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Epistle to the Smyrnaeans (Long Version)
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Chapter 11: Request for Them to Send a Messenger to Antioch.
YOUR PRAYERS HAVE REACHED THE CHURCH OF ANTIOCH: and it is at peace. Coming from that place bound, I greet all; I, who am not worthy to be named from there, as I am the least of them. Nevertheless, according to the will of God, I have been considered worthy of this honor, not because I feel I deserve it, but by the grace of God, which I wish may be fully given to me, so that through your prayers I may reach God. Therefore, to complete your work on earth and in heaven, it is fitting that, for the honor of God, your Church should choose some worthy delegate; so that he, traveling to Syria, may congratulate them that they are now at peace and have been restored to their proper greatness, and that their proper order has been re-established among them. What seems proper to me is that you should send one of your members with a letter, so that, together with them, he may rejoice over the peace which, according to the will of God, they have obtained, and because, through your prayers, I have secured Christ as a safe harbor. As people who are perfect, you should also aim for those things which are perfect. For when you are eager to do well, God is also ready to help you.