犹也在真理中行事；真理不在心中，就不能按真理而行；若不按真理而行，就不能证明他心中有真理；真理必须进入心中，渗入幷浸透它，否则便无价值。把道理当作信经看待，就像饼在手里一样，对于人身幷无营养；但若将道理接受到心中，就像被消化了的食物一样，借着同化作用就可维持幷成了身体的一部分。
真理必须在我们里面成爲活力，动能，内在的实体，生存的经纬。若它在我们里面，我们就少不了它。人可以失去他的衣服和肢体，但内脏却是攸关性命的，若是少了就必丧命。基督徒宁死，也不能否认真理。成于中形于外，内在影响外在，乃是自然的一个定律。灼芯透过玻罩才放出光来；照样，真理既然在里面燃起来，也必在外面的生活和言语上将它的光綫照射出来。据说蚕的食物与它所吐出的丝色有关；一个人内心的营养料也一样地使他的言行带着一定的色彩。按真理而行，过著一个统一、和谐、圣洁、忠信、纯真的生活——这些乃是福音所说，神的灵使我们所接受的真理的自然産品。我们可以根据人外面的说话判断他内心的秘密。
恩惠的圣灵！我们今天愿你治理、管辖我们，不叫错误或罪恶辖制我们的心，免得我们日常对人的行事发生流毒。
“我们若说是与神相交，却仍在黑暗里行，就是说谎，不行真理了。”
“我们若说自己无罪，便是自欺，真理不在我们心里了。”
November
28
“For
I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is
in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.”–3 John 3
The truth was in Gaius, and Gaius walked in the truth. If the first had
not been the case, the second could never have occurred; and if the second
could not be said of him the first would have been a mere pretence. Truth must
enter into the soul, penetrate and saturate it, or else it is of no value.
Doctrines held as a matter of creed are like bread in the hand, which ministers
no nourishment to the frame; but doctrine accepted by the heart, is as food
digested, which, by assimilation, sustains and builds up the body. In us truth
must be a living force, an active energy, an indwelling reality, a part of the
woof and warp of our being. If it be in us, we cannot henceforth part with it.
A man may lose his garments or his limbs, but his inward parts are vital, and
cannot be torn away without absolute loss of life. A Christian can die, but he
cannot deny the truth. Now it is a rule of nature that the inward affects the
outward, as light shines from the centre of the lantern through the glass:
when, therefore, the truth is kindled within, its brightness soon beams forth
in the outward life and conversation. It is said that the food of certain worms
colours the cocoons of silk which they spin: and just so the nutriment upon
which a man’s inward nature lives gives a tinge to every word and deed
proceeding from him. To walk in the truth, imports a life of integrity,
holiness, faithfulness, and simplicity–the natural product of those principles
of truth which the gospel teaches, and which the Spirit of God enables us to
receive. We may judge of the secrets of the soul by their manifestation in the
man’s conversation. Be it ours today, O gracious Spirit, to be ruled and
governed by thy divine authority, so that nothing false or sinful may reign in
our hearts, lest it extend its malignant influence to our daily walk among men.
