2018-10-07 Judgement and Discernment 论断和辨别

We had a very good baptism service last Sunday上个主日的浸礼很棒. Four people were baptised in the sea四个人在大海里受洗, actually the water was freezing水冻得很, Praise the Lord that no one got sick但没一个人生病，感谢主! Now we are going back to the book of Matthew我们现在回到《马太福音》, a week ago, we just looked at v.1-2 from the whole passage of v.1-6上周我们查了1-6节中的前2节, in which Jesus commands us not to be judgmental people even if we may have acquired some head knowledge of the truth主吩咐我们，就算头脑知道真理，也不可论断人. Why为啥? Because if we judge others with the knowledge we’ve acquired without showing mercy因为我们若凭所知的无怜悯地论断他人, like say to people who are worshipping idols就像对拜偶像的, or taking drugs吸毒的, or being transsexual变性的, or committing any sins或对有其他罪的人说, “you are wrong你错了, the bible says you are totally wrong圣经说你大错特错了.” Then God will judge us with the measure we use那神就会用我们使用的量器量我们, “you are wrong你错了, you’ve not obeyed my commandments你没一直遵行我的诫命. Love me with all your heart你没有尽心爱我…” Surely, we can’t stand firm if we do so要是这样，我们肯定站立不住, for we all have sinned因我们都犯了罪. Let’s look at this picture来看看这幅图, if we point the finger at others我们若对别人指指点点, the other three are pointing back at ourselves其他三个人对我们也指指点点. This means that if we do so也就是说, we mess up our own lives我们在自找苦吃，自己搞自己!

So today所以, we continue to look at the next 4 verses今天我们继续分享接下来的4节经文, 3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye 为什么看见你弟兄眼中有刺and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye却不想自己眼中有梁木呢? 4 How can you say to your brother你自己眼中有梁木，怎能对你弟兄说, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye”容我去掉你眼中的刺”呢? 5 You hypocrite假冒为善的人, first take the plank out of your own eye先去掉自己眼中的梁木, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye然后才能看得清楚，去掉你弟兄眼中的刺.6 do not give dogs what is sacred不要把圣物给狗; do not throw your pearls to pigs也不要把你们的珍珠丢在猪前，or tey will trample them under foot and turn and maul you 恐怕它践踏了珍珠，转过来咬你们.”  

1, Judge without hypocrisy.不假冒伪善的论断

The word “plank” is translated as “beam” in KJV version在英皇版圣经里,plank被翻译为beam(栋梁)， which refers to a very big piece of wood指的是一条很大的木头. While the speck of sawdust refers to dust刺，指的是锯木时产生的木屑, which is very small compared to the beam (see pictures)如图所见，对比梁木，它实在是小得很的. Jesus is telling us, that in human nature we are unable to make right judgement on others主教导我们，我们本性里无法正确判断别人, because we all have our own faults or sins like a big plank in our own eyes which hinders us from seeing others clearly因我们自己的错和罪如同眼中的梁木一样挡着，使我们看不清别人. So our Lord Jesus starts this passage with “do not judge”因此主开门见山，说”你们不要论断人”, but are we really not to judge at all但真的什么都不判断了吗? 1 Cor 2:15 says（林前2：15）, but he who is spiritual judges all things属灵的人能看透万事, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one却没有一人能看透了他. It says a spiritual man makes judgement about all things说的是，一个属灵的人，可以判断任何事. What does a spiritual man mean属灵人是怎样的人? Does it mean that those who have lots of spiritual gifts are spiritual拥有很多属灵恩赐的就是属灵人吗? The church in Corinth had lots of spiritual gifts哥林多教会有很多属灵恩赐, and they thought that they were spiritual自觉属灵, but in the Holy Spirit Paul the apostle corrected them like this可使徒保罗受圣灵感动，纠正他们说, “I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly 我不能把你们当作属灵的– merely infants in Christ只得把你们当作属肉体的、在基督里为婴孩的. 1 Cor 3:1b（林前3：1下）” Do you know why为什么? “for since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 你们仍是属肉体的，因为在你们中间有嫉妒、纷争，这岂不是属乎肉体、照着世人的样子行吗？1 Cor 3:3（林前3：3）” They had all kinds of spiritual gifts他们有各样属灵恩赐, like prophecy说预言, healing医治, and speaking tongues说方言, but they were still merely infants in Christ但他们还是属灵婴儿, do you know why?为什么 Because they lived according to the desires of the flesh like mere men他们像不信的人一样照着私欲活着. For the bible says因经上说, “Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God 属肉体的人不能得神的喜欢。(Romans 8:8，罗8：8)” Only Christ Jesus, the Son of God is a spiritual man惟有神儿子耶稣基督是属灵人! Those who live not according to the sinful nature那些不随从肉体, but are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God只随从圣灵的就是神的儿子了 (see Romans 8:14，见罗8:14), and they are spiritual他们才是属灵人 What does it mean to be led by the Spirit怎样叫被圣灵引导呢? Jesus says主说, “the words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life我对你们所说的话就是灵，就是生命. John 6:63b（约6：63下）” Therefore那么, to be led by the Spirit is to be led by the word of Jesus被耶稣的话引导，就是被圣灵引导. In other words换句话说, anyone who walks in the commands of the Lord is spiritual遵行神旨意的就是属灵人, whose judgement is led by the Holy Spirit他的判断是由圣灵引导的. For example比如, Balaam was a prophet in the OT巴兰是旧约先知, but he was carnal not spiritual in God’s eyes 但他属肉体不属灵, for he was a lover of money 因他爱钱不遵行神的 命令while John the Baptist didn’t perform any miraculous signs而施洗约翰一个神迹也没行, but obviously he was a spiritual man in God’s eyes但在神眼里，他诚然是个属灵人.

So how can we become spiritual men so that we may judge by the leading of the Holy Spirit那么，怎样成为属灵人，从而让圣灵引导我们的判断呢?

Jesus continues his words by teaching us if we really want to make a right judgement on others耶稣接着说，我们若想正确判断他人, we must turn away from our own sins就要先除掉自己的罪, and our own pride and self-righteousness以及骄傲自义, and be changed by God first先被神改变. In Matt 7:1-6（太7：1-6）, Jesus points out why people love making judgement on others耶稣指出人为什么喜欢论断他人, for the fallen nature attempts to change others rather than to change the self因老我想要改变别人而不是改变自己. Let’s think about ourselves想想我们自己, “why do we get angry at our children? 我们为什么对孩子生气Our husbands对丈夫生气, Our wives对妻子? Our friends对朋友?...” we will say我们会说, “Because they don’t listen因为他们不听, and they are wrong并且他们是错的, they should have listened他们应该听.” In fact事实上, nobody can change anybody’s heart but God除了神没有可以改变人心. If we attempt to change others,若我们想去改变他人 we ruin our relationships我们毁坏自己的人际关系. Jesus teaches us可主耶稣的教导是, we are not responsible for changing others改变他人不是我们的职责, that’s God’s job那是神的职责! We are responsible for our own changes as to how we response to God’s words我们的职责是回应神的话来改变自己. If we attempt to correct others若想改变别人, without asking the Holy Spirit to correct ourselves and cleanse our own hearts而不先求圣灵改正自己洁净己心, we are judged by Jesus as “hypocrites”我们就被主断定是”假冒为善的人”. So how can we grow into spiritual men so that we may make right judgements about all things那么，怎样成长为属灵人、可以看透万事呢? Jesus says耶稣说, “first take the plank out of your own eye先去掉自己眼中的梁木”! In other words换句话, before trying to correct or judge someone else 在判断纠正别人之前 we need to humble ourselves before God and repent of our own sins我们要在神面前谦卑自己，悔改自己的罪. After we have removed planks from our own eyes除掉自己眼中的梁木后, we probably will have experienced how painful the surgery is也可能会经历割瘤子的痛, and then we will be humble and understanding and have compassion on others那样才会有谦卑，理解同情别人, and in humility we may testify 在谦卑里见证how we have been corrected and changed for the same problems they have我们在相同问题上是如何被纠正被改变的, through Jesus’ salvation藉着耶稣的救恩, so that people may be encouraged and willing to repent by the touch of the Holy Spirit through our testimonies藉着见证和圣灵的感动，别人才会得到鼓舞，愿意悔改转向神. Once a time一次, we had two prostitutes come to the home church dressed like white-collar workers两个妓女来到我们家庭教会，一副白领打扮, so nobody knew their real jobs让人看不出她们的职业, after having been touched by the love of Christ during the church service聚会中她们被基督的爱摸着, they started to struggle over being baptised开始犹豫要不要受洗. I had a talk with one girl其中一个和我谈了一会儿, and she told me her real job告诉我她真正的职业, and said她说, “I’m dirty我很脏, God may not forgive me for what I’m doing神也许不会赦免我做过的事”. I was a little bit surprised and turned to God and asked我有点吃惊，我转向神，问, “what shall I say? Lord?主啊，我该说什么？” Immediately God’s word turned up in my heart神的话立刻出现在我心里, “To the weak I became weak向软弱的人，我就做软弱的人, to win the weak为要得软弱的人. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some向什么样的人，我就作什么样的人。无论如何总要救些人. 1Cor 9:22（林前9:22）.” And a scene about Jesus correcting and changing me like a movie appeared in my heart我心里出现基督怎样纠正改变我的画面，象电影一幕一幕播放, I was so touched by God’s love我很感动, and said to her对她说, “I also was a prostitute我也曾是妓女, but God forgave me and has been using me to show His unsearchable love但神赦免了我，又使用我，来显明祂不可测度的爱.” She stared at me with her eyes open wide她张大眼睛瞪着我. I continued我又说, “You sold your body to earn money你出卖身体赚钱, and I sold my soul to earn money我出卖灵魂赚钱, we all have sinned in God’s eyes在神眼里我们都犯了罪. In fact事实是, everyone in this world sold their souls to sin世上的每个人都出卖灵魂给罪, to lies出卖给撒谎, to pride给骄傲, to jealousy给嫉妒, to rebellion给悖逆, and to Satan出卖给撒旦. I’ve been forgiven and am being used by God我得了赦免，被神使用, so can you你也可以.” She started to cry 她哭了and said a prayer of repentance with tears and accepted baptism流泪悔改祷告，又受了洗. Afterwards后来，God provided a new job for her and she started her new life神提供了一份新工作 她开始了新的生活.  Brothers and sisters弟兄姊妹, if we change the way we focus on changing others to focus on changing ourselves first我们若改变道路，从关注改变别人，到关注改变自己, and allow God to take the planks out of our own eyes让神除掉我们眼中的梁木, then we can see others clearly with the eyes of the Holy Spirit然后就能用圣灵的眼睛看清别人. The result of practicing this truth will not only be changes in us操练这个真理，不但带来我们内里的改变, but inspiration for others to change too还会激励他人也来改变. This is what I have experienced since I became a Christian这是我信主后经历的 . 10 years ago十年前, after I had been practicing focusing on taking the beam out of my own eyes in two years在我持续操练除去自己眼中的梁木的两年后, my husband started to change我的丈夫开始改变, my daughter我的 孩子…even the whole home church I was serving that was changing 甚至我服事的整个教会都开始改变…because if we do so因这样行, And we will serve others in genuine love如此，我们就能在真爱中服事他人, rather than in manipulation 不再在控制欲中服事.

2, The needs of spiritual discernment跟随耶稣的人需要属灵辨别力.

Jesus continues his teaching耶稣接着说, “do not give dogs what is sacred不要把圣物给狗; do not throw your pearls to pigs也不要把你们的珍珠丢在猪前.” In Hebrew culture希伯来文化中, pigs are considered unclean animals猪是不洁的, and Jews are forbidden to eat pork犹太人不准吃猪肉 (see Lev 11:7，见 利未记11:7). Only Gentiles raised pigs 只有外邦人才养猪 (see Matt 8:30-34，见 太8:30-34). We consider dogs as “man’s best friends”我们把狗当成”人最好的朋友”, and feed them their own food还喂自己吃的给狗, but at the time dogs ate dead animals or corpses但狗在那年代还吃死肉和尸体. The Jews also used the word “dogs” to refer to Gentiles于是犹太人也用狗指外邦人. Remember the Canaanite woman who came to Jesus and asked for healing for her daughter who had been demon-possessed记得那个来求耶稣医治鬼附女儿的迦南妇人吗? And Jesus answered耶稣回答说, “it’s not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs不好拿儿女的饼丢给狗吃.” Jesus just used the Jews’ term “dogs” to refer to Gentiles耶稣就用犹太人的术语”狗”来指外邦人. But the woman replied但妇人回答说, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table但是狗也吃它主人桌子上掉下来的碎渣儿.” The woman didn’t take offence 迦南妇人没有受冒犯instead she confessed that even if she was considered as a dog反而承认，尽管被当成狗, the dog belonged to the Lord狗也属于主人, because of her humility and faith因她的谦卑和信心, her daughter was healed女儿就得了医治. So “dogs” and “pigs” here stand for the unappreciative or unbelievers所以，这里的狗和猪，都指不感恩的或不信的人, who hear the word of God but may slander or attack you听到神的话却毁谤攻击的人. In my country在我的国家, some people after receiving Jesus as their personal saviour有人信了主, they were very excited非常开心, and when they went back to their work places当他们回到工作单位, they started talking about Jesus to others all the time without discerning whether the timing was appropriate 会一直不停地谈论耶稣，也不管时机合不合适, or the person was ready or not或者听的人时间到了没有Then they were considered as fools in their colleagues’ eyes于是别人把他们当傻瓜. Actually事实上, Satan utilizes people’s enthusiasm without discernment没有属灵辨别的热情反被撒旦利用, to hinder the gospel from spreading来阻止福音传开. Thus, Jesus instructs us not to judge but to discern主耶稣因此才吩咐我们，不要论断，却要辨别. Discernment is needed for us to follow Jesus跟随耶稣的人需要分辨力。

3, What’s the difference between judgement and discernment? 区别论断和辨别

In Scripture there are three common words that are translated as “judge” 圣经中有三个常用词汇被翻译成”judge”: “krinō” “diakrino”, and “anakrinō”.

A, we are not called to Judge (condemn) 我们蒙召不是为审判（定罪） – Krino: To pass judgment on, to sentence审判; to condemn定罪; to conclude下结论, to determine定意. This is the word used in Matt 7:1, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”这就是用在（太7:1）中”你们不要论断人，免得你们被论断”中的judge。 It means not to condemn or conclude or pass any judgement onto others是指不要定罪、下结论、或审判人, because it’s God’s job to judge and conclude因惟有神审判.

B, We are called to “Judge”我们蒙召为”辨别” (discern) – Diakrino (KJV):

Diakrino: to decide and to discern裁决或辨别的意思, to distinguish and to separate识别、分别. For example举个例子: In 1Corinthians 11:31（林前11:31） For if we would judge (diakrino- discern) ourselves我们若是先分辨自己, we should not be judged就不至于受审 (krino- condemned). In 1Corinthians 6:5（林前6:5）, I speak to your shame我说这话是叫你们羞耻. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge (discern, diakrino) between his brethren? 难道你们中间没有一个智慧人能审断弟兄们的事吗？

1Corinthians 14:29（林前14:29） Let the prophets speak two or three至于作先知讲道的，只好两个人，或是三个人, and let the other judge其余的就当慎思明辨 (diakrino- discern).

Discernment is a spiritual gift of the Holy Spirit分辨是圣灵赐的属灵恩赐, which enables God’s people to clearly recognize and distinguish between the influence of God, Satan, the world, and the flesh in any given situation可让神子民在环境中清楚地认出来是来自神、撒旦、世界、还是肉体的声音. And it’s also an indispensable gift for those who are called to do deliverance ministry又是那些被呼召做医治释放事工的信徒不可缺少的恩赐. Actually实际上, God’s church needs those with this gift to warn believers in times of danger or keep them from being led astray by false teaching教会中需要拥有这种恩赐的人，来警戒信徒脱离虚假的教导.

Another Judge (examine or discern)另一个 judge：检验、分清 - Anakrino: To ask questions提问, to examine检验; to analyze分析, to investigate 调查and to search out来找出答案.

1Corinthians 2:15（林前2:15） But he that is spiritual judgeth (anakrino- discerns) all things属灵的人能看透万事, yet he himself is judged (anakrino- discerned) of no (natural) man却没有一人能看透了他.

Jesus calls us to discern not to judge nor to condemn or play God’s role主耶稣召我们不要论断、不要定罪、不要做神做的事，而是去检验去识别. How can we be led by the Holy Spirit to accurately discern not to judge我们怎么才能被圣灵引导，正确地区分： 是辨别还是论断? There is only one safe way Jesus told us主说只有一条平安的路，, “first take the plank out of your own eye先去掉自己眼中的梁木, and then you will see clearly然后才能看得清楚.”

Last story is to help us to understand that the spirit of judgement sometimes can confuse us if we don’t practice the teaching of the Lord最后一个见证可帮我们了解，若我们不行主耶稣 教导 论断有时会迷惑人,

8 years ago八年前, many churches’ pastors and their leaders from other places came to our home church to look for deliverance很多其他地方的牧师和领袖寻求医治释放，来到我们家庭教会. A brother from the home church was raised up by God to be my assistant我们有位弟兄被神兴起来. People could see the anointing power and the love of God大家从他身上看到神的恩膏和爱, the gift of discernment and the heart for God’s people to be set free was overflowing from him看到分辨诸灵的恩赐，和盼望灵魂得释放的心肠. The whole church acclaimed God’s work in him全教会都为神在他身上的工作欢呼, I was so grateful to share some of my load with him我也很高兴他可以分担我的担子. One day, after leading a prayer meeting有一天祷告会后, he came to me, and said this他来找我说, “Did you recognise the woman who sat beside you你有没有看出你旁边的那女人? She is a dirty woman她很脏的.” He said他说, “I heard the Lord say to me我听到主说, ‘she is unclean她很脏.’” I was very busy and didn’t pay attention to his words可我那时很忙，也没留意他的话. Three times, he said this to me他跟我说了三次, and three times, I didn’t answer for I was very busy我三次都因太忙来不及回答. One day, this woman asked for deliverance有一天那个女人来找我医治释放, after hearing her story听完她的故事, I wept with her 我也哭了, and led her to say a prayer of forgiveness to receive the cleansing power of Christ to forgive herself and others就带她做了饶恕的祷告，接受基督的赦免，也饶恕他人. After that, suddenly I was recalled my memory, so I rang that brother, and said过后突然想到了这事，就打电话给那位弟兄说, “You are right that she wasn’t clean, for she had slept with many different men没错，这女人是不干净，她和很多男人睡过. But I tell you但我告诉你, the voice you heard was not from God but from the devil你听到的声音不是从神而来，而是从恶者来, although it’s true in terms of the thing itself尽管就事论事是对的. It’s from the voice of condemnation not mercy但这是来自定罪不是怜悯! And it has caused you to look down on her not to show mercy to her这使你藐视她而不是怜悯. So from the fruit you can discern that the source of who spoke to you was wrong所以从果子看你可以辨别这对你说话的源头是错的. Because Jesus our God is full of mercy 因我们的神耶稣充满怜悯 So you must repent of that你需要悔改. And God will have mercy on you to forgive you神会怜悯你，也会赦免你. we all need God’s mercy我们都需要神的怜悯.” He wasn’t convinced and was arguing that it was God可他不信，并争辩那就是神. God is so Holy神是圣洁的! It has been nearly 10 years now这事过去快十年了, the anointing power of the Holy Spirit has left him since then圣灵的恩膏从此就离开他, It has been nearly 10 years now现在已经快十年了, the anointing power of the Holy Spirit has left him since then从那时起圣灵大能力的恩膏离开了他, it has been nearly ten years now已经快十年了, although he has stumbled too often by judging with his own eyes虽然他常因自己的论断跌倒, God still shows His unfailing mercy to forgive him 神却仍然施怜悯饶恕他and wait for him to renew the way he see others by practicing “first taking the plank out of his own eye”, 并在等候他去操练“先除去自己眼中的梁木”的真理so that one day he maybe serve with the power of Spirit again in the Kingdom of God因此有一天他能再被兴起 以圣灵的大能去侍奉! That’s God’s mercy这就是神的怜悯!

Mercy triumphs over judgement! 怜悯向审判跨胜！Before we discern whether it’s the judgement of God or not当我们要分辨这判断是出于神的不是, we really need to practice 我们需要操练”first taking the planks out of our own eye先去掉自己眼中的梁木”, focus on our own faults关注自己的错处, and on changes that we need to make关注自己需要改正的地方. It doesn’t mean that people around us don’t have faults or bad habits or sins这不是说周围的人就没有错、没有坏习惯、没有罪. They do like us他们和我们一样, but despite that可就算那样, God wants us to focus first on cleansing our own hearts神要我们首先洁净我们自己的心, so that we may carry the power of forgiveness and the compassion of Christ to gain more souls back for God.然后才能带着基督的饶恕和怜悯，为主赢得更多灵魂. When we judge我们判断, we just bring out the discernment of the Holy Spirit to testify that Jesus is alive就带出圣灵的分辨力，见证耶稣活着! He wants us to be renewed and to abide in His fullness! 借此祂愿我们得更新进入祂的丰盛！The goal of His commandments is love 命令总归是爱. Take first the planks of our own eyes 先除去自己的梁木, Let the merciful and forgiving eyes of the Lord guide us to see things clearly 让怜悯和饶恕的眼睛可以看!