Jesus, the Great High Priest, among His churches, speaks to the church at Ephesus:I know, and commend you for your hard working, your enduring, and your discerning.But I have this with which to confront you: you've left your first love.

Often when we are under the great weight of trials, we ask God for relief, or removal of the trial. We are reminded in this text that many times His answer is not relief, or removal, but a revelation of who Jesus is, and that He's with us through the trial.

The first 3 verses of this book give us 4 reasons to study it:It's a PICTURE of our King to come.It's a PREVIEW of things to comeGod PROMISES a blessing that comes when we read it.because of the PROXIMITY of the age to come.