第二週 • 週六

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晨興餧養

林後六11~13   哥林多人哪，我們的口向你們是張開的，我們的心是寬宏的；在我們裏面，你們並不受限制，你們乃是限制在自己的心腸裏。但你們也要寬宏，作同樣的報答，我像對孩子說的。

我們若要與神完全和好，完全得救，我們就需要心寬宏。

已過五十年來，我認識了許多親愛、寶貝的長老同工弟兄們，有很多位都非常嚴謹、梗直。…我多次想盡全力說服這些梗直的弟兄要有彈性。…然而有時這樣一位梗直的弟兄會反應說，『不！那不合聖經。』這種態度明顯指明，這樣嚴謹、梗直的弟兄們，需要心寬宏。

當我們的心寬宏時，我們不可鬆散，而該繼續對自己嚴、對自己直。但我們不可把這個原則應用到別人身上。如果主在我們裏面作了這樣的工作，我們就是寬宏的了（哥林多後書生命讀經，四三二至四三四頁）。

信息選讀

我們可能在自己的眼中很偉大，但我們的心卻極其狹窄。譬如，某人犯了錯，我們可能從此不再與他交往，直到他悔改認錯為止。這就是我們狹窄的記號。…我們的狹窄是很強的標示，我們只是部分與神和好，我們得拯救的百分比還很低。我們的心究竟有多寬宏，在於我們與神和好的程度。

我參加結婚聚會的時候常被請求要說點話。我不太願意在這種場合中說話。問題不是我無話可說，而是我真心想要說的，在這種場合可能太直率、太坦誠了。我很不喜歡在婚禮中那些好聽、取悅人的話，因為那些話太不合實際。倘若我要在結婚聚會中說話，我喜歡說真話，特別是說到夫妻之間彼此寬恕的困難。

一位弟兄一旦被他的妻子得罪了，他可能永不會忘記，也永不會原諒他的妻子。當然，很多妻子也是如此。我喜歡對剛結婚的弟兄姊妹這樣說：『姊妹，要盡力不得罪你的丈夫，你若得罪他，他要好幾年的時間纔會原諒你。弟兄，不要以為你的妻子是天使；她絕對不是天使。不僅如此，你必須常常愛她。你對她的愛如果不表達出來，你可能會得罪她；她會很久忘不了你的過錯。』我用這事作為另一個例子，說明心的狹窄。

所有已婚的弟兄姊妹，你們的心需要寬宏。弟兄們，你的妻子得罪過你麼？我勸你忘掉罷。你若能赦免別人，忘記別人得罪了你，那就表示你是寬宏的人，是心胸寬大的人。

當你被別人得罪，你願意赦免那人麼？赦免事實上乃是忘記。也許我們應該說忘記代替赦免。這樣，丈夫會對妻子說，『親愛的，讓我們都忘掉那次得罪對方的事罷。』忘記纔是真正的赦免。

在你的家庭生活和召會生活中，你可能被得罪過許多次。你把所有被人得罪的事都記錄下來了麼？你記得你的丈夫或妻子怎樣得罪你麼？或者記得某位長老怎樣得罪你麼？你記得聖徒們怎樣得罪你麼？我們需要赦免並忘掉所有得罪我們的事。…我們很難赦免並忘記，乃是因為我們的心還不彀寬宏。因此，我們再次看見，我們的心需要寬宏。我們需要與神完全和好並且完全得救，好使我們的心實在是寬宏的（哥林多後書生命讀經，四三四至四三六頁）。

參讀：哥林多後書生命讀經，第四十二、四十六篇。

WEEK 2 — DAY 6

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Morning Nourishment

2 Cor. 6:11-13 Our mouth is opened to you, Corinthians; our heart is enlarged. You are not constricted in us, but you are constricted in your inward parts. But for a recompense in kind, I speak as to children, you also be enlarged.

If we would be fully reconciled to God, fully saved, we need to be enlarged in our heart.

In the past fifty years I have known many dear and precious brothers who were elders and co-workers. A good number of these brothers were very strict and straight…Many times we tried our best to convince these straight brothers to be more flexible…Nevertheless, sometimes a straight brother would respond by saying, “No! That is not the biblical way!” This attitude is a clear indication that those who are strict and straight in this way need to be enlarged.

When we become enlarged in our heart, we should not become loose. Rather, we should continue to be strict and straight concerning ourselves, but we should not apply this principle to others. If the Lord has done such a work in us, we have been enlarged. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 361-363)

Todays Reading

We may be great in our own eyes, yet our heart may be extremely narrow. For example, our attitude may be that if a certain one makes a mistake, we should
have nothing to do with him unless he repents. This is a sign of narrowness… Our narrowness is a strong indication that we have been reconciled to God only partially and that the percentage of our salvation is quite low. How large our heart is depends on the degree of our reconciliation to God.

Often when I attend a wedding meeting, I am urged to give a word. However, I am reluctant to speak at weddings. The problem is not that I do not have anything to say. It is that what I really desire to say may be too frank and honest for the occasion. I strongly dislike the kind of nice, pleasant talk common at weddings, because it usually is far from the truth. If I were to speak at a wedding meeting, I would like to tell the truth, especially concerning the difficulty husbands and wives have in forgiving each other.

Once a certain brother has been offended by his wife, he may never forget that offense and never forgive his wife for causing it. Of course, many wives are the same way. What I would like to say to a newly married brother and sister is this: “Sister, try your best to avoid offending your husband. If you offend him, it may take him many years to forgive you. Brother, don’t think that your wife is an angel. She certainly is not an angel. Furthermore, you must love her always. If you fail to express your love for her, she may be offended and remember your failure for a long time.” I use this as another illustration of narrowness of heart.

All married brothers and sisters need to be enlarged in heart. Brothers, has your wife offended you? I urge you to forget it. If you are able to forgive an offense and forget it, that is a sign that you have become an enlarged person, a person with a large heart.

When you are offended by someone, are you willing to forgive that person? To forgive is actually to forget. Perhaps instead of talking about forgiving, we should speak of forgetting. Then a husband would say to his wife, “Dear, let us both forget that offense.” Forgetting is true forgiving.

Both in your family life and in the church life, you probably have been offended many times. Have you kept a record of all the offenses? Do you remember how your husband or wife offended you or how you were offended by a certain elder? Do you remember all the offenses caused by the saints? We need to forgive and forget all offenses…This difficulty with forgiving and forgetting is caused by a heart that has not been adequately enlarged. Thus, we see once again that we need our hearts to be enlarged. To be fully reconciled and saved will cause us to be truly enlarged in our hearts. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 363-364)

Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msgs. 42, 46