The Seven Churches-Smyrna Series

The Seven Churches-Smyrna

Introduction: Smyrna was the second of the seven churches listed in Revelation 2-3. The message to the “angel (literally, messenger; likely the senior pastor or overseer)” was brief and to the point. Troubles were there, more was coming, but the Lord promised rewards to those who could and would overcome.

(Full disclosure: this message is based on a sermon I preached at New Hope Baptist Church near Fulton, MO on Sunday morning, October 26, 2025 but is not an exact transcription)

1 The picture of Jesus

Text: Revelation 2:8-11, KJV: 8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; 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. 10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. 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.

The Lord Jesus Christ had just finished His message to the church in Ephesus, giving them words of praise, problems, and a way to get things back to the way they needed to be. Now He is sending a message to the believers in Smyrna, about 40-50 miles northwest of Ephesus (see a map of this area at https://bibleatlas.org/smyrna.htm). That journey doesn’t seem to be for the faint of heart, as the only two ways from Ephesus to Smyrna were either by land (walking on a more or less level plain, but with mountains on each side) or by ship, involving an out-around-and-back movement; west then north then east sailing along a (what seems to me) large peninsula. It’s anybody’s guess how many went from one city to the other, or by what means.

Now the Lord tells the believers in Smyrna that, just as He had told John in chapter 1, He was the “first and last, which [sic] was dead, and is alive.” Compare this with what the Lord told John in Revelation 1:17. Something I found interesting was that in this verse (2:8), the Lord does not use “Alpha and Omega” but the normal, usual words for “first” and “last”. Some have expressed comfort in that since the Lord was already there when the beginning began, He’ll be there when all things are made new, and He will be there with us every step of the way. Amen!

This is the only picture of the risen Lord in this letter. It’s as if (to me) that the Lord has something very important to say to these believers.

2 The words of praise

But the Lord has some very sincere words of praise for this group. Just as He tells most, if not all the other churches, so He tells the Smyrna believers “I know thy works”. We’re never told just what they had done, but it was enough for the Lord. He noticed. He knew, and He still knows.

The Lord also knew about their tribulation. Sad but true, especially in the Book of Acts, whenever the gospel was preached, persecution would soon come along. Paul experienced this first hand when people (unbelieving Jews) from Antioch of Pisidia and Iconium traveled to Lystra and stoned him, trying to kill him (Acts 14:19)! Later, in Philippi, Paul and Silas (Acts 16) were beaten and thrown into prison for preaching the gospel, and also casting a demon out of a young woman (paidiskee, https://biblehub.com/greek/3814.htm. akin to the word for servant). Paul even warned Timothy that all who live for Jesus would suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12).

Again, we don’t know for sure what happened in Smyrna in those days, but the Lord did, and He is giving them a word of praise. Besides knowing about the tribulation, the Lord also knew about the poverty among the believers. This poverty may be due to these believers losing their goods to the authorities (see Jamieson, Faucett, and Brown’s commentary on this verse, available online at https://biblehub.com/commentaries/jfb/revelation/2.htm). Hebrews 10:34 has the record that this same thing had happened to Jewish believers at an unknown time. It’s a comfort to us, that even if people steal our stuff, the Lord knows about it. Leave the rest to Him—those people who stole those goods will answer to Him one day (Rev. 20:11-15).

And the Lord knew about the blasphemy of the members of the “synagogue of Satan”. First, as best I can determine, only Jews were members of synagogues. The Lord is likely speaking about Jews in this verse. Worse, these are most likely unsaved Jews, those who heard and/or chose to reject the message of Jesus as Messiah and Savior. Paul had written in Romans 2:28-29 that there was a difference between being a (true) Jew, not outwardly but inwardly.