Daily Devotion - Mar 21 - ¼}¦w¼w¯P¨C¤éÆF­× God's Best Secrets by Andrew Murray

慕安德烈每日靈修 God's Best Secrets by Andrew Murray

敬畏上帝

經文: 「敬畏耶和華，甚喜愛祂命令的，這人便爲有福。」詩篇一一二：1

「敬畏」這字眼，是舊約時代宗教信仰的中心，也是新約時代奠定屬靈豐富生命的基石。對聖潔天父的敬畏，是屬上帝兒女的恩賜，也使世人對基督徒另眼相看。耶利米書卅二章40節說：「我且使他們有敬畏我的心不離開我。」�
<BR> 新約中的保羅對此有更美好的闡釋：「各處的教會都得平安，被建立。凡事敬畏主，蒙聖靈的安慰，人數就增多了。」（徒九：31）保羅又再次強調敬畏在基督徒生活中扮演的角色，「親愛的弟兄阿，我們既有這等應許，就當潔淨自己，除去身體靈魂一切的污穢，敬畏上帝，得以成聖。」（林後七：1）�
<BR> 現代基督徒缺乏對上帝敬畏的心，難怪初代教會那種火熱禱告的靈在這些人身上看不見，倒是對上帝的抱怨到處可聞，不敬虔的態度到處可見。我們實在需要這樣經文的教導，好讓年輕人清楚明白對上帝心存敬畏的重要，引導他們養成不斷禱告的習慣，因這是信心生活不可或缺的一部份。�
<BR> 讓我們常進到內室，熱切地培養這蒙福的習慣，並聽到從天上來的聲音：
<BR> 「誰能不敬畏您？誰能不榮耀您的名？因惟獨您是聖潔的。」尤其當我們深切體會：
<BR> 「敬畏耶和華的，這人便&#29234;有福。」
<BR> 我們豈不抓住各樣的機會，用敬畏的心敬拜祂，誠如經上所記：「用敬畏的心服侍祂，又當存戰兢而快樂。」


THE FEAR OF GOD

Scripture: &quot;Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in His commandments.&quot;—Ps. cxii. 1, cxxviii. 1, 4.

The fear of God—these words characterize the religion of the Old Testament, and the foundation which it laid for the more abundant life of the New. "The gift of holy fear" is ever still the great desire of the child of God, and an essential part of a life that is to make a real impression on the world around. It is one of the great promises of the new covenant in Jeremiah: "I will make an everlasting covenant with them ; and I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me."
We find the perfect combination of the two in the Acts (ix. 31).
"The churches had peace, being edified, and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied." And Paul more than once gives fear a high place in the Christian life. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you." "Perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (.2 Cor. vii. 1).
It has often been said that the lack of the fear of God is one of the things in which our modern times cannot compare favorably with the times of the Puritans and the Covenanters. No wonder then that there is so much cause of complaint in regard to the reading of God's Word, of the worship of His House, and the absence of that spirit of continuous prayer which marked the early Church. We need that texts like the one at the head of this reading should be expounded, and the young converts fully instructed in the need and the blessedness of a deep tear of God, leading to an unceasing prayerfulness as one of the essential elements of the life of faith.
Let us in the inner chamber earnestly cultivate this grace. Let us hear the word coming out of the very heavens:
"Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy."
"Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear."
As we take the word, "Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord," into our hearts, and believe that here is one of the deepest secrets of blessedness, we shall seek in every approach to God, in His fear to worship towards His holy temple.
"Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling."


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