第89章 上帝在基督里显示的品格
§1
第89章 上帝在基督里显示的品格
§2
Chap. 89—The Character of God Revealed in Christ
§3
救主说道：“认识祢独一的真神，并且认识祢所差来的耶稣基督，这就是永生”（约17:3）。上帝也藉着先知说道：“耶和华如此说，智慧人不要因他的智慧夸口，勇士不要因他的勇力夸口，财主不要因他的财物夸口。夸口的却因他有聪明，认识我是耶和华，又知道我喜悦在世上施行慈爱公平和公义，以此夸口。这是耶和华说的”（耶9:23,24）。{5T737.1}[1]
§4
Said the Saviour: “This is life eternal, that they might?know Thee?the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” And God declared by the prophet: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that?he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.”?{5T 737.1}[1]
§5
若没有上帝的帮助，无人能达到这种认识上帝的地步。使徒说，“世人凭自己的智慧，不认识上帝”（林前1:21）。基督“在世界，世界也是藉着祂造的，世界却不认识祂”（约1:10）。耶稣对祂的门徒说：“除了父，没有人知道子；除了子和子所愿意指示的，没有人知道父”（太11:27）。在祂未进入客西马尼园的阴影之前，末次为门徒祈祷时，救主举目望天，心中可怜堕落人类的无知，说道：“公义的父啊，世人未曾认识祢，我却认识祢。”“我已将祢的名指示他们”（约17:25,26）。{5T737.2}[2]
§6
No man, without divine aid, can attain to this knowledge of God. The apostle says that “the world by wisdom knew not God.” Christ “was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.” Jesus declared to His disciples: “No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.” In that last prayer for His followers, before entering the shadows of Gethsemane, the Saviour lifted His eyes to heaven, and in pity for the ignorance of fallen men He said: “O righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee: but I have known Thee.”?“I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world.”?{5T 737.2}[2]
§7
从起初以来，撒但处心积虑要引人忘记上帝，以便攫取他们归他自己。因此他设法误表上帝的品格，使人对于上帝存一种错谬的观念。在世人的心意中，创造主被蔽以邪恶之灵自己的特性──专制，严酷，及不饶恕的；以致人会怕祂，避祂，甚至于恨祂。撒但希望凡被他迷惑的人，心志昏昧，故意置上帝于他们的知识之外。于是他就会在人的身上消灭了上帝的形像，而在人的心灵上印以自己的样式，浸染以自己同样的精神，并任意俘掳他们。{5T738.1}[3]
§8
From the beginning it has been Satan’s studied plan to cause men to forget God, that he might secure them to himself. Hence he has sought to misrepresent the character of God, to lead men to cherish a false conception of Him. The Creator has been presented to their minds as clothed with the attributes of the prince of evil himself,—as arbitrary, severe, and unforgiving,—that He might be feared, shunned, and even hated by men. Satan hoped to so confuse the minds of those whom he had deceived that they would put God out of their knowledge. Then he would obliterate the divine image in man and impress his own likeness upon the soul; he would imbue men with his own spirit and make them captives according to his will.?{5T 738.1}[3]
§9
撒但藉着误表上帝的品格，蛊惑人怀疑上帝，试探夏娃去犯罪。因为罪的缘故，我们始祖的脑筋昏昧了，天性堕落了，并由自己狭窄自私之心来形成他们对上帝的观念。及至人在罪中大胆妄为，对于上帝的认识与敬爱就从他们的心脑之中磨灭了。“因为，他们虽然知道上帝，却不当作上帝荣耀祂，也不感谢祂。他们的思念变为虚妄，无知的心就昏暗了”（罗1:21）。{5T738.2}[4]
§10
It was by falsifying the character of God and exciting distrust of Him that Satan tempted Eve to transgress. By sin the minds of our first parents were darkened, their natures were degraded, and their conceptions of God were molded by their own narrowness and selfishness. And as men became bolder in sin, the knowledge and the love of God faded from their minds and hearts. “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God,” they “became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”?{5T 738.2}[4]
§11
有时候，撒但争取管理人类的权柄，仿佛是成功了。在基督第一次降世之前的那些时代中，世界好像几乎完全由黑暗之君所操纵，他发挥骇人的权力来统治，好像是因我们始祖的犯罪，这世界的国度已成了他的合法之物。甚至于与上帝立约之民，就是上帝曾拣选来保全世人认识真神的百姓，都已离开祂这么远，以致对上帝品性的真实观念已丧失殆尽。{5T738.3}[5]
§12
At times Satan’s contest for the control of the human family appeared to be crowned with success. During the ages preceding the first advent of Christ the world seemed almost wholly under the sway of the prince of darkness, and he ruled with a terrible power as though through the sin of our first parents the kingdoms of the world had become his by right. Even the covenant people, whom God had chosen to preserve in the world the knowledge of Himself, had so far departed from Him that they had lost all true conception of His character.?{5T 738.3}[5]
§13
基督降世是要向世人显明上帝是爱，满有慈悲，怜悯，同情的上帝。撒但所尽力笼罩上帝宝座的浓云黑雾，被世界的救赎主驱散了，天父又再度向世人显出是生命之光。{5T738.4}[6]
§14
Christ came to reveal God to the world as a God of love,?full of mercy, tenderness, and compassion. The thick darkness with which Satan had endeavored to enshroud the throne of Deity was swept away by the world’s Redeemer, and the Father was again manifest to men as the light of life.?{5T 738.4}[6]
§15
当腓力来到耶稣的面前请求说：“求主将父显给我们看，我们就知足了。”救主回答他说：“腓力，我与你们同在这样长久，你还不认识我么？人看见了我，就是看见了父；你怎么说，将父显给我们看呢”（约14:8,9）？基督宣称自己是奉派来世上充当父的代表。从祂高贵的品格上，从祂的慈悲与怜悯上，从祂的爱与良善上，祂站在我们之前乃是完全至圣之具体的显现，所不能见之上帝的形像。{5T739.1}[7]
§16
When Philip came to Jesus with the request, “Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us,” the Saviour answered him: “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?” Christ declares Himself to be sent into the world as a representative of the Father. In His nobility of character, in His mercy and tender pity, in His love and goodness, He stands before us as the embodiment of divine perfection, the image of the invisible God.?{5T 739.1}[7]
§17
使徒说：“上帝在基督里，叫世人与自己和好”（林后5:19）。我们只有在思想伟大的救赎计划时，才能对于上帝的品性有正确的赏识。创造之工是祂爱的表现；但惟有那拯救犯罪沉沦人类的上帝的恩赐，才能表明上帝慈悲怜爱的无穷深度。“上帝爱世人，甚至将祂的独生子赐给他们，叫一切信祂的，不至灭亡，反得永生”（约3:16）。当上帝的律法得到维护，律法的公正得到证明之时，罪人方能得到赦免。天庭本身所施的最宝贵恩赐，已经沛然下降，使上帝“显明祂的义，使人知道祂自己为义，也称信耶稣的人为义”（罗3:26）。人藉着这恩赐被提拔，脱离罪的毁灭与堕落，成为上帝的儿女。保罗说：“你们所受的乃是儿子的心，因此我们呼叫阿爸，父”（罗8:15）！{5T739.2}[8]
§18
Says the apostle: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.” Only as we contemplate the great plan of redemption can we have a just appreciation of the character of God. The work of creation was a manifestation of His love; but the gift of God to save the guilty and ruined race, alone reveals the infinite depths of divine tenderness and compassion. “God?so loved?the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” While the law of God is maintained, and its justice vindicated, the sinner can be pardoned. The dearest gift that heaven itself had to bestow has been poured out that God “might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” By that gift men are uplifted from the ruin and degradation of sin to become children of God. Says Paul: “Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”?{5T 739.2}[8]
§19
弟兄们哪，我与蒙爱的约翰一同请求，你们看“父赐给我们是何等的慈爱，使我们得称为上帝的儿女”（约壹3:1）。这是何等的爱，何等无比的爱，使我们虽是罪人及外人，仍能归向上帝，并被接进祂的家庭中！我们能用亲密的名号称呼祂为“我们的父”，这是一种表号，表明我们对祂的爱情，及保证祂对我们的怜恤与亲切的关系。上帝圣子看到这些恩典的后裔，“称他们为弟兄，也不以为耻”（来2:11）。他们对于上帝有更神圣的关系，过于那些未曾堕落的天使。{5T739.3}[9]
§20
Brethren, with the beloved John I call upon you to “behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” What love, what matchless love, that, sinners and aliens as we are, we may be brought back to God and adopted into His family! We?may address Him by the endearing name, “Our Father,” which is a sign of our affection for Him and a pledge of His tender regard and relationship to us. And the Son of God, beholding the heirs of grace, “is not ashamed to call them brethren.” They have even a more sacred relationship to God than have the angels who have never fallen.?{5T 739.3}[9]
§21
历代以来流贯人心的一切父子之爱，及启发人性的一切慈善之泉，若与上帝无穷无尽之爱相较，犹如涓涓小川之与浩浩海洋之比而已。口舌不能形容；笔墨也无法描述。你可以在有生之日去每日默想，你可以殷勤研究圣经以求明白；你可以集中上帝所赐你的每一分力量与才能，竭力去了解天父的大爱与慈悲；但它仍是永无止境。你可以经年累月地研究那爱；但却不能完全了解上帝牺牲祂的儿子为世人而死的爱，是何等长，阔，高，深。永恒的岁月，始终无法完全将它表明出来。然而我们若研究圣经，默想基督的生平与救赎的计划，这些伟大的题目就要愈久愈启迪我们的悟性。我们也可以承受保罗昔日为以弗所教会所祈求的福气，“求我们主耶稣基督的上帝，荣耀的父，将那赐人智慧和启示的灵赏给你们，使你们真知道祂；并且照明你们心中的眼睛，使你们知道祂的恩召有何等指望，祂在圣徒中得的基业有何等丰盛的荣耀；并知道祂向我们这信的人所显的能力是何等浩大”（弗1:17-19）。{5T740.1}[10]
§22
All the paternal love which has come down from generation to generation through the channel of human hearts, all the springs of tenderness which have opened in the souls of men, are but as a tiny rill to the boundless ocean when compared with the infinite, exhaustless love of God. Tongue cannot utter it; pen cannot portray it. You may meditate upon it every day of your life; you may search the Scriptures diligently in order to understand it; you may summon every power and capability that God has given you, in the endeavor to comprehend the love and compassion of the heavenly Father; and yet there is an infinity beyond. You may study that love for ages; yet you can never fully comprehend the length and the breadth, the depth and the height, of the love of God in giving His Son to die for the world. Eternity itself can never fully reveal it. Yet as we study the Bible and meditate upon the life of Christ and the plan of redemption, these great themes will open to our understanding more and more. And it will be ours to realize the blessing which Paul desired for the Ephesian church when he prayed “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you?the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him; the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what?the riches of the glory?of His inheritance in the saints, and what is?the exceeding greatness of His power?to usward who believe.”?{5T 740.1}[10]
§23
撒但不断地营谋，如何可使那些阻止人认识上帝的事常占据人的脑筋。他设法使人一直思想那些会蒙蔽人悟性及沮丧人心灵的事。我们是居于一个引诱基督徒及使其灰心之影响所包围的罪恶败坏的世界中。救主说过：“只因不法的事增多，许多人的爱心才渐渐冷淡了”（太24:12）。许多人注目于周围可怕的罪恶，及各方的叛道与软弱，他们谈论这些事，以致心中充满了忧苦与怀疑。他们的脑筋老是最先想到那大骗子的杰作，念念不忘自己灰心失意的经验，同时似乎是失去了眼光，看不见天父的权能与其无比大爱。这一切都正合于撒但的心愿。何时我们想到公义之敌拥有极大的权力，同时对上帝的爱及大能却少予注意，那就是一种错误。我们应当谈论基督的大能大力。我们完全无力救自己脱离撒但的掌握，但上帝已指定了一条逃生之路。至高者之子有力为我们作战，靠着“爱我们的主”，我们可以“得胜有余”（罗8:37）。{5T740.2}[11]
§24
It is Satan’s constant study to keep the minds of men occupied with those things which will prevent them from obtaining the knowledge of God. He seeks to keep them dwelling?upon what will darken the understanding and discourage the soul. We are in a world of sin and corruption, surrounded by influences that tend to allure or dishearten the followers of Christ. The Saviour said: “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Many fix their eyes upon the terrible wickedness existing around them, the apostasy and weakness on every side, and they talk of these things until their hearts are filled with sadness and doubt. They keep uppermost before the mind the masterly working of the archdeceiver and dwell upon the discouraging features of their experience, while they seem to lose sight of the heavenly Father’s power and His matchless love. All this is as Satan would have it. It is a mistake to think of the enemy of righteousness as clothed with so great power, when we dwell so little upon the love of God and His might. We must talk of the mightiness of Christ. We are utterly powerless to rescue ourselves from the grasp of Satan; but God has appointed a way of escape. The Son of the Highest has strength to fight the battle for us, and “through Him that loved us” we may come off “more than conquerors.”?{5T 740.2}[11]
§25
我们若念念不忘自己的软弱与冷淡退后，并为撒但的能力而叹息，就不会有属灵的力量。主为我们所作之牺牲的功效，这伟大的真理，我们应当奠定在自己的心意中，作活泼长存的原理。因凡照祂的话所提明的条件而来到上帝面前的人，祂能够而且一定要救他们到底。我们的工作就是将自己的心意放在上帝的旨意这一边。然后，藉着赎罪之血，我们变得与上帝的性情有份；藉着基督，我们成为上帝的儿女，并得到保证，确信上帝爱我们，正如祂爱自己的圣子一样。我们与耶稣合而为一。我们行在基督所引导的路上；祂有权柄能驱散撒但投在我们路上的黑影；并且有祂荣耀的阳光照亮我们的心，取代了黑暗与颓丧。{5T741.1}[12]
§26
There is no spiritual strength for us in constantly brooding over our weakness and backslidings, and bemoaning the power of Satan. This great truth must be established as a living principle in our minds and hearts—the efficacy of the offering made for us; that God can and does save to the uttermost all who come unto Him complying with the conditions specified in His word. Our work is to place our will on the side of God’s will. Then, through the blood of the atonement, we become partakers of the divine nature; through Christ we are children of God, and we have the assurance that God loves us even as He loved His Son. We are one with Jesus. We walk where Christ leads the way; He has power to dispel the dark shadows which Satan casts across our path; and, in place of darkness and discouragement, the sunlight of His glory shines into our hearts.?{5T 741.1}[12]
§27
因认识基督是我们的义，我们的指望就可以不断地加强。惟愿我们的信仰奠定在这根基上，因它必永远坚立。我们不要注意撒但的黑暗，也不要惧怕他的权力，乃当开心接受来自基督的光，让它照向世人，传扬祂是高于撒但的一切权力，祂援助的膀臂必支持一切信靠祂的人。{5T742.1}[13]
§28
Our hope is to be constantly strengthened by the knowledge that Christ is our righteousness. Let our faith rest upon this foundation, for it will stand fast forever. Instead of dwelling upon the darkness of Satan and fearing his power, we should open our hearts to receive light from Christ and to let it shine forth to the world, declaring that He is above all the power of Satan, that His sustaining arm will support all who trust in Him.?{5T 742.1}[13]
§29
耶稣说过：“父自己爱你们”（约16:27）。我们的信仰若藉着基督而奠定于上帝之中，就必证实“如同灵魂的锚，又坚固又牢靠，且通入幔内。作先锋的耶稣……为我们进入幔内”（来6:19,20）。不错，将来有许多不幸的事要临到我们；我们必遇到苦难；但我们当将一切，无论大小的事，都交于上帝。祂不会因为我们的千愁万苦而茫然无措，也不会被我们的重担所压倒。祂留心照顾的范围，遍及每一家庭，包括每一个人；祂关怀我们一切的事及我们的忧患。祂记下每滴眼泪；祂体恤我们的软弱。我们今生所遇到的一切苦难及磨炼，都是经祂许可的，为要实现祂爱我们的旨意，“使我们在祂的圣洁上有份”（来12:10），这样，就可分享那在祂面前得到的满足的喜乐。{5T742.2}[14]
§30
Said Jesus: “The Father Himself loveth you.” If our faith is fixed upon God, through Christ, it will prove “as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; whither the Forerunner is for us entered.” It is true that disappointments will come; tribulation we must expect; but we are to commit everything, great and small, to God. He does not become perplexed by the multiplicity of our grievances nor overpowered by the weight of our burdens. His watchcare extends to every household and encircles every individual; He is concerned in all our business and our sorrows. He marks every tear; He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. All the afflictions and trials that befall us here are permitted, to work out His purposes of love toward us, “that we might be partakers of His holiness” and thus become participants in that fullness of joy which is found in His presence.?{5T 742.2}[14]
§31
“此等不信之人被这世界的神弄瞎了心眼，不叫基督荣耀福音的光照着他们。基督本是上帝的像”（林后4:4）。但圣经用最有力的口气向我们说明了认识上帝是何等的重要。彼得说：“愿恩惠、平安因你们认识上帝和我们主耶稣，多多地加给你们。”“上帝的神能已将一切关乎生命和虔敬的事赐给我们，皆因我们认识那用自己荣耀和美德召我们的主”（彼后1:1,2）。圣经也吩咐我们：“你要认识上帝，就得平安”（伯22:21）。{5T742.3}[15]
§32
“The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” But the Bible in strongest terms sets before us the importance of obtaining a knowledge of God. Says Peter: “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the?knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.” “His divine power hath given unto us?all things?that pertain unto life and godliness,?through the knowledge of Him?that hath called us to glory and virtue.” And the Scripture bids us: “Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace.”?{5T 742.3}[15]
§33
上帝已命令我们：“你们要圣洁，因为我是圣洁的”（彼前1:16）。还有一位蒙圣灵默示的使徒说：“非圣洁没有人能见主”（来12:14）。圣洁是与上帝相合的。上帝在人身上的形像被罪所玷污而几乎涂灭了；福音的工作就是要恢复那已经失去的；我们也是在这种工作上要与上帝的能力合作。我们若不认识上帝，怎能与上帝相合，怎能接受祂的形像呢？基督降世向我们表明的，就是这种知识。{5T743.1}[16]
§34
God has commanded us, “Be ye holy; for I am holy;” and an inspired apostle declares that without holiness “no man shall see the Lord.” Holiness is agreement with God. By sin the image of God in man has been marred and well-nigh obliterated; it is the work of the gospel to restore that which has been lost; and we are to cooperate with the divine agency in this work. And how can we come into harmony with God, how shall we receive His likeness, unless we obtain a knowledge of Him? It is this knowledge that Christ came into the world to reveal unto us.?{5T 743.1}[16]
§35
许多人对于基督崇高的品性及其职务，见识浅薄，以致自己的宗教经验狭隘，并在属灵生活的进展上大有妨碍。在我们这等人之中，个人的宗教经验已趋于低潮。现今有许多的形式，许多的机构，许多口头上的宗教；但我们却当有些更深刻而更结实的东西，加入我们的宗教经验中。我们一切的工作，我们的出版社，我们的学校，我们的疗养院，以及其他许许多多优胜的条件，我们都当善用以力求进展，远超过眼前的地步。基督徒今生的工作就是向世人表扬基督，在生活及品格上显明那赐福的耶稣。上帝若已赐给我们亮光，就是要我们可以将光显示给别人。但我们工作的效果，若与我们已得的亮光，及上帝赐我们去感触人心的机遇相比，那真是微乎其微，太过于渺小了。上帝原欲我们将祂赐我们明白的真理，产生更多的果子，过于现在所表现的。但是，我们的心意中若充满着忧愁苦恼，常想周围的黑暗邪恶，我们怎能向世人代表基督呢？我们的见证怎能有力量去救人呢？我们的需要，就是藉着实验的知识，去认识上帝在基督里所显明的大爱和能力。我们必须殷勤而虔诚地研究圣经；我们的悟性必须由圣灵苏醒，我们的心灵必须藉着信心，指望，及不住的赞美，而高举到上帝之前。{5T743.2}[17]
§36
The meager views which so many have had of the exalted character and office of Christ have narrowed their religious experience and have greatly hindered their progress in the divine life. Personal religion among us as a people is at a low ebb. There is much form, much machinery, much tongue religion; but something deeper and more solid must be brought into our religious experience. With all our facilities, our publishing houses, our schools, our sanitariums, and many, many other advantages, we ought to be far in advance of our present position. It is the work of the Christian in this life to represent Christ to the world, in life and character unfolding the blessed Jesus. If God has given us light, it is that we may reveal it to others. But in comparison with the light we have received, and the opportunities and privileges granted us to reach the hearts of the people, the results of our work thus far have been far too small. God designs that the truth which He has brought to our understanding shall produce more fruit than has yet been revealed. But when our minds are filled with gloom and sadness, dwelling upon the darkness and evil around us, how can we represent Christ to the world? How can our testimony have power to win souls? What we need is to know God and the power of His love, as revealed in Christ, by an experimental knowledge. We must search the Scriptures diligently, prayerfully; our understanding must be quickened by the Holy Spirit,?and our hearts must be uplifted to God in faith and hope and continual praise.?{5T 743.2}[17]
§37
藉着基督的功劳，藉着祂的公义，就是因信而归给我们的，我们就可达到基督徒品格的完全。我们每日每时的工作，在使徒的话中说明了：“仰望为我们信心创始成终的耶稣”（来12:2）。当我们如此行，脑筋就更清楚，信心就更刚强，而希望也更确定了。我们既这样全神贯注于祂的纯洁可爱，以及祂为使我们与上帝和合而作之牺牲，以致我们就没有去讲说那些疑惑及灰心之事的意向了。{5T744.1}[18]
§38
Through the merits of Christ, through His righteousness, which by faith is imputed unto us, we are to attain to the perfection of Christian character. Our daily and hourly work is set forth in the words of the apostle: “Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith.” While doing this our minds become clearer and our faith stronger, and our hope is confirmed; we are so engrossed with the view of His purity and loveliness, and the sacrifice He has made to bring us into agreement with God, that we have no disposition to speak of doubts and discouragements.?{5T 744.1}[18]
§39
上帝之爱，慈悲，与良善的显明，以及圣灵光照再造人心的工作，使我们因信而与基督作这样密切的联络，以致对于祂的品格有清明的观念，我们就能看透撒但的重大诡计。仰望耶稣，信靠祂的功劳，我们就可享受光明，平安，及在圣灵中的喜乐等福气。我们鉴于基督为我们所作何等的大事，不禁要喊着说：“你看父赐给我们是何等的慈爱，使我们得称为上帝的儿女”（约壹3:1）。{5T744.2}[19]
§40
The manifestation of God’s love, His mercy and His goodness, and the work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart to enlighten and renew it, place us, through faith, in so close connection with Christ that, having a clear conception of His character, we are able to discern the masterly deceptions of Satan. Looking unto Jesus and trusting in His merits we appropriate the blessings of light, of peace, of joy in the Holy Ghost. And in view of the great things which Christ has done for us, we are ready to exclaim: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.”?{5T 744.2}[19]
§41
弟兄姐妹们哪，我们藉着仰望才能有改变。藉着思想上帝及我们救主的爱，藉着默想上帝完全的品格，并因信要求基督的义作为我们的义，我们就可被改变成同样的形像。我们且莫将一切不快乐的影像──罪恶，败坏，失望，撒但权力的凭据等等──挂在我们记忆厅堂的墙上，谈论它，为它而哀恸，以致我们的心灵上充满了沮丧与失望。一个灰心的人就是一个黑暗的物体，不但他自己不能接受上帝的光，反而阻挡了别人也得不到。撒但乐于见到自己胜利的景象所起的作用，使人灰心及失去了信心。{5T744.3}[20]
§42
Brethren and sisters, it is by beholding that we become changed. By dwelling upon the love of God and our Saviour, by contemplating the perfection of the divine character and claiming the righteousness of Christ as ours by faith, we are to be transformed into the same image. Then let us not gather together all the unpleasant pictures—the iniquities and corruptions and disappointments, the evidences of Satan’s power—to hang in the halls of our memory, to talk over and mourn over until our souls are filled with discouragement. A discouraged soul is a body of darkness, not only failing himself to receive the light of God, but shutting it away from others. Satan loves to see the effect of the pictures?of his triumphs, making human beings faithless and disheartened.?{5T 744.3}[20]
§43
感谢上帝，祂赐给我们许多更光明更乐观的景象。但愿我们将祂爱的保证收集起来，视为珍贵的宝物，好时常不断地观赏。上帝圣子离开父的宝座，人性披盖了神性，为要救人类脱离撒但的权势；祂为我们战胜，向人类敞开天门，使人的眼光能见到上帝显露其荣耀的宫室；把犯罪的人类从被罪所投陷的毁灭深坑中救拔出来，使与无穷的上帝再有联络，并在因信救赎主而忍受了上帝的试炼之后，得以披上基督之义，并被举到祂的宝座之前──这些都是上帝要我们赏心乐意之美丽图景。“原来我们不是顾念所见的，乃是顾念所不见的，”这样就可证实“我们这至暂至轻的苦楚，要为我们成就极重无比永远的荣耀”（林后4:18,17）。{5T745.1}[21]
§44
There are, thank God, brighter and more cheering pictures which the Lord has presented to us. Let us group together the blessed assurances of His love as precious treasures, that we may look upon them continually. The Son of God leaving His Father’s throne, clothing His divinity with humanity, that He might rescue man from the power of Satan; His triumph in our behalf, opening heaven to man, revealing to human vision the presence chamber where Deity unveils His glory; the fallen race uplifted from the pit of ruin into which sin had plunged them, and brought again into connection with the infinite God, and, having endured the divine test through faith in our Redeemer, clothed in the righteousness of Christ and exalted to His throne—these are the pictures with which God bids us gladden the chambers of the soul. And “while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen,” we shall prove it true that “our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”?{5T 745.1}[21]
§45
在天上，上帝是贯乎万有之中。在那里，最高的权力就是圣洁；无物可破坏与上帝之间的完全和合。如果我们真是朝向彼处前进，天庭的精神就要充满我们今生的心上。我们现今若不能在思想天庭事物上得到喜乐；如果对于寻求认识上帝不感兴趣，在仰望基督的品格上不感觉愉快，如果我们对圣洁的事无动于衷──那么，我们就确实知道，我们对于天上的希望是虚空的了。在基督徒面前常存的崇高目标，就是凡事与上帝的旨意完全和合。他喜爱谈论上帝，谈论耶稣，以及谈论基督为爱祂的人所预备的福乐纯洁家乡。人若思想这些题目，饱飨上帝有福的保证，那就成了使徒所形容的觉悟到“来世权能”（来6:5）的人了。{5T745.2}[22]
§46
In heaven God is all in all. There holiness reigns supreme; there is nothing to mar the perfect harmony with God. If we are indeed journeying thither, the spirit of heaven will dwell in our hearts here. But if we find no pleasure now in the contemplation of heavenly things; if we have no interest in seeking the knowledge of God, no delight in beholding the character of Christ; if holiness has no attractions for us—then we may be sure that our hope of heaven is vain. Perfect conformity to the will of God is the high aim to be constantly before the Christian. He will love to talk of God, of Jesus, of the home of bliss and purity which Christ has prepared for them that love Him. The contemplation of these themes, when the soul feasts upon the blessed assurances of God, the apostle represents as tasting “the powers of the world to come.”?{5T 745.2}[22]
§47
现今在我们之前的，是伟大斗争决战之日，撒但“行各样的异能神迹和一切虚假的奇事，并且……行各样出于不义的诡诈”（帖后2:9,10），来误表上帝的品性，以便能迷惑人，甚至“倘若能行，连选民也就迷惑了”（太24:24）。若果从来有一等人需要从天而来不断增加之亮光的话，那就是当此危险时代，蒙上帝呼召保管祂神圣律法，及在世人之前辨明祂品性的人了。凡蒙这样神圣委托的人，必须被他自称相信的真理所变化，成为属灵的，高尚的，及生机蓬勃的。昔日保罗写信给歌罗西的信徒说，我们“为你们不住地祷告祈求，愿你们在一切属灵的智慧悟性上，满心知道上帝的旨意；好叫你们行事为人对得起主，凡事蒙祂喜悦，在一切善事上结果子，渐渐地多知道上帝”（西1:9,10），这就是今日教会空前最大的需要，也是上帝最切望她应当享受的经验。{5T746.1}[23]
§48
Just before us is the closing struggle of the great controversy when, with “all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness,” Satan is to work to misrepresent the character of God, that he may “seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.” If there was ever a people in need of constantly increasing light from heaven, it is the people that, in this time of peril, God has called to be the depositaries of His holy law and to vindicate His character before the world. Those to whom has been committed a trust so sacred must be spiritualized, elevated, vitalized, by the truths they profess to believe. Never did the church more sorely need, and never was God more solicitous that she should enjoy, the experience described in Paul’s letter to the Colossians when he wrote: We “do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be?filled with the knowledge of His will?in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.”?{5T 746.1}[23]