Today’s message is from Revelation 2:8-11. This is Jesus’s message to the second of the seven churches in revelation. It starts out, “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write...” Each of Jesus’s messages to the churches starts out to the angel of the church... We don’t know exactly who the angels are. They are almost certainly not holy angels—that is, spirit beings sent by God. It seems pretty unlikely that Jesus would tell John to write a letter to an angel. (The word translated angel actually means messenger and is actually translated that way when it obviously mean a human messenger rather than an angel from God.) It also seems unlikely the Jesus would rebuke an angel for what are obviously failings of the flesh (or the sinful nature as the NIV translators would put it) as he did with most of the angels of the churches (but not in the case of the angel of the church in Smyrna).
Although the messages are addressed to individuals—Tom mentioned last week, I believe, that the angels could be the pastors of the churches—it’s clear that the messages are intended for entire churches. In chapter 1 (Rev. 1:11) Jesus told John to send the entire book of Revelation to each of the seven churches. So Jesus apparently intended for each of the messages to each of the churches be read by all the other churches, as well—and by us, too, I might add. These messages are for us.
Now let’s read the passage. And as we read the passage, remember, as always, that we are reading the word of God. (In fact, in this case we are reading the very words of Jesus as he dictated them to the apostle John.
Also, as always, I encourage and exhort all of you to read and study your Bibles every day. We all need the word of God to sustain our lives day by day. We live our lives in Christ through the word of God and prayer. As you read and study, if there is anything that’s not clear, pray and ask God to make it clear to you.
8 “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9I know your afflictions and your poverty— yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.” (Revelation 2:8-11 –NIV)
Jesus said, “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write...” Smyrna is the Greek word for myrrh, one of the gifts that were brought to Jesus’s family by the Magi when he was a little child. Myrrh was also used to prepare Jesus body for burial when he was crucified. These are the only two places where the word myrrh is used in the New Testament. Myrrh has to do with suffering and death and this passage also has to do with suffering and death. I tried to find out why Smyrna was named Smyrna—Myrrh.
What I found out was that the city was named in an earlier language, not in Greek, and that the name just happened to spell the Greek word for myrrh, smyrna. (This was from an Internet article, so if anyone has any better information, feel free to correct me.) Apparently the name of the city was what we would call a coincidence. Do you think it was a coincidence? (I leave that question as an exercise for the student.)
Jesus’s message to the church in Smyrna starts out, “These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.” Jesus identified himself to the church in Smyrna in this way. Jesus is the first and the last. The NIV capitalizes First and Last as titles that Jesus has given to himself.
Jesus was before everything and will be after every thing. He is without beginning of days or end of life. (Heb. 7:3) Everything there is was made through Jesus and for him. Go as far into the future as you want. Jesus will be there. And after the events of that time are over, Jesus will still be there! He is the First and he is the Last!
Jesus died and rose to life again! Jesus said (in chapter 1, verse 18), “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Jesus died and rose from the dead—and we who trust in Jesus—we who have faith in Jesus—will rise from the dead, too, and live forever!
In today’s passage Jesus says, “Be faithful (have faith!), even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Jesus died for our sins. He was faithful to the point of death and now he is alive forever. For that reason he can tell us to be faithful to the point of death and that he will give the crown of life.
Jesus says (in verse 9), “I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich!” What are afflictions? They are trouble and hardships—persecutions. They are not, “My credit cards are all maxed out and I’m drowning in debt.” They are things that you didn’t bring upon yourself (except maybe by wanting to live a godly life. Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted –2 Tim. 3:12). These are things that you didn’t bring upon yourself.
Jesus said, “I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” This church in Smyrna was poor in material possessions—and yet rich. How were they rich? They were rich in faith! They were being forced to put up with slander from those who claimed to be Jews but were not. They were being falsely accused of evil to the world around them by those who were serving Satan. (Satan is a liar and a murderer and has been from the beginning.)
That’s what happened to Jesus. He was falsely accused. The Jewish leaders tried to give the appearance of living godly lives in obedience to God, but they were a synagogue of Satan.
A man is a Jew not by being descended from Abraham. A man is a Jew by having the faith of Abraham. When the Lord told Abraham that he would have a son, Abraham believed the Lord and the Lord credited it to him as righteousness. A person is not a Christian by doing the outward things that go with Christianity, but by having Jesus in his heart. The Christians in Smyrna were enduring the slander of those who claimed to be Jews but were not because they had Jesus in their hearts. (Do you have Jesus in your heart?)
Jesus said that, although the Christians in Smyrna were poor materially, they were rich. Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount not to store up treasures on this earth where moths and rust destroy and thieves can break in and steal, but to store up treasure in heaven where it is kept perfectly safe. Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, that’s where your heart will be, also.”
Your heart is your mind. What is it that you think about most? ...about heaven? ...or about storing up treasures for this present life? It’s easy for us to have our minds continually focused on our present situation and our present worries. It seems natural. But it is clear that heaven is far, far more important—immeasurably more important! What we do in this life is really only important in that it affects what happens in the next life. The Christians in Smyrna were not only poor, but were being persecuted. Yet, Jesus had no criticism for them. Do you suppose there’s a connection?
If it’s “natural” for us to worry about our present lives, how can we become focused on heaven? How do we make our decisions based on doing what will please God as opposed to what will immediately please us? The answer is through the word of God and prayer.
Well, I seem to have trouble remembering to pray about most things. What can I do about that? Here’s what we must do. We must pray for each other and encourage each other.
Now, let’s go on to verse 10. Verse 10 says, “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Jesus is telling them that, although they are poor and are already having afflictions, they are going to suffer more afflictions. Some of them will be thrown into prison for ten days. Some may even be put to death (“Be faithful even to the point of death...”).
You know, we don’t seem to know much about persecution here in the United States—at least not yet. But there are certainly persecutions going on in other parts of the world, some very severe. I always think about the pictures I saw a few years ago that were taken by a doctor who had visited a North Korean prison camp. The doctor described the conditions he saw there. We talk about how badly the Jews were treated in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Millions were put to death or simply died of mistreatment. I saw pictures published that were taken by the American soldiers when they came to set those people (what where left of them) free. They looked like walking skeletons. Those who were still alive were almost dead of starvation.
The people in the North Korean prison camp looked every bit as bad as those who had been in the Nazi concentration camps. And many were there because they were Christians. The doctor who took the pictures also described how these people were being treated. It was brutal. One thing I remember was that the pregnant women were told to kill their babies when they gave birth. If they didn’t do it, the guards beat the babies to death and fed them to their dogs. The guards told them that they didn’t want any more Christians in the world. Possibly these women could have avoided this if they had just hidden the fact that they were Christians. But they didn’t.
The Christians in Smyrna were being tested and the Christians in North Korea are being tested right now. But we don’t have to deal with anything like that here in the United States. Nevertheless, in some sense we are being tested here also. We are being tested by having a soft life. The church in Smyrna was passing its test. Jesus had nothing bad to say about it. They were passing their test, but I don’t think we are passing ours. (Do you think we ought to pray for persecution? Maybe we need to live more godly lives.)
The most important thing is love. Jesus rebuked the church in Ephesus because they had forsaken their first love. It wasn’t a small thing. It was the most important thing. Apparently, the church in Smyrna had not done that—had not forsaken its first love. How about us? Do we love God with our entire being and lives? Do we love our neighbor as ourselves? Do we love Jesus as he loved us when he laid down his life for us?
Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer.” Would you be afraid if you knew that you might be put in prison (probably not like the prisons we have here where I have heard that some people commit crimes just so that they can have free room and board)? Would you be afraid if there was a chance you would be put to death? Jesus said, “Do not be afraid.” How can we not be afraid? I think I would definitely be afraid. But I know that people sometimes aren’t afraid in these situations. I think the answer is to have our hearts and minds on heaven. The apostle Paul said it was far better to be with the Lord: “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philip. 1:21) We need to have our minds focused on Jesus and on heaven, not on this life and our present situations.
Jesus said, “I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days.” First of all, let me say this. This is a prophecy that Jesus is giving. He is talking about something that will happen in the future. But it’s not like he’s looking into the future and seeing something that is just going to happen by chance. God is sovereign over all things and he’s sovereign over the devil. (And Mooma, when she read this, said that I didn’t emphasize this enough—that I should really stress it. So, I’ll say it again. God is sovereign over all things and he’s sovereign over the devil. And I’ll add this: The devil can do nothing unless God permits it. And God loves us!)
The devil is Satan. The word translated devil, by the way, means slanderer. The devil was the one who was behind those who belonged to the synagogue of Satan and were slandering the Christian in Smyrna. Do you think the devil slanders us? The word of God says that he is the accuser of our brothers (the Christians) and that he accuses them before God day and night. (Rev. 12:10) The devil slanders us, too.
Now, to get back to Jesus’s prophecy, apparently Satan has asked to test the Christians in Smyrna just as he asked to test Job and just as he asked to test the disciples before Jesus was crucified: “Satan has asked to sift you like wheat, but I’ve prayed for you, Simon, that you faith may not fail.” (Luke 23:31) God gave Satan permission to test Job and to test Peter and the disciples and to test the Christians in Smyrna. He also gives Satan permission to test us. And it’s not to see if we will pass the test. It’s to refine our faith. You know, when Satan tested Peter, Peter denied that he even knew Jesus three times—with an oath, too. But regardless of what it looked like, his faith didn’t fail. Jesus had prayed for his faith not to fail. I believe that when God gives Satan permission to test us, our faith won’t fail either.
Jesus said, “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” I think they were faithful (and we will be faithful, too, in whatever testing God allows Satan to test us with). I believe that there is eternal security—that once you have salvation, God will not let you be tested to the point where your faith will completely fail and you will lose your salvation. I believe that he will also give you strength to stand. (Tom doesn’t agree with me on these points. He believes that you can lose your salvation. It’s not something that all Christians agree on, so I have to acknowledge that it’s my personal understanding.)
Verse 11 says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.” He who has an ear is the one whom God has enabled to hear and understand and to take to heart, the one who has the Holy Spirit. If you trust Jesus for salvation, you have an ear. And by the way, notice that Jesus says, “...let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” All of these messages to these churches are for all of the churches.
The second death is the fiery lake of burning sulfur in Revelation 21:8. It’s actually hell: “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars— their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” The second death is what happens if you are condemned in the final judgment. It’s not something we would want to happen to us.
Jesus died and rose from the dead. He has power for us to overcome. He is able to give us supernatural power through the Holy Spirit to overcome. “Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:57)
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
[prayer]