神的恩慈和嚴厲─啟示錄 
 
這週我們將談到啟示錄十四章13-20節： 

我聽見從天上有聲音說：你要寫下：從今以後，在主裡面而死的人有福了！聖靈說：是的，他們息了自己的勞苦，做工的果效也隨著他們。 

我又觀看，見有一片白雲，雲上坐著一位好像人子，頭上戴著金冠冕，手裡拿著快鐮刀。 

又有一位天使從殿中出來，向那坐在雲上的大聲喊著說：伸出你的鐮刀來收割；因為收割的時候已經到了，地上的莊稼已經熟透了。 

那坐在雲上的，就把鐮刀扔在地上，地上的莊稼就被收割了。

又有一位天使從天上的殿中出來，他也拿著快鐮刀。

又有一位天使從祭壇中出來，是有權柄管火的，向拿著快鐮刀的大聲喊著說：伸出快鐮刀來，收取地上葡萄樹的果子，因為葡萄熟透了！

那天使就把鐮刀扔在地上，收取了地上的葡萄，丟在神忿怒的大酒醡中。

那酒醡踹在城外，就有血從酒醡裡流出來，高到馬的嚼環，遠有六百里。 

這段經文一開始就說：『在主裡面而死的人有福了，聖靈說：是的，他們息了自己的勞苦，做工的果效也隨著他們。』對那些充滿地上想法的人，很難將死亡視為祝福，但那些認識主的人，此生不過是『一片雲霧』，轉眼就不見了。將此生傳到永恆才是他們最大的盼望，那些真正認識主並信靠祂救恩的人不會懼怕死亡。 

我們也看到這是地上大收割臨到的時候，它將以兩種方式臨到：主收割那些跟隨祂的人，接著天使收割那些被丟在神忿怒的人。收割是當人所栽種的所有種子，不論好壞，來到完全成熟之時。 

一些最毀滅性的假教義和異端來自那些無法同時看見『神的恩慈和嚴厲』的人（參考羅馬書11:22）。倘若我們無法兩者都看見，我們便不認識真正的神，只不過在敬拜我們製作出來的神，那是偶像。神比任何人類都來得恩慈與恩典，但祂也是嚴厲的神。惹祂忿怒才應該是人類最大的懼怕。 

正如羅馬書二章4節告訴我們，是『祂的恩慈領我們悔改』。有誰真正看到祂的恩慈與恩典而不敬拜祂呢？我們會永遠因著祂的憐憫與恩典來敬拜和感謝祂。懼怕祂的忿怒並無法吸引人來到祂面前，當然也迫使許多人就近祂。美國第一次大覺醒是由約拿單·愛德華茲（Jonathan Edwards）所點燃，他當時的講道信息是『落在忿怒之神手中的罪人』。許多偉大復興家被傳講神的嚴厲而激發，或許吸引比迫使好，但迫使總比沒就近神好。 

可以理解，許多因祂的恩慈而被吸引的人，常常傾向認為祂的恩慈就是祂的全部。倘若我們沒有在對祂的認識上長大成熟，我們很容易接受『極端恩典』（hyper-grace）的欺騙。我們有需要研讀祂的審判與祂的忿怒，在新舊約中皆有許多相關內容。 

同樣地，那些因懼怕祂的嚴厲而被迫就近主的人，也可能會被蒙蔽，以為祂嚴厲又難以取悅，對罪人毫無幽默與包容。祂愛罪人─所有罪人─祂渴望他們得救。祂對罪人有更多的恩典勝過自義的人。祂充滿恩典與憐憫，祂喜愛憐憫勝過審判。然而，祂有底線，當底線被觸及時，就是一個最不樂見的事。 

要按著神的本相來看祂，我們必須同時看祂全然恩慈也全然嚴厲。祂嚴厲因祂愛我們，愛是祂的本性，但那是嚴厲的愛。想一想：耶穌行在地上成為天父的完全代表，祂呼召一些最粗野的人成為祂的門徒。他們與祂一起生活三年半之久，就在祂要被釘十字架前一晚，這些個性強硬的人仍害怕問祂一個問題。顯然祂何等令人生畏，但祂對小孩和罪人卻又如此溫和並充滿憐憫。 

要認識神的本相，不扭曲聖經，我們必須同時在心中調和神的恩慈和嚴厲，按著祂所是來看祂，而不是按著我們可能想要祂成為的樣式。當我們成熟時，我們將瞭解祂是完全的神，祂的審判也完全。  

(摘自喬納 word for the week, Week3, 2018)
 

 
The Kindness and Severity of God: The Book of Revelation
Week 3, 2018
Rick Joyner

This week we will cover Revelation 14:13-20:  

           And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them."

                 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.

                 And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, "Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe."

                 Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.

                 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle.

                 Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe."

                 So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God.

                 And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses' bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles. 

This text begins with how blessed those are who die in the Lord from this time on. The Spirit confirms this because they will be able to rest from their labors, and their deeds will follow them. To those who are earthly minded, it is hard to see death as a blessing, but to those who know the Lord, this life is but “a vapor” that quickly passes. To pass out of this life to the next is their great hope. Those who have truly come to know the Lord and trust in His salvation do not fear death.  

We also see that this is the time when the harvest of the earth has come. It comes in two ways: The Lord reaps those who have followed Him, and then an angel reaps those who are destined for the wrath of God. The harvest is when all the seeds, both the good and the evil, sown in man comes to full maturity. 

Some of the most destructive false doctrines and heresies have come from those who could not “behold now the kindness and the severity of God” (see Romans 11:22). If we cannot see both of these, then we do not know God as He is and are worshipping a God we have made, which is an idol. He is more kind and gracious than any human will ever be, but He is also severe. Drawing His wrath should be the greatest fear of every human being. 

As we are told in Romans 2:4, it is “the kindness of God” that leads us repentance. Who can truly see His kindness and grace and not worship Him? We will be worshiping and thanking Him forever for His mercy and grace. The fear of His wrath may not draw men to Him, but it has certainly driven many to Him. The first Great Awakening was ignited by a sermon by Jonathan Edwards entitled, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Many other great revivals were sparked by preaching on the severity of God. It may be better to be drawn than driven, but it is better to be driven than to not come at all. 

That being understood, those drawn to Him because of His kindness often tend to think that His kindness is all there is to know about Him. If we do not mature beyond that in our knowledge of Him, we will be prone to embrace “hyper-grace” deceptions. These are in need of studying His judgments and His wrath, which are abundant in both the Old and New Testaments. 

Likewise, those who have been driven to the Lord by fear of His severity can also be deceived about Him, thinking that He is only a harsh curmudgeon with no humor and no tolerance for sinners. He loves sinners—all of them—and desires for them to be saved. He had much more grace for sinners than He did the self-righteous. He is full of grace and mercy, and He prefers mercy over judgment. However, He has limits, and when those limits are reached, it is a fearful thing to behold. 

To see Him as He is, we must see Him as utterly kind and utterly severe at the same time. He is severe because He loves us. Love is His nature, but it is a severe love. Think about this: Jesus walked the earth as an exact representation of the Father. He called some of the roughest men that could probably be found to be His disciples. Even after living with Him for three and a half years, these tough characters were still afraid to ask Him a question on the night before He was crucified! He was obviously intimidating, but He could also be so gentle and merciful to children and to sinners. 

To know God as He is, and to not distort the Scriptures, we must reconcile both God’s kindness and His severity in our hearts, seeing Him as He is and not as we may want Him to be. As we mature, we will come to understand that He is perfect, and so are His judgments.