Revelation Chapter 2 Verse 10

 Jesus says, “Indeed the devil is about to throw some of you into

prison…” That speaks locally, ecclesiastically, prophetically and

personally. This is his aim through all that he does in yours and in my

life. In the Greek, this speaks of casting without care where we land

just tossing us aside into any sort of cage he can get us into. The

EXACT OPPOSITE of the plan and purpose of God for our lives…

(Crazy thought, the cage the enemy seeks to put everyone in…, if

you don’t have Jesus, what you do have that makes you happy…,

you will one day lose…)

 David wrote in Psalm 40:1-2, “I waited patiently for the Lord, and He

inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a

horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and

established my steps.” That word “established” is secured…, fixed…,

permantented! The enemy seeks to sink us and he works through the

temporal; God seeks to establish us and quite the opposite, He works

through the eternal (which can be difficult for us). To be faithful is to

walk with the Lord. And Jesus says, even faced with death, walk with

Me…

 It’s the same exhortation we read in 1 John 5:4, “Whatever is born of

God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome

the world, our faith.” The enemy will make as many attempts as he

has opportunity to cast us aside and cage us, yet even though we walk

through the shadow of death, we will fear no evil for You are with

me… Faith… It’s faith that overcomes. It’s faith that establishes…

And I get it, where faith establishes us is not temporally convenient

many times and so many don’t go that route…, but the end of that

decision is always another cage… The world sings, “What the world

needs now is love,” but the truth is, what the world needs now is

faith.

 Jesus here refers to 10 days of testing, 10 days of suffering and of

tribulation in prison and that it would be the devil who would be

behind it all. There are several perspectives out there on these ten

days and exactly what they represent…There are several out there, I’ll

present to you one…the church of Smyrna was in existence between

the years 101 AD and 312 AD. During that 200+ year period of time,

there was great persecution, great crushing and we don’t have really

any historical account that details a 10 day or 10-year period. What

we do know however is that between the years 101 AD and 312 AD

there were 10 Roman emperors that each launched massive attacks

against Christianity (beginning with Emperor Trajan). So much so

that during this time, between 5 and 7 million Christians were killed

for their faith.

 And so, I’m able to accept that what Jesus is referring to is 10 periods

of time, or ten reigns or ten tools (emperors) of the devil that will

throw some of them into prison and cause great suffering within the

church.

 But notice, no word of corrective exhortation for the church in

Smyrna, but a wonderful promise. “Be faithful even unto death, and I

will give you the crown of life.” This is not a king’s crown but rather

this is a competitor’s crown! And who is our competition? Our flesh...,

the world, the enemy! So cool, because we see this crown in one other

place in the Bible…in James 1:12 where James says, “Blessed are you

who endures temptation…you will receive the crown of life, which the

Lord has promised to those who love Him.”

 So put these two verses, these two appearances of the same reward

together and the conclusion is awesome! The crown of life is reserved

for those that are faithful, who are faced with temptations…fears,

trials, tests…opportunities to reflect God’s will, God’s ways, God’s

Word…or reflect the flesh, bend to the world…and James defines

faithful for us…, “Those who love Him.”

 Jesus said once, “With their lips they honor Me.” They pray their

needs, sing their songs in church, profess that they love Me…He

continued, “But their hearts are far from Me.” To truly love the Lord,

to truly, to honestly, to legitimately abide in His love…is seen when

one endures in faith. To honor God (not your temporal comfort –

AND I KNOW THAT IS HARD) with your time, with your money,

with your marriage, with your job, with your relationships, with your

attitude, with your reactions, with your mind, heart, soul, and strength,

these things reveal LOVE for the Lord… This is what it is to be

faithful…, not primarily what we do, but the fact that we do it at all

reveals faith! This is not demanded of you, this will define you! A

good tree just naturally bears good fruit!

 And Jesus says here, “If that good fruit comes out,” when the testing

comes the truth is told…, “If you endure in faith, then your faith/love

for Me is proven and your reward is sure…eternal life.” And also, the

crown of life! This is not simply and only the crown of eternal life,

which is certainly is. But the word in the Greek here isn’t life alive

life, the word in the Greek here is Zoe…

 This is the blessed assurance upon and within the faithful saint. This

is the confidence and pride of a proven/defending champion! Zoe

means exuberance, life force, joy, strength, purpose, confidence, one

experiencing the fulness of life, the state of one who is possessed

with vitality! This is the reward of the faithful! It may not

necessarily be deliverance from the trial, but this is most certainly

deliverance WITHIN the trial! What is the reward of faith? God will

do what you want! NO! The reward of faith is to be being fully filled

by the Holy Spirit and having the heart, mind, soul and strength of a

champion! No better, no greater, no more wonderful experience

anyone could every experience!

 Jesus says here, do not fear…even unto death. There are those that

teach that if you just had enough faith, you wouldn’t be sick. God

would be blessing you financially. God would be prospering you

immediately. This is a tragic twisting of the scriptures. And its an

easy twist! Many are sick, many are poor, many are intensely

unsatisfied with life because of their own unfaithfulness! That’s true!

But this idea of more faith makes God your Servant is just too far!

 Jesus says here, be faithful…, even unto death. If you go the route of

positive faith confession or anything remotely related to that, then

you’d have to say that if Jesus was just faithful enough, He wouldn’t

have died on the cross. It’s just not true and it’s just not Bible….

Revelation Chapter 2 Verse 11

 What is the second death? Just answering practically first…, it is a

second death. We will all face death once, but according to the Bible,

some will face death twice. Biblically there are two deaths, and the

second one is optional. In the Greek, this phrase is literally, “The

afterward death,” or, “The again death.”

 The second death is defined for us by Jesus in Revelation 21:8. “But

the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral,

sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake

which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

 Jesus says here that having a part in the lake which burns with fire and

brimstone, that is the second death. We read in Hebrews 9:27, “It is

appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” In that

judgment, some die a second time. It’s been said, if you are born

once, you die twice…, but if you are born twice, you die once… Jesus

said He was the one who was dead, and came to life… Showing in

Him is the original and eternal life force. That which death cannot

overcome…

 At the end of the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ, the unbeliever, all

of them throughout all of history, will be resurrected to stand before

the Lord at the Great White Throne Judgement. There his or her

failure to believe on the Lord and the refusal to accept God’s

atonement for sin will provide for them their part in the Lake of Fire.

But for those that have placed their faith in Jesus, become born again

by the forgiveness of their sins, a reconstruction of their heart of hearts

with the presence and power of God’s Holy Spirit…Revelation 20:6

says, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection.

Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of

God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.”

 The second death has no power…accept the loss of living in sin and

living for self now, and you will accept yet another loss at the final

judgment. But the key is he who overcomes now…will also overcome

then… It is a great and sure hope that God has invited each of us to

through His Son, Jesus Christ.