“Faith Rests upon the Character of God 信心是奠基於神的屬性上“（Philippians 腓立比書 1:20-21）
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
我所熱切期待和盼望的，就是在凡事上我都不會羞愧，只要滿有膽量，不論生死，總要讓基督在我身上照常被尊為大。因為我活著就是基督，我死了就有益處。
Christ’s gospel is addressed not to reason but to faith. What can be proved requires no faith to accept. Faith rests upon God’s character, not upon any proof by experiment or logic. At the heart of the Christian system lies Christ’s cross with its divine paradox. The truth of the cross is revealed in its contradictions. The cross stands in bold opposition to the natural man. Its philosophy runs contrary to the processes of the unregenerate mind. When he looks at the cross, he is pessimistic for he knows that the same judgment that fell on the Lord of glory condemns in that one act all nature and all the world of men. Yet he is calmly, restfully optimistic, for Christ’s resurrection guarantees the ultimate triumph of good throughout the universe. (A. W. Tozer)
基督的福音針對的是信心而非理性；凡能夠證明的東西，就不須憑信心接受，而信心是奠基於神的屬性，而非任何實驗或邏輯的驗證上。基督的十字架，以及它神聖的反論，都是基督體系的核心，而十字架的真理就在它互相矛盾的論據上顯明出來。十字架的立場與屬肉體的人互相對立，它的哲學與尚未重生之人所想的亦背道而馳。當他注視十字架時，他感到悲觀，因他知道荣耀的主嚐到的審判，使人的所有天性與整個世界都被定罪了。可是，他卻泰然自若，心存樂觀，因為基督的復活保證了良善最終必在宇宙中得勝。（陶恕）
Prayer: Our Glorious Saviour and Lord of Life, it might be relatively easy for us to associate your glory only with being delivered from our problems, not in being delivered in the midst of our problems. Thank you for Paul’s example of living his life not to preserve and promote himself, but to glorify Jesus Christ on whom his faith rested. May we know for sure that death is not a defeat to us as Christians. It is merely a graduation to glory, a net gain for us. Amen.
禱告：我們榮耀的救主和生命之主啊！對我們來說，只把你的榮耀與我們從自己的疑難得釋放，而不是在自己的疑難中間有待釋放，這樣互相關聯或許相對上是容易的。感謝你保羅的榜樣，他活出自己的生命，不是要保存和推銷自己，卻是要榮耀他信心所奠基於的耶穌基督。願我們確實曉得，對我們基督徒來說，死亡不是擊敗認輸，它僅僅是進到榮耀的結業禮、給我們浄賺的益處。阿們。
