The Consecration of Spiritual Power

. . . by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world —Galatians 6:14

If I dwell on the Cross of Christ, I do not simply become inwardly devout and solely interested in my own holiness— I become strongly focused on Jesus Christ’s interests. Our Lord was not a recluse nor a fanatical holy man practicing self-denial. He did not physically cut Himself off from society, but He was inwardly disconnected all the time. He was not aloof, but He lived in another world. In fact, He was so much in the common everyday world that the religious people of His day accused Him of being a glutton and a drunkard. Yet our Lord never allowed anything to interfere with His consecration of spiritual power.

It is not genuine consecration to think that we can refuse to be used of God now in order to store up our spiritual power for later use. That is a hopeless mistake. The Spirit of God has set a great many people free from their sin, yet they are experiencing no fullness in their lives— no true sense of freedom. The kind of religious life we see around the world today is entirely different from the vigorous holiness of the life of Jesus Christ. “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). We are to be in the world but not of it— to be separated internally, not externally (see John 17:16).

We must never allow anything to interfere with the consecration of our spiritual power. Consecration (being dedicated to God’s service) is our part; sanctification (being set apart from sin and being made holy) is God’s part. We must make a deliberate determination to be interested only in what God is interested. The way to make that determination, when faced with a perplexing problem, is to ask yourself, “Is this the kind of thing in which Jesus Christ is interested, or is it something in which the spirit that is diametrically opposed to Jesus is interested?”

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屬靈能力的分別為聖

因這十字架，就我而論，世界已經釘在十字架上。就世界而論，我已經釘在十字架上。 （加六14）

我若著眼於基督的十字架，就不會成為一個主觀的敬虔者，只注意自己的潔白；而會一心一意關注主耶穌所關注的事。我們的主不是隱逸者，也不是遁世苦行者，他沒有把自己與社會割絕，可是在他裡面，卻是一直與這世界分開。他並不是高高在上，活在另一個世界裡。他十分入世，甚至當時一些宗教人士形容他為貪食好酒，但主從不讓任何事物阻礙他分別為聖。

假冒的分別為聖，就是故意放棄一些東西，以為這樣可以儲藏屬靈的能力，留日後之用，但那是絕對錯誤的。神的靈曾粉碎許多人的罪，可是人仍未得釋放。今日所見得宗教生活，與主耶穌一生活著聖潔生活，是截然不同。 [我不求你叫他們離開世界，只求你保守他們脫離那惡者。 ]我們活在世上，卻不屬這世界；我們得分割是在根基上，不是在外表。

我們絕不可讓任何事物干擾屬靈能力的分別為聖。分別出來是我們的本份，成聖則是神的工作；我們必須堅心決意只關注神所關注的事。對於困擾的問題，就問一問---[這是主耶穌所關注的嗎？還是與主為敵的靈所關注的事？ ]

祈禱◆噢，主啊，願你膏立這個地方來讚美你；願你膏立我們這裡的每一個人來讚美你。願你在這一刻，將聖靈那愉快的微風吹拂我們。