Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible




When Peter saw this, he said to the people. "Men of Israel, why are you so surprised at this? Why do you stare so at us, as though it were some power or some piety of ours that had made him able to walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has done this honor to his servant Jesus, whom you betrayed and disowned before Pilate, when he had decided to let him go. But you disowned the Holy, Righteous One. You asked to have a murderer released for you, read more.
and killed the very source of life. But God raised him from the dead, as we can testify. It is by his power and through faith in him that this man whom you see and recognize has been made strong again, and it is faith inspired by him that has given him the perfect health you all see. Yet I know, brothers, that you did not know what you were doing, any more than your leaders did; it was in this way that God fulfilled what he by all the prophets foretold that his Christ must suffer. So repent and turn to God, to have your sins wiped out, and happier times will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will send Jesus, your destined Christ. Yet he must remain in heaven till the time for the universal reformation of which God told in ancient times by the lips of his holy prophets. Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, as he raised me up. You must listen to everything that he tells you. Anyone that will not listen to that prophet will be annihilated from among the people.' Why, all the prophets from Samuel down, who have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the agreement that God made with your forefathers when he said to Abraham, 'Through your posterity all the families of the earth will be blessed.' It was to you that God first sent his servant after he had raised him from the dead, to bless you by making every one of you turn from his wickedness."

if it is for a benefit conferred upon a helpless man, and as to how he was cured, that we are called to account here today, you and the people of Israel must all know that it is through the power of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that he stands here before you well. He is the stone that you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. read more.
There is no salvation through anyone else, for there is no one else in the world who has been named to men as their only means of being saved." They were amazed to see how outspoken Peter and John were, and to find that they were uneducated men with no advantages. They recognized them as companions of Jesus,

But Peter and John answered them, "You must decide whether it is right in the sight of God to obey you instead of him, for we cannot help telling of what we have seen and heard."

And they obeyed, and about daybreak went into the Temple and began to teach. The high priest and his party came over and called together the council and indeed the whole senate of the Israelites, and sent to the prison to have the apostles brought in.

Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men. The God of our forefathers raised Jesus to life when you had hung him on a cross and killed him. God took him up to his right hand as our leader and savior, in order to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. read more.
We and the holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey him are witnesses to these things."



When Peter saw this, he said to the people. "Men of Israel, why are you so surprised at this? Why do you stare so at us, as though it were some power or some piety of ours that had made him able to walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has done this honor to his servant Jesus, whom you betrayed and disowned before Pilate, when he had decided to let him go. But you disowned the Holy, Righteous One. You asked to have a murderer released for you, read more.
and killed the very source of life. But God raised him from the dead, as we can testify. It is by his power and through faith in him that this man whom you see and recognize has been made strong again, and it is faith inspired by him that has given him the perfect health you all see. Yet I know, brothers, that you did not know what you were doing, any more than your leaders did; it was in this way that God fulfilled what he by all the prophets foretold that his Christ must suffer. So repent and turn to God, to have your sins wiped out, and happier times will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will send Jesus, your destined Christ. Yet he must remain in heaven till the time for the universal reformation of which God told in ancient times by the lips of his holy prophets. Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, as he raised me up. You must listen to everything that he tells you. Anyone that will not listen to that prophet will be annihilated from among the people.' Why, all the prophets from Samuel down, who have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the agreement that God made with your forefathers when he said to Abraham, 'Through your posterity all the families of the earth will be blessed.' It was to you that God first sent his servant after he had raised him from the dead, to bless you by making every one of you turn from his wickedness."

if it is for a benefit conferred upon a helpless man, and as to how he was cured, that we are called to account here today, you and the people of Israel must all know that it is through the power of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that he stands here before you well. He is the stone that you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. read more.
There is no salvation through anyone else, for there is no one else in the world who has been named to men as their only means of being saved." They were amazed to see how outspoken Peter and John were, and to find that they were uneducated men with no advantages. They recognized them as companions of Jesus,

But Peter and John answered them, "You must decide whether it is right in the sight of God to obey you instead of him, for we cannot help telling of what we have seen and heard."


And as he still clung to Peter and John, all the people crowded about them in the utmost astonishment in what was known as Solomon's Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he said to the people. "Men of Israel, why are you so surprised at this? Why do you stare so at us, as though it were some power or some piety of ours that had made him able to walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has done this honor to his servant Jesus, whom you betrayed and disowned before Pilate, when he had decided to let him go. read more.
But you disowned the Holy, Righteous One. You asked to have a murderer released for you, and killed the very source of life. But God raised him from the dead, as we can testify. It is by his power and through faith in him that this man whom you see and recognize has been made strong again, and it is faith inspired by him that has given him the perfect health you all see.

For we hold that a man is made upright by faith; the observance of the Law has nothing to do with it. Does God belong to the Jews alone? Does he not belong to the heathen too? Of course he belongs to the heathen too; there is but one God, and he will make the circumcised upright on the ground of their faith and the uncircumcised upright because of theirs." read more.
Is this using faith to overthrow law? Far from it. This confirms the Law.

Then what do we conclude? That heathen who were not striving for uprightness attained it, that is, an uprightness which was produced by faith;

The Scripture foresaw that God would accept the heathen as upright in consequence of their faith, and preached the good news in advance to Abraham in the words, "All the heathen will be blessed through you." So the men of faith share the blessing of Abraham and his faith. For there is a curse upon all who rely on obedience to the Law, for the Scripture says, "Cursed be anyone who does not stand by everything that is written in the Book of the Law and obey it." read more.
That no one is accepted as upright by God for obeying the Law is evident because the upright will have life because of his faith, and the Law has nothing to do with faith; it teaches that it is the man who does these things that will find life by doing them. Christ ransomed us from the Law's curse by taking our curse upon himself (for the Scripture says, "Cursed be anyone who is hung on a tree") in order that the blessing given to Abraham might through Jesus Christ reach the heathen, so that through faith we might receive the promised Spirit.

For it is by his mercy that you have been saved through faith. It is not by your own action, it is the gift of God. It has not been earned, so that no one can boast of it. For he has made us, creating us through our union with Christ Jesus for the life of goodness which God had predestined us to live.

Faith means the assurance of what we hope for; it is our conviction about things that we cannot see. For it was by it that the men of old gained God's approval. It is faith that enables us to see that the universe was created at the command of God, so that the world we see did not simply arise out of matter. read more.
Faith made Abel's sacrifice greater in the sight of God than Cain's; through faith he gained God's approval as an upright man, for God himself approved his offering, and through faith even when he was dead he still spoke. Faith caused Enoch to be taken up from the earth without experiencing death; he could not be found, because God had taken him up. For before he was taken up there is evidence that he pleased God, but without faith it is impossible to please him; for whoever would approach God must have faith in his existence and in his willingness to reward those who try to find him. Faith led Noah, when he was warned by God of things no one then saw, in obedience to the warning to build an ark in which to save his family, and by such faith he condemned the world, and came to possess that uprightness which faith produces. Faith enabled Abraham to obey when God summoned him to leave his home for a region which he was to have for his own, and to leave home without knowing where he was going. Faith led him to make a temporary home as a stranger in the land he had been promised, and to live there in his tents, with Isaac and Jacob, who shared the promise with him. For he was looking forward to that city with the sure foundations, designed and built by God. Faith made even Sarah herself able to have a child, although she was past the time of life for it, because she thought, that he who had made the promise would keep it.



And he called the Twelve to him and sent them off two by two, giving them power over the foul spirits. He forbade them to take anything for the journey except a staff??o bread, no bag, no small change even in their girdles; they were to go in sandals, and not to wear two shirts. read more.
And he said to them, "Whenever you go to stay at a house, remain in it till you leave that place. If any place refuses to receive you or to listen to you, when you leave it shake off the very dust from the soles of your feet as a warning to them." So they went out and preached that men should repent, and drove out many demons, and cured many sick people by anointing them with oil.

Still later he appeared to the Eleven themselves when they were at table, and reproached them for their obstinacy and want of faith, because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had been raised from the dead. And he said to them, "Go to the whole world and proclaim the good news to all the creation. He who believes it and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe it will be condemned. read more.
And signs like these will attend those who believe: with my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in foreign tongues; they will take snakes in their hands, and if they drink poison it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well." So the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was caught up into heaven and took his seat at God's right hand. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed their message by the signs that attended it.

Then he called the Twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons, and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to cure the sick. He said to them, "Do not take anything for your journey, no staff nor bag nor bread nor money, nor an extra shirt. read more.
Whatever house you go to stay in, remain there, and start on again from it. And where they will not welcome you, leave that town and shake off the very dust from your feet as a protest against them." And they set forth and went from village to village, telling the good news and curing people everywhere.

In the streets of Lystra a man used to sit who had not the use of his feet. He had been lame from his birth, and had never been able to walk. He was listening to Paul as he talked, when Paul looked at him and, seeing that he had faith that he would be cured, said to him loudly, "Stand on your feet!" And he sprang up and began to walk.

After this the Master appointed seventy-two others, and sent them on before him, two by two, to every town or place to which he intended to come. And he said to them, "The harvest is abundant enough, but the reapers are few. So pray to the owner of the harvest to send reapers to gather it. Now go. Here I send you out like lambs among wolves. read more.
Carry no purse nor wallet nor shoes, and do not stop to exchange civilities with anyone on the way. Whenever you go to stay at a house, first say, 'Peace to this household!' If there is anyone there who loves peace, your blessing will rest upon him, but if there is not, it will come back to you. Stay at the same house, eating and drinking what they offer you, for the workman deserves his pay. Do not change from one house to another. Whenever you come to a town and they welcome you, eat what is offered you, and cure the sick there, and say to them, 'The Kingdom of God is close upon you!'

Peter and John were on their way up to the Temple for the three o'clock hour of prayer, when a man who had been lame from his birth was carried by. He used to be placed every day at what was known as the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, to beg from the people on their way into the Temple, and when he saw Peter and John on the point of going into the Temple he asked them to give him something. read more.
Peter fixed his eyes on him, as John did also, and said to him, "Look at us!" He looked at them, supposing that they were going to give him something. But Peter said, "I have no silver or gold, but I will give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!" And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and his feet and ankles immediately became strong, and he sprang to his feet and began to walk, and he went into the Temple with them, walking, leaping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking about, praising God, and recognized him as the man who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, they were perfectly astonished and amazed at what had happened to him. And as he still clung to Peter and John, all the people crowded about them in the utmost astonishment in what was known as Solomon's Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he said to the people. "Men of Israel, why are you so surprised at this? Why do you stare so at us, as though it were some power or some piety of ours that had made him able to walk?

so that people would carry their sick out into the streets, and lay them down on beds and mats, to have at least Peter's shadow fall on some of them as he went by. Even from the towns around Jerusalem crowds would come in bringing sick people and those who were troubled with foul spirits, and they were all cured.


She did this for a number of days, until Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit in her, "In the name of Jesus Christ I order you to come out of her!" And it came out instantly.


It is by his power and through faith in him that this man whom you see and recognize has been made strong again, and it is faith inspired by him that has given him the perfect health you all see.

you and the people of Israel must all know that it is through the power of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that he stands here before you well.


When Peter saw this, he said to the people. "Men of Israel, why are you so surprised at this? Why do you stare so at us, as though it were some power or some piety of ours that had made him able to walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has done this honor to his servant Jesus, whom you betrayed and disowned before Pilate, when he had decided to let him go.

Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ cures you! Get up, and make your bed!" And he got up immediately. And everybody who lived in Lydda or in Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.


When Peter saw this, he said to the people. "Men of Israel, why are you so surprised at this? Why do you stare so at us, as though it were some power or some piety of ours that had made him able to walk?



He gave him permission, and Paul standing on the steps made a gesture to the people, and when they had become quiet he spoke to them in Hebrew.

When Peter saw this, he said to the people. "Men of Israel, why are you so surprised at this? Why do you stare so at us, as though it were some power or some piety of ours that had made him able to walk?


When Peter saw this, he said to the people. "Men of Israel, why are you so surprised at this? Why do you stare so at us, as though it were some power or some piety of ours that had made him able to walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has done this honor to his servant Jesus, whom you betrayed and disowned before Pilate, when he had decided to let him go. But you disowned the Holy, Righteous One. You asked to have a murderer released for you, read more.
and killed the very source of life. But God raised him from the dead, as we can testify. It is by his power and through faith in him that this man whom you see and recognize has been made strong again, and it is faith inspired by him that has given him the perfect health you all see. Yet I know, brothers, that you did not know what you were doing, any more than your leaders did; it was in this way that God fulfilled what he by all the prophets foretold that his Christ must suffer. So repent and turn to God, to have your sins wiped out, and happier times will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will send Jesus, your destined Christ. Yet he must remain in heaven till the time for the universal reformation of which God told in ancient times by the lips of his holy prophets. Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, as he raised me up. You must listen to everything that he tells you. Anyone that will not listen to that prophet will be annihilated from among the people.' Why, all the prophets from Samuel down, who have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the agreement that God made with your forefathers when he said to Abraham, 'Through your posterity all the families of the earth will be blessed.' It was to you that God first sent his servant after he had raised him from the dead, to bless you by making every one of you turn from his wickedness."

Then Peter stood up with the eleven around him, and raising his voice addressed them. "Men of Judea," he said, "and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you, and pay attention to what I say. These men are not drunk as you suppose, for it is only nine in the morning. But this is what was predicted by the prophet Joel, read more.
" 'It will come about in the last days, God says, That I will pour out my Spirit upon all mankind; Your sons and daughters will become prophets, Your young men will have visions, And your old men will have dreams. Even on my slaves, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, And they will become prophets. I will show wonders in the sky above, And signs on the earth below, Blood and fire and thick smoke. The sun will turn to darkness, And the moon to blood, Before the coming of the great, splendid Day of the Lord. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' "Men of Israel, listen to what I say. Jesus of Nazareth, as you know, was a man whom God commended to you by the wonders, portents, and signs that God did right among you through him. But you, by the fixed purpose and intention of God, handed him over to wicked men, and had him crucified. But God set aside the pain of death and raised him up, for death could not control him. For David says of him, 'I constantly regarded the Lord before me, For he is at my right hand, so that I may not be displaced. Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices, And my body will still live in hope. For you will not desert my soul in death, You will not let your Holy One be destroyed. You have made the ways of life known to me, And you will fill me with joy in your presence.' "Brothers, one may say to you confidently of the patriarch David that he died and was buried, and his grave is here among us to this very day. But as he was a prophet, and knew that God had promised him with an oath that he would put one of his descendants upon his throne, he foresaw the resurrection of the Christ and told of it, for he was not deserted in death and his body was not destroyed. He is Jesus, whom God raised from the dead, and to whose resurrection we are all witnesses. So he has been exalted to God's right hand, and has received from his Father and poured over us the holy Spirit that had been promised, as you see and hear. "For David did not go up to heaven, but he said, 'The Lord said to my lord, Sit at my right hand, Until I make your enemies your footstool.' "Therefore the whole nation of Israel must understand that God has declared this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ." When they heard this, they were stung to the heart, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter said to them, "You must repent, and every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, in order to have your sins forgiven; then you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit, for the promise of it belongs to you and your children, as well as to all those far away whom the Lord our God calls to him." He said much more besides in giving his testimony, and urged them to save themselves from that crooked age.


Peter and John were on their way up to the Temple for the three o'clock hour of prayer, when a man who had been lame from his birth was carried by. He used to be placed every day at what was known as the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, to beg from the people on their way into the Temple, and when he saw Peter and John on the point of going into the Temple he asked them to give him something. read more.
Peter fixed his eyes on him, as John did also, and said to him, "Look at us!" He looked at them, supposing that they were going to give him something. But Peter said, "I have no silver or gold, but I will give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!" And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and his feet and ankles immediately became strong, and he sprang to his feet and began to walk, and he went into the Temple with them, walking, leaping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking about, praising God, and recognized him as the man who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, they were perfectly astonished and amazed at what had happened to him. And as he still clung to Peter and John, all the people crowded about them in the utmost astonishment in what was known as Solomon's Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he said to the people. "Men of Israel, why are you so surprised at this? Why do you stare so at us, as though it were some power or some piety of ours that had made him able to walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has done this honor to his servant Jesus, whom you betrayed and disowned before Pilate, when he had decided to let him go. But you disowned the Holy, Righteous One. You asked to have a murderer released for you, and killed the very source of life. But God raised him from the dead, as we can testify. It is by his power and through faith in him that this man whom you see and recognize has been made strong again, and it is faith inspired by him that has given him the perfect health you all see.


It is what existed from the beginning, that we announce; what we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes, what we have beheld, and touched with our hands; it is the very message of life??2 for life has been revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it and announce to you that eternal life that was with the Father and has been revealed to us??3 it is what we have seen and heard that we announce to you also, so that you may share our fellowship, for our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ,

Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men. The God of our forefathers raised Jesus to life when you had hung him on a cross and killed him. God took him up to his right hand as our leader and savior, in order to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. read more.
We and the holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey him are witnesses to these things."

You know the story that has gone all over Judea, starting from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed, about Jesus of Nazareth, and how God endowed him with the power of the holy Spirit, and he went about doing good and curing all who were in the power of the devil, because God was with him. We are witnesses of everything that he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. Yet they put him upon a cross and killed him. read more.
But God raised him to life on the third day and caused him to be plainly seen, not by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had designated beforehand, that is, by us, who ate and drank with him after he had risen from the dead. He also directed us to announce to the people and bear solemn testimony that he is the one whom God has appointed to be the judge of the living and the dead. It is of him that all the prophets bear witness that everyone that believes in him will have his sins forgiven in his name."

There appeared a man by the name of John, with a message from God. He came to give testimony, to testify to the light, so that everyone might come to believe in it through him. He was not the light; he came to testify to the light. read more.
The real light, which sheds light upon everyone, was just coming into the world. He came into the world, and though the world came into existence through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to his home, and his own family did not welcome him. But to all who did receive him and believe in him he gave the right to become children of God, owing their birth not to nature nor to any human or physical impulse, but to God. So the Word became flesh and blood and lived for a while among us, abounding in blessing and truth, and we saw the honor God had given him, such honor as an only son receives from his father. (John testified to him and cried out??or it was he who said it??He who was to come after me is now ahead of me

so that all men may honor the Son just as much as they honor the Father. Whoever refuses to honor the Son refuses to honor the Father who sent him. I tell you, whoever listens to my message and believes him who has sent me, possesses eternal life, and will not come to judgment, but has already passed out of death into life. I tell you, the time is coming??t is here already!??hen those who are dead will listen to the voice of the Son of God, and those who listen to it will live. read more.
For just as the Father is self-existent, he has given self-existence to the Son, and he has given him the authority to act as judge, because he is a son of man. Do not be surprised at this, for the time is coming when all who are in their graves will listen to his voice, and those who have done right will come out to resurrection and life, and those who have done wrong, to resurrection and judgment. I cannot do anything of my own accord. I pass judgment just as I am told to do, and my judgment is just, for I am not seeking to do what I please, but what pleases him who has sent me. "If I testify to myself, my testimony is not true. It is someone else who testifies to me, and I know that the testimony that he gives about me is true. You yourselves sent to John, and he testified to the truth. But the testimony that I accept is not from any man; I am only saying this that you may be saved. He was the lamp that burned and shone, and you were ready to be gladdened for a while by his light. But I have higher testimony than John's, for the things that my Father has intrusted to me to accomplish, the very things that I am doing, are proof that my Father has sent me, and my Father who has sent me has thus borne witness to me. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not keep his message in your hearts, for you do not believe the messenger whom he has sent. You pore over the Scriptures, for you think that you will find eternal life in them, and these very Scriptures testify to me, yet you refuse to come to me for life. I do not accept any honor from men, but I know well that you have not the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father's name, and you refuse to accept me. If someone else comes in his own name you will accept him. Yet how can you believe in me, when you accept honor from one another, instead of seeking the honor that comes from the one God? Do not suppose that I will accuse you to the Father. Moses is your accuser??oses, on whom you have fixed your hopes! For if you really believed Moses, you would believe me, for it was about me that he wrote. But if you refuse to believe what he wrote, how are you ever to believe what I say?"



So those who were present asked him, "Master, is this the time when you are going to re-establish the kingdom for Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times and dates which the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you will be given power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem and all over Judea and Samaria and to the very ends of the earth." read more.
As he said this, he was caught up before their eyes and a cloud took him up from their sight. And while they were gazing after him into the sky, two men dressed in white suddenly stood beside them, and said to them, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into the sky? This very Jesus who has been caught up from you into heaven will come in just the way that you have seen him go up to heaven."

And as he still clung to Peter and John, all the people crowded about them in the utmost astonishment in what was known as Solomon's Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he said to the people. "Men of Israel, why are you so surprised at this? Why do you stare so at us, as though it were some power or some piety of ours that had made him able to walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has done this honor to his servant Jesus, whom you betrayed and disowned before Pilate, when he had decided to let him go. read more.
But you disowned the Holy, Righteous One. You asked to have a murderer released for you, and killed the very source of life. But God raised him from the dead, as we can testify.

Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the uprightness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have been given a faith as privileged as ours; God bless you and give you perfect peace through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. For his divine power has given us every requisite for life and piety, through our coming to know him who through his glory and excellence called us to him. read more.
Thus he has given us his precious and splendid promises so that through them you may escape the corrupting influences that exist in the world through passion, and come to share in the divine nature. For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with steadfastness, steadfastness with piety, piety with a spirit of brotherhood, and the spirit of brotherhood with love. For if you have these qualities in their fulness, they will make you neither idle nor unproductive when it comes to the understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is blind or near-sighted, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, make all the greater efforts to make God's call and choice of you certain. For if you have these qualities, you will never stumble, for then you will be triumphantly admitted to the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore I will always remind you of this, although you know it and are firmly grounded in the truth that you have. Yet I think it right, as long as I live in my present tent, to arouse you by a reminder, for I know that I must soon put it away, as our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me. I will also take care that after I am gone you will be able at any time to call these things to mind. For they were no fictitious stories that we followed when we informed you of the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and of his coming, but we had been eye-witnesses of his majesty.

A revelation made by Jesus Christ which God gave him to disclose to his slaves of what must very soon happen. He sent and communicated it by his angel to his slave John, who testifies to what he saw??o the message of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.