袁晓明

Sinclair Ferguson是美国一所神学院的教授，他也是牧师，他在2007年出版了一本书 《唯有在基督里面：以福音为中心的生活》 In Christ Alone: Living the Gospel-Center Life。

过去这些年，我读过许多本书。如果你问我都是那些书名，以及书里的一些内容，我不可能都记得了，因为我没有过目不忘的恩赐，但有一些书名和书中的一些内容，我是一直都记得，并且，我愿意再次阅读这些书，《唯有在基督里面：以福音为中心的生活》就是其中一本书。

在《唯有在基督里面：以福音为中心的生活》的结尾，Ferguson教授引用了他的朋友Al的一封信，Al是基督徒、教会的牧师、神学院的教授。事实上，那封信是Al写给参加他葬礼的人。读完Al的信，我发现，Ferguson教授太无私了，因为我读完Al的信，太震撼了，我觉得Al就在我面前与我说话，基督与我们同在，我几乎完全忘了本书前面的内容。当然，Ferguson教授知道，要更深刻地理解Al临终前写下的书信，我需要再次阅读《唯有在基督里面：以福音为中心的生活》。

我愿意在这里将Al的这封信翻译成中文，与你分享。我将英文附在后面，因为我实在不能用中文表达出这封信的全意。同时，我鼓励你去阅读《唯有在基督里面：以福音为中心的生活》一书。在亚马逊河网上书店购买：http://www.amazon.com/In-Christ-Alone-Living-Centered/dp/1567690890

你若感动，请分享给你的朋友。

基督徒Al写给参加他葬礼的信：

    当我走过死荫的幽谷，我与耶稣手拉手的走过，耶稣已经从死荫的幽谷走过，并从死里复活。我拉着耶稣的手，信他，我也和他一起复活，这就是他为什么走过死亡之路， 他要使那些信他的人得以复活。耶稣的在十字架上的受难成为了我的安慰。

    现在，我已经死去，我来到神的面前，他是宇宙的王，我与耶稣一起来到神的面前。耶稣为我受难，并死在十字架上，以至于因着耶稣，我的罪可以得到赦免，战胜死亡。我现在得到复活和永生，那是我过去、现在、永远的希望。

    我有非常蒙恩的生活。年轻的时候，我明白了耶稣不是一个漫画故事，而是真实的、活的，我能够去认识他。我希望，我能够向你描述那是一个多么震撼人心的时刻，我多次深想，这是奇妙的真理。

    主将我安置在一个绝好家庭，慈爱的父母把我养大，我也有非常好的弟兄姐妹，神赐给我一个好妻子，她给我很多的喜乐，我们一起养育了四个孩子。主给我机会，让我与许多主内的弟兄姊妹一起有非常亲密的关系，在大学的的团契、维蒙的教会、在神学院，通过家庭和神的事工，我非常荣幸地爱你们，也被你们所爱，我一次、又一次地被你们在我生命中的付出而非常感动。

    在我的生命中，基督一直是不变的，我长大了、变了，他却是一直是我最初所爱的基督。我怎样来到基督的面前，一点都没变，每天都是这样，我在基督里来到神的面前。神对我的爱永远不变，在我远离他的时候，他总是呼召我，我都回到他的跟前。我心里的祈祷，对我的生命，以及我周围的人，都是我们能看到耶稣，要他进到我们的生命之中。

    也许你们中还有人从来没有信基督，还没有知道，对于我们的罪和死亡，耶稣提供了救赎。我恳求你们考虑，耶稣说他是神的儿子，他是又真又活的神，给世代的人一个信息，在他，有生命，唯有在他，有生命。他在十字架上的死，看起来卑微，却是他的荣耀，在十字架上，他战胜了我们真正的敌人：罪和死亡。以他所做的终极牺牲，他战胜了所有的敌对势力。

    如果你在信仰上有挣扎，让我来鼓励你，在最艰难的日子，耶稣与我同在。死亡被打败。我在基督里面，你也在基督里面。让我们活出得到的恩典，让我们活出基督，我们每天都仰望他，恳请他开你们的眼，去拥抱你们所见。

    全心地去寻求他，全心地去爱他，全心去爱他所爱的人，甚至为他摆上你的生命，耶稣是唯一的道路、真理、生命，没有别人能提供这样的希望。在耶稣，我们有永恒的希望。我们悲伤，但我们悲伤中有希望，复活的希望，永恒生命的希望。与耶稣在一起。

    在我许多年的基督徒生活中，我想面对面的看见耶稣，在他的面前参见天堂的圣歌，在他的宝座前颂赞。后来，与基督的依赖不是我独自的。只是我自己与耶稣在一起，不是他想要的，也不是我想要的。与基督爱的你们在一起，我也爱你们，这真是喜乐。我经常想，到天堂的时候，耶稣在终点线等我们这些奔向他的人，信他，追求他，但是，这不是我得第一名或者独自跑完的竟跑。这是我们要一起跑完的竟跑，手拉手，在信仰中相互鼓励。

    从一开始，耶稣不变的爱，那是永恒的爱，他是恩爱的神，不轻易发怒，全心地信他，因为他是信实的。

（翻译自In Christ Alone: Living the Gospel-Center Life by Sinclair Ferguson）

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As I have walked through the valley of the shadow of death, I have walked hand in hand with Jesus, the one who has already walked through that valley and come out the other side, alive, raised from the dead. And as I hold his hand and trust him, I too am raised with him, for this was his purpose in walking that path: to raise those who trusted in him. His rod and staff, his cross of suffering, have become my comfort.

Now as I have died, I come before the God, the king of the universe, and I come in Christ. He chose to suffer and die on the cross in my place, so that on account of him I might have forgiveness from sin and victory over death. And now I have received the resurrection and eternal life that has been my only hope, past, present, and forever.

I have led a truly blessed life. At a young age, I realized that Jesus was not just a story in a comic book, but that he was real and I could actually know him. I wish I could describe to you what a powerful moment of understanding that was, and I have thought about it many times over the years, marveling over and over at the truth of this central fact.

The Lord placed me into the perfect family, where I was raised by loving parents with wonderful siblings. God gave me a wonderful wife who has been my joy as we have raised four wonderful children together. The Lord has given me the opportunity to be intimately involved in the lives of so many wonderful brothers and sisters, in our fellowship at college, as a pastor in Vermont, as an elder at New Life Church, and as a professor at Westminster Seminary. Through family and ministry, I have had the privilege of loving and being loved by all of you, and I have been struck again and again by the deposit that each of you has left in my life.

Through all my life, Christ has been constant. Even as I have grown and changed, he is still the one whom I loved that first day. And nothing ever changed in how I came to him; every day of my life the story is the same: I come to God in Christ. His love for me has been steadfast, and he has pursued me through every time I have turned away from him and every time I have returned. The constant prayer of my heart for my own life and the lives of those around me has been that we would see Jesus, and that he would be welcome and present among us.

There may be some here who have never trusted Christ for life, who have never known that he is the answer to the sin and death in our lives. I urge you to consider the claims he made to being the Son of God, to consider that he didn't stay dead and sends a message down through the ages that there is life in him and him alone. His death on a cross, humiliating though it seemed, was his glory, by which he has defeated our true enemies-sin and death. By the ultimate sacrifice he made, he humiliated all powers arrayed against him.

If you struggle with faith, let me encourage you that in the hardest moments I have faced, he has been there. And death has been defeated. I am in Christ, as you are in Christ. So let us live out of the grace we have received. Let us live out of Christ. This means looking daily for him, asking him to open your eyes to him, and embracing what you see.

Seek him with all your heart. Love him with all your heart. Love those he loves with all your heart, even to the laying down of your life for him. Jesus, the way, the truth, the life. In no other do we have hope. But in him we have hope that endures forever. We grieve, but we grieve with hope. The hope of a resurrection; the hope of life eternal. Together with Jesus.

For most of my Christian life I have wanted to see Jesus face to face, to join in with the heavenly chorus in his presence around his royal throne and declare his praise in new ways. Something else  grown through the years: an abiding sense that this is not for me alone. Being with Jesus by myself is not what he wants, nor is it what I want. To be there with you all, those he loves and those I have come to love, that is true joy. I have often thought of coming to heaven as Jesus standing at the finish line of a race awaiting those looking for him, trusting in him, pursuing him. But it isn't a race for me to finish first or alone. It has always been a race for us to finish together, arm in arm, having encouraged one another in faith.

He is good. From the beginning, his steadfast love has endured. It endures forever. He is a gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love. Trust in him with all your heart, for he is faithful.