0204 祂不可抗拒威严之大能
基督的爱激励着我们。《哥林多后书 5:14》
保罗说他被「基督的爱」所制伏、征服、掌握，好像是被老虎钳紧紧夹住；我们很少有人真正知道在神爱老虎钳中被紧紧夹住的含义，我们往往容易只受自己的经验所控制。排除其他一切，只有一件事抓住并制伏保罗，那就是神的爱。「基督的爱激励我们… 」，当你从某男人或女人的生活中听到这句话时，它是不可置疑的，你会知道神的灵在那个人的生命中是完全无阻碍的。
当我们被神的灵重生时，我们的见证完全是基于神为我们所做的一切，这是正确的。一旦「圣灵降临在你们身上，你们就必得着能力…」（使徒行传 1:8）。那种见证就会改变并永远消失；只有到那时，你才会开始明白，当祂继续说「你们要作我的见证」是何意， 不是见证耶稣能做什么——这是基本的且可以被理解的，而是「见证我… 」。我们会接受所发生的一切好像是发生在耶稣身上一样，无论我们是受到赞美还是责备，迫害或奖励。人若不是被耶稣基督权能的威严所激励，就不能为耶稣基督采取这一立场。这是唯一重要的事情，但奇怪的是，这是我们基督工人最后意识到的。保罗说他被神的爱所抓住，这就是他如此作为的原因。人们可能认为他疯狂或神智正常——他都不在乎。他只为一件事活着，就是要劝说人们相信神即将到来的审判，并告诉他们「基督的爱」。这种对「基督的爱」完全的降服，是唯一能在你的生命中结出果子的事情。它总是会留下神的圣洁和大能的标志，从不引起人们对你个人圣洁的关注。
来自章伯斯的智慧
耶稣基督总是不向我对自己的权利妥协。我们的主关于门徒训练的所有教导，唯一必须的要素就是放弃，没有算计，没有自我利益的痕迹。《真的门徒》
0204 The Compelling Majesty of His Power
The love of Christ compels us… —2 Corinthians 5:14
Paul said that he was overpowered, subdued, and held as in a vise by “the love of Christ.” Very few of us really know what it means to be held in the grip of the love of God. We tend so often to be controlled simply by our own experience. The one thing that gripped and held Paul, to the exclusion of everything else, was the love of God. “The love of Christ compels us….” When you hear that coming from the life of a man or woman it is unmistakable. You will know that the Spirit of God is completely unhindered in that person’s life.
When we are born again by the Spirit of God, our testimony is based solely on what God has done for us, and rightly so. But that will change and be removed forever once you “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” (Acts 1:8). Only then will you begin to realize what Jesus meant when He went on to say, “…you shall be witnesses to Me….” Not witnesses to what Jesus can do— that is basic and understood— but “witnesses to Me….” We will accept everything that happens as if it were happening to Him, whether we receive praise or blame, persecution or reward. No one is able to take this stand for Jesus Christ who is not totally compelled by the majesty of His power. It is the only thing that matters, and yet it is strange that it’s the last thing we as Christian workers realize. Paul said that he was gripped by the love of God and that is why he acted as he did. People could perceive him as mad or sane— he did not care. There was only one thing he lived for— to persuade people of the coming judgment of God and to tell them of “the love of Christ.” This total surrender to “the love of Christ” is the only thing that will bear fruit in your life. And it will always leave the mark of God’s holiness and His power, never drawing attention to your personal holiness.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest. –Disciples Indeed