Overcomers of Ephesus and Smyrna

Recently, I have come to realize that we all have many things that we need to overcome. It’s dawned on me, that in life there is an order to this process. We must start with ourselves because you can’t pour from an empty vessel, but as we overcome things that are hindering us, oftentimes we are able to identify and help others overcome those same things that had us bound. All of a sudden we will start making a difference in others lives in our immediate circle, and then complete strangers as we become more sure of ourselves. Who knows? You could start making differences in your city, state and nation! 

In Revelation, we see that there are seven churches that Christ identified. Five churches had dire warnings attached, but all had things in their societies and cultures that they had to overcome. We can learn so much about our own personal struggles by examining each of their situations and comparing them to the things we struggle with both personally and in our own cultures. 

EPHESUS

This church worked hard and persevered. It did not tolerate wicked people and tested apostles to see if their messages were true. There seems to be some debate on the meaning of the name itself, but some have equated it to the Greek arestos(meaning desirable) or epitrepo (meaning permitted). Christ had a warning for this particular church:

“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from it’s place.”

Revelation 2:4-5

Interestingly enough, we find that one of the first things the Ephesians learned about was the difference in John’s baptism, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 19, Paul explains that John’s baptism was of repentance, but they lacked the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Once they were baptized in the Spirit they started speaking in tongues and prophesying. If this group stopped following the Spirit’s guidance, it would have grown complacent and stale. It seems that the church in Ephesus, though going through the correct motions on the outside, became hardened on the inside. They fought deception, and riotous outbreaks in their time. Sounds familiar right?

How hardened and complacent have we become, as we fight the daily battles in life? Satan and his minions hit us with one crisis after another, and we get hurt over and over again, until we eventually put a shell around ourselves emotionally. We withdraw into ourselves, but we are actually doing the opposite of what we should be doing! Christ tells us to return to the love we had at first, we can do that by getting back to the basics. Remember when you first accepted Christ? The simplicity of turning to Him with all of our hopes and dreams and going out of our way to pour that love into others? Look and be alert to the Holy Spirit’s gentle prodding and allow yourself to feel the excitement when you start seeing the smallest coincidences. Don’t reason it away with what you think is logical. Accept that God may have put you in a particular place, at a particular time to see something, or just be an encouragement to someone. The people that overcame in Ephesus won the right to eat from the Tree of Life! 

SMYRNA

This church is one of the two churches that Jesus held nothing against. The word Smyrna translated from Greek to Hebrew means myrrh. In biblical times, myrrh was used as a perfume or in oils for anointing, and also for the embalming process. It’s interesting to note that Christ described himself as the first and the last who died and came to life again. We can see the correlation in what the name of the church, and Christ’s description of himself in Revelation 2:8. This church was poor and impoverished during their time despite being in a city well known for having a school of science and a school of medicine as well as a theater that held 20,000 spectators. That being said, Christ called them rich! To me, this means that not only did they have great faith, but they must have been operating in all five gifts of ministry.

“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.”

Ephesians 4:11

When we identify what each of these gifts are, we can see not only how they truly help the church, but we can begin to see each manifest in our own personal lives! These are the definitions according to Merriam Webster 

• Apostle-one sent on a mission 
• Prophet-one who utters divinely inspired revelations
• Evangelist-an enthusiastic advocate (in this case of the gospel)
• Pastor-a spiritual overseer
• Teacher-one that teaches (or instructs)

We each have a mission in life, a purpose that God wants us to accomplish for Him. Are we listening for His direction daily? Are we hearing new things and gaining understanding from God? Are we advocating for His will or our own? Are we taking care of those that we are charged with? Are we teaching others? All of these gifts are important to understand when we see what Christ says to Smyrna about what they are dealing with and will soon see.

“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 until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

Revelation 2:9-10

We find out that not only have some joined them that are deceptive and manipulative, but that they will be thrown in prison, have persecution, and have to make the choice to stand by their faith even in the face of death. Imagine the faith it would take to have to endure that! Jude explains to us that even before these churches were formed, there were certain men that crept in unnoticed. This church experienced those types and what kind of damage they can do. 

Sometimes when we go through tribulations, we don’t even realize when the start and end points are. At some point, there is a wake up moment, when we look back and realize that the ease and joy of life are gone. We trudge through a day physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted until there is a breaking point and we say, “NO MORE.” Oftentimes, that’s when we realize there are certain people in our lives that seem to be at the root of our woes, like the Jews that are of the synagogue of Satan.

Testing periods, in my mind anyway, have a starting point. A death of someone close to you, a chaotic event like a fire or hurricane, a diagnosis of a scary disease, etc. Have you ever noticed with these events, that you don’t even know you’ve gotten through them until you’re already out of the storm they caused in your life? Hindsight gives you great understanding of why you had to go through them, and you can clearly see how God was with you through it. Once you’ve overcome the test not only do you come out stronger and wiser, but you can relate and empathize with others in a similar situation and let them see how Christ guided you through your own trial. Often times this testing period produces strong spiritual fruit! God shakes the things out of us that can be shaken, and the parts that can’t be shaken God will mold into someone that can be used powerfully in His Kingdom. The people that overcome win not only the Crown of Life, but they aren’t hurt by the second death