第32章 信心和祈祷
§1
第32章 信心和祈祷
§2
Chap. 32—Faith and Prayer
§3
信心就是依靠上帝，相信祂爱我们，知道什么是对我们最有益的。这样，信心就引领我们不随自己的道路而选择上帝的道路。信心是接纳祂的智慧来代替我们的愚昧，接纳祂的大能代替我们的软弱，接纳祂的公义代替我们的罪恶。我们的生命和我们自己是属于祂的；信心承认祂的主权，并接受祂所赐的福惠。诚实、正直、纯洁是人生成功的秘诀。信心使我们得到这些原则。{Pr 314.1}[1]
§4
Faith is trusting God—believing that He loves us and knows best what is for our good. Thus, instead of our own, it leads us to choose His way. In place of our ignorance, it accepts His wisdom; in place of our weakness, His strength; in place of our sinfulness, His righteousness. Our lives, ourselves, are already His; faith acknowledges His ownership and accepts its blessing. Truth, uprightness, purity, have been pointed out as secrets of life’s success. It is faith that puts us in possession of these principles.{Pr 314.1}[1]
§5
每一善良的愿望和志向，都是上帝的恩赐。信心从上帝那里接受那唯一能导致真实成长和效能的生命。{Pr 314.2}[2]
§6
Every good impulse or aspiration is the gift of God; faith receives from God the life that alone can produce true growth and efficiency.{Pr 314.2}[2]
§7
应当说明如何运用信心。上帝的每一个应许都是有条件的。我们若甘愿遵行祂的旨意，祂的一切力量就是属于我们的了。祂所应许的一切恩赐，都在祂的应许之中。“种子就是上帝的道”（路8:11）正如橡树的生命在橡子里面，照样，上帝的恩赐也一定在祂的应许之中。我们若接受应许，就拥有了恩赐。{Pr 314.3}[3]
§8
How to exercise faith should be made very plain. To every promise of God there are conditions. If we are willing to do His will, all His strength is ours. Whatever gift He promises, is in the promise itself. “The seed is the word of God.”?Luke 8:11. As surely as the oak is in the acorn, so surely is the gift of God in His promise. If we receive the promise, we have the gift.{Pr 314.3}[3]
§9
那能使我们接受上帝恩赐的信心，其本身也就是一种恩赐。每一个人都有几分这种恩赐。如果遵照上帝的话运用信心，它就必增长。我们若要增强信心，就必须时常使它与上帝的话结合。{Pr 314.4}[4]
§10
Faith that enables us to receive God’s gifts is itself a gift, of which some measure is imparted to every human being. It grows?as exercised in appropriating the word of God. In order to strengthen faith, we must often bring it in contact with the word.?{Pr 314.4}[4]
§11
要引导学生在研究圣经时看出上帝圣言的能力。在创造时，“祂说有，就有；命立，就立。”祂“使无变为有”（诗33:9；罗4:17）。因祂说有，就有了。{Pr 315.1}[5]
§12
In the study of the Bible the student should be led to see the power of God’s word. In the creation, “He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” He “calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Psalm 33:9;?Romans 4:17); for when He calls them, they are.{Pr 315.1}[5]
§13
凡信靠上帝圣言的人，自己虽然完全无能为力，却往往抵挡了全世界的权势。内心纯洁、生活圣洁的以诺坚持信心，抵挡了腐败与讥诮的世代，获得正义的胜利。挪亚和他的一家人，抵制了当时体力与智力极强、道德却极为败坏的人。红海边以色列民，原是一班惶恐无助的奴隶，却抵挡了当时地上最强盛国家最精锐的军队。蒙上帝应许将要登上王位的牧童大卫，抵挡了当时的国王、一心维护自己王权的扫罗。烈焰中的沙得拉和他的同伴，抵挡了在位的尼布甲尼撒王。狮子坑中的但以理，抵挡了国中占有高位的仇敌。十字架上的耶稣，抵挡了那班甚至强迫罗马巡抚成全他们意愿的犹太祭司和官长。戴着锁链慷慨就义的保罗，抵挡了世界帝国的暴君尼禄。{Pr 315.2}[6]
§14
How often those who trusted the word of God, though in themselves utterly helpless, have withstood the power of the whole world—Enoch, pure in heart, holy in life, holding fast his faith in the triumph of righteousness against a corrupt and scoffing generation; Noah and his household against the men of his time, men of the greatest physical and mental strength and the most debased in morals; the children of Israel at the Red Sea, a helpless, terrified multitude of slaves, against the mightiest army of the mightiest nation on the globe; David, a shepherd lad, having God’s promise of the throne, against Saul, the established monarch, bent on holding fast his power; Shadrach and his companions in the fire, and Nebuchadnezzar on the throne; Daniel among the lions, his enemies in the high places of the kingdom; Jesus on the cross, and the Jewish priests and rulers forcing even the Roman governor to work their will; Paul in chains led to a criminal’s death, Nero the despot of a world empire.{Pr 315.2}[6]
§15
这一类事例不仅在圣经中可以见到，在人类进步的历史上也屡见不鲜。瓦典西人和胡格诺派信徒，威克里夫和胡斯，耶罗姆和路德，廷达尔和诺克斯，钦岑道夫和卫斯理，还有其他许多人，都见证了上帝的圣言能战胜世人维护罪恶的权势与策略。这些人是世上真正的高尚人物。他们是王室的成员。今日的青年蒙召去在这方面接替他们的位置。{Pr 315.3}[7]
§16
Such examples are not found in the Bible only. They abound in every record of human progress. The Vaudois and the Huguenots, Wycliffe and Huss, Jerome and Luther, Tyndale and Knox, Zinzendorf and Wesley, with multitudes of others, have witnessed to the power of God’s word against human power and policy in support of evil. These are the world’s true nobility. This is its royal line. In this line the youth of today are called to take their places.{Pr 315.3}[7]
§17
在人生的小事上需要信心，就象在人生的大事上一样。在我们的日常工作和事业中，只要有恒久的信靠，上帝支持的力量就会赐给我们。{Pr 315.4}[8]
§18
Faith is needed in the smaller no less than in the greater affairs of life. In all our daily interests and occupations the sustaining strength of God becomes real to us through an abiding trust.{Pr 315.4}[8]
§19
从人一方面看来，人生是一条从未尝试过的道路。从我们更深的经验而言，这是一条各人独行的路。没有其他人能完全进入我们的内心世界。小孩子开始他的人生行程之后，他迟早要选择自己的道路，决定自己永远的方针。我们应当努力引导他信赖那可靠的向导和帮助者。{Pr 315.5}[9]
§20
Viewed from its human side, life is to all an untried path. It is a path in which, as regards our deeper experiences, we each walk?alone. Into our inner life no other human being can fully enter. As the little child sets forth on that journey in which, sooner or later, he must choose his own course, himself deciding life’s issues for eternity, how earnest should be the effort to direct his trust to the sure Guide and Helper!{Pr 315.5}[9]
§21
要防御试探，鼓舞人达到纯洁真实的地步，没有什么影响能与有上帝同在的感觉相比。“万物在那与我们有关系的主眼前，都是赤露敞开的。” 祂的“眼目清洁不看邪僻，不看奸恶”（来4:13；哈1:13）。这种观念是约瑟抵御埃及腐败的盾牌。他对试探诱惑的回答是非常坚决的：“我怎能作这大恶，得罪上帝呢”（创39:9）？每一个人只要有信心，就能得到这样的盾牌。{Pr 316.1}[10]
§22
As a shield from temptation and an inspiration to purity and truth, no other influence can equal the sense of God’s presence. “All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” He is “of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity.”?Hebrews 4:13;?Habakkuk 1:13. This thought was Joseph’s shield amidst the corruptions of Egypt. To the allurements of temptation his answer was steadfast: “How ... can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”?Genesis 39:9. Such a shield, faith, if cherished, will bring to every soul.{Pr 316.1}[10]
§23
惟有感受上帝的同在，才能消除恐惧。这种恐惧会使弱者视人生为重累。让他记住这个应许：“耶和华的使者，在敬畏祂的人四周安营，搭救他们”（诗34:7）。让他阅读以利沙在山城中的奇妙故事。当时有大队的天使，驻扎在他与敌军之间。让他阅读彼得被定死罪、关在监狱中时，上帝的使者显现了，领着祂的仆人安全地越过武装的卫兵和紧锁的铁门。让他阅读那身为囚犯的保罗，在前去受审赴难的途中，向那些在狂风巨浪中饥饿疲劳，筋疲力尽的士兵和水手们所说鼓励与希望的豪言壮语：“现在我还劝你们放心！你们的性命，一个也不失丧。……因我所属所事奉的上帝，祂的使者昨夜站在我旁边说：保罗，不要害怕，你必定站在凯撒面前；并且与你同船的人，上帝都赐给你了”。保罗凭着对这个应许的信心，向他的同伴们保证说：“你们各人连一根头发也不至于损坏。”事情果然如此。因为在船上有一位上帝能藉以作工的人，全船的外邦士兵和水手都保住了性命。“众人都得了救上了岸”（徒27:22-24, 34, 44）。?{Pr 316.2}[11]
§24
Only the sense of God’s presence can banish the fear that, for the timid child, would make life a burden. Let him fix in his memory the promise, “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.”?Psalm 34:7. Let him read that wonderful story of Elisha in the mountain city, and, between him and the hosts of armed foemen, a mighty encircling band of heavenly angels. Let him read how to Peter, in prison and condemned to death, God’s angel appeared; how, past the armed guards, the massive doors and great iron gateway with their bolts and bars, the angel led God’s servant forth in safety. Let him read of that scene on the sea, when the tempest-tossed soldiers and seamen, worn with labor and watching and long fasting, Paul the prisoner, on his way to trial and execution, spoke those grand words of courage and hope: “Be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you.... For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.” In the faith of this promise Paul assured his companions, “There shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.” So it came to pass. Because there was in that ship one man through whom God could work, the whole shipload?of heathen soldiers and sailors was preserved. “They escaped all safe to land.”?Acts 27:22-24, 34, 44.?{Pr 316.2}[11]
§25
这些事记录下来，不仅要让我们阅读和惊讶，还要让这种昔日在上帝的仆人身上运行的信心也在我们的身上运行。只要人的信心成为祂能力的通道，祂就会象古时一样，以显著的方式行事。{Pr 317.1}[12]
§26
These things were not written merely that we might read and wonder, but that the same faith which wrought in God’s servants of old might work in us. In no less marked a manner than He wrought then will He work now wherever there are hearts of faith to be channels of His power.{Pr 317.1}[12]
§27
当教导那些怀疑自己，缺乏自信，在操劳和责任面前畏缩不前的人倚靠上帝。这样，许多世界上本来无足轻重，甚至仅为累赘的人，竟能与使徒保罗同说： “我靠着那加给我力量的，凡事都能作”（腓4:13。）{Pr 317.2}[13]
§28
Let the self-distrustful, whose lack of self-reliance leads them to shrink from care and responsibility, be taught reliance upon God. Thus many a one who otherwise would be but a cipher in the world, perhaps only a helpless burden, will be able to say with the apostle Paul, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”?Philippians 4:13.{Pr 317.2}[13]
§29
对于那容易因伤害而生气的孩子，信心也具有宝贵的教益。抵制罪恶或复仇报怨的天性，往往出于敏锐的正义感和积极活跃的精神。要教导这样的孩子：上帝永远是正义的维护者。祂爱人类，甚至赐下自己最爱的儿子去拯救他们，所以祂必关怀他们。祂必亲自处置每一个犯错的人。{Pr 317.3}[14]
§30
For the child also who is quick to resent injuries, faith has precious lessons. The disposition to resist evil or to avenge wrong is often prompted by a keen sense of justice and an active, energetic spirit. Let such a child be taught that God is the eternal guardian of right. He has a tender care for the beings whom He has so loved as to give His dearest Beloved to save. He will deal with every wrongdoer.{Pr 317.3}[14]
§31
“摸你们的，就是摸祂眼中的瞳人”（亚2:8）。{Pr 317.4}[15]
§32
“For he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye.”?Zechariah 2:8.{Pr 317.4}[15]
§33
“当将你的事交托耶和华，并依靠祂，祂就必成全。祂要使你的公义如光发出，使你的公平明如正午”（诗37:5-6）。{Pr 317.5}[16]
§34
“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.... He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.”?Psalm 37:5, 6.{Pr 317.5}[16]
§35
“耶和华又要给受欺压的人作高台，在患难的时候作高台。耶和华啊，认识祢名的人要依靠祢，因祢没有离弃寻求祢的人”（诗9:9-10）。{Pr 317.6}[17]
§36
“The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee: for Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee.”?Psalm 9:9, 10.{Pr 317.6}[17]
§37
上帝向我们所彰显的怜悯，祂吩咐我们也向别人表显。但愿冲动、自满、心怀怨恨的人，注视那位柔和谦卑的主。祂曾像羊羔被牵到宰杀之地，又像羊在剪毛的人手下无声，毫无报复之念。但愿他们仰望那位被我们的罪孽刺穿，为我们的忧患压伤的主。这样他们就能必学会忍耐、宽容和饶恕。{Pr 317.7}[18]
§38
The compassion that God manifests toward us, He bids us manifest toward others. Let the impulsive, the self-sufficient, the revengeful, behold the meek and lowly One, led as a lamb to the slaughter, unretaliating as a sheep dumb before her shearers. Let them look upon Him whom our sins have pierced and our sorrows burdened, and they will learn to endure, to forbear, and to forgive.{Pr 317.7}[18]
§39
藉着相信基督，我们品格上的每一缺陷都可得到补足，每一污秽都可得到洁净，每一过失都可得到纠正，每一优点都可得到发扬。{Pr 318.1}[19]
§40
Through faith in Christ, every deficiency of character may be supplied, every defilement cleansed, every fault corrected, every excellence developed.{Pr 318.1}[19]
§41
“你们在祂里面也得了丰盛”（西2:10）。{Pr 318.2}[20]
§42
“Ye are complete in Him.”?Colossians 2:10.{Pr 318.2}[20]
§43
祈祷和信心是有密切关系的，所以必须一起学习。在信心的祈祷中有一门神圣的学科，是每一个想在一生的工作上取得成功的人所必须明白的。基督说：“凡你们祷告祈求的，无论是什么，只要信是得着的，就必得着”（可11:24）。祂又解释说，我们必须按着上帝的旨意求，我们必须求祂所应许的东西。我们不论得着什么，都应用来遵行祂的旨意。我们若符合了条件，应许就不会落空。{Pr 318.3}[21]
§44
Prayer and faith are closely allied, and they need to be studied together. In the prayer of faith there is a divine science; it is a science that everyone who would make his lifework a success must understand. Christ says, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”?Mark 11:24. He makes it plain that our asking must be according to God’s will; we must ask for the things that He has promised, and whatever we receive must be used in doing His will. The conditions met, the promise is unequivocal.{Pr 318.3}[21]
§45
我们可以求赦罪，求圣灵，求基督化的性情，求智慧和能力去做祂的工作，求祂所应许的任何恩赐。然后我们应当相信我们必能得着，并感谢上帝使我们得到了。{Pr 318.4}[22]
§46
For the pardon of sin, for the Holy Spirit, for a Christlike temper, for wisdom and strength to do His work, for any gift He has promised, we may ask; then we are to believe that we receive, and return thanks to God that we have received.{Pr 318.4}[22]
§47
我们不必寻找福惠的外表凭据。恩赐乃是在应许之中。我们只管努力工作，确信上帝必成就祂的应许。我们所已得着的恩赐，必在我们最需要的时候发挥作用。{Pr 318.5}[23]
§48
We need look for no outward evidence of the blessing. The gift is in the promise, and we may go about our work assured that what God has promised He is able to perform, and that the gift, which we already possess, will be realized when we need it most.{Pr 318.5}[23]
§49
这样靠上帝的话而活，就是将全部的生命都交给祂。要时常感觉需要和依赖祂，向祂倾心吐意。祈祷是不可或缺的；因为它是心灵的生命。家庭祈祷与公众祈祷各有其地位；但惟有与上帝进行私下的交流，才能维持心灵的生命。{Pr 318.6}[24]
§50
To live thus by the word of God means the surrender to Him of the whole life. There will be felt a continual sense of need and dependence, a drawing out of the heart after God. Prayer is a necessity; for it is the life of the soul. Family prayer, public prayer, have their place; but it is secret communion with God that sustains the soul life.{Pr 318.6}[24]
§51
摩西看到那作为上帝荣耀居所奇妙建筑的模型，乃是他与上帝同在山上的时候。我们应当在与上帝同在的山上——与主交通的密室中——默想祂为人类所立光荣的理想。这样，我们就能完成品格的建造，使主的应许实现在我们身上。“我要在他们中间居住，在他们中间来往，我要作他们的上帝，他们要作我的子民”（林后6:17）。{Pr 318.7}[25]
§52
It was in the mount with God that Moses beheld the pattern of that wonderful building which was to be the abiding place of His glory. It is in the mount with God—in the secret place of communion—that we are to contemplate His glorious ideal for humanity. Thus we shall be enabled so to fashion our character building that to us may be fulfilled His promise, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”?2 Corinthians 6:16.{Pr 318.7}[25]
§53
耶稣降世生活的时候，乃是在独自祷告的时辰中获得智慧与能力。青年人要效法祂的榜样，在清晨与黄昏寻找幽静的机会与他们的天父交流。他们也要在一天之中，将自己的心奉献给上帝。祂在我们所走的每一步路上说：“我耶和华你的上帝，必搀扶你的右手，……不要害怕，我必帮助你”（赛41:13）。我们的儿女若能在早年学得这些教训，将会有何等的精神、力量、快乐和甘甜带进他们的人生啊！ {Pr 319.1}[26]
§54
It was in hours of solitary prayer that Jesus in His earth life received wisdom and power. Let the youth follow His example in finding at dawn and twilight a quiet season for communion with their Father in heaven. And throughout the day let them lift up their hearts to God. At every step of our way He says, “I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, ... Fear not; I will help thee.”?Isaiah 41:13. Could our children learn these lessons in the morning of their years, what freshness and power, what joy and sweetness, would be brought into their lives!{Pr 319.1}[26]
§55
只有学到这些教训的人，才能教导别人。因为许多父母和教师虽然自称相信上帝的圣言，他们的生活却否定上帝圣言的能力，所以教导圣经不能在青年人身上发挥更大的效能。青年人有时感受到上帝圣言的能力，看见基督之爱的宝贵，看见祂品格的美，以及奉献一生为祂服务的前途。但他们也看见那些自称尊重上帝律例之人的生活。有多少人证实了对先知以西结所说的话： {Pr 319.2}[27]
§56
These are lessons that only he who himself has learned can teach. It is because so many parents and teachers profess to believe the word of God while their lives deny its power, that the teaching of Scripture has no greater effect upon the youth. At times the youth are brought to feel the power of the word. They see the preciousness of the love of Christ. They see the beauty of His character, the possibilities of a life given to His service. But in contrast they see the life of those who profess to revere God’s precepts. Of how many are the words true that were spoken to the prophet Ezekiel:{Pr 319.2}[27]
§57
百姓“彼此说，来吧！听听有什么话从耶和华而出。他们来到你这里如同民来聚会，坐在你面前仿佛是我的民；他们听你的话却不去行，因为他们的口多显爱情，心却追随财利。他们看你如善于奏乐声音幽雅之人所唱的雅歌，他们听你的话却不去行”（结33:30-32）。{Pr 319.3}[28]
§58
Thy people “speak one to another, everyone to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord. And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as My people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.”?Ezekiel 33:30-32.{Pr 319.3}[28]
§59
将圣经当作一部良好的道德教训，只要它符合时代的精神和我们在世界上的地位，就听从遵行，这是一回事。看到它的真实身份，就是永生上帝的道，是我们的生命，必须塑造我们的行为、言语和思想，这是另一回事。凡不这样看待上帝之道的，就是否定它。自称相信这道而又否定它，乃是造成青年人怀疑不信的主要原因之一。{Pr 319.4}[29]
§60
It is one thing to treat the Bible as a book of good moral instruction, to be heeded so far as is consistent with the spirit of the times and our position in the world; it is another thing to regard it as it really is—the word of the living God, the word that is our life, the word that is to mold our actions, our words, and our thoughts. To hold God’s word as anything less than this is to reject it. And this rejection by those who profess to believe it, is foremost among the causes of skepticism and infidelity in the youth.{Pr 319.4}[29]
§61
在今日的世界上，可以看到群情空前激昂，在寻欢作乐，热心赚钱，争权夺利，争取生存的斗争中，有一个可怕的势力在控制着人的心灵、理智和身体，在这疯狂的忙乱中，上帝正在发言。祂吩咐我们离开这一切与祂交往。“你们要休息，要知道我是上帝”（诗46:10）。{Pr 320.1}[30]
§62
An intensity such as never before was seen is taking possession of the world. In amusement, in moneymaking, in the contest for power, in the very struggle for existence, there is a terrible force that engrosses body and mind and soul. In the midst of this maddening rush, God is speaking. He bids us come apart and commune with Him. “Be still, and know that I am God.”?Psalm 46:10.{Pr 320.1}[30]
§63
许多人甚至在灵修的时候，也得不到真正与上帝交往的福气。他们过于仓促，匆匆忙忙地跑到慈爱的基督身边，在那圣洁的境界只作片时的逗留，却不等待受教。他们没有时间留在神圣的大教师面前，而仍背负着自己的重担回去工作。{Pr 320.2}[31]
§64
Many, even in their seasons of devotion, fail of receiving the blessing of real communion with God. They are in too great haste. With hurried steps they press through the circle of Christ’s loving presence, pausing perhaps a moment within the sacred precincts, but not waiting for counsel. They have no time to remain with the divine Teacher. With their burdens they return to their work.{Pr 320.2}[31]
§65
这些工人若没有学到能力的诀窍，就达不到最高的成功。他们必须化时间思考、祈祷、等候上帝赐给他们体力、智力和灵力。他们需要圣灵提拔人的感化力。他们接受了这种感化力，就会被新的生命所激发。疲乏的身体和困倦的头脑会得到振奋；负重的心也轻松了。{Pr 320.3}[32]
§66
These workers can never attain the highest success until they learn the secret of strength. They must give themselves time to think, to pray, to wait upon God for a renewal of physical, mental, and spiritual power. They need the uplifting influence of His Spirit. Receiving this, they will be quickened by fresh life. The wearied frame and tired brain will be refreshed, the burdened heart will be lightened.{Pr 320.3}[32]
§67
我们所需要的，不是在基督面前作片时的逗留，而是要亲自与祂接触，亲密相交。父母和教师如果能在自己的生活中，学到像《雅歌》所描写的宝贵经验，我们家庭的孩子和学校的学生就有福了： {Pr 320.4}[33]
§68
Not a pause for a moment in His presence, but personal contact with Christ, to sit down in companionship with Him—this is our need. Happy will it be for the children of our homes and the students of our schools when parents and teachers shall learn in their own lives the precious experience pictured in these words from the Song of Songs:{Pr 320.4}[33]
§69
“我的良人在男子中，如同苹果树在树林中。我欢欢喜喜坐在祂的荫下，尝祂果子的滋味，觉得甘甜。祂带我入筵宴所，以爱为旗在我以上”（歌2:3-4）。（ED.253-261）{Pr 320.5}[34]
§70
“As the apple tree among the trees of the wood,So is my Beloved among the sons.I sat down under His shadow with great delight,And His fruit was sweet to my taste.He brought me to the banqueting house,And His banner over me was love.”{Pr 320.5}[34]