532 中翻英 (232) Lord have a mercy for me. 主阿, 憐憫孩子. 9/25/2023

532  中翻英 (232)            Lord have a mercy for me.              主阿, 憐憫孩子.                9/25/2023

九月二十五日

「我們卻是天上的國民，并且等候救主，就是主耶穌基督。」（腓   3:20 新國際版）

縱使我們可以用自己的方法橫渡大西洋或太平洋，但我們卻不能夠憑自己的力量從地上升到天上去。天上不是教會將來要達到的地方，因為教會現今已是在天上了。天上是教會的發源地，也是教會現在既有的地位，但卻不是她將來的目的地。既然如此，我們要努力達到天上去的這一個問題，就無從產生了。我坦白承認，我說這句話，似乎是極端了，但這卻是真實的。哦！我們若能重新的看見我們那屬天呼召的奇妙就好了！這個呼召不是指引我們往天，而是給我們知道我們是屬天的，并且是已經在天上了！所以我們基督徒不是在自我努力爭取往天上去。我們現在是天上的國民，我們一切的愛慕和感情，也都是堅定的維系于天上。

September 25

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ."            (Philippians 3:20 NIV)

Even though we can cross the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean by our own efforts, we cannot rise up from the earth to the sky by our own power. Heaven is not a place that the church will reach in the future, because the church is already there. Heaven is the birthplace of the church and its current status, but it is not her future destination. In this case, there is no question about by our efforts to reach heaven. I frankly admit that when I say this, it seems extreme, but it is true. Oh! If only we could see again the wonder of our heavenly calling! This call does not guide us to heaven, but lets us know that we belong to heaven and are already in heaven! Therefore, we Christians are not striving to reach heaven by ourselves. We are now citizens of heaven, and all our love and affection are firmly tied to heaven.