Therefore, I beg the elders who are among you, as one who is also an elder and a witness of the Passion of Christ, who also shares in that glory which is to be revealed in the future:
But you shall receive the power of the Holy Spirit, passing over you, and you shall be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth."
And when they had arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the Apostles and the elders, reporting what great things God had done with them.
Take care of yourselves and of the entire flock, over which the Holy Spirit has stationed you as Bishops to rule the Church of God, which he has purchased by his own blood.
As for the remainder, a crown of justice has been reserved for me, one which the Lord, the just judge, will render to me in that day, and not only to me, but also to those who look forward to his return. Hurry to return to me soon.
For this reason, I left you behind in Crete: so that those things which are lacking, you would correct, and so that you would ordain, throughout the communities, priests, (just as I also ordained you)
Furthermore, since we also have so great a cloud of witnesses over us, let us set aside every burden and sin which may surround us, and advance, through patience, to the struggle offered to us.
To them, it was revealed that they were ministering, not for themselves, but for you those things which have now been announced to you through those who have preached the Gospel to you, through the Holy Spirit, who was sent down from heaven to the One upon whom the Angels desire to gaze.
so that the testing of your faith, which is much more precious than gold tested by fire, may be found in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Most beloved, we are now the sons of God. But what we shall be then has not yet appeared. We know that when he does appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
I, John, your brother, and a sharer in the tribulation and in the kingdom and in patient endurance for Christ Jesus, was on the island which is called Patmos, because of the Word of God and the testimony to Jesus.