When the world overcomes your earthly life, as you remain faithful to Christ, know that you are the true overcomer, because you’re joined to the One who conquered death by rising from the dead for your eternal life. It is His good pleasure to crown your undeserving but richly rewarded head with His life. 

Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Revelation 3:10

Don’t be deceived. You will die. It’s not a question of whether but when. The real question is, “How will you live when death approaches?” We live in a fallen world, we are attacked daily by the world, the flesh, and the devil. Saints on earth will always feel the pressure of this threefold evil until the King returns to bring us home. Jesus’ words to the church in Smyrna are perennial wisdom for saints in all ages.

Jesus’ refrain to all the churches resonates with those who are really his own: Rewards are bestowed upon his people if they hear his word, conquer, refuse the evil one, and endure till the end. Indeed, the Westminster Larger Catechism (Q&A 45) uses Revelation 2 to support the truth that Christ as our Kingly Mediator rewards his saints for their obedience.

Smyrna is one of only two churches that have nothing that points out sin, the other being the church in Philadelphia. Could these two churches be the Two Witnesses in Revelation 11? Perhaps, but that’s not the focus in this series. Jesus’ call to the Smyrnians is to remain faithful despite the hot attacks of the evil one. It’s easy to be faithful when all is well, but it’s a time of true testing of courage and commitment when evil is hot on your heels.

Jesus is well aware of the situation the Smyrnians find themselves in. As promised, they face tribulation in this life. They’re financially poor but spiritually rich. They’ve been attacked by the same class of people who rejected Jesus: The first-century Jews, who worship in a synagogue of Satan (v. 9). Jesus doesn’t remove the trial from them, and he doesn’t promise them an earthly deliverance from it. Instead, he urges faithfulness in the face of hot opposition. He steels their spirit, “Do not fear. Brace yourself for battle.” Some of them will be cast into prison for “ten days” (which could mean 10 days, or symbolically mean 10 months, or even 10 years). Like Daniel who was tested for ten days (Daniel 1:12-15), there’s an appointed period of persecution that the Smyrnian saints will need to endure and which will test their faithfulness. But just as Daniel and his friends were faithful and rewarded, the saints in Smyrna will receive divine blessing for their faith-filled perseverance. Jesus strengthens their souls, “Be faithful unto death” (v. 10), for if they do, they “will not be hurt by the second death” (v. 11).

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