7月26日 清洁的账

从心里发出来的……（太十五18-20）

我们起初都信任自己的无知，称之为无罪；又信任自己的无罪，称之为清洁。于是当我们听见主这番严厉的话，就会怯生生地说：“我从不觉得自己心中有这些可怖的脏东西呀！”我们厌恶主所揭示的。若耶稣基督不是人心里至高的权威，他就根本不值一顾。我是否愿意信任他的明察，还是信任自己的天真无知？只要我试验一下自己的清白，就势必栗然醒觉主话的真实，也必震惊于自己偏向邪恶的性情。我之所以未沦为恶匪，无非是胆子不够大，及文明社会的保障罢了。若在神面前赤露敞开，就必知道他的诊断无误。

耶稣基督的救恩是唯一的保障。我若把自己交给他，就不必经历内心那些可怕的性情。清洁太深邃了，凭天性我无法达至，但当圣灵来到就把那在主耶稣生命中彰显的灵，带进我生命中，我就变成毫无玷污的纯洁。

祈祷◆噢，我的神，我在你的火焰中被焚烧和炼净——今天我所发现的渣滓似乎太多，在我处理别人的错失上，却太少流露你那甜蜜而亲切的恩典。主啊，赦免我。

July 26 The Account With Purity

“Out of the heart proceed . . .” Matthew 15:18-20

We begin by trusting our ignorance and calling it innocence, by trusting our innocence and calling it purity; and when we hear these rugged statements of Our Lord's, we shrink and say – But I never felt any of those awful things in my heart. We resent what Jesus Christ reveals. Either Jesus Christ is the supreme Authority on the human heart, or He is not worth paying any attention to. Am I prepared to trust His penetration, or do I prefer to trust my innocent ignorance? If I make conscious innocence the test, I am likely to come to a place where I find with a shuddering awakening that what Jesus Christ said is true, and I shall be appalled at the possibility of evil and wrong in me. As long as I remain under the refuge of innocence I am living in a fool's paradise. If I have never been a blackguard, the reason is a mixture of cowardice and the protection of civilized life; but when I am undressed before God, I find that Jesus Christ is right in His diagnosis.

The only thing that safeguards is the Redemption of Jesus Christ. If I will hand myself over to Him, I need never experience the terrible possibilities that are in my heart. Purity is too deep down for me to get to naturally: but when the Holy Spirit comes in, He brings into the centre of my personal life the very Spirit that was manifested in the life of Jesus Christ, viz., Holy Spirit, which is unsullied purity.