Revelation Lesson 6: Troubling Times, but Only for a Season 

Revelation Chapter 2: 8-11

“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’: ‘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. 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.

“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.”’

Last week we looked at the church in Ephesus. This church had a lot of good things in it, and then some bad. It was very important to them to keep paganism from creeping into the local church, and we should be just as diligent.  It is so easy to allow little things to creep in, and they sound so innocent:

I mean, what could be wrong with including statues of Jesus and others to give us some kind of visual reference? What could be wrong with ‘emptying’ your mind so that you can reach Nirvana? What is wrong with doing some of the Yoga stretches to help our health and circulation?

These all seem so innocent but they open the door to paganism, and they never just end there. We are not allowed to have statues of our Lord or anything else; we are not allowed to ‘empty’ our minds – we are to be filled with the Word of God; and you can do a lot of stretching and limbering without doing the Yoga poses.

Paganism plays to our senses, and we can get tied up and tied down very quickly. We are called to worship God in ‘spirit and in truth.’ This should be sufficient.

We will now move on to the church in Smyrna. Please recall that, as we explore these churches, they represent the predominant church of an era; but there are churches that are like these in all eras of the Lord’s churches throughout the 2,000-year history of the New Testament church.

Jesus Knows, Revelation 2 verse 9

One of the hardest things and one of the most sobering things to recall is that Jesus knows. He knows everything. You are not going to surprise Him, not going to catch Him off-guard, and not going to outsmart Him. He knows everything. Why does He know everything? Because He is God!  He is the First and the Last. He encompasses all of eternity, and He has already seen the end from the beginning.

The Godhead knew what was going to happen before they ever spoke the world into existence. Jesus knew when He breathed into the man the ‘breath of life’ (in Genesis 2) that that life would cost Him his, and yet still He did it.

Jesus once again refers us to His resurrection. This is the ultimate demonstration of absolute power—the power over death—the power to kill death. He speaks by this authority, the authority of the resurrection. And of course John had seen the resurrected Lord time and time again over the 40 days that Jesus showed himself to the Apostles and other followers.

I remind you that the book of the Revelation is about Jesus; it is His revelation to us. And in it we see the Almighty God. He came as a Lamb – lowly, humbled and meek. But in this revelation, we see the Almighty, All-Powerful God; and He is the head of each local church. He is our Judge and our Sustainer. He is the power and the light of every church that has ever existed in the 2,000 years of the church age.

The name Smyrna means ‘sweet smelling.’ And this church had been through some things that made them a sweet-smelling aroma to our Lord.  In verse 9, we find that they had been through some tough times, tribulations as they are called. This church endured extreme persecution under the Emperor Diocletian. The persecution last exactly 10 years, from 303-313 AD when Constantine declared Christianity legal in the Roman Empire. These are the ‘ten days’ of tribulation mentioned in verse 10.

Because of this persecution, this church was very poor in material things; but as far as God was concerned, they were rich. In contrast, the Laodicean church was rich in material things but poor as far as God was concerned.

In verse 10, Jesus encourages this church to ‘not fear.’ Yes, there is great trouble coming; and yes, some of you will be punished, killed and imprisoned. But this is a part of the testing that helps to purify you. Stay faithful and you will receive the crown of Life. This is the call to all of us as the end of the church age grows near.

We are told that, as we approach the end of the church age, the times will get harder; and maybe that some of us – like our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world – will experience imprisonment, various trials, and maybe even death on behalf of the Gospel. But we are called to remain faithful to the Lord, His name, and the cause. Notice in verse 10 once again that it is the ‘devil’ who is against you. He is a true and bitter rival. He targets faithful churches and seeks to destroy them and cause havoc.

The Synagogue of Satan, Revelation 2 verse 9

Churches need to be diligent about the people that come into the church. We need to test everyone and their beliefs and doctrines; and we need to get rid of those that are working for Satan. The word synagogue means to assemble, or an assembly. So, we are told that – just like a church is an assembly that represents Christ, there are assemblies that represent Satan. And we need to be diligent about them and not get involved with them, and they with us. Satan’s assembly is going to mimic the true church. It may even talk about God, have a Bible and seem religious; but it is counterfeit.

The Synagogue of Satan is mentioned twice in the letters to the churches. Here they were working in the church at Smyrna, and they were also trying to be active at the church in Philadelphia in chapter 3. This was an assembly of Jews who were persecuting the Lord’s churches.

There are several lines of Jews. Abraham had Isaac, and Isaac had both Jacob and Esau. They are both Jews, but only the line that comes through Jacob is the chosen line that the Messiah would come through. Abraham also had other children with another woman named Keturah; we meet her in Genesis 25. These too are descendants of Abraham, but they are not of the chosen line. ONLY the children that come from Sarah were a part of the chosen line, and then only through Jacob. There are many lines of Jews in the world, but only a select chosen line is the one to whom the promises are made.

Most of the early persecution of the Lord’s churches came from Jews. They hated the preaching of the Messiah, and they often implored the Roman government to kill off the Christians. Not much has changed today; our greatest enemies are religions – the ones that most often teach tolerance, except when the true churches say that Jesus is the ONLY WAY to be saved, and that the Bible does not need to be updated and/or re-interpreted. It needs to be obeyed. It needs to be applied. It needs to be read, over and over again.

Then the tolerance is gone, and the synagogues of Satan rise up to kill off the true churches.

In 1524, Cardinal Hosius, President of the Council of Trent, said, “Were it not that the Baptists had been grievously tormented and cut off with the knife during the past 1,200 years, they would swarm in greater numbers than all the reformers.” – The Trail of Blood, section 2, page 3.

And then Sir Isaac Newton noted that the “Baptists are the only known Christians that have never symbolized with Rome.” – Trail of Blood, section 2, page 3.

There are some lovely people in the Roman Catholic church. I know some of them, and they truly love the Lord. But they are not aware of the history of the RC church and how they have persecuted and hunted true Christians for a long time before the détente that exists now.

Today, the Roman system is still the enemy of the true churches. The Pope calls into question the Word of God—the power of God. He has called good evil and evil good; and when the true believers stand to speak, we are seen to be intolerant. One day soon this is going to be the catalyst for lots and lots of trouble.

The Lord’s churches need to be diligent to keep the doctrines pure. Test everyone that comes in:

>Who is Jesus?

>How does one get to be redeemed?

>Do you need to be baptized to go to heaven?

>Do you baptize infants for their salvation?

>Is Hell for real?

>Did God literally create the world as we know it in 6 days?

>Was there a literal global flood?

>Are the Jews God’s chosen people?

>Is the Bible the complete Word of God to us, and the complete guide for the New Testament church?

>Can a person lose the salvation that is given by grace from God?

These are some of the questions that will begin to separate the truth from lies, and the people of God from the people of Satan. This is our responsibility as the Lord’s people; we are the Truth to the world.

All Good, no bad and no ugly, Revelation 2 verses 8-11

This is one of the churches in the era. All throughout the church age, there have been churches like this – churches that endure hardships, protect the purity of doctrine, and remain faithful in trials and testing. Jesus, the head of the church, had nothing bad to say about this church. He encouraged them to remain faithful and to keep their eyes on the prize—the Crown of Life.

He promises that they will not have to worry about the ‘second death.’ This Second Death is recorded for us in Revelation 20:11-15,

“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

“And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Those who know Jesus as Saviour do not need to fear the second death; this is not for us. Make sure that you are of the synagogue of Christ – that He is your Lord, Master and Saviour.

He cannot be fooled; He is the First and the Last, and nothing is hidden from Him.

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

 

Revelation Chapter 1: 20-22- 2: 1-7

“The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.

“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:

“I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’

Again, we find ourselves in the book of Revelation, and we live in a time that is full of turmoil and hard things. Just recently, the idea of a Universal Minimum Income has surfaced. Canada has signed on, we are told, to this initiative that will guarantee each person a minimum income. We do not know all the details, but we can see the basic framework of the time in the Tribulation where no one will be able to buy or sell without a ‘mark’ from the government.

I cannot see that the billionaires of our world are going to give up their monies to fund the poor. What appears to be in the process of being built is a 2-tier system of ‘haves and have nots’ that will be managed by the government. Stay tuned as we see these plans being fleshed out before us.

Today we will begin a more extensive look at the church age. This is the Biblical age that we live in right now. There are seven types of churches in the church age, and most are present at each stage. This age began with Jesus’ public ministry and will extend until the Rapture sometime in the near future. We begin our look at the end of Revelation 1.

Seven Stars and Lampstands, Revelation Chapter 1 verses 20-22

We will begin with the Lampstands. There is no need to run to the concordance; Jesus tells us that the Lampstands are the churches. We are the Light of the world. Churches have the primary job of being light in our dark world. We are light for the blind to see with and the light that is the truth of the scriptures. Light and truth go together; we are to be the bastions of truth. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). He is the Light of the world (John 8:12), and we are to tell the world about Him.

We are here to show the world that Jesus is real, that He gave His life for them, and that they need a Saviour. As churches we need to talk about sin, death and life. We are not self-help clubs, we are not charities, and we are not here to help people feel good. We are here to expose sinners to the Light of the Gospel. Sadly, too many churches talk about everything but Jesus, sin, death and Hell.

Look, we all need marital help, we all need financial help, we all need mental help and other types of help. But first and foremost, people need Jesus. They need to be saved and be added to the family of God. Then we can deal with the other stuff. What good are the churches if we are helping people in every way except knowing Jesus as Savior, and they are all better but still going to Hell?

A lot of issues can be solved by being saved and having the Holy Spirit in us. With Him in us, God can lead us into more truth, more healing and more comfort. Too many of our churches have forgotten the first thing, and this is that we are Light to a lost and dying world.

Jesus also tells us that the seven stars are the angels to the seven churches. At first glance it would seem that each church has its own angel; and while this may be true, we see in the second chapter that Jesus addresses the ‘angel’ and give him instructions as to how to fix some of the issues in the church at Ephesus.

A quick read of some of the commentaries on this passage tells us that these angels actually refer to the pastors or elders of each church. Wow, I would never have classed me as an angel; and before we pastors get too ahead of ourselves, just remember that the church age has now been running for about 2,000 years. There have been thousands if not millions of pastors (angels) down through the years.

We current pastors are just some of the men who have served the Lord’s churches for millennia. There is nothing special about us, and it is Jesus who is the head of the church. But we are given the responsibility to keep the churches doctrinally sound, protect them from outside dangers, and focus them on Jesus and the task at hand. This is no easy job. As fallible and sinful men, we find ourselves facing our humanity and our failings every day. We are a broken people trying to point people to a perfect God, all the while trying not to get in His way.

The Good in Ephesus, Revelation Chapter 2: 1-3, 6

In verse 2, Jesus begins His overview of the church at Ephesus with this: “I know your works.” Jesus knows everything you do and why you do it. This should be a sobering thought to us church people. We will be held accountable for how we lived as the local church of the Lord. Notice that Jesus judged each church as an entity and not as a universal body. They were all churches in Asia Minor, but they were each asked to give an account in a specific location.

There is no universal church; rather churches exist as a local entity only. Each church is the Light source to its community and, when given the opportunity, to the world around it via missionaries.

This church at Ephesus had some good things going for it; it worked on getting the message out, it was patient and did not suffer those that were evil. They were a discerning church, not just taking everyone at his word but verifying that a person was who they said they were by asking questions. All too often the Lord’s churches let in men who are not learned in the scripture; they are not led by the Holy Spirit and are novices in the work of the Kingdom. These men end up doing a lot of damage and not furthering the Gospel.

It is sad when you see churches fall like this. If they had just asked one more question or a different series of questions, things would have been better.

I recall as a young man in seminary being asked by a church to be their pastor. I had been filling in for about 6 weeks after their pastor had left to go to another church; and they liked me, and I them. But, I was single, just in my second year of seminary and certainly a novice in the Bible. I turned them down but kept filling in until they found an awesome man to be their pastor. It would be almost 10 years before I would get the chance to be a pastor again.

This church in Ephesus was hard-working; they took doctrine seriously and they had been through some hard times. The scriptures tell us that they had persevered. This means that they had been through some rough patches, maybe persecution under the Roman government or at the hands of locals. We don’t know, but they had been through some rough times for sure. We are told that they had not become weary or tired of the labouring for the name of Jesus. These guys were diligently doing the work of the Gospel, showing the Light of Jesus to all who would listen; and they were not tired, nor had they lost their zeal.

Lastly, Jesus commends them in verse 6 for the hatred of the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. The word hate comes from the word that means to despise and find utterly repulsive. So they did not dislike the Nicolaitans; they hated them for real.

The Nicolaitans, according to all I can find, taught the idea that one did not have to separate the church and paganism totally. Nicolas, after whom the doctrine was named, did not seem to have any issues with mixing Christianity and paganism and did not see the need to completely separate them. He thought that you could worship dark and light at the same time. This is impossible. The church at Ephesus hated this practice, and so should we.

Many modern churches have allowed paganism like yoga, meditation and other pagan methods of worship to creep in the doors and establish themselves in the Lord’s churches because we did not want to seem intolerant. We have polluted the Gospel and watered the message of Jesus. Oh, that more of the Lord’s churches would purge this evil of appeasement!

The Bad in Ephesus, Revelation chapter 2 verse 6

But in the middle of all this stood a blatant lack and a glaring hole at the church in Ephesus; they had lost their first love. They had fallen out of love with Jesus. I recall in seminary that there were discussions about what the first love was; and some felt that it was evangelism. They were no longer reaching the lost. I do not think that the evidence bears that out. These folks were labourers, they stood for the name of Jesus, and they had been through some hard things. They were working at the business of the church, but they had forgotten why they were working. They had forgotten their love for Jesus.

Sometimes, as the Lord’s churches, we can settle for what is good and miss out on what is great. We need to be intimately in love with Jesus. He needs to be our first and foremost. This takes time, solitude, reading the scripture and prayer. All too often we get so busy doing the work of Jesus that we forget about Jesus.

This can happen in marriages. We get so busy paying the bills, mowing the lawn, and getting kids to the events that we forget that we are married to this incredible person that needs our attention. Now, Jesus does not need us; we need Him. But in the same manner, we should be diligent and nurture the relationship between Him and us. We stop doing the little things, like singing praises and talking to Him. We get immersed in business and stop falling in love daily with Jesus.

Make time for Jesus; make time to talk to Him, walk with Him, sit with Him, and be silent with Him. Make time to simply be with Him and allow His presence to overtake you. This is not some ‘mamby pamby’ Disney classic love story, but one with some bones to it, some hard times, some crying, some anguish and a growing confidence in the person, power and presence of our Lord, Master, Savior and Friend.

Sometimes we are afraid to stop being busy because we do not want to tend to our relationships. Oh, what a mess we create! Your relationship as an individual and as a part of the local church will always supersede activity. If the relationship is right, there will be activity, always. Set the priority from the very beginning—Jesus first, all else as He orders them.

If we lose our first love, that of loving the Lord, we are in danger of losing our Light, in danger of Jesus taking away our power and in danger of being just a hollow shell of a church with lots of activity but no power. Let us get back to basics: you shall love the Lord your God with all your mind, strength and heart (Mark 12:30). Stop spinning your wheels and get back to simply focusing on the person of Jesus.

Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca