The church at Smyrna Faithful under pressure

Reference Scripture:

And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. (Revelation of John 2:8-11)

Smyrna means myrrh.  

The Church of Smyrna was heavily persecuted and persecution is associated with bitterness but when the Saints are persecuted and hold out it is a sweet smelling fragrance to the Lord.

Persecution  is (7291 radaph raw-daf' a primitive root; to run after (usually with hostile intent; figuratively (of time) gone by):--chase, put to flight, follow (after, on), hunt, (be under) persecute(-ion, -or), pursue(-r).)

Today in America and western Europe we don’t experience the gravity of persecution that the Church of Smyrna. Let us pray for the Saints who are in persecuted areas of the world and send help to them with hope for deliverance. If their persecution is anything like the Church during the “days of persecution” like Smyrna who were being hunt down and put to death their reward will be great.  The 10 day trial that Yeshua spoke of could mean the 10 Roman Emperors who put the Church through from 64 AD through 312 AD.

These days we are encumbered with “the cares of life” as Yeshua spoke of in the “Parable of the Sower” ¶ And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. (Luke 21:34)

One of the greatest mistakes one can make is to think you can’t learn or don’t accept knowledge from someone else because of the way they perceive the one who the knowledge is being conveyed through. This is why miracles were sparse in Nazareth because the residents saw Yeshua as just Joseph’s son. That goes for the faith and all aspects of life. ¶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4:6)

People are faithful to many things of the world and fail to be faithful to YHWH.  Psalm 115:8 states “People make idolatry, they go their own way.”  The enemy has learned throughout the ages how to deceive man.  The idols of the past are not effective so the spirit of idolatry has changed  from an image of animals to images of men material things and self. People are faithful to their organizations and groups and don’t trust outsiders even if they are Christian. They are faithful to their careers, they are faithful to their way of thinking and believing. How can you believe wrong?  When you believe not according to the word. Your lifestyle  will show it. Anxiety fear and doubt are all fruits of unfaithfulness. YHWH did not give us those spirits, they are not part of the character of Yeshua, stop ignoring them and stop claiming them, exercise them out of your system, stop yielding to them.

Faith precedes the calamity,  delivers from the calamity,  precedes and produces a miracle. It is significant how Yeshua found greater faith outside of Israel. This is because the outsiders had no embedded presupposition of who Christ was, they saw or heard the evidence and believed it and their belief propelled them into life changing faith.

Faithfulness is the act of exercising faith, faith in YHWH and not going to the left or the right, not changing the word to fit our opinion. Yeshua was faithful in fulfilling the law, demonstrating what faith is.  The shaping of your spiritual character/nature, exercise yourself to it. Spiritual exercise is necessary for growth and it’s greater when it’s “on the job training”.

Believe for great things,  and don’t give up hope.