By: Dale Weckbacher
Romans 8:16-18
The Spirit Himself
bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children,
then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with
Him, that we may also be glorified together. 18 For I consider that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory
which shall be revealed in us.
NKJV
Ancient Smyrna was a vibrant
city on the western coast of Asia Minor
located on a gulf reaching 30 miles inland.
In addition, Smyrna
is located at the head of one of the chief highways to the interior, making it
a great trading center and the chief port for export trade. During Roman times, Smyrna
was considered the most brilliant city of Asia Minor ,
successfully rivaling Pergamos and Ephesus . (1)
With its strategic location, Smyrna was a rich city. It is unknown how Christianity reached Smyrna but it most likely came because of Paul’s ministry
in Ephesus . Even though the city was rich, it appears the
Christians in Smyrna
did not share in these riches but had their own riches in the Lord (Revelation2:9). (2)
There was a group of Jews in Smyrna known as etenic Jews. They consisted of a group of Jews that
refused to accept Jesus as Messiah. By
the end of the first century Christians, even Gentile Christians regarded
themselves as Jews and actual etenic Jews as not Jews at all. (2) The hostility of the etenic Jews towards
Christians escalated to the point of the martyring of Polycarp, the Bishop of
Smyrna, in 156 AD without the sanction of the Roman Government. (1) (2) This is most likely why the message to the
church at Smyrna
includes a message not to fear any of the things they were about to suffer
(Revelation 2:10).
As a reward for suffering persecution, God promises the
Church at Smyrna
the crown of life along with a promise to all churches that he who overcomes
will not be hurt by the second death. The
first death is death of our physical bodies, something we cannot avoid but in
Christ it does lose its sting (1 Corinthians 15:54-58). The second death, however, is something we
can avoid and we should make it our life’s goal to avoid it for it is eternal
separation from God (Matthew 25:46, Revelation 20:11-14). (3)
There is absolutely no need for anyone reading this to
experience the second death for God’s gift of salvation is available to all for
free (Ephesians 2:8). To escape the
second death, please take a moment and pray this prayer with me now,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know
that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse
me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).
I believe you died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead and now
declare you Lord of my life.
Persecution of Christians did not stop with the Church at Smyrna and continues
today. We should continue to pray for
our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who profess their faith under penalty
of death. Pray that they will have the
courage of the Church of Smyrna remaining faithful until death and receive the
crown of life just as those in Smyrna
did. In the United States , Christians have been
able to escape persecution and martyrdom mostly due to the Constitutional
protection of the First Amendment.
However, we are beginning to see that protection erode.
I believe the erosion of this protection began with the
removal of prayer in schools in 1962. (4)
Since public schools are government property, a majority of justices on
the Supreme Court ruled that having students pray in public violated the
“separation of church and state.” I put
this phrase in quotes for in reality there is no constitutional mention of such
a separation. The phrase came about from
a letter written by President Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists in order to
calm their fears that the government might someday attempt to regulate
religious expression. (5)
Ironically, since Jefferson
coined the phrase, the idea of a separation of Church and State has changed
from the government not intruding upon the free practice of religion to the
prohibiting of churches from citing their religious values in the political
arena. This is not only evidenced by the
removal of public prayer in schools but most recently we have seen this
evidenced by businesses being fined for refusing to perform services, i.e.
baking a wedding cake for a same sex couple.
(6)
Similar to the Church in Smyrna ,
we are beginning to see a form of persecution in the United States that deprives
Christians of the right to participate in the riches and opportunities the
nation has to offer. Not only is this
evidenced by the bakers in Oregon being fined and losing their business, (6) we have also seen the CEO of a corporation
lose his position simply because he contributed his own money to a California
referendum defining marriage as between a man and woman. (7) How soon will it be before we see acceptance
of gay marriage as a requirement of employment, or worse yet, churches threatened
with loss of their tax-exempt status if they fail to perform same sex
weddings.
I pray that this persecution does not escalate to Christians
losing their lives because of their faith as happened in Smyrna .
However, Christians should follow the example of Smyrna and fearlessly practice their faith,
knowing we will receive the crown of life for our steadfastness.
Many in our world live their lives today full of fear. They fear the next terrorist attack. They fear an economic collapse. They fear losing their jobs. Without Jesus Christ in their lives, they
have nothing to place their hope in and live in danger of suffering the second
death.
What these fearful people need to see is Christians who
fearlessly stand strong knowing Jesus is coming back soon to straighten
everything out. That is why it has never
been more important for us as Christians to pray, study the Bible, and live our
lives courageously for Christ. Jesus
commanded us to let our light shine before men so that they could see our good
works and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). Will you join me in courageously letting
God’s light shine through you?
1. biblestudytools.com.
Smyrna . www.biblestudytools.com.
[Online] BibleStudyTools. [Cited: September 30, 2015.] www.biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/isbe/smyrna.html.
2. BibleGateway.
The Message to Smyrna .
www.biblegateway.com. [Online] BibleGateway. [Cited: September 30,
2015.]
https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Rev/Message-Smyrna.
3. Quinn, Jon W.
"You Will Not Be Harmed By The Second Death" "I will Give You
the Crown of Life". www.bible.ca. [Online] The Expository Files,
February 2011. [Cited: September 30, 2015.]
www.bible.ca/ef/expository-revelation-2-11.htm.
4. United States
5. Barton, David.
The Separation of Church and State. www.wallbuilders.com. [Online] Wall
Builders, January 2001. [Cited: September 30, 2015.]
www.wallbuilders.com/libissuesarticles.asp?id=123.
6. Smith, Samuel. Oregon christian Bakers
Ordered to Pay $135K After Refusing to Work Gay Wedding; Told to Stop Speaking
About 'ObeyGod, Not Man'. www.christianpost.com. [Online] The Christian
Post, July 3, 2015. [Cited: August 26, 2015.]
www.christianpost.com/news/oregon-christian-bakers-ordered-to-pay-135k-after-refusing-to-work-gay-wedding-told-to-stop-speaking-about-obeying-god-now-man-141137/.
7. Hannity, Sean.
Was Mozilla CEO Ousted For Stance on Gay Marriage. nation.fox.com. [Online]
Fox News, April 8, 2014. [Cited: August 26, 2015.]
http://nation.foxnews.com/2014/04/08/was-mozilla-ceo-ousted-stance-gay-marriage.
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