1019 被忽視的秘密
耶穌回答說：「我的國不屬這世界。」《約翰福音 18:36》
今天主耶穌基督最大的敵人，就是那種沒有新約聖經基礎的實務事工觀念，那是來自世界體系的。那種事工堅持無窮盡的精力和活動，卻與神毫無個人隱私的生活，把重點放在錯誤的事上。耶穌說：「神的國來到不是眼所能見的…因為神的國就在你們心裡。」（路加福音 17:20-21），那是隱藏、模糊的事。活躍的基督工人往往活在被人看見中，然而最內在、個人的領域卻顯露出一個人生命的力量。
我們必須除去我們所處這個宗教時代的靈性瘟疫。在我們主的生命中，沒有今天我們高度重視的壓力和匆忙的事工活動，而門徒就該像他的主人一樣。耶穌基督國度的核心點是與祂個人的關係，而不是我們對人的公開有用性。
這所聖經訓練學院的力量不在於實際活動——它整個力量乃在於這個事實，就是你在這裡，在祂面前，你沉浸在神的真理中。你根本不知道神將在哪里或如何安排你未來的處境，也不知道在家或在國外會帶給你怎樣的壓力和張力。如果你把時間浪費在過度活躍的活動上，而非沉浸在神救贖偉大的基要真理中，那麼當壓力和張力真正臨到時，你就會突然崩潰。但如果這段時間是花在紮根並立基於神，沉浸在祂面前，那看起來好像是不切實際，然而無論發生什麼事，你都會保持對祂忠誠。
來自章伯斯的智慧
神設計環境要看我們如何行事。我們會成為天父的孩子？或會再次回到卑鄙、常識的態度？我們會冒一切風險並忠於祂嗎？「你要至死忠心，我就賜給你生命的冠冕。」生命的冠冕意味着我將看到我的主最終獲得了勝利，甚至在我身上也是。《至善—朝聖者歌集》
1019 The Unheeded Secret
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world.” —John 18:36
The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation….For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). It is a hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives to be seen by others, while it is the innermost, personal area that reveals the power of a person’s life.
We must get rid of the plague of the spirit of this religious age in which we live. In our Lord’s life there was none of the pressure and the rushing of tremendous activity that we regard so highly today, and a disciple is to be like His Master. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others.
It is not the practical activities that are the strength of this Bible Training College— its entire strength lies in the fact that here you are immersed in the truths of God to soak in them before Him. You have no idea of where or how God is going to engineer your future circumstances, and no knowledge of what stress and strain is going to be placed on you either at home or abroad. And if you waste your time in overactivity, instead of being immersed in the great fundamental truths of God’s redemption, then you will snap when the stress and strain do come. But if this time of soaking before God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in Him, which may appear to be impractical, then you will remain true to Him whatever happens.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
God engineers circumstances to see what we will do. Will we be the children of our Father in heaven, or will we go back again to the meaner, common-sense attitude? Will we stake all and stand true to Him? “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” The crown of life means I shall see that my Lord has got the victory after all, even in me. The Highest Good—The Pilgrim’s Song Book, 530 L