God's Glory Church

“And write to the angel of the church in Smyrna: Thus says the First and the Last, who was dead, and behold, is alive: I know your works, and your sorrow, and your poverty (yet you are rich)…”(Rev. 2:8-9).

The Lord is presented to each of the churches in a special way. He“was dead, and behold he is alive”. This expression contains all the events of the death and resurrection of Christ. The Prophet Isaiah, several centuries before the crucifixion, described the Lamb of God dying on the cross this way:“But He took upon Himself our infirmities, and bore our diseases; and we thought that He was struck, punished and humiliated by God. But He was wounded for our sins and tormented for our iniquities; the punishment of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed. We are all healed. like sheep, we have gone astray, every one of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:4-6).

There, on the cross, the Lamb of God reconciled us to God. The guilt is atoned for, the price is paid. The lawsuit has been destroyed. Jesus did not remain in the tomb, He was resurrected. In the first letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul emphasizes one of the important consequences of the resurrection: “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is also in vain… you are still in your sins; therefore also those who died in Christ perished… But Christ was raised from the dead, the firstborn of those who died. For as death came through man, so through man is the resurrection of the dead. Just as in Adam all died, so in Christ all shall live.” (15:14,17-18,20-22).

Yes, He is the First and the Last, He was dead, and behold, He is alive. With Him, with Christ, we crossed the line of death, passed from death to life! Thus, the Author of the second letter to the seven churches included in His introductory word all of our redemption, all of our salvation, all of our life in eternity!

“I know your works, and sorrow, and poverty, – however, you are rich, – and the slander of those who say about themselves that they are Jews, but they are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.”

The Smyrna church was in sorrow. In all likelihood, she suffered hardship and persecution. Believers lost their wealth for believing in Jesus. Moreover, the Jews slandered them and betrayed them. The Jews also suffered persecution for not recognizing Caesar as God and, perhaps, trying to shift the blame to Christians. Be that as it may, the Lord knows everything. He does not consider these slandering, hate-breathing people to be true Jews, because they followed Satan, becoming his disciples.

What about us? The Savior knows our sorrow and poverty! Sorrow or suffering is inevitable in the life of a believer, as well as in the life of a person living without God. But only for a believer, problems and difficulties are no longer something that drives us into depression and hopelessness. The Word of God says: “And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him” (Rom. 8:17). Many today are experiencing sorrow and suffering in our country, but not everyone, in the midst of this sorrow and trials, discovers those sources of God’s blessings that the Lord has prepared for those who believe in Him. You and I must open these sources in our lives and point them to those who today are left alone with their sorrow and problems.

The Lord also knows our poverty. Poverty is not only material. In the Gospel of Matthew, the Lord says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (5:3).

We are not talking here about the spiritual poverty of nominal Christians. No. Spiritually poor people received salvation and forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. These are brokenhearted people who can do nothing without Him and live daily by His grace. These are people who willingly accept instructions, advice, and help from Others. But it’s amazing that these spiritually poor people are rich! They are poor in themselves, but rich in God! In Him they received inexhaustible heavenly riches! This is exactly the attitude the Lord wants to see in our lives.

“Do not be afraid of anything that you will have to endure. Behold, the devil will cast you from among you into prison to tempt you, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

Have you noticed that the Lord in His message does not reproach the elder of the Smyrna church for anything? Nothing! Nowhere do we find the slightest reproach in this letter! What can we learn here?

Looking at the life of the elder of the Smyrna church, who was separated from sin, from the world, blameless, blameless, holy, ready for the coming, we can learn even more: the persecuted church, as a rule, is in direct connection with the Lord and in close fellowship between brothers and sisters. Such a church follows an uncompromising path. She constantly looks to the Lord. The bond of love is intact. Out of love for the Lord, believers endure persecution, out of love for Him they go to death!

Yes, in communities there are people who are members of the church “for the company.” But this expression is incorrect. This is proven by the Smyrna Church. God does not reproach her for anything. So there is a church pleasing to God! You and I can become such a church—that is what the Lord is calling us to

“He who has an ear (to hear), let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches: He who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.”

How important it is to be a winner! He who overcomes will not suffer harm from the second death, even if he dies the death of a martyr. The second death is eternal separation from God and eternal torment. But the one who overcomes will have eternal life with God in heaven!