Read Through The Bible

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Be Faithful until Death

One of the basic rules of Biblical interpretation is to understand what the text meant to the original recipient.  Only when we have understood the original message to the original audience can we struggle with the application for our lives today.  The second letter in Revelation 2 presents an interesting struggle in this respect.  The historical situation of the Church in Smyrna is so drastically different from our situation.  The circumstance in Smyrna that prompts this message is one of real persecution—persecution that potentially leads to death.  By the way, we should be mindful today that there are still many who face persecution that potentially leads to death.  Just this week, I received two different e-mail pieces detailing accounts of persecution toward Christians in other countries.

Our suffering may be more emotional—an appeal to be silent about our claims about Christ.  Regardless, the letter to the Church at Smyrna reminds us no matter our suffering we are to “Be faithful until death.”  What are the keys to “being faithful until death?”  First, we are to assume that we will be called on to suffer.  Choosing Christ will often put us at odds with the world.  Second, we can be assured of God’s character in the face of this suffering.  Ultimately, He wins!  This is the message of the whole Bible, the whole of Revelation, and all seven letters in Revelation 2-3.  Since He has overcome, we are called to overcome through Him.

What if you were to receive a letter from God?  Do you think that you would consider that letter to be important?  In a sense, the whole Bible is a letter from God to us.  Other parts of the Bible are literally letters.  Some of the Bible’s most famous letters are the seven letters in Revelation 2-3.  But, these are not just ancient letters of only historical value.  Every single letter has a very important application to our contemporary churches and to us as individuals.  Each of the letters follows this pattern:  the recipients, the identification of the author (which is Jesus, Himself), the account of the church, an assessment of the church, a call to endure, and an appeal to hear what the Spirit of the Church is saying to the church.

The message of each of these seven letters is relatively easy to understand, but not necessarily easy to follow.  For example, the concise message of this first letter found in Revelation 2:1-7 is to “Keep Jesus First!”  We are confronted every day to be wholeheartedly in love with Jesus.

Know this about being in love with Jesus.  God cannot be deceived about our love relationship with Him.  Add to this fact that our good works cannot replace our love for Jesus.  Neither can good theology replace our love for Jesus.  Neither can Godly values.  The Church at Ephesus gave evidence of all of these qualities, but the LORD of the Church, says to them, “But, I have this against you, you have abandoned the love you had at first.”  The bottom line is that nothing can replace our love for Jesus.

So, we must do as the text suggests.  We must remember what it used to be like.  We must repent.  Upon repentance, we must return.

The stakes are high.  Jesus says, “We must either repent or He will remove us.”  Removed from what?  Removed from our place of influence.  Removed from the power of God.

The Old Testament gives us the story of Samson.  God told his parents that his hair should never be cut (a Nazirite vow).  The covenant promise was that God’s strength would be upon him.  Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah.  The Philistines came to her and offered her money to discover the secret to his great strength.  At first, he told her that if he would be tied up with seven bowstrings that had not been dried, he would become as any other man.  She tied him up and called for the Philistines.  He broke free and whipped the Philistines who had come for him.  She asked again and this time he said that if he was to be tied up with new ropes, he would lose his strength.  A third time he said that the strength would leave him if the seven braids of his hair would be woven into the fabric on the weaver’s loom.  Again, he broke free.  Finally, after “she nagged him day after day and pled with him until she wore him out, he told her the whole truth.”  He told her that if his hair would be shaved, he would lose his strength.  When he fell asleep, off came his hair.  Awakening to fight off the Philistines, the Bible says, “When he awoke from his sleep, he said, ‘I will escape as I did before and shake myself free.’  But he did not know that the LORD had left him.”

I am so afraid that the church today is in danger of not even being aware when the strength and power of the LORD has left us.  We are busy, so we think we have HIS power.  We believe the Bible and thus have right theology, so we assume all is well.  We stand for Godly things, so we think surely we are ok.  But God says perhaps to some of us, “But what about your love for me.”  Not your love for things, not your love for programs, not your love for busyness, not your love for the work of the church, but your love for me.”

Paul commended the Church at Thessalonica for having a faith that works, a love that labors, and a hope that lasts.  (1 Thessalonians 1:3)  The last of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians is devoted to this idea of having a hope that lasts.

Every time I think of the idea of hope, I think about the story that I heard years ago about the little boy out in right field.  His dad was a little late in arriving to the game.  Seeing his son in the outfield, Dad said, “Hey, son, what’s the score?”  The little boy said, “Eighteen to zero—we’re losing.”  “Aw, son, I’m sorry!”  Dad felt like he needed to console.  “Don’t worry, Dad” was the immediate reply, “We haven’t even batted yet!”  That’s hope!

I remind you that hope for the believer in Jesus is not simply a wish.  Hope in this context refers to the confident trust that we have.  In this case, our confident hope is the return of Jesus Christ.  Paul reminded the Thessalonians, and therefore us, that our hope is in Jesus Christ.  He gave us concrete information like the facts that there would be a trumpet sound, a great shout, and that the dead in Christ would be first to meet Jesus in the air.  The return of Christ also calls for trust.  We are not given all of the information; we wouldn’t understand anyway.  We must trust that He has all the details so we don’t have to know the details.  As many have said, “We don’t know what the future holds, but we can know the ONE who holds the future.

So, what are we to do with this hope?  We are told not to grieve as those who have no hope.  We are told to encourage one another with these words.  I believe we are to live like we have this hope.  I am bothered when I see my fellow Christians lead in panic instead of lead in peace.

Just months after their attack on Pearl Harbor, the fearsome Japanese military was rapidly advancing on Manila where General Douglas MacArthur was Allied commander. When President Franklin Roosevelt commanded him to leave the Philippines, MacArthur considered resigning and fighting on as a civilian. He didn’t want to leave his men or the Filipino people to face the overwhelming might of the enemy alone. However, on March 11, 1942, he obeyed the order and made his way to Australia. But he made this promise to the Filipinos: “I shall return.”

During those years between General MacArthur’s promise of “I will return” and his actual return, the saying was printed on all sorts of items—cigarettes, matchbooks, chewing gum, and candy bars for example—and spread throughout the Philippines.  The idea was that the Filipino people would stay encouraged.  Similarly, as Christians, we are told to encourage one another with these words of the LORD’s return.  Some early Christians are said to have greeted each other with the word “Maranatha” instead of a hello or a goodbye.  “Come, LORD Jesus.”  In our coming and going, we ought to remind each other, “He is coming again!” 

Paul commended the Church at Thessalonica for having a faith that works, a love that labors, and a hope that lasts.  (1 Thessalonians 1:3)  Later in the letter, in 4:9-10, Paul exhorted them and us to excel in that love.  That’s the task of the church.  As a pastor, I am keenly aware that we fail to love far too often.  To put it mildly, we talk about how we ought to love a lot more than we practice true genuine love.

My very first sermon, all eleven pages of notes and nine minutes worth, was on the text of the Good Samaritan.  That sermon was probably a disaster in a thousand ways, but I do think I had the main point right.  I remember like it was last night—“We must put our compassion into action.”

We know what we are supposed to do.  The trouble with that story is not understanding the point, but instead putting the compassion into real action.  It’s what a Church is supposed to do.