啟示錄2:8-11

2:8 「你要寫信給士每拿教會的使者，說：『那首先的、末後的、死過又活的，說：

2:9 我知道你的患難，你的貧窮（你卻是富足的），也知道那自稱是猶太人所說的毀謗話，其實他們不是猶太人，乃是撒但一會的人。

2:10 你將要受的苦你不用怕。魔鬼要把你們中間幾個人下在監裡，叫你們被試煉，你們必受患難十日。你務要至死忠心，我就賜給你那生命的冠冕。

2:11 聖靈向眾教會所說的話，凡有耳的，就應當聽！得勝的，必不受第二次死的害。』」

"And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write:'The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.

"'I know your tribulation and your poverty ( but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death. '

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    士每拿教會是遇到逼迫的教會，因為有一群自稱是猶太人的，用猶太的傳統來壓迫他們。這一群猶太人有可能是拉比猶太教，他們是公開與基督徒為敵，咒詛基督徒的組織。所以，主耶穌稱他們：「乃是撒但一會的人。」

    撒但的意思就是阻擋者，阻擋基督者也就是阻擋上帝，這就是魔鬼的作為。甚至於魔鬼做迫害教會的事：「魔鬼要把你們中間幾個人下在監裡，叫你們被試煉，你們必受患難十日。」

    雖然如此，主耶穌卻鼓勵他們：「你務要至死忠心，我就賜給你那生命的冠冕。聖靈向眾教會所說的話，凡有耳的，就應當聽！得勝的，必不受第二次死的害。」

    讓這樣的應許也臨到我們身上，讓握們靠耶穌基督成為「得勝的」！經歷基督復活的大能，以至於「不受第二次死」。

啟示錄2:1-7

2:1 「你要寫信給以弗所教會的使者，說：『那右手拿著七星、在七個金燈臺中間行走的，說：

2:2 我知道你的行為、勞碌、忍耐，也知道你不能容忍惡人。你也曾試驗那自稱為使徒卻不是使徒的，看出他們是假的來。

2:3 你也能忍耐，曾為我的名勞苦，並不乏倦。

2:4 然而有一件事我要責備你，就是你把起初的愛心離棄了。

2:5 所以，應當回想你是從哪裡墜落的，並要悔改，行起初所行的事。你若不悔改，我就臨到你那裡，把你的燈臺從原處挪去。

2:6 然而你還有一件可取的事，就是你恨惡尼哥拉一黨人的行為，這也是我所恨惡的。

2:7 聖靈向眾教會所說的話，凡有耳的，就應當聽！得勝的，我必將上帝樂園中生命樹的果子賜給他吃。』」

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:'The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

"'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have:you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. '

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    這是耶穌要給以弗所教會的信，但是仍然是今日教會要注意與學習的，尤其是責備的部分，我們更是要虛心思考，並存悔改的心，行出悔改的行動！

    正如這裡所說：「然而有一件事我要責備你，就是你把起初的愛心離棄了」。這不僅是以弗所教會之問題，也是今日教會之問題。今日的教會不像初代教會那樣的愛心，照顧貧窮者及孤兒寡婦。愛心冷淡了！所以要悔改，需要激發愛心。

    求主幫助我們更有愛心，當助需要幫助的人！

啟示錄1:17-20

1:17 我一看見，就仆倒在他腳前，像死了一樣。他用右手按著我，說：「不要懼怕！我是首先的，我是末後的，

1:18 又是那存活的；我曾死過，現在又活了，直活到永永遠遠；並且拿著死亡和陰間的鑰匙。

1:19 所以你要把所看見的，和現在的事，並將來必成的事，都寫出來。

1:20 論到你所看見、在我右手中的七星和七個金燈臺的奧祕，那七星就是七個教會的使者，七燈臺就是七個教會。」

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

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    《啟示錄》的重點不是將來的事，而是耶穌基督，正如使徒約翰在這裡和耶穌基督相遇，主耶穌向他啟示自己：「不要懼怕！我是首先的，我是末後的，又是那存活的；我曾死過，現在又活了，直活到永永遠遠；並且拿著死亡和陰間的鑰匙。」

    也因此，我們要確定一件事，唯有靠著耶穌基督，才能在末後的日子站立得住，透過耶穌基督的審判，使我們由短暫的生命，轉化為永恆的生命。也就是說唯有透過耶穌基督的拯救，我們才能與遠基督一同做王。

    所以我們對《啟示錄》態度一樣要相信：這卷書是上帝的話，要用心研讀，來認識聖經中的主——耶穌基督。

 

啟示錄1:10-16

1:10 當主日，我被聖靈感動，聽見在我後面有大聲音如吹號，說：

1:11 「你所看見的當寫在書上，達與以弗所、士每拿、別迦摩、推雅推喇、撒狄、非拉鐵非、老底嘉那七個教會。」

1:12 我轉過身來，要看是誰發聲與我說話；既轉過來，就看見七個金燈臺。

1:13 燈臺中間有一位好像人子，身穿長衣，直垂到腳，胸間束著金帶。

1:14 他的頭與髮皆白，如白羊毛，如雪；眼目如同火焰；

1:15 腳好像在爐中鍛鍊光明的銅；聲音如同眾水的聲音。

1:16 他右手拿著七星，從他口中出來一把兩刃的利劍；面貌如同烈日放光。

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet  saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

  Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,  and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.  The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,  his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.  In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

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    使徒約翰將自己所看見基督的榮形在此向我們說明，當我們讀到這樣的字句時，不難想像到基督復活以後的樣式和權能，也讓我們相信耶穌基督將來審判的日子他也必定以這樣的榮形向我們顯現！

    我們相信耶穌基督從死裡復活以後，正如祂向門徒所宣告的：「天上地下所有的權柄都賜給我了。」

    所以，主耶穌復活之後就真正掌王權、居首位，配得一切的榮耀！

啟示錄1:9

我─約翰就是你們的弟兄，和你們在耶穌的患難、國度、忍耐裡一同有分，為上帝的道，並為給耶穌作的見證，曾在那名叫拔摩的海島上。

I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

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    使徒約翰在此表明自己是「你們的弟兄」，也是為基督受苦做見證的人，正如他在這裡所說：「和你們在耶穌的患難、國度、忍耐裡一同有分」。不僅如此還「為上帝的道，並為給耶穌作的見證」的緣故，被放逐到「拔摩的海島上」。

    這一切都看見上帝的保守與帶領，雖然環境是艱難的，苦難如排山倒海的臨到，但是仍然是忠心為主！

    讓我們讀《啟示錄》時，心中也如同使徒約翰和當時的基督徒相信：主耶穌再來的日子近了，一同來期待並迎接主耶穌的再來！