十二月三十一日
节期的末日，就是最大之日，耶稣站着高声说：“人若渴了，可以到我这里来喝。”（约7：37）
主耶稣里面有完全的忍耐，直到节期的末日他仍呼吁犹太人；在今年的最后一天他也呼吁我们，等著恩待我们。年年忍耐担当我们的主实在值得我们称羡，然而我们却多次地顶撞、背叛幷反抗他的圣灵。但希奇得很，我们仍然在恩典的境界之中！
耶稣的呼喊，清楚地表现出他的怜悯来，他的声音不但洪大，而且语气柔和。他求我们与他和好。使徒保罗说：“就好像神藉我们劝你们一般。我们替基督求你们与神和好。”这是多麽诚恳而热切的话呀！主爲罪人哀哭，这是多麽大的爱呀！正像一位母亲爱她怀中的孩子一样！他既这样呼召我们，我们的心就当甘愿前来。
他所预备的非常丰富；一切都预备好了，叫人能止住他们心灵中的干渴。他的替赎使他们的良心得以平安，他的福音使他们的理智得了丰富的教训；耶稣的品性是他们的心所崇爱的高贵的对象，耶稣里面的真理也使他们整个的人得到纯净的营养。干渴是最难受的事，但耶稣能止住它。虽然灵魂已经精疲力尽，耶稣也能使它复原。
他的邀请是白白的，每一个口渴的人都可前来。除了口渴之外幷没有别的条件。不论是渴慕什麽难以餍足的东西，雄心大志、喜乐、知识或安息，只要感到缺乏，就在被邀之列。徒然干渴而不依靠恩典是极不好的一件事，那只不过说明肉欲的干旱，渴想更多的罪来使它得到满足罢了；但也幷非因爲人有什麽善良，主耶稣才邀请他来，他乃是白白的叫人来，幷不管他是什麽样的人。
这话说明：必须完全而单单投靠他。罪人必须来就耶稣，幷不是靠行爲、仪式或教义，而是救主本身，惟有他自己亲身在十字架上担当了我们的罪。流血、钉死、复活的救主，是罪人惟一所盼望的救星。愿我们来畅饮主恩，不然今年最后一天的太阳即将永远西落了！
他的话幷未叫人等待或是作什麽准备。喝，表示接受的意思，幷没有配不配的分别。愚人、盗贼、娼妓都能喝，因此人品德的败坏、罪污的满盈幷不能拦阻他来信耶稣。我们要止渴幷用不到什麽金杯玉盏，贫困的嘴尽管可以跪下恬饮流动的水。生疮、长癞、污秽的嘴唇都可以接触神爱的溪流，幷不能玷污那水，反而使自己得了洁净。耶稣乃是满有盼望的泉源。亲爱的读者！愿你听亲爱的救主向我们所发的慈声吧：
“人若渴了，可以到我这里来喝！”
December 31
“In the last day, that great day of
the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto
Me and drink.”—John 7:37
Patience
had her perfect work in the Lord Jesus, and until the last day of the feast he
pleaded with the Jews, even as on this last day of the year he pleads with us,
and waits to be gracious to us. Admirable indeed is the longsuffering of the
Saviour in bearing with some of us year after year, notwithstanding our
provocations, rebellions, and resistance of his Holy Spirit. Wonder of wonders
that we are still in the land of mercy!
Pity
expressed herself most plainly, for Jesus cried, which implies not only the
loudness of his voice, but the tenderness of his tones. He entreats us to be
reconciled. “We pray you,” says the Apostle, “as though God did
beseech you by us.” What earnest, pathetic terms are these! How deep must
be the love which makes the Lord weep over sinners, and like a mother woo his
children to his bosom! Surely at the call of such a cry our willing hearts will
come.
Provision
is made most plenteously; all is provided that man can need to quench his
soul’s thirst. To his conscience the atonement brings peace; to his
understanding the gospel brings the richest instruction; to his heart the
person of Jesus is the noblest object of affection; to the whole man the truth
as it is in Jesus supplies the purest nutriment. Thirst is terrible, but Jesus
can remove it. Though the soul were utterly famished, Jesus could restore it.
Proclamation
is made most freely, that every thirsty one is welcome. No other distinction is
made but that of thirst. Whether it be the thirst of avarice, ambition,
pleasure, knowledge, or rest, he who suffers from it is invited. The thirst may
be bad in itself, and be no sign of grace, but rather a mark of inordinate sin
longing to be gratified with deeper draughts of lust; but it is not goodness in
the creature which brings him the invitation, the Lord Jesus sends it freely,
and without respect of persons.
Personality
is declared most fully. The sinner must come to Jesus, not to works,
ordinances, or doctrines, but to a personal Redeemer, who his own self bare our
sins in his own body on the tree. The bleeding, dying, rising Saviour, is the
only star of hope to a sinner. Oh for grace to come now and drink, ere the sun
sets upon the year’s last day!
No
waiting or preparation is so much as hinted at. Drinking represents a reception
for which no fitness is required. A fool, a thief, a harlot can drink; and so
sinfulness of character is no bar to the invitation to believe in Jesus. We
want no golden cup, no bejewelled chalice, in which to convey the water to the
thirsty; the mouth of poverty is welcome to stoop down and quaff the flowing
flood. Blistered, leprous, filthy lips may touch the stream of divine love;
they cannot pollute it, but shall themselves be purified. Jesus is the fount of
hope. Dear reader, hear the dear Redeemer’s loving voice as he cries to each of
us,
“IF
ANY MAN THIRST,
LET
HIM
COME
UNTO ME
AND
DRINK.”
