A wise person loves Christ supremely.

智慧人无上爱基督。

Because the days were evil, the apostle Paul wanted the church at Ephesus to make the most of their time and walk wisely (Eph. 5:15-16). A little more than thirty years after Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesian church, the apostle John wrote more to them, saying, “You have left your first love. . . . Repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I [Christ] am coming to you, and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent” (Rev. 2:4-5). But the Ephesians did not repent, and the lampstand was removed. Their time was shorter than they believed, because the evil was so great. Their church fell prey to the time in which they lived and, not sensing the urgency to return to its first love, eventually went out of existence.

因为当时的世代邪恶，保罗想要以弗所教会充分利用时间并智慧行事（弗5：15-16）。保罗写下以弗所书三十多年后，使徒约翰写下了更多给以弗所教会，约翰说：“你把起初的爱心丢弃了……要悔改，行起初所行的；你若你不悔改，我（基督）就临到你那里，把你的灯台从原处挪去。”然而以弗所人没有悔改，灯台也被挪去了。因为罪恶如此之大，他们的时间比他们想象的要短。他们的教会沦为自身所处时代的牺牲品，并且没有意识到回到起初之爱的迫切性，渐渐也就消声匿迹了。

I believe we need to have a sense of urgency in the evil days in which we live. I don’t know what’s going to happen to Christianity in America, but I’ve asked God that if it takes persecution to bring us to the place where we get a grip on what we ought to be, then let it happen. In many cases throughout history,the church has thrived better under persecution than it has under affluence. As the church father Tertullian once said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”

我相信，在我们身处的邪恶世代里，我们需要有一种紧迫感。我不知道将有什么临到美国的基督教，可我求问过神，如果要用逼迫才能领我们归回，把握住我们该做的事，那就让逼迫来吧。纵观历史，很多情况下，教会在逼迫下比在富足中更加繁荣兴盛。教会之父特土良曾说：“殉道士的血是教会的种籽。”

I’m not specifically asking that the church be persecuted. I’m saying that sometimes we don’t sense the urgency of our evil day because we are sucked into the world’s system, and the lines of conviction aren’t clearly drawn. It’s an evil day in which we live, and the time is short. We need to realize that “evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse” (2 Tim. 3:13). The situation is not going to become better. The world is blacker and more expressive of its vices than ever before. We must have a sense of urgency and redeem the time.

我并非特别祈求教会要受到逼迫。我是说，因我们已被这世界的体系吞没，有时我们没有意识到这邪恶世代的紧迫性，我们也没能清楚界定信心的界线。我们身处的是个邪恶的世代，我们的时间很少。我们需要认识到-------------“作恶的和迷惑人的，必越久越恶”（提后3：13）。形势不会越来越好，这世界会愈发黑暗，它的各样罪恶会比以往任何时候更加疯狂表现。我们必须要有紧迫感，将时间挽回。

In Psalm 145, King David expressed his love for the Lord. Make his psalm your prayer and an expression of your love to God.

在诗篇145，大卫王表达了他对耶和华的爱。让他的诗歌也成为你的祷告，表达你对神的爱。

Read in Revelation 2—3 what the Lord says to the seven churches in Asia, noting what He approves and disapproves.

阅读启示录2-3章主对亚细亚七间教会所说的，请留心主所称许的和他责备的。