有人說：「我們從歷史學到唯一的教訓是：我們從歷史學不到甚麼教訓。」基督教會肯定就是這個樣子。你可能會認為，有聖經的真理在我們的前方，也就是當其他方法都失敗的時候，神會利用敵對力量懲罰祂的百姓，那麼我們就會更小心對待自己的屬靈遺產。但事實是怎麼樣的一回事呢？

一般來說，教會似乎對自己的屬靈狀況不大關心，甚至是漠不關心。教會在應該禱告(praying)的時候卻在嬉笑(playing)，在應該認罪(convicting)的時候卻在妥協(compromising)。我們必須接受一個事實：如果教會不直接回應聖言和聖靈溫柔的責備的話，它就必須面對環境更嚴厲的責備。而正如歷史上所記載的那樣，這些環境可能是最艱苦、最嚴峻的。神會使用不義的人來糾正公義的人，這做法可能會令我們感到奇怪和矛盾，但聖經和歷史都清楚的告訴我們，神就是這樣行事。神使用最奇怪的工具來管教祂的百姓，有時是我們絕對意想不到的。

要知道這個原則不僅僅應用在教會的整體，它也出現在我們個別的生命裡面。神此刻可能正在使用你意想不到的人，比如說一個不是基督徒的親戚、同伴或同事，來磨練你、糾正你。看到上帝使用那些不認識祂的人來幫助你更認識祂，這不是令人感到更加卑微嗎？

One person has said that "the only lesson we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history". That is certainly true of the Christian Church. You would think, with the truth of Scripture staring us in the face - namely, that when other means fail, God will use hostile forces to punish His people - we would be more careful with our spiritual inheritance. But what are the facts?

The Church, generally speaking, seems to have little or no concern about its spiritual condition. It is playing when it ought to be praying, compromising when it ought to be convicting. The Church must accept the fact that if it does not respond directly to the gentle reproofs of the Word and the Spirit, then it will have to face the harsher reproofs of circumstances. And as history records, those circumstances can be most bitter and severe. It may seem strange and contradictory to us that God will use the unrighteous to refine the righteous, but as Scripture and history both show, this is what He does. God uses the strangest instruments to discipline His people - sometimes the last we would expect.

This principle applies not only to the Church as a corporate body but we see it illustrated in our individual lives also. You may, at this very moment, be in the position where God is using the last person you would expect, such as a non-Christian relative, acquaintance or workmate, to chasten and correct you. It's humbling, isn't it, to see someone who doesn't know the Lord being used by Him to help you know Him better?