1月17日 没有基督的争战
没有基督的争战
不要被任何人欺骗。属灵的黑暗绝不可能被驱除，除非灵魂与基督联合。
一个灵魂若被撇下，只能靠自己的力量去抵挡成群的私欲和魔鬼，这是何等绝望的境地！他会像一只惊惶失措的野兔，被一群猎犬围攻——没有神来喝阻猎犬，反倒有撒但在一旁催赶。一旦神离开一个群体，无论他们看起来多么好战、作风多么强硬，他们很快就会丧失勇气，无力作战；甚至一群孩子都能起来，把他们从自家的前院赶出去。当以色列人听见关于“巨人”和“坚固城”的消息时，曾陷入恐慌，当时迦勒和约书亚曾这样安抚他们：“……因为他们是我们的食物，并且荫庇他们的已经离开他们。有耶和华与我们同在，不要怕他们！”（民14:9）既然如此，一个没有全能者作遮盖的灵魂，岂不更容易沦为撒但的食物吗？
只有无知的人，才会在被围困时赤手空拳地从堡垒中冲出去。他显然没有摸清敌情，否则他会知道城门外潜伏着怎样的凶险。更糟糕的是：若他不披戴基督就去争战，他便是在黑暗中摸索。使徒写道：“从前你们是暗昧的，但如今在主里面是光明的……”（弗5:8）。作为光明之子，你们这些基督徒即便在某些真理或应许上偶尔会感到模糊，但你们总拥有一双属灵的眼睛，这是没有基督的人所不具备的。未重生的人总是因为太无知而无法抵挡撒但；而基督徒对真理的认识，即便在灵魂暂时被试探掳去时，也会追赶上去，将灵魂夺回。
不要被任何人欺骗。属灵的黑暗绝不可能被驱除，除非灵魂与基督联合。正如肉眼一旦被挖出，单凭人的手段绝无可能复原；因亚当犯罪而失落的属灵眼睛，也不能靠人或天使的努力来恢复。这正是基督降世要医治的顽疾之一：“……叫瞎眼的得看见”（路4:18）。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：创18章，太17章，
个人灵修：尼7章，徒17章
JANUARY 17, SATURDAY
WARFARE WITHOUT CHRIST
Do not let anyone deceive you. Spiritual darkness can never be expelled except by union with Christ.
What a desperate condition, for a soul to be left to his own defense against legions of lusts and devils! He will be torn like a silly hare among a pack of hounds—no God to call them off, but Satan to urge them on. Let God leave a people, no matter how militant, and before long they lose their courage and cannot fight. A company of children could rise up and chase them out of their own front yard. When the Israelites panicked at news of invincible giants and walled cities, Caleb and Joshua pacified them with this assurance: “They are bread for us; their defense is departed from them” (Numbers 14:9). How much more must that soul who has no defense from the Almighty be as bread to Satan?
Only an ignorant soul is foolish enough to ride out of his castle unarmed during a siege. He obviously has not studied the enemy, or he would know what peril lies beyond his gates. To make matters even worse, if he fights without putting on Christ, he must fight in the dark. The apostle writes, “Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8). As a child of light, you who are Christians may be in the dark from time to time concerning some truth or promise. But you always have a spiritual eye which the Christless person lacks. The unregenerate man is always too ignorant to resist Satan, whereas the Christian’s knowledge of the truth pursues and brings back the soul even when taken prisoner by a temptation.
Do not let anyone deceive you. Spiritual darkness can never be expelled except by union with Christ. As the physical eye once put out cannot be restored by human means, so neither can the spiritual eye—lost by Adam’s sin—be restored by the efforts of men or angels. This is one of the diseases Christ came to cure (Luke 4:18).