1128 贫民的富有
…蒙神的恩典…就白白地称义…《罗马书 3:24》
神恩典的福音唤醒了人类灵魂中强烈的渴望和同样强烈的怨恨，因为它所揭示的真理并不让人愉快或容易接受的。人们特定的骄傲促使他们不断地给予，但前来接受礼物却又是另一回事。我可以舍生殉道，我会奉献我的一生服事，我愿意做任何事；但请不要把我羞辱到最该下地狱的罪人的程度，并告诉我，我所必须做的就是接受耶稣基督的救恩礼物。
我们必须认识到，我们无法通过自己的努力从神那里赚取或赢得任何东西。我们必须要么接受神的礼物，要么就没有它活着。我们领受最大的属灵祝福，就是当我们认识到自己一无所有的时候；在认识这一点之前，我们的主是无能为力的。只要我们认为自己本身还有还行，祂就不能为我们做什么；我们必须通过穷乏之门进入祂的国。只要我们还是「富足」，特别是在骄傲/尊严或独立方面，神就无法为我们做什么。只有当我们在灵里感到饥渴时，我们才会接受圣灵。神必要本质的恩赐是通过圣灵被放在我们里面并在我们身上发挥功效；祂将耶稣活泼的生命分赐给我们，使我们真正活着。祂将「超越」我们的东西置于我们「之内」；那「超越」的一旦进入「内在」，它就立即上升到「上面」，我们就被提升到耶稣所活的和统治的国度（见约翰福音3:5）。
来自章伯斯的智慧
今天所强调的是在组织的发展；口号是：「我们必须让这件事继续下去。」如果我们是在神的秩序中，事情就会顺利进行；如果我们不是在祂的秩序中，事情就不会成就。《改变像祂的样式》
1128 The Riches of the Destitute
…being justified freely by His grace… —Romans 3:24
The gospel of the grace of God awakens an intense longing in human souls and an equally intense resentment, because the truth that it reveals is not palatable or easy to swallow. There is a certain pride in people that causes them to give and give, but to come and accept a gift is another thing. I will give my life to martyrdom; I will dedicate my life to service— I will do anything. But do not humiliate me to the level of the most hell-deserving sinner and tell me that all I have to do is accept the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
We have to realize that we cannot earn or win anything from God through our own efforts. We must either receive it as a gift or do without it. The greatest spiritual blessing we receive is when we come to the knowledge that we are destitute. Until we get there, our Lord is powerless. He can do nothing for us as long as we think we are sufficient in and of ourselves. We must enter into His kingdom through the door of destitution. As long as we are “rich,” particularly in the area of pride or independence, God can do nothing for us. It is only when we get hungry spiritually that we receive the Holy Spirit. The gift of the essential nature of God is placed and made effective in us by the Holy Spirit. He imparts to us the quickening life of Jesus, making us truly alive. He takes that which was “beyond” us and places it “within” us. And immediately, once “the beyond” has come “within,” it rises up to “the above,” and we are lifted into the kingdom where Jesus lives and reigns (see John 3:5).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The emphasis to-day is placed on the furtherance of an organization; the note is, “We must keep this thing going.” If we are in God’s order the thing will go; if we are not in His order, it won’t. —-Conformed to His Image, 357 R