Daily Devotion - Apr 23 - ¥q¥?‾u‥C?eAF-×(c]) Evening by Evening

司布真每日靈修(夜) Evening by Evening 四月二十三日 經文: 我又看見寶座……之中，有羔羊站立，像是被殺過的。（啟示錄五：6） 何以我們升天的主在榮耀中帶傷出現？耶穌所受的傷是祂的榮耀，是祂的珠寶，是祂聖潔的裝飾。在信徒的眼�，耶穌比美麗更美，因為祂是「白而且紅」（參閱歌五：10）。耶穌潔白，因為祂無罪，祂也是硃紅，因祂親自流血。我們見祂如同無比純潔的百合花，又因祂自己寶血而如玻瑰的深紅。當基督在橄欖山上，在海邊教訓人時，祂是可敬愛的；但是當祂被懸掛於十字架上時，卻是獨一無二的基督。當祂在十字架上，我們看到了祂美麗的完全，祂所有的屬性完全展現，祂所有的愛完全流露，祂所有的品格完全表達。耶穌傷痕之美遠遠超越君王的一切輝煌壯麗。荊棘冠冕遠遠超過國王的王冠。祂手中之仗不再是一根葦子，其中之光輝超越以金製成的權杖之光芒。那穌出現的形像如同被殺羔羊，祂來尋找我們的靈魂，並以祂的完全救贖來拯救我們。祂的傷是祂的大愛、祂得勝之戰利品。祂使無用的變為剛強。祂為自己拯救了許多人，是沒有人能數過來。祂的傷痕是戰爭所留下的記號。基督若喜歡紀念祂為百姓所受的傷害，我們更當如何珍視祂的傷痕呢！ Evening, April 23 Scripture: "Lo, in the midst of the throne ... stood a Lamb as it had been slain."(Revelation 5:6) Why should our exalted Lord appear in his wounds in glory? The wounds of Jesus are his glories, his jewels, his sacred ornaments. To the eye of the believer, Jesus is passing fair because he is "white and ruddy;" white with innocence, and ruddy with his own blood. We see him as the lily of matchless purity, and as the rose crimsoned with his own gore. Christ is lovely upon Olivet and Tabor, and by the sea, but oh! there never was such a matchless Christ as he that did hang upon the cross. There we beheld all his beauties in perfection, all his attributes developed, all his love drawn out, all his character expressed. Beloved, the wounds of Jesus are far more fair in our eyes than all the splendour and pomp of kings. The thorny crown is more than an imperial diadem. It is true that he bears not now the sceptre of reed, but there was a glory in it that never flashed from sceptre of gold. Jesus wears the appearance of a slain Lamb as his court dress in which he wooed our souls, and redeemed them by his complete atonement. Nor are these only the ornaments of Christ: they are the trophies of his love and of his victory. He has divided the spoil with the strong. He has redeemed for himself a great multitude whom no man can number, and these scars are the memorials of the fight. Ah! if Christ thus loves to retain the thought of his sufferings for his people, how precious should his wounds be to us! "Behold how every wound of his A precious balm distils, Which heals the scars that sin had made, And cures all mortal ills. "Those wounds are mouths that preach his grace; The ensigns of his love; The seals of our expected bliss In paradise above." www.glorypress.com