一、在思想上
罗马一章二十一节说，一个没有信主的人，在他思想的那一部分里，乃是黑暗的，是虚妄的。对于救恩，他乃是一个无知的人，是一个愚拙的人。因此我们传福音时，所要对付的罪人既是这样的情形，就我们能不能把他无知的心变为有知的，能不能把他黑暗的心思变为光明的呢？没有办法。我们既没办法对黑暗的房间说，你要变为光明，照样，我们也没有办法使人黑暗的心思变为光明。所以不要以为真理讲得清楚，就能叫人的心思变为光明。许多时候我们和罪人辩论，结果反而把他弄丢了。常常我们把罪人的话驳倒了，而他的心思还是黑暗的。有时你辩论赢了，而灵魂却丢了。林前一章二十一节说，人在思想里，凭着自己的智慧不能认识神，因为人的心思是黑暗的。林前二章九节也说，神的救恩乃是人的心思所想不来的。所以人的心思对于救恩，乃是完全黑暗的。
二、在情感上
再说人情感的羡慕如何。罗马三章十一节说，‘没有明白的，没有寻求神的。’没有明白的，这是在思想方面；没有寻求神的，这乃是在情感方面。在约翰五章四十节，主耶稣对法利赛人说，‘你们不肯到我这里来得生命。’不肯来主这里得生命，是因为没有羡慕的心，没有要求的心。马太十三章十五节，主耶稣在那里说，‘这百姓油蒙了心，耳朵发沉，眼睛闭着；恐怕眼睛看见，耳朵听见，心里明白，回转过来，我就医治他们。’犹太人所以不能明白，是因为心里不要；他们心里没有羡慕要得着拯救，因着他们不要，所以他们就不明白。他们的眼睛若能看，耳朵若能听，自然他们的心思就能明白。因此要堕落的罪人得救，第一关是要他明白，第二关是他必须‘要。’但是人必须是喜欢得救，羡慕得救，盼望得救，才能要；不然反而要怕得救了。约翰十五章二十三至二十五节说，人的情感不但不羡慕主，反而是无故的恨主，并且常是无缘无故的讥笑信徒，他们以作基督徒为羞耻。这是因为他们不明白，所以不寻求神，也不羡慕主，反而恨恶主。
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Stirring Man’s Heart to Desire (3) – 1 Cor. 1:21
1. In the Mind
Romans 1:21 says that an unbeliever’s thoughts are darkened and vain. Regarding salvation, he is ignorant and foolish. So when we preach the gospel to sinners in such a condition, can we turn their ignorant hearts into understanding ones? Can we turn their darkened minds into enlightened ones? No, we cannot. Just as we are not able to say to a dark room, “Become bright,” neither can we cause a man’s darkened thoughts to become light. Thus, do not think that explaining the truth clearly will bring light into someone’s thinking. Often when we debate with sinners, we end up losing them. Many times we may successfully refute a sinner’s words, but his mind remains in darkness. Sometimes you win the argument but lose the soul. 1 Corinthians 1:21 says that man, through his own wisdom, cannot come to know God, for the mind of man is in darkness. 1 Corinthians 2:9 also says that God’s salvation is beyond what man’s mind can conceive. Thus, man’s mind is completely dark in relation to salvation.
2. In the Emotion
Let’s now consider how man’s emotions respond with desire. Romans 3:11 says, “There is none who understands, there is none who seeks after God.” “None who understands” refers to the mind; “none who seeks” refers to the emotion. In John 5:40, the Lord Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” Their unwillingness to come to the Lord for life was due to a lack of desire — they had no longing, no seeking heart. In Matthew 13:15, the Lord said, “For the heart of this people has become dull. With their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes; otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and return, and I would heal them.” The reason the Jews could not understand was that they were unwilling — their hearts lacked desire for salvation. Because they did not want it, they could not understand it. If their eyes could see and ears could hear, their hearts would naturally understand. Therefore, for a fallen sinner to be saved, the first step is understanding; the second is that he must desire it. But for someone to want salvation, he must like it, long for it and hope for it. Otherwise, he may even become afraid of being saved. John 15:23–25 says that man’s emotion not only lacks desire for the Lord, but even go so far as to hate Him without any cause. They also often mock believers without reason and treat being a Christian as shameful. Why is this? Because they do not understand it. Thus, they do not seek God, do not desire the Lord, but rather hate Him.