(Archibald Brown, “Amen, O Lord!” 1894)
《阿们，主啊！》（阿奇博尔德·布朗，1894年）
There has been too much trifling with Jehovah!
人们对耶和华太过轻慢了！
“Then I answered and said: Amen, O Lord!” Jeremiah 11:5 [Or, So be it, O Lord.]
“我就回答说：耶和华啊，阿们！”耶利米书11:5 [即：主啊，愿如此成就。]
Perhaps there is a secret contention going on between you and God. God has spoken to you – but thus far there has not been Jeremiah’s response of ‘Amen, O Lord.’
或许你与神之间存在着一场隐秘的争执。神已向你说话 – 但至今你还未像耶利米那样回应”耶和华啊，阿们”。
Here you have the one response which a man of God must ever make to the words of God. When God says anything to him, there is nothing left for him but to bow the head and say, ‘Amen, O Lord – so be it!’
这就是神的仆人对神话语应有的唯一回应。当神对他说话时，他除了低头说”耶和华啊，阿们 – 愿如此成就”别无选择！
This response is the only one that suits a creature’s lip.
When God speaks – there is nothing left for man but to hear.
When God decrees – there is nothing for man to do but acquiesce.
When Jehovah gives a command – what is there left for His creature to do but obey?
这样的回应是受造之物唯一合宜的表达。
当神说话时 – 人除了聆听别无选择。
当神颁布旨意时 – 人除了默然顺服别无选择。
当耶和华下达命令时 – 祂的受造之物除了顺从还能做什么？
Any other word than ‘Amen’ springs from rebellion. Any other response to the word of Jehovah, simply tells of a heart that wars with God.
除”阿们”之外的任何话语都源于悖逆。对耶和华话语的任何其他回应，都只表明一颗与神争战的心。
It is not for men to judge God’s words, far less to amend them. If it pleases Jehovah to say anything, no matter how stern, how dreadful, or how searching – there is only one position for man: that is to bow his head and say, ‘Amen, O Lord.’
人无权判断神的话语，更无权修改它们。若耶和华乐意说什么，无论多么严厉，多么可怕，或多么深究 – 人只有一个立场：那就是低头说”耶和华啊，阿们”。
‘Oh,’ says one, in the proud spirit of our times, ‘you are making a bold bid for your God this morning.’
“噢，”有人以这个时代骄傲的精神说道，”你今早为你的神提出了一个大胆的要求。”
I am. The sovereignty of God needs to be brought to the front. There has been too much trifling with Jehovah! Man needs to have the peacock’s feathers plucked out of his cap, and be taught that he is a poor little nothing, and that for God to speak to him at all is infinite condescension, and that for him to say anything else than ‘Amen’ is boundless impudence!
是的。神的主权需要被提到首位。人们对耶和华太过轻慢！人需要被摘去帽子上的孔雀羽毛，被教导他不过是渺小的虚无，神愿意对他说话本身就是无限的俯就，而他若说出”阿们”之外的任何话都是无限的傲慢！
If God condescends to utter a command, am I to go and judge whether the Lord has a right to say it? Shall I take the word of Jehovah my Maker and weigh it in my scales – and bring up his thoughts to the paltry bar of my fallen reason – and enter my protest unless I can see a good reason for God speaking as He does?
如果神屈尊发出命令，我岂能去判断主是否有权说这话？我岂能将造我的耶和华的话放在我的天平上衡量 – 将祂的思想带到我堕落理性的可怜标准前 – 除非我能看到神如此说话的正当理由，否则就要提出抗议？
When God promulgates a decree, He does not send it to man to be revised.
当神颁布法令时，祂并非将其交由人来修改。
His claim is this, “I am Jehovah. I, the Lord, speak that which is right, and let man say: Amen, O Lord.”
祂的宣告是：”我是耶和华。我，主说的都是对的，愿人都说：阿们，主啊。”
We are living in the days of the deification of humanity. We hear so much about ‘the glory of humanity’, and ‘the triumphs of humanity’ – that God has become little better than a very inferior deity who runs after man and tips His cap to him.
我们生活在人类神化的时代。我们听到太多关于”人类的荣耀”和”人类的胜利”，以致于神变成了一个卑微的神明，追随着人类并向他们致敬。
This is not the picture which God’s Book gives. God’s claim is this, “I am the Lord, and you are but the creatures of My hand. The brightest of My angels are but sparks struck off from the anvil of My creative omnipotence. When I speak, let men and angels be silent; or, if they must speak, let them say: Amen, O Lord!” This is the only response that suits a creature’s lip.
这不是神的话语所描绘的图景。神的宣告是：”我是主，你们不过是我手所造的。我最光明的天使也不过是我创造全能之铁砧上迸发的火花。当我说话时，让人和天使都保持沉默；若他们必须说话，就让他们说：阿们，主啊！”这是受造物唯一合宜的回应。
If you can conceive of a being who is . . .
infinitely wise,
all-powerful,
infinitely righteous,
absolutely holy,
inflexibly just,
and all gathered up into boundless love – that is God.
如果你能想象一个存在，祂是……
无限智慧的，
全能的，
无限公义的，
绝对圣洁的，
永不改变地公正的，
而这一切都汇集于无边的爱中——这就是神。
If such a One speaks – then what is there left for me but to say, ‘Amen’? I am stark, raving mad, if I dare question the utterance of Infinite Wisdom. I am unutterably vile, if I can dare to criticize the utterance of Absolute Love. Idiocy must have taken hold of my brain and, alas! of my heart, if I would amend anything which His infinite holiness has declared. The very nature and character of God declare that the only response for man when God speaks, is ‘Amen, O Lord.’
如果这样的一位说话——我还能说什么，除了”阿们”？若我胆敢质疑无限智慧的话语，我就是完全疯狂。若我胆敢批评绝对之爱的言语，我就是难以言表的卑劣。若我想要修改祂无限圣洁所宣告的任何事，那么愚昧必定已经占据了我的头脑，唉！也占据了我的心。神的本性和品格宣告，当神说话时，人唯一的回应就是”阿们，主啊。”
Oh, for that grand attitude of resignation and submission to God, that bows before every word of God – whether it be a silver note of mercy from Heaven, or a thunder-clap of denunciation!
啊，愿我们有那种对神完全顺服和臣服的崇高态度，在神的每一句话语面前俯伏——无论是来自天堂的怜悯银音，还是谴责的雷霆之声！