The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians (Short Version)

I do not give you orders as if I were some great person. For though I am dedicated to the name [of Christ], I am not yet perfect in Jesus Christ. For now I begin to be a disciple, and I speak to you as fellow disciples with me. It was necessary for me to be inspired by you in faith, encouragement, patience, and perseverance. But since love prevents me from being silent about you, I have therefore taken it upon myself to first encourage you all to run together according to the will of God. For even Jesus Christ, our inseparable life, is the [manifested] will of the Father; and bishops, established everywhere to the farthest bounds [of the earth], are so by the will of Jesus Christ.