第二十五週．週二

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晨興餧養

腓一２１　『因為在我，活著就是基督，死了就有益處。』

四５　　　『當叫眾人知道你們的謙讓宜人。主是近的。』

衛斯特（Wuest）在他的『字義研究』一書中指出，繙作謙讓宜人的希臘字，意思不僅是以少於我們所當得的為滿足，也有甜美的合理之意。這辭還包括自制、忍耐、適度、恩慈、以及溫和的意思。此外，照著基督徒的經歷，謙讓宜人是包羅一切的，因為它包含了基督徒一切的美德。這意思是說，我們若不能謙讓宜人，我們就沒有任何基督徒的美德。倘若一位弟兄…藉著基督的恩典，以少於他所當得的為滿足，對他的妻子謙讓宜人，既不批評她，也不定罪她，他在這樣的謙讓宜人之中，就顯出一種基督徒包羅一切的美德。他的謙讓宜人包括忍耐、謙卑、自制、仰望主，甚至包括承認主在一切事上有主宰權柄的美德。（腓立比書生命讀經，五八九至五九○頁。）

信息選讀

有時候我們行事為人的態度失當，原因就是我們缺少謙讓宜人。我們態度消極，話語沒有恩慈，也是由於缺少謙讓宜人。我們不能愛人，是因為我們沒有謙讓宜人。同樣，我們不能容忍，是因為我們缺少謙讓宜人。甚至多話也是沒有謙讓宜人的結果。…我們若不向著家人顯出謙讓宜人，我們的家庭生活就沒有和平。和平乃是從謙讓宜人來的。

保羅知道，謙讓宜人是個包羅一切的美德，所以他說，『當叫眾人知道你們的謙讓宜人。』〔腓四5。〕這謙讓宜人實際上就是基督自己。保羅在腓立比一章二十一節說，『在我，活著就是基督。』基督既是謙讓宜人，保羅活著就是謙讓宜人。保羅所專切期待的，就是無論是生是死，總叫基督在他身上照常顯大。保羅顯大基督，就是叫人知道他的謙讓宜人。因此，叫基督在我們身上顯大，等於叫眾人知道我們的謙讓宜人；這是因為謙讓宜人就是我們實際所經歷的基督。我們可以談論活基督，也見證我們活著就是基督。然而，我們每日在家庭生活中所需要的，乃是謙讓宜人。我們若有謙讓宜人，我們的經歷裏就真有基督。

作好丈夫、好妻子的關鍵，乃是謙讓宜人。我再說，謙讓宜人所包含的，比溫和或謙卑要多得多。謙讓宜人這個基督徒包羅一切的美德，就是基督自己。我們在家庭生活和召會生活裏，都必須過一種謙讓宜人的生活來活基督。

我們越探討謙讓宜人的意義，就越能珍賞保羅為甚麼在四章五節說到這點。我們基督徒生活的失敗和挫敗，全是因為我們缺少謙讓宜人。所有的聖徒，不論是年輕的或是年長的，都一樣有忽略謙讓宜人的傾向。我們若要活基督，就必須以少於我們所當得的為滿足。我們不該向別人苛求。

主耶穌在地上時，過的是一種謙讓宜人的生活。一面，祂非常嚴格；另一面，祂也非常寬容。例如，祂自己多方禱告，但祂在禱告的事上並不要求祂的門徒，也不因著他們禱告不彀而定罪他們。

保羅說到謙讓宜人之後，緊接著就說，『主是近的。』…照著經歷來看，我要說，這話是指主今日與我們同在。這也加強了保羅的勸勉，要我們叫眾人知道我們的謙讓宜人。因著主是近的，我們就沒有藉口不叫人知道我們的謙讓宜人。我們常常沒有謙讓宜人，因為我們忘記主是近的，我們甚至不記得祂實際上就在我們裏面。…因著我們沒有體會主是近的，所以我們沒有謙讓宜人。（腓立比書生命讀經，五九○至五九二頁。）

參讀：腓立比書生命讀經，第五十六篇。

WEEK 25 — DAY 2

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Morning Nourishment

Phil. 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

       4:5   Let your forbearance be known to all men. The Lord is near.

In his Word Studies Wuest points out that the Greek word rendered “forbearance” not only means satisfied with less than our due but also means sweet reasonableness. The word includes self-control, patience, moderation, kindness, and gentleness. Furthermore, according to Christian experience, forbearance is all-inclusive, for it includes all Christian virtues. This means that if we fail to exercise forbearance, we fail to exercise any Christian virtue…If by the grace of Christ [a brother] is satisfied with less than his due and exercises forbearance toward his wife, not criticizing her or condemning her, he will show in his forbearance an all-inclusive Christian virtue. His
forbearance will include patience, humility, self-control, looking to the Lord, and even the virtue of admitting that the Lord is sovereign in all things. (Lifestudy of Philippians, pp. 479-480)

Todays Reading

The reason we sometimes behave in an unseemly manner is that we lack forbearance. Negative attitudes and unkind words also come from a shortage of forbearance. When we fail to love, it is because we have no forbearance. Likewise, we may be intolerant because we lack forbearance. Even talkativeness may result from having no forbearance…If we do not show forbearance toward the members of our family, there will be no peace in our family life. Peace comes out of forbearance.

Paul realized that forbearance is an all-inclusive virtue. This is the reason he says, “Let your forbearance be known to all men” [Phil. 4:5]. This forbearance is actually Christ Himself. In 1:21 Paul says, “To me, to live is Christ.” Since Christ is forbearance, for Paul to live was forbearance. Paul’s earnest expectation was that Christ would be magnified in him, whether through life or through death. For Paul to magnify Christ was for him to make known his forbearance. Thus, for Christ to be magnified in us is equal
to making our forbearance known to all men. The reason for this is that forbearance is Christ experienced by us in a practical way. We may speak of living Christ and testify that for us, to live is Christ. However, day by day in our life at home, what we need is forbearance. If we have forbearance, then in our experience we truly have Christ.

The key to being a good husband or wife is forbearance. To repeat, forbearance includes much more than gentleness or humility. As an allinclusive Christian virtue, forbearance is Christ Himself. In both the family life and in the church life, we need to live Christ by living a life of forbearance.

The more we consider the significance of forbearance, the more we can appreciate why Paul spoke of it in 4:5. Our failures and defeats in the Christian life come because we are short of forbearance. All the saints, young and old alike, have a tendency to neglect forbearance. If we would live Christ, we must be satisfied with less than our due. We should not make exacting demands on others.

The Lord Jesus lived a life of forbearance when He was on earth. In one sense, He was very strict, but in another sense, He was very tolerant. For example, although He prayed a great deal, He did not make demands of His disciples concerning prayer or condemn them because they did not pray enough.

Immediately after speaking about forbearance, Paul goes on to say, “The Lord is near.”…According to experience…I would say that this word refers to the Lord’s presence with us today. It also strengthens Paul’s exhortation that we make our forbearance known to all men. Because the Lord is near, we have no excuse for not making known our forbearance. Often we fail to exercise forbearance because we forget that the Lord is near. We do not even remember that He is actually within us…Because we do not realize that the Lord is near, we do not exercise forbearance. (Life-study of Philippians, pp. 480-481)

Further Reading: Life-study of Philippians, msg. 56