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經文：「聖靈立刻把耶穌催到曠野裡去。」（可1:12） 這似乎是很奇怪的一回事。究竟是甚麼事情發生之後，才有這「立刻」呢？在耶穌從水裡上來，看見天裂開，聖靈彷彿鴿子降在祂身上，父神公開宣佈：「祢是我的愛子，我喜悅祢」（可1:10-11）之後。這並不是反常的經歷。 你是否有這樣的經歷？豈不是山峰一程之後，立刻就是山谷一程麼？也許昨天你曾飛翔天空歌唱讚美；今天卻是翅膀下垂歌聲全止了。早晨你曾享受父神的歡笑；夜晚卻在曠野中說：「我的道路向耶和華隱藏」（賽40:27）。 信徒哪，事情突然轉變並非偶然，乃是神有美意在這當中！你有沒有想過：為甚麼祝福之後，就有這「立刻」呢？原來祝福是手續，「立刻」是目的。「立刻」就是祝福的下文。神賜祝福原是要使你能勝任前面的荒漠--客西馬尼各各他。 神光照你、高舉你、給你力量，原是要你衝過前面的可怕陣地。神賜你亮光，原是要你經過黑夜；神賜你幫助，原是要你幫助那些無助的。你並非隨時可以進入曠野受試煉的；必須先有約但河的祝福，然後才配到曠野去。--馬得勝 Geo. Matheson 祝福之後就是戰爭。一個人的屬靈修養，將因試煉而充實，再有顯著的進步。但試煉時期是不容易的；期間地獄好像張大巨口的門戶，我們的靈魂如同進入網羅，神並且讓我們落在魔鬼的掌握。但是這個時期對於定意把靈魂倚靠神的人，至終必會得勝。不論這個試煉期有多長，總有神奇的大能，無盡的效力。--懷特 Aphra White 新譯｜荒漠甘泉讀書會
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Scripture: "And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness" (Mark 1:12). It seemed a strange proof of Divine favor. "Immediately." Immediately after what? After the opened heavens and the dove-like peace and the voice of the Father's blessing, "Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." It is no abnormal experience. Thou, too, hast passed through it, O my soul. Are not the times of thy deepest depression just the moments that follow thy loftiest flight? Yesterday thou wert soaring far in the firmament, and singing in the radiance of the morn; today thy wings are folded and thy song silent. At noon thou wert basking in the sunshine of a Father's smile; at eve thou art saying in the wilderness, "My way is hid from the Lord." Nay, but, my soul, the very suddenness of the change is a proof that it is not revolutionary. Hast thou weighed the comfort of that word "immediately"? Why does it come so soon after the blessing? Just to show that it is the sequel to the blessing. God shines on thee to make thee fit for life's desert-places--for its Gethsemanes, for its Calvaries. He lifts thee up that He may give thee strength to go further down; He illuminates thee that He may send thee into the night, that He may make thee a help to the helpless. Not at all times art thou worthy of the wilderness; thou art only worthy of the wilderness after the splendors of Jordan. Nothing but the Son's vision can fit thee for the Spirit's burden; only the glory of the baptism can support the hunger of the desert. --George Matheson After benediction comes battle. The time of testing that marks and mightily enriches a soul's spiritual career is no ordinary one, but a period when all hell seems let loose, a period when we realize our souls are brought into a net, when we know that God is permitting us to be in the devil's hand. But it is a period which always ends in certain triumph for those who have committed the keeping of their souls to Him, a period of marvelous "nevertheless afterward" of abundant usefulness, the sixty-fold that surely follows. --Aphra White ｜ Mrs. Charles Cowman
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