林后一8~9　　…我们被压太重，力不能胜，甚至连活命的指望都绝了，自己里面也断定是必死的，叫我们不信靠自己，只信靠那叫死人复活的神。

　　赛四九15　　妇人焉能忘记她吃奶的婴孩，不怜恤她亲生的儿子？即或有忘记的，我却不忘记你。

　　在约翰十一章，我们还看见另一个原则，就是主不为人治病，只叫人复活。为人治病的原则，是帮助人的软弱。…祂听见拉撒路病了，没有去为他治病，直等到他死了，才去叫他复活。因为叫人复活，才是祂要作的。叫人复活的原则，就是等人到了…尽头，祂才来给人一个新的起头。…必须等你软弱到绝境，失败到尽头，完全到死地，…主才在你身上彰显祂复活的大能。

　　所以当你亲近主时，不必受这些软弱和失败的打扰。…若是你知道这些，主更知道。…若是祂…让你失败，…你即使是苦求，也…刚强不起来。所以我们要学一个功课，在祷告里，把自己一切的难处统统放手，直等到我们真到了…尽头，主就来了。那就是复活，那就是拯救。（祷告的意义与目的，五八至五九页。）

　　2 Cor. 1:8-9 …We were excessively burdened, beyond our power, so that we despaired even of living. Indeed we ourselves had the response of death in ourselves, that we should not base our confidence on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.

　　Isa. 49:15 Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she would not have compassion on the son of her womb? Even though they may forget, yet I will not forget you.

　　John 11 presents another principle: the Lord does not heal man; He resurrects man. Healing involves helping man’s weaknesses…. Instead of immediately healing Lazarus, the Lord waited for Lazarus to die in order to raise him, because the Lord only wants to raise man. Resurrection involves waiting until man comes to an end in order to give him a new beginning….The Lord must wait until we are hopelessly weak, until we are an utter failure, and until we are completely dead before He can manifest His resurrection power in us.

　　Thus, we should let go of our weaknesses and failures when we draw near to the Lord. The Lord already knows our weaknesses and failures…. If He allows us to be defeated, even our imploring Him will not make us strong. Hence, we need to learn the lesson of dropping our problems when we pray. When we are truly hopeless and at an end, the Lord will come. This is resurrection, and this is salvation. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 3, “The Meaning and Purpose of Prayer,” p. 260)

　　约翰十三章记（载）主为门徒洗脚的事。这里给我们看见另一个原则，就是我们亲近主时，要让主随祂的意思在我们身上作事。千万不要作彼得，主要给他洗脚时还谦卑的说，“你绝不可洗我的脚，永远不可。”等到主对他说，“我若不洗你，你就与我无分了。”（8。）他就说，“主啊，不但我的脚，连手和头也要洗。”（9。）这就是我们的光景。主要在我们身上作事，我们开头不让祂作；后来让祂作了，又要祂多作。这都是人的意见。

　　二十一章记（载）主向门徒显现的事。在这里我们看见，当我们…流落世界，在最软弱而完全忘记亲近主的时候，主还是来亲近我们。

　　彼得…不只自己下了世界，还带着弟兄们去。是他先说，“我打鱼去。”然后其余的门徒说，“我们也和你同去。”（3。）这好比一位弟兄说，“我要去爱世界。”其他的弟兄们就说，“我们也同你去。”于是他们就成群结队的去爱世界，一起堕落到世界里。然而，主没有因此弃绝他们，主仍然看顾他们，使他们打着鱼，又为他们预备鱼和饼，让他们吃一个饱。等他们都吃过了，主就问彼得：“约翰的儿子西门，你爱我比这些更深吗？”（15。）主这样问彼得，是要门徒们知道，主对他们还是不失望，主还要他们跟随祂，事奉祂。

　　在接触主的事上，你我都是失败的。彼得去打鱼，我们也跟他去打鱼；我们失败，但主永远不失败。我们亲近祂时，祂接触我们；我们不亲近祂时，祂也来接触我们。我们自己是靠不住的，今天接触祂，明天不接触了；这个月亲近祂，下个月不亲近了。然而，无论我们怎样，主还是一样；无论我们怎样改变，主永不改变。所以，在我们和主接触的事上有一个原则，就是虽然我们会改变，主却永不改变。（祷告的意义与目的，五九至六二页。）

　　参读：交通与神人调和，第一篇。

　　In John 13 the Lord washed His disciples’ feet. The principle involved in this case is that we need to let Him do what He wills in us when we draw near to Him. We should not be like Peter, who humbly said, “You shall by no means wash my feet forever.” Then, when the Lord said, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me,” Peter said, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head” (vv. 8-9). This is our condition. The Lord wants to work in us, but we initially will not let Him. Later, when we are willing, we want Him to do more than He intends. These are our human opinions.

　　In chapter 21 the Lord manifested Himself to His disciples. This case shows that the Lord will draw near to us even when we fall into the world, that is, when we are at our weakest point and forget to draw near to Him.

　　Peter… had not only gone back to the world but also had taken other disciples with him. After he had said, “I am going fishing,” some of the disciples said, “We also are coming with you” (v. 3). This can be compared to a brother saying, “I am going to love the world,” and other brothers saying, “We also are coming with you.” The disciples went as a group to love the world; they fell into the world together. The Lord, however, did not abandon them. He continued to look after them. He let them catch fish, and He also fed them with fish and bread that He had prepared. After they ate, the Lord asked Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” (v. 15). With these words the Lord let His disciples know that He was not disappointed in them; He wanted them to continue to follow Him and to serve Him.

　　Concerning contacting the Lord, we are all failures. Peter went fishing, and we also “go fishing” like him. We fail, but the Lord never fails. When we draw near to Him, He contacts us, and even when we do not draw near to Him, He still comes to contact us. We are unreliable. We may contact the Lord today but not tomorrow, or we may contact Him this month but not next month. No matter what our condition is, the Lord remains the same. No matter how we change, the Lord never changes. Hence, in our contacting the Lord, we must realize that the Lord never changes, no matter how much we may change. This is a principle. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 3, “The Meaning and Purpose of Prayer,” pp. 260-262)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 3, “Fellowshipping with the Lord for the Mingling of God with Man,” ch. 1