11月28日 十个试验：试验一至三
11月28日，周五
十个试验：试验一至三
“神对我们的爱，我们已经明白了，而且相信了。神就是爱；住在爱里面的，就住在神里面，神也住在他里面。”（约翰壹书4:16）
下面我要提出十个试验，好让你检视自己，让你确实地弄清自己是否真正认识神向你所显明的爱。
第一个试验：你不再有那种“神是敌对我的”的感觉。属肉体的人总觉得神是敌对他的。他心里害怕神、怀疑神，也根本不希望真的有一位圣洁、全知的造物主在掌权。如果有一天他醒来，看到报纸上登着某个主教“证明神从来不存在”，他会立刻相信，并且满心欢喜。世俗媒体也总喜欢大肆宣传每一个否定信仰的言论——因为他们知道这迎合公众的心。为什么是这样呢？因为属肉体的人与神为敌（罗8:7），他总觉得神是在找他麻烦、限制他的自由、向他索取。他也因此常在困难中抱怨说：“为什么神允许这样？” 既然在人心中神是“敌人”，他当然不可能爱神。所以，第一个最基本的试验就是：你是否已经不再有那种“神是敌对我的、神针对我”的感觉？
第二个试验：你不再惧怕神，却仍然深深敬畏祂。希伯来书的作者提醒我们，要“用虔诚敬畏的心事奉祂”（来12:28）。这不是奴性的恐惧（craven fear），不是害怕神会惩罚、会毁灭你，而是一种因认识祂的圣洁、荣美而产生的深深的敬畏。 真正重生的人不再像从前那样惧怕神的同在，却会因神的圣洁而心生敬畏、谦卑、肃穆。恐惧感消失了，但敬畏却更深。
第三个试验：你开始真实地感受到“神是向着你、为着你、爱你的”。我之所以这样表达，是因为这非常符合许多基督徒真实的生命体验。你不仅失去了“神敌对我”的感觉，而且开始在心里生出一个新的认识：神是向着我的（罗8:31）祂对我满有恩慈，祂顾念我、关怀我，祂真的爱我。从消极的“神不再反对我”，转变为积极的“神正在为了我”。这是认识神的爱最温柔、最深刻的证据之一。
默想主题：
我已经不再觉得神敌对我，而是开始深深意识到：神是为着我的。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：代上24-25章，彼前5章
个人灵修：弥3章，路12章
November 28, Friday
TEN TESTS: TESTS 1-3
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. (1 JOHN 4:16)
I shall suggest to you ten tests that you can apply to yourself to know for certain that you know the love of God to you.
Here is the first. It is a loss and absence of the sense that God is against us. The natural man always feels that God is against him. He would be very glad if he could wake up and read that some bishop or other had proved that God never existed; he would be ready to believe that. The newspapers give publicity to anything that denies the faith; they know the public palate. That is why the natural man is at enmity against God; he feels God is against him. That is why when anything goes wrong he says, “Why does God allow this?” And when men and women are in a state of being antagonistic toward God, then, of course, they cannot love God. So one of the first tests, and I am starting with the lowest, is that we have lost that feeling that God is against us.
Second, there is a loss of the fear of God, while a sense of awe remains. Let us approach Him “with reverence and godly fear,” writes the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (12:28). John is going to elaborate on that; that is the rest of the fourth chapter of 1 John. We lose that craven fear of God, but oh, what a reverence remains.
Third, there is a feeling and a sense that God is for us and that God loves us. Now I put it like that quite deliberately because it is so very true to experience. I have lost the sense that God is against me, and I begin to have a feeling and sense that God is for me, that God is kind to me, that He is concerned about me, and that He truly loves me.
A Thought to Ponder: I have lost the sense that God is against me, and I begin to have a feeling and sense that God is for me.