1109 神聖的服事
現在我為你們受苦，倒覺歡樂；並且為基督的身體，就是為教會，要在我肉身上補滿基督患難的缺欠。《歌羅西書1:24》
基督工人必須是一個神聖的「中間人」，他必須與他的主和祂救贖的真實如此緊密相連，以至於基督能夠不斷通過他帶來祂創造的生命。我指的不是將一個人品格力量加在另一個人身上，而是基督真實的同在貫穿工人生命的每個層面。當我們宣講《新約》中所傳達我們主的生與死的歷史事實時，我們的話語就變得神聖了。神使用這些話語，根基於祂的救贖，在聽者身上創造出原本不可能創造出的新生。如果我們只是宣講救贖在人類生命的效用，而非關於耶穌自己啟示的真理，結果就不是聽者的新生；結果會是精緻的宗教生活方式，而神的靈無法見證它，因為這種宣講是在祂之外的另一個領域。我們必須確保我們與神非常和諧，以至於當我們宣揚祂的真理時，祂可以在其他人身上創造只有祂才能做的事情。
當我們說「多麼好的個性！多麼迷人的人！多麼卓越的洞察力！」那麼，神的福音在這一切中有什麼機會呢？福音無法通過，因為是信息者吸引人，而非信息有吸引力。如果一個人以他的個性吸引人，那就成了他的吸引力。然而，如果他與主自己認同合一，那麼吸引力就變成耶穌基督所能做的。危險在於榮耀人，然而耶穌說我們是要單單高舉祂（見約翰福音 12:32）。
來自章伯斯的智慧
關於敬畏神的非凡之處，乃是當你敬畏神時，你一無所懼，然而若你不敬畏神，你凡事都怕。「敬畏耶和華的人是有福的。」《至善—朝聖者歌集》
1109 Sacred Service
I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ… —Colossians 1:24
The Christian worker has to be a sacred “go-between.” He must be so closely identified with his Lord and the reality of His redemption that Christ can continually bring His creating life through him. I am not referring to the strength of one individual’s personality being superimposed on another, but the real presence of Christ coming through every aspect of the worker’s life. When we preach the historical facts of the life and death of our Lord as they are conveyed in the New Testament, our words are made sacred. God uses these words, on the basis of His redemption, to create something in those who listen which otherwise could never have been created. If we simply preach the effects of redemption in the human life instead of the revealed, divine truth regarding Jesus Himself, the result is not new birth in those who listen. The result is a refined religious lifestyle, and the Spirit of God cannot witness to it because such preaching is in a realm other than His. We must make sure that we are living in such harmony with God that as we proclaim His truth He can create in others those things which He alone can do.
When we say, “What a wonderful personality, what a fascinating person, and what wonderful insight!” then what opportunity does the gospel of God have through all of that? It cannot get through, because the attraction is to the messenger and not the message. If a person attracts through his personality, that becomes his appeal. If, however, he is identified with the Lord Himself, then the appeal becomes what Jesus Christ can do. The danger is to glory in men, yet Jesus says we are to lift up only Him (see John 12:32).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God you fear everything else. “Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord”—The Highest Good—The Pilgrim’s Song Book, 537 L