Do You Walk In White?

We were buried with Him . . . that just as Christ was raised from the dead . . . even so we also should walk in newness of life —Romans 6:4

No one experiences complete sanctification without going through a “white funeral”-the burial of the old life. If there has never been this crucial moment of change through death, sanctification will never be more than an elusive dream. There must be a “white funeral,” a death with only one resurrection-a resurrection into the life of Jesus Christ. Nothing can defeat a life like this. It has oneness with God for only one purpose— to be a witness for Him. Have you really come to your last days? You have often come to them in your mind, but have you really experienced them? You cannot die or go to your funeral in a mood of excitement. Death means you stop being. You must agree with God and stop being the intensely striving kind of Christian you have been. We avoid the cemetery and continually refuse our own death. It will not happen by striving, but by yielding to death. It is dying— being “baptized into His death” (Romans 6:3).

Have you had your “white funeral,” or are you piously deceiving your own soul? Has there been a point in your life which you now mark as your last day? Is there a place in your life to which you go back in memory with humility and overwhelming gratitude, so that you can honestly proclaim, “Yes, it was then, at my ’white funeral,’ that I made an agreement with God.”

“This is the will of God, your sanctification . . .” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Once you truly realize this is God’s will, you will enter into the process of sanctification as a natural response. Are you willing to experience that “white funeral” now? Will you agree with Him that this is your last day on earth? The moment of agreement depends on you.

---

你穿白衣而行嗎？

和他一同埋葬……一舉一動有新生的樣式。 （羅六4） 一個人要經歷完全的成聖，不能不先經過[白色的葬禮]——舊生命的埋葬。若沒有這死的轉捩點，成聖只不過是幻影。必須有一次[白色的喪禮]，死才有復活——復活在耶穌基督的生命裡頭。什麼都不能搖動這生命，這是與神合一的生命；而我們的目的只有一個，就是為他作見證。你真的來到生命的盡頭了嗎？在情緒上你固然時常會來到，但是否真真正面對它？你不可能興興奮奮地死去。死的意思是你不復存在。你有沒有答應神，讓往日那竭力掙扎、熱情充沛的信徒經歷成為過去？我們往往巡視墳場的四周，始終不肯死去。我們並不是要竭力求死，乃是[受洗歸入他的死]。

你行過你[白色的葬禮]沒有？還是在與自己的靈魂愚弄嬉耍？你生命中有沒有一個地方標明[末日]？有沒有一個地方讓你想起當日所的管教，心中萬分感激地說：[是了，就在那時，在那『白色喪禮』中，我與神立了約]?神的旨意是叫我們成聖。當你一旦覺察到神的旨意什麼，就十分自然地進到成聖的地步。你願意現在就行那[白色喪禮]嗎？你能否像神首肯說，這一天是你在地上的最後一天？首肯的時刻是在你手上。

祈禱◆[非聖潔沒有人能見主。 ]主啊，感謝你，賜下這句話。倘若你不是聖潔的，那會是何等可怕！有些時候，我們是多麼容易墜入一個較鬆散、較卑賤的生活中了；感謝你藉著聖靈的嘆息提醒我——我何其渴望它們能帶領我與你面對面。寬恕我的遲緩，我需要那麼久，才醒悟某些事情。