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;
Unto the messenger of the church in bitterness, in
difficulty; hear the words of the protos, the one before all and the eschatos,
the one remaining at the end of all things, which WAS dead, yet death could not
hold Him, who continues zoe, the life of God Himself…
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.
Because I dwell in you
who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's chosen? It is God that justifies.
Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, in fact, more to the point,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who makes
intercession for you. Who shall separate you from the love of Christ? Well? Shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword? Psalm 44:22 says, “For your sake we are killed all the day long; we are
accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
No beloved, in all
these things YOU are more than conquerors through ME because I love you. 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 YOU from the love of YOUR God, which is in ME, your Lord and
Savior (Romans 8:35-39).
Life in Christ is not often easy. The church in Smyrna was the ONLY church that
received NO complaints about their actions.
Of seven churches they were in the most difficult situation. They worked hard, endured terrible trials and
were poor. Of all the churches they
appeared to be the least esteemed in the kingdom and yet Christ said, “YOU ARE
RICH!” They fulfilled Romans 8:10 and
lived in the spirit while their flesh was kept under subjection.
The next portion of text refers to “those who say they are
Jews and are not!” I hesitate here only
because the text I wish to use has been used over the years to deny the Jew’s
any future in God. This attitude ignores
the fact that God’s promise to Abraham and his physical seed was not up to
Abraham or Israel to accomplish. It
placed the burden upon God. Israel is
very much the chosen people of God and once this season of the gentiles is
accomplished they will turn their hearts toward God once again. Their blindness as a nation right now is
brought by God for a season because they refused to acknowledge Jesus when He
came the first time to the very day of the promise according to scripture. Israel has often failed God’s tests the first
time but passed the second. They will
believe at the second coming.
It says in Romans 2:28-29 and Galatians 3:26, 29, For
he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is
outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision
is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not
of men, but of God. For ye are all the children of God by faith in
Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs
according to the promise.
God has not transferred His love from Israel to the
Gentiles. God’s love is sufficient for
us all and He is not willing that any should perish. The early Christian church suffered more by
the hands of the Jews than by the hands of any pagans. Paul loved the Jews and begged God to save
his nation. In truth, one day they will
awaken and acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. Sadly, in their blindness the natural seed of
Abraham lashed out against the Christians with near madness. It is a warning to us all not to allow our
fears and doubts to turn us against God Himself.
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.
Matthew 6:25 says, “Take no thought for your life, what you
will wear or eat or where you will live.”
Verse 34 says, “Take no thought for tomorrow because today is enough to
concern yourself with. Matthew 10:9
says, “Take no thought for what you will say when you are brought before
judges.” We are the children of
God. We don’t always know what tomorrow
will bring but God does. If we trust in
Him we will not starve nor will be face the day alone. His children do not need to beg. His children seek His face and He finds them
work or money or provisions. We may be
fed by ravens but we will be fed.
We live in a war zone.
It has been said that every famine has been caused by man. God has only caused a few, but man, trying to
get over on man, has caused most famines by blocking rivers or deliberately
starving those they hate. There are
entire villages and cities in Africa and other countries who know intimately
what verse 10 says. It isn’t the
exception to suffer for Christ; it is the rule.
God says to fear none of the things you shall suffer. Can you do that? Is your walk with God deep enough and
trusting enough that you can walk without fear in that perfect peace of Isaiah
26:3? God has promised this peace and
yet all too many churches today say the Word of God is just a feel good
document with no real power for deliverance and help. Either God is totally real and His Word is
totally real or He is a fraud and His Word is a fraud.
My God is not a fraud.
If you take the time to look up the phrase ‘ten days’ you
will discover it is not used often. The
first instance is when God smote Nabal the husband of Rebecca and he lived ten
days before he died. In Jeremiah 42:7,
Jeremiah prayed for ten days before God gave His answer. Three verses in Daniel chapter one say that
God allowed Daniel to be proved for ten days and after that time they won the
right to eat kosher food. In Acts 25:6
Festus waited ten days to judge Paul’s case.
In each of these circumstances there was a judgment
coming. The final decision of God was
withheld until the end of those ten days.
Had Nabal realized what a fool he had been and repented, God may well
have healed his body. Nabal however was
an example; his name meant fool and so he was.
Jeremiah received the people’s judgment within ten days and Daniel
received God’s blessing. There is also
ten days from Rashashana, the festival of trumpets, until Yom Kippur, the day
of Atonement. The Jews call this time
the ‘days of awe.’
Those ten days are your days of testing. It is your opportunity to bow your head and
bend your knee to God in the hopes of averting his wrath or punishment. Even Ahab had his opportunity in 1 Kings
21:27. He had allowed his wife to kill
Naboth and his family line over a vineyard. God pronounced judgment on his line, but
because Ahab bowed his head and humbled himself before God the judgment was
withheld while he was alive.
In the case of Smyrna, Jesus is telling them to hold fast to
their profession of faith. A great trial
of affliction is coming and they need to hold on. He has honored them for their faith. He says they are rich. All they need to do is hold on during this
final pressing and they will receive the crown of life. In some of our lives this death is to our
will and desires; for some it is literal death.
Whichever it is in your life, Jesus has determined that you will
ultimately receive the crown of eternal life if you pass this test. You will have come to your day of atonement
and passed with His help.
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.
Verse eleven is for every honest and attentive person. It forces you to examine your life and judge
your own future. Life in Christ is not
based on whether you have been a bad person or a good person because none of
that matters. Your life must be in Him,
living in faith and trusting for His provision.
To keep our lives filled with Christ takes a lot of effort because Satan
is always on his job. The end of the
verse says, “He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death,” but it
could also say, “He that does not overcome WILL be hurt by the second death,
the death of the mortal body.”
Our lives in Christ are a constant battle and the weapons of
our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of
strongholds. Pull those strongholds down
and stand tall in Christ Jesus!
Bishop J
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