NIV
靈修
新聞
貼圖
為教會
Here we have the first manifestation of the risen Saviour, to Mary Magdalene, the woman who loved much.Think of what the morning watch meant to Mary. It is not a proof of the intense longing of a love that would not rest until it had found the Lord it sought ? It meant a separation from all else, even from the chief of the apostles, in her longing to find Christ. It meant the struggle of fear against a faith that refused to let go its hold of its wonderful promise. It meant Christs coming and fulfilling the promise: "If a man love Me, he will keep My words, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." It meant that her love was met by the love of Jesus, and she found Him, the living Lord, in all the power of His resurrection life. It meant that she now understood what He had said about ascending to the Father, to the life of divine and omnipotent glory. It meant too that she received her commission from her Lord to go and tell His brethren of what she had heard from Him.
That first morning watch, waiting for the risen Lord to reveal Himself, what a prophecy and a pledge of what the morning watch has been to thousands of souls! In fear and doubt, and yet with a burning love and strong hope, they waited until He Whom they had known but little, by reason of their human feeble apprehension, should breathe upon them in the power of His resurrection life, and manifest Himself as the Lord of Glory. And there they learned, not in words or thought, but in the reality of a divine experience, what it was that He, to Whom all power had been given on earth and in heaven, and now taken them up into the keeping of His abiding presence.
And what are we now to learn ? That there is nothing that can prove a greater attraction to our Lord than the love that sacrifices everything and rests satisfied with nothing less than Himself. It is to such a love that Christ manifests Himself. He loved us and gave Himself for us. Christs love needs our love in which to reveal itself. It is to our love that He speaks the word: "Lo, I am with you alway." It is love that accepts and rejoices in and lives in that word.
It is a heavy burden; roll it on Omnipotence. It is thy burden now, and it crushes thee; but when the LORD takes it, He will make nothing of it. If thou art called still to bear, "he will sustain thee." It will be on Him and not on thee. Thou wilt be so upheld under it that the burden will be a blessing. Bring the LORD into the matter, and thou wilt stand upright under that which in itself would bow thee down.
Gods altar was to be built of unhewn stones, that no trace of human skill or labour might be seen upon it. Human wisdom delights to trim and arrange the doctrines of the cross into a system more artificial and more congenial with the depraved tastes of fallen nature; instead, however, of improving the gospel carnal wisdom pollutes it, until it becomes another gospel, and not the truth of God at all. All alterations and amendments of the Lords own Word are defilements and pollutions. The proud heart of man is very anxious to have a hand in the justification of the soul before God; preparations for Christ are dreamed of, humblings and repentings are trusted in, good works are cried up, natural ability is much vaunted, and by all means the attempt is made to lift up human tools upon the divine altar. It were well if sinners would remember that so far from perfecting the Saviours work, their carnal confidences only pollute and dishonour it. The Lord alone must be exalted in the work of atonement, and not a single mark of mans chisel or hammer will be endured. There is an inherent blasphemy in seeking to add to what Christ Jesus in His dying moments declared to be finished, or to improve that in which the Lord Jehovah finds perfect satisfaction. Trembling sinner, away with thy tools, and fall upon thy knees in humble supplication; and accept the Lord Jesus to be the altar of thine atonement, and rest in him alone.
Let us learn from Mary Magdalene how to obtain fellowship with the Lord Jesus. Notice how she sought. She sought the Saviour very early in the morning. If thou canst wait for Christ, and be patient in the hope of having fellowship with him at some distant season, thou wilt never have fellowship at all; for the heart that is fitted for communion is a hungering and a thirsting heart. She sought him also with very great boldness. Other disciples fled from the sepulchre, for they trembled and were amazed; but Mary, it is said, “stood” at the sepulchre. If you would have Christ with you, seek him boldly. Let nothing hold you back. Defy the world. Press on where others flee. She sought Christ faithfully—she stood at the sepulchre. Some find it hard to stand by a living Saviour, but she stood by a dead one. Let us seek Christ after this mode, cleaving to the very least thing that has to do with him, remaining faithful though all others should forsake him. Note further, she sought Jesus earnestly—she stood “weeping”. Those tear-droppings were as spells that led the Saviour captive, and made him come forth and show himself to her. If you desire Jesus’ presence, weep after it! If you cannot be happy unless he come and say to you, “Thou art my beloved,” you will soon hear his voice. Lastly, she sought the Saviour only. What cared she for angels, she turned herself back from them; her search was only for her Lord. If Christ be your one and only love, if your heart has cast out all rivals, you will not long lack the comfort of his presence. Mary Magdalene sought thus because she loved much. Let us arouse ourselves to the same intensity of affection; let our heart, like Marys, be full of Christ, and our love, like hers, will be satisfied with nothing short of himself. O Lord, reveal thyself to us this evening!
Is not this altar inviting thee? Shall we not ask to be bound to it, that we may never be able to start back from our attitude of consecration? There are times when life is full of roseate light, and we choose the Cross; at other times, when the sky is grey, we shrink from it. It is well to be bound.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul spoke of the hearing of faith. ‘He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?’ Paul is not talking about faith to hear. Our hearts must be willing to receive the word, but that does not equal faith. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. All faith proceeds from God, and is proclaimed to us by a word. When the word is received, it brings illumination, and faith is born within us as the substance of the word. By this means, faith is truly a gift of God.
Paul wrote to the Ephesians, ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God’. In the same way as grace, faith does not originate in us. We are dead in trespasses and sins. Both faith and grace are gifts from God, by which He works wonders for the dead. Faith is the substance of the word. It is the evidence of illumination, and grace is the capacity of God to bring forth that substance. When we receive the word, the Son prays to the Father, and the Holy Spirit is supplied to us. The grace of God is now fully active, and by the Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son are able to work miracles amongst us. Of course, the greatest miracle is the bringing forth of the new creation. All this begins with the hearing of faith, or we could say, hearing what the righteousness of faith speaks.
As fellow partakers in tribulation, we are being prepared for the great Feast of Tabernacles. It is the feast of corn, wine, and oil. These three things symbolise our full attainment in the day of perfection. When the third seal is opened, our Lord Jesus will say, ‘Do not damage the oil and the wine’. At
first glance, this is a peculiar statement. Both oil and wine are produced in the pressure of affliction and tribulation. We remember that Gethsemane means ‘oil press’. And in that affliction, the oil of joy is produced. No one
takes our joy from us. The wine is the fruit of the grape. It is the harvest of the vine of the earth when all nations are gathered together for the great day of harvest. This is the Feast of Tabernacles.
In this same passage, the two harvests that are measured are barley and
wheat. Indeed, Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. The barley
harvest is the fullness of Passover, when we were redeemed and delivered from the bondage of the world by the blood of the Lamb. The wheat harvest is the fullness of Pentecost when the precious Holy Spirit was poured out upon us. Accordingly, we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise as bondslaves of Christ.
But more than this, as fellow partakers of tribulation we aspire to the fullness of corn, wine, and oil. When the harvest is ripe, or dried, He will thrust in His sickle and the harvest of the end of the age will commence. Then the vine of the earth will be reaped. The clusters of the vine will be thrown into the winepress. The overcoming multitude will sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.
Paul wrote to the Romans saying that he had often planned to come to them so that he could obtain some fruit among them, ‘even as among the rest of the Gentiles’. In the last chapter of this same book, Paul spoke of putting his seal upon this fruit of theirs. We know that this is the fruit of the Spirit at both a personal and corporate level. This fruit of the Spirit is to become an individual possession. It is the character of Christ brought forth by the Holy Spirit in our lives. And He is sanctifying us to this. However, it is also the fruit of our corporate life in a lampstand local church. No one lights a lamp unless they put it upon a lampstand. It is the work of the Holy Spirit among us to sanctify us so that we might become a branch of the lampstand in our local community. And the purpose of this is to set a lamp upon each branch of the lampstand. Hence, he said to the Ephesians, ‘You are light in the Lord; walk as children of light, for the fruit of light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth’. We might suggest that this is another meaning of the cluster of cup, bulb and flower in a lampstand. When goodness, righteousness, and truth are manifest, a worthy house is evident. And when the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is apparent house to house, we have the beginning of a branch. Jesus said that we did not choose Him, but He chose us and appointed us. He has laid the word down to us so that we go and bear fruit. But more than this, He desires that our fruit should remain. In this respect, a local church is the evidence of viable and sustainable fruit.
Our testimony is much more than recounting a story from our past. It is the way the testimony concerning Christ, who He is and what He did, has been practically confirmed in us. Paul said to the Corinthian church that ‘the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you’. In this way, we need to bear witness to the real change that we have found after committing our lives to Jesus. Having been arrested, Peter stood before the council and declared, ‘The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Saviour, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things.’ What does God want to do at your hand? He wants to reveal the Prince and Saviour who is at His right hand. And He wants to put in your mouth the grace of repentance and forgiveness. This means we will be bringing a word that calls a person to a response. We need to believe that the Holy Spirit is preparing the hearts of men and women. This means that people will be far more receptive and ready for the gospel than we are inclined to think. In many situations, it will be altogether appropriate that we bring a word to someone and implore them to respond. We need to be sensitive, but at the same time, we know we are witnesses and ‘so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him’. Do you want someone to receive the Holy Spirit? Well, proclaim the gospel and give them something to obey.
