3 And you have the power of waiting, and have undergone trouble because of my name, without weariness.
For, having done what was right in God's eyes, you have need of waiting before his word has effect for you.
To those who go on with good works in the hope of glory and honour and salvation from death, he will give eternal life:
And not only so, but let us have joy in our troubles: in the knowledge that trouble gives us the power of waiting; And waiting gives experience; and experience, hope:
But if we have hope for that which we see not, then we will be able to go on waiting for it.
Now those things which were put down in writing before our time were for our learning, so that through quiet waiting and through the comfort of the holy Writings we might have hope. Now may the God who gives comfort and strength in waiting make you of the same mind with one another in harmony with Christ Jesus:
Love has the power of undergoing all things, having faith in all things, hoping all things.
For which cause we do not give way to weariness; but though our outer man is getting feebler, our inner man is made new day by day.
For this reason we make it our purpose, in the body or away from it, to be well-pleasing to him.
Full of strength in the measure of the great power of his glory, so that you may undergo all troubles with joy;
Having ever in mind your work of faith and acts of love and the strength of your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father;
And this is the purpose of all our work and our fighting, because our hope is in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, and specially of those who have faith.
So that you may not be slow in heart, but may take as your example those to whom God has given their heritage, because of their faith and their long waiting.
For this reason, as we are circled by so great a cloud of witnesses, putting off every weight, and the sin into which we come so readily, let us keep on running in the way which is marked out for us,
Because you have the knowledge that the testing of your faith gives you the power of going on in hope; But let this power have its full effect, so that you may be made complete, needing nothing.
Go on waiting calmly, my brothers, till the coming of the Lord, like the farmer waiting for the good fruit of the earth till the early and late rains have come. Be as calm in your waiting; let your hearts be strong: because the coming of the Lord is near. Say no hard things against one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged; see, the judge is waiting at the doors. Take as an example of pain nobly undergone and of strength in trouble, the prophets who gave to men the words of the Lord. We say that those men who have gone through pain are happy: you have the story of Job and the troubles through which he went and have seen that the Lord was full of pity and mercy in the end.
And self-control to knowledge, and a quiet mind to self-control, and fear of God to a quiet mind,
I, John, your brother, who have a part with you in the trouble and the kingdom and the quiet strength of Jesus, was in the island which is named Patmos, for the word of God and the witness of Jesus.
By going through all these things, you will keep your lives.
And he made a story for them, the point of which was that men were to go on making prayer and not get tired;
And those in the good earth are those who, having given ear to the word, keep it with a good and true heart, and in quiet strength give fruit.
And I make request to you, true helper in my work, to see to the needs of those women who took part with me in the good news, with Clement and the rest of my brother-workers whose names are in the book of life.
I have been wounded with sharp words because of you; my face has been covered with shame.
I will undergo the wrath of the Lord, because of my sin against him; till he takes up my cause and does what is right for me: when he makes me come out into the light, I will see his righteousness;
Give my love to Tryphaena and Tryphosa, workers in the Lord. Give my love to my dear Persis, who did much work in the Lord.
In blows, in prisons, in attacks, in hard work, in watchings, in going without food;
Are they servants of Christ? (I am talking foolishly) I am more so; I have had more experience of hard work, of prisons, of blows more than measure, of death.
Take on yourselves one another's troubles, and so keep the law of Christ.
For you have the memory, my brothers, of our trouble and care; how, working night and day, so that we might not be a trouble to any of you, we gave you the good news of God.
And may your hearts be guided by the Lord into the love of God and quiet waiting for Christ.
Let rulers whose rule is good be honoured twice over, specially those whose work is preaching and teaching.
For God is true, and will not put away from him the memory of your work and of your love for his name, in the help which you gave and still give to the saints.
Give thought to him who has undergone so much of the hate of sinners against himself, so that you may not be tired and feeble of purpose. Till now you have not given your blood in your fight against sin: And you have not kept in mind the word which says to you as to sons, My son, do not make little of the Lord's punishment, and do not give up hope when you are judged by him;
Let us then go out to him outside the circle of the tents, taking his shame on ourselves.
That you put yourselves under such, and under everyone who is helping the Lord's work.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Revelation 2
Commentary on Revelation 2 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 2
The apostle John, having in the foregoing chapter written the things which he had seen, now proceeds to write the things that are, according to the command of God (ch. 1:19), that is, the present state of the seven churches of Asia, with which he had a particular acquaintance, and for which he had a tender concern. He was directed to write to every one of them according to their present state and circumstances, and to inscribe every letter to the angel of that church, to the minister or rather ministry of that church, called angels because they are the messengers of God to mankind. In this chapter we have,
Rev 2:1-7
We have here,
Rev 2:8-11
We now proceed to the second epistle sent to another of the Asian churches, where, as before, observe,
Rev 2:12-17
Here also we are to consider,
Rev 2:18-29
The form of each epistle is very much the same; and in this, as the rest, we have to consider the inscription, contents, and conclusion.