第37章 基督徒的忍耐
§1
第37章 基督徒的忍耐
§2
Chap. 37—Christian Forbearance
§3
亲爱的H弟兄和姐妹：关于你们现今与教会的关系，我的建议是，你当竭尽一切所能，行你的本分来与弟兄们和睦。应当培养仁爱而和解的精神，莫让报复的心情，到你的心思与意念中。我们生活在这个世界上，只有一点点的时间了。我们应当为今生与永恒工作。应当殷勤，使你们所蒙的恩召和拣选坚定不移。须留意不要误解自己在基督的国度里有一个家的权利。若果你的姓名登记在羔羊的生命册上，那么你的一切就很好了。要作好准备，乐意认错和改过，使你的错误及罪恶，先到审判台前得到涂抹。{5T331.3}[1]
§4
Dear Brother and Sister H,In regard to your present relations with the church I would advise that you do all that can be done on your part to come into harmony with your brethren. Cultivate a kind, conciliatory spirit, and let no feeling of retaliation come into your minds and hearts. We have but a little time in this world, and let us work for time and for eternity. Be diligent to make your calling and election sure. See that you make no mistake in regard to your title to a home in Christ’s kingdom. If your name is registered in the Lamb’s book of life, then all will be well with you. Be ready and anxious to confess your faults and forsake them, that your mistakes and sins may go beforehand to judgment and be blotted out.?{5T 331.3}[1]
§5
我相信你们正在改进；但要让这件工作做得更深刻，更彻底，更恳切。要不遗余力地去做。要谦卑地与上帝同行，摆正你们的心，克服自我，并注意避开撒但的每一诡计。何时你们的心与耶稣和谐一致，何时你们在言语上，精神上，和举止上效法那模范，你们的态度就必优雅高尚，使所有的人都确信你们有了根本的改变。于是你们就会被列在有美德、敬畏上帝，跟从耶稣的人中了。{5T331.4}[2]
§6
I believe that you are making improvement; but let the work be deeper, more thorough, more earnest. Leave nothing undone that you can do. Walk humbly with God, set your?heart in order, overcome self, and watch to avoid every device of Satan. When the heart is in harmony with Jesus, when in words, in spirit, and in deportment, you copy the Pattern, the manners will be refined and elevated, convincing all that there has been in you a radical change. You will then be numbered among the virtuous, God-fearing followers of Jesus.?{5T 331.4}[2]
§7
我的弟兄啊，你有一份污迹斑斑的记录。上帝和你自己的心知道这事。但谁也不比我更欢喜看到你使自己的脚踏在基督走过的路上，并在上帝的国中迎见你。对我们来说，了解自己是困难的，对我们自己的品格有正确的认识也是困难的。上帝的话是清楚明白的，但将之应用在一个人自己身上时，往往有错误。有一种自欺的倾向，以为圣经的警告和责备不是指着我说的。“人心比万物都诡诈，坏到极处，谁能识透呢”（耶17:9）？自我奉承被解释为基督徒的情感和热心。自爱和自信可能会使我们确信自己是对的，其实我们远远没有达到上帝话语的要求。{5T332.1}[3]
§8
My brother, you have a very spotted record. God and your own soul know this. But no one will be more rejoiced than I to see you setting your feet in the way that Christ has walked, and to meet you in the kingdom of God. It is difficult for us to understand ourselves, to have a correct knowledge of our own characters. The word of God is plain, but often there is an error in applying it to one’s self. There is liability to self-deception and to think its warnings and reproofs do not mean me. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Self-flattery may be construed into Christian emotion and zeal. Self-love and confidence may give us assurance that we are right when we are far from meeting the requirements of God’s word.?{5T 332.1}[3]
§9
圣经是完全的、清楚的、明确的；基督真门徒的品格准确地标明出来。我们若不愿以任何方式在我们真正的品格上受欺骗，就必须存谦卑的心查考圣经，因主的话而战兢。必须付出恒切的努力，克服自私和自信。自省务须彻底，以便没有自欺的危险。在特殊的场合稍微盘问一下自我是不够的。要每日检查你们盼望的根据，看看你们是不是真在基督的爱里。要真实地对待你自己的心，因为你担不起在这方面冒险。要计算成为一名全心全意的基督徒的代价，然后束上军装。要研究那模范；仰望耶稣，并要象祂。你们心灵的平安，你们永远得救的盼望，都有赖于在这事上忠心。作为基督徒，我们在自省上比在任何事上都不彻底；因而无怪乎我们在明白自我上进展如此缓慢。{5T332.2}[4]
§10
The Bible is full, clear, and explicit; the character of the true disciple of Christ is marked out with exactness. We must search the Scriptures with humble hearts, trembling at the word of the Lord, if we would not be in any way deceived in regard to our true character. There must be persevering effort to overcome selfishness and self-confidence. Self-examination must be thorough, that there be no danger of self-deception. A little catechizing of self on special occasions is not sufficient. Daily examine the foundation of your hope, and see whether you are indeed in the love of Christ. Deal truly with your own hearts, for you cannot afford to run any risk here. Count the cost of being a wholehearted Christian, and then gird on the armor. Study the Pattern; look to Jesus, and be like Him. Your peace of mind, your hope of eternal salvation, depend on faithfulness in this work. As Christians we?are less thorough in self-examination than in anything else; it is no wonder, then, that we make such slow advancement in understanding self.?{5T 332.2}[4]
§11
我写这些话给你们，是因为我想要你们得救。我不想使你们灰心，而想敦促你们付出更为恳切、强劲的努力。自爱会促使你们做出肤浅的自省工夫；但不要让任何虚空的自信欺骗你们，使你们丧失永生。不要在别人的错误过失上建立自己，而要在上帝和你自己的心灵之间解决关系你永恒命运的重要问题。{5T333.1}[5]
§12
I am writing these things to you because I want you to be saved. I do not want to discourage you, but to urge you to more earnest, vigorous effort. Self-love will prompt you to make a superficial work of self-examination; but let no vain confidence cheat you out of eternal life. Do not build yourself up on the mistakes and errors of others, but between God and your own soul settle the important question upon which hangs your eternal destiny.?{5T 333.1}[5]
§13
“人是看外貌，耶和华是看内心”（撒上16:7）。人的心带着忧喜交加的情绪，漂移不定而任性，里面住着那么多的不洁和欺骗。祂知道它的动机，意图和目的。要带着你心灵一切的污点来到祂那里。象诗人一样，将心房向那监察万有之主的圣目敞开，喊叫说：“上帝啊，求你鉴察我，知道我的心思，试炼我，知道我的意念，看在我里面有什么恶行没有，引导我走永生的道路”（诗139:23-24）。要使你们的心受到精练净化；然后你们就会变得与上帝的性情有份，脱离世上从情欲来的败坏。如果“有人问你们心中盼望的缘由，”你们就必“常作准备，以温柔、敬畏的心回答各人”（彼前3:15）。你们必有基督的平安。你们的名也必记在生命册上；你们对属天产业的权利也必带有王室的印记，是地上的任何人都不敢质疑的。没有人能挡住你们去往上帝圣城入口的道路，你们可以自由进到王面前，也可到上帝在天上的圣殿。{5T333.2}[6]
§14
“Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart,”—the human heart, with its conflicting emotions of joy and sorrow,—the wandering, wayward heart, which is the abode of so much impurity and deceit. He knows its motives, its very intents and purposes. Go to Him with your soul all stained as it is. Like the psalmist, throw its chambers open to the all-seeing Eye, exclaiming: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Submit your heart to be refined and purified; then you will become a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Then you will “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” The peace of Christ will be yours. Your name will stand registered in the book of life; your title to the heavenly inheritance will bear the royal signet, which none on earth dare question. No one can bar your way to the portals of the city of God, but you will have free access to the royal presence and to the temple of God on high.?{5T 333.2}[6]
§15
还有几句话印在我心上。我希望你们与上帝联合，不是因为我看所有的教会成员都是完全的，也不是因为我看你们是完全的。上帝在其教会内有祂所珍贵的人；其中也有些男女好像是麦中之稗。但主并未给你们或任何人有说某人是稗及某人是麦的职分。我们或会看出及责难别人的过失，但同时我们自己却有更大的过失，自己始终不明白，而别人却看得很清楚。上帝要你们对世界也对教会做出一个良好的榜样，一种表现耶稣的人生。有本分要尽也有责任要负。世界上真基督徒不够多；教会也需要他们；社会不能没有他们。基督为祂门徒的祷告乃是：“我不求祢叫他们离开世界，只求祢保守他们脱离那恶者”（约17:15）。耶稣知道我们在世上易受世界的试探，但祂爱我们，并愿赐给我们恩典，使我们胜过世界的败坏影响。祂愿我们在品格上完全，好使我们的任性不会造成别人道德上的缺陷。{5T333.3}[7]
§16
A few words more press upon my mind. I want you to be united with the church, not because I regard all the church members perfect nor because I regard you perfect. God has precious ones in His church; there are also men and women who are as tares among the wheat. But the Lord does not?give you or anyone else the office of saying who are tares and who are wheat. We may see and condemn the faults of others, while we have greater faults which we have never realized, but which are distinctly seen by others. God requires you to give to the world and the church a good example, a life that represents Jesus. There are duties to be performed and responsibilities to be borne. The world has not enough true Christians; the church has need of them; society cannot spare them. Christ’s prayer for His disciples was: “I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” Jesus knows we are in the world, exposed to its temptations, but He loves us and will give us grace to triumph over its corrupting influences. He would have us perfect in character, that our waywardness may not occasion moral deformity in others.?{5T 333.3}[7]
§17
你看到弟兄们没有达到圣经的标准，在他们身上有缺点；而且你老是在想这些缺点。你以这些缺点为食，而不是以基督为食。关注这些缺点会使你也变成那个样子。不要批评任何人；不要将你正确的做法与他人的不足相对比。你的危险是想纠正别人，使他们觉得自己错了。不要这样做。这并不是上帝所赐给你要你去做的工作。祂并没有让你成为教会的修补匠。你根据圣经的亮光看见了许多事。但是虽然你在某些点上是对的，也不要以为你的立场总是正确的；因为在许多点上，你的想法是错误的，经不住批判。{5T334.1}[8]
§18
You see that your brethren do not come up to the Bible standard, that there are defects in them; and you dwell upon these defects. You feed upon them instead of feeding upon Christ, and by beholding you become changed into the same image. But criticize no one; do not contrast your own exact course with the deficiencies of others. You may be in danger of wanting to correct others and make them feel their wrongs. Do not do this. This is not the work God has given you to do. He has not made you a church tinker. There are many things which you view in the light of the Bible. But though you may be in the right on some points, do not get the impression that your positions are always correct; for on many points your ideas are distorted and will not bear criticism.?{5T 334.1}[8]
§19
不要试图高抬自我，而要在基督的门下学习心里柔和谦卑。你知道彼得的品格。他特殊的品性是如何引人注目地发展的。在他的重大失足之前，他总是冒失主观的，随着冲动说欠考虑的话。他随时准备纠正别人，在对自己或自己要说的话有清楚的了解之前，就发表意见。但是彼得悔改了。悔改后的彼得与从前鲁莽冲动的彼得迥然不同。虽然他仍保留有从前的热情，但基督的恩典已管制了他的热心。他不再是冲动、自信、自高的了，而是沉着、自持、可教的了。因而他就能喂养基督羊群的羊和小羊了。{5T334.2}[9]
§20
Do not seek to exalt self, but learn in the school of Christ meekness and lowliness of heart. You know what Peter’s character was, how strikingly his peculiar traits were developed. Before his great fall he was always forward and dictatorial, speaking unadvisedly from the impulse of the moment. He was always ready to correct others and to express his mind before he had a clear comprehension of himself or of what he had to say. But Peter was converted, and the converted Peter was very different from the rash, impetuous?Peter. While he retained his former fervor, the grace of Christ regulated his zeal. Instead of being impetuous, self-confident, and self-exalted, he was calm, self-possessed, and teachable. He could then feed the lambs as well as the sheep of Christ’s flock.?{5T 334.2}[9]
§21
我的弟兄啊，日日都有要为你自己去下的大工夫。你必须作出持续的努力去克服坏脾气和恶习性。这些已经随着你的长大而加重了，惟有耶稣才能给你力量来完全地克服它。你该把你自己看作为基督的仆人，寻求在品德上的与他相似。要使自己能与他人友好相处。即使是在你的业务往来中，也应是有礼貌的、和蔼的和宽容大度的。表现出一种耶稣的温顺气质，表明是祂的精神在掌管着你。你是在与人打交道。应该富有忍耐、和蔼以及同情心。你需要勤于思考，克服自私心理。愿你的发问是：“我该做些什么才能使别人得福？”如果你一心想造福别人，哪怕会给自己带来不便，你就会得到上帝的赐福。超越了情欲和冲动的爱可以使内心清净，并在言语和行为上洋溢出来。基督徒必须拥有一种圣洁的柔情和爱心，其中没有不耐烦或者烦躁不安；粗鲁和粗暴的作风必须被基督的恩典所柔化。{5T335.1}[10]
§22
You, my brother, have a great work to do for yourself day by day. You must make constant effort to curb bad tempers and evil propensities. These have grown with your growth, and Jesus alone can strengthen you to fully overcome them. You should regard yourself as a servant of Christ and seek to be like Him in character. Try to make yourself agreeable to others. Even in your business relations, be courteous, kind, and forbearing, showing the meekness of Jesus and that His spirit is ruling you. You are related to humanity, and you must be patient, kind, and pitiful. You need to cherish thoughtfulness and subdue selfishness. Let your inquiry be: “What can I do to bless others?” If your heart is yearning to do them good, even at inconvenience to yourself, you will have the blessing of God. Love, lifted out of the realm of passion and impulse, becomes spiritualized and is revealed in words and acts. A Christian must have a sanctified tenderness and love, in which there is no impatience or fretfulness; the rude, harsh manners must be softened by the grace of Christ.?{5T 335.1}[10]
§23
我的弟兄，我的姐妹啊，要在基督的门下训练你们自己。要让论争的精神在家中和教会中止息。让你们的心向往对上帝子民的爱。被基督的爱充满的心绝不会分得太开。宗教乃是爱。基督徒的家要由爱作王，并在言行上表现体贴的仁慈和温柔的礼貌。不要说苛刻刺耳的话。要让家庭的礼拜愉快而且有趣。我的弟兄，要做一位基督徒绅士；因为家庭生活的原则和特点也必带到教会中来。一次缺乏谦恭礼貌，片刻的使性闹气，一句粗暴欠考虑的话，都会损害你的名声，并且可能关闭别人的心门，使你不能再感动他们。{5T335.2}[11]
§24
O my brother, my sister, educate yourselves in the school of Christ. Let the spirit of controversy cease at home and in the church. Let your hearts be drawn out in love for the people of God. Hearts that are filled with the love of Christ can never get very far apart. Religion is love, and a Christian home is one where love reigns and finds expression in words and acts of thoughtful kindness and gentle courtesy. Let no harsh words be spoken. Let the family worship be made pleasant and interesting. Be a Christian gentleman, my brother; for the very same principles that characterize the home life will be carried into the church. A lack of courtesy, a moment of petulance, a single rough, thoughtless word, will mar your reputation and may close the door to hearts so that you can never reach them.?{5T 335.2}[11]
§25
现在我已把你们的危险摆在你们面前，我也告诉你们有宝贵的胜利是你们可以获得的。我们若没有基督的心和精神，就决不能看见上帝的国。请你们在家中，在工作中，并在教会中效法那模范吧。不要设法教导他人，也不要看你可以与弟兄们有多不同，而要设法看到你可以与他们有多亲近，可以与他们多么完全地和谐一致。在你尽自己所能地完善基督化品格时，要将你的心献给上帝，让祂按照祂所喜悦的去塑造。祂必帮助你；我知道祂会的。愿上帝祝福你们和你们亲爱的孩子；也愿我能在那白色的大宝座周围遇见你们，这乃是我的祈祷。{5T336.1}[12]
§26
Now I have set before you your dangers, and I tell you there are precious victories that you may gain. We can never see the kingdom of heaven unless we have the mind and spirit of Christ. Then copy the pattern at home, at your work, and in the church. Do not try to teach others nor to see how widely you can differ from your brethren, but try to see how near you can come to them, how fully you can be in harmony with them. While doing all that you can on your part to perfect Christian character, give your heart to God for Him to mold according to His pleasure. He will help you; I know He will. May God bless you and your dear children; and may I meet you all around the great white throne, is my prayer.?{5T 336.1}[12]