Okay. Shalom, everyone. You know what we're going to do today? We're 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 two, 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 two? 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. So, 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 Yohanan, 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 is existing there today, it makes you sad to see how little what had 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.

And most of the population, there are Muslims, and Christianity, per se, not much to say in this area these days. 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 have 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 shepherds, to some to be 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 really has to do with the first hundred years of church history, already then we could see that they have development of what you call the clergy leity. And the Lord is commanding them in verse six of chapter two, 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 hast 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 false 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 kinds 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.

And 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 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, and those 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 R's that we can definitely use.

Number one, remember. Number two, repent. Number three, return. Three things he's 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 the 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 a fall. And he's telling to the Ephesians, he says, 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 that. 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 a 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 is 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 is 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 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 has been in our midst. But Thomas did not believe them. And he 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 kinds 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 the meeting. Now, I'm not saying we cannot get sick. We cannot have all kinds of problems and all kinds 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've 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. If 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. 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. 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 are. 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. You're going to remove the testimony. You're 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. To live for him. He took away the lampstand. He just took it away. He took it away. And doesn't matter. What the routine. That they are doing. Or whatever they are 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. No. The church. Is a light. Is a testimony. To the Lord. The 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. 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. Now. He 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 talking about an ear. He. Singular. Ear. Singular. Why? Because he doesn't. You know. We have two ears. That God had given to us. The thought here. It's not only hearing. In a sense of. Listening to what. Have been told to us. But to. Appropriate it. To ourselves. Individually. He. That hath an ear. To listen. And to obey.

Let. Let. Him hear. What the spirit. Sayeth 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. 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 a promise that he give 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 eat 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 life. So all believers are overcome. He that overcome. Who is he that overcome? 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. There are 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 is a friend. That sticks us closer than a brother. Even though sometimes. We don't realize that. That we think we have. She is the best friend. And he is the best friend. But really. Down the best friend. We'll ever have. Individually. Is our blessed Lord. And he is 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 is telling them. Number one. He is giving them. Fellowship. Here and now. But not only fellowship.

Here and now. He continues. At the end of this verse 7. He says. He is given to him. To eat of the tree of life. Which is in the midst. Of the paradise of God. He also. Give 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. 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. Two. What we can learn. From the church. Of Ephesus. There is. In a sense. We see. That there is. Sometime. 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. 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. We 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. The angel. Of the church. Of Smyrna. Right. These things. 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. Shall suffer. And 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. Sayeth. Unto the churches. He. That overcometh. Shall not. Be hurt. Of the second. Death. 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. Bitter. 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. Seventy. Eight. Hundred. Years. Of the church. In its history. The church. Of Smyrna. Has to do. From about. 100. A.D. To about. 313. A.D. This. Is. A. Suffering. The church. That. Have. Undergone. Suffering. In. 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. Ever. Experienced. Sufferings. And. Tribulation. You know. When. We. First. Became. Believers. In. Yeshua. We. Thought. At least. That. Sufferings. Our. Life. Because. We. Became. Believers. In. Jesus. Loved. Us. He. We. Never. Thought. The. Necessity. Or. The. Fact. That. We. Will. Participate. In. When. We. Are. Going. To. Suffer. Any. Longer. But. This. World. Sufferings. Is. Part. Of. The. Believers. Now. In. Ismail. Or. In. Smyrna. It. Apparently. Those. Believers. At. That. To. Make. A. To. They. Say. That. Yeshu. Is. Lord. Those. Of. Them. Who. Did. Not. Want. To. Accept. A. Persecution.

And. Tribulation. And. They. Stood. Firm. And. That's. Why. Beloved. If. You. Notice. Those. Verse. Eight. Nine. Ten. And. Eleven. There. Is. Not. Even. One. Condemnation. That. Is. Being. Written. To. That. Particular. Church. To. The. Ephesians. He. Condemned. Them. 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. Suffering. Their. Faith. In. Yeshua. The. Messiah. By. The. Way. When. We. Use. The. More. Is. Anointment. That. Is. Being. Acquired. By. Bitting. Interesting. That. The. Name. Smyrna. More. Mar. This. Kind. Of. Ointment. Is. Being. Acquired. Through. It. Was.

Used. For. The. Oil. To. Make. The. Temple. And. In. Order. To. Acquire. This. More. This. Special. Ointment. It. Comes. Through. Beating. Speaking. Of. Hurting. And. Suffering. And. Persecution. So. To. Acquire. More. More. It. Comes. Through. Sufferings. And. Beating. And. That. The. To. The. Angel. Of. The. Church. Of. Smyrna. Right. And. He. Is. Telling. Them. Now. He. Is. Writing. To. These. Believers. In. Smyrna. And. It. Depict. To. Us. The. Suffering. And. The. Death. That. Have. Happened. To. Those. People. Who. Believe. In. You. It. Really. Associated. With. Suffering. You. Know. That. I. Think. The. First. Time. In. Jacob. Told. His. Sons. To. Go. Down. To. Egypt. In.

Or. You. Remember. Joseph. Was. There. One. Of. The. Things. That. The. People. Who. Passed. By. And. Traveled. From. One. Of. The. Things. That. They. They. Have. Taken. Down. They. Were. Merchants. But. As. I. Said. Earlier. To. Acquire. These. Expensive. Ointments. And. So. Those. Particular. Individuals. There. At. The. Church. Of. Suffering. And. The. Name. Itself. Give. Us. This. Understanding. And. So. He. Is. Writing. Unto. The. These. Things. Sayeth. And. Notice. How. The. Lord. Describe. Himself. First. Of. All. To. The. Church. Of. Smyrna. He. Describe. Himself. He. He. Saying. He. That. Is. The. First. And. The. Last. He. Which. Was. Dead. And. Is. Find. With. The. Suffering.

Church. He. Saying. I. Was. Dead. And. I. Have. Suffered. And. Died. And. Now. I. Am. Alive. Again. This. Is. The. Description. Of. The. Glorified. Messiah. The. John. Saw. Already. In. Chapter. One. And. Verse. Eighteen. If. You. Just. Turn. The. Page. To. Chapter. See. That. Liveth. 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. A. Description. Of. The. Glorified. Messiah. He. Was. The. One. And. He. Has. The. Of. Hades. You. See. He. He. Encouraging. Them. When. People. Suffer. They. Need. Encouragement. To. Those. Particular. Believers. He. Says. You. See. I.

Once. Suffered. And. Now. I. Am. Alive. Again. And. Such. A. Beautiful. Descriptions. we go through. We need to remember that the Lord Jesus has already gone through that 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 A.D. 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 is 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 is commending 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.

It 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 is 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, a visitation of all the people who are sick, the people who are in 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 is saying to them. But He continues 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 sufferings 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, the 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, thinketh not strange concerning the fiery trials which is to try you, as though some strange 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 evil doer 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 need, financial need that these believers had. He says, I know that you are poor. I know that, he says.

You know, thank God that he bring to the body of Messiah is composed not only of rich and wealthy, but also poor and needy. We need the both. And the Lord says the both. He warns 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 where 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 2nd Corinthians, the passage in 2nd Corinthians 8 in verse 9. I'm just going to read that verse. 2nd 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 would 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 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 Roman 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 is 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 now 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 the 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 Roman 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's 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 ye 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 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 were 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 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 AD to 313 AD 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 Diacletian 10 emperors that have persecuted believers in this period of time specifically 10 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 but 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 amazing ways you just read church history and you will see the sufferings of Christians during the time of the Roman persecution from about 100 AD to about 313 AD and the church of Smyrna represented the sufferings of the believers and sometimes

we are not to be surprised as 1 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's promises for the believers who follow Yeshua various crowns have been promised to them in 1 Corinthians 9 and 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 and 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

will receive the 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 sayeth 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 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 he says 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 the overcomers the believers have overcome he give them a promise he that overcomers 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 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 the 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 glimpse of those truths and to appropriate this to ourselves in our life that the Lord will get glory and we will get the blessing