Conversely, each church is given some correction, apart from Smyrna and Philadelphia, historically the two most persecuted churches. Of the seven, the most fiercely persecuted congregations are the only ones praised without reproach.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nThus we must never presume persecution comes upon believers because they are not sincere or holy enough. If anything, the opposite is true: Churches that are not persecuted may not be spiritually alive.<\/p>\n
Letters of Revelation: Unifying Message of Promise<\/h2>\n
This is not just a message regarding persecution in John\u2019s time (1:19). Today Christianity is the most persecuted religious faith in the world. More people have reportedly died for their belief in Christ during the last century than in all nineteen previous centuries. In the twenty-first century, the number has increased even more. But if there is a single, unifying message in Revelation\u2019s letters to the churches, it is that God sees their trials and promises that whatever is taken from them by persecution will be returned in the kingdom<\/a> at an infinitely greater level \u2014 whether relationships<\/a>, positions, possessions, or life itself. In this we rejoice!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
More than mysterious symbolism and apocalyptic imagery, Revelation offers a consistent message of hope to the persecuted church.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":308,"featured_media":5005,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,648],"tags":[657,658,121,656,650,655],"yoast_head":"\nLetters of Hope: A Reflection on the Book of Revelation - Bible Advocate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The book of Revelation is full of mysterious symbolism and apocalyptic imagery. 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