128. Love Questioned and Vindicated

I have loved you, saith the Lord, Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Malachi 1:2
ISRAEL under Malachi was in a captious, querulous condition; his brief prophecy is full of unbelieving questions, in which man seems bent upon having the last word with God.
The text might be treated as bearing upon our own favored nation, for God has been very gracious to Britain, and Britain is sadly ungrateful.
We prefer to consider Israel as the type of the election of grace.
It occurs even to the chosen, when grace runs low, to fall into an ill humor, and to appear beaten down, depressed, and full of sullen unbelief. This is a very wretched state of affairs.
With this state of heart we deal.

I. GOD'S LOVE DECLARED. "I have loved you, saith the Lord."

To every believer the special love of God is declared in the Scriptures, and to that love the text refers. This is clear if we observe the words, which follow:— "Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau." This is the precise language used by Paul when speaking of the election of grace (Rom. 9:13).
To every believer this love has been shown in—

1. Election in Christ Jesus from of old.
2. Covenant engagements made by Christ on his behalf.
3. Accomplished Redemption by the Lord Jesus.
4. Regeneration and the gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus.
5. Pardon of sin, justification by faith, adoption, sanctification, etc.
6. Preservation to this hour, and promise for all future time.

This is a scanty list of the ways by which the Lord has said to each regenerate soul, "I have loved you."
Do we not remember times of love when this was personally sealed upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit?
Even now the Lord speaks thus to his redeemed by his Word, and by his Spirit. Do they not hear it? Are they not touched with so gracious and condescending an avowal of love?

II. GOD'S LOVE QUESTIONED. "Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us?"

This is a shocking and disgraceful thing; but, alas, it indicates a condition of heart which has been seen far too frequently.
Such a question has been asked—

1. Under great afflictions in which there seemed no relief. Petulantly the sorrowing one has questioned divine love.
2. In sight of the prosperous wicked in their day of pride many a poor despised believer has rashly doubted the special love of God.
3. In times of grievous doubt as to one's personal salvation, and under heavy temptations of Satan, the same doubt has arisen.
4. Alas, this has also happened when, immersed in worldliness, the man for the time has lost all sight and sense of spiritual things, and has treated distinguishing love as though it were a fiction!

This is a grievous wounding of the Lord of love.
It pours despite upon amazing mercy.
It exposes the questioner to fearful peril.

III. GOD'S LOVE CONSIDERED.
When we solemnly turn, and meditate upon these things, we see—

1. Love lamenting. Is God to be thus treated? Shall he mournfully cry, "I have loved you. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us?"
2. Love entreating. Does not each accent say, "Return to me"?
3. Love abounding. Our question shames us. God loves us in ten thousand ways; loves us so as to be patient even when we wickedly question his love.
4. Love conquering. We bow at Jehovah's feet with shame, and yield our heart's best love in return for his love.

Come, ye cast down ones, leave your sullen questionings!
Run into his arms, and receive the quietus of all your fears.

Love-Notes

A child has willfully disobeyed. For this offense he has been chastised, and confined to his own room. He is very sullen and obstinate, and his father reasons with him, and tells him with tears that he is greatly grieved with him, and feels wounded by the ingratitude which he receives after all his love. The boy angrily replies that he does not believe in his father's love: if he loved him, why did he whip him, and send him to bed? This would be a very rebellious speech; but it would be pitched in the same key as our text. It would also set forth the spirit which is often seen in Christians when they measure the Lord's love by their temporal circumstances, and ask in rebellion whether their poverty, their pains, and their persecutions are fit fruits of divine favor. The Lord knows how foolish we are apt to be when our soul is vexed with bitter anguish, and therefore he does not destroy us for our presumption, but he patiently reasons with us that he may bring us to a better mind.

If it would be marvelous to see one river leap up from the earth full-grown, what would it be to gaze upon a vast spring from which all the rivers of the earth should at once come bubbling up, a thousand of them born at a birth? What a vision would it be! Who can conceive it? And yet the love of God is that fountain, from which all the rivers of mercy, which have ever gladdened our race — all the rivers of grace in time, and of glory hereafter — take their rise. My soul, stand thou at that sacred fountainhead, and adore and magnify for ever and ever God, even our Father, who hath loved us. — C. H. S.

What is more tender than a mother's love
To the sweet infant fondling in her arms?
What arguments need her compassion move
To hear its cries, and help it in its harms?
Now, if the tenderest mother were possessed
Of all the love within her single breast
Of all the mothers since the world began,
'Tis nothing to the love of God to man.
— John Byrom

A very tender parent had a son, who, from his earliest years, proved headstrong and dissolute. Conscious of the extent of his demerits, he dreaded and hated his parent. Meanwhile, every means was used to disarm him of these suspicions, so unworthy of the tenderness and love which yearned in his father's bosom, and of all the kindness and forbearance which were lavished upon him. Eventually the means appeared to be successful, and confidence, in a great degree, took the place of his ungenerous suspicions. Entertained in the family as one who had never trespassed, he now left his home to embark in mercantile affairs, and was assured that if in any extremity he would apply to his parent, he should find his application kindly received. In the course of years it fell out that he was reduced to extremity; but, instead of communicating his case to his parent, his base suspicion and disbelief of his tenderness and care again conquered him, and he neglected to apply to him. Who can tell how deeply that father's heart was rent at such depravity of feeling? Yet this is the case of the believer, who, pardoned and accepted, yet refuses to trust his heavenly Parent, throws away his filial confidence, and with his old suspicions stands aloof in sullen distrust. Oh, how is God dishonored by this sinful unbelief! — Salter

Dr. Chalmers used to say that "As soon as a man comes to understand that 'God is love,' he is infallibly converted."

Charles Hadden Spurgeon

128．愛被質疑與辯明（Love Questioned and Vindicated）

「耶和華說：我愛你們；你們卻說：我愛我們何益呢？」——瑪拉基書 1:2 (2耶和華說：「我曾愛你們。」你們卻說：「你在何事上愛我們呢？」耶和華說：「以掃不是雅各的哥哥嗎？我卻愛雅各，)
瑪拉基時期的以色列，處於一種吹毛求疵、滿口抱怨的狀態；他簡短的先知書充滿了不信的問題，人似乎總想要和神爭論到底。
這段經文也可用於我們自己蒙恩的國家——神對英國極其恩慈，而英國卻常常忘恩負義。
然而，我們更願意將以色列看作恩典揀選的典型。
即便是被揀選的人，當恩典枯竭時，也會陷入心情不佳，顯得被打擊、沮喪，並充滿陰沉的不信。這是一種非常悲慘的心境。
今天，我們要處理的就是這種心態。

一、神的愛被宣告

「我愛你們，耶和華說。」

對每一個信徒，神的特別愛在聖經中被宣告，而這段經文正是指向這愛。若觀察後文的話語便清楚了：「以掃不是雅各的兄弟嗎？耶和華說：然而我愛雅各，恨以掃。」這正是保羅論及恩典揀選時所用的語言（羅馬書 9:13  13正如經上所記：雅各是我所愛的；以掃是我所惡的。）。對每位信徒，這愛已透過多種方式顯明：

1. 從古時起，在基督裡的揀選。
2. 基督為我們所立的約定。
3. 主耶穌所成就的救贖。
4. 重生及在基督裡的永生恩賜。
5. 赦罪、因信稱義、兒子名分、成聖等。
6. 至今蒙保守，以及對未來的應許。

這只是神對每個重生之靈說「我愛你們」的部分例子。
我們難道不記得那些時刻，神的愛藉著聖靈親自印在我們心上嗎？
即使如今，主仍透過話語與聖靈向祂的子民說話。難道他們不聽見嗎？難道他們不被如此恩慈謙卑的愛所感動嗎？

二、神的愛被質疑

「你們卻說：我愛我們何益呢？」
這是一件令人震驚且羞辱的事；然而可悲的是，這反映出一種心態，歷來太常見。
這樣的問題曾出現於：

1. 大苦難之中，似乎無有救助——憂傷的人急躁地質疑神的愛。
2. 看見惡人繁榮得意之時——許多受鄙視的信徒輕率地懷疑神的特別愛。
3. 對個人得救存疑時，及在撒但猛烈試探下——同樣的懷疑也會升起。
4. 陷入世俗之中——暫時喪失靈性的感知，把神的分別愛當作虛構。

這是對愛的主極大的傷害，對奇妙憐憫的蔑視，並使質疑者暴露於可怕的危險中。

三、神的愛被省思

當我們認真轉向、默想這些事情時，我們會看到：

1. 愛的哀傷——神怎能如此對待？祂難過地說：「我愛你們，你們卻說：我愛我們何益呢？」
2. 愛的懇求——每一句語氣不都是在說「回到我這裡來」嗎？
3. 愛的豐盈——我們的質疑令我們蒙羞；神以萬千方式愛我們，即使我們邪惡地質疑祂的愛，祂仍耐心。
4. 愛的勝利——我們在耶和華面前蒙羞屈膝，將心中最深的愛回報給祂。

來吧，憂傷的人，放下你們陰沉的質疑！
奔向祂的懷抱，領受你所有恐懼的安息。

愛的比喻

孩子的例子：一個孩子故意不服從，被父親責罰並關在房裡。他很倔強、悶悶不樂，父親流著淚勸導他，說因孩子忘恩而受傷心。孩子卻生氣地說：「我不相信你愛我；若愛我，為何打我、叫我早睡？」這是極度叛逆的話語，但其心態正與經文相同。許多基督徒也是如此：以神的愛衡量短暫的境遇，質疑祂的恩典與眷顧；主卻不因他們的愚蠢而滅絕他們，而是耐心引導他們，使心轉正。

神的愛如萬川之源：若能看到一條河流從地中湧出，已屬奇觀；何況看到一個泉源，一次涌出千條河流，滋養整個地球？神的愛便是這源頭，萬千救恩之河、時代恩典之河、未來榮耀之河，都源自這愛。我的心啊，站在這神聖的源頭，永遠敬拜、讚美我們的父——祂愛了我們。
——查爾斯．哈登．司布真

有誰比母親更溫柔的愛？
對抱在懷裡的嬰孩，呵護珍重？
何需論據動她憐憫之心，
聽見哭聲，救助所受傷害？
若世上最溫柔母親，
集所有母親之愛於一身，
仍不及神對人的愛。——約翰．拜倫（John Byrom）

一位極其慈愛的父親有一個兒子；這兒子自幼便顯出剛愎與放蕩的性情。自知自己過犯深重，他便懼怕並憎惡父親。與此同時，人們用盡各樣方法，試圖消除他那些與父親胸中湧動的慈愛與溫柔、以及父親所傾注的一切恩慈與忍耐極不相稱的猜疑。最終，這些方法似乎奏效了；信任在很大程度上取代了他那不公正的猜忌。他被接納在家中，如同從未有過越軌之舉一般；隨後他離家投身商業，並被確信：若在任何極端困境中向父親求助，必定會得到父親慈和的接納。 多年之後，他果然陷入極端困境；然而，他並未將自己的處境告訴父親，反倒是他卑劣的猜疑與對父親慈愛與眷顧的不信再次勝過了他，使他忽略了向父親求助。誰能說得出那位父親的心因這樣敗壞的情感而被撕裂得何等深重呢？然而，這正是信徒的情形：雖已蒙赦免、被接納，卻仍拒絕信靠天上的父，丟棄兒女的信任，帶著舊日的猜疑，陰鬱地疏離不前。噢，這種有罪的不信，是何等地羞辱了上帝！——索爾特（Salter）

查爾默斯博士曾說：「人一旦明白『神就是愛』，必定會得救。」

——查爾斯．哈登．司布真

129. Sunshine

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. Malachi 4:2
THERE is one grand distinction among men — "him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not." See last verse of previous chapter.
Fearing God is the mark which distinguishes man from man far more than wealth, rank, or nationality.
The coming of Christ is a calamity or a blessing to men according to their character.
What a change of figures! To the wicked, '"an oven"! (see verse 1). To God fearing men, a "Sun"!
Our text was fulfilled at our Lord's first coming.
It awaits a far larger fulfillment at his second coming.
It is always true as a general principle, and it is felt to be true when the Lord Jesus spiritually draws near to his people.

I. LET US THINK OF OUR LORD AS THE SUN.

l. He is the center of the whole system of grace.
2. He is to us the Grand Attraction, and Holdfast, keeping us in our places, as the sun keeps the planets in their orbits.
3. He is the source of all good. His beams are righteousness: all that emanates from him is good: all good emanates from him; even as all light and heat come, directly or indirectly, from the sun.
4. He is without variableness or shadow of turning (James 1:17). In himself he is forever the same, shining on without ceasing.
5. To us he has his risings, and his settings. If for a while we are in the shade, let us look for his arising.
6. To those who fear him not he never rises, for they are blind, and know no day, and see no light.

What the world would be without the sun, that should we be without our Lord. Can we conceive the gloom, the death, etc.?

II. LET US ENJOY THE BLESSINGS WHICH HE SCATTERS.

1. What light of knowledge, what warmth of love, what radiance of joy we receive from him! Let us walk in it.
2. What health he gives! Healing for the sick, health for the strong.

• Every sunbeam is medicinal, every word of Christ is life.
• The earlier we come to Christ the better: his rising is attended with sparkling dews of joy.

The more we commune with him the better: let us bask in the sunlight.

3. What liberty he brings! "Ye shall go forth."
When the sun has reached a certain point in his annual course, the cattle which have been stalled are led forth to the mountain pastures; so the Lord
Jesus sets his people free, and they go forth—

• To enjoy spiritual privileges.
• To perform spiritual duties.
• To reach spiritual attainments.
• To carry abroad spiritual influences.

4. What growth he fosters!— "and grow up as calves of the stall."
When the Lord Jesus is with his people—

• They are abundantly fed.
• They are comfortably housed.
• They are regularly tended.
• They advance rapidly to maturity.

A heart which communes with Jesus possesses a freshness of youth, an ease of life, and other advantages, which admirably fulfill the comparison of "calves of the stall."
As all this comes of fearing the Lord, let us be diligent in worship, careful in obedience, and reverent in spirit.
As all this comes through our Lord Jesus, let us abide under his sweet influences, and never move out of his sunshine into that far off country, where the Arctic winter is never cheered by the Sun of righteousness.
We have not to make a Sun, or move the Sun, or buy the Sun; but only to step into the free and blessed sunshine. Why do we hesitate?
Why do we not by faith pass from darkness into his marvelous light?

Sunbeams

The late Mr. Robinson, of Cambridge, called upon a friend just as he had received a letter from his son, who was surgeon on board a vessel then lying off Smyrna. The son mentioned to his father that every morning, about sunrise, a fresh gale of air blew from the sea across the land, and, from its wholesomeness and utility in clearing the infected air, this wind is always called the Doctor. "Now," says Mr. Robinson, "it strikes me that the prophet Malachi, who lived in that quarter of the world, might allude to this circumstance when he says that 'the Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings.' The Psalmist mentions 'the wings of the wind; and it appears to me that this salubrious breeze, which attends the rising of the sun, may be properly enough considered as the wings of the sun, which contain such healing influences, rather than the beams of the sun, as the passage has been commonly understood." — Burder's "Oriental Customs"

There is a beautiful fable of the ancient mythology, to the effect that Apollo, who represents the sun, killed a huge poisonous serpent by arrows surely aimed, and shot from afar. It intimates that sunbeams, darted straight from heaven, destroy many deadly things that crawl upon the ground, and so make the world a safer habitation. The parable is, in this respect, a stroke of truth, and it coincides with a feature of the eternal covenant. Light from the face of Jesus, when it is permitted to stream right into a human heart, destroys the noisome things that haunt it, as Apollo's arrows slew the snake. — W. Arnot

In all the departments of vegetable, animal, moral, and spiritual life, light stands out as the foremost blessing and benefit which God confers. In physical existence this is especially true. Thousands die for lack of light. No vigorous vegetable life, no healthy animal life, can long exist without light. The pestilence "walketh in darkness".... Sir James Wylie, late physician to the Emperor of Russia, attentively studied the effects of light as a curative agent in the hospital of St. Petersburg, and he discovered that the number of patients who were cured in rooms properly lighted was four times that of those confined in dark rooms. These different results are due to the agency of light, without a full supply of which plants and animals maintain but a sickly and feeble existence. Light is the cheapest and best of all medicines. Nervous ailments yield to the power of sunshine. Pallid faces grow fresh and ruddy beneath its glow. The sun's rays have wonderful purifying power. — H. L. Hastings

"Heaven be praised! I have once more seen the sun," said Dr. Hayes, in his record of the experience of a certain Arctic day, when he, with others had visited a point from which they could see the sun come up for the first time from his long winter isolation. "Off went our caps with simultaneous impulse, and we hailed this long-lost wanderer of the heavens with loud demonstrations of joy."
A man scoffingly asked, "What advantage has a religious man over any one like myself?. Does not the sun shine on me as on him, this fine day?" "Yes," replied his companion, a pious laborer, "but the religious man has two suns shining on him at once — one on his body, the other on his soul." — The Biblical Treasury

Charles Hadden Spurgeon

129．陽光（Sunshine）

「但向你們敬畏我名的人，必有公義的日頭出現，其光線有醫治之能；你們必出來跳躍，如圈裡的肥犢。」——瑪拉基書 4:2 (2但向你們敬畏我名的人必有公義的日頭出現，其光線（原文是翅膀）有醫治之能。你們必出來跳躍如圈裏的肥犢。)
人類之間有一個偉大的分別——「事奉神的，與不事奉神的。」（見前一章最後一節 18那時你們必歸回，將善人和惡人，事奉神的和不事奉神的，分別出來。」）
敬畏神，遠比財富、地位或國籍，更能區分人與人。
基督的降臨，對人而言，是災禍或祝福，取決於人的品格。
何等奇妙的比喻轉換！對惡人而言，是「爐火」（見第 1 節）；對敬畏神的人而言，卻是「日頭」！
這段經文在我們主第一次降臨時已經應驗；
在祂第二次降臨時，還要有更完全、更廣大的成全。
作為一項普遍原則，這話始終真實；並且當主耶穌在靈裡親近祂子民時，人也深切感受到其真實。

一、讓我們思想主為「日頭」

1. 祂是整個恩典體系的中心。
2. 祂是我們至大的吸引與維繫，使我們各守其位，如同太陽使眾行星運行在軌道中。
3. 祂是一切美善的源頭。祂的光線是公義；凡從祂而出的都是良善；一切美善都源自祂，正如一切光與熱，直接或間接地都來自太陽。
4. 祂毫無改變，也沒有轉動的影兒（雅各書 1:17 17各樣美善的恩賜和各樣全備的賞賜都是從上頭來的，從眾光之父那裏降下來的；在他並沒有改變，也沒有轉動的影兒。 ）；就祂自己而言，祂永遠不變，持續照耀。
5. 對我們而言，祂有升起，也有隱沒；若我們一時落在陰影中，就當仰望祂再度升起。
6. 對不敬畏祂的人，祂從未升起，因他們是瞎眼的，不知白晝，也看不見光。

沒有太陽的世界會如何，我們若沒有主也正是如此；那是何等的陰暗、死亡與荒涼！

二、讓我們享受祂所散布的祝福

1. 我們從祂得著何等的知識之光、愛之溫暖、喜樂之輝煌！讓我們行走在其中。
2. 祂賜下何等的醫治！對病者是醫治，對強者是健康。
   

• 每一道陽光都是藥方；基督的每一句話都是生命。
• 越早來到基督面前越好：祂的升起伴隨著喜樂的甘露。
  

與祂交通越多越好：讓我們沐浴在祂的陽光中。

3. 祂帶來何等的自由！——「你們必出來。」
   當太陽在一年運行中到達某一位置，被圈養的牲畜便被帶到高山牧場；同樣，主耶穌釋放祂的子民，使他們出來——

• 享受屬靈的特權；
• 盡屬靈的本分；
• 達到屬靈的境界；
• 把屬靈的影響力傳揚出去。

4. 祂促進何等的成長！——「如圈裡的肥犢長成。」
   當主耶穌與祂的子民同在時——

• 他們得著豐盛的餵養；
• 享有舒適的遮蔽；
• 接受規律的照顧；
• 快速邁向成熟。

與耶穌相交的心，保有青春的清新、生活的自在，以及其他各樣優勢，正好成就「圈裡的肥犢」這個比喻。
既然這一切都源於敬畏耶和華，就讓我們殷勤敬拜、謹慎順服、心存敬畏；
既然這一切都藉著我們的主耶穌而來，就讓我們常住在祂甜美的影響之下，切莫離開祂的陽光，走向那遙遠之地——那裡的極地寒冬，從不被公義的日頭照耀。
我們不必造一個太陽，不必移動太陽，也不必購買太陽；
我們只需踏入這白白賜下、滿有福氣的陽光中。我們為何遲疑？
為何不憑信心，從黑暗進入祂奇妙的光中？

陽光片語（Sunbeams）

劍橋的羅賓遜先生曾拜訪一位朋友，正巧那人收到一封來自其兒子的信；這位兒子是停泊在士每拿附近船上的外科醫生。信中提到，每天清晨日出時，總有一陣清新的海風吹向陸地，因其清潔污濁空氣的功效，當地人稱這風為「醫生」。羅賓遜先生說：「這使我想到，瑪拉基先知或許正指此事，才說『公義的日頭出現，其翅膀有醫治之能』。詩篇提到『風的翅膀』；在我看來，這伴隨日出而來、帶著醫治力量的清風，稱作日頭的翅膀，或許比把它理解為日光更貼切。」
——布德，《東方風俗》

古代神話中有一則美麗的寓言：代表太陽的阿波羅，用準確而遠射的箭殺死了一條巨大的毒蛇。這寓言暗示，從天而來的日光能消滅地上的致命之物，使世界成為更安全的居所。這比喻在此處帶著真實的光彩，也與永約的一個特點相符：當從耶穌面前發出的光，被允許直射進人心，就會摧毀其中潛伏的污穢，如同阿波羅的箭射殺毒蛇一般。——W．阿諾特

在植物、動物、道德與屬靈生命的各個層面，光都是神所賜最首要的祝福。在物質生命中尤其如此：成千上萬的人因缺乏光而死亡；沒有光，就沒有健全的植物生命，也沒有健康的動物生命。瘟疫「行在黑暗中」……
俄國皇帝的御醫詹姆士．懷利爵士，在聖彼得堡醫院研究光的醫療效果，發現住在光線充足病房中的病人，其痊癒人數是黑暗病房的四倍。這些差異，源於光的作用。光是最便宜、也是最好的藥物；神經性疾病在陽光下得醫治，蒼白的臉在其照耀下恢復紅潤；陽光具有奇妙的潔淨能力。
——H．L．黑斯廷斯

「感謝上天！我又一次看見太陽了！」海斯博士記錄了一個北極日子的經歷；在漫長的極夜之後，他們終於再次看見日出，人們不約而同地脫帽，高聲歡呼，迎接這久別的天上旅人。
有人譏諷地問：「敬虔的人比我這樣的人有什麼好處？今天陽光不也同樣照在我身上嗎？」
一位虔誠的工人回答說：「是的，但敬虔的人同時有兩個太陽照著他——一個照在他的身體上，另一個照在他的靈魂裡。」——《聖經寶庫》

——查爾斯．哈登．司布真