0722 成圣 (1)
神的旨意就是要你们成为圣洁… 《帖撒罗尼迦前书4:3》
死亡的一面。在成圣中，神必须在死亡和生命这两方面来处理我们。成圣要求我们来到死亡之地，但我们许多人在那里花了太多的时间，以至于我们变得病态。在实现成圣之前，总会有一场巨大的争战——我们内心某些东西是怀着怨恨敌对基督的要求。当圣灵开始向我们显明成圣的意义时，挣扎就立即开始了。耶稣说：「人到我这里来，若不恨（原文）…自己的性命，就不能作我的门徒。」（路加福音 14:26）
在成圣的过程中，神的灵会把我剥得精光，直到只剩下我自己，那就是死亡之地。我愿意做我自己而已吗？我是否愿意是我自己，什么也不是呢？我愿意没有朋友、没有父亲、没有兄弟、没有自我利益——就是预备好迎接死亡吗？这就是成圣所需的条件。难怪耶稣说：「…我来并不是叫地上太平，乃是叫地上动刀兵。」（马太福音10:34）。这就是争战临到的所在，也是我们许多人害怕踉跄不稳的地方。我们拒绝在这一点上与耶稣基督的死认同。我们说：「但这太严格了。祂当然不这么要求我。」我们的主是严格的，祂也确实那么要求我们。
我愿意把自己减少到仅仅是「我」吗？我是否有足够的决心剥掉所有朋友们对我的看法，以及我对自己的看法吗？我愿意并下定决心把单纯赤裸的自我交给神吗？一旦我愿意，祂会立即使我全然成圣，而我的生命将不再被神以外的任何事物的左右和和坚持了（见帖撒罗尼迦前书 5:23-24）
当我祷告：「主啊，请指示我成圣对我的意义」，祂会指示我；这意味着与耶稣合而为一。成圣不是耶稣放在我里面的东西——而是祂自己在我里面（见哥林多前书 1:30）。
来自章伯斯的智慧
真理是我们无需害怕，也无需克服什么，因为祂是万有的一切，我们是藉着祂而得胜有余。认识这个真理并非是奉承工人的英雄主义，而是令人惊奇地荣耀基督的工作。《蒙神悦纳》
0722 Sanctification (1)
This is the will of God, your sanctification… —1 Thessalonians 4:3
The Death Side. In sanctification God has to deal with us on the death side as well as on the life side. Sanctification requires our coming to the place of death, but many of us spend so much time there that we become morbid. There is always a tremendous battle before sanctification is realized— something within us pushing with resentment against the demands of Christ. When the Holy Spirit begins to show us what sanctification means, the struggle starts immediately. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate…his own life…he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26).
In the process of sanctification, the Spirit of God will strip me down until there is nothing left but myself, and that is the place of death. Am I willing to be myself and nothing more? Am I willing to have no friends, no father, no brother, and no self-interest— simply to be ready for death? That is the condition required for sanctification. No wonder Jesus said, “I did not come to bring peace but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). This is where the battle comes, and where so many of us falter. We refuse to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ on this point. We say, “But this is so strict. Surely He does not require that of me.” Our Lord is strict, and He does require that of us.
Am I willing to reduce myself down to simply “me”? Am I determined enough to strip myself of all that my friends think of me, and all that I think of myself? Am I willing and determined to hand over my simple naked self to God? Once I am, He will immediately sanctify me completely, and my life will be free from being determined and persistent toward anything except God (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).
When I pray, “Lord, show me what sanctification means for me,” He will show me. It means being made one with Jesus. Sanctification is not something Jesus puts in me— it is Himself in me (see 1 Corinthians 1:30).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The truth is we have nothing to fear and nothing to overcome because He is all in all and we are more than conquerors through Him. The recognition of this truth is not flattering to the worker’s sense of heroics, but it is amazingly glorifying to the work of Christ. Approved Unto God, 4 R