Smyrna: Unshakable Faith
"These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life: 'I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.'" -Revelation 2:8-9
The Church at Smyrna. This church has an interesting story. In each of the seven church letters Jesus wanted John to send out, Smyrna was the one that Jesus found no fault in. The letter to the Church at Smyrna was a letter of encouragement and motivation to keep going. Keep going for what? They endured intense persecution for their faith.
What kinds of things did they endure? The text itself is broad, as you see above, they apparently had "tribulation and poverty." Let's camp there for a minute.
When we look into what was going on in their day, Christianity had been outlawed at that point. The Roman government had become increasingly aggressive toward Christianity as it was seen as a cult and a threat to power. The situation surrounding the Smyrna congregation included imprisonment, random mobbing of their homes, job loss, starvation, home loss, families being torn apart, and death.
As if that weren't enough tribulation, Jesus also mentions that He sees these "Jews" who "are not, but are a synagogue of Satan." Throughout history, the Jews claimed to be the "assembly of God" through Abraham. As ethnic Jews, they claimed to be the very synagogue of God, yet Jesus calls them a "synagogue of Satan" by their actions. What actions? They were teaming up with pagans, especially those in governmental power, to gain leverage against the Christians. The idea was to get those in power on their side to finally squash the movement of Christ for good.
Attached to these attempts, the Jews and pagans were also spewing harsh lies against the Christians at Smyrna taking various Christian teachings and practices out of context to put a negative, pagan spin on the Church.
They were claiming things like:
-Christians are cannibals (because of the Lord's Supper teaching)
-Christians are sexually immoral (mistaking the "Agape" fellowship feasts for orgies or sex parties)
-Christians are atheists (because they had no icons, idols or altars in their church)
-Christians are anti-government (because they would not claim Caesar as Lord)
-Christians are arsonists (twisting the teaching of the world ending by fire and wrath of God)
The Christians at Smyrna faced everything one could imagine that is associated with persecution: slander, poverty, loss, starvation, prison, and death.
And yet, Jesus found no fault in them. In fact, He even stated that He knew "their works." He knew their ministry and their faith in spite of all of this and He found no fault in them. He then encourages them to continue on in the faith because a crown of victory, joy, belonging and glory awaited all the faithful. He encouraged them to remember that He defeated the death they faced and the life He lives eternally was theirs on the other side of death. He encouraged them in their faithfulness.
The big question for us today, especially those of us who are in countries that don't see true persecution like this: Would we stand faithful? What would you do if you had no food, no money, no security, and no promise of freedom tomorrow?
Would you stand in unshakable faith?
If you are a true believer, you will be able to stand because of Christ and Christ alone. It is through Him that we are strong. Stand in faith and pray for our persecuted brothers/sisters. The reward for faithfulness is great!
The Church at Smyrna. This church has an interesting story. In each of the seven church letters Jesus wanted John to send out, Smyrna was the one that Jesus found no fault in. The letter to the Church at Smyrna was a letter of encouragement and motivation to keep going. Keep going for what? They endured intense persecution for their faith.
What kinds of things did they endure? The text itself is broad, as you see above, they apparently had "tribulation and poverty." Let's camp there for a minute.
When we look into what was going on in their day, Christianity had been outlawed at that point. The Roman government had become increasingly aggressive toward Christianity as it was seen as a cult and a threat to power. The situation surrounding the Smyrna congregation included imprisonment, random mobbing of their homes, job loss, starvation, home loss, families being torn apart, and death.
As if that weren't enough tribulation, Jesus also mentions that He sees these "Jews" who "are not, but are a synagogue of Satan." Throughout history, the Jews claimed to be the "assembly of God" through Abraham. As ethnic Jews, they claimed to be the very synagogue of God, yet Jesus calls them a "synagogue of Satan" by their actions. What actions? They were teaming up with pagans, especially those in governmental power, to gain leverage against the Christians. The idea was to get those in power on their side to finally squash the movement of Christ for good.
Attached to these attempts, the Jews and pagans were also spewing harsh lies against the Christians at Smyrna taking various Christian teachings and practices out of context to put a negative, pagan spin on the Church.
They were claiming things like:
-Christians are cannibals (because of the Lord's Supper teaching)
-Christians are sexually immoral (mistaking the "Agape" fellowship feasts for orgies or sex parties)
-Christians are atheists (because they had no icons, idols or altars in their church)
-Christians are anti-government (because they would not claim Caesar as Lord)
-Christians are arsonists (twisting the teaching of the world ending by fire and wrath of God)
The Christians at Smyrna faced everything one could imagine that is associated with persecution: slander, poverty, loss, starvation, prison, and death.
And yet, Jesus found no fault in them. In fact, He even stated that He knew "their works." He knew their ministry and their faith in spite of all of this and He found no fault in them. He then encourages them to continue on in the faith because a crown of victory, joy, belonging and glory awaited all the faithful. He encouraged them to remember that He defeated the death they faced and the life He lives eternally was theirs on the other side of death. He encouraged them in their faithfulness.
The big question for us today, especially those of us who are in countries that don't see true persecution like this: Would we stand faithful? What would you do if you had no food, no money, no security, and no promise of freedom tomorrow?
Would you stand in unshakable faith?
If you are a true believer, you will be able to stand because of Christ and Christ alone. It is through Him that we are strong. Stand in faith and pray for our persecuted brothers/sisters. The reward for faithfulness is great!
Comments
Post a Comment