11月21日 承认基督
11月21日，周五
承认基督
凡承认耶稣是神的儿子的，神就住在他里面，他也住在神里面。（约翰壹书4:15）
约翰在这里所要论证的是：若不是神住在你里面，你也住在神里面，你就根本不可能真心相信耶稣是神的儿子。这就是整段论述的重点。“凡承认耶稣是神的儿子的，神就住在他里面，他也住在神里面。”而神住在我们里面，是藉着圣灵成就的。因此，我们可以这样说：那些承认耶稣是神儿子的人，已经有圣灵内住；反过来讲，没有圣灵，就没有人能够真正相信耶稣是神的儿子。
这并不是约翰一个人的看法，而是和整本新约一致的教义。使徒保罗也说：“我们所讲的，是从前隐藏的、 神奥秘的智慧，就是神在万世以前，为我们的荣耀所预定的；这智慧，这世代执政的人没有一个知道，如果他们知道，就不会把荣耀的主钉在十字架上了。…只有神藉着圣灵向我们显明了，因为圣灵参透万事，就是神深奥的事也参透了。”（林前2:7-8，10）
你看，整个事实可以这样表达：即使是这世界的君王、权势者在看见拿撒勒人耶稣的时候，他们也只是看见了一个普通的人，一个木匠。他们也许会认为祂只是一个非凡的宗教思想家，但他们并不知道祂就是那位“荣耀的主”。为什么呢？因为他们没有领受圣灵。 但你和我——保罗对哥林多人说——却能明白、能相信这些事。这又是为什么呢？因为神已经藉着祂的圣灵将这些向我们显明。圣灵就是 “参透万事，就是神深奥的事也参透了”的那一位。
默想主题：
神已经借着祂的圣灵将“神深奥的事”向我们显明。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：代上16章，雅3章
个人灵修：俄，路4章
November 21, Friday
CONFESSING CHRIST
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. (1 JOHN 4:15)
John’s whole case is that you cannot believe that Jesus is the Son of God unless God dwells in you and you in God; that is his argument. “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” And the way in which God dwells in us is by the Holy Spirit. So we can say that the people who do confess that Jesus is the Son of God have the Holy Spirit already within them. Or to put it another way, they cannot believe that Jesus is the Son of God without possessing the Holy Spirit.
Now this is a doctrine that is common to the whole of the New Testament. The apostle Paul puts it like this: “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.... But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:7-8, 10).
You see, the whole case can be put like this: Even the princes of this world, the great men of the world, looked at Jesus of Nazareth and saw nothing but a man, a carpenter. They may have regarded Him as a kind of unusual religious genius, but they did not know He was the Lord of glory. Why not? Well, says Paul, because they had not received the Holy Spirit. But you and I, he says to the Corinthians, we understand these things, we believe them. Why? Because God has revealed them to us by His Spirit, the Spirit who searches all things, “yea, the deep things of God.”
A Thought to Ponder: God has revealed “the deep things of God” to us by His Spirit.