第七週 • 週二
晨興餧養
耶三一3 耶和華從遠方向我顯現，說，我以永遠的愛愛了你，因此我以慈愛吸引了你。
約壹四19 我們愛，因為神先愛我們。
神性加上人道，乃是最高的道德。這就是神的神聖屬性，從人被造的美德裏面彰顯出來，這也就是高超的美德。這高超的美德，照着我對聖經的認識和自己的經歷來看，約計有七項。
超凡的愛—愛是這高超美德中的第一項。但這愛是超凡的，我們愛人要能愛到一個地步，愛我們的仇敵（太五44）。
極廣的寬恕—寬恕的恕，就是饒恕的意思。我們饒恕人，心要廣大。狹窄的人不能饒恕人。所以這裏用極廣的寬恕。並且我們寬恕人要達到一個境地，能饒恕我們的仇敵，饒恕恨我們的人（李常受文集一九八九年第一冊，五七四至五七五頁）。
信息選讀
有時我們能愛人，卻不能饒恕人。…我因為愛你，雖然你是我的仇敵，我還可以送給你一本聖經，但是要我忘記你從前得罪我，卻是很難的事情。所以饒恕不是一件容易的事。因此，主在福音書為我們立下好榜樣，雖然人在地上不住的欺淩祂，但祂在地上最後的一個表現，乃是為人類禱告說，『父阿，赦免他們，因為他們所作的，他們不曉得。』（路二三34上）這是極廣的寬恕。
無上的信實—我們待人，要忠，要信，不賣主，不賣友，必須具備無上的信實。…盡致的卑微—卑微要能到盡致，所以不僅是卑，還要微。…卑是低下，微是變小。事奉主需要有盡致的卑微。…絕頂的純潔—不僅是潔，還要純。純潔必須是絕頂的。…至聖至義—至聖，是對神；至義，是對人。對神，我們必須完全分別出來；對人，也是完全正確，沒有一點差錯。…光明正大—第一項是愛，末了一項是光。我們…是要在光裏行事。一切行事都要在光中，不要在暗地裏，也就是要正正當當、坦坦蕩蕩的。不要小小氣氣、鬼鬼祟祟。…這七項加起來，就是一個事奉主之人所該有的人格。
神住在我們的靈裏，乃是住在我們的良心裏。然而，這一部分，神不是用強權來管制我們，祂乃是用愛來吸引我們。好比主問彼得說，『你愛我麼？』彼得回答說，『主阿，是的，你知道我愛你。』主就再對他說，『你牧養我的羊。』（約二一16）這乃是用愛來吸引。一旦我們不愛主，失去了這層吸引的管制，甚麼事都可能作得出來。
基督徒事奉主，一定要有事奉主者的人格。…我們的人格乃是因為我們愛神。我們已經被栽種在祂裏面，我今天願意活在祂裏面，也願意人在我身上能看出我是一個在基督裏的人，並且我所活出來的就是基督。我還要讓基督在我身上照常顯大，無論遭遇何種境遇，或窮、或富、或苦、或樂、或安、或危，甚至死亡，都要讓祂顯大，祂就成了我的人格。
人格有沒有保障，全看我們是否繼續愛主，繼續奉獻（李常受文集一九八九年第一冊，五七五至五七七、五八七至五八八頁）。
參讀：榮耀的異象與十字架的道路，第三至四篇。
WEEK 7 — DAY 2
Morning Nourishment
Jer. 31:3 Jehovah appeared to me from afar, saying, Indeed I have loved you with an eternal love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.
1 John 4:19 We love because He first loved us.
The highest morality is one in which divinity is added to our humanity. This is the divine attributes of God expressed in the created virtues of man. It is also the most excellent virtue. According to our understanding of the Bible and our personal experience, there are seven items of these excellent virtues.
Love is the first item of these excellent virtues. This love is extraordinary. We can love to an extent that we even love our enemies (Matt. 5:44).
To forbear is to forgive. When we forgive, our hearts have to be boundless. A narrow person cannot forgive. Hence, we need to have a boundless forbearance. We have to forbear to an extent that we can forgive our enemies and those who hate us. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 1, “The Glorious Vision and the Way of the Cross,” pp. 458-459)
Todays Reading
Sometimes we can love others but cannot forgive them…Because I love you, even though you are my enemy, I can give you a Bible. But it is very difficult for me to forget the offense that you have done to me. Hence, it is not easy to forgive. For this reason the Lord set a good example for us in the Gospels. Although men reviled Him unceasingly while He was on earth, His last act on earth before He died was a prayer for man: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34a). This is boundless forbearance.
We have to deal with others with consistency and in faithfulness. We should not betray others or the Lord. There must be unparalleled faithfulness. Our humility has to be absolute. Not only do we have to be humble. We have to be in humiliation. To be humble is to be low, but to be humiliated is to be made small. To serve the Lord we need an absolute humility. We have to be pure…, and this purity must be to the utmost. Toward God we have to be supremely holy, and toward man we have to be supremely righteous. Toward God we have to be fully separated, and toward man we have to be fully proper, with no fault whatsoever. The first item is love, and the last item is light…We have to walk in light. Everything we do must be in the light and must not be in darkness. We must be thoroughly upright and forthright and must not be narrow-minded or suspicious in any way.
All the seven items combined give a proper humanity for a servant of the Lord. Since God lives in our spirit, He lives in our conscience. However, God does not use brute force to rule over this part of us. Rather, He draws us with His love. We see this in the Lord’s question to Peter: “Do you love Me?” Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.” The Lord said to him, “Shepherd My sheep” (John 21:16). This is His drawing us with His love. If we do not love the Lord, we lose the restraint that comes from this kind of attraction and are liable to do anything and everything.
For a Christian to serve the Lord, he must have the humanity of a servant of the Lord…Our humanity comes from our loving of our God. We have been planted in Him. Now we are willing to live in Him and are willing to be found by others to be a person in Him. Furthermore, what we live out is just Christ. We always allow Christ to be magnified in our body. No matter what kind of circumstance, whether it be poverty, riches, suffering, enjoyment, peace, danger, or even death, I magnify Him. In this way He becomes my humanity.
Whether our humanity will be safeguarded or not depends on whether or not we continue to love the Lord and consecrate ourselves. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 1, “The Glorious Vision and the Way of the Cross,” pp. 459-460, 467-468)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1989, vol. 1, “The Glorious Vision and the Way of the Cross,” chs. 3—4
