I1. To THE CHURCH IN SMYRNA (2:8-11)
I1. To THE CHURCH IN SMYRNA (2:8-11)
A. Destination
Jesus' second letter was addressed to the church Smyrna, a seaport forty miles north of Ephesus. This flourishing city was situated on the trade route Rome to India through Persia, so commerce develop rapidly. Smyrna was founded by Alexander the Great had temples erected to the sun god, Zeus. It was also centre of emperor worship and had temples honouring Roman rule.
B. The Description of Jesus
Jesus appeared to the church at Smyrna as the One who was the first and the last; who had been dead and was now alive. He said (paraphrase), “You shall also suffer death and affliction.” But He added, “lam the first and the last, so leave everything to Me. As I was dead and am now alive, so you shall be alive even though you die, if you believe in Me.” Through this saying Jesus was foretelling the severe persecution that would come to the church at Smyrna.
C. Commendation Our Lord always commends the church under persecution. His saying can be paraphrased thus: “Though outwardly you look very poor because you're under persecution, actually you are not so. The truth is that you're rich.” Tribulation and affliction always purify our faith. Cone ten Boom, the famous Dutch revivalist, was delivered from the point of death in one of the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. Following is one of her testimonies. In the U.S.S.R., Christianity was under such severe persecution that believers worshipped in secret places like warehouses or underground rooms. One day while the Christians were holding a secret service in a warehouse, several soldiers of the Russian Army, armed with submachine guns, kicked the door open and raided the place in the middle of a service.
All the Christians held up their hands at gunpoint. In the Soviet Union, those who were discovered holding worship services were sent to Siberia, a place of endless suffering and agony. Then the soldiers said, “You shall be tried summarily at an appointed place. If any of you want to disown Jesus Christ, step forward. Now is your chance to avoid persecution.”
Some people stood up and went out. Most of the people, however, turned pale but stood still. They had to decide whether to die for Jesus' sake or to flee like the others. The silence was deadening as the soldiers waited.
Once more the soldiers shouted, “We will give you one more chance. If any of you want to live, come out quickly. Those of you who still ‘stick to Jesus: prepare yourself now for death!” Nobody moved a muscle. Then the believers all lowered their hands and began to pray, readying themselves to die.
At that point, the soldiers bolted the doors of the warehouse and turned around. Throwing their rifles to the floor, they said, “Brothers, we are Christians, too! We have come here to attend the worship service. We had to behave like that because we were afraid there might be some false Christians among you. Since the false believers have all fled, we do not need to worry about detection. Now let's continue the service!”
Hallelujah! As you can see from that true story, you can always distinguish sham from the genuine, And when Christ said to the church at Smyrna, which was under persecution, ‘Thou art rich,” He meant spiritual lichness.
The Lord also commended the Christians at Smyrna for overcoming the blasphemy they received from the Jews. Since Smyrna was a centre of emperor worship, anybody who would not bow down and worship the emperor was in danger of death. Many Jews were executed for their monotheistic faith, and while being pulled to death they dragged the Christians to the same death out of hatred. Thus were many Christians at Smyrna executed. Jesus said it wasn't the Jews but Satan who worked behind them.
E. Exhortation The Lord exhorted the church at Smyrna to be faithful unto death. Jesus said He would be their guarantor and give them a crown of life. Since we're also guaranteed by the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall also be taken care of if we have been faithful to the Lord, whether we live or die.
F. Promise The Lord promised the church at Smyrna it would not be hurt at the second death. The first death is the death of the body, and the second is the death of the soul. The first death comes to every being on this earth, but the second death, signifying the death of the wicked in the next world, is identified as everlasting torment of the soul in the lake of fire burning with brimstone. That has no power over the faithful. This promise means that even though the church at Smyrna was being put to death by the Roman persecutors, the Lord guaranteed it would avoid the second death and be translated to heaven.