4 But after my ascension I will
send one of my disciples, who will
cure your disease, and give life to
you, and all that are with you.
REFERENCES TO THE EPISTLES OF JESUS CHRIST AND
ABGARUS KING OF EDESSA.
[The first writer who makes any mention of the Epistles that passed
between Jesus Christ and Abgarus, is Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, in
Palestine, who flourished in the early part of the fourth century. For
their genuineness, he appeals to the public registers and records of the
City of Edessa in Mesopotamia, where Abgarus reigned, and where he
affirms that he found them written in the Syriac language. He published a
Greek translation of them, in his Ecclesiastical History. The learned
world has been much divided on this subject; but, notwithstanding the
erudite Grabe, with Archbishop Cave, Dr, Parker, and other divines, have
strenuously contended for their admission into the canon of Scripture,
they are deemed apocryphal. The Rev. Jeremiah Jones observes, that the
common people in England have this Epistle in their houses in many
places, fixed in a frame, with the picture of Christ before it; and that
they generally, with much honesty and devotion, regard it as the word of
God, and the genuine Epistle of Christ.]
THE EPISTLE OF
ST. PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE LAODICEANS.
1 He salutes the brethren;
3 exhorts them to persevere in good works,
4 and not to be moved by vain speaking.
6 Rejoices in his bonds,
10 desires them to live in the fear of the Lord.
PAUL an Apostle, not of men,
neither by man, but by Jesus
Christ, to the brethren which are
at Laodicea.
2 Grace be to you, and peace
from God the Father and our Lord
Jesus Christ.
3 I thank Christ in every prayer
of mine, that ye may continue and
persevere in good works, looking
for that which is promised in the
day of judgment.