The Church at Smyrna

[saint701]

Happy Weekend Christianity Oasis!



Blessings!


THE CHURCH AT SMYRNA
Rev.2
[8] And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;
[9] 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 the synagogue of Satan.
[10] Fear none of those 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 a crown of life.
[11] 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.
Church number 2 on our Lord’s list was the Church at Smyrna. He didn’t have anything against them. Why? They were living godly lives. How do I know that? Because all that will live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. The Church at Smyrna was a longsuffering church, and as if that wasn’t enough our Lord informs them that things would get worse for some of them, not better. Satan would cast some of them in prison 10 days and during those 10 days they would have to endure tribulation, and perhaps death. But our Lord encourages them to hang in there and promises them they will be awarded a crown of life for doing so.

Paul spoke of those called of the Lord that suffer with him…glory awaits them.
Rom.8
[17] And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
I realize it isn’t normal in this day and age for most Christians to embrace suffering. We tend to think such only belongs to the clergy or saints so named by special authority, but here in the Church at Smyrna we find all involved in suffering from the least of them to the greatest of them. Our Lord challenges us not to fear such things, just patiently endure, as in so doing we will receive a crown of life.
I hear someone thinking, “But you don’t understand how horrible my life is right now…if God truly loves us why does He allow us to suffer so?”
First of all, I do indeed understand what it is like to suffer greatly…at times to such a degree it was most certainly tribulation, at other times intense persecution to the point I wished I could die.
As Christians why must we suffer so at times? There are several reasons of course, but the first thing that comes to my mind is to develop the spiritual fruit of patience. Master Luke gave us the explanation.
Luke.21
[19] In your patience possess ye your souls.
An even greater reason for suffering is that enduring such chastisement of the Lord we become accepted as His sons and daughters, (sons and daughters are both considered sons by virtue of the Spirit of our Lord within us being male). Our Heavenly Dad scourges every son that he receives. I think it best to suffer and prevail as in so doing our Heavenly Dad receives us. Being received as a Son of the Most High God is a great privilege. For that reason I accept whatever suffering comes my way, as in doing so I give Him glory. After all, in our suffering with our Lord Jesus and for our Heavenly Dad we show Him that we love Him greatly!
Have you ever wondered what it might be like to live in Heaven with God as one of His glorified sons? John tells us that our glory in Heaven will be such that we will be like our Lord Jesus. That’s some glory, huh? I have a picture depicting a warring Arc Angel of God in all his glory. The creature is quite something to behold. I’ve yet to see a picture of our Lord Jesus in all His majesty and glory that I thought was worthy of Him, but I think that when I see Him coming in the clouds of Heaven as King of Kings and Lord of Lords it will have been worth the wait beyond what any on Earth can imagine. If we suffer with Him we shall also be glorified with Him. Let us glory in our sufferings. Amen. Come Lord Jesus…




Blessings!
Love, In Christ Jesus, Saint.