The church of Smyrna
Randall LaVere II
Quick review of Ephesus. Repent. Change your mind. Decide to go back to where it was when you first found Christ, where you had a boldness.
Rev. 1:19 Jesus said write the things which thou has seen, the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. We are currently living in the things that are. The things which are present, and they are all pertaining to the church. These messages are not dispensational, but are to be used for correction in righteousness today.
The letters to the churches in the book of revelation are for the church today, just as they were for the churches of 2,000 years ago.
The church of Smyrna. Rev. 2:8-11
And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write; these things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive.
We established last week that the angel of the church is the messenger of the church, which is the new testament believer, and messenger of God.
Jesus starts out by telling the church exactly who is writing this letter. The first and the last, which was dead, and is alive.
We know from studying the bible, that Jesus Christ, the word of God, was in the beginning with God. Jn. 1:1-? So there is no doubt as to who was writing this letter.
We know that he was dead, and is alive. Jesus Christ the perfect sacrifice, who laid down his life for our sins. & on the third day he rose again. If Jesus had not risen, then we would have no hope.
v.9 I know thy works and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) , and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of satan.
Jesus starts out by saying I know thy works. We talked a little bit about this from last week, but He knows what you are working for. He knows the very thoughts and intent of your heart…..
I know your tribulation-gr. Thlipsis your trouble, distress, and affliction. He knows everything that you are going through.
1 Peter 1:7 that the trial of your faith being much more precious than that of gold that perishes, thou it may be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
God revealed through Peter, that the testing of our faith was more precious than that of gold which is tried with fire.
When gold is refined, it is put into a melting pot, and boiled at extremely hot temperatures. The purpose for this is to melt out all of the impurities so that all that is left is pure gold.
Malachi 3:2 says that God is like a refiners fire.
See the reason why that life seems like that it is so hot you can not handle it is because God is testing you, to see whether you are made of pure gold, or if you are just Gold plated. He is working out the impurities out of your life. When the fire seems the hottest, that is when God is working on you the most.
Candlestick- which represented the church was made of Gold.
Next he says that he knows your poverty, but you are rich! I know that you have a mentality that says to you that you are poor, but you are rich. 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 thins which are not seen are eternal.
And I know the blasphemy of them which say they are jews, and are not, but are of the synagoge of satan.
Jesus said I know and can see the persecutions that you are going through by people who say that they love me. I can see how they talk about you behind your back, and lie on you. I can see how they slander your reputation, and drag you through the mud, but do not worry about them.
V.10 Fear none of those things which thou shall suffer: behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried, and you shall have tribulation for ten days, be thou faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of Life.
He said do not be afraid of what satan is about to tempt you with. It is a word from Jesus himself that tells us that we will be tried. Jesus told us in Jn. 16:33 In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world..
In the church of Ephesus the key to unlocking revival in our lives was to go back to our first love. In this second church, the church of Smyrna, the key is to trust God, that he has something special in store for those who trust him through the storms of life. and always remain faithful
The first thing that Christ mentioned In v. 10 was to not be afraid. He gave this command more than any other command throughout the bible. Do not be afraid, do not fear, do not worry, Jesus said fear none of those things.
Fear is the exact opposite of faith, and is the assassination of greatness. If you have fear in your life, then you can not have faith. Faith is not measured by the substance that you have. Faith is not measured by the length of your car, or the size of your wallet. Faith is measured by your ability to stand in the storm.
Sometimes God will allow you to go through some things in order to see if you will cry out to him. A lot of the guys that I was deployed with would say, “I do not want to be one of those guys who goes off to war, and finds God.” I would say to them, God knew that he would have to bring you here in order for you to find him. He sometimes has to allow you to be separated from outside influences in order to get some alone time with you.
All of those nights that you spent alone, down and depressed, God never left you. It was then that he was closest to you. He just had to get you alone in order to speak to you. Some of the trials and tribulations that you have gone through, are not for punishment, but for alone time with God.
Rom. 5:3 we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulations worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience worketh hope.
V.10b You shall have tribulation ten days, be thou faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life.
In the days that the bible was written, there were many people who were martyred for their faith. To be a martyr was to die for your faith. We would never know it here in America, but there are still people all over the world who have to hide their faith. They have to worship in old decreped buildings out of fear for their lives. We have got it so easy here to be able to come in and worship freely whenever we want, that we forget some of the sufferings that our brothers and sisters in Christ have gone through in the past
, and we still do not show up to service half of the time. There are people who would literally die to be sitting where you are sitting today.
When he said that we would have tribulation for ten days, he was comparing it to a short time. Jesus was saying that the time of your trials will be short, but the length of your joy will be forever.
I will give the a crown of life. The crown of life represents that we have been faithful over the few things in our lives, and that God has rewarded us handsomely.
This is one of five crowns that are mentioned in scripture that we are promised if we meet the conditions-Incorruptible crown (For the victors) 1 Cor, 9:25, Crown of Glory 1 Pet. 5:2-4 (for the elders), Crown of righteousness (for those who love his appearing) 2 tim. 4:8, Crown of Rejoicing (soul winners crown) 1 thess. 2:19-20, and the crown of life (martyrs) rev. 2:10
This crown of life shows that you have died for the cause of Christ. Paul said I die daily. In order for us to truly earn this crown of life, we have got to die to ourselves.
When you die to yourself, you are dying to your earthly desires and needs. You are dying to the lusts of the flesh. When you die to yourself you do not care what the world thinks about you. When you die to yourself, you do not let the way that things look affect your standing with Christ. Dying to yourself, means living for Christ. And the just shall live by faith.
Faith sees beyond the circumstances. When you truly get this in your heart, you will realize that no weapon formed against thee shall be able to prosper. When we can walk by faith and not by sight, we will begin to see that if God be for us, who can be against us.
It was faith that allowed the three Hebrew children to not be burned in the furnace. It was faith that delivered David out of the hands of his enemies. It was faith that allowed Daniel to pray when it was banned. It was faith that allowed Elijah to call down fire from heaven, and then slay the 450 prophets of Baal.
These men of God did not look at the circumstances surrounding them, but they looked to God, who is the author and finisher of our faith. The way the circumstances look, does not mean anything. For faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. Faith is being sure that what your hoping for will come to pass, even though you may not see it now.
Jesus said look beyond the circumstances, and know that your reward will be far greater than the sufferings that you went through to get it. Be thou faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life.
v.11 he that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. Hw who is not afraid of the consequences of living for Jesus, shall not be hurt of the second death. This means that you will not have to worry about losing eternal life, if you will just live by faith.
To sum this up, The things that you have gone through in life are no accident. The bible says that thou weeping may endure for a night, joy comes in the morning. What the enemy meant for bad in your life, God used for good. The things that satan tried to put in your way as a stumbling block, are now just stepping stones on your way to glory.
Rom. 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good, to them that love God, and are the called according to his purpose.
Rom. 8:38-39 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Absolutely nothing on this earth can separate us from Gods love.
IF you need anything in your life whatsoever, just ask God. If you are here and you need peace, believe that he can give it…..
The name Smyrna comes from the same Heb. Word as Myrrh. Myrrh is a fragrant resin or gum that comes from certain types of plants and trees in the area of cannan, and is used all throughout the bible for incense, and perfume. What happens with myrrh when it is harvested from these plants is that it hardens up like rocks and becomes a solid form. Whenever the rocks are crushed, the sweet smelling fragrance is released.
This is the same thing that happens to us as Christians. When we are crushed with the trials of our faith, our fragrance of faith can then be released.
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