Epaggelia

Sardis – “the remains” v1, The Roman historian & senator Tacitus records that in 17AD Sardis was hit hard by an earthquake, he writes, “…fires blazed out amid the ruins. The calamity fell most fatally on the people of Sardis, and it attracted to them the largest share of sympathy”. While it used to be the ancient capital of Lydia, and had it’s own Temple of Artemis, it was very likely still fresh in the memory of the older Christians that remained during the time the congregation received the Revelation appx 95AD. It had an established Jewish Synagogue

“a name of being alive” v1, it seems most of the congregation were Christians in name only. “not found your works complete” v2, How few can say with the Master, “I have finished the work” 2nd Tim. 4:7 and of whom can it be said, like Paul, “He fulfilled his course”! Acts 12:25.

“white clothes” v4, This may suggest the Transfiguration,  Mat. 17:2, On the holy mount, the plain garments of Jesus shone with light; and so the inner purity of the living Christian shines through and glorifies our simplest acts. The holiness we love in this life will be rewarded by the white robes.

“confess his name before my Father”, v5, reminiscent of the promise Jesus made to his first disciples, Matthew 10:29-33 and so through the centuries we can take this personally, if we are overcomers feeding our faith and sharing His message of love & justice. The “Book of Life” had already been revealed to the church in Philippi by Paul, (Php. 4:3) and John has now mentioned it to those in the context of being a threat of being blotted out of it, it is also entitled the Lambs Book of Life in Rev. 21:27, and in 13:8 the SLAIN Lamb’s book. It leads us to wonder if our names were written by Jesus himself, the author of Life, which the Jews had killed, Acts 3:15. What kind of name will be written in this book? Is yours in it?

Philadelphia – “brotherly love” v7, The city had both ancient and current connections with Kings, it’s name came from King Eumenes giving its name in honor of the love he had for brother Attalus since 189BC, and during the church’s lifetime it had been granted riches from the Emperors Caligula 39AD and Vespasian 71AD, the citizens of which, were free from paying taxes!

“has the key of David” v7, This is a quote from Isaiah 22:22 and Jesus has already referred to it in Matthew 16:19. These Christians knew the King of kings and his authority was in their hearts and minds, which affects not only our thinking, but also our actions!

“an open door” v8, later in Revelation 21:24-27 the gate of the new Jerusalem is declared permanently open with access for the Kings of the earth to bring in their glory, and only purity enters. This is only the second church which has no criticisms listed by Christ, and he explicitly states his love for them, v9. It is interesting that the only other church with nothing but praise from Christ, is the one in Smyrna, and both of them have won a victory over being infiltrated by the “synagogue of Satan” In some way Christ will make his approval obvious to the sinful Jews of Philadelphia, so much so, that they will be forced to show them adoration. 1^st John 1:6 was literally true for their Jewish neighbors.

“that no man take your crown” v11, Paul didn’t want Timothy to lose his crown, 2^nd Timothy 4:8, and neither does Jesus want anyone in Philadelphia to lose their crown – gk – “stephanos”, the victors wreath as a crown. An obvious allusion to winning a race wherein you exhibit both strength & skill. Why? Because we are in Christ who has removed barriers and distractions, it is his victory that he gives us who persevere, v10.

“make him a pillar in my temple…my own new name” v12, Columns or pillars in the ancient world were obviously supportive, but they were also renown for being ornamental, and being for a Temple had the clear idea of the beauty of holiness, see 2^nd Chronicles 20:21 & Psalm 96:9. Paul instructed Timothy that the whole church was a type of pillar, 1^st Timothy 3:15. Are you supportive of the truth, or simply feeding on it?

Pergamum – “citadel” It is claimed to be the place of discovery for parchment, and also had a large library, with a large section dedicated to medicine. The city boasted it’s governor was given the power of the sword from Rome to exact life or death sentences. It also had two Temples, at the top of the city was the Temple of Serapis, granting worshipers health & fertility, the Greco-Egyptian deity Serapis combining aspects of Osiris & Apis in a humanized form that was accepted by Greeks of Alexandria. At the base of the city was the Temple of Askelpios, granting worshipers who were sick, healing and even promising resurrection. The rod of Askelpios is where we get the icon of a snake intertwined on a rod on many medical treatment centers and ambulances today.

“two-edged sword”, v12, see 1:16, this represents the word of God, Ephesians 6:17. The Bible can be used to convict our enemies, which martyred “Antipas”. We are engaged in a spiritual war, even when the world fights us physically. Always remember that we are handling his sword, not our own.

“Satan’s throne”, v13, It is likely how God would describe the Askelpion at the base of the acropolis. Here sick people would let non-venomous snakes crawl amongst patients and use products from snakes as medicine. It was not coincidental that both Christians & Jews would be reminded of a certain snake in the Garden of Eden seducing people to sin, and be ruling within their city. Tradition claims that Antipas was appointed an Elder by the Apostle John and was martyred in 92AD, if this is true, it puts the traditional date of 94-98AD on Revelation.

“Balaam teaching Balak” v14-15, “Nicolaitans” here is really the only hint we have about the false doctrine that affected the church. In Numbers 22-25 is the story of King Balak and the prophet Balaam, interacting in the high worship places of the idol baal, while blessing Israel from high places where baal was idolized. Balak took advantage of this fellowship and his women seduced the people of Israel into harlotry, Numbers 25:1-3 & 31:16. Therefore Nicolaitans might be teaching that Christians can entertain idolatry while trying to support God’s word, assuming God would bless them in His grace by Christ.

“Overcomers”, v17, will receive hidden manna, John 4:32-34 and a hidden meaning of a new name on a white stone. This is the comfort of eternal intimacy with God and holy strength from food that is spiritually nourishing to make us strong in righteousness, in contrast to immorality.

Thyatira – “sacrifice” In comparison this was a smaller town than most of the other six cities mentioned, but they were famous for their Guild of Dyers, making purple colored dyes. Lydia was from Thyatira, Acts 16:14, she was a worshiper of God before she met Paul, so many people believe there was a synagogue in Thyatira. Apollo-Tyrimnos was the patron god of the city as well as the supreme god of all the various trade guilds. Being a son of Zeus, he was often called “son of god” and was represented figuratively by rays of light and brass feet. To the church of Thyatira, Christ introduced himself in verse 18 as the Son of God, who hath eyes like unto a flame of fire, and … feet … like fine brass. This description penetrated to the heart of the matter right away, forcing the church to consider who the Lord of their economy really is. The choice was simple: either Tyrimnos or Christ.

“sexual immorality” v20 was leading servants of Christ astray because “Jezebel” was being tolerated by the congregation. Whoever “Jezebel” was in the church at Thyatira she taught the servants of God to get in bed with pagan idols, making them believe that they were somehow serving God by doing so. In spite of this sin, the Lord had given her more than ample opportunity to turn from her evil, v21, but, “she repented not”. The church had to trust and remember Psalm 103:8, The Lord is merciful & gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy, but Jezebel scorned the Lord’s goodness. For this, Thyatira receives the longest critical rebuke from the Lord than any of the other congregations, v20-23.

“rest in Thyatira” v24, these who were faithful, needed to stay faithful even unto death just as the innocent of Smyrna, 2:10 and Philadelphia, 3:11,which Christ was pleased with, both were given and if we are faithful, never be satisfied, always press on to the goal till you see glory, Philippians 3:12-14. If we run away from a congregation because of sinners within, we should not be church-hopping but rather standing fast!

“Overcomers”, v25-28, to be given authority rule with a rod of iron and also the morning star. Sharing in the same rule promised to the Christ/Messiah in Psalm 2:9. When all is finished and glory comes, His glory and power is ours, even as it was King David’s, Rev. 22:16. Peter knew the power of this promise, 2^nd Pet. 1:19.

Ephesus – “desire”, some of the congregations are in towns with a name that has a meaning and/or cultural significance which is linked to the message of Christ’s letter to the congregation. This should alert Christians to the necessity of being able to enlighten the community we worship within. The real desire of the church should be to praise & glorify God in Christ. However, Christians in Ephesus (desire) had the Temple of Artemis (Diana) polluting their desire. Pliny tells us that the Temple took 120 years to build but is now represented only by one inconspicuous column. Over four centuries later, an inscription at Ephesus suggests why so little remains at the site “Destroying the image of the demon Artemis, Demeas has erected this symbol of Truth, the God that drives away idols, and the Cross of priests, deathless and victorious sign of Christ.” The assertion that the Ephesians thought that their cult image had fallen from the sky, is known at Ephesus from Acts 19:35.

“Who walks among the seven golden lampstands” v1, this scene must be comforting, intimacy with God, known only by Adam & Eve, remember Genesis 3:8. For the Christians in Ephesus, they may consider this, their second letter, which closes with a view of the tree of life God once walked amongst but had to remove. Their first letter was from Paul, instructing them on speaking the truth in love and walking in love, Ephesians 4:15 & 5:1, but now their love faded and hadn’t been fed. “I know your works, labor, endurance… and you have not grown weary” v2-3, A Christian’s strength may not be dependent on love, but love is dependent on being nurtured and fed on the truth. It seems they had found a new love in their efforts and had become more satisfied with their performance in doctrine, rather than the One they should praise. Testing to prove what is right & wrong, can lead to knowledge that “puffs up”, 1^st Corinthians 8:1.

“first love”, v4  – Protos Agape. It is curious how Jesus uses the word Protos to describe the robe which the Father gives the prodigal son upon his repentant return, Luke 15:22.

“first works”, v5  – Protos Ergon, every new bride treats her groom differently than most Moms treat Dads. This may seem to be a mere physical way to compare the church as a bride with Christ, but we must fully realize what the first works of a Christian are, and never neglect them. Real faith works! See James 2:17-18. A Bride’s effort or work for her Groom would be her BEST effort because it’s motivated by a love that is full of zeal/enthusiasm. As an example, most people joke about how bad the cooking skills are from a new wife, but a bride will always make efforts to improve on her cooking skills, she will not give up, but she will improve! Therefore most wives are better cooks than when they were a bride. Whatever talent you have as a new Christian would naturally be improved upon if your “first love” motivates that new talent, you won’t just bury it, you’ll multiply it!

“hate” & “overcomes”, v6-7, Every one of the seven churches are told of a reward if they “overcome”. Each church, no matter their predicament, problem or position, have challenges in front of them to overcome. Learning to love what God loves, and hate what God hates, is the key to experiencing the victory, wherein we taste the glory of being more than a conqueror, Romans 8:37 & John 16:33.

Smyrna – “myrrh” An ancient Greek myth derived the name from an Amazon named Smyrna. Smyrna’s chief export in ancient times was myrrh, but little is known about myrrh from Smyrna of the 1^st century. It was densely populated and it’s economy relied on the Port to the Aegean Sea. Historians have called it the “ornament of Asia”, being a very clean & beautiful city. Amazons were said to have founded the city and temple of Smyrna, and it’s possibly the home of Homer, author of the Iliad & the Odyssey. For a certainty, the city had a large Jewish Synagogue. In AD155, Polycarp, a student of the apostle John, was martyred at Smyrna. “Slander”, v8-9, Christ encourages the congregation to be brave in the face of imminent persecution from the Jews. Many of the apostles had personal experience in this, 2^nd Corinthians 11:26. Slander is often the precursor of physical persecution for God’s children, Psalm 31:13 & Proverbs 10:18.

“Synagogue of Satan…tribulation for ten days”, 10-11, Christ has no charge against the Christians in Smyrna, but expects them to remain faithful unto death, wherein they will not be injured. We should learn that when the church is healthy, Christ expects us to fight the good fight! 1^st Timothy 6:12. The 10 days represent God’s sovereign perfect reign through civil powers on earth during their tribulation, He has a holy purpose in letting them endure this persecution, see Dan. 7:15-27 & Rev. 13:1 & 17:12. v11, the promise of Christ to these conquering faithful Christians, was that their “2nd Death”, a physical one, would not “hurt”. Why? Because their first death was when they first died to sin in baptism, so they’re second death entering into glory may indeed be in tribulation, but not painful. Their crown of life would be of the same glory as Paul praised in 2nd Tim. 4:8 and entitled by James 1:12.

v12, Seven Golden Lampstands, Jesus proclaimed that he is the Light of the world, Jn 8:12. In this vision, the stars (representing angels of the churches) are in the hands of Jesus. Lampstands are actually the congregations, v20, and Jesus is in their midst.  Paul describes the church as a pillar of the truth, 1^st Tim. 3:15, which again offers the idea of stability for projecting light, not the light itself. They originated as the Menorah in the Temple, destroyed in 70AD. 

v13-15, Jesus in a long robe with a golden belt, pure white hair, flaming fiery eyes, polished bronze feet and a trumpeting thunderous voice from a mouth that brought out a sword. The four features of hair, eyes, voice and mouth are all from a face as bright as the sun. Why? He is the light of the world and also the head of the church. His body is in a priestly robe fastened by a golden belt representing royalty and he moves with feet that can trample any enemy. The term Son of Man being given power from the Ancient of Days originates in Daniel 7:13. Now the church will announce, fight, suffer and win with the power prophesied from Daniel and fulfilled from John’s revelation. In 1^st Chron. 28:18 the Cherubim have these type feet and move with destruction. Paul talks like the war still rages on until Jesus defeats every enemy and submits his Kingdom to the Father, 1^st Cor. 15:24-26.  When he returns to judge the world, we will hear the roaring voice, 1^st Thes 4:16.  

v16, “Seven Stars”  & “Sword”, These represent angels. The word angel simply means a messenger. The angels in this vision are not figurative, they are real literal messengers within each church. In Gen. 18:1-3, Abraham met three angels, whom he recognized as mere men but also esteemed them as master or lord. The Hebrew writer claims that this similarly can possibly happen with Christians, Heb. 13:2.  In one sense, every Christian is a light that shines in a dark world, because we reflect the light of the world, Php. 2:15.  But these angels are seen as stars in each church because they are mature examples of Jesus seeking the lost and instructing the saved.  Jesus taught us that our charity on earth is rewarded in Heaven, when our good deeds to strangers are actually done to Himself, Mat. 25:34-40. In this vision, each church has revealed that they will likely have this encounter and they had better be ready to help. Obviously the Sword is the message itself, which the messengers would distribute, Eph. 6:17 & Heb. 4:12, and God would make good, effective and powerful. How can we use a sword that is alive?

v17, Jesus proves himself to be the Alpha & Omega,  Isa. 44:1-8, 48:12.  The glory and power of Christ in this vision, makes John collapse and faint as dead. Manoah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Jacob all come near to the presence of God and fall to faint, but none of them lose their consciousness.  The right hand that held the stars, touches John and brings him back to consciousness. It could be what miraculously happens to the soldiers in Gethsemane approaching Christ when he utters the words, “ I AM”, John 18:6.

v18,  He has the keys of Death and Hades (grave). This indeed is how Satan gets and remains locked within a chain and pit, 20:1-3.  The keys are similar to the key for the house of David, Isa. 22:22 and mentioned in Rev. 3:7. In Mat. 22:42, he accepts the term of Son of David, but this position changes from the cross, and at the resurrection he proves he is the Son of God. He qualified for and obtained the keys during the ‘three days’ in the grave!

v19-20, John must write what he is seeing and what he is about to see which will take place after the visions. The messengers to the churches will be making it clear and the message will strengthen the Christians to see the fulfillment, tasting the victory Christ gives them.  Job knows of this controlling power God has, which John sees in this vision, read Job 42:1-6.  The angels of the 7 churches could very well be executing the job Jesus mentions in Matthew 18:10-14. These 7 messengers or angels have a message to deliver, what is it? v11 & 19 would infer the entirety of Revelation, not just the individual statements referencing each congregation.

Angels have a big role in Revelation, v1 & 10:1. They still serve us, Heb. 1:14, Mat. 18:10.  John’s beatitude in v3 is for anyone who hears and obeys what the Revelation teaches to bless (Makarios) his readers who keep it. This promise is reminiscent of Psalm 1:1-3. Happiness is the purpose of God in giving this to us, not fear. God is the God of all comfort, 2Cor. 1:3-7. 

The phrase “7 Spirits” in v4 shouldn’t confuse us because Christ’s presence is for each of the seven churches. Seven often signifies perfection which is the kind of presence we need. He is omnipresent. Jesus is entitled Faithful Witness, Firstborn of the Dead, Ruler of earthly kings, The Alpha & Omega and The Almighty because his blood freed us and proved his love for us. He’s qualified to make us a Royal Priesthood (1^st Peter 2:9) and he will come again to show the entire global population his victoriously scarred body resurrected and ruling. This will make every knee to bow and tongue to confess Him as Lord, Romans 14:11, Php. 2:10 & Isaiah 45:22-25.  So we should confess him as Lord now before it is forever too late, Matthew 10:32. No one knows the day nor the hour…

1:9, In The Kingdom…On Patmos. Since Jesus is the Ruler of the kings of the Earth, we know that it doesn’t matter where we are or what circumstance we are in. He rules because of the power of his resurrection given to all subjects of His Kingdom, see Colossians 1:13, 1^st Peter 2:9.  Despite the pain John suffered he still believed Christ was ruling, this is possible for every Christian because we are all called to suffer, 1^st Peter 3:9-17. By enduring in this faith, we are winning the war of overcoming evil with good and bringing the deceptive kingdom of Satan in the world to a downfall. It is a real ‘wrestling’ match, see Ephesians 6:12.

v10, In The Spirit on The Lord’s Day. Jesus was raised from the dead on the 1^st day of the week (Mat. 28:1) and it became the day which superseded the 7^th day of the week (Sabbath) for worship amongst God’s faithful children. factually, during the mandatory Feast of Tabernacles, the 8th day was a holy day, Lev. 23:33-39. It was even carried over in their culture after they returned from captivity in Babylon, see Nehemiah 8:18 mentions an 8^th day (Neh. 8:18), and it seems prophetic that it became the Lord’s Day, Sunday. The Jewish Pentecost fell on a Sunday and became the ‘birthday’ of the Church, Acts 2. Leviticus 23:11-16 spells out how it would always fall on a Sunday, an ‘eighth’ day.  It is interesting to note that in the 1905 edition of Sgt. Burrell’s 1760 Diary of New England Shipping, the day is spelt with an “O”, not “u”.  The 2^nd century writings (Didache 14:1 and Ignatius’ letter to the Magnesians 9:1) both use the term “Lord’s Day” for the 1^st day of the week Christians worshiped on, as was instituted by the Apostles, Acts 20:7.   Are we always in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, or should we make preparations? See Jude v20, Eph. 6:18 and Php 3:3. Does the oil of the 10 virgins have any bearing on the spiritual welfare and attitude of the Christian on Sunday? (Mat.25:1-13)
v11, The Seven Churches. Each one of the cities lay on the same road and in the order they are written, in Asia Minor. Showing that God knows our exact location when living lives worthy of the gospel. Our position in Christ guarantees our position of safety no matter how dangerous being a Christian is. John would send them what he wrote from a trumpet sounding voice and several symbolic visions. The import of a trumpet sounding voice may lay in the fact that Moses spoke with God issuing the Law from Mt. Sinai with a shofar blowing louder and louder in Exodus 19:16-21. It was written while John was in the Spirit and it should be read as we are in The Spirit, 1^st Cor. 2:12-15. These messages in the Revelation held authority and could pierce their hearts as the peal of a trumpet.

The title means “to open up, take the lid off” – Gk, “Apokalupsis”, where we get our English word, Apocalyptic. Contrary to popular usage, it has nothing to do with catastrophic wars and the end of the world as we see the media purport. The title is singular, not plural. It has many visions, but only one message or theme: Christians win in Christ no matter how big, powerful, rich, popular, evil, destructive or smart our enemy is, Jesus Christ is our victorious King!

It’s the only letter written to 7 named congregations. So we need to keep our understanding in the context of the original readers. The historical background is important, if we are going to make any personal application for today. History remains a great teacher for the future. John gave them assurance that they could understand it as a fulfilled prophecy, see 1:1,3, 22:6, 10. The historical method of interpretation is defined by scripture, see Dan. 8:26, 12:4. So fulfillment of Revelation can be seen within five or six centuries. Some passages do have an obvious two-fold fulfillment, akin to the way Isaiah 7:14 & 9:6-7 can refer both to Jesus in Mt. 1:23 and also Cyrus in Isa 45:1 or Mahershalalhashbaz in Isa. 8:1-3. So we must maintain an open mind to discover the true meaning of the visions. When Daniel is told to seal his visions, while John is told to not seal them, we should expect fulfillment as “near” the 7 churches, not two millenia away from them.

Authorship & Outline

John the Apostle also known as the disciple whom Jesus ‘loved’, Jn.13:23, was banished to the isle of Patmos. While suffering this persecution, he received many visions and was told to write them down in a book, 1:9-10. The last we see of John in the New Testament is Acts 15:4 & Gal. 2:9 in Jerusalem, it is only secular history from Irenaeus and Justin that we learn about John going to Ephesus. Irenaeus claimed to be a student of Polycarp, who sat at the feet of John.  The timing of his writing was somewhere between 68-97 AD under the reigns of Nero through to Domitian.  Revelation can be outlined as simple as this:

1. Introduction & Vision of Christ, Chapter 1
2. Specific Visions for The Angel of the 7 Churches, Chapters 2-3
3. General Visions of Prophecy for the 7 Churches, Chapters 4-22
   1. Seven Seals, Trumpets & Bowls, Chapters 4-16
   2. Winners, Losers & Christ’s Coming, Chapters 17-22

Historical Background

The culture and political scenario of the first Christians is important, getting a meaningful understanding of Revelation is possible if we know how worldly people looked upon Christians in the 1^st century.  The first persecution we suffered was from Jews, when Stephen and James were killed, it sent shockwaves of fear and boldness throughout the new church. But Jews could not continue their persecution of us, because of 2 reasons: Firstly they had too big an enemy in Rome and were preoccupied with revolts and oppression, secondly we Christians had God’s miraculous power proving to the Jews that their persecution was fighting against God, which Gamaliel warned them of in Acts 5:39.  

In 66AD the Jews revolted against the Romans throughout most of Israel. The Emperor Nero sent his General Vespasian to Israel to quell the rebellion in Palestine. After almost 2 years of fighting in 68AD, Vespasian accomplished subduing most of Israel and prepared to overtake Jerusalem itself, when amazingly, Nero committed suicide, which motivated Vespasian to leave Israel and take the Throne in Rome, 69AD. He left his son Titus in charge of besieging and finishing off Jerusalem. Titus erected the Romans Eagle in the Temple on 10 August 70AD (a fulfillment of Dan. 9:27, 11:31 & 12:11, as well as Mat. 24:15). They destroyed and burnt the Temple to the ground, looting the gold and it’s best treasures.  There were still pockets of Jews trying to rebel but the main element gathered at Masada and held out till 73AD, after knowing all was lost to the Romans, they organized a mass suicide, so the revolt of 66AD lasted till 73AD. Now Titus was victorious, Christians were busy spreading the gospel of Christ. Many Romans ignorantly believed that Christianity was a revamped renewal of Judaism, trying to establish itself again, so they fell under immediate persecution. The trumped up charge of Christ being the ‘King of the Jews’ served as a prefaced purpose that would haunt Christians for decades, Mark 15:2. Christians were constantly confused by the Romans with Jews as a new breed to be stamped out. But after 117AD when Hadrian became Emperor, one of his decrees helped identify Christians as separate from Jews. The Jews revolted again in 132AD giving Hadrian a defeat in losing over 570,000 Roman soldiers, so Hadrian eventually burnt Jerusalem to the ground and built a shrine to Jupiter on the ruins of the Temple. Hadrian also banned circumcision, over time, this actually helped Romans identify who was a Christian and who was a Jew, in the humiliating gender identification Romans gave their enemies. God knew circumcision would be an issue and prepared for it to be abolished since the Apostolic letter of Acts 15. So Christians found themselves escaping persecution for a while until they came into Roman towns with marketplaces that demanded allegiance to Caesar upon entry.  This lull in persecution gave them an opportunity for escape, but in Asia Minor where the seven churches are located, they were targeted because they wouldn’t publicly acknowledge Caesar as King, but would only recognize Jesus as Lord Christ (Kurios Christi). This made Christians look like a threat to the authority and reign of Caesar and caused them to be persecuted again. However as the love of God and His Spirit was shown by the Christians, their own persecution became a great advertisement for Jesus and Christianity eventually grew and overturned the Empire, making Christ the King of kings.

CONCLUSION: One virtue in Revelation is the symbolic language John used. For early Christians this was a blessing to have Jewish symbols, numbers and characters from the Old Testament give definition to what the different visions were saying in the Revelation. If their Roman persecutors were to read the letter, they wouldn’t have a clue in understanding much of the Revelation. But since the new churches had mature Jewish leadership, it was easily understood to bless and strengthen the Christians to be faithful. That is why it was written to give a blessing, 1:3. That is a promise from God today to give us strength, wisdom and the ability to remain faithful when undergoing any tribulation, trial or any form of persecution. It was not written to panic us, cause anxiety or stress people out, about the 2nd coming of Christ. It was written to bless us and prepare us for a glorious victory.

The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy (2nd Tim. 4:13) “When you come, bring with you the cloak I left in Troas with Carpas and the scrolls, especially the parchments.” We may deduce that if Timothy forgot Paul’s cloak, he would easily be forgiven, but the most important thing to remember was to bring literature! Paul had preached many sermons and performed many miracles, but he still wanted literature. He’s a man that had visited the third heaven and seen things unlawful to utter, but he still wanted literature, Paul was an inspired apostle of Christ, yet he still wanted literature. He had seen the Lord and listened to words uttered from a divine heart, but he still wanted literature. Never forget the apostle Paul, a man who had a bigger more exciting life as a Christian than most of us, and he still wanted literature! My conclusion: Never stop reading in your pursuit of truth, God will increase your appetite.