2月22日 善用撒但的试探
善用撒但的试探
撒但在约伯身上耗尽心力，最终得着了什么呢？不过是让那位圣徒到了最后，更深切地知道神是何等爱他。
神竟使撒但的试探成了传递祂爱意的信使。魔鬼在引诱亚当吃禁果时，自以为胜券在握，以为人从此也陷入了和牠一样的绝境。但牠能让神措手不及吗？当然不能！神在比赛开始前就已预见了结局，并借着撒但的试探，拉开了那伟大的福音序幕——借着基督拯救罪人。照着神的旨意，基督承担了这项重任：祂要从撒但的爪牙中夺回神堕落的受造物，恢复他们起初的荣耀，并赐给他们比起初更丰盛的恩典得以亲近神。
撒但在约伯身上耗尽心力，最终得着了什么呢？不过是让那位圣徒到了最后，更深切地知道神是何等爱他。当撒但让彼得蒙羞跌倒后，我们岂不是看见基督仍旧以从前一样的爱把彼得认作是自己的人吗？在基督复活的喜讯中，彼得是唯一被指名去报信的门徒——仿佛主在说：“务必用这消息安慰彼得；我要让他知道，尽管他曾胆怯，我仍旧是他的朋友。”神绝不纵容圣徒的罪，但祂确实怜悯他们的软弱。祂绝不会看见圣徒哀恸却不预备用祂慈爱与怜悯的荣光来温暖他。
事实上，神能使用圣徒的失败来坚固他们的信心；信心好比树木，越经摇撼，根扎得越深。试炼的时刻会揭露人心的真相。虚假的信心一旦受挫，往往就此熄灭；真实的信心却会更勇敢地起来争战，正如我们在彼得身上所见。试探之于信心，如同烈火之于金子：“叫你们的信心既被试验，就比那被火试验仍然能坏的金子更显宝贵”（彼前 1:7）。火不但显明真金，也使真金更为纯净。因为渣滓被剔除了，炼净后的金子在分量上似乎少了，但在品质与价值上却更高、更纯了。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：出5章，路8章，
个人灵修：伯22章，林前9章
FEBRUARY 22, SUNDAY
USING SATAN’S TEMPTATIONS
What did Satan get for all the energy he spent on Job, but to let that holy man know at last how dearly God loved him?
God makes Satan’s temptations the courier of His love to the saints. The devil thought he had the game in his own hands when he got Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. He supposed he now had man in the same predicament as himself. But did he catch God by surprise? Of course not! God knew the outcome before the match was ever begun and used Satan’s temptation to usher in that great gospel plot of saving man by Christ. At God’s command, Christ undertook the charge of wrestling His fallen creatures from Satan’s clutches and reinstating them to their original glory, with access to more than they ever had at first.
And what did Satan get for all the energy he spent on Job, but to let that holy man know at last how dearly God loved him? When he foiled Peter so shamefully, do we not find Christ claiming Peter with as much love as ever? Peter was the only disciple to whom Christ sent the joyful news of His resurrected by name—as if He had said, “Be sure to comfort Peter with this news. I want him to know I am still his friend, despite his cowardice.” God never condones wickedness in His saints, but He does pity their weakness. He never sees a saint in mourning without planning to clothe him in the sunlight of His love and mercy.
God can, in fact, use His saints’ failures to strengthen their faith, which, like a tree, stands stronger for the shaking. Times of testing expose the heart’s true condition. False faith, once foiled, seldom comes on again; but true faith rises and fights more valiantly, as we see in Peter. Temptation is to faith as fire is to gold (1 Peter 1:7). The fire not only reveals which is true gold, but makes the true gold more pure. It comes out less in bulk, being separated from the dross that was mixed with it, but is greater in quality and value.