第三十週．週二

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晨興餧養

約壹三１９～２１　『在此就知道，我們是屬真理的，並且我們在祂面前可以安心；我們的心若責備我們，神比我們的心大，一切事祂都知道。親愛的，我們的心若不責備我們，我們就可以向神坦然無懼了。』

約翰在約壹三章二十一節…乃是說到非常主觀的認識神。有些人會說到管理宇宙之全能的神，但約翰在這裏是說到在我們心裏的神。他不是談大能的神，偉大的神，他乃是說到實際的神。神不僅是無窮、無限、超過我們所能領會的，祂也小得足以在我們心裏。當神成為我們的經歷時，祂不僅是那在寶座上宇宙般廣大的一位，祂也是那在我們心裏的一位。

按照新約的教訓，我們必須在我們個人心的範圍裏認識神。神不是在宇宙的寬廣裏，乃是在我們心的微小範圍裏被我們認識的。…新約所關切的，是要我們認識那已經進到我們這人裏面的神，認識那住在我們靈裏，並渴望擴展到我們心的內裏各部分的一位。〔參弗三17。〕因此，我們必須在我們的心裏認識神。（約翰一書生命讀經，三一一至三一二頁。）

信息選讀

約翰在約壹三章二十節不是說神比宇宙大；…〔而〕是說，神比我們的心大。這種寫法指明，我們對神的認識必須是經歷上的。…你的心平安麼？你的心寧靜麼？…有些人會說他們認識神，但他們也許是宗教、客觀的認識神。我們必須在我們的心裏，在我們的良心裏認識神。這樣的認識神乃是使那偉大、全能、無限的神，在我們的良心裏對我們成為實際的。我們的良心若叫我們不安，這意思是神與我們也有了問題。…在我的基督徒生活裏，我常常希奇神為甚麼在意我日常生活裏所有的細節。比方，…我若給妻子『長臉』看，神會在我的良心裏攪擾我。如果我和神爭辯這樣的事，在我良心裏的神不會同意我。這是以經歷的方式認識神的例子。

就著我們在經歷上對祂的認識而言，神是微小的、有限的。一位弟兄會與神爭辯；他會認為神為著某件事攪擾他的良心是不對的。假定這位弟兄對神說，『為甚麼我的良心為著我妻子的事攪擾我？她錯了，我沒有錯。問題是她惹的，我一直想要避免爭吵…。為甚麼我的良心因著我這樣感覺來攪擾我？這是不公平的。』然而無論這位弟兄怎樣與神爭辯，神的管治總不會偏袒他。

我們認識神新約的路乃是個人的、細節的、經歷的。新約的路乃是認識神是那在我們心裏的一位。這種認識神經歷的路是何其寶貴！

有時候我們也許不明白，神有千萬的事要處理，為甚麼會關心我們日常生活中的瑣事。儘管神是無限且全能的，然而祂甚至在意我們生活中的瑣事。比方，祂會在意一位弟兄裏面對他妻子的態度，這件事小得似乎需要用神聖的放大鏡纔看得見。然而神在意這樣的事。我們知道神在意這樣的事，因為我們的良心為著這些事攪擾我們。每當我們的良心不寧靜，我們就知道我們需要顧到神聖管治的代表—良心—的感覺。我們這樣認識神，並不是在大事上，乃是在小事上。這條認識神的路是經歷的，實際的。（約翰一書生命讀經，三一二至三一四頁。）

參讀：在神聖三一裏並同神聖三一活著，第五、十三章。

WEEK 30 — DAY 2

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Morning Nourishment

1 John 3:19-21 And in this we will know that we are of the truth, and we will persuade our heart before Him, because if our heart blames us, it is because God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not blame us, we have boldness toward God.

John’s word [in 1 John 3:21] is about knowing God in a very subjective way. Some may speak about the almighty God who rules the universe, but here John speaks concerning the God who is in our heart. He does not talk about the mighty God, about the great God; instead, he speaks concerning the practical God. Not only is God infinite, unlimited, and beyond our ability to comprehend; He is also small enough to be in our heart. When God becomes our experience, He is not only the One on the throne who is universally vast, but He is the One in our heart.

According to the teaching of the New Testament, we need to know God in the personal realm of our heart. God is known by us not in the vastness of the universe but in the smallness of our heart. The concern of the New Testament is that we know the God who has come into our being, the One who dwells in our spirit and desires to spread into all the inward parts of our heart [cf. Eph. 3:17]. Therefore, we need to know God in our heart. (Life-study of 1 John, pp. 253-254)

Todays Reading

In 1 John 3:20 John does not say that God is greater than the universe… [but] that God is greater than our heart. This way of writing indicates that our knowledge of God must be experiential…Is your heart at peace? Is your heart tranquil?…Some may say that they know God. But they may know Him in a religious way, in an objective way. We need to know God in our heart, in our conscience. To know God in this way is for the great, almighty, infinite God to become practical to us in our conscience. If our conscience bothers us, this means that God also has a problem with us…Often in my Christian life I have wondered why God cares for all the details in my daily life. For example,…if I give my wife a “long face,” He will trouble me in my conscience. If I argue with Him about matters like this, the God who is in my conscience will not agree with me. This is an example of the experiential way to know God.

In being known by us experientially, God is small, not infinite. A brother may argue with God; he may think that it is not right for Him to trouble his conscience regarding a certain matter. Suppose the brother says to Him, “Why does my conscience bother me concerning my wife? She is wrong, and I am right. She caused the problem, and I have been trying to avoid an argument… Why, then, does my conscience bother me about the way I feel? This isn’t fair!” But no matter how much the brother may argue with Him, God will not rule in his favor.

The New Testament way for us to know God is personal, detailed, and experiential. The New Testament way is to know God as the One who is in our heart. How precious is this experiential way of knowing God!

Sometimes we may wonder why God, who has billions of matters to take care of, would be concerned with a small detail in our daily living. Although God is infinite and almighty, He cares even for the small things in our life. For example, He may care about a brother’s inward attitude toward his wife, something so small that it may seem it takes a divine magnifying glass to see it. Nevertheless, God cares for such a matter. We know God cares for such things because our conscience bothers us concerning them. Whenever our conscience is not tranquil, we know that we need to take care of the feeling of our conscience, which is the representative of the divine government. In this way we know God not in great matters but in small things. This way of knowing God is experiential and practical. (Lifestudy of 1 John, pp. 254-256)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” chs. 5, 13