How Jesus Grades Churches - Himalayan Heights – May 29 Readings: Revelation 2:8-11 – Smyrna

 Revelation 1-5 - Seeing Jesus

All Scripture is God-breathed and useful, but there are some Scriptures that we can consider the Himalayan mountaintops of the Bible. In the next few months, we will be looking at a series of great texts that inspire and move us - the "Himalayan Heights" of God's Word.

Today's Reading:  Revelation 2:8-11

The "Super 7" refers to 7 passages I consider formative in my Bible Study and Christian life. They are taken from both the Old Testament and the New, various sources and various subjects.

“Write to the angel of the church in Smyrna: Thus says the First and the Last, the one who was dead and came to life: 9 I know your affliction and poverty, but you are rich. I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will experience affliction for ten days. Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will never be harmed by the second death.

Smryna, now known as Ismir, is a perfect demonstration of the fact that Jesus grades differently than we do. Ephesus was a hard-working church with money and sound doctrine, a church others aspired to be, but Jesus rebuked them because they'd left their first love. No one wanted to be Smyrna. It was poor and persecuted, a church where people were slandered and suffered under the fires of Satan's attacks. Jesus had not a word to say against this church. Think of the irony - the church everyone envied was judged by Jesus and Smyrna, which no one wanted to be, was lauded by Jesus with not a word of rebuke. 

Through the Bible Readings: 2 Kings 1-2, John 7:40–8:11, Psalm 68:22–28, Proverbs14:7-8

If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings. 

Devotional: How Jesus Grades Churches    

God sees things differently than we see them. If we received report cards from heaven for our churches we would be shocked. We look at churches with massive numerical growth and assume God must be smiling. We see brand new buildings and charismatic leaders and state-of-the-art technology and believe heaven must be applauding. When we see a church struggling with rundown facilities and small numbers, we are sure they are not walking under God's favor. In America, we would praise the church of Ephesus and pity Smyrna, but when Jesus gave out his grades, things looked very different. 

Of the seven churches in Asia Minor, only two are given commendation without any rebuke from Jesus. Most are commended for some things and warned about others, but Smyrna and Philadelphia were given no negative reviews by Jesus at all. 

Smyrna, a town just north of Ephesus on the coast, was home to a church, likely planted out of the church at Ephesus, but contrary to that church it was marked by two things, poverty and affliction. They were poor and they were persecuted. In fact, Jesus warned them that they were about to come under Satan's attack, which would be intense. 

And that is where we learn what Jesus values in a church. There are good churches that have lots of money and good churches that have little. There are good churches that are big and good ones that are small. Good churches come in all shapes and all sizes, but there is one thing they all have in common, according to verse 10. They are faithful, even to the point of death. 

Faithful. They are loyal and faithful to Jesus more than anyone or anything else. They are not seeking popularity in this world, but fidelity to the Savior. They remain true to God's word even if the whole world hates it. When things go well, they are faithful and when things go poorly, they are faithful. When there is money rolling in, they are faithful and when things are tight, they are faithful. When the numbers are good, they remain faithful to God and to God's word, and even when numbers sag they refuse to compromise God's truth. 

Faithful to the end. Smyrna had none of the things other churches envied, but they had God's approval, because they were faithful. 

Father, more than anything else, help me to be faithful to you and to your word. 

Think and Pray:

When you judge a church, yours or another, do you look at externals, at things this world looks at, or do you look at faithfulness to Christ and to his word?