如何辨別聖靈與蛇How to Distinguish the Holy Spirit from theSerpent
作者: 傅格森（Sinclair Ferguson) 譯者/校對者: Maria Marta/駱鴻銘
我們如何辨別這兩者呢？施恩的聖靈對我們生命的引領和掌管的感動，與來自這世界的靈和我們自己有罪的心的錯覺？倘若我們想要坦然自若地確信與我們相交的靈真的是聖靈，這就是非常重要的問題。
約翰‧歐文（John Owen) 提出四種區分聖靈和蛇的方法：
1. 歐文說，聖靈的引導是一般性的，即是根據聖規（the regulum) 的：聖經的原則。聖靈不是在我們身上工作，賜給我們新的生命原則，而是幫助我們明白和運用聖經中的原則。因此，詢問有關任何引導的基本問題應該是：這行動方針符合上帝的話語嗎？
2. 聖靈的命令是不難遵守的，祂的命令與聖道是和諧一致的，而聖道與作為新造者的信徒是和諧一致的。基督徒自覺地順服上帝的話語，會在遵守上帝的話語中找到喜樂，即使主為我們預備的道路充滿了爭扎，痛苦和悲傷。然而，基督的軛是輕省的；衪給我們的擔子永遠不會壓碎我們的靈(太十一28-30）。
3. 聖靈的「提議」（motions) ，是有秩序的。正如上帝的盟約在萬事上都是有秩序的，是堅穩的（撒下廿三：52），所以盟約所應許的恩賜，即內住的聖靈，在祂對待我們的方式上，也是有秩序的。躁動不是與聖靈相交的標記，而是那惡者的作為。也許歐文心里想著的，是與他會眾中特定的會友，他寫道：
「我們看到一些可憐的靈魂受到這樣的梱綁，被催促要在許多責任間匆忙地竄上跳下，討撒但的喜悅。他們必須在許多責任間跳來跳去，卻往往疏忽職守。當他們在禱告時，應該是在受呼召的崗位上工作的時候；當他們在受呼召的崗位工作時，卻又受到試探拋開一切，跑去禱告。信徒知道這不是來自上帝的靈，上帝的靈「使萬事各按其時，成為美好。」
4. 歐文說，「提議」或聖靈的感動，總是傾向於按照上帝的話語來榮耀上帝。祂把耶稣的教導帶進我們的記憶；祂榮耀救主；祂在我們心裏澆灌對上帝濃濃的愛。
那麼，聖靈如何在信徒身上作工呢？聖靈是作爲我們最終救贖的保證金、定金、頭期款而到來的。此時此地, 祂是未來榮耀的預嚐。但是，祂的同在也是一個跡象，表明我們目前的屬靈經驗是不完整的。
歐文在這裏所寫的，與那些說到自己已經脫離內在的罪和掙扎的影響，並藉著聖靈的自由得到釋放的人的言論，形成鮮明的對比。正是因爲祂是初熟的果子，還不是最終的收成，在一定的意義上，內住的聖靈是信徒歎息的緣由：「連我們這些有聖靈作爲初熟果子的人，自己也在內心歎息，熱切期待成爲嗣子，就是我們的身體得贖。」（羅八23新譯本）聖靈的同在已經帶給我們未來榮耀的預嚐，然而，祂也同時在我們心裡，對我們目前的屬靈經歷建立起一種不完全感。這點對歐文而言，按照聖經的理解，就是與聖靈相交為何會為信徒的生命帶來喜悅，然而卻又深深地感知到圓滿的喜悅尚未完全的原因。
本文摘編自Sinclair Ferguson著的《The Trinitarian Devotion of
John Owen》。
How to Distinguish the Holy
Spirit from the Serpent
FROM
Sinclair Ferguson
How
do we distinguish the promptings of the Spirit of grace in His guiding and
governing of our lives from the delusions of the spirit of the world and of our
own sinful heart? This is a hugely important question if we are to be calm and
confident that the spirit with whom we are communing really is the Holy Spirit.
John
Owen suggests four ways in which the Spirit and the serpent are to be
distinguished:
1.
The leading of the Spirit, he says, is regular, that is, according to the
regulum: the rule of Scripture. The Spirit does not work in us to give us a new
rule of life, but to help us understand and apply the rule contained in
Scripture. Thus, the fundamental question to ask about any guidance will be: Is
this course of action consistent with the Word of God?
2.
The commands of the Spirit are not grievous. They are in harmony with the Word,
and the Word is in harmony with the believer as new creation. The Christian
believer consciously submitted to the Word will find pleasure in obeying that
Word, even if the Lord’s way for us is marked by struggle, pain, and sorrow.
Christ’s yoke fits well; His burden never crushes the spirit. (Matthew
11:28-30)
3.
The “motions” of the Spirit are orderly. Just as God’s covenant is ordered in
all things and secure, (2 Samuel 23:5) so the promised gift of that covenant,
the indwelling Spirit, is orderly in the way in which He deals with us.
Restlessness is not a mark of communion with the Spirit but of the activity of
the evil one. Perhaps Owen had particular members of his congregations in mind
when he wrote:
We
see some poor souls to be in such bondage as to be hurried up and down, in the
matter of duties at the pleasure of Satan. They must run from one to another,
and commonly neglect that which they should do. When they are at prayer, then
they should be at the work of their calling; and when they are at their
calling, they are tempted for not laying all aside and running to prayer. Believers
know that this is not from the Spirit of God, which makes “every thing
beautiful in its season.”
4.
The “motions,” or promptings of the Spirit, Owen says, always tend to glorify
God according to His Word. He brings Jesus’ teaching into our memories; He
glorifies the Savior; He pours into our hearts a profound sense of the love of
God for us.
How,
then, does the Spirit act on the believer? The Spirit comes to us as an
earnest, a pledge, a down payment on final redemption. He is here and now the
foretaste of future glory. But His presence is also an indication of the
incompleteness of our present spiritual experience.
Owen
here writes in sharp contrast to those who spoke of release from the influence
of indwelling sin and struggle through the liberty of the Spirit. Precisely
because He is the firstfruits and not yet the final harvest, there is a sense
in which the indwelling of the Spirit is the cause of the believer’s groaning:
“We ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait
eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (Romans 8:23)
The presence of the Spirit brings us already a foretaste of future glory, but
also, simultaneously, creates within us a sense of the incompleteness of our
present spiritual experience. This, for Owen, is how communion with the
Spirit—understood biblically—brings joy into the life of the believer and yet a
deep sense that the fullness of joy is not yet.
This
excerpt is taken from The Trinitarian Devotion of John Owen by Sinclair
Ferguson.
