A LETTER TO THE CHURCH AT SMYRNA

Revelation 2:8-11

  1. Christ identified – 8
    1. "the first and the last"
      1. the persecuted believers needed to know that He was in charge
      2. their persecution was in the planning and purpose of God
    2. "which was dead, and is alive"
      1. to a persecuted church, these would be words of comfort
      2. his experience with death identified Him with those who were being martyred for the faith
      3. He had triumphed over death, and was alive forever more
      4. since He had already conquered death, they were certain of the ultimate victory
  2. the knowledge Christ had of this church – 9
    1. "I know thy works" implies an intimate understanding of all that pertained to the church
    2. "tribulation"
      1. Christ has warned us that tribulation would be a part of our earthly experience
      2. Jesus knows every heartache; He knows every pain, every tear, every burden
      3. we are at our best and are richest when we suffer
        1. when the Church is persecuted it spreads like wildfire
        2. when the Church is at ease in Zion, God's work suffers sorely
      4. the saints in this period dealt with more of it than any other (represents the church period to 314 A.D.)
        1. in 313 A.D. the Edict of Toleration was given by Constantine
        2. this Edict ended the persecution of Christians all over the Roman Empire
      5. the church in its Ephesian period had lost its first love: therefore, He permitted chastisement to come upon the church to cause the church to return unto Him
    3. "poverty"
      1. this poverty came not by sin, but by sufferings for his sake
      2. nothing is more contemptible among men than poverty, yet Christ takes notice of it, and owns his people in it
    4. "but thou art rich"
      1. speaks of the spiritual wealth of the church
      2. they were laying up treasure in heaven
      3. compare them with the church at Laodicea
      4. poverty is not a hindrance to the favor of God
        1. there are things about poverty, but not wealth, that promote a right spirit toward God
        2. Jesus was extremely poor, and so was many of His faithful followers
    5. Jesus knew that the source of their trouble was religious people
      1. "blasphemy" means harsh and bitter reproach
      2. "of them which say they are Jews, and are not"
        1. they professed one thing and did another
        2. if they really believed in God, their action would have been different
        3. they were Jews outwardly, but they were not worthy of the name
      3. "but are the synagogue of Satan"
        1. all false religions belong to Satan
        2. the Spirit puts no frills or sugar-coating on the words that expose these crooked religious fakes
        3. there is a true Church, composed of true believers, and all else is false and belongs to the synagogue of the devil
        4. That may sound a little rough, but we need to speak words easily understood when making truth and error known
  3. Jesus’ counsel for this suffering church – 10
    1. "fear not
      1. suffering
      2. what the devil can do
        1. the devil is a powerful being, but his power is limited and controlled by the all-powerful One
        2. since the devil's power is limited and controlled, he cannot hurt even the most feeble of the saints without express permission from the Lord God Almighty
        3. the devil cannot make one move against God's child without God's permission
      3. tribulation
        1. God has a purpose for the suffering He allows
          1. it caused His saints to repent and turn to Him
          2. God’s saints were purified
          3. there love, faith, and courage were strengthened
        2. this time of tribulation had a limited time period [ten days]
    2. "be thou faithful"
      1. unto death, not until death
      2. faithfulness will gain the martyr’s reward, the crown of life (this is not the same as eternal life)
  4. the Spirit’s message to the churches – 11
    1. it is the responsibility of the individual to hear the message of the Holy Spirit
      1. we will not be excused by God at the judgment seat if we depend upon others to do our hearing, our praying, or our confessing
      2. we must individually hear and obey what the Spirit has to say to us
    2. the Holy Spirit’s promise to the churches was that the overcomer would not be hurt by the second death
      1. the second death is that state of eternal separation from God in hell
      2. no believer will ever experience the second death
      3. these words were meant to encourage the believer to be faithful unto death
      4. the second death is far worse than any tortured death we may experience