在歲末年終思想永恆Reflectingon eternity as the year ends
作者：Dan Philips 譯者：駱鴻銘
沒有人知道下一刻會是什麼樣子。「不要為明日自誇，因為一日要生何事，你尚且不能知道。」（箴言廿七1）。無論明天如何，過往的日子都會在我們的人生當中烙印下無比的重量。
None
of us knows what the next moment holds. "Do not boast about tomorrow, for
you do not know what a day may bring" (Proverbs 27:1). Whatever the next
day brings, all the preceding days bring their mounting weight to bear on us.
我們都要站在那位審判官的台前。我們不知道什麼時候會蒙召，但是我們卻知道，當我們必須出現在法庭前面時，連一刻也不會延遲。
We
all stand before the Judge. We don't know the time on the summons, but we do
know that we won't miss our court appearance date by so much as a second.
我們在法官面前能為自己辯護嗎？在那部有名的電影《小氣財神》（A Christmas Carol，或譯為聖誕頌歌）裏，故事的主人翁史古基（Scrooge）聽見他七年前過世的事業夥伴馬里（Marley）的哀嘆，說他背負著許多沉重的枷鎖，史古基口中喃喃自語地說：「我很同情你」。而馬里的回答竟是：
And
what do we bring? In the best movie version of A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer
Scrooge hears Marley's lament about the many and heavy chains he wears, and
murmurs "You have my sympathy." Marley's response:
「啊，你並不明白你身上背負著的枷鎖有多長、有多重。七年過去了，你身上背負的枷鎖的重量和長度和我背負的一模一樣，只是更為沉重。」（譯按：七年前史古基的鎖鍊本與馬里一般長一樣重[因為他們是事業夥伴]，但這七年來史古基接受了他的故友的股份後，繼續苛刻斂財，程度早已遠勝馬里當年。）
"Ahh
— you do not know the weight and length of strong chain you bear yourself. It
was full as heavy and as long as this seven Christmas eves ago and you have
labored on it since. Ah! it is a ponderous chain!"
無論《小氣財神》在神學上的缺點是什麼（有很多嚴重的缺陷），我很欣賞這點：史古基生動地說明他徹底地不知道他在這個當下，正在受審判；他的人生正在結出果實，而這個果實是苦毒的、悲慘的、致命的果實。
Whatever
the theological shortcomings of A Christmas Carol (and they are many and
serious), I appreciate this: Scrooge is vividly shown to be utterly unaware
that he is judged, as he stands; that his life has already borne fruit, and
that fruit is bitter, woeful, deadly.
這正是今天人們的光景。聖經說，「不信的人，罪已經定了」（約三18）。更遭的、也更危險的是，約翰告訴我們，「不信子的人得不著永生，上帝的震怒常在他身上。」（約三36）好，就在這一刻，史古基倒抽了一口氣，因為他知道，這也許是他的最後一口氣。但以理對伯沙撒說的，也是對我們說的：「你……沒有將榮耀歸與那手中有你氣息，管理你一切行動的神」（但五23）
This
is the state of men today. We read, "whoever does not believe is condemned
already" (John 3:18). Worse, and more ominously, John reveals that
"whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God
remains on him" (John 3:36) — now, at this moment, as he draws this
fleeting breath which, for all he knows, may be his last. What Daniel said to
Belshazzar, he might well say to us: "the God in whose hand is your
breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored" (Daniel 5:23).
「祝我萬壽無疆！」——噗哧！——瞬間消失了。受審吧！
"Long
live me!" — poof! — gone. Gone to judgment.
如果你讀了上面的話，那就是寫給你的。你生命的光景就是如此。無論你在去年所追求的是什麼，被什麼吸引，真實的景況是你離審判又更近了一步，而這個審判是絕對的、最終極的、無法脫逃的、無法撤消的、也無法上訴的審判。倘若你現在就死了，斧頭就會立刻落下，就這麼回事，無二話可說。永永遠遠。你現在就必須認識上帝。
Someone
has just read those words, and they are for you. Your condition is just so.
Whatever your pursuits and distractions over the past year, the reality is that
you are a step away from a judgment that is absolute, final, inescapable,
irrevocable, and incapable of appeal. Were you to die now, the ax would fall,
and that would be that. Forever. You need to come to know God, now.
但是我的基督徒讀者也不要覺得你一定是安全的，因為同樣的原則也同等地適用於我們，甚至更為嚴厲。千萬別忘了：
But
lest my Christian readers (and self) feel too safe, consider that the same
principle applies to us equally, and perhaps even more so. Never forget:
「惟有那不知道的，做了當受責打的事，必少受責打；因為多給誰，就向誰多取；多托誰，就向誰多要。」（路十二48）
"Everyone
to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they
entrusted much, they will demand the more" (Luke 12:48)
也許你每天都讀了很多文章，其他人寫的也比這篇要好很多。很好，讚美上帝！但是千萬不要忘記：當你和我在閱讀時，我們的責任指數也隨著水漲船高。這件事就發生在現在，當下，發生在你、我身上。
Perhaps
you read this blog daily, and other writings of men far better than the current
one. Good, and God be praised. But never forget: as you and I read, our
responsibility-index goes up. It is happening now, right now, to you, and to
me.
希伯來書九章27節的話（「按著定命，人人都有一死，死後且有審判」）不只是給非信徒的信息，也是給基督徒的。「因為我們眾人必要在基督臺前顯露出來，叫各人按著本身所行的，或善或惡受報。」（林後五10）這個考量是如何影響寫這句話的使徒的呢？保羅是不是接著說：「不過，不用介懷，基督的寶血會遮蓋一切。我永遠都是安全的，所以，我現在就要去追求我認為的最美好的人生」呢？
The
words of Hebrews 9:27 ("it is appointed for man to die once, and after
that comes judgment") do not bring a message to unbelievers alone, but to
us as well. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so
that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether
good or evil" (2 Corinthians 5:10). And how does this consideration affect
the apostle who wrote it? Does Paul go on to say, "But never mind that,
the blood covers all, I'm eternally secure, so I'm going for what I see to be
my best life right now"?
不盡然。保羅所說的下一句話是：「我們既知道主是可畏的，所以勸人。」（林後五11） 宣講白白在法庭上的稱義、唯獨靠恩典、唯獨藉著信心、唯獨在基督裏的使徒，發現到這個事實，即上帝的審判既會讓人冷靜肅然，也會激勵人。
Not
so much. Paul's very next words are, "Therefore, knowing the fear of the
Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:11). The apostle of free forensic justification by
grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone found the reality of God's
judgment both sobering and motivating.
因此，我呼籲大家，在這一年的歲尾，要思考上帝的審判，並且在這個背景下思考我們的人生。統計數字是不會騙人的，不是所有在今天讀到這個帖子的人，在明年的年終都有機會再次讀到類似的帖子。我也有可能無法再寫類似的帖子。因為：
So I
call us all, as the year draws to a close, to consider the judgment of God, and
to consider our lives in that context. The statistics are pretty good that not
all who read these words now will be here to read any similar post next year's
end. Nor may I be here to write one.
「人也不知道自己的定期。
魚被惡網圈住，
鳥被網羅捉住，
禍患忽然臨到的時候，
世人陷在其中也是如此。 」
（傳道書九12）
"For
man does not know his time.
Like
fish that are taken in an evil net
and
like birds that are caught in a snare,
so
the children of man are snared at an evil time,
when
it suddenly falls upon them"
(Ecclesiastes
9:12)