Revelation 2
Introduction
The seven letters follow a similar
pattern:
·
The recipient is the messenger of the Church;
·
Jesus presents Himself in a special way to oholyao,
in accordance with the problem of it;
·
Jesus shows that He knows His oholyao and
quotes what is good inside her;
·
Jesus rebukes the oholyao;
·
The consequence of sin is manifest;
·
Promise is given to the faithful;
·
Jesus urges His people to listen to the
voice of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Holy Spirit confirms what Jesus speaks
and does (Jn 16.12). Otherwise, Jesus will
not ordain us who listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.
·
What the rewards to the winners is.
The first and seventh
oholyao form a pair, where the legality of Ephesus is the seed and the
lukewarmness of Laodicea, the fruit.
The second and sixth
oholyao form a pair, where the fear of death of Smyrna is the seed and the
weakness in the faith of Philadelphia, the fruit.
The third and fifth
oholyao form a pair, where those who hire leaders to love of neighbor in their
place is the seed (pergamum) and robotization of
Sardis, the fruit.
The fourth oholyao is
unique. The feminine ministry is the seed and the physical and spiritual prostitution,
the fruit (see Romans
1.26).
The phrase "He who
has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches" is above
the promise in the first three letters (as that calling attention to the same) and follow the
promise in the last four (as that
ratifying the promise to those who consider too wonderful to believe).
Several elements contained
in the beginning of Revelation have corresponding at the end:
·
Tree of Life (Rev 2.7; Rev 22.25,14);
·
The deliverance of the second death (Rev 2.11; Rev 20.14; 21.8);
·
The new name (Rev 2.17; Rev 14:1);
·
Power over the nations (Rev 2.26; Rev 20.4);
·
Morning Star (Rev 2.28; Rev 22.16);
·
White Robe (Rev 3.5; 4.4; 6.11; Rev 16.15; 19.8);
·
The name in the book of life (Rev 3.5; Rev 13.8; 20.15).
·
Dwell in the New Jerusalem and be a citizen of
it (Rev 3.12; Ap
21.10).
That is to say, John sees
almost all promises to seven groups of converts fulfill themselves in the life
of the winners.
The message of Jesus to
the oholyao is framed. Jesus knew the oholyao and the city.
The language used in the book of Revelation is
quite different from that used in the fourth gospel or in the letters supposedly
written by John.
The difference between Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and laodicea is
that:
·
Thyatira knows well the Word of the Eternal
One (they cheer
for the heavenly things), wants to live spiritual things, but
without leaving the flesh.
·
Sardis knows the Eternal One himself in
person, but they slowly returned to their own interests and began to live the
gospel without any faith and interest in seeing individuals being
transformed by the love of the Eternal One and saved themselves. Started
to run mere rituals to ease their conscience and feel them worthy of blessings,
without worrying if they were or not pleasing to the Creator One.
·
Philadelphia knows the Eternal One superficially
and, although they were very attached to the appeals of the flesh, fight
against them. They lose a lot of time in this fight and, thus, end up not going
through the open door;
·
Laodicea lives fully in the flesh (as in 1 Corinthians 15.19);
Most of the promises have to do with Eternal
One life.
The word "win" appears more
frequently in the writings of John (especially
in Revelation) than in other books of the New Testament.
The words "war" and "make
war" occur more frequently in Revelation than in another book of the New
Testament.
Five of the seven oholyao are sorted to
repentance.
Letter to the
converted from Ephesus (The LEGALISTS)
Characteristic
Ephesus was a big city, famous for the temple
of the goddess Diana (Acts 19.35). It was the center of the
magical arts (see Acts
19.19) and the cults of mysteries. In this city, Aquila, Priscilla and Apollos
evangelized (Acts
18.24-28). It was where Timothy preached (1Tim 1:3) and John preached in old
age.
Paul visited Ephesus at the end of the 2nd
apostolic journey (Acts
18.19-21). In his 3rd trip, went there three years (Acts 20.31). The Eternal One operated
there wonderfully:
1)
Fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord
Jesus was magnified. (Acts 19:17).
2)
Many of those who had believed came confessing
and publishing their deeds. (Acts 19.18)
3)
Many of those who followed magic arts brought
their books together and burned them in the sight of all, and made the account
of their price, they saw that it cost fifty thousand pieces of silver. (Acts 19.19);
4)
So the word of the Lord was growing mightily
and prevailing (Acts 19.20) to the point of it
spread throughout Asia (Acts 19.26).
At this time, it was a group very loving (Eph 1.15). However, the several
warnings from Paul that the followers of Jesus this location would be
confronted by false brethren (Matt
7.15-20; At 20.35) and induced by them to adopt for
themselves their ideas and customs perverts, brought them to a zealous
exaggerated by the purity of Holy Scripture. Although this is
important, it is only a guide to take us to intimacy with Christ.
Unfortunately, many (then and now) lost this
referential and stayed fighting theologically, without even worrying if they
are truly in Christ or just fooling themselves. They did not think that no
purpose there is to know all mysteries and knowledge of the Holy Scripture and
perform great works based on them, if this don’t approach them to
Christ, nor of those who are close to them.
The attitude of the brothers of Ephesus in
battle by the principle of seven units (Eph 4.3-6), instead of getting
carried away in circles by every wind of doctrine (Eph 4.11-14) was noble (something they did, even in the
midst of the physical heretics attacks). However, there should
never mislead those who engage in this struggle to close the focus, so as not
to be able to see that the law was made for man, and not man because of the
law (expanding
the reasoning - Mark 2.27).
Even more today, when many converts want the
crown without the cross, wealth without rest and wait in the Eternal One (Psalms 37.7), the salvation without
repentance, the blessings of the Eternal One without the God of blessings,
nothing else indicated that following the advice of Judas: to strive diligently
for the faith which was once delivered to the saints (Jude 3).
However, we must never forget that the role of
the church is not zeal for the perpetuation of ideas or philosophies
killed (as does the
history, geography, etc.), but do battle so that the word of the Eternal
One is alive and active in our days as part of the love that
governs, not a society, but the day to day of each one that believes, even in
the midst of the corrupt teachings from Babylonian System that governs this
world. The goal of the Church is not to teach the word of the Eternal One (there is no ministry of teacher
in Holy Scripture), but to live it, showing it to
everyone through their effects acting where it is applied.
As Jesus
presents Himself?
·
“Unto the angel of the
church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in
his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; (Rev 2.1).
When the Church is fed secretly in the
tabernacle of the Eternal One, it is candlestick of gold.
For the brothers who have lost their
first love, Jesus presents Himself as the One who keeps the
communion of the Church and holds in His hand every one who is
prepared to shine as a star in the world (Phil 2.14,15), teaching all the
righteousness of the kingdom of heaven (Dan 12.3). In other words, Jesus is
showing that He sees everything that is going on in all the land, and that, in
this way, He does not need to anyone who is overseeing the behavior of the
Church.
Therefore, we don't need to be judging and
condemning others (Matt 7.1; 1
Corinthians 4.5), because we will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ (Romans 14.10; 2Cor 5:10).
Physically, the messengers of Eternal One
are taken as stars (Matt
5.14-16), since the whole world lieth in wickedness one (1John 5.19) and is in the darkness (Isaiah 60.1.2). However, such people
reflect the light of Christ (John 8.12). And in that Jesus possesses,
we do not need to be looking in the direction of wanting to control the
thoughts and feelings of the people. Just as only being attentive to what God
wants to do in life of each one of them.
Jesus showed the brothers that were no
longer seeing the value of love, that is, the importance of His presence in the
Church, that what differentiates Him from the other gods is the fact that
it is manifest in the life of every one who believes, as well as
protect them and guide them. Indeed, this is the greatest need of the Church:
realize within themselves the security of belonging to Him (Romans 8.14). After all, it is certain
that He is always around and that nothing can separate us from the love of
Him (Romans 8.39
- no one can strip us of His hands - John 10.28,29) who comforts us in a world
where there is only injustice, pain, tragedy, misery, etc.
The majority of those who believe, can only see
Jesus in seated in heaven right by Father reigning over everything and
everyone, but at a distance (as the pagans
worship their idols). It is the intimacy with the Creator who makes
the true God other than that presented by religions, sects and gospel denominations.
I know that this seems hard to engulf. However,
please, understand: the idea is not to do something for the Eternal
One or stay praising Him, but to Hear him and let Him fulfill all His
will in us and through us.
What
qualities can be seen?
1st -
I know thy works, and
thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil:
and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast
found them liars;
2nd
- And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's
sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. (Rev
2.2,3).
3rd -
But this thou hast,
that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. (Rev 2.6).
First of all, works is one of the favorite
words of John and is often linked to the overall conduct of the individual.
Note that the same things that are mentioned in
verse 2 are seen in verse 3, but in reversed order. A hypothesis
for this is to show us that there isn’t well to do (verse 2), nor evil to suffer (verse 3) that pass virtually
unnoticed by the eyes of the Eternal One.
Let us one by one:
·
I know thy works, and thy labor and thy
patience -> these brothers were full of good works, in which they
struggled without falter to be perfect.
·
You cannot withstand the bad ones -> if
they could, imprisoned or killed all the wicked to eliminate the evil from
the face of the earth;
·
And you suffered and have
patience -> Patience is not passivity among the
problems. It is support with firm and strong perseverance afflictions imposed
by a demonic system that wants at all costs to deny the veracity of Scripture
and Christ.
·
And labored for my name, and hast not wearied
-> Work, here, has to do with an effort full of cheer, and not a mere
execution of tasks robotics. They wanted to make works that could take the Eternal
One being glorified. Even in the face of persecution, never tire of being
faithful to what they believe.
·
Thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which
I also hate -> Nicolaitans, conform it’s said, comes from the Greek
"NIKAO" (Win) + "Laos" (people). In other words, it is a state
rising over the others, and thus sowing strifes (Prov 6.19) or wanting to rule
over them. In this letter the emphasis is on works that aim to
provide this, whereas in the letter to the brothers of Pergamum, the teachings
that lead to this. Today, the religious leaders are exalted on the congregation
of these two forms: claiming to be theologians and be responsible for
conducting great achievements.
·
Put to the test
those who claim to be apostles and are not, and hast found false -> they were
relentless with heretics and false ministers.
One of the main Jesus' care, while driving His
final message to the seven churches, was preventing them from apostasy by
tolerate false teachers, prophets or apostles, which enfraqueciam His power and
authority among the members of the Church.
·
"His
watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb
dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they
are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are
shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every
one for his gain, from his quarter." (Isaiah 56.10,11).
·
"For
among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth
snares; they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so are
their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich." (Jer 5.26,27).
·
"And
he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in
the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we henceforth
be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they
lie in wait to deceive;" (Ephesians 4.11-14).
In fact, the fact that someone wanting to claim
for oneself the right to dominate the lives of other individuals is a serious
problem. See how much denominational wars exists. Why every day do new
denominations arise? Why do theologians never understand? There are all serving
the same Jesus (Eph 4.3-6)? Are the faith, the Holy
Spirit and Sacred Scripture not only one? So why this dispute?
There is only one explanation: the religious
leaders have no interest in helping the people, much less in driving them to
the Creator One, so that they can serve Him of the correct mode, i.e., trusting
in Him and being used by Him (John
6.28.29; Acts 13.1.2).
There is no interest in ending the confusion,
but rather to increase the confusion.
Let’s to clarify: the rebuke is not only for
the nicolaitans, but especially for the faithful followers of the Lamb which,
although the knowledge of the truth, for convenience, prefer that someone
search for the Eternal One and do good works for them. And all this so that
they can devote to the pleasures of the flesh and to follow the false god (for example, the god of the
past) that best and most easily can be manipulated. All false worship, in the
end, it is an exaltation of the ego itself (see Luke 18.11 - ARA2)
Comes the question: how were they claiming to
be apostles? At the beginning of the Christian era, when the
contemporaries of the apostles were abundant, claim to be an
apostle could, with some justification, be made (since not everyone knew
personally the twelve apostles). However, when John wrote the Book of Revelation,
this statement would be a lie very rough (since the apostles who still had not died were well
old). In this case, there are four possible hypotheses:
1)
They claimed that they had been called in a supernatural
way by Jesus after He had ascended to heaven, as came about to Paul. In
this case, to verify the veracity of this, you should observe the fruit of the
individual (Matthew
7.15-20).
2)
They claimed that they were elected by the
Apostles, as took place with Matthias (Acts 1.23-26). To confirm this, it
was enough to check if this custom continued to be propagated. Of course not,
since the election of Matthias was intended to fill the seat left by Judas
Iscariot (at least
this is what they thought).
3)
They claimed that they were the successors
of the apostles, possessing the authority, as well as the ability to transmit
this authority. That is to say, in this case they would be saying that the
apostles ordained them as successors and that, therefore, they also had such
authority. It is clear that this is impossible, since the ministry of someone
is not constituted by the will of any human being, but a divine call (Galatians 1.1; Colossians 1.1).
4)
They argued that, as Barnabas (Acts 14.14), they went out of the
world laying the foundations of evangelical faith. For this, it was
necessary to check if they actually performed this work around the world.
With so many memorable qualities, how can Jesus
be so radical in rebuke these brothers? The problem is that the focus of this
had changed. Rather than seek the truth to be closer to Eternal One and from
each other, the target of them came to be the establishment of a perfect
religion (whose goal
is always pleasing the Eternal One in order to consider themselves
in the right to receive His blessings, as can be seen in religious
institutions today).
However, Jesus is not like a device to be
driven by a set of rules, as if He could be controlled by the human being
through rituals and sacrifices. There are those who think that Jesus deserves a
chance to prove that He is the one who others say that He is. But Jesus does
not have commitment to human works, much less with people who live in the
world.
Detail: fidelity is designed as a
treasure that must be possessed and stored (see Rev 2.25; 3.2,11).
What is
the complaint of Jesus?
·
Nevertheless I have somewhat against
thee, because
thou hast left thy first love. (Rev 2.4).
What is happening here is that these
brothers began to hate more evil than love well. It is true that the Eternal
One orders to hate evil and love good (Amos 5.15). However, hate evil must
be a consequence of love well, and not a target in itself as it does the
society.
Notice how the whole legal system,
theoretically, is stablished on this premise. However, as there is no love for
the Creator One and by individuals, the target of this is keeping the
Babylonian System running to benefit only a privileged elite. It is a stingy,
cruel system, where some attempt evil against others claiming that it is to
combat the evil (when, in fact,
is just to satisfy the pleasure of seeing others suffer). This system is full of
individuals against each other.
Note, however, the phrase
"Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee,":
·
"Therefore if
thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath
ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way;
first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." (Matthew 5.23,24).
Nobody was worrying if Jesus had something
against them, many less in trying to reconcile with Him.
Today the story repeats itself. Many want
to offer things to Jesus and forget to see if, first of all, they are
reconciled with Him. Without this, it is like trying to advertise a company
without its permission: you can end up in prison.
And the reconciliation with Christ is not only
in the spiritual area. Rather, it is in all areas. If one area of our life has
not reconciled with Jesus, then indeed we are not remaining in His love (John 15.9).
While the brothers of Ephesus, struggling to
keep the sound doctrine (concept), they left their first
love (correct
view). This is equivalent to a wife who does not betray the
husband, but also not to devout love (2:2-4). The fact that the wife be faithful to her
husband and even obedient, doesn't mean that she loves him to the
point of denying herself to join herself to the life of Jesus in
the life of husband and, herewith, to assist him in all areas.
She can comply with her obligations simply by
mere obligation, with a view to some reward, whether on earth or in
heaven. She lives side by side with him instead of being the body through
which he will see all plans that Jesus gave him realized.
The fact that the Church is the Bride of Christ
implies that He delights in her, and His greatest desire is to live in her
through His Word and His Spirit. So much so that Jesus Himself is
preparing His bride for the great wedding banquet (the so-called feast of the Lamb’s marriage - Rev
19.7,9).
This occasion is similar to what
happened when King Ahasuerus, desiring to present the queen Vashti to
everyone (Esther 1.11), he ordered that she was
introduced. The difference is that there, the queen is that it was preparing,
whereas here it is Jesus Himself who prepares (Eph 5.25-27). It is clear that He uses
His servants (2Cor 11.2) to dress the bride
who allows herself to prepare for it (hence saying that she prepared herself - Rev 19.7.8). However, is He in
person who adorns the Bride with Himself (Ezekiel 16.14), so that, in her,
everyone can see who He is and how He works in the lives of His.
To be more accurate: today, what the
angels see about Christ is His work in the life of believers (Ephesians 3.8-10). When the whole Church is
saved, the angels will then be able to see everything that Jesus did from Adam
to His coming, as if it were a great movie, with everything fitting
perfectly.
The Eternal One never designed a religious
system self-sufficient to replace Him, i.e., that worked for Him in the
life of each other. Jesus is more interested in us (in what He can show
about Himself through us), and not what we can do for Him or for Him. Even
because, being so limited, powerless, ignorant and sinners, there is no way to
do nothing that pays (Isaiah
64.4). Although it is important to hate the error and evil, this is not the
same as to love Christ.
See the difference: instead of hating the
evil and try to fight it by their own forces, what the brothers of Ephesus
should have sought is that the goodness of Christ manifest and
superabound amid all evil (Romans
5.20).
Think about it: what is the first love?
·
"Go and cry in
the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest
after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown." (Jeremiah 2.2).
·
"Go forth, O ye
daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother
crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his
heart." (Song of Solomon 3:11).
It isn’t the
satisfaction of seeing Jesus solve everything through the power of godliness (see 1
Timothy 3:16; 2 Timothy 3.5)?
In addition, think: what sense is there in
saying that the Creator One is all-powerful if, when there is evil, we
spent over His desire to exterminate the evil, instead of waiting Him to show
us what we need to do so that He can act? We speak that He is kind, but we
do not want to have intimacy with Him through prayer.
The struggle for orthodoxy, the intense work
and the persecution led the church of Ephesus aridity. They began making
love (Eph 1.15), but let this be lost
with their work and hatred for evil.
What is
the consequence of sin?
·
I will come unto thee
quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. (Rev 2.5).
If these brothers would not repent, they
would lose the light of communion (after all, the candlestick served to illuminate the
houses where the brothers gathered - Matthew 5.14-16).
·
"But if we walk
in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and
the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1.7).
·
"He that saith he
is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He
that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of
stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and
walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness
hath blinded his eyes." (1 John 2.9-11).
They could even continue manifesting the light
of wisdom (Dan 12.3). However, such concepts
would seem mere utopia, inasmuch as the wisdom can only be revealed
through the mystery of the Eternal One, that is Christ and His church (1Cor 2:7).
Note that Christ always calls the
chosen of "My Sheep", "My Lambs"
(John
21:15-17). However, He refers to the candlestick as being "His candlestick"
(what
remember when the Eternal One said to Moses that the people of Israel were His
people - Exodus 32.7). In other words, when the people remain in
sin, the Eternal One changes His way of dealing with those who profess to serve
Him:
·
"And God said
unto him, Call her name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will be your
God." (Hosea 1:9).
Let be clear that the lamp
of Ephesus would be removed out of its place, and not destroyed.
After all, it is holy (see
something analogous in Numbers 16,37,38). The lampstand (the light of communion) would be established in
another place, in the life of individuals who valorize the Sacred
Scripture and Jesus. This reminds us of what Jesus said to the Pharisees:
·
"Therefore say I
unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation
bringing forth the fruits thereof." (Matthew
21.43).
It is important to make clear that the lamp
goes out, not because of a lack of oil (truth), but by valuing more the truth of what the
"fire" that makes this truth shines and lead individuals to see
clearly the designs of the heart, so as to be able to relate to each other
in a more precise manner.
·
"Therefore judge
nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the
hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts:
and then shall every man have praise of God." (1 Corinthians 4.5).
What is
promised to the faithful?
Isn't mentioned promises for the faithful of
that time, but only to winners.
Exhortation
·
Remember therefore
from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works (Rev 2.5).
The cure for the error encountered among the
brethren of Ephesus can be seen below:
I.
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen;
II.
Repent;
III.
Do the first works.
From the moment that we do not want to “climb”,
but we are content with what we already have, we already fell. The lamp that
does not continue to burn, decreasing its flame until burn out.
The Church is not being called to remember Her
sin. It is being said: "Remember in that situation you have fallen" (or remember the reason that made
you fall), but "from where you have fallen." That is to say,
remember from height you have fallen and where did you fell. They should
remember where they were when they began their walk with Jesus (See Jer 6:16) and from where they
started to drift away from love.
To understand the importance of this, think of
the prodigal son. He began to be restored when he remembered his father's home
and the immense love of him, so great that even the workers of his father
were in better condition than he, in his alleged freedom (Luke 15.17).
But it is useless to see where he was, if he was
not willing to repent; such as it doesn’t want to repent without knowing where
to go. This is what happens in many marriages: they know that something needs
to be changed, but do not know "what" change, nor "in
which" direction change.
The order was to return to the first works.
But, what is this? Thinking about the marriage, the woman should go back to the
time when the submission to the husband was something volunteer in her life. In
other words, back to the time when, instead of simply obeying laws or do
things, there were happy to be in the company of her husband by the expectation
of everything that Jesus would reveal or make through him.
Soon, the first works are the heavenly ones (where they fell - hence the
mention of "heavenly places" three times in the letter to the
Ephesians - Eph 1.3; 2.6; 6.12), where is every good gift and every perfect
gift (James
1.16,17). That is to say, those works which aimed see Jesus manifest
Himself. To search, think and practice the first works is to keep
the mind and the heart fixed on heaven (Col 3.1,2), dwelling in the secret
place of the Most High (Psalms
91.1) for the pleasure in His company (Psalms 37.4,7; Matt 11.28,29) and of the brothers
who are part of His body.
Jesus told His brothers of Ephesus to correct
their works (works of
love, which aims to unite the brothers) rather than wait for
a visitation from heavens change them internally as per spell. After all,
what has value is the faith that works by love (Galatians 5.6).
What is
the reward to the winners?
·
To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise
of God. (Rev 2.7).
There is a difference between the Garden
of Eden and the New Jerusalem:
|
Garden
of Eden |
New
Jerusalem |
|
Bathed by four rivers |
Washed down by the river of life (John 7.37-39) |
|
There had gold |
The streets and squares are made of gold. |
|
Had the sun and moon to shine |
Has the Eternal One and the Lamb (not counting that has no night) |
|
There was the obedience by the innocence |
There will be obedience by the knowledge of the supremacy of Jesus. |
|
It is the beginning of this world |
It is the beginning of the real world. |
In the Holy Scripture there are four things
that are considered trees of life:
·
"Happy is
the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. She is
a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every
one that retaineth her.” (Proverbs 3.13,18).
·
"The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise." (Proverbs 11:30)
·
"Hope deferred
maketh the heart sick: but when the desire
cometh, it is a tree of life." (Proverbs 13.12).
·
"A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but
perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit." (Proverbs 15.4).
The importance of the desire fulfilled is
so important that Jesus said we seek His full joy:
·
“These things have I
spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy
might be full." (John 15.11).
·
"Hitherto have ye
asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be
full." (John 16.24).
·
"And these things
write we unto you, that your joy may be full." (1 John 1.4).
Jesus describes the communion with God in a way
that brings to mind the relationship with man in the garden of Eden. Jesus
Christ is our tree of life (John 6.51;
15.1), which gives us wisdom, fruits, fulfilled desire, benign language, in
order that we have life inside us.
Therefore, look for Jesus (our true tree of life - John
15.1) implies seeking His wisdom in order that the law of kindness is in our tongue
(Prov 31.26), and thus we can give the
fruit of the Holy Spirit and see His desire in us being fulfilled.
Eating from the tree of life is making of the
life of Christ our life, the kind of life to be lived (John 6.57; 2Cor 5.15).
Detail: The Tree of Life is watered by the
river of life. and the winner will feed oneself on all of
this.
But who is the winner here? Only gives
food to those who are not satisfied with the dish of Ha-Satan (the reward has to do with the
manifested fidelity). In other words, it will eat of the tree of
life who, for is hungry for Christ, overcome the tendency of the world of
wishing get away the evil from their life anyway. After all, such person only
meet satisfaction when see Jesus manifesting His love and piety to resolve the
problems.
Note the difference:
Ø
To brothers of Ephesus are promised to
feed the intimate communion with Jesus and His Church, since that was what
they had missed. The correct teachings they had;
Ø
To brothers of Pergamum, as they were lacking
the correct doctrine, Jesus promises to give them the hidden manna.
Where was the Tree of Life?
·
In Eden was in the middle of the garden (Rev 2.9);
·
In the New Jerusalem is in the middle of the
square (Rev 22.25);
Here, although implicit in some versions, it is
understood that it was in the midst of the paradise of God. Perhaps there was
no concern to say the exact position of the Tree of Eternal One by virtue
of being the only mentioned. In Eden other trees were necessary to ensure that
all the will of the Eternal One be fulfilled in life and Adam (to satisfy him and, thus, he didn't
feel like eating anything that had not to do with the Eternal One Himself). In the millennium there
will be other trees with the same property of healing of revelation (perhaps by being nourished by
leaving the sanctuary of the Eternal One.):
·
"And by the river
upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for
meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed:
it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters
they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and
the leaf thereof for medicine." (Ezek
47.12);
After the millennium, however, the
only tree needs is the one of life, which access was lost by man in
Eden, but has now been restored by Eternal One.
Identity
This group represents those who want to fight against
evil, without worrying about the methods to be used for this. Want to
establish good without Jesus is wanting to take His place. Hence this is the
only group that is being threatened of having the candlestick removed.
Almost everyone starts being born in an
environment of love, but as soon as the child grows a bit, she is taught by
parents to grow in the same condition of Ishmael: fighting with everything and
everyone (Gen 16.12). What a shock of concepts
takes care of the child! This is what was happening to the brothers
of Ephesus (and also
with the Galatians - Gal 3.1-3).
For the orthodox, Christ shows Himself as
the One who is seeing everything that is going on in the Church (is in the midst of them) and preserves in His
right hand each of which belong to Him. This means that nobody needs to be
overseeing the members to prevent false doctrines are spread and contaminate
the members.
Jesus Himself does this. And even if He do not
do so, it won’t be our carnal effort in trying to make stern laws (as did the Pharisees – Matt
23.4) that will prevent the advance of sin. And, even though yes, of that
would solve eliminate the sin of the world, if this does not promote the
rapprochement between the Creator One and His creation, but keeps each one
isolated on their selfishness?
That is, although it is important to ensure
that members are all upright in the eyes of the Eternal One, as everyone
will appear before the judgment seat of Christ (Romans 14.10; 2Cor 5:10), it is not up to us
to judge anyone, neither be harsh with sinners. The punishment of them is
already guaranteed. Leave the judgment to God (Matt 7.1)!
Our role is to prevent the trial happens.
Although the Nicolaitans, the followers of
Balaam, Jezebel or those of the synagogue of Satan are
problems, the biggest problem is a lack of zeal in seeking be joined to one
another in Christ and His Word.
The letters are not a rebuke to the false
leaders and teachers only, but also to those who follow them or tolerate their
teachings.
Abstract
These brothers started well in the faith (Eph 1.15). With the passing of
time, they left to worry about preserving communion in the Holy Spirit in the
bond of peace (see Eph
4.3). They began to worry about punishing the false
ministers and fight against evil, instead of seeking, in the Eternal One, the salvation
of them.
They forget that the goal of the Church is not
crowding saints to perform perfect rituals, but seek at each other the
improvement of the mind, character and spirit.
In view of this, Jesus shows that He keeps safe
in His hand the chosen and want to move in the midst of which are from Him and
shows that the real reward is precisely to live His love in the life of each
other (see 1 John
4.7-12).
If they refused to dig deeper in communion
with Christ, they would lose the fellowship with each other and, obviously, the
purification of sins (1 John 1.7). Consequently, they lose
their usefulness, even with the acquired wisdom.
Letter to the Converted from
Smyrna (the
persecuted ones)
Characteristic
·
" 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." (Rev 2.9).
First, let's define blasphemy:
·
"And, behold,
they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing
their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be
forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves,
This man blasphemeth." (Matthew
9.2,3).
·
"But Jesus held
his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the
living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of
God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you,
Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and
coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes,
saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now
ye have heard his blasphemy.” (Matthew 26.63-65).
Note that blasphemy, here, is not "speak
evil of", but " put oneself or something in place of".
Note that the false Jews are not in the
Church, but in the synagogue. Although the rebels insist on saying that
they are the Church of the Eternal One (as was in the time of Moses, which they considered
themselves the congregation of the Eternal One - Num 16.3; 20.4), all the times that Holy
Scripture refers to the rebel Jews they are called synagogue (or simply a mere gathering - see
James 2.2).
There was a synagogue of Satan in their
midst (Rev 2.9), that is, those who were go
through Jews (not
sinners among the Gentiles), but were not:
·
"For circumcision
verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law,
thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Therefore if the uncircumcision
keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for
circumcision? And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it
fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress
the law? For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that
circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which
is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and
not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." (Romans 2.25-29).
Many Jews insisted on thinking that they were a
special breed. Paul, then, shows that the condition of a Jew was only
beneficial if the Jews were able to keep the law. , none of them was:
·
"And God, which
knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he
did unto us; and put no difference between us and them, purifying
their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon
the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to
bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we
shall be saved, even as they." (Acts
15.8-11).
Thus, there is no difference between Jews
and Gentiles. Anyone who allow Jesus to circumcise their heart and let Him use them
to fulfill all the righteousness that is possible to exist in law (Romans 8.1-4) is a true Israelite (a descendant of Abraham by
faith).
Many, wanting to show a good appearance in the
flesh, forced the gentiles to circumcised in order not to be
persecuted for the cross of Christ (Galatians 2.3-5; 4.17):
·
"And I, brethren,
if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the
offence of the cross ceased." (Galatians
5.11).
·
"As many as
desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised;
only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither
they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you
circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh." (Galatians 6.12,13).
Understand: many of those who believed mentally
in Jesus, they did not want to, however, be persecuted by the fact that Jesus
delivered us from the curse of the law. So, they commit the same mistake that
Peter committed:
·
"But when I saw
that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said
unto Peter before them all, If thou,
being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why
compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not
sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works
of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus
Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works
of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But
if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found
sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For
if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a
transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live
unto God.” (Galatians 2.14-19).
It is clear that, with respect to Peter, it
was just a slide. But the majority of Jews who were converted, in fact, were
converted only outwardly. They wanted the salvation offered by Christ, but
didn't want to be persecuted by orthodox Jews (see John 12.42).
Here are some examples of the opposition of the
Jews (1Thess
2.14-16):
o
In Antioch of Pisidia, the Jews stirred up
some religious and honest women, and the rulers of the city, which raised
persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their
coasts. (Acts 13:50);
o
In Iconium, Jews combined with the Gentiles
to outrage and stone at Paul (Acts 14:2,5);
o
In Lystra, Paul was stoned by the crowd
that allowed to be convinced by Jews (Acts 14:19);
o
In Thessalonica (Acts 17:2,5), the Jews invaded
the house of Jason hoping to find Paul to do something against him;
o
In Corinth, the Jews resisted and
blasphemed, until Paul took the decision to leave the Jews and go to the Gentiles (Acts 18:,.6);
o
When Paulo returned to Jerusalem, Jews arrested
him in the temple and almost killed him (Acts 21.30-32);
o
The book of Acts ends with the Jews having
great controversy with Paul in Rome (Acts 28.25-29).
Thus, those who wanted to Christ, but without
persecution, urged all the members of the oholyao where they participated to
accept the Jewish customs (it was
needed to silence this - Titus 1.10,11). Those were not being
faithful to Christ, nor to traditional Judaism. Hence they were synagogue of
Ha-Satan.
Lastly, the brothers of Smyrna were being
oppressed by the false Jews who were compelling the Gentiles to be
circumcised (Acts 15.1) and keep the law of
Moses (Look Acts
15.19-21). There were two types of persecution against the Church of Christ:
physic (as quoted
above) and spiritual (trying to
convert the Jesus of Holy Scripture to Judaism, in order to convince the
Gentiles to be subject to the Jews).
Today the religious system, although say that
salvation is through Jesus, fight to secure the people under the yoke of
religious leaders and their demands to keep the pomp of modern cults.
Although the majority of the brothers of Smyrna
does not have contaminated by such doctrines, rather they were suffering
persecution of those who advocated it, these principles were among them,
threatening the perseverance of many.
As Jesus
presents Himself?
·
These things saith the
first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; (Rev 2.8).
To the Church of Smyrna, who was passing
by suffering, persecution, death, Jesus presents Himself as the One who was
dead, and came to life. After all, this fact means that dying with Jesus
became the key to eternal life.
Not only this! Jesus came to have a
condition of being our perfect High Priest (Heb 2.17,18). After all, what every
human being suffers He experienced in His being:
o
Faced tribulation;
o
He was a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief (Isaiah 53.3);
o
He was defied by hell, being obedient unto
death, even death on a cross (Phil 2.5-8);
o
He endured poverty, to the point of not
having nowhere to lay His head (Matt 8.20;
Luke 9.58).
o
He was slandered, coming to be called the
glutton and drunkard (Luke 7.34), imposter (Matt 27.36), a blasphemer (Matt 26.65) and prince of demons (Matt 12:24; Luke 11.15).
o
He was arrested and tremendously abused (beaten, spat upon, nailed to the
cross);
o
He passed through the valley of the shadow of
death and won one who has power over it (Heb 2.14,15), without at any time sin (Heb 4.15).
Whereas He never changes (Malachi 3.6; Heb 13.8), He has as promise the
crown of life for believers, for He is able to ensure complete victory in
the lives of those who really want to overcome sin.
In short, He was showing to His disciples who
were losing their life in this world (Matt 10.39) that death with Him
is not prejudice, but the greatest of all profits. As He is the first and
the last, there is nothing good before Him to appear, nor after, but only in
Him.
Many are afraid of death because they
still did not understand what is eternal life. This is not to live for oneself close
to Jesus, but rather to live in Christ (John 17.3; 1 John 5.20) and for Him (1 John 4.9). The time is a
dimension that exists only outside of Christ. When the Almighty and
the Lamb are our temple (Rev 21.22), there is no more death,
neither mourning nor outcry nor pain (Rev 21.4). Doing things becomes no sense (or, if you prefer, earn a
new meaning, a new dimension), because there is no need to be supplied.
Here in this world, all work is a constant
struggle to fight against the evil that has swept through this world with sin
and prevents anyone without Jesus to reach a high conception about oneself, the
human being, life, the universe and God Himself (Love - 1 John 4.8,16).
It comes the question: why Jesus is called the
first and last? At first place, He wants to show that everything is under
control (limited) for Him.
What
qualities can be seen?
·
I know thy works, and
tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich) (Rev 2.9).
Notice how Smyrna and Philadelphia are
the only oholyao of which Jesus speaks nothing about the works of them. He
only says "I know thy works." This is because the individual is not
saved by works, but by the Favor of the Eternal One upon our confidence in
Jesus.
Jesus is aware of who we are, our
situation and everything that happens to us, what is great comfort
and security for us. After all, one of the great needs in times of tribulation is having
someone with whom to share them and, especially, in whom we can support us.
Although the tribulation may seem, at first, a
punishment, in fact it is the lever in order to be full of heavenly wealth:
·
"And not only so,
but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;" (Romans 5.3,4);
·
"My brethren,
count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this,
that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her
perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." (James 1.2-4);
·
"Wherein ye greatly
rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through
manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more
precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be
found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:" (1 Peter 1.6.7);
·
"Now no
chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless
afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are
exercised thereby." (Hebrews 12.11).
Just think that it is for the poor who belongs the
Kingdom of Heaven (Luke 6.20). It is to them that the
Eternal One chose to be rich in faith and heirs of His
kingdom (James 2.5). In contrast with those
who were rich and affluent (Rev 3.17), but were not rich toward
God (Luke 12.21).
Hence Paul considers all his past glory as
dross to be able to achieve Christ (Phil 3.4-8). Because only thus he
would be able to be all of Jesus:
·
"Always bearing
about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus
might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway
delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made
manifest in our mortal flesh." (2Cor
4.10,11);
·
"But in all things
approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions,
in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults,
in labours, in watchings, in fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by
longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the
word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right
hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good
report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well
known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as
sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having
nothing, and yet possessing all things." (2Cor 6.4-10)
What is
the complaint of Jesus?
·
Fear none of those
things which thou shalt suffer (Rev
2.10).
God has always urged not to fear the human
being (Num 4.14; Deut
3.22; 20.1; Joshua 10.8; Jer 1.17; Ezek 2.6; 3.9; Matt 10.26). Maybe you ask: but
in face of so many threats and harassments, it is normal or natural that a person
be afraid. Yes, it is something carnal! However, considering that it is the
spirit that quickeneth (the flesh
profiteth nothing - John 6.63), then when something isn’t spiritual must be
combated.
Because:
·
"For they that
are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after
the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is
death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the
carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot
please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that
the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ,
he is none of his." (Romans 8.9).
Furthermore, consider that: "There is no fear in love;
but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth
is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4.18). Soon, never the
power of the Eternal One can be improved while the person is afraid.
Not to mention that the fear is a stumbling block (for example, leads the people to
have respect for the unrighteous, come to misrepresent the trial - Prov
24.23-25).
The reason there isn’t a direct rebuke is
because this sin was involuntary.
What appears to be something natural, simply
limits the individual, so that they refuse to accept the challenges
offered by Christ. For example:
o
Walk through the valley of the shadow of death
to redeem the lost (Psalms
23.4; Isaiah 9.1.2; Matt 4.15,16);
o
Dwell in the secret place of the Most High if
it is a place full of enemies and pests (Psalms 91.1,2,5-10).
What
is the consequence of sin?
There is.
What is
promised to the faithful?
·
And I will give you
the crown of life. (Rev 2.10).
What is the crown?
There are several types of crown:
·
Crown of glory (Isaiah 62.3; 1Thess 2.19; 1 Peter 5.4);
·
Crown of pride (Isaiah 28.1);
·
Crown of Life (James 1:12);
·
Crown of righteousness (2Tim 4.8).
Crown or award was something granted in
sports games (1Cor
9:24-27; James 1.12), which were used as an allegory for
the brothers see that dedication in seeking the
Kingdom of the Eternal One must exceed that of the competitor of an
Olympiad that want to achieve first place.
However, there was also the royal
crown:
Ø
In Revelation 3.21, is granted to elected the
promise to sit with Jesus on the throne.
Ø
In Revelation 4.4,10 the twenty-four elders sit
in twenty-four thrones, and each one has its royal crown (Revelation 5.12).
On the other hand:
Ø
In Revelation 19.12 Jesus has in His head
many diadems (term used
for royal crown):
Ø
In Revelation 12.3 Ha-Satan has crowns in
its seven heads;
Ø
In Revelation 13.1 the beast has crowns in the
ten heads.
Comes the question: which of the two is being
referred to (the of
victory or of royalty)? The two.
Royal crown usually was granted by right, whom
was son of king. The victory crown normally was granted for merit. In our case,
it was granted royal crown to us because we are children of the Eternal through
Christ and victory crown because Jesus make us more than winners over sin, the
world and Ha-Satan.
The use of crown serves to show that our reward
is:
·
Precious - a crown;
·
Glorious - crown of life;
·
Durable - life;
·
Personal - "I will give you";
But what would be the crown of life?
Believing that Jesus is eternal life, what is
being promised, IN LIFE, to the faithful is the privilege to be identified
before all with peace, happiness and love that never faint.
However, it is necessary to be faithful until
death. See who is not simply be faithful until the last day of life, but to be
faithful to the point of giving our life for love of Jesus. In other
words, as important as the duration of the fidelity is the quality of the same.
Little profit a faithfulness that yields in difficult moments. The faithfulness
that glorifies the Eternal One is that which leads the individual to
reign in life through Jesus (Romans
5.17) so that where sin abounded, the Favor of the Eternal One has condition
of superabounding (Rom 5.20).
Lastly, in heaven and on earth, this
target is the sign of the conflict that Jesus hung inside of us and won. The
crown in our lives means that Jesus won His Bride (see Song of Solomon 3:11).
Exhortation
·
Fear none of those
things which thou shalt suffer (Rev
2.10)
·
be thou faithful unto
death (Rev 2.10).
It isn’t in vain that Jesus presented Himself as
One (the only
one) that was dead and that came to life. This confirs that the only human
being who ascended to heaven was Jesus (John 3.13).
The message that Jesus was transmitting to the
faithful of Smyrna is that there is no human being who delivers from death. Nor
He escaped. Therefore, it is useless to be afraid of dying: this will occur
inevitably. Thus, nothing more noble than to die by the name of Jesus and
thus inherit the right to return to live.
·
behold, the devil
shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have
tribulation ten days. (Rev 2.10).
The letter of Smyrna is proof that being
faithful to Christ does not imply being free of tribulation:
1st -
The suffering is right. Jesus confirms that
they would really suffer and go to prison. In spite of all the fidelity of
them, Jesus would not save them from it. It ends with the idea that the Eternal
One is obliged to bless those who are faithful to Him. Be faithful does
not imply being free of problems;
2nd -
The suffering is limited (2Cor 4.16);
3rd -
The suffering is short (Romans 8.19-22). In fact, one of the
things that the ten days of tribulation represents is precisely the short
period of time (see, for
example, Genesis 24.55) that the brothers of Smyrna would suffer.
Jesus Himself said that this would happen:
·
"But beware of
men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in
their synagogues; and ye shall be brought before governors and kings for
my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles." (Matt 10.17,18);
·
"And ye shall be
hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end
shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into
another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of
Israel, till the Son of man be come." (Matt
10.22,23);
·
"They shall put
you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you
will think that he doeth God service." (John 16.2).
But, as stated in the Sacred Scripture, it is
better to suffer for love of Jesus and His Word than as a wrongdoer (1Cor 6.7-9; 1Peter 4.14-19). After all:
·
"Finally, be
ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be
pitiful, be courteous: not rendering evil for evil, or railing for
railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that
ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good
days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no
guile: let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue
it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are
open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them
that do evil." (1 Peter 3.8-12).
Although it is unpleasant we suffer because of
the evil or failures of others, we must glorify the Eternal One for not
being us the authors of wickedness. The worst slavery is being forced by sin to
do evil (even not
wanting - Rom 7.13-21).
On the other hand, receive the reproach of
others for whom the Father may be glorified is a privilege in the Kingdom of
Heaven (see Acts
5.40.41; 14.22; Col 1.24; Phil 1.29; Acts 15.2.3). This is the example that
Jesus left (1Pet
2.21-24).
Perhaps you are still unconsoled! But
after all, why Jesus did not deliver the righteous from evil? The problem with
individuals is that they think that the big problem are the trials and
tribulations. However, and before the ones reach them? How was the situation of
them? What good be free of all problems, but cannot attain happiness,
peace and love? Everything continues useless, which will induce the individual
to make bigger problems.
On the other hand, if the individual is in
Christ being filled by His grace, they will be taken by the supernatural peace
and happiness (John 14:27).
·
"Moreover the law
entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much
more abound:" (Rom 5.20).
And how much greater is the problem, the
greater the grace which is granted to win. This can be seen in Acts 5.40,41.
Although Peter and the other apostles were feeling the pain of scourging, the
happiness in their hearts was so great that they came out rejoicing because
they have been considered worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus.
Paul and Silas, although falsely accused, were
praising the Eternal One in full midnight even being full of welts and with
feet tied up in the trunk (Acts
16.22-25).
Stephen, similarly, was taken in such
peace and love to see Jesus at the right hand of the Father, i.e., to
experience all the love of Jesus by people who were stoning that he didn't want
the condemnation of them, coming to ask Jesus that He didn’t take the salvation
away from them by what was being done to him (Acts 7.60).
Hence the Holy Scripture say:
·
"Because thy
lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee." (Psalms 63.3)
Do you want anything better than seeing Jesus
manifesting His favor to all mankind? So much so that Jesus, in His
humanity, He felt that burning desire to see fulfilled in Himself the perfect
sacrifice of the Eternal One for the sake of saving His chosen from the power
of sin (Luke 12.50). Hence Paul to glory in
his weakness (2Cor 12.9,10):
·
"We
are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed,
but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not
destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,
that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we
which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also
of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh." (2Cor 4.8-11).
·
"For
which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man
is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a
moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things
which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the
things which are not seen are eternal." (2Cor 4.16-18).
In addition, if Jesus Himself, who
was perfect, suffered, what does it make us think that we will have the
conditions to be exempt from suffering (Matt 10.24.25; John 15.19.20)? The more faithful is the
servant of the Eternal One, the more He suffers and more also He is graced with
the happiness of Christ.
Consider the case of Jesus, for example. It was
the only perfect human being and it was exactly what suffered the most, but
also the One that more was graced with the oil of joy of the Eternal
One (Heb 1.9).
We often think that suffering is anything to
wicked (this is so
as regards the sadness after the world - 2Cor 7.9,10). However, it is good to
remember that all animals that were sacrificed as a mild aroma of
pleasant smell to the Eternal One were without blemish (meditate on Phil 1.29).
It isn’t in vain that the Holy Spirit
intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered: as we don't know ask
for what it is worth, He helps our weaknesses in order to join in chorus
with our spirit while it is moaning waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption
of the body (Rom
8.23,26).
He joins us to groan in a way that is
impossible to express it (which often
seems stammering lips that resemble someone who is drunk - see 1Sam 1.13.14;
Acts 2.13-15) for those who have carnal mind (1 Cor 2.14) in order that we may
yearn for the salvation of Christ, even this not being pleasing to our flesh.
The struggles with Christ seek to rid us of our
ways of death (Prov 14.12;
the destruction that we cause to ourselves and to those who are close - Prov
11.17) so that we can be made children of the Eternal One (John 1.12). Without the
challenges of the Eternal One, His virtue is not developed in us (see 2Pet 1.3-8). We accustomed us to the
state of turmoil in the world (Rev
3.15,16) and subject to sin as David (see 2Sam 11.1), since, if faith is not
nourished by the works of Christ in us (Jas 2:17), it will die.
It is necessary the ordeal in order
that the faithful are freed from fear and, thus, become capable
of being perfected in love (1John 4.18), as well as to assume the
posture of Elisha (2Kings
5.7.8): show everyone that the Eternal One is real (see Jude 3) so that all who settled
to death that took account of this world can see the light (Isaiah 9.1.2; Matt 4.15,16).
Everything that happens and comes to our hand
is our (1Cor
3.18-23), i.e., is for our treatment and edification, so that our victory (1Cor 9:24-27) be crowned (see) in face of all (1Pet 5.4).
This may seem crazy. However, think: the
world has not been able to identify Jesus through His wisdom (1 Corinthians 1.17-23). By the sense of
justice in this world, each one is led to go gradually to more away from
Jesus and the next, since in the wisdom of the world each one must seek for oneself,
while in the wisdom of the Eternal One we receive of Him what we need
for working toward the neighbor (we do not work for things, but because we obtained
them - Eph 4.28).
But who is this devil that would put some in
prison to be tried and afflicted by ten days? Devil means accuser. In
connection with the vs 9, the devil here is the religious system represented by
the members of the synagogue of Ha-Satan.
As to tribulation for ten days, see some
examples involving the period of ten days:
·
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael,
and Azariah were tried for ten days without taste of the delicacies of the king:
Ø "Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days;
and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. And at the end of ten
days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the
children which did eat the portion of the king's meat." (Dan 1.12,15).
·
The four beloved mentioned
above frequently and intensely were considered ten times better than others:
Ø "And in all matter of wisdom and discernment
about what the king asked them, found them ten times better than all the
magicians astrologers who were in all his realm" (Dan 1:20)
·
Laban changed the salary of
Jacob ten times:
Ø "And your father hath deceived me, and changed my
wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me." (Gen 31.7);
Ø "Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I
served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle:
and thou hast changed my wages ten times. " (Gen 31.41).
·
The people who came out of
Egypt tried the Eternal One ten times (i.e., frequently and severely):
Ø "Because all those men which have seen my glory,
and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted
me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;" (Num 14.22).
·
Often and so intensely
frightening, the Jews who dwelt in the midst of enemies tried to warn the
people that were building the wall about the plan of invasion of the enemies
ten times:
Ø And it came to pass, when the Jews who dwelt among
them, ten times told us, of all places, will make against us. And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt
by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places whence ye shall
return unto us they will be upon you." (Nehemiah 4.12).
·
Job's friends accused him
so seriously ten times:
Ø "How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in
pieces with words? These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not
ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me." (Job 19.2.3)
·
The period of probation is
short, but happiness is forever:
Ø " And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel
abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall
go." (Gen 24.55).
Although the period of ten days may seem small,
when in the midst of an intense suffering, this period can seem an
eternity.
Ten also reminds the European powers of this
world, whose prince is Ha-Satan (John 14.30), against the Church.
While the Eternal One sieve the Church to eliminate of her the straw, Ha-Satan
sieve Her to remove all the wheat (see Luke
22.31,32).
What is the reward to the winners?
·
He that overcometh
shall not be hurt of the second death. (Rev 2.11).
There are two peculiarities about the promise
made to this oholyao: this is the only negative promise and there is no mention
of Jesus (for
example: "I will give you to eat of the tree of life").
This reward, unlike the previous (crown of life), will be after the final
judgment.
To say that the winner will not suffer the hurt
of the second death, is saying that the theory of annihilationism (which the soul of the sinner
will be annihilated forever in the Final Judgment) is wrong. After
all, the wicked will suffer the damage of Eternal One
separation. If there were a total destruction, there would be no damage, but
only the end of everything.
But, what is the second death? The first is
that everyone is born into it. That is to say, implies being physically
separate from the Eternal One because of sin. The person begins spiritually
dead and ends up physically dead. The death develops in a person's
life, until it consummate itself when they leave this world. The first
death is a child who is born, grows, reproduces and dies.
The second death comes after the Final
Judgment, when the individual, although it is continually before the holy
angels and the Lamb (2Thess
2:79; Rev 14.10,11), cannot take advantage of this in his being. Rather,
this is the fire that burns for all eternity and never goes out (as it happened in the episode of
the burning bush - Exodus 3.2), for love is a torment to those who cling to
the iniquity.
Identity
Smyrna represents the converts who,
although do not have any external failure visible to the eyes of
individuals, internally are afraid of persecution for the sake of His
name because of a uncontrollable feeling of self-defense. No one
religious institution fits this profile.
Abstract
The hell is the inability of the individual to
receive within oneself the grace and love of the Eternal One.
Thus, it is necessary to receive in us the
treatment of the Eternal One to be free of everything that imprisons and
prevents us from loving our neighbor (fear, bitterness, etc.).
Here, Jesus promises to expose the
brothers of Smyrna to a tribulation greater than they already were
suffering. Such suffering is often compared to labor pains: continuous and
which increases gradually until Christ be formed in individual (Gal 4.19). The same shall
consist of a plot of world powers against the faithful.
And this precisely so that the faithful,
when they saw the salvation of Jesus, can lose the fear and be crowned
with a style of life that glorifies Christ (which confirms that His way of living is the only one
able to give each one of us real relationships).
After all, happiness is not to be free of
problems, but in receiving in us the living presence of Christ filling our
hearts, giving us what we need and getting rid of us every thought, feeling,
plan or desire that separates us from Christ and those who are of His in
our life.
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