Okay shalom everyone you know what we're going to do today we are going to go back to where we have been just after we came back from our tour to Israel and to turkey and to Greece we were talking about the book of the Revelation and the second chapter we have been occupied if you remember with the seven assemblies or the seven letters that Yeshua the Messiah wrote to we have just about covered the first church in chapter 2 the church of Ephesus and we wanted to talk today about the second church the church of Smyrna yet I want to make a few more remarks about the first church the church of Ephesus so will you please turn to Revelation chapter 2 and I'm going to read the verses from the last verses in connection with the church of Ephesus and then I'll read until verse 11.

The church of Smyrna, there is a lot to this church, not too many sections or too many verses, but I'm going to read this alongside some of the verses in connection with Ephesians. The church to Ephesus. So let's read Revelation 2, and I'm reading from verse 4. Nevertheless, Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy lampstand out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I give to it of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. And unto the angel of the church of Smyrna write, These things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive. I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, but thou art rich, and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of these things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried, but ye shall have tribulation ten days.

Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. I stop here in this passage. And remember, beloved brothers and sisters, we are talking about the letters that the glorified Mashiach, that the Messiah, that Christ, that Christos, that Yeshua, After he died and he was buried and he rose again, he had been ascended and had been taken to heaven, and from heaven he is giving a special Revelation through an angel to the apostle John, Yochanan, who was on an island called Patmos, present-day Greece.

There he was, because of the fact that he was faithful to the preaching of the Word of God, He was faithful to testify about Jesus, our Lord, Yeshua, our Lord and our Messiah. And because of it, he was there on this separated island, away from the people, the brethren, the believers that he loved so much. And there they placed him, and there he received this unique Revelation. And the Lord, the glorified Lord, had given him letters that he would write, put on paper, if you will, and give them and address them to every one of those seven local assemblies that existed then in Asia Minor.

By the way, when we were there in our visit just recently, you can see we have been told that about 2% of the population of this area are Christians. And most of them are nominal Christians. And can you just imagine where the beginning, the foundation of the church that have began in of course in Jerusalem and then later on have grown to the Gentile nations of the world in Asia Minor when you think about what existing there today it makes you sad to see how little what have existed many years ago in the early period of church history how little today is a testimony to the person of the Lord Jesus in this area most of the population there are muslims And Christianity, per se, not much to say in this area these days.

Though there is always those that remain faithful to Yeshua, the Messiah. So we have now those letters. The first one was the letter that had been written to the Ephesians, to Ephesus. And you remember that we said that the letter to Ephesus, the word Ephesus, simply give us the expression of desire. They had a desirable condition. They maintained the doctrine the teaching they've been faithful to protect you know that things will not creep in they hated the works of the nicolaitans and we talked about that nicolaitans speak about those that the rulers of the people that already in early church age there was a development of those that have segregated themselves they say here is the clergy here is the leity here is the rulers of the people and they already then have thrown out the windows the truth of the priesthood of all believers.

This is important to recognize. There is no distinction between the one who stands in the front and the one that is sitting in the pew. There is no distinction. No one is nearer to God there is a neaterness that we all have because of Yeshua the Messiah yes God gave gifts to men he gave to some to be teachers to some to be shepherd to some to an evangelist and so on and many other gifts in the body of Messiah but already then and there at the period of time. Of the Ephesians of the church of Ephesus which is really has to do with the first hundred years of church history already then we could see that have development of what you call the clergy leity and the Lord is commanding them in verse 6 of chapter 2 this you have here's a commendation that you hate us the deeds of the Nicolaitans which I also hate as well you know the Lord does hate this distinction this superiority complex that people think that they are above others and that they are superior to others that's why we read in other passages of Scripture humble thyself under the mighty hand of God and he will exalt you in due time but there was one thing that he had to tell them that he had to correct them and we did touch it last time and this is the condemnation that he has against them he says thou has left thy first love and we talked about it already to leave the first love is not to lose the first love but to leave it that means.

That that which we have had towards the Lord in our early time when we became believers the affection towards him the desire to live for him the desire to learn from his word the desire to be with believers that walk together and speak about him the affection and the love relationship that we had towards our Lord towards Yeshua the Messiah the affection that they had towards him they have left and when they have left they have moved what happened they have been doing all these other things that we have already read about them they resist fall teachers they've had the good works that they have done they've done a lot of good things that we have read in chapter 2 they have done all kind of things he said i know your works and your labors and your patience and you know that you cannot bear them that do evil they have guarded the truth of God they have been in somewhat became like a pharisees that they have took the word without the spirit of the word.

Without the desire the heart that goes along with it the holy Spirit of God to lead them you know what we can become like that that is a danger for people who hold on to the truth and don't practice the truth with a love and affection you remember the verse we have in John 1 the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Yeshua the Messiah grace and truth not only truth but But both came by Yeshua the Messiah. We don't need only truth, but we also need grace. We don't need only light, but we need also love. It's got to balance itself.

You know, those that we often call legal, those that stand on the letter of the word without a movement of the soul and affection. On the other hand, those that we call loose, the liberals, a door that they love everybody and everything goes but not standing on the a b c of the word of God we need both beloved we don't need only the one and you notice that he's telling them listen he's telling them in verse 4 of chapter 2 he says you have left your first love i have this against you living is not losing living is opportunity to move back to where they have been there before and that's why he challenges them now you notice what he says in verse 5 of chapter 2 he tells them those three hours that we can definitely use number one remember Number two, repent.

Number three, return. Three things He is telling them in verse 5. Remember from where you have fallen. You know that? What the Lord is calling a person whose love towards Him is no longer the same like it was? It's a fall. You know, we often think like that. When a person fell into sin, sexual sin, moral sin, all kind of sin, we said, oh, he had fallen. But we don't realize that a person who used to love the Lord so much and now he doesn't practice this like he used to do it before, it's a fall. That's why he's telling them in verse 5, remember from where you have fallen.

Look back and remember how you used to be. And you know, brothers and sisters, you and I have to admit that. That that was a fall that we have fallen. When we look back at the history of our walk with the Lord and we look at the present condition, maybe we are not in that situation of the Ephesians right now. Maybe some of us have returned to that. But when a person used to have a fresh love and affection towards Yeshua the Messiah, and no longer now, that's the fall. And he's telling to the Ephesians, remember, don't forget that. Look back. Look back at the history of your life as a believer.

Look back, remember from whence you have fallen. And you know what? Do something about it. Don't only remember, but one thing you need immediately to do is to repent. What is repentance? Repentance towards God means that we confess it, repent it, and make a change. Repentance means that I'm in business and I'm confessing this before the Lord and i'm making change i'm repenting and telling the Lord Lord this is exactly what is existing in my life as a believer in my spiritual state Lord i confess i'm not where i was before i repent and to mean it it's not only words it's not only words that come out of our mouths but it's something that come out of our hearts and our conscience and that's what the Lord saying to this ephesian church he's saying to them remember number one secondly repent turn around and thirdly you notice interesting enough he's telling them and do the first works the word that i gave for that is return when we return to do the first works that means that we are doing back what we did what we used to do what we used to do when we first fell in love with Yeshua the Messiah we read the Bible we prayed we have been attracted to the Lord we sought to follow the Lord.

We sought to be in the places where he's spoken of we sought to be in the places where he was praised and worshipped and adored it was the best place to be in the world we couldn't miss the the meeting where the believers were together. You remember when Thomas, in chapter 20 of the book of John, when he was not at the meeting where the Lord was there, the Lord came on that first day of the week and the disciples gathered together and they were there and the Lord appeared unto them at that room. And you know what a joy there had been? Thomas was not there.

And they said to Thomas, Thomas, we have seen the Lord. We have seen it. He We have been in our midst. But Thomas did not believe them. And said, until I will put my hands and thrust it into his side, I will not believe that he was there. Thomas missed the meeting. You know, beloved brothers and sisters, let me tell you, I hope that our meetings together, they not become mundane. And just, oh, yes, Saturday, I have to come to the meeting again. Oh, you know, I have so many things. I have to do shopping, and I have to go have good time, other things.

I have all kind of things to do. You know, there is a lot of time for business and pleasure, but so little time we give for the Lord. So little time. And that's why many people are losing out. Christians, number one, believers, number one, but unbelievers have time for everything in the world, but no time for Jesus, no time for Yeshua. Listen, this is our loss. This is our shame. This is our fault. We are going to lose out when we are not at a meeting. Now, I'm not saying we cannot get sick. We cannot have all kind of problems and all kind of issues.

I'm not saying that. But where is our hearts? Ephesians, where is your heart when it's come to your affection and love? You have moved out of the first love towards the Lord. You better remember where you have fallen from. You better repent and you better return to what you used to do in the past. Return to the first works that you have done in the past. And then he's saying to them, notice in the second part of verse 5, Or else I will come unto you quickly. And I will remove your lampstand out of his place except you repent. You notice that? He says, I'm going to come to you.

And he's speaking now to the Ephesians believers, to the professing church. What he's telling them, if you are not going to remember where you've fallen from, if you are not going to repent, and if you are not going to return, I'm going to have to do something about it. Don't forget, here we see the Lord as the king, as a judge, in the midst of his own people. At least in the midst of the professing church. We are not going to remember where we're falling from and return to the things that we have done before. He is going to remove the candlestick, the lampstand, out of his place.

What does that mean? Don't you notice that when we are away from the Lord, our lights for Jesus doesn't shine anymore. No testimony, no power in testifying to other people. The Lord remove that candlestick. He said I remove your candlestick in other words your testimony I'm going to remove it out of his place except you repent you know he doesn't need us if we don't need him he doesn't going to give us to be shining testimony from him if we don't want to be where he is we don't do him a favor he shines through us if we don't want him he's going to remove the testimony he's going to remove you know how many churches professing or groups of people that have set the Lord outside and haven't wholeheartedly gave their life to him he removed the testimony do you know how many churches and I'm using the churches not for building for groups of people that the Lord scattered because there was no longer fervent love and affection and desire to live for him.

He took away the lampstand. He just took it away. He took it away and it doesn't matter what the routine that they are doing or whatever they're trying to do to remain so-called church, there's no light shining for him. No power. Nobody want to come and hear the word. It's not a club. Remember, we don't have a club here. It's not a club we're coming and play dominoes or whatever we are coming to play here. No, the church is a light, is a testimony to the Lord. A testimony to His love, His grace, a testimony to His goodness, a testimony to His work that He has done.

He saved us from our sins. And if we will not testify for Him and have an affection and love towards Him, seek to learn from His Word, He is able to remove the lampstand. And he gave them warning. He is speaking to professing believers. He is speaking to a local group of people found themselves in a city called Ephesus and he tells them, listen, if you will not remember where you've fallen from and if you will not repent and if you will not return, what I'm going to do? I will come to you quickly. And I'm going to remove your candlestick out of his place except you repent.

Repentance is important. And then, of course, we have already talked in verse 6 about the fact that they have hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which he also have hated. And then the final word to the church of the Ephesians is in verse 7. And he says there, he that hath an ear. Notice now, he's talking about personally, he or she that hath an ear. Don't you and I look at other people and say, what about them? What about him? What about her? What about they? No. You. Me. That's why he used the word, he that hath an ear. And he doesn't talk about ears, even two ears.

He talks about an ear. He, singular. Ear, singular. Why? Because he doesn't, you know, we have two ears that God had given to us. But the thought here, it's not only hearing in a sense of listening to what has been told to us, but to appropriate it to ourselves individually he that hath an ear to listen and to obey let him hear what the spirit saith unto all the churches the holy Spirit of God does not only speak to the Ephesians church he doesn't only speak to one local assembly what he's saying through even though the letter had been addressed to the Ephesians what he's saying through the letter that had been addressed to the Ephesians he's writing to all the churches of our Lord Jesus the Messiah individuals in that churches who are listening and who are obeying the word of God he said let them listen to what the Spirit of God saith unto the churches and then notice at the promise that he gives them to those who listen those that are obeying he's saying to them in verse 7 at the second part to him, singular that overcome I will give to it of the tree of life which is in the midst of the.

Paradise of God what he's saying here I will give to the overcomer by the way all believers are overcomers But all the overcomers need to be on a daily basis feeding on the Lord, growing in the Lord, living the overcoming lives. So all believers are overcome. He that overcomes, who is he that overcomes? We read it in the epistle of John. He that believes that Yeshua is the Son of God. All believers are overcomers. But from among all believers who are called overcomers in the epistle of John that those that also submit to the Word of God on a daily basis and seek to live for Him.

And here's the promise. Notice, there are two things at least. Number one is fellowship. You notice in verse 7, I will give to Him to eat of the tree of life. It speaks about fellowship with the Lord here and now. To eat now. To feed on Him even now. You know, the fellowship with the Lord is an amazing thing. Sometimes we sing, so what a friend we have in Jesus. He's a friend that sticks us closer than a brother, even though sometimes we don't realize that, that we think we have, she's the best friend and he's the best friend, but really, the best friend we'll ever have individually is our blessed Lord.

And He's sticking closer than a brother. He feeds us, He has fellowship with us. When we walk with Him, we talk with Him along the narrow path and we can enjoy fellowship with our blessed Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. And the first thing He's telling them, number one, He's giving them fellowship here and now. But not only fellowship here and now, He continues. At the end of this verse 7, He says, I will give unto Him to eat of the tree of love, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. He also gave a promise to give us to be part in this eternal order that is yet to come.

He is speaking about the eternal order, and if you will look into the book of Revelation, in the book of Revelation you will discover that the tree of life is mentioned as well, And the tree of life is a type of Yeshua the Messiah, the picture of the Lord Jesus the Messiah. And so we can have that promise not only then for the future, but also here and now to Him that overcometh, I will give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. And there is a fellowship that is being promised to the believer here and now, and also to be with him in the eternal order.

And so, beloved, the church of Ephesus is the first church. It's really described to us the age between 30 AD to about 100 AD. The first church in history is being depicted by the first seven verses, the church of Ephesus. This is the church that has a desirable condition, and yet they have left their first love. And need to remember, to repent, and to return to where they have been before, when it's come to their relationship to the Lord, in their affection and love towards Him. So this is the church. In that particular church, at the end of the first seven verses of chapter 2, what we can learn from the church of Ephesus, there is, in a sense, we see that there is, Sometimes we neglect certain priorities that need in our relationship towards the Lord.

We learn from those seven verses that there is a necessity not to neglect priority. It's good to maintain true teaching, sound doctrine, but not neglecting the love and affection towards the Lord, the grace of the Lord, grace and truth, Light and love comes together. And here we learn from those first seven verses, the letter to the church of Ephesus, the necessity of not neglecting that which is important, the priorities, not setting them aside. Well, now the next verses. Let me read quickly the next verses, verses 8 to 11, very short passage, and this is now is the second letter, the letter that had been written to the church of Smyrna.

Let me read those verses once again. Verse 8, And unto the angel of the church of Smyrna write, This thing says the first and the last which was dead and is alive, I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, but thou art rich. And I know the blasphemy of them which say that they are Jews and they are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of these things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. And here right now, dear brothers and sisters, the Apostle John received that second letter to put down in order to send it and to write it for the church of Smyrna. Now, Smyrna, first of all, the word Smyrna come from the word mer, or in Hebrew we call it mar, bitter. So the Lord is writing to the angel of that particular church to the spiritual leadership if you will or to the angel that actually designated for that particular church and he's writing to this church that is called Smyrna it is present day izmir we have been in that beautiful city called izmir very interesting city located there is a beautiful waterfront there it is a really beautiful city but apparently in that particular city by the name of Izmir today or Smyrna the meaning of the name Myrrh is simply associated with suffering this particular church is the church that really has to do with the Roman persecutions you see if the first church has to do with the apostolic church, the first, the early church, the church of Ephesus, with the first 70, 80, 100 years of the church in its history, the church of Smyrna has to do from about 100 AD to about 313 AD.

This is a suffering church, the church that have undergone suffering by the Roman persecution now remember in that particular city Izmir today Smyrna of those days. Apparently while the local assembly the local church was established there a testimony for Yeshua the Messiah have been established there this particular group of believers have experienced persecutions have experienced sufferings and tribulation you know when we first became believers in Yeshua we thought at least that sufferings and tribulation is not going to be part of our life because we became believers in Jesus Jesus loved us he forgave our sins he died for us and he's going to give us a happy life and we never thought at least in the beginning heaven thought, the necessity or the fact that we will participate in suffering and trials as we follow the Lord.

When we are going to be in heaven, we are not going to suffer any longer. But here and now in this world, suffering is part of the experience of the believers. Now, in Izmir or in Smyrna, it was a central place of emperor worship. And apparently those believers at that time had to make a choice. They either say that Caesar is Lord, or they say that Yeshua is Lord. And those of them who did not want to accept the worship of Caesar end up to suffer a persecution and tribulation. And they stood firm. And that's why, beloved, if you notice those verse 8, 9, 10, and 11, there is not even one condemnation that is being written to that particular church.

To the Ephesians, he condemned them. He says, you have moved out of your first love towards me. You have left it. But we don't read of any condemnation to this Church of Smyrna. A suffering church. A suffering body of believers that have gone through tremendous suffering under the Roman Emperor's suffering because of their faith in Yeshua, the Messiah. By the way, when we use the word mor, it's an ointment that is being acquired by beating. Interesting that the name Smyrna, mor, mar, this kind of ointment is being acquired through beating. In fact, if you read in the book of Exodus, it was used for the oil, to make the oil for the temple.

And in order to acquire this moor, this special ointment, it comes through beating. And it's really described to us, you know, beating, speaking of hurting and suffering and persecution. So to acquire moor, myrrh, it comes through sufferings and beating. And that's the name of it, unto the angel of the church of Smyrna write. And he's telling them now he's writing to these believers in Smyrna and it's depict to us the suffering and the death that have happened to those people who believe in Yeshua the Messiah in that present time and you know it's really associated with suffering you know that i think the first time in the Bible the word myrrh is mentioned, it's in Genesis, when Jacob told his sons to go down to Egypt, and all you remember Joseph was there, to go down because there was famine in the land.

One of the things that he sent along with them, or one of the things that the people who passed by and traveled from one place towards Egypt, one of the things that they have taken these ointments and some of them were myrrh they've taken down they were merchants that moving from place to place but as I said earlier to acquire these expensive ointments and so on you came at a cost at beating and so those particular individuals there at the church of Smyrna were. Represented by suffering and the name itself give us this understanding. And so he's saying in verse 8 first of all here's the destination he's writing unto the angel of the church of Smyrna write these things saith and notice how the Lord described himself in verse 8b with every church he described himself, first of all, to the church of Smyrna, he described himself, he, he's saying, he that is the first and the last, he which was dead and is now alive.

You see what he's saying to them? He's identifying with the suffering church. He's saying, I was dead and I'm now alive again. I have suffered and died and now i am alive again this is the description of the glorified Messiah that John saw already in chapter 1 and verse 18 if you just turn the page to chapter 1 and verse 18 you notice it says i am he that liveth and was dead and behold i am alive and forevermore Amen and I have the keys of hell and death. You see, John received the letter to put down in a description of the glorified Messiah. He was the one that once he died and he suffered and now he's alive and he has the key of death and of Hades.

You see, he's encouraging them. When people suffer, they need an encouragement. An encouragement to those particular believers. He says, you see, I once suffered and I died. And now I am alive again. And such a beautiful description of the Lord Jesus to Messiah. You know, when you and I go through sufferings, whatever sufferings we go through, we need to remember that the Lord Jesus has already gone through death before. It's so good for us when things are hard and difficult, when things are not easy, when there are trials coming, family problems, health problems, financial problems, spiritual problems. When we go through those problems, we need to look back and see the Lord Jesus suffered once.

You remember when he was reviled, he reviled not against. When he was threatened, he did not threaten back, But he have committed himself to him, the judge, righteously. He have laid down his life. He have given over everything and eventually he was crucified on a Roman cross. He suffered, beloved brothers and sisters. He suffered in his life from the hands of men and in his death from the hands of God. He suffered and he can identify with us. He knows every trial, every problem that the believer goes through. And here is the church of Smyrna. They were suffering by the Roman persecution. The Roman persecuted the believers from the year 100 to about 313 AD.

There was a Roman persecution upon the believers, both locally in Smyrna, the city, and worldwide. They were suffering by the Roman emperors, by the Roman persecution. And so the Lord is encouraging them. And he's telling them, I am the one that is the first and the last. I am the one that was dead, but now I am alive. And so in verse, there is no condemnation. He doesn't condemn them. He doesn't tell anything bad to them, but he's commanding them. You notice now, in verse 9, we have some commendation, some things positive that he is telling to those believers there. And notice there are actually a few things here in verse 9.

I know thy works, number one, and your tribulation, number two, and your poverty, number three, and it says, but you are rich. Says i also know the blasphemy of them which say that they are Jews and they are not but they are of the synagogue of Satan let's talk a little bit about this verse very interesting verse he gives them here commendation number one he's saying to them in verse 9a i know your works you know it is amazing that in the middle of sufferings these particular believers did works for Jesus for Yeshua what does that mean they have been active in doing the proper thing maybe they were sharing the gospel maybe they were doing all kind of activities visitation of all the people who are sick the people who i need all kind of works remember works does not come for salvation but works come because of salvation and so they were doing works he said i know that i see it i know your works you know everything that we do for the Lord the Lord knows that don't worry if somebody else didn't quite understand what you did but let the.

Lord see what you did and what you do and live it with him i know your works he's saying to them but he continued and he says to them not only your works he says i know but also in verse 9 i know your tribulation i know that you are suffering i know your trials every tear that we shed the Lord knows about that every suffering that we suffer that the believers suffer he knows about the sufferings of the believers he knows that he knows the trials that the believers go through. And you know what, beloved, we live here in North America. We really do not know what tribulation is all about in comparison to other believers in the world in which we live in.

There are believers in this world that experience tribulations and suffering such as we cannot even fathom. We can see what's happening in communist countries where Christians where believers have no liberty to express themselves they hide in order to open the Bible and to meet together they are going underground just so they will be able to have. Fellowship with each other talking about the Lord we don't even realize what tribulation is all about and he doesn't talk about here the great tribulation because the great tribulation is not in subject here this is the tribulation the great tribulation that we have in other passages in the Scripture has to do with the time of Jacob's trouble after the church's rapture.

He doesn't talk about the tribulation, the great tribulation. He's speaking about day-by-day tribulation that believers undergo as they walk here with Yeshua the Messiah. And I'm sure we all have some of those trials and problems in our life, things that are causing us pain and sadness and sorrow. But you know, we think about the suffering that these brethren had to go under the Roman persecution, were to be a believer in Yeshua the Messiah, to make a choice rather than saying Caesar is Lord, to say Jesus is Lord, your Lord Yeshua is Lord. And because they did not want to let Caesar and acknowledge Caesar is Lord and acknowledge Yeshua is Lord, they have suffered persecution and tribulation.

And so the Lord telling them, I know your works. I know your tribulation. He knows that. He knows the problem that we face in our lives. He knows the trial that they face, these particular believers. Now let me just quickly, please turn to the passage that had been read to us in 1 Peter chapter 4 for a moment. 1 Peter chapter 4, we read this passage earlier. And I want you to just see this. This is something that is very interesting. 1 Peter chapter 4, and we read here from verse 12. Peter writing to the Hebrew believers in Yeshua, the Messiah of first century, and he told them this, verse 12, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trials which is to try you, as though some strained thing happen unto you.

But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of the Messiah's suffering, that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Messiah, happy are ye, for the Spirit of glory and of God rested upon you. On their part, he is evil spoken of, but on your part, he is glorified. Let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, as a Mashiach follower, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on his behalf.

For the time is come the judgment must begin at the house of God. And if it first began with us, what shall the end of them that obey not the gospel of God be? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore, let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their soul to Him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator. You notice that? He's saying, Peter's saying to the believers, he says, listen, don't think it strange when a fiery trial is coming to try you as if some strange thing happened unto you.

Well, listen, If they rejected the Messiah, what do you think they're going to do with those that follow him? You think the world is going to embrace the believer? Not at all. And those particular people, beloved brothers and sisters in Smyrna, those particular ones have suffered. And the Lord Jesus says, I know your works, and I know also your sufferings. And then he says, he continues in that same verse, verse 9, I also know your poverty. You know, sometimes we don't realize the wealth that the Lord has given to us here in this country. You know how rich we are? Even I'm talking about in a financial way, how blessed are we?

But they have poverty. These are believers that they were in a local assembly. They had also poverty, physical needs that they had, monetary needs, financial needs that these believers had. He says, I know that you are poor. I know that, he says. You know, thank God that he brings to the body of Messiah. He composed not only of rich and wealthy, but also poor and needy. We need the both and the Lord says the both he warned that the body of Messiah will meet the need of the others and he brings those who are well to do and those who are poor and have needs so they can minister to each other they can help each other and that's the way salvation is not only for rich and famous but salvation is for poor and needy and apparently the believers The church of Smyrna, he says, I know your works, I know your tribulation, and I know your poverty.

They were poor in a monetary way. They didn't have much. But you see what he said to them? But you are rich. While they were poor in a financial way, if you will, they were rich spiritually. Because they had the richness that is found in the person of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. And you remember that we read in the passage in 2 Corinthians 8, in verse 9. I'm just going to read that verse. 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 9. Paul is writing to those believers, and he says, For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, that though he was rich, for your sakes he became poor.

Why? That through his poverty you might be rich. You see, he, the rich one, became poor that they, or us, the Corinthians, and us who were poor spiritually, we become rich. That's what happened. Now the people at Smyrna had no financial ability. They were poor. But they were rich in the fact that they were belonging to the Lord. They had the wealth of spiritual wealth. They had eternal wealth. They had the Lord Jesus the Messiah and so he's encouraging them and he's saying i know your works i know your tribulation i know your poverty but you are really rich and you know when we pass the message of the gospel to others in love and in grace we pass to them the wealth of eternal security through our blessed Lord Jesus the Messiah now here's another difficult statement that reading about it through others i found various views on the second half of verse 9 on that fourth thing that the Lord Jesus the Messiah telling the believers at Smyrna he's Saying to them in verse 9b, And I know the blasphemy of them which say that they are Jews and are not, but they are of the synagogue of Satan.

Now it is an interesting statement that mentioned more than once in that book, those that say that they are Jews, but they are not, but they are of the synagogue of Satan. You know, there's a few views. Let me tell you at least one or two of them. The one view is that the Jewish people, such as myself and others from the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Hebrews, Israelis, Jews, they are physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are physical Jews, but when they rejected, when our own people rejected the Messiah, They are not what it's called true Jews. As it says here, it says they say that they are Jews, but they are not Jews.

Now, that's one way of looking at that. Now, I personally do not take it to mean that way. Why? And I can tell you simply why. Because even Paul, who have accepted the Messiah and become a believer in Yeshua, the Messiah, become a Christian, a Hebrew Christian, he also claimed to the fact that he was physically Jew. He says, I am a man who am a Jew. You read it in the book of Acts, chapter 20, 21, and so on. And he often called his brethren, you know, when they talked to the brethren, even though they were not believers, they were called Jews. Jews is both Jew by physical birth, but also Jew by spiritual birth associated with Judah, which is a praiser of God.

Some also take the passage in the book of Romans where it says he is not a Jew which is outwardly, but a Jew who is inwardly. He is the one who is truly Jew. But then again, I want you to understand that the context in Romans chapter 2 is as two Jews, physical Jews speaking, and one physical Jew who is a believer in Jesus says to the other physical Jew who do not believe in Jesus, He's saying to him, a true Jew is not only physical, but also spiritual. And so in this text, that is the suggestion that those people who are blaspheming, who say that they are Jews, but they are not really Jews, some individuals, some Bible teachers apply it to Jewish people who lived in Smyrna and opposed the believers and persecuted the believers in the city of Smyrna.

I want to suggest that I take a little bit different view than that, because the context here show us that it does not necessarily speaking about those who were born Jews, but it's speaking about those who claim to be the people of God. And at that particular time, in a time of the Roman emperors who were reigning and ruling over the world at that time, 100 AD to about 313 AD period the Roman emperors claimed to be God and the Romans themselves claimed to be the people of God and you can see it with this text that they have been blaspheming and they did not want those people to claim Jesus as Lord but they wanted them to claim as Caesar is Lord and God and those believers the Christians at the time of Smyrna suffered under the Roman persecution and so let me just say suggest this you don't have to accept it in a sense here what we see that those people who claim to be Jews the people of God But really, they were not the people of God, but they were of the synagogue of Satan.

He break terminology to apply it to the Romans emperors who persecuted the Christians of that present day. Now, whichever way you take it, you will notice immediately in the next verse what really happened. In the next verse, verse 10, here he is the exhortation. After he told them that they were claiming to be the people of God but they were really not the people of God and they were actually of the synagogue of Satan they were following Satan look what he's saying immediately he says don't be afraid of those things which you will suffer and they are going to suffer from those who persecuted the believers in verse 10 and then he said behold the devil will cast some of you into prison and that he may be tried and ye shall have tribulation for 10 days be thou faithful unto death and i will give you the crown of life now notice what he's telling them he's telling them actually these people who were of the synagogue of Satan these people who claim to be Jews or claim to be the people of God actually persecuted the Christians and he's saying to them don't be afraid of what they're going to do to you he says the devil those people who are actually following Satan the devil shall cast some of you.

Into prison that ye may be tried see what happened Satan for the Roman emperors attacked these believers in this period of time in the city of Smyrna and this period of time persecuted believers takes took them to prison because they did not want to follow the Roman emperor they did not want to call him Lord but they wanted to call Yeshua Lord and then he says that you shall suffer tribulation for 10 days now i don't know again i read by various writers and heard various messages about those 10 days what are those 10 days some suggest that it may be actually in the local setting 10 literal days but others suggest that there were 10 emperors that in this period of time specifically persecuted the Christians in this period of time from about 100 a.d to 313 a.d and let me give you the names of those 10 emperors now i probably will not pronounce them properly but the first one is nero who persecuted the Christians then dolmitian and.

It was dolmitian if you remember who took John and put him in the island that is called Patmos because he was testifying for Yeshua the Messiah and then you have argin and then marcus aurelius then we have Savers, or Severs, and then you have Maximinius, and then Desias, and then Valerian, and then Aurelian, and finally Diakletian. The ecclesian ten emperors that have persecuted believers in this period of time specifically ten emperors from certain period of time to period of time they have persecuted the believers in the whole world in this Roman emperors now it may be when it's speaking about 10 days in the local setting of the church of Smyrna they have persecuted those believers for 10 days and no more but beloved brothers and sisters if you look at church history the believers, the Christians, those who follow Yeshua the Messiah from about 100 AD to 313 AD they have suffered tremendously by those who claim to be the people of the emperor and the emperor claimed to be God Caesar is God and they followed him and they have persecuted the believers in an amazing way you just read church history and you'll see the sufferings of Christians during the time of the Roman persecution from about 100 a.d to about 313 a.d and the church of Smyrna represented the sufferings of the believers and sometime we are not to be surprised as first Peter 4 tells us.

When we also go through some sufferings and persecution. Now quickly, I want to end here with this verse 11, but the last part of verse 10, he says, you shall suffer tribulation for 10 days, you shall have tribulation for 10 days, and then he said, be thou faithful. Now notice in verse 10, see there at the end, he's saying, you be faithful, you be faithful unto death. You remember he said earlier, I'm the one who was dead and is now alive. He said, the believers in Smyrna, be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life. A crown of life. The Bible gives us various crowns that will be given to the believers.

The one crown that we have in John chapter 19 and verse 5, that's the crown of thorns that Yeshua, our Messiah, wore as he was hanging on the cross. That was the crown of thorns. But when it's come to the believers, there is promises for the believers who follow Yeshua. Various crowns have been promised to them. In 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 25, we have the incorruptible crown that is promised to the believers. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 19, we have the crown of rejoicing to those who continue to follow the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 8, we have the crown of righteousness. That those who live righteous here in this world will receive from the Lord in due time.

Here, and in James 1, verse 12, we have the crown of life that will be given to those who suffered for the Lord Jesus the Messiah. And in 1 Peter 5, verse 4, we have the crown of glory that will be given to those who lived for the glory of the Lord Jesus the Messiah. Here, amazing to see. He promised the crown of life. Those that suffer and died in the period of time of the Smyrna church, He promised them the crown of life. They will never die anymore. They will be with the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, forever. They will receive a crown of life because of the suffering that they have suffered for the name of the Lord.

And when we suffer, when we go through tribulation, There is the encouragement to be faithful all the way through, to be faithful. And now the closing of this particular letter to the church of Smyrna is in verse 11. Look at the promise we have in verse 11. He, notice that, verse 11, he says, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. You notice what he's giving us, the promise. He gave them the promise. He that hath an ear, not a singular, individual, ear, individual person who listen and appropriate this to himself or herself, let him hear what the Spirit of God is saying unto all the churches.

What is written to Ephesus was written for all the churches. What is written to Smyrna is written for all the churches. And look at the promise. It says at the end of verse 11, He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. The first death is the physical death. The second death has to do with the eternal death. We might die physically here. The body and the spirit and the soul will be separated. But thank God He promised him. The overcomers, the believers, have overcome. He gave them a promise. He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death. And the second death is mentioned in the book of the Revelation, chapter 20.

It's mentioned there of the death that will come. Those that will not be trusting the Lord Jesus as their Savior and Lord, they will eventually going to suffer the second death. And we read it in actually in Revelation chapter 20. It says in verse 6, it says, Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection. On such the second death has no part, has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of the Messiah and shall reign with him for a thousand years. The believers in Yeshua the Messiah going not to suffer the suffering of the second death, and they are going to reign and rule with the Lord Jesus the Messiah for that thousand years.

Well, I've concluded now the Church of Smyrna, the letter to the Church of Smyrna, and with this I'm going to stop. The Church of Smyrna speaks of the suffering church. Just like the church of Ephesus speak of the church that had the desirable condition and situation there. May the Lord help us to get a glimpse of those truths and to appropriate this to ourselves in our lives. That the Lord will get the glory and we will get the blessing.