Title: The Revelation of Jesus Christ - Part 4
Text: Rev. 2: 8-11
Key v. 11
Before I go into the teaching of today I want to give a word to all the Father’s. Father’s I pray more than ever that in these last days that we take to heart the role our Lord has graciously blessed us with. The bible says:
Eph 6:4- 4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. NKJV –
Eph 5:25-28- 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. NKJV
In other words, fathers we have been called to be the provider, protector, and priest of our homes.
Comment: The father who honors the Lord will have little trouble winning the love and respect of his children or the sincere love of his wife. Paul also warns fathers in v. 4 to refrain from provoking our children with undue demands. The Golden Rule applies to the home, our children must be treated like people and not things. Fathers are to discipline the children (nurture, cultivate, encourage) and counsel them along with (admonition, reprimand, warning) themin the Lord. And if we do our job Fathers and do it well, we are sure to have strong, loving, godly homes that will withstand all that we will face in the days ahead. Amen?
Today we want to study the second church of the 7 Jesus evaluates concerning their spiritual state; last week we studied the Ephesian Church – The Careless Church – Who was warned not to abandon her first love with Jesus, but to go back (repent) and do the first works when she first fell in love with Jesus, and was motivated by her love and passion for Him. She needed to get out of the rut of routine, and rekindle her flame of love for the Master, and His Eternal Kingdom. Or else her light (influence) would go out.
Comment:In spite of the privileges it had enjoyed, the church of Ephesus was in danger of losing its light! The church that loses its love will soon lose its light, no matter how doctrinally sound it may be. "I will come" (Rev 2:5) is not referring to the Lord's return, but to His coming judgment then and there. The glorious city of Ephesus is today but a heap of stones and no light is shining there. [BE Comment.]
The Church of Smyrna – The Crowned Church.
The name Symrna means: “bitter” and is related to the word myrrh (one of gifts presented at the birth Jesus —gold representing his kingship, frankincense a symbol of his priestly role, and myrrh (spice for embalming) a prefiguring of his death.
V.8 – Jesus identifies with this church.
He identifies with Syrmna by opening His message with His death and resurrection. No matter what experiences God’s people may have, our Lord identifies with us. Heb 4:15-16
15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. NLT
V.9 – Jesus evaluates this church.
I know - oida, -know, understand, perceive; experience, learn, know how; be acquainted with, recognize, acknowledge; remember; pay proper respect to. [Thayers Lex.]
Christ knew their tribulations – Grk. Thlipsis, a word that conveys idea of pressing grapes until the juice comes forth]. Christ had gone to the utmost depths of suffering and death and so He can identifywith them.
Note: These believers were probably persecuted because they refuse to say “Caesar is Lord” Smyrna was an important center of the Roman imperial cult, and anyone refusing to acknowledge Caesar as Lord would certainly be excluded from the guilds (associations, societies). This would mean unemployment and poverty. [The word used here for poverty means “abject – hopeless, miserable, poverty, possessing absolutely nothing.”]They also received slander and suffering from the Jewish community who thrived in Smyrna because their religion was accepted by Rome. They were known as the synagogue of Satan. They were Jews who were Jews outwardly but not inwardly. Rom.2:17-19
But Jesus said they were rich– they lived for eternal values that would never change, riches that could never be taken away.
2 Cor 6:10- 10 Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything. NLT
2 Cor 8:9- 9 You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich. NLT
V.10,11 – Jesus encourages this church.
1. Not to fear the persecution that was coming.
2. He knew the devils plans of incarceration for some of them. (To test them, for 10 days!)
3. The crown of life would be given to those who remain faithful until death.
4. All overcomers would not experience the second death (lake of fire – Rev. 20:14;21:8).
[This is the first church of two in the seven that Jesus would only commend, not condemn. They were very poor in the eyes of the world; they were very, very rich in the eyes of Jesus. Also notice the sizeof this church are not even recorded. Because to Jesus size does not matter only purity.]
Conclude: It cost to be a dedicated Christian, in some places more than others. As end-time pressures increase, persecution will also increase, and God’s people need to be ready - 1 Peter 4:12-13
12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.NIV