三、在意志上
接着我们再说到意志。意志就是人决定的机关。没有信主的人，乃是决定不要的人。马太二十三章三十七节，主耶稣说，‘我多次愿意…，只是你们不愿意。’主在这里是说，我决定要，但你们决定不要。犹太人是决定不要主的人，所以从此以后，犹太人就完全被弃绝。再看罗马六章十七节：‘感谢神，因为你们从前虽然作罪的奴仆，现今却从心里顺服了所传给你们道理的模范。’犹太人因着不要主而被主弃绝；但如今我们信主的人，乃是心里顺服了，是决定要了。神是命令人要悔改；人只要愿意信，圣灵就要赐给顺服的人。
传福音使人的心回转
圣经说，人必须信，才能得救；而信乃是人心里的事，所以希伯来书才说，不信的心，乃是恶心（来三12）。罗马书说，人要心里相信（罗十9-10）。所以如果罪人要相信，他的悟性必须明白，情感必须羡慕，意志必须决定；他的心思、情感、意志都得转过来。所以会传福音的人，要知道怎样把罪人的悟性转回来，把他的羡慕拉起来，把他的决定定住了，如此就成功了。
今天传福音的人，往往有一个根本的试探，有一个根本的错误，就是注重改变人的悟性；他们想要把清楚的道讲给人的悟性听，要叫人的头脑清楚救恩。这样的人不知道罪人的结构是什么，总以为人要听明白了福音，才能得救。他们不知道罪人的思想其实是很浅薄的；他虽然也许听明白了福音，但一点也不要接受，那你该怎么办呢？我们要知道，人的思想是最不能代表人的心的。如果传福音的人特别注重人的思想，这是错误的。思想乃是人心最浅薄的部分、最外面的部分。传福音的人纵然能用道把罪人说服了，而他可以仍然不信。因为思想是人的心最浅薄的一点，又是最外面的一点。你要去碰人的心，顶快的路是从思想下手。但是从思想下手也是最不可靠的，最没有效的，因为人的思想在心里是最浅的。
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Stirring Man’s Heart to Desire (4) – Heb. 3:2
3. In the Will
The will is the part of man that makes decisions. An unbeliever is someone who has decided not to believe. In Matthew 23:37, the Lord Jesus said, “How often I wanted… but you were unwilling.” The Lord is saying here, “I decided to, but you decided not to.” The Jews had made a decision to reject the Lord, and as a result, they were completely cast aside. Now look at Romans 6:17: “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed.” The Jews were rejected by the Lord because they were unwilling, but we who believe today have become obedient from the heart — we have made the decision to say yes. God commands people to repent; if a person is willing to believe, the Holy Spirit will be given to those who obey.
The Work of the Gospel: Turning the Heart
The Bible says that one must believe in order to be saved, and faith is a matter of the heart. This is why Hebrews says that an unbelieving heart is an evil heart (Heb. 3:12). Romans says one must believe with the heart (Rom. 10:9–10). So if a sinner is to believe, his understanding have be enlightened, his emotion must be stirred with desire, and his will need to make a decision. His mind, emotion and will must all be turned. Therefore, one who truly knows how to preach the gospel have to know how to turn a sinner’s understanding, awaken his longing and help him settle his decision — then the work is accomplished.
Today, those who preach the gospel often fall into a fundamental temptation, a fundamental error: they focus on changing a person’s understanding, aim to present the gospel clearly to the sinner’s mind, hoping that if the mind grasps it, salvation will follow. But such people do not understand the makeup of a sinner. They assume that a person must first understand the gospel in order to be saved. They do not realize that a sinner’s mind is actually very shallow. He may well understand the gospel and yet still completely refuse to receive it. Then what can you do? We must understand that the mind is the least representative part of the heart. If someone preaching the gospel puts special emphasis on the mind, it is a mistake. The mind is the most superficial and outward part of the heart. Even if a preacher persuades a sinner intellectually with truth, the person can still choose not to believe. This is because the mind is the most shallow part of the heart, and the most external. To touch someone’s heart, the quickest route is through the mind — but that path is also the least reliable and effective, due to the fact that mind is so shallow in a sinner.