19 I have known thy works, and love, and ministration, and faith, and thy endurance, and thy works -- and the last `are' more than the first.
We ought to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because increase greatly doth your faith, and abound doth the love of each one of you all, to one another;
And the end of the charge is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned,
every branch in me not bearing fruit, He doth take it away, and every one bearing fruit, He doth cleanse by pruning it, that it may bear more fruit;
and above all these things, `have' love, which is a bond of the perfection,
and, before all things, to one another having the earnest love, because the love shall cover a multitude of sins;
and increase ye in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; to him `is' the glory both now, and to the day of the age! Amen.
I have known thy works, and thy labour, and thy endurance, and that thou art not able to bear evil ones, and that thou hast tried those saying themselves to be apostles and are not, and hast found them liars, and thou didst bear, and hast endurance, and because of my name hast toiled, and hast not been weary. `But I have against thee: That thy first love thou didst leave!
Still they bring forth in old age, Fat and flourishing are they,
If with the tongues of men and of messengers I speak, and have not love, I have become brass sounding, or a cymbal tinkling; and if I have prophecy, and know all the secrets, and all the knowledge, and if I have all the faith, so as to remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing; and if I give away to feed others all my goods, and if I give up my body that I may be burned, and have not love, I am profited nothing. The love is long-suffering, it is kind, the love doth not envy, the love doth not vaunt itself, is not puffed up, doth not act unseemly, doth not seek its own things, is not provoked, doth not impute evil, rejoiceth not over the unrighteousness, and rejoiceth with the truth; all things it beareth, all it believeth, all it hopeth, all it endureth. The love doth never fail; and whether `there be' prophecies, they shall become useless; whether tongues, they shall cease; whether knowledge, it shall become useless;
And the path of the righteous `is' as a shining light, Going and brightening till the day is established,
I have known thy works, and tribulation, and poverty -- yet thou art rich -- and the evil-speaking of those saying themselves to be Jews, and are not, but `are' a synagogue of the Adversary.
I have known thy works, and where thou dost dwell -- where the throne of the Adversary `is' -- and thou dost hold fast my name, and thou didst not deny my faith, even in the days in which Antipas `was' my faithful witness, who was put to death beside you, where the Adversary doth dwell.
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.