Hope in Trials Rev 2:8-11
The Conditions we Encounter v.8-11
The Presence of Christ 8 "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: 'The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.
The letter is from the Lord of the church, from the eternal one, the eternal infinite God, already in existence when all things were created and remaining after all things are uncreated, transcending all time and all creation, the eternal God. Not only that, but who was dead, and has come to life. (Rev 22:13) Here is a letter of encouragement from the Lord saying. “I see you and know what you are about to encounter, and I care about you”. Can you imagine that church in Smyrna beleaguered poor, downtrodden, considered scum, hated, despised, feeling small and insignificant; under persecution, tribulation; facing the possibility of martyrdom, death: how wonderful it was to get a letter from the Lord. How comforting would that be? How encouraging would that be? It was encouraging that this came from the eternal one who knew everything. It was encouraging that Jesus had died and risen and had the power of death and Hades in His hands. So the worst that could happen to them, death couldn’t hold them any more than it could hold Him. (Mac Arthur)
The Persecution for Christ
Their Pressure – 9 'I know your tribulation Gk thlipsis – pressure, persecution, crushing.” Gk for Smyrna is myrrh It is a fragrant ointment that was used to put on dead bodies to mask the odor of the decay. Its fragrance was immitted when it was crushed. It is like this word for tribulation, “to be crushed, to be pressed.” (Mac Arthur) “Affliction, like myrrh, is bitter for the time being, but salutary; preserving the elect from corruption, and seasoning them for immortality, and gives scope for the exercise of the fragrantly breathing Christian virtues” [Vitringa].
Their Poverty - 9 " and your poverty (but you are rich) They were poor materially, but were rich Spiritually. They held their Treasures in heaven (Matt. 6:19-20)
Their Provocation – 9 and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, a synagogue of Satan Every year, every citizen of Smyrna had to burn incense to Caesar. There was as great altar there – Caesar’s altar – and you had to go every year and burn incents to Caesar and receive then a certificate that you had done that. Without a certificate, you would be persecuted because you were violating the highest law in Smyrna. The Jews had an agreement with the Romans that they would compromise and make concessions by burning incense to “honor” the Emperor, but they would not worship him. So, because of the number of influential and wealth Jews, the Roman officials allowed it. But the Christians would not burn incense at all and thus would not have no certificate. To be without a certificate by not saying Caesar is Lord, but only Jesus is Lord, was to risk discovery and death. So there were these Christ-hating, gospel-hating Jewish people. Synagogues in the town became synagogues of Satan and came against the true believers. They were
slandered at the hands of Jews. The Jews joined the heathens in putting them to death. (Mac Arthur) Christians were assailed by the Jews for their belief in Jesus as the risen Messiah. They were also considered atheist by the pagans because they worshipped an “invisible’ God. And they were condemned by the Romans for not worshipping the Emperor. So, there was persecution upon the Christians from three sides: the Jews, the Romans and the pagans.
The Composure we Exhibit v.10
Be Fearless 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer., Ps 56:3 Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation Be firm, hold fast the faith, confess Christ to the last, and at all hazards, and you shalt have a crown of life - you shalt be crowned with life, have an eternal happy existence, though thou suffer a temporal death. (Clarke) God did not promise them exemption from suffering. He saw that they were about to suffer, and he specifies the way their affliction would occur. But he entreats and commands them not to be afraid. They were to look to the “crown of life,” and to be comforted with the assurance that if they were faithful unto death, that would be, theirs. We need not dread suffering if we can hear the voice of the Redeemer encouraging us, and if he assures us that in a little while we shall have the crown of life.(Barnes) God's people undergo sufferings of various sorts, as the Christians of those times did, scourging, imprisonment, confiscation of goods, and death itself in various shapes; and these are certain, they shall suffer them; they are all knew beforehand, so they should not indulge a slavish fear about them (Gill) These persecuted Christians did not need to fear their adversaries or death since they would live forever with Jesus Christ. (Constable)
Be Faithful 10 Be faithful unto death, Gk ginou pistos meaning “Keep on becoming faithful” (present middle imperative of — ginomai), “keep on proving faithful unto death” (Robertson) Not faithful until the time of death, but faithful up to a measure which will endure death for Christ's sake. “It is an intensive, not an extensive term.” (Vincent). Faithful unto (not, “until:” but “even unto,” up to the point or measure of: Let not your faithfulness stop short of enduring death itself. (Phil 2:8) (Alford) It is true of everyone who is a Christian, in whatever manner he is to die, that if he is faithful unto death, a crown of life awaits him. (2 Tim 4:8) (Barnes) To continue believing in Christ, professing his name, striving for his Gospel, attending on his ordinances, and following him whithersoever he went; though this should expose them to sufferings, even unto death, which it became them cheerfully to undergo: and to which they are encouraged by the crown of life what follows, (Gill) “The Captain of our salvation never keeps back what those who faithfully witness for Him may have to bear for His name‘s sake; never entices recruits by the promise they shall find all things easy and pleasant there” [Trench]. Quit yoour heart of that cowardly passion, and die rather than deny the truth. Put on that resolution, Necesse esse ut eam, non ut vivam, Duty must be done, though I die for it. (Trapp) Faithfulness to our Master and His word under all circumstances. We may be forgotten by our fellows, hidden from all eyes but His; we may have no sympathy from companions, no cheering words from comrades in the fight; we may even hear nothing further on this score from the great Captain of our salvation. But we must be faithful unto death in our spirit, our trust, our obedience, and our love. Whereas we tremble at the thought of death, with Him it is the moment of our discharge from doubt, from temptation, from servitude, from waiting, from patience, from tedious toil; to Him it is our acceptance of the reward, the crown, and the glory.( Reynolds) The length of the period to which our faithfulness is expected to extend is "unto death"—"faithful" at home and abroad; "faithful" in prosperity and adversity; "faithful" through the whole course of our lives; "faithful unto death. (Norton) The faithfulness of the . . . saints of Christ consists, first, in a bold confession of the faith of Christ, when they are thereunto called. { Acts 24:13; 24:16} Secondly, in enduring sufferings for Christ's sake, not loving their lives unto death. Thirdly, (Rev 12:11} in not accepting deliverance upon any sinful terms. (Hebrews 11:35, 38} (Knolly) The Cost might be great but the crown awaits those who faithfully willingly pay it
The Compensation we Experience
Distinguished Endowment v10 and I will give you the crown of life. this very image in James 1:12, This was familiar metaphor in the games at Smyrna in which the prize was a garland (Robertson) But here it probably is the diadem of royalty rather than the garland of victory (Vincent) A crown without cares, corrivals, envy, end. Kings’ crowns are so weighty with cares, that often they make their heads ache. Not so this crown; the joys of it are without measure or mixture. (Trapp) The crown, as a symbol of reward and encouragement for constancy, is suitable to the notion of martyrdom, as a fight or combat for victory (Coke) This promise, has its pledge in the Lord’s own life after death (Rev 2:8) (Meyer) The glorious antithesis of death is life or immortality itself, as a bestowed and crowning endowment. (Whedon) Some, not many, of the early witnesses for the truth, appalled by the dread of torture and death, denied their Lord. Here faithfulness every step of the way, even unto death, is urged. If the martyr's crown is to be won, then constancy and steadfastness to the end must be maintained. (Scott) The crown, is here, (and elsewhere Rev 4:4, 6:2, 9:7, 14:14) not the crown of victory, but the badge of royal dignity (Hengstenberg) Every saint of God has fled to Christ for refuge, in a full dependence on that promise, “There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” And in the strength of Christ he has “fought the good fight, and finished his course, and kept the faith, in an assured expectation that there is laid up for him, according to God’s blessed word, a crown of righteousness, that fades not away. (Simeon)
Direct Access 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.' No Second Death (Rev. 21:8) The second death is a reference to the lake of fire in which Satan and his followers are destined at last to be overwhelmed. “The first death"; it is the death of the body to which all must submit. The second death is that of the soul, the absolute exclusion from God who is the source of life. (Coffman). eternal death, is distinction from a corporeal and temporal one; and in it lies a destruction of both body and soul in hell, and in an everlasting separation from God, and a continual sense of divine wrath; but of this the saints shall never be hurt, they are ordained to eternal life; this is secured for them in Christ, and he has it in his hands for them, and will give it to them. (Gill) We can face trials with confidence if we are assured of our salvation and the eternal nature of it! Non-believers are born once die twice, Hell forever, but believers are born twice die once (John 3:1-8), Heaven forever! To a soul contemplating its just desert, these thoughts must have been inconceivably precious. The very contrast between what man would inflict on earth, and what, but for his sovereign love and mercy, God would have inflicted on them in hell, must have made the deliverance appear so much the more wonderful, and the mercy offered to them so much the more endearing. The assurance here given to the Christian who overcomes his spiritual enemies must be an occasion of unutterable joy. And, inasmuch as this promise is given by the Holy Spirit to every soldier of Christ You have nothing to fear from the second death: on the contrary, the very stroke that separates your soul from your body shall transmit your soul to the very bosom of your God; who, in due season, will raise your body also from the grave, to partake with your soul in all the glory and felicity of heaven. Yes; it is no fading and corruptible crown that you fight for, but an incorruptible one, which shall be accorded to you in the presence of the whole assembled universe. “Go on then, from conquering to conquer,” till all enemies be put under your feet: and the recollection of your conflicts shall serve only to enhance your joys to all eternity (Simeon). By a second death, that is, he will have nothing to fear in the future world. Death cuts off from life - and so the second death cuts off from eternal life; death puts an end to all our hopes here, and the second death to all our hopes forever; death is attended with terrors and alarms. The promise here made would be all that was necessary to sustain them in their trials. Nothing more is requisite to make the burdens of life tolerable than an assurance that, when we reach the end of our earthly journey, we have arrived at the close of suffering, and that beyond the grave there is no power that can harm us. Scripture does not come to us with any promise that we shall not die. But it comes with the assurance that we shall be sustained in the dying hour; that the Redeemer will accompany us through the dark valley; that death to us will be a calm and quiet slumber, in the hope of awakening in the morning of the resurrection; that we shall be raised up again with bodies incorruptible and undecaying; and that beyond the grave we shall never fear death in any form. What more is needful to enable us to bear with patience the trials of this life, and to look upon death when it does come, disarmed as it is of its sting (1 Cor 15:55-57), with calmness and peace? (Barnes)
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