Revelation 2:10

Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. NONE. So 'Aleph ('), Vulgate, Syriac; but A B C, Coptic, 'Fear not those things,' etc. 'The Captain of our salvation never keeps back what faithful witnesses for Him may have to bear; never entices recruits by promising they shall find all things easy and pleasant' (Trench). DEVIL - `the accuser,' acting through Jewish accusers, against Christ and His people. The conflict is not with mere flesh and blood, but with the rulers of the darkness of this world. TRIED, [ peirastheete (G3985)] - with temptation. The same event is often both a temptation...

8-11 Our Lord Jesus is the First, for by him were all things made; he was before all things, with God, and is God himself. He is the Last, for he will be the Judge of all. As this First and Last, who was dead and is alive, is the believer's Brother and Friend, he must be rich in the deepest poverty, honourable amidst the lowest abasement, and happy under the heaviest tribulation, like the church of Smyrna. Many who are rich as to this world, are poor as to the next; and some who are poor outwardly, are inwardly rich; rich in faith, in good works, rich in privileges, rich in gifts, rich in hope. Where there is spiritual plenty, outward poverty may be well borne; and when God's people are made poor as to this life, for the sake of Christ and a good conscience, he makes all up to them in spiritual riches. Christ arms against coming troubles. Fear none of these things; not only forbid slavi...

Verse Revelation 2:10. _FEAR NONE OF THOSE THINGS WHICH THOU SHALT SUFFER_] This may be addressed particularly to _Polycarp_, if he was at that time the bishop of this Church. He had much to suffer; and was at last burnt alive at Smyrna, about the year of our Lord 166. We have a very ancient account of his martyrdom, which has been translated by _Cave_, and is worthy of the reader's perusal. That account states that the _Jews_ were particularly active in this martyrdom, and brought the fagots, c., by which he was consumed. Such persons must indeed have been of _the synagogue of Satan_. _TEN DAYS_] As the _days_ in this book are what is commonly called _prophetic days_, each answering to a _year_, the _ten years_ of tribulation may denote _ten years of persecution_ and this was precisely the duration of the p

FEAR NONE OF THOSE THINGS WHICH THOU SHALT SUFFER - He did not promise them exemption from suffering. He saw that they were about to suffer, and he specifies the manner in which their affliction would occur. But he entreats and commands them not to be afraid. They were to look to the “crown of life,” and to be comforted with the assurance that if they were faithful unto death, that would be, theirs. We need not dread suffering if we can hear the voice of the Redeemer encouraging us, and if he assures us that in a little while we shall have the crown of life. BEHOLD, THE DEVIL SHALL CAST SOME OF YOU INTO PRISON - Or, shall cause some of you to be cast into prison. He had just said that their persecutors were of the “synagogue of Satan.” He here represents Satan, or the devil - another name of the same being - as about to throw them into prison. This would be done undoubtedly by the hands...

EXPOSITION REVELATION 3:1 _The epistles to the seven Churches. _Once more we have to consider rival interpretations. Of these we may safely set aside all those which make the seven letters to be pictures of _successive periods _in the history of the Church. On the other hand, we may safely deny that the letters are _purely typical, _and relate to nothing definite in history. Rather they are _both historical and typical. _They refer primarily to the actual condition of the several Churches in St. John's own day, and then are intended for the instruction, encouragement, and warning of the Church and the Churches throughout all time. The Catholic Church, or any one of its branches, will at any period find itself reflected in one or other of the seven Churches. For two Churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia, there is nothing but

FEAR NONE OF THOSE THINGS WHICH THOU SHALT SUFFER,.... God's people undergo sufferings of various sorts, as the Christians of those times did, scourgings, imprisonment, confiscation of goods, and death itself in various shapes; and these are certain, they shall suffer them; they are all known beforehand to Christ, and he sometimes gives his people previous notice of them, nor should they indulge a slavish fear about them. It is reported of Polycarp, bishop of this church at Smyrna, in a letter written by the church itself n that three days before he suffered, he dreamed his pillow, on which he laid his head, was on fire; upon which, awaking, he said to those that were by him, that he should be burnt for Christ; and when he came to suffer, as he was led along, a voice was heard by the bystanders, Polycarp, be strong, and play the man. BEHOLD, THE DEVIL SHALL CAST [SOME] OF YOU INTO PRISO...

II. THE THINGS WHICH ARE, THE SEVEN CHURCH MESSAGES, AND THEIR PROPHETIC MEANING CHAPTER 2 _ 1. Ephesus: The post-apostolic period (Revelation 2:1)_ 2. Smyrna: The period of persecution (Revelation 2:8) 3. Pergamos: The corruption period (Revelation 2:12) 4. Thyatira: The Romish corruption (Revelation 2:18) The two Chapter s which follow the introductory chapter contain seven messages to seven local churches which were in existence in the province of Asia in the days when the Apostle John was prisoner in the isle of Patmos. The view held by the late Dr. Bullinge

REVELATION 2:1 TO REVELATION 3:22. THE LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES. These letters are addressed to individual churches, but their messages are intended for the Church as a whole. In every letter there occurs the phrase, He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches....

_SMYRNA_ APPEARS FIRST IN SACRED WRIT IN THIS CONNECTION, AND WE KNOW NOTHING OF THE PREVIOUS HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. THE LETTER TO IT SPEAKS ONLY WORDS OF PRAISE. THE CITY OF SMYRNA STILL EXISTS AS THE MOST FLOURISHING PORT OF TURKEY IN ASIA, AND HAS. NUMEROUS CHRISTIAN POPULATION. ON ACCOUNT OF THE LARGE PROPORTION OF CHRISTIANS IN ITS POPULATION IT IS REGARDED BY STRICT MOSLEMS AS UNCLEAN, AND IS CALLED "INFIDEL SMYRNA." IT IS AT THIS DATE THE CHIEF CENTER OF MISSIONARY OPERATIONS IN THE EAST. THE SEVEN CHURCHES.--At the time when John wrote there were hundreds of churches in existence. On the Asiatic Continent many had been founded in Judea, Syria, and elsewhere, and in the district of which Ephesus was the commercial metropolis, and which was especially designated as _Asia,_ we know that in the last quarter of the first century there were not only the seven churches named, but Coloss...

THE LETTER TO EPHESUS (Revelation 2:1-7)...