3月25日 风暴只是暂时的
风暴只是暂时的
如今在你头顶翻滚的乌云终必过去，随后你将迎来晴朗的天气，就是荣耀中永恒的阳光。
罪人哪，你说你的快乐是在“现在”，这话并没有错，因为你无法确定这种快乐下一刻是否还在。你现今的幸福正在逝去，而圣徒的幸福虽然在将来，却正在临近，且永不终结。你真的愿意像以扫那样，为了“一口红豆汤”和眼前片刻的满足，就卖掉神国永恒的产业吗？罪人竟不肯忍受今生短暂的苦楚，而选择在将来永远地承受神的忿怒，这是何等疯狂的愚昧！他们竟拿撒但摆设的短暂筵席去换取永远的灭亡。即便撒但让你一生都过着王侯般的享乐生活，但在永恒面前，这又算得了什么呢？
这一点应当鼓励那些属基督的人：风暴也许猛烈，但它只是暂时的。如今在你头顶翻滚的乌云终必过去，随后你将迎来晴朗的天气，就是荣耀中永恒的阳光。难道你不能与基督一同警醒片刻吗？
当让信心透过应许的钥匙孔往里看一看，看神为爱祂的人所预备的是何等丰盛。你所事奉的是一位信实守约的神。你既然已经在祂慈悲怜悯的泉源中洗浴过，怎么还能站在永恒的这一边，却惧怕那些横在你与荣耀之间，如同水花般短暂的苦难，而不敢让脚沾湿一点呢？
撒但的国度不仅受时间的限制，也受地域的限制。魔鬼只能在这个世界掌权。牠不能升到天上去，即便牠调动所有幽暗世界的权势也不能。这个曾经亲近过神荣耀的叛徒，自从第一次被逐出之后，就连回头望一眼那圣洁之地都不敢。牠如今只能在这地上下往来，像个流浪者，虽然被逐出神的同在，却仍未在那些正奔向天堂的圣徒身边消失。你若愿意，就可以从这个事实中得着极大的安慰：在你永恒福乐的所在之地，撒但毫无权势！
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：出36章，约15章，
个人灵修：箴13章，弗5章
MARCH 25, WENDESDAY
THE STORM IS ONLY TEMPORARY
The clouds that are presently rolling over your head will pass, and then you will have fair weather, an eternal sunshine of glory.
Sinner, you are right to say your pleasure is now, for you cannot be sure it will last for another moment. Your present happiness is going, and that of the saints, though future, is coming, never to end. Will you, like Esau for a gulp of pottage and immediate gratification, part with the eternal inheritance of God’s kingdom? What desperate madness makes sinners refuse a little hardship of the present? They foolishly choose to endure the eternal wrath of God hereafter in exchange for the short feast Satan spreads for them. If Satan keeps you royally entertained for a lifetime, what is that to eternity?
Let this encourage those of you who belong to Christ: The storm may be tempestuous, but it is only temporary. The clouds that are presently rolling over your head will pass, and then you will have fair weather, an eternal sunshine of glory. Can you not watch with Christ for one hour?
Bid faith look through the keyhole of the promise and see what God has laid up for those that love Him. You serve a God who keeps covenant forever. Having already bathed in the fountain of His tender mercies, how can you stand on this side of eternity, afraid to wet your feet with those short-lived sufferings which, like a little splash of water, run between you and glory?
Besides being bound by time, Satan’s empire is also confined as to place. The devil rules in this world only. He cannot ascend to heaven, not even if he marshals all the power of all his demon hosts. The rebel who once shared intimately in God’s glory has not dared even to look into that holy place since he was first expelled. So he ranges to and fro here below as a vagabond, excommunicated from the presence of God though not from the saints on their way to heaven. You can, if you will, take this fact as a source of great joy: Satan has no power where your eternal happiness lies!