第14章 甘心的顺从
§1
第14章 甘心的顺从
§2
Chap. 14 - Willing Obedience
§3
当亚伯拉罕接到上帝惊人的命令，要他将儿子以撒献为燔祭的时候，他已经年纪老迈，就是在当时也算得是一个老人了。他青年的壮志已经消逝，再也不易忍受艰辛，勇敢地面对危险了。一个人在年富力强之时，或许能精力充沛，满怀信心地去对付风暴，克服到了晚年行将就木的时候容易产生的灰心丧胆。{4T 144.1}[1]
§4
Abraham was an old man when he received the startling command from God to offer up his son Isaac for a burnt offering. Abraham was considered an old man even in his generation. The ardor of his youth had faded away. It was no longer easy for him to endure hardships and brave dangers. In the vigor of youth man may breast the storm with a proud consciousness of strength and rise above discouragements that would cause his heart to fail later in life, when his steps are faltering toward the grave. {4T 144.1}[1]
§5
但上帝本其美意，却留着一个最后而最难受的试验，等到亚伯拉罕年迈力衰，正在渴望从忧虑和辛劳中得到安息之时才加在他身上。耶和华对他说：“你带着你的儿子，就是你独生的儿子，你所爱的以撒，”“把他献为燔祭”（创22:2）。老人的心因恐怖而静止。这样的一个儿子若因疾病而丧失，已足使钟爱他的父亲极其心痛，伤心地低垂白首了。然而如今却是奉命，要他亲手去流儿子的宝血。在他看来，这似乎是一件骇人而不能做到的事。{4T 144.2}[2]
§6
But in His providence God reserved His last most trying test for Abraham until the burden of years was heavy upon him and he longed for rest from anxiety and toil. The Lord spoke unto him, saying: Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and offer him . . . for a burnt offering. The heart of the old man stood still with horror. The loss of such a son by disease would have been most heart-rending to the fond father, it would have bowed his whitened head with sorrow; but now he is commanded to shed the precious blood of that son with his own hand. It seemed to him a fearful impossibility. {4T 144.2}[2]
§7
然而上帝已经开口了。祂的话是必须服从的。亚伯拉罕已属风烛暮年，但这却不能使他免担责任。他抓住了信心的杖，在沉默的苦痛之中，领着他那英俊健美年少的孩子，去实行上帝的命令。这位寿高年迈的先祖也是人；他的感情与所恋慕的是和我们一样的。他爱自己的儿子，这儿子是他晚年的安慰，寄托着上帝的应许。{4T 144.3}[3]
§8
Yet God had spoken, and His word must be obeyed. Abraham was stricken in years, but this did not excuse him from duty. He grasped the staff of faith and in dumb agony took by the hand his child, beautiful in the rosy health of youth, and went out to obey the word of God. The grand old patriarch was human; his passions and attachments were like ours, and he loved his boy, who was the solace of his old age, and to whom the promise of the Lord had been given. {4T 144.3}[3]
§9
然而亚伯拉罕并没有停下来问，如果以撒被杀了，上帝的应许如何实现。他并没有耽搁，与自己痛苦的心理论，而是切实执行那道神圣的命令，直到他正举刀要砍进那童子发抖的肉体之时，上帝的话临到了：“你不可在这童子身上下手！一点不可害他；现在我知道你是敬畏上帝的了，因为你没有将你的儿子，就是你独生的儿子，留下不给我”（创22:12）。{4T 145.1}[4]
§10
But Abraham did not stop to question how Gods promises could be fulfilled if Isaac were slain. He did not stay to reason with his aching heart, but carried out the divine command to the very letter, till, just as the knife was about to be plunged into the quivering flesh of the child, the word came: Lay not thine hand upon the lad; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me. {4T 145.1}[4]
§11
这一信心的伟大举动，记录在圣史的篇章中，要作为光照世人的光辉榜样，直到末时。亚伯拉罕并没有借口年高而请求不必顺从上帝。他没有说：“我已白发苍苍，青春的活力已逝；如果以撒死了，谁来安慰我的暮年呢？年迈的父亲怎么能流自己独生子的血呢？”他没有这样说。上帝既已发言，人就必须不质疑，不抱怨也不沮丧地遵从。{4T 145.2}[5]
§12
This great act of faith is penciled on the pages of sacred history to shine forth upon the world as an illustrious example to the end of time. Abraham did not plead that his old age should excuse him from obeying God. He did not say: My hairs are gray, the vigor of my manhood is gone; who will comfort my waning life when Isaac is no more? How can an aged father spill the blood of an only son? No; God had spoken, and man must obey without questioning, murmuring, or fainting by the way. {4T 145.2}[5]
§13
在我们今日的各教会中，也需要亚伯拉罕的信心，来拨开笼罩在教会周围、阻隔上帝之爱的祥光、并抑制属灵发育的黑暗。年龄绝不能作为不顺从上帝的借口。我们的信心应当富有善行；因为没有行为的信心是死的。所尽的每一责任，为耶稣所作的每一牺牲，都会带来极大的报赏。上帝为尽责的行动宣布并赐下福气。祂要我们将才能全然献上。我们的思想和心灵，我们的整个人，都必须奉献给祂；否则我们就不是真正的基督徒。{4T 145.3}[6]
§14
We need the faith of Abraham in our churches today, to lighten the darkness that gathers around them, shutting out the sweet sunlight of Gods love and dwarfing spiritual growth. Age will never excuse us from obeying God. Our faith should be prolific of good works, for faith without works is dead. Every duty performed, every sacrifice made in the name of Jesus, brings an exceeding great reward. In the very act of duty, God speaks and gives His blessing. But He requires of us an entire surrender of the faculties. The mind and heart, the whole being, must be given to Him, or we fall short of becoming true Christians. {4T 145.3}[6]
§15
上帝没有偏留凡能使人获得永恒财富的任何东西。祂以美丽装饰大地，并赐下各种物质，供人今生享用。祂舍弃了自己的儿子，为救赎这个因罪恶和愚昧而堕落的世界而死。这种无比的爱，这种无穷的牺牲，要求我们最严格的顺从，最圣洁的爱心和无量的信心。然而即使我们竭力发扬这一切的美德，仍无法与为我们所作的伟大牺牲相称。{4T 145.4}[7]
§16
God has withheld nothing from man that can secure to him eternal riches. He has clothed the earth with beauty and furnished it for his use and comfort during his temporal life. He has given His Son to die for the redemption of a world that had fallen through sin and folly. Such matchless love, such infinite sacrifice, claims our strictest obedience, our holiest love, our unbounded faith. Yet all these virtues, exercised to their fullest extent, can never be commensurate with the great sacrifice that has been offered for us. {4T 145.4}[7]
§17
上帝要人立刻毫无疑问地顺从祂的律法，但是人却因撒但的迷惑而昏睡麻木了。撒但提出种种借口和托辞，打消人的顾虑，象在伊甸园中对夏娃那样说话：“你们不一定死”（创3:4）。悖逆不仅使罪人的心地和良知刚硬，还败坏了别人的信仰。起初看上去是罪大恶极的事物，司空见惯之后，便渐渐看不到原来的面目，直至他们最后怀疑这是否真的是罪恶，而不知不觉地陷入同样的罪中。{4T 146.1}[8]
§18
God requires prompt and unquestioning obedience of His law; but men are asleep or paralyzed by the deceptions of Satan, who suggests excuses and subterfuges, and conquers their scruples, saying as he said to Eve in the garden: Ye shall not surely die. Disobedience not only hardens the heart and conscience of the guilty one, but it tends to corrupt the faith of others. That which looked very wrong to them at first, gradually loses this appearance by being constantly before them, till finally they question whether it is really sin and unconsciously fall into the same error. {4T 146.1}[8]
§19
上帝藉着撒母耳命令扫罗去攻击亚玛力人，消灭他们所有的财物。但扫罗只是部分地顺从了这道命令。他毁灭了下等的牲畜，把上好的保存着，并饶了那恶王的性命。第二天，他还自鸣得意地去迎接先知撒母耳，对他说：“愿耶和华赐福与你，耶和华的命令我已遵守了。”可是先知立刻回答说：“我耳中听见有羊叫，牛鸣，是从哪里来的呢”（撒上15:13-14）？{4T 146.2}[9]
§20
Through Samuel, God commanded Saul to go and smite the Amalekites and utterly destroy all their possessions. But Saul only partially obeyed the command; he destroyed the inferior cattle, but reserved the best and spared the wicked king. The next day he met the prophet Samuel with flattering self-congratulations. Said he: Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord. But the prophet immediately answered: What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? {4T 146.2}[9]
§21
扫罗惶惑了，设法规避责任，就回答说：“这百姓从亚玛力人那里带来的，因为他们爱惜上好的牛羊，要献与耶和华你的上帝；其余的我们都灭尽了”（撒上15:15）。撒母耳随即斥责了王，向他重申上帝明确的命令，是要把凡属于亚玛力人的物件全然毁灭。先知指出他的罪，并宣称他已悖逆了耶和华。然而扫罗却不肯承认自己已做错了，他再次原谅自己的罪，辩称自己保留上好的牛羊是要献给耶和华。{4T 146.3}[10]
§22
Saul was confused and sought to shirk responsibility by answering: They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. Samuel then reproved the king, reminding him of the explicit command of God directing him to destroy all things belonging to Amalek. He pointed out his transgression and declared that he had disobeyed the Lord. But Saul refused to acknowledge that he had done wrong; he again excused his sin by pleading that he had reserved the best cattle to sacrifice unto the Lord. {4T 146.3}[10]
§23
因为王顽固自恃，不肯正视并承认自己的罪，撒母耳便伤心至极。他怅然问说：“耶和华喜悦燔祭和平安祭，岂如喜悦人听从祂的话呢？听命胜于献祭，顺从胜于公羊的脂油。背逆的罪，与行邪术的罪相等；顽梗的罪，与拜虚神和偶像的罪相同；你既厌弃耶和华的命令，耶和华也厌弃你作王”（撒上15:22-23）。{4T 146.4}[11]
§24
Samuel was grieved to the heart by the persistency with which the king refused to see and confess his sin. He sorrowfully asked: Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king. {4T 146.4}[11]
§25
我们不应该面对责任而又拖延满足其要求。这种迟延给人机会产生疑惑，使不信之念潜入，判断力扭曲，悟性也蒙昧了。长此以往，上帝圣灵的责备便达不到受迷惑之人的心。他已成了十分盲目的人，以为这些责备不是为他而发，或者不适用他的情况。 {4T 147.1}[12]
§26
We should not look in the face of duty and delay meeting its demands. Such delay gives time for doubts; unbelief creeps in, the judgment is perverted, the understanding darkened. At length the reproofs of Gods Spirit do not reach the heart of the deluded person, who has become so blinded as to think that they cannot possibly be intended for him or apply to his case. {4T 147.1}[12]
§27
宝贵的宽容时期就要过去了，只有少数人意识到这是给他们为永恒作准备的时间。这个黄金的时辰被人在世俗的追逐，寻欢作乐，以及无限制的罪恶中浪费了。上帝的律法虽被人轻视遗忘，然而每一典章并未削弱其约束力。每一件罪行必有其惩罚。贪爱世俗利益的心引人亵渎安息日，然而圣日的要求并未作废或减少。在这一点上，上帝的命令是明确无疑的。祂断然禁止我们在第七日劳动。祂已分别此日归祂为圣。{4T 147.2}[13]
§28
The precious time of probation is passing, and few realize that it is given them for the purpose of preparing for eternity. The golden hours are squandered in worldly pursuits, in pleasure, in absolute sin. Gods law is slighted and forgotten, yet every statute is nonetheless binding. Every transgression will bring its punishment. Love of worldly gain leads to desecration of the Sabbath, yet the claims of that holy day are not abrogated or lessened. Gods command is clear and unquestionable on this point; He has peremptorily forbidden us to labor upon the seventh day. He has set it apart as a day sanctified to Himself. {4T 147.2}[13]
§29
在愿意顺从上帝诫命而行之人的道路上，伏有许多的障碍。有许多强大狡猾的势力，要把他们捆绑在世界的道路上；然而主的能力却能打破这些锁链。如果他们切心寻求上帝的救助，祂必清除摆在祂忠心信徒足前的每一障碍，或是赐给他们精力与勇气去克服每一困难。人若以恳切的愿望和恒切的努力去实行上帝的旨意，不顾自己的任何代价，甚至情愿牺牲性命，则当前的种种障碍自必冰消瓦解了。凡在试炼与惶惑中仍然前进，仰望那为他们信心创始成终之耶稣的人，必有从天而来的亮光，照亮他们的黑暗。{4T 147.3}[14]
§30
Many are the hindrances that lie in the path of those who would walk in obedience to the commandments of God. There are strong and subtle influences that bind them to the ways of the world, but the power of the Lord can break these chains. He will remove every obstacle from before the feet of His faithful ones or give them strength and courage to conquer every difficulty, if they earnestly beseech His help. All hindrances will vanish before an earnest desire and persistent effort to do the will of God at any cost to self, even if life itself is sacrificed. Light from heaven will illuminate the darkness of those, who, in trial and perplexity, go forward, looking unto Jesus as the Author and Finisher of their faith. {4T 147.3}[14]
§31
古时上帝藉着先知和使徒的口对人说话；现今祂藉着圣灵的证言向人说话。关于上帝的旨意，以及祂希望他们所走的道路，祂对祂子民现今的教导是空前恳切的。但他们能从祂的教训得到益处吗？他们肯不肯接受祂的责备并留心祂的警告呢？上帝决不悦纳部分的顺从；祂也不认可人与自我妥协。{4T 147.4}[15]
§32
In ancient times God spoke to men by the mouth of prophets and apostles. In these days He speaks to them by the testimonies of His Spirit. There was never a time when God instructed His people more earnestly than He instructs them now concerning His will and the course that He would have them pursue. But will they profit by His teachings? will they receive His reproofs and heed His warnings? God will accept of no partial obedience; He will sanction no compromise with self. {4T 147.4}[15]