The Persecuted Church

Revelation 2:8–11(KJV 1900) — 8And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; 9I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. 10Fear 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. 11He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Living in this age we do, it seems hard to fathom Christians being put to death for their faith.....But over the centuries many Christians have lost their lives for that very reason....in fact, in Smyrna, they refused to offer the incense to the Emperor and get their card for the year....and the unbelieving Jews [synagogue of Satan] turned them in to Roman authorities.....think of that....all they had to do to be "right with the world" is offer a bit of incense and it's done.....but they wouldn't do it....it's hard to imagine what we might be capable of if we had a knife to our throats.....in the heat of the moment....we realize one of the first controversies in the early Church happened when Roman soldiers put a knife to a childs throat and asked the Mother if she would deny Christ.....what would you do?? many of then took death for themselves and their babies.....many did not.....what did the early Church do with those who denied Christ in the heat of the moment? They excommunicated them! And would not allow them to take communion until sufficient time which they were proven to be true Christians...that my friends, is a pure Church...We are so spoiled today that if persecution would come the prosperity gospel preachers would pack up and leave the country so fast you'd wonder what happened.....But a persecuted Church is a pure Church, because there are no phonies or hypocrites in a persecuted Church.....and we should always remember that God allows these periods of testing to prove who we really are.....but His Grace is always sufficient! 

God bless your day! 

Pastor Scott