(AN: Yes, I said the "LORD's day" was the Sabbath, not Sunday. In lieu of a heated dogmatic argument, let's just settle for 'artistic license')
Hope and Encouragement
"Wake up," He said, gently nudging His beloved follower awake. It must have been too much for the old man, who had not seen Him in sixty years - most people didn't even live that long, even among those who had once been the Chosen.
Slowly the old man rose from his slumber and saw the sight that had before taken the breath and strength right out of his body. The dark mine-shaft was illuminated by the light of seven menorah, like the kind that Titus had taken from the Temple: but now they were all alight and glowing. But it was the One standing before him that really took his breath away.
It was Jesus. His hair and His beard were white, yet there was no sign of aging upon His face. His eyes were glowing with light, and when He spoke, the whole cavern echoed with the sound, as if the ocean were come through the shaft of the mine. White were His robes and a golden sash was upon His chest. In His hand there floated seven small spots of light, twinkling like the stars at night.
"Do not be afraid, John," He said, tears of joy upon His face. "I AM He that was dead, and behold, I AM alive forevermore."
"LORD?" John asked, rising up from the filthy ground of the cave and kneeling before Christ. "What, what is the meaning of all these candle-sticks? Those stars in Your hand!"
"These are the guardian angels of the seven churches," Jesus said. "The candle-sticks are the seven churches. It is time now to write to them, John."
John merely nodded, ready to listen to His every word as He had sixty years ago.
"To the church of Ephesus: I know that you have labored much in patience for My Word, how you abhor evil and test those who call themselves apostles but are not, such as the fallen servant Nicolas. Yet you have left your First Love: remember from where you have fallen and repent, or I shall take your candle-stick from out of its place. To him that overcomes evil, I shall give to eat from the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.
"To the church of Smyrna: I know of your tribulation and, notwithstanding your wealth, your poverty, and the blasphemy of them who call themselves sons of Israel, but are in fact servants of Satan. Fear none of those things which you may suffer: behold, the devil will cast some of you into prison that you may be tried and have tribulation ten days. But be thou faithful unto death and I will give you a Crown of Life. To him that overcomes evil, he shall not be harmed by the second death."
John saw that, as the LORD said the words 'Be thou faithful unto death', He was deeply moved by them. In his own heart, he remembered that sad day on the hill-side of Golgotha, when He had been faithful unto death. For a moment, John thought that He was moved by compassion for His beloved people, knowing what they would suffer in His Name.
"To the church of Pergamum: I know that you sit in the congregation of Satan, and yet hold fast unto My Name, denying not the faith even in the face of the death of Antipas. Even so, you have allowed some to follow in the footsteps of Balaam, who taught the king of Moab to deceive the children of Israel, and have many who hold to the abominable words of Nicolas. Repent, or I shall come and fight against you with the sword in My mouth. But to him that overcomes evil, I shall give him the hidden mana to eat, and put a new name for him upon a white stone: a name which no man may know save him that receives it.
"To the church of Thyatira: I know of your service and your faith and patience, and of your great charity, greater even then your good works. Nevertheless, you have allowed Jezebel, the false prophetess, to seduce My servants. I gave her a chance to repent, but she did not: behold, I shall make her bed of fornication a place of suffering, and all who have committed adultery with her I shall cast into great tribulation, unless they repent, and the bastards of her fornication shall be slain, for I know the inner thoughts of the heart, and I shall give unto every one according to their works.
"But for those who do not follow after her, who do not know the depths of Satan, I will give you no other burden other than this: hold fast of what you have until I come. To him that overcomes evil, I will give him the morning star, and authority over the nations, and he shall break them as a rod of iron upon a potter's vessel, even the power that I have received of My Father.
"To the church of Sardis: I know that men say of your church 'They are alive for the name of Christ', yet your hearts are dead to My Name. Be watchful and strengthen that which remains that is ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. Remember how you have received and heard the word and repent, or else I shall come upon you as a thief, and you will not know when I shall strike. Even so, there are some among you who have not defiled their garments; they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worth. To him that overcomes evil, he also shall be clothed in white, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life, but confess His name before My Father in Heaven.
"To the church of Philadelphia: I know you have little strength and, in spite of this weakness, have kept My Word and not denied My Name. Behold, I have set before you an open door which no man can shut. All those which call themselves sons of Israel and yet are the servants of Satan, them shall I bring before thy feet to worship, for I have loved you. Because you have kept My Word in patience, I will also keep you from the hour of temptation, which shall come to try all that dwell upon the earth. Hold fast to what you have, that no man take your crown. To him that overcomes evil, I will make a pillar in the Temple of God, and he shall no longer need to go out. I shall write upon Him My Name, and the name of God, and the name of His city, the New Jerusalem, which shall come down out of Heaven."
Here He paused and seemed sad for a while, gazing at one of the seven menorah. Its tongues of fire seemed to flicker and waver between failing utterly and withstanding, though John noticed that there was no wind.
"To the church of Laodicea: you are neither cold nor hot for My Word. I wish you would be either cold or hot, for I shall surely spit you out of My mouth because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot. You have said that you are rich and have no needs, but you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. I beg you to buy from me gold, purified with fire, that you may be rich, garments of white that you may be clothed and that I may put salve upon your eyes that you may see. Think not that I despise you, for as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous, therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I shall enter into his house and dine with him, and he with Me. For unto him that overcomes evil, even as I overcame it, I will grant that you sit with Me in My Throne, as I AM set down with My Father in His Throne."
John immediately began to look about for something to write with, but the Hand reached out to him.
"Come with Me, and I will show you what is surely to come."
(AN: In case you were wondering, or in case you haven't noticed, I intentionally tried to downplay 'spiritual' occurrences in the middle portion of this story. It is not to say that they didn't happen, it is to give you, reader, an idea for how it was like for the believers back then. Aside from people like Paul and Peter and John, some may not have received angelic visitations on a daily basis and would have had to take the disciples' word by faith. Therefore, aside from some of the flash-backs of Miriam's story [or Maryam, I never fully weaned myself off of Mary], the Shavuot and Paul's conversion, the 'spiritual' occurrences have been toned down. We are now nearing the end, when spiritual things shall be returning, which is why I have begun to have such in this chapter.)
(Pay special attention to the title of this chapter. Though I have been instructed on the subject of the next several chapters since childhood, I now believe that all of the Word, especially that concerning the time of the End, should be read and understood with 'hope and encouragement'.)