March 25

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently¹ seek him." (Heb. 11:6)

The faith for desperate days.

The Bible is full of such days. Its record is made up of them, its songs are inspired by them, its prophecy is concerned with them, and its revelation has come through them.

The desperate days are the stepping-stones in the path of light. They seem to have been God's opportunity and man's school of wisdom.

There is a story of an Old Testament² love feast in Psalm³ 107, and in every story of deliverance the point of desperation gave God His chance. The "wit's end" of desperation was the beginning of God's power. Recall the promise of seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sands of the sea, to a couple as good as dead. Read again the story of the Red Sea and its deliverance, and of Jordan with its ark standing⁴ mid-stream. Study once more the prayers of Asa, Jehoshaphat, and Hezekiah, when they were sore pressed and knew not what to do. Go over the history of Nehemiah, Daniel, Hosea, and Habakkuk. Stand with awe⁵ in the darkness of Gethsemane, and linger by the grave in Joseph's garden through those terrible days. Call the witnesses of the early Church, and ask the apostles the story of their desperate days.

Desperation is better than despair.

Faith did not make our desperate days. Its work is to sustain and solve them. The only alternative to a desperate faith is despair, and faith holds on and prevails.

There is no more heroic example of desperate faith than that of the three Hebrew children. The situation was desperate, but they answered bravely, "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery⁶ furnace; and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." I like that, "but if not!"

I have only space to mention Gethsemane. Ponder deeply its "Nevertheless." "If it is possible…evertheless!" Deep darkness had settled upon the soul of our Lord. Trust meant anguish⁷ unto blood and darkness to the descent of hell--Nevertheless! Nevertheless!!

Now get your hymn⁸ book and sing your favorite hymn of desperate faith. --Rev. S. Chadwick.

"When obstacles and trials seem

Like prison walls to be,

I do the little I can do

And leave the rest to Thee.

"And when there seems no chance, no change,

From grief can set me free,

Hope finds its strength in helplessness,

And calmly waits for Thee."

　 三月二十五日

“人非有信，不能的神的喜悦，因为到神面前来的人,必须信有神，且信他赏赐那寻求他的人”(来十一：6)。

　　信心在危急中更能发挥它的力量。

　　圣经中充满着危难的日子。它的故事由危难的日子所构成的，它的诗篇,是在危难日子中获得的灵感，它的预言也与此有关，它的启示也以此为透露的媒介。

　　危难的日子是通往光明之路的踏脚石；是神的机会，也是人类智慧的训练所。　诗篇第一百零七篇歌颂耶和华的慈爱，此外在每个救赎的故事中，危急存亡之秋，往往是神的好机会。人的才智穷竭，绝望无援的时候，是神的能力开始发挥。记得吗?神曾应许——对从未生过孩子而老得形同朽木的夫妇，将可获有后裔，并且多如天上的星，又如海边的沙。你可翻开圣经再读一读以色列人在红海得救的故事，还有以色列人抬着约柜，从约但河中涉水而过的故事。还有，亚撒，约沙法和希西家被苦难逼迫，不知如何是好的时候，他们是怎样祈祷的。再温习一下尼希米，但以理，何西阿和哈巴古的历史。再以敬畏的心默默立于“客西马尼”的幽暗中，到约瑟家的坟墓旁，回想那些可怕的日子，去拜访最初创立教会的见证人，去探问使徒在危难日子中所经历的故事。

　　危急胜于灰心。

　　信心不会使危急变成绝望。信心的任务是支持你去解决危难，在危难之际，信心的反面就是灰心，信心维持不变,就能得胜。

　　在危难恐怕没有比那三个希伯来子民所表现更伟大。他们的处境虽然危急万分，但他们仍能勇敢地回答道:“我们事奉的神，必能把我们救出这烈焰的火窑；　他更能把我们从暴君的手中救出来，但即使不是如此，暴君你也该知道，我们决不事奉你的神，也不敬拜你所立的偶像”。( 参阅但以理书三章 )

　　“但即使不是如此”，这句话何等令人钦佩。

　　我想把余剩的篇幅，来说起耶稣在客西马尼园中的祷告。请深切地体味其中“然而”二字，“倘若可行，求你叫这杯离开我，然而不要照我的意思，只要照你的意思! ”深沉的黑暗已笼罩着主的灵魂。信靠神，就要受流血的痛苦，沦入死亡的深渊，——然而!

　　现在拿起你们的歌本子，唱你们所最喜爱的，那些赞美危急中信心的诗吧：——蔡特威克

障碍与苦难，

像囹圄与牢狱，

我只尽我的本分，

其余让神去完成。

脱离悲痛的机会与变化，

久待不来，似已消失，

危急中终有希望的力量，

静静等待神赐恩泽。

1 diligently   

ad.industriously;carefully

参考例句：

• He applied himself diligently to learning French. 他孜孜不倦地学法语。
• He had studied diligently at college. 他在大学里勤奋学习。

2 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

3 psalm   

n.赞美诗，圣诗

参考例句：

• The clergyman began droning the psalm.牧师开始以单调而低沈的语调吟诵赞美诗。
• The minister droned out the psalm.牧师喃喃地念赞美诗。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

6 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

7 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

8 hymn   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌

参考例句：

• They sang a hymn of praise to God.他们唱着圣歌，赞美上帝。
• The choir has sung only two verses of the last hymn.合唱团只唱了最后一首赞美诗的两个段落。