1600-5 Church

REVELATION 2:8-11
“And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Je-
sus” (1 Tim.1:14).
“Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay
hold on eternal life” (1 Tim.6:19).
“By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a
season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had re-
spect unto the recompence of the reward” (Heb.11:24-26).
“Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and
heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?” (Jas.2:5).

4. The church bore up under all kinds of slander. The slander came especially from the Jews of the city. There was a
large community of Jews in Smyrna. We know from historians that they were very prosperous and made large gifts to the
arts and to the culture development of the city. As a result they were influential with the city officials and local Roman gov-
ernment. As stated, it was the Jews who were stirring up so much trouble against the church. Note how they went about it:
they slandered the believers. They used their tongues to...
• ridicule • accuse • talk about
• mock • backbite • tear down
• lie • criticize • discriminate
• spread rumors • murmur • divide
But note what Christ says about the slandering Jews. They may profess to be Jews, but they are not. They are the synago-
gue of Satan. What does this mean? The Jews were God’s appointed people during the Old Testament period of history, be-
fore Christ came into the world. They were the people whom God had raised up to be His witnesses upon earth. But many of
them had failed to believe and follow God. In fact, they had even killed God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Jews in
Smyrna professed to be Jews, to be followers of God, but they were not. They were persecuting the real followers of God,
those who believed and worshipped the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God Himself. Therefore they were not worshippers of
God—not of the true and living God. On the contrary, they were worshippers of Satan.

Thought 1. This is a strong message to every church. We are either an assembly of God, of the true and living God,
or of Satan. It all depends upon whether or not we worship and serve the Lord Jesus Christ. We are a true church if
we proclaim and stand up for Christ in the midst of an evil and corrupt world, a world that slanders those who live
righteous and godly lives.

“Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father
which is in heaven. But whosoever therefore shall deny me before men, him will I also deny be-
fore my Father which is in heaven” (Mt.10:32-33).
“Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful
generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Fa-
ther with the holy angels” (Mk.8:38).
“If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us” (2 Tim.2:12).
“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers
among you, who privily [quietly] shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that
bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction” (2 Pt.2:1).
“Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the
Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: [but] he that
acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also” (1 Jn.2:22-23).
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many
false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that con-
fesseth Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard
that it should come; and even now already is it in the world” (1 Jn.4:1-3).
“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God”
(1 Jn.4:15).

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(2:10) Faithful—Church: there is the counsel. Note: Christ tells the church that more persecution is coming. The devil
is going to arouse the unbelievers of the world to attack them for ten days. The idea of ten is that of brevity, for just a
short time. Note a significant fact: God was allowing the persecution, and the reason is given—that the believers might be
tried. What does this mean? God was allowing them to be tried...
• so that they would draw closer and closer to Him and learn more from Him.
• so that their faith could be strengthened more and more and by such they could be stronger witnesses to the
world. When some unbelievers saw the believers suffer for the hope of salvation, the Holy Spirit would be able
to use their suffering to speak to them.
The counsel of Christ is a clear message to the church when it is being persecuted: do not fear but be faithful. Not to fear
may seem difficult when one is in the midst of being persecuted. But we must remember who Jesus Christ is:
g159 The first and last: He is in charge of all events and our lives are in His hands. He is with us from the first act of per-
secution to the last act of persecution (see note 2, Jesus Christ—Church—Rev.2:8 for more discussion).
g159 The One who was dead and is now alive: He is living and exalted as the Supreme Lord of the universe. He is
able to take care of us and make us dynamic witnesses for Him even in the midst of terrible persecution. He will
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