十一月二十五日[mp3_embed playlst=”/downloading/audio/evening/11/1125.mp3″]
经文: 因祂对摩西说：“我要怜悯谁就怜悯谁，要恩待谁就恩待谁。”（罗马书九：15）
因为生死大权是操在君王手中，所有全地的审判者有权恕宥或定罪。罪恶使人丧失向上帝要求的权利。因为罪，世人应当灭亡。即使所有人都灭亡，亦无抱怨之理由。主若要介入拯救任何人，就绝对可以作到，只要公义的目的不受阻挠即可。但是倘若祂决定最好让定罪的人受到正义之判决，也没有人能控告祂不公正。那些论及人有权利配受圣洁上帝体恤之言论是愚蠢、不知羞耻的。反对恩典有差别，也就是骄傲人性敌视耶和华的王权和王位的那些悖逆言论，别的不是，最起码是无知的。当我们看到自己的邪恶，又看到上帝反对罪恶的公正裁决，我们就不会再对真理发怨言，认为上帝有义务要救我们了。祂若眷顾我们，那是祂对不配得仁慈的人所采取的自愿行动，为此我们要永远称颂祂的名。蒙救赎的人如何能完全地崇拜上帝的恩典呢？惟有让主的旨意得荣耀，摒弃人的功勋这一观念。在圣经中最谦卑的教义就是藉恩典得救恩，那是最配受我们感激的事，并且也是最圣洁的事。信徒不应惧怕上帝的恩典，反应在恩典中更崇敬更喜乐。
Evening, November 25
Scripture: “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”(Romans 9:15)
In these words the Lord in the plainest manner claims the right to give or to withhold his mercy according to his own sovereign will. As the prerogative of life and death is vested in the monarch, so the Judge of all the earth has a right to spare or condemn the guilty, as may seem best in his sight. Men by their sins have forfeited all claim upon God; they deserve to perish for their sins－and if they all do so, they have no ground for complaint. If the Lord steps in to save any, he may do so if the ends of justice are not thwarted; but if he judges it best to leave the condemned to suffer the righteous sentence, none may arraign him at their bar. Foolish and impudent are all those discourses about the rights of men to be all placed on the same footing; ignorant, if not worse, are those contentions against discriminating grace, which are but the rebellions of proud human nature against the crown and sceptre of Jehovah. When we are brought to see our own utter ruin and ill desert, and the justice of the divine verdict against sin, we no longer cavil at the truth that the Lord is not bound to save us; we do not murmur if he chooses to save others, as though he were doing us an injury, but feel that if he deigns to look upon us, it will be his own free act of undeserved goodness, for which we shall for ever bless his name.
How shall those who are the subjects of divine election sufficiently adore the grace of God? They have no room for boasting, for sovereignty most effectually excludes it. The Lord’s will alone is glorified, and the very notion of human merit is cast out to everlasting contempt. There is no more humbling doctrine in Scripture than that of election, none more promotive of gratitude, and, consequently, none more sanctifying. Believers should not be afraid of it, but adoringly rejoice in it.