晨興聖言-經歷、享受並彰顯基督(W24-5)

第二十四週.週五

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晨興餧養

弗六16 『此外,拿起信的盾牌,藉此就能銷滅那惡者一切火燒的箭。』

來十二2 『望斷以及於耶穌,就是我們信心的創始者與成終者;祂為那擺在前面的喜樂,就輕看羞辱,忍受了十字架,便坐在神寶座的右邊。』

我們需要真理束腰,義遮蓋良心,和平作腳的立足點,信作盾牌保護我們全人。…我們的信,當然不是相信自己的能力、力量、功績或美德;我們的信必須是相信神。(可十一22。)神是真的、活的、應時的、且便利的;我們需要相信祂。

我們也應當相信神的心。每個基督徒都需要認識並信靠神和神的心。神對我們的心總是好的;不管我們身上發生甚麼事,或經歷甚麼苦難,我們總要相信神的心是好的。(羅八3139。)神沒有意思要懲罰我們、傷害我們、或叫我們受虧損。(新約總論第十一冊,二六四至二六五頁。)

信息選讀

我們該相信神的心,也該相信神的信實。…我們會改變,但神不改變。正如雅各書一章十七節所說,在神並沒有變動,或轉動的影兒。不僅如此,神也不能說謊,(多一2,)祂對自己的話總是信實的。神不僅是信實的,也是有能力的;所以,我們需要信神的能力。〔弗三20。〕

我們的信還有一面,就是相信神的話。神受了約束,要成就祂所說的一切。祂越說話,就越要負責成就祂自己的話。我們能告訴祂:『神,你已經說了,你寫成的話已經在我們手中。主,你受了約束,要成就你的話。』我們該為著神信實的話讚美祂。

我們也需要相信神的旨意。因著神是有定旨的神,祂有一個旨意。(一911。)祂對我們的旨意總是積極的。因此,不論何事臨到我們,我們都不該懷疑神的旨意,我們不該在意我們的快樂或我們的環境。…我們的環境會改變,但神的旨意絕不改變。

不僅如此,我們必須相信神的主宰。(羅九1929。)…在祂的主宰權柄下,連我們的錯誤也互相效力,叫我們得益處。…當我們有錯時,我們需要悔改。但是我們不需要懊悔,…我們為了錯誤或缺失悔改後,應當仍然運用信心相信神的主宰權柄。若不是祂的主宰權柄允許我們這麼作,我們不可能犯錯。

火燒的箭就是撒但的試誘、題議、懷疑、問題、謊言和攻擊。每一個試誘都是欺騙,都是虛假的應許。撒但常常向我們題議,因此我們需要進到主的話裏。我們若不在主的話裏,就沒有遮蓋以抵擋魔鬼的題議。…許多時候撒但用謊言攻擊我們,但是信的盾牌保護我們,抵擋這些火燒的箭。

我們若要叫信心得保衛,抵擋撒但火燒的箭,就需要一個正確的靈,同著無虧的良心。…按照我們的經歷,這在我們心裏的信,〔羅十10,〕主要與我們運用意志有關。…因此,我們若要有信心,就需要運用我們的意志。

在以弗所六章十七節前半保羅繼續說,『接受救恩的頭盔。』這是為著遮蓋我們的心思,抵擋那惡者射到我們裏面的消極思想。這樣的頭盔,這樣的遮蓋,乃是神的救恩。撒但把威嚇、憂慮、罣慮和其他叫人軟弱的思想,注射到我們的心思裏。神的救恩乃是我們抵擋這一切所拿起的遮蓋。這樣的救恩,就是我們在日常生活中所經歷那拯救的基督。(約十六33。)(新約總論第十一冊,二六五至二六八頁。)

參讀:以弗所書生命讀經,第六十四至六十六篇。

WEEK 24 — DAY 5

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Morning Nourishment

Eph. 6:16 Besides all these, having taken up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming darts of the evil one.

Heb. 12:2 Looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God.

We need truth to gird our loins, righteousness to cover our conscience, peace as the standing for our feet, and faith to shield our entire being. We certainly are not to have faith in our own ability, strength, merit, or virtue. Our faith must be in God (Mark 11:22). God is real, living, present, and available. We need to have faith in Him.

We also should have faith in God’s heart. Every Christian needs to know and trust both God and the heart of God. God’s heart toward us is always good. No matter what may happen to us or what kind of suffering we may experience, we should always believe in the goodness of God’s heart (Rom. 8:31-39). God has no intention to punish us, to injure us, or to cause us to suffer loss. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3463-3464)

Todays Reading

Along with faith in God’s heart, we should have faith in God’s faithfulness… We may change, but God does not change. As James 1:17 says, with God there is no variation or shadow cast by turning. Furthermore, God cannot lie (Titus 1:2) but is always faithful to His word. God is not only faithful but also able. Therefore, we need to have faith in God’s ability [Eph. 3:20]

…Still another aspect of our faith is faith in God’s word. God is bound to fulfill all that He has spoken. The more He speaks, the more responsible He becomes to fulfill His own word. We can tell Him, “God, You have spoken, and Your written Word is in our hand. Lord, You are bound to fulfill Your word.” We should praise God for His faithful word.

We also need to have faith in God’s will. Because God is a God of purpose, He has a will (1:9, 11). His will with respect to us is always positive. Hence, no matter what befalls us, we should not doubt God’s will, and we should not care for our happiness or our environment…Our environment may change, but God’s will never changes.

Furthermore, we must have faith in God’s sovereignty (Rom. 9:19- 29)…Under His sovereignty, even our mistakes work for good…When we are wrong, we need to repent. Yet there is no need for us to regret…After we repent for a mistake or shortcoming, we should exercise faith in God’s sovereignty. We could not have made that mistake if He had not sovereignly allowed us to do so.

The flaming darts are Satan’s temptations, proposals, doubts, questions, lies, and attacks. Every temptation is a deceit, a false promise. Satan often makes proposals to us. For this reason, we need to get into the Word. If we are not in the Word, we will have no covering against the devil’s proposals… Many times Satan attacks us with lies, but the shield of faith guards us against these flaming darts.

If we would have the faith to be defended against Satan’s flaming darts, we need a proper spirit with a conscience void of offense…According to our experience, this faith in our heart [Rom. 10:10] is related mainly to the exercise of our will…Hence, if we would have faith, we need to exercise our will.

In the first part of Ephesians 6:17 Paul goes on to say, “Receive the helmet of salvation.” This is for covering our mind against the negative thoughts directed at us by the evil one. Such a helmet, such a covering, is God’s salvation. Satan injects threats, worries, anxieties, and other weakening thoughts into our mind. God’s salvation is the covering that we take up against all these. Such a salvation is the saving Christ whom we experience in our daily life (John 16:33). (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3464- 3466)

Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 64—66

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