三、圣灵在圣职人员中的运行,尤在于光照与教导
146# 圣灵施行于圣职人员之中的神性能力与运行,尤为侧重光照与教导。
前节所列举主的诸般作为:改造、重生、更新、赋予生命、圣化、称义、洁净、赦罪,至终成全救恩;这一切运行,无论临到圣职人员或是平信徒,皆由主流入凡人与他们相融,为内里有主、主也安居其内之人所领受(约 6:56,14:20,15:4,5)。
然而唯独圣职人员特蒙光照、领受教导,缘由在于:传道训诲本是其分内职事,受任圣职之时,便一同领受此类属灵运行。他们常以为,自己凭着赤诚热心讲道,便如古时门徒一般蒙受神圣感发;主当年向门徒吹气吩咐:“你们受圣灵”(约 20:22;另参可 13:11),不少人更亲身见证,讲道之时确有能力涌入心中。
但众人务当审慎,不可贸然认定讲道时涌上心头的热忱,便是居于内里的神性运行。此类激昂之情,甚至更为炽烈的狂热,同样见于偏执异端之人、深陷教义谬误之辈;更有一班轻慢圣言、以自然万物为神明之徒,平日里将信仰与仁义弃置一旁,如同收纳入袋抛在身后,及至登台施教,又将二者取来摆在人前,好似反刍之兽,反复吐出可供听众听闻的字句。
盖热忱本身,不过是属世性情燃起的血气沸腾。若这份热忱之内蕴藏对真理的爱慕,便如降临使徒身上的圣火,《使徒行传》如此记载:“又有舌头如火焰显现出来,分开落在他们各人头上;他们就都被圣灵充满”(徒 2:3,4)。
倘若热忱内里藏着爱慕伪谬的心,便如困于木柴之内的烈火,一旦迸发,必将焚毁屋舍。你这轻弃圣言神圣、否认主之神性的人,不妨解下背上收纳道理的囊袋、将它敞开 —— 这原是你私下独处时常做的事,内里实情便一目了然。
我知晓《以赛亚书》所言 “路西弗” 所预表、出自巴比伦的一类人,但凡步入圣殿、登上讲坛之时,其中尤以自称耶稣会会士者为甚,常会被一股强烈热忱裹挟;这份热忱在许多人内里源自地狱的私欲之爱,是以他们比因属天之爱而生热忱之人,呼喊更为激烈,胸中叹息也更为深沉。
至于圣职人员身上另外两类属灵运行,可参阅后文第一百五十五节。
146# (3)“圣灵的差遣”是指神性能量和运作,或神性能力和活动;尤其对神职人员来说,神性能量和运作,或神性能力和活动,是指光照和教导。前面所列举的主的运作,即改造、重生、更新、复活、成圣、称义、洁净、罪的赦免,以及最终的拯救,从主流入神职人员和平信徒,并被那些在主里面,主也在他们里面的人接受(约翰福音6:56; 14:20; 15:4,5)。然而,神职人员尤其接受光照和教导,因为这些与他们的职责有关,按立圣职就自带这些。此外,当牧师满怀热情地讲道时,他们相信自己受到默示或神启,就像主的门徒一样,主向门徒吹气说:
你们受圣灵。(约翰福音20:22; 马可福音13:11)
有些人甚至肯定地说,他们已经感受到了流注。但他们要格外小心,不要说服自己相信,许多人在讲道时所表现出的热情是他们心里的神性运作。因为狂热分子,以及那些处于极端的教义虚假的人,甚至那些轻视圣言,敬拜自然而非神,可以说把仁爱和信仰扔进后背的袋子里的人也能感受到一种类似、甚至更强烈的热情。他们在讲道和教导时,会把这个袋子挂在前面,就像一种反刍的胃,他们从中提取并反刍出他们所知道的东西,作为听众的食物。热情,就本身而言,是属世人的强烈热忱,或说属世人中热的爆发。如果它拥有对真理的爱在里面,那么它就像降临到使徒身上的圣火,如使徒行传所描述的那样:
有舌头像火舌一样向使徒显现出来;分开落在他们每个人身上;他们就都被圣灵充满了。(使徒行传2:3-4)
但如果这种热情,或强烈热忱,或热的爆发里面隐藏着对虚假的爱,那么它就像在木头里闷烧的火,这火会突然燃烧起来,并烧毁房屋。如果你否认圣言的神圣和主的神性,那么我恳请你把袋子从背上取下来打开,如你私下里自由所做的那样,你就会看到。我知道,以赛亚书中的“路西弗”所指的那些人,就是那些属于巴比伦的人,当进入教会,尤其登上讲坛(特别是那些自称耶稣会成员的人)时,就会被一种热情冲昏头脑,对许多人来说,这种热情来自地狱之爱;比起那些其热情来自天堂之爱的人,他们会更激烈地提高嗓门,从胸中发出更深沉的叹息。后面(TCR 155节)我们会看到,除了光照和教导外,还有两种属灵运作与神职人员有关。
146. 3. In respect to the clergy, the divine actions and powerful effects meant by "the sending of the Holy Spirit" are the acts of enlightening and teaching. The actions of the Lord listed in the preceding point - reforming, regenerating, renewing, bringing to life, sanctifying, justifying, purifying, forgiving sins, and finally saving - flow from the Lord into both clergy and lay people. These actions are accepted by those who are in the Lord and in whom the Lord is (John 6:56; 14:20; 15:4-5).
In the case of the clergy, however, there are other actions of the Lord as well: enlightening and teaching. The reason is that for ministers, being enlightened and taught is a part of their jobs that comes with their inauguration into the ministry.
Also, when ministers preach with passion they believe they are inspired, just like the Lord's disciples on whom the Lord breathed and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22; see also what Mark 13:11 says). Some ministers even maintain that they have felt an inflow.
Ministers have to be very careful, though, not to convince themselves that the passion that comes over many of them when they preach is God at work in their hearts. The same level of passion and an even more ardent one is found in fanatics who believe they are divinely inspired, in people who have the falsest teachings, and even in people who see no value in the Word and worship nature as their god, who toss faith and goodwill into packs on their backs. When they preach and teach they hang these packs in front of their faces like some ruminatory stomach, squeezing and regurgitating out of them things they know will feed their listeners.
Passion in preaching is just an intensity in the earthly self. If passion has a love for truth inside it, then it is like the sacred fire that flowed into the apostles, about which it says in Acts:
There appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one rested on each one of them. As a result they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. (Acts of the Apostles 2:3-4)
If, on the other hand, there is a love for falsity inside that passion or intensity, then it is like fire smoldering inside a piece of wood that bursts into flame and burns the house down.
You who deny that the Word is holy and the Lord divine, please take your pack off your back and open it (as you freely do when you are at home). You will see.
When they enter the church, and even more when they climb the stairs into the pulpit, I know that the people meant by Lucifer in Isaiah - the people of Babylon, especially those who named themselves the Society of Jesus - are overcome with passion. For many of them that passion comes from a hellish love. They raise their voices more vehemently and draw sighs from their chests more deeply than those whose passion comes from a heavenly love.
There are also two other spiritual actions of the Lord in members of the clergy; see 155 below.
146. (iii) THE DIVINE POWER AND ACTIVITY MEANT BY THE SENDING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, WITH THE CLERGY TAKES THE PARTICULAR FORM OF ENLIGHTENMENT AND INSTRUCTION.
The activities of the Lord listed in the preceding section, reformation, regeneration, renewal, quickening, sanctification, justification, cleansing, the forgiveness of sins and finally salvation, are sent by the Lord to affect the clergy as well as laymen, and they are received by those who are in the Lord and have the Lord in them (John 6:56; 14:20; 15:4-5). The reason why enlightenment and instruction are especially given to the clergy is that these things are a part of their duties, and that ordination into the ministry carries these with it. The clergy also believe that, when zeal leads them to preach, they are inspired like the Lord's disciples, on whom He breathed and said:
Receive the Holy Spirit, John 20:22; see also Mark 13:11.
Some even assert that they have felt it flowing into them. But they should take extreme care not to be convinced that the zeal, by which many are carried away while preaching, is God working in their hearts. For similar or even more ardent zeal is felt by fanatics and also by those who hold the falsest doctrines, even by those who care not a whit for the Word, but worship nature as god, and pack faith and charity away in the knapsack on their backs. When they are preaching and teaching they hang it round their necks like a sort of second stomach, from which they bring up and regurgitate such things as they know will appeal to their listeners' appetites.
Zeal considered in itself is an outburst of heat in the natural man. If it has the love of truth in it, then it is like the holy fire which affected the Apostles, as we read in Acts:
There appeared divided among them tongues as it were of fire, which settled upon each of them; and they were thus all filled with the Holy Spirit, Acts of the Apostles 2:3-4.
But if that zeal or outburst of heat has the love of falsity lurking within it, then it is like fire smouldering in a log, which bursts out and sets fire to the house. Do you, reader, if you deny the holiness of the Word and the divinity of the Lord, please take your knapsack off your back and open it, which you are free to do at home, and then you will see. I know that those from Babel, who are meant by Lucifer in Isaiah, on entering a church, and even more when climbing into a pulpit, especially those who call themselves members of the Society of Jesus, are carried away by a zeal which in many cases comes from a hellish love; and this makes them cry out more violently and heave deeper sighs from their chests, than those whose zeal comes from heavenly love. There are two more ways in which the spirit works upon the clergy, which will be mentioned later (155).
146. (3) The Divine Energy and Operation, which are meant by the "sending of the Holy Spirit" are, with the clergy especially, enlightenment and instruction. The operations of the Lord enumerated in the preceding proposition, namely, reformation, regeneration, renewal, vivification, sanctification, justification, purification, the forgiveness of sins, and finally salvation, flow in from the Lord both with the clergy and the laity, and are received by those who are in the Lord, and in whom the Lord is (John 6:56; 14:20; 15:4, 5). But enlightenment and instruction are communicated especially to the clergy, because these belong to their office, and inauguration into the ministry carries these along with it. Moreover, when preaching from zeal they believe themselves to be inspired, like the Lord's disciples upon whom He breathed, saying:
Receive ye the Holy Spirit (John 20:22; see also Mark 13:11).
Some affirm even that they have felt the influx. But they should be very careful not to persuade themselves that the zeal by which many are carried away while preaching is the Divine operation in their hearts; for a like and even warmer zeal prevails with enthusiasts, as also with those who are in the utmost falsities of doctrine; and even with those who despise the Word and worship nature instead of God, and fling faith and charity, as it were, into a bag on the back; but when preaching or teaching they hang it before them like a sort of ruminatory stomach, from which they draw out and disgorge such things as they know will serve as food for their hearers. For zeal, in itself considered, is a glow of the natural man. If it has within it a love of truth it is like the sacred fire that descended upon the apostles, as described in the Acts:
There appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each of them; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts of the Apostles 2:3-4).
But if within that zeal or glow a love of falsity is concealed, it is like a fire imprisoned in wood, which bursts forth and consumes the house. You who deny the holiness of the Word and the Divinity of the Lord, take, I pray, the bag from your back and open it, as you freely do in your privacy, and you will see. I know that those who are meant by "Lucifer" in Isaiah, who are such as belong to Babylon, when they enter a church, and still more when they ascend the pulpit (especially those who call themselves members of the Society of Jesus), are swept away by a zeal which with many springs from infernal love, and from it declaim more vehemently, and from their breasts draw deeper sighs, than those who are zealous from heavenly love. With the clergy there are two other spiritual operations (as may be seen below, n. 155).
146. (3) THE DIVINE VIRTUE AND OPERATION, MEANT BY THE SENDING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WITH THE CLERGY CONSIST, IN PARTICULAR, IN ENLIGHTENMENT AND INSTRUCTION.
The operations of the Lord, enumerated in the previous article, namely, reformation, regeneration, renewal, vivification, sanctification, justification, purification, the remission of sins, and finally salvation, are effected by influx from the Lord in both clergy and laity; and are received by those who are in the Lord, and who have the Lord in them,
However, the clergy in particular receive enlightenment and instruction because these relate to their office, inauguration into the ministry brings them with it. They believe, moreover, that when they preach with zeal, they are inspired, like the Lord's disciples, on whom He breathed, saying:
"Receive ye the Holy Spirit" John 20:22. See also Mark 13:11.
Some declare that, they have perceived the influx. But they ought to be very careful not to persuade themselves that the zeal which takes hold of many when preaching is the Divine operation in their hearts. For a similar and even more ardent zeal prevails with fanatics, and with those whose doctrines are false in the extreme, who lightly esteem the Word, and who worship nature instead of God. They also cast faith and charity, as it were, into a bag behind their back; but when they preach and teach, they hold it in front of them, like a ruminatory stomach, from which they draw out and disgorge what they know will serve as food for their hearers.
Zeal, regarded in itself, is intense ardor of the natural man. If there is in it the love of truth, then it is like the sacred fire which flowed into the Apostles, as is thus described in the Acts:
"And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit" Acts 2:3-4.
However, if the love of falsity lies concealed within that zeal or intense ardor, it is then like fire imprisoned in wood, which bursts out and burns down the house. I beseech you, who deny the sanctity of the Word and the Divinity of the Lord, take the bag off your back and open it, which you may freely do in the privacy of your own home, and you will see. I know that those who are meant by Lucifer 1 in Isaiah, and who belong to Babylon, when they enter a church, and still more when they ascend the pulpit, especially those who call themselves members of the Society of Jesus, 2 are carried away by a zeal which with many arises from an infernal love. They make their voices resound more vehemently and they heave deeper sighs than those whose zeal arises from a heavenly love. It will be seen later in 155 that there are two other spiritual operations relating to the clergy in addition to enlightenment and instruction.
Footnotes:
1. Lucifer, fabled son of Aurora, or of Jupiter, morning star, day.
2. Jesuiticus Ordo, the Society of Jesus, founded by Ignatius Loyola, A. D. 1534, to stem the rising tide of Protestantism. See Divine Providence 222[2].
146. III. QUOD DIVINA ILLA VIRTUS ET OPERATIO, QUAE INTELLIGITUR PER MISSIONEM SPIRITUS SANCTI, APUD CLERICOS IN SPECIE SIT ILLUSTRATIO ET INSTRUCTIO. Operationes Domini, in praecedente Articulo recensitae, quae sunt reformatio, regeneratio, innovatio, vivificatio, sanctificatio, justificatio, purificatio, remissio peccatorum, et demum salvatio, tam apud Clericos quam apud Laicos a Domino influunt, et recipiuntur ab illis qui in Domino sunt et Dominus in illis, Johannes 6:56; 14:20; 15:4-5, quod autem [apud clericos] in specie Illustratio et Instructio, sunt causae, quia illae muneris eorum sunt, ac inauguratio in ministerium illas secum portat, et quoque credunt, quod dum ex zelo concionantur, inspirentur, sicut discipuli Domini, in quos Dominus inspiravit dicens, accipite Spiritum Sanctum, Johannes 20:22, et praeter quae Marcus 13:11; quidam etiam testantur, quod influxum sentiverint. Sed probe caveant, ne sibi persuadeant, quod zelus, a quo multi corripiuntur, dum concionantur, sit Divina operatio in cordibus eorum, datur enim similis, et adhuc ardentior apud Enthusiastas, et quoque apud illos qui in extremis falsis doctrinae sunt, imo apud illos qui Verbum floccipendunt, ac naturam pro Deo colunt, et fidem et charitatem sicut in saccum post tergum rejiciunt, et dum praedicant et docent, ante faciem appendunt sicut quendam ventriculum ruminatorium, ex quo expromunt et egurgitant talia, quae sciunt victui inservire auditoribus. Zelus enim in se spectatus est excandescentia naturalis hominis, si intus in illa est amor veri, tunc est illa sicut ignis sacer, qui influxit in Apostolos, de quo ita in Actis illorum, visae sunt illis divisae Linguae, tanquam ignis, seditque super unumquemvis eorum, unde impleti sunt omnes Spiritu Sancto, 2:3-4, at vero si intus in zelo aut excandescentia illa latet amor falsi, tunc est sicut ignis incarceratus ligno, qui erumpit et incendit domum: tu, qui Sanctitatem Verbi, et Divinitatem Domini negas, desume quaeso tuum saccum e dorso, et aperi illum, quod libere facis domi, et videbis. Scio, quod illi, qui per Luciferum apud Esajam intelliguntur, qui sunt qui ex Babele, dum intrant Templum, et plus dum scandunt pulpitum, imprimis qui ex societate Jesu se nominant, abripiantur a zelo, qui multis est ex amore infernali, ac inde vehementius vociferentur, et suspiria altius e pectore trahant, quam illi, qui in zelo ex amore coelesti sunt. Quod apud Clericos adhuc duae operationes spirituales sint, videatur infra, 155.