双语灵修（葛培理牧师）：9月27日  和睦之源

9月27日 

和睦之源

因祂使我们和睦，将两下合而为一，拆毁了中间隔断的墙；……将两下藉着自己造成一个新人，……既在十字架上灭了冤.仇，便藉这十字架，使两下归为一体，与神和好了。

以弗所书2：14-16

在十字架的工作之外，有苦.毒、不宽容、煽.动、恶.意、偏.见、欲.望、贪.婪和仇.恨。在十.字.架的功效之内，有爱和团契、新生活和新的兄弟情谊。基.督的十.字.架是唯一的希望，在那里，所有人，无论什么国.籍或种.族，都能成为一个新的兄弟关系。

最近，一位大学教授说：“有两个问题永远无法解决——种.族和战.争。”而我说，这两者和所有其他问题都可得到解决，但只有在十.字.架上。基督的十.字.架不仅是我们和睦与希望的基础，它也是我们永恒救赎的途径。十字架的目的不仅是完全的免费和赦免，它也是生命的改变和与神相交。难怪两千年前保罗就说：“我们却是传被.钉十字架的基督。”这是当今世界的信息。这是希望、和睦与兄弟之情的信息。世界人称之为愚蠢，但神却喜欢称之为智慧。

诗人约翰·格林里夫·惠蒂尔（John Greenleaf Whittier）写得好：

降下祢宁静的甘露，

让一切的抗争都结束；

拿走我们灵里的紧张与重负，

愿我们有序的生活

诉说祢的宁静之美、和睦之福。

神就是我们的和睦！

今日祷告：

天父，我感谢祢，在基督里有和睦——犹太人和外邦人之间的和睦，就像以弗所书第2章中所说的那样，所有不同种.族和民.族之间的和睦，只要我们相信耶稣；奉耶稣的名，阿们。

September 27

HE IS OUR PEACE

For he is our peace,who hath made both one,and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us…to make in himself of twain one new man…that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross,having slain the enmity thereby.Ephesians 2:14-16

Outside the work of the Cross,there is bitterness,intolerance,sedition,ill will,prejudice,lust,greed,and hatred.Within the efficacy of the Cross,there is love and fellowship,new life and new brotherhood.The only human hope for peace lies at the Cross of Christ,where all men,whatever their nationality or race,can become a new brotherhood.

Recently a university professor said,“There are two things that will never be solved-the problems of race and war.”I say that these and all other problems can be solved,but only at the Cross.The Cross of Christ is not only the basis of our peace and hope;but it is also the means of our eternal salvation.The object of the Cross is not only a full and free pardon;it is also a changed life,lived in fellowship with God.No wonder Paul said two thousand years ago,“We preach Christ crucified.”This is the message for the world today.This is the message of hope and peace and brotherhood.This is what the world calls foolishness but what God has been pleased to call wisdom.

The poet John Greenleaf Whittier put it well when he wrote:

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,Till all our strivings cease;Take from our soul the strain and stress,And let our ordered lives confess The beauty of Thy peace.

He is our Peace!

Pray for the Day:

Father,I thank You that in Christ,there is peace—peace between the Jew and the Gentile,as it was in Ephesians 2,but also peace among all different races and peoples,if only we will believe in Jesus;in Jesus’Name,Amen.