The Church in Ephesus
读经∶启二1～7
壹 论到七个灯台所代表的七个召会，我们应当明白三件事：
I. With regard to the seven churches, which are represented by the seven lampstands, we should understand three things:
一 这七个召会是当日实在的召会。
A. These seven churches were real churches existing at that time.
二 这七个召会代表召会的七层历史。
B. These seven churches represent the sevenfold history of the church.
三 这七个召会的光景在召会七层历史中是同时都有的。
C. The conditions of the churches exist simultaneously in the church's sevenfold history.
贰 启示录二至三章给我们看见，我们需要回归召会的正统——什么是主真正所喜悦的，什么是主所定罪的，以及什么是主对于召会所定的道路：
II. Revelation 2 and 3 show us what we need to do to return to the orthodoxy of the church—what it is that actually pleases the Lord, what it is that the Lord condemns, and what the Lord's actual way is for the church:
一 一个人若真要走主的道路，就必须要看启示录二至三章；今天召会出了问题，启示录就告诉我们怎样作；若不从这两章里去寻觅道路，就不知道怎样作基督徒。
A. If a man really wants to walk in the Lord's way, he must read Revelation 2 and 3; today the church has problems, so Revelation tells us what to do; if you do not seek the way in these two chapters, you do not know how to be a Christian.
二 写给七个召会的七封书信都是以主为起头，而结束于得胜者的呼召；得胜者是很普通的、平常的人；凡在非常的时候而不反常的人，就是得胜者。
B. The seven epistles to the seven churches start with the Lord and end with a call to the overcomers; the overcomers are the normal and ordinary ones; those who are not abnormal during the time of abnormality are the overcomers.
三 今天人堕落失败，一直往下；但是得胜者却又重新恢复到神的旨意里，并回到召会的正统。
C. Today men fall, fail, and go downward continually, but the overcomers are recovered to the will of God and return to the orthodoxy of the church.
叁 在主给以弗所召会的书信中，有四个主要的点——爱、生命、光和灯台——二1～7:
III. There are four main points in the Lord's epistle to the church in Ephesus—love, life, light, and the lampstand—2:1-7:
一 我们不该离弃主作我们起初的爱，并且我们必须行起初所行的；“不然，我就要临到你那里；你若不悔改，我就把你的灯台从原处挪去”——4～5节：
A. We must not leave the Lord as our first love, and we must do the first works; "but if not, I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent"—vv. 4-5:
1 离弃起初的爱，是历世代以来召会失败的根源和主要的原因。
1. The leaving of the first love is the source of and main reason for the failure of the church throughout the ages.
2 歌罗西书告诉我们，我们的基督在凡事上必须是第一位；祂必须居首位——一18下。
2. Colossians tells us that our Christ must have the first place in all things; He must have the preeminence—1:18b.
3 恢复起初的爱，就是在凡事上以主耶稣为第一；我们若使基督成为我们生活中的一切，意思就是我们胜过了失去起初的爱——参诗七三25。
3. To recover the first love is to consider the Lord Jesus as the first in everything; if we make Christ everything in our life, this means that we have overcome the loss of the first love—cf. Psa. 73:25.
4 胜过失去起初的爱，乃是为基督的爱所困迫，不仅为主活着，更向主活着——林后五9、14～15：
4. To overcome the loss of the first love is to be constrained by the love of Christ not merely to live for the Lord but to live to the Lord—2 Cor. 5:9, 14-15:
a 向主活着，就是怀着雄心大志，要讨主的喜悦，完全受祂的控制、指引与管理，单单关心祂的目标和目的。
a. To live to the Lord means that we are determined to gain the honor of being well pleasing to Him by being absolutely under His control, direction, and governing and that we care uniquely for His aims and goals.
b 向主活着，就是在主的指引和控制之下，达成祂的要求，满足祂的渴望，完成祂所要作的。
b. To live to the Lord means that we are under the Lord's direction and control and that we fulfill His requirements, satisfy His desires, and complete what He intends.
5 以色列的失败是他们弃绝了神，就是活水的泉源（耶二13），而召会的堕落是离弃了起初的爱；事实上，离弃起初的爱就是离弃基督，没有在凡事上以祂为第一。——引用经文
5. The failure of Israel was that they forsook God, the fountain of living waters (Jer. 2:13), and the degradation of the church is the leaving of the first love; actually, to leave the first love is just to leave Christ, not taking Him as the first in everything.
6 起初的爱必须是在凡事上——在大事和小事上——让神、基督、主、我们的主人作第一位；我们必须为着一切没有让主居首位的事求祂赦免我们。
6. The first love must be to have God, Christ, the Lord, our Master, as the first One in everything—in great things as well as in small things; we need to ask the Lord to forgive us for all the things in which we do not give Him the preeminence.
7 “起初所行的”乃是因着“起初的爱”所发出的行为——启二4～5：
7. The "first works" are works that issue from the "first love"—Rev. 2:4-5:
a 当我们站在基督的审判台前时（林后五10），主必不因着我们工作有多大或多显要而称赞我们；祂所查问的，就是有几分是因着我们爱祂的缘故作的。——引用经文
a. When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10), we will surely not be praised for the greatness or volume of our work; what the Lord will investigate is how much of what we do is out of our love to Him.
b 唯独受主爱激励的工作才是金、银、宝石（林前三12）；圣徒充满对主起初的爱时，他们所有的行动举止都是因着爱主而生，都是“爱心的劳苦”（帖前一3）。——引用经文
b. Only those works that are motivated by love are the gold, the silver, and the precious stones (1 Cor. 3:12); when the saints are filled with the first love for the Lord, everything they do originates from their love for the Lord and is a "labor of love" (1 Thes. 1:3).
c 我们可能像以色列人一样，敬拜并事奉神，却是哀痛地敬拜并事奉；我们被要求作这些事，一点也不喜乐——玛三14。
c. It is possible that we, like the children of Israel, may worship and serve God, but we may do it mournfully, not at all happy that we are required to do these things—Mal. 3:14.
8 主挪去召会的灯台，并不是说，召会从今以后就无外面的进行和活动了；意思乃是召会不能再作神忠信的见证：
8. For the Lord to remove the church's lampstand does not mean that from now on it has no more outward activities or moves; it merely means that it can no longer be God's faithful testimony:
a 我们若离弃对主起初的爱，不悔改，行起初所行的，我们可能仍旧站住地方的立场，却失去了金灯台所预表之三一神的实际与见证。
a. If we leave the first love to the Lord and do not repent and do the first works, it is possible that we may still be standing on the ground of locality, but we have lost the reality and testimony of the Triune God as typified by the golden lampstand.
b 挪去灯台，意思是召会在神前的地位失去了，召会失去了见证，就是耶稣的见证；召会失去地位，不配再作主见证的召会。
b. The removal of the lampstand means that before God the church's position is lost and that she has lost her testimony, the testimony of Jesus; she has lost her position and is disqualified from being the church of the Lord's testimony anymore.
二 我们对主若有起初的爱，就会恨恶尼哥拉党的行为，这也是主所恨恶的——启二4、6：
B. If we have the first love toward the Lord, we will hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which the Lord also hates—Rev. 2:4, 6:
1 “尼哥拉党”一辞，原文由“征服或胜过”以及“平民，俗民，非专行人”二字所组成。
1. The Greek word for Nicolaitan is composed of two words, one meaning "conquer" or "be victorious over" and another meaning "common people," "secular people," or "laity."
2 “尼哥拉党”必定是指一班认为自己高过一般信徒的人；无疑的，这就是天主教和更正教所遵循并建立的宗教阶级制度；主恨恶尼哥拉党的工作、行为，我们也当恨恶主所恨恶的。
2. Nicolaitans, then, must refer to a group of people who esteem themselves higher than the common believers; this was undoubtedly the hierarchy adopted and established by Catholicism and Protestantism; the Lord hates the works, the behavior, of these Nicolaitans, and we must hate what the Lord hates.
3 在正当的召会生活中，不该有圣品阶级，也不该有平信徒；所有的信徒都该是神的祭司（一6，五10，彼前二5、9）；因着居间阶级破坏神经纶中普遍的祭司职任，所以为主所恨恶。——引用经文
3. In the proper church life there should be neither clergy nor laity; all the believers should be priests of God (1:6; 5:10; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9); because the mediatorial class destroys the universal priesthood in God's economy, the Lord hates it.
三 在像以弗所这样好而有次序、正式的召会生活里，我们需要维持吃基督作生命树——启二7:
C. In such a good, orderly, and formal church life like the church in Ephesus, we need to maintain the eating of Christ as the tree of life—Rev. 2:7:
1 我们若在凡事上让基督居首位，并且每日享受祂作生命树，我们就是奇妙、得胜的基督徒，召会生活要成为我们的乐园。
1. If we give the preeminence to Christ in everything and enjoy Him as the tree of life every day, we will be marvelous, overcoming Christians, and the church life will become a paradise to us.
2 神原初的心意是要人吃生命树（创二9、16）；因着人堕落了，生命树就向人封闭（三22～24）；借着基督的救赎，接触生命树（就是神自己在基督里作人生命）的路再次向人打开（来十19～20）。——引用经文
2. God's original intention was that man should eat of the tree of life (Gen. 2:9, 16); because of the fall, the way to the tree of life was closed to man (3:22-24); through the redemption of Christ the way by which man could touch the tree of life, which is God Himself in Christ as life to man, was opened again (Heb. 10:19-20).
3 然而在召会的堕落中，宗教及其知识偷偷进来打岔在基督里的信徒，使他们不能吃祂这棵生命树；因此，主应许得胜者，要把祂自己这神乐园（新耶路撒冷）中生命树的果子给他们吃，作为赏赐；这是一种激励，叫他们离开宗教的知识，回来享受主自己。
3. But in the church's degradation, religion crept in with its knowledge to distract the believers in Christ from eating Him as the tree of life; hence, the Lord promised to grant the overcomers to eat of Himself as the tree of life in the Paradise of God (the New Jerusalem) as a reward; this is an incentive for them to leave religion with its knowledge and return to the enjoyment of Himself.
4 主这个应许，是要照着神的经纶，把召会恢复到神原初的心意里；主要得胜者作的，就是全召会在神的经纶里该作的；由于召会堕落了，主就来呼召得胜者，顶替召会完成神的经纶。
4. This promise of the Lord restores the church to God's original intention according to His economy; what the Lord wants the overcomers to do is what the whole church should do in God's economy; because of the church's degradation, the Lord came to call the overcomers to replace the church in the accomplishing of God's economy.
5 吃生命树，就是享受基督作我们生命的供应，该是召会生活中首要的事：
5. Eating the tree of life, that is, enjoying Christ as our life supply, should be the primary matter in the church life:
a 召会生活的内容在于享受基督；我们越享受基督，召会生活的内容就越丰富；我们若要享受基督，就必须用起初的爱爱祂。
a. The content of the church life depends on the enjoyment of Christ; the more we enjoy Him, the richer the content will be, but to enjoy Christ requires us to love Him with the first love.
b 我们若离弃对主起初的爱，就要失去对基督的享受，并且会失去耶稣的见证；结果，灯台要从我们挪去。
b. If we leave our first love toward the Lord, we will miss the enjoyment of Christ and lose the testimony of Jesus; consequently, the lampstand will be removed from us.
c 爱主、享受主以及成为主的见证，这三者乃是并行的。
c. These three things—loving the Lord, enjoying the Lord, and being the testimony of the Lord—go together.
四 爱与生命有关，生命与光有关；爱、生命和光乃是三而一：
D. Love is related to life, and life is related to light; love, life, and light are a trinity:
1 我们若使基督在凡事上居首位，就有起初的爱；我们若有这爱，就有生命，就会享受主；我们若有生命，这生命就要成为我们的光——约一4，腓二15～16。
1. If we make Christ the first in everything, we will have the first love; if we have this love, we have life, and we will enjoy the Lord; if we have life, this life becomes light to us—John 1:4; Phil. 2:15-16.
2 灯台（召会）的光乃是团体的而非个人的，照耀在召会时代的黑夜里——参启二5下。
2. The light of the lampstand, the church, shines forth corporately versus individualistically in the dark night of the church age—cf. Rev. 2:5b.
五 我们若享受基督作我们的爱、生命和光，就会在我们所在地方，如同灯台照耀，持守耶稣的见证——参十二17下。
E. If we are enjoying Christ as our love, life, and light, we will keep the testimony of Jesus as the shining of the lampstand in our locality—cf. 12:17b.
六 我们必须记得这四个辞——爱、生命、光、灯台：
F. We need to remember these four words that begin with the letter l—love, life, light, and lampstand:
1 我们必须在各方面、在凡事上让主耶稣居首位，以恢复起初的爱。
1. We must give the Lord Jesus the preeminence in every way and in everything to recover the first love.
2 这样，我们就会享受祂作生命树，而这生命立即成为生命之光——约八12。
2. Then we will enjoy Him as the tree of life, and this life right away becomes the light of life—John 8:12.
3 然后我们就会在日常生活中照耀，并团体地作为灯台照耀；否则，灯台就要在个人一面从我们挪去，并在团体一面从召会挪去。
3. Then we will be shining in our daily life and corporately as the lampstand; otherwise, the lampstand will be removed from us individually and from the church corporately.
4 如果我们今天在凡事上以基督为第一，我们就会有爱，就会享受祂作生命，就会将祂如同光照耀出来，也会成为照耀的灯台，作耶稣的见证；这至终要成为我们的赏赐，不仅在今世，更是在来世；在千年国里，我们要在神的乐园里享受基督作我们的赏赐。
4. If today we take Christ as the first in everything, we will have love, we will enjoy Him as life, we will shine forth with Him as light, and we will become the shining lampstand as the testimony of Jesus; this eventually will become our reward not only in this age but even more in the coming age; in the thousand-year kingdom we will enjoy Christ as our reward in the Paradise of God.