Talk of JESUS . com

Tag: Christ

2 Timothy 1 – For this Gospel I was appointed
For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher,

Second Epistle of Paul to Timothy 1:11 RSV

Paul’s Gospel of God and Christ

The Apostle has begun his final pastoral epistle with encouragement of young Timothy as his beloved son appointed to continue in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

From Personal Sonship to Apostolic Responsibility for the Gospel

Paul also identifies some of who fall away from Christ and others who remain faithful. (It remains a pattern for the ages.)

What is Paul’s Gospel?

εὐαγγέλιον

euangelion

Paul has written to the Romans, faithful saints in the city in which the Apostle is imprisoned and awaiting death:

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel G2098 of God,

Romans 1:1 KJV

To the Corinthian saints Paul writes:

.. for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. G2098

1 Corinthians 4:15b KJV

and

But if our gospel G2098 be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

2 Corinthians 4:3 KJV
```
We could point to additional epistles of Paul to the saints of various churches. 
```
Paul refers to the GOSPEL 74 times in 68 verses in ‘The Pauline Epistles.’

God’s Divine plan now revealed in Christ

That’s the Apostles’ NEW Good News!

In Paul’s earlier pastoral letter to Timothy the Apostle had written:

As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine,

1 Timothy 1:3 RSV
```
Certain saints supposedly committed to Christ had already wavered away from the Gospel Paul taught. 
```
Now we know that the law is good, if any one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane..

and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the glorious gospel of the blessed God

with which I have been entrusted.

1 Timothy 1:8-11 excerpt RSV

I charge you to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; and this will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see.

To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

1 Timothy 6:14-16 RSV – charge of the Apostle Paul to Timothy

Paul worships God and Christ, pointing to the promise of the eternal mystery now revealed in the resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

Paul’s Gospel of SALVATION in JESUS

manifested by the appearing of our Savior

join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us

and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works,

but according to His own purpose and grace

which was given to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,

but now has been manifested by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus,

who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

2 Timothy 1:8b-10 LSB

Jesus is now revealed as our Savior and it is death from which He has saved us.

This is the gospel of Jesus as our saviour which Paul emphasizes throughout this last pastoral epistle to Timothy and saved saints of the Church.

2 Timothy Commentary

Retain the standard of sound words

Hold to the standard of sound words that you heard from me and do so with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus

2 Timothy 1:13 New English Translation

Hold fast the form of sound words…

2 Tim 1:13a KJV

Retiens dans la foi..

LS

Retén la forma

SE

1:13 ὑποτύπωσιν ἔχε ὑγιαινόντων λόγων

Retain – echō is the word Paul uses.

The Apostle has used [ὑποτύπωσις]hypotypōsis in his first epistle as well:

Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern G5296 to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

1 Tim 1:16 KJV

And again Paul states here:

Hold fast the form G5296 of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

2 Tim 1:13 KJV

His outline [or pattern] here is for Timothy and any pastor who will follow in the authority of Christ Jesus — the Apostolic faith which Paul, Peter and others have echoed.

RETAIN THIS, insists Paul.

Preachers, Apostles and Teachers

This self-discipline [v.7] to which the Apostle has already pointed requires preachers and teachers to retain this pattern of Paul.

Therefore do not be ashamed of either the witness about our Lord or me His prisoner..

2 Tim 1:8a LSB
```
a brief reminder about apostles, preachers and teachers.. and then, saints:
```
An Apostle is ‘sent out’ or set apart under the Authorithy through God and Christ.

IF you address your preacher standing in a pulpit going nowhere but the stage of their church as Apostle So-and-so, you miss the Apostolic authority Paul calls for preachers and teachers to retain as our pattern in Christ Jesus.

Paul points out that he was appointed [tithēmi ] to all these responsibilities. He is an apostle, a preacher and teacher.

The Church often used a symbolic laying on of hands for such offices, but the true sign is of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of Almighty God.

Preachers

kēryx is the same word Peter used of Noah calling him, ‘a preacher of righteousness.’ It’s a noun meaning: a herald or messenger vested with public authority.

You’ll recognize Paul’s point from its verb meaning to preach or proclaim.

From that time Jesus began to preach G2784 and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Gospel of Matthew 4:17 LSB

and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed [ G2784] in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

“You are witnesses of these things.

Gospel of Luke 24:46-48 LSB – Jesus to the Apostles just prior to His ascension

Paul reminds Timothy:

That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.

2 Timothy 1:12 NLT

Teachers

διδάσκαλος – in the NT one who teaches concerning the things of God, and the duties of man

“A disciple is not above his teacher^G1320, nor a slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher^G1320, and the slave like his master.

Gospel of Matthew 10:24-25a LSB
```
And a reminder that mathētēs is any student or disciple of a teacher. 

Slave is doulos which we often gently translate, servant. 

And again the significance of the teacher (whether Paul or Jesus or a teaching Elder of your church) is that relationship — 

 of Teacher-Student or Master-Servant — kyrios - the same word often used for the Lord JESUS points to the authority of God. 
```
“You call Me Teacher G1320 and Lord ^G2962; and you are right, for so I am.

Gospel of John 13:13 LSB – Jesus to His Disciples

a duty of the saints and pastors

Now if any one says that we need not direct men how or what they should teach, since the Holy Spirit makes them teachers, he may as well say that we need not pray, .. or that the Apostle Paul should not have given directions to Timothy and Titus as to how they should teach others.

And these three apostolic epistles ought to be constantly before the eyes of everyone who has obtained the position of a teacher in the Church.

ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE – AD 397 & 426 – translated JF Shaw, book IV, ch xxxiii excerpt – ST. AUGUSTINE of Hippo

Augustine, an elevated father of the early Church, presents sound reasons why all saints of Christ ought to dutifully follow their teachers and why all pastors can only lead their sheep of Christ’s pasture in diligence of prayer, obeying the Holy Spirit and keeping in Scripture, including these pastoral epistles.

Guard the Truth

guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
Second Epistle of the Apostle Paul to Timothy 1:14 RSV
```
* SUMMARY OF THIS GOSPEL:
Christ alone is the good shepherd...
Christ’s sheep know only Christ’s voice 
and follow it.
```
God knows well who are his as Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:19:
“Howbeit the firm foundation of God standeth, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.”

It is not a congregation of Christ that strives for the honor of this world and desires to be esteemed great in the eyes of the world…

~ AD 1520 – Sermons of MARTIN LUTHER – a theologian, Catholic priest, reformer and former Augustinian friar – Vol 3, Pg 340 [translated Lenker]

NEXT: 2 Timothy 2 – STRONG Teachers and FALSE Preachers
January 15, 2026
2 Timothy – Apostolic Faith and Pastoral Oversight by Paul
Introduction

God and Christ became incarnate in order to restore Their personal relationship with sinful man.

Roger@TallkofJesus.com

God and Apostles, Disciples of men

Our purpose in introducing Paul’s final epistle to a pastor is:

1. to reintroduce you to the Apostle Paul and

2. to reacquaint you with Timothy, a disciple of Paul who served him in varying roles,

BOTH whom we’ve met in Acts of the Apostles and other epistles.

Let us begin with God
```
(says the teacher to his class). 
```
God — YHWH the LORD — Is One.

One in Being. One in Essence. One in Substance.

There IS no other god.

God IS the Creator of all things and of all mankind.

He had a relationship in the beginning of time — before which He Exists and after which He Exists — the LORD’s relationships are perfectly personal.

God IS: Father, Son — Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

Christ, Apostles and Disciples

The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy in his first epistle:

This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

First letter of the Apostle Paul to Timothy

Jesus, the incarnate Son of God the Father, taught the Gospel with all perfection to men for three years.

The Twelve Disciples (which included neither Paul nor Timothy) followed the Lord, ate and slept with Jesus — they all knew the incarnate Son of God personally.

Consider the interpersonal relationships connecting each of these roles as defined by Scripture and what the Lord Jesus, our Teacher, instructs:

Disciple (follower), Master (teacher), Servant (slave) and Lord

The Disciples Matthew, John and Peter were all present with the incarnate Christ Jesus personally when the Lord said this:

The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.

Gospel of Matthew 24:14 – Jesus’ to The Twelve Disciples; Instructions for Service & meaning of discipleship – KJV

μαθητής – mathētēs – disciple (268x) – a learner, pupil, one who follows one’s teaching:

The Twelve followed JESUS for three years, discipleship at its most personal.

Furthermore, many others would follow JESUS’s teachings as ‘Christians’ chosen by God for the Way of eternal life.

Apostles to the Jews and Gentiles

Of course from the beginning Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him and that a disciple Mathias would be chosen to replace the betrayer of Christ as a twelfth Apostle to the Jews.

Christ had taught and trained the Twelve how they would become Apostles — primarily, but not exclusively, to their fellow Jews —after His death, resurrection and ascension.

We last looked at the Apostle Simon Peter

Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:

2 Peter 1:1 KJV

Paul also refers to himself as an Apostle, greeting his disciples (followers) in his first epistle and this final letter.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

To Timothy, my dearly beloved son:

2 Timothy 1:1-2a KJV

So who are apostles?
Apostolos – a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders

specifically applied to the twelve apostles of Christ

in a broader sense applied to other eminent Christian teachers

– of Barnabas of Timothy and Silvanus
Apostles are ‘sent out’ by Christ.

As in the case of the Twelve and the Apostle Paul, the Lord himself instructed them Personally — that is, the Person of Jesus sent these Apostles out into the world personally.

Other apostles continued to be ‘sent out into all the world’ by the Holy Spirit after Jesus’ ascension, as Luke records for us of the day of Pentecost in ACTS 1.

As we learned from Acts of the Apostles that after the AD 49 Council in Jerusalem, Peter, Paul, John and all others were sent out ‘first to the Jews,’ but also into gentile areas of the Roman Empire (mostly Hellenist or Greek provinces) to include ALL as follows of Christ as part of each local church.

Jesus is Lord

Note that Jesus Christ refers to the Father as Lord (Kyrios in their common Greek language of the Roman Empire) with an authority and meaning no different than the original Hebrew scripture (Yahweh).

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

And He said to him,

“‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’

Matthew 22:36-37 LSB

Saul, a Jew of Jews, sent out by a Master crucified and risen!

About five years after the Jews of Jerusalem had crucified Jesus, a young disciple of Gamaliel witnessed the stoning of a follower of The Way.

They went on stoning Stephen as he was calling out and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And having said this, he fell asleep.

Acts of the Apostles 7:59-60 LSB

Stephen, even in his dying breath, called JESUS, “Lord” – twice.

And this young disciple of the rabbi Gamaliel had witnessed it personally.

Saul of Tarsus would become an apostle of the Sanhedrin specifically sent out to continue persecuting Christians.

But then, as we know, Christ appeared to Saul and instructed this new and unwilling (at first) Apostle to go to the Gentiles.

Damascus Road: Witness into all the World

Paul frequently writes that He is a slave (doulos) of JESUS or God(or of the gospel). The Lord Jesus himself points to the service required of this most personal relationship.
```
Many translations prefer servant to slave, but it is the same Greek word: doulos. 
```
The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.

Gospel of Matthew 10:24 KJV

The Apostle Paul describes himself in another pastoral epistle written about the same time as his two letters to Timothy:

Paul, a servant^G1401 of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;

Epistle of Paul to Titus 1:1

Timothy – Paul enlists a disciple of The Way

Now Paul also arrived at Derbe and at Lystra.

And behold, a disciple was there, named Timothy,

the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer,

but his father was a Greek,

Acts of the Apostles 16:1

During Paul’s second missionary journey, which had begun inland through the mountains northwest of Tarsus in rural Galatia. While visiting churches established by Barnabas and him on a first missionary journey, the Apostle meets a young Timothy — a Greek, because of his father, but brought up as a Christ-follower by his mother(a Jew, as Paul had been) and Timothy’s grandmother.

A brief introduction of Timothy (Τιμόθεος – Timotheos)
```
Timothy's early journeys are found in Acts of the Apostles. 
```
~AD 49

Second Missionary Journey – Acts 16

Timothy joined Paul and Silas on mission, staying behind at Berea for a time with Silas. Paul, later commands the two by the Spirit to join him in Athens from where the trio proceed to Macedonia.

Paul then ‘sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.

Acts 19:22 KJV

We observe how personal all of the mentoring relations of the Apostle remain to Paul as Luke records those with the Apostle when once again the Jews laid wait to capture and kill him.

Paul was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea,

Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica,

Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus

and Trophimus from the province of Asia.

Acts of the Apostles 20:4 Berean Standard Bible
```
We will mention more of Timothy's crucial later pastoral roles later in this epistle.  
```
Timothy wrote other epistles with Paul :

It is important for us to note that these Pastoral Epistles make known the Spirit-directed teaching of the Apostle Paul we must study, rather than focus on any pastors or saints to whom Paul writes, such as Timothy.
- ~AD 50-51
Thessalonians and the Righteous Judgment of God
- ~AD 55-56 the Apostle Paul writes:
  - 1 Corinthians with Sosthenes and
  - 2 Corinthians with Timothy
The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians with Sosthenes and a second time with Timothy
*graphic from a 2024 TalkofJESUS SERIES Post: Rebuke of ministers that perish without the Cross
- ~AD 60-62 The Apostle Paul writes to:
  - the Ephesians
  - the Philippians
Archaeological Site of Philippi: General view of the forum with adjacent agora marketplace

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:

Philippians 1:1 NIV
- the Colossians, with Timothy
- and a personal plea along with Timothy to Philemon, concerning Onesimus.
NEXT: 2 Timothy 1:

timotheos agapētos teknon

To Timothy, my beloved son

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
January 6, 2026
The Apostles Creed 11 the Resurrection of the Body
We believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.

The Apostles’ Creed — foundational to our Apostolic Christian faith

Today we conclude the Apostles’ creed considering time and eternity and Scriptural references pointing to life and death.

For an overview and more instructive view of the outline of our SERIES, take a look at the Roman Creed below:

I BELIEVE or WE BELIEVE IN:

Structure of Christian CREEDS

Here’s a brief outline found originally in The Roman Creed:
1. I BELIEVE IN God almighty (or the Father almighty)
2. And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord
3. Who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
4. Who was crucified under Pontius Pilate and was buried
5. And on the third day rose from the dead
6. Who ascended into heaven
7. Siteth at the right hand of the Father
  - Whence He cometh to judge the living and the dead
8. (I or WE believe in:) The Holy Ghost
9. The Holy Church
10. The remission of Sins
11. The resurrection of the flesh
- (and life everlasting).
source: apostles-creed.org

The early church taught what is basically in the Apostles creed…

It was not till heresies and divisions in the church that any creeds were established.

source:

I believe in

The resurrection of the body
```
We began our look at resurrection in a previous post affirming that Jesus rose from the dead. 
```
The Apostles Creed 5 We Believe He Rose from the Dead

The end of The Apostles’ Creed addresses resurrection of the believer and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

ὁ πιστεύων – He who believes

NOT every soul and NOT every body of flesh buried with the dead! ONLY those who believe in Christ Jesus.

The Lord’s definitive answer about death and resurrection is specifically exclusive (which sinners reject and deny possibly to their last breath).
```
εἶπεν αὐτῇ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἀνάστασις καὶ ἡ ζωή ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ κἂν ἀποθάνῃ ζήσεται
```
Jesus said to her,

“I am the resurrection and the life;

he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.

Do you believe this?”

Gospel of John 11:25-26 RSV
```
The Son of God Who rose from the dead after being sacrificed on a cross for those who believe until His coming again, authoritively ANSWERED the timeless questions of mortal men, women and curious children of WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE? 
```
Many men have pondered this relative relationship between the timeless Creator of all things with mortal men made in his image.

Before Christ

Job 3:

of the grave
```
“There the wicked cease from raging, 
And there the weary of strength are at rest.
“The prisoners are at ease together;
They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.
“The small and the great are there,
And the slave is free from his master.

“Why is light given to him who is troubled,
And life to the bitter of soul,
Who long for death, but there is none,
And dig for it more than for hidden treasures,
Who are glad with joy,
And rejoice when they find the grave?
```
Job 3:17-22 LSB

Who recalls Korah’s rebellion against Moses, Aaron and the LORD?

For my soul has been saturated with calamities,

And my life has reached Sheol.

I am counted among those who go down to the pit;

I am like a man without strength,

Released among the dead,

Like the slain who lie in the grave,

Whom You remember no more,

And they are cut off from Your hand.

You have put me in the pit far below,

In dark places, in the depths.

Your wrath lies upon me,

And You afflict me with all Your breaking waves.

Selah.

Will You do wonders for the dead?

Will the departed spirits rise and praise You?

Selah.

Psalm 88:4-7,10 LSB

KING SOLOMON from Eccliastes
```
The words of Kohelet, the son of David, king in Yerushalayim: "Vanity of vanities," says Kohelet; "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." 

For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born, And a time to die... 
```
Eccliastes 1:1-2, 3:1-2a Hebrew Names Version

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth,

Before the evil days come, and the years draw near,

When you will say, “I have no pleasure in them;”

Before the silver cord is severed,

Or the golden bowl is broken,

Or the pitcher is broken at the spring,

Or the wheel broken at the cistern,

And the dust returns to the eretz [earth] as it was,

And the spirit returns to God who gave it.

This is the end of the matter. All has been heard.

Fear God, and keep his mitzvot [Commandments]; for this is the whole duty of man.

For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.

Ecclesiastes12 excerpts HNV

Genesis 3:19, Job 10:9

a NEW TESTAMENT look at Resurrection

“But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
(Matt 22:31-32 NAS)

“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” (Heb 9:27-28 NAS)

source: Apostles-Creed.org more about the Resurrection

The body dies — returns to the dust from which God created mankind. And the soul — not just the breath of life,brain or your lifeless heart where blood flows no more — your soul and mine will return to its place in the light of THE LORD or judged — separated from Christ and God — to the place of darkness and punishment.

The Apostle Paul, whose Scriptures anchor the Apostles’ Creed, explains resurrection more thoroughly in his first epistle to the Saints in Corinth:

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith… If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

The Apostle addresses issues of unbelief in the Church, as well as growing heresies about Jesus Christ, His body and His Spirit.

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep…

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive...

The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

1 Corinthians 15: excerpts NIV

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead.

The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;

it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory;

it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;

it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body…

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
```
Then quoting and answering the Prophets Isaiah and Hosea, Paul writes:
```
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”

1 Corinthians 15 excerpts continued

But thanks be to God!
He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57 NIV
```
Further study of the Resurrection of Christ from 1 Corinthians 15: 
```
And life everlasting.

WHAT DOES THE ONE SON OF GOD ACTUALLY SAY ABOUT LIFE AND DEATH?

“For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.

Gospel of John 5:21 LSB

ζῳοποιέω – Life –
- to produce alive, begat or bear living young
- to cause to live, make alive, give life
- metaph., of seeds quickened into life
You will see not only a resurrection of your soul returning to God — WE will ALL see the resurrection of the flesh!

John preached repentance citing the Prophet Isaiah:

the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness.

“..’AND ALL FLESH WILL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.’”

Gospel of Luke 3:2b,6 LSB

A Savior will come to all flesh [mankind].

“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day…
He who eats this bread will live forever.”
Gospel of John 6:54,58b LSB

A FINAL Word on our pending DEATH and possible Eternal Life:

For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

From the Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle John 20:

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand…

Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them.

And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their witness of Jesus and because of the word of God..

And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

.. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Then I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened…

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

“Truly, truly, I say to you,
he who believes has eternal life. “I am the bread of life.
John 6:47-48

The Apostles’ Creed

Amen.

Talk of JESUS . com

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
December 31, 2025