The Church in Smyrna

Prophecy note, 11 December 2016
The church in Smyrna
was a church
under the suffering of persecution:

In Greek
Smyrna means
“myrrh,” a sweet spice
that, in figure,
signifies suffering;
the church in Smyrna
was a suffering church:

This persecuted church
suffered
in the sweetness and fragrance
of Christ.

This church
was in the tribulation
in Jesus
and was in the fellowship
of His sufferings.

The church in Smyrna
suffered
as Christ Himself did
and thereby became
a continuation of His suffering:

The afflictions of Christ
are of two categories:
those for accomplishing redemption,
which have been completed
by Christ Himself,
and those
for producing and building the church,
which need to be filled up
by the apostles and the believers.

“The afflictions of Christ
…for His Body,
which is the church” (v. 24)
must be completed
by His followers
both individually and collectively.

In the church in Smyrna
we see
the collective continuation
of the sufferings of Jesus.

Because this church
was a continuation
of Jesus’ suffering,
it was
truly the testimony
of Jesus.

The church in Smyrna
suffered “the slander
from those
who call themselves Jews
and are not,
but are
a synagogue of Satan” (2:9):

The Judaizers
slandered the suffering church
by evilly criticizing her;
they stubbornly insisted
on keeping their Judaistic system,
consisting of
the Levitical priesthood,
the sacrificial rituals,
and the material temple,
which were all types
that had been fulfilled and replaced
by Christ.

Since the church
under the new covenant
in God’s economy
had no part
in their religious practice,
the Judaizers
slanderously criticized her.

In principle,
it is the same today,
in that religious people
slander the churches in the Lord’s recovery,
which seek the Lord
and follow Him
in spirit and in life
and do not care for
the religious system.

According to the Lord’s word
in John 15:1, 4-5, and 18-24,
the vine and the branches
are opposed by
the religious world (Judaism);
today
Christianity
is the religious world,
the religious system
that opposes
not only Christ, the true vine,
but also the church, the branches of the vine.

The persecution
suffered by the church
began from the religious synagogue of the Jews
instigated by Satan, the adversary,
and it was consummated
by the Roman Empire
used by the devil, the slanderer;
the persecution
of the suffering church
was a cooperation
of satanic religion
and devilish politics.

To the suffering church
the Lord Jesus said,
“I know
your tribulation”
(v. 9):

Tribulation
is precious to the church
because it tests
the life of the church.

The Lord’s purpose
in allowing the church
to suffer tribulation
is not only to testify
that His resurrection life
overcomes death
but also to enable the church
to enjoy
the riches of His life.

In speaking to
the church in Smyrna,
the Lord said
that He
is “the First and the Last,
who became dead
and lived again”
(Rev. 2:8):

The fact
that Christ
is the First and the Last
means that He
never changes:

In suffering,
the church
must know
that the Lord
is the First and the Last,
the ever-existing, unchanging One.

Whatever the persecuting environment
may be,
the Lord
remains the same;
nothing
can precede Him,
nor can anything
exist after Him;
all things
are within
the limits of His control.

The Lord’s declaration
in verse 8
implies the creation—the First—
and the completion—the Last—
and it also implies
Christ’s incarnation, human living,
crucifixion, and resurrection:

This is
a declaration
to strengthen
the suffering church in Smyrna,
which was
experiencing and suffering martyrdom.

The only thing
that can support
the saints in their martyrdom
is seeing the One
who created
and will complete
the entire universe
and who was incarnated,
lived on earth,
was crucified,
and resurrected;
such a vision
sustains the martyrs
to stand in their sufferings.

All the local churches
need to believe
that the Lord Jesus
is the First and the Last,
the Beginning and the End;
He will accomplish
what He has begun
in His recovery.

As the One
who became dead
and lived again,
Christ is
the living One:

The Lord Jesus
suffered death
and lived again;
He
entered into death,
but death
could not hold Him,
because He
is the resurrection.

“I became dead,
and behold,
I am living
forever and ever”
(Rev. 1:18):

Resurrection
is a life
that passes through death
and still remains living.

Christ’s resurrection
is the lengthening of His days;
He will exist
forever and ever
in His resurrection.

The resurrected Christ,
the living One,
is living
in us and among us;
therefore,
all the churches
should be living
as He is,
full of life
and overcoming death.

The Lord’s living forever
is His testimony;
the more living
we are,
the more we
are the testimony
of the living Jesus.

For us
to be living,
we must have
not only life
but the life supply;
as the living One,
Christ
cares for the churches
by giving us Himself
not only as life
but also as the life supply.

As the One
who became dead
and lived again,
Christ has
the keys of death and of Hades:

The Lord Jesus
overcame death
and destroyed the devil,
the keys of death and of Hades
are now in His hand,
and He is victorious
over the grave.

In His resurrection
the Lord Jesus
took away
the authority of death and of Hades;
death
is subject to Him,
and Hades
is under His control.

In the church life today,
we
are no longer subject
to death and Hades,
for Christ
abolished death
and overcame Hades
in His resurrection.

Christ
not only defeated death
—He
nullified it;
2 Timothy 1:10
reveals that Christ
nullified death,
making it
of none effect,
through His devil-destroying death
and death-swallowing resurrection.

“Be faithful
unto death,
and I
will give you
the crown of life”
(Rev. 2:10):

“Be faithful
unto death”:

The Lord insists
that the life of all those
who serve Him
belongs to Him;
this is
why we
must be faithful
even unto death.

Being faithful unto death
is a matter
both of attitude
and of time:

As to our attitude,
we must be faithful
even unto death.

As to time,
we must be faithful
until death.

“I will give you
the crown of life”:

The crown of life,
as a prize
to those
who are faithful unto death
in overcoming persecution,
denotes the overcoming strength
that is
the power of the resurrection life;
it also denotes
that these overcomers
have attained to
the out-resurrection from the dead,
the outstanding resurrection.

Not only the tree of life
but the crown of life
will be a reward
to the suffering church:

The eating of the tree of life
is inward for supply,
and the crown of life
is outward for glory.

The promises
concerning the tree of life
and the crown of life
are wrapped up
with the divine life;
this life
must be our food,
and then
it will be
our expression
and our glorification
as the crown of life.

Day 5
Rev. 1:18
And the living One;
and I
became dead,
and behold,
I am living
forever and ever;
and I have
the keys of death and of Hades.

2 Tim. 1:10
But now
has been manifested
through the appearing
of our Savior Christ Jesus,
who nullified death
and brought life and incorruption
to light
through the gospel.

Due to the fall and sin of man,
death came in
and is now working on earth
to gather up
all the sinful people
into Hades.
Death
resembles a dustpan
used to collect the dust
from the floor,
and Hades
resembles a trash can.
Whatever the dustpan collects
is put into the trash can.
Thus,
death is a collector,
and Hades is a keeper.
In the church life today
we are no longer subject
to death and Hades,
for Christ abolished death on the cross
and overcame Hades in His resurrection.
Although Hades
tried its best
to hold Him,
it was powerless
to do it.
With Him,
death has no sting
and Hades has no power.
We must be
the same as Christ.

In the church life
the keys of death and Hades
are in His hand.
It is impossible
for us
to deal with death;
we simply do not have the ability
to handle it.
Whenever death enters,
it will deaden many.
But as long as we
give the Lord Jesus
the ground, the opportunity, and the free way
to move and act among us,
both death and Hades
will be under His control.
However,
whenever the Lord Jesus
does not have the ground
in the church,
death immediately becomes prevailing
and Hades becomes powerful
to hold the dead ones.
We should praise the Lord
that Christ
has the keys
of death and of Hades.
Death is subject to Him,
and Hades is under His control.

Christ’s resurrection
was also His victory over
death, Satan, Hades, and the grave. Satan, death, Hades, and the grave
form a group.
Christ, the Son of Man,
was not only vindicated by God
and was proved to be a success
in His achievements,
but He was victorious over
death, Satan, Hades, and the grave,
all of which
are a great concern and trouble
to us.
The Son of Man
overcame death
and destroyed Satan.
The keys of death and of Hades
are now in His hand,
and He is victorious
over the grave.
Such a Christ
is walking
in the midst of all the local churches
in His recovery,
taking care of them
as the golden lampstands.

Christ nullified death,
making it of none effect,
through His devil-destroying death
and death-swallowing resurrection.
In the gospel
the revelation
is brought to us
that Christ
has nullified death
and has brought us
eternal, indestructible life.

Through His resurrection,
death has become of none effect;
death has lost its power,
even its taste.
Christ could nullify death
because He destroyed the devil,
the one who has the power of death.
Of course,
by overcoming Satan
and nullifying death,
the Lord Jesus
also defeated Hades and the grave.
Therefore, Christ’s resurrection
declares that He
is victorious over
death, Satan, Hades, and the grave.
No longer
are these a problem.
Therefore,
Christ’s resurrection
was not only
God’s vindication and the Lord’s success
but also
His victory over
death, Satan, Hades, and the grave.
Christ through His resurrection
has made
this troublesome group
of none effect.

Being faithful unto death
is a matter
both of time and of attitude.
The Lord insists
that the life of all those
who serve Him
belongs to Him.
This is
why we must be faithful
even unto death.
Whoever is bought
with the precious blood
belongs to the Lord
and must be
wholly for the Lord.
From the very outset
Christ demands our all.
Now He says,
“Be faithful unto death.”
As to our attitude,
we must be faithful
even unto death;
as to time,
we must be faithful
until death.
“I will give you
the crown of life”
[v. 10].
The crown
is a reward;
at that time,
life will become
a crown.

Day 3
Rev. 2:8
And to the messenger
of the church in Smyrna
write:
These things
says the First and the Last,
who became dead
and lived again.

Acts 2:24
Whom God
has raised up,
having loosed
the pangs of death,
since it
was not possible
for Him
to be held by it.

In suffering,
the church
must know
that the Lord
is the First and the Last,
the ever-existing, unchanging One.
Whatever the persecuting environment
may be,
the Lord
remains the same;
nothing can precede Him,
nor can anything exist after Him.
All things
are within the limits
of His control.

In speaking to
the church in Smyrna
the Lord says
that He
is “the First and the Last,
who became dead
and lived again”
(Rev. 2:8).
The fact
that He
is the First and the Last
means that He
never changes.
Regardless of
how much persecution
or what kind of martyrdom
the saints suffer,
He is the First
and He is the Last.
Nothing can change Him.
You may put Him to death,
yet He lives again.
This title
is seemingly simple,
but it implies
the creation, the First,
and the completion, the Last.
This also implies
the Lord’s incarnation.
If He
had not been incarnated,
He
could never have been killed.
This also implies
His living on this earth.
He was incarnated,
He lived on this earth,
and then He was crucified
and He became dead.
Then
He lived again.
Such a declaration
implies the creation, the completion,
the incarnation, the human living,
the crucifixion, and the resurrection.
This is
a declaration
to strengthen
the suffering church in Smyrna.
…The only thing
that can support
the saints in their martyrdom
is to see
such a One
who created
and will complete
the entire universe,
who became incarnated,
who lived on this earth,
and who was crucified
and resurrected.
Such a vision
sustains the martyrs
to stand
in their sufferings.

In Revelation 1:17
the Lord Jesus says,
“I am the First and the Last.”
Christ is
not only the First and the Last
but also the Beginning and the End.
…This assures us
that, having started
the church life,
He will surely accomplish it.
He will never leave
His work unfinished.
All the local churches
must believe
that the Lord Jesus
is the beginning and the ending.
He will accomplish
what He has begun
in His recovery.

In Revelation 1:18
we see
that the Lord
is “the living One,”
the One who “became dead”
and who is “living forever and ever.”
The Lord
suffered death
and lived again.
He
entered into death,
but death
could not hold Him,
because He
is the resurrection.
Christ died,
but in resurrection
He will live forever.
Resurrection
is the lengthening
of the Lord’s days.
He will exist forever and ever
in His resurrection.
Jesus Christ today
is the living One,
the One
who is in resurrection.
For Christ
to dispense life,
He must be
the living One
since a dead person
can never dispense life
to others.

For Him
to have died
and to be living again
means that His life
outlasts death
and can withstand death.
When many people
encounter ill-fated things,
they are through;
it seems
as if they
have entered into death.
But the resurrection life
is not afraid of death.
By withstanding death,
this life
is now proven
to outlast death.
Resurrection life
is a life
that passes through death
and still remains living.
If something
passes through death
and remains in death,
it is not resurrection life.
The Lord
charged John
to write to the messenger
of the church in Smyrna
and say
that He
“became dead
and lived again”
(Rev. 2:8).
The church in Smyrna
suffered for the Lord
and was faithful unto death.
Therefore,
the Lord comforted it
with such a word.
Just as the gate of Hades
could not prevail
against the Lord,
the gate of Hades
cannot prevail
against the church.
If a church
realizes resurrection,
it can withstand
trials and sufferings.
Resurrection life
is a life
that outlasts death;
it is a life
that passes through death
and rises up again.
Hallelujah!
Our Lord
became dead,
but He is living again!
Death has nothing
to do with Him!

Day 1
Rev. 2:9
I know your tribulation and poverty
(but you are rich)
and the slander from those
who call themselves Jews
and are not,
but are
a synagogue of Satan.

Col. 1:24
I now rejoice in my sufferings
on your behalf
and fill up on my part
that which is lacking
of the afflictions of Christ
in my flesh
for His Body,
which is the church.

The second epistle
in Revelation 2
is to the church in Smyrna,
the church under the suffering of persecution.
The word Smyrna in Greek
means “myrrh,”
and myrrh in figure
signifies suffering.

In typology,
myrrh signifies
the sweet suffering of Christ.
Thus,
the church in Smyrna
was a suffering church,
prefiguring the church
under the persecution of the Roman Empire
from the latter part of the first century
to the early part of the fourth century.
This persecuted church
suffered
in the sweetness and fragrance
of Christ.
In other words,
this church
was in the tribulation of Jesus
and in the fellowship of His sufferings.
The church in Smyrna
suffered as Christ Himself did
and thereby became
a continuation of His suffering.

In Colossians 1:24
Paul tells us
that he filled up
“that which is lacking
of the afflictions of Christ….”
The afflictions of Christ
are of two categories:
those for accomplishing redemption,
which have been completed
by Christ Himself,
and those for producing and building the church,
which need to be filled up
by the apostles and the believers.
Although no one
can continue Christ’s redemption,
His sufferings
must be completed
by all His followers
both individually and collectively.
…Because this church in Smyrna
was a continuation of Jesus’ suffering,
it was
truly the testimony of Jesus.

Revelation 2:9
indicates that persecution
came from religion,
from the unbelieving Jews
of the synagogue of Satan.
The slander of the Judaizers
toward the suffering church
was their evil criticism of her.
The Judaizers
were Jews in the flesh
but not in spirit.
…These Judaizers
stubbornly insisted upon
keeping their Judaistic system,
consisting of
the Levitical priesthood,
the sacrificial rituals,
and the material temple,
which were all types
now fulfilled and replaced
by Christ.
Because the church
under the new covenant
in God’s economy
had no part
in their religious practice,
the Judaizers
slanderously criticized her.

The Lord said
that those
who called themselves Jews
and are not
are “a synagogue of Satan,”
a terrible term.
A synagogue
was a place
where the Jews worshipped God
mainly by studying their Scriptures,
the Old Testament.
However,
due to their stubbornness
in clinging to their traditional, religious concepts,
they became
one with Satan
in opposing God’s way of life
to fulfill His purpose.

In principle,
it is the same today
in that religious people
slander the churches in the Lord’s recovery
which seek the Lord
and follow Him
in spirit and in life
and do not care for
any religious system or practice.
Even when He
was on earth,
the Lord
considered the synagogues
to be of Satan.
…Apparently
they were worshipping God;
actually
they were opposing God.
They persecuted and killed
God’s true worshippers,
yet they
considered themselves
to be offering service to God.
When the Lord
was on earth,
the Jews
could not deal with Him directly.
…Instead,
they utilized the Roman government
to sentence Him to death
and to crucify Him.
In the same principle,
the Jewish synagogues
stirred up the Roman government
to persecute the suffering church.
Through all the centuries
since then,
religious people
have followed in their steps,
persecuting the genuine seekers and followers
of the Lord
in spirit and life
while still considering themselves
to be defending the interest of God.