Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 468
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IMMERSE
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MESSIAH
1:9–2:6
I, John, am your brother and your partner in suffering and in God’s Kingdom and in the patient endurance to which Jesus calls us. I was exiled to
the island of Patmos for preaching the word of God and for my testimony
about Jesus. It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast. It said, “Write
in a book everything you see, and send it to the seven churches in the
cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and
Laodicea.”
When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like
the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his
chest. His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And
his eyes were like flames of fire. His feet were like polished bronze refined
in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. He held
seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his
mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right
hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am
the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold
the keys of death and the grave.
“Write down what you have seen—both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen. This is the meaning of the mystery
of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands:
The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message
from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who
walks among the seven gold lampstands:
“I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your
patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have
examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not.
You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me
without quitting.
“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each
other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to
me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come
and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. But
this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just
as I do.