1月20日 撒但的恶毒
撒但的恶毒
你是否感到惊讶：撒但为何如此竭力地想要驱逐福音？因为正是这福音驱逐了牠。
请片刻也不要怀疑：撒但必将所有的怒火，倾倒在那些爱慕神话语的人身上。撒但对基督福音的“认识”极其深远，甚至可以追溯到万古之初；牠一次又一次亲眼见证了福音的大能，也深知福音中蕴藏着一座属灵的军械库，是专门为那些心灵破碎、备受折磨的灵魂预备援助与兵器的。
福音对黑暗国度的第一次冲击，就震动了地狱的根基，令阴间的军团四散奔逃；直到如今，它们仍在溃逃。当初，基督差遣的七十个人回来报告说：连鬼也因福音的能力降服了。耶稣回答他们说：“我曾看见撒但从天上坠落，像闪电一样。”（路10:17-18）本质上，主是在告诉他们：“你们所说的对我而言并非新闻；我亲眼看见撒但如何被摔下天庭。我太了解福音的能力了！”
你是否感到惊讶：撒但为何如此竭力地想要驱逐福音？因为正是这福音驱逐了牠。借着福音的光，许多曾与撒但为伍的人找到了真理与生命的道路；也借着这光，圣徒带着蒙福的确据，迈向永恒的家乡。没有什么比看见旧日的同伴不再贪恋罪中之乐，转而潜心研读圣经，更能折磨魔鬼了。撒但深知：一个不明白福音的圣徒，就像一支没有弹药的军队，不堪一击。因此，牠要么通过逼迫，企图将神的话赶尽杀绝，要么利用政治手段，诱导一个民族将神的话拒之门外。
因为正是神的话教导我们如何“披戴基督”并领受祂的恩典，使我们装备齐全，足以应战。千万不要自欺，以为离开这本无价之书，你还能在属灵争战中站立得住。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：创21章，太20章，
个人灵修：尼10章，徒20章
JANUARY 20, TUESDAY
THE MALICE OF SATAN
Do you wonder that Satan works so hard to dispossess the Gospel which dispossesses him?
Do not doubt for a moment that Satan will hurl all his fury at those who love God’s Word. His acquaintance with the Good News of Christ goes back a long way, to the dawn of the ages, in fact. He has seen its power demonstrated over and over again, and he knows it houses an arsenal of arms and aids for battered souls.
The very first assault the Gospel made against the kingdom of darkness shook its foundation and put the legions of hell on the run. They are fleeing still. When the seventy missionaries commissioned by Christ returned with their reports that even demons were subdued by the power of the Gospel, Christ replied, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven!” (Luke 10:17–18). In essence He tells them, “What you say is not news to Me; I watched when Satan was cast out of heaven. How well I know the power of the Gospel!”
Do you wonder that Satan works so hard to dispossess the Gospel which dispossesses him? By the light of the Gospel many who were once his friends find the way to truth and life. By the same light, saints move with blessed assurance toward their eternal home. Nothing torments the devil more than to see his old companions neglect their former sinful pleasures and spend time studying the Scriptures instead. He knows that a saint without a knowledge of the Gospel is as vulnerable as an army without ammunition. Therefore, he labors either by persecution to drive God’s Word away, or by political policy to persuade a people to send it away from their coast.
For it is God’s Word which teaches us how to put on Christ and His graces so that we are fitly armed. Never flatter yourself into thinking you can do without this priceless book.