TP WEEKLY 25

Welcome to the weekend edition of Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis. On our last broadcast, Dr. Davis shared a quick overview of the Church of Ephesus, the church that lost its love for Jesus and consequently lost its light. Today Dr. Davis takes us to the second church in the Revelation series, the Church of Smyrna, the church that was faithful while enduring much persecution and suffering at the hands of the Romans and the attacks of Satan.

The city of Smyrna enjoyed much prosperity. However, Christians were often mistreated and their property unfairly confiscated because of their devotion to the faith. Here's Dr. Davis and The Suffering Church at Smyrna. In a relationship with a religion, Christ offered a remedy for their sin.

He offered them to remember to repent and to repeat, do the first works over again. But we have to remember that the church that loses its love will soon lose its light. Examine your hearts today about where your love is and if it is within Christ.

We're going to move on to the second letter today in chapter 2 verses 8 through 11. And this is the Church of Smyrna and it's known as the persecuted church or the suffering church. But really, suffering for Christ is a foreign concept in America.

We really have freedom of religion in America and are not familiar with the type of persecution that other countries experience. Let's read verses 8 through 11 of chapter 2. And 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 unto 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. Just to get into some historical context of the city of Smyrna, it is the second church to receive a letter from Christ. The city was founded around 1000 BC. It was destroyed in 600 BC, but it was rebuilt centuries later by one of Alexander the Great's generals. It's really a matter of pride to the city that it had died and come back to life. Smyrna was the most beautiful city the Greeks ever built.

It was called the glory of Asia because it looked like the city wore a crown. Emperor worship was centered here during the Roman period. The city is where the church of Smyrna, of Jesus Christ, was located. Let's get into the church. The church is located 35 miles north of Ephesus, known today as Ishwar, Turkey.

It was the busiest port on the Aegean Sea. We don't know who found it, but we know it suffered great persecution. Its letter is the shortest of all letters, and it contains no condemnation. But when you look at the word Smyrna, it means bitter.

It really comes from the word myrrh, which is a sweet fragrance that is released only when it is crushed. But why did they suffer? Why was Smyrna persecuted? If you remember earlier, I said that emperor worship was centered in Smyrna.

The main reason for persecution and suffering is because of emperor worship. We have a different view of the Roman government than the Romans because we've grown up in America. When Rome became the world power, peace covered the Mediterranean world, and it removed the threat of wars. So the citizens were very grateful. Rome's strength guaranteed peace and safety. There were laws, roads, commerce.

Most Roman citizens were happy with their lot in life. But really, emperor worship grew out of a patriotic and grateful attitude on what Rome provided for the people. It was political worship, not necessarily religious worship. This is the reason that John was exiled to the owl of Patmos as a result of unwillingness to worship the emperor. The Christians were marginalized in their society.

We see this today as the same as cancel culture, same concept of marginalization. Christians were in constant jeopardy of being bad citizens, tortured on the rack, boiled in oil, roasted over slow fires, crucified, and fed to ravenous beasts. All as a form of entertainment for the true citizens of Rome. Given that context, let's get into the letter. As I said before, we'll dissect each letter. If you look at the destination of the letter, the destination is the city of Smyrna, which we've talked about being the center of emperor worship for Rome. The description of Christ that he begins in the beginning of the letter is that he is the first and the last who was dead and came back to life. But the diagnosis of the church is all positive.

There are no negatives, like in the church of Ephesus, that Christ found with this church. In verse 9, Christ says, I know your works, tribulation and poverty, but you are rich. If you look at the word tribulation, we get the Greek word thalipsis, which means pressure. Really an unrelenting pressure. It's like having a boulder on your chest, which causes you to suffocate slowly. Christians experienced this same pressure from the Roman Empire.

It was slow, unrelenting, never-ending day after day after day. The next word that Jesus used to describe as knowing them is poverty. There's two words that designate poverty in the New Testament.

Penis, which is, we get our English word penny, which is poor working daily for daily wages to earn a living. Or the second word in the New Testament is paticcia, which is an object poverty or destitution, someone with no resources whatsoever. Jesus Christ used paticcia to describe the poverty of the Christian in Smyrna. Their church was in the glory of Asia, but they had absolutely nothing. Their poverty was due to their faith and their lack of loyalty to the emperor. The same concept applies in cancel culture today. Recently, MyPillow founders products were dropped from big box stores due to his support for Trump.

Which is very similar. In Rome they were marginalized as not being patriotic citizens, therefore their businesses were not successful. And the last word that he uses is persecution. I know your works, your tribulation and your poverty. But really, the word blasphemy, in which Jesus mentions here to say, I know the blasphemy of those, might be better rendered as slander. There were Jews who mixed Judaism and the grace of Christianity.

The church was being slandered by this group, who was the synagogue of Satan. So with each diagnosis, you know, Jesus Christ offers a remedy for their situation. And so in this case, he offers Smyrna counsel and he counsels the church with two things. Do not fear and to be faithful. He says in verse 10, Do not fear any of these things which you are about to suffer. Be faithful unto death. Be fearless and be faithful. First, do not fear. Do not fear any of the things which you are about to suffer. Don't be afraid of the things that you are facing. You know, David wrote about this in the 23rd Psalm, verse four. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Jesus also tells them, Be faithful unto death. That's really hard for us to digest. We want to run when it gets to be too much. Our calling is to remain right in the middle of the pressure, the poverty and the persecution, and to be faithful.

It would be easier for all of us to find places to live and work where there wasn't so much pressure. But Christ says we are to stay put. But really, why should we be faithful unto death? You know, I mean, Christ told us that. You could simply say we are to be obedient.

But it's not just for simple obedience. He says, I will give you the crown of life. This is a special reward in heaven to those who suffer intense persecution and martyrdom for the faith. There are five things in the book that the church of Smyrna can deduct from God's command. So in chapter two, the reputation of Christ was better than the reputation of the world. The reputation of Christ was better than the reputation of the world. The eternal aspect of Jesus Christ that he references in verse eight is how John describes him in chapter one. The first and the last, who was dead and came to life.

The city of Smyrna described itself the same way they had risen from their own ashes. But Christ is greater than all Greeks and Romans. We serve a God who has all authority, dominion, and power over all the earth. The reputation of Christ is better than the reputation of the world. The recognition of Christ is better than the recognition of Rome. When Christ says, I know, it's the Greek word oida.

It doesn't mean just an intellectual knowledge, but it means to know by virtue of experience. He identifies with the church because Christ has been pressured. He has been poor. He has been persecuted. In all his deity, he sat aside and thought it not robbery of God to come in the form of a bond servant made into human flesh so that he could identify with the human race.

I would rather be recognized by Christ than the world. Next, the riches of Christ are better than the riches of Rome. In verse nine, Christ says, I know your poverty, but you are rich. Really, how can that be? God really has a different value system than the world.

It's completely opposite. If you contrast Myrna with Laodicea, they were rich in worldly goods, but they were wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Oftentimes, our riches in God are invisible.

We are laying up treasures that have eternal lasting that the moth cannot eat. The fourth thing is that the reckoning of time by Christ was better than the reckoning of time by Rome. In verse 10, Christ says, you're about to suffer. The devil is going to throw some of you into prison, which is really persecution for 10 days. And 2 Peter 3.8 talks about time.

I'm just going to read that. But beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord, one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. God's time is not how we count time. So from God's perspective, 10 days is a short time, but no suffering is too much to endure with his help.

His time takes precedence over ours. And lastly, the rewards of Christ are better than the rewards of Rome. Christ promised them a crown of life if they ever came. But because of the crown of life, we are not hurt by the second death. The first death is the physical separation from the spirit, from the body. But the second death is spiritual, eternal separation from God.

So because we'll have the crown of life, we will not be hurt by the second death. The second death is the lake of fire, which is eternal separation from God that is mentioned in Revelation 21.8. Dr. Davis will continue her teaching in the coming weeks of the Seven Churches of Revelation, also known as the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse, and the Seven Churches of Asia, all located in present-day Turkey, which was an area in Asia Minor rich in commerce, military might, and where the early Church flourished even though they were greatly persecuted by Rome. Next week, the Truth Train takes us to the Third Church, the Church of Pergamos, the compromising church, and the city where Satan had dwelt and established his throne.

In the early 30s, Satan's altar in Pergamos was excavated and moved stone by stone to a museum in Berlin, Germany, where it stands today. Scholars are not certain why Jesus began the first three chapters of the Apocrypha, Book of Revelation, with letters to the Seven Churches. But one can only surmise that Jesus was giving an advance warning to the last-day Church of the spiritual weakness in the early Church. And as we look to the modern Church today, we can clearly see the similarities of the Seven Churches in Revelation chapters 1, 2, and 3 to the spiritual health of the Church today. While the modern Church has been spiritually weakened by compromise, lukewarmness, and unfaithfulness, there is a remnant that has remained faithful and pure because of her love for Jesus. This Church will be the triumphant Church as we near the end of the Church Age and the rapture of believers. The rapture is when the Church is removed from earth, escaping the great judgment of God. It would be our hope that you would be one of those who are raptured, escaping this distressful time in history and given eternal life because of your confession of sin and redemption by Jesus Christ. If you need help, please contact the Truth Team by email at CherylDavis at ProjectTruthMatters.com or write to her at Truth Matters, P.O. Box 159, St. Paul's, North Carolina, 28384. Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis is a ministry of The Truth Project.