1月16日 未装备之罪人的悲惨光景
未装备之罪人的悲惨光景
“那时，你们与基督无关……在所应许的诸约上是局外人，并且活在世上没有指望，没有神。”（弗2:12）
一个没有基督、缺乏恩典的状态，是赤身露体且毫无盔甲的——完全没有能力去与罪恶和撒但争战。起初，神差遣亚当进入世界时，他是全副武装的；但魔鬼用诡诈剥夺了他的武装。当第一宗罪犯下后，“他们二人的眼睛就明亮了，才知道自己是赤身露体……”（创3:7）。罪夺走了他们的军装，使他们沦为贫穷、软弱的受造物。虽然撒但当初为了打开第一道缺口费了一番手段，可一旦人打开城门让牠进来，魔鬼便自封为王，驱使成群的致命的罪进入人的心灵，甚至无需拔刀。
我的意思是：亚当和夏娃犯罪后没有认罪，反倒试图躲避神，在面对神时变得闪烁其词。他们彼此推诿，将悖逆的责任推给对方，而非求神怜悯。人的心被诡诈硬化得何等迅速！从那天起，人类的本性从未改变。每个亚当的子孙都是如此：撒但遇见我们时，我们是赤身赤露的，于是他就奴役我们，直到神用祂爱子的宝血将我们买赎，收复每一个悔改的灵魂，使之事奉于祂的国度。
“那时，你们与基督无关……在所应许的诸约上是局外人，并且活在世上没有指望，没有神。”（弗2:12）你若不是天国的国民，圣约中的任何应许都与你无关，正如罗马公民无权享有伦敦的特许权一样。没有神，你在世上是孤立无援的；一旦陷入困境，你只能靠自己辩护。但你若是天国的公民，神就有权能在任何处境中赐予你特别的保护；即便魔鬼对你满怀恶意，但若未经许可，它绝不敢踏入神的领地来触碰你。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：创17章，太16章，
个人灵修：尼6章，徒16章
JANUARY 16, FRIDAY
THE SAD STATE OF THE UNARMED SINNER
“Ye were without Christ, being aliens from thecommonwealth of Israel and strangers from thecovenants of promise” (Ephesians 2:12).
A person in a Christless, graceless state is naked and unarmed—totally unequipped to fight sin and Satan. In the beginning, God sent Adam out in complete armor. But by sleight of hand, the devil stripped him. As soon as the first sin was completed, “[Adam and Eve] were naked” (Genesis 3:7). Sin robbed them of their armor and left them poor, weak creatures. It cost Satan some fancy footwork to make the first breach, but once man opened the gates to let him in, the devil named himself king and brought to court a whole cortege of deadly sins, without ever drawing a sword.
Here is what I mean: Instead of confessing their sin, Adam and Eve tried to hide from God and became evasive in their dealings with Him. They blamed one another, shifting the responsibility for their disobedience rather than appealing for mercy. How quickly their hearts were hardened by deceit! Man’s basic nature has not changed since that day. This is exactly the condition of every son and daughter of Adam; naked Satan finds us, and slaves he makes us until God, having bought us with the blood of His dear Son, comes to reclaim each penitent soul for service in His own kingdom.
“Ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise” (Ephesians 2:12). If you are not a kingdom child, you have no more to do with any covenant promise than a citizen of Rome has to do with the charter of London. You are alone in the world, without God. If you get into trouble, you must plead your own case. But if you are a citizen of heaven, God has power to grant you special immunity in any situation. And while the devil’s spite is directed toward you, he dare not come upon God’s ground to touch you without permission.