三月四日
我的恩典够你用的。（林后12:9）
若属神的圣徒没有一个受苦受穷的，我们就不会明了神安慰之恩。当我们看到一个枕首无所、流离在外的人，还在说道：“我仍依靠耶和华”；当我们看到一个忍饥受饿的穷人，仍在荣耀耶稣；当我们看到一个丧夫的寡妇落在苦难之中，仍能信靠基督。呵！这种情形真叫福音得了很大的荣耀！神的恩典因信徒的贫穷和苦难就更显为大，更显得完全。圣徒在失望中仍隐忍如恒，相信万事互相效力都是为了他们的益处，困苦艰难终必涌出真实的福份——他们的神或者马上把他们救出来，或是按着他所喜悦的旨意使他们在患难中得到他的扶持。圣徒这种忍耐精神足以证明神恩的力量。大海里有一个灯塔，在平稳的夜里，我就不知它是否稳固，而当波涛汹涌时，我就知道它牢靠稳妥了。圣灵的工作也是这样：若狂潮猛浪不常环绕着它的周围，我们就不知道它是否真实稳固；若暴风不吹着它，我们就不知道它是否牢靠稳妥。神的最伟大的工作便是使那些在困难之中的人仍能屹立不动，并且坦然无惧，深信终必得胜。若人要荣耀神，就当坚决地面向一切患难。若人不经过许多战斗就不能显出主的能力来。若你现在的路非常困苦，那么要高兴快乐地走在其中，因为你更能表现出神足够的恩典。你不要梦想他会使你失望——你要憎恨这种思想。直到现在神仍是足够的，所以应当依靠到底。
March 4
“My grace is sufficient for thee.” –2 Corinthians 12:9
If none of God’s saints were poor and
tried, we should not know half so well the consolations of divine grace. When
we find the wanderer who has not where to lay his head, who yet can say,
“Still will I trust in the or, when we see the pauper starving on bread
and water, who still glories in Jesus; when we see the bereaved widow
overwhelmed in affliction, and yet having faith in Christ, oh! what honour it
reflects on the gospel. God’s grace is illustrated and magnified in the poverty
and trials of believers. Saints bear up under every discouragement, believing
that all things work together for their good, and that out of apparent evils a
real blessing shall ultimately spring–that their God will either work a
deliverance for them speedily, or most assuredly support them in the trouble,
as long as He is pleased to keep them in it. This patience of the saints proves
the power of divine grace. There is a lighthouse out at sea: it is a calm
night–I cannot tell whether the edifice is firm; the tempest must rage about
it, and then I shall know whether it will stand. So with the Spirit’s work: if
it were not on many occasions surrounded with tempestuous waters, we should not
know that it was true and strong; if the winds did not blow upon it, we should
not know how firm and secure it was. The master-works of God are those men who
stand in the midst of difficulties, stedfast, unmoveable,–
“Calm mid the bewildering cry,
Confident of victory.”
He who would glorify his God must set his account upon meeting with many
trials. No man can be illustrious before the Lord unless his conflicts be many.
If then, yours be a much-tried path, rejoice in it, because you will the better
show forth the all-sufficient grace of God. As for His failing you, never dream
of it–hate the thought. The God who has been sufficient until now, should be
trusted to the end.
