8月16日 神对罪的不悦
神对罪的不悦
罪从哪一道门进入，神的忿怒就在那里迎见它。
不仅人拿起武器抵挡神，神也与邪恶的人为敌。“神是公义的审判者，又是天天向恶人发怒的神。若有人不回头，祂的刀必磨快，弓必上弦，预备妥当了。祂也预备了杀人的器械；祂所射的是火箭。”（诗7:11-13）凡背叛神王权的亚当的儿女，神已向他们竖立起君王的战旗，并且带着烈火和刀剑进入战场，攻击一切违背祂圣言的人。神借着祂审判罪人的方式，充分显明了祂的忿怒：他们要被祂公义的脚踏碎至死，这结局正与他们在罪中所跟随的那位如毒蛇般的主人相称。
罪从哪一道门进入，神的忿怒就在那里迎见它。人灵魂的每一种机能和身体的每一个肢体，都曾被用作抵挡神的不义兵器，因此每一个部分，甚至连舌尖，也都要承受其相应的神的忿怒。正如人怎样全然被罪玷污，他也照样全然落在咒诅之下，无论是里面还是外面，灵魂与身体皆是如此。咒诅和刑罚密密麻麻地写满了罪人的全身，仿佛已经没有任何空隙容神再添上他尚未写下的刑罚。
简而言之，主对有罪之人的不悦是如此猛烈，以致整个受造界都必须一同承受。虽然神所瞄准的是人，他的箭主要也是射向人，但这些箭同时也伤及了其他受造之物。因此，神因人的缘故咒诅了整个受造界。人的一部分苦楚正是借着堕落的受造界，借着自然界中一切原本被设立来服事人、原应为他的福杯滴入喜乐的事物与力量临到他的。
我们可以把神所降的灾祸比作一支狂怒的军队，肆意蹂躏仇敌的一切土地，毁坏他们的粮食，毒化他们的水源，焚烧他们的房屋。没有任何事物能够逃脱这狂暴的攻击。我们所吃的饼、所呼吸的空气和所喝的水，都因神的咒诅而染上了毒，以致即使是世上最健康、最长寿的人，最终也难免一死。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：撒上7-8章，罗6章，
个人灵修：耶44-45章，路13章
AUGUST 16, SUNDAY
GOD’S DISPLEASURE WITH SIN
At every door where sin enters, the anger of God meets it there.
Not only is man in arms against God, but God is against wicked man also. “God is angry with the wicked every day… he hath bent his bow and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death” (Psalm 7:11–13). God has set up His royal standard in defiance of all the sons and daughters of Adam, who are traitors to His crown. And He has taken the field as with fire and sword against everyone who rebels against His Word. God gives sufficient testimony of His wrath by revealing how He judges sinners—they are crushed to death by His righteous foot, a fate suited to their viperous master in sin.
At every door where sin enters, the anger of God meets it there. Because each faculty of the soul and member of the body is used as a weapon of unrighteousness against God, so every one, even to the tip of the tongue, receives its portion of divine wrath. And just as man is sinful all over, so he is cursed all over—inside and outside, soul and body alike. Curses and punishments are written over him so closely together that there is not room for one more to be added to those God has already written.
In a word, the Lord’s displeasure against sinful man is so fiery that all creation must share in it. Although God takes aim at man, and levels His arrows primarily at him, yet they wound other creatures as well. God’s curses, then, blast the whole creation for man’s sake; and part of the misery of man is paid to him through the fallen creation, through all the forces and creatures of the natural world which originally were ordained to minister to man and to provide contributing drops in the filling of his cup of joy.
We can compare God’s plagues to an enraged army which spoils all the enemies’ land—destroying their supplies, poisoning their water, and burning their homes. Nothing escapes the fury of it. The very bread we eat, air we breathe, and water we drink are poisoned with God’s curse, so that even the oldest, healthiest living man will eventually die.