4月8日 撒但作为灵的本性
撒但作为灵的本性
魔鬼并不会死。牠们会一路尾随你直到坟墓；若你死时仍与基督无分，牠们还会在另一个世界迎接你，在那里控告并折磨你。
灵不仅是非物质的，而且极其聪明；除此之外，牠们还因拥有不朽性而占据了独特的优势。对于地上的仇敌，你最终总可能听到这样的话：“要害你性命的人已经死了。”正如天使曾就希律的事对约瑟所说的那样（太2:20）。恶人不过是在人生的舞台上走过一、两个场次，随后就被死亡传唤下场，他们的阴谋也就此烟消云散；但魔鬼并不会死。牠们会一路尾随你直到坟墓；若你死时仍与基督无分，牠们还会在另一个世界迎接你，在那里控告并折磨你。
这些邪灵是不知疲倦的。在人与人的争战结束时，即使是胜者也必须坐下来喘口气，因为人的体力终究有限。还有些人，虽然按世俗标准看颇为成功，但一旦个人目的落空，就会灰心丧志，放弃战斗。古代教父曾提到戴克里先，说他因未能成功铲除基督教而恼羞成怒，最终愤然丢下了权杖。他杀害基督徒的速度，全然赶不上天国里新生命诞生的速度，于是他最终彻底放弃，转而去寻找其他恶毒的消遣。
但魔鬼绝不会灰心，也永不厌倦于残害人的灵魂。自从牠起初在地上“走来走去，往返而来”以来，牠从未停止过片刻（参伯1:7）。事实上，若不是神亲自捆绑牠的手脚，牠那疯狂的行径永远不会停息。
魔鬼不仅是灵，而且是极度邪恶的灵。神被称为“那圣者”，因为没有谁像耶和华那样圣洁；而魔鬼被称为“那恶者”，因为牠在邪恶上具有独特性（参太13:19）。我们从圣经中对牠的认识，不仅让我们窥见牠邪恶的高度，也能以此衡量世人当中罪恶与罪人的程度。这个准则很简单：我们越像神，就越圣洁；我们越像魔鬼，就越邪恶。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：利11-12章，诗13-14章，
个人灵修：箴26章，帖前5章
APRIL 8, WENDESDAY
SATAN’S NATURE AS A SPIRIT
Devils do not die. They will track you to your grave, and if you die Christless, they will meet you in another world to accuse and torment you there also.
In addition to being immaterial and highly intellectual, spirits gain a distinct advantage by being immortal. Of other enemies, you may hear at last that “they are dead which sought [thy] life,” as the angel told Joseph concerning Herod (Matthew 2:20). Wicked men walk a turn or two upon the stage, then are called off by death; so end their plots. But devils do not die. They will track you to your grave, and if you die Christless, they will meet you in another world to accuse and torment you there also.
These wicked spirits are indefatigable. When the fight is over among men, even the conqueror must sit down and catch his breath. His strength has a limit. Other men, successful by human standards but deprived of their own personal goals, lose their will to fight and give up in despair. Tertullian said of Diocletian that he threw down his scepter in a fit of pique when he was unsuccessful at stamping out Christianity. He could not kill Christ’s followers as fast as they were being born into the kingdom, so at last he gave up altogether and sought some other fiendish amusement.
But the devil never becomes dispirited, nor does he tire of doing mischief to the souls of men. He has not stood still for a moment since he first began to walk to and fro in the earth (Job 1:7). Indeed, God Himself must bind him hand and foot to stop his feverish activities.
Not only are devils spirits, but they are extremely wicked spirits. God is called the Holy One because none is as holy as the Lord. The devil is called the “wicked one” because he is uniquely evil (Matthew 13:19). What we know of him from Scripture gives us a measure of the height of his wickedness, and can be used to judge the degrees of sins and sinners among men. The formula is simple. The more we are like God, the holier we are; the more like the devil, the more wicked.