REVIEW
I.PROLOGUE 1:1-20
II.Messages to the Seven churches 2-3 (Things with are)
A. The Message to the church in Ephesus 2:1-7
The passionless church
1. Characteristic
The one who guards the leadership in each church as He walks among them.
2. Commendation
Jesus commended their involvement in ministry (deed), tireless protection of the flock against false doctrine and false teachers and their endurance over time.
3. Correction
They had left their first love.
4. Action
REMEMBER FROM WHERE YOU HAVE FALLEN
REPENT
RETURN -- DO THE FIRST DEEDS
•Be with
•Do for
•Give to
•Sacrifice for
•Talk about
5. Consequence
Jesus promised to do something drastic if they refused to repent. They would no longer have the privilege of bearing Christ light in a dark place for they had become dark themselves.
Jesus followed his correction with one more commendation.
6 ’Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
The hatred was not for the Nicolaitans but for their deeds. In contrast to deeds of devotion, the Nicolaitans practiced deeds of depravity. No one really knows who these people were.
Their influence was felt all through Asia as they are mentioned again in connection with two of the other churches. It is common held that they taught and practiced some sort of moral compromise with the pagan practices of the day in order to fit in.
6. Call to hear
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 2:7a
This sober call always occurs where Jesus appealed to His hearers to make a significant change.
7. Promise to overcomers
To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’
“To the one overcoming” Jesus will one day grant access to the tree of life.
This tree continually exists in God’s garden (Paradise). This is the same tree mentioned in Genesis. Jesus encouraged those struggling in an age of tribulation and struggle to look to the finish line. John clearly defined his idea of an overcomer.
4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:4-5
According to this verse, John sees all truly born-again believers as overcomers.
No matter what may assail us in this world…
No matter how many times we may trip and fall in this life…
…we are overcomers by faith in Christ and He promises us a grand future.
In this case, Jesus reminded them of the promise to restore access to the tree of life growing in His garden. The tree of life disappeared in Genesis at the beginning of human history and returns here in Revelation at the end. (22:2,14,19)
B. The Message to the church in Smyrna 2:8-11
The Suffering Church
Background of the church at Smyrna
The CITY
The ancient city of Smyrna was a major city of nearly 100,000 people on the west coast of Asia Minor forty miles west of Ephesus, the modern city of Izmir, Turkey (third largest city). It had good harbor facilities, was at the end of a major road, and was surrounded by rich farmland. Smyrna gave its loyalty to the Romans at an early stage (about 195 B.C.) and never wavered. The Romans often rewarded Smyrna for its loyalty. The city was headquarters for the imperial cult of emperor worship in that area of the empire. Citizens were required at least once a year to offer incense, eat sacrificial offering and swear allegiance to the emperor.
To those who have been appointed to preside over the sacrifices, from Inares Akeus, from the village of Theoxenis, together with his children. We have always sacrificed to the gods, and now, in your presence, according to the regulations, we have sacrifices and offered libations, and tasted the sacred things, and we ask you to give us a certification that we have son so, May you fare well.
We, the representatives of the Emperor, Serenos and Heras, have seen you sacrificing.
Christians were persecuted by both Jews and Romans. In contrast to Ephesus, which dried up when their harbor became unusable due to silt, Smyrna continues to be a thriving city to this day with a population of 200,000 plus. It enjoyed rich history of development up to the Muslim Turk invasion of 1922 where nearly 100,000 Christians and Greeks were massacred and up to one million evacuated.
THE CHURCH
The only Biblical reference to this church comes from this passage. It is not mentioned in Acts.
Again, it would be fair to assume that those from that city who had been converted at Pentecost returned home to spread the good news. Perhaps it is included when Paul spoke of the spread of the Gospel all through Asia. In contrast to Ephesus, there was a strong Church presence in Smyrna for many years after this letter was written. At one time 22% of the population of Turkey was Christian. Today is has fallen to less than 1%. The Christian influence stood strong up to the 1922 Muslim invasion.
1. Characteristic 2:8
8 "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this:
This picture of Christ draws from John’s prologue. Each characteristic corresponds to the condition of the church. What a fitting focus for a church under the threat of suffering and death to know the One who knows the end from the beginning and has the final control in spite of what it looks like in the present knows all about their suffering. He stood as Lord at the beginning, the middle and will still be Lord at the end. Jesus too was a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. The call for faithfulness to the end came from the One who Himself remained faithful to the end. As the resurrected Jesus, He can promise them true life in the face of suffering and death. He is the first and last who was dead but now lives forever more.
2. Commendation 2:9
9 I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
Jesus wanted them to know that He was intimately aware of their desperate situation.
He understood their suffering, anguish, trouble, burdens. He acknowledged their extreme poverty. Their financial condition was probably due to severe persecution and censure by the loyal Romanists as well as the affluent Jews. They were destitute to the point of complete dependence on others for their sustenance. There was a significant affluent Jewish community in Smyrna who enjoyed the accommodation of the Roman government regarding emperor worship. The Christians enjoyed no such protection and their faithful allegiance to Christ was met with severe persecution and reviling and even death. The faithful followers of Christ were both poor and persecuted in a city of beauty and affluence. The church may have been poor from an earthly perspective but were rich from an eternal perspective. “Rich you are!” Present tense indicates a continual state of abundance.
What a contrast to Laodocia who thought they were rich but were actually poor.
Rich poor church. Poor rich church.
It appears that the heart of the persecution came from the Jews of the city. In the eyes of the “King of the Jews” they were Jew in name only. These people who claimed to be God’s chosen people were certainly not acting like it.
He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God” Roman 2:28-29
Jesus called this group “a synagogue (gathering, congregation) of Satan”. Rather than a group of people who gathered to learn and do Yahweh’s will, they were actually a group of people doing Satan’s bidding; thus they were in reality a “synagogue of Satan.”
Satan, not Yahweh was their god. Even today, many so-called orthodox Jews are one of the most zealous persecutors of the church in Israel. They will even stand outside the meeting place and pronounce curses on all who enter.
This is the first mention of our spiritual enemy in the book and John uses the two most common names for Satan; Satan (adversary) and devil (slanderer) in the next verse. These Jews would continually vilify, malign, denigrate, belittle, slander and run down these faithful believers. This wasn’t new. The book of Acts describes many such devil-driven hostile actions by Jews against Christians.
2:13; 4:2–3, 18; 5:17–18, 28, 40; 6:9ff.; 7:54–60; 8:1ff.; 9:20–23; 12:1–3; 13:6, 45; 14:2, 19; 17:5ff., 13; 18:6, 12–13; 19:9; 20:3; 21:27ff.; 23:12ff.)
Jesus completely understood their suffering (tribulation), poverty and verbal abuse. After all, didn’t He Himself receive such treatment while on earth?
9 …though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9
3. Correction
This is one of two churches Jesus did not include a correction.
4. Action 10a
10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death
Jesus voiced two instructions to this suffering church.
First – Stop fearing future suffering
The verb tense calls for the cessation of an action in progress. “Stop fearing”
I am sure they would rather have heard, “Never fear, your Savior is here to save the day.”
Instead, Jesus warned them of even greater suffering. “Suffer” = feeling of pain and discomfort. He instructed them to stop fearing what was about to take place.
In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Jesus told them to stop fearing what might happen. In fact it is coming. How often we become paralyzed by fear of possible discomfort. Jesus identified the main force behind the persecution. It was not the Jews or the Roman government that will throw them into prison but the devil. Even though people do things to us, Satan is often behind their actions.
Paul was clear that our real battle is not against flesh and blood but against the unseen forces of wickedness commanded by Satan. Jesus indicated that the purpose for the suffering was to test the faith of the faithful. The concept of testing is to prove something genuine.
It is like the Bar Exam for lawyers. It is a test to determine if you really know what you need to know. Tests do not make or break faith, they can only reveal what is or isn’t there.
He makes mention of ten days of tribulation or testing. There are a number of thoughts regarding how this might be understood. He may have meant a literal ten days. When would the ten days start? Most likely, he simply meant that the tribulation would not last forever.
Intense but brief. In light of eternity, our suffering is actually a very short period. Paul considered his suffering to be only a brief moment.
16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Cori 4:16-18
Others have suggested that it refers to the ten major persecutions perpetuated by the 10 evil Roman emperors.
Second – Be faithful to the end
Not only would some members of the church suffer increased suffering, some would actually die for their commitment to Christ. Some years later a prominent citizen of Smyrna named Polycarp who was a disciple of John and the bishop of Smyrna was burned at the stake for refusing to denounce his allegiance to Christ. The historian Eusebius tells us that a fairly large and zealous Jewish community even broke the Sabbath to gather wood for the gruesome execution.
Polycarp suffered much for Christ’s sake as Eusebius, the church historian, tells us. The Roman Proconsul commanded him to swear allegiance to Caesar, saying, "Swear, and I will set thee at liberty; reproach Christ." How courageous was Polycarp’s reply: "Eighty and six years have I now served Christ, and he has never done me the least wrong; how, then, can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?" Further efforts to make him deny his Lord failed, and Polycarp was condemned to be burned at the stake.
When the day came for him to be burned alive, those responsible for the burning wanted to nail him to the stake, but Polycarp protested saying: "Let me alone as I am: for He who has given me strength to endure the fire, will also enable me, without your securing me by nails to stand without moving in the pile."
He was then not nailed to the stake but only tied to it with his hands behind his back. The Jews joined with the heathens in crying out for his death. He died on Saturday, February 23rd, 155 A.D. Crowds of Jews broke the Sabbath law by carrying wood for his fire.
The whole account is an amazing demonstration of faithfulness to the end.
We are called to persevere to the end. I couldn’t help but wonder how I would respond to such ill treatment. Some of the greatest periods of growth of the church have been in the most severe periods of persecution. There is severe persecution of Christians taking place all over the world. Just last year three Christians were brutally killed in Turkey. India, Sudan, China, Vietnam, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran are all places of heavy Christian persecution.
Later in Revelation, a group of those martyred for their faith cry out to Jesus.
9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" 11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also. Revelation 6:9-11
5. Consequence / Reward 10b
10 Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Jesus promised that death would be the doorway to life. The reward for death would be the crown of life. The symbol of victory would not be a perishable crown but imperishable life. The reward for death would be life.
6. Call to pay attention 11a
11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
The Message
11 "Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches.
7. Promise to overcomers 11b
He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.
Even though some might suffer death. The upside is that they will never have to face the second death. So what is the “second death”? John describes it later in the book.
12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:12-15
8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Revelation 21:8
Those who believe in Christ will not have to face the second death.
Born twice, die once.
Born once, die twice.
Those doing the persecuting would not only die once but they would face the second death.
Application
I will spend a whole message on the Bible’s teaching concerning suffering. For now, I leave you with some basic thoughts from this passage.
Jesus is aware of and cares about the suffering we face. Jesus commends our faithfulness and endurance for Him.
All of us must face storms but storms will not last forever. God has promised eventual resolution.
Not everyone will experience deliverance in this life. Some may die along the way.
Many have lost their life for their commitment to Christ through the history of the Church.
A whole book was written with a focus on the martyrs of the church throughout history.
Fox’s Book of Martyrs.
The Lord of life; the beginning and the end will bring about ultimate deliverance.
Satan is the driving force behind the suffering of the Church. He wants the church to suffer.
He will do whatever he can to imprison followers of Christ. That imprisonment may not be a physical prison. He may attempt some other kind of imprisonment; sin, habits, addictions, depression, sickness, despair, impairment, isolation. He may try to impair a church; gossip, infighting, persecution, curse of disgruntled people.
Take heart! Jesus knows and cares. Jesus walks among His church and will produce life out of death.
He encourages us to stop fearing the possible future suffering. Entrust our souls to a faithful Creator.
He also encourages us to be faithful to the end. Don’t become weary in well doing.
9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. Galatians 6:9
13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good. 2 Thessalonians 3:13
Next time we will explore God’s purpose for and response to suffering and tribulation.
