Smyrna Rev. 2:8-11

Introduction

As John is on the Isle of Patmos, Jesus gives him the book of Revelation, where we get a glimpse of Heaven and end times. In the first three chapters though he is writing to individual churches. Every letter is addressed to the Angel or Messenger of the Church, and every letter is from a different name of Jesus.

The first letter was to the church of Ephesus was written from the one who holds the churches in his hand and walks in the midst of them. This church on paper looked like they were doing a lot of things really well, but they had left their first love which should have been Jesus, they got so caught up in ministry that missed the mission. The warning of this letter was “don’t leave your first love, but rather stay close to him and let him lead everything you do”

Tonight we are going to look at the letter to Smyrna.

The Letter to Smyrna vs. 8-11

Vs. 8

The recipient of the letter

The Angel of the church in Smyrna

The writer of the Letter

The first and the Last

Jesus calls himself the first and the last in Rev. 1:11.

The one which was dead and is alive

Revelation 1:18 “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”

I’m thankful that Jesus died, and overcame death, so while we might take our last breath here on earth, we immediately are in his presence for the rest of eternity.

2 Corinthians 5:8 “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”

We can have confidence in that promise because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross

History of Smyrna

Smyrna was also a port city about 35 miles north of Ephesus. It survives today as Ismir in Turkey.

A man by the name of Polycarp, who was a convert of John, later served as the pastor there until he was martyred in A.D. 155.

Vs. 9

Jesus tells them I know your works

Jesus knows everything about his churches. He knows the good, the bad and the ugly. He knows the work that the church is doing and we saw last week, he knows even when we leave our first love which is our love for Christ.

Jesus knows our works, and we should continue working until he calls us home.

He also says he knows their tribulation

Tribulation: Severe affliction; distresses of life; vexations

This church though just 35 miles from Ephesus was under severe affliction, but in the midst of all of that Jesus was there as well.

Jesus sees us in the midst of our tribulation as well, he is right their and he knows how we feel.

Hebrews 4:15 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

He knew their poverty

Poverty- Destitution or want

When the world looked on them they saw their poverty and probably recieved some affliction because of it.

Jesus saw their poverty but he also saw their riches

In Luke 12 we see a parable of this

Turn to Luke 12:13-34.

This church might have been in poverty according to the worlds standards, but they were laying up treasure in heaven, where no thief can steal it and no moth can corrupt it.

Matthew 6:20 “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:”

Look at verse 34 where your treasure is, is where your heart will be.

He knows the blasphemy of those who claim to be Jews but are not, rather they are the synagogue of Satan

This would have been talking about Gentile converts of the Judaizers who were trying to impose Judaism on Christianity with its law and priesthood

These people would have tried to marry Judaism and Christianity, by declaring that everyone who converts to Christianity would need to follow the Jewish customs and the succession of the priests.

One commentary said this “Men claiming to be Apostles were disturbing the church at Ephesus, and at Smyrna men claiming to have become Jews were plaguing the church there. As the false apostles were called ministers of Satan in 2 Cor. 11:13-15, so these false jews had become the synagogue of Satan.”

Verse 10

Christ’s encouragement to the church

Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer

Matthew 10:22 “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.”

The Lord encourages the church to face the persecution to come with boldness!

Over and over we can read stories about men and women who gave their lives for the cause of Christ

Stephen- the first martyr who was killed for lies that were told about them faced death with boldness knowing he would see Jesus

Many others gave their lives for the cause of Christ, some we have heard of like William Tyndale and others who we may never know, but all helped the cause of Christ continue.

Even if you are cast into prison; fear not

There was no doubt that some of the members of this church would be thrown into prison for preaching the gospel, but they had no reason to fear because of Jesus

Paul Bunyan, the man who wrote the famous book entitled “The Pilgrims Progress” was imprisoned for having a church that went against the Catholic church. The sentence for doing this was three months imprisonment and to get out you have to promise to not reoffend.

After 3 months in prison they came and asked Bunyan if he would promise to stop preaching and this was his answer “I have determined, the Almighty God being my help and shield, yet to suffer, if frail life might continue so long, even till the moss shall grow on mine eyebrows, rather than thus to violate my faith and principles.”

Bunyan was imprisoned for 12 years before he was released from prison. During his imprisonment he would preach in the prison and was called to pastor a church, and was occasionally allowed outside the prison to preach.

In the book outsiders written by Paul Chappell it says this about Bunyans imprisonment “But even within the prison, Bunyan had many opportunities to preach. He thanked the Lord for giving him “freedom” in prison to study scriptures, pray, sing, write, and hold services for the other prisoners, which often included fellow nonconformists. His preaching even drew hearers from outside, as people would gather around the prison to hear as he projected his voice and proclaimed the message”

While they might face prison and prosecution for preaching the gospel they could take courage because Jesus was going to take care of them in their life or their death and he is doing the same for us today.

even in tribulation you can be faithful, even if it means death.

Henry Morris said about the 10 days mentioned here “The ten days must suggest a general Biblical principle which was intended to sustain any group of Christians facing persecution.

The only other Biblical reference to “ten days” is Daniel 1:12-15. There Daniel experienced “ten days” of testing, but then God blessed him with 70 years of ministry.

If we endure “ten days of tribulation” even unto death if need be, God will give us a crown of life for eternity.

James 1:12 “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”

Verse 11

Jesus finishes their letter with a challenge to listen up

A good reminder were these letter were written for individual churches but have an application to our churches even today.

The church at Ephesus had been infiltrated by false apostles, losing its first love as a result, and the church at Smyrna church was infiltrated by Judaizers. Both of these churches give us the lesson that Jesus + nothing = everything.

Jesus then gives them a promise if they overcome.

The promise they receive is that they will not be hurt of the second death.

Revelation 20:14 “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”

Conclusion

As a church we must keep our focus on Jesus so we do not get overtaken by false apostles and teachers. Both letters so far have allowed something like that to creep in, lets focus on Jesus