The Church in Smyrna

8“To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: “The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these things: 9“I know your works, oppression, and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10Don’t be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested; and you will have oppression for ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. He who overcomes won’t be harmed by the second death.

Revelation – The Seven Churches

At home I keep some very pretty tropical fish. Some of them swim as if they were about to break through the glass, and some love to play in my hand when I put it into the water. And one, perhaps feeling cramped because the tank was small, leapt up, fell outside, and died. However narrow and cramped the tank may be, a fish that comes out of it cannot help but die, and once it dies, that is the end.

Our lives are like this. Some people have great wealth and live in plenty, and some live in poverty they never wanted. Some are healthy, and some are sick and in pain. The circumstances they live in differ, but in the same way they all live out their allotted time and then meet death. Spiritual life, too, can go down different roads. Some people serve God all their lives, and some serve idols all their lives. Their lives may each look different, but it is the same for all: when God, the master of life, calls, their life in this world comes to an end.

And once people have put off the flesh, another life awaits every one of them. What we can be thankful for is that believers are living now with their life after death already settled. Because they have settled on heaven as the place they will go after death, believers now learn the Bible, worship, and try to live by faith.

The believers of the church in Smyrna lived in Smyrna, where there was a synagogue of Satan, yet they shook off its temptations and kept their faith, and so God recognized them. Smyrna was a port city north of Ephesus. It exported spices, and learning, science, and medicine flourished there. Its politics, economy, and culture were stable, so it was a very good place for people to live.

But because the city of Smyrna was materially rich, people gave themselves to pleasure and entertainment, and this became a great hindrance to spreading the gospel. The rich, after all, had no reason to go out of their way to worship an invisible god together with poor believers. There were also many adherents of Judaism here who kept the law, and they persecuted Christianity fiercely.

Hebrews 10:33-34

33partly, being exposed to both reproaches and oppressions; and partly, becoming partakers with those who were treated so. 34For you both had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an enduring one in the heavens.

Look at Hebrews 10:33-34. Christians were going through great oppression, reproached by people and made a public spectacle, yet by faith they were caring for believers who had been put in prison.

Whenever the apostle Paul was stoned and suffered as he preached the gospel, he received help from believers in Christ. He became a spectacle to those who threw stones and mocked him, but there were brothers and sisters in the faith who kept their faith with their whole lives, and that is likely why Paul was able to preach the gospel with such strength. They cared for believers in prison. That would mean they had put themselves in a rather dangerous position, where they too could be imprisoned. Even so, they were faithful with all they had, because they knew there was an eternal inheritance from the Lord, the first and the last, who was dead and has come to life.

Coming to believe that an eternal world exists is a miracle. Only faith can make a person give their life for an unseen God and an unseen heaven. To believe all those unseen things as though seeing them with your own eyes is possible only through the faith the Holy Spirit gives. The believers of the church in Smyrna believed in the unseen God and heaven as though they could see them, and they sincerely received Jesus Christ, who came to atone for their sins.

But sadly, because those who called themselves Jews held great power in the world, they persecuted the Christians and abused that power by taking away their workplaces and businesses, so the Christians could not help being poor. The self-proclaimed Jews held a mixed faith that said living well in the world is blessing. So they were people who worshiped the emperor and lived by compromising with the world. Once the Jews gained power, they built relationships with the Romans. With that power, the Jews used the authority of the Romans to execute Polycarp, who was a disciple of the apostle John and the first pastor of the church in Smyrna. In the name of God they persecuted believers far more harshly than Gentiles who believed in idols, or idol worshipers with their assorted gods, ever persecuted Christianity. They called themselves Jews who kept the law, but they did not know the truth the law was meant to teach, and that is why they persecuted Christians. God’s will is that the ordinance of the law be fulfilled in believers who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. The self-proclaimed Jews did not understand this, and so they persecuted believers on the pretext that they had broken the law.

I can understand how afraid the believers of the church in Smyrna must have been when their pastor Polycarp was executed. Losing their leader would have been a great shock to the believers, and they would have struggled with the fear that they too could die like Polycarp. Of course, the believers comforted one another in faith and came through it well, but facing death, they could hardly have stayed unshaken.

The Jews at the time probably thought that the church in Smyrna, having lost its pastor, had lost its strength, and so they would have laid bigger plans to bring it down. That is why Jesus Christ foretold that persecution would come. Even now, bitter roots that do not know the real truth are growing in the church like weeds, and the world is persecuting the church. People who have not come to a whole faith through the truth, and who think just as the world does, are throwing the church into confusion. Once people with that kind of faith took up church offices, the church could no longer govern itself by the law of truth, and its very foundation was shaken.

So you must not settle down in ease. For Satan has been working without ceasing, in the Garden of Eden and still today. You must always be armed with faith, because you do not know when or where Satan’s attack will come before the day this world ends. You must stand firm on the word, because persecution may come from people who hold a false gospel. Satan’s attacks may one day leave you having to keep your faith alone. So you must come to understand the word of truth more deeply and train yourself to live it out.

Revelation 2:9

9“I know your works, oppression, and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

The believers of the church in Smyrna went through the great hardship of seeing their pastor executed, yet they kept their faith. Jesus Christ saw this and commended them, saying that they were rich. Though their life in the world was hard and poor, they were beautiful in spirit. They were recognized as rich in faith. That means that even while they were being persecuted and put through the fire, the believers of the church in Smyrna showed him a faith that set its hope in heaven and lived it out by faith.

People sometimes choose their faith according to their own interests. When reality is hard and painful, people ought to choose faith to the end as the believers of the church in Smyrna did, but they may fall to temptation for a moment. Humanly speaking, of course, that is understandable, and we can feel sympathy. But heaven belongs to those who take it by force, so losing the spiritual war means losing, right there, the chance to go to heaven. This is a law God has set, so it is not a matter that human feelings or understanding can settle. That is why we must endure with the faith that says, “If I perish, I perish.”

Revelation 2:10

10Don’t be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested; and you will have oppression for ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Jesus Christ told the believers of the church in Smyrna in advance about the suffering that would come upon them. The suffering and persecution they would face were not something people could easily bear, and that is why he asked them to be faithful to death. Suppose you were like the believers of the church in Smyrna: your pastor had been executed, and then Jesus told you that you too would suffer before long. Could you rely on the word alone to the end and bear it?

The believers of the church in Smyrna must have been terrified to hear that persecution was coming soon, persecution that could cost them their lives. Even so, their hope was in heaven, so they would have waited for that time with praise and prayer. For Jesus Christ had promised that if they were faithful to death, he would give them the crown of life. He told them that the devil would test them by throwing some of the believers into prison, and that they should prepare their hearts. That was his care for them: the time would be short, so they could overcome it by faith.

Here we can see how attentive God is: we can sense his heart, how he worries that the believers he loves might not bear their suffering and might collapse. If Satan’s aim is to obstruct people’s salvation, then persecution of the believers of the church in Smyrna, who were full of faith, was bound to happen someday. God knew this, and so he helped them prepare in prayer ahead of time.

When Jesus told the believers of the church in Smyrna in advance that they would be persecuted, he was not saying he would give them a way of escape so that they would never face it. In the world they would have no choice but to fight a spiritual war with the devil, but his words were encouragement to win that war. He was asking them, when the devil persecuted them, to show how faithful their faith was, with all their life and strength. It is the same as his asking whether they believed that heaven exists, and whether they believed in him, the master of that heaven.

If God told you that Satan would put some of the believers in your church into prison and make them suffer, how would you prepare? And if he asked you to show a true faith, because not only your pastor but you too might be in danger, what do you think would be the first thought to come into your mind?

Of course, if we stand together when trial comes, we will surely be able to overcome it. But if Satan said he would kill your children unless you denied Jesus Christ right here, what choice would you make? We must put these questions to ourselves every day, and live out a full faith so that we can make the right choice.

Many believers today think that if they believe in God, they should succeed in the world and their children should all do well too. It is a common view that this is the blessing received from God. And when they succeed in the world, they boast that they were blessed because they lived the life of faith well.

But God, who created heaven and earth, is not like that. It is those who sincerely believe in Christ, who came to this earth to atone for their sins, that God calls believers, and it is God’s will to save such children of faith. To enter this kingdom of God, we must endure even when the world persecutes us, and we can enter only if we are faithful to death to keep our faith.

Perhaps you know that God has set these principles and works according to that law. Yet even knowing it, you probably still harbor the greedy wish that you, at least, could both go to heaven and live well in the world. So people would rather hear that God will give them great blessings and rewards than hear words like suffering, Satan, and endurance. Because pastors know this about people’s hearts, they are not proclaiming the word honestly. Blessing sounds much nicer to hear than suffering and the refining fire, but heaven is where those who take it by force enter. So it is a place no one can ever enter without fighting suffering, fighting Satan, and fighting oneself to keep the faith.

From a pastor’s standpoint, too, it is far easier to tell people to be blessed than to tell them to endure. That is why people flock to churches that preach worldly blessing, to hear what is pleasant to hear. When people are asked which church they attend, they are proud to name a church everyone knows. It would feel good, because it makes them look as if they have some faith. So when they introduce their church, the first thing they say with confidence is how many members it has, and they talk about the pastor’s education and the size of the church building as if boasting.

I have never once heard believers who attend church introduce themselves by saying how many times they have read through the Bible, how much they pray each day, or what choices they have made to live out their faith while communing with God through praise. If we think just a little more deeply, however many people there are, each of us goes to heaven alone, and the faith God looks at is the life each believer has lived.

Of course, having someone beside you whose faith is strong certainly helps you in your life of faith. But that faith is not your faith. Judas Iscariot, who was beside Jesus, fell to temptation, and Gehazi, who was beside Elisha, could not let go of his greed. Look at Demas, who had been with the apostle Paul, going off to the world. Then you see that faith is something each person must keep for themselves. Others can deliver the word to you and can help you keep your faith, but if you do not endure on your own, even that is no use.

God is not interested in what church you attend, what your pastor’s academic background is, or how many members there are. As with the seven churches in Revelation, he is interested in whether you know the truth, and in what kind of faith, grounded in the truth, you use to overcome each problem you meet. He is interested in whether you are making the right choices according to God’s will, and he is watching whether you are proclaiming the word boldly. So you must be sure to throw away the view of faith and of the church that so many people hold, and establish your faith anew in the truth.

Those who have understood God’s will and turned back from the road they were on long to die with Jesus on the cross, and they train again and again at giving themselves up. This is true blessing and great power, and the faith that can take part in God’s work. When we take up the cross ourselves in the Lord, we will realize that the world, which once looked so huge, is making history just as God’s word says. The moment we realize it, we will no longer fear the world, or Satan, or people. Cast off the greed that fills your heart, and look at the world through Jesus’ eyes. Then it is the world that will fear you, once you have cast off greed. If you cast off your cravings and greed toward the world, God will be glad to give heavenly blessings to you, whose heart has been made clean.

Whoever is faithful to death receives the crown of life as a reward. That crown is the crown of glory and the crown of eternal life. Satan can never take away a crown received as promised, so believers who are saved will live forever before God, praising him. Telling them to be faithful to death, and that he would give them the crown of life, Christ promised the believers of the church in Smyrna that he would help them not to be harmed by the second death.

In the words about giving the crown, “will give” means “shield” and “protection.” And the crown speaks of reward, and symbolizes glory, dignity, and the like. So believers who were faithful to death will enter the kingdom of God and live clothed in God’s glory, and so they will be protected from everything that threatens them.

The Bible records many kinds of crowns: the crown of life, the incorruptible crown, the crown of rejoicing, the crown of righteousness, the crown of glory, and others. There are this many kinds of crowns written in the Bible, and from that we can see that everything believers devote to God becomes a reward.

When Jesus said he would give the crown of life to the believers of the church in Smyrna, he was promising that, even though their bodies might be persecuted, he would protect those believers who held the hope of heaven from being harmed by eternal death, that is, the second death. To those who strove only to keep their faith, up to the moment their bodily life ended, he will give the crown of life, and so bless them to enjoy peace and rest in heaven.

The world is truly a place heaped with deadly troubles. No one can prepare against the attacks of evil people and evil spirits, so people are growing ever harder of heart and making evil decisions. On top of that, believers must also wage spiritual war against Satan, who tries to rob them of their faith. So they cannot keep their faith unless they themselves die with Jesus Christ on the cross.

If people knew how terrible the torment of falling into the second death is, they would realize what a great blessing it is that Jesus Christ now says he will give the crown of life. Even this world, where we live only for a while, is this hard and painful; just to think of having to live in darkness with unclean spirits is horrifying. How could anyone live forever in the fire that is not quenched, tormented by worms? Hell must be one unimaginable torment after another.

One day, when they are held in God’s embrace, believers will give heartfelt thanks for what a great blessing it was that they received Jesus Christ now. On the day they see face to face, they will know what a good thing their present endurance and faith were.

The faith you have now is not endurance for God’s sake. You are enjoying a blessing God has given, for your own eternal peace and rest.

Keep your faith to the end, like the believers of the church in Smyrna. Satan has come even into the church, throwing its people into confusion and tempting them to abandon their faith. Sadly, though, those who know the truth are living with thoughts that are far too complacent and a faith that is lazy.

Today, through all kinds of mass media, the idea is being cleverly slipped in that Jesus is a figure worthy of respect but not God. They teach that Christians believe in a Jesus no different from the gods the people of the world serve. They blaspheme his divinity by offering the false evidence that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and even had children. They make their forced claims with all sorts of false evidence they cannot prove, and the reason is to block people’s salvation. In their own way, they are working to keep people from receiving the precious Jesus. Satan is satisfied if he can make even one person fall, rather than trying to bring down all believers at once. That is why Satan works day and night.

But Satan is no match for God. That is why he tempts the children God has chosen. So we must live each day beating our bodies and bringing them into submission. If believers cannot discern this scheme of Satan’s, they will strive not to be hated by the world. They will say and do what the world wants, live lives much like the world’s, and take care that their faith does not show. It is to such believers that God has given the warning that he wishes they were cold or hot. Yet the church is fighting denominational battles and struggling for power, judging and condemning one another, and failing to preach the truth rightly.

Even if such people do not abandon Jesus altogether, Satan will think he has succeeded when people quarrel, compete, judge, and condemn one another with no regard for the truth. For that in itself is already not what a good believer looks like, and so Satan declares his victory. The quarrels of believers become a tool that obstructs the gospel. What is truly sad is that Jesus has shown believers many miracles and wonders and let them experience that he is protecting them thoroughly, and still they are falling to Satan’s temptation. To make one person fall, Satan will spend vast sums of money, hand out honors, and threaten and persecute.

But if we simply trust wholly in Jesus, who left his throne and came to this earth to save us, Satan will not be able to do anything to us. For God’s protection can never be broken down. Of course, the suffering and the refining fire we go through in the world are painful. And spiritual persecution is even more distressing. But what we must not forget is that the oppression Satan brings lasts only ten days. Those ten days will be very short and pass quickly compared with the blessing of living in heaven with the Lord, enjoying eternal life.

When evil people threaten and persecute believers to make them abandon Christ, the pain is hard for any human to bear, but believers who have set their hope in heaven must overcome it. Jesus Christ knew that the believers of the church in Smyrna would overcome by faith, and that is why he introduced himself as the first and the last, who was dead and has come to life. God, who created this universe, who rules human history, and who governs even the end, was letting them know that he is the one with absolute power to help them. Jesus promised the believers of the church in Smyrna that, just as he had died and come to life, if they kept their faith, then even though their bodies might suffer at the hands of evil people, he would give them rest in eternal life.

Jesus does not sit on his throne and tell believers to overcome no matter what. Jesus first came down to a low place and showed them the pain of the cross, and showed them how he overcame death and rose again. That is why he can encourage believers, telling them that since he did it, they can too, and since he is protecting them, they need not worry.

Revelation 20:6

6Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him one thousand years.

Believers who have part in the first resurrection are holy. Believers who have lived holy lives may face the death of the body, but they have received the blessing of having nothing to do with the second death, the final judgment in which people fall into the lake of fire. Every person must meet the first death, putting off the body. But with Christ at the center, people will be divided into those who fall into the second death and those who enjoy eternal life in heaven.

Christ knew that even while they were being persecuted by the Jews, the believers in Smyrna did not count their poverty and want as suffering. They were poor in their living, but inwardly they had a full faith. Because of that they lived in abundant grace, and so Jesus commended them, saying that in fact they were rich. It was because they had such faith that he could even tell them the fearful word that the devil would throw some of them into prison to be tested.

Because Jesus wanted to give the believers of the church in Smyrna a heavenly reward, he asked them to bear it for just ten days, painful as it would be. The faith that says, “If I perish, I perish,” is not a faith that everyone who believes in Jesus has. Only those who truly understand the truth, who believe in the Jesus who set aside his throne and bore the cross for their sins, and who know how precious God, the Creator of the world, is, can give their lives in faithfulness.

Look at what Jesus Christ said to the believers of the church in Smyrna. Then you see that he is giving each church a different word, according to the measure of its faith.

Revelation 3:14-17

14“To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write: “The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of God’s creation, says these things: 15“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. 16So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth. 17Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing;’ and don’t know that you are the wretched one, miserable, poor, blind, and naked;

To the church in Laodicea, Jesus spoke words completely different from those he spoke to the church in Smyrna.

Then which church is our church close to now? Are we perhaps, like the church in Laodicea, boasting before Jesus Christ that we know the word and live in the world lacking nothing? If Jesus told them that persecution would come, what decision do you think the believers of the church in Laodicea would make? Do you think they would answer that they are ready to overcome persecution whenever it comes, and that they have a faith that will never betray God, so he need not worry? They probably did not have a right faith, so they would not have been able to show him the kind of faith the believers of the church in Smyrna showed.

The suffering and persecution of this world will be over in ten days. Do not be shaken, then, by pain that lasts only a little while; set your hope on heaven and overcome it. For if you cannot endure and you betray God, the truly dreadful and fearful eternal second death is waiting. Do not forget that Jesus Christ is always at your side, helping you so that you do not fall into hell with Satan.

May you keep your faith well, enter the kingdom of glory where God reigns, and receive and enjoy the crown of life. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.