Colossians 2:4-6

To paraphrase, Paul is saying, "You had better go back to what you first did, when you first learned the truth. Continue walking in that way, and don't deviate from that path."

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twenty)

1 John 2:24

John appeals to the brethren to hold fast to the truth that they had been taught since their calling. To "abide" in the Son and the Father means to remain faithful to God's way of life, grow spiritually, and become more and more like God (John 15:4-6).The only way we can do this is by remaining faithful to the truth of God that the apostles taught from the church's founding. To those who remain faithful to His way, God has promised eternal life (I John 2:25).

Earl L. Henn
For the Perfecting of the Saints

Revelation 2:16

In Revelation 2-3, Jesus leaves a few clues about the letters' primary application:

» Revelation 2:16 (to Pergamos): Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. (Emphasis ours throughout.)

» Revelation 2:25 (to Thyatira): But hold fast what you have till I come.

» Revelation 3:3 (to Sardis): Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.

» Revelation 3:10-11 (to Philadelphia): Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon all the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.

» Revelation 3:20 (to Laodicea): Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

Now notice Revelation 2:23 in the letter to Thyatira: “I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.”

As the italicized phrases in the first five passages show, each an admonition to a different church, the similarity is that He mentions His imminent return directly or strongly alludes to it. Then, Revelation 2:23 more than implies that “all the churches” exist at the same time. Understood in tandem with the first five passages, Revelation 2:23 reveals that “all the churches”—all seven—are not scattered over long eras of time but exist together at the end time!

This understanding parallels the reality of the seven churches in the first century. When the apostle John wrote Revelation, they all existed simultaneously in the western portion of Asia Minor (today's Turkey). Ancient Roman documents record they were all stops on the same circuitous mail route through that region.

John records Jesus Christ saying of Himself in Revelation 1:11:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

The book of Revelation, like a letter carried along a mail route, was to be sent to all seven churches at the same time. It is unlikely that the apostle sent it through the postal system of the day but had it hand-delivered by one or more of his companions. This verse confirms that the seven churches existed concurrently in the first century.

John W. Ritenbaugh
A Truth About Revelation 2 and 3