第61章 城市中的状况
§1
第61章 城市中的状况
§2
Conditions in the Cities
§3
因为人们定意作恶，日甚一日，以致城市中的居民，几乎人人都已经很快而且必然要被定有罪了。我们正处在“罪恶流行”的时代中，凡是肯深思而又敬畏上帝的人，莫不为之胆战心惊。世上盛行的贪污之风；实非人笔墨所能形容。政治方面的争竞，贿赂，欺诈，日见新奇；社会方面许多的违法，暴力，不顾别人痛苦，残害人命，这种种痛心的记录也是日有所闻。还有谋财害命，自杀，以及疯狂的事，更是日益增加。{3TT 326.1}[1]
§4
There is coming rapidly and surely an almost universal guilt upon the inhabitants of the cities because of the steady increase of determined wickedness. We are living in the midst of an “epidemic of crime,” at which thoughtful, Godfearing men everywhere stand aghast. The corruption that prevails is beyond the power of the human pen to describe. Every day brings fresh revelations of political strife, bribery, and fraud; every day brings its heartsickening record of violence and lawlessness, of indifference to human suffering; of brutal, fiendish destruction of human life. Every day testifies to the increase of insanity, murder, and suicide.?{3TT 326.1}[1]
§5
今日各城市中的情况，大有日近所多玛和蛾摩拉的趋势。休假的日子很多；富有刺激性的狂欢纵乐，吸引千万的人们离开人生严肃的职责。种种使人兴奋的娱乐，如：观剧，跑马，赌博，喝酒；以及歌舞狂欢，使人的情欲受到冲动。{3TT 326.2}[2]
§6
The cities of today are fast becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah. Holidays are numerous; the whirl of excitement and pleasure attracts thousands from the sober duties of life. The exciting sports—theatergoing, horse racing, gambling, liquor drinking and reveling—stimulate every passion to activity.?{3TT 326.2}[2]
§7
青年也被这普遍的潮流冲去了。凡只为自己而贪爱逸乐的人，就无异是开放门户，让试探的洪流冲进来。他们忘其所以地沉湎于社交游宴与无意义的娱乐。步步放荡，直至丧失了度有为之人生的愿望与才能。他们对于宗教的热忱已冷却；灵性的生活也暗淡无光了。所有心灵方面高尚的机能，以及一切使人与灵界相通的联系，全都堕落了。{3TT 326.3}[3]
§8
The youth are swept away by the popular current. Those who learn to love amusement for its own sake open the door to a flood of temptations. They give themselves up to social gaiety and thoughtless mirth. They are led on from one form of dissipation to another, until they lose both the desire and the capacity for a life of usefulness. Their religious aspirations are chilled; their spiritual life is darkened. All the nobler faculties of the soul, all that link man with the spiritual world, are debased.?{3TT 326.3}[3]
§9
由于商场中各种企业的组合，以及工会与罢工的结果，常使城市的生活状况愈来愈艰难了。{3TT 326.4}[4]
§10
Through the working of trusts and the results of labor unions and strikes, the conditions of life in the cities are constantly becoming more and more difficult.?{3TT 326.4}[4]
§11
【贪爱宴乐的欲望】
§12
追求金钱，渴慕时髦炫耀，以及奢华浪费的欲望──凡此种种正在将大多数人类的思想转离人生的真义；更为万般罪恶开了门户。有许多人因为醉心于追求世上的财富，以致对于上帝的要求和同胞的需要毫无所觉，他们将财富当作尊荣自己的工具。他们以房接房，以地连地，并将家中布满了奢华的饰物，而对他们周围在困苦，罪恶，疾病，和死亡中挣扎着的人，却弃置不顾。{3TT 327.1}[5]
§13
【Passion for Love of Pleasure】
§14
The intense passion for money getting, the thirst for display, the luxury and extravagance—all are forces that, with the great mass of mankind, are turning the mind from life’s true purpose. They are opening the door to a thousand evils. Many, absorbed in their interest in worldly treasures, become insensible to the claims of God and the needs of their fellow men. They regard their wealth as a means of glorifying self. They add house to house and land to land; they fill their homes with luxury, while all about them are human beings in misery and crime, in disease and death.?{3TT 327.1}[5]
§15
人们运用种种压迫勒索的手段，忙着为自己积储大量的财产；但是同时那些行将饿死之人的哀鸣已经声闻于上帝了。广大的群众在穷困之中挣扎着，因为迫于生计，只得拼命劳力，以期博得那些不足以供给生活上最低需要的微小工资。过度的劳力和人为的剥夺，加以前途无望，致使他们的担子愈显沉重。如果加上了痛苦和病患，则担子几乎难以承当了。他们被忧虑压迫所困，真不知到何处去求解脱。{3TT 327.2}[6]
§16
By every species of oppression and extortion, men are piling up colossal fortunes, while the cries of starving humanity are coming up before God. There are multitudes struggling with poverty, compelled to labor hard for small wages, unable to secure the barest necessities of life. Toil and deprivation, with no hope of better things, make their burden heavy. When pain and sickness are added, the burden is almost unbearable. Careworn and oppressed, they know not where to turn for relief.?{3TT 327.2}[6]
§17
圣经曾形容在基督复临之前世界的景况。使徒雅各曾描述世上所要盛行的贪心和压迫说：“嗨！你们这些富足人哪，……你们在这末世只知积攒钱财。工人给你们收割庄稼，你们亏欠他们的工钱，这工钱有声音呼叫；并且那收割之人的冤声，已经入了万军之主的耳了。你们在世上享美福，好宴乐，当宰杀的日子竟娇养你们的心。你们定了义人的罪，把他杀害，他也不抵挡你们”（雅5:1-6）。{3TT 327.3}[7]
§18
The Scriptures describe the condition of the world just before Christ’s second coming. James the apostle pictures the greed and oppression that will prevail. He says: “Go to now, ye rich men. ... Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.”?James 5:1-6.?{3TT 327.3}[7]
§19
下面的一段话，也是今日情形的写照：“公平转而退后，公义站在远处；诚实在街上仆倒，正直也不得进入。诚实少见，离恶的人反成掠物”（赛59:14,15）。?{3TT 327.4}[8]
§20
This is a picture of what exists today. “Judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth?faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey.”?Isaiah 59:14, 15.?{3TT 327.4}[8]
§21
甚至连那应作真理柱石与根基的教会，也在助长贪爱宴乐的自私之心。许多教会为宗教目的筹募捐款时采用些什么方法呢？乃是义卖，聚餐，博览会，甚至推销彩票等方式。敬拜上帝的地方往往被亵渎，竟成了吃喝宴乐买卖游嬉的场所。在青年人的心中，敬重上帝圣殿和虔诚礼拜的观念已减低了。自我约束的防寨薄弱了。而自私，贪食，与爱好炫耀的恶习，反倒愈放纵而愈根深蒂固了。{3TT 328.1}[9]
§22
Even the church, which should be the pillar and ground of the truth, is found encouraging a selfish love of pleasure. When money is raised for religious purposes, to what means do many churches resort? To bazaars, suppers, fancy fairs, even to lotteries and like devices. Often the place set apart for God’s worship is desecrated by feasting and drinking, buying, selling, and merrymaking. Respect for the house of God and reverence for His worship are lessened in the minds of the youth. The barriers of self-restraint are weakened. Selfishness, appetite, the love of display, are appealed to, and they strengthen as they are indulged.?{3TT 328.1}[9]
§23
【危机临近】
§24
历代以来，主都曾使人知道衪工作的方式。遇有危急来到，衪就要亲自出面干预，以阻止撒但计划的实行。无论是对于国家，家庭，或个人，衪往往听任其到一相当危急的地步，以便彰显衪干预的手段。那时衪就要显明在以色列人中有一位上帝，衪必维持衪的律法，维护衪的百姓。{3TT 328.2}[10]
§25
【Approaching the Crisis】
§26
From age to age the Lord has made known the manner of His working. When a crisis has come, He has revealed Himself and has interposed to hinder the working out of Satan’s plans. With nations, with families, and with individuals, He has often permitted matters to come to a crisis, that His interference might become marked. Then He has made it manifest that there is a God in Israel who will maintain His law and vindicate His people.?{3TT 328.2}[10]
§27
在洪水以前，世人想出种种的计划、用了许多机巧的策略，要废去耶和华的律法。他们不顾上帝的威权，因为那是妨碍他们的谋划的。今日也象洪水以前一样，正是上帝要显出衪无所不能之神力的时候。在这罪恶盛行的世代，我们可以知道那最后的大危机已经临近了。当全地的人几乎尽都公然蔑视上帝的律法时，当上帝的子民正受同胞的欺压和迫害时，主就必出面干预。{3TT 328.3}[11]
§28
In the antediluvian world human agencies brought in all manner of devisings and ingenious practices to make of no effect the law of Jehovah. They cast aside His authority because it interfered with their schemes. As in the days before the Flood, so now the time is right upon us when the Lord must reveal His omnipotent power. In this time of prevailing iniquity we may know that the last great crisis is at hand. When defiance against God’s law is almost universal, when His people are oppressed and afflicted by their fellow men, the Lord will interpose.?{3TT 328.3}[11]
§29
撒但并没有睡着，他是非常清醒地要打消先知更确之预言的效力。他要仗着机巧和欺诈的本领，竭力阻止上帝在衪圣言中所启明的旨意。多年以来，撒但一向是在利用巧诈的诡辩以代替上帝的真理而得势并控制人的思想。在这危险的时代中，凡是行为正直，敬畏上帝的人，就必重述大卫的话来荣耀衪的名说：“这是耶和华降罚的时候，因人废了祢的律法”（诗119:126）。?{3TT 328.4}[12]
§30
Satan is not asleep; he is wide awake to make of no effect the sure word of prophecy. With skill and deceptive power?he is working to counterwork the expressed will of God, made plain in His word. For years Satan has been gaining control of human minds through subtle sophistries that he has devised to take the place of the truth. In this time of peril, rightdoers, in the fear of God, will glorify His name by repeating the words of David: “It is time for Thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void Thy law.”?Psalm 119:126.?{3TT 328.4}[12]
§31
【 上帝惩罚我们的城市】
§32
1906年4月16日，我在加利福尼亚州洛马林达时，得到一个极其奇异的启示。在夜间的异象中，我站在一个高处，从那里我看见许多房屋都在震动，好像芦苇迎风起伏一般。大小房屋都向地倾倒。游乐场，剧院，旅馆，和富人的邸宅，都被震动而坍倒。许多人因之丧生，空中充满了惊恐和受伤之人的哀号。{3TT 329.1}[13]
§33
【The Judgments of God on Our Cities】
§34
While at Loma Linda, California, April 16, 1906, there passed before me a most wonderful representation. During a vision of the night, I stood on an eminence, from which I could see houses shaken like a reed in the wind. Buildings, great and small, were falling to the ground. Pleasure resorts, theaters, hotels, and the homes of the wealthy were shaken and shattered. Many lives were blotted out of existence, and the air was filled with the shrieks of the injured and the terrified.?{3TT 329.1}[13]
§35
上帝行毁灭的天使正在作工。他们只一动手，所建筑的十分完善而认为不怕任何危险的房屋，无不立刻化成瓦砾场。无论何处都没有安全的保障。当时我虽不觉得有特殊危险，但我所眼见的可怕景象，实在是非言词所能形容的。正好像上帝的宽容已尽，实行审判的日子已经到了。{3TT 329.2}[14]
§36
The destroying angels of God were at work. One touch, and buildings, so thoroughly constructed that men regarded them as secure against every danger, quickly became heaps of rubbish. There was no assurance of safety in any place. I did not feel in any special peril, but the awfulness of the scenes that passed before me I cannot find words to describe. It seemed that the forbearance of God was exhausted and that the judgment day had come.?{3TT 329.2}[14]
§37
那位站在我身边的天使指示我说，没有几个人能想象得到现今世上存在的罪恶，尤其是各大城市中的罪恶。他说主已经指定了一个日子，要在忿怒中刑罚那执意蔑视衪律法的犯法者。{3TT 329.3}[15]
§38
The angel that stood at my side then instructed me that but few have any conception of the wickedness existing in our world today, and especially the wickedness in the large cities. He declared that the Lord has appointed a time when He will visit transgressors in wrath for persistent disregard of His law.?{3TT 329.3}[15]
§39
那时我所看见的景象实在可怕，而所给我关于这事的教训，更是极其强烈地深印于我脑海之中。那位站在我身边的天使又宣称上帝至高的统治权和衪律法的神圣性，必须要向凡顽固成性而不肯服从这位万王之王的人显示。凡自暴自弃甘心不忠诚的人，必在慈怜中受着刑罚，以致若果可能的话，他们也会猛省回头，觉悟自己行为的罪大恶极。?{3TT 329.4}[16]
§40
Terrible as was the representation that passed before me, that which impressed itself most vividly upon my mind was the instruction given in connection with it. The angel that?stood by my side declared that God’s supreme rulership and the sacredness of His law must be revealed to those who persistently refuse to render obedience to the King of kings. Those who choose to remain disloyal must be visited in mercy with judgments, in order that, if possible, they may be aroused to a realization of the sinfulness of their course.?{3TT 329.4}[16]
§41
次日，我的脑中仍不住地思想着所看见的景象和所得到的教训。下午我们到洛杉矶附近的格兰德尔去；当夜我又蒙指示，论到十诫附有义务的要求及其神圣性，并上帝超乎世上一切统治者的权威。{3TT 330.1}[17]
§42
Throughout the following day I pondered the scenes that had passed before me and the instruction that had been given. During the afternoon we journeyed to Glendale, near Los Angeles; and the following night I was again instructed regarding the holiness and binding claims of the Ten Commandments and the supremacy of God above all earthly rulers.?{3TT 330.1}[17]
§43
我好像是在一处聚会的地方，向众人宣示上帝律法的要求。我宣读了一些经文，关于上帝在创造工作完毕时，在伊甸园设立安息日，关于在西奈山颁布律法；然后宣布安息日应守为“永远的约”，作为衪和衪百姓中间的世世代代永远的证据，他们可以知道耶和华他们的创造者是使他们成圣的。{3TT 330.2}[18]
§44
I seemed to be in an assembly, setting before the people the requirements of God’s law. I read the scriptures regarding the institution of the Sabbath in Eden it the close of the creation week, and regarding the giving of the law at Sinai; and then declared that the Sabbath is to be observed “for a perpetual covenant,” as a sign between God and His people forever, that they may know that they are sanctified by the Lord, their Creator.?{3TT 330.2}[18]
§45
我又讲到上帝的无上统治权超乎一切地上的统治者。衪的律法是行为的标准。人们决不可因不节制，或因在思想上屈服于撒但的权势而致败坏了自己的理智，因为这么一来，他就不能遵守上帝的律法了。圣善的统治者虽然长久容忍了人们的刚愎任性，却不会受骗，也不会总是闭口不言。衪的至尊，衪为统管宇宙者的威权，终究必要得到承认，而衪律法的公义要求，也必要得到维护。{3TT 330.3}[19]
§46
Then I further dwelt upon the supreme rulership of God above all earthly rulers. His law is to be the standard of action. Men are forbidden to pervert their senses by intemperance or by yielding their minds to satanic influences, for this makes impossible the keeping of God’s law. While the divine Ruler bears long with perversity, He is not deceived and will not always keep silence. His supremacy, His authority as Ruler of the universe, must finally be acknowledged and the just claims of His law vindicated.?{3TT 330.3}[19]
§47
此外还有许多论到上帝的恒久忍耐，和必需唤醒罪人警觉到自己在衪面前所处之危境的教训，我都照着那教训我的，向众人转述了。{3TT 330.4}[20]
§48
Much more instruction regarding the long-sufferance of God and the necessity of arousing transgressors to a realization of their perilous position in His sight was repeated to the people, as received from my instructor.?{3TT 330.4}[20]
§49
到四月十八日，就是我看见那房屋坍倒之异象后两天，我到洛杉矶的卡尔街教堂去赴约。当我们将进会堂时，就听见街上的报童喊着说：“旧金山被地震所毁！”我读这最先匆匆印就的可怕灾难的新闻时，内心是何等地沉重啊！?{3TT 330.5}[21]
§50
On April 18, two days after the scene of falling buildings had passed before me, I went to fill an appointment in the?Carr Street Church, Los Angeles. As we neared the church, we heard the newsboys crying: “San Francisco destroyed by an earthquake!” With a heavy heart I read the first hastily printed news of the terrible disaster.?{3TT 330.5}[21]
§51
两周后，我们回家时路过旧金山，就雇了一辆马车，费了一个半小时，视察这大城被毁的情形，见有许多经人认为能防灾的房屋，也都成了瓦砾。有几座房屋竟会局部地沉入地中。合城呈现着极可怕的景象，表示人类设计防火防地震的建筑智能，是无济于事的。{3TT 331.1}[22]
§52
Two weeks later, on our homeward journey, we passed through San Francisco and, hiring a carriage, spent an hour and a half in viewing the destruction wrought in that great city. Buildings that were thought to be proof against disaster were lying in ruins. In some instances buildings were partially sunken in the ground. The city presented a most dreadful picture of the inefficiency of human ingenuity to frame fireproof and earthquake-proof structures.?{3TT 331.1}[22]
§53
上帝借着先知西番雅宣示衪所要加在作恶者身上的报应说：{3TT 331.2}[23]
§54
Through His prophet Zephaniah the Lord specifies the judgments that He will bring upon evildoers:?{3TT 331.2}[23]
§55
“耶和华说：我必从地上除灭万类。我必除灭人和牲畜，与空中的鸟、海里的鱼，以及绊脚石和恶人；我必将人从地上剪除。这是耶和华说的。”{3TT 331.3}[24]
§56
“I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord. I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord.”?{3TT 331.3}[24]
§57
“到了我耶和华献祭的日子，必惩罚首领和王子，并一切穿外邦衣服的人。到那日，我必惩罚一切跳过门槛、将强暴和诡诈得来之物充满主人房屋的。……{3TT 331.4}[25]
§58
“And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel. In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit. ...?{3TT 331.4}[25]
§59
“那时，我必用灯巡查耶路撒冷，我必惩罚那些如酒在渣滓上澄清的。他们心里说：‘耶和华必不降福，也不降祸。’他们的财宝必成为掠物，他们的房屋必变为荒场；他们必建造房屋，却不得住在其内，栽种葡萄园，却不得喝所出的酒。.{3TT 331.5}[26]
§60
“And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.?{3TT 331.5}[26]
§61
“耶和华的大日临近，临近而且甚快，乃是耶和华日子的风声。勇士必痛痛地哭号。那日，是忿怒的日子，是急难困苦的日子，是荒废凄凉的日子，是黑暗、幽冥、密云、乌黑的日子，是吹角呐喊的日子，要攻击坚固城和高大的城楼。我必使灾祸临到人身上，使他们行走如同瞎眼的，因为得罪了我。他们的血必倒出如灰尘，他们的肉必抛弃如粪土。当耶和华发怒的日子，他们的金银不能救他们。衪的忿怒如火，必烧灭全地，毁灭这地的一切居民，而且大大毁灭”（番1:2,3,8-18）。?{3TT 331.6}[27]
§62
“The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a?day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy: for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.”?Zephaniah 1:2, 3, 8-18.?{3TT 331.6}[27]
§63
【上帝主宰局势】
§64
上帝不能再忍耐了。衪的报应已开始临到一些地方，衪显著的忿怒，不久就要落在其它地方了。{3TT 332.1}[28]
§65
【God Master of the Situation】
§66
God cannot forbear much longer. Already His judgments are beginning to fall on some places, and soon His signal displeasure will be felt in other places.?{3TT 332.1}[28]
§67
世上将要发生一连串的事件，证明上帝全然主宰时势。真理必用清楚而不致被误解的言语传开。我们这班人必须在圣灵的支配指引下，预备主的道路。当本着福音的纯正传扬福音。那活水的溪流必愈流愈深，愈流愈广。在无论远近各处，从农作和占据大部分人类意念的各项商业中，都要有人被召，受教于一般有经验的人，他们既学会去有效地做工，就必有能力传扬真理了。靠赖神意最奇妙的运行，一切困难的山都必挪开投到海里。那对地上居民有如此重大关系的信息，必须给人听见并且明白。人们必知道何为真理。这工作必须前进，继续前进，直到全地都受到警告，然后末期才来到。（9T.89-96.1909年）{3TT 332.2}[29]
§68
There will be a series of events revealing that God is master of the situation. The truth will be proclaimed in clear, unmistakable language. As a people we must prepare the way of the Lord under the overruling guidance of the Holy Spirit. The gospel is to be given in its purity. The stream of living water is to deepen and widen in its course. In all fields, nigh and afar off, men will be called from the plow and from the more common commercial business vocations that largely occupy the mind, and will be educated in connection with men of experience. As they learn to labor effectively they will proclaim the truth with power. Through most wonderful workings of divine providence, mountains of difficulty will be removed and cast into the sea. The message that means so much to the dwellers upon the earth will be heard and understood. Men will know what is truth. Onward and still onward the work will advance until the whole earth shall have been warned, and then shall the end come.?{3TT 332.2}[29]