Message To The Church At Smyrna

Revelation 2:8 To the angel [messenger, pastor-teacher] of the Church of Smyrna write….

     It was for the advantage of the Church at Smyrna that God had given them a special pastor-teacher. It is for our advantage that God has given us a special pastor-teacher. This may be for face to face or non face to face teaching. However, we all need a pastor-teacher to teach us the Word of God so that we can live in God’s plan for our lives. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and have our souls fed with Bible doctrine daily. If we aren’t filled with the Holy Spirit, we won’t understand the Word of God. Our natural mind is foggy when it comes to understanding divine truth. It is the Holy Spirit Who makes it clear to us. He gets us out of the fog and on the right track! 1Peter 5:3

      Having a pastor-teacher will test our impersonal love. Remember, impersonal love is treating a person in love because of Bible doctrine in our souls. It doesn’t matter if the other person is acting in an unlovable way. The pastor-teacher is human just like the rest of us. There will be times when he needs our impersonal love just like there will be times when we need his impersonal love. If the pastor-teacher is teaching correct Bible doctrine, that is all that is important. We need to stay faithful to the message. It’s all about the message, not the man. The Lord Jesus Christ gets the glory, not the man.

John 13:34 I [Jesus Christ] give you a new mandate [command], that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also love [impersonal love] one another.

      Having a pastor-teacher is also a test of our teachability, enforced and genuine humility. Sometimes we will like the message, sometimes we won’t. We are to respect the authority of our pastor-teacher. However, we are not to put him on a pedestal. He is human just like us, but God has given him the gift of pastor-teacher. We are to learn Bible doctrine from him and let the Word of God penetrate our souls so that we can relax! As believers, we are members of the Royal Family, the body of Christ. Jesus Christ is the Head. Pastor-teachers are doing their parts in the Royal Family by teaching us. We have the opportunity and privilege to learn from them and bring glory to God! Let’s be teachable and do our part in the Royal Family of God with a relaxed mental attitude!!!

Proverbs 15:14 The wise, sensible heart [mind] seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly [a foolish act or idea].

     Now, on to the city of Smyrna. It was located on the coast and was a magnificent port city. There were lots of boats coming and going. It became one of the most prosperous trading centers. So, the people living there were wealthy. The believers there had to pass the prosperity test, which is difficult. When one has a lot of wealth, sometimes that person doesn’t see the need for God anymore. When one is very poor, he tends to seek God for help. The church at Smyrna was the greatest church in the ancient world. God warned these believers that Satan would attack them because they were so positive. He told them to be faithful to His Word, to hang in there when Satan attacked. They did hang in there! Are we willing to give up even prosperity to follow the Lord Jesus Christ? Are we willing to give up anything that we need to give up in order to follow TLJC? God is not looking at what we do, He is looking at our attitudes!!!!
 

Philippians 3:7-8 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.

Revelation 2:8 To the messenger of the Church at Smyrna write: the first and the last Who was dead, and has come to life, says this: I know your tribulation ….

     Jesus Christ is the First and the Last. He is the God-Man in hypostatic union which means that He is 100% God and 100% man. No one is like Him. Difficult for us to understand, but we know that it is true because God tells us so in the Bible. John 1:1 In the beginning [eternity past, absolute existence] was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him; and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. Jesus Christ began human history, and He will end human history. He will end history by destroying what He first created and then creating the new heavens, the new earth, and the New Jerusalem. !
 

     Knowing that Jesus Christ is the First and the Last, we can also rest in the fact that He controls history. We all have free will, but God will not let the world destroy itself. God knows the beginning from the end and he allows certain things to happen. God in His omniscience knows what is best. Evil things happen because we have free will. Someone may commit a crime. God allows it. But God may step in and put a policeman there to catch the criminal. Don’t ever blame God for evil things happening!!!! Instead, look at the bad choices mankind makes. God loves us with all His heart and soul. He wants all men to be saved and to grow in His grace and knowledge. But He won’t force us. However, Jesus Christ controls human history. He won’t let us destroy ourselves. In fact, there is nothing that we can do to change the plan of God! He saw the beginning to the end and made provisions for everything that would happen. So, RELAX! GOD’S IN CONTROL!

2 Timothy 1:8-9 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God; Who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.!
 

Revelation 2:9-11 ‘I have known all about your pressure, your adversity, and your poverty (but you keep on being rich),

     God knew that the Church at Smyrna had gone through pressures and adversities. The positive believers had gone through suffering for blessing. They were spiritually wealthy because they continued to cope with pressures and adversities. They didn’t lose heart or get discouraged. Their new natures were growing and being renewed day by day through Bible doctrine. (2 Corinthians 4:15) We can have this same type of life as the Smyrna type believers. They built edifices or buildings in their souls, edification complexes. We can have edification complexes, or build edifices in our souls. We can become rich in our souls! We can become spiritual multimillionaires! To do this, we have to learn, believe, and use Bible doctrine daily!!
 

 
Mathew 6:19-21 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
 

Revelation 2:9 …and the blasphemy [slander, gossiping and judging] by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue [congregation] of Satan.

     Slander is another name for the devil, Satan. Satan slanders people or tears people down, especially believers who are positive to the Word of God. Slander comes from an evil heart and Satan has a very evil heart! The Smyrna believers were certainly positive to the Word of God. Therefore they were constantly facing people testing from both the Jewish community and the Roman Empire. These two groups were a congregation of Satan! The Roman Empire hated the Christians. The Jews of Smyrna helped the Roman Empire by persecuting the Christians at Smyrna. They slandered the Christians and forced them out of business. The Smyrna believers became poor as far as worldly goods, but very wealthy spiritually. .

Revelation 2:10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison [a system], that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days [ten is the number of completion. It didn’t mean that they would have tribulation for 10 days, but they would have it until the Lord wanted it to stop].

      The Lord told the Church at Smyrna not to fear what they were about to suffer. He meant that they were not to let fear control them. They were going to suffer some awful sufferings and they would be afraid. But God would support them through the Bible doctrine in their souls. It was the thinking of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was their greatest weapon. This thinking would carry them through their sufferings. Fear would not control them. Fear is lack of thinking and they used the thinking of the Lord Jesus Christ! They lived in God’s promises. No matter what they went through, they knew that God would be with them. When fear controls us, it is an insult to God. We are saying that we don’t trust the character of God! Well, the Smyrna believers trusted in the character of God!!

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the One who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.

     Satan attacks us through his systems. Some of his systems are fear, bitterness, anxiety, worry, guilt, and condemnation. He wants to stop us from going ahead in God’s plan. He wants to bring us down and choke us with fears, worries, and bad mental attitudes. However, we don’t have to live in fear because Satan has been defeated at the cross! God has solved all of our problems. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have no worries! We don’t have to look anxiously around us for answers to our problems. God has all of the answers in the Bible, the thinking of the Lord Jesus Christ! The Smyrna believers had lots of Jesus Christ’s thinking in their souls so they could resist Satan’s attacks. We need to learn, believe, and use Bible doctrine daily so that we can fight off the attacks of Satan’s systems.



Isaiah 41:10 Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am you God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you. Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

Revelation 2:10 Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

     The believers at Smyrna who were faithful until death, will receive the crown of life! They suffered through trials, heartaches, and disasters, even death because of their faithfulness to the Word of God and their love for God. They had built spiritual buildings in their souls called edification complexes. They became mature believers and glorified God. We can do the same thing! It takes learning, believing, and applying a lot of Bible doctrine. We need to take time daily to build our spiritual buildings, our edification complexes in our souls. We can be faithful to God until the day we die and become mature believers. We can each receive the crown of life from God in heaven and give God the glory!! YEA!.

Revelation 3:11 I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have [Bible doctrine in your soul], so that no one will take your crown.

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Deuteronomy 31:8   The Lord is the One Who goes ahead of you; He will be with you.  He will not fail you or forsake you.  Do not fear or be dismayed.  

Psalm 56:3   The times I am afraid, I will trust in you.

Message to the Church at Smyrna

References used:

                    Robert R.McLaughlin Bible Ministries   www.gbible.org                   
                   
                    Lessons:   Pennsylvania Conference 8-27-02 to 8-29-02

                    Christian Integrity, R.B. Thieme, Jr.