saying to me: Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.
I can even celebrate the sorrows I have experienced on your behalf; for as I join with you in your difficulties, it helps you to discover what lacks in your understanding of the sufferings Jesus Christ experienced for his body, the church.
You love him passionately although you have not seen him, but through believing in him you are saturated with an ecstatic joy, indescribably sublime and immersed in glory.
Even though I’m separated from you geographically, my spirit is present there with you. And I’m overjoyed to see how disciplined and deeply committed you are because you have such a solid faith in Christ, the Anointed One.
I’ve been a part of your lives and shared with you many times the message of God’s kingdom realm. But now I leave you, and you will not see my face again.
He prayed even more passionately, like one being sacrificed, until he was in such intense agony of spirit that his sweat became drops of blood, dripping onto the ground.
During Christ’s days on earth he pleaded with God, praying with passion and with tearful agony that God would spare him from death. And because of his perfect devotion his prayer was answered and he was delivered.
And though we had already suffered greatly in Philippi, where we were shamefully mistreated, we were emboldened by faith in our God to fearlessly preach his wonderful gospel to you in spite of incredible opposition.