To the Church in SmyrnaMy Understanding: In the previous writing, Overcomers, the Lord gave me an overview of the seven letters to the seven churches in Asia and an outline that each letter basically followed. Each letter was to the church in a specific location, as well as each letter was authored by Jesus Christ. John was the human instrument called to deliver these letters. The main body of each letter, I saw as having three or four main parts, depending upon the letter: 1) The Affirmation, 2) The Condemnation, 3) The Proclamation and 4) The Application. I believe I am to follow that same basic outline with each of these letters. Today I sense I am to combine two of the churches together: Smyrna and Pergamum.
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. 9 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. 10 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.
11 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.
To the Church in Pergamum
12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13 I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.
14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. 15 Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.
First of all today I believe I am to look at the descriptions being given of the author of these letters, Jesus Christ. Jesus is described as the “First and the Last,” i.e. he is the beginning and the end. In other words, he is God. He existed with the Father always, and he is the creator of all things, as well as he holds all things together. So, we serve a triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He “died and came to life again.” Jesus Christ left his place in heaven with the Father, came to earth, took on human flesh, was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, and suffered as we suffer so that he could become our great, sympathetic and compassionate high priest (our mediator between us and the Father).
Then, he was hung on a cross to die as a common criminal, though he had committed no wrong. When he died on the cross, he took upon himself all our sins, which was the greatest suffering of all. Thus, our sins were crucified and buried with him, yet when he rose from the grave, our sins remained in the grave. When he rose victoriously from the dead, he conquered death, hell, Satan and sin – the penalty of sin and the control of sin over our daily lives. He did this because he loved us, so that through faith in Him, we might receive his great and precious promises of eternal life with him forever, of freedom from the penalty and the control of sin over our lives, and the freedom to live new lives in Jesus Christ.
After he rose from the grave, he ascended back to heaven to be with the Father (after having been witnessed as to his resurrection by many people, and after having spent some final time with his disciples on the earth). From heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to indwell the hearts and lives of those who truly believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And, one day this same Jesus is coming again in judgment and to receive his bride (the church) unto himself. The second description of him is of the one who has the sharp, double-edged sword, which he will use to judge even the church that is not faithful to Jesus Christ.
The Affirmation
The church in Smyrna was described as having afflictions and poverty, yet they were rich. I believe this is speaking of how they went through hardships in their lives and they were not rich in the things of this world, yet they were rich in faith and in love, which is the greatest richness of all! Perhaps you might identify with them today. Be encouraged! Though we have trials on this earth that test our faith, we must persevere and we must keep our heads in all situations, understanding the times we live in and with the perspective of eternity in mind. Jesus understood the slanderous accusations that stood against these believers by those who called themselves Jews (or we might say today, by those who call themselves Christians), yet they were not what they professed. He had been the recipient of such slanderous accusations himself and I am certain he still is. Yet, we should not be afraid of suffering false accusations, persecutions and/or rejections because of our faith in Christ Jesus. We may or may not be thrown into physical prison, yet Satan has ways of making us feel as though we are in prison (abandoned, forsaken, banished) through our times of suffering and persecution for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ, yet we should not fear. We are to be faithful, even to the point of death, and He will give us the crown of life.
The church in Pergamum was described as living where Satan has his throne, yet they remained true to the name of Jesus Christ, i.e. to who Jesus Christ is – his character, attributes, teachings, what he stands for, etc. Satan has his throne on the earth, so we all live where Satan has his throne (temporarily) until Jesus Christ comes to judge. And, we all face temptation, torments, false accusations, difficulties, etc. at the hand of Satan, which God uses in our lives to strengthen us in our faith and walk with Jesus Christ. In this case, this church was in a location where Satan was coming after believers in Jesus Christ and was killing those who witnessed for Jesus Christ because of their testimony, so these believers in Pergamum were to be encouraged for their faithfulness and in not denying their faith in Jesus Christ even in the face of such great persecution and the potential of death. In the USA, we have yet to face this kind of persecution in our nation to where we are put to death for our faith, but we do experience much emotional, mental and perhaps physical abuse, rejection and persecution for our faith, and even from those who purport faith.
The Condemnation
Even though the church in Pergamum was commended for their strong faith in Jesus Christ and for not denying him and for remaining true and faithful, Jesus Christ still had something against them. There were those in the church who followed false teaching and false teachers. That could be said of today’s church here in America, too. The main components of what Balaam and the Nicolaitans represent could be said, as well, of the church in the USA today. Balaam and the Nicolaitans shared a common thematic element, which was “compromise”. They either compromised with pagan (non-Christian) society or they compromised with worldliness, which are essentially the same thing. They blended their Christian faith and practice in with worldliness and with worldly patterns of behavior.
This “compromise” set the stage for “spiritual” liberty that gave them permission to practice idolatry and immorality. Theirs appeared to be more blatant. Today’s compromise with the world is more subtle and thus more dangerous. When the church becomes like a cleaned-up version of the world in order to attract the world, what they are presenting is the world, which is why the world is attracted to it. When the gospel of Jesus Christ is thus watered down in order to draw in large crowds of people and to be “seeker sensitive”, and repentance and obedience to Jesus Christ are removed from the gospel message, then by default the message of the church is a libertine message that does not bring its followers to the cross and to death to their old ways of life and to obedience and surrender to Jesus Christ. And, that is where most of today’s church in America is today, I believe.
The Proclamation
Whenever a condemnation (what Jesus had against them) was pronounced, it was immediately followed by the command to “repent,” i.e. for them to turn away from their practices that stood in contrast to their faith and to the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and for them to go the opposite direction in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ and to his commands. If they did not repent, i.e. if they refused Jesus Christ’s warnings and did not act upon them in faith and obedience and surrender to God’s will, then Jesus would come against them and would fight against them with the sword of his mouth. Jesus promised judgment of some kind for all these churches who had a condemnation declared against them if they refused to repent. The Bible says that judgment begins with the family of God and Jesus says that he disciplines those he loves, so our God is not just a God of grace, and Jesus is not satisfied with us just praying a prayer and never having changed. He still takes our sins seriously and he wants and commands obedience of his followers.
The Application
In all of the letters, Jesus Christ concludes them in two ways, one of which is to plead with each church to hear what the Spirit of God is saying to the churches. He is still saying that today. If the Holy Spirit of God is speaking to your heart and life via His Word, and/or if your church has been given a word from the Lord against it because of unchecked sin, idolatry, spiritual adultery, false teaching, etc., then Jesus is saying to you today to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying, repent, and obey the Lord so that you don’t face his hand of judgment against you.
The second part of these concluding remarks is the call to overcome, i.e. to overpower, disable, choke out, defeat and conquer anything in our lives that stands in the way to our faith in Jesus Christ from being fulfilled in our lives in full surrender and obedience to God. This is accomplished by not giving way or hold to the enemy, by not being led astray by sin’s deceitfulness, by not following a false gospel that, by default, gives permission to keep sinning, and by turning from sin and turning to walk in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ. Overcomers will receive eternal life and all that has to offer. Make sure today that your faith is one that overcomes and is not one that gives permission to keep on sinning, which is not true faith. Make sure you have the kind of faith that forsakes sin, that comes to the cross, and that follows Jesus Christ in obedience and surrender, and thus promises you eternal life so that you don’t have to live without Christ forever.
His Favor / An Original Work / April 18, 2011
Behold your King!
Worship the Lord, He’s the great I AM; the perfect Lamb.
Jesus, our Redeemer, our Savior, sustainer,
The heavens declare!
The risen One;
He gave His life as a sacrifice. He paid the price.
Our blessed provider, our Lord, magnify Him,
For He’s God’s Son!
Our God is King.
He reigns forever in majesty. He set us free.
Without Him forever, we won’t know his favor,
In victory!
Music, Page 1
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Music, Page 2
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