聖神與天國 The Holy Spirit and The Kingdom

聖神與天國（谷1:21-28）

即使在科學昌明的現代，附魔現象依然存在。無論精神科醫生怎樣努力以心理生理元素解釋，那些屬靈的現象，依然揮之不去。即使科學家想廢除靈魂這個概念，但「人就成了一個有靈的生物」（創2:7），仍然有意義。附魔現象讓我們不得不思考，究意人是甚麼？有靈的生物是甚麼意思？

無可否認，我們對靈界的認知極為貧乏，所以在有限的善與惡、天使與魔鬼的觀念上，添加了不少幻想。例如天主說一句話，天地生成。由此推論，人便可以唸咒語，令不可思議的事，隨心所欲地發生！前者有聖經根據，後者卻是人慾橫流的結果。

按聖經的教訓，人是血肉之軀，所以「上主的神不能常在他內。」（6:3）即是說，人是靈和肉的結合體。血肉有健康和患病的狀態， 靈性上也可以有善神與惡神同在。當人的靈性上沒有善神的時候，惡神便可以乘虛而入，這與耶穌基督有關附魔的教訓吻合（谷3:27）。進一步，耶穌基督更指出，祂是憑聖神的力量驅魔，並警告褻瀆聖神是不得赦免的罪（3:29）

今天的福音，展示了聖神的兩方面：祂是真理之神，所以耶穌「教訓他們正像有權威似的，不像經師們一般」（1:22）。真理自有它不可抗拒的威嚴，令人屈服！另一方面，雖然上主的神不能常在人內，但人的血肉之軀，始終是聖神的宮殿（格前6:19），而不是邪魔的巢穴。所以聖神隨時可以回到自己的宮殿！因為聖神又是愛德之神（羅5:5），所以可以說，愛的力量足以驅魔！是愛使邪魔認識到，人的血肉之軀，不是它可以佔據的地盤，去其他地方罷！
各位兄弟姊妹，聖神住在你的宮殿裡嗎？
生命恩泉：
圖片鳴謝：bitsofbread.org

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The Holy Spirit and The Kingdom (Mark 1:21-28)

Even in this scientific age, the phenomena of demonic possession still exist. No matter how hard psychiatrists try to explain them away in terms of physiological and psychological elements, these spiritual phenomena refuse to back off. Even when scientists try to abolish the concept of soul, “And man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7) is still meaningful. The phenomenon of demonic possessions forces us to rethink what man is. What is the meaning of “a living soul”?

Undeniably, we know next to nothing about the realm of spirits. Thus, we enrich our poverty in concepts of good and evil as well as angels and demons with a lot of imaginations. For example, since God created the known universe with a command, we believe that when we cast a spell, unimaginable things can happen according to our wishes! The former is based on the Bible, the latter on human desires and lust.

According to the teachings of the Bible, God’s “Spirit shall not remain in human beings forever” (6:3) because we are mere flesh and blood. That is to say, man is a combination of flesh and spirit. Our body can be healthy or sick. So, our spirit can abide with good or evil spirits. When our souls lack good spirits, the evil ones shall fill the gap. This reasoning agrees with Jesus Christ’s teaching on demonic possession (Mark 3:27). Moreover, Jesus Christ also points out that He exorcizes with the power of the Holy Spirit and warns that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven (3:29).

The gospel today shows the two wings of the Holy Spirit. He is the spirit of truth. Thus Jesus “taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” (1:22) Truth has an intrinsically irresistible authority to command awe! On the other, although the Holy Spirit does not always reside in men, the human body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19) and not the demons’ lair. Of course the Holy Spirit may return to His temple at His pleasure! Since the Holy Spirit is also the spirit of charity (Romans 5:5), we can say that love exorcizes! Love makes known to the demons that this human body is not their den. God elsewhere!
Brethren! Does the Holy Spirit live in your temple?