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Revelation is also addressed specifically to each one of us
as individual Christians. The one who conquers—the one
who is faithful to the end—is a victorious
one. The Lord says here that that one will “eat
from the tree of life,” and partake of everlasting life,
that which was forfeited in the Garden of Eden in the long
ago. Christ restores for man what Adam lost
for man. Yet, it depends on individual faithfulness to share
in this blessedness, doesn’t it? Yes, we are a
congregation. We are, as a group of people, the
called out. We comprise a part of the church of
Christ universally. But we will be responsible
individually. We must be obedient
individually. We must live our lives
individually, and we will answer individually to
the Lord. Yes, it depends on the faithfulness of each
individual Christian to be able to share this
blessedness.
The Lord refers
to “the Paradise of God.”I thought
it was interesting that this word that is translated into the
English “paradise” is actually a word that was brought
over from the Persian language into Greek, and it literally means
“a park” or “a garden.” Well, many of
the descriptions and terms that we are going to see in the book of
Revelation are terms that will appeal to the human
mind—to the human intellect. They are not necessarily
descriptive of what is actually being stated. In other words,
does God really have “a park”—a “theme
park” maybe? Does he really have “a park”
prepared? I don’t think so. I think what He has
prepared for us—a place that we will share eternity with Him,
with His Son, with the Holy Spirit, with the heavenly
hosts—is a place that is so appealing that we can’t put
it into words adequately enough to describe it! But certainly
the understanding, or idea, of “a
park” or “a beautiful garden” helps us to
approximate that phrase, “Paradise of
God.”
“He who has an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
LETTER TO THE CHURCH IN
SMYRNA (verses 8-11)
Let’s
move on now to the letter to the church in Smyrna.
Revelation, chapter 2, beginning with verse
8, “And to
the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘These things says
the First and the Last, Who was dead, and came to
life:
[Verse
9] “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.
[Verse
10] Do not fear
any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the
devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be
tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until
death, and I will give you the crown of life.
[Verse
11] He who has
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who
overcomes shall not be hurt by the second
death.”’”
An
Introduction to the City of Smyrna
Smyrna was
directly north of Ephesus, about 35 miles. It was located
right on the Aegean Sea and they had an excellent, very deep harbor
there. It was apparently a very beautiful place. It was
a “safe harbor.” It was called in that
day—the 1st Century—“the Port of
Asia.” The City of Smyrna had been founded in the
3rd Century BC. It had a lovely climate; it was
said to be a delightful place to live. The City was well
thought out and well laid out. It was laid out in rectangles
with well-paved streets. It had a famous street called
“the Street of Gold,” which ran from the Temple of Zeus
to the Temple of Cybele. The hill that rose behind the city
was crowned with beautiful temples and public buildings and the
hill was called “The Crown of Smyrna.” The city
had been long noted for its devotion to Rome. They had
erected a temple to the Goddess Roma, the personification of Rome,
in 195 BC. Cicero called Smyrna “one of our most
faithful and most ancient allies.” It is not strange,
then, that this should become a center for emperor worship in the
New Testament period. We are going to see that the Lord makes
a comment about worship in this letter that He writes to the church
in Smyrna.
The
Lord’s Self-Designation (verse 8)
In the
salutation of this book of Revelation,
chapter 1, verse 8, Christ describes Himself as
the One Who was dead and lived again. No doubt this was to
help encourage Christians, like these ones here in Smyrna, in their
times of testing and suffering. The Lord had overcome death
and He was now—is now—continues to be— the Living
Lord.
Commendation (verse 9a)
“I
know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are
rich)”… [verse 9a]. Jesus says that He “knows”
the church—He “knows” this group of
Christians here, and He “knows” what they have
gone through and the affliction they have endured—their
“poverty,” their imprisonment. And
though they were poor, yet they were
“rich.” The implication is very clear
here. They were “rich”
spiritually. They may have been destitute in material
things. They may have even had their property and their
possessions pillaged by these hostile Jews or others, but because
of their faithfulness, they were “rich” in
spiritual things. We notice that the Lord does not promise
His followers that, even though they may be faithful and devoted,
they will not escape sufferings, or even physical death.
After all, why should they? As their leader, Jesus Himself
suffered. He was persecuted. He was treated
unjustly. In the end, He was unmercifully crucified on a
cross. He would say on one occasion and remind His disciples
that “a disciple is not above his teacher,”
Matthew 10, verse 24.
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