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經文：「除了從地上買來的那十四萬四千人以外，沒有人能學這歌。」（啟14:3） 有一種歌，既非藝術所能教，亦非樂理所能編，只有在患難中才能學會。這種歌發自於內心，是一種親身記憶與經歷的聲音，從曾經的苦難宣洩而出，從往日的體驗成就今日的讚美。 聖約翰說，即使在天上，也只有一首世人唱得完美的歌曲；救贖之頌。毫無疑問這是一首勝利之歌，但勝利的意義必須來自被捆鎖的記憶。 就連天使也無法唱得像我們這麼動聽，除非天使走過我們所走過所經歷的，這些除了十架之子曾經歷過，不然是無法光靠學能學到的。 所以我的己哪，你現在正從父神學習的音樂功課；要使你有資格加入天上的大合唱。在其中有些聲部並沒有其他人能擔任，就連眾天使與天使長都不能；是唯有你才能擔任的；眾天使雖然能唱高音，但這幽遠又深沉的低音，卻是只有你一人能唱。所以父神訓練你擔任那天使都不能擔任的部份；而訓練你的學校就是苦難。 有些人會說，神給你苦難是爲了要試煉你。但還有一個更貼切的說法，就是神給你苦難是爲了要訓練你，好使你能加入天上的敬拜團，所以： 在黑雲中祂試你聲音的質地； 在憂傷中祂教你唱歌的表情； 在患難中祂練你的吐氣換氣； 在試煉中祂教你發音的精準。 請不要輕看這所神的音樂學校，許多的人雖然羨慕，可是還不能被選呢！--馬德勝 Geo. Matheson |
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Scripture: "And no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth" (Rev. 14:3). There are songs which can only be learned in the valley. No art can teach them; no rules of voice can make them perfectly sung. Their music is in the heart. They are songs of memory, of personal experience. They bring out their burden from the shadow of the past; they mount on the wings of yesterday. St. John says that even in Heaven there will be a song that can only be fully sung by the sons of earth--the strain of redemption. Doubtless it is a song of triumph, a hymn of victory to the Christ who made us free. But the sense of triumph must come from the memory of the chain. No angel, no archangel can sing it so sweetly as I can. To sing it as I sing it, they must pass through my exile, and this they cannot do. None can learn it but the children of the Cross. And so, my soul, thou art receiving a music lesson from thy Father. Thou art being educated for the choir invisible. There are parts of the symphony that none can take but thee. There are chords too minor for the angels. There may be heights in the symphony which are beyond the scale--heights which angels alone can reach; but there are depths which belong to thee, and can only be touched by thee. Thy Father is training thee for the part the angels cannot sing; and the school is sorrow. I have heard many say that He sends sorrow to prove thee; nay, He sends sorrow to educate thee, to train thee for the choir invisible. In the night He is preparing thy song. In the valley He is tuning thy voice. In the cloud He is deepening thy chords. In the rain He is sweetening thy melody. In the cold He is moulding thy expression. In the transition from hope to fear He is perfecting thy lights. Despise not thy school of sorrow, O my soul; it will give thee a unique part in the universal song. --George Matheson ｜ Mrs. Charles Cowman
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