This is a great secret, but I am talking about the Messiah and the church.

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up by training and instructing them about the Lord.

For it is only right for me to think this way about all of you, because you're constantly on my mind. Both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, all of you are partners with me in this privilege.

As a result, it has become clear to the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that I am in prison for preaching about the Messiah.

The only thing that matters is that you continue to live as good citizens in a manner worthy of the gospel of the Messiah. Then, whether I come to see you or whether I stay away, I may hear all about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, struggling with one mind for the faith of the gospel,

Do not be concerned about your own interests, but also be concerned about the interests of others.

Therefore, those of us who are mature should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will show you how to think.

Never worry about anything. Instead, in every situation let your petitions be made known to God through prayers and requests, with thanksgiving.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is fair, whatever is pure, whatever is acceptable, whatever is commendable, if there is anything of excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy keep thinking about these things.

because we have heard about your faith in the Messiah Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints,

based on the hope laid up for you in heaven. Some time ago you heard about this hope through the word of truth, the gospel

You learned about this gospel from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of the Messiah on your behalf.

He has told us about your love in the Spirit.

For this reason, since the day we heard about this, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of God's will with respect to all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels cheat you out of the prize by rejoicing about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up for no reason by his carnal mind.

At the same time also pray for us that God would open before us a door for the word so that we may tell the secret about the Messiah, for which I have been imprisoned.

Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. You have received instructions about him. If he comes to you, welcome him.

From you the word of the Lord has spread out not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place where your faith in God has become known. As a result, we do not need to say anything about it.

But when I could stand it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out about your faith. I was afraid that the tempter had tempted you in some way, and that our work had been a waste of time.

But Timothy has just now returned from visiting you and has told us the good news about your faith and love. He also told us that you always have fond memories of us and want to see us, just as we want to see you.

That's why, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we have been encouraged about you by your faith.

Now you do not need anyone to write to you about brotherly love, since you have been taught by God to love each other.

But we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve like other people who have no hope.

Now you do not need to have anything written to you about times and dates, brothers,

As a result, we rejoice about you among God's churches about your endurance and faith through all the persecutions and afflictions you are experiencing.

Don't you remember that I repeatedly told you about these things when I was still with you?

They want to be teachers of the Law, yet they do not understand either what they are talking about or the things about which they speak so confidently.

Timothy, my child, I am instructing you in keeping with the prophecies made earlier about you, so that by following them you may continue to fight the good fight

Fight the good fight for the faith. Keep holding on to eternal life, to which you were called and about which you gave a good testimony in front of many witnesses.

Therefore, never be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me, his prisoner. Instead, by God's power, join me in suffering for the sake of the gospel.

Think about what I am saying. The Lord will help you to understand all these things.

Remind others about these things, and warn them before God not to argue over words. Arguing does not do any good but only destroys those who are listening.

But you must be clear-headed about everything. Endure suffering. Do the work of an evangelist. Devote yourself completely to your ministry.

Use wholesome speech that cannot be condemned. Then any opponent will be ashamed because he cannot say anything bad about us.

or steal from them. Instead, they are to show complete and perfect loyalty, so that in every way they may make the teaching about God our Savior more attractive.

He gave himself for us to set us free from every wrong and to cleanse us so that we could be his special people who are enthusiastic about doing good deeds.

But avoid foolish controversies, arguments about genealogies, quarrels, and fights about the Law. These things are useless and worthless.

because I keep hearing about your love for all the saints and the faith that you have in the Lord Jesus.

Now about the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire."

But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the scepter of your kingdom is a righteous scepter.

All of them are spirits on a divine mission, sent to serve those who are about to inherit salvation, aren't they?

For he did not put the coming world we are talking about under the control of angels.

even though his actions had been finished since the creation of the world. Somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day as follows: "On the seventh day God rested from all his actions,"

For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken later about another day.

We have much to say about this, but it is difficult to explain because you have become too lazy to understand.

Therefore, leaving behind the elementary teachings about the Messiah, let us continue to be carried along to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead actions, faith toward God,

instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

For the person we are talking about belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar.

Furthermore, it is obvious that our Lord was a descendant of Judah, and Moses said nothing about priests coming from that tribe.

For it is declared about him, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."

They serve in a sanctuary that is a copy, a shadow of the heavenly one. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tent: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain."

For this reason, the Scriptures say, when the Messiah was about to come into the world: "You did not want sacrifices and offerings, but you prepared a body for me.

Then I said, "See, I have come to do your will, O God' In the volume of the scroll this is written about me."

Now faith is the assurance that what we hope for will come about and the certainty that what we cannot see exists.

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, reverently prepared an ark to save his family, and by faith he condemned the world and inherited the righteousness that comes by faith.

If they had been thinking about what they had left behind, they would have had an opportunity to go back.

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered Isaac he who had received the promises was about to offer his unique son in sacrifice,

about whom it had been said, "It is through Isaac that descendants will be named for you."

By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelis and gave them instructions about burying his bones.

And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets.

Think about the one who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you may not become tired and give up.

Remember your leaders, those who have spoken God's word to you. Think about the impact of their lives, and imitate their faith.

But you boast about your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil.

Do not complain about each other, brothers, or you will be condemned. Look! The Judge is standing at the door!

We consider those who endured to be blessed. You have heard about Job's endurance and have seen the purpose of the Lord that the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Even the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, carefully researched and investigated this salvation.

Therefore, I intend to keep on reminding you about these things, even though you already know them and are firmly established in the truth that you now have.

When we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, we did not follow any clever myths. Rather, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

For he received honor and glory from God the Father when these words from the Majestic Glory were spoken about him: "This is my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with him."

The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some people understand slowness, but is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to perish, but wants everyone to repent.

He speaks about this subject in all his letters. Some things in them are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, leading to their own destruction, as they do the rest of the Scriptures.

This life was revealed to us, and we have seen it and testify about it. We declare to you this eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us.

I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

The anointing you received from God abides in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you this. Instead, because God's anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not a lie, abide in him, as he taught you to do.

If we accept human testimony, God's testimony is greater, because it is the testimony of God and because he has testified about his Son.

The person who believes in the Son of God believes this testimony personally. The person who does not believe God has made him a liar by not believing the testimony that he has given about his Son.

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray that God would give him life. This applies to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not telling you to pray about that.

I was overjoyed when some brothers arrived and testified about your truthfulness and how you live according to the truth

They have testified before the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.

Dear friends, although I was eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I found it necessary to write to you and urge you to continue your vigorous defense of the faith that was passed down to the saints once and for all.

For some people have slipped in among you unnoticed. They were written about long ago as being deserving of this condemnation because they are ungodly. They turn the grace of our God into uncontrollable lust and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus the Messiah.

These people are stains on your love feasts. They feast with you without any sense of awe. They are shepherds who care only for themselves. They are waterless clouds blown about by the winds. They are autumn trees that are fruitless, totally dead, and uprooted.

Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied about these people when he said, "Look! The Lord has come with countless thousands of his holy ones.

15He will judge all people and convict everyone of all the ungodly things that they have done in such an ungodly way, including all the harsh things that these ungodly sinners have said about him."

who testified about this message from God and the testimony about Jesus the Messiah.

I am John, your brother and partner in the oppression, kingdom, and patience that comes because of Jesus. I was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus.

"I know what you've been doing. You are known for being alive, but you are dead. Be alert, and strengthen the things that are left, which are about to die. I note that your actions are incomplete before my God.

When the lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying overhead say in a loud voice, "How terrible, how terrible, how terrible for those living on the earth, because of the blasts of the remaining trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!"

Then the seven thunders told me, "You must prophesy again about many nations, nations, languages, and kings."

Its tail swept away one-third of the stars in the sky and knocked them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that it could devour her child when it was born.

The dragon became angry with the woman and went away to do battle against the rest of her children, the ones who keep God's commandments and hold on to the testimony about Jesus.

The wine press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press as high as a horse's bridle for about 1,600 stadia.

Huge hailstones, each weighing about a talent, fell from the sky on people, who cursed God because the plague of hail was so terrible.

Be happy about her, heaven, saints, apostles, and prophets, for God has condemned her for you!"

Then I saw thrones, and those who sat on them were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. They came back to life and ruled with the Messiah for a thousand years.