因为你们怎样论断人,也必怎样被论断。你们用什么量器量给人,也必用什么量器量给你们。(太七2)
这句话不是信口开河的瞎猜,而是神永恒的定律。你怎样论断人,也要怎样被论断。报复与报应是不同的。耶稣说人生是以报应为本的——你用什么量器量人,人也必用什么量器量你。你若善于挑剔别人,那你所得的也必如此。你付出多少,就收回多少。这定律是由神的宝座上颁下来的(诗十八25-26)
罗马书第二章对这定律更为肯定。其中说人批评别人,自己正犯了同样的罪。神不单看外面的行为,更看人内心的动机。首先,我们不信圣经的话。试问我们真的相信所批评别人的,正是自己所犯的罪吗?我们所以能看见别人的虚伪、欺诈、虚浮,是因为我们自己心中也有这些东西。圣徒最大的特征是谦卑——“是的,若不是神的恩典,这些东西或其他罪恶,都会发生在我身上,因此我无权批判。”
耶稣说:“你们不要论断人,免得你们被论断。”你若论断人,神则必照你所论断的量你。我们谁敢对神说:“我的神,请你照我论断他人的判断我吧”?我们判断别人为罪人,若神也同样判断我们,我们早已在地狱了。可是,神却透过耶稣基督奇妙的代赎来判断我们。
祈祷◆噢,我只求得尝祢的灵如风吹拂,或得驱策、或使苏醒、或蒙释放、或被感动,我就心满意足了。
June 22: The Undeviating Test
“For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Matthew 7:2
This statement is not a haphazard guess, it is an eternal law of God. Whatever judgment you give, it is measured to you again. There is a difference between retaliation and retribution. Jesus says that the basis of life is retribution – “with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” If you have been shrewd in finding out the defects in others, remember that will be exactly the measure given to you. Life serves back in the coin you pay. This law works from God’s throne downwards (cf. Psalm 18:25-26).
Romans 2 applies it in a still more definite way, and says that the one who criticizes another is guilty of the very same thing. God looks not only at the act, He looks at the possibility. We do not believe the statements of the Bible to begin with. For instance, do we believe this statement, that the things we criticize in others we are guilty of ourselves? The reason we see hypocrisy and fraud and unreality in others is because they are all in our own hearts. The great characteristic of a saint is humility – Yes, all those things and other evils would have been manifested in me but for the grace of God, therefore I have no right to judge.